Content includes character death. –N

Remus opened the door to Grimmauld Place as quietly as he could. He'd never met Walburga Black while she was alive, aside from the occasional glance at platform 9 3/4, but the portrait of her hanging behind the curtains in the foyer of her former home offered some glimpse into the horror she had been. Taking off his jacket and draping it over the coatrack, he made his way downstairs to the kitchen, where Sirius was reading The Daily Profit and frowning slightly.

Remus leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Hello."

Sirius looked up and smiled. "I didn't hear you come in," he said.

"Yeah, well, I didn't want to wake your mum."

Sirius snorted. "How was your mission anyway?"

Remus shrugged. "I've got a few of them convinced, I think. Greyback doesn't trust me, since I left after the first war, but he's away a lot anyway on Voldemort's orders …" Remus trailed off and looked at his lap.

"Ah, I'm sorry. Let's not talk about it."

Remus shook his head and looked back at Sirius. "No, it's fine. Did anyone come by in the last week?"

"Yeah," Sirius said, leaning back in his chair. "Tonks, McGonagall, Kingsley, Molly and Arthur –"

"But no one is here now?" Sirius shook his head. "Shall we move this party of two upstairs then?"

Sirius laughed. "Remus John Lupin, are you flirting with me?"

Remus pressed his lips to Sirius' neck. "Mmhmm."

Sirius turned and caught Remus' lips against his. Breathless, Remus took Sirius' hand and led him to the bedroom. After, when they were both lying tangled in the blankets and each other, Sirius gazed down at Remus and traced the scars along his shoulders with his index finger. "I missed you," he whispered.

Remus held Sirius tighter. "I know," he said. "But I'm here now."

"We never got married."

Remus glanced up. "What?"

Sirius sat up straighter and looked Remus in the eye. "I was going to ask you, before everything. I wanted to marry you."

"Sirius –"

"I still want to marry you."

Remus' breath caught in his throat. "What –"

Sirius turned away from him and rifled through the top drawer of his bedside table. After a moment he pulled out a small black box. "If you'll have me, of course" he said.

"Where did you –"

Sirius laughed. "I bought it a long time ago," he said. "James helped me pick it. I hid it before I went and confronted Peter, just in case something went wrong. And, well, here it is."

Remus closed his eyes, trying to stop the tears from coming. Realizing it was a lost cause, he opened them and let the tears fall. "Of course I'll have you," he said.

Sirius grinned and pulled out the ring, small and silver and perfect. "I dunno that you can wear it out much, since it might attract questions, but it's yours. It'll always be yours."

Remus laughed. "You're right, but still …" He slipped the ring on. "I can wear it now, can't I?"

Sirius kissed him. "I love you so much."

"Y'know, only you would propose fully naked to a man who's also fully naked."

Sirius pulled him close. "Shut up and kiss me."

XXX

Sirius slammed into the double doors and ran into the room with the shadowy veil, followed closely by Remus, Mad-Eye, Tonks, and Kingsley. Tonks shot a stunning spell past the lot of them, and the fight began.

A Death Eater – Sirius couldn't tell who it was – lunged at him and aimed a spell, and he fired back, jumping over Mad-Eye, already down for the count.

Finally, he stunned the Death Eater into submission on the stone steps leading to the archway, the man collapsing onto the son floor, and Sirius looked around for Harry. He saw him with another boy – Frank and Alice Longbottom's son? He looked so much like them both – and spotted them with the Death Eater Dolohov leering over them, calling, "Accio Proph –"

Sirius rammed into Dolohov and whipped out his wand. The two of them snarled, both waving their wands so fast they blurred, until Harry yelled "Petrificus Totalus!"

Dolohov's limbs snapped to his sides and he fell over backwards.

Sirius grinned. "Nice one!" he yelled, simultaneously shoving Harry's head down as a pair of Stunning Spells shot over them. "Now I want you to get out of –" They ducked again as someone's Avada Kedavra narrowly missed Sirius. Across the room, Tonks fell from halfway up the stone steps, and Sirius ran to meet Bellatrix, yelling behind him, "Harry, take the prophecy, grab Neville, and run!"

It was just the two of them now, dueling on the top of the stairs. Bellatrix's grin turned into a snarl as it became clearer and clearer that Sirius wouldn't give in. Together, they danced around the dais, twirling around each other like some perverse ballet. He ducked under a Stunning Spell and laughed. "Come on, you can do better than that!"

She did. The next spell hit him in the chest.

Sirius fell, his body arching backward and out of his control. He sank backward into the veil on the archway.

I'm not ready.

The last thing he saw was Remus, running toward Harry, who was waiting, waiting for Sirius, who would never reappear …

I love you, he thought to Remus. And I'm sorry. In that moment, Sirius felt a pair of strong hands on his back, as though they were catching him, guiding him to the other side.