Disclaimer: Once again...I do not own Harry Potter, nor would I ever claim to own Harry Potter. Sad fact of life.

Remus Lupin glanced at his sleeping friend and snorted. Some things never changed. Then, of course, Sirius should be tired after last night. He had run around like the maniac he was, pulling Remus along with him, all the while attempting to put more alcohol in his system than a full-grown hippogriff could handle.

Sirius is a good friend, he reminded himself, despite his questionable habits, to him as well as to Alex.

Alex. Today was the day. Their wedding day. Remus could hardly believe it was actually happening, but it was.

An exceptionally loud snore from Sirius broke Remus' train of thought. He looked at his friend with amusement as an uncharacteristically evil thought entered Remus' head. One last prank to remember me by Padfoot.

The look on Sirius' face as the bucket of ice water showered his tousled head was priceless. A great start to any day, Remus thought as Sirius threw a soaked pillow at his head, cursing.

"REMUS!" Sirius shouted upon finding himself drenched to the bone, his friend laughing guiltily above him.

Must be Alex's influence. He was never this much of a prankster before he met that troublemaker. At the thought, he beamed with pride. Alex was more like her cousin than most people thought, including Sirius himself. Both had defied their family to become first Gryffindors then Aurors, and both were incurable tricksters.

Sirius flung a pillow at Remus' beaming face, hitting him squarely in the face and almost bowling him over.

"Now Sirius, just think how angry Alex would be if the person she trusted to walk her down the aisle couldn't walk straight!" The thought brought a mischievous grin to Sirius' face.

"You won't be able to walk straight when I'm finished with you!" And with that, Sirius the dog flew at Remus, truly knocking him over this time.

Sirius was just about to slobber all over Remus' perfectly groomed hair when James burst into the room, panic in his hazel eyes.

Remus pushed Sirius off him as Sirius transformed back into his original shape, his grey eyes staring perplexed at his best friend.

James cut off their questions with a look. "There's no time. Lily called. Something's happened to Alex."

A wave of panic hit Sirius as the words sunk in; he quickly looked to see Remus' reaction when he realized that the pop meant his friend was already gone.

James and Sirius exchanged a grim look before following their friend to Alex's flat.

Within seconds Remus, James and Sirius had all apparated to Alex's flat, fear clearly visible in all their eyes.

Remus, with a strangled sob, ran straight to Alex, picking her up in his arms as if she weighed nothing.

"Tell me she's alive," he said, his voice shaking wildly.

"I'm sorry Remus," Lily whispered, tears running down her face as James held her tight in his arms. "She's dead."

Remus dropped to his knees, his precious burden still held tight in his arms. He brought Alex to his chest, kissing the top of her head, and sobbed as if his heart was cleft in two.

Sirius stood in the background, on his face a mixture of horror and disbelief. How could something like this happen the day of their wedding? Who was evil enough to do such a thing to his sweet, innocent cousin?

The answer came immediately: Bellatrix.

It made sense. Alex had been tracking her. She apparently had been close to finding her, too close for Bellatrix's comfort.

He turned away from the awful scene, focusing on the patterns of the wood floor. He couldn't bear to look at Alex, his favorite cousin, dead, cradled in her fiancé's arms.

Anxious to do something, anything, Sirius let his eyes roam the room, looking for some clue as to what had happened last night. The bed had been slept in, the room was in shambles. Alex's wand lay across the room, broken cleanly in two–she had apparently put up a good fight, but had been overpowered.

Then he saw it. On Alex's dresser. A small sheet of paper, unlike the rest very orderly, very purposely placed there. He immediately recognized Bellatrix's manic writing on it. He read it silently, growing angrier as he did. If it was the last thing he did, he would kill Bellatrix. She was as good as dead.

Remus,

Congratulations on your nuptial! Hope you liked my wedding present. I did go to so much effort to get it for you. Or was it that she went through so much pain? Oh yes, that was it. Give my regards to the other blood traitor Sirius and let him know that the same sticky end awaits him if he proves to be as meddlesome as Alexandra.

Happy Anniversary,

Bellatrix

On second thought, death is too good for that scum, Sirius thought.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! Tell me what you think...aka REVIEW! I can definitely go on with this story if you guys want me to. I have some ideas and some more things to explain. So, once again, REVIEW and tell me your opinions.

Thanks again neurotica for reviewing! I'm surprised that you didn't see that coming, but then I guess it's hard for me to put myself in the reader's perspective since I've known it all along. And yes, poor Remus. I feel guilty about putting him through all of that, but I do think that it explains a few things about him. And thanks for the encouragement! I hope more people are reading this than are reviewing. But I hope they start reviewing!!! (Hear that everyone?! GUILT TRIP!!!)

REVIEW PLEASE! Thanks!