Finally the wedding, because I'm nice like that :). And because I probably won't have much of a chance to update pretty soon, so this is an advance apology.
"Why did you want me to officiate, again?" Sirius asked.
"You're not technically officiating," Dorcas reminded him. "You're… overseeing, I suppose. Oh, I don't know." Dorcas threw her hands into the air and huffed. "Sirius, I love you, okay? You're the brother I always wanted. I love you." Dorcas wrapped her arms around his waist and bunched the back of his soft, oatmeal-coloured shirt with her hands. In turn, Sirius squeezed her shoulders and pressed a kiss to her hair.
"But you're also here to make sure neither of us go off on a tangent," Dorcas said when she pulled away, "because I can get distracted, and Marlene is too eloquent for her own good. She uses two thousand words when she can use twenty. And we're in the middle of a bloody war, so we want to keep this short."
"You'd think we'd have this war all wrapped up by now," Sirius muttered. Dorcas shrugged.
Lily and James apparated in a moment later. Lily smiled and hugged Dorcas tightly.
"One of Marlene's brothers, Derek, I think, is running a tad late, so she's waiting for him," Lily informed Dorcas, "but the rest of her family should be –"
A series of cracks signaled the arrival of Marlene's parents, David and Abigail, followed by Marlene's brothers, John, Phil, Michael, and Richard. Dorcas received near-crushing hugs from everyone. Abigail kissed Dorcas's cheeks and apologized for her youngest son's lateness.
"He's a junior auror, so they send him on all sorts of small things," Abigail explained. "I told Marlene to go ahead, but she wanted to be the first to give Derek a good smack." Dorcas laughed quietly.
"It's good to see you," she told everyone. "We're just waiting on a few more people, then we'll begin. In the meantime, feel free to explore the beach. We have this whole area to ourselves."
Amelia appeared shortly after, and immediately began asking questions.
"Where are we, anyway, Cassie?"
"Somewhere in Wales," Dorcas replied.
Amelia asked for specification.
Dorcas shrugged. "Somewhere. Marlene picked the spot. I think we're in Pembrokeshire? But I'm not sure."
"You're not sure where your wedding is taking place?" asked Remus, having apparated in in time to hear Dorcas's explanation, or lack thereof. Dorcas didn't miss the sad look Remus gave Sirius, or how Sirius briefly met Remus's eyes before looking away.
"I've never claimed to be organized, have I?" she replied, which earned her a few laughs. "There's a beach right there," she pointed at the sand and seawater which was a short walk away, "and that's what matters." Dorcas wondered what had happened between Remus and Sirius, but resolved to investigate after her wedding.
Emmeline and Caroline Vance appeared then, and Dorcas rushed over to them.
"How is she?" Dorcas quietly asked Emmeline.
"I'm fine," Caroline replied with a soft smile. "It's a good day, sweetheart." She patted Dorcas's cheek, then gave her a hug. "A good day, just for you."
Dorcas felt tears pricking her eyes, and just barely held them back, as she didn't want to mess up her make-up. She gave her foster mother another tight hug.
Marlene did not arrive late to her own wedding, as there was no set time for the ceremony to begin. Dorcas deemed her late when she arrived anyway.
Marlene nearly laughed when she saw Dorcas's outfit. It wasn't Dorcas's simple, sleeveless, white dress with its boat neck collar and natural waistline, or the three rings she wore on a necklace, or the very worn Converse's on her feet, but her black top hat, which was, of course, an homage to Dorcas's favourite singer, Stevie Nicks.
Nevertheless, Marlene gave Dorcas a quick kiss and a small smirk, then took her place opposite Dorcas. Their guests surrounded them in clumps: James, Lily, Remus, and Peter stood near Dorcas, the McKinnon family near Marlene, and Amelia, Emmeline, and Caroline in between both groups.
Dorcas smiled at Marlene and took in her soon-to-be wife's clothing. Tight, dark jeans tucked into the black boots which Marlene favoured when she went on missions for the Order, with a white dress shirt and a black tie. Her hair was loosely French braided, and a few strands of hair had fallen out of the braid and fell down the back of her neck or framed her face. Dorcas decided she had never seen anything more beautiful in her life.
Sirius cleared his throat, then took on a look of seriousness. "Friends, Romans, Countrymen," he began grandly.
"Jesus fucking christ," Marlene muttered.
"Wrong speech?" Sirius asked. "Damn, okay, let me start again." Everyone laughed.
"Alright, no, seriously," Sirius restarted, "we're here to see these two beautiful girls, two of my best mates, kind of get married, except not really, because they're not going to be officially married. They'll be married in their hearts, and in our hearts as well. They have rings– Well, technically, I have the rings, as they're in my back pocket right now, but Cassie and Marls are going to have rings in about five minutes, but anyway– they're going to have rings, and they're going to make vows, and that's the most important part, right?"
Everyone nodded and murmured their agreement.
"So, I'm going to hand this lovely ceremony over to the people who are actually getting married. Marlene, if you would like to say your vows first?"
Marlene nodded once, took a deep breath, and began.
"Cas," she smiled. "For once in my life, I'm at a loss for words." Marlene tilted her head back and laughed quietly, before returning her eyes to Dorcas's. "You're so beautiful, and I love you so much. As of today, I've spent eight years as your best friend, three years as your girlfriend, and one year as your fiancee. I hope to spend one hundred years as your wife. I love you more than anything. More than… more than butterbeer and sweets, more than my favourite pair of boots, more than water and air and life itself. Cas, I love you. I love you, and I will never stop loving you." Marlene exhaled, then nodded to Sirius, signaling that her speech was done.
Sirius tried (and failed) not to give Marlene a beaming grin, but his smile could have powered the sun. So could everyone's in the crowd, for that matter. Sirius turned his head to Dorcas. "Dorcas, your vows?"
Dorcas grinned. "Marley, I think I've loved you since I first saw you, in that compartment on the Hogwarts Express when we were eleven. I thought your skin and your hair were very pale and you talked a lot," Marlene laughed, "but I also thought, wow, this girl is lovely and nice and beautiful and kind, and I want to know her. I was crying, and you wiped away my tears, and I fell in love. I didn't realize it until Amelia showed me the facts, and I thought that you could never love me back the way I loved you… but you did. You do. You're my best friend, and you're the love of my life. You are my everything, Marlene McKinnon. I don't know what I'd do without you. You steady my heart, Marley. I would fall apart without you." Dorcas laughed quietly when a few tears slipped out of her eyes, and Marlene wiped them away. "There you go again," said Dorcas, "wiping away my tears."
"Done?" Sirius asked politely.
Dorcas nodded. "Yeah, done."
"Right," Sirius fished the rings out of his back pocket, then held them in his open palm in between Marlene and Dorcas. The two plain, gold bands shined in the sunlight. Marlene picked up Dorcas's ring, and Dorcas picked up Marlene's. They put the rings on each other, then took each others hands.
"Marlene Abigail McKinnon, do you take Cassie here to be your Siriusly wedded –" Everyone's laughter cut him off.
"Black," Marlene shook her head and chuckled, "I swear to god –"
"Yeah yeah yeah, I'm not sorry, Marls. Anyway –"
"I do," Marlene interrupted.
Sirius turned to Dorcas without a word. "And do you, Dorcas Jacqueline Meadowes, take the unappreciative-of-puns, or pun-appreciative, Marls–"
"Oh my god!" Marlene yelled, only half joking but still laughing. "I will literally –"
Sirius interrupted her this time. "To be your Siriusly wedded wife!"
"I do," Dorcas sighed with a small laugh at her friends' antic.
"Marlene, Dorcas," said Sirius, after he had stepped slightly out of Marlene's reach, "with the power vested in me by the shot of firewhiskey I had before we came –"
Dorcas busted out laughing while Marlene punched Sirius's arm.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Sirius laughed. "Okay, yeah, no, you two are married now, so kiss."
Marlene brought Dorcas to her and kissed her deeply, bending her over like a scene in an old film. Everyone clapped happily. When they stood again and broke the kiss, Dorcas whistled loudly for attention.
"Right, the reception's on the beach, and the last person there gets thrown into the sea!"
My darlings are finally married and I'm so happy :D
Your thoughts? Did you like Sirius's puns?