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Minerva Mcgonagall was an attentive woman.
It didn’t slip her eye the small friendship group that was formed between the first year boys, who called themselves the Marauders. She was both surprised and pleased to see that the young werewolf had made friends so early in the year. She also didn’t fail to notice how closer the four of them became in second year after the other three found out about Remus’ furry little problem.
She won’t admit it if asked, but by their second year at Hogwarts, Minerva had already warmed up to them and was rather fond of them. She would congratulate them on whatever prank they had come up with, as it had required advanced magic (usually), and took less points from them than she really should. She also never called Sirius by his last name, as she knew how much he despised, having seen him flinch each time one of her colleagues addressed him as ‘Mr. Black’.
In their third year, the boys had quite a fame among all the Hogwarts students. Each prank of theirs was more creative than the one before, and she knew Remus, ever the good boy, was their mastermind, as she’d seen him in action a couple of times. Also, Sirius would always make comments about his mischievous side.
She noticed the two boys grew a lot closer in their fourth year. Despite their constant bickering, they would always sit side by side, usually Sirius’ arm around the other boy. Minerva regularly caught him staring at Remus with dreamy eyes during her classes or at the Great Hall. They called Remus Moony, but Sirius was far moonier.
At the beginning of their fifth year, she noticed something had changed in the way Remus looked at Sirius. He would avoid his gaze during the first week after the holidays, yet he would stare at him when he thought no one was watching. On one occasion she caught his eye after he’d been gawking at Sirius during one of her lessons, and she’d never seen him turn redder.
That year Remus was made prefect, and Minerva knows for a fact he didn’t give Sirius half the detention he earned.
One night, she was wandering through the castle in her animagus form and ran into Remus, who was sitting in front of a big window, looking at the night sky. Before she could turn and leave, though, he held the cat gently and poured his heart out to her. He mainly talked about Sirius, how much he loved him, how nice and gentle he always was with him, and how he couldn’t talk about this with anyone at the castle.
That very same week she saw Sirius in the Astronomy tower late one night -once again, in her animagus form. He petted the cat gently and they both looked down at the sketchbook that was resting on his knees. He flicked through the pages, all covered in portraits of Remus, who probably didn’t even know about the existence of such notebook.
“He’s really beautiful, isn’t he?” Sirius had said softly, and the cat just purred in agreement.
After the Easter holiday both boys were a bit more affectionate towards each other, and Minerva was pretty sure something would happen between them before the end of the year.
And something did happen, only not what she had expected.
They were the closest Minerva had ever seen them and they both seemed so comfortable around each other, but they weren’t officially a thing yet. However, Sirius had to muck it all up by telling Snape how to get into the shack. That broke their group, the Marauders, but it completely shattered Remus and Sirius’ relationship.
Remus was furious with the boy and barely acknowledged his presence during the day. Sirius, on the other side, looked devastated and guilt was all over his face, all day, everyday. He would murmur a thousand apologies, and Remus would ignore him.
Much to everyone’s relief, they had made up by the beginning of their sixth year. This meant that both James and Peter could talk comfortably again with their friends, and the rest of the school was provided with their pranks once again. Minerva noticed that Sirius would follow Remus pretty much everywhere and offer his help in whichever way he could offer it.
But it wasn’t until seventh year that they finally got their shit together.
Minerva caught them snogging in an empty corridor the first week back after the Summer holidays. Both boys were flushed and turned inhumanly tones of red as Minerva tried to suppress her smile. “Sirius, Mr. Lupin. If you may use more discreet places for your… encounters, please?” and with that, she turned, finally allowing herself to smile. Both of them avoided her gaze the next morning.
Their relationship was apparently kept a secret, as no one seemed to be talking about them. On Valentine's day, though, they surprised everyone by walking into the Great Hall hand in hand, and as Minerva later learned, went on a date to Hogsmeade, publicly acknowledging it. She had directed a proud smile at them during breakfast, which made the boys blush.
That year, their last, they looked the happiest Minerva had ever seen either of them. Most people were happy for them, and those who weren’t, weren’t paid any attention to.
Eventually, the year came to an end, and Minerva watched the boys, her boys, enjoy themselves at their graduation party with a pang of sadness at the thought that she probably wouldn’t see them again.
That’s why, when six years later she receives a wedding invitation, she is a bit surprised, but overall, proud and very happy for them.