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"Smile" Marlene McKinnon cooed at her daughter, but when she got no response from the toddler her smile turned to a frown. For ten minutes she had tried every trick in the book to get her to smile but since she had finished having her lunch, all little Evangelina could do was frown.
Until something changed and her entire face lit up and she made grabby hands to something behind Marlene.
The older witch turned around to see Sirius Black, the child's father and her long-term boyfriend leaning against the door. "See all she wanted was her dad" he said smugly.
Marlene rolled her eyes but moved out of the way so Sirius could pluck her out of her highchair.
"She's just being stubborn today" Marlene replied and with a wave of her wand all the child's bits disappeared.
"Ah, and I wonder who she gets that from" Sirius teased.
"Oh, I'm not even going to dignify that with a response."
"Evangelina began to wiggle in Sirius's arms "dadda down" she said tapping him on the face.
"Alright, alright" he laughed placing her on the floor.
"Moon?" The young innocent girl asked looking around and frowned when she couldn't see him.
Sirius ruffled his daughter's hair "We'll see him later yeah?"
Evangelina nodded and wandered off, still in the eye line of her parents in search of her favourite wolf teddy bear.
Remus Lupin or Mooney as he was fondly called by his friends was a favourite of Evangelina's. The pair had a bond both Sirius and James were jealous of, but they knew Evangelina brought a sense of peace to Remus that he very rarely knew. It wasn't uncommon to find them reading a book together or Evangelina dedicating her drawings to him.
"Mamma!" Evangelina suddenly yelled, running over to her parents and waving her teddy around "Got him" she cheered.
"Was he hiding?" Marlene asked kneeling to her height feigning a gasp "Naughty wolfie."
"Not naughty" Evangelina pouted "dadda naughty."
"Oi cheeky" he exclaimed, he quickly snatched his daughter and spun her around, Evangelina laughing wildly.
"Flying!"
"If she's sick, you're cleaning it up" Marlene said but was smiling all the same.
"Are you lot coming or not?" James Potter, a long-time friend and godfather to Evangelina said leaning against the wall "We're ready now."
"Uncle ja-ja!" Evangelina squealed, Sirius nearly dropped her as she squirmed, but he was able to put her down safely and the little girl ran over to her godfather, clinging onto his legs as tightly as her arms could.
"How's my favourite girl?" He asked picking her up and throwing her into the air before catching her.
"Oh, you two are just as bad as each other" Marlene scolded.
"Aw, come on Mars she enjoys it" James said resting Evangelina onto his hip.
"She has also just eaten."
"She'll be fine" he waved off "If she's going to be a world-famous quidditch player she needs to get used to being thrown around the air even if she's just eaten." He transferred his grip, so Evangelina was sideways and ran into where the picture of the order of the phoenix was being taken inside Allister Moody's home.
"Lighten up," Sirius said to Marlene as they walked slowly behind them.
Marlene sighed, he was right she knew that Evangelina as well as Harry bought them all so much joy in this time when it was hard to come by and while she wanted nothing more than to let go for a while she couldn't stop counting down the days until she left them all to go on a mission for the order. "It's hard" she admitted.
"I know" Sirius replied, knowing exactly where Marlene's mind had gone "but if we live in the dark, we'll never get to cherish these moments, I mean look how happy she is." Evangelina was now hugging her aunt Lily, but when she saw Remus, it was like the sun had finally been lit, she adored Remus she loved it when he read to her and gave her chocolate, he always told the best stories and nearly gave the best cuddles.
Remus with Evangelina in his arms talking his ear off about nothing in particular looked over at the parents and waved, he had just come back from a mission for the order and both Sirius and Marlene were glad to see their friend safe and well.
"Come on" Marlene said gently placing a hand on his arm "It's time."
Marlene took Evangelina from Remus and smiled at him gently, then went to stand by Sirius, he had one arm around Marlene and the other on their daughter. They stood next to the Potters; Harry asleep in his stroller was outside the picture frame. Remus stood behind Sirius next to Peter Pettigrew their other childhood friend. The rest of the order of the phoenix members gathered close for the picture, including the Longbottoms next to the Potters whose son Neville was in a pushchair next to Harry, Rubeus Hagrid. The groundskeepers of Hogwarts where all the children would one day go, Allister Moody most of their mentors and many others, all joined together for the same cause: to stop Voldemort and end the war before they lost everything that mattered to them.
