When the Potters had gone, the other guests left rather quickly, too, and soon there was nobody left besides Remus, Sirius, Frank, Alice, and Marlene. Even Emmaline had left, saying that she had to be up in the morning for Christmas with her family.

"You can come out now you little sodcake," Sirius called out to Regulus.

"Who are you calling a sodcake?" Regulus demanded as he took off the invisibility cloak.

Sirius laughed, "Well, you've answered to it, little brother." HIs eyes sparkled, "What an absolutely lovely thing you've done with your hair."

Regulus reached up and tried at taming his static-electricity filled hair, which floated above his head in a great cloud of black curls. "Hush up, yours would be like this, too, if you'd been under a bloody cloak for hours and hours!"

Sirius chuckled and caught Regulus 'round the shoulders and mussed up the hair even worse with his knuckles, making Regulus's arms flail about as he fought Sirius off.

When they'd finished up tidying, magicking away the dance floor and the chairs and the many, many lengths of table and such, the woods looked particularly empty, and Remus picked up the spent snowglobe, holding it in his hand.

"How did you do that, by the way?" Frank asked, "Gideon and Fabian were going positively mad trying to figure it out."

Remus smiled, "Good."

"You're not going to tell me?"

"Sorry, Frank," Remus answered.

Frank sighed, "Oh well. It was worth a shot. It was really bleedin' good magic, though, truly. I heard Mad Eye and Underhill going on about it, too, and even Dumbledore said he was impressed."

"Dumbledore did?" Remus's chest puffed with pride.

Frank nodded. "You're really very good."

"Thanks," Remus tucked the globe into his pocket and took a deep breath, glancing at his watch. "Bloody hell it's after two. I'm completely knackered."

"So am I," Sirius yawned. "I'm going to fall right into bed and right onto you Moony and I'm not going to have the energy to do anything else but know that I'll owe you a right good snogging because of how incredibly wonderful I think you are for all this impressive magic you've gone and done today."

Remus said, "I expect my I.O.U. in writing so I can cash it in tomorrow when you're more awake."

Regulus, who had been camping on their bedroom floor that week, looked wary.

"Perhaps you lot should reinstate Rule Number One for your brother's sake," Peter said, recognizing the nervous expression on Regulus's face.

Remus chuckled as Sirius grinned evilly at his brother.

"Mind if I stay with you lot tonight?" Marlene asked, looking to Sirius and Remus. "It's just I don't fancy waking Em up after she made such a production of getting home to bed."

"Sure you can!" Sirius said, "We'll find some place to stick ya!"

"James and Lily left," Peter pointed out, "So their room is empty... perhaps one of us lodgers could stay in there? And that would free up space for Marlene..."

"Yeah!" Sirius said, not noticing the hopeful expression on Peter's face, "That'll get you off the floor of our room, Little Brother." Sirius looked at Remus. "Give us some privacy, if you know what I mean."

Remus said, "Not to mention be more comfortable for you."

"I dunno how long I'll be staying," Regulus said hesitantly, "I don't want to put you lot at risk for hiding me out, me with the mark on my head and all."

"Bullocks!" Sirius said, waving his palm, "As if V-- You know Who, I mean -- could work the London Underground to find us!"

"I don't think he would come via the Underground, Padfoot," Remus said.

Peter looked frustrated as they finished up grabbing the last of the jam jars of glowing rice and bluebells. Alice had an armful of them, too, and Frank carried a large vase of the bluebells that he was going to give to Alice's mother the next day. Frank and Alice disapparated off and the lot of them going back to East London took it in turns to disapparate, appearing behind the large dumpster in the alley behind the flat.

Sirius and Regulus went first and when they appeared, Sirius flung his arm about Regulus's shoulders and guided the way up the steps, singing Born to Run absently as they climbed the steps.

"You played a lot of music tonight," Regulus observed. "How did you learn so much about muggle music?"

Sirius shrugged, "Just listening to the muggle radio, mostly. Then what I like I use my hard earned galleons to buy - or else beg James to buy it for me until I can pay him back, I'm sure my tab is about as large as all the galleons in the family vault by now." Sirius paused, "And my little brother, of course. He gave me one of my favorite records."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, it's brilliant. I love Freddie."

"I know you do."

"It's not even right how much I love Freddie. Don't tell Remus, but if Freddie proposes to me when we're in France, I'll be taking a bag with me in case he looks into the audience, sees me, and asks me to run away with him."

Regulus laughed. "Secret's safe with me."

"Now that's a good brother."

Behind them came the CRACK of Marlene and Peter arriving, just as Sirius was pushing opened the door of the flat.

Remus came last and trotted up the steps behind Marlene and Peter, closing the door behind him and nearly walking into Peter's back at the entry way. "What?" Remus asking, half afraid that something terrible had happened while they were away - but when he pushed 'round Peter it was to see a great big wedding cake still sitting on the coffee table.

Sirius started laughing.

"I KNEW I FORGOT SOMETHING, I KNEW I DID!" Remus exploded, slapping his palms to his face, "Ohhh hell, I can't believe -- and nobody even said anything about it!"

Sirius was doubled over, hugging his stomach.

Marlene said, "Well, it's a good looking cake."

Peter nodded, "Very lovely."

Regulus looked about at them. "Shall I get us some forks, then?"

Sirius laughed so hard he tipped onto the couch.

Remus shook his head, "I can't believe I forgot the fucking wedding cake."

It was after 3:30 AM. Sirius and Regulus both had been sitting on the floor in front of the couch, a great chunk of the cake gone. Regulus had tipped into Sirius's shoulder, asleep, and Peter was asleep in one of the arm chairs, sprawled out so his limbs hung off the seat. Remus had gone to bed, and Sirius had said goodnight and promised to be along shortly, but the moment Remus had left the room, he'd reached under the couch and produced a bottle of firewhisky, which he held up to show Marlene, who was sprawled across the couch luxuriously, hugging one of the throw pillows.

"What is this, the prohibition?" Marlene asked and she grabbed the bottle from Sirius's hand.

"He doesn't approve of it," Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "It's easier to just stash it."

Marlene raised her wand and magicked two tea cups onto the coffee table, which Sirius poured the whiskey into and handed her one of the cups. "Cheers," he said.

"Cheers," she agreed and they tapped the tea cups together. "At least I know this one's not a port key," she said, throwing back the entire tea cup in one go. She held it out to him, "I didn't get any."

He laughed and poured another cup, careful not to disturb Regulus from sleeping. They both sat in silence, sipping from the tea cups, staring at the very large, very ornate wedding cake on the table before them. "Shame we forgot the cake."

"Yeah, it was really nice," she said.

"All the more for us. Besides, I know for a fact Mum cooked butterbeer cookies and I didn't get any of those, so I reckon it's only fair that I get his cake."

"Seems fair," Marlene said.

Sirius ran his finger through some of the frosting and licked it off his fingers.

Marlene lay staring at the ceiling.

Sirius looked down at his lap, where Regulus was asleep, and over at Wormtail. Finally, he leaned back so he was looking up at her with his head turned up. "So Marley," he said thoughtfully, "What's on with you and Em?"

"How do you mean?" Marlene asked.

"I mean you seem to be..." Sirius thought of the word choice he wanted to use, then said, "Unwell."

Marlene sighed and took a long swallow of her firewhiskey. "Is it that obvious?"

"Yeah, actually," Sirius replied.

Marlene reached over and took a chunk of the cake and stuffed it in her mouth.

"So what's the matter?"

Marlene's mouth was full. "Hosshhly I haffent duh fohh-hi-uss."

"You in the dog house?" Sirius smirked. She wouldn't get it, but that wouldn't keep him from laughing to himself.

"It's not funny, Sirius Black," Marlene said, and she licked the last of the frosting from her fingers and polished off her second tea cup of the whiskey, poking Sirius in the head with the cup so he refilled it and topped his own off.

Regulus shifted in his sleep, rolling over so Sirius got up on the couch and took the throw pillow from Marlene, shoving it under his brother's head. "Hey I was using that," Marlene objected.

"And how Regulus is," Sirius answered with a shrug.

"Fine, I'll use you, then." Marlene shuffled and lay so her head was on Sirius's lap and she was staring up at him. He raised his tea cup and drank deep from it. Marlene sighed. "Do you ever feel like you're stuck in something and you're not sure how to get out of it? Because you don't want to hurt anybody but at the same time..."

Sirius thought about that for a moment, then said, "What changed?"

Marlene shrugged, "I'm not sure. I can't put a pin in it exactly."

Sirius stroked her hair absently as he might've done to Roger - if he liked cats, that is. He leaned back in the cushions.

"I just know I'm tired and I think Em is, too, deep down, she just doesn't want to admit it, and she thinks if we speed things up it'll help. She's been dropping hints about what happens for her and I next ever since Costa Rica and I'm just --" Marlene sighed. "I don't know what I am. But I'm not ready for whatever she thinks ought to be next, I can tell you that much."

Sirius didn't know what to say.

"She's going to her parents tomorrow for Christmas and I wasn't invited. I told her I was going to go to my parents, but if I do they'll ask about my life and about boys and about her and I don't have that sort of patience to answer all sorts of questions and whatever. They don't know how close Em and I are," she added.

Sirius raised his eyebrow.

"I know, I know, I should be free and wild like you, but that's not me. Whatever it looks like sometimes, that's not me." She watched as he took a swallow of the firewhiskey. "Just like it wasn't you that ignored me all that time back in school."

Sirius said, "Yeah..."

Marlene sighed. "Do you reckon we broke each other?"

"Broke each other?" Sirius chuckled. "You were my beard, darling. A very pretty beard. But still a beard."

"Sometimes I wonder, if you'd just -- not been gay -- if things would've turned out differently. Between you and I, between me and Em."

Sirius laughed, "Merlin's tit, Marley-darling, you know you're in a bad way when you wonder about that!" He shook his head. "Nothing would be different between us - we're too much alike. We would be FAR too much chaotic energy for the fates to allow." He smirked, "Not that we would give a damn about what fate wanted us to do, we would've been that sort of chaotic. Rebelling against the very order of all natural things."

Marlene laughed. "It's true."

Sirius stoked her hair some more. "But it wouldn't have worked. Eventually we would have destroyed each other, like Bonnie and Clyde."

"Who?"

"Nevermind," Sirius said. Then, "Suffice it to say that we would've been a mess with a load of holes in us."

Marlene was quiet. Then, "Sirius?"

"Yeah darling?"

"I do still love you such a lot, and reckon if I'd have made it with anyone it would've been you."

Sirius smiled, bent and kissed her forehead, "Yeah, well... I love you, too, Marley, and I feel safe in saying so, seeing as this whole conversation is just a load of the firewhiskey talking to itself between two bodies."

Marlene laughed, "Oh we did drink quite a lot of it already haven't we?"

Sirius looked at the empty bottle, "Yeah we did."

Minutes later, they'd both fallen asleep with Sirius still absently petting Marlene's hair like a cat.