Remus Lupin sighed heavily as he watched Harry be tugged away from his best friends by his unfortunate relatives. He watched Harry's apprehensive expression, like he was saying good-bye for the last time. Hermione was near tears, and Ron looked the same way Harry did. Molly Weasley was dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief, and Arthur was patting her shoulder in reassurance.
It was too much to watch, but as Harry turned away, Remus gave him a sympathetic smile, which Harry returned as a nod.
Remus stood rooted to the spot as wizarding and non-wizarding families bustled around him with children excited for the holidays. He pushed a couple strands of graying hair from his face and shook his head silently. For the first time since Sirius' death, it hit him, and it hit him hard.
He was the only one left.
Sirius was dead, James was dead, Lily was dead, and Peter should be.
A wave of loneliness washed over him as he recalled memories from Hogwarts – from first meeting his 'three' best friends for the first time, to playing an endless variety of pranks, to spying on Lily and James' first date. Remus was suddenly weighed down with sadness and loneliness, and he realized how much he missed his best friends from school.
He had forgotten what James was like before he taught Harry in his third year; it was so long ago that James and Lily had been murdered. He was so much like his father, that Remus was blown away the first time he saw Harry. Molly was right, Harry wasn't James, but it was so hard not to see his father in him.
Remus was caught in a whirl wind of thoughts and emotions as he stood just outside the barrier of Platform 9 and ¾ - he felt sick to his stomach - he remembered how he had walked into Godric's Hollow after the attack to only find ruins and two of his best friends murdered, and then he saw Sirius's curved body fall through the veil, and heard the silence that followed it.
So Harry was without his parents, and now without a god-father.
His clear blue eyes became watery, but before his tears could fall, he wiped his face with a ragged sleeve. He was all there was left, he had to do this for Harry. He wouldn't let Lily and James down, and he wouldn't let Sirius down. And he wouldn't let Peter have the satisfaction.
"Excuse me sir," A random officer had tapped him on the shoulder. "Can I help you with something?"
Remus jolted back into reality, and was shocked to find that he was the only person standing at the station.
"No," Remus said after a moment of coming to his senses, "No, I'm fine, thank you."
The officer left him, and Remus shook himself mentally before picking up his briefcase that sat on the ground beside him. He looked around the station once more, as if trying to shake an image he couldn't get rid of, and his eyes welled up with tears. He walked back through the barrier with heavy footsteps, and apparated to the Order.
- - -
I don't own anything.
Read and review, please.