"Nothing is going to go wrong today, right?" Lyndell asked nervously trying to fix her hair.

"Nothing's going to go wrong. Stop fussing at it." Lyria quickly fixed Lyndell's hair. "There. You're perfect."

"No. Don't say that it's perfect...if you say that then something is going to go horribly wrong."

"You look wonderful and Remus is going to absolutely adore you. Now stop worrying," Lyria ordered. But she couldn't say she wasn't concerned, either. Suddenly she was very aware of the little life within her.

Lyndell began pacing around her bedroom. "But...but if he decides he doesn't want to marry me?"

"He wants to marry you, Dell, he's wanted to marry you for decades."

"Yeah… you're right...if he didn't he'd...he would've found someone else, right?"

"Probably. But he didn't, because he's disgustingly in love with you."

"Yeah..." Lyndell sat down and smiled. "He is."

"And you're going to get married and raise lots of babies."

"Thanks Lyri. I guess...I guess we should go downstairs."

"It's time. Come on." Lyria got to her feet and led her friend downstairs. "I'm glad you did it early before I start showing..."

"We decided that if we had been forced to wait all this time...the sooner the better."

"I'm glad of it." She smiled.

"Well...here I go..." Lyndell smiled nervously.
 

~*~*~*~

Remus gently lifted the veil and kissed her. "I love you, Mrs. Lupin."

"I love you too, Remus." Dell smiled brightly. "We're married."

"We are. Isn't it a nice feeling?"

"Very nice feeling."

"I love you..." Remus took her arm and led her out of the church.

"Feel like going to a party?" she asked once they were out of the church.

"Not really but they're making us."

"Well...we'll go, dance, have cake, and then we can leave."

"Sounds good." He smiled at her.

"We don't really have to stay that long..."

"Are you eager to run off?"

"Well, you see, that depends."

"Oh?"

"Yes. All on you, my love."

He smiled. "I can't say I'd mind disappearing, at least for a few days."

"No one walking in and out at all hours...just the two of us...totally alone..."

"Shh. Don't tempt me with that image and then tell me we have to go to the reception."

Lyndell laughed. "We won't spend too much long there...I promise."

"Good."

"I can only resist for so long."

"Well then I imagine I'm going to be quite a happy married man tonight. Come on, let's get this over with," he teased.

"We should go in, shouldn't we?" she kissed him softly.

"Yes." And so they did.

"What's the matter, cousin, aren't you happy to see me?" Bellatrix asked patronizingly. "You know how insulted we feel, Sirius, you and Lyndell didn't even bother inviting us to her wedding."

Remus immediately pushed Lyndell behind him.

"Your kind aren't welcome." Sirius growled. "This is a celebration for people who aren't evil."

"Ah, but my *dear* cousin, evil is such a strong word." Bellatrix pointed her wand at Lyria, whose attention was elsewhere. "Crucio."

And Lyria fell to the ground.

Sirius lunged at his cousin. "Do *not* hurt her, or I swear, I won't need a wand to kill you."

Lyndell looked around the room. "What are they all doing here? How did they find out?"

"What's the matter, cousin, afraid I'll hurt your little one?" Bellatrix asked with a nasty smile.

"I don't know..." Remus' mind was swirling, but above all he was very aware that he *had* to protect Lyndell. "Stay behind me."

"How do you know about that?" He asked, slamming her head on the floor.

"Remus...don't get yourself hurt because of me."

Bellatrix was back on her feet. "Try that again and I'll kill the little baby traitor."

"I don't plan to, but I'd rather it be me hurt than you."

"You're the traitor, Bellatrix." Sirius helped Lyria to her feet.

"How the hell did they find out?" Lyndell was suddenly furious, ready to curse the next uninvited guest that walked by.

"Well we *are* family," came Lucius Malfoy's cool tone. He was already holding his wand at the ready.

"Ah, and you *love* the little blood traitor. And now you've sired a baby. Pity you won't live long enough to meet the little thing." Bellatrix fired a particularly foul curse at her cousin, then another toward Lyndell.

"You're no family of mine." Lyndell replied.

Both Sirius and Lyndell fell to the ground.

Remus gently lifted her and apparated away, hoping against hope he wouldn't splinch the pair of them. Part of him felt cowardly running, but they knew too much... they couldn't fight today.

"Sirius!" Lyria cried out, but as soon as Bellatrix turned, Lyria fired a curse of her own.

"That's not very nice." Bellatrix replied, having been knocked off her feet. "It's one thing to use a curse on someone when a betrayal has occurred, but another to do it to a stranger." She aimed her wand at Lyria. "It's their own fault. Mixing our blood with mudbloods and werewolves."

"Well I'm neither, and I don't have much sympathy for you when you've hurt him."

"You're still a little blood traitor. It's a shame you won't be able to meet your child." Bellatrix fired another curse at her.

Lyria ducked from years of training. "My blood’s as pure as yours.  And clearly, you've forgotten who you're dealing with." Lyria returned fire.

"Clearly you've forgotten who you *don't* want to mess with." Sirius said, firing a curse at Bella, sending her flying across the room. He got to his feet slowly.

"Sirius..." Lyria wanted to run to his side, but it would just make them easier targets.

"Remus?" Lyndell winced as she sat up.

"Yes... are you alright?" He asked gently.

"Come on, Lyria...looks like we're the last to leave." He grabbed her hand as other members of the Order were apparating away.

Lyria flung her arms around him once they were gone. "Are you okay?"

"My chest hurts....like I can't breathe...."

"I'll be fine."

Remus smoothed her hair. "Want to go get looked at?"

"Are you sure? You're not hurt?"

Sirius's head was spinning. "I'm fine...I just need to sit for a minute."

"I don't know what it was....but it hurts, Remus."

She nodded, sitting by his side.

"Well do you want a healer to see what's wrong?"

"I think so, yeah."

"Alright." And the Healer who had joined the order came upstairs to check Lyndell over.

"You'll be fine," the healer told her cheerfully. "Just some rest. Here, take this."

Sirius sat with his head resting on the palms of his hands for a minute before looking up at Lyria, feeling absolutely horrible for not thinking about her before. "Are you alright?"

"Thanks." Lyndell took the glass that was handed to her and drank it.

"Yes, I'm okay," Lyria assured him. "At least I'm pretty sure I am."

Remus sat by her side.

"The baby?" Sirius asked.

"Remus...I'm sorry..."

"I think the baby's alright..."

"What are you sorry for?" He kissed her forehead.

"Think?" Sirius said. "Lyri...if there's something wrong...."

"I wanted it to be perfect..."

"I don't think there's anything wrong, Sirius... It's sort of hard for me to tell."

"It is perfect. I'm your husband, you're my wife."

"Well...we can get you checked out by a healer." Sirius said. "We don't want to take any chances."

"But the reception..."

Lyria nodded. "That'd probably be wise."

"Was over quickly?" Remus offered.

Lyndell smiled. "A little too soon for my liking, though."

"You didn't get your cake."

"Come on." Sirius brought her to the healer that had set up camp in the kitchen.

"I know. It was good cake too."

Lyria paused. "You know I haven't had a proper medical examination since we realized..." Suddenly she felt fluttery... what if she wasn't?

Sirius kissed her forehead. "Then it'll be good. Make sure the both of you are okay."

She nodded. "Can we... not do this somewhere quite so public, then?"

"Yeah," Sirius motioned for the healer to follow them. "We'll go to our room."

"You should have had a piece. It was good. Chocolate."

"Well I'm sorry I missed out." Remus kissed her forehead.

Lyria did so, sitting rather awkwardly on the bed.

The healer checked her over. "You're fine. The baby's fine. Just don't get into any more predicaments like today and get some rest."

Lyria nodded, feeling a sense of relief. The baby was fine.

"We could get some chocolate cake later. It'll suffice."

Sirius squeezed her shoulder. "Feel better now?"

"Yes. I think I do."

"Sounds good. You take a nap and then we'll go."

"How about we go now and I nap later?"

"Good." Sirius kissed her softly.

"I won't object." Remus helped her to her feet.

Lyria smiled. "For a minute I was afraid I might not really have been pregnant..."

"Well if that were the case, I'm sure we'd have remedied that situation quickly."

Lyndell kissed him.

She laughed softly. "I'm glad we're having a baby. Even in the middle of a war."

Remus kissed back. "Come on, love. Let's go."

"We couldn't have picked a more perfect time."

Lyndell took his hand as they apparated away.

"Except maybe fourteen years ago..."

"Shhh." Sirius pulled her close.

She leaned against him.

"Come on, why don't you try and sleep?"

"Well this'll be a story to tell the grandkids." Lyndell said as they arrived.

"Now you're all protective because he told me to rest."

"Grandkids... wow." Remus smiled.

"I am."

"Well....we do plan on having them, don't we?"

"Yes. I'd like to have some."

Lyria smiled at him. "It's cute... but I'm okay, honestly."

"I know...I just don't want to be taking any chances...we're going to have to figure out how they all found out later."

"I guess we'd better get started on having some kids before we get to ahead of ourselves, huh?"

She nodded, resting against him. "Stay with me while I sleep?"

"I think we should. Care to get started?"

"The thought did cross my mind...and here we are, all alone."

"I'm not going anywhere, Lyri." Sirius kissed her forehead and pulled the blanket over the two of them.

"Then come on." Remus picked her up and carried her to bed.

Lyndell smiled and kissed him softly.

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