Last chapter! Wooooo! I will continue with the first wizarding war (I think it'll be called Boys At War), so keep an eye out for new fic ...
In the meantime, thank you for reading this whole crazy brain child of mine! I appreciate everyone who read and reviewed. Y'all are the real MVPs.
–N
The door banged so loudly against the wall that Peter jumped several inches and fell off his bed. James strolled in and announced to his fellow marauders: "Lads, we need to throw a party."
Remus looked up from his Potions textbook. "What?"
"We haven't done a big one in months," James said, sitting on the foot of Remus' bed. "And obviously we need to go out with one they'll all remember."
"Obviously."
James glanced over at Sirius' bed. "Pads, any ideas?"
Sirius grinned. "A few." And it was with those words that the boys found themselves, two days later, in the Gryffindor common room with the rest of the seventh years and many of the underclassmen.
"Isn't this great?" James said, grinning. He was holding a Firewhisky in one hand and Lily's own hand in the other.
"You outdid yourself," Lily said. James, Lily, and the Marauders were sitting on the couch closest to the fireplace, where Sirius had charmed the fire to flash different colors with the beat of the music they were playing on Lily's record player. Dorcas and Marlene were supposed to be in charge of the music, but really, they were just snogging by the record player.
"Pete, you want us to introduce you to some of the girls on the Quidditch team?" Sirius asked.
"I'll be okay," Peter said, and he went off into the crowd to talk to a group of giggling fifth-year girls.
"I will never understand the appeal, but fine," Sirius said shrugging.
The song switched and the music slowed. James squeezed Lily's hand and said, "Dance with me?" Lily stood and the two of them walked off to the make-shift dance floor. James put his hands on her hips and she put her head on his shoulder.
They stayed like that for a while, swaying, when Lily pulled away so she could see James' face. "I love you," she said.
James put his head down so that their foreheads were touching. "I love you, too."
Back on the couch, Sirius and Remus watched their friends rotate on the spot, their heads together. Sirius smiled. He'd never seen James so happy.
Remus stood, and Sirius turned his gaze. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be right back," he said, and went off to the dorm. After a minute or two of watching Peter dance with a sixth-year, he followed.
Remus sat on his bed, his arms hugging his knees. He glanced up as Sirius came in. "Oh, I –"
"Re, are you sure you're okay?"
Remus shrugged. "Just – I'm scared, Sirius."
He said that last part so low that Sirius had strained to hear. Sirius sat on the bed beside Remus and said, "Scared of what?"
"Graduating," Remus said. "Of, well, after, I guess. I mean, this is it. And it's going to be a lot harder, just, I won't be able to find a job I can keep, being what I am. And we won't be together all the time." His voice broke, and Remus looked away.
"Hey," Sirius said, "you will find something. And we will be together all the time because the four of us? We're a family. So you can't get rid of us that easily."
Remus sighed and said, "Yeah, maybe."
"Re –"
"What if I hurt someone?" Remus asked. "I won't have the Willow and the three of you every month, or my dad's basement. I'll hurt someone. I'm a monster."
Sirius stared hard at Remus for a minute and then said, "Can I show you something?" He got up and grabbed a box from under his bed, Remus watching him the whole time. Sirius sat again beside Remus and opened the box. He pulled out a wilted and shriveled buttercup and said, "You brought this back to the dorm in second year. I was having a fucking meltdown about Regulus doing something or other, I can't even remember now, and even though you'd just had the moon, you brought this to me before you even went to see Madam Pomfrey. To remind me that someone cared." Sirius put the flower back and pulled out a papery brown leaf. "You brought this one to me because I told you once how much I looked forward to fall, and you wanted me to have a piece of it with me." He took out an acorn and said, "This one, you said the smell of the forrest reminded you of me, and this is when I had a major crush on you, so mind you I just about died." Sirius put the acorn back and placed the box on Remus' lap. "I'm just saying that no one that goddamn considerate could ever really be a monster."
Remus tapped the edges of the box gently. It was full of all kinds of things: colored pencils from a Muggle shop, a willow branch, a photo of Sirius that Remus had taken last summer. All were things that Remus had given Sirius over the years.
Remus cleared his throat and said, "Thank you, Pads."
Sirius grabbed Remus' hand and said, "Move in with me."
"What?" Remus looked up, startled, but he didn't pull away.
"After school," Sirius said. "We could find a flat somewhere in London and just, I dunno, be together." Sirius flushed and said, "Only if you want to –"
"I do," Remus said. "Really, I want that so much."
Sirius grinned and kissed Remus on the mouth. "Okay, then," he said, still smiling.