Hermione Granger's words had lit a fire under everyone. Suddenly faced with the chance to do something that might actually do some good, everyone in the castle had volunteered to help. Madam Bones and the Aurors had returned at once to the Ministry to contact St. Mungos and begin their own preparations. They promised to contact the other governments all over the world as well - passing on the idea in case they had not thought of it themselves.
The obstacles they faced were limited skills and resources and a time constraint - Remus had been right about how quickly the sleeping Muggles would begin dying. Within an hour of learning the news of the outside world, plans were already underway to get started.
As for the ultimate question of who to save - that was easy enough for all of them to agree on. They focused on the Muggles already connected to the Wizarding World - the families of halfbloods and Muggleborn.
In Hogwarts that night Albus set about organizing the students to aid one another - the school had numerous students connected to the Muggle World. Those students who knew how to apparate would be taking the younger students out to pick up their Muggle families. Portions of the castle were already being converted into hospital wards. Most students didn't want to wait until dawn to head out, desperately worried about the accidents that could potentially befall their family members, or perhaps already had.
Severus, weakened by the drain to his magic, stayed beside Harry while this chaos went on around him. Wanting to help, he made a list of the potions that would be required over the next few months to sustain the sleeping Muggles. He'd require the assistance of all his advanced students to make them - no doubt St. Mungos would need any extras they could produce as well.
Numerous members of his house, Draco primarily, came to update him on the plans. Surprisingly many of his Slytherin students wanted to be part of the effort. Muggle hating was all well and fine when it was just rhetoric, but none of them wanted to see an end to so many lives. He couldn't help but notice the almost manic energy that filled the students who came to speak with him throughout the night - all of them were still stunned by the news, and shock was beginning to set in. They were all terrified for the future - Severus couldn't help but wonder what more the world would have to endure before this was all over.
Severus took Harry for a walk in a rose garden. Never mind the fact that Hogwarts didn't actually have a rose garden, and that this one with its tall wild rose vines looked remarkably like the rose maze at Briarwood Hall in the County of High Hill. He held Harry's hand in his own, reveling in the bright easy smile on the young man's face, and the carefree expression in his brilliant green eyes. A soft breeze was blowing, lifting the untamed, dark locks of hair away from Harry's face. There was no scar on the pale skin of his forehead.
They rounded a corner and through a break in the rose vines they could see the dark shape of Snape Manor on the far hill. The young man laughed at the sight, and the sound stirred something bright and hot within Severus' heart.
"Shall we live there, Severus?" Harry asked and Severus smiled at the innocent joy in the young man's face. Rose petals blew past them as the breeze around them turned and danced in the other direction.
"We will live wherever you want, Harry," he told him, and he meant it - he would give his bond mate anything he asked.
He tugged Harry toward him, pulling him against his body. The scent of the young man was intoxicating - far sweeter than the enchanted roses. He kissed Harry, stealing his breath as he captured his lips, tasting him, stroking deeply with his tongue. Harry smiled against his mouth and slid his arms around Severus' shoulders; the heat of his body against him was almost more than Severus could bear. His hands slid down the lithe, muscled body; Harry moaned and moved against him and Severus imagined what it would be like to lay him down on this carpet of rose petals and take him over and over again.
"I'd like that," Harry whispered against this mouth. "It's a pity I am dead."
Severus jerked awake in shock, only to feel a warm hand lightly touching his forehead. He glanced up to see Sirius Black standing over him. Instinctively flinching back from the man's touch, Severus glared at him even as he tried to shake off the remnants of the dream.
"Sorry," Sirius apologized, stepping back from the chair Severus was slumped in beside Harry's bed. "You were asleep." Sirius didn't look even remotely sorry, Severus noticed.
Remus, who was standing at the foot of Harry's bed, was watching him with a kind smile on his face. A swell of unnamed emotion burned through Severus - he didn't want Black's apologies or Lupin's smiles. He wanted Harry awake and well and back in this world where he belonged. One glance at the boy lying unmoving on the bed told Severus that nothing had changed.
They had moved Harry into a private room off the main infirmary a few hours ago since they all knew the infirmary would soon be crowded with Muggles. Severus didn't want anyone disturbing Harry, and things were bound to be chaotic soon. He checked on Harry's condition quickly as Remus and Sirius moved around the bed and settled in the chairs across from him.
"I wasn't asleep," Severus snapped at them both. "I was just resting my eyes." The two men, Black in particular, had been bizarrely solicitous toward him these last few days. Severus couldn't for the life of him figure out why - as far as he knew nothing of any great importance had occurred that might have changed either man's opinion of him.
"What time is it?" he demanded, noting to his disappointment that Harry had not even moved. He hated how pale Harry's face appeared. He was still and lifeless.
"Nearly four in the morning," Remus told him.
Severus sighed - Harry had been unconscious now for almost ten hours with no sign of recovery at all. He touched the boy's forehead carefully - Harry's skin was cold and clammy but the scar was still hot and inflamed. A quick check showed him that the warming charms on the blankets were still active - Madam Pomfrey had been monitoring Harry's temperature all along. He fought down the sense of panic that welled inside him each time he thought of Harry's condition - he would recover! He would not lose Harry like this!
Reaching into his own pocket, Severus pulled out another pepper-up potion and pried off the cap.
"Are you sure you should be taking more of those?" Remus asked before he could drink the potion.
Severus glared at him. "I do know the effects of too many of these," he reminded the man. "This is only my second. I'm fine." He drank down the potion with one quick swallow, feeling instantly better. The drain on his magic had left him exhausted - though already he could feel himself beginning to recover. Once again he silent thanked Albus for the silver warding bands around his arm. Without them he couldn't image what he would currently feel like. The two Marked Slytherin students were still too weak to even move.
"Has there been any change?" Sirius asked then, motioning to Harry. Both he and Remus had volunteered their time to aid the students - allowing Severus to remain with Harry. Again, Severus wondered at their strange willingness to accommodate him. The last time Harry had been in the infirmary Black had practically tried to have him barred from Harry's side.
"None," Severus informed him, wishing he had better news to tell them. Were it not for the slow rise and fall of Harry's chest as he breathed, Severus might have thought he was dead. Even the powerful sensation of Harry's magic was missing - its absence left Severus feeling empty, aching for its return.
The door opened a moment later and Hermione and Ron entered. Both students looked exhausted, but Severus could see that Hermione had not lost the look of intensity in her eyes. She was the driving force behind the students' effort. They greeted the three of them as they moved to the foot of Harry's bed, both of them staring thoughtfully down at their unconscious friend. He could see his own fears reflected in their eyes.
"Hermione and I are heading to London to try and find her parents. She thinks they may have been in transit home when this happened - we're going to have to search the Underground," Ron told them after a few moments of silence. "Who's going to go collect the Dursleys?"
Severus looked up in shock. "What?" he demanded. "Absolutely not!"
"I agree!" Sirius stated as well, his blue eyes flashing with anger. "They don't deserve to be saved!"
An odd look crossed Ron's face and he glanced over at Hermione. She just gave him a faint smile. "We had an interesting conversation with Harry just before this happened about what people do and do not deserve," Ron told all of them. "I imagine there were a whole lot of people that Harry saved today that did not deserve it. When Harry wakes up and asks us where the Dursleys are - I don't want tell him that we didn't think they deserved to be saved. And he will ask - I think you all know that."
Severus cursed under his breath, knowing Ron was correct, but hating the fact. Harry was unconscious now because he was trying to do the impossible, trying to save the unsavable. "How did I get so involved with a bunch of bloody Gryffindors!?" he hissed.
Looking up he found all of them staring at him - it seemed they were all going to leave this decision to him. The only Slytherin in the room and they wanted him to decide to do the 'right thing'. And either way, he'd be the one who would have to look Harry in the eyes and explain the choice to him.
"Fine!" he snarled. "We'll save the bloody Dursleys." Even knowing that it would be what Harry wanted, Severus found that hard to stomach.
"Remus and I will go," Sirius volunteered. "You need to rest."
"I'm fine," Severus insisted again, though he had no intention of leaving Harry's side to run after the Dursleys. He also had no intention of going back to his quarters to rest. He might be tired, but that would not stop him from watching over the young man who had just saved them all.
Any more discussion was interrupted by Albus who entered the room, leading two familiar forms behind him.
"Mum! Dad!" Hermione cried in shock. She was across the room and in the arms of her two relieved looking parents a second later. Dumbledore looked on with a brilliant smile.
"But how on earth!" Hermione exclaimed after a moment. "We were on our way to find you. All the Muggles are asleep."
"We've been poked and prodded for the last hour by Ministry people," Anna Granger told her daughter. "They concluded that we are in fact Squibs. Said something about both of us possessing a very faint magical core which is how young Harry was able to wake us."
Hermione looked astonished by the announcement, though Severus wasn't certain why. It wasn't that unusual for Squib families to lose touch with the Wizarding World and assume they were simply Muggles. It certainly made Hermione's own magical skill more explainable - she was unusually strong for a Muggleborn.
"We understand you're organizing a relief effort for the Muggles," Michael said to his daughter. "We want to help. The day to day care will be difficult and you'll need all the volunteers you can get."
Severus knew the two of them had a medical background of some sort - something to do with teeth. But if they were anything like their daughter, they probably had vast areas of expertise to draw on. No doubt Poppy would find their aid invaluable.
Anna stepped toward Harry's bed, and gently reached out to touch one of his cold hands. "Is he. . ."
"Exhausted," Severus told her, hoping that was all it was. He didn't want to face the thought that this might be more serious than magical exhaustion. He couldn't face the thought that Harry's mind might be gone for good.
"So it's true what they're saying?" she asked in amazement. "He really did wake all of us up?" At the nods of confirmation she received she just shook her head in disbelief. "He's all anyone could talk about in the Leaky Cauldron and the Ministry. They're calling him King now. I don't suppose he'll have an easy time of it?"
To that no one had a response. They all knew, better than anyone, what Harry thought of his fame. After this, Severus knew there wouldn't be a Wizard or Witch anywhere in the world who did not know his name. And with no idea what Voldemort planned for the future, Severus suspected the Wizarding World would expect Harry to continue saving them.
But not alone, he vowed silently. He'd never leave Harry alone - if he would just wake up so that Severus could see those soulful green eyes once again. He'd take Harry out for a walk in the moonlight and he'd kiss him under the stars. If he'd just wake up. . .Severus' heart clenched in his chest.
It was nearly dawn by the time Remus and Sirius apparated to Privet Drive in Surrey, appearing with a loud crack directly on the main street. With no Muggles around to see them there was no longer any point in disguising their magic.
Sirius found himself staring at #7 Privet Drive, directly across from the Dursleys' home. There was a car sticking out of the front window of the house. The lawn, once meticulously kept, had heavy tire furrows dug into it, showing the path the car had taken when it had veered off the road. Just in front of the house were two bicycles - a young boy was lying beside one of them. The other rider - a girl - was lying directly in the path of one of those tire furrows in the lawn. Her pink sweater had tire tracks across the back of it, and a thick stain of blood was seeping into the dirt beneath her.
"Do you think Harry knows them?" Remus asked quietly. A quick glance at the tawny haired man showed that he looked just as horrified as Sirius felt. He was staring at the little girl on the lawn.
"Harry said the Dursleys didn't let him socialize much," Sirius replied with a shudder. He turned away from the sight and glanced around the rest of the neighborhood instead. For the first time the extent of the damage this terrible deed had wrought became clearly apparent to him. It was one thing to hear about it; it was another thing entirely to see it first hand.
The neighborhood itself was silent for the most part - though off in the distance several streets over, Sirius could hear the sound of some sort of Muggle alarm blaring. Sirius knew enough about Muggle technology to know that it would eventually stop once its power source ran out.
All around them they could see the glow of fires burning as parts of London turned to ash. The smoke that filled the air was laden down with scents that Sirius didn't want to identify too closely - it was not just buildings that were burning. He was glad he did not have Padfoot's sense of smell in his human form.
Here on Privet Drive, save for the few cars scattered at odd angles about the road, it might have been a normal morning were it not for the utter stillness all around them. There were few lights on inside the houses and no signs of anyone stirring despite the coming dawn. A large lorry had taken out a street lamp at the far end of the road; all the other street lamps up and down the street were dark.
"The power grid is still active," Remus stated, pointing to the various porch lights that were still shining from some of the houses. Sirius knew Remus had lived on and off in the Muggle world over the years and knew far more about its technology than he did. He assumed from Remus' statement that it would only be a matter of time before the power would be gone. With no Muggles left to repair things, the technology they had developed over the years would disappear into pages of history. Sirius shivered with the thought - it was inconceivable what had happened. He was having a hard time truly accepting the reality of it.
They turned toward the Dursleys' residence and Sirius couldn't help but eye the small lawn and the flower bed in the front yard. He knew from things Harry had said over this last year that all the yard work was left to him during the summer. Obviously someone tended to it during the school year - implying that the Dursleys had the means to hire a gardener when Harry was not around. The idea that they might dismiss the gardener just for the summer so that Harry could earn his keep angered Sirius to no end. And then he remembered that the gardener in questions was likely now dead - or soon would be. It put a strange perspective on the situation and Sirius' emotions churned chaotically.
Remus must have sensed his turbulent emotions for the man placed a gentle hand upon his shoulder, catching his attention.
He turned and stared into Remus' warm amber eyes and a wave of calm energy washed over him, releasing some tightly clenched emotion that might have choked him other wise. He smiled gratefully at the man. He wondered sometimes if Remus even understood the power he had over him; these last few weeks since they'd been together as lovers that power had only grown stronger. Remus may have been the wild werewolf in their little group - but Sirius had always believed that the beast that resided within his own heart had been far more dangerous than the creature his friend transformed into monthly. The beast known as the Bloodline of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black had done far more damage to this world than any werewolf had ever managed. And now finally, after all these years, the quiet, calm presence of Remus had silenced much of the chaos in his soul. The magical bond that had formed between them over these last few weeks as their magic joined on a level he'd never imagined before had even begun to erase the memory of Azkaban from his heart.
"Let's go," he said with a nod, and the two of them turned toward #4. As they walked up the main path to the front door, Sirius noticed the driver's side car door was ajar as if someone had forgotten to close it. At least the presence of the car implied that the family had been home for the evening when this had happened.
Sirius frowned regretfully at that. If they had been away they could have legitimately told Harry that they had tried to save them but could not find them. After all they would have had no way of knowing where they might have been.
They approached the front door and Sirius flicked it open with a wave of his wand. Stepping cautiously into the living room, they were accosted almost immediately by a shrieking woman who was wielding a large flat stick of some sort. It took Sirius only a moment to react, waving his wand again and sending her flying back to land with a thump on the couch. Unhurt but momentarily stunned, the woman just stared at the two of them in shock.
It was then that Sirius noticed the two large blobs lying on the floor of the room. One of them, the youngest, was lying in front of a glowing Muggle television which was showing only static on the screen. The other was set at such an angle that Sirius suspected that the woman had dragged him through the front door. Both were covered with blankets, their heads propped up with pillows. The older of the two was snoring loudly.
"Hello Petunia," Sirius sneered. He'd met the woman at James' and Lily's wedding; she'd been an unpleasant, bitter woman even then. He supposed it shouldn't surprise him that she would be awake, doomed to the life of a Squib while her beautiful sister had been a powerful Witch. Apparently the magical trait had not been passed on to her son, however, as he was showing no signs of consciousness.
"Who are you?" she demanded. "You did this, didn't you? You did this to my Vernon and Dudley."
He frowned at the woman. "I'm Sirius Black and this is-"
"Sirius Black!" the woman shrieked in horror. No doubt she knew the Muggle stories about the deadly murderer Sirius Black. "He sent you, didn't he! That freak is responsible for this!" For a moment Sirius thought she was referring to Voldemort, until she added, "You're his godfather."
A growl of rage escaped his throat at the realization that she was calling Harry a freak. Only Remus' hand on his shoulder stopped him from hexing the woman on the spot. He shot a glare at Remus. "Do we really have to save them?"
Remus just gave him a mild shrug. "Think of all the fun you can have later playing pranks on them," he suggested in order to appease him. Sirius perked up at that - he hadn't thought of that option.
Remus moved passed him then toward the frightened woman. "My name is Remus Lupin, Mrs. Dursley," he began calmly. "We're here to . . ."
"The werewolf!" she exclaimed in horror. Sirius found himself stiffening in outrage again. How dare she look at Remus like that. "Are you going to eat us?"
"Only if I get extremely hungry and you continue to irritate me," Remus replied and Sirius smirked in delight. Apparently Mooney wasn't nearly as unaffected by this as he appeared. His words certainly shut the woman up. "We're here to help you at the moment," Remus explained, glancing toward the two large men on the ground.
"Then you did do this! Your kind, I mean?" Petunia asked. "My Vernon and Dudley won't wake up. I've called the police but no one answers." She waved a hand toward the telephone. "No one answers!" At that she grabbed a small silver box covered with buttons and pointed it at the television. The static on screen flashed over and over again before finally reforming into some sort of Muggle drama. "And there's no news! Just old reruns - most of the stations aren't even broadcasting. You did something to my television."
Remus glanced briefly over his shoulder at Sirius. Sirius just shrugged - he wondered if Petunia had even bothered to look outside. Surely she must have noticed that something major had happened to London? Hadn't she tried to check on her neighbors?
"No, there's no one else to help you," Remus informed her. "The Muggles are all asleep. No one is coming except us."
"Don't be ridiculous!" she yelled at the two of them as she got up off the couch once more and moved toward the younger man on the floor in front of the television. "You've done something to the phone and the telly. You've been playing your tricks on us all year! Well I won't have it any more! You're not allowed to do this! There are laws! I'll report you!"
All year? Sirius frowned at that, remembering what Severus had told him about the revenge Albus had extracted from the Dursleys. He gave a quick glance around the room, looking for any signs of the curses the Dursleys had been struggling with. He knew they had all been struck with a sense of claustrophobia and fear of the dark. There did seem to be an unusual number of lamps in the room, he decided. And despite the fact that he knew Petunia was given to decorating the house with numerous frilly accents, there were no curtains on any of the windows. He supposed claustrophobia might have driven her to keep the house looking as open as possible.
But he also knew that they had all been cursed with the inability to taste their food any longer, denying them any pleasure at all from eating. Judging by the size of the two men it had not curtailed their appetites. Perhaps they had attempted to compensate for the lack of taste by simply eating larger quantities - Petunia was as thin as a rail, and the dark circles under her eyes spoke of a stressful life.
"You're welcome to report us all you want, Mrs. Dursley," Remus told her. "Only there's no one left to report us to. I told you all the Muggles are asleep. We're all the aid that is coming."
"The police will come and arrest you!" Petunia insisted.
"The police are asleep," Remus sighed. "So are the military and parliament and the Queen and the BBC and anyone else you might think to call."
Petunia looked horrified, but just as determined to plow on with her persistence that someone would come to stop them. "Then the Americans will come and get you!"
Sirius frowned at that, somewhat bewildered by the threat. "The Canadians?" he asked Remus.
Remus just shook his head. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Dursley, but the Americans are asleep as well. Your husband and your son need medical attention or they'll die. We're going to take you to a hospital ward where they can be taken care of."
She looked subdued by his words - her gaze moving over her son and then her husband as if trying to judge how truthful his statement might be. "They're asleep," she told him. "Just asleep."
"And they're going to stay that way until the spell that affected them wears off," Remus explained.
Her eyes flashed. "Spell! This is magic then! I knew you were responsible."
"Voldemort is responsible!" Sirius snarled and Petunia flinched at that. He was relieved to see that she recognized the name. Perhaps she remembered that Voldemort had been the one who had killed her sister.
"We didn't do this to your family," Remus told her as patiently as possible. "We're trying to save as many Muggles as we can. This sleeping spell will not wear off for a long time - if your son and husband are not given medical care they will dehydrate and die." Sirius guessed there was little chance that the two men would starve to death - he suspected they'd both be able to live off their own fat stores for months yet.
"If a spell put them to sleep, then use a spell to wake them up!" Petunia demanded.
But Remus just shook his head. "We can't. It doesn't work that way. This spell was too specific. The only way to wake them up is to jolt their magical cores - and neither of them have a magical core. That is why you are awake and they are not."
"I don't have any magic!" she yelled, sounding horrified by the mere thought.
"You are a Squib," Remus told her. "Harry was able to wake you up because of it - he woke all of us up. Everyone was affected by the spell."
"Harry?" Petunia stared at him in disbelief. "It always comes back to that boy! That horrible boy! If he had just died with his parents, then none-"
The sound of a sharp crack sounded through the room and Sirius realized in some shock that his quiet, calm Remus had just slapped Petunia Dursley hard across the face with the open palm of his hand. "Never speak that way in front of me again," Remus growled at the stunned woman. Sirius could see a red mark already forming on her cheek. He resisted the impulse to add his own hex as well.
"Listen to me Petunia Dursley," Sirius snarled as he stepped forward, drawing the woman's attention away from Remus. She stared up at him in terror. "For the way you treated Harry we despise you. We despise your husband and your son. If we had our way we'd leave you here to rot in this dead city. The only reason we are here at all is because we know Harry would want us to help - despite everything you have done to him. Now I suggest you quit flinging about accusations and insults and go upstairs and pack your personal items so that we can take your fat offspring and his disgusting father to receive medical treatment."
Petunia's lower lip started trembling, but still she glared defiantly at them. "You can't talk to me that way," she insisted, though sounded rather unsure about the subject.
Sirius just smiled at her. "Right now your only friend in the world is Harry Potter," he told her. "And he is not currently available to champion your honor. And while I might feel compelled to save you for his sake, I don't have to be nice about it. Considering you just managed to enrage a werewolf to the point that he has physically struck you - if I were you, I would shut up and start packing."
Petunia shot an alarmed glance over at Remus who was standing near the fireplace now. The man had moved away from her in order to calm himself. The look he gave her was far from friendly.
Swallowing nervously, Petunia rose to her feet and moved toward the staircase, heading upstairs to pack her belongings.
Sirius crossed the room once Petunia was gone and slid an arm around Remus' waist, pulling him against his body. For a brief moment, Remus was stiff and unresponsive, but after a few seconds he sighed and relaxed against Sirius, burying his face in Sirius' shaggy hair. Sirius shivered as Remus' breath ghosted over his skin as the wolf breathed in his scent deeply.
"You okay?" he asked softly.
"Yes," Remus assured him as he raised his hand to touch his face. Sirius didn't resist as Remus tilted his face toward him and kissed his mouth. He smiled into the kiss, leisurely returning it, taking simple pleasure in the fact that he could do this now whenever he wanted.
A thrill went through his body when Remus' hands tightened on him suddenly, and the kiss turned more possessive. Remus had initially been a somewhat shy and timid lover - but ever since the night Sirius had gone to Stonehenge, something had changed in the werewolf. Remus had grown more aggressive, more demanding - as if needing to be certain of his rightful place at Sirius' side. It had never occurred to Sirius what a thrill that would be for him - he'd never had a dominant lover before, and found that he loved it. Every sign of claiming Remus laid upon him eased away some of the dark chaos in his soul. It brought a peace to his heart he'd never dreamed of before.
As this was neither the time nor the place for further activities, Remus gave him a gentle squeeze before releasing him. Sirius just grinned as he stepped away - the answering smile in Remus' eyes spoke volumes.
Left to wait for Petunia the two of them nosed about the room curiously. Sirius took note of all the pictures hanging upon the wall - most of them were images of the fat boy asleep on the ground. He searched for ones that Harry might like to have - it had not escaped his notice that his godson possessed very few personal mementos. But as much as he searched, he could not find anything that might have belonged to Harry. There were no pictures with him in them, no possessions lying about that might have once belonged to him. The reality was, he could sense very little of his godson here in this house, as if the Dursleys had been very careful to erase all sign of his existence from sight.
Remus stepped into the hallway near the stairwell and pulled open the door to the cupboard. Curious, Sirius joined him, and the two men peered for a long moment into the small, cramped quarters where they knew Harry had spent the early part of his life. There was still a small cot folded up against the far wall, hidden behind various bottles of cleaning liquid. Sirius also noticed a piece of paper taped to the underside of one of the stair beams and he reached in to detach it. He found himself staring down at a child's drawing of a man riding on a flying motorbike. Running in the air beside him was a shape that might have been a wolf or a dog.
Grinning he show it to Remus, who smiled and gently traced the lines of crayon. "Do you think he remembered us?" he asked.
"He remembered something," Sirius told him. Harry had only been a year old when their worlds had been shattered - but it seemed the boy still had some faint memory of this life before the Dursleys.
"I wish. . ." Remus sighed, and Sirius glanced up sharply, hearing the regret in his voice. The look of longing and guilt on Remus' face hurt Sirius and he raised his hand to stroke the man's head, running his fingers through his tawny colored hair. He knew Remus had tried everything he could to gain custody of Harry after James and Lily had died - but he had faced the same trouble the Weasleys had faced last September when they had learned that Minister Fudge was attempting to adopt Harry. Everyone in the Wizarding World had wanted the Boy Who Lived. Remus had no name, no money and no social standing. His claim would have been poor at best. Couple that with the fact that the adoption papers required a drop of blood from the parent and the child - Remus was doubly cursed. The moment his blood touched the papers, his status as a werewolf would have been revealed. Werewolves were not allowed to adopt children. Albus had done the best he could by hiding Harry away from the Wizarding World here at the Dursleys.
But even there, Remus felt guilt that he had not checked up on Harry. He'd confessed to Sirius that he'd gone a bit mad in the years after James had died and Sirius had been locked away. Faced with the loss of the people and the child he had considered family, and the man he had considered his mate, Remus had wandered in a daze for number of years, barely able to care for himself. Now knowing that Harry had not been safe and loved all those years, the man hated the weakness inside him that had left him so unable to do anything for those he'd loved.
"Remus," Sirius whispered softly. "Let it go, love. Let the past go."
"Is it so easy?" Remus asked, pinning him with a sharp gaze.
"No," Sirius shook his head. He more than anyone knew how hard it was to let go of the past that continually haunted him. He couldn't help but think of the feud against Severus that he'd held onto for so long - one that was tied up intimately with his own family and his once beloved brother Regulus and years of misunderstanding that Severus probably knew nothing about. If he had managed to let go of it a little sooner, perhaps things would be different right now. But he would think on that later. "It's hard and it's painful and it hurts. But it is also necessary. You taught me that. You are the only one who feels the guilt and the regret. Harry does not. You can see it in his eyes every time he looks at you. All he feels is love and gratitude that you're in his life now."
"I abandoned you too," Remus reminded him.
Sirius smiled at that, and shook his head. He knew the answer to this one perfectly - Remus saw only his failures, but behind them was a faith that was so true and pure that he wasn't certain he could have held onto it in the face of what had happened. "No you didn't," he told the man. "Did you ever stop loving me?"
Something flashed through Remus' eyes. "No."
"Even when you believed I had betrayed you and James, and murdered all those people?"
"I never believed it!" Remus told him fiercely. And Sirius believed that completely - because he had seen the look on Remus' face when he'd been dragged from the court room; he had heard the cries of protest. But back then no one would listen to one lone werewolf who'd been broken by the world around him.
"I know," Sirius nodded. "You never abandoned me. Even when everything around you said you should."
"I love you," Remus said simply.
Sirius smiled, letting all his mischievous personality shine through. "There. . .you see! I have it on good authority that all you need is love. Everything else works itself out."
Remus gave him a soft smile. "That sounds like one of those ridiculously romantic things a Gryffindor would say," he remarked.
"Brilliant folk those Gryffindors," Sirius grinned at him.
They heard a loud thump upstairs and a moment later Petunia reappeared, dragging a large paisley covered suitcase behind her. Neither man moved to help her and she sniffed at both of them in irritation. "Where is the ambulance?" she demanded as they reentered the living room.
"We're taking a port key," Remus explained, holding out a brightly colored sock. He and Albus had spent several hours making port keys that the students could use to bring their families back to Hogwarts. "I'll take you and your son with me. Sirius will bring your husband." Sirius had his own brightly colored sock in his hand.
"Port key?" Petunia frowned, gripping the handle to her suitcase tightly. Remus took hold of Dudley's arm and then held out the sock to the sour-faced woman.
"Touch the sock," he ordered. She glared at him, but did as he asked. A moment later they vanished from sight.
Sirius took one last look around the Dursleys' residence. He couldn't really imagine his kind-hearted godson growing up in such a place. He glared down at Vernon. "You don't deserve saving," he informed the sleeping man.
Vernon's only answer was a loud snore as he slept away undisturbed. Sighing, Sirius took hold of his hand and activated his own port key. They vanished from sight and left Privet Drive to die in silence.