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Format: Novel
Chapters: 35
Word Count: 74,329
Status: WIP
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Strong Language, Mild Violence, Scenes of a Sexual Nature, Substance Use or Abuse, Sensitive Topic/Issue/Theme
Genres: Humor, Romance, AU
Characters: Lupin, Sirius, Lily, James, OC
Pairings: Sirius/OC, James/Lily, OC/OC, Remus/OC
First Published: 02/24/2008
Last Chapter: 01/09/2010
Last Updated: 01/09/2010
Summary:banner by toonmili | 15000+ reads!
AU of my Marauderette series. Seven years ago, Rachel Delancy, James Potter, Lily Evans, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin gratuated from Hogwarts. Now, they are still trying to find their way in the world and living as adults. Will James and Lily have their happy ending? And why can't Rachel and Sirius figure out their feelings?
Chapter 21: The One with the Decision
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A/N: I'm so so sorry that this took forever to write. Real life got in the way...but I hope you enjoy this one! It's got some fluff and some fun moments.
James and Lily Apparated to the outside of Remus and Rachel’s apartment, hoping that everyone would be there. They entered without knocking, and found everyone watching the new Quidditch channel that only wizards were able to receive. It looked like it was England against Italy, and England was ahead by only ten points. Rachel and Remus were cheering for England while it appeared that Sirius and Maddie were cheering for Italy. Suddenly, the Seeker for Italy pulled out of a dive with the fluttering Snitch in his hand. The two roommates groaned and handed over their five Knuts to the other two.
“Don’t worry about it, you two.” James told them. “I would’ve cheered for England also.”
James saying this brought everyone’s attention to the beaming couple. Lily suddenly squealed with excitement, “We’re engaged!” She held out the hand with the shining ring on it for everyone to see. The others came running over and engulfed the engaged ones in a huge bear hug.
“This is the least jealous I’ve ever been.” Rachel announced in a teary voice. “You guys are going to be so happy.”
“Yeah, I know.” Lily agreed with a smile before pulling Rachel into a hug.
“Ooh, have you guys decided who going to be in the wedding party?” Maddie questioned, looking more at Lily.
“No, not really.” James answered. “We’ve only been engaged for an hour. There hasn’t been much of a discussion yet.”
“Well, you’ll just have to let us know when you guys decide.” Rachel told him with a little playful wink. The only reason that the friends were inquiring was because they wanted to know who would be the Maid of Honor and the Best Man. All of them wanted to be one of those people, but only the engaged couple could decide. So, to be a bit on the suck-up side, everyone let James and Lily retire to their apartment.
“So, who do you think should be in the wedding party?” James asked.
“Well, obviously, all of them are going to be in it.” Lily reminded him. “We just have to decide who is going to be the main ones, other than the bride and groom of course. I’m fine with whoever you choose as your Best Man.”
“And I’m perfectly fine with who you pick as your Maid of Honor.” James assured her, although he was almost one hundred percent positive that he knew who it was. “It’s going to be Rachel, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.” Lily replied bluntly. “I mean, she’s my best friend in the entire world, and has been since we were five. Plus, she’s your best friend also. I know we’re close with Maddie, but we’re closer with Rach. What about you? Are you leaning one way or the other?”
James sighed thoughtfully. He knew it was going to be a hard decision, but he was starting to lean a certain way. “I don’t know. Moony and Padfoot have been my best friends since our first year. But I have a question for you: if I choose Sirius as my best man, will there be much tension between our Best Man and Maid of Honor?”
Lily considered it for a moment before replying, “I don’t think so. There might be a little with their history and all, but overall it should be okay. It looked like they were having fun in there.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” James told her, pulling her into a long and deep kiss. The feel of her lips excited him and he suggested in a husky voice, “We should go celebrate our engagement in the bedroom.”
Lily grinned seductively, already knowing that James would’ve wanted to do this tonight. She kissed him again before pulling him into the bedroom, a large smile plastered onto her face.
Sirius and Rachel had met up just a couple of minutes ago at a small café in Diagon Alley, each getting some breakfast. Luckily for Sirius, he had been looking for Rachel to tell her something. James and Lily wanted to speak with the both of them when they had time. So after they enjoyed a nice breakfast together, they made their way back to the apartment building, not bothering to Apparate there.
Rachel felt Sirius’s arm wrap around her shoulders when a cooler breeze picked up, and it felt nice to have his strong arm around her again. He then leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. She whipped her head around at him right after he did that, and he had a look of surprise and slight embarrassment on his face. He explained sheepishly, “I’m sorry, Rach. I think I did it out of habit.”
“Okay.” Rachel replied. “Just don’t do it very often or else everyone will think that we’re back together.”
“Which we’re not.” Sirius added quickly, even though it wasn’t necessary.
“Nope, of course we’re not.” Rachel agreed. There was a slight pause before she said sarcastically, “This isn’t awkward at all, now.”
Sirius groaned quietly. Awkwardness was the one thing they were trying to avoid at all costs, so he told her, “I’m sorry. I didn’t even realize that I did it until you looked at me.”
“Honey, don’t worry. I totally forgive you.” She assured him kindly. A part of her wanted him to do it again, but she wouldn’t let him know that. They were on good terms now, and she wanted to keep it that way.
“So,” Sirius said out of nowhere, “what do you think the betrothed couple wants?”
“Honestly,” she answered in a low voice, “I think they’ve chosen their Best Man and Maid of Honor.”
“I hope it’s you.” Sirius told her. “You know, since I’ll probably end up being the Best Man.”
“Aw, that’s so sweet of you. Well, I love both you and Moony, so I can’t choose who I want.”
Sirius adapted a mock-hurt face. He poked her lightly in the side and told her, “Aw, come on. You know you want me to be Best Man.”
“Oh yeah?” she counteracted. “What if I said I wanted Remus to be the Best Man?”
Sirius’s jaw dropped; it was obvious that she was playing, so he was going to also. “You wouldn’t have the guts to say that.”
“Oh really? Well, maybe if I’m the Maid of Honor, I’ll just convince Lily to tell James to pick Moony instead, you know, because of our history.” She informed him teasingly.
“You wouldn’t dare because I know where your ticklish spot is.” He threatened playfully, and then he started to tickle her right below her ribs. She squealed from shock, and then took off at a run when he attempted to do it again.
Sirius chased after her at a fast pace, but when he turned into the alley she had entered only seconds ago, she was missing. He looked around, hoping to spot a trace as to where she disappeared to. When he couldn’t find anything, he took a chance and Apparated to the hallway of James and Lily’s apartment. The second that he appeared in the hallway, something jumped at him, causing him to fall backwards onto the light gray carpeting. He looked up and saw the unmistakable eyes that belonged to Rachel. Their lips were only a couple of inches apart, and they had to fight the force that kept trying to push them together.
Rachel cleared her throat, and hurriedly climbed off of him. She dusted herself off as Sirius stood up also. Their eyes met momentarily before he suggested, “Let’s not let that happen again. And this is also between the two of us.”
“Deal.” Rachel gladly agreed. She didn’t want people getting the wrong conclusion from their behavior. “Let’s just go in and see what they want.”
Sirius nodded, and entered the organized apartment first; Rachel then followed shortly after, and they joined James and Lily at the dining table. James grinned before saying, “You know, I thought I heard some noise going on out there. It’s about time you guys arrived.”
“Well, we’re here now.” Sirius stated obviously. “So, what’s the deal here?”
“Sirius and Rachel…” James started, and then looked to Lily for her to finish his sentence.
“James and I want you to be our Maid of Honor and our Best Man!” Lily squealed excitedly. Rachel shrieked happily and the girls pulled each other into a hug and started to jump around. James and Sirius looked at them with a bit of fear on their faces before turning to each other.
“So, do we hug or do the cool guy handshake?” James asked.
Sirius cleared his throat and said, “Yeah, cool guy handshake.”
James stepped forward and in five seconds, their “cool guy” handshake was finished, but they were still standing there. Suddenly, Sirius brought James into a bear hug, clearly happy for his best friend. James was stunned for a moment, but then he hugged his friend back. After a couple of moments, the guys pulled away and turned to the grinning girls. Simultaneously, they told them, “Shut up.”
Maddie had just Apparated from her apartment over to Remus’ after watching a Quidditch commentator predict the winner of tonight’s game. James and Lily had Floo called her to ask her for some help with starting the wedding plans. She was a little bummed out that she wasn’t the Maid of Honor, but she was still really excited about being a bridesmaid for her two friends’ wedding. But the reason she was going to Remus’ place before the Potters’ apartment was to invite him along. It would be kind of fun to have the six of them start helping with the plans. So, Maddie knocked on the door before announcing, “Remus, it’s me. Come on, open up.”
She knew that he was home since the television was playing, but no one was responding, and there was no sound of movement. Maddie sighed as she looked around the hallway, making sure that there was no one around. When she was sure that no one would see her, Maddie pulled out her wand and whispered, “Alohomora.”
The lock turned, allowing Maddie entrance to the organized apartment. Ever since Rachel moved in, you could tell that there was probably a girl roommate. There were a couple of girly looking things in the living room, and there was a large picture of some flowers in a vase. Rachel had always been like that, according to the others, and it didn’t look like she was going to change.
Lying on the couch that sat in front of the playing television was Remus, who looked like he was in a daze. Maddie edged up closer, and saw that his eyes were unfocused, and his face was pale. She knew it wasn’t the full moon because the full moon was a week ago. So, she stood right in front of him and said, “Remus, honey, are you okay?”
“No.” Remus replied changing his dazed look.
“Why? What’s wrong? You never act like this.” Maddie pointed out.
“Well, apparently Olivia had a little talk with her executive boyfriend and he killed me off of the show.”
Maddie’s hand flew up to her mouth in shock and surprise. When she finally lowered it, she asked, “How did they do it? I mean, can’t you go back at all?”
“They had me have a heart attack, and I was dead before the paramedics arrived.” He explained in a dull and emotionless voice.
“Oh, honey, I’m so sorry.” Maddie told him, hugging him. He didn’t even hug her back; he was still sitting in a daze. “I’m going across the hall to help them start planning the wedding. Come over if you feel like it.”
“Don’t worry, Maddie.” He told her. “I’ll be over in a few minutes. And don’t worry, I’ll be just fine. It’s just a bit of a shock, that’s all.”
Maddie nodded and gave him a small smile before going over to the other apartment. Remus sat there for a couple of minutes in his shock mode, but he knew that he shouldn’t be moping. He knew that he would make it through this, and that he should be helping all of his friends with the upcoming wedding. And that was what he did.
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