The Losing One || Sirius Black

23. Smiling More

Just like his dad promised, within three minutes there was a loud crack in front of the door. Seconds later, Madam Pomfrey ran inside with a concerned look on her face. When she saw them and came closer, Lyall stepped away, giving her space to work.

She didn't ask any questions, just withdraw her wand and started casting healing spells to Remus' thigh. With each spell, the pain lessened. The boy could see his skin slowly stretching towards itself to try and close the wound.

In the end, his dad was right. In about ten minutes or so, Remus' thigh looked brand new, except from the large, silvery scar, but that was a small price to be paid in his opinion. The thigh still hurt, but compared to the pain he felt only fifteen minutes before, this was a walk in the park, although walking proved to be a bit difficult for him right now.

As soon as Remus seemed fine, Lyall hugged him carefully. Remus noticed a little skip in his dad's breathing as the two held onto each other. He could swear that he felt his dad shake, but decided to not mention it. After all, the experience was pretty scary.

Both of them thanked Madam Pomfrey immensely, apologizing at the same time for dragging her out of the bed this early in the morning on the 1st of January. Remus felt awful seeing her in her sleeping robes, she must have been resting when the eagle woke her up.

Like back at Hogwarts, she just waved them off, telling them that she was glad that she could help and to always call her whenever needed. She also strongly advised Remus to stay in bed and use his right leg as little as possible for at least three days. The boy didn't even protest to these instructions. After seeing that much blood, a little three-day nap sounded amazing.

Lyall managed to convince Madam Pomfrey to stay for breakfast and meet Hope, to which the healer announced that she would love to meet and have breakfast with the parents of a child as nice as Remus.

Remus could see the proud look on his dad's face at the compliment, making his smile return again after this whole scary experience. Madam Pomfrey joined Hope in the kitchen while Lyall helped Remus to his bedroom in which the boy fell asleep immediately.

* * *

Sunday, 9th January 1972.

King's Cross Station

Remus and his dad apparated to the platform 9 and ¾ at 10:30 in the morning, so they had about half an hour to kill before the train's departure. Thankfully, the two of them were not bored because five minutes later the Potters showed up.

Of course, James Potter couldn't just come up to his friend and say hi like a normal person. No, he had to run towards Remus while yelling his name and hug him with so much force that the two boys fell to the ground. From the floor, Remus could hear his dad laugh along with Mr. and Mrs. Potter.

James stood up first and offered him a hand, "Sorry Remus! I just missed you, it's been two weeks since you left my house."

How could Remus even be mad when James was smiling so brightly at him. Even if he wasn't, after the experience Remus had only eight days ago, seeing his friend was like some stone has been lifted from his chest. Like always, a big smile spread across his face, mirroring James'.

He took the offered hand and stood up from the floor as well, "No worries, I've missed you too. Where's Pete?", he looked around, but the smaller boy was nowhere to be found.

James just shrugged, "Don't know. We didn't come together this time. He's probably late or something."

Remus then greeted Mr. and Mrs. Potter, thanking them again for having him during Christmas. They just smiled at the boy and announced that they will be expecting all of them next year as well which made his heart warm. Adults continued on their conversation while Remus and James went to look around the platform in search for the other half of the Marauders.

After passing the third platform light, Remus' eye caught the head of curly, black hair a couple of meters ahead. Sirius. He started to raise his hand to draw the boy's attention by waving at him, but James caught him by the wrist. Confused, Remus turned around for some type of explanation, but James just gestured with a nod for him to look at Sirius again.

When his eyes returned to the curly haired boy, he saw what James was talking about. Sirius was tensed, with pin straight back and an emotionless expression looking directly at the train while Orion had his hand on the boy's shoulder. Remus saw Orion's mouth move, but he couldn't quite make up the words, he and James were too far away, but he could see the pressure of his hand on Sirius' shoulder intensifying bit by bit.

James patted him on the back, "Maybe it's better to wait to get on the train. I think we'll just cause him trouble.", he said sadly, his glassed sliding down his nose.

Remus just nodded, "Yeah. Guess you're right.", and James was, he knew it, but it was just such a sad decision to make. Both of them haven't seen Sirius in three weeks and the exchanged letters just weren't the same as talking to someone in person. Remus missed Sirius and his jokes, but nonetheless, he and James turned around and walked back to their parents.

Like the universe had sensed their saddens and decided to cheer them up, when Remus and James saw their parents, the three of them weren't alone anymore. The Potters and Remus' dad were accompanied by Mr. Pettigrew and Peter. Remus could see William a bit further down the platform talking to his girlfriend and her parents.

It was like Remus was having déjà vu but from a different perspective. He watched as James bolted towards Peter and knocked the small boy to the ground with the hug the same way he did to him earlier. He must admit, it did look quite funny when you weren't the one being tackled.

When the laughing was over, Remus stood above the two and extended both of his hands for the boys to take. As soon as they were up, a voice echoed through the platform, "Attention to all passengers, the Hogwarts Express will departure in ten minutes! Attention to all passengers, the Hogwarts Express will..."

The excitement ran through Remus' body. He couldn't wait to be back at his dorm with the three boys, but at the same time, sadness made its way to his heart as he looked at his dad.

Lyall was looking at him with proud eyes, but you could see the sadness peeking its way out. As James and Peter hugged their parents, Remus did the same, whispering to his dad's shoulder, "I'm gonna miss you, dad."

In return, Lyall just hugged him even tighter, "I'll miss you too my son. Please write to us as much as you can. Mom loves to hear when an owl pecks on our windows. And please be safe."

Remus just nodded in response, barely managing to keep his tears from falling. It was still such a though thing for him to be separated from his parents. He didn't have anybody except from the two of them his whole life. It was scary back in September and it was still scary now in January even though he knew that beautiful things were waiting for him. He just needed this hug to translate all of his feelings to his dad and then he will be okay.

The two separated and Remus waved another goodbye to Lyall before stepping inside the train. The second part of his first year at Hogwarts could officially begin.

"Come on, Remus! We have to get the exact same compartment!", James dragged him by the arm while pulling Peter with his other hand, "Pete! Come on you guys, before someone else takes it!"

Remus wasn't really sure why they had to get the exact same compartment, but he figured there was something nice in being able to sit in the same seats they met at.

And the universe was once again on the Marauders' side. The same compartment from September stood empty, like it was waiting just for them to walk inside at take it.

The moment the three of them sat down, the door slammed open, "What have I missed, my dear friends?", Sirius said as he stood in the compartment entrance, hands on either side of it.

Remus' smile couldn't have been any bigger in that moment. The four of them were reunited. Finally, everything was perfect.