Story of our lives.

Sirius ran a hand through his hair as his eyes scanned across the front page of the Daily Prophet. Things certainly were not on the upswing, one could say. It seemed to him that every day there was news of someone going missing, someone dying, or some other horrific ordeal going on. It was extremely hard to stay positive in times like this, even for someone like him who worked rather hard to make sure people didn't know when he was feeling negative emotions. He scrunched up his face as he flipped to the sports section, figuring it was a better idea to just read what was going on in the world of Quidditch. After all, his best mate James was getting married in less than a week. It would be better for him to just focus on that.

"Hey Marlene," Sirius said, leaning his head back towards the other room where he thought she might be. "Did Lily tell you when the rehearsal for the wedding was?"

Sirius wasn't sure if it was a 'I've never been to a wedding' thing, or if it was a muggle weddings thing, but he'd never heard of a wedding rehearsal before.

---

Kimmy wouldn't have said she was a great friend to either Lily Evans or James Potter, but she got an invitation to the wedding nonetheless. Currently four days before the wedding, Kimmy was walking through Diagon Ally, trying to find something to wear. Kimmy had been to two weddings before, one when she was a teen when her mother's brother was marrying a muggle (who hadn't yet learned he was magic) and one when her father's sister was marrying a fellow magical folk. While the occasion were celebrating the same thing, the dress code was fantastically different.

She sighed as she walked by a store with very posh wizarding robes, and she shook her head. She didn't think that would work out, seeing as Lily's entire family were muggles. She wanted to look presentable to the wizards and the muggles. Maybe something with a shorter cloak and overcoat.

"Why in the name of Merlin's broomstick is this so hard," she huffed to herself. She desperately needed help, from anyone.

Marlene had just stepped out of the shower in time to hear Sirius' question rolling her eyes at how hopeless he could be sometimes. "In three days. It's the day before the wedding. And it's supposed to be at a venue which was is some fancy muggle place she's been obsessed with since she was little. Apparently, she's wanted to get married there since she was little," Marlene said as she wrapped her towel around herself and made her way into the kitchen.

"And I can't wait for the actual wedding so you can see my dress, I know we're not the ones getting married and there's no tradition saying that you can't see it until the wedding like there is with James and Lily, but I'm still excited, " She asked glancing over to Sirius and smiling to herself. One of the most exciting things coming from this wedding, other than two of her best friends tieing the knot finally, was the thought of having a night of romance and happiness with Sirius. The pair of them weren't your typical couple and they probably never would be, but that was okay. She loved Sirius and she was in no rush for him to propose to her. Sure they lived together and had since they'd left Hogwarts but they were still so young and there was a war brewing that it just didn't make sense to her for them to even think of marriage. Honestly, Marlene was just thankful that Sirius hadn't become one of the missing or dead people she read about so often in the paper. She didn't know what she would do if she lost him. Marlene wasn't sure that Sirius would ever know just how much he meant to her or just how broken she would feel inside without him. So getting to get dressed up and see Sirius dressed up, and then spend the night with the man she loved while they celebrated their best friends was one of the few happy thoughts she been able to have in a while.

---

Remus sighed as he walked through Diagon Alley with James looking through all the shops. The pair of them were there to get Remus' wedding attire fitted to him properly. After all, James wasn't going let one of his groomsmen stand up there with him on his wedding day looking like a fool. Though he had a feeling this was more Lily's idea than James'. After all, James was excited about finally getting to marry Lily, the woman he'd loved since age eleven pretty much, but Lily was the one calling all the shots. And if Remus knew James at all he knew that Lily was going to get whatever she wanted regardless of what it cost.

He didn't mind, Remus wanted to look nice for the wedding, after all, he was going to be standing up there next to one of his best friends in front of a ton of people and Remus didn't want to make a fool of himself. "So you're expecting a pretty big turn out then?" He asked knowing that they'd invited quite a few people, both from the wizarding community and the muggle one. Though he was pretty sure the muggles coming were Lily's family, still they'd be there. "I also am assuming that you've told everyone to be on their best behavior," he said half joking. There were a few people who if they weren't reminded all the time would likely act rather idiotic in front of muggles just because.

"So is that a muggle thing, then? Practicing your wedding?" He replied, just loud enough for her to hear. Sirius was excited to go to the wedding. It was going to be a great chance for everyone to let lose and have some fun, to forget all the horrible things going on in the world. He knew he couldn't go completely wild, as he didn't want to embarrass Lily and James - or worse, Marlene - but he was definitely going to have enough booze in his system to make him forget about Voldemort and all the shit he was kicking up. One night to actually enjoy himself, the woman he loved, and his friends. It was much needed by Sirius, and he knew everyone else needed it too.

His eyes moved down the page of the newspaper, barely taking in any of the things he was reading. He wouldn't be able to concentrate on it after reading the first page. He gave his head a little shake and folded up the newspaper, standing up and smiling at Marlene. Even with just a towel on, her face bare and her hair wet, she was still the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. He really had no clue how he'd ended up so lucky, especially with how much of a complete idiot he had been through most of their time in school.

"Can I at least get a hint? What colour is your dress?"

---

Kimmy decided she was going to give up after this. One last shop, one last attempt, then she was going home for the day. Maybe she'd write her cousin in Dublin and ask if she could somehow get something together for her. Kimmy was never a fashion forward girl, so whatever her cousin had would probably be better than anything Kimmy had lying around her own home. She took a deep breath and headed into the fancy robe shop beside her.

As soon as she entered, Kimmy was intimidated. There were aisles and aisles of mannequins and robes, something in every colour and style.

"Can I help you find something, dear?" an elderly witch to Kimmy's left, who seemingly appeared out of nowhere, asked her.

"No, thank you. Just browsing." Kimmy replied, mentally kicking herself. That would have been a great way to get help, you idiot.

Gritting her teeth, Kimmy started off through the store, heading into the women's section. At least it was near the tailor that this shop had. She could easily get something fixed if she needed to when, no if, she found something suitable for the occasion.

"It seems like it. I mean I've only been to two other weddings in my life and I don't remember anyone needing to practice anything beforehand so I'd say so," Marlene told him shrugging her shoulders slightly. Most things that Lily did that Marlene didn't understand she pegged to being something that muggles did because Lily lived an entirely different life than the rest of them over breaks from school for the most part. They, of course, all hung out during the school year, and they'd show up at Lily's house sometimes and drag her along on some crazy plan they had to explore but for the most part Lily lived her simple muggle life and she seemed to like it even though it made no sense to Marlene or their other girlfriends.

Marlene was so excited about this wedding that she wanted the day to just be there already. "I think they're doing a lot of traditional muggle wedding things actually," she said leaning over the counter to take part of the paper he'd been reading. "Lily was telling me just last night that we were all going to experience what a real muggle wedding was like. But I'm sure it's for her family and muggle friends. We'll all also have to be on our best behavior, no magic or talk of magic. If people ask we, of course, tell them we went to boarding school together but that's it," she said sighing as her eyes scanned over the ever-growing list of missing or dead people and it just filled her heart with worry.

This was why they needed the wedding, they all needed something to look forward to that wasn't sad. Everyone needed something to spark their souls and remind them that even in dark times they could still enjoy each other. And to remind them to make the most of their lives which Marlene wanted to do. "It's lavender, it looks really good on me. And I'll put it this way if you thought I looked stunning at the ball sixth year then you're going to be blown away at this wedding," she told him sending him a wink before she leaned forward a bit to peck his lips. "Now, I hate to cut this short but I need to get dressed. It's a big day today,"

---

Remus followed James into the store towards the back where the tailor was so they could go ahead and get started. It was a little weird for Remus to stand around in nice clothes and have someone tailor them to him specifically and he was sure he'd never get used to something like this. Most of his clothes were too short on his lanky body and they were a little old and raggy because he simply didn't have the funds to buy more. But he'd grown up poor and the likely hood of him ever being able to get out of poverty was slim to none. Not because he didn't want to, or because he wasn't willing to apply himself, but because he was a werewolf which made him a nuisance to society. And it wasn't a well-known fact to most people unless they knew him well enough or he'd applied for a job but it was known by enough people to keep him from really being able to support himself. Luckily he had made amazing connections while he was at Hogwarts and he had friends who were always willing to help him out, but he did sometimes hate the feeling that he was just taking advantage of them even though he wasn't.

He supposed it wasn't the worst thing in the world having a suit tailored to him, and the process hadn't been too terrible but he was glad when it was over. He thanked the man and nodded in understanding that it would take a day to be done and he could pick it up the following day, which was fine as long as he had it for the wedding. "Kimmy hey," Remus said as he was walking out of the tailor section of the store when he happened to see a friend from Hogwarts. It was still a little weird that they weren't in Hogwarts anymore and so they didn't all see each other quite the same as they used to. But he supposed that made it nicer when they did bump into one another.

"Are you looking for something to wear to the wedding?" He asked noting that she was in the dress section and he knew James and Lily had invited her, mostly because he'd helped address all of Lily's invitations. Not because he'd wanted to but beacause apparently everyone else had had something come up and couldn't help her so he was kind of her last restort.

A real muggle wedding. That was kind of exciting to Sirius, as he was never really around anything muggle at any point in his life. The only real bridge he had between the muggle world and the magic world was Lily, and even then it was limited. He obviously wasn't as close to her as James was, so he didn't really see much of the muggle world. It really interested him to see muggle contraptions, customs, and ways of life. As long as it wasn't in muggle studies, as that class had been horribly boring while he was in school. He liked seeing it first hand.

"Big day?" Sirius questioned, his eyes following Marlene as she moved away from him. Sirius wasn't sure if he was going to regret that question. Had she already told him what today was and he forgot? He truly hoped he wasn't being a major idiot, once again. It had happened more than once that he'd agreed to something or acknowledged something was said to him, only for him to forget that it had happened. It wasn't just Marlene either, his mother said it was because he was a stupidly forgetful boy. Sirius just thought he was somewhat easily distracted.

---

Kimmy's head turned to face the voice that had acknowledged her. She was thankful to see someone who was also going to the wedding. Maybe he could help her out, even though he really didn't seem like the type to know much about women's attire to weddings.

"I have no idea what to wear, Remus," Kimmy confessed, probably looking a little stressed. "Are you in any rush to leave? Or do you mind at least giving me a little help? Of course if you have other things to do, I don't mind suffering through this alone, but any help would be appreciated."

She didn't even know what colour to wear, for Merlin's sake.

"Yes Sirius, a big day," Marlene said walking into the bedroom to get dressed. "My brother is coming home today finally after like five years abroad and I'm so excited to see him. He writes a lot and we've of course been in touch. We've sent pictures back and forth but I actually get to see him in the flesh today," she said letting herself be happy, it was going to be the best week ever. Marlene was more than determined to not let anything bring her down. She needed this, they all did really. With a war brewing between good and evil things could get dicey. People were already starting to go missing or turn up dead and she knew in her gut that it wasn't going to get any better. The bright side was though that they had moments and days like today and wedding coming up to look forward to.

Once she was dressed she walked back into the kitchen, "you know you're welcome to come with me right? My family loves you," she told him softly resting her hand on top of his own and smiling at his. "And I'm sure they'd love to see you," she added with a smile. Truly, the only thing that could make seeing her brother again after this long better was if Sirius was with her.

---

Remus smiled and shook his head. "I'm not in any rush no," he told her before he rubbing his neck wondering if he was really going to be any help at all, but she'd asked and who was he to turn down helping a friend. "And I don't mind helping you. Though hopefully, you think I'm actually helpful," he laughed before turning towards the racks of dresses around them.

"Well let's see I know you don't want to go with anything purple or white," he said trying to put together mentally the best colors for her. "Not because I think you'd look back in it but because that's the same color as the wedding party. And it's not that you can't of course but well I know you should never wear white to a wedding unless you're the bride and if you wear the same color as the wedding party there's the potential of being mistaken for a bridesmaid and being asked questions you don't know how to answer," he said shrugging his shoulders a little as he kept looking through the dresses on the racks. It felt a little odd to know so much about weddings, but he had been spending a lot of time with James and Lily over the last few months so he'd kind of been involved in most of her planning. Not because he wanted to be exactly but because he did also want to help out his friends.

He took a few moments to look through the racks before he settled on a soft green colored strapless dress with embroidered flowers around the bottom and top. "I think this one would look nice on you," he said handing it to her with another smile. "And if you don't like it I won't be offended," he laughed.

Oh, right. Her brother. Sirius was pretty sure that Marlene had mentioned that earlier in the week. She didn’t seem upset with him for not remembering, though, which he was thankful for. When Marlene was out of the kitchen, Sirius stood to make himself a cup of coffee. He was a little tired, most nights these days he didn’t get much sleep. He tried, but the thoughts of the war around them usually kept him up. James had commented more than once on the bags under Sirius’s eyes, so Sirius took up drinking coffee in a feeble attempt to keep his energy levels up. He stirred in a bit of milk and a sugar cube, turning back to face Marlene as she walked into the kitchen once more.

“I would, but I don’t want to take attention away from your brother,” Sirius said, feigning a very serious tone. “You see, with my stunning good looks, your parents are sure to ignore their son for me.”

He gave Marlene a little wink, then shook his head. He gave her hand a little squeeze before lifting it up to his lips, pressing a soft kiss onto it, “I’m kidding, if you want me to come of course I will.”

It would probably do him good to be out, he got worked up when he was alone. He never let anyone know, but once he was alone to think, he got rather emotional.

---

“No white, no purple,” Kimmy mumbled as Remus spoke. Well, that was a start. It didn’t help much with style or level of fanciness, but at that point she appreciated any bit of help she could get. She wiggled her fingers through the rack in front of her, quickly flipping through the dresses. Nothing was catching her eye. Thankfully, Remus found something.

Kimmy turned to look at the dress he had found. She took it from his hand and checked the size. Just her number. She gave him a smile and a nod.

“It’s cute, I like it,” Kimmy assured him. She folded it over her arm, glancing around the store until her eyes found the changing rooms. “Do you mind waiting? Tell me if it looks okay? Sorry, I’m useless on my own, I don’t know why I bothered to do this alone. I’ll be quick. And I’ll buy you lunch for your help.”

Kimmy held up her index finger as if to say back in a second and quickly walked off towards the change room. She was quick to take off her top and skirt, and pulling the dress on didn’t take too long either. She had to tuck her bra straps into the dress to give a more accurate representation of what her dress would look like day of. She gave herself a quick look over in the mirror, flattening out the dress’s front, and walked back out and over to Remus.

“Verdict?”

Marlene smiled at Sirius thankful to have him in her life. "I would really like you to come," she said softly. "I want you to meet him. I really think you guys will like each other," she said hoping she was right in that assumption. Sure she knew they'd probably met very briefly while at Hogwarts at some point, but well Markus was five years older than they were so he'd left Hogwarts before them, and he'd been in Ravenclaw so the likely hood of Sirius and Markus sitting down to have a conversation was slim to none. Hell, she hardly ever saw him at Hogwarts and they were related. Then of course right after he'd left Hogwarts he'd left to go abroad and study about something Marlene found rather boring, but she wasn't the one learning about it so that was fine, and she hadn't seen him in the flesh since. Which made today a big day, almost as much as her knowing that he was bringing home a girl so it only seemed right that the day she meets his girlfriend, fiance, or whatever they were, that he also meet her boyfriend.

"Plus it'll be good for you to get away from here for a bit," she said before she moved the daily prophet off the counter so he couldn't even see it anymore. "We spend way to much time worrying about things we can't fix. When we should be out there just trying to make the most of the moments we have,"

Their friends were a perfect example of that too, Lily and James were getting married in a few short days because they loved each other and they wanted to spend as much time as they could married. It didn't matter that they might not last past next year, or that anything could happen and tear them apart because at least they had the moments they did. They weren't letting fear hold them back. And Marlene wanted to be like that. She wanted to spend whatever time she had left alive whether it be a week, a handful of years, or hundreds of years, unafraid and joyful even during the darkest time of her life.

---

Remus smiled at a job well done happy that he could pick out something that Kimmy liked. Maybe all the time he'd actually spent with Lily these last few weeks had really paid off. He at least felt like it had because he knew that a year ago he never would've been able to help a girl pick out a dress. He was about as helpful in the fashion department as most people were in the werewolf department. After all, unless someone was a werewolf they probably didn't know the first thing about what it felt like or what they dealt with on a daily basis. Just like he didn't know the first thing about fashion or how it worked. But today something had worked out in his favor.

"You don't have to feel obligated to buy me lunch," he told her feeling a small blush creep up on his cheeks before he decided that maybe this was a fate telling him to just man up and take a chance. So he did.

He smiled when she stepped out of the dressing room and nodded at her. "You look stunning," he said with a short nod of his head. "Um so, maybe," he said biting his lip wanting to word this properly as to not offend her. "Maybe instead of lunch if you'd like of course, you would just like to attend the wedding as my date?" He asked her knowing his cheeks were still a little flushed.

"Yes, you're right," Sirius agreed. He knew he shouldn't spend so much time worrying. He often told himself that if he did live through this whole thing and someone he loved didn't, he'd regret his worrying because he could have just enjoyed the time with them. He also figured that it would be the same the other way. He wouldn't want people to remember him for worrying instead of how he really was - fun, confident, loyal, brave.

"I'll go get changed then, I don't think muggle pajamas with holes around my manly bits are exactly appropriate," he chuckled slightly, moving towards Marlene and pressing a small kiss on her lips before side stepping around her and heading out of the room. It didn't take him long to change out of his muggle pajamas, which Lily gave him for Christmas two years ago and were infinitely more comfortable than the robes he'd grown up sleeping in. He tried a little bit to fix his hair, more smooth it out than anything, and returned back to the kitchen.

"When are we going?" Sirius asked, a grin on his face. "Where are we going, at that?"

---

Kimmy was glad to hear that he liked the dress, but she wasn't expecting a date offer out of it. She probably looked a little surprised as she looked at him, but from the flush on his cheeks she assumed he was feeling a little shocked and shy when he'd asked.

"Sure," Kimmy settled, nodding her head with a smile. "I'd like that, Remus."

She rocked back and forth on her heels a few times before turning back and going into the changing room. She quickly flipped into her normal clothes and grabbed the dress before walking back out. Kimmy headed towards the payment counter and forked over the money for the dress. It was a little more expensive than she'd wanted it to be, but she figured it was worth it. Maybe she'd reuse it eventually at someone else's wedding. She was not opposed to being an outfit repeater.

"What else are you up to today?" Kimmy asked curiously, looking towards Remus. "More wedding preparations? I'd assume you're in the wedding party, no?

"I'm always right love, and I wouldn't recommend wearing that, I mean sure my parents already like you but we still wanna make good impressions on them. Plus well I hope I'm the only one who gets to see your little show, otherwise, someone is going to get a major talking to" Marlene joked before she took a seat and waited for him to get changed. Marlene was happy he was coming with her, and she knew that it would be good for both of them to get out and enjoy life again.

Marlene smiled and nodded approvingly at Sirius' attire choice as it was much better. "We're all going to this new muggle restaurant in London. I'm not really sure how fancy it is but knowing my family it's probably nice. And I know my dad said we could meet them at the Leaky Cauldron and walk into London if we wanted. So I figured that's what we would do. Then we can take a nice stroll through the city and just enjoy our afternoon together. But we should get going um now actually,"

---

"Well, I came here because I had to have my tux fitted, and the rest of my day is free really. I mean once I get back to James and Lily's I'm sure she'll have something else for me to do because she has a ton of things left still. But that's not until later," he said kind of wanting to take a break from helping her plan the wedding if he were being honest.

Remus ran his fingers over his face and sighed. "I love Lily, and I love James, but they're both actually going to drive me mad with all the planning. The other day, for example, she lost her mind when the florist asked if her if there was another color aside from her wedding colors that she'd like in case they didn't have enough. And maybe I don't understand because I'm a guy and it's her big day, not mine, but it's all just a little crazy," he said knowing that everyone would be happier and much less stressed once this wedding was over.

"Sounds like you got it all thought out," Sirius smiled. He loved everything about Marlene, but he especially loved how much attention and care she took when she was doing things. She never failed to make sure anything she did she did right, and anything she did with other people was enjoyable for everyone around. She was extremely thoughtful, and Sirius truly admired that about her.

"How are we getting there, love?" He asked, glancing towards the fireplace, then back to her. "Floo? Or are we going the slightly more laborious method of muggle taxis."

He knew muggle taxis involved little to no work, but it was a lot slower. It was cleaner, though. He wouldn't mind either one, but he was going to let Marlene pick. After all, this day was important to her, so he didn't want to step on any toes or undo any of her planning.

---

"How about a drink, then?" Kimmy suggested as she took the bag with her dress in it onto her arm. "We can just go to the Leaky Cauldron if you'd like. You seem like you might need it."

She gave him a little smile and took a few steps towards the door, hoping he'd follow. This was a little more forward than she usually was, but if they were to be attending the wedding together, she figured there was no harm in spending some time together before the event. It would keep things from being awkward whilst at the wedding, at the very least. Kimmy didn't have many close friends while at Hogwarts, and that continued into life. She was friendly with many people, but she never made many genuine friendships. This could be a good start.

"I'll buy the first round, since you did pick out my dress for me and save me from a complete mental breakdown."

"I figured that we would take the floo network to The Leaky Cauldron, meet my parents outside, then we'll all head over together," Marlene said giddy at the thought of getting to have dinner with her family, and spend the evening with her boyfriend. She couldn't think of many things that could top the night off to make it much better. And the few things she could think weren't going to happen. This stupid war wasn't just going to be over simply because she wanted it to be, and she and Sirius would probably never reach the next 'milestone' in their relationship. After all, they weren't James and Lily, they weren't in any rush to be married or having children. Plus Marlene didn't want to rush into anything like that with him, she loved him plenty that wasn't going to change.

She did think it would be nice to get married, mesh their lives together, even more, share a last name with the man she loved. She'd even let herself wonder what it would be like to have kids with him, she wondered often really what their future would look like once this was all over but she didn't let herself get too crazy because she didn't even know if Sirius would even want the same things as her. His childhood had been completely different than her own and so their outlook on things was often different as well. But maybe they should talk about it.

---

Remus smiled at Kimmy and let himself nod his head. "That sounds good," he said not seeing any issue with going to the leaky cauldron with her and grabbing a drink or two. This was what Dumbledore wanted from them anyways right? He wanted them all to continue to live their lives and find joy in the small things still.

"It was the least I could do," he said following her out of the shop. "I mean I couldn't have a lovely lass like yourself having a mental breakdown over a dress," he joked with a smile. Honestly, even though he did still barely know Kimmy he felt much more at ease about life in general than he had in a long time, so surely this was good for him. It couldn't possibly be bad? And if it was how much worse could life really get for him? He was already struggling to get a job, he already felt like he was mooching off his best friends, even though they'd told him over and over again that he wasn't, and he already felt like he'd be stuck like this forever.

"Alright, love, then lets go," Sirius said with a grin. He grabbed his wallet and his wand off the table and put them both into his trousers pocket. He wasn't sure what the weather was, but he hoped he wouldn't be too warm in a pair of slacks and a short sleeved shirt. He thought men looked goofy in shorts, so even if it was hot, he stuck to long pants.

He headed over to the fire place and grabbed a handful of floo powder. Their fireplace wasn't big at all, you kind of had to squat half inside it and just chuck the powder in, but it still worked. He smiled over at Marlene and gave her a nod, "See you on he other side. The Leaky Cauldron!"

In a slightly choking blink, Sirius had landed in his weird half crouch position in the fireplace of the Leaky Cauldron. He stood up and coughed a few times, dusting the small amount of soot on his knees off his pants before moving out of the way so Marlene didn't end up kicking him square in the arse upon her arrival.

---

"Well I really do appreciate the help," Kimmy said honestly. As they walked, her eyes wandered around the shops and people occupying the bustling street. Most people seemed like they hadn't a care in the world, which was unfathomable to her. The entire world was going to shit, she wasn't sure how people could just go about their days. Though, perhaps they were putting on a front. She did most days. Hell, even then she was. Being a member of the Order of the Phoenix, albeit one that didn't go to meetings and just did stuff that other, older members asked her to do, made all these things constantly on her mind, and it was an effort to hide it.

"The wedding should be fun," Kimmy said, pushing the feeling of doom from her mind. "I'm looking forward to having as much Fire Whiskey as I can manage."

Marlene walked into the fireplace shortly after Sirius and dropped her floor powder "The Leaky Cauldron" she said before she was swooped up in a swirl of fire and landing in another fireplace in London. She coughed a little as she stepped out of the fireplace shortly behind Sirius and brushed herself off a little so she didn't walk around covered in ash. "Oh floo powder, always such fun," she joked though glad she didn't have to travel like that all the time.

Once they were in The Leaky Cauldron she took Sirius' hand in her own and laced their fingers together, "I'm happy we're together," she said softly glad that she had Sirius in her life. Even though they were still young, a war between good and evil was brewing, and they had no idea what the future held for them Marlene loved Sirius and she knew that there was no one else in the world she would rather have in her life than him. Being with Sirius simply made life better.

"Mum! Dad!" She said with a bright smiled once they walked outside and she saw her parents standing there clearly waiting for everyone to arrive so they could walk to the restaurant. "Is Markus not here yet?" She asked wondering if he was meeting them at the restaurant or if he was meeting them there. Not that it mattered either way, but Marlene hadn't expected to be the first of the kids to arrive.

Marlene's parents walked up to the couple and pulled them both into a warm embrace. "Marley," her dad said kissing her head, "and it's good to see you again Sirius," he said holding out his hand to shake Sirius' hand. "Marlene, you know you've always been the most punctual out of your siblings," her mother said shaking her head, it was saying something if Marlene was the most punctual out of them because she was normally late to everything, though thinking about it her mum wasn't wrong. They had all really sucked at making it to places on time without a lot of help.

---

Remus smiled at Kimmy "it was no problem, really," he told her happy that he'd been there and able to help. He supposed it was luck that he happened to be there the same time as her and totally free to help her pick something out but he wasn't even sure that he believed in that kind of thing. And if he did he surely wouldn't think that he was one who had good luck. He was a werewolf after all, and that had made him nothing but unlucky. He wasn't going to think like this, because he didn't want to bring himself down.

"I agree, I think this wedding is going to be a lot of fun," he said smiling totally agreeing. It was not only going to be nice to see two of his closest friends tie the knot and get a happy chapter in their lives but everyone there was going to get a night to relax, a night to take a break from all the shit going on to just to be. And it would be nice. He knew it.

"I'll probably throw back a few Fire Whiskey's myself," he said knowing that he would literally do whatever he could to take his mind off his worries for a night. "So what all have you been up to since Hogwarts?" He asked her wondering if he was the only one struggling to figure out this whole life after Hogwarts thing.

"You too, love," Sirius said with a smile as she took her hand in his. Of all the things Sirius had been proud of in his life, one of the things he thought of in the highest regard was that he was with Marlene. He figured that because of how amazing she was, that had to reflect well on him. If someone as wonderful as her decided that he was worth being with, then there had to be some great qualities in him.

"Hello, Mr. McKinnon," Sirius said, reaching out to shake Marlene's fathers hand. He let go of Marlene's hand briefly to hug Marlene's mom, giving her an innocent kiss on the cheek as he would have his own mum, had his mum not been the horrible piece of work that she was. "Nice to see you, Mrs. McKinnon."

He took Marlene's hand again, and put his other hand in his pocket. He knew he probably wouldn't be speaking that much while the family was together. He was, after all, the new comer. He didn't mind though. He was happy to sit back and listen to Marlene enjoy her family, and speak up when he knew he could impact conversation.

"Do we want to sit and wait for him, then?" Sirius suggested, nodding to a nearby table.

---

"Oh, uh, nothing too exciting," Kimmy confessed, with a small laugh and a shrug. "I'm just a kind of runner for the Order, and I'm a Magical Historian at the Ministry. Which is exactly what I wanted to do with my life, but it's hard to concentrate on the past when the future is so pressing. I'm sure you understand that."

She didn't mean to bring up the uncertainty in their futures, but he had asked. She wasn't going to lie and tell him everything was all puppies and rainbows. Remus obviously knew better than to believe something like that. Anyone in the Order would be. The world was a grim place to be, and they all knew it.

"I did buy a new broomstick, though, in happier news," Kimmy said, trying to have at least some form of positive in the conversation. "The Nimbus 1700. It's wicked fast. I play in a co-ed league in Dublin every Monday night. The seeker has been trying to get me to use her broom and her mine for two months now. Hers is too slow, she says. I have no use for a fast one because I'm just a beater. She won't pay for a new one though, so I just tell her to stuff it."

It did feel nice to talk about stuff other than impending doom. It made her feel normal.

Mrs. Mckinnon shook her head, "no dears let's just head to the restaurant. I'm sure her brother will find us, he's always been very good with directions just not good at showing up on time," she said nudging the couple in front of her forward. "Plus we have reservations and I don't want us to miss them and then someone decides to give up our table,"

Marlene simply let her parents take charge of the situation, they were the ones who'd set this whole thing up in the first place. "Dad, you know you're still the only person who calls me that right?" she said shaking her head at her father who still to this day called her his little pet name for her. No one else had ever called her that in her life, and if they tried it just never really stuck. But she didn't mind it when he did, she didn't mind being called Marley really it was kind of cute, but it had literally never stuck.

"Well, then I guess I've got to get Sirius here to start calling you Marley then, I mean someone has to once I'm gone right?" He laughed patting Sirius on the shoulder as they walked through muggle London. Marlene rolled her eyes, "Dad Sirius already has a nickname for me, it's Marls, if he even uses my name at all" she said looking up at her boyfriend, "you don't have to call me Marley," she said shaking her head again, "really you can call me whatever you want," she whispered to him with a smile.

Her dad sighed, "Whatever you want Marley, as long as he's good to you and makes you happy,"

---

"I understand that completely," Remus said nodding his head. Even though he didn't have a job he still found it hard sometimes to focus on anything at all really when every day there was something new in the papers about someone new found dead or missing. The future so literally so pressing that it has become more difficult to deal with day to day things. Yet another reason this upcoming wedding was so important, everyone going needed something to take their minds off all the doom and remind them all of the happier things in life.

He wished that he had a job at all so maybe he would have somewhere to spend his days so he could possibly have something to take his mind off the future even for a little bit, but literally everything he'd applied for had fallen through. All because he had to admit to being a werewolf on his paperwork, if he didn't they'd just find out when he had to call in a couple of times a month always around the full moon, or if they did blood work on him, or even if he ended up working with someone perceptive enough to just know. There were no odds in his favor.

"Oh, that sounds pretty awesome. I'm not going to lie I don't know much about brooms or which ones are cool or not. I don't even own a broom of my own. James and Sirius were always the ones into that in Hogwarts. They were the quidditch stars, not me. I just attended the games because I kind of had to. I was much more into herbology honestly" he laughed. He admired that Kimmy was so interested in something and she clearly enjoyed it so that was good, and he wished that he had something like that for himself. Maybe he should find himself a nice hobby to keep himself busy.