"...You can't go get James," Remus stammered, staring at Sirius' broad grin, hand held out for the Time turner.

"You could come with me, Moony, but it's not big enough for three, is it?"

"Not unless one of them is pint-sized," he added, moving over to kiss Teddy's nose. "...I love Baby Sirius," he said adoringly. "What a bitch Dora is, not letting you call him Sirius in the first place."

"She actually suggested it," Remus clarified. "But I said it would be too painful." Sirius pushed him aside as he took the Time-turner and looked at it thoughtfully.

"…What do I press?" He asked, squinting at the tiny hourglass.

"You take out the gold pin," Remus instructed. "And you make turns, three for each day."

"You do the math," Sirius suggested. "Remember what you said about losing a couple of seconds each day? It's better to arrive too early and torture Peter for a few hours than to arrive too late..." He sighed and walked over to the baby again. "...I bloody love you, Baby Sirius," he told Teddy, who grinned up at him and kicked his feet.

"Pay attention," Remus strongly urged. "You must wrap it around James's neck moments before his death to make it appear that he died. Do you… Did you see James's body in the house?"

"No," Sirius answered. "It was destroyed. Everything was on fire... Horrific. Hurry up with this, Moony."

"Bring James back," Remus ordered. "Then James can go back afterwards, hide in the bedroom, and get Lily."

"I'll get James," Sirius promised. "How many turns?"

"A few. We might want to take it in turns," Remus told him grimly. "It'll be lunchtime before you leave."

"Get turning, then," Sirius suggested. "I'll feed baby Sirius."

Remus warned him, "I swear if you call him that in front of his mother, your resurrection will have been for nothing."

"Whatever, Moony. Get turning…" Sirius told him, scooping Teddy into his arms and draping him around Remus' neck, where he yanked at his dad's hair. "You tell me if this causes you to lose count," Sirius said. "We're just making you feel loved."

"I feel loved," Remus assured him, wincing as the baby managed to rip off a good fistful of his hair. "There's milk in the fridge. Warm it up first. Not too hot. And don't taste it."

Sirius asked immediately, "Why?"

"Because Teddy's milk is for Teddy," Remus tried to explain. "… And there isn't an infinite supply."

"Who is Teddy?" Sirius asks, giving Remus another baby-crushing hug. "I don't know any baby's called Teddy, Moony."

"I'm so glad you're back," Remus assured him, blinking his eyes to keep from crying and continuing to twist and count... Twist and count... Twist and count.

"...We'll make James do all the twisting himself," Sirius said, lying on the bed with Teddy asleep on his chest. "Pass me another sandwich, Moony; I'll wake Baby Sirius if I move."

"I'll lose count," Remus said, carefully holding the Time-turner in order to nudge the plate over with his foot. "Why keep it out of reach?"

"Just because... I'm freshly alive," Sirius improvised. "...Both me and Baby Sirius are Siriusly tired."

"If you call Teddy that, she'll re-kill you," Remus reminded him. "She's going to march you to the Death Chamber and punt you head first through the veil."

"Baby Sirius won't let her do that to me," Sirius laughed until he choked on his sandwich. "...I shouldn't eat while lying down." He coughed up the obstruction and took another bite. Remus smiled at him.

"Nearly done," he said. "Pads, James will only be twenty-one." He'll look like Harry."

"How old are you?" Sirius asked, looking him up and down. "...How old am I again?"

"Mental or physical age?" Remus asked. "Here you go. Be careful. Please be careful."

He draped the thin golden chain around Sirius' neck. "...Place the pin back in as soon as the chain is around both of your necks. It will immediately stop the time travel and bring you back to this exact moment, dragging James along with you... Be careful."

"I'm always careful," Sirius reassured him. "Again, thanks for saving my..." Remus let go of the twisted timer and watched Sirius fade away.

"I'll see you in a second," he promised. "...Any second now... You'll be back… Alive…" He picked Teddy up, pacing the room. I'm not insane, am I?" He asked the baby.

"...I am insane," he confessed to Teddy. "But that doesn't mean... He isn't coming back... With James... Alive... Laughing…

"...God, he should be back right away..." He looked around the room for evidence that he had truly traveled back in time, stolen Sirius at the moment of his death, brought him back, and then sent him to 1981 to bring James back from the grave.

There was a half-eaten sandwich on the table. There was an empty bottle of baby bottle that he had seen Sirius give to Teddy. It wasn't really proof.

Of course, there was another possibility: he wasn't mad. He stole a Time-turner and saved Sirius from the veil... then just let him go again.

He'd allowed Sirius to vanish into 1981, the night Voldemort arrived at James' house to kill Harry. And Sirius hadn't come back. Sirius had not wound the chain around James, replaced the gold pin in the Time turner, or canceled the trip for whatever reason. He hadn't come back.

Sirius should have returned to the exact moment he left... For a reason that would never be known, Sirius had never put the golden pin back.

He was not returning.