The headlines of the newspapers, both muggle and wizard alike, stood out to him;
'VOLDEMORT MEETS HIS DOWNFALL'
'FAMILY MURDERED, BABY LEFT ALIVE'
Remus John Lupin, knew that two of his best friends, James and Lily, had been in hiding. They had put their trust into someone, he wasn't sure who, and that person had betrayed them. Remus wanted nothing more than to curl up and forget everything, or go back in time and beg to be the Secret Keeper.
Sirius had arranged to come around to see him, they needed to plan James' funeral.
Knock, knock.
'That can't be him,' Remus thought to himself, frowning as he stood from the chair.
"Sirius, what are you-" Remus cut off as he realised it was not his best friend at his door, but two muggle men. 'Please-men,' Remus thought.
"Can I help you?" He asked, swallowing his earlier concern.
"I am, Detective Constable Jones, and this is my colleague, Police Constable Stewart. May we come in?" The small, round one asked. Remus nodded, stepping aside. His thoughts were eating away at him, as he wondered idly if they knew what he was, and wanted to experiment.
"Friend of James Potter?" The taller one asked, inviting himself to a seat in the living room.
"Yes," Remus replied, confusion growing.
"We have been told to inform you, by a Mister Dumbledore, that-"
"Professor," Remus interjected.
"Professor Dumbledore," the police-man went on, "That your friend was killed-"
"I already know," he said, monotone.
The police man fell silent.
"Professor Dumbledore will come and see you shortly," the smaller one added, rising, motioning for his colleague to do the same.
"Thank you," Remus said politely, watching them leave.
'What a waste of time that was,' he thought.
Knock, knock.
"Ah, Sirius. You'll never guess who just-"
Remus stopped again as he saw Professor Dumbledore.
"Come on in, Professor," he said too late. For Albus had already walked past Remus, looking grim.
"I do not doubt that you know what has happened," Albus said.
"Of course," Remus clarified, "Who was their-"
"Sirius Black."
Remus felt empty. How could his best friend have been the one to hand over his friends. Remus couldn't believe it. His best friend, the one that had sworn to always be by his side.
Remus sniffed, unaware than tears had been rolling down his cheeks, fast and steady.
"Why?" he asked.
Albus merely shook his head, having no answer.
Unable to contain himself, Remus walked out of the room, uncharacteristically slamming the door as he went, throwing himself into the dining room chair, his head on the table.
A soft hand on his shoulder made Remus look up, his heart broke again when he saw Albus looking back at him, holding a tea towel. The mass of tears flooding down Remus' face was too much for a simple tissue.
He took the towel gratefully, but was unable to feel grateful, as such.
He was empty.
The one person he had trusted. The one person he remembered sitting out in the rain with, as he swore never to leave him, had left him.
Who did he have now?
No one.
And so he continued to cry, as he had upon hearing of his friends' deaths, but more so, because he had lost another.
"Where is Peter?" he managed to say.
There was a heavy silence, in which Remus knew, before Albus replied, "Dead."
For now, Remus was alone, and so he spent the night, in the empty room, which he had once shared, with his friend.
Every time he heard a noise outside, he went over to the window, to see if it was one of his friends returning. Of course, it wasn't.
Nothing was the same, after that day. He never cried again, for he had rid himself of his emotions, more or less. When others asked if he was okay, he just looked back blankly, plastering a smile on his face and replied 'Yes.'
No one had reason to suspect, they just went on. Nothing had changed for them.
But for Remus, everything had changed.
Nothing was ever the same again.
Ever.