“Do you think he’s dead?�

“Well, if he is, it’s your fault. You’re the one who knocked him off the couch.�

“Hey, the rule is whoever can get and keep the couch gets to sleep on it. He passed out and I was still awake, so I pushed him off and took the couch for myself. I didn’t force him to drink so much Firewhisky with James.�

Sirius lay perfectly still on the floor. He listened as two of his best friends whispered from above him. At least now he knew how he came to be in such an undignified position. Peter had shoved him off the couch last night.

“Should we wake him?� Peter asked.

“Let him be. We still have a couple of hours.� Remus answered. “Let’s go have some breakfast.�

Sirius heard the two of them walk out of the room and into the kitchen. Gingerly, he moved his head to look at his watch. He was pleasantly surprised he only had a slight headache after last nights drinking. He would imagine James though had one hell of a headache. He drank as much as Sirius did and always seemed to have more of a headache the next day.

Closing his eyes again, he listened to Peter and Remus talking in the kitchen. He could easily pick out each voice.

Wait, there are three voices in the kitchen, he thought. James must already be up. Now, should I just get up or make James come in and wake me?

Before Sirius could make up his mind one way or the other, he heard someone come in from the kitchen. The next thing he knew, this someone had thrown a glass of water in his face.

Jumping up, he sputtered, “What in Merlin’s name did you do that for?�

Standing in front of Sirius was not only James, who was holding the now empty glass, but Remus and Peter as well. All three were laughing uncontrollably.

“Figured you needed a wake-up call,� James answered.

“I was awake,� Sirius muttered catching the towel Remus threw at him.

“Sure you were. You were out for the count not two minutes ago when Peter and I were in here.�

“No, I was awake listening to the two of you. Nice to know you would be so upset if I was dead.� Sirius said grumpily. “I’m going to take a shower.� Stalking off, Sirius could hear the laughter of his best friends following him up the stairs.

Entering the kitchen a little while later, Sirius looked around. “Where’s James?�

“Upstairs getting ready,� Peter answered.

“He’s just a bit anxious to get this over with,� Remus replied.

Shaking his head, Sirius headed back upstairs to check on James. He knew he didn’t have to worry about James getting ‘cold feet’, but he wouldn’t put it past him to try to see Lily this morning.

He didn’t bother knocking on the bedroom door, such formalities didn’t exist between friends. As he entered the bedroom, he found James sitting on the bed staring at his hands.

“Prongs, you okay?� he asked as he sat down beside him.

“Can I ask you something?� James asked quietly.

“Of course. Anything, you know that.�

“Why is she marrying me? Just a couple years ago she hated me. You don’t think she started going out with me and agreed to marry me because of…� James hesitated.

Sirius knew what James was asking. He took a deep breath, trying to calm down before he answered. “You bloody well know she is not marrying you because of that—� Sirius took another deep breath and finished, “—miserable, lying, son of a—� He stopped himself before he ruined the decent mood he was in.

Sirius stood and started pacing around the room. “James, she loves you. Personally, I think she always did. She just couldn’t admit it to herself.�

James looked up at him. The haunted look in his eyes tore at Sirius’ heart. Walking over, he stooped down in front of his best friend. “Listen to me—Lily is not the type of woman to date or marry someone to spite someone else.� Sirius reached out and grabbed James by the shoulders shaking him slightly.

“If you ever even think that thought again, let alone let Lily know you had that thought, I will take you out back and beat you until you realise what a wonderful woman you have in Lily.�

James looked at Sirius. Smiling, he said, “What are we sitting here for? I’m getting married in an hour. We need to get to Lily’s parents’ house.�

Chuckling, Sirius stood and together they walked downstairs; along with Remus and Peter, they Apparated to the field behind the Evans’ home.

The Evans’ had moved into this little house just last year. The Order had placed various charms and protection spells on the home to keep them safe. Walking through the back gate, Sirius noticed Mr and Mrs Potter standing with Mr and Mrs Evans. He had to smile as he saw James walk up behind his mum and draw her into a big hug.

As Sirius, Remus, and Peter approached the group, they heard James ask Mrs Evans where Lily was.

“She’s upstairs talking to Albus. He wanted a few words alone with her,� she answered smiling.

James turned to Sirius. “Sirius, can you go up and check on her? I know I can’t, but will you?�

Sirius knew deep down that James still worried Lily would not marry him. Though they were deeply in love, Sirius knew James still sometimes had a hard time believing in his good fortune with Lily.

“Sure, you stay here with Remus and Peter. I’ll go check on your bride,� Sirius said. He gave a mischievous wink to James and walked away.

He was going up the stairs as Professor Dumbledore was coming down them.

“Let me guess,� Dumbledore said, “James sent you to check on Lily. Perhaps to make sure she was still going to marry him?�

“Yeah, he’s a bit nervous she is going to change her mind. Like that would happen,� Sirius answered, shaking his head.

“I will go and attempt to calm him down. Lily is in her room, last door on the right.� Dumbledore patted Sirius on the shoulder and continued down the stairs.

Knocking gently on the door, Sirius called, “Lily, it’s Sirius. Can I come in?�

“Yes.�

Sirius opened the door and slowly walked in. He was surprised to see Lily sitting on the bed, head bent, staring at her engagement ring. He couldn’t help but realise she was sitting exactly as James had been sitting an hour ago.

“Lily? Sweetheart, what’s wrong?� Sirius asked as he stooped down in front of her as he had with James earlier.

When she looked at him, he was shocked to see tears in her eyes. Not hesitating for a second, he stood and sat next to her on the bed and drew her into his arms.

“Hush, come on, tell old Padfoot what’s wrong,� Sirius said quietly.

“It’s just… well, it’s my wedding day and…� Lily stopped, turned her head into Sirius’ chest, and began to cry.

“Lily, what is it? You want to marry James, don’t you?� Sirius was getting scared now. What if she said she didn’t want to marry James? No, it had to be something else.

After a few minutes, Sirius felt Lily take a deep breath. She pulled back slightly before she tried again to tell him what was wrong.

“I don’t care that I’m not having the big princess-type wedding I had planned as a child. I really don’t. It doesn’t matter as long as James and I get married. It’s just… I always thought, we had always planned…� Once again Lily stopped. “Petunia and I always planned to have big weddings and to be at each other’s side when we got married. At least we did until I found out I was a witch…�

Lily took another deep breath, then said in a rush, “She refused to come today. She said she didn’t want to be around freaks.�

“Oh, sweetheart, it’s okay. I mean, it’s not okay, but it is,� Sirius knew he was messing this up. He didn’t have much experience with hysterical females, at least not this type of hysterical. Anger, he could deal with, but tears… Lily’s tears made him feel helpless. He knew he had to do something to cheer her up, to take her mind off the fact her sister was not going to be there.

“Lily, can I ask you a question?�

“Of course you can. I might even have an answer for you,� Lily said, smiling slightly.

“Do you want to ditch this place and run away with me? I can make you happier than that fool of a Potter.� Sirius tried to keep his voice very serious.

Lily didn’t answer at first. In fact, to Sirius, she seemed to be considering it. Then raising herself up, she kissed him on the cheek.

“Sirius, I love James and I am marrying him today. You will just have to get over me and find a nice girl of your own.� Lily chuckled as she finished speaking.

“Lily, what makes him so special? What does he have that I don’t?� Sirius asked. He had asked her to run away with him as a joke, but he realised he really wanted to know what James had that made Lily fall in love with him.

Lily looked Sirius in the eye before saying simply, “My heart.�

Nodding, Sirius stood. He held his hand out to her and said, “Well, come on then, let’s get you two married.�

***

As Sirius stood next to James in front of the wizard performing the wedding ceremony, he looked over at Lily. She was absolutely breathtaking. It wasn’t just the dress she was wearing, her face radiated pure love when she looked at James. Sirius felt a moment of pure jealousy and envy over their love.

As the wizard smiled and said, “You are now bonded for life,� Sirius felt a chill run up his spine. He looked around quickly, but the only people there were the few guests Lily and James invited to the wedding.

Shrugging off the weird sensation, he followed behind the new Mr and Mrs Potter to the end of the aisle. As he reached them, he pulled Lily into a hug and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Then turning to James, he held out his hand. But instead of shaking hands with James, he pulled James into a hug.

***

An hour later, Sirius was sitting with the newly-wed couple enjoying a wonderful dinner cooked by Lily’s mother. He knew in a few minutes he would be expected to make some sort of speech. He, of course, hadn’t given it more than a passing thought before now.

As the plates from dinner were being cleared, Sirius stood. He tapped lightly on the side of his glass to get everyone’s attention.

“Ladies and gentlemen,� he began, “being true to form, I didn’t write a speech. It seemed too much like homework, and I rarely did that on time, so why change?� Sirius waited for the laughter to die down before continuing.

“Eight years ago, I was sitting in a train car talking to this boy I had just met. Across from us sat this little red-headed girl who was crying softly as she stared out the window. Little did either of us know, we would be here, to watch that boy and the little red-headed girl get married.

“I remember that night in our room when James told me he would marry Lily one day. I know I laughed at him. He asked me if I wanted to bet on it. I, of course, said I would. So, on September first, 1971, a bet was made.� Sirius turned to James as he reached into the pocket of his robe. Pulling out a handful of Galleons, he handed them to James.

“I believe I owe you ten Galleons.� At Lily’s gasp, Sirius turned to her. “Lily, its okay. I let him win. He had to succeed at something.� James and Lily both laughed at this. Smiling, Sirius turned back to the small group gathered in the yard.

“Just this morning, James was worried Lily wouldn’t marry him. Then when we got here, I went to talk to Lily.� Sirius glanced at Lily and winked. “I gave her the chance to run away with me, to forget about James and be happy with me. Do you know what she told me?

“She told me no. When I asked her what James had that I didn’t, she told me simply, ‘her heart’.� Sirius moved over to stand behind James and Lily. He placed a hand on each of their shoulders.

“Ladies and gentleman, sitting here in front of you is the perfect example of love.� Leaning down, he kissed Lily on the cheek. He looked at James and on impulse placed a light kiss on his cheek too. He whispered in James’ ear, “Didn’t want you to be jealous.�

Standing, he held his glass up and said, “To Mr and Mrs James Potter! May your life be filled with all the happiness, joy, and love that can be found on this earth.� Sirius waited for the cheers of agreement to stop.

“James, you have shown us all your unexpected wisdom and your good taste in loving and marrying Lily, and your understanding of reality in your selection of me as the best man. Even though I may be the best, today you have the most luck.� Sirius raised his glass and tipped it towards James.

“Lily, your answer to my question before was just the answer I had been expecting. I am honoured to have been part of your wedding, and I have only one thing to say—� Siruis paused for a brief moment. “—better you than me. I lived with him for years, and let me tell you…� Sirius stopped talking at the look on James’ face. Sirius started laughing.

Bending down so his head was between Lily and James, he whispered to her, “What I really wanted to say was congratulations. You are now a Marauder by marriage.� Standing he went back to his seat.

As Remus and Peter each stood and made toasts, Sirius let his mind wander back over the past eight years. He couldn’t help but smile at how far they had all come, in their friendship, and in their love for one another. The four Marauders were now five. Times change, but this change was a good thing.

He also made a secret wish. A wish he would never tell anyone. As the first star came out in the sky, Sirius looked at it and made his wish.

“I wish for all of us to always be this happy.�