All he remembered was pain, wrenching pain. Blinding pain. Then it was gone. There was nothing. No scars, no pain. Peace. Only peace. He felt himself go numb. His body was gone. In its place was only him at his prime: seventeen, with an unlined face and brown hair not yet streaked with gray. He didn't feel alive, exactly. But certainly he wasn't dead. After all, wasn't he analyzing his situation right then?
"Moony? Oh my god!"
"Padfoot?"
Sure enough, Sirius was bounding toward him. His body was older than Lupin's, though not by much. It was Sirius before Azkaban, Sirius back when he was whole. Not bothering to think, Lupin seized his friend into a tight hug.
"Is it really you?" he asked finally.
"Yes. James and Lily are here, too. They should be along any moment now."
"So then, I must be… we must be…"
"Yeah. We've all died."
"What is this place?"
"The dead never leave," said another voice. It was calm and wise sounding. Dumbledore. "We're always with the living."
"We're ghosts?"
"A ghost can interact with and be seen by the living. We are more of guardians, silent guardians. We can't watch or interfere, but we nonetheless guard the living."
"Moony? Lily, Moony's here!" This was James's voice, so much like his son's. Holding Lily's hand, James raced over to embrace Lupin. They both looked to be about seventeen.
"James! Lily!"
Overcome with emotion, Lupin watched them dazedly. Never had he imagined that he would see his friends again. When he finally snapped out of his reverie, Lupin looked around. He was surprised to see them at Hogwarts. They were inside Gryffindor Tower: sight of many of their most memorable hours.
"Dora," he said suddenly. "Where is she?"
"Who?" James looked at him blankly.
"My wife."
"Your wife? Wait a second. By Dora, do you by any chance mean my cousin-once-removed Nymphadora Tonks?"
"Sirius. How many times do I have to tell you, do not ever, and I mean ever, call me Nymphadora!"
"Dora! You're here, you can see us, and so does that mean…"
"Yeah, they got me in the end. I think you died just a second before I did, but I went to see Daddy first. You know what this means, don't you? We're together forever, Remus. Nothing can ever tear us apart now."
"I know, honey. I know." She fell into his arms, and he pulled her close.
"Moony, cut the sap! You haven't introduced us to your wife yet." That was James.
"James!" Lily admonished, "Give them a moment."
"No, don't give them a moment! I want to know how my favorite cousin's daughter got hitched with my werewolf best friend!" Sirius said.
Lupin laughed. "Everybody, this is my wife, Dora."
"Who prefers to be known only by her maiden name, which is Tonks," she added.
"Sirius, as to how your favorite cousin's daughter got hitched with your werewolf best friend, that's a long story. Dora, would you like to tell it or shall I?"
"I will. We were in the Order together, and then we fell in love not long after you died, Sirius. It was another year before Remus decided to quit being a proud, stupid git—"
"Dora," he interjected, "do you really have to word it exactly like that?"
"Yes. You were being a proud, stupid git and you know it."
He sighed. "Okay, I agree. I was a proud, stupid git. But aren't we ready to put that all behind us?"
"Yes, but I thought we should give your friends the full details. Anyway, we all managed to turn him around in the end. So we eloped on the spur of the moment. All was well, except for the war and stuff. But that didn't matter, because we had each other."
"That's so sweet!" said Lily. "I'd hoped Remus would end up with someone. I always thought he deserved it."
"That's not the end, though. You won't ever believe what happened next."
"Let me guess," said Sirius. "You had a neon blue wolf cub who changes to pink when he sneezes?"
"No we didn't!" said Tonks indignantly. "After Remus here was finished running away again, we had a beautiful baby boy who can't quite control his Metamorphogus powers yet."
Sirius snorted. "Same thing!" he said.
"Padfoot!"
"Sorry, Lils. Sorry."
She sighed and rolled her eyes. "I'm so glad you're here, Tonks," said Lily. "I need someone to help me keep the Marauders in line."
"Don't worry, Lily. Dora is good at that," said Lupin.
"Beta male, huh?" said James sympathetically. Lupin nodded. "Tough luck, mate."
"Hey!" said Lily and Tonks in unison.
"But you love being beaten around, Prongs. Admit it!" said Sirius, grinning.
"Yes, I do. Almost as much as you did when you and Moony went out."
"Wait. What?" asked Tonks.
Lupin sighed. He hadn't really been planning on telling Tonks about how he and Sirius had been together for several years.
"Sirius and I were together for a few years. We didn't really tell anyone about it. Then, James sort of guessed. Of course he's teased us mercilessly ever since."
"Especially since," James snickered, "Moony was always bossing Sirius around. In the end it was just puppy love and they tired of doing it doggy."
Lily rolled her eyes. "Sometimes I think when they go back to being young after death, they lose the ounce of maturity that they ever had. So anyway, Tonks. Have you met Harry?"
"Of course! You'd be proud of him. He's a brilliant wizard, all around a good kid."
Lily leaned conspiratorially toward Tonks. "Does he have a girlfriend?" she asked.
"No, but almost. A redhead, if you could imagine. Ginny Weasley."
"Ginny Weasley? Molly and Arthur's daughter?"
Tonks nodded.
"Wonderful! I've always loved that family."
The Marauders were watching the women converse. "And they say we're immature!" said Sirius. "There they go, gossiping like a bunch of schoolgirls."
"Not gossiping. Just talking."
"Sorry to break up your talking, but Dobby the House-Elf recently joined the cooking squad here and I'm eager to try out what he's made us."
"We have food here? But we're dead!" Lupin pointed out.
"Silly. It's for fun! We eat delicious meals because they taste good."
"Oh. Well in that case… come on, let's go!"
He felt Tonks hop onto his back and fling her arms around his neck. Lupin felt more content than he had in a long time. He didn't know about the war, and it didn't matter. The castle was quiet. Nearly-Headless Nick passed them, saying a bright hello.
"You know what I want?" Tonks said.
"What?"
"It's a full moon tomorrow. I want to go out with you and watch the moon rise, and let you see how beautiful it is."
"Marauder camping trip!" said Sirius, coming up behind them.
"Yeah! I'm in!" said James.
"I didn't really mean it as a Marauder camping trip," Tonks muttered in Lupin's ear.
He reached up and squeezed her hand. "I know, darling. I didn't, either. But we've got an eternity of full moons now, and it doesn't matter. There's one thing I know, though."
"Oh? What's that?"
"No full moon could ever be more beautiful than you, and you're right in front of me forever."
"'Til death do us part," said Tonks with a grin.
