Sirius didn't do anything in the few days after he got Andy's letter unless you consider feeding Elvendork and eating a piece of toast once a day a thing to do. Everything reminded him of the others, and there were hundreds of photos of everyone in the flat. Sirius tried to take all the photos down and put them in boxes or something, but every time he thought he managed to find every photo in the house, and there was Remus's charming smile, James's messy hair, Peter's chubby face or Lily's perfect hair.

They were smiling in every photo, even in the one that was taken at the start of third year, after Sirius's mother cut his hair and he was so furious. He even found a picture of him and Regulus, he always thought he didn't have any nice pictures of them together, but that one was from Regulus's first Hogsmeade trip when the two of them were still on good terms. Sirius was very excited to show Regulus all the amazing things that Hogsmeade had to offer that day.

But the days passed quickly. Or maybe they stretched forever?

Sirius didn't know, he felt so weird, but in the end, the days passed and Saturday came.

When he first woke up, he felt a little better than the days before, so he went to the small kitchen in the flat and ate a piece of toast. And then he remembered that he actually had something to do today, that the funeral was held that day.

He didn't know what hour the funeral would be, so he decided to come to Godric's Hollow as early as possible. But he needed to put on some normal and muggle clothes first. As soon as he did so and when he was ready, he apparated to Godric's Hollow (taking his motorbike wasn't an officiant way to get there and it also felt disrespectful).

When he got to the village, he saw a few obituaries of the Potters, and they all said that the funeral will be held at 11:00.

And 11:00, according to Sirius's watch, was in exactly 37 minutes. He was relieved about the fact that he got there in time, he was almost sure he was going to be late and miss the service. He was a little early so when he got to the graveyard there were only a few people there, and only one who Sirius recognized.

Daniel Abbot was a short man with light hair, who was one year older than Sirius and as soon as he saw Sirius he waved at him.

Sirius was in no mood to talk to the man but he couldn't just ignore him, why? well, it wasn't… polite. Sirius never cared about being polite but right now he felt like being polite was just... easier. Sirius approached the man.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Sirius," the man asked, sounding a little worried, "are you okay?"

"No, not really, but I'll get there," Sirius didn't know if he lied, but that was what he chose to say because he didn't want anyone to worry about him. "What about you? How are you these days?"

The man's face lightened up immediately "I am well, very well" he said with a smile "my daughter became two only two days ago."

"I never saw you hanging out with the potters so much, may I ask why you came today?" questioned Sirius.

"They were great people and I wanted to say goodbye to them for the last time," And then added, "It's a thing about villages, we are all one community."

Then he walked away, toward another section of the graveyard.

As time passed and the hour of the funeral drew nearer, more people came. Sirius didn't know all of them, probably muggles from the village. But he caught the eye of Mary MacDonald, a friend of Lily's from Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall and her nephew, Matthew, and a few other people.

After a few short remarks from neighbours of the Potters, two childhood friends of Lily's, two people who were on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, another guy from Hogwarts who Sirius was quite sure had been in Reggie's year, professor McGonagall and even Slughorn, Mary came to give a full and long eulogy. She talked beautifully about Lily's braveness and James's kind heart, about how Lily stood up to her and about how much of a good friend James was. Because it was a muggle event she couldn't say about how brave their death was and had to use the cover story and say that what killed them was a gas leak.

After Mary finished, Sirius was called to say a eulogy himself. He didn't have anything written but he knew what he wanted to say.

"Lily and James Potter were the greatest of people. I loved them with all my heart and always will. James Potter was my best friend and was always there for me. I met him the same day I met Lily Evans. On that day I learned two important facts, one about each of them; I learned that Lily Evans will always stand up for her friends and that James Potter was not afraid to say what he thought. Those facts had been the greatest thing and the most dangerous thing about both of them. I found myself on both sides of both of those facts on various occasions. As kids, James and I weren't always the nicest of people, especially not for those who were very different from us and when it got us on Lily's bad side she really taught us to never underestimate the 'power of friendship'. But when Lily was on our side and with us, no one had a chance against her."

At this point, Sirius was in tears but also laughing. The time he spent with James and Lily was the best in his life but it ended, too soon

"James Potter was the bravest person I knew. Not because of how he stood up against his enemies but because he stood up against his own friends. He was always there to tell me what I was doing wrong. Every time I wanted to pull a dangerous prank on someone or to do something that will make me hurt myself he was there to stop me. And if he couldn't stop me he was always the bigger person and took responsibility. He was also the kindest person I knew. He was always there to support his friends, to help them through a rough time. When I was sixteen I ran away from home and James and his parents took me in like it was the most ordinary thing to do. That day James told me that he will always be my brother no matter what will happen.

I lost a brother and a good friend that day but they will always be in my heart because the ones that love us never truly leave us. We all learned something from those great people, and even if we will forget them, they will always be with us, always helping and never ever criticizing."

And with that, Sirius Black said goodbye to his friends.

After the funeral ended, Two people came to talk to Sirius; Richard King and Matthew McGonagall. Both of them were on the Gryffindor Quidditch team with James and Sirius back in the day.

"Sirius, how are you doing?" Matthew asked.

"Bad. Real bad. But it will be fine." Sirius answered.

"We are so so sorry. We were so shocked when we heard about it. James was truly a great man." Said Richard.

"Can we help somehow?" Matthew asked Sirius, "It won't be a bother for us."

"I don't think there is something right now, but thank you anyway." And then he asked, kind of embarrassed, "I really don't mean to come off rude or anything, but, are you two dating?"

"In fact, yes." Said Matthew, blushing a little.

"Matt, we have to get back to the flat," Richard said, looking at his watch, "You are the one who promised Minerva a tour."

"Send us an owl if you need anything." Said Matthew who then turned to his boyfriend and left.

Sirius left after that, he was exhausted and could not have handled more people that day.

The Longbottoms were tortured only the next day. The only good thing was that two days after his darling cousin finally went to rot in Azkaban. But Azkaban reminded him of Remus, and the full moon was the next day.

It was the worst full in Remus's life, even worse than his first full moon.

Bellatrix Lestrange apparently decided that her life goal now was to make Remus's life miserable and although she was only one full day in Azkaban since she got there she didn't stop laughing at him. And when the full moon came and Remus started changing, her laugh was so loud that Remus couldn't hear his own screams.

The Dementors made all his pain and anger before the full moon much worse and drained him from energy, a thing that made the change so much more terrible because the wolf sucked all of his remaining energy.

The full itself was different from everything he ever experienced before. It was a lot more brutal and painful but he felt… free. It wasn't just the wolf who was free from being pushed aside, it was

Remus himself who felt it.

The wolf was in control. The Dementors didn't have power over the beast. He was more... human? No, he wasn't human, he was a wolf. But he felt more Moony. He felt more like himself. It didn't matter who he was, the only fact that mattered was that he was someone.

The worst was still bearable. That was the thought that kept him alive.

It wasn't a happy thought; it meant that he would suffer so much, but it wouldn't kill him. And even if it was worse than dying, that was reality.