Team: Ballycastle Bats

Position: Reserve Seeker

Song: I'll Never Smile Again - Tommy Dorsey

Word Count: 1040

Remus looked at the house, it had definitely seen better days, then again, so had Remus. He hadn't been back since the day Alastor Moody had come to find Sirius- not that he stayed long enough to even explain why.

Moody had burst in, yelling out for the traitorous mutt. Remus, at the time, assumed it was just one of his tricks he had set up for Halloween. That was the last time Moony smiled, laughing at the antics of the Auror who had been stuck in charge of the Marauders.

It wasn't exactly a rare occurrence, but Moody had never been quite this upset by any of their pranks before, not since the first few times they caught him. Constant vigilance was important after all.

That day was different- Moody seemed almost ready to murder Sirius. He wondered which of the traps Moody had sprung that had ended him covered in dust and that angry.

The next day, Remus had to agree with Moody. He was staring at the paper and couldn't believe the headline.

Sirius Black, Murderer.

He looked mad in the photo as three Aurors held his screaming body between them. He wasn't fighting, but he was far from going peacefully.

For the first time since he was bitten as a child, his magic flared up, and every bit of glass in the entire house shattered.

It looked like people had been around, but no one had bothered to repair the windows beyond pushing all the remaining shards out of the panes

The now faded green door almost broke his heart, he thought to the day they had found it, Sirius was practically bouncing around in the middle of the aisle. They didn't quite have enough for it; Sirius' inheritance from his Uncle Alphard was stretching a bit too thin for these types of purchases. But the man's silver eyes had a way of wearing down the werewolf.

And so, they moved the green door home, laughing with each other as the Muggles stared at the strange pair lugging a green wooden door on the tube. They were slightly used to the strange looks since Sirius was never one to shy away from awkward displays of affection no matter where they were.

This time though, Sirius wasn't the only one laughing and making a scene. Remus had ended up clutching his sides as they tried to maneuver the door up the stairs when they reached their stop. It took them almost an hour to walk the block home with all the breaks they took for laughter.

James had been sitting on their steps, holding a ring box, barely aware of the two very loud men approaching.

"Prongs, mate, what's up?"

He just held up the box in response. Of course, they knew that James had been planning to propose the previous day, they had assumed it all went well since he hadn't shown up sobbing the day before she had said yes this time.

But now…

"Did she say no again?"

He flipped it open, it was empty.

"Did she say yes?"

He nodded at the pair and Sirius had let the door go to swoop in to give James a hug- leaving Remus to try to catch the door without any warning. He really didn't want to have to replace parts on a brand new door that he didn't even like.

"So, what exactly has you looking like she slapped you?" Remus prodded, hoping to move this conversation on so they could hang the new door.

"I… I didn't think she'd agree."

"Well, she probably shouldn't have but help me get this door on and we'll get you some firewhisky and figure it out."

"Yeah, okay… but… green?"

Sirius let out one of his infectious smiles before laughing out "The Death Eaters will just pass right on by! What Gryffindor would ever have this on their house?"

Remus' lip twitched as that bit of the memory came to him, muttering to the empty house about how they would've passed up the house anyway since a death eater lived there.

He snorted at the irony. It was a bitter, painful sound caught in the back of his throat.

The house looked like it had died right along with their love. It was dirty, the paint was peeling, everything was torn to pieces, and someone had thrown their nightstand onto the porch above the front door.

It was the first thing Sirius had found when they were preparing to move from the cramped flat they had shared for a few months right out of Hogwarts.

He had come rushing into the flat one morning on the way home from the bar he had worked at while waiting to hear back on the Auror program.

"MOONY! MOONY! MOOOOOONY! MOONBEAM!"

"Sirius, it's far too early. Someone better be injured for you to be waking me up."

"No, it so much better! I found the piece that will lead us to our new house."

Remus closed his eyes, trying to figure out if his ridiculous boyfriend would drop it or if he would require an answer. A few seconds later, the bed dipped as Sirius crawled over to pull off all the blankets.

"Fine, show me this miracle, Pads."

He held up a small table with little hearts on the legs, nothing fancy, just slats across the top in a simple blue. But the look on Sirius' face was just so loving.

"I just couldn't pass it up. I saw it and I just pictured you laying your book down on it when we turn off the lights and snuggle in together. See, there's a perfect little spot here to keep your bookmarks. And it's slanted so you know I won't leave my drink on it."

Remus just took the nightstand from him and hugged Sirius. He knew at that moment he wouldn't ever love someone else- Sirius might not be perfect, but he was obviously perfect for him.

But now, there was a broken house that showed his broken heart.

There was nothing left for him of the home he once shared with Sirius. It had disappeared when Sirius had gone, along with his smile.