Please note that the world of Harry Potter belongs to J., therefore I take no credit in it or the characters I use for this fanfic.
And absolutely no money is being made on this either, it's for the sole purpose of stopping Sirius and Remus from inhabiting my brain.
I'd like to thank my friend ChapterKing for giving me ideas and helping me to get going!
I also think I need to thank marauders716 for reviewing my whole story and coming up with alot of interesting questions that have really made me think about where this story is going. Alot of constructive criticism and inspiration has come from her, and I think continuing this story would have been alot harder without her, so give her a big round of applause!
Thankyou for helping a clueless writer!
Moony was starting to find the full moon nights quite pleasurable. He got to be with his dear Padfoot, playing like two small pups, taking turns on howling towards the moon in their enchanted sky. Moony liked it best when they howled in unison though, it made all the hairs on his tail rise in pleasure.
Sometimes they went rampaging through the house, breaking pots and vases and other ancient antiques on their way, but most of the time they were pretty well behaved. Most of the time they just stayed in their bedroom, gazing up at the silver orb in their enchanted ceiling.
They would drowse on the thick carpet, once in a while nudge eachother lovingly, and sometimes Padfoot would even dare to lick Moony's snout. At those occasions, Moony would let out a warning in the form of a growl, and Padfoot would bare his neck in submission.
In the morning they would wake up curled tightly around eachother, both in their human form. Remus would bury his nose in Sirius' tangled hair, peck a kiss onto his lips and then get up to make them some breakfast.
His limbs were still aching, not from the transformation, but merely from sleeping on the hard floor, despite the thick rug.
Yes, Remus' life was finally comfortably filled with books and Sirius. And some more Sirius.
That was when it happened.
On their kitchen table one morning after a full moon, there lay an envelope addressed to Mr. Luck.
Remus frowned as he weighed the envelope in his hand and decided that it's rude to open other people's letters, so he carried it up to his housemate.
"Sirius, you've got a letter!" he helled halfway up the stairs. He was already out of breath and thought it would be better if Sirius could fetch it from there.
"Oooooooooooh, is it from Dumby? I'd like to know what he thought about those dungbombs!" came Sirius' giggling voice from up above.
Remus turned the envelope in his hands, there was no other name on it than Sirius' own.
"No, I don't think so. It's quite odd actually. And WHAT dungbombs are you talking about exactly?"
Sirius' face appeared at the top of the stairs, peeking down over the railing. He looked oddly pale, and grew even paler at the sight of the envelope. Then he suddenly bolted down the stairs to Remus, who found this all very odd and a bit unnerving.
He took the envelope and examined it closely, before he carefully opened it, pulled out the parchment and let the envelope fall to the floor.
Remus glanced at the fallen envelope and then at Sirius, who was staring at the letter in a shock like state. Remus decided he better do something about it.
"Sirius, dear, what is it?" he said as he moved to stand behind Sirius, so he could read the letter.
Half has passed, half remains.
That was all it said. No signature, no date, not anything. The ink looked frighteningly much like blood though.
"What is it?" Remus asked again, as his brows furrowed in confusion.
Sirius folded the letter and placed it in his pocket in one, swift movement. "Nothing love, nothing at all. Probably just Dumbles messing with us," Sirius even attempted a small laugh, but it just sounded forced and fake, which only made Remus' suspicion grow stronger.
Over the next couple of days Remus tried to talk to Sirius about the letter, but every time he tried Sirius was either very quick to change the subject or to announce that he wasn't in the mood to talk, and then went on to sulk in a corner somewhere.
"Half has passed, half remains," Remus just couldn't get it out of his head.
What did it mean and why had Sirius become so pale? Not even Remus' witty brain could solve this one, no matter how many books he went through in the library.
For lack of better ideas, Remus had written Dumbledore a letter, since Jamesie's diet seemed to have been working and he was now fit enough to fly again.
Now the reply was waiting for him on the kitchen table.
3 November 1998
Dear Remus,
I agree with you that this all seems very qurious. A little suspicious, even.
Alas, I must inform you that I am none the wiser than you are in this matter, I'm afraid.
Now, about the others, yes, there are indeed other people here. But not everyone.
You see, the people stay here while they wait for their loved ones to follow in their footsteps and greet death. Well, not everyone stays, but some do.
Lily and James were here too, but I'm sorry to inform you they moved on after they heard the news of Voldemort's death, when they knew that their Harry would be safe, that he wouldn't have to fight anymore.
Sometimes, you're just a little too late. I'm sorry Remus, I really am.
I may be an old fool, but I, too, knows how it feels to love someone so dearly like you and Sirius loved James.
It broke my heart when I first heard the news about James' death. My favourite Marauders, broken apart.
With all my Love, Dumby.
(I quite like this name Sirius has given me.)
Oh, and tell Sirius I said thankyou for the dungbombs, will you? However did he get those? I suppose he must have made them himself. Brilliant, I must say!
Our bedroom smelled of rotten sardines for a week!
Remus had to sit down on a chair, "They were here, and I missed them," he mumbled quietly. "They were here... and we missed them," Remus stared blankly at the letter, "SIRIUS, James and Lily were here, and we missed them!"
There was a loud bang from the floor above him, then a series of rattles followed, as if Sirius had crashed something heavy into the floor.
Why he was on the Second floor, Remus didn't know. The floor above him was only filled with the dusty old kitchen, the great dining room and the great livingroom, Sirius didn't really have any business on that floor.
Then Remus could barely hear Sirius' oh so elegant footsteps in the staircase.
A dusty, sooty and wild looking Sirius appeared in the doorway, which he leaned against so that a great deal of the soot stuck on his shirt transferred to the doorway. The sight of the soot-stain left on the doorway made Remus sigh internally.
"What? Here? They were here?" Remus pressed the letter into Sirius' hand, who read it while his jaw dropped.
Sirius staggered to the table, and had to sit down onto a chair too. The chair creaked slightly when he sat on it, as if it threatened to collapse any second.
"I can't believe this, I can't believe we missed them! We could have communicated with them, said our last goodbyes, but nooooooo. James, that arrogant prat, had to move on to live happily ever after with his precious Lilypads," Sirius huffed angrily.
His, by now very long, fringe fell into his eyes. He blew it away with a quick huff before he let his head sink to the table.
"Brothers, my arse," he mumbled into his arms. Remus placed a comforting hand on Sirius' sooty shoulder and rubbed it slightly. Sensing Sirius had taken this alot harder than himself, he left Sirius alone with his thoughts and retreated to his library. He really wanted to ask what Sirius had been doing up there, but he decided it could wait until tomorrow. After all, Sirius and James had been brothers in everything but blood.
The next morning Remus was awakened by the sun while Sirius was still sleeping, so he lay awake gazing at the scarlet canopy, while thinking about what Sirius might have been doing on the second floor the day before.
After half an hour or so of thinking, Sirius finally stirred in his sleep. That was the cue Remus needed, so he carefully slipped out of bed, and tucked his feet into his loafers.
Winter was almost here and The Grimmauld Place had gone chilly, so he grabbed his morning robe too.
Then he soundlessly padded through the room and down to the kitchen, where he prepared the usual breakfast, only this time he didn't wait for Sirius to come down.
Instead, he loaded all the toast, bacon, egg, sausages, tea and orange juice onto a tray and carried it back up to their bedroom. It was a real struggle not to spill the orange juice as the house had decided to imitate Hogwarts with vanishing steps and carpets that were ripped from under your feet when you stepped on them, but somehow Remus managed to get everything to their bedroom without spilling a single drop of juice or getting bacon thrown in his face.
He carefully placed the tray onto his bedside table, and then climbed back into bed to wake Sirius up with a good morning kiss.
Sirius blinked repeatedly to get used to the sunshine that was flooding in, and then he noticed the breakfast.
"Really? For me? Thanks Remus," he grinned, and then they both dug in on the food.
Remus could actually hear his stomach growling for food, the wolf in him liked to get fed often and much. Not that Remus was complaining though.
After they had finished, Remus was trying to sweep all the crumbs off their bed, without success. Sirius was lying on his stomach, supporting his head with his hands, and watching Remus with an occasional giggle.
Finally, Remus gave up with a sigh and decided it was time to ask Sirius what exactly he was up to the day before.
"Sirius, yesterday when I called up to you there was a loud bang, care to explain what that was? And on the second floor? We never use the middle floors!"
Sirius, who recognized Remus' lecturing voice, put on a slightly pleading expression. "Ehrm, yes, about that. I wouldn't go up there for a while if I were you," then Sirius' pleading facade cracked and he let a lopsided smirk show instead. The smirk did nothing but enchance his cracked and crooked teeth that had been destroyed in Azkaban, and Remus couldn't see what could possibly be that interesting with a loud bang. Maybe it was just one of his dungbombs.
But, firm as he was, Remus raised an eyebrow and glared at Sirius, "Sirius, what have you done?" but he decided it was a better idea to check it out for himself, so he set off towards the stairs with Sirius following him.
When he got down, everything looked completely normal in the livingroom. All the chairs and sofas were on their places and the bookshelves were intact, and the place certainly didn't smell of rotten sardines, so Remus continued on towards the dining room.
He hadn't even reached the door before he noticed the thick layer of soot on the carpet in front of it, and he was already dreading what it would look like on the inside.
Remus opened the door slowly and stopped in the doorway. In the room it looked like hell had broken loose, there were bricks lying everywhere, and everything was covered in soot.
"Sirius, what in Merlin's name has been going on here?" asked Remus, eyes wide.
"Ehhh, I remembered there's a secret ladder in the chimney leading up to the roof," Sirius flashed another one of his grins, "I used it as a kid to escape from this house and run away to the Potter's instead, and I wanted to clear it out and see if the house would let us out that way. Although, it didn't exactly go as planned."
"So you tore down the chimney?" Remus asked sarcastically with an eyebrow raised and an amused touch to his usual soft amber eyes.
"Kind of, yes," yet another one of his grins. Remus rolled his eyes, "Sure love, not even you could be that stupid," and with that he reached for the door. On his way out he waved his wand over his shoulder and the bricks rearranged themselves neatly back into a chimney, and all the soot disappeared up into it.
Before he disappeared completely through the door, he turned around, winked at Sirius and said, "Well, what are you waiting for?"