Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize. That's why it's here.
This is dedicated to Telyn, who rocks.
Chapter One: Loneliness
Alone in the dark underground room, the young man wept for friends lost, and for enemies found.
On the floor beside him was a somewhat crumpled photograph of five smiling teenagers. A tall, wiry boy with disheveled hair whispered something in the ear of a pretty redheaded girl, who laughed and playfully pushed him away. The mousy little boy sitting off to the left laughed along with them. And two more boys, one very dashing and the other decidedly less so, were having a mock swordfight with their wands.
Remus Lupin watched his younger self playing at war with Sirius Black.
Then he ripped the picture in half, separating his old friend from the rest of the group.
"How could you?" he asked the empty air.
"Remus? Lumos!" A bright light flooded the basement, but it wasn't bright enough to chase away all the shadows. "Remus, are you all right?" He didn't answer. He didn't have to. She knew exactly how he felt, just as easily as he knew who she was without having to look. She was Ophelia Dunworth, the girl who had taken that photo during their last year of school. She had been one of Lily's bridesmaids as well, and Remus had been her escort at the wedding. Sirius, the best man, had been paired with Lily's muggle sister, and poor Peter had gotten stuck with a woman named Tonks who had completely overshadowed him. They had both been wonderfully envious.
He suspected that Lily had been playing matchmaker when she'd paired them that way. He could almost hear her sweet voice.
"The best man has to walk with the maid of honor, and Sirius always has a girl for each arm, anyway. Who would she take to best? Not Peter. Oh, James, you know who would make the nicest couple? Ophelia and…"
"Remus?" The stairs creaked under Ophelia's feet. A moment later, he felt her arms go around his shoulders.
At her touch, he began to cry again, helplessly, like a child.
He hadn't cried like that since Hogwarts, since the night he had told his friends his deep, dark secret. Lily had been the one who held him then, while the boys had been awkward, giving him hopelessly comforting slaps on the shoulder and making their quick escapes. They never brought it up again, and never told anyone else that they had seen him cry. But they had come to him at the next full moon with very little fanfare, and from then on the wolf spent his nights running with the stag, the dog, and the rat.
James had tried to talk to him once, before they'd mastered the change, and ended up shaking his hand instead. Lily had just given him a friendly smile the next day, and Remus had fallen briefly in love with her for it.
"Oh, don't cry," Ophelia said, running her hands up and down his arms. "You're so cold." He laughed harshly.
"I guess I didn't notice. I usually don't, down here." The moving light of her wand briefly illuminated the thick chains in the far wall.
"I'm so sorry, Remus," she sighed into his hair.
"I just can't believe they're really gone."
"I know."
"And all at once. Peter, James, Lily…Sirius…" She had begun to cry as well. "How could he do it, Ophelia? How could any man do that? He was their dearest friend. They loved him. They trusted him! We trusted him."
"I know."
"All these years…in all these years, I never saw. How could I not have seen him for what he really is?"