(Time lapse to 2 months later)

Come on, Marls, it's not that bad, come on, easy does it . . ." I said. "Now don't look down, alright?" At this, Marlene glanced down to the rushing waters, and gave a small shriek, her nails clawing at her face.

"Marls, take my hand now, alright? Yup, there you go, now I'm going to walk backwards, while you walk to me. Now on three, one, two, three," I moved my feet behind me, and Marlene walked forwards, still terrified.

"You got this, Marls! Come on, now!" Alice shouted from the other end of the bridge, and Dorcas clapped, giving Marlene a thumbs up.

"You got this, Marls!" Dorcas yelled. Marlene sighed deeply, and kept walking towards me, as I walked backwards to the ledge of rock.

We made slow, but steady progress, and soon, we had arrived at the ledge, and Marlene crumpled to the ground, on her hands and knees.

"Never . . . Again . . ." Marlene whimpered. "Never . . . Again . . ."

"Come on, Marls, we've got to keep going, we're only half way through!" Alice said, patting Marlene lightly on the back.

"Okay . . . okay, just a minute . . . I need to breathe . . ."Marlene was back on her feet within the minute, and we were on out way again, hiking along the narrow stone ledge.

"I wonder what the boys are up to," I wondered aloud.

"Probably doing something stupid and pointless, like . . . like making chess pieces fly around the house or something." Marlene said.

"Yeah. Ever since you guys bought the house, they've been doing the dumbest things." Alice added.

"I remember once I woke up to find James and Sirius leaning over my bed, dangling vines about a foot above my head." I said.

"Are you and James still sleeping in separate rooms?" Marlene asked.

"Yes. I don't want us to sleep together until something bigger happens."

"Like James proposing?" Dorcas said.

"Yes, something like that." I replied, my face growing hot.

"You think you're ready for something like that?" Alice asked as we peaked the top of the steep hill.

"Yes. And I know we've only been together since towards the end of the year at Hogwarts, but we would've been together for longer if I weren't for Sirius."

"Sirius? What had he got to do with you and James' relationship?"

"Well, at the Halloween Dance, I remember Sirius being so drunk on Fire Whiskey, that he stopped us, literally, seconds from kissing."

"Oh, my God, I remember that happening! I never apologized, I could've stopped him -"

"Marls, it's not your fault, and besides, I like the first kiss I got, and I wouldn't change that."

"Okay, but you and James could've been a couple longer!"

"I like the way things went, it was one of my, by far, favorite memories," I sighed, thinking back to the Quidditch Cup and when the Gryffindors finally claimed victory, it was the best feeling in the world.

"Well, should we keep going, then?" I said, changing the subject before I got too red in the face.

"Yeah," Alice said, pulling out her map of the park we were hiking on. "We need to go down this set of stairs, and then we'll go across another bridge, climb up one more hill, down another hill, across another bridge, and then we'll be back at the start again, and we can apparate home."

"Oh no, more bridges," Marlene said as we started to walk down the hill.

"I never knew you were so scared of bridges, Marls," Alice said.

"Well, it's not the bridges, it's the water below. It's almost always in a rush and you can't even see the blue of the water, just the white foam that bubbles up."

"Don't worry Marls, we'll help you over the bridges again." Dorcas said.

"Thanks for the sympathy, but can we talk about something else? Take my mind off it?"

"Yeah . . . lets talk about boys." Dorcas said. "So, Alice, when's the wedding going to be?"

"June 1st, but I still need to go and pick out a wedding dress yet."

"June 1st?" I exclaimed.

"Yes."

"That's in, like, a month!"

"So? Me and Frank have got all the designs done, almost everything figured out. We just need to get me a dress, we have to figure out the flowers, and that's it." Alice sighed, stopping at the beginning of the bridge.

"Alright, me and Alice will go ahead first, then you two can come after us. Unless you want to switch who's helping Marlene," Dorcas said.

"Nope, I'm good, you two go ahead." Alice and Dorcas walked ahead, and I turned to Marlene. She looked a little scared, but determined, and I extended my arms, and Marlene took them, and we walked across the bridge the same way we had before. It was much quicker this time round.

"Good job, Marlene, you're doing great, come on, we're almost there," I said. Once we got back to the end of the bridge, we kept on walking up the hill.

"And what about you and Sirius, Marlene?" I asked.

"It's . . . complicated. We always snogged in broom closets, and we were good in the last year, but after we left, we sort of . . . fell apart."

"Did you feel anything . . . you know, serious about him? Like, loving him?" Alice asked.

"No . . . I don't know. We never got the chance to really go on dates much, and we both were too scared to talk to each other, like you and James, Lily, and so after the last ride on the Express, that was the last time we talked the most. We've only said a few short sentences since."

"Oh, Marls." I said, pulling her into a hug as we got to the top of the hill.

"No, it's fine, I just feel quilty about the way we left things." We walked on, talking about Alice and Frank's wedding.

"One more bridge," I sighed. Dorcas and Alice walked on across the bridge, while me and Marlene shuffled along quickly.

"We're finally done with bridges," Marlene sighed, breathing in deeply like she had just walked outside.

"Come on, we'll have to apparate to that dark alley, then we can go home. If you three want to stay the night, you can." I said.

"No, I'll have to get back to Frank, you know." Alice replied.

"I'm good, Lily, thank you, though." Dorcas said. Marlene shrugged.

"Alright. I'm in, we can play chess and drink fire whiskey,"

• • •

Sorry I haven't updated in so long! Omg I'm terrible, I've been terrible in not updating! Sorry! Ok, thank you all for the votes, and the reads, it's an absolutely AMAZING feeling when someone votes on my stories!

Sincerely,
4WeasleyIsOurKing

P.S. GO VIKINGS!!!!!