Raylynx's POV
Lately, whenever Remus wasn't around, I spent my time fixing up Jamie's motorcycle. I wanted to upgrade it to tell him about it and encourage his physical improvement. I hoped that since it was a Muggle speeder, it wouldn't trigger his traumatic experience. Although Lancelot Weasley did say that Jamie was already determined to play Quidditch again. Even though the worry came, I couldn't hide my smile at that. It was just like Jamie to set his sights on Quidditch when he couldn't even run hard yet. But I knew that Jamie would do it. He would get there faster than anyone expected. He would make up for those two years quicker than a blink of an eye.
I found that the alignment of the front wheel was slightly off after being propped up slightly tilted for a long time. I'd loosened the bolts and all, and had shifted everything together properly. I just needed to tighten everything back up, which was just as well, because my shift was about to begin. I had a couple minutes, though- or so I thought.
"Here you are!"
Startled, I jerked the screw the wrong way, twisting it up against my finger. It cut a little bit.
"Bloody hell, Sirius," I muttered, bringing my finger to my mouth and sucking on the cut.
"Don't," he said, grimacing. "That's disgusting. Your finger is covered with grease and dirt."
I grimaced back. "But it hurts."
Sirius sighed. "Why'd you hurt yourself anyways? Did I startle you that badly? You have to learn how to relax."
I'm perfectly functional when I'm not around you, thank you very much. But I didn't reply.
"Glad to see you're up and about, though," Sirius commented. "I heard from Prongs that you and Moony basically collapsed the tower on yourselves."
"I'm fine," I answered, though that wasn't entirely true. The corner of my eyelid was still slightly bruised and it blocked my vision sometimes.
"What about you?" I asked him.
Sirius laughed. "I wouldn't lose a duel to a Death Eater. Not in a million years."
I shot him a dubious look, but he was already gazing elsewhere.
"This is a great bike," Sirius said, his eyes gleaming as he looked over Jamie's bike.
"It's not yours, is it?" he asked.
"I used to ride it sometimes, but it's actually my brother's," I explained. "I'm fixing it up for him, for whenever he's released from the hospital."
"Oh." He paused. "Want help?"
"You ride bikes?" I asked curiously. "But you're a pureblood Wizard."
Sirius shrugged. "Yeah, but since when have I acted like one?"
"True," I gave in, amused. "Yeah, you can help. But only if you really know what you're doing."
Sirius scoffed. "Please. I'm a fabulous mechanic."
I had difficulty refraining from rolling my eyes. "Wow, could you be any humbler, Sirius?"
"I'll have you know I possess the humility of a saint. I'm the humblest man alive," Sirius retorted as he got down on his hands and knees to the check engine pumps, valves, springs, and shafts.
We both worked in silence for a long while. I was pretty much done with all the rescrewing and realigning except for one stubborn screw that wouldn't-
"Aargh," I grumbled to myself, trying to push the screw down in a level-
"No, you've got to do it like-"
Long arms reached around on either side of me, reaching for the screw.
Barely keeping from jumping in fright, I immediately squirmed out of his arms.
He stared at me.
I blushed. I would have given anything in the world not to have done it, but I couldn't help myself.
"Kingsley," he said. "Calm down." He shook his head. "Listen, I know you've never had any sort-of experience with a guy before, but-"
And then my idiotic mouth put in its two cents.
"Who says I haven't?"
Sirius paused from pulling out the messed-up screw to look at me skeptically.
"Well, no offense, but it isn't really something that has to be said…"
And there my dumb mouth went, running off again.
"I think you'll find you're wrong there," I mumbled.
Sirius paused for real this time. He looked at me straight in the eyes and said, "Seriously? You've got some before?" Before I could answer, he continued, saying, "You know, Kingsley, it's not bad to be innocent. I'm not saying it to make you feel bad or anything. I'm just saying you've got to learn to relax and enjoy things, you know?"
I just stood there, dumbly watching him expertly maneuver the screw back in. His long, dark hair fell just across his eyes. The glint of silver lining his neck told me that he still wore my mother's necklace, as I had passed it to Remus, and Remus to him…
"What?" he suddenly asked me.
"What?"
"You're staring," he commented dryly.
"Oh, I was just looking at your necklace."
"Yeah, right," Sirius said knowingly.
But I really had just been looking at the necklace. My mother's necklace. "Does it work?" I asked. "It's supposed be a protection charm. What do you think?"
Sirius looked at me dubiously. "I suppose it's a sort-of good luck charm. I'm thankful to Moony for giving it to me. But why are you asking me?"
I shrugged. There was a short, awkward pause.
Sirius looked at me with an arched eyebrow as he advised me, "Listen, don't bring up things that don't have anything to do with you. It's pretty awkward when you do."
He shook his head and asked instead, "So, have you talked to Moony about where he's been working recently? I think he's been dismissed from the Apothecary, but he might've been able to hold onto that job at Gringotts. He was hoping they'd promote him to Curse-Breaker by end of next month."
I shook my head. "He doesn't really talk to me about that sort-of thing. I didn't… I didn't even know the Apothecary let him go…"
I suddenly felt guilty. Remus had been acting like his usual cheerful self for these past weeks. Although it was true that his hours had been getting suspiciously later and later… He rarely came to find me after Ollivander's anymore. He must have been looking for another job after his shift at Gringotts. He'd also been going out on Saturdays a lot more. He used to stay in and be around whenever Sirius and I had shifts on Saturday nights. I'd had no idea because I hadn't known that he'd been dismissed from his already under-paying job. He must have been putting on an act for at least a few days now.
"What happened?" I asked Sirius. "Why'd he lose his job?"
Sirius shrugged. "Too many absences."
"Oh," I said simply.
"You don't ask him about this stuff?" Sirius asked me.
I shook my head slowly. I don't want him to feel like my questions are a burden. He might be tempted to leave.
We sat there in silence for another moment.
I really did not handle silence well. My brain was furiously trying to cook up something to talk. Finally, something in me burst and I admitted, "About the necklace…"
"Huh?" Sirius looked at me with confused eyes.
"Remus gave you that necklace, didn't he? Well, before that, I gave it to him. Do you remember the night when Snape went down to the Shrieking Shack? I saw Remus' name on the Marauder's Map and went after him. At the time, I didn't know about his condition. I thought he was fighting against the werewolf. So after you, James, and Snape left, I waited by the Shack until dawn, and I slipped down. I found him there, badly injured. But I didn't have the skill to help him and before I could think of anything simple, I heard footsteps coming down. So even though it seems silly, I slipped my necklace around his neck before I ran away. That necklace… Originally, my mother gave it to me. After what happened to Jamie, that was her way of trying to keep me safe in a world she had no control over."
"Even a Mudblood parent attempts to keep her child safe," I said bitterly. "So I guess I just wanted to know if it even made a bit of difference. If what she cared so much about mattered at all…Or if none of it is worth anything, in the end…" I stopped talking when I realized that Sirius was looking at me with raised eyebrows.
The front door slammed shut. Remus was home.
We both hastily got up, running smack into each other in the process.
"Ow," I said, rubbing my shoulder as I fell back a little.
He gently grabbed both my shoulders to steady me and asked, "You all right?"
"I-yeah," I said, taken aback by how kind his hands and words were.
For a moment, his hands lingered on me; almost squeezing my shoulders and then- they were gone.
Remus hung his cloak before collapsing at the small table.
As custom, I put some water in the kettle to make us some tea.
"Well, guess I'm going to have to move out," Remus said, half-smiling. But his smile was so bitter, his posture so tired, and his eyes so hopeless that my heart flipped over.
"Moony?" Sirius treaded cautiously.
"Word got out about my condition," Remus explained slowly. "Gringotts fired me and then, it took me only about the ninth shop to realize…"
"Realize what?"
"They weren't not hiring. They just weren't hiring werewolves." His voice was inexpressibly bitter when he said the word werewolves.
"Moony-" Sirius began, but Remus cut him off morosely, "There are no more jobs for me here. Not even the possibility of them."
I blew on Remus' tea a bit before handing it to him.
"Well then," I said, trying to conceal my hesitance. "Where should we go?"
Two startled pairs of eyes blinked at me.
"What d'you-?"
"Iceland? Germany? France? Spain? Oh, maybe Barcelona? Personally, I'd like a bit of sea breeze."
"Raylynx," Remus said weakly. "What are you talking about?"
"Places to live, of course! All infinity of them," I tried my best to smile at Remus. "So, shall we snap to? Plenty of sights to be seen, plenty of jobs to be had and fired from! Enough for all of us, I daresay. We could go anytime we wanted to."
"And the Order?" Remus said in a slightly dry voice.
"We shall lead the Death Eaters on a merry chase," I proclaimed cheerfully. I heard the false note in my voice, but I kept going with it. "I bet those damn purebloods will get so distracted by Muggle surfing and Muggle margaritas that they stop hunting us down forever! So, shall we up and go?" I knew full well that I sounded ridiculous. I could never pull off fake cheer, but I just wanted Moony to feel better, even if it was jut a little.
Sirius looked at me and quipped, "You're utterly mad."
Without missing a beat, I laughed lightly and responded, "How sad would it be if even one of us missed out on the experience of being mad."
Sirius looked almost offended for a brief second, but then the corner of his mouth twitched up.
Remus put down his cup of tea and heaved a long sigh, but his eyes were closer to his normal hazel color than before. He slowly ran a hand through his hair. Sirius and I exchanged glances. My heart beat nervously. Had I messed up? Made things worse? God, that would be just like me, wouldn't it?
Finally, Remus said, "But I like your house, Raylynx. I like it a lot. Possibly more than anywhere else."
Our shift was over. Remus had called it an early night and headed in. Sirius and I had spent the rest of the time in silence. I walked him to the door, sending my Patronus to Dumbledore.
As he pulled on his cloak, he asked me, "Fifth year, the night before Quidditch try-outs. That first time you were attacked by Moony in his werewolf form. Did you know it was him?"
Startled, I blurted out the truth, "No."
He seemed to consider them for a moment before he nodded. "Okay."
He stepped out the door.
"Well, good night," I said.
"Yeah," he said briefly. "Night."
He passed the outer protective boundaries around my house and Disapparated.
Sirius' POV
So it had been her.
I suddenly understood what Dumbledore had told me the night I'd taunted Snape to find Moony.
"Mr. Black, I cannot impress upon you the seriousness of your actions. Had you succeeded, it would not have been a matter of school expulsion or suspension, but of imprisonment in Azkaban. This kind-of behavior is not only intolerable on school grounds, but detrimental to yourself. Do you understand me?"
Detrimental to yourself? What? No, Dumbledore, nobody ever understands what you're saying. But because I was so frightened, ashamed, and angry, I'd only nodded my head at Dumbledore, frigidly looking away from him the whole time. Was he going to expel me? It sure sounded like it. But that would mean that he'd send me home… Home? No, what with a father drunk on whiskey and violence, a mother deranged by her own vanity, and a younger brother who… who I'd lost, that awful, wretched place was more like an insane asylum than a "home".
"It is lucky for you, Mr. Black, that your friend Mr. Potter went after Mr. Snape at great risk for his own life. Consider yourself as having received a gift of second chance by your good fortune and your good friends, Mr. Black," the Headmaster said.
Utterly ashamed, I'd meekly nodded. But there was something I had to ask him, something that was fluttering around in my heart with overwhelming anxiety.
"Professor?"
"Yes?" he asked sternly.
"How's Remus doing?"
"Mr. Lupin will make a full recovery, though I daresay he will be spending some time in the hospital wing. He, too, is lucky to have a very caring friend, who casts her protection over him."
I hadn't understood who he was speaking about and after a while, the whole conversation had faded to the back of my mind. I'd been more preoccupied with mending my relationships with the only true family I had: Remus, James, and Peter. But now I knew, and I could not get over how incredibly unexpected this outcome was.
Raylynx Kingsley, Remus' caring friend…? I snorted. However true it might be, it painted quite a sentimental picture.
"Sirius? What's funny?"
I was sitting in the Potters' kitchen with Lily and James. We were having a late nightcap. It was now something of a tradition that I come over on Saturdays and we all take a bit of a break. Lily always made scones, and they were amazingly delicious. It was the one thing I never held back on complimenting her on. Mostly because I knew she wouldn't let me eat as many of them as I did if I didn't, and then take even more home, but you know…
"Has Raylynx kissed a bloke before?" I asked.
James abruptly spat out his drink, covering the table in Butterbeer.
"James!" Lily chided, but James hardly seemed to notice.
"Did she… did she say she did?" James asked. I was taken aback by how panicked he sounded.
"Not exactly?" I answered, confused, as Lily got up to fetch a napkin.
"Oh, oh, right," James said and then, suddenly, inexplicably, the bloody idiot burst out laughing.
"Prongs?" I said, bewildered. "Prongs, what're you going on about?"
"Nothing, nothing. Ah…" James took a deep breath, calming himself down.
Lily wiped down the table before waving her wand and cleaning it completely.
"Thanks, Lils," James said, smiling at her. "I'm sorry I did that. Couldn't help myself. It was such a random question."
Lily just rolled her eyes as she resumed her seat.
"And since when have you taken such an interest in Ray?" Lily directed the question at me. "I've never heard you so much as mention her name before."
Before I could even respond, Lily was suddenly giving me an intense glare. "Don't tell me you're planning on seducing her?"
"Wha-?" I started, but Lily slid her chair all the over to me and grabbed my arm, hard.
"You do know that if you so much as lay a finger on her, I will personally crush all your scones and make sure you never get another one again?"
"Lily, you're cutting off my blood circulation," I informed her.
"Oh, right. Sorry. Forgot I was squeezing all the life from your arm," Lily said casually, sidling back over to James, who draped his arm around her and kissed her forehead.
"Merlin, Prongs, I don't know how you live with her. She's dead scary, mate," I murmured, flexing my forearm.
James chuckled and rubbed her shoulder.
"But really," James said, "why'd you ask that all of a sudden?"
I shrugged. "Mostly 'cause she freaks out over anything to do with guys. I mean, the slightest touch and she's off screaming and running into things. She can't even look me in the eye."
Lily laughed lightly, but James suddenly looked completely sober.
"You know," Lily mused, "I don't think she's had her first kiss yet. At least, I've never heard her mention it."
James looked over at her.
"I'd approve if her first kiss was with Remus, though," Lily said, and her eyes began to take on a dreamy look.
"Oh, bloody hell, here we go again," I commented. "A woman's mind is so damn treacherous. It plans things years ahead of time."
"That's why we always win against men," Lily retorted sharply, and then immediately relaxed back into her fantasy world.
"Yes, Remus would be perfect for her, wouldn't he? I'd love it if that happened. And they're in the perfect situation right now, too."
"You think too much," James said affectionately, laughing.
I'd never thought about Raylynx with Remus. People rarely ever got the right perception about Moony, and I wasn't just talking about his being a werewolf. He was also a master prankster, a title he hardly ever got proper credit for, though that was mostly because he shied away from it. He liked a bit of rebelliousness and as kind-hearted as he was, he needed somebody who was sort-of… flamboyant. A girl who knew how to stand her ground and a girl who could say the most ridiculous things without the slightest bit of shame, if it meant making him laugh. He needed a breath of fresh air from prejudice and equally so from reason. He just needed a bit of ridiculousness and recklessness in his life, to get him away from all the sober stuff he kept running up against. He also needed somebody who would latch the hell onto him whenever he tried to run away from his problems, which he was prone to do…
Raylynx just wasn't strong enough for Remus. But… from what I'd seen today, I also had to admit that I hadn't been giving her nearly enough credit. She didn't solve Remus' problems, nor did she tell him to man up as she should have, but she was… She was a safe haven of sorts, for him. She created an atmosphere in which he felt he could admit he needed rest without having felt like he admitted defeat and that, that was a big thing, an important thing, for Remus. He really needed that, though not as much as he needed someone telling him to shape up and get his act together.
And that night in fifth year, when she was saw Moony in his werewolf form for the first time. Even though she'd nearly died, she was yelling at us not to hurt him. She didn't even know it was Remus, back then. She was just… incredibly… I blinked, unable to finish the thought.
Lily yawned. "It's nearly two in the morning. I'm going to bed, so I can dream about Remus and Ray getting married."
"I have a better idea with you and m-," James began, but Lily shushed him by shoving her hand into his face.
"Anyways, good night. Take more scones before you go, Sirius. I made those for you," she said, nodding her head at the counter to an already packed bag of scones.
"Thanks," I grinned at her.
Lily smiled and kissed James before she headed upstairs.
James followed me out to the front door, where I pulled on my boots and grabbed my cloak.
"Did something happen at your shift at Ray's tonight?" James asked me, pushing up his glasses.
I shook my head as I pulled on my cloak. "No. I just got the feeling that… I don't know. I guess I'm just glad it's her with Moony. She's so slow about everything that Moony must be comfortable, you know? He's not really held accountable for anything over there."
James looked amused as he shook his head slightly. "She's not slow, Padfoot. I bet she's doing that just to make him feel comfortable."
"You think?" Then, I suddenly remembered, "You know she figured out the Marauder's Map?"
"I do know," James replied.
"What?" I said, half-awed, half-skeptical. "You're joking, Prongs."
"She's the one who had it when it went 'missing' from your bag for a couple days. Remember? Anyhow, get to know her, Pads. I don't think you'd find her as slow as you think."
He clapped me on the back and said, "Get some rest. I'll see you for day shift in a couple days."
James' POV
As I stared up at the ceiling, blurry from my lack of glasses, I thought about Sirius and Raylynx.
"Lily?"
"Mmm?" she said sleepily.
"What would you really think about Sirius and Raylynx being together?"
"As Order partners?" she asked. Even though her voice was muffled into her pillow, I could hear the confusion in her voice.
"No, as a couple," I clarified.
"It'll never happen," she mumbled.
"How come?"
"Because they don't value each other. Sirius doesn't know the first thing about Raylynx and Ray doesn't have any interest in him."
Doesn't have any interest in him? Well, that's not true… Or maybe her feelings have changed now? It's been a while, after all.
But somehow, I couldn't let go of the feeling that, similar to how I felt about Lily, Raylynx also had feelings for Sirius that endured, despite everything. I mean, it wasn't as though Lily had valued me from the start, or even for most of seven years, right? I was suddenly curious as to whether Raylynx still liked Sirius or if she had gotten over him.
"But people can change each other," I said quietly. "Like you did with me."
Lily rolled over and snuggled into my side.
"True," she said, wrapping her arms around me. "But I still don't think they'll fit. Sirius is too rough and Raylynx comes off as too timid. Like I said, Ray fits better with someone gentle like Remus."
"But she's not timid. Even if she comes off like that, she's really not."
"No, she's not, but I doubt Sirius will be able to see that."
Lily tiredly opened her eyes and peered up at me. "Why are you so invested in this, anyways?"
"I'm not. It's just tht I never considered it before," I fibbed. "I've never heard Sirius talk about Ray except for tonight. And Sirius is my best mate, you know? I want to look after him."
"Well," Lily said, her eyes slipping shut again. "As Ray's best friend, I will never allow Sirius near her. She's too thoughtful for him. She'll only get hurt."
"You let Sirius get together with Marlene."
"Oh, right, there's the Marlene aspect, too, isn't there? Ugh," she grumbled. "This is getting too complicated." She frowned and I had to smile at how cute she looked.
Before I could help myself, I was saying to her, "Lily, marry me. I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
She hit me on my chest, but I could see the smile perk up on her lips. "Now look who's planning ahead," she quipped.
"I'm not joking," I told her.
"You're always joking," Lily retorted. "You're a Marauder. Now go to sleep, you fool."
Raylynx's POV
It was a couple hours after my Monday shift at Ollivander's and I was secretly watching Remus as he went from store to store, standing properly as he quietly asked for an application sheet and coming out more and more dejectedly with each store.
It made me feel miserable. I could only imagine how Remus himself felt.
In all truth, he shouldn't be up. The full moon had only been a few days ago, but I could guess what was going through his head. He'd been fired for the absences taken from the days spent recovering after the full moon. He was determined to overcome that.
But it was costing him a lot.
I waited until he'd gone through half of Diagon Alley before I stepped out into the street. In the setting sun, I cast a shadow at Remus' feet.
Remus looked up and saw me.
"Raylynx?"
"Do you mind if I walk you home?" I asked.
For a moment, I thought he was going to refuse, but then he carefully looked up and down the street before he held out his hand to me.
I walked over to him and took it and we Apparated home together.
To our surprise, James and Marlene visited us that night. Alice was already over, as her shift was with me on Monday nights. Apparently, James and Marlene had day shift together and they had had to respond to a Dark Mark alarm. It ended up being a false alarm, but it had been a pretty tense affair. Afterwards, they were dismissed to rest, and Mad-Eye had taken over for their night watch.
"How're you holding up, Moony?" James asked.
Remus looked at him, half amused and half annoyed as he said, "Padfoot told you about my getting laid off, didn't he?"
James shrugged. "Nah, I just heard you were looking for more jobs. Which I get. But Moony, don't ever worry about the financial aspect of it, all right? You know I got you covered." With that, James slapped Remus on the back.
"Prongs, ow, ow, ow," Remus moaned.
"Oops, sorry, mate," James said, looking bemused. He gently rubbed Remus' back instead.
"D'you mind if the job's in Diagon Alley?" Marlene asked. "I used to work there over the summer. I could put in a recommendation for you, Remus."
Remus shook his head. "No, please don't. I'll be perfectly all right." I knew what he was thinking. He didn't want to put her in danger of association with a werewolf.
Oh, so that was why he checked the street before coming home with me today. I frowned a little, but refrained from saying anything.
"Good choice, Moony," James said lightly. "You'd probably burn all the food."
"I'll have you know he's an excellent cook!" I protested.
"Speaking of, I'm hungry. Have you got anything?" Marlene asked, tossing her hair over her shoulder and stretching.
"I think I might h-have some coffee, too," Alice yawned from the table. "But only if it's not too much." The dark circles around her eyes had lessened after she'd passed her Auror exams, but the final stages of training were still relentless.
"Of course it's not, Alice."
Remus got up to make something, and Marlene and Alice followed. I made to go after them, but James grabbed my wrist.
"Perfect, I wanted to ask you something alone," James said to me.
Thinking it was about Remus, I asked, "What's up?"
"Sirius," James said plainly.
At that unexpected name, I blinked.
"What about him?" I asked.
"You don't still like him, do you?" James asked doubtfully.
"I- Well," I started to say, but suddenly I felt that traitorous blush spreading across my face. There was nothing for it. I would have to escape. I immediately got up from the table and tried to pass James, but he playfully grabbed me around the waist and tickled me
"No!" I moaned in agony, "Stop, stop, stop!"
"Then answer the question!" he commanded.
"No!"
"Are you refusing my demand or answering the question?"
"Nooo! I don't know! Ah! James, stop!"
I reached out and grabbed a fistful of his hair- my last and best tactic.
"Ack! Not the hair, not the hair!"
He finally stopped tickling me, but I just lay there on the ground, breathing as though I'd run a marathon.
"What happened here?" Marlene said, coming back with two plates of buttered toast.
James smirked. "I shocked her heart so bad with my charm-"
My hand shot out and grabbed his hair again, at which point he immediately adopted a modest tone and changed his tone, "Er- that is to say, we were simply having an intelligent discussion on the idea of a future versus the entire ontological notion of a later."
"The future is later," Remus replied, carrying cups for tea. "What are you talking about, James?"
I gripped James' hair again, still getting enough breath back for my voice.
"Er- nothing," James said meekly.
I finally got up and took one deep breath.
"Whew," I said, reaching for a piece of toast. "That was a work-out."
"I swear you two put together are worse than children," Marlene said.
We all munched in happy silence for a while when Alice softly cleared her throat. "I have something to announce."
Marlene and I traded wide-eyed looks. Both James and Remus looked utterly clueless.
"Frank and I... We've set the date for the wedding. It'll be in seven weeks."
Marlene and I, appropriately, put our best, highest-pitched, most-excited squeals together.
James and Remus both clapped their hands over their ears, but we were too busy squeezing the life out of Alice to care.
"Wait, wait, wait!" I said. "Remember Dorcas is your maiden of honor? Have you told her yet?"
Alice nodded. "I had day shift with her yesterday, and I stopped by Lily's this morning. I asked them both to keep quiet, though, because I wanted to tell each of you in person."
"Oh, Alice! This is such good news. I always knew this day would come, but now we get to live it!" Marlene beamed and hugged her again.
"Congratulations to you, Alice, and to Frank, too," Remus said in a far softer voice, smiling kindly at her. "That's wonderful to hear."
"Yeah, Alice, that's- Wow," James said softly. "That's incredible, really. Congratulations. Come over here when you've freed yourself from their death grips and I'll give you a hug."
They embraced happily, and afterwards, Remus gave Alice a hug, too.
"I know it's not the best time, what with the Order and all…" Alice began, but Remus shook his head and replied, "All the more reason to have it."
"Yeah," I agreed. "It'll remind us all what exactly we're fighting for."
"Honestly though, if it'd had been anybody else but you two, I'd have been mad it wasn't me and Lily first," James joked. "But I'll let it slide, since it's Alice and Frank."
"Come back here," Marlene said, pulling Alice into another hug. "I've only got a limited amount of time to hug Ms. Baker now, right?"
"You, too," Marlene's arm reached out and grabbed me, pulling me into the huddle.
"I'm not getting married anytime soon," I protested.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, shut up," Marlene said, and I finally relented under Remus' and James' amused gazes.
