Author's Note: For my dear friend Liza, whom I owe my love of wolfstar and D&D. I hope you enjoy!
And much thanks to Chelsea for betaing and encouragement!
A Hero's Start
1,158 words
The people of Godric's Hollow watched in horror as the red dragon settled in the castle's courtyard, knocked down towers and walls with each swing of its tail, while it clawed at anyone who got too close. One blast of its fiery breath set the armies aflame.
:-:
"We have to go, James," Sirius prodded urgently, pulling his best friend away from the windows and pushing him into a hidden passage.
James pushed back, eyes wide as he watched the destruction of his kingdom over Sirius' shoulder. "I can't just leave, I have a duty to stay and—"
"And what? We don't have any way to defend ourselves against that thing. We'll come back when we're stronger."
The ground shook as the dragon's tail slammed into the wall where James had been standing a moment before. The stone crumbled under the impact. Sirius acted quickly, pulling James along and letting the tapestry fall into place over the passage to hide their escape from the dragon's keen vision.
Letting the civilians believe that the entire royal family perished in the attack would be a small price to pay in order to keep James safe, and that was all Sirius cared about.
:-:
It had been a hard month of travel, making their way from one end of the continent to the other, trying to lay low until they were sure that James wouldn't be recognized. But staying away from high society meant run-ins with bandits and a particularly dangerous encounter with a pack of gnolls.
The two young men had barely made it out alive, and Sirius was still nursing a broken arm when they stumbled into the inn of a sleepy hamlet. The owner, an older woman named Hope, thankfully took pity on them.
"Poor dears, you look like you've seen some rough times on the road." She tsked at the state of their clothes, and Sirius' arm in a sling. "Go sit and I'll get you some supper on the house. I'll send my boy over too, he should be able to take care of that arm, dear."
James counted out what was left of their coins as they waited at the table. "Ten gold left," he murmured, and then counted again to be sure. "This isn't going to last long, and I'm out of anything worth selling."
Sirius gingerly propped his arm up on the table. "I doubt anyone needs a hand around here, but I guess we could ask around until my arm's healed up. Then we can head to the city and find something challenging."
"Yeah, until one of us gets hurt again. We can't keep picking fights when it's just the two of us, Sirius. We're going to get ourselves killed."
Bowls of stew and tankards of meade were set down in front of them, and the boys gratefully dug into the first warm meal they'd had since before the dragon attack.
"Can we really trust strangers to have our backs?" Sirius wondered between mouthfuls.
James shrugged. "Do we have any choice? The more people on our side, the fewer chances we have of dying."
A young man approached the table hesitantly. There was the faintest hint of Elven in his features - the point to his ears, and the brightness of his amber eyes. Sirius froze, unable to take his eyes off the man.
"Sorry to interrupt. Mum said you needed healing. I'm Remus."
"I'm James. Sirius here got his arm caught in a gnoll's fangs."
Sirius managed a goofy smile, trying to think of a witty comeback, but his mind going blank.
Remus took a seat at the table and reached for the simple charm hanging from a chain around his neck - a crescent moon. Closing his fist around it, he placed a hand on Sirius' injured arm and closed his eyes, murmuring a few words. James and Sirius went quiet as they watched a soft light appear around the arm. It disappeared just as quickly. Remus sat back in the chair as Sirius unwrapped his arm and flexed his hand, making sure everything was back to normal.
"Thank you," he said earnestly.
"I'm happy to help. Did I hear one of you say you were looking to take on some traveling companions?"
"Actually," James began, "we haven't really-" Sirius elbowed him abruptly and took over.
"You're welcome to join us. We're heading to Hogsmeade tomorrow!"
Remus gave them a wide smile. "Great! Peter and I have been looking for an opportunity to leave town." He pointed to the end of the bar, where a gnome with mousy blond hair read from a large tome while swinging his legs on the tall stool. "He's really smart."
:-:
Six months on the road brought more battles, scars, and opportunities for healing. Those brief moments, with Remus' soft touch easing him of all pain and discomfort, quickly became Sirius' favorite. If ever he made it through a skirmish without injury, he took to tripping over rocks or cutting his palm with daggers in order to initiate one of these healing touches.
"You've become so clumsy lately," James noted with a knowing smile. "It's a miracle you manage being stealthy at all."
Sirius would later tell him to knock it off. But if Remus noticed anything odd about Sirius' injuries, he never said anything.
For a long while, they didn't have tents. Each night, the four boys would camp under the stairs, and Sirius learned that Remus loved to look at the night sky. The moon and stars were symbols of his goddess, Selûne, and he felt closer to her there. When they eventually splurged on proper cover, Sirius would make sure they still spent some time together, just looking at the sky.
In the brief moments of downtime, while James trained with his sword and Peter studied his spellbooks, Sirius would sit with Remus and listen to stories of life in the village, of Selûne, and all of Remus' hopes for the future. Oftentimes, Remus would ask for stories in return, but there wasn't much Sirius could tell him. He had only the briefest memories of his family before being taken from the streets of Godric's Hollow by the king and queen. The dragon had taken that life from him now, and James was all he had left.
"So you're trying to get stronger so you can kill it one day?"
Sirius shrugged. "That's James' goal, not mine. If setting the kingdom free wasn't so important to him, I'd just move on, start a new life somewhere else."
Remus pondered that for a moment, watching as James hacked and slashed at the air in the quickly fading sunlight. "If we keep traveling together, I think it becomes all of our goal. Whatever we do, we do together." His hand found its way to Sirius' then.
Sitting by the campfire, staring into Remus' mesmerizing eyes, Sirius wouldn't have it any other way.