This was written for Hogwarts' Triwizard Tournament – Ravenclaw, using the prompts: (Scenario) My parents kept trying to set me up on dates, so I made up a boyfriend. Problem is - I'm now expected to bring him to (name's) wedding. Will you pretend to be my long-term boyfriend?, (Quote) "I didn't fall in love with you. I walked into love with you, with my eyes wide open, choosing to take every step along the way. I do believe in fate and destiny, but I also believe we are only fated to do the things we'd choose anyway. I choose you; in a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred worlds, in any version of reality, I'd find you and I'd choose you." - Kiersten White, (Character) James Potter, (pairing) Wolfstar, (Genre) FLUFF and for the Writing Club, Showtime - A Winter's Ball: (character) Sirius Black and A Year In Entertainment - TV: Fresh Prince of Bel-Air - (song) "It's Not Unusual" by Tom Jones.

Word count: 5173

If He Says Yes

"I," Sirius started, collapsing dramatically on the sofa next to James, "am in trouble."

Sighing half-heartedly, James reached for the remote and turned down the volume. "What did you do this time?"

Sirius winced sheepishly. "Well, you remember how I told you my brother was getting married next week-end?"

"The 'I can't believe he didn't tell me he was getting married' wedding? I seem to remember you ranting about it a few times," James teased. "What about it?"

Sirius winced again. "Now, please try to remember that I'm your best friend and that you love me?"

James snorted. "Alright, now I'm getting worried. What, exactly, did you do?"

"Well, as you well now, I don't exactly get on with my parents-"

"That's the understatement of the century, yes."

"Yes," Sirius nodded. "So, as you can imagine, I was very surprised when they told me they hoped I would come to the wedding right after Regulus told me that not only was I invited, but I was also supposed to be his best man."

James blinked in surprise, mouth falling open. "I'm sorry, but what? How can you learn that you're the best man a week before the wedding?"

"I know," Sirius moaned, dropping his head in his hands. "It's ridiculous! I bet it was that Barty guy—he never liked me, he probably was the one who made sure I never got Regulus' invites."

James bit back a chuckle and patted Sirius on the arm sympathetically. "There, there," he said. "It's fine—we can totally get our revenge with the bachelor party."

Sirius beamed. "You get me so well," he said, wiping off fake tears.

"Well, starting a prank war with your future brother-in-law sounds like a much better occupation than watching-" James looked at the TV, narrowing his eyes thoughtfully, "-a documentary on stags' wildlife."

"Ugh, don't call him that," Sirius grimaced. "There's still time for Regulus to come back to his senses and drop that, that creep."

"Sorry to tell you this, but I'm pretty sure your brother is too in love with that creep to dump him a week before the wedding," James laughed.

Sirius pouted. "I can still hope."

Shifting to sit cross-legged on the sofa, James asked, "Anyway, what was your big emergency about? Because so far, I don't see anything that'd qualify."

Sirius paled, his eyes jerking rapidly from left to right to avoid looking at James. "Right, that. Well, remember how I said my parents were there?"

"Duh."

"Very mature, James," Sirius retorted, crossing his arms nervously.

James couldn't resist. "What, you want me to be serious now?" he asked, and promptly burst into laughter.

Sirius just stared at the ceiling blankly. "What did I do to deserve this?" he mumbled mournfully.

James rolled his eyes. "Oh, cheer up, mate, you know you'd have done the same in my place."

And yes, Sirius would have, but that was beside the point. "Anyway," he continued pointedly, "they told me that I, of course, should bring a date to the wedding." There he sent a long-suffering look to James, who nodded.

"Ah, I see—trying to matchmake again, aren't they?"

"Yup," Sirius replied sourly. It had always been kind of a sore point for him, that his parents simply couldn't accept that Sirius could choose who he'd want to date—or rather, that he wouldn't date any of the posh upper-class ladies they kept introducing him to.

"So what did you do?"

Sirius' wince returned. "Well, I told them I had a boyfriend already, and that he probably wouldn't be too happy with me bringing a girl instead of him to my brother's wedding."

James blinked. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you don't have a boyfriend, right?"

"No," Sirius moaned pitifully, folding in two and hiding his face in his crossed arms. "But I panicked, alright?"

James shrugged, cackling already. "It's not that bad, really. You just need to find someone who'll agree to be your boyfriend for a day, and then you can say tell your parents you broke up if they ever ask after him again—which, let's be honest? With how often you see them, it's not going to be soon."

Sirius perked up, but almost immediately deflated. "But I told them it's been long-term, that we're in love and all," he moaned, the sound muffled by his arms.

"So, get someone who knows you to do it," James retorted, rolling his eyes.

He regretted his words almost instantly, when Sirius turned wide, hopeful grey eyes on him.

"Oh no, no, no—I refuse," James yelped, leaning back and away from Sirius, whose widening grin was growing steadily more terrifying. "Find someone else! Anyone!"

"Think about it," Sirius said, inspired, "we already live together, and you love me-"

"-as a friend, I must insist, I love you as a friend," James interrupted.

"-everyone already thinks we're dating because we're so 'co-dependent', whatever that's supposed to mean," Sirius continued, as though James had never spoken. "They'll totally buy that we've been in a long-term, committed relationship," Sirius finished, in the tone of someone who had just solved all his worldly troubles.

James stared at him disbelievingly, speechless. "Sirius," he said, speaking very slowly, "I am not going to date you."

"Not for real, obviously," Sirius replied with an eyeroll, waving his right hand in the air dismissively. "But for fake, and just for Regulus' wedding—so you can keep the creepy ladies my parents will have invited away from me," he added with a shiver.

James slapped Sirius' arm to get his attention. "I am not going to date you," he repeated. "You're like my brother, that'd be too weird. You should ask Remus instead, I'm sure he'd be very eager to fake-date you to your brother's wedding," James teased.

Sirius' smile, which had been bashful at first, in the way it always was when James said he considered him family, froze on his face. "I told you about that in confidence!" he screeched.

James rolled his eyes. "Yes, three years ago. And you were supposed to make a move already, not keep mooning over him like an idiot."

"I don't expect you to understand," Sirius scowled. "I can't just ask him out! We're friends—best friends. I can't lose him when I screw up and we break up!"

"Why do you think you're going to screw up?" James asked disbelievingly.

"Because I always do!" Sirius retorted. "Whenever I'm with a girl she ends up telling me that 'I'm not emotionally available' and guys tell me that 'I'm too much to deal with'."

"That's because you're a) picking assholes you know you're not going to fall in love with because b) you're in love with Remus."

"I don't only pick assholes," Sirius scowled defensively.

James smirked. "But you didn't deny being in love with Remus, did you?"

"He's not interested though," Sirius sighed, twisting his hands in his lap.

James choked on air. Remus, not interested in dating Sirius—seriously, what was his best friend smoking, and where could he get some?

"Right," James drawled sarcastically. "And, err, this may sound stupid, but have you, maybe, asked him that?"

"Of course not!" Sirius looked at James like he'd gone mad. "I can't just ask him that—I told you that I wanted to keep his friendship. Being Remus' friend is enough for me."

Yeah, that was the biggest lie James had heard Sirius tell yet. "I still think you should ask him for the wedding," James retorted. "Think about it—that way, you can date him without actually dating him. You can show him what he's missing out on." And maybe actually get together, too, he didn't say.

"I-" It was clear that the idea was tempting to Sirius, as he started biting his lower lip nervously.

"What if it ends in a disaster, though?" Sirius finally asked. "What if I ruin it and Remus never wants to speak to me again? No, I can't take that risk."

James only barely resisted the urge to scream in frustration. "For the last time, the world isn't out to get you, Sirius! Not everything you do is bound to end in a disaster!"

Sirius crossed his arms again and stared at James mulishly. "I'm not asking Remus out to my brother's wedding. I don't—James, I can't pretend my feelings are fake for a day and then go back to nothing after that," he said. His eyes turned pleading. "Come on, James, do it for me? Please?"

"No," James replied, but he could already feel himself caving in to the pain in his best friend's eyes.

"Please? I'll do the laundry for a month," Sirius cajoled.

James narrowed his eyes. "Two," he said. "And you can wash the dishes, too."

"Deal!" Sirius shouted, grinning wildly. "Thanks, James, you're the best!"

"Yeah, yeah," James sighed. "But no matter what happens, I'm not kissing you."

Sirius barked a laugh. "Not even a little bit?" he joked, puckering up his lips.

James shot him a disgusted look and shook his head. "Nope."

Sirius sighed theatrically. "Well, I guess it will have to do, then."

"It'd better," James replied. "Now, how about we start brainstorming for our revenge bachelor party?"

Sirius smirked, rubbing his hands together mischievously. "That sounds like an excellent idea, James. Why don't we get on that now?"

"With pleasure," James smirked.

"I still can't believe you got me to agree to this," James grumbled as he adjusted his tie.

Sirius laughed. "Come on, mate, admit it—you had a little bit of fun helping me throw Regulus' bachelor party last night."

"Mmh, maybe," James agreed reluctantly, smiling as he thought back on those events. With one last look into the mirror, James turned around and faced Sirius. "Still, last moment to change your mind—I'm sure it's not too late for you to go ask someone you're actually interested in dating."

"And I told you," Sirius replied defensively, "that I wasn't going to ask Remus to fake date me."

James shrugged. "Your loss. Now remember, I'm still not kissing you."

"I remember," Sirius snorted. "Don't worry, I don't exactly want to kiss you either."

"Yeah, well, as you as you remember that I think we're set then," James said.

The drive to the castle the Blacks had rented for a day for the ceremony was mostly quiet, as Sirius rehearsed his speech and James tried not to think about all the ways this could blow up in their faces. Despite not really liking anyone from Sirius' family, he had no intention of ruining Regulus' wedding, so the last thing they needed was for someone to make a scene because they realized Sirius had lied and he and James weren't actually dating.

The place was lovely though. It looked like something straight out of a magazine, or a fairytale.

James whistled as he exited the car. "Man, I knew your family was loaded, but ain't this a bit much?"

"Regulus is my mother's favorite, so they're not going to spare any expense for him," Sirius snorted, slamming his door shut.

He had used to feel bitter about that, back when he was a teenager, but now Sirius just felt sorry for his brother—he had realized that their parents didn't love Regulus more, they just had managed to shape him into something they wanted better than they had Sirius, and they didn't want to lose another son.

It wouldn't look good for them, after all, if both their sons run away from the family business.

"Well, at least his wedding will be memorable then," James quipped.

"I don't think anyone could forget their own wedding, James," Sirius retorted.

"With enough alcohol, you can forget anything," James replied wisely, nodding with faked seriousness.

"You'd know all about that, wouldn't you?" Sirius teased. "How many nights have you forgotten again?"

James huffed but didn't reply, looking away pointedly as Sirius merely laughed.

Soon after that, Sirius had to leave—best man's duties, whatever those were exactly, were calling him to his brother's side—and so, James found himself wandering to the outside chapel, waiting for the ceremony to begin.

He and Sirius wouldn't be sitting together until the wedding itself was done, despite their relationship cover, and since James wasn't actually a family friend or anything like that, he found himself a random seat not too far away from the happenings and settled in for what he thought would be a very boring few hours.

The voice calling out his name startled him so badly he almost fell out of his chair.

"Remus?" James asked incredulously as he got up and turned around. "What are you doing here?"

"Hello to you, too, James," Remus quipped with that half-smile he was so fond of. "And I was invited—Regulus and I worked on that project together last year, remember?"

Oh, James remembered alright. That project had basically been what had prompted Sirius to rekindle with his family—well, his brother, at least—since Remus and Regulus had gotten on surprisingly well. For a while, James had even had to withstand Sirius' moaning about Remus 'leaving him' for his little brother, before they had learned of Regulus' relationship with Barty.

"Anyway," Remus continued, "what are you doing here? I thought you didn't really get on with Regulus and Barty?"

James chuckled awkwardly, inwardly cursing Sirius for putting him in this situation. "Err, I don't. I'm here with Sirius," he explained.

It was almost funny to see the way Remus perked up at the mere mention of Sirius' name. "Oh, right, he's the best man, isn't he? I heard about that."

James hummed in agreement, still feeling awkward. "He'll be glad to see you," he said, because even if Remus' presence threw a wrench in Sirius' admittedly ridiculous plan, James didn't believe it to be possible for his friend not to be happy to see Remus.

Remus smiled, cheeks flushing pink. "I, err, I'll be glad to see him, too."

"Great, that's great," James replied, laughing nervously still. He was suddenly hit by a fit of inspiration. "In fact, why don't we go do that now."

Remus frowned. "See Sirius? Now? Won't he be too busy for that?"

"Trust me, Sirius is never going to be too busy for you," James snorted.

"If you say so," Remus replied dubiously, but he followed after James readily enough when James set for the small tent Sirius had pointed out to him earlier as the place he'd likely be for the next while.

"So, did you come here alone?" James asked as they walked, only realizing his mistake once he'd spoken.

"Yeah," Remus shrugged. "Shouldn't I have?"

James tried to project a nonchalant air, elbowing Remus' side playfully. "Of course not. I just wanted to know if someone had finally to put on claim on all this," he said, gesturing over Remus' body with a wink.

"Don't you think I'd have told you about that if it had happened?" Remus asked, rolling his eyes. "So, no, I'm still single," he added, a touch of wistful sadness in his voice. "But what about you?"

James startled, almost tripping on his own feet. "What about me?"

"Well, are you here alone?"

James chuckled nervously, running a hand through his hair. "Well, that's actually a funny story…"

"Oh god, what did you do this time? And how quickly do I need to run?" Remus groaned, rubbing at his temples.

James gasped in mock offense. "I didn't do anything!"

"Fine, what did Sirius do then?" Remus replied, rolling his eyes. "And don't look at me like that," he added, staring at James with an eyebrow raised, "I know you, and I know him—whenever you two are put in the same room, it ends in disaster."

"I wouldn't say disaster, per se," James protested weakly. "Besides, I seem to remember you being part of almost everything we get up to," he added petulantly.

"That doesn't mean I can't recognize that they were terrible ideas," Remus retorted. "And stop trying to change the subject."

"I-I'm not," James stuttered.

"Sure," Remus said. "Then you won't mind telling me what's going on, right?"

They stopped, having reached their destination. James, still inwardly cursing himself, Sirius and the situation, was saved from answering when Sirius burst out of the tent suddenly.

"James?" Sirius asked, coming to a screeching halt. "What are you doing here?"

Silently, James nodded in Remus' direction. Sirius' mouth dropped open, eyes roaming over Remus' body slowly, and he took half a step back.

"Ah, Remus, hi" he said, blinking rapidly. "I didn't know you'd been invited," he continued, shooting a panicked look James' way.

James widened his eyes, looking pointedly between Sirius and Remus, trying to convey silently that he hadn't told Remus about their ridiculous arrangement yet and that Sirius could still do something about that.

"I work with your brother, remember?" Remus pointed out, frowning a little as he glanced between James and Sirius.

"Ah, right," Sirius laughed nervously. "You do."

Remus frowned deepened. "Alright, guys, seriously, what's going on? You're both being weird right now."

James rubbed the back of his neck and opened his mouth to answer when Sirius beat him to it.

"I asked James to be my date to the wedding," Sirius blurted out.

"You what?" Remus asked, laughing. The humor faded from his face when Sirius only grimaced. "Wait, you're serious?"

For once, Sirius didn't reply with one of his signature 'I'm always Sirius' quips, but instead nodded dejectedly. "I… Yeah?"

Remus looked stunned and a little hurt, though he hid it quickly. "I see…"

James couldn't help it, he snorted. Loudly. "I don't think you do," he said. "Look—Sirius, I'm sorry, but this is ridiculous—" he continued, raising his voice louder to speak over Sirius' protests, "it's like this: Sirius was an idiot and told his mother that he had a boyfriend when he didn't, and so, he thought that getting me to pose as said boyfriend would be a good idea."

Remus gaped. "And you just went with it?" he asked James, bewildered.

"Of course not," James bristled. "I totally told him he should ask you first."

It was very hard to tell who blushed the most at that: Remus, or Sirius.

"I, what?" Remus asked, voice strangled. "Me?"

"Yes, you," James replied, rolling his eyes.

"What James means to say is," Sirius rushed to say, cheeks still flushed pink, "that I needed to ask a friend to go with me because this is supposed to be a, a committed relationship, and everyone'd notice if I showed up with a stranger. It's not… I didn't... I couldn't," he trailed off, realizing that he wasn't making much sense. "I couldn't, not, not with you."

Remus kept staring at him, shoulders tense under his suit, hurt flashing in his eyes as he crossed his arms defensively. "So, what, we're not good enough friends for you to ask me to help you with this charade, is that it?"

Sirius choked on air, aborting a gesture to reach for Remus' arm. "No, no, that's not—of course we're good enough friends, Remus, you know you're my best friend."

Remus' mouth pulled into a bitter smirk. "Right. Best friends. I think I should leave—go back to my seat, or something," he said, spinning on his feet and walking away.

Sirius gaped, eyes shifting toward James in panic. "What just happened? That's not, I didn't mean to—James, what do I do?"

James rolled his eyes and patted Sirius' arm sympathetically. "Go after him," he mouthed, looking in the direction of Remus' retreating back pointedly.

"You think I should?" Sirius asked, biting his lips.

"Yes," James hissed. "Yes, you should."

"I agree with Potter. You should obviously go after him."

James and Sirius both startled at the new, unexpected voice. Barty just stared at them expectantly.

"Well? Come on, I won't have you ruining Regulus and I's wedding," Barty continued.

"Wait, how long have you been there?" James finally asked, once he'd gotten over his surprise.

"Does it matter? Now, Sirius, you have ten minutes before the ceremony starts, so I suggest you go make the most of them."

Sirius cast one look back at James, who nodded sternly, before he started jogging after Remus.

"Oh my god, finally," James moaned.

"Indeed," Barty replied, a smirk playing on his lips. "What?" he asked when James shot him a surprised look, "I do have eyes, you know—and you'd have to be blind not to see those two being hopeless about each other."

"Too true," James snorted. He frowned. "Wait, what are you even doing here? Shouldn't you, like, be far away from Regulus or something?"

Barty rolled his eyes. "This isn't the nineteenth century, Potter. If I want to see my fiancé before our wedding, I can and I will."

"I guess that's fair," James replied, feeling oddly out of place as he realized that this was the longest (and most civil) conversation he's ever had with Barty.

Barty just hummed in agreement. Somewhere ahead of them, Remus paused as Sirius finally reached his side.

"Think they'll get it right?" James found himself asking.

"They'd better," Barty scoffed. "I bet almost two hundred pounds that they would."

James barked out a laugh. "You know, Barty, you're not half as bad as I thought you were."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Barty replied dryly. "But if you'll excuse me, I think I should…" he trailed off, nodding to the tent behind him.

"Oh, of course, go," James chuckled. "I should probably head back toward my own seat anyway. But, err, good luck? For the ceremony—break a leg and all that, I guess." Did people even say that at wedding? James sure hoped so, otherwise he'd probably made himself look more ridiculous than he usually did.

"Thanks," Barty replied, his smirk widening into an almost smile that made his boyish features look much warmer.

James found himself smiling back. "You're welcome."

"Remus, wait!" Sirius shouted, a little breathless as he ran after Remus. Honestly, he wasn't sure if the breathlessness came from the running, or from the way it seemed his heart was determined to beat its way out of his chest, but it made it hard to focus on all the things he wanted to say anyway.

"What is it, Sirius?" Remus asked pointedly. His eyes were very cold, and it made Sirius' heart clench in his chest.

"I'm sorry," he blurted out, even though that wasn't exactly what he'd meant to say. "I didn't mean to—you're my best friend, you know you are, that's not… Just tell me what I did wrong," he finished pitifully.

Remus chuckled bitterly, wiping his palms on his legs. "You didn't do anything, Sirius," he said, and somehow that sounded like an accusation anyway. "Just—forget it, alright? Go back to pretending that you're dating James, or, or whatever it is you'd rather be doing than be with me, I—" Remus cut himself off, voice strangled.

"You know that I'm not really dating James, though, right?" Sirius asked, blinking confusedly as he tried to understand the situation. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a hopeful thought started to unfurl, Sirius' heart only beating faster as he tried to bury it back under. "I mean, I don't want to date James."

"You still asked him to be your boyfriend, though."

"Fake-boyfriend," Sirius corrected, trying to inject humor in his voice and faltering when Remus' eyes stayed cold. "Come on, just tell me what I did wrong—I need to know we're okay."

Remus crossed his arms and bit his lips for a second, before his eyes narrowed. "Why didn't you ask me?"

"What?" Sirius asked, mouth suddenly dry. "I told you, I didn't—"

"You didn't tell me anything," Remus retorted. "You said some things about wanting a friend to do this with you, and asking James because you're close, but you never said why you wouldn't pick me. So, tell me, why didn't you?"

"Remus, come on," Sirius pleaded. He felt like the world was closing in, like he couldn't breathe.

"Tell me," Remus repeated, voice unyielding.

Helplessly, Sirius took half a step forward. "I," he started, licking his lips. "I… I couldn't pick you."

Something dark flashed through Remus' eyes, too fast for Sirius to catch, and he flinched back almost imperceptibly. Could it be? Feeling unspeakably daring, Sirius took another step forward, leaving barely half a step of space between him and Remus.

"Why not?"

This up close, the green in Remus' eyes looked so dark it was almost brown. Sirius felt like he could stare into them forever.

It occurred to Sirius then, that James had been right: he probably should have wised up a long time ago, and just told Remus about the way he felt. Because then, maybe he wouldn't have ended up in this mess, where these feelings were catching at the back of his throat and Remus looked at him with eyes as cold as winter.

But then again, nobody had ever accused Sirius of being wise.

The moment stretched on as Sirius remembered the first time he'd met Remus, then a too tall, lanky boy in secondhand clothes. He hadn't loved him then, he didn't think, but it probably hadn't taken very long for those feelings to grow inside Sirius' chest, spreading everywhere until Sirius didn't know a part of himself that didn't yearn for Remus' presence.

He licked his lips again, snorting inwardly. Why not, indeed.

"I couldn't stand it not being real, I guess," Sirius finally confessed, shrugging in what he hoped was a nonchalant gesture.

Remus froze. He blinked rapidly, but otherwise it even seemed as though he had stopped breathing.

"You… What?" he choked.

It was almost funny, how easy it was to say it now that he'd started. "I like you, Remus—I really do, and I have for a while. I didn't want to—I couldn't pretend to date you when I'd want it to be real."

"You like me?"

"Yeah," Sirius smiled. "I do. And it's fine if you don't feel the same way—I think I just needed to tell you."

"Shut up," Remus said. "Just, shut up—I need to think. I- You like me?" he repeated, brow furrowed, eyes wild like he couldn't believe what Sirius was telling him.

"I can't very well answer you if you tell me to shut up," Sirius huffed.

"You know what I mean." Remus glared, but somehow, most of the cold was gone from his eyes, and his shoulders had unwound a little. "I- You really like me?"

"Yes, I really do," Sirius laughed brightly.

Slowly, the last of the cold seemed to dispel from Remus' eyes as he started to smile. "I like you, too," he said.

"Yeah?" Sirius asked, closing the space between them, hapless smile stretching his lips.

"Yeah," Remus breathed, eyes crinkling up with happiness.

Sirius wasn't sure who was the first one to lean in, but that hardly mattered—not when he finally had Remus' lips on his in the way he had barely dared to dream of for years.

When they broke apart, gasping for air, Sirius' lips still tingled.

"Well, I guess that makes us both idiots, doesn't it?" he laughed.

"Well, you could have said something," Remus retorted. He tried to glower, but his lips kept twitching up and ruining it.

"You could have said something, too, you know," Sirius teased.

Remus huffed out a laugh. "Are you going to keep talking, or will you kiss me again?"

Sirius pretended to consider it for a moment before snaking his right hand to the back of Remus' neck, pulling him in. "Good point," he breathed out against Remus' lips, swallowing up his answer before it could be voiced.

Time seemed to move more slowly when Sirius kissed Remus. Each second felt like they could be hours, and yet Sirius wished they could last longer still.

"Hm, hm," James interrupted, clearing his throat—where had he even come from? Sirius certainly hadn't noticed him. "Sorry to have to interrupt, but you're going to miss the wedding if you stay here," he continued, amusement ringing clear in his voice.

Sirius parted reluctantly from Remus. "If I must."

Remus snorted in amusement, hand lingering on Sirius' arm. "You really do—it probably wouldn't do for one of the groom to be missing his best man, now, would it?"

Sirius heaved a long self-suffering smile. "You're right, unfortunately. But, err, save me a dance?"

Remus smiled. "Only if you save me one."

"I take it this means I've been dumped?" James joked, raising a hand to his chest and miming clenching at his heart. "How will I ever survive the heartbreak?"

"You'll manage, I'm sure," Remus snorted, just as Sirius said, "I'm afraid so—you don't have to stay if you don't want to. Since, you know, you don't have to be here anymore."

James stared at him incredulously. "Are you kidding me? There's gonna be free food, and who knows? Maybe I'll meet someone, too. Seems to be going well for you two, at least."

Sirius and Remus both laughed. "We didn't meet at a wedding, though," Remus pointed out.

James waved it off. "Doesn't mean it can't happen," he shrugged. "Now, come on, let's go. I don't want to know what Barty and Regulus will do to us if we mess up their wedding."

"I'm pretty sure my mother's the one you should be afraid of," Sirius corrected.

"No, James is right," Remus said, nodding seriously, "Barty and your brother are definitely the ones to beware of in this situation. We should go."

Reluctantly, Sirius stepped away, sighing. "Don't forget: I want that dance," he shouted over his shoulder as he jogged back to where he'd left his brother.

"I know," Remus shouted back, laughter in his voice. He kept staring until Sirius ducked back inside the white tent, and then turned to James.

His smile turned a bit less joyous and a bit softer. "Thanks," he said.

"What for?" James asked, frowning.

Remus just looked at him. "You know what for."

It took James an instant to understand, but then he smiled, clapping Remus on the back. "You're welcome. Besides, I did it for me, too. Now, not only do I get Sirius to stop whining about his feelings, but I also escape from having to meet his parents as his boyfriend. Good luck with that, by the way," he added mirthfully.

Remus sighed with false reluctance. "I guess I'll have to deal with that, then."

James laughed. "Come on, we really need to go now, or we're absolutely going to be late."

And if, as they left, Remus' eyes drifted back toward where Sirius had gone, well, James certainly wasn't going to be the one to comment on it.