Hi guys! I'm sorry this took so long. I wanted to write the entire chapter, but realised it had to be split in two again so hopefully part 2 will be ready for next week or the week after.

Excuse n'42 - I started my full time internship before graduating, so I've been flying back and forth to do exams and then come back to work, and getting the flu because of the mono-infected immune system. All of that's mostly dealt with now, so I'm picking A Tale of Two Sides back up!

I'm really sorry for the consecutive hiatuses; I know it can't be fun for you, and I feel so guilty about the short chapters, so thank you once again to those of you reading for sticking through! Thanks also for all the well wishes, they really warmed my heart!

Thank you so much to Nikoo, Lalyh, best writer, Mattia18, SecretFruits, Livi, Saum the Smol Teddy, Nosleepanon (your name made me laugh), One Smart Waffle, sukondis, Cae-Leigh Anne, xxxQueenxxx, Wikked and Slytherin Buttercat for reviewing! Those of you with pennames - I'll answer your reviews within the week :)

Emma found Barty on a hilltop in Norfolk, his straw blonde hair turned golden in the dying rays of the sun. His collar was turned up, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his trench coat that was far too warm for this time of year. As she drew nearer, she noticed that his eyes were riveted on the scene below.

When she had stopped by his house, his mother had warned her that he was going to the funeral of his close friend Benjy. It seemed that she had arrived too late. Down by the small village church was a grave darker than the rest, fresh flowers lying atop the soil. Three figures dressed in black stood huddled nearby, whom Emma guessed to be the family.

'I couldn't even attend the ceremony,' Barty said, his voice hard and laced with venom, his gaze unmoving.

'We could go down now,' Emma suggested. 'His parents won't know what House we were in.'

'Oh yes, Emma, why don't we go down?' Barty quipped. 'Hello, I'm sorry for your loss, did you know that I was the one who caused it?'

'Don't say that, Barty,' Emma started, her voice consoling. 'It wasn't your fault-'

'No, it was yours!' he interrupted angrily, setting his jaw. 'You made a fucking mistake and Benjy had to pay. Now that another raid has gone wrong, the Dark Lord has decided that Benjy's "outlived his usefulness"!'

Emma recoiled, his words like a physical slap to the face.

'I- I'm sorry-'

'Sorry isn't good enough though, is it?'

Emma faltered, not knowing what to say. Sorry wasn't good enough. Sorry wouldn't bring Benjy back. Sorry was a meaningless compensation for what had happened; like trying to stitch up a wound with sugar lace - sweet at first, but ultimately dissolving into the cut to worsen the pain.

'Rabastan was the one to do it,' he said suddenly, hunching further into his coat. 'He told me he had asked for it personally. That he would make sure that it was swift, that it wouldn't hurt.'

'That's something then, isn't it?' Emma asked. So that's how Lucinda knew that Barty would be upset. I wonder if Rabastan told her the extent of his involvement?

'Not to them,' Barty replied, gesturing towards the family down below. 'They found his body, mutilated. Alecto decided that a quick death was too generous for a Muggle-loving fool such as him. She compensated by slicing his body into pieces and making sure they were scattered around England. I watched them place an empty coffin in the grave earlier.'

He lapsed into silence, his golden brown eyes shimmering with tears of anger as he clenched his jaw.

'I know he was on the wrong side, but…'

'I'll have a talk with Alecto,' Emma said firmly, deciding to put an arm around the seventeen year old.

He leaned in to her embrace, pressing his head against her shoulder as they watched Benjy's family slowly pick their way through the cemetery, Apparating once they had left the gate.

'Do you want to go down?' Emma asked.

Barty looked as lost as the teased fourteen year old he had been, rather than the brilliant young man he had turned into over the years. Though he was only a year younger than herself, she felt oddly protective of the young Slytherin, wishing that she could whisk him away from the war they had embroiled him in. He gave a tight-lipped smile, before straightening up and shaking his head.

'No,' he said firmly, his eyes turning cold as he stared down at the grave one last time. 'In the end, he chose the wrong side and he paid for it. It would have come to this, sooner or later. I'm not wasting time or tears on him any longer.'

'Lily,' James whispered, tugging the duvet off of her shoulder.

'Hmm?' she asked, rolling onto her back.

'I don't want to wait.'

'Wait for what?' Lily's voice was heavy with sleep, and she yawned before snuggling back under the covers.

James knew that she'd fall back into oblivion soon, waking up in the morning with no memory. So he did what anyone would do, and reached for his wand.

'Lumos Maxima.'

'Oh my god, James, my eyes!' Lily cried, shying away from the light and raising her hands as a form of protection. 'We've talked about this!'

'I know!' James cried, realising that he was also blinded and promptly dropping his wand. 'Nox!' he yelled, hoping that his force of will would be enough. It was, and they were thankfully plunged back into obscurity. 'Sorry about that.'

Just as Lily drew breath to speak, a knocking sounded on the wall.

'James! We've talked about this!' Sirius's voice came from the room next door.

'Sorry!' James called, more loudly this time as he angled his face towards the wall. After a moment's silence, he turned back to Lily, snaking an arm under the covers to make sure that she was facing him. 'I just needed you properly awake this time.'

'Why, what's wrong?' All trace of sleep had left her voice this time, and James could almost hear her frowning.

'Nothing,' James replied hurriedly. 'Nothing's wrong. It's just… It hit me at Benjy's funeral today. I don't want to wait. I don't want to live with my life on hold, waiting for the end of a war that may not even come.'

'What do you mean?'

'I mean that I want to get married. Not in one year, not in six months, not even six months. I love you and I want the whole world to know. I haven't changed my mind in seven years, and I'm not going to start now.'

'James, I-'

'No, Lily,' he cut her off, preemptively sensing her doubt. 'I mean it. I really do. Forget about being sensible, forget about being practical. This is about you and me.'

'All I was going to say was that I agree,' Lily said with a laugh, her hands finding his as she sat up in bed. Pulling him close, her lips sought out his. 'To hell with the war. I'm going to marry James Potter.'

From beyond the wall came the sound of a large whoop.

By the time Regulus got back, it was dark. There wasn't a soul in sight, the street eerily silent. He turned his key in the lock as quietly as he could, creaking the door open slowly and inching his way in before shutting it. Taking off his boots, he crept up the stairs, feeling like he was back at Hogwarts and sneaking around after curfew.

As he reached the fourth floor, he breathed a sigh of relief. His mother wouldn't be able to hear him from the first floor, and Emma was most likely already sleeping. It came as a surprise to him then, to find her sitting up on his bed, her head buried in her arms, knees tucked up beneath her.

'Emma?' he asked, half-whispering out of habit, folding his coat onto the chair and coming to sit beside her.

'Thank Merlin,' she breathed out, her voice choked as she reached out to him.

Instinctively pulling her close, Regulus frowned as she buried herself in his jumper, her shoulders shaking with each sob.

'What happened?' he asked, a sense of dread descending upon him.

'Benjy Fenwick was killed, but that doesn't matter right now,' she replied in a strained tone. She looked up at him, her blue eyes swimming with tears as others streamed down her face. 'What happened? What happened to you? Where were you all day? Do you have any idea how worried I was? I couldn't go and look for you, in case someone thought you couldn't do your job. I couldn't ask Rabastan, or he'd get suspicious. I couldn't do anything, but I was so worried that you'd been caught, that you'd been found out! I-'

'Shh,' Regulus hushed her, blinking at the onslaught of news. He had never thought about what would have happened if he had been caught. There was no way to contact each other without potentially making the situation worse than it was. 'I'm fine. I just lost track of time.'

He was rewarded with an extra burst of tears as Emma clutched at his now damp jumper.

'I'm so relieved,' she whispered, raising her head to kiss him fiercely. She tasted like salt and vanilla and a desperation that he hadn't felt in a while.

He felt himself responding with equal fervour as he imagined how he would have felt if their positions had been reversed, kissing her again and again as if to sear her lips in his memory. He drew her closer, until there wasn't an inch separating them, until he became uncomfortably hot, but he didn't care.

'I love you,' she said as they separated for breath, leaning her head back even as her legs intertwined with his.

And that was when it hit him.

If something had happened, if he had stumbled into one of the Dark Lord's traps, where would that have left Emma? She'd be left alone, living in a house with a woman who had already grieved the loss of a husband and her her first son. What would it take to make his mother finally snap? She had already threatened herself with death should Regulus ever choose to follow in his brothers' footsteps. What would happen to the house then? What would happen to Kreacher?

'Regulus?' Emma asked, her eyes shifting between his, the confusion clear on her face. 'What is it?'

'Marry me.'

Emma rolled her eyes playfully, disentangling herself from him. 'How many times are you going to say that before the actual wedding? It's only supposed to work once, you know.'

Regulus felt himself blushing. It was true. This was the third time he had said it, each time meaning something different. He had always prided himself on having a plan, and here he was, so confused about something that he had no doubts about.

'I meant sooner,' he clarified.

'I thought it was already sooner?' Emma teased, smiling despite her puffy eyes. 'How much sooner do you want it to be?'

'Next week?' he asked, kissing her again. 'Say, Monday?'

'But Monday's your birthday,' she protested, pulling back again.

'Finally there might be something worth celebrating,' he countered.

And with that, he kissed her again so that he wouldn't have to see the pity in her eyes.

'We've set the wedding date for Tuesday,' James said excitedly, lifting his legs to set his feet on the bench.

The twins were in Madam Malkins. It was a perfect meeting place, one that they had agreed on beforehand. Every wizard needed robes, and a few silencing charms made the changing booths more private than most locations. They just needed to make sure that no one saw two pairs of legs under the edge of the ruby red curtain again. The things people assumed were embarrassing, to say the least.

'What?' Emma asked, flabbergasted. 'Is that a joke?'

James's face faltered, his excited grin a little less bright. 'Why would I joke about this?'

'Because Regulus and I have decided to get married the day after tomorrow,' she explained, feeling her face heat up. Looking at the ground, she shuffled her feet, pretending that she was changing out of her robes.

It was James's turn to look incredulous this time.

'What? But you're only eighteen! He's barely of age?'

Emma raised an eyebrow.

'Pot,' she faked a cough,' kettle. Black.'

'Fine,' James said resignedly, pouting all the same for dramatic effect. He opened his mouth as if to continue, but shut it at Emma's pointed stare. 'So…We're both getting married, huh? Mum and Dad would be proud.'

'Of you, maybe,' Emma replied dully, looking away before James saw the tears spring to her eyes. Get a grip, Emma, she told herself. Getting emotional won't help you, will it?

There was no use in pretending with James, though. He reached across to clasp her forearm, not realising - or not caring - that it was the one branded with the Dark Mark.

'You know that Mum would have loved to come,' he said quietly. 'And she'd have starved Dad until he caved.'

Emma let out a laugh despite herself. It was true that Natalie Potter was nothing if not a peace maker.

'The world could really use a Mum now,' she said, her face scrunching up despite her best efforts. 'I know I could.'

'Me too,' James said, and Emma noticed a tear slide down his left cheek. Crossing the booth, she sat down beside him to hug him tightly.

'We have each other,' she said, her voice slightly muffled. 'I bet she's happy about that, wherever she is.'

'She's probably going on at me for not cleaning up enough at home, actually,' James joked, managing a watery smile.

Emma looked at him, before snorting with laughter. Soon neither sibling could help themselves, imagining their mother's exasperated look at the situation they had got themselves into.

'I want you to come, James,' Emma said eventually, sobering them both up. 'It wouldn't be right without you.'

'I wouldn't miss it for the world,' James replied. 'But how? In case you hadn't noticed, I'm on Voldemort's most wanted list, Dumbledore's borrowed my invisibility cloak, and I can't just waltz into Grimmauld Place-'

He stopped at the growing grin on his sister's face.

'Or can you?' she asked.

He rolled his eyes. 'Come on, Ems, I'm a Marauder, I'm good, but I'm not that good.'

'I'm serious!' she said animatedly, her eyes lighting up as she paced across the changing room. 'Walburga just wants Regulus to be happy and married and giving her grandchildren. Regulus likes you, and Lucinda couldn't give a soggy rat's arse about what side you're on so long as she can take care of the decorations and cake.'

'And Rabastan?' James asked skeptically. 'Isn't he Regulus's best man?'

'Let me handle Bast,' Emma replied, then grinned as she remembered the last time James and Rabastan had attended a party together. 'But just in case, bring a batch of Bertie Bott's party beans.'