April 14th, 1979

It's good to be home. It's like a breath of fresh air, being away from the castle, away from everything that I'm trying to avoid.

Both of my parents have been busy working, so I've spent most of my time at Marlene and Dorcas's flat in London. Apparition is a wonderful thing.

However, sometimes Marlene or Dorcas are called away for something related to "the Order". They never say much about it, and ignore my questions regarding it. I feel like I'm in the dark about everything related to the war, but I know that it's probably just Marlene being overprotective.

It's still nice to be around other people.

I've written to my friends a few times. All of us ended up going home for Easter, which is tomorrow, spending the two week holiday with our families.

Lily and James are getting married today. This is how I ended up at Potter Manor with my parents, wearing a nice dress and heels, surrounded by loads of people that I didn't know.

Marlene was the maid of honor, and Dorcas was a bridesmaid, along with Mary Macdonald and Alice Longbottom, so they were already there getting ready when my parents and I arrived. Sirius was the best man, Remus, Peter, and Frank Longbottom were groomsmen.

We followed the sea of people into the backyard, which was decorated with lots of pale-colored flowers. Euphemia and Fleamont Potter were greeting everyone as they took their seats.

"Ah, the McKinnons!" Fleamont said, shaking my father's hand. "How are you, William?"

My dad smiled, "Doing good, how about yourself?"

"I'm doing great! It's not everyday that your only child is getting married," Fleamont exclaimed.

Euphemia was smiling brightly, nodding along to her husband. "It's lovely to see you, Lydia!" Euphemia claimed. "And how are you, Meredith?"

I smiled at James's mother. I had only met her a handful of times, but from what I know about her, Euphemia is one of the nicest people to exist. Her and Fleamont, both.

"I'm doing well," I replied politely. "Getting close to being done!"

The four of them exchanged a few more pleasantries before my parents and I found our seats and waited for the ceremony to begin.

Soon enough, the music began and people started walking down. The wizard priest went first, followed by Euphemia and Fleamont, the James himself. Then came the bridesmaids and groomsmen, Marlene and Sirius in the front, both of them trying not to laugh as they took their spots on either side of the altar.

The music swelled, and everyone stood as Lily walked down the aisle, accompanied by Remus.

Lily's dad died when she was thirteen, her mum died last summer, and her sister refused to come to the wedding.

I swear to Merlin that James was on the verge of tears as Lily stood next to him on the altar and intertwined their hands.

It's no secret that James pinned after Lily for years. I don't know what he ended up doing to win her over, but it worked though, considering that they were standing on the altar, looking at each other like the lovesick teenagers that they are.

"You may be seated," The wizard priest cleared his throat, and began to speak. "We are gathered here today to witness the union of two souls: James Potter and Lily Evans."

- - - - -

The ceremony was beautiful, and the reception was quite entertaining. Sirius gave his best man speech where Remus had to kick him more than once and Peter just rolled his eyes. Everyone was having a great time.

My mum had an early shift the next morning, so both of my parents went home a bit after ten. In fact, most of the people over the age of 30 did. My social battery was starting to run out and I wanted to go home, but I was practically dragged onto the dance floor by Dorcas.

I had managed to slip away after a few songs, and I was now standing off to the side sipping champagne.

"Not a dancing person?"

I glanced over to see Remus Lupin standing beside me, holding a glass of what I assumed was firewhiskey.

"Sometimes," I replied, "I'm just not really in a dancing mood."

"But it's a wedding," Remus joked.

I smiled, "Yeah, I know."

Remus smirked, "So you either hate weddings or you're heartbroken. Which one is it?"

I was taken back by his question. Remus has always been a straight to the point person. I've known him for six years, so I should've expected that.

"You're not dancing," I pointed out.

"That would be correct."

I teased, "So do you hate weddings or are you heartbroken?"

Remus smiled, "Neither, I'm just not a dancer."

"Oh, is that so?" I joked.

"Very much," Remus said. "You didn't answer my question."

I frowned, "Can you keep a secret?"

Remus smirked, "You have no idea."

I gave him an odd look, but continued on. "I'm not heartbroken per say," I answered, "More feeling betrayed."

"Ah," Remus said, "Marlene did say that you had been seeing someone."

I raised an eyebrow. "Dammit, Marls," I muttered.

"Don't worry, she didn't say who," Remus added.

I glanced over at the dance floor. Everyone was crowded together, dancing to Abba. Marlene was dancing with Dorcas, James was spinning Lily around, the girls were all dancing together, and Sirius was jumping up and down thrashing his head around while Frank and Peter gave him odd looks.

"I think your boyfriends drunk," I pointed out.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I figured he would. Those damn Black brothers."

I glanced over at Remus. "Odd choice of words," I joked.

"Is it?"

"What do you know?" I asked, finding myself leaning towards him.

Remus shrugged, towering over me. "I know everything, Meredith."

I went silent, looking back at everyone dancing.

"You know, Sirius is going to be pissed when he finds out," Remus commented.

I sighed, "Yeah, I know."

After a little while longer of watching everyone, I decided it was time to make my swift exit home.

"I'm going home, can you tell Marlene?" I asked Remus.

He nodded, "Yeah, I'll tell her. It was nice to see you, Meredith."

I smiled, "You too. See you around, Remus."

I slipped out of the ballroom and into the empty corridor. It was increasingly quieter in the corridor, and I had a headache.

Walking out of the house and into the front yard, I pulled out my wand and disappeared with a twist, landing a few feet away from my porch.

I unlocked the front door and walked inside the house. I just want to go to bed and sleep for at least twelve hours.

Sitting down on the edge of my bed, I took off my heels that had been hurting my feet all night. I changed out of my dress and into a t-shirt and a pair of sleep shorts.

I turned my light off, leaving on the dim light of my lamp to illuminate the room.

I used my wand to light the way downstairs. The house was chilly as I went into the kitchen to grab a glass of water and a snack before bed. I want to eat, then sleep for twelve hours.

There was a loud crack coming from the yard.

My blood ran cold, and I gripped onto my wand tighter.

I slowly walked into the living room. The noise was apparition, I was sure of that. But who? Marlene and Dorcas would be going back to their flat.

Creeping around the curtain, I looked out into the front yard.

I loosened my grip on my wand and went to the front door, throwing it open.

"Regulus?" I asked, pointing my illuminated wand towards him.

He looked up at me, a black eye and blood dripping down his chin. I gasped, looking closer at him.

"Meredith," He sighed in relief. His breathing was erratic, his speech slowed and lazy. "I'm sorry, I didn't have anywhere to go."