A/n: sniffs Omg, I can't believe this time is finally here… I'm actually going to finish this story, a story that I've been writing for over 4 years! It almost doesn't seem possible! I want to sincerely thank everyone who has ever reviewed this story. You have helped me come to this point, and I thank you. Please check out the sequels to this story, one of which is now completed. Now, for the final chapter of "Sirius and Remus – Marauders Era."
Oh, and btw, I do plan to go back over this story, you know, correcting spelling mistakes, stuff like that. Editing mainly, as I know there are mistakes in the current version. I will go back over it and correct all those mistakes eventually. I want to finish some of my other stories first, though, so it might be a while, but I do plan to do it, and go back and take out all of the replies.
In the meantime, enjoy the final chapter of this story! (Oh, and I hope it's not too long for you. I wanted to close things a bit. winks)
Chapter 25
After the Quidditch Final, N.E.W.T's came even closer for the seventh years. They all began studying much more. Except for James and Sirius of course, who, as they said in their own (not so) humble words, "We're brilliant. What do we need studying for?" Remus, Peter, Stacey, and Lily continued to ignore them, all feeling the need to study with their final exams so close.
Lily constantly reminded them that the tests "decided their future," which of course, in a discussion with James and Sirius, got her absolutely nowhere. She eventually gave up. Remus would retreat up to their dorm, and Peter would go the library. Stacey and Lily went to their dorm or to the library.
Remus was rarely alone up there. Not able to resist his love up in their dormitory alone, Sirius often followed, making it harder for Remus to study. Oh, Remus got some studying done, but usually after a little argument with Sirius. Of course, after a while, Sirius always got Remus to put aside the books after a little while in favor of a more… enjoyable activity.
"Sirius, you're horrible," Remus told him one night as Sirius successfully succeeded in getting Remus to stop studying what he had been studying over and over again.
Sirius smiled, capturing his love's lips in a kiss before replying, "Of course. As if you would take me any other way."
Remus gave a small smile, melting into Sirius' kiss, allowing him to push him down on the bed. While kissing, Sirius slowly moved his hand underneath Remus' shirt, intending to try to go a bit… farther. Of course, fate always has a way of ruining a perfect mood.
Peter and James walked in.
Remus and Sirius quickly pulled apart, and since the two dorm mates had been talking, they hoped that they hadn't noticed but the smirk on James' face said otherwise. "Having fun 'studying'?" He asked.
Remus blushed, but all Sirius did was nod, and say, "Yes, we were." He glanced back at Remus, but the shy werewolf had buried his face in his book again. Sirius ignored the shake of James' head, and leaned in, whispering, "Don't worry, we'll continue this later." He smiled as Remus' blushed deepened, turning from a slight pink to a deep red. Sirius chuckled deeply, and then tried to study again, but eventually went to playing Exploding Snap with James, Peter watching in excitement.
"You know, you should all be studying." Remus said.
"Remus, don't repeat Lily's lecture. We'll be fine." James said.
Remus was about to turn to Peter, who would not be fine if he didn't study, but Peter quickly replied, "I'm taking a study break. My head hurts." Remus rolled his eyes and went back to studying.
Remus studied while the other's played, and when it was time for bed, he got dressed, and turned over, getting underneath the covers. It was then he felt someone else get into the bed with them, underneath the covers, pull back the curtain, and put a silencing spell up. Remus felt a smile cross his face. The figure got in close behind him, and wrapped a strong arm around him, tucking it in underneath Remus' arm. "Miss me?" Sirius said seductively, nuzzling into Remus' neck and planting a kiss.
Remus gave a soft moan, turning around in Sirius's embrace. Sirius in turn put one hand on either side, holding his upper body up so that he could look down at the face of his love. "Of course." Remus wrapped his arms around Sirius' neck. "You shouldn't have tried that. You know that James and Peter would have come in sooner rather than later."
Sirius shrugged. "You know that I like to take risks." He told him. "Besides, how could I resist you?" With a smile, he kissed Remus, the kiss passionate, heat and fire searing into it.
Remus melted into Sirius' kiss, and slowly broke it, chuckling softly. "You're horrible," he said.
Sirius smiled, chuckling. "As you tell me time and time again." Sirius kissed Remus again, and moved his right hand to Remus' waist. He moved his other hand under Remus' shirt, feeling the many scars that adorned his lover's chest. As he moved his hand up, he lightly ran his fingers over Remus' nipples, causing a slight gasp from his lover as they kissed.
Sirius smirked as he kissed Remus, and brought his hand out from under Remus' shirt, moving it up the color, and then slowly started to unbutton it, so that Remus would be… shirtless, as Sirius already was, as he slept without a shirt on most of the time. As usual, Remus tensed up. Sirius was trying, as always, to be as patient as possible with the werewolf.
Sirius broke the kiss, keeping his face inches away from Remus'. "Let me. One step at a time, and you need this as much as I do," he told him, capturing his lips in another kiss. He slowly began to unbutton Remus' shirt. After he had unbuttoned the final button, he snaked his hands up Remus' chest towards the collar of his shirt, and pushed it off his shoulders, noticing how tense Remus was, how nervous, as he took Remus' shirt off, and set it next to them on the bed.
Remus wrapped his arms around Sirius' neck as they kissed. He felt so nervous. His body was tense, as he was sure Sirius had noticed. He had to admit that he liked the feeling of skin-on-skin, of Sirius' chest up against his as he pressed himself up against him, much to the pleasure of the werewolf, and of course, Sirius as well. Wanting to feel Sirius' chest, he slowly ran his hands down Sirius' muscular chest, enjoying of how it felt underneath his hands, as Sirius ran his hands along Remus' chest.
Sirius slowly moved his lips from Remus' down to his neck, suckling on it, making Remus gasp and arch his back in pleasure. He gave Remus' neck a light nibble, just for experimentation, only to find that Remus actually enjoyed it, although that didn't really surprise Sirius very much – Remus was, after all, a werewolf. Sirius moved his way down to Remus' bare chest, moving down so that he was in a more comfortable position. He gave each of Remus' scars a let gentle kiss, some of them making Remus hiss slightly through his teeth. He hated to think that this was what happened to his love every month, but he pushed such thoughts from his mind, and brought them back to the present.
Sirius moved his lips to one of Remus' nipples, and nibbled on it gently, causing the werewolf beneath him to gasp softly in pleasure. Sirius then proceeded to kiss it lightly, and then moved to the other one, repeating his ministrations to the first one, running his hand over the other one lightly.
Sirius had never enjoyed himself more. If only Remus would let him go further, if only. Sirius knew that he would make it a night that Remus would never forget. However, this would have to do for now. Sirius proceeded to kiss Remus' chest in every place, as many times as it pleased him, and Remus never complained, but then again, why would he.
Sirius lifted himself up, looking longingly between Remus' legs, but drawing his gaze upwards to Remus' face. Sirius then moved up again, and pressed himself up against Remus, their arousals evident to each other. Sirius captured Remus' lips, rubbing himself up against Remus, until they were both spent. Sirius and Remus then rearranged themselves, so that Remus' back, still bare, was to Sirius' chest. With a kiss on the neck from Sirius, they both drifted off to sleep.
As it was Sirius had left… shall we say, a little mark on Remus' neck. The poor werewolf tried his best to hide it, to no avail. James tried to not laugh for most of the morning, just shaking his head. Peter, well, he didn't mention anything or say anything regarding it. Stacey and Lily had just shaken their heads. Remus was so embarrassed. Actually, Sirius had found it all rather cute and endearing, but he wouldn't tell Remus that. He knew the werewolf's temper, and wanted to stay on his good side.
Of course, that day was still more N.E.W.T. preparation, for most of the student body at least. Yes, James and Sirius did study, but of course, not at the length that their friends and respective partners did, much to their dismay. Sirius tried to distract Remus again from studying quite often, even the week of the N.E.W.T.'s exams. Remus, naturally, resisted him as much as possible, and Sirius relented, knowing that Remus would never forgive him if he kept him and he really did do poorly.
When the N.E.W.T.'s finally did arrive, both Sirius and James were confident that they had sailed through the test, which of course, they had. Such things went to the annoyance of the rest of their group, who had actually done real studying. Lily had done spectacularly, as usual. Remus and Stacey had both done averagely well, Remus exceeding at Defense against the Dark Arts, and Stacey exceeding at History of Magic. (She had always loved history.) Peter had done, well, not so well, but that was to be expected from him.
However, with the N.E.W.T'.s out of the way, everyone had a chance to relax. The Marauders spent most of their time outside, enjoying the nice sunny weather that the time of year presented to them. It gave them a chance to relax, now that the N.E.W.T.'s weren't hanging over their heads anymore. It was really a good feeling for them, but sad at the same, with the knowledge that, in no time at all, they would be leaving Hogwarts – for good. There would be no going back for them. It was sad. They had spent the better part of seven years in this place, and it was home to them, but it would be no longer, and they would be forced to enter the real world. However, things weren't quite over yet…
The Marauders and Stacey, minus James – and Lily, of course – were all sitting in the Great Hall, when James and Lily walked in. They were holding hands, both positively glowing, just glowing. They seemed unusually happy about something, although for the life of them, the others couldn't figure out why.
"I wonder what's got them so happy." Peter asked.
When the couple finally got to the table, they both stood there beaming. James looked to Lily, at his friends, and then back to Lily, almost as if he was wondering if she would speak first, but she just stood there, smiling at James. James gave her a smile back, and then turned to his friends. "We have an announcement to make." He told them. "We're engaged."
The group whopped and hollered at that, congratulating the two, and of course, no one stayed seated for very long. Sirius came over to James, and gave his best friend a big hug. "Good going, James, you lucky dog!" Peter also offered James his congratulations, as did the others. Stacey was busy asking Lily what she wanted for the wedding.
Lily looked at James. "Well, we haven't really decided all that." She told Stacey.
James looked down at Lily, before turning to his friends. "That's true, I think we can pretty much decide right now on who the Best Man and Maid of Honor are…" His eyes flicked between Stacey and Sirius, before falling on Sirius as he wrapped an arm around his best friend's shoulders. "I want Sirius for Best Man." He looked to Lily.
"And I want Stacey for my Maid of Honor," she told James. Seeing no disagreement in each other's eyes as that, as honestly, who else would it be, Lily turned to them. "As long as you two both agree, of course."
Sirius and Stacey exchanged glances between each other, and shrugged. "Of course, I do not mind. I would love to." She told them both.
Sirius wrapped an arm around James' shoulders. "And I wouldn't have it any other way." Sirius said.
For the rest of lunch, Stacey and Lily talked about the wedding preparations: dress, date, location, etc... The Marauders really wanted to talk about something, really, anything, else, with Lily reminding James that it was his wedding, too.
After lunch, Remus went and sat outside on the grounds, leaning up against a tree, a book in his hand. He was really happy for Lily and James; they deserved it. They were perfect for each other. Even though they were so different, they balanced each other out. Everyone dreamed of spending their lives with the person that they loved. Their soul mate, if you believed in such things.
Remus wondered, with Hogwarts ending, what was going to happen to him? He was expected to get a job, and become a working member of the Wizarding World, but for him, that was easier said than done. It wouldn't be long at any job before he was found out, and then no one would ever allow him to stay on the payroll. How would he survive? He already knew that his parents were already tiring of their house, and would get another one, something smaller that they could take care of easier, and give Remus the one that they were currently in, which was worn down from all of Remus' transformations.
Remus just sighed, leaning up against the tree, these thoughts flitting through his mind as he sat there on the nice summer day. This is how Sirius found him, having come looking for him after Remus had gone off after lunch. He sat down next to him. "Something on your mind, love?" He asked him.
Remus turned his head to look at Sirius, and nodded, a small smile on his face. "Yeah… you know, with school ending and all, I guess, I just…" Remus just sighed, and shook his head. "It's nothing…"
Sirius shook his head, setting his hand upon Remus' hand, and moving closer to him. "It's never nothing with you, Remus, that's something I've learned after all these years." He told him, knowing not to joke right now, as something was obviously bothering Remus, and that made Sirius concerned.
Remus looked at Sirius, a smile crossing his face, as he took Sirius' hand in his. "You know me too well. Truth be told," Remus told Sirius, "I'm kind of worried. I know that keeping a job will be hard for me, and I… well, I'm sure you know the implications of that." He paused, a sigh escaping his lips. "I'm not sure what I'm going to do, Sirius. My parents are going to be moving out soon, and leaving me the house. Not out of charity, but because it's already warn down from me, and with me being out of school for good, they'd rather not be around me all the time, and they know I can't get a house of my own." Remus turned away from Sirius, somewhat depressed now.
Sirius put his arms around Remus, drawing his lover closer to him, shushing him. "Don't talk like that, love." Sirius said. "Everything will be fine. Everything will work out for the best, you'll see. I know that things aren't easy right now, and that they're even harder for you, but you're strong, you'll be fine." He gave Remus a kiss on the top of his head.
Remus wrapped his arms around Sirius, turning his head into Sirius' chest. "How do you know that?" Remus asked, his voice holding a hint of sadness in it. "How do you know that it's all going to be all right, because I don't feel very strong." He may not have felt strong, but he did feel safe in Sirius' arms. With those strong arms around him, as he laid his head on Sirius' muscular chest, he felt as if nothing in the world could hurt him.
Sirius gave Remus another kiss on the top of his head, holding his love tighter, if that was possible. He was holding him as if, just by being with him, by being in love, all of Remus' pain would go away. "I don't, but I have to believe it, because the alternative isn't something that I want to imagine." Sirius said. "I have to believe that everything will turn out all right, because it has to, one way or another." He pulled away from Remus slightly, laying one of his hands on Remus' cheek, looking deep into his eyes. "You know that you can ask me for anything, no matter what. You name it, and I'll give it to you." He paused momentarily as he looked into Remus' eyes. "I would take down the moon for you, if I could."
Remus gave Sirius a small, as he looked into his eyes, filled with emotion. For someone who had thought up so many pranks, had caused so much chaos around Hogwarts in his day, he was undeniably romantic, and it was times like this, and of course during their nights together, that Remus really realized how much he truly loved him. "I know, Sirius, but I don't want charity. I don't want things just given to me."
"It's not charity when you love someone, Remus," Sirius told him, "and I love you more than life itself, and I hate to see you suffer." He erased the space between them again, holding him tight against him, feeling Remus' arms wrap around him. In the broad daylight, underneath the shade of a tree, Sirius wished that time would stop, for one moment that time would stand still.
Remus really did appreciate Sirius' words. He did, more than Sirius knew, but… he wanted to do things on his own, even if he knew Sirius would support him until it killed him, if he had to. "Aren't you afraid that people will see us?" He asked Sirius. For the most part, Sirius had always been sensitive about the fact that he was gay… and Remus knew that people were watching them. He felt the stares and heard people whispering as the walked around the grounds, seeing the two young men embracing each other lovingly.
Sirius lowered his head so that his mouth was near Remus' ear, and whispered, "No. I don't care. Why, do you?" His voice was soft, filled with emotion. It was too perfect, him being with Remus. He didn't care if the whole world knew. He was in love, deeply in love, and never wanted to hide it. If they world cared, well, the world could go to hell, as the muggle saying went.
Remus shook his head. "No, I don't." As long as Sirius was here with him, Remus was pretty sure that he could handle anything…
"That reminds me." Sirius said, pulling away from Remus' slightly. He grabbed something out of his robes. Whatever it was, he kept it hidden in his hand. "I wanted to give you something, to remind you of something." He then opened up his hand, there was tiny box in it, which Sirius opened, revealing a ring, which looked a little bit on the expensive side.
Remus gasped upon seeing it. "Sirius… I don't know what to say…" He couldn't find the words to express what he thought at the moment. Part of him wondered why Sirius felt the need to get him an expensive ring to remind him of something, why he felt the need to get him anything at all…
"Say you'll wear it and never take it off." Sirius told him. "I love you, Remus, more than anything, and I don't care who knows. I bought this for you, when James got Lily's engagement ring, to remind you of us, of our love, of what we share. I want you put it on your wedding ring finger, and never take it off, ever." Sirius picked up the ring, and turned it so that Remus could see the inside of it. "See what I had engraved." The words stated – Together Forever – SOB and RJL.
Remus was speechless. He knew what Sirius was asking, and they had already promised that a long time ago, or so it seemed to Remus. The fact that Sirius had got him something like this, despite that he didn't need it, or how much it had cost him, the fact that he wanted everyone to know that Remus belonged to him, meant a lot to Remus.
Remus just drew Sirius into a passionate kiss, as Sirius slipped the ring on his finger. He knew people were staring, but Remus didn't care, and he knew that Sirius didn't either. When they broke the kiss, they just wrapped their arms around each other, leaning up against the tree.
The others joined them later, minus Peter. When Remus asked where he was, James simply stated that Peter had said that he had something to do. They all thought that was somewhat suspicious, but they all shrugged it off. Lily had spotted Remus' ring, and commented on how beautiful, but expensive it was. Sirius had replied, "Only the best," and when Stacey commented on Sirius' taste, Sirius only said, "The best," glancing at Remus.
The train ride home was less than exciting. Lily, Remus, and James had done their duties early, but soon retreated back to their compartment, to spend their train ride home with their friends and respective partners. They talked, things seeming like normal. They all knew that things would change, it was inevitable, but how much, no one in that compartment could be sure, nor could they know what would be in store for them, not that they would want to.
After the train stopped, Sirius took Remus into his arms, capturing his lips with his own, passion and heat searing into their kiss. "I'm going to visit you, tomorrow," Sirius said, leaning his forehead against Remus'.
Remus gave him a small smile. "Not that I would want you not to," was Remus' reply.
That earned a chuckle from Sirius, and another kiss. Then, they walked out with their friends. Their journey at Hogwarts was over, but their lives, for some, had just begun, while others would be shortly over. Those who survived would share pain and heartbreak that, in this one glorious but sad moment, they could not have known. Such sad thoughts should not mar such a beautiful moments, for that is saved for a later date, for the continuation in their story.
