"It's been pretty great, hasn't it?" Sirius said, staring up at the sunny blue skies of the great hall. He was trying to look happy and eager, but failing miserably. Their finale pranks were over. Their exams had all been sat. Their last day of Hogwarts had finally dawned on them, and it had left Remus with a horrible, endless sensation in his stomach. A dark pit he wasn't quite sure what to do with.

"It's been perfect." He replied softly. They were waiting for James, Lily and Peter who had journeyed to the kitchens one last time to collect some snacks for the train.

"And you've been perfect, Remus. Addict. Wolf. Anxiety-riddled idiot. You're perfect."

"Perfection is a construct developed by society to force people into materialism, consumption and hating themselves."

"We're all slaves to capitalism, doesn't mean I don't mean it." Sirius replied, grinning. "Because I do, Remy. I love you. And this is all going to work out, isn't it? We're all going to be okay?" Remus heard the tears in his boyfriend's speech before he saw them, and instantly he was hugging him to his chest.

"Yes, of course. Of course we're going to be okay. We're just leaving school, Sirius. It's just a part of life. We'll get by." Remus told him, trying to convince himself too. He honestly knew very little about the future. Aside from moving in to the flat that James had arranged, he had no idea what they would do. He would have to try and find work, somehow, so that Sirius wasn't using up his savings for everything. He'd want to fight too, probably, and bring down Voldemort.

"If you say so." Sirius sighed against him.

"Oi! Come on, lovebirds! We've got a train to catch." James' obnoxious voice graced the silence of the hall. Remus looked up and saw them stood in the doorway. James, grinning brilliantly. On his arm was Lily Evans, Remus' first friend, smiling just as widely. To their left stood Peter, looking as tired and nervous as Remus felt.

"Alright prongs, keep your antlers on. We're coming." Sirius called, plastering a smile on his face. The arrogant, boisterous façade returned and he dragged Remus over to the others, seemingly excitedly.

"Antlers?" Lily asked, arching an eyebrow in what Remus could only describe as amusement and suspicion. He couldn't help but laugh, wondering how on earth James was going to explain that to his dearly beloved. He should probably have told her the whole truth when he'd confessed about Remus' affliction.

"It's a long story." James said, uneasily, rubbing the back of his neck.

"That's alright, darling, we have a seven hour train ride ahead of us. That should be enough." Lily replied, sweetly, blatantly enjoying watching him suffer.

Remus punched Sirius to get him to stop laughing, barely able to keep himself quiet too. Peter was beyond help. James took it in his stride, wrapping his arm around Lily's shoulders.

"Well, my dear, it all started with four boys. Let's call them, the Marauders…"

As James began to recount the tale, exaggerating and adapting his way through most of it, Remus wrapped his hand around Sirius'. Looking back to his first night at Hogwarts, all he'd expected was a few weeks of education before he got kicked out, or they demanded he be removed. But not even his wildest dreams had dared to imagine seven long, mostly happy, years spent with friends. No, family now.

He'd changed a lot, he thought. Time had changed them all. But he held one truth as closely as he did his very first night in the castle. That even if everything went horribly wrong, even if he ended up with nothing in the world, he would always have his memories. He would have always had these seven years and these wonderful people. He would always have been a Marauder.

D