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Remus Lupin was drunk. It wasn’t often that this occurred—something about the lycanthropy made his tolerance skyrocket—but when it did, it was magnified a hundredfold.
Remus remembered the events from earlier in the day quite clearly—pulling up to the little chapel on the back of the motorbike with Sirius laying on the horn like an idiot. He remembered wordlessly marveling at the wonders some tulle and white roses can perform on an otherwise mind-numbingly ordinary piece of architecture. He remembered helping James with his tie; he remembered Sirius laughing at James for not being able to do his own tie. He also remembered having to frog-march Sirius out of the room to wait in the hallway so that James wouldn’t ruin his best suit trying to kill him. He remembered Peter sitting in an over-sized chair in the corner looking a bit too cheerful and rubbing at his small eyes rimmed red from lack of sleep. He remembered feeling like he couldn’t ask about it, so he didn’t.
Remus remembered the ceremony fairly well, despite having a miniature bottle of Firewhiskey slipped into his hand by Ted Tonks while they were waiting to take their place at the altar. He remembered that Lily looked quite beautiful and thinking that she hardly seemed fazed by the total absence of her family. He remembered James and the traces of wetness around his eyes, and he certainly remembered pinching Sirius in the side so that he wouldn’t laugh and ruin everything. He remembered Sirius turning and realizing from the identical glistening that he needn’t have worried.
Remus remembered the dinner at the reception a little less clearly, thanks in part to the open bar; in part to Sirius’s reckless hand drifting from his knee to his thigh under the white tablecloth. He remembered his chicken tasted good. He remembered wondering who had put together all the bags of Jordan almonds and feeling guilty when he, Sirius, and Peter ate every single bag at their table and pilfered more from their neighbors. He remembered Sirius’s speech and the boisterous laughter it evoked from the entire party, and how proud he felt. He remembered James and Lily moving smoothly across the dance floor; remembered thinking that the James from school could never have done it without laughing. He remembered feeling unnaturally nostalgic then and making Sirius get him another drink from the bar.
Remus remembered the rest of the reception very vaguely, his recollection blurred by too many drinks. He remembered Frank Longbottom asking with no small amount of amazement how many he’d had and he remembered answering something with one too many digits. He remembered reveling in the glorious feeling of not caring that he’d shocked someone whose good opinion he normally respected. He remembered Sirius forcing poor Minerva McGonagall onto the dance floor with a wicked grin on his face. He remembered that he caught the garter and spent the next thirty minutes in the men’s room trying to get the red to fade from his cheeks.
Remus didn’t really remember anything at all after that. He didn’t remember Sirius stealing an entire bottle of champagne from the flustered bartender and dumping it all over himself. He didn’t remember dancing with Marlene McKinnon, though Sirius would hold it against him for the next two weeks. He didn’t remember how many times poor Peter got thrown into the pool, nor when Peter left, dripping wet with a furrow in his brow and a transparent excuse on his lips. He didn’t remember James and Lily taking their leave, and he certainly didn’t remember how he managed to make it back to Sirius’s tiny flat. He didn’t remember collapsing into bed with Sirius, who was undoubtedly at least three times as shitfaced as he was.
Remus did remember asking Sirius if he felt content. He did remember Sirius’s lips pressed to his forcefully and tasting the champagne on his tongue. He did remember hitting Sirius in the stomach when Sirius affectionately called him a tosser. He did remember starting to doze off, and he forced himself to remember how happy he felt in that exact moment so that he could remember it forever.