'Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Warning: None for this chapter

Chapter 51 – A Sad and Unchanged Reality

The last three days in Brighton were spent in a fair mixture of relaxation and preparation for the return to Hogwarts. Technically, the foursome would continue their summer holiday at the castle and would be free to come and go as they pleased. The consensus amongst the four friends was, however, that it would feel very odd to be back at the school with no curriculum, no established schedule and, basically, no other students.

It was the word, "basically" that resonated with Sirius and created that small kernel of apprehension that lodged in his stomach. Kate, James and Lily all noticed that as Sunday approached, the dark-haired wizard became increasingly quiet and kept more and more to himself.

As soon as the sun started to rise on Sunday morning, Sirius was up, dressed in track shorts and trainers and headed out to the bicycle path for his morning run. On this morning, Sirius did not awaken James to join him; with Hogwarts – and Remus – foremost in his mind, the young wizard wanted some time to himself. For well over ninety minutes, Sirius ran – the first forty-five without thought, the sheer physical exhilaration of movement filling his senses. When he reached his habitual turn-back point, he felt sufficiently calm and centered and, as he turned, Sirius mentally flipped the "on switch" and his thoughts began to flow once again. He'd spent so much time going over and over the Prank and its aftermath that he wasn't bringing anything new to light there. Sirius completely understood Remus' reaction and had come to the realization that Remus didn't particularly care why Sirius had betrayed him; he'd done it and, simply put, the very fact of it was all that mattered. Sirius wanted desperately to begin to earn back Remus' trust, but was at a loss when it came to planning how to accomplish the task. Sirius was not someone who liked the unknown and Remus' reaction when he first saw Sirius back at the castle definitely qualified. If he didn't know what he faced he could hardly develop any kind of plan and that made the young wizard feel very vulnerable, indeed.

Sirius continued to play the possibilities over in his mind, oblivious to everything around him, when he suddenly realized he was drawing closer to the Potters' house. The sun had fully risen and the day promised to be another hot one. Veering left, Sirius paused just long enough to remove his trainers and socks then ran straight into the ocean, diving beneath the surface briefly to rinse the sweat from his skin. The chill of the water – even in July – sent pins and needles racing over his skin and Sirius soon made for shore, wringing the sticky saltwater from his hair and running shorts. As he approached the house, trainers in hand, Sirius looked up to see Kate sitting on the deck watching his approach.

He waved and smiled and was soon climbing the steps that led to the deck.

"Good morning," Kate said quietly, handing him a towel.

"Good morning, yourself," he replied, kissing her lips softly. "Thanks for this," he added, blotting the excess moisture from his hair. Once finished, he folded it and placed it on the seat of the chair next to Kate's and made himself comfortable.

"Thirsty?" Kate handed him an ice-cold glass of orange juice, which he accepted gratefully.

"What has you out of bed so early?" Sirius wondered, placing the now empty glass back on the table.

"I heard you leave," Kate replied. "You, as in – one set of footsteps. I figured that if you didn't bring James along, you must have wanted to use the run to ponder. It's Remus, of course."

Sirius nodded. "Who else?" He looked out over the water for a while before speaking again. "So much has happened since the Prank, Katie, but Remus knows nothing of it. I have no idea how he'll react when he sees me again – no idea if he'll give me the chance to speak to him, to tell him about it all. We're ok – you and me. Jamie and I have worked it out now, too. I totally understand why Remus feels as he does, but …"

"…but at the same time, you want your friend back; you want him to trust you again," Kate finished.

Sirius nodded. "Maybe I'm expecting too much from him too soon."

Kate nodded. "That's entirely possible. There's a part of me, though, that has to believe that Remus is just as sick of this whole business as you are. He loves you, Sirius; you're his brother as surely as he's yours. You're going to have to be patient with him and let him call the shots with this."

"I know, Katie-girl; truly I do. I just wish I knew what I could do to prove myself to him; to prove that I've changed." Sirius grimaced. "If I were in his shoes, I don't know that I'd give me another chance."

"Well, then, it's probably fortunate that you're not in his shoes. You said that Remus doesn't know all that's happened with you since term ended. You're in the same boat, you know. You don't know what conclusions he might have come to since you last saw him," Kate reasoned. "Perhaps the space has allowed him to think everything through, as well. Perhaps you're going to find that Remus is ready to work toward more than a truce – perhaps he'll be ready to work toward really repairing your friendship when he returns to Hogwarts."

"Maybe," Sirius acknowledged. "But I don't quite dare hope for that. It's more likely that he's still resentful and has decided that he really can't ever trust me again." He looked over at Kate. "And that's going to be bloody awful, Kate."

"My mum always says that we shouldn't borrow trouble – that it will come and sit down next to us soon enough. I would suggest that you adopt that philosophy until you actually have the chance to speak with Remus. No good will come from "what if", you know," she said quietly.

Sirius reached over and covered her hand where it lay on the table. "I know, Kate. It's just hard not to know what I'm facing. I can't plan."

"Maybe you're not supposed to plan. Don't take this the wrong way, but 'planning' has never really been your strong suit, has it? The whole Ofelia thing, me; I think we can agree that sometimes planning is what trips you up," Kate smiled, flipping her hand to entwine their fingers.

Sirius smiled back. "Ok, but given the fact that I've been just as stupid thinking on my feet, it really doesn't seem like there's much hope for me either way, does it?"

"I think your best course of action is to let Remus set the tone and work it out from there," Kate replied, looking up as she heard the deck's door slide open.

"This looks like a very somber conversation for such an early hour," James remarked as he dropped his lanky frame into a chair next to Sirius. "Let me guess; we're talking about one Remus John Lupin, am I right?"

"It's not hard to guess, is it Prongs?" Sirius shook his head.

"Look, Black, I date Lily Evans; how often do you think I actually hear the words, "you're right"? Exactly; never. Therefore, as my best mate and surrogate brother, I think it's the least you can do to help me live the dream and just say it," James retorted. "Go on, then. Let's hear it."

"Fine. You're right, Jamie. Totally. Absolutely. Mind-bogglingly right. How's that?"

"Has the world come to an end?" Lily Evan's voice preceded her onto the deck. She appeared a split second later, dropping a kiss to the top of James' unruly head before sitting down next to Kate. "Is James Potter finally right about something?"

"You see what I have to put up with, Pads?" James inclined his head in the redhead's direction.

"You love it," Lily replied. "So, are we discussing Remus?"

Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Lils, we were discussing Remus, but it's over now," Kate answered, squeezing Sirius' fingers gently. "Shall we think about breakfast before we have to head to London to catch the Express?" Dumbledore had agreed to make the Hogwarts Express available to the foursome for their return to the school. It was an excellent security precaution for Sirius as the headmaster wasn't certain that Walburga might not have somehow heard of the date of her son's planned return to the school. While improbable, the idea wasn't impossible and Dumbledore wanted to take every precaution to protect the young man from his mother's wrath.

"Are you offering to cook?" James asked Kate, a huge grin splitting his face. She'd pulled together some very good omelets earlier in the week, stuffed with bacon and oozing melted cheese. The boys had been ready to fall at her feet in worship of her culinary skills.

"If you make the toast and Lily makes the coffee, I'll make more omelets," Kate agreed, rising. She glanced over at Sirius. "You need to shower before you do anything," she wrinkled her nose. "You pong of seaweed and saltwater."

James burst into laughter while Sirius managed an affronted look while he rose and picked up his trainers from the floor. "Very nice, Kate." As he drew level with James, he snorted. "I don't know why you're so amused," he said. "You're stuck with kitchen duty. All I have to do is shower and then show up to eat. Better end of the bargain, I say!"

"James, you should go and see if your parents would like to join us. They've done so much for us over the past couple of weeks, it's little enough to do to serve up breakfast for them," Lily called over her shoulder as she and Kate walked into the house.

"Can't imagine who she'd yell at if I wasn't around," James muttered, walking into the house with Sirius.

Sirius smiled. "Face it, Prongs, old boy – you're whipped! And, the sad thing is, I do believe you're happier for it."

James shook his head, but his smile belied the gesture. "Shut up, Padfoot."

XXXXXXXX

In the end, it was saying goodbye to the Potters on Platform 9 ¾ that was Sirius' undoing. Many emotions lay dormant within him – those tied to his forced exit from Grimmauld Place as well as those associated with the Prank and its aftermath. The Potters had been kind to him – more than kind, actually. They had not judged him for anything; Margaret, in particular, had simply shown him what he'd most longed for – a mother's love. And now, her surrogate son was struggling against a long overdue and very normal reaction to leaving a truly loving mother figure behind. True to form, Margaret recognized the symptoms and put her arm around his shoulders to lead him a distance away from the rest of the young people. With Hal's amused voice in the background, regaling the other three with one story or another, Margaret looked Sirius directly in the eye for a moment before pulling him into a hug.

"It's ok, darling," she said quietly. "Just let it go."

For the next several minutes, Sirius wept quietly against her shoulder while Margaret made soothing noises and rubbed his back. "It's alright; everything will be alright. I know you've been through so much these past few months. You never have to see your mother again, you know. You never have to go back there and she cannot get to you while Dumbledore's around. Actually, I'd like to see her try to get to you while I'm around. I do cast a rather impressive hex or two, you know." She heard Sirius give a rather hiccupping chuckle through his tears and squeezed him tighter for a second before releasing him and handing the boy a conjured handkerchief. He dutifully mopped his face and blew his nose before leaning in and kissing her cheek.

"Thank you," he said his voice a bit rough around the edges. "You've done more for me than you know; 'thank you' doesn't come close to being enough."

Margaret smiled. "It'll do just fine. Hal and I meant it when we said that you are like a son to us. We both love you very much and you are welcome to come home with James at anytime – whether we're at home in London or still in Brighton. It doesn't matter. It's your home as well. Are we clear on that?"

Sirius didn't quite trust his voice so he settled for nodding.

"And don't worry about Remus. It may take some time and it might be a rather long road to travel, but he will come around and things will be all right again," she continued, rubbing his shoulder.

"I hope you're right," Sirius replied. "I've betrayed his trust and he won't forgive that easily."

"Perhaps not; but you have also done great things for him. You accepted him and loved him for who he is as a person, not in spite of a curse he didn't deserve and cannot be held responsible for," Margaret reasoned. "Just give it some time, darling. The positive things you've done will come back to him and, in the end, I know they will outweigh what happened at school. You must be patient, Sirius."

He nodded once again. "I will."

"Padfoot, it's time to go," James' voice called over to them.

Margaret and Sirius walked toward the gleaming scarlet engine, standing majestic on the rails, smoke billowing from its stack. With a final round of hugs and handshakes, the four students dragged their trunks forward and boarded. They stopped in the first car, waving to James' parents as the train slowly chugged forward and remained, leaning out of the windows, until Margaret and Hal could no longer be seen.

"Let's move further back," James said after the train had picked up speed. The roar of the engine made conversation difficult, something Sirius might not have minded except for the fact that the noise level made his ears ring, as well. The four left their trunks in the first car for ease in disembarking when they reached Hogsmeade Station.

Finally situated in a compartment several cars back, the four friends settled in for the long ride. Kate sat next to the window on one of the seats and smiled when Sirius stretched out on the same seat, his head resting comfortably in her lap.

"Do you mind?" he asked, smiling up at her. His eyes were still a bit puffy from his conversation with Margaret Potter and Kate stroked his cheek gently.

"Never."

Sirius' smile broadened and he caught her hand and placed a soft kiss in the palm before lacing their fingers together and resting their entwined hands on his stomach. "I might doze off for awhile."

"I'll poke you if you snore," she replied, laughing when he crossed his eyes and put his tongue out at her.

Whether it was the power of suggestion or the fact that he had not slept very well the previous night, Sirius was asleep almost instantly – and remained asleep until roughly thirty minutes before the train pulled into Hogsmeade.

"Where are we?" Sirius asked groggily, struggling to sit up. Once he'd managed it, he scrubbed his hands over his face and looked over at the window. "It's dark…"

"You've been out almost since we left London," James replied. "We're about thirty minutes out now."

Sirius leaned back against the seat and closed his eyes again. He wasn't sleepy any longer, but he wasn't quite awake, either. Eventually, he stood. "I'm going to the loo."

"He was out like a light," Kate observed after Sirius had left the compartment.

"He hasn't been sleeping very well since that little scene with Malfoy the other night," James said quietly.

"Do you think he's worried about his mother trying to reach him?" Lily asked.

James shook his head. "I don't think Walburga Black has the power to threaten him anymore. I think he's worried about Regulus – and what will happen with him now that Sirius isn't around. Wednesday night's event is certain to be reported back in London and Sirius is bound to be concerned about how Regulus will interpret whatever it is that he hears."

"And, of course, Remus is on his mind," Kate said, glancing over at the compartment door. "He's so sure that things will not go well when they finally do meet."

"I haven't said anything to Sirius, but he's right to worry," James said. "Remus is a stubborn wizard and he wasn't budging an inch before term ended."

"Do you really think he won't forgive Sirius for what happened?" Kate asked.

"He doesn't seem inclined to do so. James is right, Kate. You saw him; he was implacable," Lily said.

"But they've been so close," Kate protested. "And Remus is a fair person. He wouldn't just walk away from someone who's meant as much to him as Sirius has."

"You have to understand him, Kate," James said earnestly. "Remus' condition has ruled his life since he was a small boy. Friends they've known since their own school days have dropped Mr. and Mrs. Lupin because of what Remus is. He's known mistrust and cruelty for a very long time, but it's mostly come from strangers or short-time acquaintances. Remus doesn't trust easily at all. He took a chance on us; he trusted us. And Sirius betrayed all of that."

Kate nodded miserably, but was spared responding when footsteps were heard outside the door. The threesome quickly resumed their more relaxed positions; when Sirius re-entered the compartment, they were largely as they were when he'd left.

"Feeling better, Pads?" James asked, looking up from his copy of Quidditch Monthly.

"'m awake at any rate," Sirius said, dropping down into the seat next to Kate.

"You won't sleep a wink tonight," Lily predicted, flipping through Witch Weekly.

"Speaking of that, are you going to move back into the dormitory, Pads?" James asked.

Sirius shook his head. "I hadn't thought," he replied. "I'm used to the new place…"

"Room of Requirement, wasn't it?" James asked shrewdly.

A small hesitation then Sirius nodded. "Yeah. I wonder if Dumbledore would let me stay there for the rest of the holiday."

"I've an idea," James leaned toward his friend. "Why don't you just move back into the dorm for now? Remus won't be back for a few days so there's no reason why you have to stay there by yourself. If you're not comfortable once he arrives, you can ask Dumbledore for another room."

Sirius thought about it for a bit. "That's not a bad idea. I wouldn't have to move into the Room of Requirement, after all. I could just ask him for another room in our wing. I mean, he knows what's going on, so he wouldn't be all that surprised, would he?"

"I don't think anything surprises Dumbledore," Lily put in.

"We're pulling into the station," Kate observed, peering out the window and down the track where the old-fashioned lights of Hogsmeade Station were coming into view.

"And there's Hagrid! I didn't realize they'd be sending him to fetch us."

"He'd do some damage to your Mum if she was lurking about," James snickered and Sirius had to smile at the mental image his comment provoked.

The foursome made their way to the first compartment and collected their belongings. Banging down the steps first, Lily was greeted by the imposing figure of the Hogwarts groundskeeper, who reached for her trunk and hoisted it into the first of two carriages as if it weighed nothing at all. After greeting the other three students and disposing of their trunks in a similar manner, Hagrid led them to the second carriage.

"In with yeh," he said with a huge smile, gesturing toward the benches on either side of the carriage. "C'mon, now; step lively. They're all waitin' fer yeh in the Great Hall fer dinner!"

"All?" Sirius asked as the carriages lurched forward on the path.

"Well, the Headmaster and Professor McGonagall, o'course. An' me," Hagrid smiled broadly, the white of his teeth just visible amid the tangle of his beard. "Not much of a crowd yet; the rest of the professors are on holiday, too, yeh know. It'll be just you four for the next few days – 'til yer friend Remus gets 'ere."

Kate felt Sirius tense next to her and she slid closer to him in response. "I'm sure we'll find plenty to keep ourselves busy," she smiled at Hagrid.

"Oh, sure and yeh will," he replied. "An' yer always welcome ter my place fer tea and rock cakes, yeh know."

The four students nodded weakly, remembering previous "tea and rock cake" events at Hagrid's hut. Each of them had memories of smuggling the inedible cakes out in the deep pockets of their robes – taking a detour to the lake for disposal purposes before heading back to the castle.

"An' we're 'ere," Hagrid announced as the carriages came to a stop in front of the front entrance of the school. "Don' worry about yer things; I'll get the house elves ter bring 'em up ter yer rooms. Go on with yeh and have yer dinner."

The four friends alighted from the carriages and with a final wave to Hagrid, hurried inside and made their way to the Great Hall. Unlike during term, there was no Head Table nor were the traditional House tables present. Instead, there was a large, oval table near the front of the cavernous room, around which sat Dumbledore and McGonagall. Five empty chairs awaited and the group hurried forward to claim theirs.

"Good evening, good evening," Dumbledore greeted the students. "Delighted to see you all again. I trust you are all quite well?" his gaze roamed over Sirius and James – both of whom were convinced that their Headmaster knew every detail of their holiday thus far – including the incident with Malfoy and Crabbe.

"Yes, thank you, Professor," Sirius replied. "How are you both?"

"Quite well, Mr. Black, thank you," Professor McGonagall replied, smiling at the group. "I daresay our holidays will become a bit more … interesting with you all here."

"Ah, here's Hagrid," Dumbledore's gaze had shifted as he watched the half-giant make his way toward them. "Thank you for collecting our four friends here, Hagrid. Now that you're here, we can sit back and enjoy a lovely dinner!" With that, the Headmaster clapped his hands twice and the platters on the table before them filled.

The seven of them ate their meals in silence but when pudding and tea appeared, Dumbledore took up the conversation again.

"I had an owl from Remus' mother," he said, adding several lumps of sugar to his teacup. "Remus will arrive on Thursday morning. He will Floo to Hogsmeade from London and then make the trip up to the school. I thought perhaps you all would like to wander down to the village and meet him."

"Sure," James said, darting a glance toward Sirius as he answered. "That would be fine."

Dumbledore watched the group carefully for a moment before speaking again. "In my long lifetime, I have found that time can frequently soften our perceptions of events as they originally unfolded. It can also give us the opportunity to consider a bigger picture, if you will. It's a good thought to hang onto when things feel a bit uncertain."

"Sirius, I trust you asked Hagrid to bring your trunk to the Gryffindor 6th year dormitory?" McGonagall asked.

Sirius met her eye and nodded. "Yes. I may need to speak with the Headmaster about that after … well, later on. I thought I'd wait to see how things worked out."

McGonagall's brows drew together and she opened her mouth to speak. Dumbledore, however, jumped into the void ahead of her. "Sounds like a very sensible plan to me, my boy. Now, I'm sure you young people have better things to do than to sit around the dinner table with a bunch of old folks – as young at heart as we may be!"

Ignoring McGonagall's indignant snort, followed by a barely audible, "Albus, really!", the four friends rose from the table and walked quickly to the doors.

"Where to now?" James asked.

Kate shivered. Even in July, the corridors and rooms of the castle retained their chill. "Where else?" she asked her friends as they made their way to the staircase. "The Gryffindor common room and that lovely, lovely fireplace!"

XXXXXXXX

Late that night, after they had all retired, Sirius sat in the window seat in the dorm room, looking out over the grounds. The Whomping Willow was in clear view and he couldn't help but remember that night – and the events that had so changed his life.

"What are you doing over there, Pads?" James' sleep-roughened voice called over to him. "It's after 3, you git!"

"Go back to sleep, Jamie," Sirius replied. "I'm just thinking."

"There's no future in deep thought at this time of night," James returned, fumbling on his nightstand for his glasses and sliding them on. "Can't you sleep? Really?"

Sirius shook his head, peering toward the direction of his friend's voice. "Nope. Guess Lils was right. Did all my sleeping on the train."

James sat up. "I'm sure she'd be thrilled to hear you give her credit, but I think there's probably more to it than that, yeah?"

Sirius sighed, but otherwise remained silent.

"Look, Sirius; there's absolutely no point to worrying about Remus at the moment. We've been all over this. Thursday will be here soon enough, you know."

"James, I know all of that. I just can't turn my mind off. I try – I really do; I go along just fine for awhile and then someone brings up Remus' name and I'm back to turning the whole thing over in my head again. Believe me; I'd like to make it stop."

"Do you want to play Wizard's Chess?" James asked, starting to throw the bedcovers back.

"No, Jamie; really, I'm fine. Go back to sleep," Sirius said, rising. I'm going to go downstairs and sit by the fire for a while. That usually relaxes me."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'll see you later." Sirius pulled a t-shirt over his head, tugging it down over the waistband of his sweatpants then reached down into his trunk to retrieve something before slipping out of the room.

James looked at the closed door for another minute before setting his glasses back on the nightstand and replacing the covers. Burrowing down into his pillow, he was asleep moments later.

When James next opened his eyes, the sun was streaming into the window where Sirius had sat the night before. He glanced over toward the other boy's bed and saw that it was empty. James rose with a sigh, pulled on his robe and headed downstairs. As expected, he found Sirius, sound asleep on the sofa, a book of some sort face down on his chest. Curious, James quietly approached the sleeping wizard and gingerly slid the book from Sirius' slack fingers. He turned it over and felt his throat constrict when he saw what the "book" contained.

Pasted into the page of the Muggle photograph album was a magical photograph – slightly worse for wear – that showed the Marauders, arms looped around each other's shoulders. James remembered that it had been taken shortly before the Prank, back when their friendships were whole. Sirius stood between James and Remus, with Peter on Remus' other side. Sirius and Remus were elbowing each other and laughing, every now and then pausing to wave and make faces at the camera. It was obvious that Sirius handled this photo often, judging by its condition. He had obviously pasted it into the book to try to avoid any further creases or folds. James turned the page carefully and found another photo; one Kate had taken of the four of them lounging about the common room. Equally creased, this, too, had been carefully smoothed and pasted in place. Carefully, James returned the album to its place on Sirius' chest. The sleeping boy never moved.

James stood and watched his best friend for a few moments, feeling as heartsick as he ever had since the Prank had occurred. It was clear to him that Sirius sincerely regretted his actions and had, indeed, come to the realization of what those actions had cost him. For the first time, James realized that while he could clearly see both sides of this difficult issue, he now sided with Sirius – not in thinking that he'd been right in what he did, far from it. James felt his friend had suffered long enough and deserved the chance to put things right with Remus.

As he walked back up the stairs to the dormitory to shower, James resolved to do whatever he could to make sure Sirius got that chance.

XXXXXXXX

Long afternoons by the lake alternating with walks along the grounds caused the days to slip by virtually unnoticed. Thursday morning dawned almost before the group knew it.

Sirius managed no more than a few bites of a piece of toast and half a cup of coffee at breakfast, his nerves having long got the better of him. Later, as they walked down the path toward school gates, Sirius found himself becoming more nervous with each step. Kate and Lily were a short distance ahead, chatting as they walked while James fell into step beside his friend.

"It's ok, Pads," James said quietly. "You're not facing this alone any longer. We're with you, now."

Sirius nodded. "Thanks, Jamie. I know that. But, in the end, this one belongs to me. I made the problem and I'm the only one who can fix it."

"Still," James said, kicking a stone along the path and watching it bounce into a tall tuft of grass. He looked over at Sirius who was watching the path beneath his feet as they walked. "Still," he said again.

Sirius smiled then. "Right. Come on. The last thing I want to do is make him wait. Not a good way to start making amends, that."

The group increased their pace and soon found themselves in front of The Three Broomsticks with five minutes to spare before Remus was scheduled to arrive via Floo. The entered the pub and took a few minutes to adjust their eyes to the decidedly dim surroundings. As they were making their way toward a booth near the huge fireplace, a whooshing sound was heard and the emerald green flames of the Floo network illuminated the room. There was the scrape of a boot against the flagstone floor and the heavy thump of a trunk. Sirius instinctively stepped back, standing slightly behind and to the right of James. Where's that Gryffindor courage now? The small voice that had annoyed Sirius no end in the past had apparently decided to return.

"Sorry to hear about your aunt," Lily stepped toward the young werewolf and hugged him tightly.

Remus smiled. "She's my mum's aunt, actually; I don't know her very well at all. But, thanks all the same."

"Hi, Remus," Kate greeted him, embracing him as Lily had done and kissing his cheek. "Good summer otherwise?"

He nodded, peering over her shoulder as James came up to say hello. "If it's all the same to you, mate, I'll just shake your hand and skip the kissing part."

Remus chuckled lightly. "I appreciate that, James."

Once James stepped back to join the girls, Sirius was more than visible to the new arrival – and it was apparent that his presence had not been anticipated. Remus' eyebrows rose appreciably and he glanced briefly at the other three before looking back in Sirius' direction.

Ah, there's that courage. Sirius stepped forward and hesitantly began to extend his hand toward Remus. "Good to see you, Remus," he said quietly.

Remus looked at his hand, then at Sirius' face. He nodded and murmured, "Sirius," but made no move to clasp the hand that was extended toward him. Instead, he turned to James. "Ready?"

Sirius withdrew his hand and stuffed it in his jeans pocket. Remus pointed his wand at his trunk, shrinking it down to the size of a matchbox before picking it up and placing it securely in his robes' pocket.

The group moved toward the door, Kate hooking her arm through Sirius' and, with him, falling in behind the others.

Sirius matched Kate's pace and kept his eyes firmly fixed on the dusty path. It was going to be a long six weeks.