Well, this story is completely me. I got the idea from the sentence Mr. Padfoot and Mr. Prongs would like to welcome Mr. Moony home.

This story actually has chapter names *shocking i know* Hope you enjoy it.

Once again, many thanks to the wondrous Alix33. She is possibly the best Beta-er EVER.

Epilogue:

There was some speculation given to the thought that there was perhaps some sort of curse on the Marauder. Each were taken in various times of life. It was as if they had been sent for such a time as this: A time to defeat Voldemort, and that once their parts in his demise were completed, they were no longer needed.

Remus had thought about it extensively when staring out into an existence devoid of his closest friends, and come to no conclusion.

Sirius had also thought about it. But more flippantly and less deeply. Yet filled with his own kind of wisdom. Those were rare moments in which Remus would about have a coronary out of shock.

Perhaps they were cursed.

Remus just wished that he could have seen what their lives would have been like had they not been sent for such a time as this.

Then again, perhaps the world was much safer without them.

Dismissing such things as fancy, he made his way toward Hogwarts, knowing that this could be their last stand.

Part 1

In which the Marauders welcome a comrade home

Lupin opened his eyes - they felt creaky and stiff .

For some reason he knew that he wasn't supposed to be in King's Cross Station, although where he was supposed to be he wasn't sure.

"Remus?" came a sleepy, weak voice from beside him. A familiar pink head popped into view.

"What happened?" she asked, also staring around, looking as confused as he felt.

"I'm not sure." he replied, standing to his feet.

It had been death and blood and constant action up until that last moment.

Up until... what?

"It was something important - very important."

"HEY MOONY!"

Someone shouted, in a voice that Remus knew as well as his own, though he hadn't heard it in seventeen years.

A small group of people was coming toward them. They were filing off a train that hadn't been there a few seconds before.

A familiar untidy black head had appeared, but this wasn't right. This couldn't be happening.

James was dead.

James died years ago.

James wasn't seventeen when he died.

Remus' well organized mind was poking several large plot holes in the world around him.

Yet another impossibility followed the first: Lily stood close behind James, her flaming red hair curling gently around her shoulders.

They were both so young.

Then Sirius stepped out of the train. His dark eyes sparkled with the youth and happiness that he had lost.

"Hullo Remus." he said with a wave and his usual grin.

Apparently, they lost the ability to act like adult human beings at that point, and the two young men jumped on Remus laughing and taking him in a bone-crushing hug. Sirius and James were enjoying his confusion immensely as they helped him to his feet finally.

Remus frowned, feeling completely out of control.

Their goofy smiles irritated him. Just like they had when he had been young and was attempting to read or think, they were always completely intent on keeping him from doing any of those things.

"What the devil is going on, Sirius?" He snapped, ignoring the tugs of feeling he had when looking at his best friends in the world, friends who are dead. Reminded his logical mind.

" I know this is wrong - you're all dead."
His words were blunt, and he regretted saying them, wishing that he could just sit and talk. But he knew that there was something that he needed to get back to.

James laughed, per the usual.

"That's something we have in common, Moony old lad."

Tonks slipped her small hand into his, feeling the same confusion.

That was Sirius Black standing there, except it was nothing like the Sirius that she remembered.

She only recognized James and Lily from pictures and stories that her husband had told her.

"That's not possible, Pads - we were just..."

"Fighting at Hogwarts?" asked Lily, her green eyes glistening slightly.

Remus remembered suddenly.

The battle, seeing Dora, his Dora, fighting a bloody Death Eater. Dolohov was coming up behind her, his eyes sparking with evil intent.

NO thought Remus, throwing himself between his wife and the green flash.

He had heard Dora scream his name, then cradle his head as the life rushed from him like so much smoke.

He felt her tears on his cheek, heard her whispering that she loved him into his ear and her resounding roar of Aveda Kedavra as she stood, prepared to avenge him.

But, it had been too late: Her grief and prostration over her husband's body had wasted vital seconds. Dolohov's spell hit its mark.

Tonks made no noise as she collapsed next to her husband's still-warm body, and followed him into the afterlife.

It had all seemed so distant, so unimportant at the time.

Remus Lupin felt tears rush to his eyes. Tonks hugged him tightly to her, threatening to break him.

"I'm so sorry." she whispered brokenly.

Remus held her tightly as she wept into his shirt, kissing the top of her head in comfort.

"Thank you for staying with Me." he said quietly.

She looked up into his hazel eyes and knew that he harbored no blame or anger.

Sirius cleared his throat.

"Sorry you had to find out like that mate, we thought you knew."

Sirius always looked uncomfortable when confronted with a mistake that he'd made. His poor, puppy dog face made Remus remember all the times that Sirius had gotten him into to trouble, and all of those times that the werewolf had forgiven his best friend.
Remus shook his head, amazed to find his hair a bit longer than he'd remembered.

"Remus?" Asked Tonks- with amazement in her voice. "You're young"

James laughed his familiar laugh and Remus Lupin smiled down into his wife's bewildered face, starting to understand what was going on.

To be at peace.

"I didn't always look like a middle aged man, love."
Sirius snorted loudly, embarrassment forgotten.

Remus glowered, looking to James and Lily for help.

James shrugged.

"M'fraid he's right, mate."

Lupin was about to make an angry rebuttal when there was a bump and Ted Tonks stumbled out of the train door.

"DORA!" he shouted loudly, throwing his arms around his only daughter, who laughed and cried at the same time.

"Sorry I missed the train," he said effusively, first shaking Remus' hand and then pulling him as well into a crushing hug. "I'm still having a bit of trouble finding my way about this place..."

Another train came roaring up, with two black-haired men standing in the doorway. They trundled out, looking as though they'd been arguing about something.

"Hallo Remus!" said one loudly as he caught sight of the young man whom they'd known so many years ago.

Remus stared at the two men for an instant before smiling broadly and hugging both in turn.

"Dora, I'd like you to meet Molly's brothers, Gideon and Fabian Prewitt. Gid, Fay, this is my wife. Dora Lupin."

Dora could see that her husband and these two men had a great deal of history, made especially obvious by the way that James began fingering his unruly hair in an attempt to flatten it, and Sirius' odd shifting.

Remus had described Padfoot and Prongs in great detail after they married.

But she had never heard a word about the Prewitt brothers.

Lily rolled her eyes meaningfully at James' odd behavior, and winked at Tonks.
Tonks dimpled slightly, glad to meet the two brothers of a woman that she loved like a second mother. However, she was smiling more significantly because Remus introduced her as Dora, just Dora. His Dora

"What ever happened to your bikes?" asked Remus suddenly. Sirius coughed and James beat him persistently on the back.

Gideon and Fabian completely ignored the two Marauders babbling in the background.

They shrugged.

"We assume Molly hid them away after we were..." they grinned, looking eerily similar despite their differences. "Disposed of. She was afraid that her own Twins would discover our legacy."

"If we would have thought it through we would have left them to you - as we always had a soft spot for you - and you have a wife who looks like she knows her way about a motorbike..."

Tonks flushed, then nodded wryly.

"We would have cherished your bikes..." said Sirius over-loudly.

"We would have worshipped them," finished James.

They seemed to notice James and Sirius all the sudden.

The two in question seemed to melt into their shoes and Tonks was reminded of the time when she had bumped into the Weird Sisters one morning at the Ministry.

Hero worship. At its worst.

It had been her first week as an Auror. She had turned into a babbling fool who rattled off every bit of information she had ever known about the legendary band. Moody had stomped pleasantly on her foot and told her to bugger off.

She had obeyed with alacrity.

Speaking of the irritable old codger:

"IF I WERE A DEATH EATER YOU ALL WOULD BE DEAD!"

Sirius Black - who had been mooning after Gideon Prewitt for the past two minutes - practically jumped out of his skin.

Remus - who had refused to be shocked by anything since his second year in Hogwarts - merely raised an eyebrow.

"I've been gone less than a year and you're all slacking off on being vigilant!!!" his chocolate-y eyes looked ready to pop out of his head and attack the whole group.

"NO WONDER YOU'RE ALL DEAD!"

Tonks - who had never been intimidated by the fierce old man - giggled and threw herself at the him.

Mad-Eye had also been through some changes, as he had a whole nose, both legs, and both eyes, which glinted fiercely at the surrounding group while Tonks practically hung off of his neck.

"We've missed you" shouted Tonks, punctuating each word with a squeeze. "How could you go and get yourself killed by some STUPID DEATH EATER- who's going to tell all the stupid new members of the Order to be vigilant?? Constantly??"
At these words, he seemed to break...

"Ah lass," he muttered, "I've missed you."
"Not to mention there aren't any Death Eaters wondering about heaven..." said Fabian

"He's been a bit bored." Continued Gideon

The Prewitt brother went silent at Moody's dangerous glare.

James and Sirius - hero worship aside - seemed to be able to stand awkwardly beside the two black haired giants.

Gideon laughed loudly at something Remus had been saying quietly to them.

"You did well, my lad. We were a bit worried about you for a while - not being right in the head - you were such a normal lad, and you hung about with these gormless muppets..." he gestured to James and Sirius-

Remus shrugged, frowning suddenly. Choosing to ignore the muppet comment for James and Sirius'

"Why are you two here? I mean, if it's just to say hello and welcome to your lovely eternity, - then I'm flattered, but I doubt that."

Sirius and James looked as if they would have given their left and right arms to have Gideon and Fabian Prewitt welcome them to heaven.

James seemed to have more restraint. Sirius still looked as though an atomic bomb had gone off in his skull. He kept attempting to wipe a silly grin off his face and failing miserably.

The black haired twins at once looked saddened and eager.

"We've come for a member of the family." Fabian said.

Everyone turned to look at the long dark corridor which most everyone came through.

"Who is it?" asked Sirius worriedly.

Gideon shrugged.

"We don't know yet, just knew that we needed to come to greet someone coming across. It's been a long while since one of ours has arrived."
They all waited in stunned silence.

Everyone was guessing who would be the one to come through next. Yet no one really wanted their guess to be the one.

An odd whooshing sound - both high and low at the same time - came through the tunnel.

Tonk's tightened her grip on her husband's hand.

They heard laughter: A young man, a flicker of ginger hair.

Fred Weasley fell hard through the tunnel, his pale, freckled face alight with laughter.

"Did you hear that, George?" he yelled from where he was lying face down on the station floor. "Percy made a joke! Percy!"

The small group that was waiting for him remained silent.

He opened his eyes - seeing his friends in life - and some that he knew for a fact weren't living.

His confusion was short-lived before his face broke out in a cheerful smile.

"Hello Sirius, long time no see."
Sirius walked forward and clasped the redhead on the back.

"Hello, Fred."
He glanced past Sirius to the others.

"Harry does look like his mum and dad," he said in awe. "And there's Uncle Fabian and Uncle Gideon." He waved at Remus and Tonks. "George is not going to believe this. I never have the good dreams."
Gideon and Fabian strode up, twin looks of sympathy on their young faces. They didn't look much older than their nephew.

"Fred, lad, this isn't a dream..." began Fabian.

"It's more like... the afterlife." Gideon was apparently the blunt twin. Fabian glared at his brother, mouthing the words "Way to be delicate…"

Gideon shrugged, Fabian smirked slightly.
Fred eyed them warily, as if waiting for the punch line

"Ri-ight..." he replied finally, when their eyes did not twinkle with merriment. "And I'm Kingsley Shacklebolt."

They said nothing. His green eyes darted around nervously.

"If this is heaven, then why are Remus and Tonks here?"
Lupin came and put a hand on the young man's shoulder.

"We're dead too."

Fred's eyes popped with rage.

"Then why are you so bloody calm!?" he roared, fighting the urge to cry. "I was just talking to George and Percy. And Remus, you were just over there with Tonks, fighting Dolohov... and Ron and Harry... and Hermione- and- and- And why does heaven look like King's Cross Station!?"

Tonks smiled a watery smile at her fellow conspirator.

"I guess death is just less terrifying when you're actually dead..." answering his first question

Fred fought a smirk.

"We still haven't figured out why this looks like the station, but this isn't really heaven, this is just sort of... in between." said Sirius

"Oh..." Fred answered, in a quiet voice, looking slightly more accepting of the whole matter

Lily stepped forward, extending a small hand.

"Hello Fred. I'm Lily Potter. I believe you know my son."

Several hours (or so they guessed, since time didn't exactly work the same here) later, they were all seated around the shady tree next to the shimmering pond.

It was a golden day, the kind that you dream about.

"And how is little Teddy?" asked her father after a while.

A shadow of longing passed over both Tonks' and Lupin's faces

"He's wonderful," said Tonks almost immediately, attempting a brave smile.

Lupin placed an arm around her.

"He looks just like Dora, it's uncanny."

"But he has your eyes," said the Ex-Auror smiling at her husband.

Ted Tonks reached a hand out and took those of his daughter and her husband.

"It will get easier, I promise. And you can keep an eye on everyone, which makes things a little easier..."

"Thank you," said the couple. And they meant it.

It's not quite over, there's a little bit more. ha, nothing like 27 million more chapters, more like 2 or 3. I know it ended a bit randomly but the next chapter was starting and there was no other place to put it. ugh, anyway, if you liked it review or whatever, i rarely care what you put in there as long as it's more than like... 2 words...

anyway.

Thanks for reading, see you next chapter,

Red