Sirius Black groaned into his pillow as one side of his mattress sunk beneath someone else's weight. After a night running through the countryside with the lads, he would have been tired enough to sleep through it if his guest hadn't run their fingers through his hair.

"Remus?" he mumbled, rolling toward the visitor, his eyes closed.

"No such luck, my beauty."

He grinned but still didn't open his eyes. "Marlene."

"Yes," she said, arranging his arms around herself as she backed into him, fitting into the bends of his body, her back against his chest.

"What time is it?" he murmured into her thick chestnut hair, his arm clamped around her waist.

"Too early to be bothered about it," she said. "Still hours until the funeral. The rest of the Order is coming later. But me, I came early in case you needed a cuddle."

He hummed an answer, a sound vaguely like a dog's whine.

"You've been out as Padfoot all night," she said.

He nodded against the back of her head. "Did wonders. We all needed it. Wearing off now."

"Poor pup," she cooed. "These dear old Potters were your second parents."

He blew a sigh into her hair. "They were until my family threw me out. Then they were my only parents."

Marlene turned to face him, nose to nose on his pillow. "I'm so sorry, Sirius."

He opened his eyes and pecked a kiss on her mouth. "Thank you. Thanks for being here with me. My offer still stands to start being together full-time, whenever you're ready."

She scoffed, but with great affection. "You're getting as clingy and sentimental as James."

"And no one knows but you," he said, kissing her in earnest now. Off and on, they'd been snogging each other since they were thirteen. They had trained each other to do it exactly as they liked it best. This morning, in keeping with the looming funeral, their kiss stayed in a low gear, strong with emotion rather than passion, slow and affectionate.

As it started to intensify, Marlene broke away. Sirius had been sleeping shirtless and she used her forefinger to trace a line down the centre of his chest. "I heard Lily's parents are here."

"Hiding from Death Eaters," he said.

"Very wise of them. Things are getting worse by the day, especially for mixed Muggle-magical families," she said, tucking his hair behind his ear.

He blinked, his eyes full of pain. "Did the Death Eaters do the old Potters in? What's the Order saying? Lily has a theory about a bio-magical agent and a Ministry mole named Yaxley."

Marlene sighed and hugged him around the neck. "Sounds right. We were already monitoring Yaxley when the Potters took ill. No one can be trusted. Ministry credentials don't mean anything anymore. Speaking of trustworthiness, it was quite perplexing to meet Lucius Malfoy's fiancee downstairs."

Sirius blinked again, suddenly agitated. "My cousin? Narcissa? She's here?"

"Yeah, she was coming out of the ballroom with James and Remus when I came through the Floo. And to tell you the truth, I've never seen her look so bedraggled. I mean, I've never seen her with a hair out of place at all, but her cloak looked positively shredded in places this morning."

"Remus," Sirius said. "How was Remus? Was he quite himself?"

"Yeah, he seemed alright," Marlene said. "Sad, but that's why we're here."

Sirius kissed her once more on the end of her nose before disentangling their limbs and sliding to the edge of the bed.

"You're getting up already?" Marlene said, sitting up herself.

He was fumbling with a T-shirt. "Someone needs to go send my cousin home."

"Don't make a scene, Rus," Marlene said, walking across the bed on her knees to sit beside him. "There will be all sorts of people coming here to pay their respects today. And you might not like all of them. The Order will handle anyone who's actually dangerous. Let them throw Malfoy out if he comes here to collect her."

"What if Narcissa is the one who's dangerous?" he said. "Especially when Malfoy's not around?"

"We have no reason to believe that," Marlene said, smoothing his shirt over his back. "In fact, the last intelligence we have on Narcissa is that she's recently got back in contact with Andromeda and Ted Tonks. That's a very good sign."

"Andromeda?" Sirius paused with one shoe in his hand. Then he shook his head. "Nah, it's not enough. Narcissa may not yet be a menace to all of wizarding society, but she's much more than dangerous to Remus."

Behind him, Marlene let out a bitter laugh. "What's all that supposed to mean. He's not so foolish as to fancy her, is he?"

Sirius huffed. "Only after she pursued him relentlessly for the entire term."

"She did not."

"She did. You just saw her chasing after him with your own eyes."

"No," Marlene said. "No one as vain and materialistic and proud as Narcissa Black would ever be involved with Remus Lupin. He's lovely, but not for her. Not to mention she is very publicly engaged, and her family's views - "

"I am well aware of the views of her family," Sirius said, trying not to snap. He sighed and took Marlene in his arms. "But I am also well aware of the affinity Remus has for the House of Black. It is utterly believable that he has brought Narcissa here with him this morning for all the same reasons I'm so glad you're here with me. It's stupid of him, but believable."

Marlene still looked sceptical, but she said. "Just don't cause a fight with Remus that James will feel like he has to mediate. I know you're hurt, and I am here just for you. But everyone else is here for James."

He pulled on a jacket and stood up. "Right. I'll be calm about it. But she can't stay."

In case anyone from the Malfoy or Black families was waiting at the school, Remus and Narcissa went to the Potters' manor directly from the exit Floo in the shrieking shack. The house was silent when they arrived, the main floor empty and echoey with everyone still upstairs in bed. Remus waited to see if anyone would come to see who'd activated the Floo, but no one did. Effie and Monty hadn't been in the habit of rushing to greet visitors, but the lack of welcome still made Remus keenly lonely for them.

Narcissa took his hand. Remus's eyes were fixed on the double doors to the ballroom, now hung with wreaths of white gladiolus. His heart sank. "They're in there," he said. "The Potters, they'll be laid out right through those doors."

Narcissa squeezed his hand. "Do you want to see them now?"

She saw him swallow before he said, "Yes. Will you come with me?"

The door squeaked ever so slightly as Remus opened it. Sure enough, set up in front of the large window, but on the opposite end of it from where Lily and James had stood when they were married, were twin coffins, gleaming cherry wood heaped with lilies.

Remus led Narcissa toward them, stepping quietly, like he and the lads used to do when they'd sneak into a room where Monty was napping. Each coffin was open at the top half and covered with a white gossamer cloth. Once they were close enough, Effie and Monty's faces were veiled but visible, still as wax.

A voice spoke into the room. "They were soulmates, you know." It was James, standing in the open doorway.

Narcissa jumped and Remus whirled around. "James."

"Soulmates, all this time," James went on, pacing toward them, coming closer to the coffins. "Even if Aunt Bathilda hadn't told me, I would have known after I watched the way they died. It was beautiful, Remus. Isn't that impossible? A beautiful death?"

"It was as you saw it," Remus said. "They do look peaceful now. Not that they were ever anything but calm and reassuring around me before."

James's face twitched in something like a smile. "They were good at peace. Maybe the soul bonds gave them that. I don't understand much about what it will mean for Lily and me in the end. But the bonds we make with people we love, they're stronger, and stranger than I ever guessed."

Remus felt Narcissa looking at him, and tightened his grip on her hand. "Let's not worry too much about any of that for now," he said to both of them.

James nodded but seemed to be fading in the sunlight coming through the windows and beaming off the highly polished wood of the coffins. Remus let go of Narcissa to clap James in a hug. "I'm so sorry, my friend."

James patted him hard on the back. "I know. Thanks for being here, especially after what you must have gone through last night, all on your own. Or," he raised an eyebrow over Remus's shoulder, wordlessly asking after Narcissa, "maybe not so alone. Hi, Narcissa."

"Good morning, Po- James."

Remus sighed and draped an arm around his shoulders, walking James out of the room, Narcissa following behind.

"No worries about last night. It was," Remus had to pause for breath, "eminently tolerable. I do need to get cleaned up though, preferably before we run into Padfoot and Wormtail."

They stepped back into the hall in time to see Marlene arriving through the Floo and skipping up the stairs after Sirius. Remus smirked as she waved at them. "Well, isn't that nice."

"Looks like Sirius won't be down for a while. Come get something to eat before you go up," James said. "The morning after a full moon everyone's famished. And there's always plenty of oatmeal porridge to be had here."

Lily was in the kitchen, already cooking the promised porridge, her back to the door. "Bless their hearts, James, there's no fruit in the house but prunes."

"Make a nice big batch, love," he said. "Remus is here too and he's brought a guest."

Lily was not emotionally prepared to hide her look of annoyance at seeing Narcissa Black in the kitchen of the Potters' manor. She sized her up from the dirty skirts of her dress to the torn cloak hanging from her shoulders. She wouldn't have bothered to comment on any of it if she hadn't also noticed Narcissa's left hand.

"Your ring, Black," Lily said. "What've you done with that terrifying opal engagement ring you've had on all year?"

Narcissa grabbed at her own hand, as if noticing for the first time that the ring was gone. She stood silent for a moment, remembering, before she shook her unbrushed hair out of her face. "I took it off. Last night, while the moon was up. I had to. I'm not bound to Malfoy anymore. I'm here," she said, pausing for breath mid-sentence herself now, "with Lupin."

Remus caught himself before he swayed on his feet, shaking his head and smirking. This girl…

Lily pursed her lips, as if she still didn't quite believe it.

Narcissa wanted to return her look, cold and haughty, unconcerned. But she couldn't manage it. She was tired and emotional, didn't know what was going to happen next, and wasn't ready to share Remus with anyone yet. All she cared about was escaping to a quiet room before anyone saw her cry.

"You know, I'm not hungry right now," she said, turning to face Remus, taking both his hands, hating her voice for sounding like a scared little girl's. "I'd rather just rest and catch my breath."

"Right," he said. "James, I'll see Narcissa up to Lily's old room, if that's alright."

"Certainly," James said. "It should take ten minutes to get there and get settled. I'll use my mother's old alarms to time you."

Lily swatted at him as they left the room. "James Potter, don't you dare use your mother's alarms on them."

"What? I thought you wouldn't want her getting too comfortable here," he said.

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, but you saw Remus's face, when she looked sad and clearly wanted to leave to be alone with him."

"You fell for that big misty eyes routine?"

She wrung Effie's old apron. "Maybe a little. This is already so catastrophically awful, James," she said, looping her arms around his neck and sitting in his lap at the kitchen table. "Losing both your parents. Giving up the home you and your friends have always had in this house. Sending my parents away. Let's not bring petty unpleasantness into it."

"Fine, fine," James said. "I don't even know how Mum did that alarm thing anyway."

She kissed the antler bump hidden in his hair. "Good. Let's not make harsh judgments of a friend like Remus, or even of someone from Sirius's awful family."

"You rang?" Sirius said, bursting into the room with Peter and Marlene. "Now where's my coz?"

"He's bluffing about an alarm," Remus said as he led Narcissa up the stairs. "I mean, he'd better be. But it's best we hurry anyway. Don't want to run into Sirius. Not yet."

Lily's old room was cold so Remus stooped to light a fire. Narcissa had taken off her cloak, but she was still standing as if waiting when he turned around.

"I think I'd rather take a bath before I try to sleep," she said.

"Oh," Remus said, realizing she was indeed waiting for him to go before she undressed, even though…

She wasn't looking at him, scanning the lace-laden room instead. "Maybe you could let Lily know I could use something more suitable to wear for the funeral."

"You'll be coming with me then?" he said, bright but confused.

She gave him a wan smile. "I have nowhere else to go."

Remus crossed the floor and held her tightly, whispering. "You are not here out of desperation. Above anything else, you are here because I want you with me, because I won't let you go."

She was shaking in his arms, beginning to cry. "My mother - when I see my mother again, after running from Malfoy, will anything be the same as it was?"

He kissed her hair, rocking from side to side, fighting the urge to burrow into the bed and disappear with her forever. "I don't know. I'm sorry, Cissa."

"Don't be sorry," she said, wiping her eyes. "If they won't stop insisting on Malfoy, sending him to apprehend me at school, I have to run from them. I don't regret it. But I am sad for all the lovely things about my family I have to run away from along with the bad."

He smoothed her hair from her crown to her back. "Maybe when they see they'd be leaving themselves with just Bellatrix Lestrange for a daughter, your parents will realize disowning is no way to handle a family dispute. Especially one that should be none of their business, like who you refuse to marry."

She nodded against his chest. "If only Malfoy would disappear. He'll be there at the house, poisoning my father's mind, interfering and winding everyone up."

"Malfoy's useless," Remus said. "Forget him. But tell me, what did you do with that ring of his?"

She almost laughed. "You mean, during our 'eminently tolerable' evening together? I threw it into the fire in the shack's parlour. Don't you remember?"

Remus stared off into the fireplace grate. "Yes," he said after a moment. "Yes, I do. It was the first thing you removed before we - "

"It was the only thing I took off myself. You saw to the rest of it," she said.

Remus's face flushed red so swiftly he felt the rush of blood tingle in his cheeks. It was shockingly strange to think of himself taking her like that, only it wasn't strange at all.

He cleared his throat. "Your head is clearer than mine when we're transformed. You remember everything better than I do."

She hummed and swayed against him. "Yes, and that's why I love you better."

He clucked his tongue "Don't start that again."

"But it's true."

He sighed, an uneasy sound. "Tell me another thing. We spent hours together last night. How is it possible that you're not hurt? There doesn't seem to be a scratch on you." He reached for her wrist. "Except for this."

She stood on tiptoe and kissed his jaw. "Sometimes I think I know your Moony better than you do. In that state, you were perfectly content to lay across my lap and let me stroke your pelt, scratch your ears and chin. It wasn't all mad love. Some of it was actually sweet. You were so delicate with my wings..."

He smirked. "You're having me on."

"I'm not."

He slid his hand beneath her hair, between her shoulder blades where her wings would have been, swirling his fingers in a circle against her skin as if to conjure them. "I remember these," he whispered. "I must have paid them very close attention. Sometime, I'd like to see them as Remus, and touch them with my fingers, instead of trying not to shred them with my claws."

Her cheeks were pink now too, and she was rising toward him. Remus was about to kiss her when voices rang out in the corridor. Sirius and Marlene were going down to breakfast. Peter was joining them, and in the jumble of conversation, Remus heard his own name.

Narcissa sunk back onto her heels. "You'd better go. They deserve an explanation for why I'm here, today of all days. And I don't think I could bear to hear it."

The porridge was cold and thick at the bottom of the pot when Remus reappeared in the kitchen. Sirius made a show of sniffing hard as he took his seat at the table, Remus's hair fluffy and still slightly damp.

"You smell clean," he said. "Too clean. As if you've deliberately scrubbed something off yourself."

"Always need a good scouring after a full moon," Remus said. "Lily, I'm afraid I haven't brought anything suitable to wear this afternoon."

"Oh, we'll find something," Lily said. "It looks as if neither Monty nor Effie ever threw away an article of clothing. We'll have to transfigure them a bit to make them the right size but we should be able to figure that out. I suppose Narcissa will be needing something too?"

Remus coughed. "Yes, actually. Thank you."

"She - Narcissa, that is - she's not in trouble is she?" James asked.

Remus nodded. "She is. Her father sent Malfoy to bring her home from school, and she ran away."

Sirius whistled. "No one defies Cygnus Black without being made to pay for it. Not even his spoiled brat baby princess. She knows that."

Remus gave another grave nod. "Yes, and she's quite upset. But she couldn't go home with Malfoy. Not after he forced Legilimency on her against her will."

Marlene winced. "By the stars - why am I not surprised?"

"Wait, now," James said. "She didn't just run away from Malfoy and the Blacks. She's run away with you. I know she fancies you, but it makes for far more trouble. Why in the world would she do that?"

"Yes, if she just wanted to get away from the Blacks and their marriage debacle, she could have gone to her sister," Marlene said. "That would have been far less scandalous."

"And trust me, Remus," Sirius said, "this will be a scandal, a dangerous one. One you won't be able to keep your face out of. And once the press and the Blacks and Malfoys start looking into who you really are, once they get their hands on the registry - "

"I know," Remus said. "I know all of this. We both do."

Sirius shifted to the chair beside Remus, his hands on his shoulders. "Send her back. Get her out of here before anyone else knows she's come. Marlene's right. She should go to Andromeda. Send her there. Get them to tell everyone she's been there all along."

"Look, she's not an unruly pet," Remus said. "You know what she's like, Sirius. Narcissa goes where she likes. And for now, she - " he paused, gathering the nerve to speak the rest, "she says she'll stay where I am."

Sirius sneered and shoved Remus away.

"She may mean it. She's got rid of the engagement ring already," Lily observed.

Sirius wasn't hearing it, saying. "Who cares about rings? You're a married woman and you don't even wear one." He was standing up from the table even as James tried to hold him in place. "I'll go wake Narcissa myself. I'll take her to Andromeda. Why not? It's not like my family can disown me twice. But she has to go. Whatever romantic intentions she may have, she is going to get you killed, Remus. Tell him, James. Pete, tell him. Killed."

Remus sat back, scrubbing his face with his hands. "We can't send her back. We're past that. It's not that simple anymore."

"Why not?" Sirius demanded.

Remus was silent, his head bowed.

Lily tried. "So, let me understand, Remus. Narcissa left Malfoy and ran to you?"

"Yes."

"And she found you at the shack?" James added.

"Yes."

"D-during a full moon?" Peter asked.

"Yes."

"Then why isn't she dead?" Marlene blurted.

"Because she's got a creature form," Peter said. "Veela. And Moony only wants to kill humans."

James was shaking his head. "Well, thank the stars for the school's chastity charms. You told us Moony fancied Veela Narcissa. So I can only imagine what he would have tried with her without them."

The whole room waited for Remus's reply, to confirm. They listened, watching for a nod. There was nothing. He sat with his head still bowed, speechless as the tension mounted.

"Remus Lupin," Sirius said, shattering the quiet with a manner of speaking very much like his mother Walberga Black's. "What have you done?"

Remus laid his arm on the table and tugged his sleeve upward. Everyone leaned forward to see.

"She bit you?" Peter said.

Remus nodded. "It's more than that."

Lily took his arm, turning it in the sunlight coming through the kitchen windows. "Stars help us. James look, we read about this. Remember? In the book. We read it over Christmas holiday. From the S section."

He wasn't getting it yet, thinking out loud, taking Remus's arm in his hand to see it better. "The soulmates book?"

"Yeah, but it was about all sorts of different soul bonds. And this mark, I remember it," she said as Remus withdrew his arm, covering the mark with his sleeve. "Remus, don't tell me this is…"

"A creature bond mark, yes," he said. "Moony and the Veela - they bonded us to each other last night."

James was quick to take up the next point. "Bonded. So then the chastity charms - "

"No longer affected us," Remus finished. "Yes, it's consummated. It's done."

Peter gaped, and clapped Remus hard on the back. "Sly old Moony."

"Oh, yes, sly Moony. He's signed your death warrant," Sirius said.

"Come on, Sirius," Remus said, his humble confessions over, angry now, rising to his feet. "We've always known Moony would be the death of me. At least he's given me the best possible reason to be hunted down. I didn't murder anyone. No, quite the opposite. I - "

Sirius was standing too, gutted and sarcastic. "You what? You loved someone?"

"Yes!" Remus shouted at him. "I will die for love. Just like James or Lily would. People die for love, Sirius. If they're lucky, that's what they do."

Sirius spun around to storm out of the room, getting as far as the door before rushing back, grabbing Remus by the front of his jumper. "No, this is not the end of it," he said. "Dumbledore will be here today and we're telling him everything. You always do just what he says. He'll speak sense to you. Promise me Remus. There's love between you and me too. Honour that, and promise me you'll ask Dumbledore what to do to save yourself."

Sirius looked up at him, his jaw clenched, his eyes glassy. Remus returned the look, sad and stoic, as if there was no use and he hardly minded.

They were still locked in this pose when the kitchen door opened. Mitch and Cheryl Evans were arriving for breakfast.

More than anything, Cheryl was craving nicotine, clawing toward the coffee pot instead. She ignored the boys except to say. "Everyone's up so early. I thought young people were supposed to enjoy a good lie in."

Mitch shook his head at Sirius and Remus as they let go of each other - these friends of Jim's, more wizards taking themselves far too seriously.

When it was time to get dressed for the funeral, Lily knocked on Narcissa's door. The mood was already grim and entering the museum-like setting of Effie's bedroom made it more so. Frankly, Lily was almost glad for her company.

She showed Narcissus what she'd found for them to try. "These are all the black dress robes. The ones that aren't cocktail dresses or ballroom gowns, that is."

Narcissa hummed. The clothes were too heavy for early spring, and many of them weren't yet dated enough to be chic. Nothing was right for young women in mourning. "Would you mind if I had a look at the rest of it?" she said.

Lily picked at the gowns she'd laid on the bed. "Yeah, go on then."

She followed Narcissa into a closet, long and densely packed, like a catacomb. Narcissa pressed past the house dresses Effie wore most often at the end of her life, back through decades of couture. Her wand was flicking hangers off the racks, dresses, skirts, jackets and scarfs hovering in front of her. She was swapping pieces out, frowning and nodding, and just when Lily was about to protest that they couldn't appear at a funeral dressed in mismatched pastels, Narcissa flourished her wand again and the clothes she'd chosen were coloured black.

Lily gasped. "A re-cololuring spell? With just a flick, not even an incantation?"

Narcissa smirked. "These are the spells witches considered decorative accessories by their parents and suitors learn first." She drifted a smart black suit toward Lily, shrinking its shoulder pads as it came. "There. That's the look of a daughter-in-law everyone can trust to carry on. Oh, one more thing," she said. "This hat. The little veil just shadows your eyes, so you can cry with dignity if you like."

Lily ran her hands over the suit as it came to rest on the bed. "It's perfect. Not even my mother's ever worn anything so posh and stately."

Narcissa shrugged one shoulder. "It's what suits you best now, Madam Potter."

As Lily dressed, Narcissa found something for herself. It was a plain sheath dress, long-sleeved, lengthed to end below her knee, with a heavy stole she could wrap around herself and raise over her head, all but disappearing from view for when they went to the churchyard in Godric's Hollow, where someone unfriendly might see her. She chose it hoping to make herself inconspicuous, but there was nothing inconspicuous about Narcissa Black dressed up like a lady instead of a schoolgirl.

She stood beside Lily in the full length mirror. "Now you look like this family's future," Narcissa told her. "It lifts a little of the tragedy."

Still looking in the mirror together, Lily took Narcissa's hand. "Thank you."

James was knocking at the door, calling through it. Lily dashed to let him in with the rest of the lads.

"We need some help," he began as he rushed inside, but then he froze. "Lily?" He lunged toward her, taking her hands. "You look - beautiful, and brilliant, like everything is going to be alright, somehow."

She smiled, her hands on his face as he kissed her mouth, bumping his head on her hat, both of them apologizing and laughing gently into each other's faces.

As the new Potters greeted each other, Narcissa noticed the reason James had been asking for help. Remus was standing sheepishly behind Peter, his arms half bare in a jacket of Monty's that was far too short.

"It's the best we could do with him," Peter stammered, not used to talking to her.

At the sight of Remus, Narcissa didn't laugh but formed that curving half-smile of hers. She swept past sneering Sirius, his arm linked with Marlene's, and nudged Peter aside.

"Come here, Lupin."

His look of embarrassment turned to relief as she pulled him into the open, her wand whipping about him, re-tailoring his clothes, lengthening, tapering, smoothing.

"There," she said, tugging lightly at his cuffs as she finished. She'd brought Remus's clothes from ridiculous to almost too showy. "Not perfect," she said, brushing his hair away from his face, "but I like it immensely."

At her declaration, everyone turned to look. What was most impressive wasn't the clothing but their faces, Narcissa looking up at him like she'd missed him terribly in the morning they'd been apart, and Remus looking dreamily back, his hands on her elbows as she leaned against him.

All the gazing into each other's eyes was about to start Sirius raving again. There was a sound like a snarl as Marlene pivoted him toward the door. "We'll be downstairs, James."

The room was empty except for James and Lily. Her eyes traveled over him from his head to his shoes. "Look at my darling husband, now done up as the dutiful, loving son and heir."

He blew out his breath. "Pete's been down to the ballroom and says it's packed with guests - mourners - whatever. All of the ones from outside the Order think you're just my girlfriend."

"The sweetheart," Lily said, stepping close again, nose to nose with him.

"True enough," he said. "But I don't want to go through my parents' funeral without my wife."

He reached into the pocket of his jacket, opened his palm, and revealed a small circle of shining white platinum. "This was Mum's ring. And this was Dad's." He raised his hand to show her the simple ring he already wore, polished bright as a mirror. "They're identical, of course, perfectly round like stars seen through a telescope. Twin stars. I didn't want them buried with my parents' bodies. I wanted us to wear them as they were intended, as wedding rings. It's a little late, but if it's alright with you - "

Lily's arms were around his neck, her eyes teary. "Yes, of course. It couldn't be more right."

He found her lips and kissed them, slowly and deeply, as if everyone his parents knew wasn't waiting for them. His arms closed around her where the suit tapered at the waist as he pulled her heels out of her shoes. Holding her felt as right as it ever did, but also different. She was one of the great ladies of the Potter family. It couldn't be kept hidden any longer. She was the new matriarch, maybe the most powerful one yet.

He took her hand as he broke the kiss, sliding the ring onto her finger. "My Madam Potter."