The Dog Star

Archive: Padfoot...Snuffles, Azkaban's Lair, Meant to Be
Summary: Post OotP, Moony can't sleep peacefully
Pairing: Remus & Sirius
Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns everything mentioned here, I don't
Spoilers: OotP
Author's Notes: I've twisted the timeline slightly from Sirius' death to Harry's birthday, but that doesn't make much of a difference

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Remus looked in terror at the beam of light from Bellatrix's wand as it hit Sirius squarely in the chest, holding his breath as Sirius fell, willing him to not go through the veil but to no avail.

Drenched in sweat, he woke up gasping for breath. That was the twelfth night since Sirius' death, and the twelfth night he had suffered from the same nightmare. Except it wasn't a nightmare: it had really happened. Every night he dreamt, and each morning he'd wake - hoping the scene he'd dreamt had been just that: dreams rather than reality.

Wiping the sweat from his face, Remus walked slowly to the kitchen to make himself a mug of tea: his mother had always said that was good for situations like this, and he wasn't one to disbelieve her. He could, of course, have Accio'd the tea from the kitchen, but ever since that fateful day he hadn't felt much like magic. His wand was still on the table in the front room, where he'd left it on his return from the Ministry that day. Now, even seeing other members of the Order was enough for tears to start welling in his eyes.

Remus had avoided Harry completely since the start of the summer holidays, which filled him with guilt, but Remus knew he couldn't cope with the prospect of watching the young man cry. Even though Harry's birthday was approaching and Remus had absolutely no idea of what to give him, he was determined to not see another Wizard or Witch. At least not for the next few years. The pain was too raw.

Facing the prospect of a Sirius-free life, Remus' heart felt heavy. He had spent many long summer evenings at Hogwarts with Sirius, and since they had left school, their relationship had progressed to more than just being friends. Remus could hardly see to pour the boiling water into the mug: his eyes filled with hot tears at the injustice of it all. His boyfriend firstly locked away in Azkaban for a crime he didn't commit, then killed by his own cousin trying to save Harry and the others from the hoard of Deatheaters.

Finally, he put the kettle down, and reached for the newspaper lying on the table. It was two days old, but he hadn't bothered reading it until now - there wasn't much news he was interested in hearing (after all, you can't bring a dead person back to life... can you?).

Idly glancing at the front page, Remus gasped. The Deatheaters Dumbledore had captured during the last term had escaped from Azkaban. The absence of Dementors had meant their escape was as easy as dozing off in a lecture by Professor Binns. "Well, that's it then," Remus thought, "we're all going to end up like Sirius - even with Dumbledore. If we can't lock up the Deatheaters, we'll have to duel and kill them all"

Pausing on that last thought, Remus wiped yet more tears from his amber eyes. These next duels would be harder. Voldemort's side would be stronger after their success in killing Sirius and escaping Azkaban. Looking up from the paper, a chart caught Remus' eye. His Lunar chart.

Gazing over it, he realized the next full moon was due in a matter of days. Normally he would almost be looking forward to the full moon: a chance to run in the Forbidden Forest with Padfoot and recapture some of their youth, but this time he was dreading it. Another full moon without Sirius - like those in the twelve years he was locked up, except these would last forever.

Stuck on that last thought, Remus moved towards the window and looked out at the dark sky. He hadn't managed to sleep for long that night, less than a couple of hours, yet he knew there would be no dreamless sleep tonight. If only he had learnt the dreamless sleep spell from Dumbledore, or been able to obtain some potion from Snape. Remus shuddered at the thought of the name.

Glancing up at the sky, he tried to find the Dog Star. Many a night he and Sirius had looked for it, lying on the grass in the Hogwarts grounds gazing at its beauty.

Still staring at the sky, Remus noticed the star as the clouds near it parted. Looking at the rest of the sky, it was the only clear patch visible. Glancing back at the star, he saw a strange, almost black glow mixed in with what appeared to be a motorbike headlight.

"What was in this tea?" Remus thought out-loud, "I'm hallucinating."

Despite not believing what he saw, Remus looked again, and clear as day he saw the glare of a motorbike headlight shining from the direction of the star. Suddenly, the clouds re-covered the star and the mysterious light disappeared.

Despite the clouds, Remus couldn't tear his gaze away from the patch of sky where the light had appeared. It seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite place it.

Hearing the soft crack of Apparation behind him, Remus gulped, slowly turning round, wiping his amber eyes on the sleeve of his robes as he did so: if a member of the Order had shown up he didn't want to be seen crying. Not this time.

Keeping his eyes to the ground, Remus turned and held his breath. This visitor was wearing Muggle clothes. Well, to be more specific Muggle motorbiking clothes.

Sirius' Muggle biking clothes that he had always worn on his flying motorbike.

Remus let out the breath he was holding, raising his eyes looking up until he could see the face of the being staring at him. The comical grin that Sirius always used to give him whenever Remus had some something silly.
"H.. how..." stuttered Remus "I mean... you went through the veil... you... you d... died. Yet you seem so real... so unghostly... so solid"

Sirius just continued to smile at him, and slowly moved towards him.
"Yes Moony, I went through the veil," he said, picking up Remus' wand from the table and casting a 'dry your tears' spell: Remus had no control over his eyes it seemed, they shed tears whenever they wanted to. Still moving slowly towards him, that smile increasing in intensity, Sirius continued:

"But maybe there was an advantage to belonging to the House of Black..."
Remus looked confused, yet before he could open his mouth to ask for an explanation Sirius held up a hand and continued.

"That dear mother of mine," his words littered with sarcasm, "that wonderful witch taught me unusual things, but I always thought this would be useful".
Sirius winked as he drew level with Remus who was still looking confused.

"Moony, have you ever wondered why she named me after the Dog Star?"
Remus looked up, trying to 'read' the answer through Sirius' eyes. To no avail: those twelve years in Azkaban had given Sirius enough time to learn how to not display emotion through his eyes, and it seemed that the trait he'd developed in his canine form wasn't going to stop right now. Not even for Remus.
Remus simply shrugged, knowing that if he attempted to speak, he would simply break down and cry again: tears of disbelief rather than grief.

"Simply this" Sirius said, his voice becoming quieter as if he didn't want anyone to overhear, "my mother's family believed that you can create a spell or a potion for anything, as long as there was a star involved. So she tried, and taught me this one. With no proof of it being able to work, she told me not to use it. That was until I became a Gryffindor instead of her hopes of a Slytherin. Then, she had told me to try, but that's beside the point."

Remus raised an eyebrow in anticipation of the spell Sirius was about to describe. Even Snape, the most knowledgeable Potionsmaster Remus had ever known (even though he would never admit that to anyone else) hadn't managed to create a potion or spell to revive someone from the dead. Nor had Dumbledore: hadn't he told Remus and Harry that Sirius was gone forever?

Sirius calmly explained the spell his mother had taught him, and how at the age of fourteen he had performed it on himself. This spell would mean if he was killed by anyone, and three circumstances were met he could return to life.
Remus stood facing him, his mouth open in shock. Still scared to speak, unable to find his voice, he looked at Sirius in a way that asked "what circumstances?".
Gazing into Remus' amber eyes, Sirius knew the question being asked. He hadn't been his boyfriend for nothing! Grinning, he muttered "it had to be a cloudy night, when the dog star was visible..."
"...and the third thing?" Remus found his voice just long enough to croak the four words.

"The third thing," replied Sirius, wrapping his arm around his shoulders, "is for the two people who felt closest to me to have been grieving and watching the star at the time. Which I thought may have been too unlikely to happen, but I was proven wrong."

Tears streaming down his face, Remus buried his head in Sirius' neck. The emotions of the last few nights had been terrible, and this was almost too much to believe. Sirius Black, not only escaping from Azkaban, then from the Dementors, but to have cheated death as well?

Maybe the fight with the Deatheaters wouldn't be too hard: after all, the Order would be stronger once they knew Sirius was back. He might even be able to convince Harry to join them: if Sirius had needed two people, then the other must have been Harry, and he is the only one could defeat and kill Voldemort - they would certainly need him.
Leading Sirius to the couch, and sitting down, still nestling in his lover's strong arms, Remus thought of the full moon and smiled slightly: no more Sirius'-free full moons under the influence of Wolfsbane potion. He could romp in the Forbidden Forest with him every month.

Snuggling closer to Sirius on the couch, Remus pictured Harry's face when they told him the events of tonight. Looking up at Sirius who was still holding his shoulder firmly, claiming Remus as his own, Remus smiled slightly, then realised with a jolt that Harry's birthday was tomorrow. He still hadn't found a present for him.

Neslting his face in Sirius' neck once more, and letting his boyfriend's familiar scent attack his lupine sense of smell, Remus grinned - his first real smile for twelve days. He already had the ideal present for Harry's sixteenth birthday.
His godfather.