Sunday, June 25, 1978

"Wake up, Padfoot."

James stood at the edge of Sirius's bed, shifting from foot to foot as he waited for his friend to stir. He raked a hand through his damp hair, making it stand up even more than usual. While Sirius mumbled and rolled over in bed, James raced to the dresser beside the window and rummaged around until he found the little velvet box he had stashed there last night.

"It's too early, Prongs," Sirius said through a huge yawn. "What are you doing?"

"Just checking to make sure it's still here," James said, slipping the box back into the drawer for safe keeping until he needed it later. "We should get started on decorating, though. I want to do a really good job, obviously."

Sirius lifted his head from the pillow to check the clock, then collapsed back down with a soft thump and a groan. "We have plenty of time. Go for a run first. Take a shower, have some breakfast, then we can bloody decorate."

"I've already done all that."

Sirius rolled onto his side and looked out the window. "You already went for a run? It's barely even light out."

"It's called Lumos," James said with a touch of impatience. He picked up Sirius's pack of cigarettes, then tossed it into the air and caught it. "Come on, Pads, get up. I've been awake for ages – I only slept about two hours."

"Then go back to bed, you idiot. Take a fucking potion or something." Sirius turned onto his back and pulled the blankets over his head. "Or get Twinkletoes to help you decorate," he continued, his voice muffled by the heavy duvet. "Or ask Mum and Dad."

"Mum and Dad are still sleeping–"

"Because they're fucking normal!" Sirius said, throwing back the duvet to glare at James.

"And I don't want Twinkletoes to help," James said, continuing as though Sirius had not spoken. "He doesn't know how to do that fairy lights charm. And I'm definitely not going back to sleep. I can't sleep – I can hardly sit still." He threw the pack of cigarettes into the air, but the top flew open and the cigarettes scattered all over the floor.

"Get a Quaffle," Sirius grumbled. "Leave my cigarettes alone."

"I can't find any Quaffles!" James abandoned the cigarettes and flopped onto the edge of Sirius's bed. "I'm proposing in approximately twelve hours, and we haven't even started decorating, and I haven't figured out what I'm going to say, and what if her parents don't like Mum and Dad? And I gave Seven my lucky whistle which was clearly a mistake, because now Evans is going to fucking say no, and there's a stain on the Ballycastle shirt she gave me and I can't get it out, and I can't find a single bloody Quaffle in this entire house!"

He ran his hand through his hair, then collapsed backwards onto the bed. His head landed on Sirius's leg, but he didn't bother moving. Thoughts whirled around his mind, and he was tempted to go for another run, to push his body to its limits until the nervous energy left his limbs, except then he would need to take another shower and there was no bloody time for that. We have to wrap the trees in fairy lights, and get the fireworks ready, and make sure the food is all set. Did Mum and Dad remember to get more champagne? Bloody hell, what if her parents don't like champagne?

"Prongs, why does it seem like half of our conversations are me calming you down when you're panicking for absolutely no bloody reason?" Sirius pushed himself into a seated position and reached for his wand, then Summoned two of the cigarettes from the floor and handed one to James.

James chuckled. "That's not true. A good amount of our conversations are you being angry about something and me handing you a bottle of firewhisky to make you feel better."

Sirius lit his cigarette and took a long drag, then blew out the smoke and grinned. "That's fair. And the rest of our conversations are made up of Quidditch and bothering Moony–"

"Don't forget explicit details about your sex life and making fun of Pete," James added.

"You love hearing about my sex life, don't lie." Sirius slid out of bed and pulled on the trousers and t-shirt that lay in a crumpled heap on the floor. "Alright, fine, let's go decorate at six in the fucking morning."

The sun was peeking out to illuminate the beach and the cliffs that bordered it as James and Sirius descended the rocky path from the house. The brisk ocean air cooled James's face and drove away some of the manic energy that had coursed through him since last night. Waves lapped at the sand, and gulls wheeled overhead as he breathed in, smelling salt and seaweed and a hint of his own shampoo.

"I'm thinking fairy lights around all of these trees," he said, making a sweeping hand gesture. "Unless, do you think…?" He frowned at the cluster of trees that lined the path leading to the house. "Yeah, I think every tree needs to have lights, otherwise it won't look right. And flowers — I need flowers, right? We'll let off the fireworks there, and I think we should, you know, personalize them. I feel like I'm forgetting something, but let's start with all that and go from there."

Sirius nodded and pointed his wand at the closest tree, starting at the top and wrapping fairy lights around the trunk.

"Just one question," he said, standing back to survey his handiwork and twitching his wand to spread out the lights. "You said you couldn't find any Quaffles, but did you try this revolutionary strategy called a Summoning Charm?"

"Oh, sod off," James said, grinning and striding off to decorate another tree.

By the time Mary, Peter, and Remus arrived and jogged down the rocky path to join them, James and Sirius were putting the finishing touches on the fireworks.

"Do any of these spell out 'Padfoot Smells,' by any chance?" Remus asked.

"They say 'Congratulations, Prongs and Evans!'" James said, grimacing. "So I hope she says yes, otherwise that's going to be awkward."

"Of course she's going to say yes, you prat." Mary kicked off her shoes and wiggled her toes in the sand. "You look like you got no sleep at all, by the way."

"Take a beach nap," Remus suggested. "Beach naps are great. And I'm somewhat of a nap connoisseur, so I would know."

James shook his head. "I'm too excited. I'd be up for tossing a Quaffle around as a distraction, though, if we can find a bloody Quaffle."

The sun was beating down on them, warming the sand when Fleamont and Euphemia descended the steep path to join them.

"This is so exciting!" Euphemia squealed, hugging James for the millionth time. He didn't mind — he had a feeling he was going to be giving and receiving a lot of hugs today, if everything went according to plan.

"Nothing's happened yet, Euphemia." Fleamont settled into his beach chair and opened the copy of the Daily Prophet that had been tucked under his arm. "Come and sit down, and you can do the crossword." He turned pages until he reached the sports section, then pointed at a headline. "Oh, look at this, the Tornados have made a trade for that Chaser from the Harpies, Algerton. About time they made a decent roster decision, isn't it?"

Lily wasn't expected for hours, so they spent the time swimming and passing the Quaffle and lounging on the sand. The sun was hot and the water brisk and refreshing, yet James wasn't enjoying the day as he usually would. When he missed the third catch in a row and the Quaffle landed hard in front of him, spraying salt water into his face, he admitted defeat and trudged back onto the shore to sit on a beach blanket beside Remus.

"Did you reconsider the beach nap?" Remus asked, looking up from his book.

"Nah. I'm too antsy."

Remus nodded, adopting a sage expression. "I don't suppose you want to borrow a book, then? I brought another one."

James shook his head. The sun was already drying his skin, leaving behind a coating of salt.

Remus pushed himself into a seated position and brushed sand from his trousers, then smiled and put a hand on James's shoulder. "She's going to say yes. We all know she's going to say yes."

James nodded but couldn't speak. He thought about the little velvet box, now wrapped in a towel next to the cooler for easier access. That ring had spent three months at the bottom of Sirius's trunk, waiting for this day to arrive, but now that he had so little time left to wait, the minutes dragged on.

"I'm really happy for you, Prongs," Remus said, still smiling, although there was a note of sadness in his voice.

"Are you okay?" James realized he had not asked Remus how he was handling the breakup. He had been too overcome with emotion yesterday, too stuck in his own head today.

"I'm fine." Remus looked down at his hands and picked at the peeling plaster wrapped around his thumb. "It's not about me today."

James laughed. "It's never about you, Moony. Except for, you know, one day every month…" He raised his eyebrows. "But usually it's about Padfoot."

Remus laughed, then reached for his wand and performed a quick Shield Charm just in time to shelter his book from the spray of icy water Sirius sent in their direction.

"You do have a point." Remus stood up and carried his book a safe distance away, then returned and gestured at the water. "Come on. Let's go back in, because he's only going to keep splashing us until we do. Besides, it'll make the time go by faster."

The time crawled by, slow as ever, but at least throwing the Quaffle and dodging splashes kept James moving. He was so occupied by the game that he didn't notice Lily's parents had arrived until he glanced at the shore and saw the two of them seated besides his parents, smiling and chatting as they applied sunscreen.

"See, look?" Sirius said, nodding at the four parents. "They get along fine. Mum and Dad get along with everyone. Mr. Evans must have horrible taste in jokes – I think I heard him laughing at that really stupid joke Dad always tells about the chupacabra and the coffee shop."

James heaved a sigh of relief as he pushed his sopping hair back from his face and made his way out of the water to greet them.

"Would you like something to drink?" Euphemia was saying. "We have water, pumpkin juice, Butterbeer–"

"Or real beer," Fleamont added, clapping Mr. Evans on the back. "This seems like the sort of occasion for a proper drink."

"Wizards do drink beer," Mr. Evans said, chuckling and nudging Mrs. Evans.

"Of course they do, Brian – why wouldn't they?" Mrs. Evans said, rolling her eyes and shooting Fleamont an apologetic smile.

James grinned and waved, then went to get them all beers from the cooler. Maybe this really will be fine.

The sun was beginning to dip lower in the sky when a loud crack rent the air and startled Peter so badly that he dropped his sandwich. Mr. and Mrs. Evans exchanged looks, eyes wide with wonder, as Twinkletoes appeared out of thin air and hurried over to James.

"Miss Evans is up at the house," he said in an excited, breathless murmur. "She's waiting in the parlor."

James's stomach dropped. All the sound around him faded away, leaving only a faint buzzing in his ears. He swallowed and took a deep breath, then ran his hand through his damp hair and forced himself to meet the elf's gaze.

"Please bring her down here, Twinkletoes."

Twinkletoes nodded, then frowned as he noticed Peter wiping sand from his sandwich. "Would Master James like more sandwiches as well?"

"Yeah, and bring some more crisps, too, while you're at it!" Sirius called, giving him a thumbs up.

"No sandwiches," James said, glowering at Sirius over his shoulder. "No crisps."

"Do we have any bacon left over from breakfast?" Sirius asked. "I could go for some bacon."

"Please ignore him, Twinkletoes," James said through gritted teeth. "We have plenty of food, he's just being a fucking tosser. Please just bring Evans down here."

Twinkletoes nodded, then disappeared again with another crack.

"No bacon, then?" Sirius asked, grinning.

"Remind me to murder you later when we're not short on time," James said, giving him the two finger salute.

He darted over and retrieved the ring box from its hiding place, slipping it into the pocket of his swim trunks, then grabbed his Invisibility Cloak and rushed over to Mr. and Mrs. Evans.

"Your little elf bloke can appear and disappear just like that?" Mr. Evans asked, snapping his fingers to demonstrate. "Can they all do that?"

"Er, yeah, they can," James said, fighting to keep his voice calm. "Anyway, Lily will be down any second, so if you wouldn't mind putting this cloak on, Mr. and Mrs. Evans? It'll hide you so she doesn't know you're here right away."

Mrs. Evans took the cloak and draped it over herself, eliciting a startled exclamation from Mr. Evans when she disappeared from view.

"Bloody hell, you really have an Invisibility Cloak? I thought you were joking."

"It used to be mine," Fleamont offered. "Good, isn't it? I gave it to James just before he went to Hogwarts – not like he needed any help breaking the rules."

Mr. Evans shook his head in amazement, then disappeared from sight when his wife lifted the cloak and tossed it over his head.

"Just mind your feet," James said to the empty air that he knew to be Mr. and Mrs. Evans. "And listen for the code word. When you hear 'cinnamon,' you can take off the cloak and let her see that you're here."

"Good luck," Mrs. Evans said, reaching out to give his shoulder a squeeze and exposing a few inches of Mr. Evans's bright red swim trunks in the process.

James didn't trust himself to reply, so instead he nodded and strode across the beach to wait beside the edge of the sloping path that led down from the house. He could see Lily picking her way over the rocky ground behind Twinkletoes, the straps of her flowered green bikini peeking out from underneath her t-shirt. The velvet box lay heavy in his pocket, and he slipped his hand around it for luck. As she drew nearer, he noticed a few strands of dark red hair pulling free from her ponytail as the ocean breeze tugged at her clothes, and he froze. She was so beautiful, and he couldn't even breathe, let alone get down on one knee and ask her to spend the rest of her life with him. We're eighteen, and we haven't even been together a year, and we're about to join a damn war. There's no way she's going to say yes – what the fuck was I thinking, buying a ring?

She looked ahead and smiled at him, and the edges of his panic began to recede. He took several deep breaths, then raised his hand to wave. It's going to be fine. Keep it together.

"Hi," she said when she reached him and Twinkletoes turned to head back to the house. "You look like you've been having a fun day."

He grinned. You have no idea.

She leaned in to kiss him, brushing sand from his bare chest, and her touch made him sag with relief. He clung to her, taking comfort from the familiar warmth of her body and ignoring Sirius's catcall.

"I missed you," he said as she laughed and adjusted his glasses. "Come on. I want to tell you something, and then Sirius wanted to do a toast. He said something about elf-made wine…"

"That's not a very beachy beverage," she said, taking his hand and following him across the sand, dodging the abandoned Quaffle, several beach towels, and an enormous sandcastle Peter and Mary had constructed earlier. "Although I probably shouldn't let Remus hear me say that, should I?"

She waved to the others, then continued on as James led her to the water's edge. The waves lapped at their feet, and Lily slipped off her flipflops and tossed them onto the beach. James held up a thumbs up behind his back, and a moment later he heard Sirius shout, "Nutmeg! No, fuck, sorry, cinnamon, cinnamon!"

"Why's he yelling about spices?" Lily asked, frowning.

"He's stoned," James lied.

Lily grinned. "I should've known. Anyway, what did you want to tell me?"

James glanced over his shoulder and saw Mr. and Mrs. Evans standing beside his parents, their faces lit with excited smiles.

"I invited your parents," he said, pointing.

Her smile widened as she followed his gaze and waved in bemusement before turning back to James. "What? Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't they tell me?"

James shrugged. "It was a surprise. I thought it would be nice for them to be here."

"So we could all celebrate us finishing Hogwarts? James, that's so sweet."

He hesitated, his fingers curling around the ring box in his pocket. "Well, that, too, but I thought they'd want to celebrate something else, as well."

He pulled his wand from his pocket and pointed it at the trees behind them, illuminating the fairy lights he and Sirius had wound around each of the trees that bordered the beach. More lights floated in the air above them, reflecting in Lily's eyes. She gasped as he flicked his wand again and hundreds of flowers appeared, lining the beach and woven in among the fairy lights around the trees.

"Daffodils," she whispered. She had gone still – everything except her eyes, which roved around the beach before returning to James.

"Yeah." His breath caught in his throat; he took a breath and tried again. " I, er, figured you liked them."

Heart pounding, he took her hands, hoping she wouldn't notice the slight tremble in his fingers.

"I've known you were the one for me ever since you used that toenail growing hex on Bertram Aubrey. You bond with my dad about potions, and you rub my shoulders after Quidditch practice, and you calm me down when I'm panicking, and you're always up for whatever nonsense we're planning, even if it means spending a month brewing Polyjuice to impersonate teachers for a prank."

She chuckled, and the soft sound of her laughter dulled the sharp edges of his nervousness. He squeezed her hand and continued, his voice growing steadier.

"You make me so bloody happy, and I think I make you happy, too, and I'd like to continue making each other happy for the rest of our lives. I want to spend the rest of my life listening to your tirades about Harold Minchum, or whatever unlucky sod gets his job. I always want to pick out the grass Bertie Bott's for you, even though they taste like dirt. I want us to embarrass ourselves with our awful dance moves for the next eighty years. I want you to yell at me when I try to teach our kids Quidditch before they're old enough to talk, and I want a house full of dog-eared books, and I want to sit around when we're old, telling each other corny jokes."

A wave crashed over their feet, splashing up and spattering his glasses with water, but neither of them moved. His palms were sweating in her grasp, but she didn't seem to notice.

"I want us to hold each other when we're afraid or sad, because with the way things are going, it's not going to be all happy times, but I know we'll get through it together somehow, because we always do."

Lily sniffed, and James watched tears form in her eyes and roll down her cheeks to splash onto his hand. Hardly daring to breathe, he released her hands and pulled the ring box from his pocket, then sank down onto one knee. His fingers slipped on the smooth velvet as his hands shook, but he managed to open the box. He imagined the diamond was sparkling as it reflected the twinkling fairy lights, but he didn't spare it a glance, because his eyes were glued to Lily's. The tears flowed freely now, coating her cheeks and dripping onto her t-shirt, and he wanted to kiss them away, but he couldn't stop now.

"I love you, more than Slughorn loves crystalized pineapple, more than Moony loves chocolate, more than Vernon Dursley loves drills."

She laughed, then reached up to wipe away her tears. The waves and Sirius's excited commentary and the music from the radio Twinkletoes had brought down – everything faded away except for James and Lily.

"I want to spend the rest of my life with you, no matter what that life looks like, because I can't picture a future without you."

He paused, savoring the anticipation on her face and the surprising weight of the ring box. They hovered on the brink of a momentous change, and he scrambled to memorize every detail: the tears glistening in her eyes, the loose tendrils of hair blowing in the light breeze, the bare expanse of freckled shoulder revealed by her shirt. He drank it in, storing it up for later, and then he gave in to the impatient voice in his head shouting at him to get on with it already.

"Lily Agatha Evans, will you marry me?"

A sob bubbled up from her chest, and James knew she couldn't speak, but her emphatic nod was enough for him. He plucked the ring from the box, almost dropping it into the waves in his eagerness, then fumbled to place it on her finger. Her hand blurred before his eyes, and he realized he was crying, too, but he managed to find her finger, and the ring slid on and nestled there as though it had been made for her. Another wave crashed over him, coating his glasses and further obscuring his vision, but it didn't matter because Lily was pulling him to his feet and wrapping her arms around him and he didn't need to see. Her kiss tasted salty, and he couldn't tell if that was the ocean water or their tears mingling together. The sound around them returned as though someone had turned up the volume, and he heard his friends' cheers and the boom of fireworks and the familiar strum of Sirius's ukulele.

"I told him not to," James said, releasing her so they could watch the fireworks bursting over the water. "He wouldn't take no for an answer."

Lily smiled and rested her head on his shoulder. "It's perfect."

As they stood there with the waves washing over their feet, the crack of the fireworks mingling with "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard," James smiled, enjoying the happiest moment of his life.

The next few minutes passed in a blur of happy tears and claps on the back, punctuated by the noise and dazzling colors of the fireworks. James was shunted between his friends and his parents, meeting up with Lily to steal a kiss before being dragged away for another round of congratulations. After an indeterminate amount of time he found himself down by the water with Sirius, sharing one of the bottles of champagne Fleamont had pulled from the cooler.

"I'm so bloody happy for you," Sirius said for the third time, pressing the bottle back into James's hand. "So bloody happy for you. And to think, this time last year you hadn't even seen her naked!"

James laughed, jerking his arm and spilling some of the champagne onto the sand. "You're so romantic, Padfoot."

Sirius gave an unapologetic shrug.

"I hope you're prepared to be my best man," James said, handing the bottle back to Sirius. "I don't want to put too much pressure on you, but if you don't give the greatest best man toast in the history of best man toasts, I'm going to be very disappointed."

Sirius attempted to light a cigarette while taking a sip of champagne and dropped his cigarette into the ocean.

"Bloody hell," he muttered, reaching into his pocket for another one. "Prongs, are you sure?"

James grinned. "Well, I was going to make Twinkletoes my best man instead, but I heard it's sort of common practice to ask your brother, so I figure I'm sort of stuck with you."

Sirius stood there with his cigarette dangling from the side of his mouth, eyes wide. There was a vulnerable quality to his gaze that James only saw on rare occasions, when alcohol and affection combined to disarm Sirius's surly exterior.

"Prongs," he said, a hitch in his voice that he tried to conceal with a cough.

"Don't cry, you sentimental sod," James said, pulling him into a hug and giving him a bracing pat on the back. "Then you'll have to pay Dad back his Galleon."

"Fuck off," Sirius grumbled, releasing him and taking out a third cigarette after dropping his second during the unexpected hug. "I wasn't going to cry." He lit the cigarette and took a long drag, then blew the smoke into the ocean air and cleared his throat. "That wasn't what I meant, by the way, about being sure. I meant about marrying Evans. You're sure?"

James turned back to the beach and watched Lily sitting beside her parents, her face alight with excitement as her mother bent to admire the ring once again.

"Pads, I've been sure for so long that I can't even remember not being sure."

His eyes lingered on Lily for another moment as she threw her head back and laughed, her dark red hair falling into his face. Then he tore his gaze away and bent to pick up the rest of the fireworks he and Sirius had brought down to the shore.

"Come on. We'd better set these off before Moony gets impatient. I think he got hold of one and customized it specially for you."

Sirius snorted with laughter and took one of the fireworks. "It says 'Padfoot Smells,' doesn't it?" he asked, rolling his eyes.

James shook his head and lit a firework, then sent it soaring into the air to burst in a shower of red and gold sparks that joined together to spell out PADFOOT SMELLS.

"Real original, Moony!" Sirius called, holding up a rude hand gesture.

His face aching from smiling so much, James helped himself to another sip of champagne, then lit another firework and watched the blaze of bright colors glittering over the water.

Much later, Lily's parents had driven away after lots of hearty thanks and congratulations, and Fleamont and Euphemia retired to the house to wash away the sand and champagne that clung to their clothing and skin. While the others started a fire and clustered around it to share a bottle of firewhisky, James caught Lily's eye and they slipped away together. They walked along the beach, then sat down on a damp, sandy towel James had brought along, enjoying a few minutes of quiet after the chaos of the last hours. James reached for Lily's left hand and ran his thumb along her ring finger, marveling at the diamond that nestled there.

"Is it a Potter heirloom or something?" Lily asked, staring down at it in wonder. "It's lovely. And also, it's…" She hesitated, a smile curling the edges of her lips.

"The biggest bloody diamond you've ever seen?" James asked, grinning. "That's what Padfoot said, too. It's not an heirloom. I, er, got it at a Muggle jewelry shop. I think it's supposed to be a rather good one – some place called Danah's?"

Lily's eyes widened as she moved the ring from side to side on her finger, then held her hand closer to her face. Her brows knitted together, and then a laugh burst from her lips.

"Is this – it is, isn't it? This is the exact ring Petunia has, but three times bigger."

"It might be," James admitted with a sheepish chuckle. "If you don't like it, or want a different style or something–"

"James, are you joking?" She turned to him and put a hand on his leg, her features lit with delight. "I absolutely love it. Maybe I'm petty, but this brings me so much joy. She was so bloody smug, and now look! I've got an even better ring, from my freak wizard boyfriend, no less!"

"Hey! I'm your freak wizard fiancé now." The word lingered on his tongue, sweet and deliciously new. He wanted to say it a thousand times more, shout it from the roof and publish it in the Daily Prophet and perhaps announce it on Muggle television so the whole world would know that Lily Evans was now his fiancée.

"I did try to invite them," he said, an apologetic note creeping into his voice. "I wrote your sister, and when I didn't hear back I asked your parents to invite them for me, but…" His smile faltered as he waited for Lily's reaction. Maybe I shouldn't have told her, he thought, his eyes glued to her face. I can't stand it if she cries – today's supposed to be a happy day.

She shook her head and smiled. "It's alright. It doesn't matter. Sod Petunia, and sod Vernon and his stupid bloody mustache." She looked down at the diamond, and her smile widened.

"I love you," she said, cupping his face and leaning in to kiss him. James tasted champagne and grass Bertie Bott's on her tongue, and her skin smelled of sunscreen, and he closed his eyes, drinking it all in. She deepened the kiss and he pulled her down onto the towel, wincing as a rock dug into his back, but it didn't matter because Lily Evans was his fiancée and she was snogging him while that enormous diamond glittered on her finger.

There was a crackle and a burst of light as more fireworks went off above them.

"How do you like that one, Prongs?" Sirius called from further up the beach.

I wonder what it says. Probably 'Prongs Smells' or something, James mused, but he didn't bother to look. Instead, he snaked his arm around Lily's back and reached for the Invisibility Cloak he had brought down just in case, then draped it over their bodies, hiding them from the rest of the world.

Sand clung to the blanket as Sirius stretched out his legs, inching away from the heat of the fire. Beside him, Mary tipped her head back to drain the last drops from a bottle of champagne. She wore only a bathing suit and his leather jacket, and her hair was wild from the ocean water.

"Do we have any more champagne?" she asked, her eyes scanning the sand around them. "Ooh, Bertie Bott's."

"Ugh, don't eat those," Sirius said, eying the box with disgust. "They're all grass. Prongs picked all the grass ones out of about a hundred boxes for Evans."

She dropped it onto the blanket with a sigh of irritation, although she perked up after Sirius wandered over to the cooler and returned with another bottle of champagne. He popped it open, sending the cork bouncing across the sand, then handed her the bottle. Foam poured over her hands and clung to her lips, and when she passed him the bottle, he leaned over and kissed her instead of taking a sip. His fingers brushed sand as they tangled in her hair, and he had a feeling she would be washing sand out of her hair for days.

"I can't believe they're engaged," she murmured, settling beside him with her head resting on his shoulder. "I still don't feel like we're old enough for that, somehow."

He blew a lock of sandy hair out of his face and took a sip of champagne. "We're old enough to fight a war."

"Shhh. We're not going to think about that today. Today is a happy day."

"You're right." He stretched sideways for his pack of cigarettes, handing one to Mary before lighting his own. "I really am so bloody happy for them."

She blew out a long stream of smoke. "Me too. I knew they were both going to cry."

Sirius chuckled, remembering the bet he had made with Fleamont as they watched the proposal from afar. He owes me a Galleon, Sirius thought, although he wouldn't actually collect on the bet – bragging rights were enough.

"Sentimental sods," he said, slipping his hand under the collar of the leather jacket to fiddle with the strap of her bathing suit. She'll have tan lines, he thought, smiling to himself.

"You know, I thought I saw you get a bit sentimental, too," Mary said, lifting her head to flash him a teasing smile. "When you and James were hugging down by the water."

Sirius turned his head to exhale a puff of smoke. "Nah. You know I don't have feelings."

"You're right. My mistake."

The sound of the waves mingled with Peter's snores and Remus's steady breathing from their blanket on the other side of the fire. Sirius watched them sleeping for a minute, their faces lit by the fairy lights that still twinkled above them. He took another sip of champagne and tilted his head up to see the stars that studded the inky black sky.

"This time tomorrow we'll be official Order of the Phoenix members," Mary said, flicking her cigarette to dispel a bit of ash. "Whatever the fuck that means."

"We're not thinking about that," he reminded her, passing her the champagne. "Today's a happy day, remember?" He tossed his cigarette onto the sand and lay back on the blanket. Mary settled beside him with a sigh, resting her head on his chest and sliding her hand underneath his t-shirt. "Besides," he murmured, "we'll be alright, somehow, or we'll get drunk or stoned enough that we feel alright even if we're not."

She laughed, her breath warm against his neck. "Great coping advice from Sirius Black: use your substance of choice until you forget a bunch of tossers want to torture or kill you for being a decent human being."

He draped a hand around her waist, resting his fingers on the bare skin revealed where the jacket gaped open. Her skin was warm from the fire and slightly sticky from the coating of salt water.

"I never claimed it was a healthy coping mechanism, but it fucking works." He reached across her, and without speaking she handed him the bottle of champagne. It was lukewarm from resting near the fire, and some of the bubbly liquid dribbled onto his t-shirt, but it warmed him from the inside out and drowned any stirrings of worry her words had prompted.

"We'll be alright," she agreed, idly tracing the scar on his chest. "As long as you keep enough firewhisky on hand, and I'm always around to roll us a joint."

He smiled, his eyelids drooping. "Sounds like a plan."

Pulling her closer, he closed his eyes and listened to the crash of the waves as he let all thoughts of the war and Death Eaters and adult responsibilities slip from his mind. They could worry about all of that tomorrow. Today was a happy day, after all.

Author's note: Thank you so much if you've made it this far! I've already finished a Jily sequel, and I'm almost finished writing a Blackdonald sequel that takes place at the same time. The plan is to publish them simultaneously, so that should be out soon!