Part 4

The general order of the people who entered the fire gate that Lydia built, started necessarily, with Philippa. Everyone who crossed the threshold would be judged against what she felt for Dorcas and strengthened and changed by everyone who entered after. They would find out if anyone bore strong enough ill-will against Dorcas that they might literally be burned alive but Philippa didn't need to know that. All she needed to do was pass though the blue flame just inside the kitchen door. Next Lydia passed through it. Heidi lugging boxes filled with cakes and goodies, Lupin and Sirius soon after. Several more people from school arrived along with the Fabian. Emmeline arrived strangely early but was not recognized partly because she had changed her hair red, Gideon almost booting her out for it. She waited in the corner nursing a drink but the color did suit her. She left shortly after Edgar arrived with his wife, his sister, Amelia, and her girlfriend, though they didn't call her that at the time. Edgar's wife was cordial and Emmeline did look rather striking and lovely with that hair color but Edgar's wife didn't say anything and instead gave a nod. Amelia did mention it, which was kind of her but she said so wearily either because of her work, Emmeline's presence or her brother's antics or a combination of all of it.

Frank Longbottom arrived with another small group of people Dorcas went to school with, Iris and her brother would make an appearance later in the evening. Two of her cohort from Auror apprenticeship as well as some of her mentors, some of whom where minor celebrities. While everyone was marveling that Kingsley Shacklebolt was in attendance, Emmeline snuck out and bumped into Alastor but she was moving so quickly and so focused on the ground that she didn't realize it was him and he did not recognize her with the red hair so didn't make a big deal out of it. He arrived as everyone was starting to loosen up but as if Kingsley wasn't enough- Those in attendance even the aurors, especially the aurors who had never met him, were stunned into silent awe. But the music was so loud and the drinks so free flowing, Alastor was able to make himself disappear into the couch (in a manner of speaking) and he was all but forgotten until Sirius, the unofficial MC called for a speech before singing and cutting a cake, which several people had brought.

"To Philippa, Dorcas' dearest friend, we have grown to love you as we love her, and judging by those in attendance that says something beautiful. A wandless witch if there ever was one. Who has made and kept a home to those who most need it. To such good cooking it would rival any potions master, to creativity to ask questions that stump even the brightest theoreticians and fearlessness to break a long standing wizarding law, I mean, to uphold the secrecy of magic's existence...", he bowed a little to the cluster of aurors and Kingsley.

"Honorary Ravenclaw," suggested Lupin under his breath, nestled close by.

"Honorary Ravenclaw." Added Sirius of which there was a smattering of applause, laughter and whoop,

"To Philippa!"

"To Philippa!" Everyone chimed. Lifting their glasses.

"To Dorcas, who has taught us magic that we never even imagined and at speeds we've never seen. Who conjures light in dark places and insists on clearing the chaos she finds there even if she had nothing to do with it. Thank you for all you've done for us, and us and us…" he emphasized.

Lupin and Alastor both gave Sirius a pointed look though the latter would have insisted that he couldn't have told you why. Everyone else laughed in lighthearted, if tipsy, confusion. Sirius looked around and at Alastor.

"Anything else to add Mr. Alastor Moody?" Everyone turned and looked in his direction.

"Happy Birthday, Philippa. Happy birthday, Dorcas." He lifted his glass to each of them.

"Ah, concise. A man of few words!"

"Far fewer than some." Lupin said. Everyone laughed good-naturedly. Heidi giggled and hiccuped. Emmeline might have smirked and snorted but she was gone.

"From the greatest auror of the age, to the greatest auror at any age. To Dorcas!"

"To Dorcas!" Everyone cheered.

When the cakes were brought out, obviously Heidi's was chosen because she had known Dorcas longest of everyone who had brought a cake and she owned a pastry shop in Diagon Alley and it didn't matter how small it was, did any of them?

Someone waved a wand and the lights were dimmed.

"Happy birthday…", they all started. Heidi levitated an enormous cake out covered in candles, sixty something for every year for each of them. Lydia did some magic of her own to ensure the cake remained levitated and that Heidi, who was enjoying herself and the refreshments, didn't injure herself standing that close to that many small flames.

Philippa and Dorcas held hands and beamed at each other and at the cake. At the end of the song, they closed their eyes waited a beat and blew out the candles which confused everyone in attendance with no ties to the muggle world. Heidi knew of enough of these traditions that she motioned for Sirius to start the song again who was confused more than anyone. She levitated a much smaller cake out with only two lit candles set on top and Lydia and Lupin handed out small candles checking over her shoulder at Heidi. The song somehow ended with several more wrong notes than the first. Philippa caught Lydia's eye smiling.

"First we make a wish." Said Dorcas to Philippa. They closed their eyes again.

"Then…" She went to Sirius who held out his candle and Dorcas' lit the one with hers.

Philippa and Dorcas went through the room slowly lighting the candles till the room was warmer and almost even with the glow.

"Now we blow out our candles." Which they did.

Philippa closed her eyes and blew out the candle. Dorcas closed her eyes and blew out her candle. As was tradition, everyone muttered 'fumatem' or 'to the clouds', or 'to the sky', however they'd grown up with the spell, and blew out their candles. Philippa liked this gesture better. So did Sirius. Everyone now carried some of their wishes with them and both of them, received what they asked for.

Amongst the late attendees were Peter, with love from the Potters. Marlene slowly made her way to the party. She had felt off all day. She ran into Alastor on the way there but pretended not to know him as he did with her. She got almost as far as the backyard and decided to turn around without going inside. Seeing him was enough reason to turn around. This was dangerous. The attendees included aurors and nearly half of the Order of the Phoenix. She knew the home would be fortified for that reason but should they really all be in one place at the same time? They couldn't even acknowledge each other's existence in public. She made a loop around the block and went straight home.

"The nature of a fire gate is two fold," Lydia had explained.

"It keeps out those who should be kept out and imbibes a little of the love and protection or knowledge of those who passed through before it."

It would not have made that much of a difference in this case but still. Maybe part of the power is in knowing you are part of something, you have been let into something and are kept for it. Marlene might have caught Philippa and Peter at the table discussing how Philippa could get in contact with Dorcas. Maybe if Marlene had, she might have been part of the conversation and, in three of them talking and sharing ideas, Peter might have had the idea sooner, to keep a spell in a jar that a muggle could hold and maybe even use. She might have recognized it for the magic it was. And she might have understood that if believed he could make such a thing, that Peter was a prodigiously gifted wizard.

Marlene already knew the pups (as she called the quartet) were talented, they were in the Order after all and it was even more impressive because they were so young but she would have recognized the type of magic it might require having come from her family. But she did not have the conversation. Peter only had a sketch of what he could do and how he might do it and Marlene went home, hoping that several of the Order weren't enjoying themselves so well that they made a mistake in revealing anything of the scope of how they might all know each other. She understood why people would want to, need to, celebrate but it was still a little reckless.

It was Lydia instead who understood the magnitude of what Peter had done and how he might have done it and told Dorcas as much. 'She would know,' Dorcas thought, 'my brilliant, Lydia.' Dorcas trusted Peter because Lupin trusted Peter. Dumbledore trusted all of them but couldn't tell Lydia that. Lydia, for her part, could not tell Dorcas directly how she knew that this was how cursed objects were made. Dorcas took for granted that they had gone to school together and Lydia was well read in the same way that the Potters would take for granted that they had gone to school with Sirius.

If Peter had not been vetted by so many people she would have been alarmed. And it was so elegantly done. Lydia's knowledge and understanding of magic had grown but so had her sense for it. She could usually sense magic, especially one that was as powerful as this in the form of her ears ringing or her fingers tingling if it had been done sloppily but this was so tidy and so clean she would have mistaken it for any common object. They could have been made or kept by ministry officials who worked with portkeys. Lydia only registered there might be something magical about the jars and tins and containers in front of her when she used a spell to confirm it but, she did not know then, none of them knew. Peter Pettigrew, like so many people would no longer be alive even as the war was supposed to have ended. She would think about how such a talented, young wizard had been murdered by his own friend. The young man who produced this magic had been caught unawares, unprepared. His own skill couldn't save him. 'Poor Peter.' Lydia thought when she learned the news, shaking her head, tired. 'Poor thing.'