"What do you think I should engrave on the marriage ring?" Sirius asked casually. Barbara was in the bathroom, so he was free to pull the engagement ring out of his pocket and look at it fondly, as he had taken to doing lately.

"Hmm…how about, 'What is this ring doing off your finger, anyway?' I like that," said Harry.

Sirius laughed heartily.

"You know, they say you're like James in a lot of ways," he said, "but you've got Lily's sense of humor. James's marriage ring was engraved with 'Put this ring back on right now, Potter.'"

"What did hers say?" Harry asked with a smile.

"If I recall correctly, Lily's was engraved with, 'I guess I can't call you Evans anymore.'"

Harry was glad to be told he had his mother's humor, and not just because James's idea of comedy seemed to consist of pranks and hexing random people as they walked past in the hallway. It was mostly because people would usually say that the only thing he got from his mother was his eye color. Having her sense of humor was even better.

They were interrupted by an owl flying through the open window. Unfortunately, Barbara stepped out of the bathroom at the exact time the owl swooped in, and it got stuck in her hair again. Sirius hurriedly stuffed the ring into his pocket and ran over to get the owl out. The letter fluttered to the floor.

"Why do they do that?" she said breathlessly, as the owl, hooting loudly, landed onto the couch.

"Must be your pregnant-lady pheromones," said Sirius wisely.

"My what?"

"Pheromones," Sirius repeated. "It's how females and males communicate chemically. And when you're pregnant you make a lot more of them."

"Is that why men are so attracted to pregnant women?" said Barbara. "I never understood what was so hot about being crankier, sweatier, fatter and a lot more tired."

"It's a sign that you're fertile, remember, and anyway…the pheromones are in the sweat," Sirius told her.

"Oh," said Barbara. "I always thought that was just some kind of weird guy fetish, but I do seem to be getting hit on a bit more than normal these days."

"It's pretty much universal, for guys," said Sirius. "And anyway, my sense of smell is more like a dog's than a human's, so I can tell you…not that you didn't smell good before, but you smell twice as good pregnant."

"Ooh," said Barbara, grabbing Sirius's hand and putting the other on his waist. "That's a little strange…but a lot sexy. Just how I like it."

"That's how I like it, too," said Sirius, placing one hand on her upper back. Their faces were very close.

"I can tell," said Barbara, her voice deeper, like Sirius's. "Who's the one with the bump now?"

"GUYS!" shouted Harry. "Will you get a room? Barbara doesn't smell any different to me."

True, ever since Barbara had become visibly pregnant, Harry had found himself wanting to be nicer to her, but he knew it was just because that was his baby sister in there. Barbara and Sirius separated (with what looked like an enormous amount of effort) and Sirius sat down on the couch, legs crossed.

"It's because you have a human sense of smell," he explained. "Not always a bad thing. Dogs use their noses like people use their eyes."

"Can you just read the letter?" said Harry irritably. He didn't like it when Sirius and Barbara showed affection around him.

Barbara picked up the letter off the floor.

"Looks like it's another one from your brother, Sirius," she said in interest, tossing it to him. Sirius read out loud:

Dear Brother,

How are you? I was wondering if you would like to attend a party at Black Manor in a few days. I'm inviting many influential pureblood families—yes, that includes the Malfoys. I hope you can find it within yourself to be mature and put aside your enmity for me, just this once. You are also free to bring Remus Lupin and Harry and his friends and anyone else (don't bother inviting Ron as I have already invited the entire Weasley family and they have sent me an enthusiastic RSVP). Don't tell anyone but this party is also a bit of an excuse to see Holly. I plan to ask her father for permission to court her. Also, I told everyone to wear their House colors as a sort of theme, so I hope to see some red and gold among all that green and silver! It will be a formal occasion, so no sweatpants.

Hope to see you soon,

Regulus Arcturus Black

Black Family Head of House

"Ugh," said Sirius. "The Malfoys?"

"I'm not sure I want to go, then," Harry added. He saw enough of Malfoy during the school year; they didn't need to be locking horns all throughout summer vacation, too.

"Didn't you see what else he wrote?" Barbara reminded them. "That you should forget your hatred of them for the sake of his party? He probably said the same thing in his letter to them. I think a House Colors theme party sounds like loads of fun—and anyway, isn't it sweet how he's asking her father for permission, and throwing a whole party just so he can see her?"

"It's proper pureblood conduct to ask a woman's father before you date or marry her," Sirius said stiffly.

"You didn't ask my dad for permission," said Barbara, raising one eyebrow.

"That's because I'm a rule-breaker," Sirius replied haughtily.

Barbara smirked and sat down on the couch next to Sirius. The owl flew off the seat.

"Are we going to go?" Barbara asked. "Because I really want to! Come on, Siri…for me?"

"Oh…you know I can't resist your puppy eyes," said Sirius, resigning to go to Regulus's party. He flipped the paper over, grabbed a ballpoint pen off the coffee table, and scribbled a quick response:

Regulus –

We'll come to the party. Don't expect us to be best friends with the Malfoys or anything, but we can be civil, for you.

Sirius

"It's a formal occasion, besides," said Barbara. "You know I love an excuse to get dressed up."

"I bet Hermione will look pretty, too," said Harry, remembering how great she had looked at the grand opening of Regulus's second London restaurant.

"Well, I'm going to go out and buy a dress and shoes today!" said Barbara, who also loved a good excuse to shop. "Sirius…you have red-and-gold robes, don't you? I remember you wore them at the end-of-term feast last June."

"Yes," said Sirius. "Harry, what will you wear?"

"D'you think…d'you think I could wear my Quidditch robes?" Harry asked uncertainly.

"I think that would be awesome," said Sirius. "Good idea, Harry."

…

The day of the party, Harry was a little bit nervous. He had never been to a "formal occasion" before. Uncle Vernon had work parties, but those were times when he was either stuck in his cupboard or at Mrs. Figg's. Hermione and Barbara had gotten their nails done the day before (red and gold for Hermione, yellow and black for Barbara) and they each bought dresses. Barbara had given up on wearing heels, so she got some black flats. Hermione was afraid she'd fall over if she tried high heels, so Barbara had been teaching her to walk in them—it was her personal belief that every girl should know how to walk in heels.

Barbara said she liked doing Hermione's hair, because it was a "challenge" (Hermione didn't seem offended by this). Sure enough, after they were done getting ready, Hermione's hair was long and straight this time. Barbara had put something in it to make it shine, and it curled up slightly at the ends. Barbara's hair was naturally wavy, but she had used a curling iron, which gave her nice, big, bouncy curls.

Sirius and Harry felt a little less dressed up compared to the way Barbara and Hermione were dressed. Barbara had gotten a maternity dress, of course, but the bright sunshiny yellow looked so good with her dark-brown hair, along with shades of gold that brought out her hazel eyes. It was strapless (she didn't have much of a problem holding it up) and she was wearing black tights. She was wearing her Hufflepuff House jewelry, even her House bracelet. Hermione had a House bracelet, too, for Gryffindor. Her dress had a lacy "shirt-top"; the background was red and the lace was gold. Her flowy skirt, in shades of red and gold, ended at her knees, like Barbara's. She was wearing gold high heels, and since she was typically pretty quick on the uptake, it seemed she had succeeded in her "walking-in-high-heels" lessons from Barbara.

"I'll never understand how you two can stand being guys," said Barbara, tossing her dark curls and watching Hermione spin around in her dress like Barbara had taught her.

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked.

"Well, being a woman is so much more fun," Barbara explained. "I would hate to get up and have to wear the same outfit day after day. When you're a woman you get to have fun doing your hair and wearing different shoes every day and as many pretty dresses as you want, and you get to paint your nails in every color of the rainbow. To work most guys wear a black suit every day, they wear it to their wedding, and then they're buried in it! That must be so boring."

"No…we don't really feel like we're missing out," said Harry. To him, all that dressing up sounded like a lot of work. This morning, he had simply washed his hair and thrown on his Quidditch robes. Sirius took more time doing his hair, but not nearly as long as Barbara, and it was easy to just slip robes over your head.

Just like how she had finally given up on wearing high heels, Barbara had also given up on driving. She was just "too pregnant", as she put it. So Regulus sent for his chauffer to pick Sirius, Harry, Barbara and Hermione up at the flat; Ron and Remus would both be meeting them at the party.

Riding in the limo, holding hands with Hermione, Harry wondered if wearing his Quidditch robes was a "fashion faux pas", as Barbara put it. He thought it would be a nice "statement"—after all, what brought House Pride out in people more than Quidditch? But what if people thought it was stupid, or not formal enough? And what if he ran into Malfoy?

"Harry, are you okay?" Hermione asked. "Your hand's all cold and clammy."

"I'm just worried Malfoy will try to start some kind of fight," said Harry. "What if he makes some dumb comment about you being Muggle-born? We promised we wouldn't fight him."

"Generally," said Sirius, "the host isn't supposed to kick guests out of the house, according to proper pureblood etiquette. However, since it's still his house, he's allowed to make an exception and give that person the boot if they're being enough of a jerk."

"Oh," said Barbara. "Like how the manager is allowed to kick customers out of the store if they're being too disruptive?"

"Exactly," Sirius agreed. "And he's going to want to look good in front of Holly—not much would impress her more than getting rid of someone for being a pureblood supremacist."

"Boys will do anything to impress a girl," said Barbara, and she and Hermione laughed.

Harry remembered how it felt first falling in love with Hermione, and he wondered if Regulus felt that way now. It had been a whole bunch of things for Harry—nothing he'd ever felt before, but definitely not a bad feeling. But then, Regulus was in his thirties; surely this wasn't his first time falling in love?

"Did Regulus have a girlfriend in school?" Harry asked Sirius.

"Well, I never saw him with a girl, but I guess he might have," Sirius replied. "Especially during our later years there, we didn't…connect that much. So I didn't have much of an idea what he was up to. Why do you ask?"

"I was just wondering if Holly is his first love," Harry explained.

"Don't go talking about love if you've only known the person for a few days," Barbara warned. "It did work out for Siri and me. But it doesn't for everyone."

She raised her perfectly shaped eyebrows, and although she didn't mention it, Harry knew she was thinking of her terrible ex-boyfriend, Jackson.

"And don't forget your parents, Harry," Sirius added. "It took them six years to get together."

…

It wasn't a long ride to #12 Grimmauld Place, because it was in London, just like Sirius's flat. They entered the same way they had last time, with Barbara pretending she was a witch with help from Phoebe, and they stepped into the hallway. Everyone knew to be silent in the foyer this time.

Harry and Hermione were looking for Ron, who (according to Regulus) had come with his whole family (well, maybe except Bill and Charlie, who were out of the country; Harry doubted they would come all the way back to Britain just for a social gathering). Barbara and Sirius headed into the crowd to mingle.

The first person they ran into was the Tonks family. Ted and his daughter were the only two Hufflepuffs in the house, besides Barbara. Ted was wearing a banana-yellow suit with a black-and-yellow striped tie; Tonks was wearing a yellow cocktail dress with lots of gold jewelry. She was wearing black wedge shoes, gold eyeshadow and black lipstick. Her hair was no longer pink; it was jet-black with a few blonde streaks.

"Ooh, did you dye your hair?" Hermione asked. "I like it."

"It's not dyed," Tonks told her, smiling. "I'm a Metamorphmagus, which means I can change my appearance at will. Watch—"

Tonks scrunched up her eyes and grunted, and her hair turned from black with a few blonde streaks to blonde with a few black streaks.

"Cool," said Harry. "Hey, have you seen the Weasley family?"

"They haven't arrived yet," said Andromeda, who was wearing a dress much like her daughter's, although it was emerald-green, a little less low-cut, and the skirt was a bit longer. Her jewelry was silver, and she had red lipstick and green eye shadow. Her shoes were green stilettos. "But do you want to go see everyone else?"

Harry sort of started to see what Barbara meant about women dressing up as Andromeda led them to the drawing room, where most of the guests had gathered. The men were mostly just wearing either suits (like Ted Tonks) or wizard's robes (like Sirius)…But the women really went all-out with their House Pride outfits, combining makeup, jewelry, nail polish and dresses and skirts to create a perfect look.

"Why, hello, Harry, Hermione," said Remus, stepping out of the crowd. His robes, red and gold, looked a lot like Sirius's, except that they seemed to be made of a cheaper fabric, maybe cotton. "You look nice."

"Thanks," said Harry. "So do you."

"Yes, I try." Remus ran a hand through his graying brown hair. "I'm just hoping Sirius doesn't run into any trouble with the Malfoys. He does have a temper, you know."

"I think Regulus felt bad not inviting them to any family functions, though," said Hermione. "I'm guessing he got along pretty well with Narcissa."

Just then, they heard a loud, clanging doorbell. Sirius's mother started screeching again in the hallway. Remus went to go take care of it.

"Come on, Ron's probably here," said Harry, pulling Hermione's hand. Sure enough, once they'd managed to close Walburga Black's curtains, there was the Weasley family, all crowded into the doorway. Everyone was there, it seemed, except Bill and Charlie, just as Harry had predicted.

"Wow, Harry, you look great!" said Ron (who, like the other Weasley boys, was wearing a red shirt and slacks; Ginny was wearing a red sundress with gold Mary Jane shoes, even if she wasn't going to be Sorted until September).

"We brought our brooms, but we didn't think to wear our uniforms," said Fred.

"Good idea," George added.

Mrs. Weasley walked in, smiling and holding what smelled like tuna hot dish. Her dress was red, with long sleeves and golden flowers. She went downstairs with Ginny into the kitchen, where most of the wives and daughters seemed to be. The drawing room was filled with mostly wizards. Harry, Ron, and Hermione headed there, along with the rest of the Weasleys.

"Ah, here's Harry!" Regulus appeared, holding a tray of drinks. Kreacher was behind him, carrying plates. "Look, we both wore our Quidditch robes!"

Indeed—for the party, Regulus too had decided to don his old Quidditch uniform. It looked a lot like Harry's, except the robes were green instead of red, and a few cosmetic changes had been made to the uniform since Regulus graduated. Regulus's robes (which were a little thicker than Harry's) reached the floor instead of his ankles; the pants he wore were black instead of tan; and he had no protective gear, symbolic of the rather lasses-faire 1970's.

"I like your Quidditch robes," said Harry. "Vintage."

"Thanks." Regulus smiled. "I rented some spare brooms from Diagon Alley, so maybe we can have a couple games. You did bring your broom, didn't you?"

"Sirius has it," said Harry, pointing, and wondering why he hadn't asked yet for Sirius to put the Shrinking Charm on his pockets, too.

"It's impressive you can still fit into those after so many years of pizza," Sirius said snarkily, walking up to Regulus and putting an arm around him. "I wonder if I'll be the only one you impress today."

"Now, Sirius," Regulus said testily, cheeks turning a little pink, "you better not wreck it for Holly and me. I mean it."

"What makes you think I would wreck it?" said Sirius, mock-innocently. "I wouldn't."

"But you would tease me until you took your last breath," Regulus told him.

"As older brother," Sirius replied, squeezing Regulus's shoulder, "that's my job."

"Sirius, honestly—"

"What shall I call you, then?" said Sirius, as Hermione and Harry looked at each other with grins on their faces. "Regolly? Hegulus? BlackGrass?"

"Please stop," said Regulus, crossing his arms, face red.

"Hmm, I don't know what I should say when she comes in the room, though," Sirius continued thoughtfully. "Oh, I know—is this the one you won't shut up about? Or what about this? Holly's a Chaser—she sure scored a goal with you—"

"Oh my God, have you matured at all?" yelled Regulus, stomping out of the room. Sirius, Harry and Hermione all started laughing—even more so when Holly entered the drawing room at the same time, so she and Regulus bumped into each other, making him turn all shades of red and nearly spill his drink tray. They saw Holly take a drink off the tray and take a sip out of it.

"Oy! Holly!" shouted Sirius, waving his arm, his loud voice carrying across the room. Regulus scowled, but Holly smiled and walked over; Regulus followed her reluctantly.

Harry was of course in love with Hermione, but he would be lying if he said he didn't find Holly attractive, and Ron had always been straight-up infatuated with her. After all, pretty much every boy at Hogwarts agreed that Holly had been the hottest witch in seventh year. When Ron saw her House Pride outfit, he had to sit down before his knees gave way.

Holly's hair was tied up on top of her head in an elaborate updo; using mousse, she had temporarily added red and gold streaks as well. Her scarlet dress, which shimmered with gold, was floor-length and form-fitting, emphasizing the womanly curves that were already plain to see. It was low-cut, not so much that she didn't leave anything to the imagination, but certainly enough that the imagination of any boy who saw her would suddenly run wild. She was wearing red lipstick with gold eyeshadow and mascara. Just like pretty much every witch at the party, she was wearing a House bracelet. When she wasn't looking, Sirius raised his eyebrows and made a kissy face at Regulus, who shot him a look of death.

"Hey, you guys," Holly said brightly. "Nice party."

"You know it," Sirius replied. Ron moaned weakly.

"Holly, I have an idea," Harry said suddenly.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Why don't we play a Quidditch match?" he suggested excitedly. "Regulus has a Snitch, so he and I could play against each other—and maybe somebody else could be a Keeper, so Holly could try to score goals—something like that?"

"Nice try, Potter," said an all-too-familiar voice from behind Harry. "But if we're playing Quidditch, I'm going to be the Slytherin Seeker."

Harry, Ron and Hermione stared. Malfoy was there, and he was holding a broom.