There's A Place

"Remus! Remus wake up!" shouted Sirius shaking his fiancé's shoulder.

It was early in the morning, the wedding day.

"Mh what is it Sirius?" asked Remus, reaching for the alarm on the nightstand; it read 5:52 am. Remus sighed then turned to face Sirius who looked tired and his long black hair was untidy.

"I can't sleep"

He looked like a scared child with his blue big eyes that stared at him. Remus sighed again.

Sirius got closer and hugged him from behind.

"Please Rem, can we do something?"

He started to kiss every inch of his face, from the corner of the mouth to behind the ears. Remus started to giggle.

"Sod off, Sirius!"

But Sirius didn't give up.

"Come on Rem"

"You're a git, you know?" said Remus trying not to laugh while Sirius was still kissing his face.

"Fine, you won, you want some breakfast?" he added at last.

Sirius nodded and smiled, then jumped off the bed and went into the kitchen. Remus followed him and started to make breakfast.

"Rem, nous avons des croissants à manger?"

Remus turned and looked at him in the eyes. He had a cocky smile on his lips because he knew how much Remus liked when he talked in french.

"It's way too early for this, you know I like it when you speak french"

His grin grew wider.

"Oui je le sais mon petit chou" he said, then added "The funny thing is that I could be making fun you and you wouldn't know"

Remus put breakfast on the table, then sitted on his chair.

"Oh shut up Sirius" he said with a smile.

"Can you believe we're getting married?" he added a moment later. Sirius smiled and took his hand on the table.

"It's what I always wanted since we were 15"

Remus smiled and kissed his hand, which was still tight in his.

"Can we go back to bed now? It'll be a long day"

Sirius nodded and followed him in the bedroom.

"Can we cuddle?" he asked.

"Sure".

***

It was a few minutes after 10 pm and Sirius was still inside the building they used as a dressing-room and transfigured part of it as a cloakroom to take the guests' belonging. All the people were already sitting at their places waiting for him to arrive, even Remus was standing in his place, all dressed up in his dark suit, looking around as if he wanted to find him in the crowd.

Sirius was looking at his reflection in the mirror, adjusting his white suite. He was trying to buy some time to avoid going out and having to face Remus' gaze fixed on him while walking down the aisle. Just the thought of it turned his stomach in a knot.

Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around only to find Harry looking at him.

"Come on, Remus's been waiting for this his whole life" he said smiling at him, "I'll be at the end of the aisle".

He began pacing back and forth in the hallway as soon as Harry got out, leaving the door ajar.

"Where is he?" he heard Minerva ask.

"He's coming out" replied Harry.

Okay, he thought, it's time. He made a deep breath and opened the door, but looked outside without leaving the hallway.

"Sirius!" exclaimed Minerva looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "Finally, where the f-"

"Oi Minnie" he interrupted her, "I can't do it, I can't I just can't, I think I'm dying".

She rolled her eyes and went inside with him.

"Listen, if you don't go outside right now, I'll kick your ass until you'll do it"

Sirius widened his eyes, he had never heard Minerva talking in that way, not even when he was at school.

"Now let's go"

She took him by the arm and dragged him outside. The park was all set up for the ceremony; a white wooden walkway ran the distance that separated the building from the aisle, the equally white chairs had been arranged in order and were now occupied by the guests who were chatting, pending the start of the ceremony, the arch under which Remus was waiting for him was adorned with white lilies. Remus was stunning as always with his black suite and his hair pulled back. As the wedding march started to play – "There's a place", The Beatles cover by Gabrielle Aplin, obviously chosen by Remus – Sirius started to walk on the walkway, accompanied by Minerva at his side.

There is a place

Where I can go

When I feel low

When I feel blue

And it's my mind

And there's no time when I'm alone

Immediately after the first notes, Remus turned to look at Sirius who was walking towards him and could not help but smile, already with tears in his eyes.

I think of you

And things you do

Go 'round my head

The things you said

Like "I love only you"

Sirius had his gaze fixed on Remus', a smile on his face and his hands trembling as he slowly approached what would have been the most beautiful moment in his entire life.

In my mind there's no sorrow

Don't you know that it's so

There'll be no sad tomorrow

Don't you know that it's so

After all they have been through, this day, this exact moment, didn't seem real. It was as if his legs were walking by themselves, as if they already knew the way, because maybe, in some way, that was what they were destined to. To be together. After all the difficulties they had managed to overcome, after losing each other and then finding themselves again and again, this was the final point.

There is a place

Where I can go

When I feel low

When I feel blue

And it's my mind

And there's no time when I'm alone

There's a place

When Sirius finally arrived at the aisle, Remus looked at him with eyes full of love.

"Hello you" he said.

Sirius smiled broadly while his eyes were starting to get wet with tears.

"Hi"

Hermione, who was the wedding officiant, drew the attention on her.

"We are gathered here today to celebrate a love that has survived time and overcome every difficulty"

As Hemione talked, Minnie was walking to the aisle to bring the rings. She had a little white dress which highlighted her red hair. They took the rings and Sirius stroked the little girl's head, then she turned around and went back to her place hopping around.

"And now the vows" announced Hermione.

"My dear Moons" Sirius was the first to speak, "When we first met, I thought you were fucking weird, the quiet and nerdy kid. I had met James on the train and we immediately became attached to the hip, but with you- you made me, all of us really, work hard to get through your walls. And when we did, it was the best discovery I had made in my entire life, still is actually. Your furry little problem, as James liked to call it, let us grow tighter than ever and from the moment we learnt about it, the Marauders were really born. For years we danced around it, even though we both knew that what we had was totally different than what we felt for the others. And when we finally got together, at the beginning of sixth year, after fooling around a bit, I just knew it was you the one I was meant to be with. But evidently life didn’t think as such: not only I had to spend twelve years locked away in a fucking prison full of those soul-suckers shits, but we didn’t have the time to properly be together and decide what to do that I was taken away for the second time, and even when I came back, we both had to deal with many things. We officially got back together just a few years ago, but my heart has been yours for the longest part of my life. We spent more than twenty years apart, but knowing that one day we would be here makes me think that it was worth it, only to see you trying to hide your tears from all of us. You know I love you, I always will. I love you when you annoy the fuck out of me just for the sake of it, when you can’t function in the morning if you haven’t drunk your tea, when you let me use you as a heater because I’m always so fucking cold and I don’t even know why. Remus John Lupin, I promise to be your star just like you are my moon, come what may”.

While Sirius said the last sentence the ring he held in his right hand glowed slightly, almost imperceptibly so that no one noticed except maybe Harry and Bill. But Remus was too focused on his speech to notice. Then Sirius proceed to put the ring on his finger.

"Pads!" he started, "You have it in your bones to be theatrical about these things, don’t you? When we decided to write our own vows, I knew that you would come up with something like this, so mine had to be extraordinarily better than everything I thought would work just fine. I still remember the day you and I first spent time together, all by ourselves, the others away in detention probably because one of James’s shitty pranks, I still ask myself how you were not involved in that, but I am grateful because otherwise we might not be here today right now. We were little kids feeling so much pain, we understood each other, two totally different situations, but with the same result: two thirteen-year-olds feeling broken trying to give strength to each other. And from that moment on we kind of were inseparable in our own way. At sixteen, we were two kids in love with no care for the world, even though a war was upon us and its effects would haunt us for a long time. We spent so much time apart, but our bond never broke, we always found our way back to each other. When Teddy came into the picture" he then looked at his son who was sitting in the front row and was smiling proudly at him, "I admit I was afraid, but you’ve practically been a parent to him almost as long as I have and you put him on top of everything, even when I tried to push my feelings away, you were still there, you persistent little- yes, you are little, doesn’t matter I’m younger than you! Anyway, you’ve always brought yourself back into my life, at the most unexpected times, you gave me the strength to live and not only just survive. I also love you even if you exasperate me most of the time we are together: you always steal my glasses because you still refuse to get a pair, even though you can’t see for shit the things literally in front of you, you always get one of my jumpers to stay at home, even if you have your own wardrobe full of stay-at-home clothes, also because I actually love to see you wearing my clothes. I love you now and I always will. Sirius Orion Black, I promise to be your moon just like you are my star, until the very end".

Remus was about to put the ring on Sirius' finger, when he felt it getting hotter. He got it back and turned it in his hands under the curious gaze of all present, only to find an inscription inside of it that said "your moon". He looked up at Sirius who had a cocky grin even with his teary eyes. Then he took off his own ring and saw another inscription, "your star" it said.

"You like it?" asked Sirius, his voice cracking.

Remus' eyes were filled with tears but he chuckled and said "You smooth fuck, you always have to win, don't you?" loud enough for everyone to hear it.

Sirius couldn't take it anymore so he threw his arms at his neck and kissed him.

"Oh come on, I didn't even day you can kiss the groom" said Hermione exasperated.

Everybody laughed as Sirius broke away from the kiss and shouted "I can kiss my fucking husband whenever I like it".

***

About an hour later, they were all sitting at the tables, eating good food and talking with each other, already tipsy for the wine. Sirius and Remus were facing each other and holding hands on the table, the rings shining under the faint moonlight. Suddenly a soft noise interrupted the loud chatter. Harry was tapping the spoon against the glass of wine and when he had all eyes on him, he started talking.

"Hi uhm hello, can everyone hear me? No? Okay uhm, can I have a mic? Thanks." He patted on the mic which made a deafening noise, then started to talk again.

"Hi everyone, okay so since I'm Sirius' best man I wanted to make a little speech". As everyone cheered, he took some notes out of his pocket and started to read them.

"First of all, an information. Clearly, I'm not the only best man here, but Bill asked me if I could make the speech because he's not exactly the best with words." He smiled at Bill, whose ears were turning a dark shade of red. Fleur put an arm around his shoulders and kissed his cheek.

"Dear Sirius and Remus" started again Harry reading his notes, "I just wanted to thank you both, you've been for me what I've never had, a real, proper family. Thank you for all the things you taught me. Thank you, Remus, for being an amazing teacher, the best I've ever had actually. Thank you, Sirius, for being the best godfather I could have asked for. I'm sure you'll be happier than ever together because it's what you deserve." He looked up from the sheets in his hand only to find Sirius who was already crying and Remus with teary eyes who tried to calm him down. He let out a laugh then went on talking. "I'm done being sappy now, but I can't really tell some funny stories. I'm sure if my parents were here, they would have a lot to tell."

Sirius let out a laugh between tears. "Your dad would never stop talking, I'm fucking telling you" Remus slapped his arm but laughed too.

"Oh, and Lily would be crying already" he added.

"You mean like you?" asked Remus with a cocky smile on his lips.

"Fuck you"

"Oh, shut up you two" exclaimed someone, "you're bickering like an old married couple"

Sirius, definitely too drunk to understand from which part of the table the voice came from, stood up and pointed his finger in the air.

"Excuse me, we are an old married couple".

Remus pulled him by the shoulder, making him sit down.

"Speak for yourself, I'm not old" he added.

"Can I finish my speech?" asked Harry. "I was saying that I don't know any funny story but the one about the werewolf question during the fifth year exam, but I'm sure that in the coming years there will be stories as much as funny to tell."

Sirius got up from his chair and run to hug him tight.

"Thank you" he whispered. Harry smiled in the hug and couldn't help a tear to fall.

"Thank you Sirius". He moved away and grabbed the glass. "A toast to Remus and Sirius".

"To Remus and Sirius" everyone repeated, raising their glasses.

He looked at his godfather with teary eyes and a big smile.

"I'm sure mom and dad would be happy for you two".

***

When the night has come

And the land is dark

And the moon is the only light we see

It looked as the moonlight was shining only on the pair in the middle of the dance floor. They almost look as if they were fused into the same body, as entangled and united as they were. Their foreheads touched and everyone could see a slight smile on the two men’s lips. From afar they were just looking as a couple swinging to the John Lennon version of Stand By Me, a choice of Sirius who was adamant that this had to be the song for their first dance.

“Moons, I found it!”

“What would ‘it’ be?”

“The song for our first dance at the wedding, of course” replied Sirius with a glint in his eyes.

“And what would it be? You know we both need to agree on it”

“Oh, I’m sure you will” then he took Remus’s hand and brought him to the other side of the living room, where Remus’s record player was sitting. There was already a disk on it, but it must have been an old one, because the werewolf could not figure out which one it was from afar without his glasses. Then he waited for Sirius to start it and a familiar tune started playing. Remus looked at his partner, with tears in his eyes and the biggest smile threatening to get out, they had found it.

No I won't be afraid

No I won't be afraid

Just as long as you stand, stand by me

And darling, darling stand by me

Oh, now, now, stand by me

Stand by me, stand by me

Remus used his right thumb to caress his husband – his husband, he could not stress this enough – ring finger and playfully said “Your moon” just for the joy to see it light up, which made Sirius giggle.

“And so I see you are enjoying my charming little trick, Mr Lupin”

“I have to admit it was quite clever, even for you, Mr Black. You know I appreciate a charm done well”

“Well, if it had not been for my charm how would I have gotten you in Sixth Year?”

“Sirius, you and I both know that I unfortunately had fallen for you even before, because your attempt at flirting with everyone were effortlessly perfect, but when you tried to really do it with me, the most awkward things came out of your mouth”

“Hey, that’s not true!”

“Hey Moony!”

“Hey Pads, what are you doing here?”

“You know I’m here almost every day!” said the black-haired boy with indignation in his voice.

“Padfoot, I have never seen you coming to the library alone, by choice in the middle of a Saturday” replied Remus amused as he perfectly showed him his arched eyebrow.

“OH! RIGHT! IT’S SATURDAY! PRONGS IS CALLING ME, CAN’T YOU HEAR HIM?! OKAY, SEE YOU LATER, REMUS, BYE!”

If the sky that we look upon

Should tumble and fall

And the mountain should crumble to the sea

I won't cry, I won't cry

No I won't shed a tear

Just as long as you stand, stand by me

And darling, darling stand by me

Oh, stand by me

Stand by me, stand by me, stand by me

They still felt as they were the only two people in the world, even though they knew their family was all around them, they could feel their love all over the place. They hugged each other tighter, as if to never break the permanent bond they finally, legally, had between them.

“Do you regret not getting married at the same time with James and Lily?” asked Sirius with a little tremble in his voice.

“Darling, we could not”

“I know, Rem, but we could have had something”

“Luv, I loved you then, and I love you now. And as Hermione said at the beginning of the ceremony, our love has survived time and overcome every difficulty. It would have been easier? Probably not, the truth is. And whatever happened, the important thing is that we always got back to each other. And we’re finally here, where we’re meant to be, standing by each other”

“Stand by me, Rem?”

“Forever”

It was a quiet Friday night in the Gryffindor common room, the four Marauders scattered around the floor near the fireplace with Lily, Marlene, Dorcas, Alice and Frank. They had all drunk a bit and it was Muggle Music Night, so Lily and Remus were the only ones allowed to bring the music out. Lily had put on various Beatles disks, while Remus had brought a John Lennon solo one, for the quieter moments that would come in the night. Sirius had his head on Remus’s lap and abruptly got up when he started hearing a few notes coming from the record player.

“Dance with me?”

“Pads you know I-”

“Please” said Sirius to his boyfriend with his famous puppy eyes.

“Alright, but you have to buy me a week worth of my chocolate supply”

“Whatever you want, love”

They got up and went into a corner, Sirius putting his arms around Remus’s neck and basically just hugged him, and only swayed to the music. It was a song from the disk Remus had brought, the cover of Stand By Me, he knew why Sirius had chosen that particular song. It was a silent plea. They were all quite scared. After a while Sirius looked up into Remus’s eyes.

“Stand by me, Rem?” and the only way Remus was really able to reply was “Forever”

Whenever you're in trouble won't you stand by me

Oh, now, now, stand by me

Oh, stand by me, stand by me, stand by me

Darling, darling stand by me

Stand by me

Oh stand by me, stand by me, stand by me

The couple was still swaying around, not really caring about anything. Their eyes closed, a few tears spilling from their eyes anyway, and with the stupidest happy smile on their faces. Remus was singing softly in his husband’s ear the end of the song when an applause startled them.

They turned around and saw all their family and friends looking at them, joy in their eyes. And they all were standing by them.

***

Sirius was happy. Actually, he had rarely felt this happy ever before in his life. He could remember a few times, like at James and Lily's wedding or when his godson and then grandsons where born. But this was a moment that was truly his, not someone else's. Of course his and Remus'. Remus who was currently drinking something like four shots of firewhiskey one after the other together with Bill Weasley. Sirius laughed at that sight. It was rare, basically impossible, to see Remus Lupin that unhinged and absolutely shit-faced, but that was their wedding after all. Remus caught Sirius staring at him and smiled, his whole face litting up with absolute delight. Sirius smiled back and almost started crying for like the fifth or sixth time of the day because it all still felt unreal.

He turned around and saw Minerva McGonagall sitting at a table, hand intertwined with Madam Pomfrey's while chatting with Molly Weasley and he thought that there was no way in the world that he wasn't going to dance with Minerva at his own wedding. It simply had to happen. "Minnie, what are you doing? Come dance with me, c'mon", he sat down in front of her, winking to Molly and placing his hand on top of Minerva's. Madam Pomfrey laughed and smiled at Sirius, who then winked at her too. "Leave me alone boy, have you got no respect for the elderly?", she almost sounded pissed, but her eyes and face told a completely different story. She was relaxed and genuinely happy. "Boy? You flatter me Minnie. C'mon don't make me ask a thousand times, just one dance and then I solemnly swear I'll leave you alone", he laughed at the look she gave him. "Minnie dear, it's his wedding after all", Madam Pomfrey smiled and Minerva blushed at the use of the pet name in front of her former student. Sirius was reminded of the infamous McGonagall looks she reserved only to him and James in their school years. Oh, how he loved this woman. She rolled her eyes and was preparing to get up, when Sirius abruptly stopped laughing and fixated his gaze on something on the other side of the garden. Minerva raised her eyebrows and looked in the same direction, and what she saw made her burst out a laugh. A very, very drunk Remus Lupin was lifting himself up on stage with the use of his hands and knees and was then apparently preparing himself to sing some kind of song with the band. Sirius was confused and unable to stop looking at his husband because this behaviour was so not Remus that he was almost concerned.

A moment later Remus clumsily signalled the band with his hand to start playing and Sirius almost fell of the chair when he heard the beginning of The Beatles' "Twist and Shout". Sirius couldn't believe his eyes. "Well shake it up baby now, twist and shout", Remus started singing and Sirius felt his heart rate speed up and his stomach fall to the ground. Remus absolutely hated singing in front of people, even though he was quite good at it. "You know you twist so fine, come on and twist a little closer now and let me know that you're mine", Remus was not intentioned to stop anytime soon, so Sirius got up and in that moment, while still singing, Remus locked eyes with him and gestured him to come closer using only his index.

The whole garden turned around to look at Sirius, whose face was currently bright red, and started whistling and clapping their hands in time with music. Sirius hurried up and reached the bottom of the stage, he then caught Remus' hand that helped him get on top of it beside him. Remus laughed loudly into the microphone and put his arm around Sirius' waist, trying to keep him as close as possible. He lost track of the song and resumed singing as best as he could, while Sirius was practically smushed on his side and chest. The song was over some moments later and Remus temporarily let go of Sirius to thank his public with exaggerated bows and thrown kisses. He then turned around and placed his hands on Sirius' hips. Sirius put his arms around his husband's shoulders and took a step closer. "You're crazy, do you know that?", he couldn't stop smiling while Remus put his forehead on his. "I know my love, crazy about you", Remus almost whispered those words, wanting Sirius and only Sirius to hear them. Even though the garden was still so filled with clapping and whistling sounds that no one could've possibly heard them.

Sirius almost laughed at that thought because drunk Remus was one of his favourite things in the world, but was caught off guard by Remus, who decided to dip him in front of everyone. He gripped his husband's shoulders even tighter and just kissed him, the noise around them coming as a muffled sound as he felt Remus' joyful grin on his lips.