Disclaimer: Anything Harry Potter-wise is JK Rowling. Not mine.
Pairing: SB/RL Slash, so be warned (yet again)
Notes: Catclaw, as always, my wonderful beta!
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THIS CHAPTER: For Harry, the pieces fall together. For Remus, everything falls apart.

Chapter 8

Things can fall apart, or threaten to, for many reasons, and then there's got to be a leap of faith. Ultimately, when you're at the edge, you have to go forward or backward; if you go forward, you have to jump together.
-Yo-Yo Ma

Remus liked the patterns the light made on the ceiling. It reminded him of his dorm at Hogwarts. He wanted to reach up and touch the shapes, but every time his arms could not move past a certain point. Like reaching for stars, he thought. Remus liked looking at stars, too. Especially when the moon was absent from the sky. They burned brighter those nights.

Whenever he looked away from the lights, a new person was standing by his bed. It disturbed him that so many people wanted to see him. He liked to be alone sometimes. However, he couldn't just turn them away. They all were counting on him, somehow; he could feel it. Once, James and Lily were visiting him. Remus laughed at Prong's hair; it really was all over the place. Lily's musical laugh joined his, but he wasn't quite sure what she was laughing at. She never saw the humor in James's hair.

Remus blinked and cringed. James and Lily were staring at him with blank, lifeless eyes. Their hair was tangled, and James's robes were ripped.

"Help us, Moony," James pleaded. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

"Why won't you help us?" Lily whispered.

Remus closed his eyes and whimpered. He wished them gone, but immediately felt horrible that he would think such things about the Potters.

"My poor cherub," his mum whispered. Her long, cool fingers touched his brow. "Life was never easy on you."

"Mum," Remus rasped. His throat felt like coal.

"Hush, child. Let me sing you to sleep." Mum smiled gently down at him. "Time to sleep, little child, time to lay your head to rest…"

Remus shakily joined in the lullaby. "When the night says good-bye, I'll be there to wake you…"

His mum started singing a second verse that he never heard before. Dumbledore stood at the foot of the bed, blowing rainbow bubbles. "Loony, loopy Lupin," he sang. His father paced the room, taking a wide path around some third year Gryffindors who were playing Exploding Snap.

"All my fault," his father mumbled. He turned red-rimmed eyes to Remus. "It was my fault, my only son…"

"No, Da," Remus whispered. Before he could reach for his dad's hand, Greyback ran towards him. "DA!" It was too late. Greyback pounced on his father. He glimpsed his father's pleading eyes and a pool of blood, before both disappeared.

The guards from the Rehabilitation Center were closing around his bed. Some carried silver daggers, others foul smelling potions, and yet more had their wands drawn.

"Tell us, Lupin—" they chanted. "Tell us the truth."

"No, go away," he whimpered. He reached out for his mother, but she was behind the horrible men. Hundreds of people Remus knew stood behind the guards, their eyes pleading for help or forgiveness. They pressed towards him, and Remus felt like he was going to drown.

"Remus…" He could just make out the familiar voice. "Moony! Remus, please look at me!"

Reluctantly, he drew his gaze away from the glinting silver daggers. Sirius was perched on his bed, holding his hand. "Padfoot?"

"Yes, Moony. It's me." Sirius rubbed soothing circles on Remus's hand with his thumb. "Focus on me, love. It's nearly time to go."

"Go? Where?" The voices of the others were fading away, and Remus could faintly recall something he had to do.

"Remember this afternoon? Smart kids, Harry and his friends."

Remus felt the cold, solid vial in his right hand. "It's nearly time," he echoed.

"I believe in you, Remus. Remember that." Sirius smiled softly down at him.

"I know."

"And Harry wants so desperately to believe in you. Did you hear him? He has hope." Remus nodded. He was beginning to fight off the scattered thoughts and drowsiness the potions gave him. "Now you just have to believe in yourself."

Remus looked at the light on the ceiling, now a softer, whiter glow. Picking up stars…

When they returned from visiting Remus, Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione secluded themselves in the boys' room. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley gave them pitying looks, thinking they were going to the room to recover from the shock of seeing Lupin in such a state. Thankfully, Mad-Eye had departed soon after they returned and could not spy on them. Once Harry closed the door, he turned expectantly towards the others.

Ginny, perched on Harry's bed, nodded. "It was a bit easier than I expected, but it's done." Hermione and Ron, sitting on Ron's bed, murmured their agreement.

"What did you find out?" he asked Hermione.

"There's only one guard in the ward," she stated. "Most of the patients are too drugged up to do anything. The night guard usually takes a fifteen minute break around midnight."

"Fifteen minutes." Harry scrunched his face in thought. "That's not a long time, is it?"

"It's enough."

"Did Remus hear you clearly when you said good-bye?"

"Well, I had to whisper it in his ear because that Healer wouldn't let us be," Hermione muttered, "but I think he understood."

"Ginny?" Harry turned to her.

"The office furthest from the ward on the left has a fireplace, and there's floo powder on the mantle." Her eyes became distant. "Two of those offices are for the Regulation of Dangerous Creatures Department." She looked back at Harry. "I think Lupin heard me."

"Ron?" Harry's stomach clenched. If Ron didn't succeed, the whole thing would be for nothing.

Ron smiled slightly. "Piece of cake really." He held out a lump of clay. "Fred and George's Key Replicator works perfectly. Some Healer left their keys in their office, and they were color coded, too. Lupin was red."

Harry exhaled slowly. "You slipped it to him when you shook his hand?"

"Yep." Ron looked at Ginny. "For a minute I thought McGonagall saw us, and we were goners. Luckily she got distracted by that guard."

"I think it was the guard that got distracted by her," Hermione smirked. "I don't think she's quite given up on Lupin yet, either."

"Well, I was able to give him that vial," Harry offered. "So, now the rest is up to him."

"Hopefully he'll be aware enough when the time comes."

"I think he will be." Harry paused. "He's a fighter."

"Well," Ginny interrupted, "I think we need to make it easier on him on this end. We'll have to make sure everyone in the house is distracted or asleep."

"I'll wait at the fireplace." He looked at each of them. "I want to help him do whatever it is he needs to do."

They sat in silence for a few moments. The gravity of what they were about to do weighed heavily in Harry's stomach. They were directly working against Dumbledore's orders.

"It's no use just sitting here," Hermione burst out. "I'm going to go study." They all headed towards the door, but she paused before she opened it. "Midnight tonight, it'll all be resolved, no matter what happens."

At Sirius's cue, Remus maneuvered the fake key and unlocked his restraints. His wrists were a bit raw from rubbing against the chains, but he knew he couldn't stop to soothe them. Time was of the essence. He slipped from his bed with minimal noise and paused, checking that the other patients were still sound asleep. The curtains surrounding the bed next to him billowed ominously. An older man peered around the hangings. Remus was in the middle of figuring out what he could use to knock the man unconscious when the man smiled and gave a thumbs up. Taking this as a well wishing, Remus waved and quickly moved on.

As Hermione had said, the guard was currently somewhere outside the ward getting a cup of coffee. He feared that he would not find the right office, but Ginny's directions could not be misinterpreted. Besides, there were only six doors to choose from. The last office on the left did indeed have a fireplace, and floo powder. Remus felt the beginnings of hope swell in his chest. It seemed like he could pull it off…

At the fireplace, he had to pause. Not only did he have to fight off a wave of nausea from the medicines Malific had given him before he left for the night, he also just realized he had no wand to get past the wards on Grimmauld Place. Sirius stood next to him, concern written all over his face.

"Are you okay?"

Remus merely nodded. The others could not hear Sirius, but his voice would certainly alert someone.

"Do you think you could try a bit of wandless magic?" Sirius grasped his shoulder in support. Remus thought quickly, and then nodded again.

He took a handful of powder, flung it in the fireplace, and whispered, "Lupin Cottage." The flames turned purple. Taking a deep breath, Remus placed one hand in the flames. He pictured the wards as he had created them. Every different protection had a different color and a different shape. They all fit together into a seamless amorphous cloud. He pictured himself holding the cloud, running his hands along the surface. The cloud hummed; it recognized its creator. Gently, he mentally prodded each section one at a time. Remus could feel the magic flowing out of him, and feared that he would expend too much energy. As each one was disabled, it turned a dull grey.

As usual, Remus let his mind drift. When working on wards, he found it easier to not think about it directly. He thought back to Hogwarts, and the Marauders. Remus, Sirius, and James were considered at the top of their class for different reasons. James was always full of ideas. He was creative and spontaneous. It was James that came up with their most brilliant plans. Remus was the theoretician. He delved into the theory behind magic and absorbed every bit of information. When James had an idea, it was Remus that made it possible. Hours were spent pouring over basic structures and complex diagrams. Often he would 'tweak' the ideas until they were beyond brilliant. And then Sirius—Sirius would breathe life into the spell. Sometimes Remus wondered if Sirius passed his classes with such ease simply because he was too stubborn to do otherwise. He could complete a spell on the first try purely because he willed it to work. Remus would guide him through the framework until Sirius could infuse it with his passion for life and let the words flow from his mouth. Finally, he could feel the wards click into place.

"Hopscotch," he whispered. He held his breath, hoping they hadn't changed the password yet.

"PASSWORD ACCEPTED. PROCEED." Remus swore. In the excitement of the last few weeks, he had forgotten to adjust the volume of the voice. Footsteps were echoing somewhere outside the ward, at a running pace. The guard had heard him.

He turned towards the door, trying to decide whether he'd have to fight the guard before an alarm could be put out. Through the window on the door, Remus saw the same older gentleman from the ward.

"Go! Quickly!" the man shouted. He ran into the ward. Remus could make out the distant sounds of fighting as he stepped into the green flames and disappeared.

Everything was working as Harry had hoped, so far. Neither Tonks nor Mad-Eye was staying at Grimmauld that night, so all he had to worry about was Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Mrs. Weasley had placed a veritable feast in front of them earlier, most likely in an attempt to cheer them up from the hospital visit. Fortunately, all the food had settled heavily in their stomachs, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley called it a night relatively early. They were sleeping peacefully in their bedroom while, unbeknownst to them, Ginny was standing guard outside their door. Hermione was at the door to the house, prepared to stall anyone entering that way. Ron was outside the kitchen; he would cover the fireplace once Remus arrived. At five minutes past midnight, just when Harry started worrying, the flames leapt to life and Remus tumbled out of the fire.

"Professor Lupin, are you okay?" Harry rushed forward to offer a hand.

"So it's back to Professor now, is it?" Remus said sarcastically. He brushed the soot off his hospital gown and looked around the kitchen. "The guards were alerted by the floo security system. I think some of the other patients are staging a riot, however. I'm guessing we still have fifteen minutes before they notice my absence."

"Well, we best get going then." Harry led the way out of the kitchen. "I suppose you want to go to Sirius's room?" Lupin nodded. He waved hello to Ron, who took his position by the fireplace, and started up the staircase. They passed Ginny, who gave a thumbs up, and quietly walked by Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's room. It seemed almost too easy to reach Sirius's room. Remus signaled to Harry to wait for a second. He went into his old room and came back out seconds later with a wand. "Dumbledore has my current one," he explained.

Remus took down the wards on Sirius's door, and entered the room. Harry looked briefly around the room, but his attention was quickly drawn to the cleared area by the window. A cauldron was simmering in the moonlight. Two antique full-length mirrors stood facing each other next to the cauldron. A circle was made on the floor from several different artifacts, including the skull of a grindylow, the claw of a dragon, and a braid of unicorn hair. Harry guessed that it was all the product of Remus's recent wanderings. Remus lit three bright red candles in the center of the circle.

"Each object gives off a different magical energy," Remus explained. "For instance, the unicorn hair radiates pure life-energy. The dragon claw is strength and endurance. The candles represent the fire of life that flows through the veins."

"What about the mirrors?" When Harry looked closer, he could see that they were extremely ancient, most likely of some historical importance.

"The Mirrors of Fladnag. They magnify magical signatures, enhance spells, and—most importantly—can be the convergence of two realities—a gateway, if you will." Remus emptied the vial Harry had given him into the cauldron.

"And the potion?" The smoke it was now producing filled the room and smelled of blood.

"The steam is to be absorbed by the object—in this case Sirius—and anchor it to this world. I will also have a sip of it to further anchor myself to the here and now." He picked up a piece of parchment and studied the writing on it. "Of course, this is all nearly irrelevant to what I'm trying to achieve. The bulk of the magic is in the spell I created. These things are peripherals, extras to aide me. I'm hoping that it will push the balance in my favor."

"Oh, okay." Harry was still confused, but it sounded like he knew what he was doing. "So you really think Sirius is alive?"

"Not so much alive as—not dead."

"Isn't this a form of necromancy?" Harry didn't want Remus practicing Dark Arts, even if its results were good.

Remus paused. "No. Necromancy is a Dark Art that involves a wizard bringing the deceased back from the dead. This is more like the deceased fighting death, and a wizard providing a bit of help. Besides, everything I'm about to do is not quite Dark in nature."

With a quick tap of his wand, the runes on the parchment turned blue and jumped onto the walls. Unlike when McGonagall had done such a thing, Lupin flicked his wand again and the runes aligned perfectly. As Remus sketched several more runes on the floor with chalk, Harry finally took in the room around him. There was a large, comfortable looking bed on one wall. Several blankets were draped over the foot of the bed; Harry guessed that Sirius was perpetually colder from his stay at Azkaban. A long, squat dresser dominated the wall next to the bed and next to the entrance to the room. A wardrobe was on the wall with the door that connected to Remus's room. Near the window was a doorway that led to a bathroom.

What really grabbed Harry's attention, however, were the pictures. Pictures in simple wooden frames filled every flat surface, and many more hung on the walls. He began looking through them, elated to find them mostly about the Marauders and their days at Hogwarts. Another large section featured his mum and dad, and—Harry inhaled sharply—himself as a baby. Some pictures included people Harry didn't know, but could guess their identities. For instance, a mixture of Tonks and Sirius could only be Andromeda Tonks. There were two or three snapshots from the weeks Harry spent at Grimmauld last summer and winter; he didn't even remember having them taken.

"They help him remember." Harry jumped. He hadn't heard Remus walk up behind him.

"I didn't know he had problems with memory." A young and smiling Sirius waved up at him from the Hogwarts Lake.

"Well, he knows what happened. He has the facts. Sometimes, though, it's hard for him to remember the good things, the happy feelings." Remus touched a picture of Lily and James doting over Harry.

Harry noticed there was only one picture on the bedside table. "What about this one?" A younger Remus and Sirius waved at him. Sirius was holding a newborn Harry carefully in his arms. Remus was curled on the couch next to Sirius, his head resting on Sirius's shoulder.

Lupin exhaled slowly. "That is to remind us of simpler times, times when we were happy, at peace; our only purpose was to watch you grow, and all that mattered was that we loved each other." Harry began to understand why their rooms were connected. A thousand little gestures began to form a larger picture in his head. "It also represents what we are fighting for. Not for Dumbledore, not for the Ministry, but for those things to exist again. It is what we hope for."

"And what about the present? Does it represent anything about now?"

Remus looked at him. "Yes. We are still looking out for you." His gaze shifted off to the distance. "And I still love him."

"Good." Before Harry could say anything else, a coin in his pocket flared with heat. Hermione was inspired earlier to use their DA galleons as signals. "They're here. We have to hurry."

With a brief nod, Remus walked back over to the circle on the floor. He paused abruptly, holding on to one of the mirrors to steady himself. After the wave of dizziness had passed and his face was no longer contorted with pain, he pointed his wand at the bedroom door and began reciting spell after spell. A bright light flared, indicating the wards had been replaced.

"That should give us a few more minutes." Remus briskly walked over to the cauldron and took a sip of the potion. "You might want to stand back. I don't know if this will backlash at all. Sirius, stand between the mirrors."

Remus sat at the center of the artifact circle, the candles directly in front of him. He picked up an ancient dagger from the floor and cut his right hand in one swift movement. Harry watched horrified as the blood began flowing down his arm. He heard shouts from outside the room and moved closer to the door. It sounded like Dumbledore and Mrs. Weasley were arguing with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. Lupin began to chant in a language Harry was not familiar with.

"Open the door, Remus!" Dumbledore shouted from the hallway. "This is foolishness. You'll only hurt yourself or Harry."

Remus did not respond. He picked up his wand with his bloodied hand and started a complex pattern. Harry jumped several feet when a loud explosion shook the entire house. Dumbledore was trying to shut down the wards. Still, Remus continued chanting and waving his wand, "…opisolidus, edoveru…" Another explosion, followed by flickering light, erupted. Remus's chanting got louder and the mirrors began to hum.

By the time Dumbledore attempted to bypass the wards for the third time, the room was cackling with energy. The door flung open and Dumbledore was suddenly in the room. Everything happened at once. Dumbledore raised his wand to stop Remus from completing the spell. Remus, however, was able to shout out, "spero revivisco". A bright light emanated from the mirrors and the artifacts, temporarily blinding everyone. The room became absolutely silent.

Many people had flooded into the room to see the outcome. McGonagall, Tonks, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were staring in shock at Remus. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny gathered around Harry. Dumbledore sadly dropped his arm to his side. Across the room, Remus stood and faced them, an uncertain smile on his face. Harry's stomach dropped.

There was no sign of Sirius.