disclaimer The characters do not belong to me. They belong to JKR and the various publishing houses. I use them as I wish.
Summary: Remus sits by the Weasley kitchen fire on Christmas eve, the year Siri went behind the veil.

A/N: this epilogue starts as the first and second, however the ending is very different.

The fire in the grate shone against him, throwing shadows across the kitchen floor. Remus was alone, sitting in front of the fire, reading his memoirs. It was Christmas Eve or more accurately, very early Christmas morning and everyone else was asleep.

A rare winter thunderstorm was raging outside, each clap causing Remus pain. Tears ran down his cheeks. He tasted the saltiness and ached; ached for Siri. So far he had been quiet, unemotional, withdrawn. But the memory of Siri had become very vivid as he read, almost as if Siri were alive again.

A sudden burst of anger came upon him and he flung the book towards the fire, but missed, causing the book to fall to the ground. He ran forward and grabbed it, holding it tightly.

Taking his seat again, he kissed the book and laid it in his lap. Closing his eyes, he buried his face in his hands.

The thunder in the distance reminded him again of the morning when he and Sirius walked downstairs into the bar to find Mme Rosemerta picking up an open jar of lotion from the floor. Siri's spell no longer in place, the disk had begun playing "Thunder in the morning".

The song fit Siri perfectly. He was Remus' thunderstorm. Through the many years that they were apart, Remus always thought of Siri when he heard thunder. And now thoughts and emotions were brought forcefully back as the song played in his head.

Woke up to the sound of thunder, thunder in the morning.
But I won't worry. I won't wonder whether it was a warning.
Though worldly rain can get you under and throw you ice milk world asunder.
I can't help but like the sound of thunder, thunder in the morning.

The sound of thunder…thunder in the morning.

He fought the urge to throw his head back and howl….he was screaming inside…the words still racing, as if Siri was speaking to him…hold on Remus, hold on. His soul reached out to Siri as it sang….

Dark clouds told me you'd been burned.
Let me reassure your soul that someone loves you.
Let me reassure your soul that someone knows.
Thunder in the morning sky reminds me of you.
I don't know the reason why, but it just does. It just does.

Laying his head on the book in his lap, Remus cried. He felt arms surround him and caress the dog star tattoo. A voice whispered in his ear, "Don't cry Remy. I'll take care of you, leave everything to me."
Sirius? He turned to look, but the room was empty. 'Only imagination' he thought as he shook uncontrollably. But the feeling of being held in Siri's arms remained.

Goodbye my luv," whispered Remus. "Goodbye for now."

A clap of thunder rattled the ground beneath him, causing Remus to shake from within. Vapor rose from the floor, engulfing him.

Had lightning hit the house setting something on fire? Was something burning? Yet this was vapor, not smoke. The vapor swirled around him, dampness soaking into every pore. There was a prickling on the back of his neck and goosebumps arose on his skin.

Again thunder cracked, echoing through the kitchen. Lightning bolts came from within the vapor cloud, lighting the room. The cloud thickened, becoming a dense, pea soup fog. Taking on a life of its own, the fog moved across him, rippling across his skin, stroking his chest. He looked down to see his shirt was open.

He shook his head violently, trying to come out of the daze, but to no avail. The shirt was slipped down his shoulders and his arms were forcefully straightened to allow it to be pulled off. At the same time he felt the dog star tattoo being stroked with something warm and wet. His ankle felt hot and the heat was traveling up his leg as the material was ripped away from him. A laugh echoed through the room.

"Going mad!" he thought. "I'm going mad." But strangely he didn't' care, being mad was better than what he had been. "Siri?" he asked softly, eyes watering. "Siri! Puleeez, I need you!"

Lightning shot from the cloud and cracked the floor at Remus' feet. The dog star tattoo burnt, blood droplets seeping through the skin where it was etched. A clap of thunder shook him off his seat and he fell to the floor, laying atop the wool rug. In an instant the mist was gone and Siri was kneeling beside him.

Without a thought Siri laid on top of his lover and kissed him, running his tongue along Remus' lips. 'Is this an echo?' Remus wondered. It surely couldn't be real. Did echo's have form this solid? But he didn't care, and echo was good enough for now. He reached up and cupped Siri's head with both his hands. Pulling Siri tightly to him, he parted his lips and Siri entered.

Sirius took Remus' right hand from behind his head and gently squeezed it as he moved it to the place where their tattoos met. Remus realized blood droplets were seeping from Sirius' tattoo as well, mixing with his own. Breaking from the kiss, Sirius looked into Remus' eyes. "I am real and I am with you. Not to worry luv. I'll take care of you. Leave everything to me."

Shaking, Remus tangled Sirius hair in his fingers, pulling his lover to him, biting his bottom lip as he kissed him. Remus turned him over, almost forcing his tongue into Sirius' mouth, his nails digging into Sirius' back. Sirius wrapped his arms tightly around Remus, who pushed away. A wrestling match ensued, the lovers rolling across the rug. Finally, Remus lay on top. Sirius smiled impishly. "Feeling better luv?"

Holding Sirius' face with his hands and resting on his elbows, Remus leaned down and sucked Sirius' lips, tasted his neck and began moving down his body…..

Sirius laid his head on Remus' chest, slowly calming as Remus ran his fingers through those curtains of dark hair. He was lying with Siri again and nothing else mattered. How he had missed this. His fingertips ran along the crevices of Sirius's ear and he tugged softly at his lobe. He was content to lie here forever.

"Wasn't my entrance spectacular Remy? I could have just appeared in the room, no fanfare, but where was the fun in that? Anyway, what would you have thought if I just appeared out of nowhere? You would have debated to youself whether it was me or not and then debated whether you should find out. This way you would know it was me, no time wasted on thinking through the situation. You had to go with your feelings…..Anyway, it was worth it to see the look on your face. Well, that and the fact that while I was in a more nondescript form, until I became myself again, until I was solid, I could tease you everywhere at the same time. Very enjoyable."

"I swear Siri, I think you came back as a teenager. But how did you do it? How did you come back to me?"

"It was a cinch, nothing to it." When Remus looked puzzled, Sirius continued.

"Death was very different than I thought it would be. There were two steps, the first step of my death was when I went through the veil. The second step was when it was decided where I would reside afterwards."

"What was it like?"

Sirius thought for a moment. "Not easy to describe. Think of a man covered in a black robe, hood hiding his face. He requested a game of chess, but I persuaded him against it. Instead, we played a game of poker, the outcome determining where I was to go next." Sirius smiled, a glint in his eye, "No need to tell you, I played a mean game of poker. The man was very surprised. Seems I was the first one ever to win one of these games."

"How did you manage to win?"

Sirius' smile widened and he snorted, "Marked cards."

"Damn, Siri," laughed Remus, "Leave it to you to find a way to cheat death."

"Well, not only did I get to come back, I won two gifts. He would return to me something that I once had in life, but had been lost. Well, I thought of all sorts of things I wanted back. I asked him to send James and Lily back, but he said that wasn't possible. He chose which gifts he would give, never asked me. Think he was adept at legilimency.

So, I have returned to you and I come bearing gifts."

Remus leaned down to kiss Siri's head and noticed that his hair was no longer thinned at the top. Seemed that gift number one was to give Sirius back the hair of his youth. "I liked that bald spot," Remus whined.

"You would," Sirius rolled his eyes.

"And Siri, what is the other?"

Sirius smiled impishly, "You remember saying that I came back as a teenager?" He winked and kissed Remus under the ear, "Care to have another go?"

Thunder in the Morning - Written and Sung by Essra Mohawk.