Light shone through the clouds as the sun began to rise on the house…what was left of it anyway. Lupin somberly surveyed the rubble. It had been a couple of days since the tragedy had occurred. With everything that had happened this had been his first time to get away. Even now he didn't have much time.

The scene was grim. The broken up bricks were scattered all over the property along with broken glass, and splintered wood. The only thing that was still any bit intact at this point were a few half standing walls and the cement steps that had once led to the front door.

After some hesitancy Lupin approached the house and mounted the steps.

He stepped around the broken glass and over the remains of the door into what used to be the living room. Furniture was squished under piles of brick and roof shingles. A small pathway was cleared out that led to another place in the house. Lupin figured that was probably created by Hagrid who had gone and picked up the potter's son a few hours after the whole thing happened.

There was something eerie about the whole scene. It was amazing how fast a scene could change. He had only been here less than a week ago and was greeted with an entirely different scene.

He appeared on the road to the fully intact house. It was evening and light was pouring in from the living room window. With a smile he quickly climbed the steps and tapped on the door. Almost immediately the door opened and there in the door way James appeared.

"Moony!" He cheered and they embraced. "Welcome to my humble abode. Come in!"

He pulled Lupin inside and closed the door and walked it. The place had a simple look. A couch lined the back wall with two plush arm chairs sat near the fireplace on the far side from where Lupin stood. In the center of the room Harry played on the ground with a stuffed hippogriff.

"So what's the verdict? Isn't no Hogwarts, but I like it."

"Quite nice, James," Lupin responded. "Harry seems to like it."

"Oh and take a look at this." James exited the room and disappeared around the corner. Lupin followed him into the hall way and saw that the wall was completely covered with framed photos.

"Lily's idea," James said. "Got the idea from Sirius's family. Though we are not going to be as crazy as they are."
Lupin inspected the wall for a minute and saw the faces of a number of witches and wizards smiling and waving at him.

"Is this all your family?"

"Yep and the still photos over here are Lily's family. I offered to enchant them so they would move as well, but she insisted on keeping them as they are." James shrugged his shoulders and Lupin continued to observe the pictures of the Potter family and Evans family. He followed the pattern until the two groups met at a photo of Lily and James and to the right of them a picture of harry. However right above that Lupin noticed something else.

"James is that a picture of-"

"A portrait of us from our 6th year. Yes, Moony it is."

He stared in awe of the photo. The younger versions of him, James, Sirius, and Peter were standing near the lake with the castle silhouetted behind them. James stood in the middle of them with his arms around Lupin and Sirius's necks with Peter grinning wildly next to Sirius.

"But…why are we up on this wall?" Lupin asked while tearing his eyes away from the photo.

"C'mon, Remus I would think it would be obvious to a clever guy like you." He elbowed Lupin and smiled. "Or were all those Newts just a lie? Lily wanted this to be our family tree. So we and especially Harry would never forget where we came from and the important people in our lives…how could I do something like that and not include my three brothers?"

The scene now looked completely eerie. Like a sickness had come upon it. Considering who had visited here since that evening Lupin wasn't surprised that no one had yet come to do anything except retrieve Harry and the Potter's bodies. He looked down at the rubble and something shined in the morning sun. He bent down and picked up a pair of broken glasses. Only one cracked lens and part of a mangled frame was left.

"These must have been, James's" Lupin thought and a lump formed in his throat as he put the glasses back on the ground. He turned and something cracked underneath his foot. Without moving it he looked down and saw that he was standing on a frame. Gingerly he bent down and removed it from underneath his foot.

As he raised it to the light he could see through the cracked glass a slightly crumpled photo graph of four boys standing in front of the Hogwarts castle. He slid the photo out and the glass fell to the floor with a quiet tinkle.

"It's amazing how fast things change," he croaked. The lump became bigger as he looked at the photo of his friends…his brothers. James was now dead…betrayed by man who had been his closest and most trusted friend…Sirius Black…the best man…Harry's godfather…the secret keeper. Lupin's eyes trailed to Peter.

"That poor fool," Lupin whispered his eyes starting to water. "If only I hadn't been so far away…maybe he would still be here."

Though despite his wishes Peter was not here. Instead he had gone after Sirius. Tried to avenge James and Lily's death. Lupin couldn't blame Peter for wanting to do it, but he didn't stand a chance. It still hadn't completely sunk into Lupin's mind that Sirius…the same Sirius that he had shared so many laughs with; had murdered Peter and all those people on top of the betrayal of his best friend. Now he was being carted off to Azkaban for the rest of his days while James, Lily, and Peter were gone forever.

Tears now streaming down his face he stuffed the photo into the pocket of his robes and retreated from the house as fast has he could…