The Minister had been dragged out by Malfoy, who had Snape slung over his shoulder as though he was as light as a sack full of feathers, while James had carried Lily from the apartments honeymoon style.

Sirius slung his arm around Remus' waist loosely as they slowly exited the apartments. The rain had become heavy and persistent now, pitter-pattering lividly against the windows of the apartment.

"So… did you kill him?" Sirius inquired hesitantly.

"Of course not," Remus said indignantly, "he's just… out." He waved a hand half-heartedly to make his point.

Sirius lowered himself slightly, bestowing a soft kiss on Remus' temple. He hugged to werewolf to his side tightly.

"I love you," he murmured inaudibly, so no one else around them heard.

"Soo…" Lucius said conversationally from the back, "you two are together, right?"

"That's right," Sirius said grimly, looking coldly over his shoulder to give Lucius a piercing stare, "do you have a problem with that?"

"No." Lucius replied coolly, rearranging the Minister on his shoulder awkwardly. "You know, I could kill you right now. I am still a slayer."

James tutted.

"I'd like to see you try."

They had reached the door. Sirius opened the door cautiously as the rain poured in onto the carpet immediately. Sirius was hesitant to leaving the warm and dry safety of the roof, but Remus dragged him out with a firm hold on his wrist.

"I've always wanted to kiss in the rain," Remus mumbled wistfully, wrapping his arms around Sirius' neck suggestively.

Sirius grinned. "Oh yeah?" he murmured softly, and the werewolf nodded. Rain poured down on both their clothes, plastering the fabrics to their skin. Sirius gingerly smoothed a sopping strand of tawny hair from Remus' forehead before leaning forward to capture his lips with his own.

Immediately, both men were drawn into the connection. Melting into each other's soaking frames, Sirius let his hand caress gently down the werewolf's frail back. Remus securely wound his hands further around the black-haired man's neck, leaning himself upwards to get better access to the kiss. Sirius groaned greedily, flickering his tongue into the equation with an unspoken urgency. As if this would be the last time he would ever get to kiss Remus, he held onto him like he never wanted to let him go. When they finally separated, Remus' lips had turned to a puffy crimson color. He stared affectionately at Sirius' eyes, his face adoring.

"I love you." he said honestly, hugging Sirius forcefully, "I don't know why I ever didn't believe in you, Sirius."

"Aww." James crooned, heaving Lily up his arms to prevent her from sliding.

Sirius shot the man a look. "Now is not the time for sarcasm. Don't you see we're having a moment?" he growled, and turned back to Remus. Fondly, he gave him another short embrace before they walked off in the rain with James and Lucius in tow.

---

"How are things going with you and Lily, James?" Sirius mumbled distractedly, running his fingertips deftly along the spines of weathered books.

James sighed, rearranging on the couch cushions. "We're speaking. We're friends. But I don't think we're together anymore."

Sirius absently patted his friend's shoulder, thoroughly engrossed in the book titles. "I had no idea we had this many books in Grimmauld Place." He muttered to himself, shaking his head incredulously.

"Are you listening to me, Sirius?" James snapped, "you may have Remus, but for me," he sniffed histrionically, "the love of life, my other half, my soul mate, my true love is no longer with me."

"No such thing as soul mates." Sirius dismissed gruffly, "just love, and as many times as you find it."

James pursed his lips. "Bullshit, Sirius," he said, "you only get one chance at love."

Sirius let out a cry of triumph, pulling a thick book from the top shelf. Dusting it off, he smiled at it satisfyingly with a nod and threw himself into a chair, rifling through the first few pages.

Remus trotted from the oak door, sending a wave towards James and nestling himself into Sirius' inviting lap. Sirius wrapped an arm around Remus' shoulders.

"Isn't this perfect? An entire book dedicated to becoming an Animagus."

Remus laughed. "I'm pretty sure this isn't the only book out there on becoming an Animagus, Sirius, but this one's fine."

Sirius nodded, flipping leisurely through the table of contents.

"This will be so exciting."

James sighed gruffly, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. "You two aretoo bloody happy," he snapped, "I love Lily, and she – she's going to go find some other man!"

"JAMES POTTER, I AM GOING TO KILL YOU."

Lily stormed into the library, her hair resembling flames a bit more than usual. Sirius raised his eyebrows.

"How the hell did you get in here, Lily?" he asked perplexedly.

"The door's unlocked," she answered loftily to Sirius.

"No it's not!"

Lily snarled. "Fine! Maybe it's not, but now it is." She waved her wand airily, before rounding on James, who shrunk into the safety of the pillows. Sending a petrified glance at Sirius, James shiftily tried to hide into the shadows. Sirius burst into laughter, Remus following suit.

"Do you even know what you did?" Lily growled aggressively.

"I – no." James said in a small voice, his face morphed into one similar to a lost puppy. He smiled hesitantly.

"You are a bastard, James Potter!"

James flailed his arms at Sirius. "What did I do?" he demanded terrifyingly. Lily grabbed his shirt roughly.

"It's not that I'm not happy," Lily admitted, "but it was unexpected, and I BLAME IT ALL ON YOU."

"I'm sorry…?" James attempted feebly, tentatively smiling, "are you sick? Are you dying? Did I leave the toilet seat up? Did I not make the bed? Did I forget to cap the milk?"

Lily shook her head fiercely, her lips turning into a thin white line. Her head trembling slightly in fury, she screamed out:

"No. You just forgot to check with me if I wanted a baby, or not."

James' eyes widened. Sirius dropped his book. Remus gasped.

Shaking, James got up from the couch and gripped Lily's shoulders for support, oblivious to the fact that Lily was still raging. "You – y-you're pregnant?" he whispered, his mouth gaping and his eyes enlarged. He was catatonic to everything else around him.

Lily was biting her lip now. Not out of fury and wrath, but to attempt to stop the tears prickling at her eyes. Whether it was out of happiness or deplorableness, no one was sure. "Yes." she answered finally. James' mouth opened to a yell, but no sound came out except for a noise similar to a deflating balloon.

He stopped, his mouth closing to a tight purse. "Wait a minute," he said impassively, "it is mine, right?"

"Yes, you prick!" Lily screamed, tears running down her cheeks now. She slapped her hand against James' chest as she shrieked her words.

James turned slowly to Remus and Sirius, his breathing rapid and his chest heaving. "I – I'm going to be a dad!" he shouted out, tears threatening to spill from his own eyes. He whipped himself towards Lily, hugging her closely to his body and lifting her up in celebration. James spun them both around unsteadily, resulting in an ungraceful fall to the awaiting couch cushions.

Remus prodded Sirius cautiously. "Um… what are we supposed to do now?" he asked.

Sirius shook his head. "I dunno. Either we let them scream and keep on reading or we congratulate them."

Remus wrinkled his brow up in doubt. "Sirius, I don't think they would listen to us. They look like eels on a slippery floor."

---

"Oh my fucking god," James gaped disbelievingly at a fresh copy of the Daily Prophet the next morning, dropping his spoon. It clattered into his teacup noisily, "the Minister got fired."

"What?!" Sirius exclaimed, rushing over to James to stare over his shoulder avidly. "You're right," he swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. "this is – this – REMUS!" he screamed up the stairs, so the werewolf came darting down the steps a second later.

"What is it?" he asked urgently as Sirius grabbed his hand and lead him hastily towards the newspaper.

"The Minister has been fired!"

After the initial shock had passed and Remus had finished reading the headline thirty-four times, he turned to Sirius, smiling like Cheshire cat, and planted a kiss onto his mouth surely.

"Things just couldn't be better." Remus said, his face brightening considerably as he snatched the newspaper from James' hands to read it thoroughly himself. Sirius put a hand on his wrist, lowering the paper.

"No, no, they definitely could be better."

"How?"

Sirius smiled softly. "In a couple months I'll be an Animagus. Don't you think that will be better than now?"

Remus laughed. "You don't make any sense," he said fondly, and wordlessly reached over to grab Sirius' hand, "but I love you anyway."

AN: Oh my god, and now it's over. –sniffles- I can't tell you how much I loved writing this. This story will be truly missed by me.

I've realized something about the Minister. If any you have ever watchedFerris Bueller's Day Off, tell me, don't you think that the Minister is a lot like Ed Rooney?

Anyway, good news for some of you. Now that Xenophobia is done, I can focus on Gentlemen Don't Do That. For those of you who have been waiting for an update for who knows how long, I hope you'll all be happy:D

And lastly, for those of you who didn't catch on, the big surprise was Lily being pregnant. –cheers- :D