Chapter Text
It was a hot summer’s night when Sirius called Remus into the kitchen of their flat. Remus entered to find him on the couch, nerves obvious in the way he held himself, the carefree lounging of his youth long gone.
“What’s wrong?” Remus asked, sitting down beside his partner, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear to better see the man’s face.
“I’m no longer the Black heir.” Sirius simply said, voice empty of any emotion.
“What?” Remus said, shocked, “Did they properly disown you?”
“No,” Sirius said, sagging into the couch in a mockery of his former arrogance, “You’re looking at the new Lord Black.” He held up the newspaper in his lap, pointing to the obituary section. “Dear old dad kicked the bucket, so now I’m head of the family.”
“I sense there’s something else you’re worried about.”
“It’s just what I said. I’m no longer the Black heir.”
“Who is?”
“No one, yet. I don’t have any kids, and Regulus is dead, so there isn’t really any default option. I have to pick.”
“And your family are almost entirely Death Eaters.”
“Yep.”
“What about Andromeda or her daughter? They’re not Death Eaters.”
“She also officially got disowned, so that’s not an option; otherwise, I’d pick her in a heartbeat. Anyway, I think she was quite ready to be rid of all the politics.”
“So, what are your other options?”
“Bellatrix.” Remus made a face. “Or Narcissa.”
“Not great options.”
“No, they’re not. Luckily, they’re not the best choices in the family’s eye either since they’re both women married to other lords. You know how us Blacks are with our pride.”
“Are there any other options?”
“I could just name someone, but anyone unrelated could be disputed; even people more distant than them could be.”
“So, what are you going to do then?”
Sirius paused as if - perhaps for the first time since his sorting - screwing up his courage.
“I know this isn’t terribly traditional, but,” he said, taking a breath before continuing, “Remus Lupin, Moony, love of my life, will you marry me?”
Remus paused, shocked.
“I know I don’t have a ring, and I completely understand if you don’t want to get more involved with my mess of a family, but-”
“Yes,” Remus said, cutting Sirius off.
“You will?” Sirius said, shock evident in his voice.
“Yes, you daft dog, I’ll marry you. Of course, I’ll marry you.”
“The family won’t like it.”
“Then we don’t have to invite them.”
“Oh, fuck, the wedding. Why are we getting married in the middle of a war?”
“If I recall correctly, you were the one to ask me.”
“I know, I panicked.”
“Clearly.”
“We can do rings tomorrow. I’ll take you down to the Black Vault, and we can get married at the Pottery. I’m sure James would let us, and we’ll want to do that as soon as possible.”
“Sirius.”
“We can invite your dad, the Tonks’, Peter, Marlene and Dorcus. Who else?”
“Padfoot.”
“Yes?”
I have just one question.”
“Yes?”
“How does this get you an heir?”
“We have a kid!”
“Sirius.”
“What?”
“We’re both men. We can’t just have a child.”
“I know, but Lily said when she and Jamie got married that they weren’t ready for kids yet, but she was happy to be our surrogate.”
“I know. I just so happened to be there for that conversation. Still, I don’t entirely know how this works for wizards, but for muggles, babies still need a mother, and even if wizards don’t, babies still need two sets of DNA, and I’m not risking passing this down,” he said, gesturing to his numerous scars.
“Don’t worry, Remus, in the wizarding world, being a surrogate includes being the child's mother. It’s safer that way with the magic.”
“And you’re sure she knows this?”
“If she didn’t, then I’m sure Jamie’s told her by now. It’ll be fine.”
“And my-”
“- Your furry little problem? Even if it weren’t, me being the father would be safer for the heirship claim anyway. You don’t have to worry. I’ve thought about this plenty.”
“I thought you said you panicked.”
“I panicked right now. You think I haven’t been planning this since I realised I was mad about you in 5th year?”
Remus paused, still unsure, before Sirius grasped his shoulders.
“Moony, my darling fiance. Do you think I’d really suggest something like this without thinking it through?”
“I-”
“We’ll talk to Lily tomorrow, Jamie, too. Then we can go to Gringotts to look at rings,” Sirius said before smiling, "and figure out which one would be most pissed about me giving you their ring.”
Remus smiled at that. “Sounds like a plan.”
~~~
“Of course!” was Lily’s immediate response. “What brought this on, may I ask? You’ve been dancing around each other for ages.”
“My father died; the new Lord Black needs an Heir, and I don’t fancy giving it to a Death Eater.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Lily said, sympathy evident.
“Don’t be. He was better than mum, but not by much.”
The conversation fell into a lull before James spoke.
“So, what are the plans for the wedding?”
“We’d prefer to do it sooner rather than later, maybe July. Just a small thing. You two, Peter, our families, some of our friends from Hogwarts, Minnie if we can get her to come.”
“I’ll be your best man, of course,” James said. “Gotta return the favour.”
“Have you picked a place yet?” Lily asked.
“We were hoping we could do it here,” Remus said, “If that’s alright with you two.”
“Absolutely,” James said.
“Of course,” added Lily.
“Was there anything more you wanted to talk about?” James asked.
“I think that’s it,” Remus said.
“Yeah. Anyway, I’ve got to go take Remus to the family vaults and figure out which ring will piss off my family most.”
James laughed, “Good luck with that. Most of them would be pissed at you for marrying anything less than a pureblood, let alone a werewolf too.”
“So, shall we?” Sirius said, standing and offering his hand to Remus.
“Fine,” Remus said, taking Sirius’ hand and standing, “Let’s go piss off your dead relatives.”
“Knew you had it in you Moons.”
~~~
The wedding went off without a hitch, but parenthood was another matter.
“I can’t do this,” Sirius said one evening, for about the 5th time that week.
“You can, Sirius.”
“What if I turn out like them? I can’t do that to a child. Why did I ever think this was a good idea?”
“Because you, Sirius Black, are not your parents.”
“I know I’m not!” Sirius shouted. “I- You know about the madness. You know what might happen to me, so why are you trusting me with a child?” Sirius paused before continuing more softly. “Why are you trusting me with our child?”
“Because you are not your parents.” Sirius moved to interrupt him, but Remus held up a hand. “Let me finish. You are not your parents. You are not anyone but yourself. I’ve seen the Black madness, or have you forgotten that we went to school with Bellatrix?”
“But-”
“I have seen the Black madness, but not in you. Never in you. You have been stupid and reckless but never mad. Do you think I would marry you if you were? Do you think I would let you have our child? You are not your parents, and you know I would never let you treat our child like they treated you, or have you forgotten what I am?” Remus’ eyes flashed gold at that, and Sirius gulped.
“How could I forget?” Sirius said. “Still. Promise me, you won’t let me become like them.”
“I won’t let you become like them because you are not like them, Pads. I promise.”
“Thank you, Remus.”
“Easiest promise of my life.”
“What, easier than our marriage?” Sirius joked.
Remus laughed, “We’ll see.”