A/N: This one took me awhile, and sadly it's rather short. Sorry 'bout that! Nothing really seems to happen here...Well, it sorta does, but it's not much. I dunno, I hope you all like it. Sirius and Remus are finally there! At least that's one good thing.
The Edge of Forever
Chapter Seven: Arrival
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~The smile wears thin and the lies begin to bring me down again~
Remus muffled a yawn as he climbed down the dark stairs, entering his humble kitchen the way he did every morning. Soft rays of sunlight were shinning through the tiny window over his sink so that the golden light gleamed brightly off the linoleum floor where he stood, illuminating his wolfish features. Despite the wan smile barely lighting his face, the weathered man did not appear especially happy on that fine morning. One could argue that he didn't seem to be in an overly melancholy state at the moment either, but those who knew him best would realize that this was how he appeared most every morning. Always the picture of composure--Remus was not the type to wear his emotions on his sleeve.
This morning however he truly wasn't in the worst of spirits. Though still a bit weary from the full moon earlier that week, he couldn't find much to complain about. It had been several weeks since Sirius had come to stay with him, hiding out in the most likely--and over looked--of places. There had been a time, short as it was, when Remus had thought that his friend's presence in his home would surely complicate matters more, but now he was glad for the other man's company.
Of course, it would be nice if his friend could do...anything for himself. Sirius had never been much of a home maker and it was all Remus could do to keep his small house in order. How Sirius had managed to survive those two years on his own he would never understand, because Remus couldn't begin to imagine the other even cooking himself a simple meal. The idea of him taking care of Harry was almost laughable, surely it would work better the other way around.
The tiny smile residing on the man's face became a bit more sincere at the thought of his former student and his best friend. That was the way it was supposed to be, they were supposed to be together. Sirius talked about little else. His friend had big plans for the day his name was cleared, the day that he could finally take his rightful place as Harry's guardian. But sometimes it all seemed so far away to Remus, and listening to Sirius go on about the future made him more thoughtful than he would have liked.
It was all such a mystery at this point, and trying to predict the future under such conditions could only bring with it disappointment. And Sirius certainly didn't need any more disappointment in his life right now. None of them did. Not with the rebirth of Voldemort lurking over everyone's heads, and the ever-constant fear of Sirius being caught.
Still, his friend's presence had definitely been good for him. With Sirius there he was able to think of more pleasant things, he could reminisce without the pain of what had become of his friends. His humble little home became a more warm and friendly environment, where it had once been an unyielding sanctuary for loneliness. Yes, having his friend there was definitely best--for both of them.
Remus was just brewing some coffee when he heard an exaggerated yawn and the familiar creaking of his rickety staircase. "Speak of the devil." He muttered silently to himself, smiling softly as he went about his morning routine.
Sirius was still half yawning when he entered the room, collapsing sleepily in one of the old wooden chairs at the table. "Morning, Moony." He greeted the other in a sleep-muffled voice. "Any word from Dumbledore yet?"
"Not lately." Remus sighed thoughtfully, buttering a piece of nicely browned toast. Ever since Sirius had been instructed to come to his friend's small house the two had been receiving weekly owls from their former headmaster with any and all information that was known regarding the rise of the dark lord. They weren't the only ones of course, several other witches and wizards who chose not to live in denial and accept Fudge's disillusionment were also eagerly awaiting anything that might clear everything up. Eventually they would meet to discuss what needed to be done, but for now they all merely waited with baited breathe for the next little piece of information they might receive.
He was only just taking a seat at his friend's side when Remus heard a slight tapping at the window. "I'll get it." Sirius offered getting to his feet, but the other man got up just a little bit faster.
"We can't risk anyone seeing you, Sirius." Remus reminded him, opening the window to let the delivery owl inside.
Sirius frowned and sat back down, resting his head in his hands, annoyed. "No one's around." He said gazing up at his friend. "You make such a big deal out of everything."
"It is a big deal." Remus told the other seriously. "The last thing either of us needs right now is for you to get caught. Could you imagine how Harry would react to that, because I sure don't want to."
Sirius Sighed.
"All right, all right. I'll stay away from the windows." He didn't sound quite as annoyed as before, the mention of his godson reminding him of just why his freedom was so important right now. With everything that had been going on lately he needed to be there for Harry. Even if he couldn't really be with him, he knew it gave the boy some comfort just knowing he was out there. It certainly brightened his spirits sometimes. At least he could be there if Harry really needed him, which lately, seemed to be more often than anyone deserved. "Anything from Dumbledore?" He asked hopefully, taking a small bite of his toast.
"Just the Daily Prophet." Remus replied disappointedly, tossing it face down on the table. He'd been hoping for some new information too. "I guess we'll just have to find out if there's any news the old fashioned way." He sighed, taking his seat and flipping through the newspaper at random. "Wow, would you look at that? Seems there's a bit of a mishap down in Hogsmeade. Some kids accidentally set off a bunch of Filibuster fireworks in Zonkos. Hey, that sounds kinda familiar, didn't we do something like that back in-What the?! Sirius what's wrong with you?!" Remus exclaimed as Sirius ripped the paper from his grip. He heard a shattering noise at almost the same moment--Sirius' coffee cup hitting the floor, the warm brown liquid now all over his old floor. Remus wasn't certain whether to be worried or angry as he gazed down at his friend, and as Sirius had been too busy choking on his toast just then his question remained unanswered.
"Sirius?"
"How could this have happened?" A paling Sirius finally spoke--Though it was with great difficulty that he swallowed his bit of toast.
At that, Remus decided to go with worried as his emotion of choice. "Padfoot, what is it?" He asked carefully, taking a step towards his friend.
"Look at this!" Sirius exclaimed, jumping quickly from his seat and shoving the paper in Remus' face. "He's missing, Moony!" He said, his voice held a strange mix of fear and anger. "Harry's missing and they're making him out to be some kind of criminal!"
Remus took the Daily Prophet a bit hesitantly, not wanting to see what was on the front cover but staring down at it just the same. Surely enough he was greeted by an uncomfortable looking picture of Harry, but what he hadn't expected was for that picture to be right beside one of his best friend. Above it the headline read:
"This is all my fault." Sirius said, shaking his head slowly, sadly. "I've got to go, I have to find him!"
Regarding his friend worriedly as he ran from the room and up the stairs, Remus wasn't quite sure what to do. He couldn't just let Sirius run out there to look for Harry, but there was no way that he would be able to stop him either. Not when Sirius was this angry.
Scanning the paper quickly to get the basic idea of what was going on, Remus found that things were more complicated than he'd thought. Harry was running, from of all people, the ministry, because they'd intercepted a letter to Sirius. "It isn't clear yet whether Harry was kidnapped by Black in a drastic attempt to save himself or if the boy is actually in league with the deranged mass murderer..." Remus trailed off with a heavy sigh, this wouldn't get people to go after Sirius again or anything. The article went on to discuss an argument Harry'd had with Fudge that lead the minister to believe that, of all things, Harry and Sirius were behind a conspiracy to make everyone believe that You-Know-Who had returned. Something about Sirius attacking innocent families and Harry using his fame to spread wild stories that covered up the truth--which of course made no sense at all.
"Sirius, don't be stupid!" Remus said when his friend came back down stairs, now dressed in an old dingy set of robes. "You don't even know where to look."
"I don't care." Sirius replied, barely sparing the other a glance as he dashed through the room. "I can't just leave him out there. I wont!"
"I don't want anything to happen to Harry either, but-"
"I'm going Remus, you can't stop me." Sirius cut him off as Lupin grabbed his arm in a useless attempt to restrain him.
"I can try." Remus replied, doing his damnedest to hold his friend back. "At least take a few minutes to think this through."
"Harry might not have a few minutes. Not with Voldemort out there!"
"Sirius, please just-"
"Let GO!" Sirius exclaimed, finally ripping himself free of his companion's strong grip. Remus made another grab for him, barely missing the others old robes. It was too late, there was no stopping him now, and Remus could only watch as his best friend's hand reached desperately for the door knob--And hesitated.
Sirius took a step back as someone outside suddenly pounded on the door so hard that the flimsy entry shook violently.
"Hide." He heard Remus say softly from behind him. "Down in the cellar. If you hear anyone coming down transform. You wont be any help to anyone if someone sees you. Hurry up!"
Nodding hurriedly, Sirius rushed out of the room in a black blur.
Remus let out a shaky sigh. The knocking had gotten a bit more frantic and he wasn't sure he wanted to open it. With that article in the Daily Prophet who knew who it could be? What if someone had seen Sirius recently and was just now recognizing him. Or worse, what if the Ministry had gotten to Harry. Sirius wouldn't be the only one in trouble then, and what if they knew that his friend was an animagus?! Remus had half a mind to go and tell Sirius to just get out of there now. If they knew that he could transform there'd be nowhere for him to hide.
"Coming." He said loudly, masking his nervousness with surprising accuracy. The knocking died down just a bit at the sound of his voice, but that did little to calm his apprehension. Taking a deep breath and preparing himself for what could very well be his best friend's ruin, Remus reached for the knob and turned it slowly, cautiously.
When the door didn't fly open and hit him in the face, however, he stared on a bit confused. Surely the ministry would have flung the entry open the moment the handle twisted, intent on getting to Black before the man evaded them again. Whoever was out there was terribly eager to get in, but obviously not as ignorant or ambitious as they appeared from their heavy knocking. But who could...
Remus gasped as the realization dawned on him, and threw the door open of his own accord, barely stunned to find himself staring down a distraught, but nonetheless relieved, Harry Potter.
A/N: Yeah, I know, it's short...Sorry!! It just seemed like a good place to end it. I kinda like this chapter though, it may actually be my favorite so far, which is strange since nothing really happens in it. It's because of Remus and Sirius I suppose. How badly did I screw up their characterizations, BTW? Sirius seemed a bit off I think...*Sighs* Hope it wasn't too bad. Sorry again about the horrible shortness of this part! It seemed longer when I wrote it, I swear! The next few will be longer though, I promise. In fact, I'm pretty sure that all of the chapters after this will be relatively lengthy in comparison to the first ones. So, yeah, Thanx for reading...^_^;
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Mystic Queen: Thank you!
Calen: lol, I'm glad you like it! Thanx for the reviews!
Gara: I'm glad your enjoying this! Thank you for letting me know!
A.Dee: Yep, Harry's finally safe again...for now ;)
Starlette: I hope you liked this part, since it finally had Sirius in it! Do you think I did ok with him? Or was he too...I dunno, frantic...or...I dunno ^_^;;...Thanx for reviewing!
wonder: I'm glad Mrs. Lawson's kindness made up for Russell's jerkiness a bit! Sirius and Remus have finally made an appearance, like it didn't take me long enough :) I hope you liked this part, even if it was terribly short! Thank you so much for all your wonderful reviews! I really appreciate them!
Silver Angel: Glad your liking this! Sorry this update took me so long!
Kanashimi: Thank you!! I'm really glad you like this so much! I want you to know that your review was very, very much appreciated! Hope this part wasn't too disappointing! Thanx again!!
Dark Blood AKA hermionegranger: You know, the fact that people actually think this is kind of original really makes my day! As always, thank you very much for all of your kind reviews!!
Camel Socks: My getting rid of my writers block was really a very random. One day I just found myself writing like crazy, which means that though this chapter is pretty short the next ones definitely shouldn't be. I still don't quite know how it happen though. Anyway though, I'm glad you liked the last part! Thanx again!