A/N:
Sorry about the wait loves! Writing this chapter took far longer than I anticipated originally!

Every time the date changes I will specify what day it is. This means that if you don't see a new date, the event happened the same day as the event before that.

Also, there are some major time skips, but that's just because I wanted to keep the story rolling along! (When planning I realized that the story would become much too long if there weren't some time skips.)

Our favorite duo makes an appearance in this chapter!😉

...

10 November 1978

Lily had decided that Marlene had more than earned the spot of Maid of Honour. Although she was great friends with Alice and Mary, she was considerably closer to Marlene for a spectrum of reasons.

The two had met in first-year since they shared dorms, but Lily mostly chose to hang out with Snape. This caused Marlene to make her own friends, which was basically just her hanging out with older Gryffindors she had met prior to coming to Hogwarts.

Marlene and Lily only became really close friends when Lily had hexed James after their first-year exams. Hexing James had made Lily earn Marlene's respect, as it seemed everyone else seemed to think that the sun shined out of James's arse.

The two had constantly written over that summer, sharing every little detail of their lives in the letters.

Meanwhile, Mary and Alice had also bonded over the course of their first-year. They had been partnered in Potions, which meant they had to spend time outside of class together working on homework.

Merging the groups only happened when James and Sirius had pranked Mary and Alice rather harshly in the middle of second-year. Lily and Marlene had seen it go down, both deciding that the two girls did not deserve it, as they were quite nice dorm mates.

Before Remus could intervene, Lily and Marlene hexed the two boys to the wall. (It took forever to get the sticky charm off. Sirius thought for a split second he would be stuck there for the rest of time.) And that was how they all earned detention via McGonagall.

Yet, Lily couldn't bring her half of the bridal party to find her wedding dress because they were off being trained by the Order. So, the next best thing was to bring Sirius Black and Euphemia Potter.

She trusted them both enough to tell their honest opinions, and she reasoned that they both knew James as well as she did. This had nothing to do with the fact that they would be helping her pick out a wedding dress, but knowing that she had two people who knew her fiancé just as well as she did offered some confidence.

"You need to be able to dance in it! Do you think you'll be able to dance in that one?" Sirius asked while picking off the chipping nail polish.

Marlene had finally managed to persuade him to let her paint his nails black. Sirius was more than willing to let her, but it was cute to watch her try to bribe him into it. Plus, Marlene managed to get him out of doing his share of chores for the day. It was a win-win situation.

Lily looked down at the ballgown the employee had chosen for her. The dress didn't make her feel comfortable, it definitely didn't scream Lily Evans. She sighed and made eye contact with Euphemia in the mirror in front of her.

"I'll be right back, dear," Euphemia stood up and walked into the never-ending row of wedding dresses.

Lily wasn't exactly sure if she was supposed to be doing that, but Euphemia Potter could do whatever she pleased. The woman had a sense of authority that triggered everyone else to step out of her way.

"Well, I think we both know this one isn't the one. I think Mom's got something up her sleeve though," Sirius reassured Lily as she walked back to the dressing room.

She had been through at least five dresses by now and it was getting a bit discouraging. There was always something wrong with the dress.

Too puffy.

Too much skirt.

Too little skirt.

Sleeves look weird.

Too tight.

Holy fuck-

Euphemia had appeared in the dressing room like a godsend. Sometimes Lily wondered if the Potter family was sent to her from Merlin because that's how well they treated her sometimes.

She had brought with her the dress that Lily just knew was the one. Lily had never believed in any of the rubbish that brides had told her before about seeing the dress and instantly falling in love with it. Yet, here she was proving herself wrong.

Everything about it was perfect. The fabric was breathable but didn't look cheap. It covered her feet, yet she wasn't going to trip on it any time soon. The color didn't make her look too pasty pale, which was more than she could've ever asked for.

Euphemia and Sirius both simultaneously agreed that the dress gave Lily "the bride glow." She bought it with the money that James had forced into her wallet and left happier than before.

...

24 glares. Marlene had sent 24 glares Liz and Hayley's way. Each one had gone past Shacklebolt, but Liz and Hayley had noticed every single one. To be fair, they probably had deserved those glares in the past, but Marlene hadn't even given them a chance to apologize.

The two girls had been trying to muster up enough courage to even speak to Marlene because she was extremely scary when provoked. It wasn't like she would go crazy at Gringotts though in front of everyone.

Kingsley had once again called the three girls to Hog's Head before they all apparated to Gringotts. They were to strengthen the wizarding world's ties to the goblins that worked there. So far, Marlene had been sent to go through Ministry paperwork since she almost swore at three goblins, which certainly did not help their cause.

Against their better judgment, Liz and Hayley walked over to Marlene when Shacklebolt had granted them a break. Maybe this could be their chance to make amends with Marlene, whose stubbornness wasn't making a getaway any time soon.

"So, did you start telling people to call you Liz to separate yourself from what you did as Beth?" Marlene questioned with a fake smile.

"Look, I'm genuinely sorry for what I did to you and your friends while we were at Hogwarts because--put quite frankly--I was a bitch, and I hope we can just turn over a new leaf," Liz finished speaking with a drawn-out sigh.

Marlene was impressed. The apology seemed fake at first, but the old Elizabeth would've never recognized that her actions were harmful in any way. Not only that, but she had called her past self a bitch.

"And I'm sorry for making negative assumptions about you guys. I think I was jealous of how tight a bond you all had and I really regret taking it out upon you all," Hayley tacked on as Marlene sat still in stunned silence.

"Alright, well, I guess the mature thing would be to accept your apologies, but you have to promise to apologize to my friends as well."

"Done," they agreed in unison.

"Good luck apologising to Lily."

...

The little bubble they had been in when picking out a wedding dress had dissipated as soon as they received a message patronus from Dorcas. She had called them to Hogwarts in regards to do some sort of "research."

Sirius and Lily apparated over after writing a quick note to their friends in accordance with where they went.

The biggest thing that the group had had to figure out was how to communicate on days like these. Days where they would see little of each other had seemed to happen frequently recently, which was affecting everyone's morale. Yet, they continued to train for the Order in hopes that they would be able to make a difference someday.

Hogwarts was packed with roaming kids. The term was in full swing, so this did not surprise the two, but it did deter them. The Marauders had left a bigger legacy behind than Lily had remembered and they were stopped in the corridors every few feet by one of Sirius's fangirls.

"One day you're going to have one of these things," Sirius spoke after brushing off yet another person.

"You mean a child?" Lily's eyebrows raised in recognition.

"Yeah, I also imagine a little James running around, but who knows? Maybe you'll have a girl," Sirius nudged her shoulder.

"Maybe..." Lily said hesitantly.

Lily just realised that she hadn't really spoken much to James about having children. He had expressed wanting a family at some point, but they both had silently agreed to have a family after the war. Raising kids wouldn't be very easy in the atmosphere around them.

They spotted Dorcas speaking to Rodger Jordan, the old quidditch commentator. Lily and Sirius hadn't seen him in quite a while.

"Jordan! You're still doing the internship for Sluggie, I assume?" Sirius shook his hand.

"Yes! That reminds me, I should probably be off since I haven't been in his good books recently," Jordan responded.

"Oh? What happened?" Lily asked knowing it was difficult to get on Slughorn's bad side.

"I accidentally blew up a cauldron, it's a long story... Anyway! I'll leave you to it then!" He left as quickly as they spotted him.

"I always knew there was a reason I liked him," Sirius spoke grinning widely.

Maybe he would see Regulus while he was there.

"So, I called you two here to just quickly conduct a survey for Dumbledore. He wants to know what concerns people hold for Hogwarts," Dorcas asserted confidently.

She handed them two clipboards with a few pieces of parchment attached, yet no quill.

"How are we supposed to write?" Sirius asked bluntly.

"If you scratch your wand up against the paper, then the shapes you draw will appear, like so."

Dorcas demonstrated this by writing her name. Lily noticed that she stopped abruptly while writing her last name and the e looked an awful lot like a c.

Dorcas Mc-

"Alright, you two better start then! I'll come and get you after a few hours," she smiled before walking off.

"A few hours?" Sirius incredulously asked.

"Yes! It's our literal job, Sirius," Lily reminded him.

...

Lily and Sirius had found that they made a great team. Perhaps that's why Dumbledore grouped them together.

Lily would ask the questions to the younger students, as she had had more experience with younger children and wasn't prone to making them cry. While Sirius took on the job of asking the older students, which really wasn't that difficult in retrospect.

In all, before they decided to visit the greenhouses, they had asked a total of 21 students their thoughts on Hogwarts. When a rather ditzy girl had suggested that they make Hogwarts more "fashion-forward," Lily and Sirius had to both restrain themselves from rolling their eyes.

"What can I do for you- Miss Evans! Mr. Black! What a nice surprise!" Professor Sprout smiled as they entered.

She hadn't changed one bit. The same smile, same genuine tone, and same dirt-strewn face. Sprout had a welcoming soul; one that had never once turned anyone away, as her own optimistic vibes could brighten up the darkest day. (ahaha that rhymed)

"It's nice to see you too, Professor. We just came here on behalf of a little survey we are conducting," Lily started.

"Ooh, do continue," Pomona spoke with her intrigue sparked.

She did remember Albus mentioning something about a few alumni overseeing a survey. She just hadn't thought it would be these two students.

In her mind, Lily Evans probably would've gone to some prestigious school to further her education. The girl thrived on bettering herself in every way possible. Pomona had thought that Sirius would probably end up working for the Ministry. Although, she couldn't picture him behind a desk ever. Yet, she could see why they had both chosen to work for Dumbledore.

They craved justice. Lily wanted people like her to be able to have the same education experience that she had been given. Sirius wanted to squash out people like his biological family. It made perfect sense that they were here training, but did it have to happen so soon?

Pomona had just watched them graduate. It pained her to see them take on the weight of the world so quickly. Maybe that's what was destined to happen though. Maybe, fighting in the bloody war was what they were meant for all along.

"Our first and only question for you is: what kind of potential do you think Hogwarts has in the future?" Sirius asked, reading it directly from the sheet of paper.

"I think that Hogwarts has the potential to teach many more generations of students after us. The foundation was built for us, but we have to continue to advance into the future with the world around us. With Dumbledore as headmaster, I believe that the school will continue to change for the better."

The answer was far more than enough, and after staying to chat with their former professor for a few more minutes, they started to trek back up to the castle.

"Is that my brother?" Regulus raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

Craig followed his boyfriend's line of vision towards a laughing redhead accompanied by a grinning Sirius Black.

"With Lily Evans! Let's go say hi!" Craig took Regulus's hand without thinking and dragged him along.

It didn't take long to practically run into the two, as they happened to be walking extremely slow. It was like they wanted to run into people. When they finally reached them, Craig forgot to drop Regulus's hand.

Craig was only at Hogwarts because Madam Pomfrey had requested he stay interning with her for the time being. She had managed to get Dumbledore to consider him official Hogwarts staff, which meant he would be getting paid. She needed lots of extra help in the infirmary these days that Craig so happily provided.

Craig and Regulus had gone official two weeks into the school year when they finally decided to do things the "right way." As if there was one right way...

"Lily! Sirius! I haven't seen you two in forever!" Craig greeted them.

Sirius could be quite observant when he chose to be, so it wasn't long into Craig and Lily's conversation that he had noticed Regulus holding Craig's hand. The only reason this was a big deal was since the Black household did not show physical affection often.

This was something that had taken Sirius a long time to get used to around his friends. James had been overly affectionate since he met him, which probably helped the whole ordeal.

"Hey, does anyone know what time it is?" Regulus suddenly asked.

Sirius looked down at the watch that the Potters had gifted him for his seventeenth birthday.

"It appears to be four-"

"Bloody hell! I've got detention with McG! Bye, everyone!" Regulus raced off towards the castle.

"I should probably go see if Poppy needs any help right now. There's been a cold outbreak," Craig explained before saying his own goodbyes.

"Are they dating?" Lily narrowed her eyes as they watched Craig enter the castle.

Before Sirius could respond, Lily was knocked to the ground.

"I have been meaning to write to you ever since James told me! I'm so happy you're going to be a Potter!" Annie spoke at supersonic speed, the words flying out of her mouth.

"I'm very happy I'm going to be a Potter too! But, you're crushing my ribs, so could you please get up?" Lily chuckled at the girl's eagerness.

Annie had grown quite a bit since the term had started. She was wearing her hair down to her shoulders now in intricate braids, which still successfully kept her hair out of her face for quidditch. She happened to be wearing her quidditch uniform and was carrying her broomstick.

"You've got to be careful, Annie, she's pregnant!" Sirius said, spreading more rumours.

"So, that's why you're engaged," Annie giggled going along with the joke.

Lily rolled her eyes and swatted both of them lightly on the arm.

"Sirius, you've got to stop telling people I'm pregnant! One of these times they're going to believe you! And, Annie, stop encouraging him!"

...

1 December 1978

Alice was drawn to their flat as if she sensed that they decided to decorate for Christmas. She was warmly welcomed at the door by three constricting hugs and excited screeches.

The girls hadn't seen Alice in quite some time because auror training had been taking up every single minute of the girl's life. Don't get her wrong, she loved it almost as much as Frank and she couldn't see herself doing anything else with her life.

Spending her time with Frank while being an auror, nothing sounded better than that.

Alice did get quite tired of not seeing her friends for such a long time though. This was partially the reason that she had shown up at the flat without an invite. (Not that she needed an invite to visit in the first place.)

"Tell us everything! How's everything going?" Marlene asked with a bursting grin.

"Simply wonderful! Frank is great! Training is great! I'm great! How much better could life get?" Alice replied, just as happily if not more.

The four of them truly did deserve to carry out happy, fulfilling lives, yet only time could tell if that would actually happen. The future was unforeseen for them as of right now, although did things really have to change?

...

17 December 1978

James had excitedly fled the flat that morning in a heavy, wool jumper. It was the first time in what felt like ages that he would be able to spend an entire day with Lily. Just the idea of it made him jaw practically crack from grinning too much.

Lily had accompanied him into town wearing his quidditch jumper, her Gryffindor scarf, and a slight flush on her cheeks due to the wind.

The plan was to go gift shopping for Euphemia and Fleamont in down town London—a place they had quickly grown accustomed to going.

Light snow fell onto the ground, challenging nearby passerby with the struggle of trying not to slip and fall. Many victims to the ice had already fled the winter scene, proving that they just weren't fit for cold weather.

"Times like these remind me of Cokeworth," Lily smiled a soft, reminiscing smile.

The couple swung their arms back and forth between them as if the action would provide heat. (Spoiler: It did not.)

"Yeah?" James matched her smile with his adoring, hazel eyes.

"Yeah. Petunia and I would spend hours in the snow every chance we got. We always built the greatest snowmen."

James listened intently to the reflection of her childhood memories. She didn't sound sad like she used to when she talked about her family, but, instead, she sounded like her heart was going to burst out of delight from remembering the jolly time. (the word jolly is so fucking weird)

"My mum always made the best hot chocolate that we managed to burn our tongues on no matter now many times she warned us. That would make my dad laugh," she said, finishing speaking for the time being.

The unmistakable sight of bright red hair caused Lily to nearly stop in her tracks. She hadn't seen them in months.

"Molly! How've you been?" Lily practically ran up to the woman, who held two identical children on her hips.

Even at their young age, the twins smiled in deviance. Those two would sure prove to be a handful later in life.

"Lily! Oh, I've just been splendid!"

James interjected every so often in the long conversation, although Lily did hold the reins of this one. He just sat back and observed for the most part.

It proved to be a successful day when they arrived back at home with a few presents for each parental figure.

...
23 December 1978

The scarlet engine whaled its horn as each family made their way from Platform 9 3/4. Lily, Mary, and Julia didn't really fit the standard for a "normal" family, but Lily always did express how much she hated how everyone pushed the idea that being normal was the only acceptable behavior.

She was perfectly fine standing out in a crowd, which was something she had had to learn overtime.

"Lilyyyy! This is my brother, Rodger!" Annie snuck up behind the three of them.

"Hello! I'm Lily Evans!" Lily stuck her hand out for the man to shake before he pulled her into an unexpected, yet welcome hug.

"So, this is the famous Lily Evans I've been hearing about from James for the past eight years?"

Lily's cheeks flushed a brilliant shade of red before she decided how to respond to that.

"I wouldn't say famous..."

...

Author's Note:

I love Pomona Sprout.

I will attach a picture of Lily's dress to the actual wedding chapter. (This will be additional to my attempt at describing the dress during that same chapter.)

Imagining the little Marauders running around Hogwarts makes me go soft. My favorite thing is imagining them doing their first prank together.

My school just posted an announcement that we're going to in person school four days a week instead of the two we are going rn. This means that I will most likely have less time to update starting March 15! (I could rant about this topic and why it's a bad idea for a thousand more words, but I'm just going to go to bed instead...)

Lmao anyways thanks for reading
-teddy🐨