Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all it's charecters, names and trademarks belong to J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Studios, and Scholastic Publications. I am none of the above.

London, England, April 2002

A thin redhead walked into the kitchen in a small apartment, running her long, slender, pale fingers through her silky locks. She yawned, and her jaw cracked. She smoothed a hand down the long t-shirt that just brushed her kneecaps.

She removed two mugs from a cupboard, and placed the on the counter. Using a wand she produced from behind the microwave (just there for show when they had Muggle visitors), she conjured up steaming coffee to fill the cracked mugs.

Carrying one in each had, she made her way back to the bedroom She smiled, as she slid back on the mattress, and received a loving kiss on the head from the dark-haired, green-eyed man laying beside her.

"Thanks, Gin." He said, taking the coffee from he and cradling the warm cup in his fingers. She took a sip of her drink, and laid a head on his shoulder, looking at the papers in his lap.

"Still working on the veil?" Ginny Weasley asked. It was all Harry had been doing since they had finished Voldemort, and chased down the last of his crew. He had never believed that his godfather was truly dead.

"Yeah. Remus is coming by later with some books he's found. Said he's made some brilliant discovery."

"That's good, right? I mean, it's the most promising lead so far, right?"

"Yeah, I guess. Part of me just keeps thinking that it'll just be anther false hope."

"Maybe it won't." Her voice was encouraging.

"Maybe it won't." He agreed.

Around two o clock, Remus Lupin knocked on the apartment door. He wore Muggle a muggle t-shirt and jeans, with trainers, and clutched a thick volume covered in paper. Ginny opened the door for him, greeting him with a friendly hug. "It's good to see you." She said.

"You're back from the hospital?" Lupin inquired unnecessarily.

"Yeah. It's great to be home."

"It's great to have her home." Harry came up behind Ginny, and hugged around the waist. She laughed, but pushed him away. Harry shook Remus's hand, and together they sat at the table in the kitchen, and began poring over Remus's book. Ginny left to go shopping with a friend, as Remus explained the passage to Harry.

"See, here it tells of a case in the eighteen hundreds about a convict who was shoved in before they had Azkaban, but later it was discovered that he was wrongly accused. The judge who sentenced him would be forced to join him behind the veil if he couldn't get him out in three weeks, so he gathered everyone the poor man held dear, and used this very complex spell. It was a lot like the priori incantatum spell between you and Voldemort.

"So, all we have to do is get the people that Sirius held dear together for this spell."

Harry took a sip of gilly water. "Didn't we try this one before?"

"Yes, but we were missing someone vital. And today, I'm taking you to meet her."

Five minutes later, Harry had shrugged on a coat, and headed out with Lupin into the overcast streets of London. "Why don't we just aparate?" Harry asked.

"It's not too far from here, and I know how much you love aparating." Harry made a face, and followed him through the streets.

They arrived at the apartment, and Harry flattened his hair nervously. "So, who are we going to meet?"

"A good friend of Sirius's," Remus replied, knocking on the door to the flat. Harry jumped when a small boy of ten opened the door. He had been expecting an old man; a mentor of Sirius's maybe. Not a child. He was too young to have known Sirius that well. Unless he was his son. His curly black locks and twinkling eyes suggested so.

"Hi Uncle Remus." The boy hugged Remus.

"Hello Owen. Have you been taking good care of your Mom?"

Dutifully, Owen nodded, and pointed to Harry. "Who's that?"

"This is my friend, Harry."

"Harry Potter?" The boy asked, his eyes growing wide. "My Mom told me all about you. She said-"

"Gossiping about me, now are you?" a pleasant voice called out. A small, slender woman, wearing a red sweater, a black pencil skirt, and heels came out from the kitchen, smiling. "Hello Remus!" She greeted him, and they embraced in a friendly way.

Harry stood there, rather awkwardly, trying to ignore the gaping Owen. He wasn't good with kids.

"Hello Harry." The woman greeted, extending her hand. "You don't remember me, but I was in the hospital when you were born. I knew your father, and your mother, and…Sirius really well."

Remus stood beside her as Harry shook her hand. "Harry, this is Olivia. She was…is…Sirius's fiancée."

"Really?" Harry teamed up with Owen and gaped. "Wouldn't he tell me about her, though?"

"Come inside." Olivia gestured to the flat.

Hogwarts School of witchcraft and Wizardry, 1973

Olivia

I was walking down the marble staircase after class, talking animatedly with Adriana and Louis when I spotted him.

"Fuck…" I muttered, diving behind a suit of armor. Adriana glanced in the direction I had been looking, saw him as well, and rolled her eyes. Louis looked confused. I mouthed frantically to her, "Make a distraction!"

She sifted her weight so that her body shielded me from what little part of me could be seen, and did what she did best. Grabbed Louis the collar of his robes and kissed him full-on. He had no objections, but I crouched so that my nose was a decent distance from their entwined tongues. I breathed a sigh of relief, and crawled out from behind the couple's legs. I rose, and brushed off my knees.

"That was smooth." Said a voice in my ear. I jumped about a foot.

"Dammit Remus." I hissed, glaring at the smirking boy beside me. "What do you want?"

"To know why you are avoiding Sirius."

"I'm not."

"And so you enjoy hiding between suits of armor and couples attached at the lip?"

"Maybe."

"I wouldn't have something to do with how he kissed you on Thursday, does it?

"'Course not. Wait, he told you about that?" I hadn't thought Sirius would be a kiss-and-tell sort of guy.

"No. I saw it. I was trying so send my Mum an owl, standing in the owlry doorway whilst he was rejoicing the fact that the Potters still lived."

I glowered at him.

"Well, I'm not the only one who knows that you like him. Lily and Adriana, too."

"You three are busybodies with no lives that can't mind their own business."
"So you admit it?" Remus asked.

"Yeah." I grumbled, thinking the only way to get him to shut up was to tell him the truth.

"Finally you confessed." Adriana had been listening in.

"Wha'd she confess to?" Louis asked.

"Not you too." I groaned, leaning against the wall, as Remus and Adriana explained my affection for Sirius.

"…so she just confessed to liking him." Remus concluded.

"Are you sure you aren't gay?" I asked him.

"Yes. I'll prove it, though." He turned to the crowd, looking for a certain person. "Oi! Abigail!" He called.

Lily's friend Abby came over, looking a bit like a deer in the headlights. "Me?" She asked.

"Yes you, I wanted to ask you something." Remus said.

Abigail stepped closer. "Yeah?"

Remus snaked an arm around her waist, drew her close, and planted his lips on hers. I rolled my eyes, as catcalls echoes throughout the halls. It was moments like these that told me how very much a Marauder Remus was.

He finally broke apart from the kiss. "Want to go to Hogsmede with me?"

A breathless Abigail smacked him across the face, and then went in for a second kiss. "At lest he's found someone as schizophrenic himself." I muttered bitterly.

Author's Note: Yes, it's disgustingly short for me being away for so long, and it's a day late. I'm sorry. Jetlag is a bitch. That's all I have to say. Oh wait! Thank you so very much to all my reveiwers!

Love,

Salvation ala mode