Petunia Dursley wrinkled her nose. She hadn't expected an invite from Eliza, especially not since her sudden move from Little Whinging many months ago. There had been radio silence, and then suddenly, she received a call on the telephone after tea time with Mrs. Calahan. Before yelling at her, how dare she call her household, Eliza kindly invited her for tea. Petunia was not expecting it to be in public, in a tea room of all places.

"Here you are," Eliza said, placing a piece of cake on Petunia's plate. It was an Earl Grey chiffon cake. I promise it's good."

"Are you here to talk to me about Harry? I promise you, I am not harming him at all. He is being treated well. He is even sleeping a lot better."

"I know," Eliza said in a cheerful tone. "He writes, and I heard Sirius gave you quite an earful when he arrived."

"Yes…Sirius Black," a bad taste coated her tongue. "The convict."
"Former convict, wrongfully accused," she sipped her tea. "But you would know all that, would you."

Petunia pressed her lips together. She had, in fact, recently received a letter from Dumbledore stating that there would be changes to the arrangement. Harry would only stay for two weeks before being moved somewhere else. She didn't care; it was one person out of the way.

Eliza pulled out a small envelope.

"What is this? Dirt money?"

Eliza raised an eyebrow. "Humour me, Petunia."

She opened the envelope and pulled out a piece of vanilla-coloured paper. After reading the contents, she scoffed.

"You expect me to come to your wedding?"

"A Christmas wedding," Eliza pointed out. "And besides, I think you should be invited, being one of the few friends I still have."

"You think we are friends?"

She shrugged. "You don't have too. You don't even have to invite Vernon. I just thought that you should be there."

"And you are marrying the felon?" she scowled.

"Yes."

Petunia took a piece out of the cake. It was lovely, with a flowery aftertaste. She enjoyed this meeting, perhaps, because she was not the one who had to foot the bill. "As long as he's out of Little Whinging, I don't give a damn what you do, really. What next?"

"Making sure Harry has all he needs to defeat Lily's murderer."

Tears welled up in Petunia's eyes. For years, no one had ever told her entirely what had happened to Lily, often keeping her in the dark. Dumbledore would say things sometimes, but he kept her out of it.

"Dumbledore is dying," Eliza told Petunia. "So you'll need to make arrangements soon to keep your family safe."

"Why?"

"Because Harry will have to face him soon, without Dumbledore to save him."

Petunia's lips went dry. She looked down at the invite.

"Curious time to get married," she said in a weird tone. "As did Lily and James. Please don't tell me –"

"Oh hell no, not until all of this is over," Eliza shook her head. "Besides, I already have one kid."

After the afternoon tea, Eliza walked down the street, walking up to a black motorcycle, where Sirius was reading the latest Daily Prophet issue.

"And? Is she coming?"

"She'll think about it. How's Operation Slughorn going?"

"Dumbledore has Harry on it –might take a school year to break the old man, however," Sirius sighed. "Are we sure we should leave the hunt to them?"

"We need to find Bellatrix, and I have dibs," she put on her helmet and swung her leg onto the motorcycle. "Besides, I have a feeling she may know where one of the Horcruxes are. Kreacher did say she was going on, and on about her Gringotts."

Sirius hummed, and the engine sprang back to life. She held onto him as he rode out into London traffic.

"Can we go to a drive-thru?" Sirius called over the loud wind.

Eliza had a hard time saying no, given that Sirius had been denied the smallest things for fourteen years. While she would argue that one, they were having dinner with the Weasleys, and two, Sirius hated fast-food burgers, she simply could not deny him that satisfaction.

Because for over ten years, Eliza Shafiq had lived a curated peaceful life. Now, when she got up in the morning, she'd make herself a cup of coffee while her household slept. Some days of the week, she'd go to her ministry job, which she did not hate but also did not love, giving her a routine to adhere to. On other days, she'd research. Help the Order if needed, but she'd return to Grimmauld and spend the rest of her day listening, reading, or hearing the radio talk about ongoing events.

While not entirely different from her life in Surrey, she had a family now. Sirius, who'd pick her up at work and take her out to places the way he'd wanted to all those years ago, spent his days roaming around. He was a man of leisure, was relatively comfortable with that job, and didn't mind being master of the house.

They married in Godric's Hallow, by the cemetery where Lily and James were buried. Her father was there to walk her down the aisle, and he accompanied Petunia as the only other muggle at the wedding. It was also the first time Petunia saw her sister's headstone, and she'd broken down crying when the alcohol took over her consciousness. Eliza rubbed Petunia's back.

"So, from all of the weddings you've been too," Sirius said while they were dancing. He looked over her shoulder, watching Harry interact with Ginny. Strangely, it reminded him of James and Lily. "Would you say ours are the best?"

"Hmm..." Eliza thought. "I would say it's in the top ten."

"Ouch, I am hurt," Sirius chuckled. He rested his head on her shoulder, and they swayed, the sounds of Whitney Houston serenading them.

They knew that their peace was limited. Each time she saw Dumbledore, the wizard seemed more frail, and every time their eyes met, she remembered the endgame. But she was comforted by one thing: Death was not the End.

And Harry would be okay.

Sirius, Remus, their friends and family would be okay.

And so will she.

She is a short epilogue, but she is sweet.

Thank you so much for joining us on this journey.

Looking through the author's notes, I've lived a thousand lives between each published chapter and it's insane how much of this story has changed from the original idea many, many years ago. I hope you enjoyed it. If you want to read another story of mine, I've started another one.

Love,

Spring