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When Remus was 19, his parents died.
It was the worst time of his life, not even a light to soften the darkness that spread through his heart and soul.
But as if the absolute heartbreak and the grief were not enough, a new Minister of Magic had been elected, one with a very dangerous discourse, and clearly prejudiced against werewolves.
Before him, werewolf rights were not so bad. They could have jobs, they were provided with the ingredients for Wolfsbane every month, and if they had a baby, it wasn't automatically taken away from them. But the new Minister decided to make some amends. He added a condition.
With the new legislation, the only ones who could have those prerogatives were those werewolves who belonged in England; but in order to be a citizen of England, werewolves needed to have some ties to England. A werewolf with no legal ties to England would be forced to leave the country.
Remus had avoided the register until he left Hogwarts. After the death of his parents, he needed to start working, knowing that most of his family's money had gone to trying to find a cure for lycanthropy and, later, his education. After a couple of attempts, they hired him in a magical pub, but when they inevitably discovered he was a werewolf, they threatened to report him, and he had to take the easy option: register with the Ministry, apologise, and never walk down that street again.
The new law was implemented five years later. Thanks to Gideon and Fabian, who were three years above them at Hogwarts, he could contact Arthur Weasley, and he managed to delay the process by trying to claim that Remus was the son of a man who had spent his entire life working for the Ministry of England, and that should be enough. But after a year of trials, questionings, and legal fights, they decided that no: With his father dead, Remus Lupin had no ties with England.
Remus was totally fucked. But then… it happened.
Remus had been lucky a couple of times in his life, and one of them was finding the best friends he could have ever wished for. They had supported him since they discovered his secret during their third year at Hogwarts. They had made the Animagi Enchantment for him, despite how dangerous it was. They had been there every full moon.
And when Remus' world crashed down, they helped him all they could. James, a pureblood who knew almost nothing about Muggles, managed—with Lily's help—to find him a good psychologist to deal with the grief, and he had paid the bills.
Peter helped him to look for a job, and when they fired him after he asked for a few days off for the moon, Peter was there, with another offer under his arm.
And Sirius… Sirius did the unimaginable.
Sirius was filthy rich. His uncle had died some years ago, when they were in their last year at Hogwarts, and in a surprising turn of events, he had left his nephew his entire fortune as an inheritance. But most important, with his parents dead, for two years then, and his brother MIA, Sirius was Lord Black.
That info was not really vital for Remus; it only affected him because he had to fight his friend every time he insisted on buying him whatever Sirius thought Remus needed. Sirius didn't even like the Lord thing; it reminded him too much of his family.
But one night, after Remus had got the official letter from the Ministry saying that his new status as not belonging to England would be official in three days—then he would have to leave the country, or he would be sent to Azkaban—, it was just the two of them on Sirius's flat—the Black Manour brought too many bad memories for him to live in. James was taking care of Lily, whose pregnancy was being a bit difficult in the third trimester, and Peter had a night shift at his job as a security guard at Gringotts.
It was five a.m., they both had had a couple of drinks, and Sirius had conjured a wall to throw things at it—he said he had to let out some fury as Remus refused to do anything more than sulk. But now they were just lying on the couch, staring at the ceiling.
Remus felt it before Sirius could talk. It was like a light had struck his friend; energy started to burst from him, so before Sirius jumped on his seat and turned to look at him, Remus already knew he had had an idea. And that it was going to be crazy.
But he was not expecting what came from Sirius's lips. Not in a million years.
"Marry me."
For a second, Remus thought he had forgotten the meaning of those words. Or not, maybe it was Sirius who had talked in a strange language. Surely, it was not English. But then, his friend kept talking.
"Marry me, Remus," he repeated. "It's the perfect solution. You need legal ties with England, and what could be a better tie than being married to an English Lord? You know the Ministry loves to suck our dicks. They wouldn't bat an eye in our direction. We just have to do it in the next three days."
It was crazy? Totally. He was lying? Well, no, he wasn’t.
Remus had dreamed of getting married. He was a child and saw his parents, and he wanted something like that. But then he grew up, and he understood it was impossible. No one wanted to be with a werewolf, and even if someone did, how was Remus going to put such a burden on someone’s back? Someone he loved? So, he refused to have anything to do with love, and, consequently, with marriage.
It helped him a bit when he realised he didn’t only like girls, because it didn’t matter anyway.
So… he knew he was not losing anything by getting married just for convenience. And Sirius was his best friend, one of the most important people in his life, if not the most.
Or maybe the alcohol had gotten to his brain. And he had to remember there were two participants in that scenario.
“Sirius, come on. I'm not going to tie you to me like that.”
Sirius blinked at him, as if now it was he who was trying to understand a foreign language.
“What does that mean?”
Remus groaned. It was pretty obvious, wasn’t it?
“That maybe you know someone and want to marry them, and then?” he said. “You would be stuck with me.”
“I don’t mind being stuck with you,” Sirius argued. “I haven’t thought about marriage in my life; it’s not going to be a problem now. Also, I don’t fucking care, Remus. You are talking about a possible future, but the reality is that you’re being deported or incarcerated if we don’t do something. So, don’t start worrying about hypothetical situations, not when we have a very real one in front of our eyes.”
“But-”
“I’m not letting them take you away!” Sirius cried out.
Something broke in Remus's heart. He knew how afraid Sirius was of losing people, and seeing the despair that gripped him, his own came to light.
Two days later, they got married.
It was not something big; of course, it was not a real wedding. But James and Lily convinced them not to let it be a sad day, and Remus suspected that if it were for Sirius, he would have planned a whole party. At the end, it was something in the middle. They did a commemoration of their friendship, and also a celebration because… well, Remus had avoided Azkaban.
When they filed the allegation, the Ministry workers did bat an eye, but… it was legal. They just had to tell them that they had known each other since elven, that Sirius had known about Remus’s condition since thirteen, and that they basically lived together. Also, every question they asked them, they could answer it. They weren’t just acquaintances; they were Marauders.
That had been fifteen years before.
In those fifteen years, a lot of things happened. Some were good, some were bad, some almost made them get a divorce, and some…
Well, some of them made them realise they had fallen in love.
Remus and Sirius were 30 when they started dating, six years after getting married.
Now, they lived happily together. The legislation against werewolves was at a low point—that they knew could change at any moment—, Remus worked in a library owned by Pandora Lovegood, who accepted his lycanthropy and was more a friend than a boss by then, he also tutored some kids before they went to Hogwarts, and sometimes while they were there too, or those who couldn’t afford it; Sirius had enough money to never work a day in his life, but he chose to help out at St. Mungo's from time to time, mostly with werewolves and other discriminated creatures, and he also had a small workshop where he combined magic and Muggle vehicles—Arthur Weasley was a very passionate associate.
And their life together was… not perfect, but lovely. Of course, they argued, a lot. As they did as friends. But they loved each other so much that everything bad went into the background.
It was three months before their 15th wedding anniversary when Remus had the idea.
“I’m going to ask Sirius to marry me.”
Lily turned to look at him. She had little Effie attached to her hip and was putting some order in her potions shelf.
“Love… You know you are already married to him, right?” she said.
Remus rolled his eyes, which caused Lily to throw some rosemary leaves at him.
“Okay, yes, we are married. But… it was not a real wedding.”
“It was a real wedding,” Lily stated. “He asked, you said yes, and you two got married. Wedding.”
“But-”
“Don’t start with that bullshit about not being in love, etc, etc. That you were too daft to realise it doesn’t mean you weren’t in love then.”
“Well, maybe you are right about the wedding thing.” She hit him with a look that said ‘I’m absolutely right’, but didn’t say anything. “We were not in love then, but it doesn’t matter; we are very much in love now. And I want a re-wedding.”
“A re-wedding?”
He nodded.
“Yes. And this time, it’s going to be… big.”
It was then that a big smile started to spread over Lily’s face.
“That means we have a proposal to plan.”
They set the day for two weeks later. It was a special day, the anniversary of the day they moved to their own house, paid for by both of them, and completely theirs to decorate. The anniversary of their home. Their family home.
That way, when he told Sirius he wanted to do something special, he didn’t suspect.
The day started as any other, with Sirius waking Remus up by leaving kisses on his face and neck. He smiled, still sleepy, and turned around so they were face to face. They intertwined their legs and hugged each other until he opened his eyes, finding a couple of grey orbs already staring at him.
“Good morning, love,” Sirius whispered before kissing him kindly on the lips.
“Yeah, this is good, for sure.”
His husband chuckled and, sadly, moved away from him to get up.
“I have to be at Mungo’s in thirty minutes, but if you are fast, we can have breakfast together.”
“All these years and I still don’t get how you are so active in the mornings.”
Sirius just shrugged and went to the door. Remus waited until he was gone to look into his secret drawer—in which he had put a concealment charm—and made sure the purple velvet box with the ring was there. Of course, it was.
After sharing some toast and a lot of kisses, they went to their own. Sirius to Mungo’s and Remus… to prepare everything. Pandora had given him the full day, sweetheart as she was.
By the time Sirius returned home, Remus was a nervous wreck. And, of course, his husband noticed.
“Baby, why does it seem like you’re going to run out at any moment?” Sirius asked him while they dressed up for the dinner they had booked at their favourite restaurant.
“What?” Remus said, fighting with his tie.
Sirius came close to him and helped him. Then he smoothed his beige shirt.
“That you’re fucking nervous, Remus,” he said, chuckling. “When I already know that you have asked for the special dinner.”
Remus felt himself relax, but not for the reason Sirius thought. Yes, it was true that he had asked the restaurant for their special for couples—a collection of desserts and live music. Sirius loved it, but it was a bit expensive, and after a lot of arguments, Remus had convinced Sirius of having a more modest standard of living. And that was another thing that helped him to mislead Sirius about what the real surprise was going to be.
“How?” he asked, completely into the role.
“Well, I guessed you had something planned out since the moment you booked the dinner, because you couldn’t stop fidgeting with the telephone cable,” he said, shrugging and going to the bathroom to do his make-up. “And I saw you check the back account a couple of times, which meant it was something that cost more than you’re comfortable with. After that, it was only connecting the dots.”
“Well, I’m still nervous,” Remus said, he used a light tone to indicate joking, but he wanted a cover up because he knew his nervousness was going to show again. “What if they don’t put us the chocolate cake?”
“I called and asked them to be sure they out it.”
His heart skipped a bit and a wave of love rushed through him.
“Oh, I love you.”
“I know,” Sirius said smiling at his reflection on the mirror. “I love you too.”
The dinner went perfect. Of course, Remus was still a bit at edge, but being with his husband, sharing meals and laughs, always comforted him.
When they left the restaurant, they were giggling like two teenagers; their hands intertwined, their steps in time with each other. It was a new moon, so when they were walking down the streets, the only light they had was from the streetlights.
Remus made sure to turn into a wizard avenue after asking Sirius if he fancied a walk. At first, it was crowded, by as they kept walking, Remus started leading them to narrower streets, where everything was calmer.
When they arrived at a little park that was already closed, he put out of his pocket James’s cloak.
“Oh, Remus Lupin want to be a criminal tonight?” Sirius asked, smirking.
He nudged him but shared his smirk.
“Once a Marauder, always a Marauder.”
They entered the park. In the middle, there was a fountain decorated with different flowers. The sound of water was relaxing, and the sweet smell added to a lovely atmosphere.
Remus took out a deluminator, a gift from Kingsley, and turned out a couple of the lights.
“This is a beautiful place,” Sirius muttered, turning around to look at him. “Have we been here before?”
He shook his head and walked towards his partner. He hugged him by the waist and hid his face in the crook of his neck.
“I found it some months ago when I was taking a walk with Lily,” he said.
“I like it.”
He kissed Sirius’s neck, just a bit of pecks, until he reached his ear.
“After all these years, I still feel like I haven't thanked you enough for what you did for me.”
Sirius moved his head, trying to look at him.
“What are you talking about?”
“You know it.”
His husband rolled his eyes, but he was smiling kindly at him.
“Re, I married the love of my life.”
“You didn’t know it then.”
“Maybe…” he agreed, nodding. “But… It wasn’t a sacrifice. The other option was losing you, that would have been the worst.”
Remus sighed and kissed him softly on the lips, but broke the kiss before they could intensify it.
“All I know is that it was a hard time, and you went there with and for me.”
“I would have done it a million times,” Sirius whispered. His hands were on Remus’s hair, playing with the locks.
Remus licked his lips, his heartbeat accelerating.
“Yes, I was hoping for that.”
That made Sirius arch an eyebrow.
“What does that mean?” he asked.
Okay, it was time for it.
He cast a couple of wandless spells, and a bubble surrounded them. Music started playing again, the same one that was playing at the restaurant when they had danced together.
“Do you remember this song?”
Sirius laughed, nodding.
“It’s our wedding song!” he exclaimed. “The perfect waltz for a not-so-big wedding, I remember Peter said.”
“Yes,” Remus confirmed.
The dome that covered them started reflecting figures, memories of them, from that first day at Hogwarts to the very night before. Sirius gaped, and Remus felt proud of himself. It had taken a lot of time for him and James to manage to do the spell, even more to do it wandless.
“What?” Sirius whispered again, this time lower, like his voice was not even his.
“Remember when we met? How I couldn’t even look at you in the eye?”
“Of course," Sirius laughed, looking at those two little kids. "You spent days like that. But then you said that stupid thing about Flitwick and I just knew I had to befriend you, even if you didn’t like it.”
"You and James were an unstoppable force."
"Our best quality, Sir." He moved his gaze from one scene to the other, until one of them caught his attention.
"Oh… it's little Snuggles," he said, pointing at the day they had gotten their little puppy nearly ten years ago. Good old boy had died some months ago.
"We should take another one. Or a cat."
"Why do you want to upset Padfoot?"
"Padfoot is a big boy who knows how to behave," he said. "See? That's from the other day, you played with Lily's cat."
"Because Humberto doesn't mess with my territoy."
Remus snorted and hugged his husband again. Sirius's warmth helped him to relax.
"Territorial, are you?"
With a devious smile, Sirius turned around, facing him.
"I'm a dog," he replied" Am I? Oh, look!"
Sirius was pointing to an image at his back that showed them when they were fifteen. Sirius had just gotten into make-up and had asked Remus to help him.
"God, I almost had a heart attack when I saw you with the eyeliner on," he chuckled.
"Mmm, so you already found me hot then."
"You altered my hormones, that's for sure," he admitted. "But look at that! It's you asking me to dance at the yule ball, suspicious."
"You had danced with James because he wanted to make Lily jealous of his dancing skills, I was rescuing you."
"He really has fancing skills, you know…"
"But not more than me, right?" Sirius asked, batting his eyelashes in an exagerated way.
"Decide for yourself," Remus said, nodding to the scene showing their wedding.
They stood there, looking at it.
"You didn't tell me what you meant before," Sirius whispered. "About hoping I would say that I would have done it a million times."
Remus took a deep breath, kissed Sirius's cheek and took a step back. Sirius turned to look at him, bewilderment reflected on his face
He put his hand in his other pocket, the one without the extension charm.
He got on one knee.
Sirius’s eyes filled with tears.
“You saved me by marrying me," he said. "But now, after all this time sharing my life with you, after learning how to love you, after sharing every piece of my life with you, I want to start again." His voice started wavering, so he stopped for a second. “I want to commemorate the best day of my life, because I didn’t know it was it then. So I want to do it fully knowing what it means. I want to give you the big eccentric wedding I know you wanted.”
“Oh, darling,” Sirius said with his voice broken.
“I want to spend every day of my life with you. I would do it a million times too, because marrying you was the best decision of my life. But now I want to do it without any external factors influencing our decision. And as you didn’t ask me anything all those years ago, I’m not asking you now. I’m begging you: Marry me.”
Remus opened the box. Molly's charm had worked and now instead of one, there were two golden bands, engraved with little rubies. When they touched, they reflected a moon and a star intertwined.
Sirius was good at holding back his tears, the always proud man, but he nodded enthusiastically and throw himself at Remus's arms.
They fell to the ground, and Remus was glad he had put a protecting charm on the box, because it rolled through the grass. He felt Remus leaving kisses all iber his face, and couldn't contain his smile, his tears either.
"I love you so much," Sirius said, cupping Remus's face on his hands. "My love, my moon, my everything." He alternated each word with a kiss, and his thumbs wiped Remus's tears away.
"I love you too. I love you. I love you."
They lay down there, hugging and kissing. Talking about some of the memories that still danced around them.
"Fuck, I can't believe you prepared all that," Sirius murmured on Remus neck, where he was leaving kisses and soft nibbles. "And you fooled me! I'm frankly surprised."
"Ey!" Remus pouted. "I'm not that predictable."
"Of course not, babe," Sirius said. "But I know you to well."
"As you should. I'm your husband."
"And my fiancé," he added, moving his eyebrows up and down.
Remus laughed and nodded. And fuck, he was so fucking happy.
"What do you think about going home and celebrating it there?"
Sirius bit his lips and his hand caressed Remus's thigh, got around his waist and squeezed his ass.
"You want some action?"
"Don't say it like that, please."
"Only if you put that ring in my finger once and for all."
Remus accioed the box and they sat up. Their smiles were wide and their eyes shinning.
They put the rings on the same finger as the previous ones, and Sirius made a spell so that both would stuck together.
"I never thought I'd get married," Remus whispered, looking down at their clasped hands. "And now I'm getting married twice to the same man."
Sirius caressed his cheeks and leaned in to peck his lips.
"It's an honour."
They hugged again as if they had all time in the world. Maybe they had it.
A love like that had to be Magic, and Magic never ends.