To say that Remus felt shocked by the new revelation – that Regulus had killed Voldemort in their world – was one hell of an understatement. In their world, Regulus had been nothing. He'd been young and a Death Eater and then dead. That was the entire extent of Regulus's involvement in their world. Was it that the man had died too young? Or what had happened that changed this world's Regulus so much from theirs?
Remus remembered very few things about the younger Black; even now, after once again seeing the man's face, he couldn't imagine the face of the boy from their world too well. Perhaps Sirius's influence affected that, he wondered, for he could remember Sirius complaining about the other boy – the Golden Boy, as Sirius's loathing voice heralded him. Remus figured he'd have much to learn about the younger Black.
Always the logical one, he tallied up quickly what he did know. He, Remus, had been killed in this dimension recently, by Sirius Black, who had replaced Voldemort as the dimension's most feared dark wizard. Regulus defeated Voldemort; James Potter died; Harry was never even thought of. Merlin, Remus felt unsure about this world. Everything seemed different. Especially his own treatment, he thought with a loud sigh. Hogwarts imprisoned him currently, which he never expected from his old home. Of course, these stone walls were new to him, he'd never walked these halls before. They looked so alike, and yet so absolutely fundamentally different that Remus found his mind reeling as he tried to comprehend.
Sitting there, wondering, Remus worried about the others. He wondered what happened to Harry – the most vulnerable in this situation. Surrounded by war veterans and familiar, unknown faces, Harry must be utterly unsure of his position.
As Remus chewed on his lip, silent and trapped in his thoughts, the door opened again. A man whom Remus saw before, in Dumbledore's office, entered the room. The man's entrance and tall figure made Remus stand, worried about the possibility of a threat.
Remus looked at the figure carefully, wishing to connect the young – for this man must be younger than him – face with a boy he once knew, a classmate, perhaps. The man's face had a sharpness to it, which while not unpleasant, caused it to lack a certain friendliness and hinted at the gauntness of his body. Other than that, however, he seemed overwhelmingly normal, with dark, short hair and brown eyes.
"Who are you?" Remus asked him, not wishing to take his eyes off of the stranger.
"Sit, Remus," the man said, meeting his eyes for a moment before moving to assume a stoic expression that seemed to look past Remus altogether.
"I don't recognize you from my world," Remus pushed, still not sitting.
"Doesn't surprise me," the man said. "If Regulus died a Death Eater than surely I did as well." He stepped towards Remus, and held out a hand to him, which Remus shook while shock flashed through his body.
"Leon Wilkes," the man said curtly. "I was in Regulus's year at Hogwarts." As Wilkes said the name, Remus remembered it. Wilkes's assumption rang true: the Death Eater had died before the first war even ended.
"Remus Lupin," Remus said. "Although I guess you know that already."
"Less than you'd think," Wilkes said. "We tended to argue. Reg always blamed it on the fact that I tend to act a little like Snape used to." Remus made a small sound in the back of his throat, a little disappointed that even in this other dimension, he and Snape never could put their differences behind them. Remus sat into the chair he'd risen from, and Wilkes sat across from him.
"Why are you talking to me?" Remus asked him, unwilling to play in any games, whether helpful for him or not.
"I'm the unattached one, so to say," Wilkes said with a sharp chuckle. "No emotional baggage when I look at your face." Remus nodded. So they had sent the man to figure him out.
"What about the others?" Remus asked him. "My friends? And Harry – please tell me Harry's okay?"
"Reg's with Black," Wilkes said, as if that alone summed up Sirius's condition. Remus felt a sickness rise in his throat as he realized it very well could. "And the rest seem pretty clueless. Your Lily though: I must say that no matter from where, that girl has some fire to her." Wilkes dark amusement made Remus a little uncomfortable. His casual tone as he talked not only about Remus's friends but his own made Remus wonder exactly why he was close enough to them to be trusted.
"You all do the same thing, though," he said, narrowing his eyes and tilting his head slightly towards Remus. "You ask about Harry."
Remus met the other man's eyes, not really trying to hide the desperation that demanded whether Harry was okay or not.
"He's okay," Wilkes said. "You don't have to worry. But that does make me wonder. After all, you also told Lily your son is an orphan, and your Black told Reg that he was dead." Remus stiffened, wondering how he was supposed to explain the fact that any of them, with the exception of Harry – were breathing. It wasn't plausible, and he knew that. Merlin, there goes any chance of Wilkes believing him, Remus despaired. At the same time, Remus realized that Wilkes observed much of what occurred around him, and that he knew more than he let on about them already.
It made sense for them to send this man to talk with Remus. Wilkes knew that Remus wouldn't answer, after all. His entire body said so, as he seemed nearly bored with Remus, as if he wasn't analyzing a potential enemy.
Okay, so maybe Remus realized why his counterpart had often butted heads with this man, as he shifted a little uncomfortably.
"Your eyes say your thoughts more than our Remus's did, you know," Wilkes said, meeting Remus's eyes with a cold and calculating glare. His mouth twisted into a funny smirk. "You must have had it easier with your Voldemort."
Anger stirred in Remus as this stranger inferred about his life. He'd lost his wife to Voldemort, God damnit, not to mention his own as well. Remus swallowed his anger though and just bristled. Instead of protesting Wilkes's words, he made one slightly childish comment at Wilkes.
"And yet in that world you didn't survive to see 20." Wilkes smiled an infuriating, understanding grin. Remus couldn't help but grow angry that this man from another dimension seemed to know more about his alternate life than Remus himself did.
"Probably because of Reg. He tends to be bad for Death Eater business – whether he plans to be or not." Remus noticed with a little surprise that the man smiled fondly as he spoke of the other man. In fact, Wilkes seemed very loyal to Regulus. Remus filed that on his list to remember for later. Despite not knowing Wilkes personally, he recognized the deceptive and secretive act as one that had travelled around Severus. Anyone that Wilkes found deserving of his loyalty had to be rather great. Remus knew that already about Regulus, however. After all, the man killed Voldemort.
"It's time for a little reintroduction," Wilkes said. "You were the last for me to visit." He stood, and Remus followed suit, walking towards the door and waiting for Wilkes to open the lock on it.
"I must say that I prefer you to your Potter," Wilkes said. "I found ours rather insufferable when he lived, and yours seemed to have stopped maturing along the way as well."
Remus recognized that Wilkes wasn't just making small talk. The thing worrying him was that he didn't know what Wilkes meant to learn by pointing that out to Remus. Was he commenting on the fact that while Remus looked younger now than he had previously in life, as well as much less shabby, James and Lily looked even younger, for they had remained the same age at which they'd died.
"If you saw that, then you must not have talked with him long or learned too much about him." Remus couldn't help the gentle reminder to Wilkes that he knew exactly what Wilkes was trying with him. To his annoyance, the other man chuckled at his words.
"Just as quick here, I see," Wilkes smirked. "I wouldn't have expected less from you." Remus couldn't help but wonder why this man believed them at all. Surely, with his loyalty to Regulus, Wilkes would trust Regulus's continued disbelief over anything he learned from the travelers. Of course, that was assuming Wilkes wasn't deceiving them to learn more, which Remus hoped for, almost, as then his own unguarded nature (although James hadn't been quite so open, apparently) would help them.
"Why do you believe us?" Remus asked, openly questioning the past-Slytherin. Wilkes only chuckled again and shook his head.
"I don't," he said simply. "I think that you were sent here as some sick joke from Black. But someone has to balance Reg's opinion, or else he'll never look at any other options but his own. And Reg rather hates all of you, if you haven't noticed."
Remus understood that somewhat. How often in Hogwarts had he defended Slytherins that he personally disliked just to try and convince the other Marauders that their own hate wasn't justified? Remus just never used that strategy against a grown man.
"And here I thought Regulus wasn't a child and could see such things for himself," Remus added, scoffing. Wilkes whipped around, and at once pushed Remus into the wall, drawing his wand on the other man. The man's eyes were blazing with anger, but even as Remus stood, frozen, the anger faded away.
"You don't know him," Wilkes said. "So don't pretend to even guess what he's like." The man looked critically into Remus's eyes once again. Then seeming to have found whatever he had searched for in Remus, he released the man and allowed him to step away from the wall. Without another word, or even a look, Wilkes continued to lead him down the halls, until they reached Dumbledore's old office, and Remus saw his ragtag group of friends sitting surrounded by the others. Regulus and Sirius were nowhere to be seen.
"Remus," James exclaimed, as soon as the younger man noticed him. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, James," Remus said, looking around the room. With the exception of Sirius, those with which he had appeared all sat in the room, as well as the other Lily, Minerva, a few of the Weasleys, and several others that Remus didn't recognize. Wilkes walked in with ease and took a seat next to Lily. Carefully, he reached out to touch her shoulder, and Remus noticed that she softened at the contact, as if a stress lifted from her. Lily's eyes met his for a moment before darting away and staring at the floor.
"So what does this mean?" James demanded, looking at all of the faces. "Do you believe us or what?" Remus wished that James used some more tact, but he couldn't blame the man, considering this was the first time in a long time where he was worried about protecting anyone. Not to mention, that one of the people he wished to protect was Harry. And speaking of Harry, the boy seemed small and withdrawn in his seat. Remus wondered if the shock was getting to him; after all, to Harry, he not only was in this new world but also surrounded by the dead. Wilkes remained in his seat, but the way that everyone's eyes reached for his gaze gave him entire control of the room.
"Are we not waiting for Regulus?" Wilkes said, narrowing his eyes at the others. There seemed to be a lot said in just their gazes, as a few shifted with unease at Wilkes's words. "He is, after all, the leader of the Order."
"Leon!" one of the unknown men protested. "You shouldn't speak of such things in front of them."
"And what's the worst that could happen from it? Even if they are spies, telling them that would what? Let Sirius know that Reg leads our side? Because he certainly doesn't already know that." Wilkes's voice practically dripped sarcasm as he bristled. Once again, Remus was struck by the man's loyalty to Regulus. After all, even his colleagues – friends, perhaps – weren't sure whether they wished to deal with Regulus or not.
At first, Remus had wished to figure the younger Black out, as in this world he seemed more mysterious, and if there was anything Remus hated, it was an unsolved puzzle. But now, watching Regulus's own side attempt to not include him in important matters, Remus wasn't sure if he wanted to know this man.
With a small click, the door unlocked and swung open. Once again, Remus looked into the eyes of Regulus Black. Before, he'd seen anger and mistrust and strength. Now, those emotions were tempered with madness, and above all a tiredness that Remus recognized in many of the war veterans he'd met after the war. Those who looked like that during the war never seemed to make it much longer, however. It was the look of defeat, of giving up. Remus knew that feeling; he faced it every month.
Without a word, and without Sirius, Regulus found a seat next to Wilkes, who looked about as if ready to protect Regulus from an attacker, and slumped into it.
Remus wondered if it had been Sirius that had caused Regulus's violent shift in mood. Or perhaps, he thought, he just had seen what he had expected in the hero and only now, he looked at Regulus's true form, without the flattery.
The sight wasn't pretty.
Another! And I didn't fail the test I was procrastinating studying for! Yay!