November, 1981

Remus sighed, closing the door behind him and hanging his keys on the hook. It had been an exhausting day at work today; more so because Remus rarely got any sleep for the past week from worry and late nights taking care of Harry. The heavy equipment had weighed down on him despite his werewolf strength and he'd been nearly killed twice from overbalancing. Even the boss had noticed his ineptitude and in a rare moment of kindness, had given him the rest of the day off to 'bloody pick up your strength before I fire you!' The man had a heart of gold, really.

'Moony, come quickly!' Remus heard Sirius yell excitedly from the living room. 'And bring the camera with you! Quickly!'

Remus felt his heartbeat relax; for a moment, he had actually thought something had gone wrong or someone had invaded the house even through all the protection wards. But the happiness in Sirius's voice put a rest to such doubts, and Remus hurried into the living room, oddly yearning to see both Harry and Sirius after what felt like a long day at work.

He felt his lips tug into a smile when he entered the room and quickly summoned the camera from upstairs.

Little Harry was walking…waddling…stumbling: he was taking his very first, uncoordinated baby steps. His chubby little legs were unsteady, but his face set in a determined frown that reminded Remus too much of Lily, as he tried to balance on his legs and walk at the same time without falling over. There was an odd sense of pride in seeing Harry accomplish something so small though Remus could never explain why.

'Brilliant, eh?' Sirius looked up at Remus, eyes shining brightly from pride and joy. 'He can finally walk. Took him long enough.'

Remus smiled and sat down in front of Harry, who was swaying quite dangerously. 'I still can't believe he learned to fly before he learned to walk. He's James throughout.'

'But with Lily's eyes,' Sirius said, reminiscently.

Harry fell flat on his cushioned arse, his face scrunching up in what would be a very loud crying session unless one of the elders consoled him. Remus in particular, since he was sitting right in front of the child: 'Come on lad,' Remus cooed predictably with a smile. 'Get up and walk to Moony. Come on…'

Harry's lower lip trembled and he looked at Sirius behind him with large teary eyes.

'Go on,' Sirius urged, 'be a good chap and walk to Moony. Don't make that face. Come on.'

Harry burst out crying, obviously angry with them and ironically crying out both their names in a plea to be held. Remus, being closer, picked him up and petted his back in a way he knew soothed Harry. It was odd really, how even though they'd only had the child for a week, they grown accustomed to his habits, likes and dislikes in a way that suggested years of experience.

'Did that hurt, love?' Remus whispered, kissing Harry's hair and rocking him. 'Did our little man get hurt?'

'He doesn't cry out for them anymore,' Sirius said softly, starting Remus out his Harry-concentrated stupor. 'James and Lily…he doesn't say ma or dad like he used to, have you noticed? It's just our names now and it's barely been a week.' Sirius ran a weary hand through his hair and flopped down on the couch. 'Another week and then he'll be at the Dursleys and he'll forget all about us as well. And all we'll have are these silly pictures…'

Remus didn't have anything to say, no reassurances that Harry would never forget his own parents or uncles, no consolation that after eleven years, they could visit Harry without Dumbledore's restraints. Sirius was right. All they had were pictures; everything else had already been destroyed. Their friends, their family...

'I have some good news,' Remus said instead, trying to bring a cheery smile on his face, as he dug into his jacket pocket and pulled out the latest copy of the Daily Prophet. He passed it on to Sirius. 'The last of the suspected Death Eaters have been captured, all jailed, except Snape.' The name came out more as a sneer from Remus's mouth, and Sirius's own lip curled in disgust. 'Malfoy and Karkaroff trials will be held tomorrow. Malfoy's pleading innocent under influence of the Imperius, and I reckon he'll get away with it. But he's harmless without Voldemort…the family's too much about reputation to really do anything drastic.'

Sirius frowned, reading through the article on the front page. 'Crouch's son is on the list.'

Remus nodded, putting Harry down to play and sitting beside Sirius. 'Crouch is losing his votes as Minister, so Fudge is a definite win. He's been demoted, in fact, though he jailed his own son…heartless ba-' Remus looked down at Harry playing happily and corrected himself with a cough, '-bad man. Heartless bad man.'

'Barty Crouch Junior…he was with my cousin, wasn't he?' Sirius said thoughtfully. 'He was in the Longbottom torture case. Deserves to die if you ask me, the ba…ahem…bad man.' Sirius folded the paper and set it down on the table. 'Well, brings relief if anything. This means I can go back to work again in a week. No more threats.'

Remus hummed. 'I was thinking we could go out for a walk or something, maybe shop a little. The two of you haven't been out at all, and we don't have a lot of things for Harry. We could buy him some real toys even…'

They both glanced at the transfigured pillow Harry was playing with. Sirius claimed it was a dragon, but Remus claimed it looked more like a half eaten turtle. Harry, however, had grown quite attached to the disfigured animal and even given it a name: 'Roo'. Remus often tried to look at the toy from different angles to see if it really did look like a kangaroo maybe, or if the name was just a random sound.

'Toys would be good,' Sirius said, his face splitting into the first care free grin Remus had seen in a long time.

XxxxX

The trip to the market was like a breath of fresh air for Sirius. Having been cooped up in the house for an entire week with an overactive child had been both nerve wracking and constrictive. He'd been a prisoner practically; unable to do much within the house and never knowing if Remus was as safe as Dumbledore had claimed he would be or if he was being attacked by loose Death Eaters. He was sure that if Remus hadn't come today with news of mass Death Eater capture, Sirius would have lost his sanity at some point and drowned all the soda in the fridge (since Remus didn't keep alcohol for obvious reasons).

Still, it didn't seem like Remus was as relaxed as Sirius was after the news. He'd been all right during their long, indulgent walk to the supermarket up until aisle four after which he started acting oddly. Both his hands were tucked inside his trouser pockets, which would seem perfectly normal to most, but Sirius could plainly see the outline of Remus's closed fist clutching his wand tightly. Remus's shoulders were tense, his back rigid, his eyes hard and focused, and his ears pricked – much like the wolf when rearing for a fight.

Sirius frowned, adjusting Harry on his shoulders as the child threatened to topple over from his own excited bouncing. 'Moony…'

Remus's jaw tightened and Sirius nearly leapt fifty feet in the air when he felt Remus's hand rest on the small of his back protectively. 'There's someone following us,' he whispered quietly to a still trembling Sirius.

It wasn't as if the touch was foreign to Sirius; Merlin knew he yearned and dreamed about it every day. But it was disconcerting, mostly because Sirius knew that Remus's touch was not out of affection or protection for Sirius, but for Harry.

'Who is it?' Sirius asked, leaning closer to Remus.

'Some old hag,' Remus replied, his hand moving to Sirius's waist and keeping a tight grip there. 'Her enormous hat's covering her face, but I know it's her. She's been tailing us since we got here.'

Sirius tried to look through the corner of his eyes and sure enough, he could see an old, hunched woman behind them. She did have an enormous hat just like Remus had mentioned, and it was rather ugly too. It was pink with a green bow and matching feathers perched on top of it. She was leaning quite heavily on her shopping cart, as if trying to listen in to their conversation while trying to be nonchalant about buying diapers.

'Do you think it's a disguise?' Sirius asked, looking at the woman suspiciously and tightening his hold on Harry. The little boy simply squealed and proceeded to balance his dragon/turtle/roo on top of Sirius's head.

'I can't believe people nowadays. Look at them flaunting themselves. You'd think they'd have some shame.'

'With a child, too. It's simply unbelievable. I can't believe they allow such things!'

Sirius glared at the two vocal middle aged women conversing beside them. 'Chudley Cannons, Harry,' he chided maliciously and immediately burst out laughing with Remus, as the two women looked gobsmacked and dropped their things at Harry's joyous cries of 'fuck!'.

'Afternoon, Black, Lupin…'

Sirius had been so busy laughing at the offended women that he didn't even notice the old woman coming up to them. Remus did seem to, however, because his grip on Sirius tightened almost painfully. Sirius brought Harry down from his shoulders and hugged him to his chest, much to the child's displeasure.

'I hope I didn't scare you two.'

Remus's hand relaxed and then fell. 'Mrs. Figg. What are you doing here?'

Mrs. Figg smiled crookedly and Sirius noticed that her prosthetic teeth seemed to be unhinging from her gums. She also smelled an awful lot like cats and mold, which Sirius took an instant disliking to. Sirius had heard about Mrs. Figg of course. She was a squib and a part of the Order, but he'd never had the privilege of meeting her up until now. Sirius was glad they'd never met before though because he was having the strangest urge to chase her up a tree or rip her dress. It was that damn cat smell.

'I came to see the little one, actually,' Mrs. Figg replied kindly and peered down at Harry, who promptly hid his face in Sirius's shirt. 'You must have heard from Dumbledore of course. Of Harry's new guardians…'

'We have,' Remus replied with a stiff nod, and Sirius felt something cold settle at the pit of his stomach. In his celebration of finally getting out of the house, he had momentarily forgotten that there was only a week left till Harry's departure from their lives.

'Albus has asked me to move to the house nearby…as a neighbour. I'm to look after Harry if something's to go wrong, or if the Dursley woman's blood magic fails,' she continued proudly. 'I thought I might stop by and meet this little lad…see how he is.' She smiled. 'He looks just like his father…but with his mother's eyes.'

Remus's jaw stiffened. 'I see. Dumbledore failed to mention this.'

'Oh no,' Mrs. Figg replied, completely oblivious to the anger in Remus's voice or the rising heat reddening his face unattractively. 'He informed me only recently of this. I expect he's busy now. He mentioned having certain matters to resolve. I believe he's not in Hogwarts, since the post I sent came right back. It's quite difficult when the owls don't listen to you.'

Sirius didn't really understand why Remus was angry. They'd known about giving away Harry to the Dursleys. They'd known about the blood protection that ran within the Evans blood. So Mrs. Figg was stationed as a protector. Wasn't that supposed to be a good thing? She wasn't magic, but at least she had a good knowledge of the Wizard World. After all, Dumbledore had mentioned that he wanted Harry to grow up away from magic.

'I'm sorry, Mrs. Figg,' Sirius interrupted before the conversation got vicious. Remus didn't get angry often but when he did, things often went out of control. 'We really need to leave. We have a lot of things to do, you understand.' Before Mrs. Figg could reply, Sirius pulled Remus away to the deli section, far away from the old woman. 'Moony, what's the matter?'

Remus shook his head, looking more sad than angry now. 'Nothing. Can I hold Harry for a while?'

Sirius let Remus lay, not wanting to upset him further or ruin Harry's day out. But by evening, Remus's mood still hadn't lifted and it was starting to worry Sirius slightly. Remus didn't show any outward signs of anger of course, not in front of Harry, or people in general really. He smiled during their trip to the toy store and happily took turns to hold Harry down the slider in the park. However, Sirius had known Remus long enough to read between the lines, had observed and cherished him enough to be able to tell what he was thinking or how he was feeling.

Sirius sighed heavily, looking across the street at the small kindergarten. It had been bustling with children when they'd first come to the park, all of them scurrying to go back home and fighting over who got the back seat of the bus. Now, the only person left over was the janitor sweeping up the front steps of the school.

It was late. Even the park was empty, save for a young couple a few benches away. All the families had left, their children half asleep. Sirius wondered if they looked like a family to anybody – him, Remus, and Harry – crouched here in the sandbox and making castles and oddly shaped mountains.

'I don't like Mrs. Figg,' Sirius said conversationally, 'she smells like cats.'

Remus's mouth twitched into a bitter smile. 'I don't like her either. She gets to have Harry when we can't.'

'I guess,' Sirius said quietly, gathering up more sand into the pile Harry was currently playing with.

'There's a reason James and Lily made you Godfather,' Remus continued, his voice soft but intense. 'They believed you could protect Harry best, not Dumbledore and not the Dursleys.'

'Remus,' Sirius whispered, placing a hand upon his friend's and stilling the little stick figures Remus was drawing into the sand. 'It's best for him, even I've realised that by now. It's not like you to be so irrational or angry. What's wrong?'

'Nothing,' Remus replied, looking away. 'It's stupid. Forget it.'

Sirius's grip on Remus tightened. 'Moony, I know we aren't…that I'm…but I still care for you and I'd still want to listen to you. Even if it is stupid…it's usually my area of expertise after all.'

Remus chuckled slightly. I just…I know it would protect him. I know that, and it's okay if Harry has to live with the Dursleys instead of us. But…' Remus hesitated, 'but I don't want to have to never see him again. It's like…it's like losing James and Lily all over again…Harry's all we have of them and if we just let him go…'

Sirius stilled. It was as if Remus had somehow read Sirius's mind and all his inner turmoil and laid it in disjointed words. 'He looks like James…' Sirius said finally, stroking Harry's cheek affectionately with one hand.

There was dirt all over the boy's clothes and face, but Harry seemed completely unperturbed as he patted his patch of sand, making it fly all over the place. His chubby cheeks were flushed pink from the cold, and there was snot running steadily down nose which Remus took the pains to wipe away every time. In Godric's Hollow, the streets would be covered in snow by now, but here, the cold didn't seem to have settled completely. At least, nothing had frozen yet, and the cold wasn't as biting or sharp as Sirius was used to living in London. Still, it seemed to have taken a bit of a toll of little Harry whose sniffles, five solid layers of clothing, and enormous mittens were yet to deter him from playing in the sand.

Sirius supposed they wouldn't make the best of parents, not like James and Lily or Alice and Frank. They had after all, let Harry play with dirt (maybe even eat it while they weren't paying attention), they'd made him play with disfigured toys, let him indulge in sugary soda more than once, even had him streak outside the house in all his naked, childish glory.

Still, as he dusted Harry off and hoisted the child back on his shoulders, Sirius figured the three of them would make quite a dynamic trio.

XxxxX

Remus woke up in the middle of the night when he found that he was having trouble shifting to his right because there was something quite heavy nestled against his chest, over his right arm. Harry? Now, it wasn't that odd for Remus to wake up with Harry sleeping soundly beside him. Since Harry's own crib had been blown apart on that fateful night and Remus didn't usually keep any spare cribs of his own, it was inevitable that the child would end up sleeping with either Remus or Sirius, depending on whose turn it was for late night diaper changes and bottle feeding.

However, Remus was distinctly sure that Harry had gone to sleep in Sirius's bed tonight. Groaning softly, he opened his eyes to see that the bed lamp had been lit and moved to the corner of the room. Of course, little Harry was terrified of the dark, but Remus could also see a short message glowing in blue underneath it. The print was a bit small to read properly, and it took a lot of squinting and eye-rubbing for Remus to figure out that the message read:

Remus,

Gone to visit James. Take care of Harry for me.

Thanks.

Sirius

'What's your godfather up to, Harry?' Remus whispered, brushing away Harry's jet black hair away from his face. 'He seemed upset today, didn't he? Didn't even eat his dinner right…must be because you're leaving in four days, yeah?'

Remus sighed, contemplating how far away from sanity he'd drifted that he was resorting himself to talking to a sleeping infant in the middle of the night. Knowing that trying to go back to sleep was useless now, he gently dislodged Harry's grip on him and set the sleeping child at a better angle on the pillow. He walked to the cupboard and took out two more pillows to place on each side of the child to keep him from falling over.

'You just do that screaming thing you do if you need Moony, okay, love,' Remus said softly, kissing Harry on the forehead and adjusting his blankets. 'I'll just bore myself with some late night telly until Padfoot comes home and explains his little late night excursion.'

Harry sniffled his approval and Remus reached to wipe the little one's nose with his sleeve. He then looked at his pyjama sleeve and wondered exactly why he would do such a thing when he could have easily summoned a tissue.

'I need a drink,' Remus muttered to himself and then disdainfully realised that they didn't have any in the house because of Harry. 'Soda it is then…nothing like orange fizz up your nose to liven up your night, eh?'

Remus took Harry's small whine as wholehearted agreement and padded down the stairs, grateful for the socks in his feet because the house seemed to be freezing despite the heater working well overtime. On the way, he made to stop in the living room where he had previously dumped his coat, and fumbled inside for his cigarettes and lighter.

'Merlin, that feels good,' Remus exhaled, as the smoke filled up his lungs and relaxed him further. He hadn't smoked in a while; it was somewhat frowned upon at work and the rest of the day he often spent with Harry. Not that Remus minded as much; for Sirius and Harry, Remus would gladly give up the luxury of a smoke, no matter how painful or impossible the prospect sounded. Sometimes though, Remus would feel his whole body literally trembling from nicotine withdrawal; but then Remus had caught Sirius indulging in a couple of drags himself and it was common knowledge that Sirius didn't smoke unless aggravated or sharing a joint with friends. So perhaps Remus's need for a fag could be explained away by the stressful times…

Remus pushed open the door to the kitchen and felt his smoke fall out of his mouth in surprise. 'Sirius?'

At first, Remus was sure that Sirius had somehow fallen asleep on the kitchen table. He had his head within folded arms, slumped on top of the kitchen table and chair threatening to slip out from underneath him. Remus was about to wake him up when Sirius spoke miserably:

'It's all my fault, Remus.'

Remus frowned, wondering if Sirius was drunk. But no, there was no tell tale smell of alcohol or even the slur that Sirius often had when inebriated.

'All of this…James and Lily…Harry…Peter…you…it's all my fault. It's my fault they're like this,' Sirius whispered into the hollow of his elbow. 'I should have been there quicker…I should have known about the Fidelius…I'm an auror…I should have known. I should have let you be the Secret Keeper. You would have come sooner…'

Remus laid a gentle hand on Sirius's shoulder. 'It wouldn't have made a difference, Sirius. Even if James had chosen me instead, it wouldn't change what happened. There was nothing I could have done differently.'

'I lost my family…' Sirius replied solemnly, shaking his head. 'I lost you…because of my own stupidity. I should have…damn it!' He hit a frustrated fist against the table and looked up at Remus with stormy grey eyes, tinged red from anger and lack of sleep. 'Hit me.'

Remus blinked in confusion. 'What?'

Sirius stood up so that they were nearly eye to eye. 'Come on, what are you waiting for? Just hit me. I ruined everything. You should be furious with me. You should want this. It's my fault James and Lily are dead. So hit me.'

'That's not how I see it,' Remus replied with a frown as Sirius inched closer, too close to his personal space.

'How can you be so calm? How can you stand to look at me after what I did?' Sirius pushed Remus roughly at the chest, catching him off guard and making him stumble backwards. 'I ruined your life. I left you when you needed me the most.' Another push; this time, harder. 'I used you like some kind of street animal, so hit me, damn it!'

'Sirius, stop it!' Remus scolded, his fists clenching and anger rising as Sirius moved closer and closer.

'I made you cry,' Sirius continued with vigour, pushing even harder. 'I made you beg for forgiveness every time you saw me. Made you believe that everything that happened was your fault, that you were incapable of giving love when it was me the whole time. Just fucking hit me! Punch me, hex me, anything!' Sirius pushed until he had Remus pinned against the counter. 'I hurt you, toyed with your feelings every time you came to me. I hurt you on purpose because I wanted to see you break.' He leaned closed to Remus's face until they were nose to nose, as he breathed spitefully, 'I didn't love you enough. All I did was fuck you.'

Remus's arm swung on its own accord, hitting Sirius square in the eye. It was completely unintended; he hadn't even been that angry or provoked by Sirius's insistent pushing or self depreciating words. He honestly hadn't, which is why it took some time to register exactly what he'd done as he stared at Sirius, sprawled on the ground below him with his head in his hands, covering what was probably the beginnings of a large bruise underneath his left eye.

Numbly, Remus walked to the fridge and fished out the last can of muggle soda.

'I'm sorry,' he heard Sirius's muffled whisper from behind him as he closed the fridge. 'I did a lot of things to you and I never apologised even once. Not in those words. Please, I'm sorry.'

Remus sighed and pressed the cold can against Sirius's eye to soothe the bruise. 'Why do you carry those scars around, Sirius? It's bothered me for a while…the ones on your wrist.'

Sirius looked down at his wrists, at the clean white lines across his veins, as if having forgotten about them completely and trying to refresh his memory. Finally, after having stared at them for quite a while, he shrugged. 'They remind me…that if I ever hurt you again…it'll be at the cost of my life…'

Silence fell over them, deep and foreboding; their heavy breathing the only sound in the room. The statement: it was something the old Sirius would say. The Sirius who had always made loud but sincere declarations; the Sirius who loved Remus so madly and passionately that sometimes it caught Remus off guard. It made Remus think that perhaps it wasn't them who had changed after all, like everyone had claimed, but the circumstances.

'I understand why you did it,' Remus said softly, sitting down in front of Sirius, who was still staring determinedly at the ground through one eye. 'I understand, but…was it really that difficult to trust me?' He inhaled shakily, placing a hand on Sirius's knee. 'Where did I go wrong? What did I do to make you think that I-'

'You never did anything wrong, Moony,' Sirius interrupted wretchedly, 'Never. You were so damn perfect, and I loved you so fucking much. But I gave up on you. It was me. Fuck.' Sirius ran a hand through his hair, tugging slightly. 'The first time…the first time…I didn't want to believe him. I didn't believe him; nearly hit him for suggesting something against you. But he kept pushing, kept bringing all these reports and articles and supposed witnesses of your betrayal. It never hit me that maybe Wormtail was lying. Fuck, he worshipped us in school for Merlin's sake…'

Remus pried the cold can away from Sirius's eyes gently, noting that the swelling had gone down considerably. His wand was still in his coat pocket in the living room, so he placed his palm to the bruise and closed his eyes, concentrating his magic towards it. The healing wasn't perfect, but it was less noticeable now.

'I was scared, Remus,' Sirius continued quietly, taking Remus's hand before it moved away and clasping it within his own. 'I was so scared when it finally hit me that what Peter said might be true. You meant everything to me, and it terrified me because I knew that if there was ever a battle, I would sell my soul to protect you. I-' Sirius's voice broke as his grip on Remus's hand tightened, as if he was afraid of Remus walking away any moment.

'Sirius…'

Sirius looked up at Remus, his grey eyes glimmering with desperation and a need for Remus to understand, to forgive. 'There's no excuse for what I did, for the way I treated you. I was angry and bitter, I wanted you to hurt the way I was hurting. Fuck, I wanted to prove that I didn't need you, that I could hurt you if I wanted to. That if it ever came down to it, I was capable of destroying you. I was so bloody stupid and I know it's not a good enough reason. I know that it's unforgiveable, but…' Sirius's hand loosened its grip, letting Remus free to move away if he wanted. '…but you're all I have, Moony…'

Remus smiled bitterly. 'You know…for the longest time, I wanted to hear you say that…you were never really great with words…'

'Four days, Remus…' Sirius whispered, his fists clenching as he looked down at the floor resolutely. 'Four days and then all this is over. I'll lose Harry, but I don't want us going back to being strangers…not when I can stop it. Not without a fight. I'm not asking you to forgive and forget, or climb back into my arms…but I want us to be friends again.'

Sirius didn't meet his eyes, but Remus could already tell that he was miserable. That right now, it was costing him every ounce of strength and bravery to be sitting here and laying himself bare to Remus. He was vulnerable, Remus realised. One word and Remus could break him. Just one word and Remus could get back at Sirius for every time he'd pushed Remus away, for every cruel word that had been said in between, for the way he'd discarded Remus's love like it mean nothing. Remus could have Sirius hurting the same way he had this whole time.

And then he realised that Sirius was already hurting….

'Marauders forever, eh, Padfoot?' Remus said, offering a weak smile and a shaky hand when Sirius's head whipped around in surprise.

XxxxX

Remus found out on a Wednesday evening that bathing a one year old could result in unimaginable catastrophes much akin to a bathroom tsunami.

'No, Harry, no!' Remus cried out as Harry splashed all the water out of the bathtub.

It wouldn't have mattered if it was just his tiny baby hands playing around with water, but considering that Harry was somehow channeling his still uncontrolled magic to create enormous waves was somewhat of an inconvenience. As Remus got swept away once again to the end of the bathroom, an ungraceful slide across the tiles, he wondered how Sirius managed to do this everyday for two weeks or even how James and Lily had managed this for an entire year. More so, he wondered exactly why he'd volunteered to do this in place of a long, relaxing nap.

Remus picked himself up, squeezed water out of his t-shirt, and raised Harry's rubber squid threateningly. 'I could turn you into a seal right now, little chap. Don't mess with Moony.' The arms of the squid flapped around with every word of Remus's warning, making him look quite insane.

'Moo!' Harry cried happily, quite oblivious to the dangers of a rubber squid. 'Moo!'

'Need help?'

Remus glared at Sirius, who was peeking quite smugly through the door. He eyed Remus up and down, taking in his dripping wet hair and soggy clothes than clung to his body uncomfortably. The bathroom floor was a mess by itself – pooling water, floating clothes that were meant to be dry, and a litter of toys that Remus and Sirius had bought for Harry a few days ago in a sudden surge of affection. Remus was beginning to think that sudden surge was turning out to be quite a big mistake.

'You didn't tell me Harry is inspired by the tub to do magic!' Remus accused, pointing a finger at a laughing Sirius.

Sirius wiped tears of mirth from his eyes. 'I might have forgotten to mention that,' he replied cheekily. 'The key, my friend, is to find out what soothes the savage beast…'

'Pads!' Harry cheered, sending another tsunami wave their way. Sirius dodged it easily by closing the bathroom door, but poor Remus ended up quite literally pinned to the wall, holding on the towel rack for dear life.

Sirius opened the door, grinning widely and holding up Remus's muggle radio. 'Harry likes music,' he explained to Remus as if he were speaking to a child. 'Watch…' To prove his hypothesis, Sirius turned on the wireless, switching to a familiar FM. He charmed the floors clean and dry before entering the bathroom and leaving the radio on top of the toilet.

Remus hated to admit it, but Sirius was right. The minute Sirius turned up the volume, Harry quieted down, staring at the wireless with large, awe-filled, green eyes. It was as if he'd just seen angels and fairies come down from the heavens, with his little mouth forming a pouty 'o' and his chubby fingers gripping the edge of the bathtub to support himself as he leaned further towards the music.

'He doesn't understand where the sound comes from,' Sirius explained with a very knowledgeable and cocky smirk. 'Works every time. No more splashing, no more waterfalls, and no more soggy clothes.' He charmed Remus's robes dry for him. 'Good fun, isn't it?'

'Shut up,' Remus grumbled, grabbing the soap and sponge and heading towards a star struck Harry with new found determination.

Sirius seemed undeterred by Remus's hostility, turning the volume up higher. 'Love this song. Do you remember it, Moony?' He grabbed the toothpaste from the cabinet and started singing along with the radio, 'More looonliness than any man could beeaar. ' Sirius nudged Remus, winking and shoving the toothpaste-mike under his nose to get Remus to participate. 'Rescue me before I fall into despaaiir!'

Remus grinned, raising an eyebrow. 'I'll send an sos to the world.'

'I'll send an sos to the world.'

'I hope that someone gets my. I hope that someone gets my….message in a booottlle.' They both chorused together into the toothpaste tube, only to be interrupted by Harry's laughter.

'Do you think he's making fun of us, Padfoot?' Remus asked, glancing at Harry who had broken out of his stupor and was dancing/bouncing to the tune and singing his own garbled version of the song.

Sirius shrugged. 'He probably thinks his uncles have gone nutters,' he replied with a smile wider than Remus remembered seeing him in a long time. Feeling in the moment, he pulled one of the towels of the rack and tied it around himself like a toga, before breaking into an uncoordinated dance. 'Walked out this moorning and I don't believe what I saaaww!'

'Padfoot, you're embarrassing our entire generation in front of Harry!' Remus groaned, slapping his forehead.

'A hundred million bottles washed up on the shooorree!' Sirius sang on uncaringly, now picking up Harry and starting a barefoot waltz out the bathroom. 'Seems I'm not alone, in beeeinng alone! A hundred million castaways all looking for a hoomme!'

Harry was giggling madly now and Remus, trying to hold his own laughter against Sirius's antics, followed them into the bedroom with the radio. Reluctantly, after Sirius pushed him for the third time, Remus sang along to the chorus while they both dressed Harry in clean clothes.

'When's the last time we sang together like this, Moony?' Sirius asked pulling Harry's leg through his trousers. 'Do you remember? We used to do this all the times, especially during breakfast.'

Remus smiled, combing Harry's hair back neatly. 'Forgot how much fun it was, to be honest. Harry seems to think it's hilarious. We should do this more often.' Remus realised that his little wish was impossible since they were giving Harry up on Sunday. Still, it didn't hurt to say it and just for a moment, be happy at the prospect of it.

Sirius smiled and they both held each of Harry's hands, swinging him thrice before setting him down on the ground. 'Stay in the room, Harry,' Remus advised, 'I don't want you falling down the stairs.'

'Cute little fellah, isn't he?' Sirius said with an affectionate smile. 'Do you know, Moony, what song we stumbled upon yesterday during bath time? I almost didn't recognise it at first, but I remembered the words clearly.' At Remus's frown, Sirius summoned one of Remus's LP's from the shelf and set it to play. 'You always had a thing for Freddie Mercury, didn't you? Kept the entire collection.'

'You say you love me, and I hardly know your name…'

'We danced to it, do you remember? After James and Lily's wedding, we'd gone to Queens the first time.'

Remus did remember it, but pretended that the sharp jolt in his heart was a part of his imagination, that the memory of Sirius holding him close didn't make his heartbeat quicken.

'And if I say I love you in the candlelight. There's no one but myself to blame…'

'I meant what I said then, Remus,' Sirius whispered, taking Remus's hands in his. 'I meant every word. I might have made mistakes in between, but it never changed my feelings or my promise towards you.'

'The way you love me, Is the sweetest love around'

'Sirius, don't,' Remus said quietly, unable to look up or take his hand away from Sirius's. 'Don't do this. Not again.'

'But after all this time. The more I'm trying, the more I seem to let you down…'

'I love you, Moony, always have,' Sirius said softly, leaning forward to place a chaste, tender kiss on Remus's cheek. 'I know I don't have the right to ask this of you, and I won't push myself on you, not anymore, especially not after you've forgiven me for so much. But-'

Remus closed his eyes, feeling overwhelmed as all the emotions he'd kept bottled up for so long started to rise again.

'Too late - save our love you can't turn out the lights. So late - I've been wrong but I'll learn to be right…'

'I just want you to think about it. I'll understand if you say no because I don't deserve you and I'd be alright with just being your friend. I just…I want to be with you, Remus, because…' Sirius hesitated, biting his lip and tightening his hold on Remus's hand. 'Because in the end, after everything has passed, the only one I ever need is you.'

XxxxX

Remus placed a picture of his mother and father in between the ones of Peter and the Potters. He looked over at Sirius, who was fiddling with a green vial in his hand – it was the kind that often held Remus's Murtlap Essence for post transformations. One for every person they'd lost, Remus had told Sirius, since that was the tradition back in Remus's grandmother's place, when she was still alive.

Remus had kept a single piece from his father's wand and his mother's favourite scarf, the one that still had that lingering scent of sweet perfume.

For James and Lily, they'd placed their wedding picture because that was the happiest Sirius remembered seeing them. Hidden behind the picture, within the depths of the frame were several letters exchanged during and after their school days – plots for pranks and reprimands from Lily.

Peter was still alive, but it was better to not be so, which was why he had a place on the mantle as well, an Agrippa chocolate card taped to the side of his frame. It was the first kind of Chocolate Frog card Peter had gotten from James.

'I never kept any pictures of Regulus,' Sirius said quietly, rolling the vial between his fingers and watching the small red liquid within it swirl. 'I was so hell bent on forgetting about my family and what they were that I never kept a single memory of them. Not one…all that's left of them are newspaper clippings and pictures where Regulus is forced to put up a good face…'

'He was like you in the end…' Remus assured, putting a hand on Sirius's shoulder and squeezing. 'He did the right thing and that's all that matters…'

Sirius snorted disdainfully. 'He was such an idiot, always soft hearted and even softer in the head. Got himself killed like the twat he was.' He looked at the vial in his palm one last time and then placed it beside James's and Lily's memoirs. 'The blood we shared as brothers.'

Remus nodded understandingly and together, they held up their wand and lit the candles on either side. When Sirius turned around to look at Remus, he'd already begun to pray, with his head bowed and hands clasped together as if he were at the church altar. Sirius, not much of Christian himself, simply closed his eyes and thought of James and Lily, back when they were alive and happy. Long before the prophecy, or the suspicions, or the war…

Prongs, you left me you bastard. You left me and you're probably laughing at us right now, aren't you? Seeing us struggle with diapers and baby food. He's finally asleep now after all that running around. Honest to Merlin, I wouldn't have minded the teasing just a bit, but Dumbledore says its for Harry's safety and that's what you wanted, isn't it?

Sirius smiled, almost able to see James's reaction in his mind – the jeering and the laughing – the mischievous twinkle in his best friend's eyes.

Remus and I, we're friends now, which is alright I guess. He forgave me, he always does, just like you said, Lily. All this is his idea actually and I didn't think it would work at first, but it isn't half bad. I'll try not to fuck things up this time. I gather you wouldn't take kindly to it anyway. Prongs, you'd probably beat my arse and Lily would coax you into it. I really do love him, you know.

There was a hand on his shoulder and Sirius opened his eyes to see Remus smiling at him, eyes reflecting the light and warmth of the burnings candles. The expression on Remus's face told Sirius that he'd probably been sitting here for a long time with his eyes closed, probably longer than Remus himself.

'Padfoot, I'll be going out of town for a while…' Remus said, his eyes hardening with determination. '…in search of Dumbledore.'

Sirius frowned. 'I don't understand.'

Remus sighed heavily, running a hand through his short brown hair. 'I've been thinking a lot lately, and I just…I think there might be another way to take care of Harry. I don't want to get your hopes up, but if this works…if there's any chance of Dumbledore conceding…then I need to know it now.'

'We don't know where he is,' Sirius argued, wondering if Remus was suffering from temporary insanity. If perhaps the fumes from the candles were clouding his brain just a little bit.

'I talked to McGonagall. She didn't say much, but just enough for me to narrow down some possibilities.' Remus bit his lip with hesitation. 'If I go now, I can catch up to Dumbledore. By Sunday, the shields he set for us wear of and Hagrid will come to pick Harry up. And I'm not sure I'm ready to give him up as of yet, or wait till Dumbledore comes just to talk to him. I've seen the Dursleys, Sirius, I've seen them.'

'You were spying?' Sirius asked disbelievingly. Then again, Remus had always been the quieter and sneakier of the Marauders. Oddly enough, it sounded like something Sirius was more likely to do that Remus, but then again, Sirius had been confined to the house up until now.

'They're horrid, Padfoot. Any mention of magic and they go crazy. They don't even believe in imaginations. They're insane.'

Sirius looked up the stairs to the room where they'd currently put Harry to sleep in. 'You'll come back, won't you? Remus?' Sirius inhaled sharply and looked at Remus uncertainly. 'You'll come back, right? You're not going to leave me here, alone or get yourself into trouble, yeah?'

'Sirius…'

'Moony,' Sirius cried out in a panicked tone, suddenly terrified of the looks of sympathy and guilt Remus was giving him. 'Moony, you can't abandon me like this. You can't! You said we were friends, you said we were okay! Remus-mph!'

Sirius's anxious ramblings were cut short by a pair of lips pressed tightly against his own. It was at the point, Sirius was sure he was dreaming and that either his eyes or his brain would pop out of his skull any given moment.

'This is my promise to you,' Remus whispered pulling away so quickly that Sirius was sure he'd imagined the whole thing. Remus's hands were still cupping his cheeks though, and Sirius could feel the warmth of them against his skin.

Sirius's breathing was still coming out in shallow gasps. Hadn't Remus turned him away just yesterday? Hadn't he been unable to so much as look at Sirius or even speak to him properly when Sirius had begged Remus to just consider what they'd had, what they'd lost? What had inspired the sudden change? What had changed Remus's mind overnight?

Sirius looked at the picture of James and Lily questioningly and touched his fingers to his lips. They were wet. Real. 'But-'

'You love me, don't you?' Remus gave no room for Sirius to protest, and so Sirius simply nodded numbly, his mind still in an uncomprehending daze and wondering why the picture of James was winking at him suggestively. 'Then trust me, Padfoot.'

XxxxX

Yes, they're finally back together and look…humour! After all that angst, I finally put in 'fun' and the pups together in the same sentence. Though I have to say, its become a bit of a song-fic somewhere in the middle. Which reminds me, the two songs used were by Police and Queen. Anyway, sorry for the delay but the exams are finally over and guess who scored a full GPA. Yes, yes, thank you. Lol…yes, enough boasting and on with the anonymous reviews!

Katefish: Lol. Look, no deaths, happiness and even a waltz! Only the kitchen sink is missing in this chapter. Angst, I have to admit, has been dragged out for long enough, so while I did put some depressive elements in this chapter, most of it comes with good news and quite a few smiles. Ayame-Paradise: Elf, I'm afraid was only for that chapter because I was sick and tired of writing depressed, sorrowful pups. It was just to keep things light towards the end as a prequel to this chapter which is a lot happier. Anon: When will I end it? Well, I'm afraid that there's only one chapter left actually. I don't intend to drag things out and make it boring, so yes. Just one more and I hope you enjoy it and always remember it as the fic that covered a whole lot of ground with a whole lot of chapters. the person who left a dash:Lol. Your story left me laughing and feeling terribly honoured at the same time. I don't know how unpredictable my writing was in this chapter, but I did put slightly less angst this time. There's a bit of raging and confrontation of course…unavoidable when you've been through all that. But, ah well…hope you liked this one! Michele: I wish I could work "extra fast" as you put it. If only my mind would function that way. Unfortunately, I'm horribly slow and I took an enormous break in between. So sorry my dear for the long wait and I hope this chapter made up for it. SV: Ah, I'm sorry to say that Elf was for just that one chapter alone. Kind of a comic relief of sorts, but look how well the pups got together! Very random, very Marauderish…don't you think? WoodlandAristocrat: Well, the hug has now become a very random kiss on Remus's part at least, and also very cheesy singing and dancing. My fluff muse is back and it seems to be cornier than last time. Hopefully you liked it. Jay: I wish I could steal it, but I promised my readers no more deaths, and now I've gone to the land of fluff and romance. Damn. Shoshoni: Lol. I hope I haven't tortured you to much, and if I have that the romance in this chapter sort of made up for it. I honestly haven't ever gone back to my old chapters, so maybe I will too when I'm done and then realise, Good Lord, what the hell have I written. Paddywaddy: I guess I sort of killed that bit of reasoning, didn't I? I guess you should never quite take the words of an insane person seriously. Honest…now look at the turn I've taken in the story. Mk: I didn't want to change things too much, so I kept most of the outcomes and major events the same, except for the pups separating for 12 years and all that. Honestly, no one wants to read such a long period of angst and misery. Hope you liked this chapter. A Person: Unfortunately, I also have the same birth date as Adolf Hitler. Not the most flattering of people. I hope you liked this chapter even more and that the plot was unexpected and surprising and not too cheesy. Cheers!!