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Rating: Mature
Archive Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Major Character
Death, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Category: M/M
Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, Sirius Black & Remus
Lupin, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Characters: Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, James Potter, Lily Evans
Potter, Peter Pettigrew, Severus Snape, Minerva
McGonagall, Bellatrix Black Lestrange, Narcissa Black
Malfoy, Albus Dumbledore, Mulciber Sr. (Harry
Potter), Horace Slughorn, Mary Macdonald, Marlene
McKinnon, Poppy Pomfrey, Walburga Black, Regulus
Black, Fenrir Greyback
Additional Tags: Marauders' Era, Marauders, Marauders Friendship,
wolfstar, Get Together, Slow Burn, so slow, it's slow,
seriously, Complete, Canon Compliant, Angst, Fluff,
Fluff and Angst, Requited Love, Canonical Character
Death, First War with Voldemort, First Kiss, Period
Typical Attitudes
Language: English
Series:
Part 1 of All the Young Dudes ● Next Work
→
Stats: Published: 2017-03-02 Completed: 2018-11-12 Words: 526,969
Chapters: 188/188 Comments: 33,915 Kudos: 187,335
Bookmarks: 35,642 Hits: 12,630,087

All the Young Dudes

MsKingBean89

Chapter 166: The War: Autumn 1979

Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Well I take whatever I want

And baby I want you

You give me something I need

Now tell me I got something for you

Come on come on come on and do it

Come on and do what you do

I can't get enough of your love

I can't get enough of your love

I can't get enough of your love

Friday 7th September 1979

“Uuurrgh, bugger!” Remus groaned, cradling his shoulder

and biting his lip.

Padfoot came bounding over, yapped, then transformed

back into Sirius,

“What’s up?”

“Dislocated.” Remus grimaced, still clutching his arm.

“Have you got my wand?”

“Yeah, hang on...”

“All right, Moony?” James and Peter came sauntering out

of the thicket. “That was great!”

“Yeah, great…” Remus accepted his wand from Sirius and

pointed it at his sore arm. He thought about Livia and
Castor, as he did every full moon since meeting the pack.
He hoped they were both safe, and he sort of wished he
had them nearby, just for the healing benefits.

Arm fixed - or as close as he could get it, he struggled to

his feet and pulled on his clothes, stashed under a nearby
bush.

“Ok?” Sirius asked, watching him warily, “You look a bit

shaky.”

“Just hurts a bit,” Remus said, having to stop himself from

shrugging, “Can I side-along with you to get back?”

“Of course. Oi, Prongs,” Sirius nudged James with his

elbow, grinning, “Bloody good stag do, eh? Eh?? Stag
do?!”

“Yes, Padfoot, very funny,” James snorted, “Just as funny

as the last hundred times.”

“I’m wasted on you lot,” Sirius sighed.

“Less than twenty-four hours to go!” Peter said, “How are

you feeling?”

“Tired.” James said, with a yawn. “Shall we?”

They apparated back to the Potters’, which was already a

hive of activity. They’d hired four extra house elves in
preparation for the wedding the next day, and the tiny
little creatures darted back and forth across the kitchen
whipping up a feast.

Lily and Mrs Potter were sitting at the kitchen table - Mrs
Potter in her dressing gown and slippers, which she was
never out of these days. Lily jumped up to kiss James,

“Morning darling - I just stayed long enough to see you,

but I’ll be off now. How are you, Remus?”

Remus nodded, blank and exhausted.

Lily cocked her head and tutted, “Go to bed, the lot of
you, you all need your beauty sleep. James, I’ve left you a
list of things you need to get sorted this afternoon - give
me a ring when it’s all finished or I’ll never sleep. Sirius,
did he give you the rings? Oh no, silly me, I’ve got them,
here you go… Remus, will you make sure he doesn't lose
them? Pete, your mum popped round and I said you’d
gone out with the lads and were sleeping off a hangover,
so better if you don’t go home. I’m sending Mary over this
evening with the buttonholes for you all, and the ties if
Madam Malkin hurries up and gets them finished… oooh,
do you all have shoes?!”

“Merlin, Evans,” Sirius yawned, “Anyone would think you’re

getting married tomorrow.”

She stuck her tongue out at him, kissed James, hugged

Remus and hurried out the door.

“Go to bed, boys!” She shouted, as she left. “See you at

the top of the aisle, Potter!”

Remus looked down at the list Lily had left James - it was
at least fifteen inches of parchment, and Lily had small
handwriting. James ignored it,

“Alright, mum?” He said, going over to Mrs Potter. She had

two dark smudges under her eyes, and her hair was pale
and stringy. Remus was finding it hard to meet her eye,
these days - she reminded him so much of his last visit
with Hope.

“Fine, fine,” She beamed up at him, “There’s so much to

do!”

“Leave it for now,” he said, an arm around her, “Let’s all

go to bed…”

“That Lily,” Mrs Potter said as they all made slow progress
up the stairs, “She’s a force to be reckoned with.”

“Too right.” The boys all agreed.

Remus collapsed into bed without even taking his clothes

off, and could have fallen asleep right there.

“Moony,” Sirius yawned again, pulling his boots off, “Don’t

conk out until you’ve had your potion, McKinnon’s orders.”

“Mmmph.” Remus groaned, rolling over and reaching for

the bottle on the bedside table. Sirius clambered in beside
him as he finished it.

“Whose idea was it to have a wedding right after a full

moon?!” He complained, another yawn encroaching.

“I told you all to just leave me to it,” Remus replied,

closing his eyes and flinging an arm over his face.

“And miss the chance to make ‘stag do’ puns for the rest
of the week? No chance.”

Remus chuckled and quickly fell asleep.

***

Having never attended a wedding in his life, Remus was

very grateful to Lily for having left a list. It meant he
always knew what to do. However, he quickly learnt that
very little about weddings made any sense at all. For
example, once they’d all woken up around midday, their
first task was to decorate the quidditch hoops in the back
garden.

“Why are we doing this?” Remus asked, frowning up at the

goals, as Peter arrived levitating a crate of white flowers.

“So they look nice,” James replied, broom in hand. “It’s

the only way Lily would get married under them.”

Remus stared at him,

“You’re getting married under your old quidditch hoops?!”

“I know!” He grinned, “Brilliant, isn’t?!”

“Err…”

“Moony,” Sirius said quickly, “You and Pete work on the

growing charm down here, Prongs and I will fly up and do
the hoops.”

Once they were finished, the three goal posts looked like a
bizarre spindly rose bush had tried to take over. Next they
had to decorate the nearby trees with the same flowers,
and summon all of the chairs from the Potters’ extensive
attic, then get them to line up neatly in rows of eight.
After that, Mrs Potter asked Peter and Sirius to help her
with all of the crockery for the reception, and gave James
and Sirius instructions to ‘sort out the ballroom’.

“Ballroom?!” Remus looked at james, confused. He’d been

visiting the Potters’ for years now, and felt he knew the
house pretty well - but he’d never seen a ballroom.

“Yeah, we don’t use it much,” James replied casually,

“Keep it in storage.”

“In… storage?” How on earth you ‘stored’ an entire room,

Remus did not know.

“Yup, I just need to remember where the instructions

are…”

They went into James’s dad’s study, and James located a

map inside one of the desk drawers. Remus got quite
interested then - he would always be very fond of maps.
This one was a blueprint for the Potters’ mansion, which
made it extra fascinating. There were all kinds of special
little spells and enchantments labelled on it, but they had
work to do, so he couldn’t get a good look.

The ballroom was hidden behind the living room couch.

James and Remus both had to concentrate very hard and
murmur some ancient incantations to get the doors to
appear. Then, of course, the couch had to be moved and
the door unlocked, which was annoyingly fiddly.

When James finally pushed the oak panelled double-doors

open, Remus’s jaw dropped. It was one of the most
beautiful rooms he had ever seen; art deco marble pillars
as far as the eye could see, and a glorious stained glass
ceiling which cast jewel coloured patches of sunlight onto
the dark hardwood floor.

“Bloody hell.” He swallowed, feeling very small. He

remembered watching Sirius and Lily rehearsing dance
steps in their tiny living room, and for the first time in a
long time Remus felt very poor and grubby next to his
wealthy pureblood friends.

“I know,” James laughed, “Stupid, isn’t it? But y’know, at

least we’ll fit everyone in. I think we’ve got thirty-three
Weasleys coming already.”

Feeling a bit better, Remus set about helping James check

the room, and then they conjured some mops to begin
cleaning the floor. James closed the doors while they did
this, so that they would not be disturbed,

“I know we’re not really doing anything,” he said guiltily,

leaning against a marble column, “But I just want five
minutes without someone giving me an order. I wouldn’t
mind, but Moody’s only giving us two days off for the
wedding - we’re expected to report for duty on Sunday.”

“Christ,” Remus shook his head, tutting. They stood

quietly for a bit, watching the mops glide back and forth
like funny skinny ballroom dancers. Remus was grateful
for a breather, too. The weekend had begun with a full
moon, and was only going to get more hectic as it went
on.

“How’s Sirius?” James asked, out of the blue.

“Eh? Fine. Why?” Remus frowned.

“Just checking.”

“You see him almost as much as I do.” Remus teased him.

It was true - James was much keener on the flying
motorbike than Remus was, and they went for rides
together almost every evening.

“I know,” James nodded, “But he hasn’t said anything

about Regulus since… well, since he died.”

“No.” Remus sighed, “No, he hasn’t.”

It wasn’t as if Remus had been pushing Sirius to talk

about it, either - but he didn’t think James would
understand their policy of never discussing family stuff.

“I don’t like him bottling it up,” James said, “I know he

had a complicated relationship with Reg, but it can’t be
normal to just pretend like he never existed.”

“Who’s to say what’s normal?” Remus countered,

“Everyone grieves differently.”

“So he is grieving?” James was giving Remus a very

intense look, and it made him uncomfortable. He didn’t
like other people asking him about Sirius’s personal stuff -
that was between them.

“Yeah, of course.” He lied. That seemed to work.

“Good. I’ve been worried about him, it’s been a shit year
all round, eh?”

“Could say that,” Remus snorted. “It’s about to get a lot

better though. Any pre-game nerves?”

“Nah,” James grinned, the worry leaving his face, “Feel

like I’ve already won the cup.”

“Oh my god Prongs, you soppy git. That’s what you get for
going out with girls.”

James roared with laughter, and by the time he had

regained his composure the mops had finished their task,
and the floor was gleaming as if brand new.

***

Saturday 8th September 1979

The first wedding Remus ever attended was the most

beautiful and the happiest - and there was no way you
could convince him otherwise. Everything went off without
a hitch (well, he did have to talk an overexcited Sirius out
of transforming into Padfoot to deliver the rings, but
luckily it was only a fleeting mania), and it was smiles all
round.

James’s parents looked as though they would burst with

pride, both appearing healthier than Remus had seen
them in ages, decked out in red and gold dress robes -
Gryffindor colours. Marlene and Mary made beautiful
bridesmaids in simple pale mauve dresses with circlets of
gypsophila in their hair, and of course Lily herself was a
vision in white lace.

It seemed to Remus that the day flew by in a pastel hued

blur. He was always supposed to be somewhere, or doing
something; there was barely a moment to relax and take
stock. He was very glad that he’d never be getting
married, because just being a groomsman was exhausting
enough.

Once the ceremony was over and they had to start

mingling, Remus found himself feeling very shy. He hadn’t
been around so many wizards and witches since Hogwarts
- the magic in the air was palpable; muggy. It bothered
him less, now. His time with Greyback’s pack had taught
him to cope with it, and as long as he didn’t need to do
magic he was fine.

There were plenty of people he knew, of course. He

spotted the Weasley’s without too much bother; Arthur
and Molly were running around all over the place after
their five rambunctious redheaded sons; the eldest two
had decided they wanted to play quidditch with the
decorated hoops now that the boring bit of the day was
over.

Then of course Moody and Hagrid and Dumbledore, and

lots of other people from the Order. It was nice to see
them all at a happy event, for once; it made everyone
look younger. Frank and Alice were just back from their
honeymoon - which Alice confided to Remus had actually
involved quite a lot of work; they’d gone to Slovenia on a
knowledge transfer mission with the local Aurors.

And of course Ferox was there. He came over to shake

Remus’s hand manfully,

“Looking very smart, Lupin,” he nodded, and Remus felt

himself blush head to toe - though he knew Sirius looked
a million times better in exactly the same robes. “And Ms.
McDonald,” Ferox kissed her hand, which made her blush
too, “Very beautiful indeed. Will it be wedding bells for you
two, next?”

Remus blinked - he hadn’t come out to very many people,

fair enough, but he sort of though most people had
cottoned on by now.

Mary laughed,

“As if Remus would marry me! I’d drive him up the wall!”

“Ah well,” Ferox clapped him on the shoulder, “You’re still

young. Lots of wild oats to sow.”

“I live with Sirius,” Remus said, raising his eyebrows a

little bit to see if his old teacher took the hint. But
apparently not. Why were grownups always so dense?

“Free wheeling bachelors, eh?” Ferox laughed, gruffly.

Mary looked as though she was about to say something,

but Remus caught her eye and gave the tiniest shake of
his head. Not worth it.

“That’s right,” he nodded enthusiastically at Ferox.

After dinner (the best part of the day, in Remus’s opinion)

Lily and James cut the cake - a huge towering affair with
thirteen tiers covered in buttercream icing and pink piped
roses - and then the dancing began.

Lily did Sirius proud - Remus could hear him counting

under his breath as he watched them; “One two three,
one two three… straighten that back, Evans! Good girl…”

The waltz over and done with, someone cast an amplifying

charm on the Potters’ old turntable, and a Bad Company
song began playing, which got all of the young people up
and dancing - including Sirius, who Remus was grateful to
hand over to Andromeda. Remus Lupin did not dance.

He was happy enough to sit by with a glass of champagne

just watching, as usual. He look for Peter, who liked to
dance but often lost steam after a few songs, but couldn’t
see him anywhere. He’d probably found some friends from
work and gone to chat with them. Yaz and Marlene were
on the dancefloor - they were both pretty dreadful,
Marene wasn’t used to heels - but it was very sweet all the
same. Yaz had cut her hair since leaving Hogwarts in June,
and the cropped pixie look really suited her.

Mary came to Remus’s rescue, in the end, as always. She

hobbled over with a pained expression on her face and
plonked down beside him.

“Blimey, these french knickers she’s got us in go right up

your bum.”

“Charming as ever, MacDonald,” Remus smirked.

James and Lily whirled past them, smiling at each other

like maniacs.

“Look at them,” Mary sighed. “Why can’t I find a bloke

who loves me that much, eh? Not like I haven’t been
looking.”

“You’ll find him,” Remus replied, just as happy.

“I’ll know it when I see it, that's what my mum says.”

“If you’re lucky,” Remus snorted. He was a bit drunker

than he’d initially thought, and his tongue was loose. But
it was only Mary. “They say ‘love is blind’ for a reason.”

“I never had trouble recognising it, to be honest.” Mary

confided. “It’s letting it in, that's the hard part.”

Remus nodded in agreement, though he wasn’t sure he

followed. She continued, sipping her champagne. “Like
you did, with Sirius.”

“Oh yeah, my freewheeling bachelor friend.” Remus poked

his tongue out, making Mary crease up, giggling. Remus
grinned, happy to make her happy. He squeezed her knee,
“You’re going to fall in love one day, how could you not?
Anyone would be lucky to have you.”

“Maybe once the war is over.” She said, lowering her

voice, still watching the dancing. “I’m not sure I could
survive falling in love right now, not with everything else
on top.”

“Mm.” Remus looked away.

“Hiya,” Marlene appeared, drink in hand, “Remus, your

boyfriend stole my partner.” She nodded across the
dancefloor at Sirius and Yaz, who were swinging each
other around wildly, apparently unable to decide who
should lead.

Remus laughed, and Mary frowned, shifting uncomfortably

in her seat. Marlene gave her a sympathetic look,

“French knickers?”

Mary nodded, wearily. Marlene leaned in and whispered, “I

took mine off in the loos after the ceremony.”

“Oh my god McKinnon, you genius.” Mary sat up abruptly

and strode across the room towards the doors. Marlene
laughed, taking her seat.

One of the Weasley kids came skidding past, sliding on his

knees across the highly polished ballroom floor. Molly
came chasing after him, panting,

“WILLIAM ARTHUR WEASLEY YOU WILL RUIN THOSE

TROUSERS!”

Marlene giggled, covering her mouth with her hand

politely. She leaned in and whispered to Remus,

“I heard her tell Hattie Bones that she’s pregnant again -

and she only just had twins last year!”

“Crikey.” Remus said, developing a whole new respect for

quiet and reserved Arthur Weasley.

“I reckon those two are having kids as soon as possible.”

Marlene nodded at James and Lily, “Be very surprised if
we don’t get an announcement before Christmas.”

“Eurgh, really?” Remus wrinkled his nose. Weddings were

one thing - they only lasted a day. But babies ?! They had
to do babies, now?!

“Don’t be such a grumpy sod.” Marlene gave him a sharp

elbow, “Change is part of life. Come on, treat me to a
dance. Be nice to have a partner that’s taller than me.”
She stood up and tugged on his wrist.

“Oh…” Remus sighed. “Ok, but only because they haven’t

served the cake yet.”

Notes:
The song at the beginning is 'Can't Get Enough' by Bad Company.

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