Evangeline looked up at breakfast the next morning to see an owl deposit a letter next to her plate. Before she could do more than wonder at the sender, a second one dropped another letter next to the first. Then, she heard a sharp gasp and lots of muttering. She looked up in time to see a magnificent Bird of Paradise follow the owls and drop a gilt edged note next to her plate as well. By this time, she had the attention of everyone in the Great Hall, whether she wanted it or not.
As surprised as everyone else, she picked up the first letter, opened it, read it, then did the same with the second and the third. The contents of each were virtually identical. She could sense the intense curiosity and impatience of her breakfast companions. When she finally glanced up from her reading she found both Snape and Lupin staring intently at her. Others were glancing her way as well. Indeed, the hall seemed full of the light buzz of speculation.
Not comfortable being the object of this much attention, a small embarrassed smile quirked the corners of her mouth, and she shrugged. "I've been out of touch. These letters are from my closest friends. Apparently, Fudge's little news conference yesterday has gotten around. Not only were you cleared and praised, Severus, but I was mentioned as your fiancée. Everyone thought something horrible had happened to me, after I dropped out of sight last August. Now that they've discovered that I'm still alive, they want to know where I've been, what I've been up to, and why they haven't been invited to the wedding."
Snape nodded. "I see. Who are these friends? You've never mentioned any of them in the entire time I've known you."
"True. They've never come up. However, it's not like our time together has been uneventful, after all. They're actually friends from my class here at Hogwarts."
Lupin fingered the gilt edged note. "Which one uses a Bird of Paradise for a messenger?"
She glanced at him. "That would be Ariantha."
His eyebrows climbed his forehead. "Ariantha? You mean…Ariantha Collins? The singer!?"
She nodded, amused at his reaction. "Yes, that Ariantha. How many Arianthas have you met, after all?"
His jaw dropped incredulously. "She's famous. Heck, she's gorgeous! She went to Hogwarts?"
Evangeline smiled at this familiar response to Ariantha. "She was one of my roommates."
His eyebrows attained even higher heights. "She's a Slytherin?"
"Yes, does that really matter?" She frowned slightly.
Lupin hurriedly shook his head. "Not to me. I guess I really should have been paying more attention to the first years, when I was in school."
Snape frowned impatiently at Lupin and picked up the other letters. "Who are your other friends?"
Evangeline turned back to him. "Eleanor Hamilton and Margie Sharp. Eleanor was Head Girl, when we graduated. She's one of the most brilliant people I've ever met. She's high up in some financial position at Gringotts. She's one of the few non-goblins in an upper echelon job, I think. She works out of the Cairo branch. Margie Sharp works in a curio shop in Diurn Alley. She's the only one of them who's married. Her husband, Edward, works in…well, now that I think about it; I'm not really sure what he does. I've only met him twice, and once was at their wedding."
He nodded thoughtfully. "I see. Do they have any children?"
Evangeline shook her head. "No, they don't. They've only been married a couple of years. I guess I'll be the first to have children. That seems so strange. I never thought I'd ever even get married, let alone have children."
Snape frowned. "Why would you assume that, Evangeline?"
She leaned closer to him and spoke softly, "People with secrets tend not to get too close to others. I'm sure you can relate to that, Severus."
He smiled knowingly and squeezed her hand. "Do you intend to invite your friends to the wedding?"
She looked down at the letters. "Well, I hadn't intended to, but now that they all know about it, I'm not sure."
"You're free to invite whomever you wish, you know."
She smiled up at him. "I know. I just wanted to keep it small and somewhat private. This brings in so much of the outside world. And then there's Sirius."
Nodding in understanding, Snape commented dryly, "That's true. And his inconvenience would, of course, be a dreadful pity."
Evangeline tried to suppress her smile. "Yes…it would."
Lupin frowned. "What do you mean?"
Evangeline turned to him. "If outsiders are included, Sirius would have to remain a dog around everyone. That wouldn't be right."
Lupin's frown deepened. He could see his chances of meeting the beautiful and intriguing Ariantha Collins dwindling before his eyes. "Maybe not. He disguised himself when he helped to rescue the ministers. They didn't recognize him."
Evangeline nodded. "That's true, but they were in shock, Remus. They wouldn't have recognized their own mothers."
He snorted. "I wouldn't go that far." Unwilling to give up that easily, he added, "Still, I think a disguise might work. Most people have never even seen a picture of Sirius, and the ones generally circulated don't look anything like him now. It would be a shame if you couldn't invite your friends to your wedding because you were afraid for Sirius' welfare."
She stared at him in amusement. "And it would really be a shame if you didn't get to meet Ariantha Collins, huh, Remus?"
His motivation brought to light, he grinned. "Well, there is that, too."
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Evangeline stood on the top of the Astronomy tower and looked out over the landscape. It really was a beautiful view from up here. As she gazed out at the horizon, she realized that any other time that she'd been up here, she'd been dealing with a crisis. "I've stared at this landscape many times, but I've never really seen it," she mused. "It would make a lovely painting."
The door opened behind her and Sirius Black emerged onto the rooftop. "You wanted to see me, Angel?"
She turned and smiled at him. "Yes, Sirius, thank you for coming."
With a suggestive grin on his face, he walked over to her, took her hand and kissed it, then held it close to his chest. "Does Severus know we're having this private little chat?"
She grinned back at him. "Yes, as a matter of fact, he does. Actually, he suggested it."
Rethinking his approach, he dropped her hand and raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What's up?"
"I received some letters from some old friends this morning. They found out that I'm getting married from Fudge's news conference, and they want to come."
He nodded. "Okay. Don't you want them to come?"
"Yes, I guess I would, but not if it means that you have to go into hiding. I want you there…as a person, not a dog. The only way I could think of to have all of you there would be if you were willing to come in disguise. Would you consider it? If not, I'll just tell them it's going to be a private ceremony and hopefully visit with them afterwards."
He frowned. "You and Severus have to be careful where you go, Evangeline. Voldemort is still after both of you, remember."
She nodded. "I know, Sirius."
"It'd be safer for your friends to come here. I can go in disguise, I suppose. How'd you like me as a blond?"
She shrugged and shook her head. "I didn't have the pleasure of seeing you as a blond, but I'm sure you looked wonderful."
"Maybe I'll try a mustache this time and turquoise eyes. What do you think?" He found himself warming to the idea of going in disguise. It appealed to his flair for the dramatic.
"I'm sure you'll look handsome, no matter what you decide." Evangeline smiled at his acceptance of the idea.
He sighed theatrically and placed a hand over his heart. "It won't really matter, though will it? However I change myself, you'll still only have eyes for Snape. You know I'll never understand what you see in him."
She laughed and kissed him on the cheek. "No, I don't imagine that you ever will. Thank you, Sir Gryffindor. Be sure and choose a dynamite name for yourself, too. I guess I'll send out some wedding invitations, after all."
She patted his arm and went back inside to write to her friends.
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Ariantha Collins plucked the invitation off the stack of mail that her maid brought to her.
"Well, it's about time, Evangeline," she said as she opened the envelope. She read it, nodded her lovely head, and turned to her appointment secretary.
"Clarisse, am I booked up the last weekend in June?"
Her secretary looked up in alarm. That type of question always seemed to mean problems.
"Oui, Mademoiselle Collins. You 'ave a concert scheduled in Milan that weekend."
Ariantha waved a hand. "Well, you'll have to reschedule it."
Clarisse blanched. "Mademoiselle, I am not sure that will be possible."
Unwilling to put up with any argument, Ariantha skewered her with a look. "Well, you'll just have to make it possible, Clarisse. One of my oldest and dearest friends is getting married that weekend. I practically begged to be invited to the wedding. I'm going! End of story. Milan will simply have to get along without me."
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Margie Sharp stood on her doorstep and opened her invitation. "Oh, Edward," she called to her husband, who was just leaving for work. "It's an invitation to Evangeline's wedding at Hogwarts! You'll have to be sure to get time off the last weekend in June. We're invited to come a few days early. Oh, say you can, please!"
He frowned. "I don't know, Margie. I'll have to ask my boss. We're very busy at the moment."
She pouted. "Oh, Edward. I ask so little. Evangeline Winthrop is one of my oldest and best friends, and I haven't been back to Hogwarts since graduation. I don't want to go alone. Please, ask you boss today. Please?"
He sighed and nodded. "All right, Margie. I'll ask. Now, I've got to go, or I'll be late for work. The boss hasn't been in good temper lately, so don't get your hopes up."
He gave her a quick peck on the cheek and strode off up the street.
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Eleanor Hamilton stood in front of her boss's desk and showed him her wedding invitation.
"Will this be satisfactory?"
He nodded as he perused it. "Oh, yes, excellent. We'll have everything ready before you are to go. This will be a big help, Miss Hamilton."
"Not at all, I'm happy to help. I'm sure it'll be quite a surprise for Severus Snape."
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Evangeline lay on her back on the bed with her eyes tightly closed and a hand pressed to her stomach. Her face was as white as the light summery gown she wore.
"Why now, Severus? Isn't it too early for morning sickness? And why doesn't it confine itself to the morning? We're getting married in six days! I don't have time for this now." She groaned.
He smiled in sympathy and sat down next to her, placing a cool hand on her sweaty forehead and stroking her hair gently. "Please relax, Evangeline. Everything is ready for Saturday. Things will go fine. I think your nerves might be making the sickness worse. Have you talked to Poppy about it? Isn't there anything she can do for you?"
Hesitantly, Evangeline cracked open her eyes and peeked at him from under the lids. "She said there's a potion that might help me, but she didn't have time to make it until the students leave…I don't suppose you'd have the time either?"
He considered the problem. "I am awfully busy at the moment. As soon as I get all the exams finished up and the grades posted, which I must do today, I'm late as it is, I can look into it. I suppose I could put off my inventory until after the wedding. Perhaps I could make the potion tomorrow, before the end of year feast."
"Please, Severus, could we not talk about feasts?" She moaned and gave a small sigh. "I don't want to be any trouble. I can last until Thursday if I have to. I just don't have the energy to deal with things the way I need to."
"What needs to be done? Can I help you?"
She carefully opened her eyes and looked up at him. "What really needs to be done is to rein in Minerva! Who'd have guessed she was such a romantic about weddings? She has some new idea about what should be done, everyday! It's driving me crazy. I just want a few flowers, a handful of guests, you and me, and a wedding…period! We don't need doves, and mountains of flowers, and white velvet carpets, and flower girls, and goodness knows what else!"
He chuckled. "Would you like me to speak to her, Evangeline? Or you could just use me as an excuse. Tell her I won't stand for anything fancy or overdone. I can go glower at her if you think it might help. I really haven't had a good argument with Minerva in quite some time."
She smiled just thinking about that little confrontation. "Thank you, Severus, but I don't want to intimidate her, just tone her down a little. I'll talk to her again. I'm sure you're right. I'm just letting my nerves run away with me."
She sat up to kiss him, turned green, whispered, "Uh Oh," and scooted off the bed and ran quickly into the bathroom, slamming the door in her wake.
Snape looked after her with concern as he tried to figure out just when he could possibly fit making the anti-nausea potion into his busy schedule. There really was an awful lot to finish up before the students left on Wednesday, then Thursday was a full moon. He can't forget to make the Wolfsbane Potion, either. Too bad it needed to be made fresh each time. Rising from the bed, he walked over to the closed bathroom door. Distressing sounds were coming from inside.
"Evangeline, are you all right?" A worried frown creased his forehead. Pregnant women were a new experience for him, one he wasn't sure he was ready for…not that it appeared he had a choice at this point.
After a slight pause, her tired voice called back, "I'll be okay, Severus, don't worry. I'm just going to stay here for awhile. Yes, I think that would be best. You go on and do whatever you need to. I'll see you later."
He hesitated, hating to leave her if she needed him. "Are you sure you'll be all right?"
"Women have been having morning sickness for thousands of years, Severus. I'll live. If you can't make the anti-nausea potion for me at the moment, then frankly I can't think of anything else you can do for me right now. Unless you want to throw up in sympathy. Moral support is always appreciated. This baby is fifty percent yours, after all."
He smiled faintly. Glad to see that she hadn't lost her sense of humor.
Her voice floated out to him once more, "Don't worry, Severus, I'll be okay. I'll see you later."
"Very well. I'll check on you at lunchtime." He left the room frowning and thinking that somehow he really did need to fit making the anti-nausea potion into his schedule, today.
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