Title: Who is Remus Lupin?

Warnings: Magical AU.

Rating: M

A/N: So this is the much due Epilogue for this series. I tried to incorporate everybody's suggestions as much as I could without ruining the authenticity of the fic. As always, this is an unedited version, so I will be rereading and fixing mistakes within the next few days. I just can't control the excitement of posting long enough to actually beta. I'm so sorry! I hope you enjoy!

Remus sighed heavily for the fifteenth time as Sirius pointedly averted his eyes, choosing to speak to McKinnon with what was clearly fake enthusiasm. He was no master at reading lips, but Remus was almost a hundred percent sure that their conversation was about Marlene's kitchen renovation woes and how she simply could not find the right tiles to match her drapery. It bothered him greatly because it was nearing the completion of a week since their argument and Sirius's confrontational nature had gradually veered more towards the silent treatment. While Sirius had finally stopped sleeping on the sofa and decided to move back to their bedroom, he still kept a foot's worth of distance between them and pushed Remus away when he tried to cuddle. Suffice to say, Remus was feeling rather neglected. It wasn't as though he hadn't tried making amends, but every time he did, Sirius asked of him what the sandy blonde could not promise. The requests were unreasonable at best and it angered Remus that Sirius even considered asking such things of him, or even expecting an apology when clearly he was doing nothing wrong.

'Knut for your thoughts,' James asked, knocking on the side of Remus's head playfully as he sat down beside him. 'Or are you just going to spend this entire Order gathering mooning over Sirius. You see him enough at home, I would think.'

Remus sighed and looked away. 'Sirius won't talk to me,' he confessed in hopes that James, as said man's best friend would talk some sense into him. 'He won't look at me or even stand within reachable distance from me. He's so infuriating, like a child!'

James quirked an eyebrow. 'Yet, you are the one I see throwing a tantrum like my eighth month old son.'

Remus glared at the black haired man, then gave up and rested his head on the table hopelessly.

'So what did you argue about?' James asked, his tone light as though he were just asking about the weather. It was odd how casual he was about their relationship, almost as if he expected the same level of domesticity between Remus and Sirius as himself and his wife, Lily. 'Was it about the dishes? Or Sirius tracking mud into the house? Or was it both your inability to do any kind of housework?'

Remus snorted, wishing it were that simple. 'Dumbledore asked me if I was willing to travel to Tasmania, to recruit werewolves on to our side. I agreed.'

'And Sirius was all right with this?' James asked, his eyes widening.

'Clearly he was not,' was the reply Remus gave as he gestured towards the other man, who was still steadfastly ignoring him. 'We had a huge row when I told him I had to leave next month and I just wish he'd put it aside and spend time with me before I have to leave for Merlin knows how long. Arse.' He huffed his irritation, looking back at Sirius longingly again.

'Right,' James sighed, looking between the two of them. 'Remus, I don't know what it was like for you before…' he started, skirting around the sensitive topic of Alphard, 'but you need to understand that you are no longer one person. You are Remus and Sirius, just like I'm James and Lily.' His hazel eyes were kind as they regarded him. 'Important decisions are not yours alone to make anymore and everything you do, affects the other. When you leave for this mission, Sirius is going to be left all alone to worry, without so much as a guarantee of whether you're alive or not during your absence. If you're caught during this mission, then he automatically becomes a bargaining chip for the enemy who might even use him to get to you. The possibilities are endless, do you see where I'm going with this?'

Remus did and he felt stupid that he hadn't considered it from Sirius's perspective. He was supposed to be the more level headed and logical one; yet, Remus had simply jumped at the chance to make a difference without any thought towards the consequences. Just like he had with Alphard.

'And for Sirius, being put in a situation where he can't guarantee your safety is crippling,' James said knowingly. 'When Sirius really cares about a person, he thinks it's his right and duty to protect them. That's how he expresses his love. Denying him that may not seem like a lot to you, but it's demeaning to him, as if you're not letting him love you in the best way he can or telling him that you don't need him.'

Remus stared at James, amber eyes dawning with comprehension. Then, feeling somehow embarrassed by the intimacy of their conversation as well as his inability to understand his own lover, he flushed and pushed James in the shoulder half-heartedly. 'You know, from all of Sirius's stories, I never quite got the feeling that you were capable of being so deep or mature.'

James laughed, showing off a tooth that was still growing back from their last mission. 'Well, the James Sirius knows was forced to become mature when his best friend abandoned him.' He blinked as if surprised by his own admission and shook his head. 'Sorry, I didn't mean to sound bitter or selfish.' He smiled to reassure Remus that his feelings were genuine. 'I was angry back then. We made these plans of him running away and living at my house in the summer; never going back to Grimmauld Place and never being a Black again. We were both very naïve, me more so, because I refused to understand why Sirius was backing out of everything we'd planned for Regulus. It was beyond me.'

'Sirius mentioned you tried to talk him out of it.'

James nodded in acknowledgement. 'In retrospect, it was the wrong thing to do. Instead of being supportive, I kept goading him into leaving Regulus and the house, and then getting angry when he refused. It made him pull away from me, because he felt as though I didn't understand. Truth is, I was hurt, because I felt like he chose Regulus over me. It's ridiculous to hear it now, I know,' James shrugged, 'but I don't have any siblings and Sirius, to me, was nothing short of a brother. He was my best friend and my only real friend. It hurt to not be picked.'

I know, Remus wanted to say, because he had never been picked his entire life until Sirius came along. Not his parents, not any of the townspeople, not Alphard – he hadn't been significant enough to anybody. But he kept silent about these thoughts, because he felt them too personal to divulge to someone who had only started being his friend a year ago. 'You know, in Potions, often what happens is that an ingredient bonds with another in order to create a stronger compound, even though it is more compatible with another wholly different ingredient,' Remus said cryptically. He sighed, when he realised he had failed spectacularly at his analogy when James looked at him as though he were off his rockers. 'I think Sirius saw you as much of a brother as he did his own, but Regulus was the weaker of Sirius's two brothers and needed him more than you did. You were the brother that was strong enough to take care of himself.'

Remus knew his advice worked when thin lips spread into a happy grin and a large hand clapped him on the back jovially. 'You know, Lily sent me here to give you deep, bloke-y advice,' he confessed, slinging an arm around Remus's slim shoulders as he looked over sandy hair to gaze adoringly at his wife, who was sitting at the other end of the table with Alice Longbottom. 'I didn't think you'd turn the tables on me. Thanks, mate,' he said sincerely, ruffling Remus's hair.

Remus flushed, secretly pleased with himself as he swatted away James's hand. 'I should go and try to apologise to Sirius now,' he hedged, trying to catch grey eyes again and frowning when he failed. 'Bloke can really hold a grudge, eh?'

He adjusted his sleeves and was just about to stand up, when light from a familiar falcon patronus lit up the room, it's flapping wings causing Remus's curls to tangle over his forehead. Tension filled the air, the previous light hearted mood they were sharing falling apart as all heads turned towards the messenger. The whole room was silent as the booming voice of Edgar Bones addressed them.

'Death Eater attack in Diagon Alley. Dumbledore, I need backup now!'

Remus knew he was being fixated on by the Death Eater attacking him and was being backed into a corner, despite fiercely duelling his opponent and getting more than a few strong spells to hit. He looked around, hoping to catch the eyes of one of the Order members alongside him, but they were grossly outnumbered and many were fighting two at a time. Fuck, was the only thing he could think of when his momentary distraction was enough to disarm him, and have his wand flying across the air and land on the other side of the street. It was still within summoning range but Remus was not given the chance, as he was hit with another spell that caused him to fly off his feet, backwards into a narrow alleyway, and get pinned tightly against a brick wall.

'Fuck,' Remus cursed, struggling in vain, his feet kicking the air and his arms trying to pull away from the force that kept him locked. 'Fuck, fuck, fuck!'

'Hey, Remus.'

Remus froze as a familiar voice greeted him. 'Reggie?' he asked, disbelievingly, watching the tall cloaked figure saunter towards him in a menacing gait. 'Reggie, is that you?'

A pale hand passed over a white mask, and the Death Eater's face revealed in a wisp of smoke. 'You seem surprised to see me.' The barest hints of a smile revealed themselves on thin, chapped lips. 'You look well.'

'I-' Remus seemed tongue tied as his amber eyes surveyed the image of Regulus Black, astonished by how he looked so much like Sirius at the moment yet at the same time didn't. When they had left the younger Black in Grimmauld Place a year ago, he had still looked like a child – all boyishly flushed cheeks, sparkling grey eyes, and thick, glossy black hair. Yet now, only a shadow of that boy stood before him, with hollowed cheeks and hair that hung limply with the same lifelessness that seemed to emanate from Regulus Black's very core itself. He did not look well at all, the lines under his eyes even deeper than Remus's, and his frame painfully thin despite his height definitely having shot up by a few inches.

'I don't want to hurt you, Remus,' Regulus said softly, wand still trained on Remus as he drew closer. 'I really don't want to hurt you or anyone for that matter.'

'Regulus, we can still help you,' Remus struggled, panicked when the tip of Regulus's mahogany wand poked the centre of his chest. 'You don't have to do this. You can come with me and I promise, I promise we will protect you in-'

His words were cut short by his own screams as pain shot into his chest, spreading like a pandemic through his veins to every single nerve ending in his body. Yet, Remus realised through his haze of pain mixed with fear, that he still had coherent thought and lacked the overwhelming desire to just simply end everything as he had when the Crucio had been cast on him before. This spell lacked intent and that very insight allowed him to force his eyes open, amber meeting with grey. His teeth gritted tightly, staving off his own screams even as his entire body trembled and fought against the pain that still gripped him.

'I've been trying to talk to you for weeks now, but it's difficult to corner you with my brother hovering over you protectively all the time.' A hand gripped Remus's shoulder, feeling as heavy as lead on the werewolf's currently sensitised body. 'Don't stop screaming please; otherwise the others are going to suspect me.' He waited for Remus to start screaming again, his face impassive, before resuming his previous line of conversation. 'I can't talk to Sirius. You know how he is; he won't listen to a word I say before he's thrown his own tantrum. And I-' Regulus's hand slipped off Remus's shoulder. 'I don't want him to see me like this.'

'Are. You. Safe?' Remus managed to ask, the words barely making themselves out and the effort causing his eyes to water.

Regulus laughed and shook his head. 'No and neither are any of you. Remus, the Dark Lord is planning things beyond your imagination; things that will make this fight even more difficult for us and make him unstoppable.' His grey eyes took on a frightened quality to them and he turned to look behind him cautiously, before speaking in a lower, shakier tone. 'He's trying to achieve immortality. I need you to tell Dumbledore that. Tell him,' he hesitated and this time, Remus could clearly see the sheer terror in his grey eyes as he leaned even closer, 'tell him that he needs to find all four horcruxes. There might be more, I'm not sure.'

Remus's shaky hands grasped both of Regulus's shoulders. He had meant it as a reassurance and a promise, but the prolonged pain was now causing all his muscles to spasm, fingers curling into claws and digging into skin hard enough to draw blood. He screamed both in agony and frustration, as the words he wanted to say struggled to get out through his gritted teeth.

'REMUS!'

'Fuck,' Regulus cursed, his hand quickly passing over his face again, his mask materialising like second skin over his face smoothly until only the grey of his irises remained. 'He always has the worst timing.'

'REMUS, WHERE ARE YOU? James, I know I heard him here!'

The Crucio lifted and Remus knew if he didn't do something now, Regulus would leave. With whatever strength he had left, he propelled himself by the balls of his feet and wrapped his arms around the young Black's waist in a tight embrace. 'Don't go,' he panted, out of breath and sweating from the effort it took his sore body to move at all. His hands tightened around the boy restrictively, knees wobbling to keep himself standing. 'Don't go, please.'

Remus felt hope rise in his chest when arms wrapped around his shoulders and a head rested against his own. 'Thank you. I haven't been hugged in a long time.' Regulus's voice sounded grateful, if not a little bit bitter. His hand pressed to the back of Remus's neck, feeling ice cold and somehow very soothing to his heated skin. 'Don't forget my message.'

The pressure against his neck increased, his pulse slowed, and Remus let out a small breath of realisation as darkness overtook him even before his eyes closed.

'It was Regulus, wasn't it?'

Remus looked down at their joint hands in the space between their bodies, as they lay on their sides facing each other. 'Yes,' he answered truthfully.

He had not mentioned Regulus's name when relaying the younger Black's message to Dumbledore in fear of the information being abused. Remus had gotten caught up in the war through his knowledge of the Wolfsbane, unwillingly at first, and then he had been unable to look the other way. Regulus, though no stranger to the war, did not need to be put in a position of further danger where he was playing a double agent for the Order. Kindly as he may seem, Dumbledore would definitely want to exploit the use of a spy in enemy grounds despite the evident risk. So Remus had lied and told the Hogwarts Headmaster that the Death Eater had kept his mask on and was unrecognisable to him. He owed Sirius his brother's safety, especially after everything Regulus had done for them.

'How is he?'

'He's…' Remus hesitated, wondering whether he should just lie so that Sirius was lulled into a false sense of peace. He sighed heavily when he realised he couldn't. 'Thin. And tired.' Fingers tightened their grip around his hand. 'But he's stronger now, much, much stronger. And he looks so much like you, it's truly startling.'

Sirius did not say anything. When he sniffed, it sounded watery and almost as painful to Remus as his silence. 'Was he scared?'

Remus pressed both lips between his teeth, then nodded.

Sirius face crumpled and he turned on his back, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes. 'Fuck!'

'Sirius,' Remus's voice was quiet, unable to bear the way the man refused to look at him. 'Listen to me,' he wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling him closer until they lay chest to side. 'We can still get him out of there. The next time we fight, we can look for him and bring him back with us, forcefully if we have to.' He pulled away Sirius's hands from his face, gripping his stubbly chin between his fingers and forcing grey eyes to meet his. 'We can get him back.'

Sirius laughed, angry and hollow, before it turned into a sob. 'And then what, Remus? If we bring him back, we risk everybody's lives here, including everything the Order's worked for this past year.' He pulled at his dark hair mercilessly. 'If I force him here, he will just leave. I can't keep my own brother captive in my house, he's not a child anymore. He's…' he trailed off, his eyes becoming glassy again as he came to a sudden realisation, 'he's not my responsibility anymore.'

Remus didn't know what to say, so he gathered Sirius in his arms and moulded their bodies together – foreheads pressed together on the same pillow, shoulders, stomachs and hips touching, and legs tangled. 'I'm sorry,' he whispered, feeling powerless and clumsy against Sirius's grief. His hands felt useless as they rubbed circles into the man's back. 'I'm really sorry.'

Sirius chuckled humourlessly again as he buried his face into Remus's neck. 'Don't be. I'm,' he breathed shakily, hot puffs of air dampening pale skin, 'I'm proud of him, even though I'm furious at him. Ever since he was little, I've always fought his battles for him, but now he's fighting a war all by himself. He's grown up to be a good person, a strong one…' Remus felt the slight upturn curvature of thin lips against his neck. 'He doesn't need me to protect him anymore.'

Remus hummed and pressed a kiss on the crown of Sirius's head. 'No, but I do.'

He felt Sirius's body stiffen against him. 'Don't lie to me,' was said in that same bitter tone as earlier.

Remus kissed him again, this time on the top of his ear. 'I never do.' Another kiss on his forehead as grey eyes looked up at him searchingly. 'I'm sorry for not talking to you before deciding to go on the werewolf mission.' He kissed the creases on the corner of each eye, the flutter of dark lashes tickling his cheek. 'I was so caught up in trying to make a difference in this war that I didn't realise I was being unfair to you.' A kiss on each cheek, burnt now from all the long hours in Death Eater surveillance. 'Or that if I were to go, it would be the thought of coming home to you that would be the only thing that could keep me alive.' A gentle brush of lips as amber eyes looked into swirls of silver and grey. 'Here, like this with you, is the only place I feel safe,' he trailed the softest kisses across a strong jawline, 'protected,' a kiss on his Adam's apple as it bobbed with each swallow, 'loved.'

Sirius pulled him into a fierce kiss then, holding Remus's face in the palms of his hand like he were the most precious thing in the world. When they pulled apart, that sentiment was mirrored in the way his arms wrapped across Remus's waist and held him close, the warmth of their bodies mingling. 'I thought I'd lost you for sure tonight,' he said softly, fingers tangling in the curls at the nape of Remus's neck. 'When James and I found you in that alleyway, you weren't even moving, and I thought I was going to go mad. I think I did for a little while until James told me you were breathing.' His fingers massaged something magical into Remus's scalp, causing amber eyes to close and his body to relax into the one pressed against him. 'I just kept cursing myself for getting so angry and vindictive that I'd actually lost sight of you. For not kissing you or telling you I loved you before we left today.'

'You could do those things now,' Remus suggested with a soft smile.

'I could,' Sirius agreed, taking up on his offer and making sure the werewolf knew how much he loved him by saying it over and over again against his lips until sleep overtook them.

When Remus woke up again, they were lying back to front and Sirius was well awake in more places than one.

'Morning,' Sirius whispered, pressing a kiss to the back of his neck and following with a flick of tongue. His hips pushed against Remus's arse, erection sliding against the thin material of the werewolf's bottoms in a slow lazy pace.

'Mor-ning,' Remus's voice broke off into a moan as a tongue flicked behind his ear and teeth bit into his skin hard enough to leave its mark.

Wandering hands caressed his stomach over his shirt, deft fingers pulling the drawstrings of his pyjama bottoms and wasting no time pulling them down along with Remus's boxers. There was movement behind him and Remus was just about to turn and investigate, when he felt Sirius's naked cock press against the cleft of his arse once again, turgid and hard. Blood rushed into Remus's own cock, as he felt nails dig into his hip leaving perfect crescent indents into his skin.

'Remus, can you?' Sirius whispered breathlessly, tonguing the back of the werewolf's neck all the way to his shoulders. 'I don't have my wand.'

Remus nodded, his fingers shaking as he used the wand at his bedside to cast a lubrication charm both on himself and Sirius. The second spell to prepare himself was much harder because Sirius's impatient hand was now pumping him with abandon, causing Remus's mind to give up on itself entirely. He had barely muttered the incantation, when insistent hands were nudging one leg up until it was bent in the knee and pressed against Remus's chest tightly. One of Sirius's hands held it there, thumb rubbing circles over his calf as another hand guided him inside Remus.

The first entry was always painful but Sirius distracted him from it, grabbing him by the chin and forcing him into a kiss where teeth and tongue met even before their lips. They kissed messily, parting only when Sirius was completely sheathed within him and Remus had adjusted to the intrusion to a point where he himself initiated the slow, rhythmic movement that had now become so familiarly addictive to them. They went slow at first, Sirius taking his time to shift his hips just so, so that Remus saw stars with each thrust and cried for 'deeper, please, please, Sirius, faster, oh!', as Sirius's groan vibrated deep within his chest.

He tortured Remus by brushing his fingers against his nipples, pressing his hand into the muscles of his abdomen so that he drove in deeper with each thrust, brushing his leg that lay in between Remus's own so that it grazed his balls that hung heavy from arousal. And when they were close to their peak and Sirius could no longer maintain his nonchalance, he pushed Remus on to his stomach, lifted his hips, and pushed into him again and again until they were both moaning their release against each other's mouth.

'I love you,' Remus panted, feeling rather comfortable despite Sirius's entire weight against his back and the sweaty stickiness of their bodies. He groaned, his entire body protesting as he turned on his back and then pulled Sirius back to lie on top of him. His arse felt sore and the hickeys Sirius had left on his neck and shoulders smarted, but Remus had never felt as content as he did now. 'I love you, so very much.'

Sirius smiled, pressing their lips together chastely before tucking his head under Remus's chin. His right hand reached for Remus's, entwining their fingers together. 'Remus, can I ask you something?'

Remus hummed, closing his eyes in contentment.

'If,' Sirius's fingers tightened around his, 'if you had to choose today between Alphard and I…if he was alive today and he offered you a life with him…who would you choose?'

Remus's brows furrowed and when he opened his eyes to look at Sirius, he found grey eyes resolutely avoiding his gaze. He wanted to ask the man what kind of stupid question was that and why he would even contemplate asking such a thing, when the only reason they had ever met to begin with was Alphard's death. But he knew the way Sirius held his muscles taut that no matter how stupid, the answer was important to him. So Remus sighed and replied in the most reassuring way possible, 'I would choose the person who loved me back.'

For some reason, the tension in Sirius's body did not go away and if anything, he held Remus impossibly tight to him as if afraid he might somehow disappear. His grey eyes were staring at their joint hands intently, lips pressed together in a frown and dark brows furrowed.

'Sirius,' Remus called softly when the other man seemed lost in his thoughts.

'What if he loved you back?' The dark haired man whispered, his voice wavering. 'What if Alphard loved you back, who would you choose then?'

'Stop it,' Remus scolded so harshly that Sirius looked up at him in shock. 'Alphard never loved me. You did. You were the person to not only save my life, but bring me out of my misery. You were, are the person who has made me happier than I have ever been my whole life. It is obvious that I have already made my choice, so please don't do this. Don't ask me questions like this.'

'I'm sorry,' Sirius mumbled, burying his face back into Remus's neck. The way he held the werewolf protectively against him told Remus that despite his reassurances, Sirius still needed time to get over his insecurities and realise that Remus would always choose him, no matter what. 'I love you.'

Sirius rolled the ring between his fingers again and again, grey eyes reflecting the flames in the fireplace before him. The inscription, I promised, burned to the back of his eyelids like a tattoo he couldn't unsee. Not for the first time, Sirius wondered if he should show Remus Alphard's last memento to him, but felt far too much jealousy and possessiveness for the werewolf clouding his conscience and judgement. A ring did not bind promises; Alphard had not kept any of his to Remus, but Sirius had.

Sirius had made a home for both of them, a little cottage in Godric's Hollow that boasted none of the extravagance Alphard's house had but all of the love and laughter it hadn't. He gave Remus all his love, fully and without rules or restrictions, and he showed it liberally. He fought for him, protected him, never hurt him, and made him feel like he was the most important person in the world to him – everything and more that Alphard had failed to do. Failed so atrociously that Sirius felt he did not deserve Remus's grief or his regret, not now when they were so happy together.

Love was not for the dead.

It was for the living.

He threw the ring into the fire, flicking his wand sharply so that the flames turned a bright red and burned so hot that the ring turned into nothing but molten metal in front of his eyes. The heat from the fire singed his skin and had his palms break into sweat, but he watched with a sense of peace as the last traces of Alphard disappeared into the hearth.

'Sirius, are you ready?' James's head peeked out the doorway, a wide grin on his face. 'If you take any longer, Remus will think you're backing out.'

Sirius laughed, catching up with his best friend and bumping shoulders playfully as they walked down the corridor of the Lupin-Black house to the living room. They were tussling like school boys by the time they met up with Lily, Harry, and Remus, James's glasses askew and Sirius's pristine hair mussed up. The minute his eyes landed on Remus, he felt his breath catch.

The werewolf was sitting on the couch with Harry sitting on the tops of his feet, raising his legs up and down in a gentle motion that must have seemed like a brilliant roller coaster ride for the little boy. Harry giggled every time Remus's legs went up, his chubby fingers closed around two of Remus's thinner ones. Remus had certainly cleaned up for the occasion, his amber hair curls styled back and his usual dress robes replaced with a pair of smart dark brown slacks and a blue and white plaid button down. He was wearing the watch that Sirius had given him for his last birthday, but had switched it to his right wrist and that simple gesture was enough to make Sirius join him on the couch and pull him into a chaste kiss.

'I was thinking you'd made a run for it,' Remus laughed against his lips, his cheeks red with happiness.

'You're not that lucky, I'm afraid. I just wanted to make sure I looked my best in the photographs.'

Lily camera clicked in an answering flash and she grinned cheekily as she fanned the Polaroid between two fingers. 'Too bad you still manage to look like a twat, Black,' she stuck her tongue out and laughed when little Harry mimicked her and did the same to his Godfather. 'Good lad, Harry.' She bent down, kissing him on the cheek and lifted him into her arms.

'All right, enough of the romance!' James declared, squeezing himself between Sirius and Remus on the couch forcefully, wiggling his bum until they had no choice but to make room for him. 'Are you both ready for this?' he asked, holding out his hands on either side of him expectantly.

Remus and Sirius exchanged smiles as they nodded together and placed their left hands, palms up, on top of each of James's. James's fingers closed around their wrists, his thumbs pressing into the veins that ran vertically all the way to their elbows, sending a whisper of magic racing through their skin. Wordlessly, he encouraged them to join hands as Lily handed him his wand. When James started layering the first set of incantations, gold, silver, and copper streams of light flowed through his wand, braiding together to form a rope that attached itself to the very centre of Sirius's chest, exactly where his heart was currently beating at a rapid pace. It started to wind around his arm, starting from his shoulder and working its way down to his elbow, his wrist, and then finally his ring finger. Opposite to him, the same was happening to Remus, their streams colliding when they reached his ring finger and then binding together around their joint hands.

'Remus,' Sirius whispered and amber eyes rose to meet grey, the light from their shared magic reflecting brightly in his irises. 'I want you to know that I will always love you and that I would do anything to protect you and keep you by my side.'

Remus smiled, looking down at their fingers, entangled together. 'Guess I haven't got much choice on the matter. I'm stuck loving you, too.'

Sirius could hear Harry gurgling and clapping his hands as the light between their hands intensified, now oscillating around each of their ring fingers so quickly that it blurred the individual streams to look like a single thick band of light. Remus's was a bright copper while Sirius's was platinum silver, getting smaller and smaller until it was the exact size of each of their fingers before fading out to nothing but a tingling feeling that felt like togetherness, and dizzying love, and family.

James breathed out heavily as he finished the last spell, collapsing on the sofa exhausted just as another flash of the camera went off. 'Well, lads, congratulations.' He slapped them both on their backs. 'You are officially bonded.' He chuckled as both Lily and Harry cheered and clapped. 'You may kiss your partner, but preferably without me in between.'

Sirius ignored him, pulling Remus roughly to him and pressing their lips together, his mind delirious with happiness.

THE END (Really this time!)

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