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Sirius cried the first time. When James came to him, fidgeting and stuttering, sweat pouring down his face, and terror in his eyes.
“I don’t know why I’m so nervous,” he muttered, sitting across from Sirius and biting at his lip.
“Did you kill someone?” Sirius joked, trying to ease the tension but also a bit worried because…it could happen. “I’m too pretty for jail time.”
“No,” James chuckled, letting out a huge breath and picking at some dead skin on his thumb. “No, but…you won’t kill me, right?”
That, of course, was when Sirius knew it was about Regulus. Few things, few people made Sirius as violently protective as his little brother. Really, it was only Regulus. “Did you get caught fucking him in a public bathroom again?” he asked witheringly, trying to block out the image of last time and grimacing.
“Marlene’s apartment is not public !” James immediately argued, before sighing. “And no. Nothing so crass.”
“Not crass? Must be serious, then,” Sirius said with a grin, giving James an opening for the easiest joke in history.
But rather than taking the lob and retorting, ‘No, that’s you,’ James just looked at him and nodded. “It is.”
He swallowed. “Alright, mate. Whatever it is, I’m here for both of you, yeah? It’s not like you got him pregnant, right?” It was only half a joke and he narrowed his eyes to be sure that wasn’t what James was coming to him with.
“No! Merlin, no, I-” James took a deep, steadying breath and said, “I-- I know he’d probably be mad that I came to you. And I’m not sure why I am, because it’s terribly old-fashioned. Except I know that you care about him. And that means more to him, more to both of us, than he sometimes wants to admit, but…I want to marry him. I want to propose to him, Sirius. And I was hoping you’d…well, not give your blessing, because I have a feeling Regulus will make his decision no matter what anyone else says, he is who he is, after all. But maybe…dunno, be a part of it? Help me out? Not kill me, or--?”
But Sirius cut him off with a wailing sob as he launched himself forward into James’s arms, grabbing his best friend in a tight hug as he cried. “You–and–Reg–and–James!” he sobbed as James chuckled, patting his back. It took him a fair few minutes to calm himself and pull back, wiping snot from his face. “You two are really going to get married?” he asked, feeling like what a normal kid must have felt like on Christmas. Not that he knew.
“I hope so,” James whispered, eyes sparkling and a giant smile on his face. “Are you really okay with it?”
There were no words to express how okay with it Sirius was. How happy it made him to see his two favorite people be happy together. “I’m thrilled with it! We’ll be actual brothers!” he grinned. “But do you really want to be stuck with me and Reggie for life? ”
James laughed. “More than anything. Now, I need you to help me with proposal plans….”
----
But if he cried the first time, he was absolutely wrecked the second time. It took him longer to realize Regulus needed to talk with him. Regulus was, after all, more stoic. He held his emotions back. So Sirius was truly surprised when his little brother sat across from him during their standing Friday lunch and said, “I need to talk to you. And I need you to not be an arse about it.”
Frowning, Sirius nodded, immediately recognizing that this was important, since Regulus never was so up-front. “Alright.”
“I…this might be stupid. Never mind,” Regulus sighed, shifting in his seat.
“No! No, what is it?” Sirius asked, leaning forward. Now he had to know.
“I…” Regulus sighed. “Alright. You mean the world to James. You know that?”
Nodding confusedly, Sirius pinched his eyebrows together. “So do you, Reg. Why?”
“No, I– you’re like family to him,” Regulus muttered, eyes wide, like he was trying to say something without saying it. "And you're the only family he has now."
“Alright,” Sirius nodded, frowning a bit at the memory of Effie and Monty, still missing something. “I know.”
“And..” Regulus sighed again, looking deeply uncomfortable. “I know family is different for us. But it…it means something to him, you know? So I think…I think family traditions mean something to him, too. I’m guessing.”
He was even more lost now. “Okay?”
Regulus grumbled something unintelligible, clearly frustrated that Sirius wasn’t reading his mind. “It’s tradition to…to ask someone’s family. Before…proposing.”
“Before…?”
It took him a full minute of thought to understand. Of course, as soon as he did, tears flowed down his face thick and fast.
“Alright,” Regulus mumbled, looking like he wanted to sink into the ground. “You don’t need to–”
“You’re asking me for my blessing to propose to James !” he screeched, causing several onlookers at the restaurant to look over. Regulus looked like he wanted to die on the spot.
“I just–it would probably mean a lot to James, and–” Regulus stammered, bright red.
“ Reggie !”
He absolutely lost it, blubbering and sobbing on Regulus’s shoulder, leaving a wet spot on his crisply-pressed green shirt as Regulus awkwardly patted him on the back. He couldn’t stop going on about how sweet it was, how his brother and his brother were going to be married (that got some looks), how he was so honored that Regulus thought of him.
Of course, it was in the middle of his tears that he got a genius idea.
“Wait,” he said, abruptly ceasing his sobs. “Do you have an idea of how to propose?”
“N-no…” Regulus said, clearly taken aback by his sudden change in mood. “Why?”
“I have an idea,” Sirius said, grinning to himself.
----
“Neither of them have guessed yet?” Remus asked, blinking with surprise.
“Nope,” Sirius replied, smirking as he sat curled in his fiancé's arms. “No idea.”
“And it’s happening tonight?”
“Yep. It’s their anniversary. They both have rings, and they both think the other has no idea,” he said, grinning from ear to ear. “Admit it. You’re marrying a genius.”
Remus chuckled, pressing a kiss to Sirius’s temple. “That I am. When do you think we’ll hear from them?”
“Any minute,” he shrugged. “The reservation was an hour ago, I made it myself.”
As if on cue, a banging noise made them both look up, just in time to see two men storming into their little flat hand-in-hand.
“You didn’t tell us?” Regulus demanded, cheeks pink and what looked suspiciously like a hickey on his neck.
“No hint at all ?” James chimed in, positively beaming, tear track still fresh on his face.
Sirius pasted an innocent look on his face and turned to Remus. “Moony. Do you have any idea what they’re talking about? I have no-”
But at that moment, two hands were shoved forward, each carrying a band on the fourth finger. And, of course, Sirius’s smug attitude immediately gave way to a fresh round of sobs.
“You–both–are–so–perfect–for–” he began, collapsing into Remus’s arms.
Everyone began to laugh, the air full of warmth and happiness.
“You two go celebrate, I have him,” Remus said with a laugh, grabbing him and pulling him to the couch.