I'm really sorry about the wait. I really didn't mean to use so long, but I have been terribly busy, also I'v been without my computer for a week, and I'v lost my MS Office. Can't figure out how to download it again. Luckily for you guys I saved what I had on my account here. I'v decided to cut this chapter in two as well, as I'm not done with the last scene yet, and I didn't want you guys to have to wait too long for a new update. The rest of the chapter should be hopefully up next week. I hope it's worth the wait.
Chapter 7
The day was cold. The wind blew harshly through the trees above, howling angrily in the otherwise silent air. The sky was a bleak grey, churning with mist that threatened with rain. The graveyard was abandoned but for a lone man that stood amongst the graves on the site.
The man had a brown hood covering his face, trying to find protection from the sharp wind. His clothes were shabby and looked worn. A patch on the knees had been sawn over twice. The man took his hood down, showing a tired and ruff face. A couple of scars, some new and some old, crossed over the otherwise handsome face. His hair looked greasy, giving the sand colored hair a darker color, telling that it has been a couple of days since the last time he showered. Even at the early age his light brown hair was flecked with grey.
Remus Lupin swung a bag off his shoulder and put it down on the ground. The bag looked even more worn then the man carrying it. He stuck his hand inside it and started to fumble around, looking for something. A couple of seconds later he made a triumphed sound and withdrew his hand, holding around a small figure.
Remus turned his gaze on the grave in front of him. It was made of white marble, and was glowing slightly in the dark shadow of the afternoon. A soft, sad smile appeared on the man's lips. He stroked a finger over the name written on the grave, before letting it fall.
"I was in Paris recently. I know how you and Lily always talked about traveling to Paris, after the war ended." The smile disappeared and got switched out with a sad sigh. "I've been traveling all over the place, trying to find work, but it hasn't been easy. Anyhow, I found a small book store in Paris and worked there for a couple of weeks. The owner was this nice old lady who always had with her fresh baked cookies and chocolate-filled croissants. It's the best ones I've ever tasted. I liked it there, but… I couldn't stay long." He turned quiet and sat staring down on the ground, reliving memories he didn't want to share.
James stood gazing down at his friend with a sad expression. It wasn't often he saw his old friend, and every time he did, Remus looked more tired and exhausted than ever. His pale face with premature lines worried him. And it didn't seem like if Remus had changed clothes since the last time he saw him. How long has it been old friend? A couple of months he mused, if not longer. He only saw Remus the few times the werewolf came to the graveyard, which had been only a handful of times over the years.
"Remus," James whispered, trying to catch his attention, but the other man didn't even look up. So far it hadn't shown if Remus could sense or hear him, but James assumed he couldn't. It had taken Sirius and Harry a long time before they could sense him, and because he hadn't spend much time with Remus, there was a slim chance that the brown-haired man had the ability as well.
"Anyway. I bought you something."
James focused back at Remus as he laid a small replica of the Eiffel tower on the grave. "Since you can't travel to Paris, I brought back a piece of Paris to you."
James gave a little chuckle and looked at his friend with a fond smile. "Thank you Remus. We appreciate it. Seems like Lily and I finally got to see the Eiffel tower." Lily and he had always talked about going to Paris for their honeymoon, but things had always come in the way. The war, missions for the order, Lily's pregnancy and going into hiding with Harry. There never seemed to be enough time to do what you want to do. There was a lot James regretted not doing while he was alive, taking Lily to see Paris was one of them. He wished he had taken a weekend off from work and just go, but they had always thought they had all the time in the world so that they could travel another time.
James gazed at Remus with a thoughtful expression. He wished there was something he could do for him. His friends and family had always been the most important thing for him, and he'd gladly give his life for them (a second time). But he felt very useless in this form, he was more like a watcher then doer. What that made him survive the days was knowing that was able to help Sirius and Harry by being there and bring them food. But other than that, he felt totally useless.
The spirit looked at the kneeling figure, feeling at loss for what he could do to help. Bringing Remus snacks and food wouldn't help much, even though it did seem that the man could need some. But there was no one locking Remus in a room and refusing to feed him, or giving him dry bits of food. Also he didn't know how to find Remus either. The spirit gave a small, sad sigh.
Remus stayed another half an hour talking about everything and nothing. In the end he gave a small sigh and muttered "What am I doing?" He didn't really understand why he came to the grave and just talked, but it felt like the right thing to do. It always felt good talking to James and Lily's grave, it was almost like if they could hear him, and he always left the graveyard feeling better, like if a weigh and lifted from his chest. Remus stood up, gazed around. He looked down on the grave again. "I miss you so much." He bit his lip. Even after all these years it was still painful. James and Lily and Peter had been his best friends, something he had never thought he deserved as a werewolf. After wiping his eyes, the man turned around and started to walk away.
James stood left and stared after him, with a sad expression. We miss you too, Remus.
…
…
"I need your help." James appeared in front of Sirius, holding a stack of paper. Sirius looked curiously up from where he was sitting on the floor of the cold cell, wondering what James could need help from him for.
The spirit quickly laid the paper down on the bench, looking like it took every inch of willpower not to drop the content on the floor. He looked tired.
"Are you alright?" Sirius asked, looking a bit concerned. James only waved his hand in respond.
"Like I said, I need your help –" James stopped what he was saying and looked closer at the documents. A small frown appeared on his forehead, before he gave a small sigh, "I lost a couple of the forms. I will be right back." And before Sirius got to react, the spirit was gone. He gave a small sigh and crawled over to the bench. He picked up one of the documents and cocked his head questionable, wondering again what James was planning. The prisoner looked around, waiting a couple of minutes for James to come back. But it didn't seem like that would happen for a while.
Sirius picked up the stack of paper again and sat down on the bench, deciding that he might as well read them and figure out what James needed help for while he waited. In the beginning the reading went rather slow. It had been years since the last time he had use for that skill. Somehow it had never really occurred to him that reading was a skill you could forget if it wasn't in use. But he guessed it would be the same with a child who had learned to speak German at an early age, but never got to use it, so that when he was older he'd forget most of it.
"I'll just ask James to get me a book next time he's around," Sirius mumbled loud to himself. He'd never imagine that he'd miss reading. That thought made him smile. He wished he'd read more at Hogwarts, so that he'd have more to think about in this prison/hell hole, and not just his hunting memories.
It went easier and faster to read as the hours passed. When he was finally done, half a day or maybe more had gone. And still no sign of James. Sirius bit his lip in worry, wondering where his friend had gone, and why it had taken him so long. He stayed up for half of the night waiting. But in the end exhaustion won and brought him under a restless sleep.
A scream woke him up abruptly a couple of hours later. Sirius blinked his eyes a couple of times, trying to get the hunting images of his dream away. He sat up after a couple of minutes and gave a low sigh when it appeared that James was still missing.
A plate with some dry scraps stood in a corner. Someone must have come with it while he was asleep. He ignored the food, not particularly feeling hungry. Outside one could hear the low drumming of rain, and Sirius stuck his nose into the little window, trying to smell the rain and catch some fresh air. The smell of the ocean and wet dirt was heavenly compared to the sour and bitter smell of death lingering in his cell.
"What are you doing?"
Sirius jumped a little in surprise and turned around, seeing James look at him with a puzzled expression. The dog animagus smiles sheepishly.
"Nothing." He stood up from the window and eyed the other man. He was holding a new stack of paper and looked even more tired and exhausted then before. You couldn't see it in his face, James looked still as young as the day he died, ha hadn't aged a day. This always made Sirius feel old and worn out. He wondered how he looked, but he was glad there were no mirrors in his cell. He didn't really want to know. No, it was more like an aura around the spirit, this tired and tattered aura. Suddenly James' arm started to flicker, like you see in an old wizard photograph, and for a second there it disappeared. It was only for a sec, but it was long enough for James to lose his concentration on the papers and they fell straight through his hands, like if they weren't there. The documents hit the floor and scattered around the cell, some of them flying through the ghost.
"Fuck," he swore and crouched down on the floor to pick them up. But every time he tried, his fingers just went through them. He gave a frustrated sound. Sirius was already on the floor, picking them up. He looked at James and gave him a small smile.
"Don't worry, I got this. Just relax, it's not a big of a deal." James looked back at him uncertain. After a couple of seconds he nodded and rose.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled and looked away, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"Don't be. How many other ghosts do you know what could have done the same thing you just did?" James looked at him, and suppressed a smile.
"Well, I know a couple who'd love to help me mess up you room."
Sirius gave an amused snort. "Like we did in fifth grade? Tricking Peeves to destroy the slitherin boy dorm." The two grinned at each other and laughed, both of them remembering the prank and similar ones they had pulled in their youth.
Sirius picked up all the documents and laid the next to the other stack on the bench. He looked at James again with a thoughtful expression. "Where were you?"
James looked at him and frowned a little. "I told you I went to get the rest of the paper. I promised I'd be right back, didn't I?" He gave him a crooked smile. But that only made Sirius frown.
"That was over a day ago, James." The ghost froze and looked at Sirius with a startled expression. "It was?" Sirius nodded and bit his lip. James shoved a hand through his hair and gave a little sigh. "I didn't know, I'm sorry. I thought I blinked straight there to here. It's just- I'm just-. I'm just tired, that's all. Don't worry." He gave Sirius a soft smile, trying to ease his troubled friend.
Sirius looked at him thoughtful for a couple of seconds. Wondering if ghosts could get tired, and whether or not it was good. "Alright," he cleared his throat, "these papers." He waved his hand in their direction. James looked at them and stood a bit brighter. "Ah. Yes. I need your help with writing a new testament."
Sirius nodded a little bit. "I understood that much. But why?" James shot him a surprised look, which Sirius gave a wry smile in response to. "You were gone for over a day, remember? More than enough time to read the documents, James."
The spirit looked at him for a couple of more seconds and nodded. "I see, that does make sense." He looked back down on the documents and cleared his throat again. "I want you to help me make a new testament, this time for Remus. So he can get some money." This time it was Sirius' turn to look surprised. He hadn't thought about that. "That's. That's actually a very good idea James." He hesitated before adding."How is he?"
James gave a little sigh and shoved his hand through his air. "Not good. He's lonely, poor and looks like he hasn't showered for days. I want to help him, Sirius." He gave his friend a sad smile. "This is the only way I see that can be of any help to him. Furthermore, he looks like he could have use for some money."
Sirius smiled sadly back and nodded. He picked up the quill. "We could transfer some money from my account too. I won't have need for them in here. And you don't need to take too much from Harry." James nodded at that, thinking it was a good idea too. Together the ghost and the prisoner leaned over the documents and started slowly to make a draft of a new testament.
…
…
Phocus Pallando had always taken proud of being a great wizard and an even greater wizarding lawyer. It had therefore been quite a shock when he came to his office one morning, discovering the missing will of James Potter on his desk. The Pallando family had always been keeping track of documents, testaments and even gone to court when needed for the higher classes in the wizarding world. Many wizard family had gone to them for hundreds of years, for example the Malfoys, Crabbs, Greengrass', Lestrangs, Blacks, Rosier's and the Potters.
Phocus had looked through the documents, and later found them authentic. This had been quite the shock, as Phocus had himself gone through the original testament with James and Lily before they went into hiding. There had never been any mention of a second will. How it had ended up years later on his desk was a big mystery.
It was therefore he found himself later on the afternoon, after a couple of meetings, calling his assistant, Gwen. He poked the red calling-frog on his desk. It made a deep quack, before curling up and continued it's afternoon nap. The frog was magically linked with an identically frog, who sat outside at Gwen's desk. When poked on, the frogs would make a sound simultaneously, signalizing that the person on the other end was required for something. It was a genius invention, which had only been in use for scant years. The idea hadn't popped up before a muggle-born had tried to get the muggle version into the offices, but none of the older wizard nor pure-bloods had any interesting in anything to do with muggle-magic. The witch Anura Ranidae had come up with the solution of using magical enhanced frogs or toads, an idea that everyone had liked, especially the older witch and wizards. Anura herself had had a breeding farm with magical frogs and toads (which had been the reason why she had suggested it) for years, and had therefore become really really rich from the new marked.
Phocus only had to wait a couple of seconds, before a glowing blue ball appeared in front of him.
"What can I help you with, Wizard Pallando?" Came the cheerful voice of Gwen from the ball. The glowing ball was also a new invention. It had only been in use in Phocus' office for a couple of weeks, and it spooked him a little every time he saw it. The ball was created so that they could talk directly to each other, instead of Gwen having to walk to his office every time he wanted something. It was more officiant, though Phocus preferred the older ways, as any older wizard does.
"Please call me Phocus, Gwen. How many years have you been with me?" The only respond was a small huff.
"Is it illegal to be polite now too?" Phocus rolled his eyes a little and gave a small huff in respond.
"When have you ever been polite, Gwen?" There came no answer from the glowing ball, but the older wizard knew that Gwen was grinning to herself. He was smiling as well. Gwen had been his assistant forever, all the way back to when she was called a secretary, and for two reasons. The first was that she was incredibly efficient. The second was that she was incredibly plain, and so none of Phocus' three wives had ever been able to find the slightest objection to her.
"What can I help you with?" She repeated after a little while. Phocus blinked a little and shook his head, forgotten for a second what he was doing.
"Oh yes. That's right. I need you to contact Mr. Remus J. Lupin. I have a couple of papers he has to sign. See if you can fit him in on Tuesday. I want to be done with these matters as soon as possible, yes?"
"Yes, wizard Pallando. Will do." Before said wizard could comment, the blue ball had disappeared.
