First thing the next morning, after a night of guilty, sleepless tossing, Remus ran to his front door to find Padfoot and remedy his mistakes from the night before.

But the dog was nowhere to be found.

Remus sighed sadly. Of course he wasn't going to be there after how he'd been treated. Even still, he'd hoped, even assumed, that the closest thing to Sirius he had left would not have left him for good.

Wrong again. He hung his head and turned back inside, shutting the door quietly. This is what comes of hoping in hopeless situations, he thought. Instead of just shutting out the grief and trying to move on, what does he do?

Go on a wild goose chase to bring back the dead and win back his lost love.

Stupid.

Neither hide nor hair of Padfoot was seen again for almost three days. In that time, Remus had slumped into such a state of depression that he hadn't left his bedroom for days at a time, stooped to the new low of summoning food into the darkness for him. Even crying was beyond him, all he had now was brooding.

He should've just been happy with what he'd had. He'd been lucky. He'd found Padfoot after loosing Sirius and could've kept the dog as a friend and memory.

In the distance he heard another owl from his friends come flying up to his closed kitchen window. Just like all the others, it would scratch helplessly for a while, then fly back with the unread letter.

On the third day since the dog's departure, Remus was awakened from a restless slumber by a sound at his front door.

The owls must be getting desperate, he mused.

But he shot up at the next sound his impatient visitor made. From his front stoop he could clearly hear a dog bark "Rrremuff!"

He could hardly see from the tears in his eyes as he opened the door and a great black figure bounded in. He dropped to his knees and hugged the shaggy ruff. "Padfoot! I-I'm so sorry Padfoot…"

The dog barked again and jumped back happily, bowing like a puppy wanting to play. He sat down and stared back at Remus, who was watching him with some confusion. He could've sworn that dog was grinning just like a certain scruffy haired man he missed so much.

From his place on the floor a few feet away, Padfoot threw his head back in one last call of "Mmooooneeey," and then began to change.

Remus could hardly believe what he was seeing, even though he knew the sight of an Animagus transforming as well as his own reflection. Before he knew it, the form of the big dog had been fully replaced by that of a tall dark man with smiling eyes that was sitting in the floor looking across at him.

For the third time in less than a week, Remus's words caught in his throat and he was quite speechless. He could only stare amazed at the sight of Sirius back form the dead and sitting in front of him on his living room floor.

Sirius, however, didn't stay still for long, and leapt the few feet into Remus's arms and held him so tight he must've been trying to meld them together.

"Moony."

"S-Sirius…?"

Sirius pulled away and grinned at him.

"But…P-Padfoot…the Gateway…for a week…" Remus couldn't really form a coherent sentence, but Sirius knew what he meant.

"Remus, Dumbledore was right, about everything. The Gateway, the plane, and the magic of it…I've been there ever since Bella's curse hit me."

Then it struck Remus again. "The curse. I-It was a killing curse…"

"Didn't you listen, Moony? It didn't kill me, I've been over there healing…"

"For a week?"

"Yeah, well, 'Avada Kadvra' will do that for you, love…" Sirius chuckled.

But Remus was still confused. Happy, but confused. "But, Padfoot…"

"Padfoot had every intention of bringing me back, he was just stalling so I could fully heal."

Remus was then struck with a horrible sense of guilt and remorse. He turned his head down and cast his eyes at a patch of carpet to Sirius's left. "I was so awful to him…"

He closed his eyes and a tear streaked its way down his cheek.

Sirius reached up to wipe it. "Don't cry. He knows, and he understands. He's not mad at you. He wanted me to tell you…"

Remus looked up. "Is he…?"

"He's not dead, don't worry. He just can't come back. We're no longer connected, me and Padfoot. I can't transform anymore."

"I'm…sorry."

Sirius smiled and kissed him. "Don't be. I'm alive. Padfoot's alive. I'm happy; you're happy. So be happy!"

Remus smiled for what seemed like the first time in years. Sirius really had a way with words. The words of a three-year-old.

He stood up and embraced Sirius again, for a long time just standing there making sure it was real.

He could still smell that faint, pleasant doggy scent that would always smell like Sirius.

There you go! That's it. Tell me what ya thought! …Siriusly, please, I live off comments and reviews!