Author's Note: I'm feeling quite generous today, so I'm updating both stories with a bonus chapter. Enjoy. MNF

C 25:

Party

Junie and Sirius sat at a table with Marley and Remus and their two boys and Peter and Dorothy. The Pettigrews did not bring their young son with them, fearful of how he'd act. Watching a few of the other young children, most of them the children of distant pureblood relations, they had nothing to worry about. Little Peter was an angel compared to some of these little heathens. The female friends gossiped about how the parents were just ignoring their child's antics while the men sniggered at the children. Junie filed all these things away so when she and Sirius had kids, she wouldn't be under such scrutiny. The Lupin boys had run off with the Potter boys and were probably upstairs in their bedrooms making a mess, but otherwise staying out of their parents' hair.

"May I have this dance?" James asked Junie, and she nodded and stood. The string quartet, which had played through dinner, would be leaving soon, and a rock band Rosie was fond of would start playing. Most of the older set would be going then, especially the families with children. The younger group would undoubtedly stay and dance. Harry had promised to keep an eye on things for his parents.

"You're positively glowing, Junie," James said, and Junie blushed and tried to duck her head down into his chest. "Don't hide, please. It's a beautiful thing to see. You have made my best friend happier than I've seen him since we were in Hogwarts. You also made my daughter ecstatic today. I don't know how to thank you for it all."

"Oh, James, you don't need to thank me," Junie replied. "I love Rosie, and being her godmother has been one of the most magnificent privileges of my life. As for Sirius, The Source did the hard part. Falling in love with him was easier than breathing; once I got over my annoyance at something that happened so long ago, I should have forgiven him twenty years back."

"Nonetheless, thank you for enriching the lives of people who mean everything to me," he said, and Junie gave him a watery smile. He spun her around the dancefloor, and Junie relaxed and enjoyed his skill at leading. When the song ended, James whirled her around, and she found herself in the arms of her fiancé. They took a turn around the parquet floor, Sirius, an even better dancer than his best mate. Junie noticed the four couples were on the floor together, and it reminded her of their formal leaving dance at Hogwarts, although Peter had a different date then. Back then, she had danced one time with Sirius, basically because Marley and Lily forced her. There were no manipulations needed now; she loved being in Sirius' arms.

"You know, the next time we're on a floor dancing like this, it will be our wedding reception," Sirius said, and Junie smiles so widely at him that he swore she lit the room. "I spoke with the quartet when there was a break, and I've hired them to play at the reception while we eat and for the beginning of the dancing. I know you have a DJ coming, but I think it's easier to dance to this."

"Oh, thank you," Junie said excitedly. "Another thing I can cross off the list. I was going to speak with them, so I'm glad you did."

"When do you go for your dress fitting?" he asked in a way that sounded casual, but Junie knew it was anything but. He'd been asking for hints about her dress, but so far, she'd been silent.

"Wednesday, after class. I'm bringing Rosie with me, and Ginny is going to meet us there. Marley and Lily will go for their final fittings another day. I don't know when Dorothy will go for hers; she seems a bit…well, honestly, unenthused by it all."

"That makes sense," Sirius answered. "Pete pulled me aside and said that they just can't commit to the time needed to be in our wedding party. I don't want to force them, but it seems strange."

"Well, that explains a lot. Sirius, I think something is going on in their marriage; something deeply significant. Maybe you can find out what?"

"Junie, you know Peter, getting information out of him is like squeezing a melon through a pinhole." Junie looked at him with a slightly desperate face, and Sirius acquiesced. "Fine, maybe we can get together for a pint and talk about life. I'll bring Remus with me because if anyone can get info out of Pete, it's him."

"Marley already had him talk with Pete. He couldn't get it out."

"Then I doubt I'll have any luck," Sirius said grimly. When the song ended, Sirius and Remus switched partners, and Junie smiled and laughed through the entire dance with him. They had always had the most comfortable of Junie's relationships with the guys. It was forged in hours in the library when he studied with the girls while Sirius and James were at Quidditch practice with Peter tagging along to sit in the stands, regardless of the weather.

When the song ended, Sirius went to dance with Lily, and everyone else went to sit down. The quartet had announced it was their last song, and Sirius hadn't had a chance to dance with her yet. Returning to their table, the friends found Peter and Dorothy gone. A scrap of parchment lying on the table, saying they'd had a message from her parents that they needed to pick little Peter up.

"Okay, there really is something strange going on with them," Marley said.

"Whatever it is, Peter does not want to talk about it," Remus said. "I tried asking him after he'd had a few shots of Firewhisky, but he refused to talk about it."

"Darn it," Junie said. "I asked Sirius to try and find out what's wrong. They begged off being in our wedding."

"Woah," Marley said, "that's something. We've all been in each other's weddings."

"Dorothy couldn't even tell me; she had Peter talk with Sirius for the both of them," Junie continued. "I hope they'll be able to come."

"I can't imagine them not coming, right?" Marley said, looking to Remus. He shrugged. "Changing the subject, how late are we going to let the boys stay up?"

"I'm not pulling them out of the fun yet. The band hasn't even started yet," Remus answered. "How about we plan on being home by eleven? It's only half-nine now."

"Sounds fair," Marley said, "because you know it will take an hour or more to get the four of them settled down." The two younger Potter lads were spending the night with the Lupins and their two boys.

"Tomorrow's Sunday, Marley; they can sleep in," Remus reminded her.

"Look," Junie suddenly said, and they all turned to look at the dance floor, where Rosie was dancing with Fred. "Wow."

"I thought Miles was going to be here?" Marley said.

"So did I, which leads me to believe he knows he's not her Heart-Bound name. Poor kid."

"We have all had our hearts broken, Junie," the newly arrived James said. "I guess I could have a much worse son-in-law."

"That's quite a turnaround from last night," Remus reminded his friend.

"Yes, it is, but after a few coffees and a long chat with Sirius this morning, I realized I already know his family and his character, and if Ginny was good enough for Harry, I really can't disparage Fred. I'm still in disbelief about the lengths he went to so Rosie could have a normal life at Hogwarts."

"I think you're seeing the influence of his father and his eldest brother, Bill," Remus said while putting a hand on his shoulder. "Fred was a prankster at school, but like the Marauders, he grew up. It's a special young man who will delay his own happiness for the one he loves."

"I don't think they're in love," James hastily said.

"She's not," Marley said. "He most definitely is."

When the rock band began playing, the six adults retreated to the informal sitting room and relaxed with tea and some leftover cake. The women had all kicked their shoes off, as the heels might look pretty, but they were murder on their feet.

"That's it, I'm wearing slippers with my wedding dress," Junie said.

"No, you're not," Marley said. "Your dress will drag on the floor. You're wearing those remarkable shoes you found with the pearls and –"

"Hey, no talking about my wedding clothes! It's bad luck!" Junie interrupted her.

"Actually, Junie, none of them believe in that," Lily said, and Junie looked at her sceptically.

"What?"

"It's a Muggle belief." Junie shook her head while Lily nodded. "Fee let me in on it when we were getting ready to be married. Personally, I didn't want to risk it, so I kept everything secret from James."

"Remus came in and gave me my wedding gift before the ceremony," Marley said. "I was fully dressed and ready to go. In fact, he smeared my lipstick, and I had to charm some wrinkles out of the skirt of my dress."

"I don't want to know why," Sirius said, and the others nodded their heads.

"We were just snogging," Marley rebutted. "We waited until the reception to have sex."

"Don't get any crazy ideas; there is no way that's happening," Junie said with such a stare. Sirius knew not to even tease her about it. This is what their friendships had become. Nearly thirty years of uninterrupted companionship had led to the comfort they shared, and the six of them could talk about anything. Sirius, the oldest of the group, would turn forty-one later this year. The number wasn't lost on him. Even if he and Junie were to have a baby before his next birthday, he would be fifty-eight when that baby would be having their seventeenth celebration. It made him feel old.

"Hey, where did you go?" Junie whispered, stroking his bearded face.

"Lost in the mists of the future," he said.

"Well, the future can play out in any number of ways. How about we talk about the present?"

"Gladly, as long as you're with me," he said sweetly before kissing her.

Monday came too quickly for Junie, and she left for Hogwarts while Sirius was still lounging in bed. He didn't need to be in until the afternoon, as the Wizengamot was not in session. Junie was meeting with the Hogwarts elves after breakfast, but before the first class of the day, which is why she was in a rush. She wasn't surprised to find Rosie in her office when she Flooed in. The girl was lounging on her couch, picking at some toast she'd smuggled out of the Great Hall. Her eyes were red like she'd been crying.

"Hiding?" Junie asked, coming to sit down next to her goddaughter. Junie lifted her feet, sat down, and then put Rosie's feet in her lap.

"Yeah, it's hard to have Miles around all the time. You don't mind, do you?"

"No, but you have to go to class."

"That's fine; I have Arithmancy and double Defence today. Miles isn't in either of those. In fact, we only have Muggle Studies and Potions together. I already talked with Julia Spenser about trading seats with her in Muggle Studies. I hope it's okay. I'm hoping Robbie McMillan will want to trade benches in Potions."

"It's fine," Junie said. Rosie moved around so that she could lay her head in her godmother's lap. Junie decided she wasn't in such a rush after all. "You want to tell me what happened and why Miles wasn't at your party?"

"I didn't even tell Mum what happened; only Ginny knows," Rosie said softly. "He sent me a bouquet of flowers at six in the morning. His owl dropped them off with a note asking about the name. We really were hopeful," she said with a sniffle. "He'd included an emerald ring with the flowers, not an engagement ring but like a promise one. It's my birthstone, although everyone gave me pink diamonds because I love them so much. Anyway, I sent it back with a note saying we needed to talk. Harry went and got him for me. It was an ugly talk, Auntie Junie. He told me I should just ignore Fred, and he'd ignore whoever he got, and then we could be together when we were done at school, but I knew that wouldn't work. Miles yelled at me, which was awful. Then he started to cry, which was worse. I tapped on my mirror to let Harry know it was time for Miles to go; we have a secret code from when we were little. He stayed with Miles a while, talking with him. When the guys were gone, Ginny came in. We sat and talked for a long time. She went and got Fred, and I talked with him. Mum almost caught us. I asked him to come to the party, and he did. I liked dancing with him."

"The hurt gets easier, I promise," Junie said. "Talk to your Auntie Marlene; she can tell you all about having to break up with someone you think you love to be with your Heart-Bound."

"She was dating Uncle Sirius, wasn't she?"

"I'm surprised you know. It isn't something any of us talk about."

"Harry found a picture when he was digging through the boxes; he showed it to me. Auntie Marley was sitting on his lap, kissing his cheek. It must have been after a Quidditch match because he was still in his uniform. You were behind dad, your arms draped around his neck."

"Ah. I remember that picture. They'd won the match against Slytherin, sixth year. It was a big deal," Junie said. The pair sat in quiet for a few minutes.

"Well, I can only speak to my experience; falling in love with your Heart-Bound, if it truly is a good match, is as easy as breathing. I disliked Sirius with such a passion, but when I let go of what I thought I knew about him and spent time with the real him, well…we wouldn't be marrying him if I hadn't let him in."

"Can I tell you something? It's a bit of a secret?"

"Everything we say is in the strictest confidence."

"When Fred was getting ready to leave, he kissed me. It wasn't lingering or anything, just a sweet peck, but…my lips tingled when he did it."

"Yes, that happens," Junie said with a dreamy sigh. She let Rosie lay with her head in her lap for a while longer, eventually coaxing her to eat her toast and have some tea, which she called a house-elf for. Rosie got up and went to Gryffindor tower once the bells rang, letting her know the first class of the day had started. Junie then sped down to the kitchens, hoping she could share the menu she and Sirius had agreed on without much fuss from the elves.