Dorcas,

Just wanted to check that you're still coming tonight. Even if you don't want to see me, Marlene, Alice and Mary will be there so you don't even have to talk to me if you don't want to.

Very sorry, Lily xx

With a small sigh, I carefully put the letter into an envelope before attaching it to Ringo's foot, hoping Dorcas would actually choose to reply. Alice had, out of the blue, asked for a girls' night to catch up which happened to coincide with uneasy times with two of my best friends. Whether she knew this or not, I wasn't sure but it did work out kind of nicely, perhaps it would work in my favour and I could sort things out with both of them... if they showed up that is.

Both had said they were coming tonight but I wasn't sure if either had meant it so it paid to be sure. James had promised that if the Order asked for us, he'd cover for me, this was an important night even if it didn't involved saving lives.

I spent the hours waiting for our girls' night, doing literally anything to take my mind of the fact Dorcas wasn't replying. Even though I usually hated cleaning more than Deatheaters (maybe not quite), I spent at least three hours ordering and them promptly reordering books just to distract from the fact that three hours had passed and Dorcas usually replied in ten minutes.

"Lily, Ringo's here," James called out and I dashed down the stairs, a dusty book in my hand. James looked completely terrified, although whether this was because I was cleaning or because I'd practically tackled him to the ground for my owl, I wasn't sure.

"Lily, are you alright?" He asked, his voice slow and concerned as he watched me tear the envelope open like a ravenous animal.

"Quite alright, what makes you say that?" I asked, glancing up and quickly giving him what I hoped was a reassuring smile.

"No reason... who's it from?" He asked, casually looking over my shoulder as I unfolded the letter. Relief ebbed through my veins as I instantly recognised the scrawling handwriting.

Lily,

Of course, I'm coming. I wouldn't let a fight between us take me away from it and besides, I've missed the girls... even you

Dorcas x

James kissed his teeth, "Wow, that's kind of ... cold."

I shook my head as his arms looped around my shoulders, resting on the top of my head, "Nope, not really. She put a kiss, said she missed me... sort off and most importantly, replied at all."

"Well, then that's a good sign. I'm sure she'll forgive you for telling her you didn't want her there and wanted Marlene instead," He said and I gripped his hands tightly, trying to forget what I had said. I had been awful to her, caught up in a state of sadness and grief. Kicking Glenn out felt justified, he'd antagonised Sirius but she didn't have to go.

"I'm sorry for what I said to her," I shook my head, "You and Sirius were under enough stress and I was angry that she piled on more. How are you feeling now? You haven't cried as much, is that through repression or genuine recovery?"

He shrugged, his mouth next to my ear as he spoke, "Maybe a bit of both. I feel like I'll end up crying again after the war, you know? Not just for them but for everything."

"I get that," I replied. We stood in silent embrace for a few moments which was ruined by James's glasses dislodging and falling off his head which caused us both to crack up.

He was still chuckling as he picked them up, "I'm so glad that even this far into marriage, we can still enjoy these magical moments."

"The most magical,"  I replied with a laugh, stretching out my arms as he adjusted his glasses and automatically messed up his hair, a habit which I'd stopped noticing as much, "I still have a few hours until we leave and Remus and Sirius are... elsewhere."

"The Order keeps calling for them for meetings," James said, looking genuinely concerned, "I hope they're okay."

To me, it was fairly obvious that they weren't at an Order meeting, slipping off to be alone somewhere but James still hadn't caught on. Although part of me wanted to tell, it wasn't my secret and I simply shrugged instead, "I'm sure they're quite alright. How do you want to spend the few hours?"

He wiggled his eyebrows at me and I gave a small snort, "God, James, we have the whole house to ourselves and that's the first thing you think of. Besides, we have hours!"

"I'm willing to accept the challenge," He said with a wink, pulling the first button of his shirt open.

I gave him a bemused smile, "Another magical moment, being seduced by a single button. Come on, then."

Sadly, James didn't love up to his promise, the sex didn't last hours but we spent the remaining few hours just cuddling and talking about everything under the sun even if it made no sense. It had got to the point in our relationship where no conversation was off limits and amidst all the chaos, I had begun to treasure these no pressure moments of relaxation above all else.

"And you know, sometimes I just imagine what I'd look like if my hair was the colour of my eyes," He said and I nodded, as I lay on my front, tickling his foot with my toes subconsciously as he spoke, "Like I wouldn't look that different but you'd look like a sea person."

"A Mermaid?"

"No, they're more blue, I mean a sea person," He gave a small laugh, "Now imagine it the other way round. You would have red eyes and I would have jet black eyes... I don't like the sound of either too much."

"I don't know, vampires manage to pull off... CRAP!" My eyes drifted over to the clock and I realised to my horror that I only had five minutes until we were supposed to be meeting.

He gave a small laugh, propping himself up on his arm as I jumped out of bed, hastily trying to find the exact groovy patterned dress I wanted. Recently I'd got very into coloured patterns with big billowy sleeves although it had got to the point where I had so many, it was hard to find the one I wanted, especially in times like these.

"Manage to pull off crap?... I'm not following, Lily," He said with a laugh before quickly realising the severity of the situation, "Oh crap, the time!"

"Yes, I haven't even done my hair, I was going to put effort in tonight... oh God and makeup," I yelled, my voice shrill as I pulled one of the dresses out. James stood up, his hands on his head; clearly worry was contagious.

"Okay... you focus on hair, I'll find your dress and your sort of cowgirl boots?" I nodded, "Let me guess, you want the blue and white swirly dress?"

I nodded, "Wow, you do listen!"

He looked mildly insulted, "Of course I do! Why? Don't you..."

"I do too," I replied, as I ran to the mirror, hastily pulling out my wand and trying to remember the technique Marlene had taught me for feathered hair whilst James searched in the background.

Somehow, despite all the odds being against us, we managed to pull together and I was only two minutes late (sadly missing makeup but I brought an eyeshadow palette with me, hoping I could nip to the loo at some point). James grabbed my bag for me and gave me a quick kiss goodbye before I dashed out the door to apparate.

Of course Remus and Sirius chose now to come back, walking slowly up the stairs with their hands intertwined.

"Hey Lily - "

"Bert and Ernie, get out of my way," I snapped, dashing between us.

I was running outside, I almost missed Sirius calling out, "Which one is Bert?!"

As much as I wanted to discuss this in length at some point, there was no time and I rushed out the door. I had never run so fast to the apparating alley as we'd started calling out, my face as red as my hair.

I managed to apparate into the bin area of the restaurant which was not the nicest entrance, but given how terrible a friend I'd been, maybe it was a fitting entrance. I wandered out to the front, scanning around and spotting Dorcas standing alone. With a deep breath, I walked over to her, preparing to be as humble as possible.

"Hey Dorcas, you look really lovely tonight," I garbled out. She turned slowly, a small smile appearing on her face thankfully, rather than a frown.

"You've barely seen my outfit yet," She said softly, the spark in her voice missing, "You have to... you have to really to look before you say stuff, don't just jump to conclusions."

"Is this about Glenn and you at the funeral because I'm sorry for saying I didn't want you there, I was a bad friend and you were just being amazing."

She shook her head, small tears welling up in the corner of her blue eyes, "No, this isn't on you, I shouldn't have... shouldn't have brought him. I should have known, I mean he was captain of the Slytherin team for God's sake. I'm so sorry, Lily, I love you."

I could feel tears welling up in my eyes too as I pulled her into a hug, "I love you too, Dorcas."

We embraced for a few moments longer before pulling apart, wiping our tears with our hands and sleeves. She gave a small laugh, "Oh God, my eye makeup is smudged, that's the least of my worries really."

I put my hand on her shoulder, "What else has you worried, Dorcas?"

She bit her lip slightly, as if the words were on the tip of her tongue but she just couldn't find them, "I'm just ... stressed, shall we say and Glenn is being a bit difficult at the moment."

"Dorcas, if he ever does anything, you can stay at ours anytime," I said, hushing my voice as I said, "Sirius sleeps in Remus's bed most nights anyway - "

"Wait, they're together?" She asked, her eyes wide.

"I thought Marlene told you," I asked, feeling slightly startled.

She shook her head quickly, laughing slightly, "I knew he kind of had a thing for him and leant that way a bit but not that they were together. Wow, good for them... really good for them, I hope they're happy."

I nodded, "I think they are. Anyway, you can just sleep in Sirius's bed. No doubt Sirius would fight to keep the house an anti-Glen zone anyway, he hates the guy."

She gave a small smile before shaking her head, "No, nothing like that but thank you, he's just - "

"LILY! DORCAS!" We turned around to see Alice and Mary approaching, Alice running over and pulling us into a double hug, practically strangling us.

"I have missed you both SO much!" She said, "Oh God, we've all become such strangers although this won't be the case for much longer..."

She hushed her voice as she said, "Me and Frank are joining the... you know what."

"A sex cult?" Dorcas said.

"Why does your mind always go there?" Alice asked, giving her a light slap on the arm and pursing her lips together.

Dorcas held her hands up in surrender, her eyes regaining a bit of their former gleam, "Sorry, sorry! That's just how it works, drives Glen mad!"

"Should we go in?" Mary asked, a little stiffly, "I know Marlene's not here but we're already a bit late and if we wait any longer they might give it away."

I looked around for Marlene, hoping she would appear out of the darkness but she didn't. With a small sigh, I agreed and the four of us went inside. Alice had booked the restaurant and I felt severly underdressed in my cowgirl boots. Whilst the host looked a little annoyed with me, he said nothing, allowing us in.

"Wait!" We turned around as a group to see Marlene rushing in, her hair messily pulled into a bun clipped by a flower.

"Wait, I'm here," She repeated, panting slightly and holding up her hand, "Please wait! Sorry, I'm late, I was with Mark and we got distracted!"

"So did I!" I cried out, running over to her and pulling her into a hug, which she returned even though she was almost collapsing with exhaustion, "Did you run?"

"Apparated to the wrong place," She said between breaths, "Too busy to apparate again."

The others stayed by the host's stand, clearly stalling him. I decided to use this opportunity to say one last thing, "I'm so glad to see you, I thought you weren't going to come, you didn't reply to any of my letters... although James said you sent them."

"Yeah, I told him," She looked up at me with slight curiosity, "And what do you mean I didn't reply? You never sent me any!"

"I did too," I replied indignantly, "I mean I didn't for a bit as you were distant but then I started again. The last letter I got was around the plan and then they stopped, I only got that one patronus message from you about the funeral..."

"But I sent you loads..."

"So did I," She said, her eyes narrowed in concern, "Speaking of which, the reason I didn't come was I got this letter anonymously - "

"Guys, come on. We need to get our table," Dorcas cut in, her head cocked to the side. "Everything okay?"

We both nodded although gave each other a look, promising to figure this out. It was strange, as if someone was trying to keep us apart intentionally. I clung to her arm as we walked towards our table, determined not to let her again. A sense of unease had come over me and I sensed that now we were together, we should be on our guard...