Disclaimer: JK owns all these wonderful characters; I just borrowed them for a bit.
The short taxi ride was an experience in itself and one which they might have appreciated more fully had Sirius not spent it convincing Remus he had been joking about the dancing. As they left the taxi and walked up the steps to the party, music wafted out and Remus knew he had been had once again.
Mr and Mrs Evans had hired an impressive venue. White marble steps in front of the grand house led up into a large entrance hall hung with modern art. Remus turned his head on one side trying to make out the subject of a painting. It seemed to be a woman in blue with only one eye and half a body. He was suddenly very grateful that Muggle portraits were not alive in the way wizard ones were.
"Padfoot! Moony!" James came hurtling through a side-door to welcome his friends. Dressed in cream, Lily, his wife, followed at a discreet distance, allowing her husband time to go through the whole back-slapping, arm-punching ritual that seemed to accompany every reunion with Sirius and the others.
When she did join them, they both gave her a respectful kiss on the cheek by way of greeting.
She laughed. "I'm married - not a nun!"
In answer, Sirius enveloped her in a bear-hug and when he had released her, Remus followed with a more gentle embrace.
"Is Wormtail here?" Sirius asked eagerly. It had been three months since the wedding and the first time all four Marauders would be back together.
"No, not yet," James said and he frowned. "One thing Peter's good at is being reliably unreliable."
"Well, he'll come if he said he would," Remus volunteered. "He always does."
"Yeah, I know," James sighed, ruffling his hair up at the back. "Just that Peter's idea of time isn't the same as anyone else's. Anyway, you two are hardly punctual."
"Slight sartorial argument," Sirius provided by way of excuse.
James looked from one to the other and broke into a grin. "Moony couldn't manage his bow-tie, could he?"
"You haven't missed much," Lily said quickly. "We're about to toast Granny and Grandad and then they're disappearing and the party's going on. Come outside, we've got tables and a band…"
"And food and drink - you have to try the punch - it's an age-old Evans recipe…" James added. "We've got to circulate, I'm afraid. One of the hazards of being the newest family newly-weds. But find yourselves a table and we'll catch up with you."
Sirius and Remus walked out through French windows on to a large terrace. Straight ahead of them was a brightly-lit large wooden dance-floor with accompanying orchestra. Scattered around were tables and chairs interspersed with lighting, statues, shrubs and foliage. At a rough estimate, there appeared to be over a hundred people present.
"Excellent!" Sirius announced, taking in the party with a practiced eye. "C'mon, Moony, I've spotted a first-rate table."
What made it first-rate was not immediately apparent. It had a good view of the dance-floor, certainly, but it was small and tucked in between two large potted hydrangeas. It was not until Remus sat down that he saw its main advantage: it was less than ten yards away from a table full of refreshments.
"What do you want to drink?" Sirius asked.
"Water," said Remus firmly. He had spent evenings with Sirius before.
"That's not a drink, that's a bodily fluid."
Remus tried to think of something non-alcoholic apart from Butterbeer which he doubted was on offer. "Orange juice," he said finally.
Sirius shook his head sorrowfully. "Where did I go wrong with your education?"
He disappeared and reappeared with a drink for himself - "Scotch on the rocks" he informed Remus - who looked long and hard for the rocks - and for Remus, a glass of what seemed to be orange juice but which definitely had a kick in it.
"Muggle orange juice," Sirius said airily in answer to the suspicious look Remus gave him.
The music fell silent and the couple in whose honour the party was being held, walked up to the microphone.
"Our family, our friends," the silver-haired man began. "It means so much to us that you are all here to celebrate with us. Some of you we don't know very well."
"Or at all!" Sirius snorted. Remus kicked him under the table.
"But we are happy that you have bothered to come along tonight to join us."
The speech continued, simple and heart-felt and Sirius's asides grew less frequent till he was sitting in perfect silence, listening to Lily's grandfather explain how much his marriage had meant to him. When he finished, Sirius leapt to his feet, clapping and others followed his lead.
"You seemed quite touched - one might even say moved, Padfoot," Remus teased, as they took their seats again following the toast.
"Nonsense!" Sirius denied, then paused. "Well, it's just they're soul-mates, aren't they? I fully expect James and Lily will end up like that - together for years and years with loads of kids around them."
"Not a life you'd want then?" Remus said softly: he had heard the wistful note in Sirius's voice.
"Nah…maybe…if the right person came along…" He dropped into pensive silence then shook himself, aware that he had become serious as opposed to Sirius. "What about you, Moony?"
Remus smiled. "Oh, I can see the personal ad in the Daily Prophet now. 'Werewolf seeks understanding partner for love, fun and fulfilment. Respondents must be able to cope with locking loved one away in padded cell once a month.'" He laughed. "I think I'm destined to be one of life's loners."
Sirius had not joined in the laughter: instead he was giving Remus an intense, searching stare.
"Why do you always do that, Moony? Put yourself down like that?" he said.
"Padfoot, old friend, I'm just being realistic," Remus explained. "There's not many people who are going to want to be with someone who turns into a fully-fledged monster once a month, are there?"
"Better once a month than all the time," Sirius muttered darkly and fell silent.
Remus opened his mouth to say something and shut it again. He knew Sirius was thinking about his family, a subject he rarely talked about. James had dropped heavy hints of how black Sirius's upbringing had been and on the few occasions where Sirius had let his guard down as far as his childhood was concerned, Remus had sensed the passionate anger smouldering within him.
As much to break the awkward silence as anything, he suggested they sample the punch to see if it merited its reputation. Sirius nodded and flashed Remus a quick smile of gratitude, acknowledging his tact.
Remus had helped himself to two glasses of the famous punch when a high-pitched voice behind him said: "I know what you are, you know."
Remus turned, glass in either hand and was confronted by a tall, thin girl in a long-sleeved lilac dress.
"You do?" His eyebrows shot up.
"Of course, I know. " The tone was vaguely disapproving. "You went to school with Lily and James, didn't you? I've seen you in the photographs. I'm Petunia, Lily's sister."
"Petunia…" Remus nodded to himself. He had always imagined a miniature Lily, still with long red hair and green eyes. The reality was somewhat different. Lily had spoken little about her sister except to say that she had no magical powers and was suspicious of those who had: to Remus's mixed relief and alarm, she did not seem hostile, quite the opposite.
"It's an awful name," Petunia sighed. "My mother's fault - she's such a keen gardener. I suppose it could be worse. I could have been called Antirrhinum." She gave a little laugh which suggested this was a joke she made often. "What's yours?"
"Er - Remus. Remus Lupin."
"Lupin! Why, you've got a flower name too! Remus Lupin," Petunia rolled the words around her tongue. "Not bad, I suppose. What do your friends call you?"
"Moony," he replied, caught off-guard by the question.
She frowned. "What on earth for?"
His mind went blank. "Because I change into a werewolf under the full moon once a month" did not seem a wise answer. He was saved by the arrival of a belligerent young man who was as round as Petunia was thin.
"Petunia, my dear, is this man bothering you?"
"Ooh, Vernon, no!" Petunia giggled, throwing Remus a coy look which to his horror he correctly interpreted as a wish that he might start to bother her. "This is a school-friend of Lily and James. Vernon, this is Remus Lupin; Remus, this is Vernon Dursley, my fiancé." There was a slight emphasis on the last word.
"Pleased to meet you," Remus said hurriedly, trying to skirt round the pair and back to Sirius and safety.
Vernon grunted. He pushed past Petunia and backed Remus further into the corner. "Just know this, Lupping, Petunia is spoken for. One day very soon now, she's going to be Mrs Vernon Dursley. Don't go getting any ideas."
Remus briefly thought about setting the record straight but he could smell the alcohol on Vernon's breath and decided humouring him would be the best tactic. He shook his head vigorously. "I certainly won't, Vernon. Mr Dursley."
Bellicosity died in Vernon's eyes and he seemed a little disappointed that he did not have to make his point more forcefully. "On your way, Lupworth."
Edging round Vernon, still clutching the punch, Remus made it back to the table where he found Sirius fully recovered from his maudlin mood and grinning from ear to ear, having witnessed everything.
"Chatting up someone else's girl, Moony, not a good idea."
Remus threw him a dark look. "I can assure you I was not the one doing the chatting. That's Lily's sister."
"The fair Petunia," Sirius let out a low whistle. "I can't believe that's who we fantasised about meeting. Did she say why she didn't come to James and Lily's wedding?"
"No, but I don't think your theory about the model shoot holds up."
"Who's the big bloke with her? The one who looks like he was stuffed into his suit?"
"Over-protective fiancé. Goes by the name of Vernon Dursley."
"Mmm," Sirius's eyes were bright with mischief.
"You are not to bait Vernon or my sister, do you hear me, Sirius Black?"
They both looked up to see a mock-angry Lily with James by her side.
"As if!" Sirius looked offended but his wide grin belied his expression. "Relatives and future relatives out of bounds, then, Prongs?"
"Not as far as I'm concerned," James said decisively, flopping into a seat.
"Come on, Remus," Lily pulled him to his feet and in the general direction of the music. "I don't think I want to hear this."
"I don't-"
"Dance." Lily finished as they moved amongst the other couples. "You're a big liar, Remus J Lupin. I remember the fourth year Yule Ball at Hogwarts very clearly."
Remus's face crinkled into a smile at the memory. "Sirius taught us all how to dance. And you chose all of us as partners except James. He didn't speak to us for nearly a week afterwards, you know."
They danced on, lost in fond reminiscence.