Days Like This

Remus was sat in the front row of the church, watching as Lily walked down the isle towards James. His hand was gripping Hayley's tightly and he was sweating ever so slightly due to nerves. It wasn't long now until it would be time. He couldn't quite believe that he'd finally decided on what to do.

Lily and James were getting married in two weeks time, but this had been the only time everyone could get together before the wedding due to Order commitments. The Marauders were sat at the bar, all with drinks in hand, watching the group of girls on the dance floor. They had practically grown up with these girls and it was unbelievable how much they had changed since the first year. They were no longer gangly girls or later, awkward teenagers; they were now all beautiful women, each of them.

She looked at him quizzically before saying with a hint of sarcasm, "Well, they have been going out some time and they're perfect for each other. I have to say that I for one did think it."

"Definitely not," she affirmed. "How can you know each other in less than a year? There would have to be something important to change my mind..." She ground to a halt. Were they really talking about marriage? What if he was going to propose and she had just told him she wouldn't want to get married. Okay. Back track. "Well, you know." She paused. "Maybe not a year. Maybe as long, as you know someone, and get along okay. I think you have to love someone to marry them. That's all you need." She waited with bated breath, wondering if he was about to ask her to marry him, but he simply nodded and stood up. She frowned at his retreating back as he walked towards the bathrooms, leaving her very confused.

Lily turned to face James as he started to speak. "I, James, take you Lily, for my lawful wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do us part." Lily smiled up at him happily and started to say her vows to James. The love between them was there for everyone to see. No one could say that those two didn't love each other with all their hearts.

Watching them, Remus could see how happy they both were, and knew that he was making the right decision. After all their ups and downs, this was the only way forward. They had been through hell and high water to get to where they were and this was the best way of putting it behind them.

Hayley glanced at Remus and flashed a small yet dazzling smile and Remus stomach flipped with anxiety. I hope I'm making the right decision, he thought, knowing how many times he had made the wrong one. Watching Sirius pass the rings, Remus let the memories wash over him.

He thought back to seventh year and how he had begun to push her away once he had realised his feelings, not wanting to hurt her. That had been mistake number one. He thought of taking the leap that night in the library, and yet still not telling her his secret. Mistake number two. He thought of still not telling her the first time she had asked where he had been, the morning in February. Mistake number three. He thought of the Easter dance and of him finally telling her what he was. It had been one of the best nights of his life, and one of the only things he had done right in this relationship, though there had been many happy memories since.

He finally thought of the holidays after seventh year, when he had refused to move in with her. That was his worst mistake. He had been so close to losing her, but he had not wanted her to see what he really was. There was a huge difference between knowing and seeing. He also couldn't trust himself not to hurt her once he had changed. Thankfully, they had sorted it out and came to a compromise and moved in together a week after she had threatened to leave him, for good.

From then until now, everything had been wonderful. They had been completely happy and he could not quite believe that he was about to upset the balance again.

Little did he realise that Hayley had a surprise of her own that could just as easily upset the balance, whether he asked her to marry him or not.

The congregation rose as Lily and James walked back down the isle and out into the courtyard. The ceremony was over and now it was time. He pulled Hayley closer to him and followed Sirius outside, closely followed by Peter.

Lily and James were having their photo taken and so Remus led Hayley to the side in order to ask her of her intentions, without her realising what was happening. "Hayley, did you mean what you said about only needing love to get married?"

She looked at him, autumn sunlight shining behind him, lightening his light brown hair. He smiled slightly and her stomach flipped. Remus was not the typical attractive male, but that smile made something inside her dance. He was taller than her and stood by him she felt safe. Looking at his face she saw all the familiar things about him that she loved, the tiny scar next to his mouth, the hollow at the base of his neck and his deep hazel eyes shining down into her own. She saw in him all the things she loved, and unable to resist, she stood on her toes and leant towards him, kissing him lightly on the mouth before settling back on her feet and looking at him intently. He raised his eyebrows at her quizzically and she remembered that she was meant to be answering something. "Marriage?" he prompted a smile pulling at the corner of his mouth.

Their conversation from two weeks ago had hardly left her thoughts, but he had not brought it up again so she had assumed he was probably just making conversation, now, however, she was suspicious. She nodded slowly, indicating to him that she had meant what she had said, not at all sure what was coming next, but all he did was nod in return and walk back to the congregation in the main courtyard. She watched his muscles ripple slightly under his shirt as he moved away and with a rush of emotion, she followed, slightly bewildered. What on Earth had that been about?

She returned to the courtyard to find everyone getting ready to throw the bouquet. This was her least favourite part of the ceremony; girls clamouring around, trying to catch a bunch of flowers. She was not the superstitious type. She stood at the edge of the crowd where she wouldn't be jostled and watched as the girls scrambled about in order to find the perfect spot, eagerly awaiting the moment Lily would release the bouquet.

She watched as Lily glanced quickly at Remus, who was making his way towards the gathering of girls. Lily then looked at Hayley, smiled briefly, and threw the bouquet right at her. Hayley couldn't have missed if she'd tried.

As she felt her fingers clasp around the flowers, she felt herself go red as Sirius began laughing and shouted jokingly at Remus with a grin, "She's got you there mate, now you'll have to marry her."

Hayley jumped slightly as Remus dropped a delicate kiss on her shoulder. She hadn't realised he was so close behind her and she quickly spun around to face him, blushing furiously. She would kill Lily and Sirius. "I...you don't have...he was only joking," she stuttered, embarrassed beyond belief.

Remus however, smiled slightly and excruciatingly slowly, bent down on one knee and reached into his jacket. Oh god, she thought, as Sirius stopped smiling, obviously he hadn't thought he was going to be taken seriously, and Lily broke into knowing grin. She had been set up.

"Hayley, if I had to wait a year, or even five, then I would." He paused as he opened the box in his hand and she saw a diamond ring glittering in the faint sunlight. There was complete silence. "I love you with all my heart and I hope that one day, sooner rather than later, you'll do me the honour of marrying me." He smiled nervously at her shocked expression.

She was too stunned to speak. He wants to marry me! Her throat was tight and she could hardly speak. She swallowed and broke into a grin. She nodded. "Yes," she affirmed. He stood up and took a step towards her, taking her hand as he did so. He took the ring from its box and slid it onto her finger. It was a perfect fit. He kissed her slowly on the mouth, pouring his love into her.

Okay. Don't panic, she thought. He's going to marry you; of course he isn't going to be angry. He should be happy. Hopefully. The night so far had been wonderful. They had walked hand in hand round the corner to the reception, where they had eaten and danced in a bubble of happiness, but she had to tell him now, before he couldn't make up his own mind about marry her. He has to have the choice.

The music was playing loudly, but not so loud that conversations couldn't be heard. They were dancing together to the music when Hayley decided she could wait no longer. She took a deep breath. "Remus, I have something to tell you." She looked at him and thought back to how happy they had been earlier. They had never even talked about this so there was no telling what his reaction would be. This could be the last time they were happy together.

Remus watched as Hayley took another deep breath and an anxious expression settled itself on her face. She looks as though she's going to cry, Remus thought and panic set in, as well as the urge to protect her from whatever it was that was hurting her. Maybe she didn't want to marry him after all. He had noticed that she seemed a little distracted of late but she had seemed happy when she had agreed to marry him. He had no idea what could possibly be wrong. Surely it's nothing to do with me, he thought. Not now.

"You may not like it, I have no idea. I completely understand if you don't want to marry me any more, and I realise what an awkward position this is..." she broke off at the look on his face.

He was really worried now. "Hayley," he said seriously. "Just tell me what's wrong. Whatever it is I'm sure we'll sort it out. You can trust me," he said, faintly aware of the irony. "If you don't tell me what's wrong we can't sort it out." Hayley burst into tears. Sort it out? She thought disbelievingly. This is not the sort of thing you "sort out!"

Remus looked at Hayley, astonished. This was meant to be one of the happiest days of their lives, and she was crying? "Hayley, please, tell me what's wrong." She simply shook her head and bit her lip in an attempt to stop herself crying, as though it didn't matter and made to walk away, but Remus wasn't going to allow her to walk away. He had done it once before and he had sworn to himself then that it would never happen again.

He put an arm out and placed it on her waist. It wasn't a forceful movement but she stopped and turned around, the saddest look on her face, and Remus could have cried for her. He put his hand up to her face and gently tried to wipe away her tears. This small gesture only seemed to upset her more and the tears continued to flow. "I'm pregnant," she sobbed, taking a deep breath as she waited for his reaction.

"What? How?" he asked, unable to think straight after being told this surprising news.

Hayley smiled slightly at this, the tears still slowly falling, unable to resist she said, "Well, Remus, you remember when you and I came back from Paris, and we-"

He cut her off, and smiled feebly. "Okay, ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer, I know," he laughed slightly and she looked up into his eyes.

"So?" she asked. "What next?"

"What do you mean what next? Surely you didn't think I'd leave you? Is that why you're crying?" he glanced at her expression and sighed. "Hayley, I know we haven't talked about it but I didn't want to pressure you, and I thought you'd want to wait until we were married at least. So it's a little early than we might have thought, but I'm not going to leave you for that. It's as much my fault as yours," he said with a grin at his feeble attempt at humour. "Did you really think I'd be angry? That I'd leave you on your own?"

She looked sheepish, though slightly relaxed now she knew everything would be all right. "I think it was just because we hadn't talked about it yet and possibly my hormones as well." She sighed. "There are just so many ways in which this could go wrong. We have no idea if the baby will be a werewolf, like you or whether it will be completely normal. I thought you might be angry that I even risked it."

He looked down at her with love in his eyes and pulled her tightly against him. "Come here, you," he whispered, kissing her lightly on the forehead before continuing. "Hayley, we risked it. We knew the risks and we both decided to take them. No matter what this child is like, he will be ours, and we will get through whatever problems we might face together. Understand?"

She took a small step back and looked up at him. The tears had stopped and she was smiling, completely reassured now. "How do you know it's a he?" she teased, laughing.

He looked down at her quizzically and shook his head. "We'll see," he whispered, so that she could just hear him over the music. She smiled again and he pulled her protectively towards him once more. "How far gone?" he asked.

"About two months." She pulled an odd face as though bracing herself for harsh words.

"And when were you going to tell me?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at her.

"Well, I, err..." She looked down at her feet but he put his finger under her chin and gently lifted her head so that she looking at him again. "When I plucked up the courage," she said with a shrug, as though that was perfectly acceptable.

Remus shook his head at her. "When you plucked up the courage? And you called me a coward?"

"I did?" she asked, clearly at a loss as to when this had happened, but he nodded and the memory came rushing back. "I did," she affirmed solemnly, thinking back to that fateful night. "Though in my defence, you kind of were," she teased. Remus swooped down and kissed her forcefully on the mouth, much to the shock of a few onlookers who cheered and whistled.

Hastily collecting herself, Hayley stepped back and stared at him. She was shocked beyond belief. He had never acted like that in front of people before. "Don't look at me like that," Remus laughed. "I told you not to call me that again. You dared me to do it." At that moment, the music changed to a slow track and, still smiling, he pulled her closer.

Slowly, as though not quite believing what he was doing, he placed a hand over her abdomen and looked down at her face with tears of happiness in his eyes. "I love you," he whispered against the top of her head and she shivered with pleasure. Neither of them had ever been happier than they were at that moment.