Eight months later…
The wedding of James Potter and Lily Evans takes place on a warm August morning. Their Hogwarts robes have barely been shed, the boxes in their new home not yet unpacked. The newlyweds are just barely eighteen, and some would say that they're too young to be making such a big decision.
A quick hex from Lily Potter née Evans is usually enough to make the naysayers silent.
It's a small, quiet ceremony; neither bride nor groom wanted to make it a big fuss over it in the middle of a war. Lily wears a simple white dress that she got for a discount from a local seamstress, while James opts for a white button up and a bow-tie.
Muggle clothing. Another thing most wizards would disagree with.
They host it in the rolling hills by Lily's childhood home, a homage to her parents who unfortunately died in a car crash a few months earlier. Luckily, James's parents jumped at the opportunity to pay for the entire wedding. His father even volunteered to walk her down the aisle.
Of course, Sirius acts as James's best man and Guinevere as Lily's maid of honor. Sirius wears a white button up and a bow-tie, similar to James, but with suspenders that he just couldn't resist buying the week before. Guinevere wears a simple lilac sundress that she had to dig around in her closet to find. The wedding has no dress code.
Even for a muggle wedding, that's unusual.
The only man that James and Lily trust to officiate their wedding is their now-ex-Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. Of course, the old man is prepared, and the entire ceremony goes over without a hitch — the wards that Dumbledore put up around them make sure of that. Lily and James have no vows of their own written down, instead choosing just to do the standard vows that are parroted at most weddings.
The entire wedding seems haphazard and rushed, but James and Lily somehow make it charming. James fumbles and drops the ring, causing the small audience to laugh while he digs through the grass to find it. Lily beams at him with barely-there tears in her eyes as he gets it together and slips the ring on her finger. The glow on their faces while they stare into each other's eyes and say "I do" is enough to reduce both Fleamont and Euphemia Potter to tears and make everybody else in attendance smile.
Guinevere has never seen so much love in one place.
The turntable that Sirius brought is sitting on a table under the canopy, playing Somebody To Love by Queen. A quick charm on the device makes it resound through the venue as if an actual band were playing. Lily and James are slow dancing right under the center of the canopy, their foreheads resting together like they're the only two people there. It makes Guinevere's heart burst with joy.
She doesn't think she's ever seen her best friend this happy in all the years they've known each other.
While the rest of the guests dance and mingle, Guinevere stays firmly stationed at the refreshment table. It isn't much, but it's certainly filling. And fattening.
As she works on a piece of treacle tart, she can practically hear her mother scolding her for eating something that will go right to her already big thighs.
She takes another large bite.
A teary eyed Euphemia Potter approaches her and places a hand on her shoulder
"Guinevere, love, have you ever seen something so beautiful?" she asks, the sob still in her voice.
Guinevere smiles warmly and places her own hand atop the older woman's. When Sirius decided it was time to introduce Guinevere to his "parents", it was the Potters he presented her to. The elderly couple have been nothing but kind to her since.
"Never," she admits. "They both look so happy, Mrs. Potter. I didn't think that amount of happiness was possible."
Euphemia squeezes her shoulder with a watery smile.
"Dear, I've told you over and over again, just call me Euphemia. You're as much a part of the family as Sirius is."
As if he was summoned by the sound of his name, Guinevere feels a familiar pair of arms wrap around her waist and hug her from the back.
Speak of the devil and he shall appear.
She rolls her eyes and gives Euphemia a good natured smile.
"Excuse me, Euphemia, but I seem to have a child attached to my hip," she apologizes.
Even though she can't see Sirius's face, she's sure that he's pouting.
"You see what I have to put up with, Mum?" he asks Euphemia, coming up to Guinevere's side. "She's so mean to me."
Guinevere gives him a light smack to the chest, leaning into his side. He wraps one arm around her to pull her closer against him. She stiffens at first, hyperaware of Euphemia's presence, but she soon relaxes in his hold. It took her weeks of visits to the Potter residence before she could get used to how physically affectionate Sirius can get with her around the people that he views as his parents.
She just prays that he won't do it in front of her parents when he meets them eventually.
"You need someone who can keep you in line, Sirius Black," Euphemia teases. "Guinevere is so good at that, we may just have to start planning your wedding here soon!"
Guinevere and Sirius both blush and smile uncomfortably at the suggestion. During a war, everybody marries quickly. The promise of a tomorrow is never guaranteed. But Guinevere has made it clear to everyone who pesters her about it that she's not rushing into marriage, especially not when her relationship is still so new.
"We've only been dating for eight months, Euphemia," Guinevere laughs. "Give me a bit more time to teach him how to clean the shower without magic before we start thinking about marriage."
Euphemia raises an eyebrow at Sirius, who just smiles guiltily.
"I see no reason not to use magic," he admits. "The muggle way is so much harder."
Guinevere gives him a poke to the side.
"How in the world would you survive if you didn't have your wand, Sirius?"
He grins and leans in to kiss her on the crown of her head.
"I'd just steal yours," he jokes.
Guinevere laughs. She'd like to see him try.
Sirius slips his hand down to grasp hers. She squeezes back tightly.
"Excuse me, Mum, but I believe this is the part of the evening where I drag my very lovely and very uncoordinated girlfriend off to the dance floor."
The "dance floor" being a large patch of grass under the canopy.
Guinevere mumbles a few choice words at Sirius as he leads her away from the food, but he only smirks in response. They both know that if Guinevere truly didn't want to dance, she would have already ripped her hand away from him by now. But Guinevere has never let Sirius win that easily.
Somebody To Love has already ended and someone must have taken it upon themselves to exchange the Queen record with another one from the small portion of Sirius's collection that he brought. Now Dancing Queen is playing.
Guinevere had no idea that Sirius owned any ABBA records, but she's sure now that she'll be teasing him about it for the rest of her life.
Without any prompting, she wraps her arms around his neck and pulls him as close as she possibly can while keeping it appropriate. He wraps his arms around her waist and sways with her, back and forth.
She knows that this is James and Lily's special day and her focus should be on them, but when she dances with Sirius, everything else around her is background noise. They don't get many opportunities to dance like this, but when they do, she always feels like it's that one night in his dormitory all over again.
He dips her dramatically and throws in a wink while she's dangling in his arms. She throws her head back in laughter.
Eight months into their relationship and he still flirts with her as if he was trying to win her over. Guinevere revels in it. She supposes that this is the honeymoon phase that everyone talks about, but she doesn't care.
The two dance until the sun starts to set and Lily and James decide it's time for everyone to go home. In these days, when being attacked even in broad daylight is a real possibility, no one wants to risk walking home at night. The newlyweds give everyone their thanks and hurried goodbyes. Sirius and Guinevere hug their best friends and then apparate to a park nearby their flat.
It was Guinevere's idea to move in together in Muggle London. Not only is it cost effective, but it's far safer than living alone. And the anti-apparition charm on the place makes it harder to break into.
Sirius was mostly just excited to be sharing a bedroom with his girlfriend.
As soon as they stumble through the door, Guinevere tosses her uncomfortable flats to the side and throws herself onto the couch in their still-bare living room. The lack of sleep and general excitement of the day has finally caught up with her. In this moment, the couch feels just as good as any mattress.
She hears Sirius sit down on the rocking chair beside her.
"You gonna fall asleep on me?" he prods. "The sun hasn't even fully set."
She groans into the pillow that her face is buried in.
"I had to get up at 7am this morning," she laments, her voice slightly muffled.
The rocking chair creaks in protest when Sirius gets up from it, his heavy footsteps leading into the connecting kitchen.
Well, if one could even call what we have a kitchen, she thinks.
"Remember when you used to wake up at an ungodly hour every morning?" he jokes. "Whatever happened to that Gwen-Of-Air?"
Guinevere sits up and flings the pillow she was laying on as hard as she dares, hitting the freezer door in the process. Sirius lets out a bark like laugh and tosses it back at her, albeit considerably softer.
He used that nickname, he had it coming.
"She died a violent death when we started to attend those bloody Order meetings at bloody 3am," she moans.
Sirius shoots her an apologetic glance as he digs a butterbeer out of the fridge. Both of their sleep schedules have suffered dramatically because of their involvement in the Order of the Phoenix. Because the Death Eaters never give it a rest, neither can they. It can feel to Guinevere at times that the only "quality time" she gets with Sirius is when they glance at each other across the table at wherever the Order is meeting that week,
Sometimes, she really regrets the day she agreed to join the organization…
It was the 2nd of July when Guinevere received an owl from her former headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, requesting her presence in his office at Hogwarts. The letter was short and simple, telling her that he had something he wished to discuss with her and that his fireplace was connected to the Floo Network.
She stared at the letter for a long time, reading and re-reading it over and over again. In all her years at Hogwarts, she and Dumbledore had enough encounters for her to count on a single hand. She never got in trouble or did anything that would require a talking to by her headmaster. What he could want, she had no idea.
Maybe he was going to give her advice about what to do now that she was out of school and left to fend for herself in the magical community, like McGonagall tried to do before they graduated? Because she sure felt lost now that she no longer had Hogwarts to call a home. Was she supposed to move into a wizarding community, or a muggle one? Would she be better at a career as a healer, or as a normal muggle nurse?
How was she supposed to balance two worlds?
When she flooed to Dumbledore's office and found him sitting at his desk with that usual twinkle in his eyes, she got a sinking feeling that she was nowhere close to figuring out why he called her in to meet with him.
"Good afternoon, Professor," she greeted him with stiff politeness.
He smiled at her in a disarming manner and motioned for her to sit down across from him.
"Please, Miss Driscoll, you've already graduated. I'm no longer your headmaster. Just call me Albus. Or simply Dumbledore, if that's what makes you most comfortable."
She nodded vigorously. He could have told her to run through the corridors stark naked and she would have agreed. Something about Albus Dumbledore was awe inspiring to her. He always seemed to know everything that eluded the rest of the wizarding world.
"Okay, Prof— I mean, okay, Albus."
She swore she felt physical pain trying to force his first name out of her mouth. Even with his permission, it felt disrespectful.
He smiled at her again and picked up a crystal dish filled with chocolate buttons, offering it to her.
"Chocolate?"
She shook her head and politely pushed the dish away. Her stomach was too knotted up for her to even consider sweets.
"Sir— I mean, Albus," she corrected herself. "May I ask why you summoned me here? I have to admit I have no idea what this could even remotely be about…"
Dumbledore paused and popped a few chocolate buttons into his mouth. Guinevere let her eyes flit around the office uncomfortably while she waited for him to swallow the chocolate. She immediately stopped when she saw a portrait staring right back at her.
"Your friend Miss Evans told me that you're a very courageous girl," he said at last.
She was about to protest and tell him that no, she wasn't that courageous when he lowered his head slightly and looked at her over his half-moon spectacles.
"She also told me that you have a knack for poking your nose around in places where you shouldn't."
She felt a small sting of betrayal. Lily said those words? To Dumbledore of all people?
Guinevere was well aware of her flaws, but still… that hurt.
Dumbledore gave her a smile and reached his hand out to rest it on top of her own.
"That was not said in a malicious way, Miss Driscoll," he reassured her. "Either from me or Miss Evans. It's a trait that can be very useful indeed. Dare I say, no great witch or wizard has ever made history by minding their own business."
He winked at her in a way that made her sure that he knew all the things she got up to in her 7th year at Hogwarts. Of course, she knew that she never ran into any teachers while she was out of bed and spying on Regulus Black, but that knowing twinkle…
It made her question whether or not Dumbledore really does have eyes everywhere.
"What about it, sir?" she asked, hoping the question didn't sound rude.
He pointedly ignored the fact that she was once again calling him "sir" as he continued.
"Miss Driscoll, I assume I don't have to inform you that Voldemort's forces are growing larger by the day."
A lump formed in her throat at the mere mention of Lord Voldemort. She had just left Hogwarts a month before and yet she could already name ten people she graduated with who met a violent end at the hands of Voldemort or one of his Death Eaters.
"Yes, I know," she said in a strangled voice.
Dumbledore's eyes shone with sympathy. Guinevere wished she didn't need it.
"And am I also correct in assuming you know a war has begun?"
She nodded slowly, suspicious of his line of questioning.
"Yes, I'm very much aware."
Dumbledore leaned forward in his seat wearily, looking every bit his age in that moment. Guinevere inspected his face, wondering if she could count the numerous wrinkles. There were wrinkles lining his forehead, wrinkles in the outer corners of his eyes, wrinkles in his cheeks, wrinkles lining the corners of his mouth…
"If you know the severity of the situation, then I'm sure you knew this day would come," he said gravely.
Panic seized Guinevere's heart as she wondered if this was Dumbledore's cryptic way of telling her that someone she loved had been found dead. So far, she had been lucky enough to not lose anyone.
She shouldn't have left her parents alone that day, she knows it.
"What day?" she whispered, desperately trying to hold herself together.
He leaned back in his seat, pulling open one of the drawers of his desk. Each second that crawled by as he fished through the drawer, the more anxiety built up in Guinevere's chest. It was climbing up her ribs and squeezing her lungs, leaving her unable to breathe.
After ten harrowing seconds in which Dumbledore rifled through his desk drawer, he pulled out a small slip of folded paper and handed it to Guinevere. She took it with shaking hands and pulled it open.
Arabella Figg
No. 2 Wisteria Walk
Little Whinging, Surrey
An address. Not a death announcement or someone's last will and testament, but a simple address.
Guinevere finally allowed herself to breathe.
"Sir… what…?"
"The day has come for you to choose, Miss Driscoll," Dumbledore replied. "To be a passive observer, or an active participant."
She knew what he was asking her; did she want to fight in this war, or try to ignore it like a blissful little fool?
Being a passive observer would have been easier, no doubt. That she was sure of. It was how she always dealt with hard times, by pressing on as if nothing had ever occurred. Though her safety was in question now, being a muggleborn, it would be even more dangerous to actively defy Voldemort.
How could she fight Death Eaters if she couldn't even punch someone without crying?
"Sir… I… I don't…"
"Miss Evans and Mr. Potter have already agreed to attend our first meeting," he interjected. "As well as Mr. Lupin, Mr. Pettigrew, Miss McKinnon, Miss Meadowes, Miss MacDougal, and Mr. Black."
A quick flash of anger shot through her. If all her friends and her boyfriend had already been through the same meeting, why did they not tell her? Why did they let her be put on the spot like this?
"I asked them all not to inform you of our meetings," Dumbledore answered, as if sensing her thoughts. "Mr. Black and Miss Evans in particular found it difficult to stay silent on the matter. You must understand these are not things we want to be overheard in public. Or in private. You never know where a wandering ear may be, Miss Driscoll."
Was that a wizard phrase she had just never heard, or was that just Dumbledore being himself?
"I don't expect an answer from you right at this moment, of course. I only ask that you memorize that slip of paper I handed to you and send me a simple yes or no response by Saturday evening. We will be meeting that Sunday night. No apparition, no floo. Broomsticks are acceptable if used with a cloaking device, but muggle modes of transportation would be best. Have I explained everything clearly, Miss Driscoll?"
She nodded, her eyes wide as she took it all in.
Dumbledore once again settled into an easy smile and patted her on the wrist like she was his granddaughter.
"Splendid. I hope to see you again soon. And do take some chocolate buttons for the road. They lift the spirits immensely!"
With a handful of chocolate buttons in her pocket, she flooed back home and thought long and hard.
She didn't want to fight in this war. Nobody wanted to fight in the war, but it went beyond just want for Guinevere. She didn't feel capable of fighting in the war. She wasn't a skilled fighter or spy, she knew minimal hexes, and she winced at the thought of battle.
Her mind sorted through an endless list of possibilities of what could go wrong.
Not just for her, but for Lily. And James. And Remus. And Marlene. And Dorcas. And Peter. And Alice. And Sirius.
Oh Merlin, her friends. They were as much her family now as much as her actual flesh and blood. They were the most precious things in her life, and they were laying their lives down for this resistance that has no guarantee of succeeding. All of this because of their bloody Gryffindor bravery.
If she wasn't going to join for herself, she had to join for her friends. To keep them safe.
After an entire day of intense deliberation and little rest, Guinevere tied a note to Rhea's leg and sent her off to Dumbledore. The note was a small section of paper torn off a page with one short word written in the center in blue ink.
'Yes'.
"Guin?"
Guinevere's eyes fly open, settling on Sirius's form hovering above her. She's curled up on the couch in the fetal position, hugging a pillow like a teddy bear.
She must have fallen asleep.
"What is it?" she murmurs, rubbing at her eyes.
Sirius sits down on the other side of the couch, reaching over to rub her back. She leans into his touch.
"Sorry, love, but we've got to head out. Dumbledore just sent us a message through floo. Emergency meeting."
Guinevere grunts in protest and holds the pillow tighter.
She'll never regret choosing to protect her friends, but Merlin does she miss her sleep.
A/N: I hope you guys don't mind the time jump! Rest assured, there will be some flashbacks scattered about. Plus Guinevere and Sirius are only eight months into their relationship, so a lot of the development and the conflicts that happen in a relationship hasn't happened with them yet. They're close to coming out of the "we just started dating" honeymoon phase, which will hopefully be more fun to read than the honeymoon phase itself.
I hope you enjoy and review! :)