Where The Heart Is
With another brilliant flash of zigzagging purple light, Remus fell to the ground with a scream. He couldn’t remember exactly how many times Dolohov had hit him with his specialty attack, but, as he felt a coppery taste begin to pool in his mouth, it was quite possible he wouldn’t be able to take another. His insides felt as if they had been torn apart, which was a real likelihood. And Remus began to think that he would never see the outside of Hogwarts again.
He turned his head to the sound of footsteps. High heels. A woman. Please anyone but her. But then there was a sharp cackle, manifesting his worst fears into reality. Bellatrix. How he would have loved nothing more than to duel her, pay her back for what she had done in the Department of Mysteries. Sirius. But he knew that she had the upper hand. There would be no escaping her.
“And who do we have here?” Her face came into view as she knelt down beside him. “Remus Lupin. I thought I was lucky enough to have one of you. But a matching set? Such an opportunity can’t be passed up.”
If she thought that she could just gloat about Sirius’ death like that, she was gravely mistaken. He spit the blood that had collected in his mouth at her face and then made an attempt to reach for his fallen wand.
“Crucio!”
It felt as if his body had been lit on fire. Pain seared his spine, and the organs that had been damaged by Dolohov’s curses felt as if they had been ripped open. Bile rose in his throat, and when he vomited, he was unsurprised to see that most of it had been blood.
Bellatrix smiled down at him. “Come now, no use struggling for your wand. We’re going to kill you anyway, so why don’t you just make it easier on all of us.”
He struggled for his wand again, determined to go down with a fight, and Dolohov hit him with another curse. The pain was beyond what he was capable of measuring. And after the first wave was over, Remus was certain that he had lost all ability to move.
“You want to see Sirius, don’t you?” she asked wickedly.
Yes. Merlin, yes. He would make all the pain go away like he had so many years ago. With his words. And his lips. And every other way he knew how. And then Remus could finally rest.
Remus never saw Bellatrix give Dolohov the nod, nor did he hear the killing curse incanted. He didn’t have time to think about what would become of Tonks or baby Teddy; he was already too far past reason. All he thought of was Sirius. And Sirius was there with him. And then the pain went away as if it had never been in the first place. And then there was peaceful nothingness. And then there was something.
Remus found himself on the stairs leading to the boy’s dormitory. Mind still hazy, he looked down at his hands to find that there were scars missing and that they appeared to be much younger. He patted his body down to find that he was in his school robes, wand in his right pocket, where it always had been, and a couple Chocolate Frogs in the other.
Then his recent memories began to return to him. The battle at Hogwarts. Bellatrix and Dolohov. Had they sent him into the past? No, of course not. That didn’t make any sense. But that would mean…
He bolted up the few remaining steps and slammed open the door. His breath hitched in his throat. There was Sirius - the Sirius before he was worn by the First War and Azkaban - lounging on Remus’ bed, thumbing through Remus’ journal. Remus stood quiet for a moment, taking in Sirius and remembering how truly handsome he had been. He had fallen in love all over again. But was Sirius…
“Sirius?”
He smirked and then stood in one fluid motion, far more cat-like than dog-like. He walked towards him with his normal swagger - one that only Sirius could pull off. And there were mere inches between them. Remus wanted to grab onto him, to take in his scent and feel his lithe, toned body beneath his fingers.
He didn’t though because he wasn’t sure what had transpired between them. What if this Sirius didn’t remember their years as lovers? What if he hadn’t even been in love with him in the first place? Not knowing was killing him, but he didn’t want to make the first move. Not knowing was better than rejection.
“Took you long enough,” Sirius said, his tone playful.
“Sorry, I-”
Remus was suddenly in his embrace, Sirius’ arms wrapped around him so tightly as if they hadn’t seen each other in eons. He had no will to finish his sentence; he only wanted to drink in that moment.
“Don’t apologize. I would have waited for you forever, Moony,” he whispered.
Pulling away just as much as necessary, Sirius leaned down for a kiss. Their lips met with fiery passion, as if no amount of time or events could ever break the fever they had for one another. Sirius moaned, taking Remus’ lower lip between his teeth, and Remus wanted nothing more than to be in bed with him at that moment.
Someone cleared their throat though, prematurely ending his and Sirius’ kiss. They both looked over, Sirius quite annoyed and Remus surprised. James and Lily stood in the door way, looking just how Remus remembered, along with Peter - Peter the Marauder, the friend, the person he was before Voldemort got to him. He hadn’t expected them to be here, though he couldn’t have explained why, but perhaps because it would have been too perfect.
“There will be plenty of time for snogging later, Padfoot. We ought to get going.”
“Just you wait, Prongs. The next time you’re alone with Lily there’ll be hell to pay.”
The familiarity brought a smile to Remus’ face. But it seemed as if he wasn’t the only one that was satisfied by it. They all, one way or another, expressed happiness for the situation. It had been so long since they all had been together like that.
“We’re already late for the feast,” Peter said.
So they all began to slowly file out of the dormitory until Remus and Lily remained in the room, with Sirius and James lingering just outside the door. Remus looked down at her and noticed that she had tears welling in her eyes.
“Lily?” he said, offering her a smile and opening his arms.
She hugged him without a second thought, sniffing back her tears. “Welcome home, Remus.”
Home? Is that what this place was to them? He wondered for a moment but then realized that Lily was right. This is where they had met, formed friendships, and fell in love. It was the only place where they were able to be carefree and play jokes - because the world after Hogwarts had been too dangerous for anything less than constant vigilance. And it was the safest place for him, where his “furry little problem” could be dealt with fairly simply. They had spent the greatest times of their lives there, and that’s why they returned there in death together. Hogwarts was home.
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A/N: I was inspired by the “King’s Cross” chapter in DH. I took the contents and subtext in that chapter to mean that you get to decide where you go when you die (though Harry wasn’t technically dead, but he could have made the choice to be). I felt Remus would want to be where he was happiest, and that was surely at Hogwarts with Sirius and the others.