Welcome Home

A Remus Lupin/Sirius Black Story

By Ella Agathon

Part of him had always wondered if he'd live to see the end, if he'd manage to somehow stare Death in the face and tell him to 'Stick it!'

Another part of him doubted it. As James had so frequently reminded him, he'd been rather terrible at telling off his friends, let alone Death.

And there was yet another part… a tiny part that wished for death to come.

He'd already lost so much. His best friends, the love of his life.

So why should he bother with living out the rest of his days, completely alone?

But he was never one to give up. If he'd been a quitter, he'd have never survived the monthly transformations, he'd never have had the amazing friends, he'd never have made it this far.

He wasn't a quitter, not by any means. If he was going to die, he was going to go down fighting. If he wasn't going to live to see the war end, he was going to make damn sure that he did everything he possibly could to ensure that end would eventually come, sooner rather than later.

"Remus?" a soft voice called to him. "Remus?"

"Li-Lily?" he asked, opening his eyes.

The red-head smiled down at him happily.

"Hey Remus," she said.

"Wha-What happened?" he asked, not understanding. "Where am I?"

"Does it matter?" she asked. "All that matter's is that you're here."

"But what…? I was fighting Bellatrix," he finally remembered.

Lily smiled sadly.

"I'm… I'm dead then, aren't I?"

"You did your best," she said. "Now come on, I've got some people for you to see."

She led him out of the soft, cushy bed he woke up in, out of the small, quaint room, and into a field of bright green grass. The sky was perfectly clear, the sun shining just bright enough, not a cloud in the sky.

"Hello Moony," a voice said from behind him. He turned and grinned. James.

"Hey," he replied, as they embraced.

"It's good to see you," James said, letting go.

"Remus," Sirius said, grinning merrily.

Remus took in a sharp breath and grinned bigger than ever before, tears threatening to fall. He hugged Sirius tightly, not planning to let go any time soon.

"Welcome home Moony," Sirius whispered in his ear. "Welcome home."