If In The End by marauderbabe
Disclaimer: All characters belong to the fabulous J. K. Rowling. I only hope that my humble fanfic can be 1/1000 as good as her worst rough draft.
Chapter One
Sirius Black had just sprinkled brown sugar over his oatmeal when a heap of white feathers collapsed on his kitchen table. "Long flight, Hedwig?' he said, barely looking up. The owl hooted softly. Sirius spooned a little oatmeal into a saucer and gave it to her. As she ate, he took the small scroll of parchment off her leg.
Dear Sirius,
How are you? I'm assuming that you're at Professor Lupin's right now but if you're not I'm sure Hedwig will find you. I just got an owl from Hermione…it sounds like her visit with Krum is going wonderfully. News from Ron too- his brother Bill is getting married to this Egyptian witch he met at work. Her family is wealthy, apparently, and they've paid for Ron and his family to fly out for the wedding. Unfortunately the Egyptian wizards are only paying for the family, and I can't attend. Dudley reckons he'll have some friends of his from Smeltings over the week before school starts, so I was wondering, do you suppose I could spend that week with you? I mean, if it's convienent and everything. I hope you've managed to contact "the old crowd" and that all of Dumbledore's plans are going right.
Harry
Sirius looked up from the parchment and saw that Hedwig was fast asleep on the table. He finished his oatmeal, turned into a dog, and walked into the bedroom.
Remus Lupin was curled up on the bed…or, rather, Remus Lupin in wolf form was curled up on the bed. The moon had become full the night before.
Sirius put two paws up on the bed and barked softly to wake up Remus, who opened one sleepy eye. Sirius nuzzled him until he was fully awake.
An owl from Harry just came, said Sirius, his voice coming out as a series of quiet barks that only he and Remus could understand. He wants to stay with us next week.
Remus yawned. And for that you wake me up early on the morning after my transformation?
Well, I expect he'd like the owl back right away and I have to go to work.
Tell him he can come, of course, said Remus, his eyes fluttering sleepily. Have a good day at work. The Polyjuice Potion's on the kitchen counter.
Sirius licked Remus goodbye, turned back into a man, and headed for the kitchen. Hedwig had woken up, and cocked her head at him. "You're coming to work with me, just as soon as I take this potion," said Sirius.
He added a few of Remus's hairs into the potion and gulped it down. It tasted sweet, just like Remus's mouth. It's a good thing I always got high marks in Potions, though Sirius, because between this and the Wolfsbane Potion, Remus would go mad. He's always hated the things. I remember in our fifth year when we were working on poison remedies and Proffessor Brew- But he snapped out of his memories when he realized that his hair was turning brown with gray streaks.
On his way out the door, Sirius glanced at himself in the mirror. He was glad to see that it looked like Remus had gained a few pounds.
After a ten minute walk, Sirius stopped at a squat brown building whose sign read Tellery Public Library. Taking out his wand, he tapped the letter B.
Suddenly he was in a bustling, busy room filled with books. "Ah, Remus!" cried the witch at the front counter. "I've got loads of books for you to reshelve….got a letter to write, have you?" she asked, glancing at Hedwig. "Well, you can do that at lunch."
After he left Hogwarts, Remus Lupin had moved to the village of Tellery and gotten a job at the Tellery Magical Library. Just as he had run out of excuses for why he was ill every month, Sirius had arrived and offered to go to work in his stead on the days when the moon was full. Although Tellery had five wizarding households, Remus was the only one who knew Sirius was there.
At lunch break, Sirius got a quill and parchment and began to draft his letter to Harry.