A/N: Sorry this one took so long! I had a massive writer's block and this is why this chapter isn't entirely good... anyways, I hope you like it :)


"I told you!" Dorcas exclaimed, shouting to be heard over the loud music and voices.

"You said two, don't be having a victory dance yet," Lily said, sitting down at her friends' table with a huff.

"Yes, but what was that about not getting married during a war, Lily?" Rachel asked mockingly.

Lily glared at her friend. "This is my wedding day, I expect a little more respect," Lily said, faking seriousness. She burst into bouts of laughter immediately after.

Alice sat next to Lily with a huge smile on her face. "So, how's married life, Lils?" she exclaimed happily.

Lily crossed her arms and sat back, her face flushed. "Merlin you guys, I've only been married for two hours," she muttered.

"It's exciting!" Dorcas replied. "Only one more person and fifty galleons are mine!"

Lily sent her friend a glare. "Thanks for the wedding wishes, Dorcas," she said sarcastically.

It wasn't completely unbelievable that James and Lily had gotten married. Granted, they were young, but Rachel knew that outsiders wouldn't be able to tell the difference between Married James and Lily and Dating James and Lily. The two were just meant to be and as vomit inducing as that phrase was, Rachel thought it was quite nice that her two friends were able to get on so well.

And romantic phrases aside, Lily looked beautiful. She was wearing an amazing strapless white silk gown. Her hair looked even fierier in comparison to the snow-white material and it seemed that her happiness was infectious. Her face was flushed red and it seemed that joy was the only emotion Lily had that day. Rachel was happy beyond words for her friend.

The friends laughed and joked for a little while longer, until James showed up and asked if he could steal Lily for a dance. Obviously, no one said no.

"So," Dorcas started. "Who do you think is getting married next?"

"Hmm, I'm placing my bets on Mary," Rachel replied. "Seems as the type with suppressed romantic emotions and she's been quite friendly with Benjy Fenwick lately."

"Fenwick… is he the cute one that wears cardigans?" Marlene asked.

"Uh… yeah, I think so," Rachel replied cautiously.

Marlene shrugged. "They'll have beautiful children."

"And what about you, Marls?" Dorcas asked pointedly.

"Ugh, I've told you," Marlene said. "Do you not know me?"

"She's like the female version of Sirius," Rachel said.

"Except I'm not dating you," Marlene added.

"Oh, you don't say?" Rachel replied.

Dorcas laughed. "Okay, what about Emmeline, then?"

Dorcas, Marlene, Alice, and Rachel looked over at their friend Emmeline only to see her sitting down and… reading.

"I think the closest thing Em's getting to romance is a Jane Austen novel," Rachel stated.

"A what?" Marlene asked.

"Oh, I heard about those, it's a Muggle thing," Dorcas replied. "They take up most of Lily's bookshelf as well."

"I figured they would," Rachel stated.

"Hello lovely ladies!" Sirius's unmistakable voice echoed and everyone turned around to see him and Remus approaching their table.

"Padfoot is here to seduce all of you," Remus announced sarcastically.

"Namely a certain someone," Sirius added, coming up behind Rachel and wrapping his arms around her.

"That's sweet," Marlene said. "Now excuse me while I go puke."

"Hey, maybe you two will get married next," Emmeline said, not looking up from her book. She grabbed her goblet and held it up. "Cheers!"

Dorcas and Rachel let out rather unflattering snorts of laughter and Emmeline looked at them with a confused look.

"Sorry," she said, returning to her book and taking a swig of whatever it was in her goblet. "Fifth glass of spirits. My mind's a tad boggled."

"And I thought I had a high-alcohol tolerance," Rachel said.

"Fancy a dance?" she heard Sirius whisper. Rachel felt his hands gently on her shoulders and she couldn't help but smile.

Rachel turned to face him with a questioning look on her face. "Since when can you dance?"

"Don't mean to brag, but I have some moves," Sirius replied smugly.

"Okay then," Rachel said, standing up. "You can teach me."

Sirius took Rachel's hand and led her to the dancing area just as a slow song was beginning. Rachel made a disgusted face and Sirius looked over at her and laughed.

"What?" he asked with a laugh.

"Slow dancing," Rachel replied as Sirius pulled her close to him. "So... blech."

"This is shocking," Sirius said sarcastically. "After basically two years of dating, I never figured you to be an anti-romantic. This changes everything."

Rachel laughed. "Okay, and you're ever the romantic, right?"

"Of course," Sirius replied. "I get you chocolates every month."

"Because I yell at you to," Rachel stated. "Lily does the same with James."

Sirius frowned. "I still don't get it what it's with you girls," he said.

"Oh, don't worry about it," Rachel laughed.

Sirius smiled at Rachel. "Do you know that I love you?" he asked, happiness evident in his eyes.

Rachel's eyes widened. "Obviously," she said. Rachel smiled. "I love you too."

Sirius smiled and pulled Rachel close to him as the two slowly danced in circles to the song that was playing. It was those moments that Rachel appreciated, when they were close to each other and there was nothing that could get in the way of that. Rachel always took those kinds of moments to think back and realize how much the two of them had been through and how much they'd grown together.

And it was in those moments that Rachel realized exactly how much she loved Sirius.


"I'm so happy for you, Marls!" Dorcas exclaimed, coming up and hugging her friend and newlywed. Dorcas pulled away from her and outstretched her hand. "Now pay up."

Marlene's face turned into one of shock. "Come on, Dorcas, I'm at my wedding. I'll pay you later," she said.

Dorcas sighed. "Fine, I'll accept it," she said. Suddenly, Dorcas smiled. "But I can't believe I was actually right—fifty galleons are all mine!"

"All right, calm down and stop being happy for the wrong reasons," Rachel said. "Congrats Marls. I never thought you'd get married."

"Neither did I, to be honest," Marlene replied.

"It took a great Fabian Prewett to make Marlene settle down," Mary said.

"Oh boy, I'm going to dread handing Dorcas ten galleons," Lily muttered.

"What's all this talk about galleons you guys keep going on about?" Alice asked.

"Uh, some time before Lily's wedding and while you were preparing yours, we made a bet on how many more weddings there would be before the end of the war," Dorcas said. "I said two. I won."

"You're kidding me, right?" Alice sighed.

"Unless," Rachel suddenly exclaimed. "Someone else gets married and then there were three marriages and you would need to give us our money back."

"Rachel," Marlene said. "You do realize that's not happening, right?"

Rachel nodded lightly. "Yeah, I was being hopeful. I just want my ten galleons back."

"Look," Marlene started. "For me, nothing else maters today. I'm going to go dance with my husband, get drunk, and have a fucking good time. Screw this war!"

Everyone laughed and Marlene left them with a smile. The girl truly had a way with words.

"Leave it to Marlene to brighten our moods and shut us up," Rachel stated.

"That was basically a war speech," Emmeline commented.

"Hey Lily," Rachel whispered to her friend. "Your pet's drunk."

"What—?" Lily's face fell and she rolled her eyes, but a smile seemed to make its way back. "What is James up to this time?"

"Nothing good," Emmeline replied monotonously.


"Okay, you are—oi, get out of the bloody way!"

Obviously, taking a photo was harder than Dumbledore had anticipated.

It was photo day for the Order of the Phoenix. Dumbledore had decided that if the Order were a proper group, it would need a group photo. So that was how every member of the Order was currently pushing and shoving to simply get a spot. While the members were magnificent Aurors and fighters, their communication skills seemed to be a little low. Rachel had attempted to take charge of the situation and organize everyone, but that quickly went downhill.

"This is going to hell," Emmeline commented as she came up behind Rachel.

Rachel sighed. "Tell me about it."

"Silence!"

Everyone in the room turned to face Dumbledore with shocked looks. It was nearly never that the Hogwarts Headmaster raised his voice, but it was quite evident that when he did, it got everyone's attention.

"I have taught most of you and I simply need to say that while the majority of you were terrific and brilliant students," Dumbledore began, "you are absolutely terrible at organizing yourselves. I'll propose a new plan: I tell each of you where to stand, and you stand there."

After Dumbledore seized control of the situation, everyone was organized and ready for a photo quite quickly and painlessly. As Dumbledore prepared the camera, Rachel nudged Dorcas, who was standing next to her.

"Now that we're all organized, how long do you think it'll be until someone screws something up?" Rachel whispered.

"Not today, hopefully," Dorcas muttered in reply.

"Why? You have somewhere to be?" Rachel questioned.

Dorcas didn't reply.

Rachel felt her mouth drop open. "Are you shagging someone?" she whispered.

"Shut up," Dorcas hissed.

"Get ready!" Dumbledore exclaimed as he ran up to join the group just moments before the camera went off and the photo was taken.

Rachel placed her hand on Dorcas's shoulder and smiled. "Have fun, my friend," she said.

Dorcas rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever."

Rachel smiled and waved goodbye to her friend and then turned in search for Sirius. She quickly found him and he immediately puled her close to him and gave her a small kiss. They pulled apart, arms still wrapped around each other, and Rachel smiled at Sirius.

"I'm going to jinx that moustache off of your face," Rachel muttered to Sirius quietly.

"In your sweet dreams, darling," Sirius replied quietly.


Yep, so clearly not my best one. I've had a tough time, in between online courses and such. But I tried to make it at least shine a bit :)

-Grammar/spelling?
-Favourite line?
-Random question: what is your all-time favourite show (if you need to, you can list all of them... I understand)?

Hasta la vista :D