Previously, on AIL....
Feb. 1st, 2007 11:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lls_mutantSo. Accidentally In Love 12 is off to... well, not a beta, but someone to look it over. Whoohoo!
The problem is, of course, that the last time I posted in AIL was about 6 months ago. So, with that in mind, I present...
There was a hot, dull ache behind Remus's eyes. "I'm going." Sirius muttered something in response. "What was that?"
"I don't like that you're actually grateful to the Death Eaters."
"What?!"
"You want to go! I can tell! You're excited about this trip!"
"Well, yes, if you want the truth! But that doesn't mean-"
"It does too! It means that the Death Eaters are doing something for you that I can't do!"
"Yes, they're sending me on a mission that goes against everything I believe in, and I have to go because you know what? I don't care about the damn reliquary but the person I'm going with is hovering on the edge, and if I keep after him maybe I can get him to help US. I am not trying to save the world anymore, Sirius! I am trying to save one single soul!"
"And what good does that do, when you might lose yours?"
"It is important!"
"How important can it be?"
"Important enough that Dumbledore wants me to continue!"
"That's not good enough!"
***
"This is the second time you've put a fellow Auror at risk," Doge said to Sirius. "I would like to hear your reason for this time. What happened?"
Sirius glanced around. All four faces were expressionless and stony. "It wasn't like last time," he began. "I was reading a case file and all of a sudden... well, I guess you'd call it a flashback." Even he cringed at how silly that sounded when he said it. "I was caught up in my thoughts and when Alice touched my shoulder, I didn't really think. I just reacted."
"Constant vigilance," Moody said, nodding.
"Not funny. And not necessary in the Ministry," Mulciber said sulkily. "Particularly in the Auror Headquarters,"
"Except there's someone trying to do in Aurors, and it looks like an inside job," Moody growled.
"Well, I'd say we have our most likely suspect. He tried to kill Longbottom and stunned... well, Longbottom."
"Ridiculous," Damien said, his voice low and threatening. "It was established that Sirius was under the Imperious curse last time, and this sounds like a psychological issue."
***
They were running, Remus and Regulus, running through the streets of Leningrad. Remus stumbled over a curb, and Regulus reached down to grab his arm, pulling him roughly to his feet. Their breath came in harsh sobs.
They stumbled into a park, and Regulus was the one to collapse on a bench. Remus bent over, hands on his knees as he gasped for air.
"We have to keep going," he said.
"Five of them," Regulus said, and there was a sob in his voice. "We killed five of them."
"I know." Somewhere deep inside, Remus was screaming. "But they would have killed us. We know that, Regulus." But Remus was shaking.
He'd killed two, in fear for both his life and Regulus's. He had never killed before. Not as a werewolf, not in the alley the night he and Lily were attacked, and not that night in his home, when his mother died, although there it was merely a lack of opportunity. He'd killed- something he'd tried his entire life not to do. And yet, that wasn't something he could think about now.
"We've got to get out of here," he said, standing up and putting his hands on his head, still trying to catch his breath. The spring breeze was cold against his sweat soaked shirt. "Regulus, we've got bigger problems."
Regulus looked up. "What do you mean?"
"Didn't you notice anything odd about the way they accosted us?"
Regulus's brow furrowed in thought as he replayed the scene, and Remus could see the precise moment where it all clicked together. "They spoke English," he said, suddenly. "They didn't even try Russian."
"Exactly," Remus said. "They knew we were coming."
***
The thing about Frank Longbottom was he could be incredibly stubborn when he set his mind to something. He wasn't one to back down, unless perhaps Alice was doing the asking (and probably bribing him with sexual favors.) Which was why Sirius was shocked when, that afternoon, Frank stopped by his desk.
"I have Black's case file for you," he said, dropping it on the desk.
Sirius looked up in surprise. "But you said-"
"I have the case file for you," Frank ground out between his teeth. Then he turned and walked away.
Sirius opened it. Contrary to what Moody and Doge and everyone else believed, he wasn't actually trying to get on the case. It was just... it had been so long since he'd seen Regulus. Unbidden, memories came to his mind and for long moments he was locked in his childhood, laughing and arguing with his brother.
The picture was a recent one. Sirius hadn't seen Regulus with his hair cut so short, only an inch from the scalp. The severe style accentuated his sculpted features and ice blue eyes, and made him look years older than he was. And harder, for that matter. Like a face on a wanted poster, except for the eyes. Sirius picked the file up for a closer look, and a piece of paper fluttered to the floor.
He hadn't meant to look at it- not really. But the date caught his eye. June 15, 1980. Today. He looked at the paper, written in Frank's neat block case. It was a page of Frank's notes, and stated that Regulus would be in the Sterling Artesa- a high-class Wizarding bar that Sirius knew Voldemort's followers frequented.
He stared at the memo for a long time, and then scribbled down the time and place.
***
"I'm ready," he said. "I've got everything I need, except one thing."
"What's that?"
"I need you to take an Unbreakable Vow."
Ice flooded Remus's throat and stomach. "I'll do no such thing."
Regulus met his eyes evenly. "Yes, you will."
"What makes you think that?"
Regulus's eyes weren't gray, but they reminded Remus of steel anyway. "I need to be sure I can trust you to do what I say, without question."
"What are you going to ask me to do?" Remus said, wary. Regulus just stared him down, and Remus sighed. "You can't tell me that. Otherwise you wouldn't ask me to make an Unbreakable Vow." Regulus nodded tightly. "How would we do it? We need a bonder."
"My father is here."
"He'd remember me."
"No. He wouldn't." Regulus's words were clipped short. "I need to you do it."
Remus broke the gaze and looked out the window again. "Can't you trust me?" he asked.
"I don't," Regulus admitted.
"Fine," Remus sighed, and his soul twisted. "I'll trust you."
***
A trap. How could he have been so stupid? Now that he was here, he could see it clear as day. Frank never would have given him that folder unless he either wanted him to see that note or he was forced to; he wasn't sure which thought was worse. And fuck it, even James had figured it out, and he wasn't the bloody Auror! Sirius strained every muscle, but the Body-bind held him tight. And in front of him, Voldemort ran long, white fingers up and down his wand.
"Sirius Black," he said, more to the assembled Death Eaters than Sirius himself. In fact, he turned his back on Sirius, which caused him to curse silently that he'd been so stupid as to get himself caught in a body-bind.
"It is a pity," Voldemort continued, "that Black is not here to watch his brother die. But still, it will serve as an admirable lesson in what happens to those who are not loyal to me." He smiled. "Of course, I intend to have Black killed as well. But not for a while yet. Crucio."
Sirius's world exploded into pain.
Somewhere, some coherent part of his mind whispered that both Remus and James had endured this as well. He could bear this. He could be strong.
But they could at least scream.
***
That was as much as Sirius thought before he saw the misshapen robed figure with a rag across her face and a wand out.
He'd seen people dressed like that in Voldemort's service once or twice- people without masks, but with deep hoods, cowls, or veils of some sort covering their faces. Of course, "people" wasn't how they were generally listed in the Auror files, but years of association with Remus made Sirius check certain assumptions. But no werewolf, banshee, vampire, or other dark creature had the shape that the one- no, two, he realized, as he spotted another- had. Swollen at the front to a disproportionate shape, both of them. Of all Order members to answer the distress signal James must have sent....
"Oh, Merlin, no," he whispered.
He wanted to run forward and throw them both out of the way, or yell at them to leave. But his knees buckled and the room spun red, and from behind him he heard Bellatrix yelling, "Crucio!," and then pain took him again. A hand grabbed his arm and he felt a shaft of fire through him as his world jerked sideways, and then he knew nothing more.
***
They were back in Regulus's childhood bedroom, with the old Hogwarts robe and the centerfold witch and the neatly made single bed. Remus helped Regulus into the bed and lit a lamp. The dim glow didn't do much to illuminate the room, but rather served to accentuate the shadows that lurked in the corners.
"What do you want me to do?" Remus asked.
Regulus shook his head. "Just stay while I sleep."
"Can't I go?" Remus pleaded. "I'll come back. But Sirius-"
"No, you can't." Regulus lay back. "If something happened in between-"
"Nothing will happen. No one knows where Sirius and James are. No one knows where you are."
"I don't care." The light from the lamp flared, and Remus could see the harsh lines under Regulus's eyes had deepened, cutting into his young face. With a start, he also noticed tinges of gray in the black hair. "Remus, this is too important to risk anything. Do you understand me?"
Remus thought of Sirius, hurt and possibly dying in the Shrieking Shack. Then he thought of Voldemort, reduced to ruin. If there was anything Sirius Black would die for, it was that. He sighed and sat down next to the bed.
"So what exactly did you do? I saw the locket."
"You are nosy. Let's just say I gave Voldemort my resignation letter."
"Really?"
Regulus was wearing a twisted smile. There was a dark humor in that smile, but bitterness, anger, and regret as well. Remus hoped he'd never see another one like it. "It goes something like this: Dear Voldemort, fuck you. Love, Regulus."
Remus stared at him for a long moment. "I was wrong," he finally said, with the hint of a laugh. "You're a lot like Sirius."
"No, I'm not. But thank you."
***
"Right." Regulus cautiously swung his feet out of the bed. "Right," he repeated.
"What's going to happen next?" Remus asked.
"You'll be fine, I suppose, as long as you keep your wits about you. You might feel the effects of the potion for a few days, but it will fade."
"And you? You claimed you were dying."
"I will be," Regulus said. "I'm going to destroy the locket and then I am going to leave here. I am going to let them find me, although I won't let it look that way." He handed a note to Remus. "You will give this to Macnair. Tell him your conscience won't let you keep it, because you are a faithful servant to the Dark Lord. That will keep them off your tail. I wrote it down for you."
"I'll remember," Remus said, offended.
"No. You won't."
Oh. He should have known. "And you?" he pressed, ignoring the subject of a Memory Charm for now. "Why are you doing this? Why not come over to Dumbledore's side?"
"Do you know what Sirius was doing tonight?"
Remus blinked. "No."
"They set a trap for him. They're going to kill him, as a lesson to me. And then my father, and then my mother." Regulus was stone-faced, his voice was flat. "That's why we had to do this tonight. Sirius can handle himself. My parents can't."
"So you're going to-"
"Let them catch me and kill me before they can hurt my family. Yes."
Remus had to look away, because somehow he didn't think Regulus would appreciate the tears that flooded his eyes. But Regulus saw, and reached out and touched his hand.
"Thank you."
Remus wiped at his eyes. "I wish I could say I'll always remember this."
Regulus made a sound of regret. "I wish you could, too."
***
It was midmorning by the time Sirius woke up. The sunlight slanted in through the boards over the windows of the Shrieking Shack, and for a moment Sirius could almost imagine he was back at Hogwarts. "We're going to have to put up some significant protection spells," Lily said as she handed Sirius a potion to drink. "I hope you don't mind."
"Of course not. But you'd better put some up at your place as well. This is the second time you've crossed Voldemort."
"Third, actually," Lily sighed.
"What?"
She looked guilty. "It was right after Remus's mother was killed. We didn't tell you because you had so much else on your mind."
"Lily! PRONGS!"
"He and Peter took the Longbottoms back to their flat," Lily said primly. "He can't hear you. Now, how do you feel?"
"Stop trying to change the subject, Evans," Sirius growled.
"Same to you, Black. How do you feel?"
"If I can forget about the reaction I'm going to get from Moody tomorrow, not that bad," Sirius admitted. "Better than I should."
"Liar."
"Well, yes."
There was a crack, and James and Peter stood in the room. James was disheveled and worn, and there were dark circles under Peter's eyes. "Are they home?" Lily asked.
"They are. We should get Sirius home as well," Peter said.
"And when we find him, I want to know where the hell Remus has been all this time," James snarled. "When he was hurt-"
"James," Sirius tried to interrupt.
"No. This isn't right. When he was hurt you-"
"Prongs."
"Padfoot. This isn't how it works."
"It is when we're at war. There's an explanation, and it's probably not good."
James opened his mouth to argue, but Lily laid a hand on his arm. "Sirius really needs to sleep, James. And so do we."
"After the spells are up on that flat," James said.
With James on one side and Peter on the other, Sirius eased himself out of the bed. He was dizzy and sore, and he was grateful for the presence of his two best friends. "I'm ready," he said.
"All right. Hang on, Padfoot." James put his arm around Sirius's waist, and then Apparated.
The flat had never looked so good to Sirius before. He closed his eyes with relief when he saw the dirty dishes in the sink, the papers spread out on the table, and the sunlight slanting in through unbroken window panes.
"Lily will have my hide if I don't get you straight to your bed," James said with a forced laugh.
"I don't care. She's right. Can you...?" he couldn't finish the sentence, but he didn't have to. James understood. They began to walk to the bedroom. "James?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For being there. For saving my arse."
"Just remember it," James said, all false bravado.
"And thank you, too, for not saying you told me so."
James just smiled.
They had reached the bedroom door, and they both stopped short.
"Well, I'll be buggered," James breathed.
Remus was in the bed, fast asleep. His face was drawn and white, and a lock of his hair had turned completely gray.
The problem is, of course, that the last time I posted in AIL was about 6 months ago. So, with that in mind, I present...
There was a hot, dull ache behind Remus's eyes. "I'm going." Sirius muttered something in response. "What was that?"
"I don't like that you're actually grateful to the Death Eaters."
"What?!"
"You want to go! I can tell! You're excited about this trip!"
"Well, yes, if you want the truth! But that doesn't mean-"
"It does too! It means that the Death Eaters are doing something for you that I can't do!"
"Yes, they're sending me on a mission that goes against everything I believe in, and I have to go because you know what? I don't care about the damn reliquary but the person I'm going with is hovering on the edge, and if I keep after him maybe I can get him to help US. I am not trying to save the world anymore, Sirius! I am trying to save one single soul!"
"And what good does that do, when you might lose yours?"
"It is important!"
"How important can it be?"
"Important enough that Dumbledore wants me to continue!"
"That's not good enough!"
***
"This is the second time you've put a fellow Auror at risk," Doge said to Sirius. "I would like to hear your reason for this time. What happened?"
Sirius glanced around. All four faces were expressionless and stony. "It wasn't like last time," he began. "I was reading a case file and all of a sudden... well, I guess you'd call it a flashback." Even he cringed at how silly that sounded when he said it. "I was caught up in my thoughts and when Alice touched my shoulder, I didn't really think. I just reacted."
"Constant vigilance," Moody said, nodding.
"Not funny. And not necessary in the Ministry," Mulciber said sulkily. "Particularly in the Auror Headquarters,"
"Except there's someone trying to do in Aurors, and it looks like an inside job," Moody growled.
"Well, I'd say we have our most likely suspect. He tried to kill Longbottom and stunned... well, Longbottom."
"Ridiculous," Damien said, his voice low and threatening. "It was established that Sirius was under the Imperious curse last time, and this sounds like a psychological issue."
***
They were running, Remus and Regulus, running through the streets of Leningrad. Remus stumbled over a curb, and Regulus reached down to grab his arm, pulling him roughly to his feet. Their breath came in harsh sobs.
They stumbled into a park, and Regulus was the one to collapse on a bench. Remus bent over, hands on his knees as he gasped for air.
"We have to keep going," he said.
"Five of them," Regulus said, and there was a sob in his voice. "We killed five of them."
"I know." Somewhere deep inside, Remus was screaming. "But they would have killed us. We know that, Regulus." But Remus was shaking.
He'd killed two, in fear for both his life and Regulus's. He had never killed before. Not as a werewolf, not in the alley the night he and Lily were attacked, and not that night in his home, when his mother died, although there it was merely a lack of opportunity. He'd killed- something he'd tried his entire life not to do. And yet, that wasn't something he could think about now.
"We've got to get out of here," he said, standing up and putting his hands on his head, still trying to catch his breath. The spring breeze was cold against his sweat soaked shirt. "Regulus, we've got bigger problems."
Regulus looked up. "What do you mean?"
"Didn't you notice anything odd about the way they accosted us?"
Regulus's brow furrowed in thought as he replayed the scene, and Remus could see the precise moment where it all clicked together. "They spoke English," he said, suddenly. "They didn't even try Russian."
"Exactly," Remus said. "They knew we were coming."
***
The thing about Frank Longbottom was he could be incredibly stubborn when he set his mind to something. He wasn't one to back down, unless perhaps Alice was doing the asking (and probably bribing him with sexual favors.) Which was why Sirius was shocked when, that afternoon, Frank stopped by his desk.
"I have Black's case file for you," he said, dropping it on the desk.
Sirius looked up in surprise. "But you said-"
"I have the case file for you," Frank ground out between his teeth. Then he turned and walked away.
Sirius opened it. Contrary to what Moody and Doge and everyone else believed, he wasn't actually trying to get on the case. It was just... it had been so long since he'd seen Regulus. Unbidden, memories came to his mind and for long moments he was locked in his childhood, laughing and arguing with his brother.
The picture was a recent one. Sirius hadn't seen Regulus with his hair cut so short, only an inch from the scalp. The severe style accentuated his sculpted features and ice blue eyes, and made him look years older than he was. And harder, for that matter. Like a face on a wanted poster, except for the eyes. Sirius picked the file up for a closer look, and a piece of paper fluttered to the floor.
He hadn't meant to look at it- not really. But the date caught his eye. June 15, 1980. Today. He looked at the paper, written in Frank's neat block case. It was a page of Frank's notes, and stated that Regulus would be in the Sterling Artesa- a high-class Wizarding bar that Sirius knew Voldemort's followers frequented.
He stared at the memo for a long time, and then scribbled down the time and place.
***
"I'm ready," he said. "I've got everything I need, except one thing."
"What's that?"
"I need you to take an Unbreakable Vow."
Ice flooded Remus's throat and stomach. "I'll do no such thing."
Regulus met his eyes evenly. "Yes, you will."
"What makes you think that?"
Regulus's eyes weren't gray, but they reminded Remus of steel anyway. "I need to be sure I can trust you to do what I say, without question."
"What are you going to ask me to do?" Remus said, wary. Regulus just stared him down, and Remus sighed. "You can't tell me that. Otherwise you wouldn't ask me to make an Unbreakable Vow." Regulus nodded tightly. "How would we do it? We need a bonder."
"My father is here."
"He'd remember me."
"No. He wouldn't." Regulus's words were clipped short. "I need to you do it."
Remus broke the gaze and looked out the window again. "Can't you trust me?" he asked.
"I don't," Regulus admitted.
"Fine," Remus sighed, and his soul twisted. "I'll trust you."
***
A trap. How could he have been so stupid? Now that he was here, he could see it clear as day. Frank never would have given him that folder unless he either wanted him to see that note or he was forced to; he wasn't sure which thought was worse. And fuck it, even James had figured it out, and he wasn't the bloody Auror! Sirius strained every muscle, but the Body-bind held him tight. And in front of him, Voldemort ran long, white fingers up and down his wand.
"Sirius Black," he said, more to the assembled Death Eaters than Sirius himself. In fact, he turned his back on Sirius, which caused him to curse silently that he'd been so stupid as to get himself caught in a body-bind.
"It is a pity," Voldemort continued, "that Black is not here to watch his brother die. But still, it will serve as an admirable lesson in what happens to those who are not loyal to me." He smiled. "Of course, I intend to have Black killed as well. But not for a while yet. Crucio."
Sirius's world exploded into pain.
Somewhere, some coherent part of his mind whispered that both Remus and James had endured this as well. He could bear this. He could be strong.
But they could at least scream.
***
That was as much as Sirius thought before he saw the misshapen robed figure with a rag across her face and a wand out.
He'd seen people dressed like that in Voldemort's service once or twice- people without masks, but with deep hoods, cowls, or veils of some sort covering their faces. Of course, "people" wasn't how they were generally listed in the Auror files, but years of association with Remus made Sirius check certain assumptions. But no werewolf, banshee, vampire, or other dark creature had the shape that the one- no, two, he realized, as he spotted another- had. Swollen at the front to a disproportionate shape, both of them. Of all Order members to answer the distress signal James must have sent....
"Oh, Merlin, no," he whispered.
He wanted to run forward and throw them both out of the way, or yell at them to leave. But his knees buckled and the room spun red, and from behind him he heard Bellatrix yelling, "Crucio!," and then pain took him again. A hand grabbed his arm and he felt a shaft of fire through him as his world jerked sideways, and then he knew nothing more.
***
They were back in Regulus's childhood bedroom, with the old Hogwarts robe and the centerfold witch and the neatly made single bed. Remus helped Regulus into the bed and lit a lamp. The dim glow didn't do much to illuminate the room, but rather served to accentuate the shadows that lurked in the corners.
"What do you want me to do?" Remus asked.
Regulus shook his head. "Just stay while I sleep."
"Can't I go?" Remus pleaded. "I'll come back. But Sirius-"
"No, you can't." Regulus lay back. "If something happened in between-"
"Nothing will happen. No one knows where Sirius and James are. No one knows where you are."
"I don't care." The light from the lamp flared, and Remus could see the harsh lines under Regulus's eyes had deepened, cutting into his young face. With a start, he also noticed tinges of gray in the black hair. "Remus, this is too important to risk anything. Do you understand me?"
Remus thought of Sirius, hurt and possibly dying in the Shrieking Shack. Then he thought of Voldemort, reduced to ruin. If there was anything Sirius Black would die for, it was that. He sighed and sat down next to the bed.
"So what exactly did you do? I saw the locket."
"You are nosy. Let's just say I gave Voldemort my resignation letter."
"Really?"
Regulus was wearing a twisted smile. There was a dark humor in that smile, but bitterness, anger, and regret as well. Remus hoped he'd never see another one like it. "It goes something like this: Dear Voldemort, fuck you. Love, Regulus."
Remus stared at him for a long moment. "I was wrong," he finally said, with the hint of a laugh. "You're a lot like Sirius."
"No, I'm not. But thank you."
***
"Right." Regulus cautiously swung his feet out of the bed. "Right," he repeated.
"What's going to happen next?" Remus asked.
"You'll be fine, I suppose, as long as you keep your wits about you. You might feel the effects of the potion for a few days, but it will fade."
"And you? You claimed you were dying."
"I will be," Regulus said. "I'm going to destroy the locket and then I am going to leave here. I am going to let them find me, although I won't let it look that way." He handed a note to Remus. "You will give this to Macnair. Tell him your conscience won't let you keep it, because you are a faithful servant to the Dark Lord. That will keep them off your tail. I wrote it down for you."
"I'll remember," Remus said, offended.
"No. You won't."
Oh. He should have known. "And you?" he pressed, ignoring the subject of a Memory Charm for now. "Why are you doing this? Why not come over to Dumbledore's side?"
"Do you know what Sirius was doing tonight?"
Remus blinked. "No."
"They set a trap for him. They're going to kill him, as a lesson to me. And then my father, and then my mother." Regulus was stone-faced, his voice was flat. "That's why we had to do this tonight. Sirius can handle himself. My parents can't."
"So you're going to-"
"Let them catch me and kill me before they can hurt my family. Yes."
Remus had to look away, because somehow he didn't think Regulus would appreciate the tears that flooded his eyes. But Regulus saw, and reached out and touched his hand.
"Thank you."
Remus wiped at his eyes. "I wish I could say I'll always remember this."
Regulus made a sound of regret. "I wish you could, too."
***
It was midmorning by the time Sirius woke up. The sunlight slanted in through the boards over the windows of the Shrieking Shack, and for a moment Sirius could almost imagine he was back at Hogwarts. "We're going to have to put up some significant protection spells," Lily said as she handed Sirius a potion to drink. "I hope you don't mind."
"Of course not. But you'd better put some up at your place as well. This is the second time you've crossed Voldemort."
"Third, actually," Lily sighed.
"What?"
She looked guilty. "It was right after Remus's mother was killed. We didn't tell you because you had so much else on your mind."
"Lily! PRONGS!"
"He and Peter took the Longbottoms back to their flat," Lily said primly. "He can't hear you. Now, how do you feel?"
"Stop trying to change the subject, Evans," Sirius growled.
"Same to you, Black. How do you feel?"
"If I can forget about the reaction I'm going to get from Moody tomorrow, not that bad," Sirius admitted. "Better than I should."
"Liar."
"Well, yes."
There was a crack, and James and Peter stood in the room. James was disheveled and worn, and there were dark circles under Peter's eyes. "Are they home?" Lily asked.
"They are. We should get Sirius home as well," Peter said.
"And when we find him, I want to know where the hell Remus has been all this time," James snarled. "When he was hurt-"
"James," Sirius tried to interrupt.
"No. This isn't right. When he was hurt you-"
"Prongs."
"Padfoot. This isn't how it works."
"It is when we're at war. There's an explanation, and it's probably not good."
James opened his mouth to argue, but Lily laid a hand on his arm. "Sirius really needs to sleep, James. And so do we."
"After the spells are up on that flat," James said.
With James on one side and Peter on the other, Sirius eased himself out of the bed. He was dizzy and sore, and he was grateful for the presence of his two best friends. "I'm ready," he said.
"All right. Hang on, Padfoot." James put his arm around Sirius's waist, and then Apparated.
The flat had never looked so good to Sirius before. He closed his eyes with relief when he saw the dirty dishes in the sink, the papers spread out on the table, and the sunlight slanting in through unbroken window panes.
"Lily will have my hide if I don't get you straight to your bed," James said with a forced laugh.
"I don't care. She's right. Can you...?" he couldn't finish the sentence, but he didn't have to. James understood. They began to walk to the bedroom. "James?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For being there. For saving my arse."
"Just remember it," James said, all false bravado.
"And thank you, too, for not saying you told me so."
James just smiled.
They had reached the bedroom door, and they both stopped short.
"Well, I'll be buggered," James breathed.
Remus was in the bed, fast asleep. His face was drawn and white, and a lock of his hair had turned completely gray.
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Date: 2007-02-01 06:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-02 12:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-02 07:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-02 03:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-02 03:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-02 03:15 pm (UTC)