Sirius crept down the hallway slowly, trying to keep as quiet as he could. It was nighttime and the hallways were especially dark. Every room was silent now, with nothing but the dim flickering of candles for illumination. The entire hospital was almost asleep except for a few dwindling visitors and Healers on their night shifts.

Sirius stopped in his tracks suddenly when he heard the sound of hurried footsteps. Looking around for a door to dash into, he couldn't find one. He had only a few seconds to think of what to do, and in that tiny space of time the only plan he could think of was to step to the side and try to look—

"Aw, how cute!"

Sirius barked cheerfully up at the little girl in pigtails and nudged her hand affectionately. She giggled and scratched his head.

"Lucy! Stop petting that dog right now, what if it bit you?"

"But Mum!"

Sirius raised his hackles and growled menacingly at the two snooty parents.

"You see?" the father said pointedly. "That's why you shouldn't trust strange pets, they can turn on you at any second."

Sirius barked at him a few times before dashing around the corner and scurrying up the hallway.

It was now almost midnight and he was on his way up to see Remus for a few hours before heading back to the Potters. He and James had struck an agreement with the Healers earlier in the day that would allow them to visit Remus for one hour in the morning, an hour and a half for lunch, and for two hours before his bedtime.

This schedule would start tomorrow though because, for the previous evening, Remus had been put through several strength tests to gauge where they needed to start therapy. He'd also had an entire list of potions to take that would counter-act some of his deeper injuries— he'd apparently been forced through several Dark curses during the previous months, which had included more than one powerful Mind Possession curse that had left some residual foreign magic inside him.

So at one thirty they'd reluctantly said goodbye to him and headed back to the Potters' house for dinner with Remus' family, and Kate and her brother.

Kate hadn't arrived in time to meet Remus. When they'd met up with her on the ground floor, she wouldn't spill if she'd been invited to join the Order of the Phoenix, but she did tell them that she'd be staying in St. Mungos for the next year on an assignment.

Amongst the arrested werewolves there were almost thirty teenagers and children. Controlled for years by the Imperius Curse, all of them were hurt, emotionally damaged, and in need of someone who could give them guidance— so Kate was now their personal counselor and caretaker. Her job was to listen to them and help them learn to trust the world again.

With a special team of Healers, she would be placing them back in secondary schools to finish their education, and then prepare them for the years ahead as they live as magical creatures in a Muggle world. Dumbledore had already contacted Dr. Leibrock to send assistance. It was a process that could take years, and it was the first job Kate had ever been given in her life. According to one of the chief Healers, if she succeeded in the project she could be given the opportunity to stay on as a long-term counselor and eventually be trained as a Healer for the Creature-Induced Injuries Department.

Her excitement couldn't have been more obvious. The disappointment about Greyback's escape, which had weighed heavily on her in the morning, was now fading. She looked relieved to have something she could contribute to… and for the first time in her life, she could support herself like any normal witch.

Now, hours later, she was sleeping down in the Healer's wards after having moved Jacqueline out of ward 46 and into a room closer to the other children. Jacqueline was scheduled to wake up tomorrow around noon when her memory would be altered and she would be reunited with her Muggle parents.

Sirius padded into the visitor's waiting room outside ward 46. He lowered his nose to the ground and sniffed. The scent of both Healers had dissipated slightly, telling him that they'd gone home hours ago. He turned his head and listened for any sound inside, but there wasn't any.

Wagging his tail once, he rose up onto his hind legs and pressed down on the door handle. It sprang open and he entered, kicking it closed behind him and bounding over to Remus' bed.

Remus was turned on his side, sleeping peacefully. Trying not to disturb him, Sirius morphed back into human form and slowly lifted the sheet to lie down next to him.

He bent one arm under his head to prop it up, and with his other hand traced his fingers over the contours of Remus' face, sadly caressing the thin white scars that now marred his beauty. That bastard Greyback couldn't have just left his face alone— it wasn't enough to kidnap him and utterly destroy his life, he just had to mark Remus' face too as an eternal reminder of his captivity. But nevertheless, the scars were a part of Remus now and he knew that he'd come to accept them in time.

Sirius ran the pad of his thumb over his bottom lip and leaned in to kiss it softly before nuzzling his nose into Remus' cheek. As he raked his nails lightly over the brown-haired boy's scalp, a soft breath of contentment suddenly wafted over his face.

"Sorry," Sirius murmured. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

Remus sighed.

"Will you still be here when I open my eyes?" he whispered.

Sirius leaned in to kiss at the skin beneath his earlobe.

"Yes."

Remus didn't say anything as he wrapped his arms around Sirius' torso and pulled him closer.

"Prove it."

Sirius trembled and pulled him in closer, mouthing eagerly at his neck and listening to the beautiful whimpering, gasping sounds that escaped Remus' throat. As he sucked the soft earlobe into his mouth and scrapped his teeth over it possessively, Remus reached up with both hands to cup his head and maneuver them until their faces were aligned, until their lips were claiming each others', until they were kissing so desperately that nothing else in the universe could have torn one of them from the other.

Sirius could hardly breathe. An aching need burned inside his chest as he continued to snog Remus into the mattress, pressing him down and sliding on top of him. He couldn't remember kissing this hard before— it was as if he wanted to completely devour him, ruin him for anyone else. Their teeth clashed together painfully as their mouths opened and sucked, claimed, tasted, and poured their feelings into every little ministration.

Remus made a small "oomph" as Sirius ground his rock-hard erection into the smaller boys' pelvis, and— had Sirius not previously memorized what every sound meant— he would have thought it was the reaction of mutual arousal. But drawing from memory, he knew immediately it wasn't and pulled back, panting hard, to stare down at him.

"I'm just… sore," Remus apologized.

"Sorry," Sirius said, laughing softly. "I got a little carried away and… shit… I missed you so much. I can't believe how new this feels again… and you don't realize how much I've dreamt about this."

He whimpered the last line and then cringed in shame. He hated being so fucking vulnerable, even when it was just Remus. Offering his heart over without knowing how it would be treated was terrifying.

But Remus just slid his hands through his raven hair and gazed up at him knowingly.

"Okay but it's hard to breathe when you're on me like that."

Sirius shifted and put his weight back onto his legs.

"Better?" he breathed.

Remus smiled and pulled him down for another kiss, this time slower and steadier. Sirius met his tongue with a tender insistency, his hands now moving down to message Remus' torso.

Remus gasped into his mouth when he reached down and fondled the bulge of his trousers, stroking the growing hardness as Remus fought for air.

"Uungh… wait… Sirius, I haven't…," he moaned.

Sirius paused to scrutinize him for a moment as he squirmed underneath him in need. Remus' cheeks were crimson in embarrassment and he was wincing. There was something stirring behind his eyes, as if trying to tell him something telepathically…

And then it hit him. Like a sudden epiphany, Sirius realized with a jolt what he was talking about.

He hadn't done this at all since August. Of course not, though… he'd been possessed by Dark Magic, starved, and thrown inside a small dirt cell alone. It must have been impossible for him to even contemplate the very idea of arousal.

If Sirius thought all this felt new, he couldn't even imagine what it must feel like to Remus, who hadn't had the release of a single orgasm in months.

"It doesn't matter," he whispered, trying to calm the other boy. "I want to do this for you. Just let me."

Remus sighed. Sirius saw the tension release from his shoulders as he laid back on the pillows and swallowed hard in anticipation.

Sirius relaxed too. This moment was what he'd been waiting for. The sign of sweet surrender when Remus would forget everything, all of the torment and pain, and just give himself over to sensation. A wicked smirk spread across his face as he lowered his mouth to Remus' neck again and went at it mercilessly.

His fingers worked on the buttons of the pajama top and then spread it wide open, trying to access as much skin as possible. He glanced for a fraction of a second at Remus' jabbing hip bones and emaciated ribcage before completely ignoring them and turning his entire attention on the hardened nipples. Rolling one between his teeth, he heard Remus moan his name again and he lapped sinfully at it with his tongue, trying to illicit another response. Remus trembled and slid his hand back into Sirius' hair to pull his mouth closer.

As he moved onto the other nipple, Sirius reached down slowly to untie Remus' pajamas and then dragged them lower, down his thighs, down his calves, and then off his ankles, all the while trailing wet sloppy kisses on the newly exposed flesh in front of him.

Remus muttered something incoherent and bit his bottom lip. Sirius couldn't help but marvel at how much heat was emanating from him, how even in the dead of winter they were drenched in sweat from the friction of their bodies and the arousal that burned inside them.

Sirius put both hands on the inside of Remus' knees and pushed them out, spreading his legs and lowering himself over the weeping erection. For a moment he just closed his eyes and inhaled Remus' musky scent, breathing open-mouthed over the base, ghosting his lips over the tightened ball sack.

When he felt Remus wriggle in need, he came back to his senses and reached up to wrap his hand around it, stroking it slowly as his eyes glazed over in lust. The other boy had a fucking gorgeous prick— perfectly proportioned with unblemished creamy skin that made Sirius' mouth water. He just loved how it could get so hard that it curved upward toward Remus' navel, like it was doing right now.

He knew Remus was close to bursting and, given everything that had happened, Sirius didn't want to make him beg for it. This was all for him and Sirius wasn't going to tease him unnecessarily when the only thing he needed right now was comfort and release.

Panting in exhilaration, he stared up at Remus and maintained eye contact as he slid the flat of his tongue up the entire length and then engulfed the sensitive head with his lips, sealing it in his mouth and reaching up to fist the remaining length in sequence with his mouth.

Remus exhaled sharply and threw his head back in ecstasy.

"Ohh," he choked. "Sirius…"

Sirius hallowed out his cheeks and sucked harder, harder, swallowing and gulping—

"Oh god, Sirius!" Remus gasped, his glistening chest arching off the bed, his fingers gripping into the mattress for dear life.

— harder and harder, until he could feel the prick throb in his mouth and hot salty semen spurted forcefully down his throat.

It wasn't until he could taste Remus, and hear his own name moaned from those lips, that Sirius was forced back into focus of his own body.

He hadn't realized how fucking turned on he was until he felt the muscles in his groin contract, at the same time feeling a clenching wave of pleasure that had his lungs struggling to breathe properly. He slipped Remus' wet member from his mouth in time to look down and see his own cock throbbing and cum gushing out as his legs trembled violently in the force of his climax.

"Guh," he moaned in shock, reaching down and milking the rest of his seed from his prick. An incredible sense of nirvana was still thrumming in his veins in the aftershocks.

"Oh, fuck," he moaned. "I just came."

Remus, who was still numb and breathing shakily, didn't seem to understand his point.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No, it's just… I didn't even touch myself…"

Remus lifted his head and looked down his body at him.

"Seriously?"

He pressed his forehead into Remus' pelvis and closed his eyes as the delicious after-effects buzzed in his muscles.

"Uhg… what have you done to me?"

He took in several deep breaths and just laid there for a moment. One of Remus' hands lifted off the mattress and slid softly into his black hair, the buds of his fingertips dragging lovingly over Sirius' scalp and down to the base of his neck.

"Well… we didn't waste much time with that, did we?" he laughed softly.

Sirius grinned and crawled back up his body, kissing the tip of his nose affectionately.

"You don't mind, do you?"

Remus lowered his eyes and shook his head lightly.

"Will you stay with me?"

Sirius opened his mouth to answer but then hesitated. He dragged Remus' pajamas back on and didn't respond until he'd fastened the last button on his shirt.

"You need to sleep, Moony."

He looked up and saw Remus staring down and past him, a haunted expression in his brown eyes.

"Just… until I fall asleep?"

Remus' eyes flicked up and stared at him pleadingly.

Fuck.

He sighed in defeat and pulled the sheet back up before lying down— but instead of facing him on his side and wrapping Remus in his arms, he stayed lower on the bed, draping his arm over the other boys' stomach and resting his head directly over Remus' heart.

"Are you comfortable?"

Remus muttered an affirmation and held onto Sirius, plunging one hand into his hair again and resting the other over his draping forearm.

"Why are you lying like this?"

Sirius closed his eyes as his head moved up and down in pace with Remus' breathing. In his right ear he could hear the strong unwavering beat of Remus' heart as it drummed rhythmically inside his chest.

"No reason."

.x~*~x.

James bounced on his heels and fidgeted nervously outside the door. Morning visiting hours were about to start and the three of them could see the Healers bustling around through the window as they prepared breakfast and lined up potion vials on a tray.

"I hope he's feeling better," Peter said. He was clutching the large box of chocolate frogs they'd bought in the upstairs gift shop.

One of the Healers drew the curtain back around Remus' bed and they saw him sitting up, now dressed in ivory hospital robes, speaking with the witch carrying the potion tray. She said something and a smile broke out across his face as he laughed and then said something in return. It was a drastic change to the previous afternoon, when Remus had barely had enough energy to stay upright and had spoken only in short exhausted sentences.

The other Healer walked over to the door and opened it.

"We're all set in here," he said, gesturing them inside. "Just remember you need to be out by eight, no extensions."

"Got it," Sirius said, striding past him.

Remus straightened up as they entered and slid his legs over to sit on the edge of his mattress.

"Hi," he grinned. "Where's everyone else?"

"They're just coming for lunch," James answered, throwing himself down on the bed next to Remus. "We've got you all to ourselves for the morning and evening visits."

James opened the flap on his satchel and reached in for four bottles of butterbeer. As one of the pockets was disturbed, a small golden snitch zoomed out and whizzed joyfully around the room in freedom.

Remus glanced at Sirius and gave him a small knowing smile.

"Are you feeling any better?"

"Yeah," Remus murmured, tapping his feet absentmindedly. "I'm just so bloody worthless though. I couldn't even get dressed on my own."

Remus kept his eyes in his lap during his last statement.

"Well, we figured you'd be weak," Peter said. "I mean you look like—,"

"—Like shit," Remus laughed.

"You just need to be fed up!" James frowned.

Remus sighed.

"I saw myself in the mirror for the first time this morning."

The other three glanced nervously at each other. It was clear Remus was talking about the slash scars that ran straight through his face.

James was the first to speak.

"I think the chicks'll dig it."

"Yeah!" Peter chirped. "It makes you look, you know… rough and macho."

Remus snorted and shook his head.

"It scared me. I wasn't expecting it. I don't actually remember it happening, so I don't know who did it… I might have just up and done it to myself for all I know."

The other three could sense that the atmosphere had shifted ever so slightly. Sirius glanced at the other two before testing the waters.

"I don't know if you want to talk about it— about what happened to you— but if you need to… we'll listen."

"We won't even respond if you don't want us to," James added.

Remus shook his head.

"They told me… this morning… that there was a special counselor…"

"Oh, that's Kate!" Peter said. "She's the one who helped rescue you— we wouldn't have even found you without her help."

"She actually pulled you out of there when you were still unconscious," Sirius told him.

Remus stared down at his feet.

"I think I'd rather talk to her first."

He swallowed hard and the crease of a frown was visible between his eyebrows.

The other three stared at Remus, struck silent and unsure of what to say.

They all knew what he'd gone through was unimaginable, and that it should be his choice on how to cope with it… logic could tell them that it was probably best Remus get consolation from an independent source… but 'logic' didn't change the fact that they all felt suddenly rejected.

It was as if someone had punched them in the gut. They were his best friends and it felt terrible knowing that Remus wasn't trusting them to hear his story first.

When they didn't say anything, Remus looked up and saw the expressions on their faces.

"You're not mad, are you?"

If anything could have made them feel worse, it was the worried tone in Remus' voice. All three of them suddenly realized how selfish they were being and snapped out of it.

"No!" Sirius practically shouted.

"We don't care," James insisted. "Whenever you want to tell us what happened, we'll still be here."

Remus smiled in relief.

"Thanks, guys."

He looked over towards the breakfast trays and then at Sirius.

"Can you help me walk over there? I need to practice walking."

Even though he'd only spoken to Sirius, all three of them jumped to their feet eagerly. Remus winced at them in amusement and held onto Sirius' arms as he slowly stood up.

He sighed through his nose in frustration as his knees wobbled. His left leg almost gave out and he reached up quickly to grasp Sirius' bicep for better leverage.

"Wanna dance?" Sirius smirked.

"Oh, shut up."

James laughed and reached up to snatch the golden snitch out of the air with impressive reflexes.

"If you come to my Quidditch practices I'd whip you right into shape, Moony."

Remus snorted.

"I highly doubt the captain would approve of that."

Remus tried to take another step but Sirius didn't move with him. The three of them had all froze.

"Remus… James is captain."

Remus gaped at him.

"You are? When did—? I didn't know!"

They all laughed and James released the snitch to fly around the room again.

"No worries, mate," he grinned. "We'll get you all caught up in no time."

.x~*~x.

Almost fifty chocolate frog wrappers littered the bedspread amongst empty bottles of butterbeer, Daily Prophets from the previous months, and scrunched up wrapping paper from Remus' belated Christmas presents.

"…and so there I was, just sitting around waiting for my parents to get home when I heard my visitor detector go off, just completely blaring, and I thought some Death Eaters had come up to my house, so I got my wand ready and opened the door and came face to face with James, who looked like a drowned little rat all soggy with rain—."

"You didn't curse him, did you?" Remus grinned.

"No, I didn't, but I was sure close to, I'll tell you that. I mean who the hell comes knocking on a door after nightfall in the middle of the pouring rain?"

Remus doubled over laughing at their stupidity.

"We had written to her in advance!" Sirius interjected defensively, but Kate just ignored him and carried on with her story.

It was now evening of the following day and Kate had come up to visit Remus for the first time. She'd been so busy with all of her cases during the previous two lunch visits that she hadn't had the opportunity to meet him yet. She'd arrived at the perfect time though— just at the point in their story when she became a part of it.

Remus had listened intently over the last two days as they told him everything that had gone on since his disappearance. They poured as much detail as possible into it, trying to keep Remus distracted from his own demons. According to the Healers, he'd been plagued with nightmares and hadn't got much sleep the night before.

It was a strange thing to recall their own experiences— everything they had done seemed so exhausting now that they looked back on it. From the terror they had felt during the train ride to school, how their entire lives had completely turned upside down… to the letters they had all written… to going to class without him and trying to focus on school work with him gone… to shouting at Dumbledore and every other professor at the staff table over Remus' missing bed in the boys dormitories… to his parents funerals, and then eventually his… and then to Sirius' search for answers and their weekly visit to the graveyard in Kingwood Springs…

Remus had been stunned to hear he actually had a grave site. He'd known his parents would be laid to rest somewhere, but the idea that there was a casket and headstone with his name on it seemed to completely unnerve him.

Somehow they all knew they'd crossed a line with him, so in order to keep his mind off it they'd brought in several distractions for the two-hour-long evening visit.

Every copy of the Daily Prophet they could find, dated within the last four months, was stacked in a pile beside the bed, with some of the most memorable strewn open on the mattress. Flipping to the strangest stories they could find, they'd read each one aloud while trying to melodramatically mimic the voices of those interviewed. Remus had then skimmed through the more serious articles, newly fascinated with the comings and goings of everyday life.

They had also gone shopping in Diagon Alley between lunch and dinner to buy Remus the biggest and most elaborate Christmas presents they had ever gotten him— Peter had spent close to ten galleons on a package of assorted sweets that weighed over 20 kilograms. James had bought every glossy leather-bound adventure novel in Remus' favorite series from Florish and Blotts. And Sirius had gone to the Apothecary to ask for the best owl they had— which turned out to be a highly affectionate one-year-old barn owl, with a handsome honey-brown and white plumage, and a kind heart-shaped face.

It had cost Sirius a small fortune because it came with several perks— it was young, raised on a special training farm, and its wings had been magically tipped with goblin silver that enhanced its speed and agility. They had spent a good hour flicking through Remus' new adventure novels for a name and finally settled on Leo.

Remus continued listening to Kate's story while cupping some small owl treats in his hand for Leo to feed on. The owl nibbled for a bit and then nuzzled its flat majestic face into his wrist and Remus beamed down on him.

"… so we started searching at least one location a day, sometimes two if we had time, and I would always keep this pre-written letter with me that called for Ministry assistance, and I'd placed a charm on the location line so whenever I moved around, the address inside the letter would change longitude and latitude coordinates, that way no matter where we were they could Apparate to our exact location…"

Remus leaned forward in interest and asked which spell she'd used, but before Kate could answer there was a soft knocking on the door and they all looked around. One of the Healers had poked their head inside the door.

"Five more minutes, boys," he said.

Kate deflated in disappointment.

"I was just getting to the good part!"

"Welcome to the club," James mumbled. "That happens to us every single time."

"We should have just written it down in a storybook for you," Peter said as they all started cleaning up the mess they'd made.

"Or they could have given us an entire day to spend here," Sirius added bitterly.

Kate stood up to throw several handfuls of trash into a bin and turned back to Remus.

"I'll see you in the morning!" she said, leaning over to hug him goodbye. She grinned at the other three and messed up James' hair before leaving.

Leo hopped around curiously as they finished tidying the room and then perched himself on the window sill, tapping lightly on the glass with his beak.

Remus caught sight of him. He stared at the floor for a moment, seeming to gauge the distance. Finally, he bit his lip and swung his legs over the mattress and— slowly— stood up and walked over to the window to open it for him. Leo nipped gently at his hand in appreciation before soaring into the night.

The three of them grinned at Remus as he concentrated hard and walked back to his bed unassisted before collapsing on top of it, breathing heavily. The Healer who was setting up more vials of potion in the corner had observed the whole thing.

"Well done Mr. Lupin!" he praised. "We hadn't expected to see that for another week now!"

Remus smiled a little and glanced hopefully at Sirius, James, and Peter before responding.

"Well… the next term at Hogwarts starts on the sixth. I was… really hoping to go back in time."

The Healer straightened up with a frown between his eyebrows.

"I'm not sure... You'd have to prove to us you could climb a flight of stairs and walk a hundred yards unassisted, first."

Remus' shoulders fell a little.

"You can do it," Sirius urged, sitting down next to him. "Yesterday morning you couldn't even walk to the desk without help, and now you just walked three times that distance on your own."

Remus sighed and avoided his eyes. Despite his insecurities, he did look much better now than during that first morning visit. His face wasn't quite as drawn or sunken— and it actually looked like there was more than just a skeleton beneath his robes.

"C'mon, at least try," James said.

The Healer came over and set a tray down on the nightstand.

"If you get to walking a single corridor length on your own, we'll let you go out for some fresh air," he went on. "Anywhere you want. We've found that venturing outside is an essential part of any rehabilitation."

Sirius swung his bag over his shoulder and stood up.

"We could take you to London for New Years," he bribed, grinning down at him.

But Remus didn't seem to have heard him. He stared out the window, where Leo had vanished, with a contemplative expression on his face.

"You said my parents were buried in Kingwood Springs?"

"Yeah."

Remus blinked and turned back to Sirius.

"I'd like to visit them."

.x~*~x.

It wasn't the New Years any of them had hoped for— while millions of people across the country were celebrating with large parties and booming fireworks, the three of them were completely silent as they led Remus through the graveyard towards his parent's resting place.

Something about Remus had changed. When they'd arrived to pick him up that morning, he hadn't smiled or said more than a few words during breakfast.

They'd predicted he would be a little somber, but they had never seen him so utterly depressed in the entire five years they had known him. Some sort of invisible door had shut closed inside him that was blocking off any emotion— and trying to guard against any more damage that could possibly be inflicted on his already fragile state.

Remus trudged alongside James, looking around at the scenery. He was now walking steadily on his own without any assistance. The only milestone he hadn't conquered yet had been climbing an entire staircase. But his reflexes were all up to standards now too, and it was looking like he'd be cleared to return to school on the 6th of January.

The snow crunched under their feet as they walked, and frozen wind stung their cheeks. Remus' eyes roamed over the quaint cathedral and apple orchard, now dripping crystalline icicles on its bare branches.

"It's a far sight better when the trees are blooming," James quipped.

Remus didn't respond. He read a few headstones and then carried on after Sirius and Peter.

Finally, almost halfway across the cemetery, Sirius stopped in front of the headstones they had come to know so well and stepped to the side. Remus had been trying to search for their names in advance, but hadn't caught them. He seemed startled to be coming to a halt, and then turned pale when he looked past Sirius at the grave sites.

Mr. and Mrs. Lupin were side by side each other, sectioned off with a short hedge and a two-foot-tall black iron fence. They shared one large plaque which also stated their marriage date and a quote that read 'Were it not for Hope, the Heart would break.'

Remus' was right next to theirs, with a slightly whiter marble headstone and no fence around it. The dying remnants of a Christmas wreath lay wilted against the base, obscuring the bottom half of a quote.

Remus frowned and stepped forward to move the wreath aside.

'Beloved son, Thou art with us now.'

He stared hard at it for a moment and then moved to stand in front of his parents' grave.

Sirius, James, and Peter backed away a fraction of a step, as if giving Remus more space to mourn. They weren't sure how to react to this new disposition of his and didn't want to cross any lines.

Remus gazed at the headstone. They couldn't see his face now, but after a long while they heard him sniff stuffily and he reached up to wipe his face with his hand.

It took him a while to calm down. His shoulders were shaking and every so often a throaty sob would rent the air. Eventually he turned his head slightly and they all stepped forward, taking it as an invitation to join him.

"You alright?" James whispered, grasping his shoulder.

A tear slipped down Remus' cheek and he nodded, hiccupping slightly.

"This isn't exactly the first time I've cried about it," he choked out. "I've known… all this time. But it's still hard…"

Sirius didn't know what to say. He'd never had parents worth crying for. He couldn't imagine what kind of loss this felt like. He wanted to just abandon all pretense and wrap Remus in his arms… to hold him close and allow him to break down, allow him to release the sorrow inside so he could move forward with healing…

"We'll have to get your letters out somehow," Sirius said. "Everyone back at school who wrote to you… you should read their letters."

Remus sniffed again and looked back over at his headstone.

A dark shadow crossed over his face.

"They'll remove it, of course," James said quickly, noticing the change in his expression.

Remus stepped towards his grave again.

"Prongs… can I see your wand for a moment?"

James frowned and glanced at the other two.

"Er…,"

"It's just for a moment," Remus interrupted. His voice was stronger now, more determined.

Sirius caught James' eye and jerked his head in a 'just do it' kind of way.

Reluctantly, James pulled his wand out of his pocket and offered it over. Remus took it with a small murmur of thanks and rolled it between his fingers.

Looking back on it, they weren't quite sure what they had expected him to do. Perhaps they'd thought for one moment that he'd brush the snow off the top, like they used to do on Sundays. Maybe they'd expected him to revive the dying Christmas wreath and place it on his parent's tomb.

All they knew was that it came with extreme surprise that their Remus— strong-minded, introverted, gentle Remus— raised the wand through the air and directed it at his marble headstone.

"Reducto!"

A deafening explosion shattered the silence. While the other three jumped in shock and raised their arms as shields, Remus just stood there, completely unfazed as the rest crumbled into a pile of rubble in the snow.

Sirius lowered his arms, heart hammering in his chest as he stared around. The blasted remnants were now strewn for several yards, and a small crater was still smoking from the blast.

As they stood there struck speechless, a Ministry owl swooped out of thin air, dropped an envelope in front of Remus and flew off. But not a moment later, a second owl appeared, soared down to snatch the envelope up, and then vanished. It seemed like the Ministry had decided to grant him some leniency, considering the circumstances.

Remus turned towards James and tossed his wand back before leading the way out of the cemetery.

"Thanks, mate."

~*~ Please Review!~*~