In the room where Narcissa Black's final wedding preparations had turned into a werewolf attack, a scene of baroque-like disorder was frozen in a tableau. Druella and Cygnus Black stood in the now doorless entrance with their wands drawn. At the sight of them, Narcissa had leapt out of Remus Lupin's arms and onto her feet. She stood pale and speechless in a dusty heirloom wedding dress, fussing with shredded lace and silk of her sleeves, as if trying to keep Druella from seeing them.

On the floor next to her sat her disoriented cousin Sirius, grunting and struggling, pinned beneath the massive body of an unconscious, untransformed but notoriously vicious werewolf. And bent over the werewolf, gasping and shouting, was Remus Lupin.

"What have you done to him?" he was demanding of the strangers at the door. "Anyone could see he was standing down. He clearly wasn't dangerous anymore, and you leveled him anyway. Stars - is he even breathing, Sirius?"

"Oh yeah, right in my face. Stinks like death, but he's alive," Sirius said, hefting the body off himself. "He's only stunned, Remus. And you should know - "

"You should know who you're hexing before storming into a room, wands blazing," Remus said, rounding on the stiffly formal couple coldly sneering at him as if they didn't understand they'd done anything wrong.

"I know exactly who that is," the man said. "That's Fenrir Greyback."

Remus scoffed. "And that fact alone is enough to warrant his being blindsided by double stunning hexes?"

The man huffed. "I've learned in these matters it's better to be safe than sorry. Hex first, ask questions later."

Remus was drawing breath to lecture them some more but Sirius and Narcissa had each taken one of his arms, and were pulling him backward, talking urgently over one another. He couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, but he could tell they were trying to call him off the older guests.

Through the chaos, the couple maintained their dignity, as if waiting for something to sort itself. Remus glared across the room at them as he calmed down enough to concentrate on Sirius and Narcissa's words, staring hard enough to finally notice the sharp lines of the woman's rather lovely face. And as he looked at the man, he saw that his hair was not grey with age but white - platinum.

Realization hit him and he hung his head, swearing quietly to himself.

"Yes, darling, that's right," Narcissa said, linking her arm through his. "Now please allow me to introduce Cygnus and Druella Black, my parents. Mother, Father, this is Remus Lupin, my bonded partner and in a few moments more, my husband for the rest of my life. There is nothing at all you can do to stop it."

They accepted the introduction and her defiance with cool nods.

"Right, how much did you see just now?" Sirius asked them.

Cygnus cleared his throat. "Plenty. But nothing Andromeda hadn't warned us to expect."

"Warned?" Narcissa said. "There is nothing to be warned about here. Informed of, yes. Congratulated on, certainly. But warned?"

"Enough," Cygnus said. "Don't be cross, Narcissa. I can beg the werewolf's pardon when he comes around if it will make everyone feel better."

"Make your first apology now," Narcissa said, her eyes wide. "To this werewolf - to my werewolf."

"Do we have to keep using that word?" Cygnus said, shaking his head as if to clear it out of his ears.

"Yes!" Narcissa said. "Now apologize for storming in here, intruding on a very private moment, and stunning Lupin's - kinsman."

Cygnus huffed. "I said I would beg his pardon, not apologize."

"Oh, for stars' sake, Cygnus. Have we come to lay down our pride and properly make peace with our girls, or haven't we?" Druella burst.

"We have. Of course we have," he boomed back at her. "And to that end, where is Andromeda? And the little girl?"

Sirius sighed and let go of Remus's arm. "I'll give the lot of you some privacy and get James to send a Patronus to Andromeda. I don't need to tell you, but it will be for the best if Greyback is gone before they arrive."

"Allow me," Cygnus said, stepping into the room as Sirius left, tucking his wand into his robes, producing a dry, empty ink bottle in its place. He held it in his handkerchief, away from his bare hands. "Portkey back to Malfoy Manor, where they're all holed up. No objections?" he said, eyebrows raised, waiting for Remus to agree. There was a nod, Cygnus folded Greyback's hand around the bottle, and he was gone.

Druella came forward, her arms outstretched to catch Narcissa, hugging her without any further argument or negotiations. "My darling, your wedding day. I never dreamed I wouldn't see you on your wedding day. Thank the stars Andromeda and Nymphadora sent word inviting us."

Narcissa peered over her mother's shoulder, at Remus, offering him a pained, confused look. He shrugged at her and her arms rose to hold her mother in return. "She's just called Dora, Mum. And yes, we so wanted you to come. Enough for me to bait you with the Rosier gown."

Druella stood back, inspecting the dress. "Oh dear," she said. "Werewolves are hard on their wardrobes, aren't they Mr. Lupin? Well, we can't send our girl out to her wedding guests looking like that. Right. Cygnus, Mr. Lupin - out."

"Mum, wait," Narcissa said. "We still have things to talk about. You can't just arrive and declare everything resolved - "

"Of course, my dear. We'll sort it all later. No, no. First things first," Druella said. "We mend the gown and present to the world a proper Rosier bride for the first time in a generation. Both of you men, out!"

"Mum, it's not as if Lupin hasn't seen - "

"I said, out," Druella insisted, flicking her wand to reattach the door Lupin had destroyed earlier.

Outside the closed door, Remus and Cygnus stood facing each other. Cygnus cleared his throat. "Yes. That's our Dru. She's very decisive, action-oriented. Impossible to redirect once she's fixed her mind on having something a certain way."

Remus swallowed hard, nodding. "Yes, I know the type well."

There was a beat of silence before Cygnus slapped him hard on the back. "I suppose you must, my lad. I suppose you must." He began to laugh, a low, careful chuckle.

Remus bowed his head, smiling along.

"Medie says you never stood a chance once Cissa set her mind on you," he laughed.

"No, sir. Not really. Though I've no idea how I got to be so lucky," he said.

"Hmph," was all Cygnus said, not understanding Remus's luck at all either, but knowing it was not a conversation they should be having today.

Remus sniffed, taking in the scent of some kind of exotic pipe tobacco from Cygnus's mustache.

A silence which was growing increasingly awkward between them broke with a popping sound from the front room.

"Mum?" a voice called from the parlor, tremulous, almost frightened.

Cygnus jumped. Narcissa's disownment had lasted not quite a month, but it had been six years since he'd spoken to Andromeda. His pale face flushed red, and for the first time, Remus felt compassion for him.

He called out to Andromeda. "She's in the bedroom with Cissa," Remus said. "But your father is here."

There were footsteps, Andromeda rushing through her house in hard-soled wedding shoes, setting Dora down as she went. Cygnus froze, as she turned into the short corridor where they stood.

"Dad?"

Cygnus bowed his head and extended his hand. "Yes, my girl. We've come."

Dumbledore had assembled the lads by the pond where the wedding ceremony was about to take place. Over their heads, the air rippled strangely, unnaturally from time to time.

"Smile for the Daily Prophet, everyone," James said. "There're Disillusioned brooms flying above the wards."

Peter's eyes bulged. "Photographers?"

"Yeah," Sirius drawled. "All of them after a photo of the runaway bride of the ancient and abhorrent House of Black."

"Watch your mouth," Remus said. "Remember, that's my family you're talking about now."

Sirius patted him hard on the shoulder. "Cousin-in-law Remus."

"He will be if we can get through the ceremony with no more attacks or transformations," Peter said. "I can't believe Moony just about turned up here today."

"I've told you, Pete. Moony is always here," Remus said. "Cissa understands that perfectly. And it wasn't just me. Sirius went full Padfoot too."

"Yeah, Uncle Cygnus knows now. Greyback too. Sorry mates," he said, sniffing at his sleeve for a whiff of dog.

Peter's ears twitched and he pinched at the air.

Sirius smacked at the back of his head. "Relax, Wormy. Your cover is safe."

Peter didn't protest, but he did look up at James, wishing he'd step up and scold Sirius for transforming in front of new people.

But James wasn't bothered. Instead, he was craning his neck, looking back to the house to see if Lily was coming along with the bridal procession yet, sighing when he saw she wasn't.

Sirius had pointed out Cygnus Black to the rest of the lads. After he had spoken to Andromeda for as long as they could before she was called into the bedroom with the other women, he had come outside and sat at the back of the congregation, not feeling worthy of a place of honour at the front even after Dumbledore insisted he take it.

Remus eyed his own parents sitting on their front row. Hope still looked wobbly from when Lyall evacuated her by apparation when Remus came tearing into the yard announcing that Greyback had appeared looking for revenge. She was back now, but Muggles seldom tolerate apparition well. Granny Howell had been left at home to nap, and Hope sat with her head drooping onto Lyall's shoulder, eyes shut, wishing a cloud would cover the bright sunlight.

James jumped when, all at once, music was sounding through the garden, an old, traditional tune played on strings from somewhere beyond the pond. "Yes," he hissed at the sight of Lily and Dora coming hand in hand as everyone sat up and turned in their seats.

All her petals long spent, Dora came without flowers but with a head of shining pink hair and a happy face, gripping the handle of her bald bouquet like a wand. Lily was lovely as well, still newly married enough to blush when her eyes met James's as she came toward where he waited for them. The air above her rippled with the movement of Disillusioned photographers on brooms, all furiously snapping pictures and trying not to collide. Here was the young Potter bride, out of her tragic mourning clothes, celebrating the future, moving forward like hope itself.

Andromeda came next, smiling but dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief. And finally there was Narcissa, still a few months shy of her nineteenth birthday, the sun shining through her hair as if the light was emanating from inside her. The Rosier gown was a character too, and looking better than ever after Druella's deft repairs.

Ted Tonks led Narcissa down the flagstone path to where her guests were seated. When they reached the back row, they paused. Ted lifted Narcissa's hand from his arm and placed it on the shoulder of Cygnus Black.

Druella made a tiny cry. Cygnus looked from the hand on his shoulder up into Narcissa's face. "Daddy, please," she said.

He kissed Druella's hand and rose from his chair. Ted offered Druella his arm and led her to her rightful seat at the front, and Cygnus followed, leading his daughter to where Remus was waiting.

Dumbledore nodded perhaps a little smugly as Cygnus and Druella filled the seats left empty for them at the front.

"Welcome friends," he began. "In deference to the sanctity of the magical bonds which have already brought this fine pair of young people together, today's ceremony will be simple and brief."

At this, the lads fought not to look openly relieved, while Dora hopped in celebration.

"In our ways," Dumbledore went on, "we each arrive in the arms of our chosen partners cursed. True, it is very rarely with lycanthropy. Much more frequently it is with the mistakes of our past, with bad memories, with the cruel treatment from those who ought to have loved and protected us. Our curses may be with hateful teachings from those who should have uplifted or inspired us. Our curses are prejudice, fear, sorrow, regret, ignorance, hate for others or for ourselves. And if we have chosen our partner well, they will be someone we can work with to break our curses. They will not do it for us, but neither will they prevent us."

Dumbledore placed each of his hands on the shoulders of the bride and groom. "At no other wedding I have officiated at has the couple better exemplified the cooperative breaking of personal and generational curses than at this one. Thank you, Remus and Narcissa, for your example and your love. Now, will you please take one another by the marked hand..."

The vows were simple. Throughout the entire ceremony, Remus and Narcissa each spoke only one word: "Yes."

The sky above them was raucous with half-hidden brooms all jostling for the best angle as Remus John Lupin - half-blood, registered werewolf - bent to give his bride, Narcissa Juno Black - daughter of the ancient and pure Houses of Rosier and Black - a sweet, decorous kiss.

Andromeda had arranged for a massive picnic to be served in the garden. She had hired a photographer of her own, musicians for the ceremony and dinner, and a DJ for dancing well into the evening.

As the sun set and the fairy lights flickered in Andromeda's garden, the wedding nostalgia moved James and Lily, and they may as well have been alone, pressed together on the dancefloor.

"Lily?"

"Hmm?"

"Your hands, darling. This is a family event."

"Oh. Right."

They laughed, noses together. "You know,' Lily said, "what with my parents and Snape and everything, it was rather hard to enjoy our wedding."

James rumbled a laugh. "Not to mention all the unresolved sexual tension."

She scoffed. "What do you mean? That was the best part."

He laughed into her neck and turned them around. "Glad you liked it, because, to tell you the truth, I'm feeling some tension mounting right now."

She looked up at him, a smile bending across her face. "Are you asking me to go home with you?"

He bent to whisper in her ear. "Please, Mrs. Potter."

She shivered, nodding. "Definitely."

With a wave to Remus, they were gone.

Peter had no date and cheered himself up by drinking, winding up being carried away by the Prewett brothers in their brother-in-law's magical flying car. The last Remus and Sirius heard from him that night, he was ranting about how the idea of predestined soulmates is rot, and who did Frank Longbottom think he was, anyway.

Sirius stayed until the end. The DJ was secure enough in his identity as a wizard to risk playing Muggle music. He must have been a bit melancholy too, or else just an enormous fan of a Muggle musician known to have witches in her family. He said her name was Stevie, and as her song played, Sirius swayed on the dancefloor holding Marlene close.

The words of the song landed squarely in his heart, and he was ready to sing along into Marlene's ear when the second chorus came:

"I know I could have loved you, but you would not let me."

She lifted her head from his shoulder, sleepy with the long, warm day and a little wine. "Oh, alright, Sirius," she said.

He leaned back to see her face. "Alright? Alright what? Not - really? Do you mean it?"

"Yes," she said, linking both her arms around his neck, her shoes hooked over one finger, dangling against his back. "Yes, go ahead and love me now. Tell everyone I'm yours, if you want to."

"Marlene - truly?"

"Yes, you've been asking for five years, in between all your girlfriends, and even when I thought you might be in love with Remus. It's never really stopped. So go on then. Love me. I'll let you."

Sirius clamped his arms around her waist, lifted her feet off the ground and spun in a circle, laughing into her hair.

It caused such a stir even Remus noticed, raising his face from where he'd been nose to nose with Narcissa on the dancefloor to grin Sirius's way. "Well, look at that. Marlene's finally come around. It's a wedding day miracle for Padfoot."

Narcissa sighed against his neck. "Dear Sirius. He could have had any girl at school but stayed fixed on the one who knew the only thing that could keep him captivated was a chase."

Remus clucked his tongue. "Come now. Marlene is brilliant without having to play games."

Narcissa hummed uncertainly. "Still, in love, the House of Black does love a chase."

"Is that what it's been between us all along?" he said, coy and breathy in her ear.

"Not at all," she said, her hands snaking inside his robes. "The world is full of brilliant wizards I could have chased. Werewolves - not so much."

"Ah, Greyback warned me about women like you. The wolf fetishists."

"Well, he warned you too late."

Most everyone was still dancing when the final wedding guest of the night arrived. His name had been left on the guest list as a distant hope, a courtesy, and now, here he was, blinking in the fairy lights on the edge of the dance floor.

"Regulus!" Sirius called, recognizing him, again, more by smell than sight. He had grown terribly thin, and he was unable to form a convincingly happy smile even as Remus and Sirius threw their arms over his shoulders to greet him.

They fed him, sat him down, and barraged him with questions about where he'd been and what he'd done since he left the Death Eaters.

"I can't," Regulus answered, sitting back in his chair, his face a little less grey for having eaten and been welcomed somewhere. "I can't speak of it. If I succeed at my goal, everyone will know. And if I fail, you won't be implicated in it."

"I don't understand," Narcissa said. "You risked coming back here and you don't even want any help from us?"

He hung his head again. "Word in the evening paper was that Uncle Cygnus had accepted you and forgiven Andromeda. It was too amazing - too hopeful not to see for myself. After all I've seen since they marked my arm, and before everything I still need to do, what I need more than anything is hope. I needed to see all of you here together for myself. But you're right. It is an awful risk. And I have to go."

He took his leave of everyone and apparated away. And before he had quite vanished Sirius had unfurled a large parchment on the dining table and he and Remus had bent over it, scrawling and casting furiously with their wands.

"Got him," Remus said, his voice low but excited.

Sirius was poring over the map. "Where?"

"In the north. On the coast."

Sirius frowned. "But there's nothing up there? What could he be doing?"

Remus shook his head. "He's not moving anymore. He must have arrived wherever he's staying for the night."

Sirius stood up straight, looking around himself as if trying to determine if he had room to disapparate.

Narcissa laid a hand on his arm. "Let him sleep, Sirius," she said. "He's exhausted and safe for now. Take Marlene home. She's your responsibility now too."

He glanced at Marlene, dozing with her head cushioned on her arms on the tabletop. Patting Narcissa's hand, he nodded. They took one last look at the map before refolding it. Regulus was visible, resting in the north. Lily and James were in their tower room at the school. Peter was sleeping it off in the Prewett brothers' cottage. And the rest of them were here, in Andromeda's garden.

"Excellent day," Sirius said as he tucked the map back into his robes. He helped Marlene to her feet, grinning as she kissed his cheek and settled in underneath his arm. "How do you like that, love?" he asked her. "The little blighter can never go where I can't see him again. Yes, a most excellent day."

Druella Black would not hear of Remus and Narcissa spending their official honeymoon in a school annex known as the Shrieking Shack.

"Your father isn't the only one who carries opportune portkeys with him," she said, extracting a large iron key from her robes, pinched between her fingers in a handkerchief.

Narcissa gasped as she recognized it. "The villa? You're sending us to the villa?"

"Yes, my darling Mrs. Lupin," Druella laughed. "Honeymooning there is as traditional as the Rosier gown. Of course you're going there. It should be all ready for you."

In an instant they were out of Britain, somewhere warm and breezy, on the terrace of the Black family hideaway in Provence. The air smelled like the sea, and they could see it sparkling off into the distance under the light of a moon that would be full again in just a few days.

Remus stood behind Narcissa as she gazed out at the view. He was grateful to be holding her without the massive gown between them anymore. She was herself again, in sleek, elegant black and in his arms. He pressed his lips to the crown of her head.

"I don't deserve it, Lupin," she said. "A spoiled brat like me winding up with the love I wanted, the blessing of my parents, my sister and both of my long lost cousins restored to me, my dowry intact, my creature heritage unsuppressed. It's all too perfect."

He hummed. "Is it? There's still Riddle. He and Malfoy would still like you disgraced and destroyed. And as for family harmony - we still haven't won over Madam Lestrange. That whole Death Eater situation - after what they did to James's parents, there's no evil they wouldn't stoop to."

She was groaning in protest. "Stop, stop it."

"And then there are the NEWTs coming up," he went on, teasing. "And the fact that at this moment, I am setting a terrible example as a prefect, being off in France so late after curfew."

She laughed and rocked against him, still looking out at the sea.

"Honestly though, it is too bad we won't be able to stay here for long," he said.

She tipped her head to see him without turning around. "Why do you say that? You aren't really worried about NEWTs are you? Worrying over exams after all we've been through this term?"

He breathed a laugh. "No. I'm worried about tearing this lovely place apart as a werewolf if we stay too long. You're going to have to mind the moon from now on, darling. It's already almost time to report to the shack."

As he said it, just for a moment, her eyes flashed gold.

"What was that?" he asked, his own eyes wide. "Your Veela, I think she just winked at me."

"Of course she did," she said, turning to face him fully, her fingers in his hair, almost clawlike, the tips of her nails biting lightly into his scalp. "Twice since the last full moon I've been tantalized with untimely glimpses of my werewolf Lupin. And instead of being able to enjoy his charms somewhere we could be alone, each time we've been surrounded by delicate, gawking humans and I had to send him on his way."

Remus's grip on her waist tightened, his laugh dropping low, into the range of a growl.

"No, I am gagging to see him again, and properly. I am ready for my werewolf honeymoon," she said as Remus nuzzled at her neck. "As long as we have some space to ourselves, I can easily keep you out of trouble even while the moon is full. Here or anywhere."

His nuzzles had become kisses, soft and deep against her throat. He was walking her through the terrace doors and back into the house. "Well I'm afraid," he said against her skin, "all I can offer you for tonight is me."

Her hands were parting his shirt so she could press her cheek against his strong steady heartbeat. "And that," she said, "will truly be perfect."