(~(~)~)
"Moony! Are you sure I don't look stupid?"
"Are you sure you want me to answer that?"
"Moony!"
"You look very handsome, Sirius. The color brings out your eyes."
Sirius turned in front of the bedroom’s full-length mirror. "You don't think the collar makes me look a little..." He tilted his hand back and forth.
Laughing, Remus passed him and patted his arm. "Darling, you are a little...." He mimicked the motion.
Sirius shook his head firmly. "No. I may be gay, but I refuse to be swishy."
"Fine." Remus reached up and adjusted the ambiguous collar. "You, Sirius Black, are the manliest man in the wizarding world." He raised an eyebrow. "Better?"
"Infinitely." Sirius kissed him. "Tell me again why I'm going to this thing."
Sweeping across the bedroom, Remus gave him an arch look. "Because Celesta and Nerine are dear friends; this is an important day for them; they invited you, and you're honored by that invitation."
"I am?" Sirius picked at the tail of the dragon embroidered on his cuff. "Are you sure I won't be in the way?"
"Leave the embroidery be, Paddy." Remus scowled at the small bundle in his hands. It was a gift to Nerine and Celesta, but Sirius had been unable to determine what it contained – or whether he'd be able to understand even if he had. The ways of werewolves were often an impenetrable mystery to him. "Of course you won't be in the way," Remus said. "They wouldn't have invited you if you would be." As he passed by again, he put his hand over Sirius's. "You'll be fine, my love." Looking at the clock, he added, "We should go soon."
Sirius nodded and trailed behind as Remus descended the stairs and went into the kitchen. Still a nagging doubt remained. "Remus?"
"Mmm-hmm?"
"If, ah..." He licked his lips, unsure he really wanted his question answered. "If this ceremony is such a big deal, why didn't we have one?"
Remus reemerged in the living room. "It's not that big a deal." And if Sirius didn't know better, he'd say his mate was lying. Remus crossed to stand at the foot of the stairs. "It might've been nice to have one, I guess. But we couldn't."
The glittering blue eyes narrowed, and he came down until he was just one step above Remus. "Why not?"
Remus sighed. "Because you're not a werewolf."
Sirius continued to glare. "What? Why does that matter? You chose me as your mate, didn't you?"
"Of course I did," Remus said, slightly indignant. "And I'd do it every time. This ceremony is extremely rare; it can only take place when both mates are werewolves."
"Why?" Sirius pressed.
"Because there is a part—" Shaking his head, Remus went back towards the kitchen. "You'll understand when it happens."
"Fine," Sirius huffed, flopping petulantly into a chair by the fire. "Don't tell me. I'm only your mate, after all." He wasn't sure if he hoped Remus had heard that or not.
Bustling out of the kitchen, bearing the mysterious bundle that now smelled faintly of orange blossoms – though where he would've found orange blossoms at this time of year, Sirius didn't know – Remus dropped Sirius's winter cloak in his lap. "Shall we be going, then?"
Still pouting, Sirius stood and draped the cloak over his arm. "Let's."
"You'll need that." He pointed at the cloak.
"No I won't."
"It's February. Quit sulking." He returned to the foot of the stairs. "Harry?"
First the dark-haired head, and then the red that was seldom far behind it, appeared at the top of the stairway. "You going now?" Harry asked. There was entirely too much eagerness in his voice.
"Yes. Can you two stay out of trouble while we're gone?"
"Of course, Remus." Harry giggled as he spoke, and Remus suppressed a sigh. He didn't know what Ron had given Harry for Valentine’s Day, but whatever it was – combined, no doubt, with Molly Weasley's traditional frosted cookies – had sent the two young men into paroxysms of post-holiday exuberance that bordered on the maniacal. Remus wondered if leaving them alone in the house was a good idea.
He pointed warningly at them. "I mean it." His amber gaze zeroed in on Ron. "Don't do anything you'd be ashamed to have me tell your mother – and I would tell her."
Ron paled at the threat, but Harry only laughed harder, and Remus knew this was a battle he could not win. "Just make sure we still have a house to come home to, would you?" He turned and left the boys to...to whatever they were up to. He supposed that demanding that they behave was somewhat hypocritical, given his and Sirius's past with James, but ever since Harry – and, for all intents and purposes, Ron – had graduated and come to live with them, Remus had been having strong urges to write letters of apology to every Hogwarts professor who had instructed the Marauders – and two to Madam Pomfrey.
"Don't worry about a thing, Remus," Ron assured him, which made him worry twice as hard. "You and Sirius just go and have a good time. And happy Lupercalia, by the way."
"Thank you, Ron."
"Yeah, happy Lupercalia," Harry echoed. "And happy anniversary."
Remus smiled. "Thank you, Harry. Twenty-one years today." He frowned. "Never mind the rotten ones in the middle." Pointing up again, he added, "But don't think your remembering Sirius and my anniversary is going to make me go easy on you if you destroy the house." He walked away from the stairwell to the sound of near-hysterical laughter. Making sure the gift to Celesta and Nerine was securely tied to his belt, Remus returned to the living room, where Sirius waited – still moping but wearing his cloak. "Ready?"
Sirius shrugged. "Sure."
"That's the spirit!" he said cheerfully. "Let's be off." He opened the door with a flourish, and the pair set off on their walk to the cottage known simply as The House by the Sea.
The walk took half an hour, and by the time they arrived, most of Sirius's dark cloud had dissipated. The rest vanished in a rush the instant they were through the door and being greeted by a warm chorus of voices.
"Remus and Sirius are here!"
"Cutting it a bit thin, eh, boys?"
"Thank Merlin; I've been so bored!"
"Did you bring us anything good?"
This last, with its lilting whisper of a fast-fading accent, was Celesta, the wispy blond woman who was half of the couple they had come to celebrate.
Laughing, Remus easily held the bundle out of her reach. "Down, little one," he chided her gently. "After the ceremony."
She sighed and stepped back. "Okay." Peeking around his shoulder, she squealed exuberantantly and rushed forward, catching Sirius in a hug he hadn't seen coming. "Sirius! You came!"
The last of Sirius's insecurity melted away. "I wouldn't have missed it."
"Your timing is perfect," Celesta said, pulling both men further into the house. "We're going to start in ten minutes. Give me your cloaks; I'll put them in the kitchen."
"Thank you." Remus kissed the top of her head as they handed over their cloaks. Taking Sirius's hand, he said, "Let's find our places."
Sirius raised an eyebrow. "We have assigned places?"
"Of course. Did you expect a free-for-all?"
Sirius shrugged. "Honestly? Yes."
Remus laughed and hauled him into the next room. This was at least three times as large as the entryway they’d arrived in. It was built of unassuming brown brick, with a well-varnished oak floor and mid-day sunlight streaming through large high windows on the far wall. Yew boughs were draped along the mantelpiece and window-ledges, and clusters of early daffodils had been stuck at spontaneous intervals around the room. The room had been completely cleared, except for a large circle of high-backed leather chairs.
Remus led Sirius around to the southern end of the room. Each chair bore a small brass nameplate. Remus and Sirius worked around the circle, bending down to peer at the tiny, flourished inscriptions. Then Sirius straightened, pointing two chairs away. "There."
"How can you tell?"
Frowning, he said, "Because it winked at me."
"It what?" Remus came to his side.
"When I looked at it, it went out for a minute, and now it's twice as bright as the others around it. Look."
As Remus turned to compare the nameplates on the neighboring chairs to the one they were watching, the one beside it darkened for a minute, then blazed forth, twinkling beside the first. A sound like the fanfare of a dozen tiny trumpets rose to their ears, and they could easily read the nameplates: "Sirius L. Black" and "Remus J. Lupin."
"I don't think I like that nameplate knowing my middle initial," Sirius grumbled. "What do you think would happen if we tried to swap chairs? Would they kick us off?"
"I don't know." Remus gestured towards his chair. "Care to try?"
"Actually, yeah, I would." Grinning now, Sirius dropped into the chair with Remus’s name. Instantly, the seat began to buck. Sirius scrambled to stay on, but when its arms took to poking him in the back, he jumped up with a yelp. "Fine! I'm up! Heavens, it was just a joke." The chair could only be described as glaring at him. Chuckling, Remus slipped into the chair, which relaxed with an audible sigh.
As Sirius bent to sit in his own seat, his back stiffened. "Now, really, that's too much." Intrigued, Remus leaned over – and burst out laughing when he saw that, beneath his name, Sirius's nameplate now bore the legend, "TROUBLEMAKER."
By now about half the chairs in the large room were occupied, and the rest were filling fast. Remus chatted with the silver-haired wizard at his right, while Sirius, his usual bravado having deserted him for the moment, nodded to the few people he recognized and tried not to show how nervous he was about this ceremony not his own.
At last a broad-shouldered woman in a dark brown robe, whom Sirius recognized as Brionne, who had taught the two young women at Beauxbatons, stepped into the center of the circle, and a hush fell over the room. "We are ready to begin the rite," she proclaimed, and Sirius shivered, as though half-catching a haunting flute-song just outside the house. "Rise."
In the rustling of dress robes as the guests stood, Remus leaned against Sirius and whispered, "Do you remember what to do?"
Remus's run-through of the ceremony had been perfunctory, vague, and two weeks ago, but there was no time to help that now, so Sirius just nodded.
Her melodic voice ringing once more in Sirius's ears, Brionne continued, "Celesta and Nerine have chosen each other as mates. Following the call in their hearts and the instincts of their werewolf natures, they have claimed each other in the Old Way. But we are human as well, members of a human community, and Nerine and Celesta desire that their relationship be brought before the community to be blessed. And so to you, the members of this circle, I ask: are you prepared to receive this couple, and to bestow your blessing upon them?"
Fortunately, Remus had been very clear on this part, because Sirius's automatic response of, "Yeah, sure," would have been most unappreciated amidst a chorus of, "The circle stands prepared."
"Then step forth, daughters, and be welcomed."
Let no one say that lycanthropes have no sense of irony. The two women, when they appeared in the room, were among the most beautiful Sirius had ever seen. But their robes were of silver cloth, and the enchanted embroidery around the hems and cuffs showed the moon shifting into and out of its four phases. Sirius shook his head. Sometimes he just didn't get the macabre werewolf sense of humor.
Coming into the center of the circle, Celesta and Nerine joined hands and stood unmoving, waiting. Brionne stood before them, placed her hand over their clasped ones, and the ceremony began.
Sirius knew almost from the first that he would remember practically nothing of this. Despite what Remus said about its importance, the seemed like any of a dozen other boring ceremonies Sirius had been forced to sit through in his life. Then again, he was willing to concede that maybe he would find it moving if he were a werewolf. None of the other guests looked like they were about to nod off.
He couldn't say how long his mind had been wandering before he felt the change in the air. A tension, an alertness, filled the members of the circle. This, Sirius knew, was when things stopped numbing his brain.
The brown-robed witch said nothing in preparation. Celesta and Nerine simply reached up, pulled down the round collars of their dress robes, and sank their teeth into each other's flesh.
No mark of mating, this, as Remus had given Sirius that Lupercalia night twenty-one years ago. No playful nibble, as they had given each other a hundred times since. If you weren't already a werewolf, a bite like this would turn you instantly.
Sirius sat straighter in his chair, watching dark lines of blood disappear down the two women's necks. Remus’s hand stole over his, and Sirius looked at his mate apologetically. "Do you see now?" Remus mouthed, and Sirius nodded, awed.
Brionne waved her wand at the bites, and the blood stopped flowing. She continued to hold the two women's collars down so that the marks showed clearly. "I present Celesta and Nerine." A cheer went up around the room, and the assembled guests began to clap and whistle and stamp their feet. The rite had ended.
The guests mobbed the young couple, hugging them, congratulating them, presenting them with gifts. Celesta gripped Remus's shoulders when he and Sirius reached the front of the room. "Thank you so much for coming, Remus," she whispered tearfully. "You and Sirius have been like fathers to Nerine and me, and our own families..." She wiped away a tear that seemed suddenly not to fall out of joy. Her family had not been present at any of the major events of her life since her turning. Remus's own family was much the same, though their disapproval seemed to have more to do with Sirius than with lycanthropy.
Remus looked unexpectedly grim, tight lines forming around his eyes, but he smiled at the tiny blond and said, "It was an honor for us both."
People kept sticking glasses of ale in Sirius's hand, and he kept drinking them. But after serveral hours of being tumbled among overexcited werewolves, he twisted his way into the kitchen in search of a few minutes of solitude. And maybe some more ale. But the kitchen wasn't empty.
"Nerine?"
Up to her elbows in soapy dishwater, Nerine looked up guiltily. "Hello, Sirius." Not much taller than her mate, Nerine was more muscular, more angles than curves. But with her short gold-brown hair and bright green eyes, there was no question that she was striking, and Sirius had no trouble seeing how her quiet strength had drawn the smaller Celesta.
Sirius frowned, dropping into a chair at the small kitchen table. "Isn't this supposed to be a pretty important day for you?"
She smiled. "One of the most important days of my life."
"Then why are you in the kitchen doing dishes Muggle-style?"
"Hiding, same as you."
"Fair enough," Sirius said, chuckling. Leaning back in his chair, legs stretched out in front of him, he watched the young woman work. "I could give you a hand with that."
Nerine lifted an eyebrow. "And be done in half the time? No, thank you." They grinned conspiratorially at each other. Then Nerine turned a bit thoughtful. "Thank you, Sirius, for coming today. You can't know how much it means to us. Celesta's family...well, at least my relatives have a good excuse for not being here."
Nerine's relatives died in the war against Voldemort. Gallows humor. That was what they so often fell back on these days.
"So what made you and Celesta decide to do this now?"
Nerine balanced a clean plate in the precariously full drying rack. "I think we always knew we wanted to do it someday, but Lupercalia has always been about the really young ones choosing mates. But we found out that, this year, no one from the pack would be taking a mate, and it seemed a shame to let the holiday go to waste."
"Remus tells me the ceremony is rare."
"Not terribly." She shook her head. "All it requires is that both halves of the pair are werewolves. And, naturally, pairings like that are much more common than mixed ones like yours."
Sirius blinked slowly. Remus had lied to him, downplaying both the significance and the frequency of the rite. "I wonder if he regrets it," he murmured, only half-aware that he'd spoken aloud.
"Does who regret what?" Arms still plunged into the soapy water, she stared suspiciously at him. "Does Remus regret choosing you as his mate? I ought to throw you out of my kitchen for even thinking such a thing!"
But before she had time to exile him, Remus appeared in the doorway. "I knew I'd find you here," he teased. "Nerine! You, too?" Casting an accusatory glare at Sirius, he said, "Have you been corrupting our friends, Sirius?"
In response, Sirius could muster only indignant spluttering, but Nerine laughed as she wiped her hands on a dishtowel. "Oh, Remus," she said, "I was corrupt long before I knew Sirius."
He smiled and turned back to Sirius. "We should be going, I think."
"Already?" A glance at the clock made Sirius's eyes widen. "Goodness. I hadn't realized it was so late."
As Sirius went in search of his cloak, Remus crossed the kitchen and embraced Nerine. "Congratulations, my dear."
She stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. "Thank you for coming, Remus." She smiled at Sirius, wandering the room, muttering about his cloak. "Thank you for bringing him, too."
"Of course." Remus smiled.
"Got it!" Sirius declared triumphantly, brandishing the cloak.
"Wonderful." Remus touched Sirius's shoulder. "Now it's off to see what Harry and Ron have done to the house."
"Ooh," Nerine said, grinning. "Good luck with that."
"Good-bye, Nerine." Remus herded Sirius through the main room, where they waved to Celesta, and out the door for the walk home.
The house was very quiet. "Well, it's still standing," Remus said as they came up the walk.
Sirius nodded. "I don't hear screaming."
"Harry?" Remus wandered the house in search of the boys. "Ron?"
"Don't bother, Moony." Sirius had gone into the kitchen, where the clock informed him that they boys were 'at the Burrow.' "They've gone to Ron's."
"Good," Remus said. "Let Molly deal with the fallout from all that sugar she gave them." He stomped into the main room and flopped onto the couch, totally lacking in his usual grace.
Sirius noted none of this as he, too, clomped into the room and sprawled across a nearby chair. They stared into the fire in morose silence, Sirius chewing his lower lip, Remus pulling the edge of his now-open dress robes through his fingers time and again.
At last, Sirius cracked. "Remus?"
Remus dropped his hem abruptly. "Yes?"
Rubbing his forehead, Sirius said, "This ceremony...it's much more important than you let on, isn't it?"
Remus shrugged. "For some. Definitely for Celesta and Nerine, whose families have been less than supportive."
"Your family is less than supportive."
Remus shrugged. "That depends on how you define 'family.'"
"But it wasn't important to you?"
"It had best not have been," Remus replied, laughing. "Because I couldn't ever have one after choosing you as my mate."
Sirius froze. "And that...does that bother you? Do you ever regret choosing a mate who isn't a werewolf?"
"Choosing?" Remus laughed again, and his eyebrows shot up. "When did I choose you? You ran into my compartment that first day on the train, hiding from Lily, and I was fairly well lost. There wasn't much choosing to it."
"Does that ever bother you?" Sirius asked doggedly.
"Of course it doesn't bother me. I love you. What on Earth could bother me about that?"
"We'll never be able to have that ceremony, for one," Sirius said, staring at this man he needed so desperately. "We'll never be able to stand in front of your pack and ask for their blessing."
"Is that what you think? Oh, Padfoot." Remus moved across the couch until he rested against the arm beside Sirius. "That isn't my pack. I'm glad to have found them, yes, and I consider them all dear friends, but they'll never be my pack. You, Prongs, Lily, and even Wormtail – and now Harry and Ron and Hermione – you are my pack. Do you remember February sixteenth that year, when we stood in the Gryffindor common room and told them we were mated?"
Sirius smiled at the memory. "Jamie said it was about time; Peter whinged that we hadn't given him enough notice to buy a gift, and Lils transfigured some soot from the grate into handfuls of rice to throw at us."
"And do you remember what happened when we told Harry the truth about our relationship?"
Now Sirius laughed outright. "He looked at us as though we were deranged and said, 'I thought you wanted to tell me something I didn’t already know.'"
Nodding, Remus said, "That was all the blessing I'll ever need."
Sirius hadn't realized just how much tension Nerine's words had created in him until Remus's reassurances released it all. "Truly?" he asked quietly.
"Truly." Remus nodded firmly. "Do you feel better now?"
"You've no idea how much." He smiled. "Now, what's your problem?"
Remus blinked. "I beg your pardon. My problem?"
"I may have had a stick up my arse, Moony, but I notice when you're upset. You've been acting strangely ever since the ceremony ended. Why?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"If you say so." Sirius shrugged and stood. "I'm starved. All those little finger foods on toothpicks didn't do for me. Want anything?"
"No." Remus shook his head, obviously only half-listening. Sirius had almost reached the kitchen when Remus blurted, "She said we've been like fathers."
Sirius paused between the two rooms. "What?"
"Celesta. When she thanked us for coming, she said that you and I have been like fathers to her, and to Nerine."
"Did she?" Sirius smiled. "That's very sweet of her."
"Sweet?" Remus demanded. "You think it's sweet? I think it makes us sound old."
"It does no such thing!" Sirius stared at his mate in shock.
"You don't think so?" Remus bounced up on his knees, facing Sirius over the sofa-back. "Saying we've been like fathers to two women who are old enough to get married doesn't make us seem old to you?"
Sirius scratched the back of his neck. "Well, thirty-eight isn't ancient, but we're not exactly kids anymore, love. We're old enough to be Harry’s parents, and he's graduated from Hogwarts."
Remus's grip on the sofa cushion tightened. "Thank you for rubbing salt in the wound, Siri."
"Moony." Sirius crossed the room and stood in front of Remus, prying his hands off the cushion and holding them tightly. "I love you. Harry, Ron, Hermione – they all love you. Your students adore you; the Order respects you; even Snape has conceded that your years with me haven't completely ruined you. So what that you're not twenty anymore – you're sexy as hell, smart, cool under pressure, and dead sexy. And don't forget that twenty was no picnic."
"No, it wasn't, at that. You said 'sexy' twice."
"It's the most important one." Sirius leaned over the back of the sofa and kissed him. The kiss was long, slow, and burning. Remus arched up into it, his hands pushing against Sirius's. Sirius pulled back, dazed and grinning. "There's no nameplates or anything, but I have a bed upstairs with your name on it."
"I thought you were hungry," Remus murmured, stealing another kiss.
"Ravenous." Sirius licked at Remus's jaw line. "But what I want isn't in that kitchen."
Remus smiled and slid off the couch. "You know, you were right," he said. "That robe does make you look a bit swishy." "I knew it!" Sirius fumed. "And you let me go out in public in it! I don't think I ought to give you your anniversary present now."
"My—" Remus froze. "Paddy! We weren't going to do anniversary presents anymore!"
"I couldn't just let it pass without getting you something," he insisted.
"You got out of Azkaban and proved your innocence. You've already gotten me everything I ever wanted."
"Remus J. Lupin, you are amazing."
"I'm decrepit."
Sirius lunged around the end of the couch and caught Remus up fiercely. "Stow it, old man." He kissed Remus again, this one as raw and fiery as the secret ones they had stolen in bathrooms and alcoves throughout Hogwarts. "Happy Lupercalia, Moony," he panted when they broke apart.
"Happy Lupercalia, Padfoot," Remus replied, smiling.
Sirius grinned wickedly. "Wanna go upstairs and prove just how young we are?"
END