Miranda couldn't believe it. She'd been married to Ralph since November, but it felt---surreal now that they'd actually had a wedding in front of their family and friends, it felt like a dream, and the past few months were all part of the vivid, vivid swirls of thoughts that were zooming around in her head. They were married, again, but it felt like the first time all over again. Miranda wished she could have a wedding every week, if it was going to feel this damn good.

She could barely keep herself off of Ralph. Her sneaky, wonderful husband had surprised the life out of her when she began to walk down the aisle and spotted his bright red hair. Miranda had begged and whined for Ralph to dye his hair back to its natural state from the dark, nearly black color he'd kept it during his time in hiding, so---she'd burst into tears at the sight of him, but in a large part it was at the sight of his hair.

Things were finally like they should be. There was no war, there were no death eaters trying to kill them, and she and Ralph could start their lives as husband and wife without being quiet about their court room nuptials; they could really start a life now.

Miranda resisted running her hands through Ralph's hair as they shared yet another dance. She knew that she'd have to let his mum and the rest of his family take a turn, but she was the bride. She could hog her husband all she wanted. Miranda smiled sweetly up at Ralph, completely dazzled by the day.

It was very hard to keep a smile on her face when only a week ago two of her best friends had been murdered, one was arrested for being a killer and death eater, and a fourth was blown to pieces. Alice had spent the last seven days in a giant haze, and she herself wasn't exactly sure how she'd even gotten herself dressed for this Ministry celebration.

She was staring quite hard at the blown up poster of the Potters from their wedding day. The walls were adorned with pictures of James, Lily, and Harry, along with other pictures of the men and women who have given their lives for the war effort. Alice wasn't sure whether this was something she was touched or disgusted by. She loved seeing the smiling faces of her friends and the others---some were co-workers, people she'd had lunch in the ministry cafeteria with, but...the Ministry hadn't done much outside of the auror squad to stop the war, and it was really some freak accident by Harry Potter that had ended it...so to see how the wizarding community was so undoubtedly behind their ministry and the the minister right now was a bit disturbing...

Alice let out a breath and looked for her husband. It had taken much effort to get Frank out here (that part, she did remember quite clearly), and she did understand his sentiments. Not showing up, however, would create even more stress. The Longbottoms were quite publicly good friends of the Potters, and the ministry had wasted no time in making that connection. Alice was finding quotes in the Prophet that she'd supposedly said about Lily and their school days which weren't true at all (even if they were nothing but glowing reviews). Maybe she and Frank could leave now that they've made an appearance, and Alice headed toward the buffet table; it was her first guest as to where to find her husband.

Balancing a child in one arm and a pie in the other was no easy task--- Alice had mastered it wonderfully, and for that Frank felt guiltily jealous. Plus, to add to that chaos, Frank was very certain James had no idea of their arrival, meaning Frank would have to knock, despite having no free hands to do so. There was no room for dropping, here, either. Keeping that in mind, Frank stood, with Neville wiggling every few seconds, contemplating how to get around this issue.

It only took a few moments before Frank began to start kicking the door with his left foot. Though, he knew he shouldn't be acting this way, highly inappropriate. Their visit was no under such light pretenses, in fact it was anything but. Dumbledore had contacted him and Alice earlier this morning, leaving little speculation to certain--- things. If it were possible, everything had become even more serious concerning their two sons, and-- hence the pie. Personally, Frank didn't really feel it was necessary, but Alice had insisted, so here it was.

Upon hearing footsteps from the other side of the door, Frank stopped kicking and straightened himself up. "Frank Longbottom," he spoke in a much more serious tone. After dealing with all the different wards the Potters had in place, after a while it became easier to remember what was necessary to get through them. "And Neville Longbottom," he added in hastily a few seconds later. There hadn't been a lot of Neville traveling outside of the house lately. But this was a special circumstance.

I'm hearing reports of a blackout? I was just in town---is everyone all right? Fuck--should we send people out? Message me back, Lily and I will keep a tally!

So---Christopher Loftus tried to attack me in my home, but I knocked him out and now have him tied up and unconscious here.

I'm not really sure what to do next?

As Jonas revved up for the last song of the day, Kobe smiled brightly at the crowd. The critics had been wrong. It was a peace rally that had gone off without a hitch and no sign of death eaters, anywhere! The extra security must really be doing its job, and everyone was having a blast. She'd even seen some aurors bouncing around to the music, too! Kobe was incredibly proud of her husband, and she looked up to the clear blue sky with a wide, toothy grin.

It faded slightly, however, as some dark clouds began to roll in over the park. Remarkably fast clouds, which didn't seem natural and were already thundering loudly. The weather report had claimed they would have clear skies all day, so this was strange and----Kobe slammed her hands over her ears as the loudest roll of thunder clapped itself over the park. Immediately the clouds seemed to open up and rain began to pour down on the crowd like buckets. Well--if bad weather was the worse of their problems, they'd done a pretty good job, right?

Kobe gasped as a bolt of green lightening shot through the crowd, followed by the terrified screams of the concert goers.

"No, nonono----" she let out from the side of the stage. Where had they all come from? The bloody sky? Kobe started towards Jonas, to pull her husband off the stage because while they had met during a catastrophe, she really did not feel like enduring another one, "Jonas!" she screamed, but was thrown off balance as the stage began to creak and shake as if an earthquake was beginning to rumble underneath.

Peace didn't stand a chance, these days.

It was a beautiful funeral, as funerals go.

Miranda puffed her cheeks, hunched forward with her hands clasped between her knees. She felt like a child, stuck at an adult party and forced to sit on the couch in silence until it was time to go. There were things she could be doing, that she was supposed to be doing, but Miranda couldn't get herself up off the couch. How were people able to stand around and talk, and eat, and---some were even laughing. They had just buried their friends, their family, and now, apparently, it was time to eat off of trays and share stories and start talking about this funky smell that was coming from---

She let out a long breath and slumped back into the couch, putting a hand to her forehead to try and numb the headache she'd had for the past two days. For the past few months she'd had this constant throbbing in her skull and it didn't look like it was going away any time soon. Miranda stretched out her legs, knowing that she would have to stay at this gathering of funeral attendees until the last of the guests left. She was like family to Madam Rosemerta, she had to stay.

The sarcastic thought made Miranda's chest hitch and her hand slipped to cover her eyes to hopefully stop herself from crying again.

It was best to take matters into his own hands. The Order of the Phoenix had been infiltrated, and to calm the nerves of its members, Albus was going to meet with each one to manage a questioning of sorts. Auror Longbottom had used the word 'interrogation' but until he could find answers, Albus was going to believe in the group he had put together. While he wasn't naive, he did know how easily people could be corrupted, he had faith in the members of the Order, knowing that they had all always shown great strength when it came to making choices between right and wrong.

He sent out a patronus to one member at a time, not wanting to create a crowd in the house for that would only cause to build more tension. Dumbledore knew that the war did not seem to be turning in their favor, but while he was a man who loved to find answers, he always had a faith that would allow him to do so. He sat in the kitchen area, going over some final reports that his professors had finished while he waited for the next Order member to arrive.

The tentative footsteps approached the table and Dumbledore kept his head bowed for a moment before lifting his gaze up to meet the next Order member.

"Have a seat. Would you like a lemon drop?" He pushed the candy dish across the table.

( OOC )

"Ex--cuse, me---move, move, move!"

Didn't people know how to act in a time of crisis? You didn't stand around screaming bloody murder, staring at the rays of hexes and jinxes while you waited to get hit by one of them. You moved, you hid, you did whatever you could to stop the bloody death eaters that were interrupting the peace. You didn't become a distraction or something that could cause even more harm. Emmeline jumped and twisted and forced herself through the crowd of people surging in every which direction. This was going to be such a disaster.

Emmeline wished she hadn't offered to take the package to Flourish and Blotts. The package was too delicate to let an owl deliver it, Patrick had to head home early because of his daughter, and seeing as it was only a five minute walk, hey! Get some sun, earn some brownie points from the cousin who was constantly harassing her to do stuff other than ogle at her nerdy boyfriend! Haa. She wished she'd just refused and taken on the extra paperwork, but that meant that Edward would have probably taken the walk to Flourish and Blotts and Emmeline knew for a fact that he would have either frozen in terror or with his bad luck been shot in the head once the first death eaters showed up.

Okay, stop the morbid thoughts.

The door of Calliope's jingled pleasantly, completely ignorant of the chaos that was going on just down the block. Emmeline knew it wouldn't be long before they reached the publisher. "Edward! We've got to go!" she shouted, trying to keep her voice from sounding too stressed. "Come on!"

EMMELINE'S PATRONUS HAS BEEN DUBBED, SIR CATFACE MEOWMERS.