This one kinda jumps around. It's a year later, right after the Triwizard Tournament.

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Lupin was ever more surprised when he heard a soft knock at the door one late Thursday evening. He had anxiously been waiting for any news about the Triwizard Tournament, any news that said Harry was okay. He had pretty much been left in the dark, his only source of information was from the Daily Prophet and he hardly believed a word Rita Skeeter was saying about Harry.

Just as he was about to open the door, an owl fluttered through his open window and dropped a letter at his feet. Lupin opened it quickly, daring to hope for an update.

"It has happened. Stand by for news. Snuffles is coming to you, I am sending him via portkey. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR HOUSE UNTIL YOU GET NOTICE FROM ME.

Signed,

Albus"

Lupin looked up from the letter as the doorbell rang again. Snuffles is coming to you. Is that who he thought? Could it be? He hadn't seen Sirius since that night in the shrieking shack, after he had finally learned the truth about his friend. He quickly walked the remaining steps to his door and cracked it, leaving the security chain locked.

A thin man with dark shoulder length hair and a billowing black travelers coat stared at him with sunken eyes.

"Remus. Dumbledore sent me here." he said in a horse whisper. Lupin nodded silently, closed the door and unlocked the chain, then opened it wider.

"Quickly, before anyone sees you." he said, ushering Sirius in quickly.

Sirius stepped into his house, and Lupin winced when he saw how thin he was. He could practically see his ribs protruding from beneath his cloak.

"What's happened? Is everything okay? Harry?" Lupin asked, closing the door again and re-locking the chain.

Sirius nodded his head, "Harry is okay—-he's alive at least." he answered in a voice so horse it sounded like a whisper. It gave the impression that he hadn't used it in a very long time.

"And what else? Anything? The Tournament?"

"He's back, Remus. Harry saw him. Voldemort has come back." Sirius replied, eyes dark in the shadow.
Lupin nodded.

"We are to wait here until further instruction. That's why my letter said." Lupin said, holding up the piece of parchment.

Sirius just nodded.

"Are you hungry? Where have you been this past year? How's Buckbeak? Did Dumbledore say anything else?" Lupin asked quickly, and then winced when Sirius flinched a little. Too many questions, let him get settled first. Lupin thought.

"Come on, I can show you around." Lupin said swiftly, point to his small flat. Sirius nodded again. And Lupin realized that this would be the first time they would be truly alone together in more than 15 years. He was slightly shy of this new Sirius, whose once handsome features had turned ashy and dark in Azkaban.

They walked silently through the flat to Lupin's spare room.

"The futon folds out into a bed. Sorry it's such a mess, I use this room for storage." Lupin said, quickly removing a box of parchment from the couch.

Sirius nodded silently, eyes looking around the room with interest. He walked over and touched the bed lightly with the tips of his fingers. Then he turned and smiled at Lupin, the dark veil drawn back for just a moment.

"This is wonderful. Thank you so much." he said, truly grateful.

"You're welcome. I can let you get settled, and then… are you hungry?" Lupin asked

Sirius shook his head, "I'm alright. I ate at Hogwarts."

"Alright. I'll be over in the living room if you need anything."

Sirius nodded, and the blank stare returned again. He silently sat down on the couch, lost in his thoughts.

~*~

As the weeks went by, Lupin began to notice a few things about his friend, and realized just how much Azkaban had changed him. Sirius would often get lost in his thoughts—sometimes in the middle of a sentence—and Lupin would have to nudge him to continue. And even though he had kept some of his powers while in prison, he could barely do any magic. They couldn't risk going to Diagon Alley to get him a wand, so they shared Lupin's. Sirius would often get confused about the year and the day (for some reason it was always Saturday), but the worst part was about half the time he still thought James was alive. He would go on for hours about what he would do when he saw him next, or tell Lupin about how he met James in the Shrieking Shack and that they together revealed that Peter was still alive (half of that was true, but it had been Harry—not James). Lupin tried to keep his patience, but sometimes listening to Sirius was like listening to a broken record that played the same 30 second piece over and over again.

Lupin kept a detailed report about everything that happened, letting Dumbledore if there were any signs of improvement at all. Lupin hoped he would get better soon though, because he liked having his best friend back. And the moments when Sirius was lucid were really great. They would reminisce about Hogwarts, talk about crushes they used to have, the professors they hated the most, and about their wildest adventures as marauders. Sirius was still brilliant— when he was in the right state of mind— and was still very good at wizard chess.

"Remember that time we snicked into the kitchens, and James tried to steal Professor Slughorn's birthday cake?" Sirius asked one morning, while they were drinking coffee.

Lupin smiled, "Oh yes. He tried to hide it under his cloak, but he was so preoccupied with keeping it hidden that he forgot to jump the trick step on the 7th floor." Lupin finished, chuckling at the memory.

"Wormy and I tried for hours….." Sirius suddenly trailed off, his body rigid, eyes turning vacant, like the curtains had closed.

"Sirius?" Lupin asked

"Sirius?" he asked again, louder. Sirius jumped a little, spilling his coffee into his lap.

"Oh. Sorry Moony. Anyway…. I twisted my broomstick and I hit that bludger right into Mcdonable's face. It barely missed him but gave James the time he needed to nick the snitch right from under his nose."

Lupin sighed, "Sorry, what? You were telling me about the time James got stuck—-."

"In the trick step." Sirius finished, he put his cup down and gave a sigh of frustration.

"I did it again, didn't I?"

Lupin just nodded.

"I'm sorry, Moony. I don't know why, or how…sometimes I just get so….lost. I'm sorry." he said, then he smiled, "Hey, at least it's Saturday, right? James and Lily are coming over for dinner."

Lupin tried not to look or sound annoyed. He knew Sirius was still recovering from Azkaban, he knew he wasn't in the right state of mind, but did he have to say that every 20 minutes? He shook his head slowly.

"No. No Sirius, today is Thursday. They are not coming over for dinner." he said slowly, look up at his friend.

Sirius stared at him for a full moment, and then his face crumpled, "Where did it all go wrong? It's all my fault." he whispered, his voice thin and brittle.

Lupin put down his coffee cup and leaned closed to Sirius, taking both of his hands in his.

"It is not your fault, Sirius. None of us knew what Wormtail was going to do. Not even Dumbledore. Please, Sirius. Don't blame yourself. It's going to be okay." he comforted

Sirius looked up at him, and gave him a thin smile. "Thank you, for always be here. I'm sorry I'm like this. I just….I get confused sometimes."

Lupin smiled, "Thirteen years of having your happiness sucked from you can do that. I completely understand."

Sirius nodded, but didn't say anything.

Lupin sighed sadly and vaguely wondered when-and if-things would get better.

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There's more on the way. Keep the reviews coming! Thanks!