AN: I could really use some loves. Just hit that little HEART button on the left button on your screen. Come on! You know you wanna.

Also, I do not own JK Rowling

And Also: This is one of my favorite chapters. I don't know why...but it just is.

Chapter 12 - Lupin's Luminaries

"You know the man you truly are, Remus! This heart is where you truly live! This heart! Here! This flesh is only flesh!"

~Sirius Black~

Over the next few days, Sirius spent most of his time in his grandfather's study going over the timeline and using his grandfather's pensieve to study his memories of events that were to come, trying to determine how things would change because of his interventions. James, Sirius, Lilly, Snape, and Remus had all shared a compartment at one point aboard the Express. He watched as the foundation of their lives and all that was to come for the future played out in the few hours that they shared each other's company. James and Sirius would forge an unbreakable bond, and Snape and James would become lifelong enemies.

He also spent a good amount of time with his grandfather learning to control his metamorphmagus abilities. It was frustrating at times, but perhaps because Sirius was a practiced occlumens, as well as a gifted animagus, he learned quickly. He understood Tonk's difficulties in controlling her hair color when she was angry. Most metamorphs were born. Sirius's gift was dormant at and since birth, but magic chose to shock that part of him awake. For reasons of its own. Sirius was glad of it.

He would practice for hours in front of the mirror altering his features to those of his older self. It was scarily easy to achieve. Much harder than changing his features to a strangers. Maintaining his shape and hair color under stress was also surprisingly easy for Sirius. He hadn't been born with the ability so it took actual concentration to change things, and a great deal more to keep those changes unless it was a shape he was extremely familiar with. Like older Sirius. The way he saw himself in his memories. The reflection of himself in his mind's eyes. He admitted that he saw himself a bit handsomer than he had been in real life. The him before Azkaban.

His hours of study didn't go unremarked by his grandmother or his brother for that matter. Sirius had never been one to be, well, serious. He enlisted his grandfather to cover for him, declaring that he was grooming Sirius to take over leadership of the House of Black someday and so had Sirius studying politics and estate management, which garnered a bit of sympathy from his younger brother and grandmother. One night he even heard his grandparents argue about it.

"Arcturus, stop pushing the boy so hard. He deserves to have a little fun before he goes to school. You're worse than a slave driver." His grandmother insisted.

To which his grandfather insisted that Sirius was the one that was driving, and Arcturus was merely along for the ride. Sirius decided maybe he was pushing himself too hard and what was important was being neglected, like his brother. The World Cup was in a few days, and then school would start. The time he spent now shoring up the relationship he had with Regulus would pay off in the long run he decided.

That day he taught Regulus how to fly and let him use his new broom. It was a bit harrowing because Regulus was not an experienced flyer. But by the end of the day, Regulus could do more than hover a few feet off the ground and was racing across the manicured lawns like a pro. Sirius took pride in his brother's improvement but declined to take any credit, simply cheering Regulus on. It was amazing how a little bit of encouragement went so far with his brother. Every now and then he'd catch Regulus staring at him curiously, almost suspiciously, but Sirius pretended not to notice. Someday, maybe he'd explain, but today was not that day.

As they were heading back inside to wash up before dinner, Sirius told him that there was a bookshop he was interested in going to tomorrow, and would Regulus like to go? Regulus nodded, "Okay. But I thought you didn't like books?" Sirius shrugged and said, "I just thought it would be fun. It's not far from Grimmauld Place, and I've always wanted to go inside, but mother wouldn't let me, because it's muggle."

He glanced at Regulus to see what he thought about that and he could see his brother scrunching up his face a bit, and said, "Why? What's so special about a muggle bookshop?"

Sirius grinned, "Well... I don't know because mother would never let me look."

Put that way, as an act of rebellion against Walburga Black it all made sense, so Regulus agreed and said, "Are we going to sneak or will we ask permission?" Regulus asked. He looked worried and Sirius could see the wheels turning. Regulus was afraid of getting into trouble.

Sirius just smiled mysteriously and said, "It's been arranged."

The next morning Arcturus waited for them at the fireplace, dressed in a nice muggle suit. Regulus and Sirius met him dressed in jeans and t-shirts. Just regular kids. They floo'ed to Grimmauld place but didn't linger. Immediately they left and took the short walk to the book shop. Lupin's Luminaries was a small shop that relied heavily on foot traffic, as the road was almost too narrow for cars. Shops lined the street and a fair number of muggles were enjoying the morning. Grandfather spied a coffee shop with an outdoor patio and decided to wait for them there.

The boys agreed and together they crossed the cobbled street to the bookstore. The bell over the door dinged merrily as Sirius slid inside. He hoped that Remus would be here. He had told him and James that most of the summer he spent helping his father at his bookstore and it was nowhere close to a full moon so Sirius was filled with anxious hope.

The interior of the shop was cool and smelled like mint and chocolate and old parchment. It was a quaint and inviting space with overstuffed chairs for reading. Sirius and Regulus looked around with interest. "I didn't know muggles wrote so much," Regulus said with a bit of awe as they took in all the books stacked on what seemed like hundreds of shelves.

Sirius nodded and said, "Yeah. It's wicked." They walked through the shop and in the back was a young readers section, painted in bright fun colors and indexed according to age recommendations. Sirius found Remus cocooned in a bean bag chair reading a muggle book with the title Lord of the Rings on the cover. He looked up for a moment at the brothers and caught Sirius's eye. The boy Remus was thin and pale with brown hair and soft brown eyes, but not yet marked by scars on his face. He smiled gently for a moment at Sirius and then turned back to his book.

Sirius wanted to throw himself at the boy and shower him with exuberant hugs and kisses but that would be... awkward. He grinned at his brother. "Maybe he'll know what muggle books are the best?" Sirius said in a whisper to Regulus, knowing full well that Remus's werewolf hearing would pick up on every word.

Remus started and looked around the shop as if checking to see if they were alone and then unfolded himself from the cacoon of his chair and stood up. He was a few inches taller than Sirius. He wandered over and said softly, "I can help you find some of the best muggle books."

Regulus yelped a bit as Remus spoke behind him and Sirius turned and gave Remus a grin, "You can? Is that book good?"

He pointed at the book in Remus's hand and Remus lifted it and said, "It's one of my favorites. But if you want to read it, you really should start with The Hobbit." He glanced at the younger Regulus. "It's fantastic. It's all about a fantasy place called Middle Earth, and there are all kinds of magical creatures and I'm absolutely convinced that Tolkien was really a wizard."

Sirius gave a happy grin, "You're not a muggle?"

Remus shook his head, "No. I'm not a muggle. I'll be starting Hogwarts this year."

Sirius stuck out his hand for Remus to take, "We'll be classmates then. My name is Sirius Black, and this is my brother Regulus."

Remus took his hand and they shook and then he also shook Regulus' hand. "It's nice to meet you." He said almost shyly. "I'm Remus Lupin."

Sirius looked around and said, "I don't know much about muggle books, but I've always wanted to come in here. We live...or we used to live just a few blocks away." Sirius said. "This place is really neat. You come here a lot?"

Remus laughed a bit, "Well yeah. My dad owns it."

Regulus looked gobsmacked. "Is your dad a wizard?"

Remus shook his head, "Nope. I'm a half-blood." He admitted. That admission earned him a fair bit of curiosity as Regulus had a few years of pure-blood brainwashing he needed to divest himself from. Sirius wanted him to be free from the prejudice that plagued most purebloods and hoped that positive experiences would put him on a much different path than he was on before.

Sirius waved off the blood status issue with a wave of his hand and smiled, "So what do you suggest other than this Hobbit book?" Tapping into Mooney's love of literature was one sure way to Remus' heart.

At Remus's urging, he bought The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. He also bought a series of books by C.S. Lewis and Remus insisted they read the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe first, even though it was book number 2. He then took them to a section called Children's classics. He recommended Alice in Wonderland, Gulliver's Travels, and few other stories that no muggle library should be without. With their arms full of books they went to the checkout counter and Remus introduced the boys to his father.

Mr. Lupin was a kind man and smiled easily and Sirius remembered the few times he'd met him in the past that he had gone out of his way to be friendly with Remus's schoolmates.

"So have you already gotten your school supplies?" Sirius asked the young Remus. He was hoping he could glean if the scholarship had come through yet and if Remus had taken advantage of the boon.

Remus nodded and a huge smile changed his features dramatically. "Yes. We went yesterday. It was... incredible." Was the word Remus finally came up with. "First time?" Sirius asked curiously.

Remus nodded. "Yes." He gave a quick glance to his father who was looking on indulgently. "You? All ready for school?" Remus asked, never liking being the center of attention.

Sirius nodded, "Yeah. Hey! You wouldn't happen to want to go to the World Cup with us, would you? I mean we have extra tickets and grandfather said we could bring anyone we wanted." Regulus gave Sirius a surprised look but seemed content to play dumb at least for now. "But well...we don't really know anyone who isn't already going, and it would be wicked if you could come." He looked at Remus's father. "Would it be alright sir? I mean my grandfather would make sure that nothing bad happened. And..." He looked over at Remus who looked a little gobsmacked to be out of the blue invited to the match. "Since we are going to be in school together it seems we should get to know each other a little better. Don't you think?"

He hoped he wasn't laying it on too thick but this felt right. Remus needed to feel wanted and liked. Remus looked at his father and some sort of silent communication seemed to pass between them and finally, Mr. Lupin nodded and smiled, "If Remus would like to go, I have no real problem with it. I'd like to speak to your guardian, of course, to make sure it's alright."

Sirius clapped his hands in delight, "Yes!" He grinned, "He's across the street at the coffee shop. I'll just go get him." He nodded to Regulus, "Wait here. I'll be right back."

Sirius dashed out of the shop in excitement to get Arcturus. Arcturus listened to Sirius's quick explanation about what would be required and let himself be led into a muggle bookshop. Arcturus, ever the gentleman, soon had the situation clearly in hand and the two 'adults' made the arrangements for Arcturus to pick up Remus before the match the following morning.

Sirius couldn't believe his luck and hoped that his first impression on Remus was a good one. He'd hate to somehow do something boneheaded and ruin their future-to-be friendship.

Finally, when all the 'grown-up' arrangements were made, they left the shop and Sirius gave Remus a happy wave as they were leaving the shop. "See you tomorrow Remus!" earning a nod and a smile in return. Remus looked happier than he could ever remember.

They took their books and walked the few blocks back to Grimmauld Place. Regulus was already reading the Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe as they walked and said, "How come no one ever told me Muggle books were so good?"

Arcturus looked down at the youngest member of his family and said, "Because we don't want our young wizards getting strange ideas about muggles being better than wizards at anything." He answered honestly, almost causing Sirius to stumble at his admission.

"Why not?" Regulus asked.

Arcturus shrugged, "For no other reason than witches and wizards are ignorant of the larger world and some people prefer it that way."

Regulus sighed, "Like mother?"

Arcturus nodded not sugar coating it for the young boy at all. "Just like your mother. Ignorant and stupid." He barked. "An example that you should not follow. Either of you. Although I don't particularly have any use for muggles or their inventions, it would be naive of me to believe that the magical world is better. We aren't better. We are different. And we must always be careful around muggles because of the Statute of Secrecy, although that doesn't mean we can't learn from them or about them."