Epilogue

Anyone at the wedding could see the bride and groom only had eyes for each other.

The bride's daughter made the perfect flower girl, and the groom's brother was best man.

The ceremony was traditional and at first glance nothing seemed out of the ordinary at the muggle celebration.

It was only if you looked closely you could see not everything was quite as traditional as it first appeared.

"It's a good job your family knows about Eve's powers," the groom whispered into his new wife's ear.

"Hmm," the bride replied. "I'd have a tough time explaining this one." She gestured to the confetti that had been thrown at them, but was not actually falling to the ground. Instead, each piece was swirling around them, as though they'd stepped into a confetti-filled wind tunnel.

The best man knelt down on the grass, heedless of the stains the knees of his trousers were now getting. "Eve, sweetheart," he asked, "don't you want to see the confetti fall?"

The flower girl shook her head stubbornly.

"I'd like to see it fall," the best man said, with a childish pout of his own. "Would you let it fall for me?"

The girl looked thoughtful for a moment; then she grinned and nodded, the confetti floating to the ground a moment later.

"Just in time," a handsome black-haired man whispered into the ear of the best man. He nodded towards the doorway, where the muggle vicar was just emerging into the sunshine.

The best man smiled and picked up the flower girl with ease. "You're a little minx, aren't you?" he asked with a grin.

"Do you have any children of your own?" the vicar asked conversationally, as the bridal party walked around the side of the church for the photographs.

"No." The best man shook his head and smiled softly at the black-haired man. "We just make do with spoiling our niece and nephew, don't we?"

The black-haired man nodded and returned the best man's smile. He slipped an arm around his waist possessively and pulled him into a loose hug.

"I'm sorry," the vicar apologised, his face flushing. "I didn't realise you were… er…"

"Well, we weren't about to start snogging in church," the black-haired man laughed. "Tempting as it is."

"Try and behave, Sirius," the best man scolded affectionately.

"Where's the fun in that?" the black-haired man replied, before planting a chaste kiss on the best man's cheek.

"You've scared him off," the best man sighed, as he watched the vicar scurry over towards the bride and groom.

"Never mind," the black-haired man replied. "Have you asked him yet?"

"No. I've not had the chance."

"I'm sure that dress is tighter than it was at the final fitting last week."

"That doesn't mean she is. You wouldn't be able to tell yet anyway."

"You could if they did it before he got released from Azkaban."

"That's not very likely."

"She didn't drink any alcohol at the rehearsal dinner either."

"Neither did you."

"I was driving."

"So was she."

"Well, what about the way he's constantly fussing over her?"

"The same way he fusses over everyone? It doesn't mean anything."

"But I want to know." The black-haired man was practically whining by this point.

"We'll find out eventually if she is. You've not whined this much since I wouldn't tell you what your birthday present was."

"I don't whine."

"Do too."

"I know what my birthday present is," the flower girl piped up.

"Do you indeed?" the best man asked. "But your birthday isn't until December."

"Mummy told me I was going to get an extra present this year."

"And what's that?"

"She said I'm not allowed to tell anyone."

"You can tell us," the dark-haired man said encouragingly.

The flower girl shook her head and buried her face in the best man's neck.

"If I guess right, will you nod?" he tried instead.

A pair of blue eyes looked at the dark-haired man and the girl gave a small nod.

"Is it a new brother or sister?" the dark-haired man whispered conspiratorially.

The flower girl looked across at the bride and groom before giving an almost imperceptible nod.

"I knew it," the dark-haired man gloated.

"It's a secret," the girl whispered.

"And we won't tell anyone, will we, Remus?"

The best man shook his head and put his finger across his lips. The flower girl copied the gesture, and the dark-haired man did likewise.

"Can we have the best man and the flower girl over here, please?" the photographer called.

The best man nodded and strolled across the grass, the flower girl still in his arms.

The black-haired man followed a few paces behind and the best man cast a smile over his shoulder to him.

Anyone could see that the bride and groom only had eyes for each other.

But, only if you took the time and trouble to look a little closer, would you see the best man and the black-haired man were equally smitten with each other.

The End

NOTES

Thanks

First of all, huge thanks to my beta LostAndAwaiting who has done loads to make this story readable in the last couple of years. I am very grateful for all the time you have put in on this epic.

Secondly, thank you to everyone for reading, but most especially those who have taken time to leave a review. I don't beg for reviews, hold chapters hostage, or demand reviews, but I am very grateful for each and every one that I receive. I know I am horribly slow at replying to them sometimes, but I reply to all of them (except of course the anonymous ones and those left by people who have turned private messaging off) eventually.

The Sequel

Those who have read my profile page will know there has been a sequel to this story in the works for several years. The reason it has been delayed so long is because I became a published of MM and MMM romance stories. No one warns you how much work that is going to be!

At the time of writing this note (May 2014) I have about 60,000 words of the sequel written. It will not however be posted on this site. Remus and Sirius are adults now and their adult relationship (specifically, their sexual relationship) plays a large part in their continuing story. Unlike this story, it would be impossible to edit it with fade out scenes whenever they jump each others bones. If I ever do post it online it will probably be at the unassociated adult version of this site and maybe on my Live Journal under the NC17 locked posts tag - if I can figure out the new style of that site since I rarely post there these days.

I will try to post something here on this story to alert people to the sequel when it is online. It won't be posted anywhere until it is written in full.

If you do want to see a sequel then please let me know by either leaving a review or sending me a message. The more people who do still want it, especially after all this time, the more inclined I will be to set aside other original fiction projects to concentrate on wrapping it up and getting it online.

Bits of useless information

This story was initially intended to be a fifth year story and was going to be concluded just after they had graduated from school. However, I had only written a few chapters of the fifth year (which actually ended up being in the seventh year) when I decided that I wanted the story to start much earlier.

The story was initially to revolve around what would happen if Remus were to have bitten another student and how he would deal with the guilt. Obviously, that part of the story remains in it, but it is only one part of many.

For quite a long time the final chapter was the one titled Once in a Blue Moon, albeit with a slightly different final scene. However, it soon became clear the quest for an heir for the House of Black would reach beyond their school years, and as such the story was extended even further.

Date of Births etc

Sirius

D.O.B. 15 Nov 1959

Scorpio – perhaps not the right sign for canon Sirius, but it seems to fit this version quite nicely.

Romulus

D.O.B. 10 Jan 1950

Capricorn

Peter

D.O.B. 21 Dec 1959

Sagittarius

James and Remus – as canon

Name origins

The Black Family – all names are from canon, although I have taken quite a few liberties with the personalities.

The Lupin Family

Celeste – chosen for the Italian origins, means "of the sky, heavenly"

Rosina – also chosen for Italian origins.

Cecily – English version of the Italian Cecilia. Latinate feminine form of the Roman family name Caecilius, which was derived from Latin caecus "blind". Saint Cecilia was a semi-legendary 2nd- or 3rd-century martyr who was sentenced to die because she refused to worship the Roman gods. After attempts to suffocate her failed, she was beheaded. She was later regarded as the patron saint of music and musicians.

Other Humans

Alana – simply chosen because I like the name

Eve – again, simply because I like the name

Charlene/Charlie Grahams – a character blatantly stolen from my Trouble series. Oddly enough, I've never had any complaints about her in that series; but then again, she doesn't date Remus in it. Anyway, one of the meanings of her Christian name is "warrior" and as a beater for the Quidditch team it seemed ideal.

Professor Delphi – also a character stolen from one of my other stories, in this case The Oracle of Gryffindor. It should be obvious, but for those who aren't into mythology, the name is derived from The Oracle of Delphi. It is also one that I am sure other people have used for the Divination Professor who came before Trelawney. So, not entirely original, but at least appropriate.

Professor Spion – Obviously a play on words with Spy On since he was a spy for the Ministry. Also the German and Norwegian word for spy.

Werewolves

Aaron Winters – One of the possible meanings of his Christian name is "exalted", and as a leader within the Camp he is very much so.

Higgs was a name I picked at random. His sidekicks Maxwell and Milbourne were named after two girls I knew at school who were nasty little bullies themselves. Yes, I am that petty and spiteful.

The Centaurs

Torin – Chief in Irish Gaelic

Ebony – Just horsey sounding

Taranis – Derived from the Celtic taran, meaning thunder

Alpin – Anglicized form of the Gaelic name Ailpein, possibly derived from a Pictish word meaning "white". Chosen for his colouring.

All other centaur names are from canon

The Owls

Damon – Means "to tame", although in the case of this bird it is probably a lost cause

Athena – Named for the Greek goddess associated with owls

Enid – Means "soul" or "life"

Hestia – Named for the Greek goddess of hearth and domesticity. As Walburga's owl it seemed suitable since she is very much the ruler of the house of Black.

Loose ends & things that may not have been entirely clear

The centaurs' land issues were deliberately left unresolved. We know from canon that this was a problem in Harry's time and even though this is AU, I decided that the problems would last as long in this universe, too.

Yes, Romulus was always intended to be secretly alive. There were plenty of clues there to hint at that, including his lengthening hair, the continuation of the spells on Remus's cage and a huge one in the title of the chapter where he came back as a ghost. The title of the chapter was This Journey's Over, which is a line from a song by Pink. The song in question is I'm Not Dead. Massive clue there, though only for those who were still playing the guess the song game by that point. Bringing him back was another reason why this story was extended so far from where I initially intend it to end. A couple of people have asked if Romulus is a real character from the series - no, he is an OC and mine :-)

Cecily remains with her parents deliberately, even though it probably isn't the best environment for her, especially without her ghostly mentor. However, she remains there for the moment. I have a short Mpreg-ish (Polyjuice) sequel planned (though at the moment it is only in my head) and, if I do get round to writing it, she will be appearing in that one, too.

What is canon, partially canon or totally made up

The Werewolf Registry and the rest of the Ministry departments are canon of course. Except for the Containment Facility, which is made up, but I would think fairly likely in light of everything else.

The magically updated book is slightly based on the magically updated book at Hogwarts, which lists the birth of every magical child in Britain. The difference being that the Werewolf Registry book is updated by a wizard to show all of the new information that the department has received. It does not update on its own… otherwise they would have been able to track down both Greyback and Remus long before they did.

The various laws surrounding werewolves are either hinted at in canon, and extended on by myself, or made up completely by me.

The tunnel to Gladrags is partially canon. We know that there was a tunnel behind one of the mirrors in the school, but that by Harry's time it was caved it. We don't know where it leads to though. I decided I liked the idea of a mirror being at each end of the tunnel, and the Gladrags female changing rooms seemed appropriately mischievous for teenage boys.

Rowena Ravenclaw being responsible for the moving staircases is canon. I cannot take responsibility for that idea at all.

Sheila Shuttleworth's School for Squibs was made up. I have no idea where Squibs are taught, and suspect that muggle schools are probably the only option. However, I decided that perhaps other countries might be less prejudiced about Squibs and Australia was chosen.

Dangerous Creatures' Camps. Well, I am pretty sure I have seen this idea before, but cannot find any reference to it at The Lexicon (though the search feature has been screwing up on me for months, so I may be missing it). However, it is also possible that I may have seen the idea in another fanfic rather than in canon. Unfortunately even Google is failing me, and the phrase is only pulling up this particular story. But I am sure I must have seen it somewhere before.

Most spells and potions are canon. However there are a few that I made up for plot purposes.

The healing spells were made up using a Latin translator

The Medusa curse was made up by taking Greek mythology and giving it a twist.

Oris potion – for restoring the sight of wizards after muggle injuries – was made up using the Latin translator.

The sunset/sunrise barrier in Remus's cage was made up.

The forest smells spell in Remus's cage was made up, with the sole purpose of helping to bring forward the date that Wolfsbane was invented.

The windows of the train were inspired by the windows in the underground Ministry of Magic and so were not my own invention.

James's large feet were simply done with an engorging spell, which is, of course, canon.