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“And whatever happens tonight, you know,” James looks around at the other three with a sincere smile, “We got nominated for three Grammys. That’s…well, that’s unbelievable just in itself.”He scoffs, raising his hand to run it through his styled hair before Lily slaps his hand down.
“Just for the red carpet baby, sorry.” She grimaces, interlocking their fingers as they pull into the long line of traffic.
“It’s alright, I’m just nervous.” He bares his teeth before exhaling loudly. Lily flashes him a sweet smile before brushing a curl away from his eye. James visibly relaxes at the touch and tilts his head to the side, raking his eyes up and down Lily. “You look unbelievable, Lily, honestly.”
Clad in a fitted, off-the-shoulder black dress, Lily is the picture of elegance. Her bright hair is tied up showing off the diamond earrings dropping from her ears.
She flushes lightly, rolling her eyes before pressing a kiss to James’ lips. “Thank you. You do too.” She replies, rubbing the lipstick mark off his face.
Their van pulls up into the long line of traffic and they all suck in a sharp breath as the sound of photographers shouting gets louder and louder.
“Does this ever get easier? The red carpets?” Lily turns to ask Sybil.
She looks at Lily with a pitiful smile and shrugs. “I want to say yes, but I think that’s just me blacking out every time I get on the carpet. The cameras don’t seem to phase me when I’m on the runway, but award shows still feel like a bit of a performance.” She says, slipping her gloved hand into Peter’s.
“It’s only our second time here.” Peter offers. “It will probably get easier over time.”
“You ever wonder when all of this becomes normal?” James asks, looking over his shoulder through the window where security guards line up on either side of the cars.
“I’m not sure I’d want this to become our norm.” He hums, taking a sip of water.
Remus turns to his left to look at Sirius, who’s facing out of the tinted window. He tugs on their interlocked hands, trying to catch her attention, but it seems he’s lost in thought.
“Hey.” Remus pulls his hand out of theirs and gently taps on their arm. Sirius blinks quickly, before turning to face him. “Are you okay? You’ve been really quiet all day.”
Sirius stares back expressionless before nodding gently. “Just thinking.”
“About what?”
Sirius sighs, uncrossing her legs and then crossing them again, tilting her body towards Remus. “Just…I know awards aren’t everything but,”
“I really want to win too. I mean, it’s a fucking Grammy!” Remus whispers, tilting his head down as a smile curls up on his lips.
Sirius lets out an amused breath and Remus relaxes at the sight of his grin. They look down, picking up Remus’ hand and starts to play with his fingers. “I mean, we’ve worked so hard and I really think we have a shot but I don’t want to get our hopes up just for us to lose, you know.”
“I know sweetheart,” Remus replies quietly, wrapping his hand in his. “We made a fucking good album and if some entitled guys in suits don’t like it, so what? We don’t do this for them, we do this for us. Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Sirius nods before leaning in and leaving a sweet kiss on Remus’ lips. “Love you.”
“Love you more,” Remus mumbles against his lips. He deepens the kiss, trailing his other hand up her thigh as she sucks in a deep breath. He’s just about lost in Sirius when he hears Lily groan.
“Please stop trying to have sex in front of us! If you knew you were going to be this randy, you should’ve had a quickie before we left.” She rolls her eyes, grimacing.
“Did you hear that Moony? Ziggy here is telling us to schedule in sex!” Sirius exclaims with a scandalous expression.
“What’s the big deal? I know what I’m like. I purposely pencilled out 20 minutes between hair and make-up.” James announces proudly.
“Mary and Narcissa wouldn’t let us,” Remus grumbles like a petulant child.
“There are plenty of storage cupboards.” Sybil winks at the two before Peter whispers something in her ear that makes her turn bright red.
Before anyone can reply, the car comes to a halt and the reality of the situation finally dawns upon them.
“Alright, hands in,” James says, shuffling forward.
“We’re not a fucking rugby team-“
“Moony, just do it!” Peter groans, placing his hand on top of Sirius’. Remus rolls his eyes before slapping his hand on top of Peter’s.
“Whatever happens, we made a fucking killer album that we should be incredibly proud of. I know it’s one of my greatest achievements in life. Apart from Lily and Harry.” James smiles brightly, leaning back to smack a kiss on Lily’s cheek.
“We did good gentleman,” Sirius adds, nodding alongside the others. “And hopefully those speeches don’t go to waste.”
The four of them cheer just as the van door slides open with force. Dorcas is standing on the other side, dressed in a sleek black suit and by the looks of it., they’ve already done something to piss her off.
“You have one job tonight and that’s not to piss me off.” She announces before flashing an expressionless smile. The four of them look at her with such glee and she lets out a heavy sigh, shaking her head whilst trying to hide the smile on her face. “Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go. You’re one of the last ones and everyone is very eager to see you.”
And with one last shared look, James hops out of the van, holding a hand out for Lily. Peter and Sybil are next and finally Remus and Sirius. After a last few touch-ups, the six of them follow Dorcas towards the red carpet.
They stop before the carpet starts and Dorcas communicates with one of the event ushers before gesturing for James and Lily to walk on.
The sound of camera shutters and paparazzi shouting at them blares in their ears, almost deafening them all. Roars of James, look here! and, James and Lily, looking beautiful, over here, please! echo around them until it’s the only sound they can hear. As they move down Dorcas pulls Peter and Sybil, and the same happens again.
Sybil, being a model, poses effortlessly, sticking her leg out the long and deep slit. She’s wearing a simple black dress with a detailed sweetheart neckline but her silver jewellery perfectly matches the silver detailing on Peter’s suit.
Finally, Dorcas ushers Peter and Sybil further down the carpet and gestures for Remus and Sirius to follow. They both share a look before stepping out in front of the cameras, hand in hand.
And if they thought the cameras were loud before, it’s nothing compared to the sound of them going off when Remus and Sirius step out in front of them.
Granted, this is the first official event they’ve appeared at together, since Remus posted the video on Sirius’ birthday, confirming their relationship. They’ve been photographed together in public, but never officially, so this is a big night for them.
They discussed it beforehand and it came down to the night being open for anything. Everybody already knows about them, but that doesn’t mean they are going to divulge every secret. The Grammys is about the band, not them as a couple.
But that doesn’t stop the photographers from basically blinding them. Remus wraps an arm around Sirius’ waist as the cameras go off at twice the speed. They smile and pose, eyes shifting from the right to the left, practically ignoring all the requests from the men on the other side.
Sirius turns to look at Remus and with a smirk, turns toward him, giving the photographers a view of the back of her dress.
And even Dorcas gets alarmed at the sheer volume of cameras going off.
Towards the end of the carpet, Dorcas gets four of them to stand in a line so group shots can be taken. Like every event, The Marauders all have to match in some way, whether it’s a colour, a theme, or even something as stupid and simple as sunglasses.
For The Grammys, Mary decided on Black. They’re nominated for three awards and she wanted people to know that they mean business.
Peter, on the right, is dressed in a black velvet suit. Instead of wearing a shirt, Mary decided on a silver chain detail to hang over the suit jacket, with matching details on either panel. He’s wearing silver rings and a choker to match.
Next to him is James, dressed in a black sherwani-style suit. The collar is flat, like the Indian design and the buttons travel down like usual. However, the traditional suit stops quite abruptly at the bottom of the sternum. And instead, a netted panel starts, giving everyone a nice peek at his toned abs. The netting disappears under his trousers into a v shape, highlighting his hip bones and he wears unassuming trousers to match. The sherwani itself is embossed with black embroidery and that same embroidery is used to make up the netting.
Remus stands at the end, wearing a double-breasted black suit with a crisp white shirt underneath. The sleeves are the real high point of this look, as his forearms are adorned with white ruffles, giving it an 18th-century look. The ruffle details start at his elbows and flow down to his knees, elongating his body.
Sirius stands in between James and Remus and from the front, the dress looks very unassuming. At first, it looks like a leather coat turned dress, a Peter Do staple. She’s wearing black sheer tights to match and black heels that make his long legs look like they go on for miles. His hair is tied up in a messy ponytail whilst silver earrings crawl up the sides of his ears.
But then she turns around.
The jacket Is open from the back, with just a slim belt holding the two panels together. The shoulders are covered with a white ruffle detail, matching Remus and underneath, he’s wearing a scandalous black leotard that gives everyone a perfect view of their ass. A black line runs up the back of their tights and when she poses with her back facing the camera, she makes sure to hold onto Remus’ shoulder as she kicks a foot up, biting her tongue to give the cameras a playful look.
After what feels like forever, they finally make it off the carpet and Dorcas gives them a moment for their eyes to stop straining as she lines up a couple of interviews, making sure there are no invasive questions about their relationship.
“You grabbed my ass during the last pose, you know.” Sirius teases, looking up at Remus.
He bites the inside of his cheek, before stepping closer towards them. “Yeah, well, everyone was staring and it’s mine anyway, so.”
Sirius tenses his jaw, trying to keep the upper hand. “We should find one of those cupboards Sybil was telling us about.”
“Mary’ll kill us, love,” Remus whispers in their ear before pressing a kiss to her neck. “Need to have some self-control.”
“Oh, that’s rich. You’ve never shown an ounce of self-control in your entire life.” Sirius quips back playfully.
“I have. Just not with you.”
Dorcas interrupts their heated exchange and drags them through the crowd for their first interview. The man behind the rope seems harmless enough, asking about the album rather than Remus and Sirius, which they were initially scared about.
“So, this is your second time at the Grammys. You were nominated last year though, weren’t you?” The interviewer asks in a thick Californian accent.
“That’s right, we were nominated for song of the year for Gimme All Your Love. We didn’t end up winning, it went to Black Pumas but they absolutely deserved it, we’re massive fans!” James replies cordially with a bright smile.
“And this year, three nominations. How are you all feeling?” He continues, holding out the mic towards the other three.
“It’s such an honour, I mean to even be recognised by the recording academy. We’ve put a lot of heart and soul and blood and sweat and tears into this album and we’re incredibly proud of it.” Peter laughs good-heartedly. “But we’re up against so many wonderful and talented artists so either way it’s going to be a bit bittersweet. We look up to so many people so to even be acknowledged is truly so unbelievable. But yeah, we’re really excited!” He finishes just as Dorcas starts to pull them away.
The interviewer sends them his well wishes and Dorcas stands them in front of a woman in a gold dress.
“The Marauders! Well, haven’t you four made quite the impression this year!” She starts, bright-eyed and grinning.
“We’ve been busy, yeah!” James replies, mirroring her smile.
“I wanted to ask you about your nomination for Best New Artist because it seems a bit strange, given that you four have been making music for years!”
“So, this is the first album we’ve made. Previous to this we’ve dropped some EPs and singles but never a whole album.” Sirius replies, ducking his head close to the mic.
“So what changed?”
“Uh, I guess we felt brave enough to bite the bullet. We were lucky enough to work with some incredible producers and it just felt like the right time. We just wanted to put all our focus into one record.” He continues.
“But other than that, you’ve been nominated for Album of the Year and Song of the Year for Lover, you should’ve come over! That’s been such a hit with everyone, can you tell you us more about the song?” She prods with a wide smile.
“Well, for starters, it’s nearly seven minutes, so we weren’t sure if people going to like that!” Remus laughs softly. “But, it seems to be a favourite which is incredibly kind. It’s the most honest and vulnerable I’ve been so to see it resonate with so many people is really amazing and we hope to make more music in the future that touches people’s hearts like Lover does.”
“Lovely! And just before you go, I wanted to ask you guys what your go-to karaoke songs are!” She asks before shoving the mic in Peter’s face.
“Oh, well I guess, for me, erm…I haven’t thought about this really. Well, more recently, I’ve loved singing along to All-American Bitch by Olivia Rodrigo. It’s a really fun song!”
“Mine has been American Boy by Estelle for the longest time and I don’t see that changing!” James replies.
“Oh, that’s a good one!” Sirius agrees. She looks up thoughtfully for a moment before replying. “It’s probably Killer Queen by Queen. It’s such an energetic song, gets the crowd going!”
“I’m not sure what my favourite is but everyone always asks us to sing Something Stupid by Frank and Nancy Sinatra. Yeah, we do that one well and often.” Remus chuckles, locking eyes with Sirius who nods in agreement.
Dorcas then pulls them away and they’re ushered into the hall where they find Lily and Sybil. They sit down and the show starts not long after that.
***
They don’t win Best New Artist.
And it’s fine, truly. They clap and cheer for the girl who does because it’s well deserved. Truth be told, they weren’t sure why they were nominated for that category anyway.
The award is one of the first ones they announce so it’s a gruelling couple of hours until they read out the nominations for Song of the Year.
During the rest of the show, they sit comfortably, singing and dancing along to the extravagant performances and continue to smile knowing the cameras could be on them at any moment. They are sitting quite close to the front which doesn’t ease their anxiety at all and Peter explains that he’s mapped out the route to the stage over and over again in his head.
Best Rap Album is awarded before a performance from another artist and then they go to break for a couple of minutes.
Before they know it, the host is back on stage and they’re live again. There are only a couple of awards left, including Song of the Year, which is next.
Two musicians walk out on stage and make a not-so-funny joke before the nominations are read out. They’re the second to last to be called out and they all grab each other’s hands tightly, anxiously watching the stage.
“And the Grammy goes to…”
The envelope is opened and the blonde woman, dressed in a red pantsuit smiles before ducking her head close to the mic.
“Lover, you should’ve come over, The Marauders!”
And suddenly the sound of Remus singing blares through the hall as applause erupts.
Remus isn’t sure what happens in the second after their name is called out. He knows his eyes bulge open and his mouth drops in shock. He’s not even sure how, but he stands up with the other three and wraps his arms around them, whispering Fucking Hell over and over again.
Since he’s on the end, he knows he has to be the first one to make a move so he musters up all the courage he has and slips his hand into Sirius’ before making the short walk to the stairs and up onto the stage.
He’s handed the Grammy and kisses both women on the cheek before they’re ushered away. He looks over his shoulder to make sure James and Peter are following and then his standing at the podium with the guys on his right and Sirius on his left.
“Erm, wow, okay.” He takes a deep breath, unable to stop grinning. James slaps a hand on his shoulder and somewhere in the fever dream that they’re living Remus’ eyes find someone in the audience. “Oh my god, It's Ice Spice!"
It’s a moment too late when Remus realises he’s said that into the mic, but everyone in the audience laughs so he takes a deep breath and sets the award down before ducking down to reach the mic.
“Sorry, I got a bit stunned hearing my own voice blaring through the speakers. Right, okay, I guess I’m doing this.” He says, glancing back at the other three with a grin.
“Erm, thank you so much. Truly this is…unbelievable. Er, thank you to the recording academy, erm, but more so to the fans who listened to the song and connected to it so deeply. It’s genuinely been such a privilege to get to see people resonate with it, so thank you.”
“Erm, I can’t even say I necessarily wrote this song, it more so tumbled out of me during a particularly low moment in my life and it’s probably the most vulnerable I’ve ever been so to win an award for a song that makes me and everyone I know cry is pretty amazing.” Remus looks down at the award and laughs.
“Lover is about making mistakes and owning up to them. It’s about forgiveness and making sure the people you love know that you love them. If you take anything away from the song it’s to love. Love unconditionally, love freely, love unapologetically. It’s truly the greatest feeling.” Remus looks up and sees the timer running out on the large screen so he takes a breath and swallows down the lump in his throat.
“I want to take a moment to thank the band.” He looks back and forth between them. “I love you guys more than you’ll ever know.”
“And to my sweet lover,” Remus says into the mic before turning to his left to catch Sirius’ gaze. Her eyes are already glazed before and they suck in a breath as Remus smiles at him, “It’s never over.”
“Thank you so much,” Remus says into the mic before the crowd erupts into a cheer. Remus picks the award up and steps closer, cupping Sirius’ cheek with his hand and leans down to press a quick kiss to her lips. James and Peter slap him on the back before they’re ushered backstage.
***
They’re back into their seats by the next award and it’s only minutes before they’re reading out the last award for the night: Album of the Year.
Completely high off the feeling from their win, The Marauders grip each other’s hands in anticipation rather than trepidation. They’re the second nomination to be called out and Remus watches as Lily kisses James’ cheek as a snippet of Ribs plays behind a picture of them.
“And the Grammy goes to…” The presenter reads out as they struggle to open the envelope.
Remus, in a moment of pure elation, decides that he’s going to turn to look at Sirius. He doesn’t want to miss the look on her face again.
“The Marauders!”
And Sirius’ face completely lights up. It’s the greatest thing Remus has ever seen. Everyone around them starts cheering and Remus only has one thought in his mind.
So, he leans forward, capturing Sirius’ lips in his own. He deepens it, completely unaware and unafraid of anyone watching, of any cameras on them. They’ve just won Album of the Year, he’d be an absolute fool not to kiss the love of his life.
Sirius finally pulls away with a flushed expression and they stand up just in time to watch James lift Lily back up out of the dip he threw her in to kiss her. James raises his arms and cheers, high-fiving Peter before he climbs up on the chair.
He jumps from his own seat to the seat in front, pulling Sirius up alongside him. The audience cheers louder as they raise their hands up together. James wobbles a few times and eventually jumps down but within an instant he’s on Peter’s back and they start rushing towards the stage.
Sirius, who’s still basking in the applause, finally looks down at Remus. A look is exchanged between them and suddenly Remus throws him over his shoulder and rushes towards James and Peter.
Peter accepts the award and sets it down on the podium as Remus sets Sirius down. Adrenaline runs through their veins as the crowd continues to cheer for them and they huddle around the mic closely, hand in hand.
“Oh my god, fucking hell - oh shite, I’m not allowed to swear! Sorry, sorry, I’ll be good.” Peter panics, holding his hands up for a moment but he seems too happy to let it actually affect him. The applause eventually dies down and he clears his throat, leaning down on the podium.
“Wow.” He breathes out, taking a moment to look out at the audience. “Oh my god, it is Dave Grohl. Dave Grohl, we all have a crush on you.” Peter says into the mic whilst pointing to the four of them. Dave smiles, bowing his head as he places a hand on his heart. They all let out nervous giggles that makes the audience laugh again.
“Okay. Alright. Thank you to the recording academy, this is…pretty neat!” Peter sings nervously. “And a massive, massive thank you to our fans. If you guys didn’t listen, no one would know who we are and we definitely wouldn’t be up here, so thank you! Your constant and unwavering support and love keeps us going and we hope to make more music for you guys. We see all your tweets and tiktoks and we love them, so truly, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you!”
The audience erupts into another applause as Peter nods sincerely. He steps back whilst James takes his place. He wipes the tears from his face and sniffles before leaning towards the mic. “Erm, thank you to everyone at Phoenix Records, Dorcas, Alice, Frank, Gid and Fab, you guys are incredible and we would be nothing and nowhere without you! Moody, our manager, I know we put you through the wringer but we love you! Er…shoutout to Eric, the receptionist at Phoenix! We love you man, you actually respond to our emails! Gonna get you a corner office babe, you just wait!” James pumps his fist into the air whilst the crowd erupts into laughter.
“I want to thank Lily, my beautiful partner and my son Harry,” James starts, tears welling in his eyes again. He swallows the lump in his throat but it’s no use, he’s already crying again. “You inspire me every day, Beta, you both make me want to be a better person and I hope I can keep my promise.” James’ voice catches and he shakes his head before backing away for Remus to take his place.
“Oh my god, this is just…wow, okay. Yeah, thank you to our beautiful friends and family who have supported us for years. Even when we were relentless and would perform out of key at every Christmas party, you’ve never shown us anything but love and support and we are so eternally grateful. Big shoutout to our Vice Principal, Mrs McGonagall. She caught us practising in the music room after hours in year 8 and we thought we were going to get expelled but instead, she just yelled at us, saying we were playing in the wrong key. Love you, Minnie!” Remus yells excitedly into the mic, holding the award above his head as he makes room for Sirius to speak.
“Erm, I want to thank these three boys, without whom, I probably wouldn’t even be up here, so thank you. It’s such a pleasure to wake up every day and get to create beautiful music with you guys. I don’t know what I’ve done to be so lucky in life.” Tears stream down Sirius’ face as she places a hand over his heart. Remus wraps an arm around her neck and presses a kiss to their head.
“Okay, I know we’re running out of time, last thing. Erm, we’re not exactly the typical people you’d see on stage, you know, there are a lot of people who have issues with the way we look or present ourselves or they don’t like the people we love but we know there are people out there like us. And we know it’s our duty to use our voices and platforms to advocate for those people and so we promise you, we will.
“We know it’s a scary world out there, but if you are watching this right now, anyone, just know you matter and you are loved and you deserve to…erm, fuck some shit up!” Sirius yells into the mic with a beautiful grin on her face. “Thank you!”
They all cheer into the mic whilst the crowd gives them another standing ovation. James jumps back onto Peter’s back and they go running backstage with Remus and Sirius behind, walking hand in hand as they share another kiss.