Sirius groaned, burying his head beneath a hotel pillow that felt entirely too soft to be the one he remembered falling asleep on last night. Wait—hotel pillow? He blinked, squinting against the glare of sunlight that seeped in through a set of heavy beige curtains, not remotely his style.
"Where am I?" he mumbled, noticing a dull throb at his temples and a distinctly uncomfortable feeling in his gut.
"Good morning, dear husband," a sarcastic voice beside him muttered, tinged with more regret than usual morning banter.
He turned his head and found Remus lying beside him, a mass of brown curls disheveled and a grimace on his face. Remus held up his left hand, where a gleaming silver ring sparkled on his finger.
Sirius blinked, glancing down at his own hand and finding the same unwelcome addition. His jaw dropped, and the memories of last night tumbled back, grainy and surreal like a late-night movie.
“Oh my god,” he whispered. “We got married?”
Remus snorted. “That’s the general idea. Though the details are a bit… fuzzy.”
“Fuzzy?” Sirius’s eyes widened, then softened into the beginning of a laugh. “You don’t remember either?”
Remus shifted, closing his eyes as if attempting to ward off the headache that likely throbbed as insistently as Sirius’s own. “Not much after the third round of tequila shots.”
“Well,” Sirius said, pushing himself up on one elbow, “judging by our attire”—he gestured to their matching white T-shirts that read Just Married in gold glitter, as well as the faint remnant of a ‘Bride’ sash tangled around Remus’s neck—“we might’ve gone a bit overboard.”
Remus sighed, rubbing a hand over his face, and Sirius felt a pang of guilt. “We can just… go get an annulment or something, right?” Remus suggested, though his voice lacked its usual confidence.
Sirius hesitated, feeling a weight settle in his stomach. He forced a laugh, though it sounded hollow even to his own ears. “Yeah, of course. Quick, easy. Undo the damage, right?”
“Right.” Remus echoed, but he didn’t look at Sirius. His gaze was fixed on the ceiling, his fingers unconsciously twisting the ring around his finger.
Sirius nodded, fighting the urge to reach out and touch Remus’s hand. They’d always been physically close—familiar with each other’s touch in the way best friends often were. But this… the ring on his finger added a layer of intimacy he’d never considered before.
“It’s just… what if…” Sirius began, swallowing hard. “What if we don’t get an annulment right away?”
Remus’s head snapped toward him, eyes wide and questioning. “What do you mean?”
Sirius shrugged, trying to keep his voice casual. “What’s the harm in seeing what it’s like? I mean, we’re both single, we’re already here, and—well, I guess I wouldn’t mind seeing how it goes?”
Remus stared, mouth slightly open in shock. “Are you—are you serious?”
Sirius laughed, raising a teasing eyebrow. “Yes. Sirius is my name, remember?”
Remus rolled his eyes, though a small, involuntary smile crept onto his face. “You’re insane.”
Sirius tilted his head, grinning. “And yet, you’re married to me.”
Remus’s cheeks colored, and he glanced away. “Well, yeah. I suppose I am.”
They sat there in silence, each of them caught in a moment that felt too big to grasp. Finally, Remus spoke, his voice softer this time, tinged with hesitation. “I never thought about us… like this.”
“Neither did I,” Sirius admitted. “But then again, I never thought we’d end up in Vegas in matching T-shirts either.”
A slow smile spread across Remus’s face. “True.”
They were quiet for a moment, the air between them charged with an unspoken question. Sirius held his breath, watching Remus carefully.
“What would we tell people?” Remus finally asked.
“We could say it was a dare.” Sirius shrugged, scooting a little closer. “Or that it was destiny.”
Remus rolled his eyes. “Right, because people believe in that.”
“Hey,” Sirius murmured, nudging his shoulder playfully, “maybe I do.”
Remus met his gaze, the hint of a smirk playing at the corners of his lips. “What if we’re just making a huge mistake?”
Sirius shrugged, his heart racing. “Then it’ll be just another story we’ll laugh about. But what if it’s not?”
Remus’s eyes softened, and he exhaled slowly, as if letting go of a weight he hadn’t realized he was carrying. “Okay,” he said, almost to himself, his voice barely more than a whisper.
Sirius felt a grin tugging at his lips, relief flooding through him. He reached over, taking Remus’s hand in his own, the ring on their fingers a strange, comforting weight. “So we’re doing this?”
“Looks like it.” Remus glanced at him, his expression torn between laughter and disbelief.
“Great,” Sirius said, swinging his legs out of bed and pulling Remus up with him. “Now, let’s go get breakfast. My husband’s looking a little worse for wear.”
Remus laughed, swatting his arm. “You’re ridiculous.”
“But you’re married to me,” Sirius reminded him with a smirk.
Remus rolled his eyes, but as they walked hand in hand out of the hotel room, Sirius couldn’t help but think that maybe—just maybe—this crazy impulse was exactly what they’d both been waiting for all along.