~*~A Special Place~*~
by Hatter of Madness

"Why is Moony sitting alone in a graveyard?" was Sirius's first thought when he saw the sight.

At first, he simply assumed that Remus was depressed, and thus, looking at gravestones was his way of coping. But there seemed to be definitely something wrong, and he couldn't put his finger on what. Suddenly, Remus stood and placed a hand on the stone, then walked away and up the hill.

One way or another, Sirius planned on discovering Remus's secret. Everyday, the boy went to the nearly empty cemetery—Sirius couldn't help but feel a sense of sympathy for the people who had been laid to rest there; other than for funerals, it seemed that Remus was the only one who bothered to come—and sat there for precisely fifteen minutes, stood and felt the smooth surface of a tombstone, and left.

Some days, he even brought flowers that he put on every grave, ending at the exact same one each day and sitting on the ground and just staring at the slab. One time he even took his jacket off and sat on it. Maybe there was some sort of tranquility to Remus for being there. After all, the 'real world problems' that the frail boy saw in everyday life could easily be sobered by sitting on the ground in front of a tombstone, right?

Whatever his reason was, Sirius's curiosity was piqued, something that did not happen often.

Finally wanting to get to the bottom of it, Sirius waited for Remus to make the familiar trip for the twenty-first time up the walk to the graveyard, at precisely one fifteen in the afternoon like he always did. That day, he did not have flowers; he made the trip completely empty handed. He did not even have a jacket to sit on that day.

Sirius boldly started to follow at a safe distance; he didn't want to be seen by the werewolf. Remus walked into the cemetery like it was nothing, making his usual rounds and going to each and every tomb. Up close, Sirius noticed that he actually stopped and talked to each stone, even if it was a simple, "Good day, Gracie," or "Here I am, Laverne, right on time," and the occasional "Lovely weather, isn't it, Mr. Jones?"

Not daring to disrupt him, Sirius stood in the shadows, waiting. Finally, Remus turned and saw the usual stone and froze, almost as though contemplating to go up to it or not. He finally did, sitting cross legged on the ground like always. He was unusually quiet in comparison to the others.

Changing his mind before his friend could notice his presence, Sirius stood and ran for home. That was not the day.

The next day, however, Sirius's curiosity got to be the better of him and he went outside, waiting for Remus to pass, ignoring his mother's shouts and demands to know where he was going. This was more important to him.

That day he did not attempt to hide the fact that he was waiting for Remus. When the werewolf came up, Sirius went up to him saying, "Hey—Moony!"

Remus froze in horror; upon seeing Sirius, he tried to lighten his mood, but failing. He was noticeably uncomfortable. "Hello, Sirius," he greeted, refusing to move any closer to the graveyard.

"Where are you going, Moony?" No need to let him know he had been spying.

"Nowhere." He shrugged. "Just—a walk. You? I haven't seen you in a while."

"Oh, I've been around." The sixteen-year-old Sirius was going to win this; Remus was going to show him what he thought was so important in that cemetery that he went there everyday. "Are you sure you aren't going anywhere?"

"I—I'm sure," Remus said, "I just—well—needed to see someone. That's all."

"Oh?" He wondered if that someone was named Gracie or Laverne or Mr. Jones. "Can I meet them?"

Ignoring the question—or so he thought—Remus began to fidget. "Would you like to go with me somewhere? To a special place? I'm running a little bit late, you see, and they won't like it if I'm late, I don't think."

Forgetting all about the cemetery, Sirius asked, "A special place? What kind of a special place?"

"I can show you," Remus said timidly, looking at his shoes, "but…Sirius, you'd have to keep it between us. I wouldn't want anyone else to know about this, not even James or Peter. I…don't think they'd understand, the way that you would. It's a really special place, to me anyway. If they knew, it wouldn't be so special." He shifted his feet uncomfortably, placing one on top of the other.

"I'm special enough for it?"

"Of course. You're my best friend, and…I trust you. So, do you want to see the special place?"

Sirius nodded, following Remus and wondering what special place it was. They continued down the cobblestone path towards the village, but instead of carrying on the fork in the road that would take them there, Remus turned onto the dirt encrusted street that he took everyday. It had to be coincidence, Sirius thought. The place that Remus was going to seemed to be very, very important.

That was why he was surprised when Remus turned up at the graveyard again, hesitating before entering the green place. "I think I'm the only person who ever comes here," he said quietly. "They don't like to be alone. At least, I wouldn't like to be. So…this is it."

"This graveyard is it?"

"Yeah. It's…complicated. You'll see." He walked in, Sirius hot on his heels. As usual, he went to every stone, saying, "Hello, Gracie, it's me. This is Sirius. Sirius, meet Laverne. Laverne…Sirius. How are you today, Mr. Jones? I brought a new friend for you, this is Sirius." On and on they went, going to each stone except the one that Remus spent most of his time at. Finally, Remus said, "So, yeah. This is it. But there's one more, and that's what I meant about this place being special. If you want to see it you can. So, yeah."

Sirius knew that when Remus was especially nervous or upset, he would say those famous two words: "So, yeah." Taking his silence as an invitation, Remus brought him over to the final stone, taking a deep breath before getting on the ground. Sirius was horror struck when he read the slab:

Timothy R. Lupin

6 January 1952 - 18 July 1967

A loving son, friend, and brother.

Rest in Peace.

At the top of the stone was what appeared to be a circle.

"Is that…" Sirius said, his words coming out in a whisper.

Before Remus could register his words, Remus said, "Timothy, I brought someone for you to meet. I know you two would get along if you knew each other. He's one of my best friends, Timothy, and he's wicked amazing at, well, at everything. So, yeah. This is my mate, Sirius. Sirius…this is my brother." A single tear pushed its way to the surface of his amber colored eyes.

"I didn't know you had a brother, Moony."

"He died when I was seven. We, uh…I was attacked by Greyback after my dad insulted him, you see, that's why I'm a werewolf. And Timothy was attacked, too. But…he was attacked and died trying to save me. That's why I'm only a werewolf, because it should have been a lot worse. So, yeah. That circle at the top is supposed to be a full moon, but that kind of stuff is sort of hard to put on stones." He took a pause. "So, Sirius. This is my older brother. He was only fifteen. No one ever really visits him, unfortunately."

"Not even your parents?"

He shook his head. "They don't know I come out here everyday, you see. They like to pretend it never happened."

"That's horrible."

"Kind of," he said, shrugging. "I mean, well…we always were really, really close. He was always watching out for me, and protecting me. Taking care of me. So, yeah. I miss…that. Having someone watch out for me that much. So, yeah." A silence followed.

"This is where you go everyday, Moony?"

"I just know what it's like to be…well, to be lonely." There was another long, subdued silence, lasting for several minutes, then Remus broke it and said, "Timothy, remember what I told you a while ago? I thought you'd understand. When I told you I was…well…playing for the wrong team?" Sirius had no idea that Remus was gay; this was a shock for him. Apparently, Remus realized this because he seemed hesitant to say it in Sirius's presence. He couldn't fathom why; Sirius had been 'out of the closet' for almost two years as it was. "I thought you'd understand, because you always loved me, and I've known about this for a long time. Sirius is the same way, Timothy. We're both that way. I just thought I'd let you know that this is the boy I'm always talking about, my school friend. So, yeah. Now you two know each other."

Remus's tears threatened to spill over, but he kept them at bay. Sirius looked between Remus and the tombstone, then finally, when Remus's tears grew to sniffles and very red eyes, he put a hand on the werewolf's shoulder and said, "Thank you for show—introducing me, Moony. This really is a special place."

"Thanks, Sirius," Remus said quietly. "I'm sorry I haven't said much lately, Tim. There…hasn't really been anything to say. I wanted to tell you so much, but I just thought that maybe you already knew. You were…good that way." He took a moment to take a deep breath, then said, "So, yeah. Thanks, Sirius." He sat up on his knees and, surprising Sirius, kissed the stone. "I love you, Timothy. Really, really love you. You were the best big brother. And I miss you like hell, too. So, yeah. Stay safe up there with the angels, okay? And…save me a spot." With that, he stood, putting a hand on the stone, then turning to Sirius with bloodshot eyes.

"You really…are a good mate, Sirius." His tears no longer threatened to spill any longer—they were running like a faucet. "I've never trusted someone this much before. I…I should be going." He walked away. As soon as he thought he was out of sight, he pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket to dry his eyes with.

Sirius stood next to Timothy's final resting place, watching. Remus continued down the dirt path. When Sirius could see him no longer, he took Remus's spot on the ground.

"Hey, Tim," he said, as though it were James he was talking to. "It's Sirius. And yes, that's really my name, so no funny business up there, 'kay? And no, my middle name is not Lee. I've heard enough jokes about that to last a lifetime. But hey, your brother…he's pretty cool. And he's wicked handsome, too. You were about his age, right? Were you that fit?" He shook his head. He was talking to a corpse; that was not the time to compare looks. "Anyway, your brother is a good kid. And it sounds like he told you all about me and how much he loves me or whatever. Well…I love your brother, too. And since you're gone, I promise I'll take care of him, because someone has to.

"How about a deal? I'll take care of your brother, but you have to do something for me." He stood. "Give them hell for me, Tim."

Okay I have NO IDEA where this idea came from, and mind, it only took about thirty-five minutes to write while usually my one shots take hours at a time, lol, but I guess this was fun to write regardless. It's also almost 12:30 AM, so I'm going to bed soon. Sorry if this doesn't make sense, I've been really sleep deprived as of late. Please review?

- Hatter of Madness