Last chapter before the epilogue! Hopefully it will live up to expectations and thanks so much to Holmes44, luck-life, imSiriuslyLupin4you, ChocolateFrogsForMoony, Ally, The Lady of the Land, Abby, Caddy, Lizzy0308, Dark Oasis, Simone Leigh, TheShadowBane, Cinder570, AidenVanHelsing, Deedlez01, WolfyMcClowd, theherbflower, AsHaYaM a2, jammin287, FlyingPigMonkey, Karallaye, WingedHybrid, MlleHibou, Raging-RKO and aspirited for your awesome reviews! I'm gonna post the epilogue at the end of this chapter.

*sniffle* I'm getting all emotional… I've had a lot of fun writing this and it's been great looking forward to lovely reviews from people. I hope the end's not disappointing or anything 'cause that's always a real bummer… Thank you for reading, or reviewing, or adding this story to your favourites or story alert or whatever – Sirius and Remus give you much luuurve :P

Also: The song in this chapter is Taylor Swift's Mine – you can find it on Youtube.I know chronologically it's out of place, as it wouldn't actually be released for around another thirty years, but it just seemed to fit with the whole theme of the chapter and the suffocating amount of fluff I'm going to impose on you in this chapter. ;P Plus, it's a really great song! :D

DISCLAIMER: I own no part of the Harry Potter books, films, etc. Everything belongs to JKR/Warner Bros.

DISCLAIMER#2: I don't own the lyrics, music, etc. of 'Mine' – all rights belong to Taylor Swift, etc.

All bits from the book(s)/film(s) are in bold

The Meaning Of Family

Chapter Nineteen

Remus smiled as he sat at one of the little white tables on the lawn and watched Wendy and her (new) husband Jack laughed, chatted with and received congratulations from their close friends and relatives. The sunny June weather seemed to reflect the mood – not a cloud was in the sky, which was a clear, deep blue, and Remus realised that he couldn't see a single person without a smile on their face.

Despite her claims that the ceremony would be 'small', Wendy seemed to have an abundance of family – though of course, some would be Jack's. Either way, there seemed to be people everywhere, smiling and laughing, chatting, drinking, dancing. Remus watched them interact; as a group of young children ran past the huge white marquee in dresses and suits of various pastel colours, he looked down at Harry, who was burbling happily on his lap.

'You alright, little man?' he asked. Harry giggled and lifted a hand to clumsily touch his face. Remus smiled and Harry laughed again.

'What's so funny, eh?'

Remus's grin widened as Sirius wound an arm around his neck and ruffled Harry's hair with his other hand. He kissed Remus tenderly on the cheek and gently smoothed down the collar of his dark grey suit. 'We should do this,' he added thoughtfully, looking at the large group of people who were gathered in the centre of the lawn to give Wendy and Jack their congratulations. Remus looked up at him.

'What, get married?' he asked.

'Yeah,' Sirius said. 'We'd be a proper family then. You, me and Harry.'

'We already are a family, Padfoot,' Remus told him gently. 'We've got each other and we'll always be there for one another. That's what being a family's about. We don't need to be married, we just need to be there.'

Sirius shrugged. 'It'd still be nice, though. It's the sentiment behind it, you know? Standing up there taking the vows, having all your friends and family around you –'

'Being the centre of attention for a whole day,' Remus finished for him, sticking his tongue out. Sirius pouted and pretended to be offended.

'Can I help it if I was born to be the life of every party?' he asked delicately. Remus laughed and Sirius felt himself almost melt at the way Remus's eyes crinkled at the corners when he gave that wicked, cheeky grin, the way he ran his tongue underneath his canine tooth and smirked all the wider because he knew he'd got Sirius hooked and eating right out of his hand.

'Hey there, lovebirds!'

Remus turned away from Sirius and stood up to grin at Wendy instead. She looked stunning. Even Sirius, who hadn't got off to the very best start with her, had to admit she looked radiant in a simple, strapless wedding gown. Her golden hair, piled up elegantly on top of her head, seemed to glint more brightly than ever in the afternoon sun, and her eyes seemed to sparkle; radiant was exactly the right description of her, he thought – she really seemed to be emanating some bright light, enveloping them all in a warm glow. Sirius smiled warmly, and she grinned back at both of them.

'Can you believe I've actually done it?' she laughed, sounding amazed and ecstatic and a little incredulous. 'Can you believe I've actually tied the knot?'

'Congratulations,' Remus said, laughing too. 'You look amazing.'

'Thanks,' Wendy beamed back. 'So do you two. And Harry looks especially cute today.' She leaned down and smiled at Harry, who gurgled and waved at her. Remus thought he caught a fleeting expression of sadness in her eyes, but it was gone before he could be sure he'd seen it. She looked up and smiled, as though reassuring him she was alright, and Remus knew it mustn't have been a figment of his imagination, but he didn't press the matter.

'Anyway,' Wendy said, 'I've got to go and find Jack. I think we're supposed to have our first dance as a married couple in a minute.' She rolled her eyes, but couldn't suppress a grin as her stomach did back flips at the phrase 'married couple'.

Remus giggled. 'How dreadfully cliché,' he teased. Wendy stuck her tongue out at him and then disappeared into the throng of guests to find her husband.

'I'm glad she got to be happy in the end,' said Sirius, to whom Remus had told everything regarding the 'Wendy-and-Jack' front. 'Look at her, she looks like a little kid. Like she can't quite believe she gets to have this.' He wrapped his arms around his boyfriend's waist.

Remus nodded, knowing exactly where Sirius was coming from. He leaned back into Sirius's gentle embrace, hitching Harry up a little higher in his arms as the sound of music drifted across the lawn towards them. Harry leaned against him, tangling a tiny fist into his shirt for security and putting his other arm around Remus's neck while laying his head against his chest.

Sirius rested his chin on Remus's shoulder, his face inches from Harry's jet-black hair, and they watched as Wendy and Jack began to dance.

'You were in college working part time, waiting tables

Left a small town, never looked back

I was a flight risk with a fear of falling

Wondering why we bother with love if it never lasts

I say, "Can you believe it?"

As we're lying on the couch

The moment, I could see it

Yes, yes – I can see it now.'

'Wendy's sister looks a lot like her,' Remus commented, as they watched the blonde girl on the platform sing, accompanied by the band behind her.

'Wendy's prettier though,' Sirius said grudgingly. Remus smiled.

'She's also married, Padfoot,' he reminded him jokingly. Sirius squeezed him slightly around the middle.

'Good,' he murmured into Remus's hair. 'So I don't have to worry about you going off with her.'

'I wouldn't go off with her!' Remus snorted. 'Not seriously,' he added, as Sirius started to protest. 'She my best friend.'

'I thought I was your best friend!' Sirius cried in mock-indignant tones. Remus chuckled.

'Fine, she's my straight best friend, how does that sound?' he said.

Sirius grinned. 'That sounds perfect.'

'Do you remember we were sitting there by the water?

You put your arm around me for the first time

You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter

You are the best thing that's ever been mine

Do you remember all the city lights on the water?

You saw me start to believe for the first time

You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter

You are the best thing that's ever been mine.'

They watched the newly married couple in silence for a while. Remus reflected that maybe Wendy had been right to go with her instincts and emotions – she certainly didn't look like someone who had taken too hasty a decision.

'And I remember that fight, two-thirty a.m.

'Cause everything was slipping right out of our hands

I ran out crying and you followed me out into the street

Brace myself for the goodbye

'Cause that's all I've ever known

Then you took me by surprise

You said, "I'll never leave you alone."'

Wendy spun out of Jack's arms until she was merely holding his outstretched hand; then Jack pulled her, spinning, into a traditional lovers' embrace and whispered, 'I'll never leave you alone,' in her ear. She smiled.

'You said, "I remember how we felt sitting by the water,

"And every time I look at you, it's like the first time.

"I fell in love with a careless man's careful daughter,

"She is the best thing that's ever been mine."'

Jack lifted Wendy up above his head; there was a sudden burst of confetti, seemingly from out of nowhere, showering all the guests, and the mood lifted even higher. Remus tried to suppress a grin, as Harry laughed delightedly, and turned slightly, raising his eyebrows at Sirius, who grinned back sheepishly.

'Sorry,' he whispered. 'I couldn't resist.'

'You really are a hopeless case, Padfoot!' Remus laughed. Sirius giggled and nuzzled his neck.

'Y'know Moony, maybe you're right.'

'What do you mean?' Remus asked.

'We don't need to get married. We've already got each other and that's everything.'

Maybe they would get married one day. Maybe they'd have a big fancy wedding or perhaps just a quiet celebration – but it didn't matter whether or not they did. It had been there all along, Sirius reflected, he had simply never seen it before. Remus was his everything; Remus and Harry were his raison d'être, the centre of his soul, the light and the hope he carried like a talisman in the very core of his being. He had a home too – it didn't matter that it wasn't the same, red-and-gold decorated home he'd known from the age of eleven, because it was just as warm, loving and welcoming. He loved and cared for Remus and Harry, and he was loved and cared for in return. No matter in the end that he had had to grow up faster than he should have, because it had brought this – this wonderful family – to him. Not the proud, aloof, forever pure family he'd always thought he should belong to – but the brave, loyal, welcoming family he knew now he would belong to forever. He had a home, a place to belong and he had people to belong to, people who loved him. He had a family.