February 2nd, 1979
This time, I was the one who was late. I glanced down at my watch and cursed to myself when I realized that I was already thirty minutes late – Sirius was going to kill me. I picked up the pace, breaking in to a slight jog. I was supposed to be meeting Sirius, James and Lily at The Mystic for dinner, but practice had run over by almost an hour and I hadn't had time to go home and change like I wanted. I took the quickest shower I could manage in the locker room, but I was still wearing Sirius's oversized jumper and old jeans underneath my winter coat. Maybe if I popped my head in the pub and let them know I was going to run upstairs and change they wouldn't be too mad…
As I had been deep in thought, I hadn't realized that I was already standing in the doorway to the pub. I opened the door and glanced inside, but I didn't see Sirius, James or Lily anywhere.
"Oi, Oliver!" I called, my head sticking through the door and my body outside. If Oliver found it odd, he didn't mention anything. He turned his head from behind the bar where he was mixing a drink and cocked his head at me. "Has Sirius been in tonight?"
"Yep, him and those two friends of yours were in. The Auror and his red-head fiancé?" Oliver confirmed, putting the drink down in front of a very attractive blonde with a wink. "Sirius asked me to pass on a message to you. 'Found Moony. Wait for us with my mistress and your best friend." I can't make heads of tails of that, but if you, Lily, and Sirius's mistress are all friends, maybe having a girlfriend wouldn't be that bad…"
I shook my head at him, not acknowledging his joke. My stomach had dropped in understanding of the message – we hadn't had a lead on Remus in the entire five months he'd been gone and we had all started to accept the fact that he might be in real danger. With a quick shout of thanks over my shoulder, I spun on my heel and started running towards the place where I knew Sirius wanted me to go.
Since our wedding, Sirius had taken a step back from the Order. He'd been spending all of his time at the Ministry looking into leads regarding Remus's whereabouts, but nothing had turned up. He hadn't taken any Order missions, in case Remus was found while he was away; he wanted to make sure he was on the team sent to rescue him. In a way, it had been nice having him home with me; we were able to take a short honeymoon to the countryside where we had played Quidditch, ate amazing food, and spent a lot of time breaking in our marital bed. Our trip had been cut short, however, when word reached us that both Mr. and Mrs. Potter were in the hospital with dragonpox – a highly fatal and contagious disease for witches and wizards of the Potter's age. We had rushed home just in time; Sirius was able to visit them in St. Mungo's and say goodbye just hours before they passed within minutes of each other. Sirius had taken the news even worse than James, who just two weeks later had to be strong for Lily when she found out that her parents both died in a car accident while on their way to Petunia and Vernon's house. The couple was expecting a child, and Lily had not been invited to the baby shower – her parents had died on their way to the party, and Lily blamed herself for not being in the car to protect them. James focused all of his attention on Lily's grief, and Sirius grieved for their parents enough for both boys. After two weeks of mourning at home, he threw himself back in to searching for Remus, bringing maps and reports home and studying them well in to the night.
"I won't lose anyone else," He muttered hysterically to me any time I tried to broach the subject that perhaps he was pushing himself too hard. His one reprieve was the muggle motorcycle that he had purchased at an automobile shop on our honeymoon. He could be found there working on his mistress – as he called her – every weekend. He said that it was therapeutic and relaxing; that I shouldn't be jealous of his new baby. I was just happy that he had something to take him mind off of the stresses that he faced on a daily basis – something that made him happy. He kept the bike in a garage he had bought down the street from our loft, which I had just arrived at. I threw the metal door open.
Lily was sitting inside in a chair, her head in her hands. Her long hair was falling around her petite shoulders, and her eyes were glazed over as she stared at the black bike that was up on stilts in the center of the room.
"Lils?" I said quietly, not wanting to startle her. It didn't work; she jumped so hard in her seat that her wand fell out of her hand. I picked it up, handed it to her, and dragged a chair to sit next to her. "What happened?"
Lily looked at me, her eyes rimmed red, and cleared her throat before talking. "We were just sitting down for dinner. Sirius knew you were running late since you hadn't been home to change yet, and we were just ordering a round of drinks while we waited for you. Alastor must have those boys chipped or something, because he knew right where to find them."
"Where is he? James and Sirius went with the rescue team, right?" I asked to confirm. I know that Sirius wouldn't have taken no for an answer, but there was a small bubble of hope that he was just at the Ministry safe and sound, waiting to fill out some paperwork while someone else went to do the dirty work.
"Yes, they left right from the pub. Alastor, Frank and Alice went as well. They found him in the forests of Romania," Lily established, wringing her hands together.
"Romania? What was he doing there? He was supposed to be with a pack in the North!"
"We don't know. Something obviously went wrong. Alastor swept Sirius and James away so quickly I didn't even get a chance to ask any questions," Lily said with a somber look on her face.
"Sirius didn't even get to say goodbye," I lamented, cursing myself for being late. If I had been on time, I at least could have kissed him goodbye. I grabbed hold of my necklace and starting toying with the charm. The memories within calmed me, a feeling of reassurance entering my body even though my natural inclination was panic. "He's never left without saying goodbye, but it was for Remus."
"He told me to tell you that he loves you, and that he promises he'll come home," Lily said, pulling my hand in to her own. "I know it's not the same as a real goodbye, but if I believe anyone that they'll come home safely, it's Sirius."
We sat like that, hand in hand, for the rest of the night. Marlene joined us at some point, having heard through the Order that the boys were on a dangerous mission. She brought us some sandwiches and chips, but none of us were very hungry and the food sat untouched on the table between us.
Around 2AM we heard a pop from outside. I jumped out of my seat immediately and ran outside, while Marlene jostled Lily awake. Down the street I saw a group of people supporting someone between them.
"Sirius?" I called, squinting to see who I was looking at in the dim lighting of the streetlights. The group was just about a block away from the garage, staggering towards me from the apparition point. Sirius and James were at the front of the pack, supporting Remus between them. Remus looked…rough. He was using the boys to entirely support himself, his face was completely bruised and there were several scratches on his shoulder that were bleeding profusely. It looked as if one of his legs were broken, and based on the way he was holding his torso – possibly his ribs.
I ran up to them, pushing James off Remus, seeing that he looked as if he had been on the wrong side of a wand himself, and helped Remus the rest of the way to the garage. Sirius and I lowered Remus on to a chair, while Lily fussed over James who was clutching his eye; it was quickly forming in to a massive black and blue. Once Remus was comfortably sitting, I turned to Sirius and pulled him in for a quick kiss.
"Hi, kitten," Sirius murmured against my lips, pulling me towards him into a tight hug. I felt some of the tension he was holding in his muscles dissolve as he held me. "Sorry I didn't get to say goodbye."
"Don't worry about it, love. I'm glad you're safe," I squeezed him tight, before turning to address the room at large. "What happened?"
Moody opened his mouth to answer, but Remus croaked out, "Pack." We all looked at each other, shocked to hear Remus speak given the state he was in. He was still leaning all the way down in his chair, clutching his side in pain.
"Relax, Lupin. You're safe now," Moody said gruffly, thinking Remus was hallucinating a pack closing in on him.
"No. Pack…only," Remus croaked again, shifting in his seat and wincing in pain. Sirius and I looked at each other briefly before starting to shuffle everyone out of the room.
"Out," Sirius said simply, pushing Moody from the room. I shot Marlene an apologetic look; She, Alice and Frank left the room quickly without question, understanding the intricacies of werewolf culture.
"Anything he has to say, he can say in front of me," Moody growled impatiently, planting his staff in to the ground and leaning on it heavily.
"Alastor…" Lily started, but Sirius lost his temper at Moody's attitude and grabbed him by the lapels of his overcoat.
"OUT!" Sirius screamed, shoving Moody roughly. "Remus has been tortured for the last five months, on your orders. If he wants it to be just pack…we will respect his wishes. Anything else you want to ask him can wait – you already know, most importantly, that he is safe. Report that back to Dumbledore! Now get out of my garage." With a final push, Sirius removed Moody from the room and slammed the door behind him. I could hear Moody grumbling from behind the thin metal door, but he didn't push any further. He must have decided not to push his luck with an injured werewolf, a temperamental Black and his protective wife. Not to mention James and Lily, who certainly would stand on our side. A second later I heard the telltale pop of apparition.
"Lily!" James said sharply, pushing his fiancé's hands off his face. "I'm fine. Go take care of Moony. Please."
Lily snapped her head around and gasped when she realized the state Remus was in. She had been so preoccupied by James, that she hadn't realized the severity of his injuries. She immediately was at his side, doing diagnostic spells. "Your ribs are broken, and your leg has a very bad break. I don't want to set those – we haven't covered that yet in training and I don't want them to heal improperly. I can take care of the cuts and bruises though until we can get you to a healer."
"Thanks, Lils. Whatever you can do will help, me entire body feels like it is broken," Remus groaned. His voice was very scratchy, as if he hadn't used it in months – or he had injured it screaming. "Where's Peter?"
"Don't know," Lily said as she used her wand to close up the deep wounds on his shoulder. "Marlene told me that he wasn't at the Order meeting that Dumbledore called to let everyone know we had found you. She went to your flat and he wasn't there; he wasn't at work either. Apparently his parents said he's been missing work once or twice a week."
"I think he has a girlfriend," Sirius chimed in. "He's been gone a ton – I actually haven't seen him in months because he's always busy when I invite him around."
I kept my opinion to myself – that it was incredibly unlikely that any woman would actually agree to date him – by pulling a chair over from behind the bike to where Remus and James were sitting. "So what happened? Last we heard, you were up North! How'd you end up in Romania?"
"So I was with a pack in England, up North for about a couple weeks – thanks Lils, that feels loads better," Remus said, nodding his thanks at Lily who had just finished siphoning the blood from his arm and had curled up in James's lap. "Everything was going well for a while, until the full moon. The Alpha could sense that I had a pack of my own – you guys – and he went nuts. They had me chained up for weeks and were using the Cruciatus curse trying to get information about who had sent me. Right around Christmas a group of Death Eaters – Merlin! Sirius, Addie, I missed your wedding! I'm so sorry."
I waved him off and Sirius shook his head, "Moony, that doesn't matter at all. What did the Death Eaters want?"
"I owe you two the best wedding present ever – anyway, they were trying to get the pack to join up. Most of the wolves seemed hesitant, but the Alpha – guy by the name of Dragor McClinin – seemed super interested. I knew if the Death Eaters were able to convince Dragor, he'd give me up in an instant, so I started trying to plan my escape."
"Do you know who the Death Eaters were?" James asked.
Remus shook his head. "No, they never took their masks off or lowered their hoods. If I had to guess I'd say Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange, but I can't say with certainty. I'd say it was probably Christmas Day, two days after the Death Eaters had first come to speak to Dragor – happy anniversary Addie and Sirius – that a female werewolf in the pack approached me."
"That must have been very dangerous for her," Lily gasped, her hands covering her mouth in amazement.
"If Dragor had found out, he would have killed her for sure. She told me that she wasn't technically part of the pack – her ex boyfriend was and she had been with them for a year, even though her and him had split months ago. She was too afraid to leave – Dragor wouldn't have liked losing her, pack or not. He prides himself on having the largest pack in the UK and would have seen her leaving as a personal offense. She offered to help me escape, so long as I took her too. She knew of a pack of werewolves who were leaving for Romania in the morning, and she said I could come with them if we escaped," Remus continued, clutching his side in pain again. We should get him to a healer soon – or better yet, get a healer here. I could probably get Dad to come and treat him without letting the Ministry know – provide some cover for the mission. Sirius, seeing me wince in sympathy for Remus's pain, pulled me to his side. How was it possible that even though he was the one who had just come back from risking his life, he was still the one comforting me? I really found myself a good man – despite what he thinks of himself.
"She returned that night, and while the rest of the pack was eating she let me loose. We ran, probably eight miles, to get away from them before apparating, hoping they wouldn't be able to hear us. I was hurt and weak, but the adrenaline kicked in and she – Nicoletta – helped me tremendously. We made it to the group leaving for Romania and they were chatting about the war; left it pretty clear that they were undecided, so I decided to go with them to try to convince them to fight with us," Remus recounted, his face brightening at Nicoletta's name. "Nicoletta is a fierce witch – I had her convinced to join Dumbledore immediately, and she helped me talk to the rest of the pack. She encouraged me to disclose right away to the Alpha of this pack that I was an Alpha too. She was right, I came right out and told him, promised him I just wanted to talk about the war and that I wanted nothing to do with his pack, and he let me chat with the rest of the group freely."
"It seemed like everything was going well, what happened? Why are you all beaten up? Why did it take you two more months to get home?" I asked, knowing something must have gone wrong.
"Is that food?" Remus asked, ignoring me completely and gesturing the sandwiches on the table. I nodded, mad at myself for not offering sooner; of course he must be starving. I levitated a sandwich and a bottle of water over to him, and he dug in like a starving animal. "Thanks, Addie," he said with his mouth full. "I was only planning on staying a couple of days, a week at most – saying what I needed to say and getting the hell home. Three days after the pack made it to Romania, the Death Eaters found us. I guess Dragor must have been convinced to join them, because he told them who I was and the Death Eaters guessed that I must have been part of the Order. One of the other members of the pack knew Nicoletta had been trying to leave, and they tracked us to the woods we were camping in. We moved around a bunch, the pack took me in and protected me. I didn't want to leave, come home, and leave them all unprotected when all they had done was protect me, so I stuck around while we tried to come up with a plan."
"That makes sense. And you couldn't have sent word because they would have known for sure that you were part of the Order then and the Death Eaters would have attacked," Sirius said. "So those bastards really had you cornered."
"Exactly. Then you lot showed up, and it took you a little while to find us, but the Death Eaters must have known you were there because they attacked. They managed to capture me when I jumped in to defend Nicoletta, and they tortured me to get information on who you were, why you came, who sent you," Remus continued, gesturing to James and Sirius.
"When we found him, he looked rough and most of the pack had run. Nicoletta was still there fighting, and the Alpha. He had told his pack to retreat, but had stuck around to try to save Remus – real good guy," James picked up the story there, as we had caught up to the part where he came in.
"We took the Death Eaters down pretty easily – it was seven against four. Nicoletta decided to stay in Romania and keep trying to recruit some guys for us, and the Alpha told us that if we ever needed them we could count of them. Pretty much a win for us," Sirius finished. "And now, we're here! Safe and sound, and only slightly battered."
"Yeah, you guys really came in clutch. The problem with a lot of werewolf packs is that they've been so ostracized from society that their magic isn't the greatest. They either have spent so much time in wolf-form that they forgot what they knew, or they never had the chance to go to school. We really needed you," Remus had finished one sandwich, and was looking around for another. I levitated mine over to him, and he tore in to it greedily, shooting me a grateful look.
"Well, I think it's really promising that you were able to get some allies in another country," Lily said thoughtfully. "It feels like a ticking time bomb – soon, he's going to be all over and nobody will be safe."
We all sat with that comment in somber silence for a couple of minutes, knowing that Lily was likely right. There was little resistance left in Britain, and Voldemort was getting stronger by the day. It was just a matter of time before the whispers of strongholds in other countries became more prominent, and they were in full-out war as well. I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard Remus groan as he tried to readjust his weight in his chair.
"Wait a minute, Remus. Don't hurt yourself any more. I'm going to pop home and see if my dad will come heal you. I doubt we want to admit you to the hospital – too many question," I said, gathering my coat and gloves.
"Great idea," James nodded at me. "Sirius, go with her. We'll stay here. And bring us some more food with you, I'm famished."
Sirius gathered his own leather jacket – the one I had given him – and I noticed he wasn't wearing a pair of gloves, or a hat, or a scarf. I shook my head at him; he always insisted he was too manly for warm winter accessories, and then he shivered the entire time we were outside. He was too stubborn to change; the pair of leather gloves I had bought him at the beginning of winter, which sat untouched at the bottom of his closet.
"Ready, kitten?" He asked me, smiling at me in the way that never failed to make my heart flutter. I nodded at him, taking his outstretched hand. When we got outside, we realized it was snowing, and Sirius wrapped his arm around me instead. I snuggled gratefully in to his warmth, and laid my head on his chest.
We were walking towards the apparition point, when I noticed a hooded figure leaning against the lamppost ahead. "Sirius!" I said sharply, laying my hand against his chest in warning. I gestured with my head towards the figure, and Sirius came to a halt.
"Wand out," He whispered, removing his arm from my shoulders. "Who's there?" He called out, his wand held steady pointing towards the lamppost. There was no answer, so Sirius motioned to me to approach slowly. He took the lead, stepping slightly in front of me as we walked forward.
The man came in to sharper focus as we got closer, and it was obvious that he was injured. He was using the lamppost to support his body weight, and the snow gathering around his feet was stained crimson red. As we got within ten feet, I saw high cheekbones, olive skin, and silky black hair. "Regulus?" I said in disbelief, increasing my pace. Sirius followed me quickly, and as he realized that I was correct, he broke in to a full sprint.
"Reg? Reg, are you alright?" Sirius shouted, grabbing Regulus under his arm and helping him stand. "What happened, what are you doing here?"
"Please Sirius. Please help me," Regulus moaned, before promptly fainting. Sirius caught him before his body hit the ground, kneeling down under his weight.
"Reg!" Sirius screamed, his panic evident. "Addie, Addie, what do I do?"
"Stay here with him. Get him inside if you can, and I'm going to go get my dad," I said decisively, nodding my head in encouragement as Sirius tried to levitate his brother towards the garage. I got up quickly and ran to the apparition point, turned on my foot, and disappeared.
My house looked so calm. The picture perfect cottage did not match the inner turmoil and panic that I was experiencing; it was too perfect a scene to be disturbed. Nevertheless, I slammed the front door opening, shouting, "Dad!"
My dad and my brother were sitting in the kitchen, enjoying a nightcap. I knew Dad had been working longer hours recently, and he had obviously just gotten home – he was still in his healer's robes and his briefcase sat on the kitchen table.
"Addie?" Lewis said in bewilderment, getting up to make sure no one was following me – the way I blazed in to the kitchen, it was entirely possible that I was running from someone.
"Sweetheart, what's wrong? You never come over this late," Dad asked, also standing up. He came over to me and put his hand on my cheek, checking to see if I had a fever.
"Dad – someone is injured, really bad. I need you to come with me right now," I panted, grabbing his hand from my cheek and using it to pull him from the room. He came without resistance, pulling back just slightly to grab his briefcase, which I knew held a fairly stocked medical potion kit.
"Wait, Addison. What is going on? Sit down for a second and explain. Why does Dad need to come, and why can't this person go to St. Mungo's?" Lewis questioned, trying to step in front of me and stop me. I pulled my wand out and pointed it at Lewis, who put his hands up in shock at my aggressive action.
"Lewis, move now before I hurt you. He can't go to St. Mungo's because he's a Death Eater, but he's dying and he needs Dad," I snapped impatiently.
"If he's a Death Eater, then call the Aurors!" Lewis urged stubbornly, not moving from his spot in the doorframe.
"Because he's Sirius's brother! Now MOVE!" I pushed past him, and Dad followed immediately. Lewis moved back in defeat, a lock of pure shock crossing his face. Sirius had never spoken about Regulus in front of my family, and I'm not even sure Lewis or my dad knew he had a brother.
"Okay, honey. Are you okay to apparate, or do you need to tell me where to go?" Dad asked once we were in the front garden. He linked our arms together and looked at me to check my answer. I knew I was panicking, and if I didn't calm down I ran the risk of splinching one of us. I couldn't afford Dad getting splinched and not being able to help Regulus, so I took a deep breath.
"I can do it," I said once my heart rate had calmed down, and we disapparated. "This way!" I took off at a sprint towards the garage, pulling the door open and ushering my dad in first.
"Healer Jones!" Lily called in relief. She was on the ground applying pressure to an extremely deep wound in Regulus's stomach. The bleeding had slowed slightly, but he was still nonresponsive. As my dad kneeled down and started to perform a diagnostic spell, Regulus started to seize.
"Dad!" I called. "Do something."
"Everyone out but Lily, Sirius and Addison." My dad commanded. "Lily, get me a blood replenishing potion from the kit in my bag."
Lily hurried over and grabbed the potion, pulling out the stopper and handing the potion to my dad. He poured the potion down Regulus's throat, and after a couple of seconds he stopped seizing.
Sirius sighed in relief, and I grabbed his hand in support. He was hovering above Regulus, fear clearly painted on his face; as much as the two brothers pretended to hate each other, it was obvious that they would always care about each other. "What is it Harold? That wound doesn't look like anything I've ever seen. They taught us some basic spells in Auror training to stop bleeding and knit skin back together, but nothing seemed to affect it at all," Sirius asked restlessly. He was shuffling on his feet, seemingly unable to stand still.
"I believe it was a cursed blade," Dad said succinctly. "Once he is stable I believe I can siphon the curse and close the wound, but the bleeding won't stop and he is losing too much blood. I just don't know what to do to stop the bleeding, none of the charms I have tried are working." He cursed to himself when another white light fled from his wand without making a difference on the wound.
"Healer Jones?" Lily asked tentatively. She waited for a nod from my dad, confirming that she could speak, before continuing. "Should we try a blood transfusion potion? Maybe the curse is in his blood, and that's what's stopping the wound from closing and the bleeding from stopping."
My dad looked at her in shock for just a moment, before snapping out of it and nodding. "Yes. Yes! Excellent idea, Lily, I should have one in my bag," He said excitedly. She handed him the potion and he uncorked the bottle. He tipped the green liquid in to Regulus's mouth, and manipulated his throat so that he swallowed the potion. I didn't see any noticeable difference in Regulus's status, but my dad and Lily both nodded to each other. "The potion should have worked now, let me try to close the wound again."
With a few complicated wand movements, Dad knit the wound closed. Once it was closed, he did another diagnostics charm and laughed in exuberance. "It worked! Brilliant, Lily, utterly and completely inspired."
"So he's going to be okay?" Sirius asked eagerly, looking down at his brother who still was not moving.
"Let's make sure – Lily please wake him up," Dad nodded at her, a proud smile gracing his lips.
"Enervate!" Lily touched the tip of her wand to Regulus's forehead, and a bright light enveloped his body. After a couple of tense seconds, Regulus's eyes opened slowly.
He looked around wearily, noting who was in the room in confusion. His eyes landed on Sirius, and he sat up panicked. "Sirius!" He exclaimed, his eyes wide in clear horror.
"Shh…Reg, calm down. You need to lay back and relax," Sirius warned, kneeling down next to Regulus and taking his hand in his own.
"No!" Regulus shouted, surprising all of us in the room. "You are in danger. All of you!"
"What are you talking about?" I asked, suddenly terrified.
"He did this to me, to send a message. He knows about the werewolf, he knows you lot saved him – and he is not happy," Regulus explained frantically. "He sent me to you, Sirius, to tell you to cease and desist."
"Never," Sirius shook his head emphatically. "He'll have to kill me."
"He will. You don't get it. He knows who all of you are. Potter, Evans, Pettigrew, Lupin, McKinnon, the Longbottoms. And he is going to kill all of you. Please, you all need to hide," Regulus pleaded. He kept his gaze on Sirius, but Sirius's stony expression did not falter. "Sirius. He knows who your wife is. And he told me that if I didn't send you all a message and get you to stop fighting him, that he was going to kill her. There is nothing I can do, Sirius. I tried to keep her safe, to tell him that she has nothing to do with this, but he knows that the best way to get to Sirius Black is to go through…Addison Black."
My stomach fell at this. I looked at Sirius, terrified, while my dad put his arm around my shoulder. Sirius didn't speak for a minute, but then exploded in anger. "And if he knows anything about her, it's because YOU told him. He would never have known her name if not for you. Nobody else knew – only Order members, and those who we know will keep a secret. Everyone took a vow on their magic not to reveal that we had gotten married – even the fucking bartender from the bar we live above took a vow. I told you because you are my brother, and I thought that meant something to you. We just saved your life, and this whole time you've been endangering my wife. Get the fuck out of here! As far as I'm concerned, this is the last time I ever want to see you." And with that, he stormed out of the garage, letting the door slam behind him. My dad looked at me, and I gestured that he should follow Sirius and make sure he didn't do anything reckless. I just needed a minute alone with my husband's brother first.
Sirius had once told me that his brother was only nice to you until he needed something from him – but it seemed like once again, I needed something from Regulus Black. "Regulus," I said quietly, once the echoing of the door had stopped. His grey eyes turned to me, so much like my husband's that for a second I forgot which brother I was talking to. "Do what you can to save yourself. You warned us, but we already knew we were targets. I can take care of Sirius, and he can take care of me. But despite what he says, it would absolutely gut him to lose you. I don't know if I can get him through that, so I need you to fight. Really fight for yourself."
Regulus held my gaze for a moment, before with one perfunctory nod he agreed with my request. "In return, can you do me a favor?" He asked. I nodded. "Try to make Sirius see that I am trying. He doesn't believe me, but I am doing everything I can to get out of my situation. Even if it costs me my life." I took his hand in my own, my brother-in-law, just as lost and confused as the love of my life, and wondered how his life could have turned out differently. If he had a little more courage, would he have ended up a Gryffindor like his brother? Sitting around the fire, laughing with a pretty brunette on his lap? Maybe a Ravenclaw, studying late at night with a group of friends of his own that treated him like family. Or perhaps this was the path he was always meant to travel – the doppleganger to his brother, fighting in the shadows while his counterpart fought in the light. But fighting all the same, towards the same goal. All I knew was that I saw so much of Sirius in him, that I had to believe he shared the same innate goodness that Sirius possessed – it may have just taken him longer to find it.
