"If there must be war, let it be in my time, that my child may know peace."

Thomas Paine

Hermione and Remus were browsing the shelves of a small Muggle shop, looking for a gift. Two gifts to be exact. Alice had given birth last night at thirty-seven past three in the morning and Lily was in the delivery room.

Hermione was a bit confused, because she didn't know how she was going to manage with the two babies. They were Harry and Neville, but not the ones she had known, not her best friends. Even if the title best friend didn't describe her relationship with Harry well enough, she couldn't think of any other word for it, but that's what he was. And Neville, even though she had always gotten on well with him, had only become one of her best friends after Harry's death. Probably the war. But the young man had become her pillar, an ever-present confidant. Neville, Ron and herself ran the Resistance tightly between them, but it hadn't been enough.

So yes, Hermione didn't know how she was going to get along with Harry and Neville. Because Frank, Alice, James and Lily were all active members of the Order and she was more than likely to see them often. She didn't have that problem with Ron, she had never met the Weasleys at that time.

Still, she was actively looking for a present for each of her friends' doubles. That's what it had to be. Doubles only doubles. But deep down, Hermione knew it would never be that simple. Because as soon as the names Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter were mentioned, the simplicity disappeared.

It was Remus who found the perfect gift for Harry. In front of him was a stuffed deer, with a beautiful coat, and next to it was a black dog, which looked vaguely like Padfoot.

"That's great Rem', you've found the perfect present. Now we have to find a wolf."

"A wolf?"

"For your double. Don't look so surprised, it's obvious, we'll take all three."

Remus looked so surprised that Hermione wondered how Harry's birth had gone. Was Remus just James and Lily's friend, and never saw Harry?

Hermione found it hard to believe given the current situation, the marauders were so close that it seemed inconceivable. But this was different. Because as far as Rem' was concerned, there was a traitor in the Order, and obviously he was under suspicion simply because of his lycanthropy.

Hermione couldn't imagine the horror Remus had gone through when he found out that his friends thought he was guilty. He had probably kept quiet, as he always did, but Hermione didn't know that pain. If Harry or Ron had suspected her of betrayal, she didn't know how she would have reacted.

She knew her friend well enough to know that he had suffered terribly for it and even today he still held a certain amount of resentment over it. Hermione had always been taught to be tolerant and open-minded, so when she found out Remus was a werewolf she hadn't cared much, but later she had learned how werewolves, or simply magical creatures, were regarded in the wizarding world. She had hated injustice and inequality from a young age, she was a born vigilante, that was why she had created the S.P.E.W., she wanted to stop slavery, no matter if it was not humans who were involved. Hermione liked to think that Ron and Harry would have been perfectly fine with her own lycanthropy, that it wouldn't have changed their friendship, but in the end she didn't know. Just because they were around Remus didn't mean they would have accepted their best friend becoming a bloodthirsty beast. Because even if she wasn't, that was the image she projected, from the moment she told her nature, not that she revealed it to many people, but there it was.

She was brought out of her reflections by the sight of a stuffed wolf which she found adorable and showed it to Remus.

"Hermione, I can assure you that I don't look like this during the full moon. And that's still me, so I can tell you that Moony doesn't look like that, whether I'm twenty or forty. You've seen werewolves at night, you're one too, and we don't look like that."

It was a plush grey, silky furred, sparkling eyes and soft look, the complete opposite of him.

"This is a muggle shop, Rem! They don't have werewolf plush, and I'm not even sure wizards do when you see how we're treated."

Hermione didn't wait for him to argue any further and went off to get Neville some stuffed animals, she might as well stick to the same theme. She found four stuffed animals, an eagle, a lion, a snake and a badger, and thought that would do the trick. She might as well not influence a baby by choosing only one stuffed animal and predestining it to one house. Perhaps she would do the same for Harry. Just thinking of James' face if his son had a snake stuffed animal, Hermione couldn't help but smirk.

Eventually, they transited down a small alleyway and returned to St. Mungo's. They had asked Alice and Frank whether or not they wanted visitors. Hermione knew that new parents often liked to have some time alone with their child without everyone barging into the room, but the couple had said that they didn't mind, they were looking forward to showing them their beautiful child, they said. They asked the receptionist for the room number and were given it curtly, the person was just as friendly as the one Hermione had met when she came to visit Arthur Weasley in fifth year.

They knocked on the door and then shyly entered. Hermione had never been to the maternity ward to see a newborn, so she didn't know how to act around Alice and Frank or Neville. She just smiled, a real genuine smile for once. Because she was happy about the birth of one of her best friends. It was very paradoxical, but that was how it was. She congratulated the two young parents, worried about Alice's condition and then finally turned her gaze to Neville.

And none of the other three adults could have expected this. Hermione, the moment her gaze fell on Neville, fell to her knees. A golden thread flew out of her chest, her heart to be precise, and into Neville's body, exactly where his heart was too. The link floated between them, but it didn't move. Hermione finally came to her senses and ran away, in tears.

The Longbottoms had gone pale and were looking at Hermione with a horrified expression as if she had just hit their son. They didn't know what had just happened, but they weren't reassured. How could they be reassured by such a display of magic? The room was filled with a magical aura. They seemed to be asking for explanations, without being able to formulate them verbally. Remus knew what had just happened, he thought it was a legend, but with Hermione, legends often became reality. He hesitated for half a second to follow Hermione to explain everything, but at the look on Alice and Frank's faces, he chose to reassure them first. He knew that if something had happened when his son was born and he didn't know what it was, he would have panicked, no he shouldn't be thinking about Teddy right now, it was a very bad idea. He had two young parents to reassure, but he knew it wasn't going to be easy.

"First of all, I don't know all the consequences of what just happened. I've never seen it before, but I've heard about it, and I know it's not dangerous."

"What the hell was that?" asked Frank, taking Neville in his arms.

He was still sleeping, as if nothing had changed for him. His parents, on the other hand, were looking for more explanation than Remus had given them.

"It's the Link."

"The Link?"

"I thought it was a legend. Among werewolves..."

Remus paused as the two wizards paled even more and their faces contorted in horror.

"I told you it wasn't dangerous, Neville isn't going to turn or anything. The full moon shouldn't have any effect on him. The Link is extremely sacred among werewolves. It's a very rare gift, and many would think that Neville was extremely lucky. It's as if he belongs to Helena's pack, without the alpha and omega relationships. She will protect him, at the risk of her life, without even being aware of it. She can calm him down. He will never be attacked, or his attackers will find themselves facing an angry wolf. Even if... even if Helena died, he would still be protected."

"So... he's lucky... because he'll never be attacked?"

"Werewolves consider that a gift from heaven. In fact, they're the only humans who are accepted into the pack. Neville is part of Helena's pack, but he doesn't have to obey her or anything."

"But there are bound to be negative consequences."

"I don't know" Remus muttered, sorry he couldn't reassure them more. "Just don't take it as a bad thing, because it's not."

Remus offered them the stuffed animals, then left to see Hermione, Augusta Longbottom was coming anyway, and he doubted she would want a stranger in her grandson's room.

He found Hermione sitting on a bench, her eyes unfocused. He sat down next to her and began to talk, he knew she wouldn't have it any other way.

"I don't think you know what happened. The Link showed up."

He explained the same thing to Hermione that he had said earlier with Alice and Frank, he didn't know much more anyway.

"We don't know what it is. Okay it might be beneficial for Neville, but what if we had a mental connection? If he could see my nightmares, my life, the battles, the chaos?"

"That's not gonna happen."

"You don't know that. I'm scared, I think."

"Of course you are. We're all afraid of things we don't know. Fear of the unknown is a human feeling."

They went home and went to training. Everyone needed to keep their minds occupied. Hermione wanted to get this mysterious Link out of her head and Remus wanted to stop thinking about Neville's birth, or Harry's birth coming up in the next few hours. Two little boys, as small as Teddy had been when he was born, barely smaller than when he found him dead.

Harry was born a few hours later, at three past midnight on July 31st. They can't say they're surprised, but they hurt, maybe for different reasons, but they hurt.

The Link formed for him too. Remus explained again what he knew, this time Hermione just stood there, staring at the white wall of the hospital room. James and Lily took it a little better than Frank and Alice, maybe because their best friend was a werewolf and explained it to them too. All four of them were very happy. Lily and James, though tired, had smiles plastered on their faces, Sirius was shouting that he was a godfather and Hermione hadn't missed the look on Remus' face when she had given the three stuffed animals for Harry. The wolf was a symbol that he would also be part of Harry's life, that he would not just be his parents' friend.

Hermione finally got out, Remus didn't know where she had gone, but she needed to be alone. She had just witnessed the birth of her best friend after all. He disapparate too and lands directly on the beach. He wasn't within the protective confines of the HQ, so the Order members probably wouldn't come. He carefully pulled out a photograph, and the tears began to flow down his cheeks, first one by one, then the pace quickened until his vision was blurred and he could only make out a vague shadow. He sobbed, unable to help himself. He had closed his heart, stopped himself from feeling the pain, but seeing two healthy babies, accompanied by the bright smiles of their parents, had brought it all home to him. His son had died before his first month, his wife had died. He would never know his son's favourite look, he would never know what he liked to do, what he liked to eat... They had died, leaving him to his sad fate. They had both been slaughtered by Bellatrix Lestrange, no blood traitor with Black blood was to survive. She had killed her cousin, she had killed her sister, she had killed her niece and grandnephew. And he was alone.

He was crying, the tears not stopping. He wanted to scream, but couldn't, so he cried and cried, pouring out his pain, his sadness, his hate, his despair.

He had not allowed himself to do so before, he had cried of course, but his heart was so painful that he had ended up becoming hermetic, he had locked himself in his own pain, trying to forget that he was alone, that his family had been brutally murdered. The pain he had felt when he had seen his son's corpse had no comparison. It never would.

Remus walked along the beach, alone. He had left James and Lily with Sirius, to enjoy being Harry's parents and godfather. Sirius wouldn't be staying very long yet, but he was so in awe of his godson that he didn't want to leave him. Remus thought he was already planning all the jokes they were going to play on his parents.

He had been surprised when he first met this little being. He had been moved as he held it in his arms. He knew that the wolf in him had immediately considered him as his cub, a member of his pack. He hadn't told the others, it didn't matter anyway. He had been more than surprised at the Link that had shown up. He'd heard about it, it was a legend, just like the Lupryadalis, and he'd never thought he'd ever see it. Thanks to his and Remi's explanations, James and Lily had taken the news rather well, but they were still on cloud nine, perhaps they would change their minds in a few days.

He heard sobs coming from a few dozen metres away. Remus had never heard such heartbreaking sobs. Even Helena's, which were already horrible, were no match for these. He was surprised to run into Remi, but he felt his heart break at seeing him in such a state.

He was holding a picture that Remus easily discerned as he approached him. A little baby was laughing, his hair alternating between turquoise blue and fuchsia pink. His eyes were blue and sparkling happily. He was a child, probably only a few days old.

His son.

The answer suddenly appeared to Remus, as if it had always been there. His son, who had died only a few days after being born. Not that he was unhealthy, he had been killed, like all the people in Remi and Helena's past. They had all forgotten him.

Remus was horrified. How could they all have been so lacking in empathy. It was true that they had all been so happy about Harry and Neville's birth that they hadn't thought about it. Remi had lost his son, and he'd just witnessed two births where everything had gone well, with parents at the height of happiness. James had even offered to carry Harry. Remus understood why he had declined now.

Remi was so strong, all the time, he never broke down, always put Helena's needs first, sometimes making himself forget, but just because he didn't break down in public, as Helena had, didn't mean it never happened. They had both lived through the horror. They were war-worn, but Remus had read their eyes. The eyes are the mirror of the soul. This sentence is true for Helena, all her emotions come through her eyes. But not so for Remi, as with everything, he learned to control them, to hide, to lock away his pain.

Remus didn't know what to do. He didn't know how to console someone who was always so strong. He couldn't comfort him when he had never experienced such pain. He was an orphan, he had lost his parents, and of course he had suffered, he was still suffering, but he could not imagine the pain of losing his child.

Remus waited several hours for the sobs to subside and for Remi to fall asleep. He finally did, long afterwards. He laid a blanket over her shoulders and left. He had been a silent supporter. Remi probably hadn't felt it, but he had been there.

Remus glanced back one last time before heading back to the house. Tears were streaming down his cheeks. He wasn't sure why. For Remi, for his son, for the hardships he'd been through, for the pain he was feeling.

And maybe for himself too.