Another One Bites The Dust - jjvirus - Harry Potter (2024)

“Hey, Moony,” Lily yelled excitedly as soon as she saw Remus on the train and sat beside him. “What’s up?”

She was wearing a long skirt and a corset on top of a flowy white shirt. Her hair was braided on the sides, making her look like a fairy. Remus noticed her new piercing under her eye. He held himself not to winch. That must have hurt.

“As best as I can get this time of the month,” Remus replied with a strained smile. His skin felt like it didn’t belong to him. There were only five days until the full moon.

“Relatable,” Lily said without losing her cheer. “How’s your summer been?” She eyed him head to toe. “You didn’t reply to my messages.” She frowned.

“Dumbledore,” Remus murmured. Lily hummed in return with a dark look but wiped it away quickly. She was good at that, but Remus was better at catching it. He never understood her disdain for the headmaster. “How was yours?”

“I religiously played The Sims fifteen hours a day. You and I had three children named Pup, Cub, and Luna, then drowned all of them after I got bored, read like fifteen long-ass Doctor Who fanfiction, finally finished Good Omens and made out with James in every corner of his big boy mansion.”

“Charming.” Remus tugged his lips.

“I have a question, though,” Lily said. Remus raised an eyebrow. “Why didn’t they end up together? Like romantically, I didn’t expect them to be just roommates. I feel like I was robbed out of romance.”

“They did. It was clear that they were in love.” Remus replied. It was already hard for Lily to pick up social cues, and Good Omens was the epitome of ‘Show, don’t tell.’

Lily made a little ‘o’ sound and nodded. “I need to read it again now. I will suffer from tech withdrawal so much this year.”

The compartment door opened, and three boys loudly slumped into the seats across them.

“f*ck, I even miss this train,” Peter said, chuckling and battling with Sirius’ arms on him. Then he tightly hugged Remus. He was stronger than all of them, even though he had lost quite a bit of weight since Remus last saw him. Summer usually did that. He was like a grizzly bear in hibernation in winter.

James was looking at Lily like she hung the moon. His hair ruffled, his eyes wide behind his glasses. He was more tanned. “You did something to yourself.” He breathed. “I can’t tell what, but you must do it all the time now.”

Lily blushed and tapped at her new piercing. James reached with his hand and caressed on top of it. “I have a new obsession now.” He said, leaned over the table and kissed Lily’s cheek.

Sirius was looking at him, frowning. He had a new tattoo just under his ear, a tiny paw print. “Where were you? Not one of us could get a hold of you.”

“He-” Lily said loudly. “-was living his best life and didn’t want to be bothered while he made sweet love with Dumbledore.” Remus made a strangled noise. Lily turned to him, looking amused. “You can’t deny he was a catch when he was young.”

“His middle age was better,” James murmured. “Three-piece suits and all. I don’t know what made him think that bedazzled purple robes were better at the end.”

Despite the lighthearted conversation, Sirius’s frown remained. “I think we decided to live peacefully last summer. Why didn’t you tell us?”

“It was urgent,” Remus muttered without looking at him.

He remained silent the rest of the ride, watching Peter mooning over James -platonic, hopefully- and James mooning over Lily -not platonic, definitely- and dissociating and coming back repeatedly. They were used to it; commenting on it was unnecessary, especially near the full moon, but it didn’t stop the concerned looks.

He could feel Sirius’ eyes on him, never leaving even though he was chattering with the rest. He tried his best to ignore it. Sirius didn’t get to do that.

Remus admittedly looked better than Sirius when he last saw him. He ran into the woods and lived as a savage for two months. His scrawny limbs were filled with muscles; he couldn’t manage it before, even with a high-calorie intake.

Knowing that he looked good and believing it were entirely different things. When he looked in the mirror, he only saw an impostor.

They arrived at the end. Children were sorted. Everyone looked happy. They didn’t know what was coming.

“Rock is dead,” Peter announced, and Remus snapped out of his mind. They were in the common room. How much did he miss?

“Rock isn’t dead.” James rolled his eyes.

Sirius rose from the seat and pointed at James. “He’s onto something, Prongs. This year’s most listened rock album was by Harry Styles. Can you believe it? Harry f*cking Styles.”

“I liked Kiwi,” Remus murmured.

“Of course you did,” said Lily and pouted. “What is wrong with Harry Styles.”

“Nothing! Except for the fact that he was a bloody boy band member.”

“What is wrong with it?” James asked, raising an eyebrow and anticipating the argument.

Sirius couldn’t articulate an answer.

“Oh! Oh! education time.” James jumped on his feet and looked at Lily expectantly.

“There is this phenomenon…” Lily started, and Sirius groaned, his head between his hands, pushing back his hair. Lily rolled her eyes and continued. “People find things little girls enjoy embarrassing, and it’s rooted in misogyny. Every single teenage girl’s interest looks below in society’s eyes.”

“Surely not everything,” Sirius said, trying to come up with something.

“Coming of age romance,” Remus said. Sirius scrunched up his nose.

“K-pop,” Lily added.

“Cozy video games.” James chimed in.

“Hey! I love those.” Peter whined.

“Well, you are not everyone, are you?” Lily co*cked up, a grin appearing on her lips.

Remus put his clothes out of his trunk. His whole body was aching. He could hear Peter and Sirius chattering. James was still in the common room with Lily.

He woke up to a pile of ginger hair blocking his view. Remus slowly got up and inspected his surroundings. Regulus was here with Evan Rosier.

The last time he spoke with Regulus was nearly six months ago. Better words were exchanged before.

Marlene McKinnon moved for her wand, prompting Rosier to cast Expelliarmus, but his spell fizzled out.

“You can’t wield your magic here with your fancy wands until I say so, children,” came a raspy voice from a figure resembling a raven, “We are in between your realm and the realm of knowledge. Magic is unnecessary here for now.”

Remus realized they were in a library. It wasn’t too big, but Remus was sure there was much more than it looked.

“What do you want from us?” Barty asked, surprisingly composed. Barty’s father was Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. He had been Regulus’ best friend until last year before everything crumbled. Remus had kept his conversations with Barty mainly casual. Something about him was compelling. Maybe it was how he acts just like Sirius sometimes, maybe his ruthlessness.

Regulus tend to separate his friend groups as much as possible. Remus and Lily were entirely secret from the public while still talking. Pandora and Barty didn’t get along with his Slytherin friends even though Evan and Pandora were siblings. They were a lot like Sirius and Regulus. Remus didn’t hear a single word of endearment about each other from either of them. Words weren’t everything, but the resentment was so deeply engraved.

Barty had tousled straw-blonde hair, his ends dyed blue. He had piercing brown eyes that can be described as black and a lean, angular face. He was too charismatic for his own good. He had a chain tattoo around his neck and sleeves on both arms. Remus hadn’t seen them before; they were always hidden under the robes, and he had eyebrow and lip piercings.

“I want you to take a seat,” instructed the raven, as a table for eight materialized behind him, “and introduce yourselves to each other.”

“We’re not exactly strangers,” said Barty sarcastically, huffing.

“True, but there’s more to it,” added the raven. “You’re not just the kids that everybody knows; you’re the brains, the influencers, the movers and shakers of your generation. That’s why you’re all here.”

Raven glided around the table, fixing its piercing gaze on each of them for an uncomfortably long moment. “Introduce yourselves,” it instructed. “Then I will let you go. You can’t lie in this realm. Concealment is permitted, but outright lies are impossible for you to perform. All that you learn here is shielded by an impenetrable force beyond the reach of your masters. No divulging, hinting, or exploiting unless the owner of the secret grants permission. And you two, Crouch, Lupin, are unshackled from your curses.” Remus was taken aback while Barty’s grin remained fixed, his eyes clouded and empty.

Barty’s eyes started to shimmer. With a deep breath, “I was under the Imperius Curse since last summer,” he confessed, breathless as if the reality of it all hadn’t fully sunk in. “Oh my...” he gasped, covering his mouth with trembling hands. “I’m free,” he whispered.

Without hesitation, Barty got up and went next to Pandora. Tenderly, he cupped her cheeks in his hands and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. “I can do this,” he murmured to himself.

Then he launched himself onto Regulus. He was hesitant at first, but he returned the embrace. His breath was shaky. For an uncomfortable period, the two remained locked in.

In their first four years, Barty and Regulus were inseparable.

Remus couldn’t shake the memory of Regulus’s distress at the start of his fifth year. With puffy, red eyes and a heavy heart, Regulus needed Remus despite their strained relationship after Sirius ran away—or rather, before that, after Remus let him back into his life. That shattered Remus’ image in Regulus’.

Dorcas Meadowes cleared her throat and introduced herself. She was a Hufflepuff alongside her girlfriend, Marlene. They were playing quidditch as beaters. Marlene was the team captain. Regulus got his badge from Emma Vanity after she begged him to take it this year. She was anxious about N.E.W.T.S., and Barty was his team’s captain and a chaser since the third year. James filled Remus in all the details he didn’t care about.

Pandora and Barty were in Ravenclaw, both in their sixth years. They were close until last year. They and Regulus were inseparable.

Evan was a seventh-year Slytherin and one of Snape’s best friends. He coached Regulus throughout the years.

Remus woke up from what felt like the best sleep he’d ever had. For once, there were no haunting whispers of the wolf lurking in the depths of his dreams despite the upcoming full moon. But as the fog of sleep began to lift, Remus couldn’t shake the question: what had happened last night?

His confusion only grew bigger when he realized that James and Sirius were nowhere to be found in their beds. Rubbing his eyes, Remus clumsily prepared himself for the day ahead, his mind still hazed with sleep.

As he made his way towards the common room, he felt a gentle tug on his arm, pulling him to a stop. It was Lily, her expression mirroring his own confusion. “Was last night real? Do you remember it too?” she asked, her voice tinged with disbelief.

Remus could only nod in response, his own bewilderment reflected in Lily’s eyes. “I don’t know what is going on, Lily,” he admitted.

“Welcome back to the land of the living,” James greeted with a grin, leaning in to give Lily a playful kiss. “We’ve got ten minutes,” he added.

He took his seat at the table and felt Barty’s presence behind him.

“Can we talk about last night? You are the only one that…” Barty’s looked into Remus’s eyes, searching for answers.

“Sit,” Remus said, gesturing to the empty spot beside him. Barty complied, but the tension between them remained. Remus could feel Sirius’s disapproving glare, but he refused to let it affect him.

Leaning in closer, Remus’s voice lowered to a whisper. “There’s no way I believe that you don’t know what you’re doing,” he said in a sweet, low tone, his words causing Barty to flush.

“Yet you are indulging my antics,” Barty teased, his smirk widening as he leaned in closer, “I happen to like a little bit of drama.”

Remus chuckled softly. “A little bit?” he said, amused. “What do you want?” His voice remained soft but cautious, betraying his curiosity.

“I tested the reach of the room’s curse-removing abilities,” Barty explained, his eyes gleaming. “My mind isn’t empty anymore, but it didn’t do much else. But as I learned just now, I can talk to you about it. I bet Evans can hear us, too. I want you to pass Reg a message.”

“Why don’t you?” Remus asked.

Barty’s expression turned serious. “The room didn’t remove the curse. It only brings the hidden information back to my mind,” he explained. “It can’t override an order like ‘don’t ever go near these Death Eaters and their family.’ I can be near your dearest ‘best friend’ because my father gave me direct orders to get along with him.”

“You are not really getting along with him right now. He might kill you in your sleep,” Remus whispered with a hint of amusem*nt.

“Anything for my favourite lad,” Barty replied, loud enough for Sirius to hear. Leaning in, he brushed his lips gently against Remus’s jawline, then moved to his ear, his voice barely audible. “Can you give my apologies to Regulus in case the library won’t appear again? He was the best thing that happened to me. I loved him like a brother, you know, and I am aware of how devastated he was. I know it’s inconvenient for you, but I cannot ask the Hufflepuffs either.”

Remus’ jaw relaxed. “I don’t think Regulus will talk to me, but I can try,” Remus said, a hint of uncertainty in his voice. “And Sirius will definitely kill you in your sleep after that stunt. Where does this audacity come from?” It felt odd discussing Sirius in front of Sirius himself, and Remus couldn’t be sure if the room protected their conversation, so he kept his tone low.

“I was born with it,” Barty replied with a grin as he got up. “Thank you, Remus. Let me know if I can pay you back.” With a playful wink, he sauntered off toward the Ravenclaw table.

“So, the twelve O.W.L. kid, huh?” Peter piped up; he was smirking. Sirius remained silent, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. “When and how did it happen?” Peter continued, taking a casual bite of his sausage.

“He asked me to do something. He’s a friend.” Remus replied in frustration. Lily shot him a knowing and satisfied glance.

“I don’t know, Moony. Friends don’t do sh*t like you just did.” James chimed in, his expression unreadable except for a subtle hint of disappointment reflected in the arch of his eyebrow.

As they made their way to their individual classes, Remus, Lily, James, and Sirius walked together, their footsteps echoing down the corridor. Peter lagged behind; his course schedule was different due to his O.W.L. results not meeting the requirements for the majority of the group’s classes. Remus and Lily shared an additional class in Advanced Arithmancy.

“What was that?” Lily whispered, her voice barely audible over the bustling hallway.

“Didn’t you hear all of that? It was a test of how much he can talk with us,” Remus replied nonchalantly, evading the true intent of Lily’s question.

“Yes, I heard it. You know what I’m talking about,” Lily pressed on. “I’m all for revenge and the toxic sh*t you two are pulling off, but you are breaking your own heart too.”

“I know.” Remus groaned. “But it’s a start. I will not hide from him anymore. I keep Anthony a secret because he asked me to, but Sirius was a part of why I agreed. I can’t pretend I’m on a celibacy.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Lily conceded softly.

Four days had passed hanging out with the Marauders, sneaking glances at McKinnon, Meadows, and horrifyingly, Rosiers. Pandora wasn’t the issue; Evan was. Regulus couldn’t meet his eye. Barty had started getting rather cosy. They chatted about anything and everything in the halls whenever they bumped into each other. His quick wit was starting to scare Remus. It was evolving into a friendship with a healthy dose of flirting. He was also getting touchy. Surprisingly, Remus found himself enjoying it. He was no stranger to flirting, but usually, it was reserved for someone he was actually pursuing. Yet, this just felt... right. “You’re not hitting on me, are you?” he asked once, getting his answer with a laugh. As a result of this, Sirius got restless. He was more aggressive and cruel to everyone around him. Remus didn’t want to deal with it, so he put up a distance, which caused Sirius to be more on the edge.

He was less agitated than he normally was around the full. His body was still aching, his mind was still wandering, and his self-hatred was remaining still, but something was different. The wolf was calm. He wasn’t fighting with the wolf. He was fighting with himself.

He had Potions with Slytherins. Snape’s glare was unsettling. He couldn’t ever grow used to it despite his aloof front. He was next to Anthony, who sent him different kinds of looks. He looked angry.

He threw a scrunched-up parchment to Remus’ head. “What are you looking at? Get f*cked, Lupin.” Anthony growled. James and Sirius sent him deadly glares. Lily was trying to stifle a laugh.

‘First break, Advanced Arithmancy classroom. You are in big trouble.’ He wrote. A smile spread across Remus’ face.

The class came to an end, and as students began to filter out of the room, Evan caught Remus’s gaze. Sensing an opportunity, Remus swiftly gathered his belongings and hurried after him.

“Hey, Rosier,” Remus called out, pulling him into an empty corridor known only to him and his friends. It wasn’t a concern for Remus to be seen with him, but it was a different story for Evan to be seen with him.

He was soft to look at in the dim light. His fierce blue eyes were still shining through the darkness. He was a bit shorter than Remus.

“What do you want?” Evan hissed, casting a wary glance around them before relaxing slightly.

“I have a message for Regulus,” Remus began, his tone serious. Evan’s expression darkened. “Not from me. It’s from Barty. He wanted to send his apologies and said he was the best thing that ever happened to him in case the library wouldn’t appear again. He had orders from his father to stay away from your lot. I think Regulus might want to hear it.”

“What’s the catch?” Evan asked suspiciously, his guard still up.

“What?” Remus blinked, momentarily caught off guard. He realized there should be a catch. Their lives didn’t revolve around friendship and love; they revolved around war. “There is no catch, Rosier,” he insisted. “Regulus is very important to me, and I happen to empathize with Barty. It won’t hurt anyone.” As he spoke, Remus drew closer to Evan, his voice low and earnest. He placed his hands on Evan’s shoulders, offering a comforting pat. Evan flinched at the unexpected gesture and then left.

Remus heard a noise, recognizing it immediately as James’s footsteps. He knew his friend had seen them.

“Moony. What the f*ck?” James nearly screamed.

“What, can’t one taste the wonders of the world?” Remus replied with a sly grin, finding amusem*nt in the situation.

“Sod off,” James snapped. “Evan f*cking Rosier. Who do you become over the summer?” James accused. Would he give the same reaction to Anthony? Remus didn’t know. Two of them appeared the same from a distance. Stuck-up Slytherin pure-bloods, possibly on their way to becoming death eaters. Although Anthony’s father wasn’t in Azkaban for unforgivable crimes.

Anthony wasn’t a prude about blood purity, but he wasn’t a rebel either. He just liked Remus enough. His family was soft around the edges about half-bloods, too, not that he planned to marry him. There was another little furry problem for him.

They didn’t explicitly talk about it. Confessing was far too fetched for Remus. He could or would never do it unless he had an option, but Anthony knew. Snape probably told him, and he confirmed his suspicions when they were dating. Remus knew he knew, and that was enough.

“What do you want to hear, James? Huh?” He glared at him; he was pretty sure his eyes turned amber.

James gulped. “He is going to become a death eater.” He whispered.

“We were talking about someone we both know. He wasn’t hostile, so I didn’t do anything in return.” Remus said, looking away from James.

“And that someone is?” James pressed, already knowing the answer.

“I don’t think you want to hear his name, Prongs,” Remus replied cryptically, his expression unreadable, before turning and heading to the next class, leaving James to ponder.

They had Defense Against the Dark Arts next. Everyone, including Peter, was taking this class. Remus sat next to Lily. James was with Sirius. He’s probably telling Sirius how he caught Remus. Remus thought James was more cruel to Sirius by telling him every interaction Remus had with someone. Sirius frowned and looked at Remus. Remus smiled. One would think the awkwardness would wear off after a year and a half of their break up, but It didn’t.

They were in class with the Hufflepuffs, and he got paired with Dorcas Meadows. She was amazing; they held their stance the longest. Dorcas looked impressed. “Good wand work, Lupin,” she said, and Remus found himself blushing at the praise. Why was he suddenly acting like a pre-teen?

“What did you do this time, Moony?” Lily asked her hand on her chin.

“James ‘caught’ me with Rosier,” Remus said, breathless and eyes shut.

“Why would that be?” she asked softly.

“I figured Regulus wouldn’t want to chat with me, and I promised Barty that I would deliver his message. I was whispering, so we were close, and I didn’t correct James’s delusion. I think he should stop telling him everything I do,” answered Remus. Sirius was looking down. He didn’t enjoy seeing him like that, of course, but what could he do?

“Be careful, Remus. The library was interesting enough, but is it worth the challenge? I mean, we learned that the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was using dark magic on his son. Raven knows who you are, too. I hope we won’t go back, but if we do, please stay away from trouble,” Lily said, genuinely concerned. Remus smiled and nodded.

“If we go to the room tonight, will my transformation stop?” he wondered after casting a silencing spell. He mentioned the library, but he didn’t know if it protected his secrets.

“I don’t know, Moony. I’m not sure if I want to find out,” she answered.

He found his way to Advanced Arithmancy class. As soon as he entered, Anthony slammed him against a wall. Didn’t he like getting manhandled?

“What the hell is going on with Crouch?” He hissed. His bright blue eyes glared at him.

Remus chuckled and wrapped his arms around him. “I missed you too.” He said. Anthony relaxed a bit.

“Answer my question, you git,” Anthony murmured into his shoulder.

“He’s doing it to anger Sirius, and I’m letting him.” He said, placing a kiss on top of Anthony’s head. His hair was soft.

“Why?” Anthony co*cked an eyebrow.

“It’s unfair for you people to think I’m single. It’s a good cover. We will be freer, too.”

Anthony huffed and kissed the corner of Remus’ mouth. “Don’t get too comfortable.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Remus shuffled closer, his hand reaching out to gently cup Anthony’s cheek, his thumb brushing softly against his bottom lip.

“Make sure Crouch knows I have dirt on him. He couldn’t tell anyone.” Anthony looked into his eyes and closed the distance, his lips finding Remus’s in a kiss.

Remus gasped softly, his fingers tangling in Anthony’s hair, pulling him closer. Anthony responded with a groan, deepening the kiss. Their bodies pressed together.

Remus’s hands roamed down Anthony’s back, feeling the muscles beneath his shirt. Anthony slid his hands under Remus’s shirt, his fingers tracing the curve of his spine. The kiss grew more urgent, more needy. Remus moaned into Anthony’s mouth, his body arching towards him. Anthony responded in kind, his hips grinding against Remus’s.

They broke apart, foreheads resting against each other, both breathless and flushed. Anthony’s eyes sparkled. “You got…” he began, searching for the right words.

Remus smiled softly, his fingers tracing the outline of Anthony’s lips. “What?” he whispered, capturing Anthony’s mouth in another kiss.

As he was leaving the last period, Remus met with a set of limbs around his neck. It was Barty. “Reg smiled at me,” he whispered. “Thank you.”

“Anytime,” Remus said, trying to smoothly leave the arms around him. He was grinning as much as Barty, too. “Thank Rosier too. Not like this, though. He would probably kill you.”

“You don’t know half of it. I would thank that handsome devil with a kiss of his life and more if I could go near him. I would let him kill me, too,” Barty huffed, still holding Remus’s arms.

“Oh, Enemies to lovers.” Remus raised his eyebrows. He was weirded out. He was intermingling with someone’s love life.

“Don’t worry. You are the other handsome devil with whom I don’t want to do unspeakable things.” Barty put his index finger on Remus’s lips. “And no, you will not speak about this to a single soul. We are star-crossed lovers. We are on the opposite sides of a war, and my father cursed me to not be with him,” he dramatically put his hand to his forehead and leaned against Remus’s chest. Remus laughed.

Someone coughed behind Remus’s back. “Won’t you introduce us with your…” Sirius swayed his hands in their direction and finished with, “Whatever this is.” James and Peter were next to him.

“Oh, family intervention. I love it. Although we are not something,” he paused and dramatically added, “yet.” He extended one of his hands without pulling from Remus. “Barty Crouch Jr.” he looked at Remus and added, “Should I add anything else, dear?” His eyelashes were fluttering.

Remus laughed again. “Behave, Barty,” he said between laughs. “James, Sirius, and Peter, We have been roommates and friends since the start of the first year, and you already know Lily.”

“Hi, Lils, you are getting more beautiful day by day.” Barty looked at Lily in awe. Lily grinned. “Damn, I was thinking I got the hottest one. It’s a gross miscalculation on my part. Sorry,” he said as he kissed Lily’s knuckles.

Remus elbowed Barty’s arm. “I said behave,” he was chuckling.

“Isn’t it against bro code or something?” Lily murmured.

“Well, I didn’t want to point out how you lowered your standards, but now you said it.” Barty looked at James with a mix of disgust and curiosity.

Lily just chuckled. “Hogwarts hottest eligible bachelor dumped my ass, and I settled for the second one.”

Dirk Cresswell, one of Barty’s close friends, and Lily dated in the fifth year. Everybody thought they would last forever. Remus still didn’t know why they broke up. They were targets to blood purists as two muggle-borns. Remus suspected that was the case. Lily was tight-lipped about all of it.

“Hey! I’m right here.” James pouted.

“We are taking the piss,” Lily said and placed a kiss on James’ lips.

“Well, I am not. Also, I am the second hottest eligible bachelor.” Barty said with a smirk and leaned into Remus. James scowled, and Sirius’ eyes shifted between them.

Lily leaned into him. “I thought you were gay. Only if I knew I had a chance.” She loudly whispered. They burst into laughter.

“That’s why I’m taking this one.” Barty squeezed Remus’ arm.

Sirius muttered under his breath, “Friends.” Then abruptly left. It was enough to make Remus’ blood boil.

“Did I say something wrong?” Barty blinked. He knew what he was doing, but he didn’t know Sirius was this intolerable towards people in Remus’ life.

“No, you didn’t,” said Remus, frowning. “James, I won’t be coming to dinner. I’ll see you after.” He held Barty’s wrist and guided them to the yard. “f*ck,” he said and sat on the grass. “f*ck.”

“Can you explain what is happening?” Barty asked slowly, like asking a child about a traumatic experience. He wasn’t far off.

“Sirius doing what he does.” He huffed. “Every time I feel something relatively not miserable around someone, he gets like this. It’s been a year and a half. We didn’t even date for long. Six months of bliss and this. He pushes people away from me, and I have a f*cking boyfriend I hide from him.” Remus’s eyes were shimmering.

“Good thing you are the only person interesting enough to talk to, who I can actually talk to, and I’m a very stubborn person. I won’t let it scare me.” Barty hummed. He put his head on Remus’s thigh. “So, boyfriend, huh?”

Remus nodded. “He told me to tell you who he is, actually. He was quite upset with our charade.”

“Okay. I can hear your admirers’ hearts shattering. Who is he?”

“Anthony,” Remus said with a coy smile.

“Lupin, no!” Barty gasped. “You can’t be f*cking serious. Wait, I should rephrase that.”

Remus laughed. “I am.”

“My opinion of you changed drastically, Remus,” Barty said with wide eyes.

“Better or worse.” Remus co*cked an eyebrow.

“Worse, of course. How can you stand him?”

Remus shrugged. “He’s not that bad.”

“I really doubt that.” He muttered, “Anyways. What about James Potter pulling the hottest fellas left and right with that attitude and lack of mannerisms. Bloody Lily Evans. How and why?” Barty whined, changing the topic.

“I just found out I like your rambling,” Remus said and smiled. “I don’t know. I get the appeal but can’t relate to it. He’s like a brother to me.”

“What about you and the feisty ex of yours?” Barty looked up and searched Remus’s face.

Remus took a deep breath before recounting, “There was always something between us, so there was no room to develop brotherly love. Everything was always so chaotic.” He laid back, planting his arms towards the back and looking at the purple sky. “One day, he gave me a gift. It was something so unbelievably beautiful, and I couldn’t see a reason to stay away. He is good with gifts, I should say.”

Barty sighed. “We were like that with Frank. He gave me a sentient muggle car. I’m in love with her; I should show her to you some time. Too bad feelings are so fragile.” Barty’s frown deepened. “Why did you break up?’”

“He betrayed me,” Remus said, his eyes closed.

“He cheated on you and has the audacity to act like that?” Barty’s voice rose, drawing glances from nearby students.

“No, he didn’t. I wish he did. It’s about my curse.”

“I’m sorry,” Barty whispered, holding Remus tightly.

“We should be friends with Hufflepuff lesbians,” Barty suggested without a prompt. Remus couldn’t even guess what was going on in his head.

Remus smiled softly, “Why did you find it necessary to point out them being lesbians is beyond my understanding, and they hate Gryffindors.”

“No, I didn’t point out them being lesbians. I pointed out them being Hufflepuff lesbians. There is a huge difference. I used to follow every step of Marlene McKinnon in our joint classes. Big McKinnon fan, me. She and her wife dominate the quidditch pitch. Oh god, I told her I was being poisoned by my daddy last night. So embarrassing,” Barty groaned.

After a moment of comfortable silence, Remus asked, “So what about you and your golden boy ex?”

Barty closed his eyes and gave a small chuckle. “Just before I got cursed, I felt like Frank was my father’s eye on me. They are very close. He even works for him now. I was sure he was reporting about me. I think it was why my father did what he did, along with the upcoming O.W.L.’s. Not that he was malicious; I knew that he thought it was for my own good, but I couldn’t help but resent him, and I loved him so much for that. So I broke it off. Not as dramatic as yours, though.”

“It’s pretty dramatic if you ask me,” Remus said and tightened his hold around Barty. “It was a bit of incestuous, though. I don’t get this pure-blood urge to date your cousins.”

“Second cousins don’t count, and It’s not like we could produce children with birth defects.” Barty rolled his eyes. “You should not skip dinner for the sake of that jerk being comfortable. Come on,” Barty insisted, extending his hand. Remus took it without hesitation.

“I should do something about the red eyes,” Remus said as he drew his wand.

“No,” Barty stopped him. “Let him see it. Two can play the guilt trip game.”

They arrived at the great hall last, laughing and holding hands. Remus sat in his usual spot and made space for Barty. James gave Remus a perplexed look,

“I thought you weren’t coming,” James said, idly playing with his food.

“Changed my mind,” Remus replied casually as he filled his plate. “Shouldn’t I?” He glanced at James.

James shifted uncomfortably in his seat, then reached out to touch Remus’s face gently, a silent question in his eyes. “Did you cry?” he asked softly.

Remus nodded, a flicker of vulnerability crossing his features. “I don’t want to talk about it,” he murmured,

The full moon was better than any of the ones he remembered. He had a few scratches on his hands and one sprained ankle. Pomfrey fixed it quickly. But his body was still aching. But he didn’t need a cane to walk this time.

Sirius was sitting beside him, watching him in concern, dark circles under his eyes. “Alright?” he asked.

“Yup,” Remus answered awkwardly. He was doing this every full moon. It just put Remus more on edge.

He was making remarks on the full moon, how he enjoyed it, how he doesn’t care. Remus knew he was trying to redeem himself in his own twisted way. But Remus cared and preferred Sirius to shut up. It just proved how this was all a game for him.

Remus forgave him, really. It was hard to stand up against Sirius, and It was harder to hate him. But he couldn’t love him like he used to anymore, knowing it wasn’t what he thought on Sirius’ part.

He did a lot of thinking about the accident. It all boiled down to him being a weapon. Dumbledore saw him as one, and he was glad about it. He gave him this life because of it. Better than being a monster, in his opinion, but he thought Sirius saw him as only himself. He made Remus feel like a whole human; they all did. James, Lily, Peter, Regulus, in a bit excessive way. And he took it away just like that. He couldn’t continue to love him because he snatched it away. He couldn’t kiss him without thinking about what he lost or what he didn’t ever have.

He didn’t expect anything from Anthony other than acknowledgement. Avoiding the topic like a plague wasn’t healthy, Remus knew, but how could you do everything right when you are a werewolf? Anthony was good; he was safe.

Three more days flew by. The flirting with Barty intensified. Remus found himself growing even fonder of Meadows, and he could sense that Meadows was starting to like him, too. “If we’re going to do this, call me Dorcas,” she said after an intense battle. Yes, battle, because he couldn’t simply call it a duel. He caught some glances from Regulus. Marlene sometimes joined their discussions in the halls with Dorcas. She was smarter than most. She didn’t have the quick wit like Barty had, but she could analyze things like no other.

He was leaning towards Barty at the Gryffindor table. He had been eating there since the talk. Remus didn’t know why he put up a show like this, but he was glad. “Why don’t you eat?” he asked.

“I’m afraid my father will catch up. I feel nauseous.” Barty replied, casting a subtle glance towards Sirius, who studiously avoided meeting his gaze. Remus offered Barty some chips on a fork.

“Everybody likes chips,” Remus remarked with a playful wink, trying to lighten the mood.

“Remus, feeding me? You are a total flirt, and I will enable it so much that you will leave this school as a legend; you will save the world just by flirting, known as the boy who flirted.” Barty teased, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“You are clinically insane,” Remus laughed, feeling a weight lift off his shoulders with each chuckle.

“I thought we established that already. You love every part of me,” Barty quipped, playfully pointing to himself.

“Love is a strong word…” Remus began, but Barty interrupted with a loud clearing of his throat. Remus relented, “Yes, yes, I love all of you. Happy?”

Sirius swiftly got up and left. He didn’t make a scene. Nobody except Remus noticed that he was spilling tears.

“Drama queen,” Barty rolled his eyes, offering a comforting hug to Remus as he bid goodbye.

“I’m going to talk to him,” Remus declared resolutely, steeling himself for what would likely be a difficult conversation.

Remus entered the dimly lit dormitory, finding Sirius curled up in his bed, tears staining the pillow beneath him. He hesitated, unsure if now was the right time.

“Can we talk?” Remus asked softly, his voice carrying a mixture of concern.

“I’d rather not,” Sirius’s voice cracked.

“Sirius, we are not together. We haven’t been for over a year,” Remus said, his tone gentle but firm. He needed Sirius to understand and to let go of the hold he still seemed to believe he had over Remus.

“Yes, how can I forget?” Sirius whimpered.

Remus’s heart twisted painfully. He wished things could be different.

“I don’t want to go on like this anymore. Pull yourself together.”

“Okay,” Sirius said finally.

“Glad to hear that,” Remus nodded, a weight lifting from his shoulders as he left the dormitory, needing to gather his thoughts.

Upon his return, James was waiting for him, concern etched on his features. “Hey, Moony.” he greeted softly. “Are we good?”

“Yes, Prongs,” Remus murmured.

James raised his eyebrows, his expression searching. “Won’t you tell me about him? There is a deep kind of bond going on there. You look more alive.”

“Trauma bond,” Remus replied with a small smile.

“How could that posh boy live anything near the edgiest edge lord?” James teased.

“You are a posh boy,” Remus retorted with a playful roll of his eyes.

“I’m not. I’m just rich. There is a slight difference. Continue,” James urged, gesturing for Remus to elaborate.

“We got stuck in one of the rooms in the library. He wasn’t right in the head and told me a secret he shouldn’t share with anybody, let alone me. I was shocked and blurted out one of mine. We bonded.” Remus lied smoothly.

“Have you told him that you are…?” James’s face was filled with concern.

“No, don’t worry. I haven’t. Like it matters to wait for someone to trust. I got over the worst one. Although he knows that I deal with some kind of curse,” Remus reassured him, though a trace of uncertainty lingered in his voice.

James nodded solemnly. “Just be safe,” he said, offering a supportive pat on the shoulder before retiring to bed.

“We are back, baby,” Barty exclaimed, bounding towards Regulus and Pandora and wrapping them in a tight embrace.

“I missed you too,” Regulus murmured, his voice barely above a whisper, carrying a warmth. Barty’s expression softened.

“As much as I love watching psychopath people romance, I want to learn why we got back here first,” Marlene interjected. Her presence added a sense of grounding. Remus loved her directness.

“I’m a fan, by the way. You are gorgeous, and I can worship the path you crossed,” Barty smiled and extended his hand, his words delivered with a cheeky grin as he stuck out his tongue. Marlene’s blush deepened at the unexpected compliment, a flush of pink colouring her cheeks.

Raven materialized, “We are going to do something intense for the rest of the week.” There was a bowl with potion vials on the table. Everyone exchanged uncertain glances.

“These are the memories of the last few days before Evan Rosier’s death if I didn’t intervene. These events won’t happen, but they are the absolute probability.”

Evan was sitting in a library, engrossed in a tome detailing dark protection spells. There was a visible tattoo on his forearm, a snake crawling out of a skull. A version of the Dark Mark, the Death Eaters, projected above the houses they raided.

Then, Barty appeared, his presence sending a jolt of desire through the air,

“Hey, angel,” Barty’s voice, laced with a hint of mischief, cut through the silence as he wrapped Evan from behind, his arms enveloping him. He had the mark, too.

Remus watched, almost feeling like an intruder, as Barty’s lips brushed against Evan’s hair, then trailed down to his neck and shoulder. “What are you doing?”

“I’m getting distracted; that’s what I am doing,” Evan said.

Memory didn’t show what happened afterwards, but the implications were clear.

As the gentle embrace of dawn’s light began to filter through the library windows, Barty and Evan found themselves engaged in a conversation.

“How’s Snape doing? You were worried about him.”

Evan’s response was uncertain. “Dark Lord chose Potter’s son. Severus offered him full bond if he let Evans live. Bruce was livid.”

“That fool,” Barty muttered.

“Get up. I have an analysis to finish.” He patted Barty’s bare chest; it was full of scars, maybe more than Remus had.

“It’s funny how you managed to be a scholar in the middle of the war. Reggie would be proud.” Evan’s chest tightened to the venom in Barty’s voice when he mentioned Regulus, but he didn’t let it get to him.

“You should have done that too, Mr. Anti-Auror,” Evan teased. “You really waste your talents on the field, and for what? To silently say f*ck you to your father.”

Barty’s response was resigned. “It’s really better than ministry work. I’m really suffocating in there, Ev.” He confessed.

Barty reluctantly said his goodbye and left for the growing light of day; Evan was left alone to confront the harsh realities of their existence.

“My lord.” Evan entered a room without a light. A man, Voldemort, was sitting in the middle of it. Remus hadn’t seen him before. He looked inhuman. Red-slitted eyes looked at Evan like he was a bug under his shoe. His skin was pale and waxy, like a reptile, but there was a beauty under all of it that made Remus nauseous.

“Evan.” He said, even his voice was chilling. “I have a task for you.”

A parchment flew towards him. It had names in it.

Ignis Prewett, Cecilia Rosier, Ignatius Prewett, Lucretia Black, Fabian Prewett, Gideon Prewett, Molly Weasley, Alice Longbottom, Francis Prewett, Glenn Prewett.

The last two were four years old in 1977. If Remus could physically react, he would scream.

This was a whole ancient pure-blood house.

“I want them all gone by the morning.” He said with a sad*stic tone. Evan’s breath hitched.

“My Lord.” He breathed. “Please.”

Evan felt a tug on his throat. He got pulled to the man involuntarily. “I own you.” He seethed. “Have you forgotten that just because I let you f*ck my other puppet? That you handed to me, begging to save him.” He said, licking Evan’s neck with his snake-like tongue. “You will obey me. Your saviour isn’t with us anymore.”

The scene blurred, skipped.

When Evan returned home, every part of his body was aching. Barty was there waiting for him, a comforting presence. As his guilt and grief overwhelm him, Evan finds comfort in Barty, his tears flowing freely.

“Hey, angel. What is wrong? Where were you?” Barty’s voice was filled with concern as he held Evan close, offering him a safe haven.

He gave him the parchment.

“I’m sure that was not the part that made you cry,” Barty observed gently, his hand moving soothingly across Evan’s back.

“I need to kill them,” Evan explained between sobs. Barty tightened his embrace around him. “We wouldn’t want me to lose my head, right?” Evan let out a manic giggle,

“No, we wouldn’t,” Barty breathed, his voice filled with quiet concern.

After what felt like an eternity, Evan managed to pull himself away from Barty’s arms.

As soon as Barty left, Peter came. Remus felt a pang in his heart. He had the same snake tattoo.

“They made me their secret keeper.” Peter panted with fearful eyes.

Evan sunk into his chair and sighed heavily.

“I don’t f*cking understand.” Peter continued. “Sirius said nobody will suspect me. What in the everloving f*ck. There are only three of us. Who were they going after they found Remus isn’t. Me.”

“Why didn’t you refuse? Say you are afraid and hide behind your trembling hands and high-pitched voice again. It works on The Dark Lord.”

Peter huffed. “They know me. They know I’m not a coward.”

“But you are. The courageous coward Peter. Self-fulfilling prophecy. You.”

“You are as much a coward as me.” Peter glared at him.

“Self-preservation sometimes does that. Not everybody needs to be a martyrs.”

“If I refused, they would get suspicious because I can take a torture. Because there was a time when dying for someone was a virtue to me. I got McKinnon killed. If they learn what I have been doing, they will kill me no matter how many times I saved their ass.” Peter’s voice raised in annoyance. “I never intended for them to pick me. This wasn’t how it’s supposed to go.”

“The question is, will you be able to live with yourself if you betray them.”

“The Dark Lord will win, you know that. Will their life be better if I sacrifice myself for them?” Peter looked at his eyes with pity. “Are you happy now, after Regulus sacrificed himself for you?”

Evan grimaced. “Regulus would kill us on the spot if he heard what we’re debating? I’m not helping you to decide. I can’t take the responsibility. I have enough on my plate.”

Peter raised his eyebrows, and Evan handed him the list.

“I’m meeting with Alice tonight, so I can hold her a bit longer,” Peter murmured. “That’s all I can do. Is he trying to get the Wizengamot seat?”

“Why were you a total dumb-ass at school with a brain like that?” Evan murmured, sinking into his seat.

Peter rolled his eyes. “If school was an indication of how smart we were, Barty wouldn’t see a literal Dark Lord as his father figure. He’s playing with him like a cat.”

“He had done something to him. I couldn’t figure out what. But he did.”

“I don’t know why you collectively decided a maniac manchild to lead you in the first place. He isn’t even a pure-blood, and he doesn’t even care about pure-bloods. Look at this.” He pointed the parchment with his chin.

Evan slumped. “Let me resurrect and ask my father what he finds in him.” He said sarcastically.

“Who are you going with?” Peter asked. They both are devoid of emotion.

“Bella, Radolphus, Corrows,” Evan answered.

“They are dead already; it’s not up to your decision.” Peter scrubbed his eyes and groaned.

“I don’t think I will be able to live with myself if I hurt them.” Tears started spilling. Peter sat next to him and offered comfort by wrapping him in his arms.

Evan leaned in to kiss Peter, but he stopped him. Peter shook his head. “None of that with me.” He murmured into Evan’s hair. Evan continued sobbing into his chest.

“Will you take Felix to Dora after I die?” He whispered. Peter looked horrified. “Please.” He pleaded. “Peter, he will take him in my place if you don’t. Please.”

Peter nodded and sniffed. “I want to make your portrait. I will give it to your sister, too.” So he did.

Evan stood in front of Prewett Manor; it was well past midnight, and the world around him was silent and still. Evan’s senses heightened as he tried to find a way to warn them with his limited time.

“I expected better from you,” Cecilia’s voice broke the silence, her disappointment burning something in Evan.

Evan sighed heavily, his own remorse showing, “I expected better from me, too.”

Cecilia’s response was a subtle nod, her gaze piercing as she assessed Evan for something he couldn’t quite understand. “You need to leave,” he urged,

Cecilia didn’t move.

“They are going to kill you, and they are coming,” Evan whispered, his voice tinged with despair.

Before she registered the words, four masked figures materialized behind the wards.

“Hey, favourite cousin. Did you come here to visit Auntie Ceci and Luci too?” Bellatrix’s soft tone belied the menace in her words, sending a chill down Evan’s spine. “You and Reggie were always too soft for your own good,” she added with a manic grin before binding him with magic.

As chaos erupted around them, Evan found himself helpless to stop the unfolding tragedy. Despite his efforts to scream and cry out, he was rendered powerless as the events spiralled out of control.

Alice, Molly, and Lucretia weren’t at home; they didn’t respond to the flare in time, but the kids did. Evan wanted to die with them as he heard high-pitched screams. They could have made it silent, but they didn’t.

They left him there, body bound. Bellatrix was holding Hupplepuff’s Cup in his hands. It felt like death.

Alice, Frank and Moody arrived right after he broke free. He tried to explain, but he couldn’t find the words. What could he possibly say in this situation?

He tried to escape, but how could he escape from this kind of tragedy? Alastor Moody wasn’t a man who tortured. He didn’t kill unless he had to, and he had to.

Evan couldn’t go to Azkaban. He would rather die in their hands, so he forced them to kill him. Alice was ruthless, and someone legalized unforgivables towards Death Eaters.

“Pain was subdued,” the spirit said.

“Well, it f*cking hurt,” Lily breathed heavily.

“Imagine what he would go through if I didn’t intervene,” the spirit added.

“Oh my.” Marlene buried her face into her hands.

Peter was a death eater. None of them looked above twenty-five. Did he already join? Will he win no matter what?

Evan was in a trance, Barty was looking confused, and Regulus couldn’t take his eyes off Evan. Honestly, nobody could.

“Father figure… I’m not…I don’t have a single reason to believe his lies.” Barty whispered.

“How long?” Regulus growled, looking at Evan. He didn’t answer. “Evan!”

Evan blinked rapidly. “Not here.” He could only say.

Remus woke up to the sound of raised voices, finding himself caught in the middle of a heated argument between Peter and James.

“I don’t understand, Pete. What more do you want? We’re a family,” James shouted in frustration.

“I feel like we’re only a family to me, James,” Peter replied, his gaze shifting between Sirius and Remus with anger. “Some of us need to get their sh*t together.”

“What did I do to you?” Remus asked, feeling bewildered and overwhelmed by the sudden tension. He spoke before last night caught up to him.

“Nothing, Remus. Absolutely nothing. You’re not the problem. It’s just...” Peter’s voice trailed off, heavy with the weight of his emotions, before he stormed out of the room.

“What happened?” Remus asked, running his hands through his hair.

“I don’t know. We were just trying to finish today’s homework at the last minute, and he just snapped,” Sirius tried to explain, looking equally puzzled.

“He’s struggling with classes, and you always belittle him. How old are you?” James questioned, his expression incredulous.

“Like you can talk.” Sirius scoffed.

“It wasn’t like this,” James shook his head, disappointment evident in his voice.

As they sat at the Gryffindor table, Remus instinctively saved a seat for Barty without realizing it. When their eyes met, Barty quickly looked away.

“I’m going to check on Barty,” Remus announced suddenly, pushing his chair back and rising to his feet.

Approaching Barty from behind, Remus gently asked, “Why are you ignoring me?” Barty turned his head, his eyes shimmering with a hint of hope.

“I thought you wouldn’t want to be near me after last night,” Barty replied softly, looking smaller than anyone had ever seen him. Throughout his six years at Hogwarts, Barty had been known for his bravado, his sharp wit, and his loud presence. But now, he seemed fragile.

“Why? Because I learned you were capable of shagging Rosier. I already knew that,” Remus reassured him with a smile. “Come on, eat with me. And... we learned that he was also capable of it too.”

Despite Remus’s attempt to lighten the mood, Barty remained resigned, looking away and biting his cheeks.

“Barty, I’m going to sit and eat with Peter. I don’t think you are the biggest issue here.” Remus pressed gently.

Together, they returned to the Gryffindor table, where Lily smiled warmly at Barty. They didn’t talk about it, but Lily and his minds worked in sync most of the time. She knew what Remus was thinking. Remus wasn’t a person who would kill the baby Hitler. It would be hypocritical, and Barty said he had no reason, at least for now. They couldn’t lie there.

“I don’t think it was consensual,” Barty murmured.

“You didn’t know,” Remus reassured him.

“It doesn’t really matter.” Barty looked away with a grin on his face.

“He loved you.”

“That matters even less.”

In the second period, Remus had Potions, unable to tear his eyes away from Evan. He looked lost in thought throughout the entire class. Remus noticed that Lily seemed to be watching him as well.

“It’s so weird how love works,” Lily murmured, her gaze shifting between Evan and Snape. “It can make and break a person. He sacrificed himself for me, but he still managed to do it wrong. What did he think would happen, that I would accept my son’s death and stand aside?”

Remus nodded in agreement, though his thoughts were racing. He always knew the world wasn’t black and white, but he never thought about how bright the light could be inside the dark greys.

Remus caught up with Peter after Defence Against the Dark Arts, leading him to the backyard for a private conversation.

“What’s going on, Wormtail?” Remus asked. He needed to find what prompted him to even think about betraying them.

Peter sighed heavily. “Nothing, Moony,” he replied, his tone weighed down with emotion.

“You know I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s bothering you,” Remus said gently, placing a comforting hand on Peter’s shoulder.

“That’s the problem, isn’t it? I shouldn’t need help for a problem between us. It should just work,” Peter confessed.

“Nothing beautiful is easy to maintain, Wormtail,” Remus replied, his thoughts drifting to Sirius, then Barty and Evan.

“I feel abandoned like I’m caught in the crossfire between you,” Peter admitted, his voice trembling with vulnerability.

“You actually are caught in the crossfire. Sorry about that,” Remus murmured, but this wasn’t an acceptable reason.

“But Prongs can deal with it. He can be the bridge. I can’t, and I’m worried about when he won’t have the energy to do it. Sometimes I feel like I don’t have anybody to talk to,” Peter confessed, looking away and biting his lip.

“You don’t give yourself enough credit, Wormtail. We’re not dumb teenagers anymore,” Remus reassured him, giving a sad chuckle. “We don’t always have to be attached to each other, but that doesn’t mean I’m not here for you.”

Peter’s demeanour shifted, and he spoke quietly. “My mum is sick,” he murmured, his strained smile failing to mask the pain in his eyes. “Don’t worry, it’s not deadly, but she’ll suffer for the rest of her life.”

“I’m sorry, Pete,” Remus said softly, wrapping his arms around his friend and offering him comfort as Peter trembled in his embrace.

‘Please don’t do it.’ He thought. ‘Please.’

He went to the library to study with Lily, Barty, Dorcas, and Marlene afterwards. However, studying seemed to be the last thing on their minds.

“I don’t understand why Marls. Can you explain his behaviour? He had Ceci, he had Pandora, he had ‘me’, and he threw it all out just to die at what twenty? He could have had anyone’s help.” Dorcas took a drag from her cig and then wordlessly vanished the smoke with a flick of her wand. Then, his eyes found Remus. “I will kill your friend, you know. What does he mean he got McKinnon killed?”

Remus sighed and swayed his hand to Marlene. “She’s right here. She is obviously not dead. We will handle it. With. Time.”

“What do you mean he had you?.” asked Barty.

“Shut up, baby Hitler. I still don’t know what to do with you,” said Marlene, then Remus and Lily burst into laughter. They couldn’t help it.

“Baby, what?” asked Dorcas.

“Asking for help is hard, Cas.” Marlene rolled her eyes. “Hitler is the most evil man in the muggle world. They say you know who was inspired by him. There is a dilemma, an ethical question: if you could go back in time and kill baby Hitler, would you?”

Dorcas was lost in thought for a while. “I would kill baby you-know-who, but baby Crouch is a different story. We didn’t get any explanation yet.”

“Barty, please,” Barty said with a smile. He was putting on an act, but Remus could see how nervous he was.

“Don’t sweet talk me, baby Hitler,” Dorcas said, but her voice was laced with amusem*nt.

“But really. What do you mean Rosier had you? I didn’t ever see you together.” Lily asked.

“We were childhood friends,” Dorcas sighed. Then, on the first day at Hogwarts, puff started acting like I didn’t even exist. The same with Pandora.”

“Now! Remus Lupin!” Raven ordered. And they took their potions. Nervous couldn’t describe what Remus was feeling.

Remus woke up to the sound of a baby crying. There was a body tangled with him, belonging to a beautiful person. Their gender presentation was changing swiftly in their sleep. Their short violet hair was tousled by the pillow. He sleepily kissed the crown of their head and rose up to tend to the baby.

“What’s up, Teddy?” He asked, gently patting the baby’s turquoise hair. “Hungry?”

Teddy nuzzled his head against Remus’ chest, and Remus felt a painful tug at his heart. He grabbed a bottle from the cabinet and started feeding him.

After a couple of hours, the other person joined them, presenting as a woman. They sloppily kissed Remus and then turned all their attention to Teddy.

“Hey, Tonks, good morning,” Remus greeted them.

“How’s he been, Rem? I couldn’t wake up in time,” Tonks looked at him with a hint of concern.

“Oh, don’t worry about it; we had a great time,” he reassured them, wrapping his arms around them and giving them a kiss that bordered on the edge of passion.

“I should pack up. Mum’s waiting for us,” they said, their voice slightly hoarse.

Andy was waiting for them. Remus’ own thoughts mixed with this Remus’. ‘A Black,’ he thought. ‘They are Nymphadora Tonks.’ but the other Remus filled with disdain.

They had lunch. It was weird. It was obvious she didn’t like him. If Remus’ daughter married a man who is thirteen years older, he wouldn’t like him either. His being a werewolf probably didn’t help either, if she knew anyway.

“Then Harry knocked down Malfoy,” Tonks said.

“No, that was Sirius,” Remus said, softly smiling.

“I miss him,” Tonkd murmured.

“I know, me too,” he said, his voice thick with emotion as he stroked their hair, tears filling his eyes. “It wasn’t your fault,” Remus whispered as he cupped their cheeks.

He experienced a flashback. Sirius was disappearing into nothingness, Remus holding a boy who looked just like James in his arms to prevent him from following. He was holding himself from following, too. When he came back to himself, Tonks looked at him with concerned eyes.

Remus knew this was one of the last days they would spend in peace, so he made the most of it. He held Teddy in one arm and Tonks in the other for the rest of the day. When the sun went down, they whispered sweet nothings to each other and made out like teenagers. They made him feel young again.

Tonks was a gorgeous man, too. Their appearance didn’t change drastically. They were much taller and broader, and their face was more defined, but it didn’t feel like another person. They held Remus as he cried himself to sleep.

“I’m a coward,” Remus said between sobs. “Tonks, I left you. If it weren’t for Harry…” His voice was cut off by another sob. “How will I manage this?”

“Yes, you are a coward, but I don’t love you despite it, Rem. I love you with it. You fear that Teddy would grow up in a world with Voldemort in it, and you will do anything in your power to stop it.” Tonks said, tightening their hold.

“You are the third person who has called me a coward my entire life.” Remus chuckled sadly. “It’s funny, knowing me. Harry looked just like Regulus when he did it. Only two brave acts of mine were prompted by getting called a coward. Leaving Sirius and returning to you.”

At the dawn of the morning, a bright magpie made out of light illuminated their bedroom. “It started,” was the message.

He held them in their sleep for a while. Without waking them up, he slipped out of bed.

He had a goodbye to give. He apparated to Grimmauld Place. He stood in front of the portraits. Sirius put his in the middle of it to anger her mother. He didn’t update it after he escaped from Azkaban. He was still his sixteen-year-old self with too much life in it.

“I’m coming back to you,” Remus said, sadness filling the room.

“I’m not him.” Sirius pouted. Remus gave a chuckle, tainted with tears.

“You are the closest thing.”

“You loved him, not me. I watched you two for years behind this glass.” He tapped the glass. “You didn’t look at me twice. Not even after he died. He is the reason why James died, and you forgave him. I won’t comfort you.”

Remus smiled. “Are you jealous of yourself?” He asked. He almost felt smug.

“Yes! Rightfully so.”

“I loved you too. In my twisted way. We didn’t deserve that love back then.”

“You love my cousin in your twisted way, too.” Sirius snarled. Remus just looked at him longingly.

“Yes, we were borrowing time, and it’s the end.”

Then he left for said end.

“That was Potter!” a child yelled in the middle of the Great Hall.

As the boy came into view, Remus held his breath.

The room was packed; Kingsley and Remus were looking up at him, as were a group of students and the Weasleys.

“Harry, what’s happening?” said Remus, meeting him at the foot of the stairs. His name was Harry then.

“Voldemort’s on his way; they’re barricading the school. Snape’s run for it. What are you doing here? How did you know?” Harry asked. Remus felt a deep sorrow at the mention of Snape’s name. Regret, longing, betrayal. Currently, Remus couldn’t reason why.

“We sent messages to the rest of Dumbledore’s Army,” one of the twins explained. “You couldn’t expect everyone to miss the fun, Harry, and the D.A. let the Order of the Phoenix know, and it all kind of snowballed.”

“What first, Harry?” called the other twin. “What’s going on?”

“They’re evacuating the younger kids, and everyone’s meeting in the Great Hall to get organized,” Harry said. “We’re fighting.”

There was a great roar and a surge toward the foot of the stairs; he was in front of Harry as they ran them heading up into the main castle.

“Come on, Luna,” a boy called as he passed, holding out his free hand; she took it and followed him back up the stairs. The girl was a carbon copy of Pandora.

Molly was struggling with her daughter. Remus was watching next to them.

“You’re underage!” Molly shouted at her daughter. “I won’t permit it! The boys, yes, but you, you’ve got to get home!”

“I won’t!”

“I’m in Dumbledore’s Army—”

“A teenagers’ gang!”

“A teenagers’ gang that’s about to take him on, which no one else has dared to do!” said the twin.

“She’s sixteen!” shouted Molly. “She’s not old enough! What you two were thinking, bringing her with you—”

Remus grimaced internally. Half of the people in this room are sixteen, too, he thought. Look what we are doing.

“So—’ ow eez little Teddy?” A beautiful woman asked.

Remus blinked at her, startled.

“I— oh yes, he’s fine!” Remus said loudly. “Yes, Tonks is with him at her mother’s. Here, I’ve got a picture!” Remus said, pulling a photograph from inside his jacket and showing it to the woman and Harry, who saw a tiny baby with a tuft of bright turquoise hair waving fat fists at the camera.

Some family reunions and fights later. He heard it. His voice. More high-pitched than the last.

“Give me Harry Potter,” said you-know-who’s voice, and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you should be rewarded. You have until midnight.” His voice was chilling. His forty-year-old self wasn’t as afraid as him, though.

The silence swallowed them all again. Every head turned every eye in the place seemed to have found Harry, to hold him frozen in the glare of thousands of invisible beams. Then, a figure rose from the Slytherin table. “But he’s there! Potter’s there! Someone grab him!”

Before Harry could speak, there was a massive movement. The Gryffindors in front of him had risen and stood facing not Harry but the Slytherins. Then the Hufflepuffs stood, and almost at the same moment, the Ravenclaws, all of them, with their backs to Harry, all of them looking toward the girl instead, and Harry’s wands emerging everywhere, pulled from beneath cloaks and under sleeves.

“Thank you, Miss Parkinson,” said McGonagall in a clipped voice. “You will leave the Hall first with Mr. Filch. If the rest of your House could follow.”

Harry disappeared. Remus found his way to the tower. Kingsley was there. They were defending it with their whole being.

“You shouldn’t have,” Remus shouted as Tonks ran towards him. They jumped into his arms, and they were locked in an embrace. “It’s Teddy who needs you.”

“He will sleep till dawn and snore like his father.” They murmured and pulled away from the hug. “It’s you that needs me tonight.”

Remus saw dead children, teachers, and friends, but he kept going. He kept fighting with Teddy in his mind. The last one was Dolohov.

On the brink of his death, he saw Tonks reaching out to him. “As beautiful as ever.” He thought. They were next to him, side by side. Their hands didn’t touch in the end.

“Oh, dears, this was the hardest one,” murmured the spirit.

“So, a second wizarding war,” Marlene said, her eyes closed in reflection.

“And we weren’t in it because we were probably dead by then,” Dorcas added, her tone tinged with sorrow.

“She’s four,” Regulus blurted out suddenly.

“They looked like an adult to me, Regulus,” Remus sighed, his thoughts briefly drifting to the love he felt for her. It wasn’t the love he felt for Sirius or Anthony. It wasn’t more or less, just different, and it was welcome.

“Black magnet all the way, huh?” Barty teased, attempting to lighten the mood. “I will let you know that I’m a Black too.”

“So, Harry Potter,” Lily interjected, shifting the conversation. “Why would you know who wants a seventeen-year-old?”

“He had your eyes,” Remus murmured, his gaze distant as memories resurfaced.

“My daughter was there,” Pandora breathed, her voice trembling.

“I don’t want to spoil it, but he was the last one alive. So, get your sh*t together if you don’t want history to repeat.”

As the morning sun streamed through the windows, James burst into the room, his cheerful voice cutting through the quiet. “Good morning, moonshine!” he exclaimed, leaping onto Remus’s bed and straddling him. Remus groaned, memories of the night flooding back.

“As much as I love waking up to you on top of me, Prongs, get off,” Remus warned, trying to push James away.

“Someone’s having filthy dreams about me? Moony, I never thought we’d reach that level. This is the best day of my life. I’m taken at the moment, but Lily and I can arrange something,” James joked before bouncing off the bed and heading to the common room.

Remus dressed and joined them in the common room, where he found Lily and James engaged in intense conversation. “What are you two talking about?” he asked, taking a seat next to Lily.

“I was just telling Lily about the threesome of our dreams,” James quipped, earning a puzzled look from Lily. “Apparently, Moony here loves having me on top of him.”

Lily blushed and playfully elbowed Remus. “Prongs, you know you’re the love of my life, but I’m a hundred per cent gay. Lily and I wouldn’t work,” Remus clarified, draping an arm around Lily’s shoulder.

“You weren’t gay last night,” teased Lily, sticking out her tongue mischievously.

“Who wasn’t gay last night?” Sirius’s voice piped up as he settled next to James. Remus felt a pang of pain at the sight of him, his mind still reeling from the previous night’s revelations. He did love him again, but he lost him.

“Remus, care to explain?” James prompted, raising an eyebrow.

“We met with Rosier, Pandora,” Lily began.

“Moony, she was in a happy relationship with that Malfoy kid. The tolerable one.” James gasped, shock evident in his voice. He turned to Lily, “And you watched? I can’t even recognize you two anymore.” Sirius tensed beside James but remained silent.

“Let her finish,” Remus cautioned, shooting Lily a warning glance.

“That woman is the goddess of divination. Everything coming out of her mouth is doomed to not happen. So we got curious. According to her, Remus will be married to someone and have a kid with them in his forties,” Lily lied smoothly.

“She said thirty-eight,” Remus corrected, his tone sharp.

“I don’t think that makes him less gay, Lils,” James said with a smile and more relaxed.

“They weren’t exactly a man,” Lily said.

“Still doesn’t make him less gay,” Sirius said with a smile this time; stiffness was disappearing.

“You learn new things every day,” Lily murmured. “She mentioned the kid’s name, Edward. You should have seen Remus’s face. We asked about the partner...” Lily continued.

“She didn’t say anything about the partner,” Remus interjected, his eyes narrowing as he stared at Lily.

Together, they made their way to the Great Hall. Barty stood in front of the arch, waiting for Remus. As Remus approached, Barty’s eyes lit up with a warm smile, and they entered the Hall together, side by side.

“We were just discussing Remus losing his title as the gayest gay. How do you feel about that?” Lily asked, her eyes twinkling mischievously.

“It was never his anyway. I’ve held onto it strongly for sixteen years,” Barty replied with a smile.

“What will your father say about ending the bloodline? He will be so sad.” Remus said mockingly.

Barty sneered at him. “Are you projecting Lupin?”

Remus scoffed back. “You can have me until he forces you to produce little dictators in the make. I’m not a swan. I won’t die when we break up,” Remus sighed, swaying his fork between them.

“Yes, the most passionate thing I’ve heard: ‘I won’t die when we break up.’ You’re the one and only, dear. Romanticism at its best,” Barty quipped, kissing Remus’s cheek quickly. “Is this about last night?”

“Was Crouch with you too?” James asked, and Lily nodded. “You two are sneaking around, doing the most horrendous things. You don’t include either me, Padfoot, or Wormtail, but you include him. I’m disappointed,” his tone light-hearted and teasing.

“We’re a new trio; what can I say?” Lily chirped. Then she asked, “Where’s Peter?”

“He’s got the flu. He’s resting,” Sirius answered. Remus flinched, but Barty squeezed his hand reassuringly.

“I have Divination first thing in the morning,” groaned Barty.

“Isn’t taking all those classes exhausting?” Lily inquired.

“It’s not like I have a choice, and I have started to see it in a new light now,” Barty murmured softly.

“Baby Hitler!” Marlene’s voice cut through the buzz of the Great Hall, drawing Barty’s attention. He turned to see her approaching from the Hufflepuff table, her expression urgent.

Barty raised an eyebrow, curious about the interruption. “What’s up?” he asked, his tone casual but attentive.

“They said the pitch is yours after the last period,” Marlene explained quickly, a note of apology in her voice. “Care to change? I had something come up.”

“Of course,” he replied, “I’ll make it work.”

“What is baby Hitler?” James asked with a frown after Marlene left. Lily chuckled.

“It’s an inside joke,” Remus answered.

Remus’ mind was clouded all day. He couldn’t focus on his studies. All he could think was Sirius, Sirius and Sirius. After a lifetime, after falling in love again, and after his death, he couldn’t forget him; it was simply impossible. Was running even logical? Nothing about Sirius was logical.

Remus approached Lily at the Quidditch pitch, a puzzled expression on his face. “You don’t even watch James’ games,” he remarked, trying to catch his breath after running to find her.

Lily looked up from the book in her hand, her expression indifferent. “Marlene asked me to come,” she replied simply, her attention returning to the pages before her. “Not like I understand it anyway.”

They observed the practice session, which could best be described as chaotic. Remus found it intriguing to watch Dorcas play. She approached the game like it was a duel, playing with a brutal intensity that was not without skill, yet it lacked the cruelty.

Remus hesitated for a moment before confessing to Lily, “I can’t get Sirius out of my mind.”

Lily’s response was blunt. “Was that supposed to be a confession?” she asked, her tone conveying exasperation.

“No, this is so much worse,” Remus continued, his words tumbling out in a rush. “He’s in my every thought. I have a boyfriend who I love. I really love him, Lily. How will I get rid of it? How did you do?”

Lily’s expression softened as she replied, her voice gentle yet tinged with sadness. “I didn’t, Moony. I don’t know if it works the same between lovers, but you can’t get rid of a love engraved in your soul from such a young age just like that. No matter what they have done, a part of them will live with you forever.” She trailed off, lost in thought.

“I have decided. We need a prank.” James shouted in the middle of the room after dinner. “It’s been too long.”

Peter’s face lightened. “What are you thinking?” He asked.

“Nothing childish for sure, but we can’t kill the pranksters in us,” James answered.

“We lost our charm the moment Jacob Oliver and Duncan Ashe learned that detentions aren’t that bad,” Remus said to rile them up.

“Go on and hang out with them then” James pouted.

“I have better things to do than pranking with fourth years.” Remus rolled his eyes.

“Yes, pranking with us.” Peter insisted.

Remus raised an eyebrow. “What’s in your mind?” Then Peter explained.

“Your turn; this would answer your questions from last night, Miss Lily Evans,” the spirit said bluntly, its words cutting through the tension in the room.

Lily woke up in a cosy flat, the soft glow of morning filtering through the windows. A baby lay peacefully in a crib nearby, a small smile playing on his lips. Remus couldn’t help but notice the recurring theme of new beginnings. James was amusing the baby with playful faces.

Settling next to Lily on the couch, James leaned in for a slow, tender kiss. Their wedding bands gleamed in the sunlight. The baby, named Harry, seemed to grow in the warmth of their love.

Lily opened her phone and called Remus.

“Did you cast the charm?” Remus asked immediately.

“No, we are waiting for Sirius.”

“I don’t get why you don’t just accept Dumbledore’s offer. He’s the safest option.” Remus sighed.

“He’s too unpredictable. He might think that putting our one-year-old son against you-know-who because a prophecy said so might be the best shot at defeating him. He’s desperate at this point. What did it say? The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… He is a baby.”

“You don’t give him enough credits, Lils.”

“And you are giving him too much credit, Moony. Enough of that! How are you?”

“Dreadful. I’m babysitting Daphne.”

“How did he trust you with a child?” Lily frowned.

“Thank you for your very kind words, Lils.”

“Everybody has their flaws. Learn to accept them.”

Sirius apparated inside. Looking at her with questioning eyes. His hair was short; Remus didn’t like it as much. But he got taller and broader. Lily mouthed ‘Moony’ and held her index finger.

“They are expecting again.” Remus sighed across the line.

“Will they keep trying until it’s a boy?” Lily sank into the couch.

“I guess.” Remus’ sadness was evident even in his voice.

“You should dump him. You deserve better.”

“Do I?” The fact that it was a genuine question broke Lily’s heart.

“Yes Rem! You do.”

“It’s not like they are together.” Remus tried to defend.

Lily sighed. “I know you. The second child means they had sex at least twice. Emphasis on at least. Two times too much for you. Stop dying inside and find somebody new.”

“Who will I date? Snape? I can’t date a werewolf.” Remus chuckled.

“Keep self-deprecating, then. Sirius is here. I gotta go.”

“Bye, Lils.” And she ended the call.

Sirius fell onto the couch in front of Lily. “Married man, eh?” Sirius raised an eyebrow. He was trying to look uninterested, but he wasn’t doing a good job. “Pure-blood, probably. Hope he’s the good kind.” He murmured, but there was venom in his words.

James got up and hugged his best friend. “I missed you so much.” He said.

Sirius gulped after they separated. “I think… I think we should make Pete the secret keeper.”

“Why?” James asked.

“Because I’m too obvious, and I can string them along without getting caught.”

“That means you are still the better option,” Lily said she was confused.

“I don’t trust myself,” Sirius confessed.

“You don’t trust yourself to not tell death eaters where we are.” James clarified. “Why?”

Sirius took a deep breath. “If Remus is the spy, he might… He might find a way to convince me.”

“How can you think that?” Lily gasped.

“There is a spy among us. It’s not me; it’s not Pete. It’s definitely not Dorcas.”

“No, I’m not doing this.” Lily shook her head.

Sirius’ whole demeanour changed. “Who is Remus’ boyfriend Lils.”

“What’s have to do with anything?”

“Please answer me.” His voice wavered.

Lily closed his eyes and hoped that Remus would forgive him. “You can’t tell anyone.” She warned, and Sirius nodded. “Anthony Greengrass.” Sirius’ breath hitched.

“He’s not dangerous, Pads,” James said, confused about his reaction.

“On the surface. He hung around with them in Hogwarts.” Sirius sneered, pulled The Prophet and put it on the coffee table.

Prewetts are Wiped Out, it said. Evan Rosier is seen and killed by Alastor Moody after the attack. Four others escaped.

Tears flowed the moment Lily set her eyes on the article. James wrapped her and shed his own tears.

Lily sniffed. “I still don’t understand what Anthony has to do with any of it.”

“These two were like James and I in school.”

“They have been dating for five years. He would have noticed if something was up.” Lily countered.

Sirius hid his shock quickly. “Or maybe they both were in it. Does he know he’s a werewolf? An easy target to manipulate.”

“You are crossing the line.” Lily shot him a dark look.

“You talk like his best scenario isn’t being Dumbledore’s little pet.”

Lily rose from her seat and launched herself towards Sirius. “And whose f*cking fault is that?” She yelled.

James put himself between them. “Let’s calm down. Alright.”

Sirius resigned and looked away. “I don’t know what you are talking about.” He muttered.

“Oh! Now you don’t.” Lily snarled.

“Lily, are you really willing to bet Harry’s life on it?”

“Yes. I trust him more than I trust you, actually.” Lily snapped.

Sirius’ hurt spread throughout his whole face. “Lily, please.”

Lily stood quiet for a while, thinking. “Fine! But I give you one week to sort your sh*t out with Remus. If you can’t prove anything, we will tell him. If anything happens, that’s on you. Don’t forget that, and start taking your medication. You are becoming paranoid and delusional.”

They called Peter and explained the watered-down version to him without adding the Remus part.

Peter, understandably, was nervous. If it were for Lily, he wouldn’t have put him on the spot. It was obvious he didn’t want it.

Lily read and searched every protective spell she could during her last days. She didn’t spare anything from the hardest ones to the darkest ones.

“If it weren’t for Harry, I would have feared you would become the next dark lord, Lils,” James said, sitting next to her.

“You should read them too.” She murmured, leaning against James’ chest.

“What kind of Dark Lord would you be? Destroying mankind would be first on the list, but you would be humane.” He said with a smile, playing with her hair.

“I was a firm believer that all humans should be chastised, but here we are, married with a son. All because of your stupid charm.” Lily said with a bite, but James kissed her passionately.

The scene skipped.

Dorcas’ death shook Lily too much. She cried for hours. James was distraught, too. Neither of them was thinking straight.

Then the doorbell rang. James got up from the couch and opened the door, expecting Peter. But Voldemort was standing in front of him.

“Lily, take Harry and run upstairs.” He yelled. When she was climbing the stairs, she noticed James’ wand. Forgotten on the couch. James Potter fell like a marionette whose strings were cut; Lily screamed in agony and held onto his son.

She locked herself in a room. Pushed the furniture in front of the door and placed Harry into his cot.

She waited for the footsteps to reach her. He blasted the door.

“Stand aside. I’m here for the boy.” He said. Red eyes are boring into the baby. She needed him to kill her. She had been preparing for it for days, weeks, and even days. She was repeating the incantations of the spell in her head. It was a sacrificial blood magic. One of the oldest ones. Definitely illegal. Darkest magic you could find. Kings and Queens used it to make human shields. Sacrificing one to save yourself and get revenge at the same time. A god could die after attacking someone who performed the ritual. Lily reworked it. She was sacrificing herself to save his son. Totally wandless and wordless. The original one required indifference, disloyalty and total selfishness to save their own life. She just needed to be loving, loyal and selfless. It came easily to her.

“Please kill me.” She said, “Spare the boy.” She continued to recite the spell in her head.

“Stand. Aside.” Voldemort repeated, sounding almost annoyed. Lily didn’t know why he was insisting, but it was giving her the time she needed.

“No.” She yelled. “No.”

“I said, step aside.” Voldemort took his eyes off the boy and looked at Lily properly for the first time.

“And I said no!” She snarled, finishing the spell.

“Even Severus wouldn’t be worth this,” Voldemort muttered under his breath. A small smile spread across her face as she saw the green light coming from his wand. And it was done. Harry was safe.

Regulus met his gaze head-on. He could see the pain behind Remus’s eyes; he was holding back tears. The world was spinning.

“The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…” Pandora recited. “Sybill of all people.” She huffed. “Why did he think it had to be this specific boy? Her prophecies don’t work in a sense like ours about time. Hundreds of people were born at the end of July, and defying the Dark Lord isn’t that hard. Even Evan did it at least three times. Didn’t he think people could defy him behind his back?”

Dorcas leaned back in her chair, “Maybe he thought it would be easier to kill a baby.” she mused, her tone tinged with frustration.

Pandora turned to Raven, her eyes narrowing with determination. “Raven,” she addressed the spirit with a sense of urgency, “is the prophecy a fixed event?”

Raven shook its head. “No,” its voice echoing softly in the room.

Lily couldn’t resist asking, “What exactly is a fixed event?”

Dorcas leaned forward, her eyes alight with understanding. “Visions you can’t change after you see them,” she explained, “This place is like a divination paradise,” she added, a hint of awe colouring her tone.

Regulus raised his eyebrows. “What falls under the category of ‘fixed’?” he asked, his mind racing with possibilities.

“Births, birthdays and names,” Raven replied, its voice steady. “I can’t intervene with soul distribution, and all names are self-fulfilling prophecies for wizards and witches,” it continued. “They’re as important as souls.”

Remus huffed in frustration, his mind racing. “Tell that to my father,” he muttered under his breath. He was nervous about their reactions. If the library didn’t protect secrets, he would have a meltdown about it. Instead, he was having a meltdown about Sirius and Peter. His best-case scenario is being Dumbledore’s little pet. Echoed through his mind. Lily was stoic. She didn’t even blink once.

Marlene’s eyes lit up with realization. “Wolf McWolf.” She said with a smile spreading across her face. They needed humour.

Dorcas muttered. “That is not the weirdest thing we have experienced. Where do you transform? Remind me to stay away from it. “

“Shrieking Shack.”

“Oh! You are the one doing the shrieking.” Pandora pointed out, then realized what she said and mumbled an apology.

“What happens if the parents aren’t together anymore when we change the future? Is there a river theory time travel type of sh*t to pull parents together?” Lily asked

“No. They will be born to different parents. Universe values consent much more than humans do.”

“When are we going to kill Peter?” Regulus asked with a cold expression.

“We are not killing Peter,” Remus said reluctantly. “He hasn’t done anything yet.”

“You can’t just expect someone to give their life for someone. Nobody is that important.” Evan glared at Regulus.

“He shouldn’t be in that position in the first place,” Lily muttered.

“Speaking from your virtuous high horse is easy, right?” Evan raised his eyebrows.

“What high horse? There is a megalomaniac going after people like me, and you are one of them.” Lily screeched.

“And he had a f*cking sign on his forehead that says I’m the weakest link in Potter’s inner circle, come and kill me.”

“Evan!” Regulus warned him.

“You know nothing about feeling, no being weak. None of you.” Evan’s nostrils flared.

“Don’t we?” Remus chuckled darkly.

“Don’t start! You are the most privileged werewolf in all of Wizarding Britain. You got away with a murder attempt because Regulus keeps Severus in a tight f*cking leash. You got Anthony wrapped up in your fingers. You have Potter. Don’t get me started on how influential your father was in making you join Hogwarts.”

“I think we agreed that I’m Dumbledore’s little pet. Doesn’t feel very privileged.” Remus huffed. “The best case scenario for a werewolf.”

Remus was uneasy. His mind clouded. He wished he could go back to yesterday and just think about Sirius. He avoided Peter at all costs in the morning. He had astronomy and advanced charms before lunch so he could keep avoiding him. He thought he had answered the baby Hitler dilemma in his head long ago, but it didn’t work the same way when they were someone so close to him. He is capable of betraying them, Remus learned, but will he do it this time? What prompted him? Does he need help? “Too soft, Remus!” Does Remus need to shun him out of their life?

Lily remained in her room until the second period. She had missed Astronomy. Barty didn’t come to breakfast either. Remus wasn’t present half of the time, lost in his own head.

At lunch, James, usually full of life, looked utterly miserable. James shouldn’t be miserable. He was alive, and he was the only thing he could look at and feel at ease with right now.

“What is going on, Prongs?” Sirius asked, worried. “Where is Lily? She didn’t come to breakfast either.”

“I think she is breaking up with me,” James murmured, looking away.

Peter rolled his eyes. “I’m sure you’re just being dramatic, Prongs,” He said dismissively. They must have had the conversation after Remus confronted Peter. Was that the turning point? Remus wouldn’t have confronted him if it wasn’t for the library. Was it something from their shared past or a future event? Remus knew he might never find out. ‘I’m just going to be cautious,’ He repeated the words to himself.

“No, Wormtail! I haven’t seen her like that since we…” He trailed. Then whispered, “Snape.”

“Have you talked to her?” Remus asked.

“No, she straight up ignored me and went back to her dorm,” James said. His disappointment wasn’t something you could not see. It was loud and painful.

“I’m sure Lily would inform you if she decided to break up with you, Prongs,” Sirius said, patting his back.

He could feel Regulus’ glares towards Peter all day. It still felt like a fever dream. Peter did everything he could to avoid his gaze, but it affected him.

When he caught Regulus’ eyes, he didn’t look away. The corners of Regulus’ mouth raised slightly.

Lily was at the potions. Her actions were monotone, and her eyes were frozen. James was sending her worried glances, but Lily didn’t look his way.

“Lily, talk to me.” Remus pleaded after they nearly finished the potion.

“I don’t think there is anything else left Rem. You saw it together with me.” Lily murmured silently.

“I want to hear what you are thinking about. I’m well aware of the situation.” Remus said, resigned.

“How can you even breathe the same air as them?” Lily said, her anger was seeping through despite her cold attitude.

“It’s the same as the fifth year. It helps that it didn’t and won’t happen. Now spill. All I can do is listen to you,” Remus murmured.

“My father would kill me himself if he knew I got knocked up at nineteen. He would have stopped that wedding with a gun. He wouldn’t let me play house in a f*cking war as targets with a baby. He will die in two years if I don’t change something. God, he could even be sick right now.” Lily muttered, her eyes were red from the start. She probably was crying until class.

“I’m sorry, Lily,” Remus said sincerely, wrapping his arm around her.

“I can’t even guess what made me so stupid. Things have been going well with James but not ‘that’ well, Rem.” Lily murmured into Remus’ chest.

“James is a very family-oriented person, Lils, and he has some convincing skills,” Remus said, adding the final ingredient for sleeping drought. He thought about stealing some but decided.

“It looks so insignificant next to what we had seen. I feel guilty thinking about it.” Lily confessed.

“Don’t,” Remus reassured. “James thinks you are breaking up with him, though.” Lily chuckled.

“I’m never letting him go,” she said and crossed her legs. “What are we going to do about Peter?” She asked after a minute of silence.

“I don’t know. I think I will just watch his every move like I do with Barty. We can’t exactly tell James and Sirius why we don’t trust Peter anymore. To tell the truth, I’m more angry with Sirius.”, Remus said. The truth is that trust ceased to exist between them long ago but doesn’t Remus feel hurt?

“But we can’t pull him to the library and make him tell what he thinks about it. Barty already proved that he doesn’t have a reason to join you-know-who. We can’t lie there.” Lily said, looking away.

Remus caught Regulus with a wand on Peter’s neck in one of their secret passages.

“What the f*ck are you doing?” He shouted to Regulus.

“You know what exactly I am doing, Remus. Let it!” Regulus snarled. Peter was shaking with fear.

“So it isn’t a problem when you do it, but you become a hero if it comes to him. Get away from him, Regulus. You were a death eater, too.” Remus said with a flared nose.

“Defected.” Regulus hissed “I would never kill her,” he shouted in agony.

“I know. But it’s not up to you. Get away now!” Remus said calmly and coldly against his wishes.

“I’ll always breathe on his back. You can’t stop me.” Regulus snarled and left.

“Reg is fuming,” Barty whispered at dinner.

“He doesn’t have a right to,” Remus said through his teeth. “I had to obliviate Peter after he attacked him.”

“Isn’t that illegal?” Barty raised his eyebrows.

“Do you want him to ask questions we cannot physically answer? And since when do you care about if something is illegal?” Remus sighed.

“Since my father put me under a curse because of it.” Barty glared at him. “We had Charms with Marlene. She passed messages from Dora. He really was planning to kill him. Marlene suggested that we use veritaserum to ensure that he isn’t planning to kill you all.”

Remus spent the rest of the evening with Anthony in the Astronomy Tower. He was down, and Anthony noticed it. He snuggled closer to him and buried his face on his neck. They stood there like that for hours. Soft kisses were shared. Remus tried to drown himself in him to forget.

“Daphne.” He murmured.

“What?” Anthony asked, smiling widely.

“For your daughter’s name. If you have one.” Remus wanted to be the reason he named his daughter. He won’t be sticking around for as long this time, but he wanted a reminder that he had been loved.

“Remus, I don’t think we should talk about this.” Anthony sighed.

“Don’t worry.” He placed a kiss on his cheek and trailed kisses down to his neck. “I just wanted you to know that I know. We are enjoying this until then.”

“Can’t I keep you?” His voice wavered as Remus sucked into his vein. Remus straddled his legs and leaned in more, grinding against him.

“You can’t.” He rasped.

“Remus.” Anthony moaned and made his move to unbuckle Remus’ belt. Clashing their mouths once again. It was open-mouthed and dirty. They were only sharing spit at this point. Remus tried to slow it down a bit, but he was still grinding against his palm.

Anthony moved to his neck after silently asking if he could leave marks. That was not something they did, and it unlocked something in Remus.

When he got back in the dorm, as a total mess, all eyes were on him, but he pretended not to notice and buried his nose in his transfiguration textbook.

He tries to prove himself that Peter is still his Peter, the boy whose mind is up in the clouds half of the time, the boy who always can make them dodge unnecessary heavy conversations, the boy who is loyal to, no, Remus realizes, depended on them.

“Now it’s time for you, Regulus Black.”

Regulus couldn’t shake off the feeling of dread that had kept him tossing and turning all night. Anxiety gripped him tightly, refusing to let go even as the first rays of sunlight crept into his room. Eventually, he gave up on sleep and waited for Kreacher all night.

Kreacher came back with deep cuts and bruises in his skin. He couldn’t breathe. Regulus fell on his knees and murmured healing spells. Tears flowed on his face.

He let him sleep in his bed until noon, never leaving his side.

“Kreacher, what happened? Tell me.” Regulus asked with concern.

Kreacher talked about a cave, a lake with inferi in it, a poison that burns and makes you relive your worst memories and a locket with Slytherin initials. Regulus taught Kreacher how to read when he was a child.

“It smelled like death, Master Regulus.”

Regulus listened calmly, not wanting to scare the elf even more.

He opened his notebook. It was full of newspaper scraps about Voldemort in it. In every case, he should have been dead but wasn’t. On another page, there were dates every time he tried to kill him and failed.

He pulled another notebook from his bag.

IMMORTAL

Elixir of Life - He doesn’t have the stone.

Unicorn Blood - He definitely drinks it, but it doesn’t explain how he manages to escape attacks.

Phoenix - If he had one, Evan would have seen it.

Deathly Hallows - Potter has the cloak.

Horcruxes - Requires blood sacrifice. Magical creatures can smell death from it. To stay alive after performing, you need a soul trade; you must be the firstborn to someone fully devoted to you.

He turned the page.

Knights of Walpurgis

Tom Riddle

Abraxas Malfoy

Noah Rosier

Helena Wilkes

Gregory Mulciber

Anastasia Avery

Corvus Lestrange

The soul will be free if the Horcrux is destroyed. Noah Rosier was a man who gave his life to Voldemort. He wouldn’t refuse to give him his firstborn, too.

If the locket was a Horcrux, he could save Evan.

He turned the page again…

There was a moving photo on the page.

Professor Black was smiling. His one arm was wrapped around a man who looked just like James, but he wasn’t James. There was a young woman with wavy light brown hair and slant brown eyes right next to him. In his other arm, there was a middle-aged woman with unruly hair and deep brown eyes. Regulus caressed the photo, and a tear dropped on top of it.

In the loving memory of

Alphard Pollux Black 1969-2017

Emelie Potter 1969-2017

Atlas Potter 1995-2017

Asena Potter 1995-2017

Arriving at Evan’s house, a wave of drowning energy washed over him. He was lying on his bed, curled up.

“What happened?” Regulus asked.

Evan turned to him. He had dark circles under his eyes. “He said you didn’t hold your end of the bargain.” He murmured.

“I did. I made sure they passed the pro-werewolf legislation. It was the only thing I enjoyed doing since I joined.” Regulus explained in horror. He let the others change some things. The things about children. He didn’t think Voldemort would find it satisfactory, but Abbott’s would never have passed the bill if he hadn’t let them. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to steady himself. “Where is Barty?”

“He is snuggling Ministry files,” Evan replied.

“He will get in trouble.”

“The Dark Lord won’t put his best spy under the bus. They are still waiting for his father to be the Minister of Magic. I feel like everything’s my fault.”

“No, it’s not,” Regulus said firmly.

“I did bring him here.”

“You had no choice.”

“I could let him be.”

“He would have gone mad.”

“Like he’s not right now.” Evan grimaced.

Regulus sat on Evan’s bed, right next to him. “Did you know The Sorting Hat tried to put me in Gryffindor for three whole minutes?”

“Not entirely shocking.” Evan deadpanned, trying to smile, but he failed. Regulus nodded.

“It said I could be a true Gryffindor. The legendary kind.”

“How did you convince it?” Evan asked, going along with Regulus’ strange conversation.

“The question is why?”

“Isn’t it your parents? I heard your brother got in a lot of trouble after he was sorted. I even enjoyed it a bit. No offense.” Evan rolled to face him properly. It wasn’t enjoyable at all, seeing Sirius crushing under pressure.

“I wouldn’t get in trouble; they wouldn’t care. They never cared about me.”

“Why then?”

“I needed to be my own person, not the shadow of Sirius, and if you trust the hat enough, it can see your reasons. It was a life and death situation for me, hence self-preservation.” Regulus leaned towards the headboard.

“Dramatic poet boy.” Evan huffed.

“Evan, I’m dying.”

Evan got up and searched Regulus’ face for mischief. “It’s not funny.” He frowned.

“I’m not joking. I’m sick, and I knew I would die as a teen since I was four. I’m surprised I made it this far. That’s why I’m free as I am. My mother would skin me alive to follow a half-blood lord no matter how much she agrees with him if she cared.”

“No!” Evan yelped, cupping Regulus’ face.

A tear spilled from Regulus’ eye. “I’m sorry.” He said. “But I will fix everything, Ev. I will die trying.”

Evan started sobbing into Regulus’ shoulder. It took too much time to separate. He was clutching his sides, never letting go.

When they finally let each other go, Regulus found his way to a room. He knocked on the door. “Felix, can I come in?”

“Reggie!” The boy shouted, opened the door and threw himself to Regulus.

“What are you doing?” Regulus asked, walking around the room. Felix showed him the drawings he made.

Felix’s eyes lightened. “This is Evan.” He said, pointing out the blue dragon. “He’s a Swedish Short-Snout. They don’t like people, don’t go out, and they survive because of it, just like Evan.” Regulus smiled sadly.

“And this is Barty. He’s a Norwegian Ridgeback. Because they are aggressive but brilliant and pointy like Barty.” He giggled.

“And this is you, a Chinese Fireball. Did you know they are called Lion Dragons, and you are the heart of the lion? It feels fitting.”

“You are brilliant, Felix,” Regulus said, forcing a smile. “These are beautiful.”

“You think so?” Felix looked thrilled. Regulus nodded, trying to send back his tears and tightly hugged him.

Regulus dreaded leaving Evan’s, but he had to. If he stayed longer, he would have to face Barty, and he couldn’t say goodbye to Barty. Barty wouldn’t understand.

Remus,

I don’t know when this will reach you. But it would be in my favour if it arrived late so you wouldn’t do something to save me with your self-sacrificing Gryffindoresqiue ways. I’m just realizing after I graduate that the houses were a stupid idea. Slytherins are misguided Hufflepuffs. We are loyal to which we are deemed family. And Ravenclaws are over-guided Slytherins. Gryffindors are pompous assholes unrelated to the topic except you, of course. Lucky for you, my name means heart of the lion.

Remus, you were still my family. My heart still beats faster when I think about you, not in the way it did when we were little boys, but with more respect and admiration. I know we didn’t talk about why we fell out. It wasn’t a hot topic after I started acting like I was in a pure-blood mania like the rest of the family. I believed in it for a bit after Lily. She broke my heart, and Severus’ and I didn’t have the best influence. It looked like it was self-explanatory, but it wasn’t.

I pulled myself back because I thought if you felt bad about me putting distance between us, you would find a reason to protect yourself. I knew then, I don’t know if it’s true now, I hope it’s not, that you don’t care about yourself. You didn’t value yourself like I do. I, in my fourteen-year-old undeveloped brain, thought you would start doing it not to lose me. I now understand that it was a horrendous plan. You got isolated from the people I was trying to protect you from, and I got isolated from Evan, who led me here. Then, I couldn’t find a way back in. You got Lily, though. I’m sure she makes things better. The wedding looked nice all over the Quibbler. Not to be bitter, but I am. I don’t believe Potter can change. It was too pure-blood of him to marry this young. But when I think about it, Uncle Cyngus was thirteen when Bellatrix was born. Xen did a very good job picking the pictures. Lily looked mesmerizing in that dress.

I’m a death eater now. I have been since I was sixteen. I’m sure it will be broadcast soon. I don’t expect anything less from the Dark Lord. I joined in the winter break in 77’. After I came to you crying my eyes out about Alphard’s death, I left without saying anything. Traitorous, I know.

Remus, they killed him. There wasn’t even a body to mourn after. I had to do something. I tried to do something bigger than me, and it bit me on the neck at the end.

And lastly, the part that is ready to explode. I think I’m going to die. It started to poison me more and more. Sometimes, I woke up with nothing but death in my mind. I’m trying to make use of it.

I found something. It turned out Voldemort was immortal, and I could take it away from him. Barty was calling him that when we were in our fourth year. Everybody was sh*tting their pants. He had a point. He doesn’t deserve respect, and we need to find a way to not fear him as much.

I don’t think I will survive after doing that anyway. I want to make my amends and live in your head as someone you loved as a brother, as a fellow monster and as a poet if it’s not too late. I love you. I have always loved you.

And another dying wish, please don’t show this to Sirius or talk about it even if you manage to crack the spell I put. He doesn’t deserve this kind of comfort. You do, but maybe… you can tell Lily she deserves the closure. I never meant to upset her. But only if she got too upset about my death.

I still have the ring you gave me. If you still have the other, the light will go out soon.

Maybe it’s not a good idea that my boyhood crush and the first person who showed me the colours in life read my suicide note together.

The prettiest star,

Reg

Regulus didn’t send the letter. He didn’t want to risk anyone knowing about it. He read it again and burned it.

“Severus,” Regulus called. He was in a shabby cottage. There was a potion set up in the middle of it, messy and cluttered.

Snape hummed, acknowledging his presence.

“I heard about a potion you made.” Regulus didn’t exactly know if the person who made it was Severus; he was winging it. “Kreacher had a bit of encounter with it.”

“And I heard about the bill you passed,” Severus grunted.

“I won’t ever understand why you are so hung up on them. Dark Lord wanted me to. You can’t exactly say no to him, can you?” Regulus huffed, found a seat for himself and crossed his legs.

“They tried to kill me. He was going to kill me.” Snape hissed.

“You went there willingly, Merlin knows why? The only victim in that accident was Remus.”

“Defending him still. I see.” He looked away. “How is Evan?”

“Not great,” Regulus mumbled. Snape didn’t know what was happening to him. He didn’t elaborate. “How is Bruce?”

“He went batsh*t crazy. sad*stic prick. He will split his soul soon. Lily was right.”

“Lily is always right.”

Snape smiled slightly. “Not with the love interests.”

“We are worse than Potter right now.”

“Yeah.” Snape sighed, his eyes focused on a spot behind Regulus. “We are.”

“So the potion. I’d like my enemies to suffer too. You have to make up for Kreacher. How does it work?”

“It’s untouchable. I made it to hide things in it. You can only drink it, but after a time, you won’t be able to. Just for extra protection. Was Kreacher able to drink it all?” Snape asked. So you need to be forced to drink it. Oh, Kreacher.

“No, he couldn’t. You call Bruce sad*stic.”

“People should stay away from things that belong to others,” Snape said darkly.

“Who did you test it on?”

“Bruce is also a masoch*st.” Snape grimaced.

Snape refused to give him the formula.

“Mother,” Regulus greeted her in his personal quarters.

“Oh, Regulus. Are you well?” Walburga asked softly. Walburga was a soft woman if you didn’t talk to her about Muggles, Muggle-borns, and half-breeds.

“No,” he whispered. “It is coming.”

Walburga froze. “I thought you were getting better.” She said; her eyes were glazed.

“Mother, can we… Can I hug you?” Regulus asked shyly.

“You haven’t asked me that since you were a little boy. Of course, come,” she replied, shifting in her seat to make space for him.

They embraced, the awkwardness of the moment tempered by the comfort of each other’s presence.

“Did I tell you that I was in love with Cecilia when we were in Hogwarts?” Walburga murmured.

Regulus turned to her in shock.

“I loved your father much more, of course. Children of loveless marriages can’t be as brilliant as you, but it was there,” she admitted, patting Regulus’ head. Regulus held her tighter, feeling a rush of unexpected warmth at the revelation. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m so sorry.”

“Kreacher,” Regulus called as the sun began to set, the weight of impending death heavy on his shoulders.

“Yes, Master Regulus,” Kreacher appeared, his wrinkled features drawn with concern.

“Can you take me to the cave? The one Voldemort took you to,” Regulus requested, his voice steady.

Kreacher made a distressed noise. “Kreacher can,” he said reluctantly.

In Regulus’ hands rested a family heirloom, a perfect replica of Slytherin’s locket to replace the real one. Disgust crept over him, but determination burned brighter. He wrote a note to Voldemort, a final act of defiance. Regulus refused to die unnoticed. He wanted Voldemort to know that an eighteen-year-old had bested him. However naive that thought might be.

To the Dark Lord - I know I will be dead long before you read this, but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more. - R.A.B.

They took the boat to the cave, Regulus steeling himself for the pain that awaited him. As he drank the potion, agony consumed him, every fibre of his being screaming in protest. He ordered Kreacher to force-fed him the potion. Kreacher did it with cries.

Through the haze of pain, he replaced the locket.

He was a little boy again. Bondage to a muggle hospital bed. Screaming and crying. The muggles hurt him again and again.

“Don’t tell anything about this to my mother, not anyone in the family,” he instructed, handing the Horcrux to the loyal house-elf. “Take it. You must destroy it.”

After Kreacher departed, Regulus let out a guttural scream, the weight of his actions and impending death crashing down upon him. For a man on a suicide mission, he took a long time to descend into the lake. It was not a peaceful departure but a struggle to the bitter end as the darkness swallowed him.

A black cloud erupted. “Isn’t it a bit late?” Regulus asked. “If you don’t let me go, we will only suffer more.”

The cloud buzzed. ‘I can’t take the mortal body out of here, but the soul can come.’ it said.

“Where will you take my soul,” Regulus asked.

‘Somewhere nice.’

“What if I don’t want to. I did it. Voldemort will be dead.”

The cloud moved through the wards. “No, you have so much unfinished business.”

The cloud arrived in a hospital. A woman was screaming, giving birth. Regulus was uneasy. “Are you sure they are safe? They are muggles.” Regulus asked.

The cloud turned around. ‘They are safe.’ It said.

“Will you follow her too?”

‘No.’

“What is her name?”

‘Hermione Granger.’

“What a beautiful name,” Regulus said, looking at the tiny baby. She didn’t start crying yet. “Take care of my soul. Will you?” the baby started crying, and Regulus was no longer there.

Regulus looked unphased, but Remus could see right through him. Remus kept silent. This was a conversation for later.

“You are not asking questions about what that was,” Regulus mumbled.

“That was a hell of a redemption arc,” Marlene breathed, her voice filled with admiration.

“I didn’t know Walburga was able to feel things,” Remus murmured, his gaze distant as he reflected on Regulus’ mother.

“She got softer after Sirius left. Not that much, though,” Regulus remarked a glint of confusion in his eyes.

Evan’s eyes looked blank for a few seconds before finally asking, “Can a person make two, not three of them?”

“You become less human significantly with every piece of soul you lose. It would be so difficult and obvious. I researched it.” Lily explained.

“Have you ever seen You-Know-Who? He was in your memories. Does that man look human to you?” Dorcas asked, her voice tinged with panic.

“Ceci had one. Hupplepuff’s cup. It was a Horcrux,” Evan stated, closing his eyes as if trying to shut out the memories. ‘Magical creatures can smell death from them.’ The souls who bonded to them can sense them, too, apparently. “And your son was one too.” He looked at Lily. Remus didn’t notice anything in his memories. Was Evan more connected to them to sense them through visions? “It wasn’t the same as the locket or the cup. It was laced with something else. Probably a result of your blood magic.”

“How can you be sure?” Pandora inquired.

“I just know it is,” Evan replied simply, offering no further explanation.

“So there is one in a cave, seaside. Can we Apparate there with someone else’s memories?” Remus asked, his mind already spinning with possibilities.

“We could try,” Lily answered, her tone thoughtful as she considered the idea.

“There is one with the Prewetts. How many are there?” Remus exclaimed, frustration evident in his voice as he raked a hand through his hair.

“We can never know,” Marlene said.

“We can actually,” Regulus muttered. “Knights of Walpurgis. There were seven of them, I’m guessing Tom Riddle is Voldemort, and there are six heirs. My mother always taunted Druella about his brother being so close to a half-blood.”

“We would have noticed if The Dark Lord owned Bruce, Olivia and Edmund’s souls. We would know. I would know, and Radolphus and Lucius are definitely not acting like they are forced.” Evan spoke.

“Slavery doesn’t automatically make you a good person,” Lily mumbled.

“I didn’t know he had yours until a bloody spirit showed me.” Regulus huffed.

At the breakfast, Sirius joined a discussion about the origins of magic between Barty and Remus. Lily and James were on talking terms, and Peter was there without caring about what was going on, such as eating.

“I’m not saying it’s for sure the Greek gods, but I’m pretty sure we can find it if we dig enough muggle mythology,” Barty said excitedly.

“And I am saying nearly all of central Asian and African myths are verbal, and we don’t know when exactly they started to tell them.” Remus retorted.

“The Chinese took records; they had records about Central Asia, too,” Sirius murmured. “They are way older than the Greek gods.”

“You look pretty when you don’t throw daggers at me with your eyes,” Barty exclaimed. Sirius froze for a second and chuckled softly, blushing. BLUSHING.

“Hey, what happened to our passionate love story?” Remus cut in.

“I think everybody here knows you have a wife. I’m not gonna be a mistress. Free me from my shackles, and let me find the love of my life.”

“Why do I feel like you read Shakespeare more than anybody should?” Lily asked, amused.

Barty could always find a way to lighten the mood. It was still a mystery how he could become a death eater. This time, he had Remus. Forgiving him rather came too easy for his preference, even easier than being near Peter, for a guy who couldn’t look at the love of his life’s eye properly for trying to get revenge for him even if in the worst way possible, it really seemed impossible but here he was. Maybe it’s because Barty isn’t the love of his life or his best friend for years. Maybe he didn’t do something yet; maybe he didn’t expect him to live up to anything. He didn’t know why, and maybe he should have feared Barty’s charm.

“I like his muggle ones better. Wizarding ones feel off. Give me meaningless child suicide, gay kings and Richard the Second. I don’t want to read about family curses and dragons.” Barty trailed. “The soulless child of a love potion was good, though.”

“You said gay kings twice.” Sirius raised an eyebrow. He was grinning. Barty laughed.

The day went smoothly until dinner. Lily started eating with them again. Dragging Mary with her. She wasn’t talking to Peter in any circ*mstance. She just avoided him.

Barty claimed he ought to eat at the Ravenclaw table. Dumbledore’s little pet was still echoing in his mind.

James and Peter were chattering. Sirius was looking at him. “Is there a problem?” Remus asked.

“No,” Sirius said. “I just missed you,” he murmured.

“I missed you too,” Remus said under a breath. Sirius’ face lightened with the words. And whose f*cking fault is that? Lily’s voice taunted him.

Towards the end of the dinner, Regulus came to the table. Sirius’ face went blank, and James looked angry. “Lily, Remus, can we talk?” Regulus said anxiously. “It’s really important.”

They asked for a minute from their friends. As they left the great hall, he felt all eyes on him. He followed Regulus. He trusted him to find a place where nobody could hear them.

Regulus led them to an empty room. Then Regulus’ arms were around his neck. Remus buried his nose on top of his head and wrapped him back.

“I missed you,” Regulus murmured into his chest.

“I missed you too.” Remus sighed. Deja Vu. They needed this. So they stayed in each other’s arms.

Lily co*cked an eyebrow and opened her arms. “Where is my hom*oerotic hug?” She said, smiling.

“Doesn’t Potter give you enough of those?” Regulus smirked, leaning into her hug.

“He misses the hom*o part,” Lily said, literally squeezing him.

Remus couldn’t hold his laughter. Yeah great.

“The man himself tells us that he’s straight. I will pretend I’m believing him.” Lily poked her tongue.

“It’s because every boy he fell for was so inconvenient. I wouldn’t admit it, too.” Remus shrugged.

Regulus made a face. “How did you end up with him?” He asked. Stepping away.

“There was a camp about bullying for a week she required him to attend to even start talking to her. It paid out well.”

“I didn’t know we could just date sex offenders because they realized other people have feelings too.” Regulus huffed.

Lily and Remus sighed in unison. “He’s not.”

“He would be… If I didn’t punch him in the face.” Remus should admit it was a relief that he did it.

“He wasn’t going to,” Remus mumbled.

“Yeah. What makes you sleep at night.” Regulus rolled his eyes.

“Like Mulciber is any better.” Lily scoffed.

“Bruce didn’t know what McDonald’s boggart was, and Evan and Anthony punished him enough.” In the fifth year, Mulciber locked Mary in a broom closet with a boggart after he took her wand. Her boggart was a man she screamed to stay away from her countless times. Sirius found her. Fifteen-year-old Mulciber couldn’t fathom why locking up a teenage girl with her worst fear would be a bad idea. Remus wasn’t sure he could understand it even now.

“You think I didn’t.” Lily raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t want to argue about it again. Just give Severus another chance. Okay. He needs you. I need you.” Lily sighed and nodded reluctantly.

Then he turned to Remus. “Anthony, huh?”

Remus uncontrollably smiled. “Yeah.” He nodded. “It’s going pretty great.”

“As long as he’s not married with kids.” Regulus shrugged. “I can’t believe he told Evan and not me.”

“We kind of met while I was trying to talk to you last year. You were a sensitive topic.” Remus mumbled.

Regulus shifted his weight to his other leg. “I need to tell you something.” Regulus pulled a parchment with a floo address and a name on it, Asena Potter said. “This is the girl we saw in Alphard’s photo. She is a werewolf, too. She is the daughter of Turkey’s Minister of Magic.” Remus’s mind was filled with questions.

“Why the bloody hell I don’t know there is a country with a werewolf Ministry of Magic?” Remus sneered.

“Not just one, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan are always led by one. Sometimes Greece, depends on the Parliament. But they are pretty much shunned from the wizarding world for allowing werewolves to roam around freely. She was in Britain last summer as an ambassador. We were after Grayback. I’m guessing that’s why he killed them.”

“Why were you after Grayback?” Remus threw all of his other questions into the back of his mind.

“I got an apprenticeship at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, Barty was in Law Enforcements, and Grayback was the only case we could work on together at the time. The Turkish Ministry kind of has a right to claim and handle werewolf-related crimes if they get out of hand worldwide. Barty and I kind of worked on the paperwork and watched her handle the packs. We couldn’t find Greyback but were so close.” Regulus was looking at the floor, worrying his lips.

“Are they related to James?” Lily asked.

Regulus averted his eyes. “It’s supposed to be a secret.”

“But he still killed them.” Lily insisted.

“She isn’t related to Potter, but her husband is. His mother is Potter’s long-lost sister.”

“James doesn’t have a sister. He would have told me.” Remus said, baffled.

“He doesn’t know he has a sister,” Regulus mumbled.

“Why do you have this information? Is it something to do with Professor Black?” Lily asked.

Regulus nodded. “She’s his childhood friend. They ran away to Greece after he graduated. He still kept appearances, though. Before you question me more. She is a squib. That’s why they ran away.”

“Effie would never abandon her child like that because she was a squib.” Lily frowned.

“She would if she was forced to. Why do you think Potter is the way he is. He is spoiled rotten because his parents couldn’t give a proper childhood to their daughter.”

“Does Sirius know about this?” Remus asked.

Regulus shook his head. “He had already run away by the time I learned, and Alphard knew he couldn’t keep a secret from Potter.”

“What will we do?” asked Lily slowly.

“I’m going to write to Alphard everything. This is bigger than us.” Regulus mumbled. “I will ask for permission from everybody tonight. We really should tell Cecilia, too.”

“What about Rosier and Barty? What do we do about them?” Remus raised one of his eyebrows.

“Voldemort did something to Barty, and we need to find out what it is first,” Lily said, leaning into the wall behind her.

“And we need to find Evan’s Horcrux,” Regulus said.

“Do you really think there are six of them?” Remus asked.

Regulus nodded. “I think he intends it to be six. I don’t know if he made all of it yet.”

Remus and Lily went back to their respective dorms after. Lily was smiling widely.

Ms. Bozkurt

Regulus Black has informed me about you. He said you can help me.

Best regards, Remus Lupin

The voice of the spirit echoed through the dimly lit library, announcing the next name, "McKinnon it is," it declared.

Dorcas and Marlene were lying on the couch, watching TV. Dorcas noticed the worried expression on Marlene's face and asked, "Marls, are you okay?" Marlene responded with a soft murmur,

"No, I'm worried about Lily." Her thoughts were consumed.

Dorcas tried to lighten the mood. "Don't worry, Sirius wouldn't let anything happen to them. I'm pretty sure he gets some twisted sexual pleasure from being tortured by Death Eaters," she said. However, Marlene was not easily comforted.

"I don't know. He's been manic lately. No one knows what he'll do when he gets like that. Last time, he almost bit Peter's finger off," she sighed, her worry evident.

"Have you talked to Remus? I heard he was in the headquarters last week," she asked, shifting slightly on the couch. Marlene nodded in response.

"Yeah, he's staying around this time, but I don't think they're on speaking terms," she replied, leaning her head against Dorcas' shoulder for comfort.

Dorcas then suggested that they should go for dinner together. "Dora wants us to have dinner together. Do you want to go? Luna got even cuter," Marlene nodded slightly, grateful for the distraction. Worried about Lily,

"The Elder Wand isn't in the possession of Dumbledore," Xenophilius proclaimed with a frown as they arrived at the Lovegoods' home.

It was a chaotic scene inside, as usual. The Lovegoods seemed to have little regard for earthly things like organization.

"Xen, listen. All I'm saying is he's been the most powerful wizard in the world for so long, and the wand switches when its master is bested. It would have eventually found its way to him," Pandora explained, her words punctuated by Luna's gentle rocking and cooing in her arms.

"What are you talking about?" Marlene asked, puzzled by the conversation.

"They're fighting about a children's story. The Tale of the Three Brothers," Dorcas giggled.

"It's not just a story. It's history, Cas, and I'm pretty sure Potter has the Invisibility Cloak," Pandora asserted, kissing Dorcas' cheeks.

"He has one, alright, but is it The Invisibility Cloak?" Xenophilius questioned, wrapping his arms around Dorcas and Marlene.

"Dumbledore asked James to give him the cloak. I think it was a stupid idea, but they trust the old man too much for their own good," Dorcas grimaced as she settled onto the couch.

“Or they did it to get him off their backs.” Marlene retorted.

"Hey, you're the ones fighting for him, don't come at me. Look, Xen, it's important to Dumbledore. He's collecting them," Pandora explained, turning to Xenophilius.

"Okay, this got serious all of a sudden. What's the story about?" Marlene inquired, growing intrigued.

"It's a story about three brothers, the Peverells, and Death toying with them. Death gave each of them an artefact of their own choosing. The eldest wanted the most powerful wand in existence, the second one wanted the power to recall the dead, and the youngest wanted something to hide from Death. The Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone, and the Invisibility Cloak. They separated, which was their first mistake. Honestly, Eldest got killed because he got too co*cky and showed bystanders how powerful his wand was, so someone stole it from him. Middle one recalled his dead lover, but she was… well dead. Cold and emotionless. He couldn't stand it and killed himself. The youngest hid from Death until he got bored and welcomed Death. End of the story. Many think possessing all three will make you the master of Death." Pandora began, setting up the table as she spoke.

"Where do you think the Resurrection Stone is, then?" Marlene asked.

"I don't have a single idea," Pandora murmured. "Come here, dinner's ready."

"Why does Potter have it?" Xenophilius pressed further.

"He could be a descendant. In the story, the youngest gave the cloak to his son. I wish Evan was here. He knew all about twisted, pure-blood family lines like the back of his hand. He even had a rule: if five generations passed from a Muggle ancestor, it didn't count. That’s why he didn’t like Xen. He lost by one generation. Malfoys apparently marry with half-bloods if they can’t find a pure-blood they aren’t related to.” Pandora reminisced fondly.

Dorcas cleared her throat and joined Marlene at the table. They bicker while Marlene spends most of her time playing with Luna.

"We'd be surprised if she wasn't an odd one," Dorcas remarked, watching Luna and Marlene race chestnut borers in Marlene's hand.

"Luna won!" Marlene exclaimed with a playful pout, eliciting giggles from Luna.

As night fell, they found peace in each other's company, sleeping soundly for the first time in a long while.

In the morning, Marlene's dad texted her to come home. Dorcas was still asleep, having had too much wine the night before.

"Cas, babe. My dad wants me home. I'll be back by noon," Marlene whispered, kissing Dorcas' cheek softly.

"Give me a kiss," Dorcas murmured sleepily. "Love you," she mumbled, half-asleep.

"Love you too," Marlene replied before slipping out of bed.

Breakfast was quick, and soon, Marlene found herself in her dad's embrace, her mom sitting across from them at the kitchen table. They chatted about random topics, enjoying the easy conversation.

"Oh, by the way, your cousin's getting married next week. We're invited," her mom mentioned casually.

"Ugh, ma, muggle weddings are not my thing. I can't bring Cas to a church. She still thinks her feet will combust, and Aunt Ariana's a total bigot," Marlene quipped, rolling her eyes.

"Just think about it," her mom insisted, flashing a hopeful smile.

They spent the afternoon watching a reality TV show together, snuggled up on the couch. But their peaceful day took a dark turn when a sudden, unexpected attack occurred. Dark figures materialized out of nowhere, launching a surprise attack on their home. Marlene's mom fell first, caught off guard and defenceless, without lifting a wand. Then, her dad. They were outnumbered and outmatched, two against five. It was a terrifying ordeal, and they stood no chance against their attackers.

"Gaunts," Evan breathed, the words escaping his lips like a revelation cloaked in a hush. "They must've gotten hold of the resurrection stone. They are descendants of Cadmus Peverell. We can follow the trail from there."

"We're going for the Deathly Hallows, then," Barty remarked, his eyebrows lifting in a mixture of surprise and apprehension.

"Nobody here stands a chance against Dumbledore in a duel, and Voldemort... he's a Gaunt. Let's just pray he doesn’t know about it," Evan replied, his voice carrying a note of urgency laced with fear.

"Why don't we just approach Dumbledore? I know he's not exactly a beacon of morality, but this is monumental. Surely, he'd want to unite them," Lily suggested, her forehead furrowed with concern.

"He'd want control over them, and I refuse to grant him that level of authority," Evan spat out, his lip curling in disdain.

"Then who, pray tell, is worthy of wielding such power? You?" Dorcas challenged, her gaze piercing and unyielding.

"We can find common ground," Regulus insisted, his gaze unwavering as he locked eyes with Remus.

"What? No," Remus stuttered, caught off guard by the suggestion.

"This just proves my point," Regulus shook his head, a sense of determination underlying his words.

"I get that you trust him, Reg, but I'm struggling to see where you're coming from. He's just seventeen," Evan interjected, his scepticism ringing clear in his voice.

"And yet Hogwarts trusted a group of sixteen and seventeen-year-olds to save the wizarding world. I don't make the rules. He's the only one thus far," Regulus hastily explained, urgency colouring his words.

"What truly defines a Master of Death is embracing Death with open arms. That's the essence of The Tale of the Three Brothers. And he's the only one who's achieved it so far," Dorcas murmured, her voice soft but resolute. "Despite having unfinished business, despite having a child to care for, he still welcomed death."

"I think nobody should be the Master of Death. Can we skip this?" Remus pleaded desperately, his tone heavy with weariness and a longing to avoid the weighty discussion.

"Moony, I don't think James being this unaffected is normal," Peter said, concerned as he prepared for the classes. He looked so sincere, earnest. It was confusing Remus so much he could burst at any moment. James’ kneazle died, and they found her below the tower. She fell.

"He is fine," Remus reassured him. "I don't think James can hide his feelings."

"But he is excellent at bottling them," Peter said, frowning. “Let's not leave him alone for a while." Despite his lack of observation skills, Peter could sense how someone was feeling, like a wild animal smelling their food.

Remus had a defence with Dorcas again, but she wasn't in the right mind. Remus could understand her. Being in your lover's mind while they love you and then watching them dying couldn't be easy. Hell, it wasn't easy, even for Remus. No death he experienced made it easier.

Sirius didn't get up from bed until noon when James threatened him by leaking the poetry he had written in his second year. Sometimes Sirius would get like this; he lived on their life support for weeks, and it always ended with a disaster. It started when they were in their fourth year. The first one ended up with Sirius getting detention for the rest of the year; in the second one, he got kicked out from the Quidditch team, and the third ended up with them breaking up. They found out what was going on after that. The third one was really the charm. After Lily joined their group and surprisingly got close to him, she noticed the signs.

"I'm going to talk to Lily. I think he should switch to antipsychotics." James murmured to Remus.

"I don't know why we don't just use magic." Peter sighed.

"If you want to make him your lab rat, be my guest", Remus said, exhausted. Wizarding World turned its back on muggles in the fifteenth century. They didn't really know things like gasp or science. Magic works with intent, and one can't just wish someone to be better with mental illnesses without even knowing the basics of the human mind. Without Lily, they couldn't get through this.

After lunch, Remus was free. He took the map and met Regulus in Slughorn's room, where he kept his ingredients.

“What will we do about the rat?" Regulus asked. His face was stone-like.

"Marlene suggested using veritaserum. Can you brew it?" Remus asked.

"Yes, I can, but even if he isn't thinking of betraying you now, it won't change the fact that he can have it in him at some point." Regulus talked through his teeth. "How can you let him be near James?"

"He is still Peter, Regulus. I can't just throw him out. I’m going to be careful." Remus said.

“I am realizing that now. For a person without any sense of self-worth, you trust your abilities too much, Rem. You cannot fight with lies and manipulation."

"Well, there is magic for that. I was never a trusting person anyway." Remus pulled his wand and twirled it.

Regulus couldn't help rolling his eyes. "Don't I know it?” he said with a smirk.

"Do you happen to know someone who could teach me legilimency?" Remus asked.

"I am guessing Severus and my Mother aren't options," Regulus said, resigned.

"Is that how he knew?" Remus snarled.

"No, he learned it last year. He has this amazing ability…" Regulus leaned in Remus' ear and whispered, "Observing. And he observed you a bit too much in the fifth year. Can’t tell why?"

Remus released a grunt. “I’m sure whatever that was died the moment I was about to kill him. Hopefully.”

Regulus just shrugged. "Evan is a master; he can do it wordless. You cannot have you-know-who as your guest every other night and not learn occlumency." Regulus continued after a bit of thinking.

Remus went to the library with the girls and Barty. Shockingly, Pandora was there too. "Father stopped by and updated the curse. Dora here isn't affiliated with death eaters anymore in his book." Barty explained.

"Hello, Remus. How have you been?" Pandora asked with excitement.

"I was with Reg. He's arranging legilimency lessons with your brother. Is he as scary as he looks?" Remus squinted his eyes.

"Would you believe me if I say he learned it to protect me when he was ten? Does it sound scary? I don’t know how I missed what he was going through." Pandora answered with fondness and regret.

Dorcas looked stiff and irritated the whole time. When Marlene asked what was happening, she glared at Pandora, and her smile dropped. "Why don't you explain it, Dora?" Dorcas sneered.

"I don't think I can," Pandora whispered.

"That's what I thought," Dorcas said coldly, then turned to Remus. "Don't bother with him. I can teach you. It's for Pettigrew, right?" She asked, just how many legilimens were there at Hogwarts?

When he returned to his room, Sirius was sleeping. "He went to bed at six, Moony,” James said desperately. "Lily said the pills would arrive in two days." Sirius' breath was silent, his heartbeat got slower than ever, and beads of sweat sat on his forehead. His body was trying to cut contact with the rest of the world without dying.

"Prongs, you can't freak out every time he gets depressed. This is his reality. We can only be there for him." Remus gave an exhausted sigh. "This..." He swayed his hands around James. "... won't help him." James looked so disappointed in him. The silent "You might give up on him, but I didn't" didn't go unnoticed.

James sulked the rest of the night. Remus and Peter finished Sirius' homework. James woke him up for a bite. Remus learned that he hadn’t eaten anything the whole day. The thing was, Remus was even more anxious than James. He was just better at masking. He couldn't sleep; instead, he watched Sirius until the library got him.

"Barty Crouch. It's your turn."

"Yeah, more Death Eater romance." Marlene rolled her eyes.

"It isn't romance if one of them dies; it's a tragedy," said Remus.

"Professor Moody, why aren't we taking werewolves and vampires in the Nocturnal Beasts class?" Luna's dreamy voice floated through the air as she delicately sipped her tea. But within Barty's mind, a storm raged. He couldn't see her as Luna. Instead, she morphed from Pandora to Evan and back to herself, a disorienting dance of identities. Taking a swig from his flask, Remus couldn't ignore the unmistakable taste of polyjuice potion lingering on his tongue.

"I copied Professor Lupin's curriculum. I'm sure he knew what he was doing," Barty replied, his words laced with a bitter edge. Inside his mind, a mocking voice echoed, taunting him, 'Look at you, respecting my best friend for whom I backstabbed you.' It was Regulus.

"I adored Professor Lupin. He was a dear friend of my mother's," Luna sighed wistfully. "It's such a shame he had to leave us."

"Oh, really?" Barty raised an eyebrow, his thoughts swirling in a haze of confusion. Each thought slipped through his grasp like sand through fingers, impossible to hold onto for more than a fleeting moment.

"My uncle Regulus had a massive crush on him, but he passed away before I was born. Mom filled me in on all the gossip. Professor Lupin was in love with his brother, Sirius Black. He’s still out there, on the run. I wonder what made him break out of Azkaban after twelve years," Luna mused aloud, her voice carrying a hint of curiosity.

In the dimness of the room, Regulus materialized in a dark corner, his smile twisted into a malicious sneer. 'Traitor. You abandoned us. You betrayed our lord. You tarnished Evan's memory,' his voice echoed fiercely towards Regulus in Barty's mind.

"I had dreams about him too, Regulus when I first started at Hogwarts. He was crying, staring at Ginny's diary. I saw Mr. Malfoy with it once in Diagon Alley. It was filled with darkness. Ginny is quite pretty, but she's been rather unkind to me, especially when she had that diary," Luna revealed.

"I'm sure it was interesting to hear her, Ms. Lovegood. But not the dream," Barty murmured softly, his words a stark contrast to the tempest brewing in his mind.

"The dream was... okay. He's just a man, after all. It was comforting to speak with Mum, but everyone else was either dead or in Azkaban already. It was... disheartening. Mum always cried whenever she spoke of her brother. The one you... killed," Luna remarked calmly, taking another sip of her tea. "But don't worry. I know you're not that person."

Barty struggled to maintain his composure, resisting the urge to react to her words. Regulus's laughter echoed relentlessly in his mind while Luna morphed into Evan before his eyes.

"I'm not sure what you mean, Ms. Lovegood," Barty replied, his voice strained. Regulus's laughter grew more insistent, mingling with the desperate pleas of Evan urging him to finish what they had started. A snake's hiss slithered through the air, adding to the cacophony of voices in his head.

"You're not him. You wouldn't have tortured my uncle. It was all an act. My mother despised his boyfriend, though. She couldn't even bring herself to say his name. I've never seen her hate anything before, but they were best friends once upon a time," Barty's mind echoed with Luna's words; the word 'hate' echoed in his mind loudly. The hiss grew louder, and Pandora's screams pierced through the chaos. Regulus ceased his laughter, his gaze turning cold as he locked eyes with Barty. Voldemort's presence loomed, urging him to 'finish the job.'

"What else did she tell you? I may be an old man, but I do enjoy teenage gossip," Barty said.

"Is there a chance you're the boyfriend?" Luna's innocent inquiry cut through the air in Barty’s lungs.

"I'm at least twenty years older than your parents, Ms. Lovegood, and I don't tend to kill my lovers," Barty chuckled softly, though the screams of the past echoed faintly in the background, drowned out by Voldemort's relentless chant.

“I was going to tell you he has a portrait at Felix’s house, my other uncle if you were. He would have loved seeing him. He looks sad all the time.”

Barty froze.

"I think Draco might be in love with Harry. We chat sometimes. He's the only one who doesn't call me Loony. And Harry seems to have feelings for Cedric, who's with Cho," Luna revealed, her earnest gaze fixed on him.

"A Black falling for a Potter. How intriguing," Barty mused, a faint smile quirking his lips.

"My mother was aware of at least five instances where it occurred, and each one ended in failure. It doesn’t have to be romantic. Sirius Black and James Potter’s love was beyond romantic, as my mum said. She was quite the gossip. There's definitely a jinx at play," Luna remarked, her voice drifting as she hummed into her cup. "Similar to the one affecting the Defense Against the Dark Arts professors. I wonder what fate has in store for you, Professor."

"We shall see," Barty replied cryptically, the sounds finally beginning to fade into the background.

But at night, in the middle of the silence and darkness, Barty found no solace. Instead, he was haunted by the anguished cries of Evan, the tears and screams echoing relentlessly. "Bring him back. Bring our lord back," Evan's desperate pleas echoed in his mind, accompanied by the chilling chant of the word 'hate' echoing in the background.

He broke into Felix’s house in search of Evan, risking himself not taking the potion. When he found him, both of them froze for a moment, and then Barty started sobbing uncontrollably.

“They told me you were dead,” Evan whispered. “You have grown so much. How old are you? Time doesn’t affect us here.”

“Thirty-two,” Barty said between sobs.

“Did you live a good life? Have you fallen in love again?” Evan asked with a broken smile. Barty buried his face into his palms and shook his head. His sobs got louder. Felix wasn’t at home, apparently.

“Barty, what happened?” Evan asked slowly.

“They killed The Dark Lord.”

“I know. You are still under it, then.” Evan looked at him with the saddest expression Remus had ever seen.

“They caught me. After I avenged you. I tortured Longbottoms into insanity.” Barty grinned widely, but his tears were still spilling.

“Oh! Barty. I know that, too.”

“Frank was too shocked to react.” Barty grinned. “Then that excuse of a father got me out and put me under the curse again.” He said darkly and whispered, “For twelve years. I only had you.” He tapped his skull. “In here.”

“He will never learn, will he?” Evan tilted his head.

“I killed him. Our lord saved me again, and I killed him.”

“You did great, love,” Evan whispered.

“I love you.” Barty leaned into the portrait, his heartbreaking, knowing he could never touch him again.

“I loved you too.” The past tense shattered Barty, and he fell to the ground, shaking and sobbing.

There was a huge crowd. The world was spinning. Barty hid a cup in a maze. Four students tried to find it. Triwizard Tournament, they said it was.

Barty used imperio on one of them. "Do it," Evan said. "You would be a coward like me if you don't," Regulus added.

Two of them, Cedric and Harry, reached out to touch the cup, triggering its magic. In an instant, they vanished from sight. A wide grin stretched across Barty's face as he anticipated the return of Voldemort, confident in the success of his scheme.

But to his surprise and dismay, Harry reappeared with a corpse in his arms. Barty almost felt sorry for him. Enraged and desperate, Barty sought to eliminate the boy himself.

"Mad, am I? We'll see! We'll see who's mad now that the Dark Lord has returned, with me at his side! He is back, Harry Potter; you did not conquer him—and now—I conquer you!" Regulus burst into a manic laugh. “He looks just like Potter,” he said softly afterwards.

"Severus, please fetch me the strongest Truth Potion you possess, and then go down to the kitchens and bring up the house-elf called Winky. Minerva, kindly go down to Hagrid's house, where you will find a large black dog sitting in the pumpkin patch. Take the dog up to my office, tell him I will be with him shortly, then come back here." Dumbledore was his father, and Snape was Regulus. He smirked. 'I won't let you alone; I'm one of them now.'

Dumbledore stunned him. When he opened his eyes, Winky was waiting for him.

"Can you hear me?" Dumbledore, Crouch Sr., asked.

His eyes flickered. "Yes," he muttered.

"I would like to tell us how you came to be here. How did you escape from Azkaban?" Regulus mouthed 'Mama's boy' behind Dumbledore.

He took a deep, shuddering breath, then began to speak in a flat, expressionless voice. "My mother saved me. She knew she was dying. She persuaded my father to rescue me as a last favour to her. He loved her as he had never loved me. He agreed. They came to visit me. They gave me a draught of Polyjuice Potion containing one of my mother's hairs. She took a draught of Polyjuice Potion containing one of my hairs. We took on each other's appearance."

Winky was shaking her head, trembling. "Say no more, Master Barty, say no more; you are getting your father into trouble!"

But Crouch took another deep breath and continued in the same flat voice. "The dementors are blind. They sensed one healthy, one dying person entering Azkaban. They sensed one healthy, one dying person leaving it. My father smuggled me out, disguised as my mother, in case any prisoners were watching through their doors. My mother died a short while afterwards in Azkaban. She was careful to drink Polyjuice Potion until the end. She was buried under my name and bearing my appearance. Everyone believed her to be me."

The man's eyelids flickered. "And what did your father do with you when he got you home?" said Dumbledore quietly.

"Staged my mother's death. A quiet, private funeral. That grave is empty. The house elf nursed me back to health. Then, I had to be concealed. I had to be controlled. My father had to use a number of spells to subdue me. When I had recovered my strength, I thought only of finding my master... of returning to his service." 'We were so close," Evan screamed.

"How did your father subdue you?" said Dumbledore.

"The Imperius Curse," Crouch said. Regulus shook his head. 'He can never learn, can he?' 'Shut up. You left me there,' Barty thought. "I was under my father's control. I was forced to wear an Invisibility Cloak day and night. I was always with the house-elf. She was my keeper and caretaker. She pitied me. She persuaded my father to give me occasional treats. Rewards for my good behaviour." 'Who is a good boy now?' Regulus snickered.

"Master Barty, Master Barty," sobbed Winky through her hands. "You isn't ought to tell them, we is getting in trouble. . . ."

"Did anybody ever discover that you were still alive?" said Dumbledore softly. "Did anyone know except your father and the house elf?" 'Evan knew. He was with me every second.'

"Yes," said Crouch, his eyelids flickering again. "A witch in my father's office. Bertha Jorkins. She came to the house with papers for my father's signature. He was not at home. Winky showed her inside and returned to the kitchen to me. But Bertha Jorkins heard Winky talking to me. She came to investigate. She heard enough to guess who was hiding under the Invisibility Cloak. My father arrived home. She confronted him.

He put a very powerful Memory Charm on her to make her forget what she'd found out. Too powerful. He said it damaged her memory permanently." Evan looked at him, pained. Dorcas appeared next to him for half a second.

"Why is she coming to nose into my master's private business?" sobbed Winky. "Why isn't she leaving us be?"

"Tell me about the Quidditch World Cup," said Dumbledore.

"Winky talked my father into it," He talked about how he caused havoc in it. "When Winky was discovered, my father knew I must be nearby. He searched the bushes where she had been found and felt me lying there. He waited until the other Ministry members had left the forest. He put me back under the Imperius Curse and took me home. He dismissed Winky. She had failed him. She had let me acquire a wand. She had almost let me escape."

Winky let out a wail of despair. "Now it was just Father and I, alone in the house. And then . . . and then . . .”

Barty's head rolled on his neck, and an insane grin spread across his face. "My master came for me. He arrived at our house late one night in the arms of his servant Wormtail." 'You let him kill Lily! How could you? Traitor!' Regulus shouted. 'You did it first, Reg.' Barty answered in his head. "My master had found out that I was still alive. He had captured Bertha Jorkins in Albania. He had tortured her. She told him a great deal. She told him about the Triwizard Tournament. She told him the old Auror, Moody, was going to teach at Hogwarts. He tortured her until he broke through the Memory Charm my father had placed upon her. She told him I had escaped from Azkaban. She told him my father kept me imprisoned to prevent me from seeking my master. And so my master knew that I was still his faithful servant — perhaps the most faithful of all. My master conceived a plan based upon the information Bertha had given him. He needed me. He arrived at our house near midnight. My father answered the door." The smile spread wider over Barty's face. 'He saved us, baby, and he is back now,' said Evan softly. Barty hasn't heard him this calm since he died.

Winky's petrified brown eyes were visible through her fingers. She was too appalled to speak.

"It was very quick. My father was placed under the Imperius Curse by my master. Now, my father was the one imprisoned and controlled. My master forced him to go about his business as usual, to act as though nothing was wrong. And I was released. I awoke. I was myself again, alive as I hadn't been in years." 'He got your revenge. Traitor and all, but I have to give him that.' Regulus grinned.

"And what did Lord Voldemort ask you to do?" said Dumbledore.

"He asked me whether I was ready to risk everything for him. I was ready. It was my dream, my greatest ambition, to serve him, to prove myself to him. He told me he needed to place a faithful servant at Hogwarts. A servant who would guide Harry Potter through the Triwizard Tournament without appearing to do so. A servant who would watch over Harry Potter. Ensure he reached the Triwizard Cup. Turn the cup into a Portkey, which would take the first person to touch it to my master. But first —"

"You needed Alastor Moody," said Dumbledore. His blue eyes were blazing, though his voice remained calm. 'Good. Be in pain.' he thought.

"Wormtail and I did it." He internally grimaced. "We had prepared the Polyjuice Potion beforehand. We journeyed to his house. Moody put up a struggle. There was a commotion. We managed to subdue him just in time. Forced him into a compartment of his own magical trunk. Took some of his hair and added it to the potion. I drank it; I became Moody's double. I took his leg and his eye. I was ready to face Arthur Weasley when he arrived to sort out the Muggles who had heard a disturbance. I made the dustbins move around the yard. I told Arthur Weasley I had heard intruders in my yard who had set off the dustbins. Then I packed up Moody's clothes and Dark Detectors, put them in the trunk with Moody, and set off for Hogwarts. I kept him alive under the Imperius Curse." 'Did you have to do that though? Do you want to be your father?' Regulus taunted him. "I wanted to be able to question him. To find out about his past and learn his habits so that I could fool even Dumbledore. I also needed his hair to make the Polyjuice Potion. The other ingredients were easy. I stole boomslang skin from the dungeons. When the Potions master found me in his office, I said I was under orders to search it." 'Sometimes I think we should have run for it, love. You would become a great actor but you don't watch those muggle films anymore.' Evan whispered softly. That was it. To hear him calling him love again is worth everything.

"And what became of Wormtail after you attacked Moody?" said Dumbledore.

"Wormtail returned to care for my master in my father's house and to keep watch over my father." 'He doesn't deserve it. He killed Lily.' Regulus hissed. There wasn't an ounce of logic in that sentence.

"But your father escaped," said Dumbledore.

"Yes. After a while, he began to fight the Imperius Curse just as I had done." 'He took a lot less longer than you.' Regulus snickered. "There were periods when he knew what was happening. My master decided it was no longer safe for my father to leave the house. He forced him to send letters to the Ministry instead. He made him write and say he was ill. But Wormtail neglected his duty. He was not watchful enough. My father escaped. My master guessed that he was heading for Hogwarts. My father was going to tell Dumbledore everything, to confess. He was going to admit that he had smuggled me from Azkaban. My master sent me word of my father's escape. He told me to stop him at all costs. So I waited and watched. I used the map I had taken from Harry Potter. The map that had almost ruined everything." 'Dear brother finally could have achieved something.' Regulus rolled his eyes. Evan was quiet.

"Map?" said Dumbledore quickly. "What map is this?"

"Potter's map of Hogwarts. Potter saw me on it. Potter saw me stealing more ingredients for the Polyjuice Potion from Snape's office one night. He thought I was my father. We have the same first name. I took the map from Potter that night. I told him my father hated Dark wizards. Potter believed my father was after Snape. For a week, I waited for my father to arrive at Hogwarts. At last, one evening, the map showed my father entering the grounds. I pulled on my Invisibility Cloak and went down to meet him. He was walking around the edge of the forest. Then Potter came, and Krum. I waited. I could not hurt Potter; my master needed him. Potter ran to get Dumbledore. I Stunned Krum. I killed my father." 'You did great, baby.' Evan whispered.

"Noooo!" wailed Winky. "Master Barty, Master Barty, what is you saying?"

"You killed your father," Dumbledore said in the same soft voice. Well, Remus thought it was the most excusable thing Barty has done so far. "What did you do with the body?"

"Carried it into the forest. Covered it with the Invisibility Cloak. I had the map with me. I watched Potter run into the castle. He met Snape. Dumbledore joined them. I watched Potter bringing Dumbledore out of the castle. I walked back out of the forest, doubled around behind them, went to meet them. I told Dumbledore Snape had told me where to come. Dumbledore told me to go and look for my father. I went back to my father's body. Watched the map. When everyone was gone, I Transfigured my father's body. He became a bone . . . I buried it while wearing the Invisibility Cloak in the freshly dug earth in front of Hagrid's cabin." There was complete silence now, except for Winky's continued sobs.

Then Dumbledore said, "And tonight . . ."

"I offered to carry the Triwizard Cup into the maze before dinner," whispered Barty Crouch. "Turned it into a Portkey. My master's plan worked. He is returned to power and I will be honored by him beyond the dreams of wizards." The insane smile lit his features once more, and his head drooped onto his shoulder as Winky wailed and sobbed at his side.

The last thing he remembers was the excruciating pain from getting his soul sucked out of his body.

Everyone gasped as consciousness returned to them in a rush.

"Well, I should change that," Barty murmured, his voice tinged with a mixture of regret and sorrow. Tears threatened to spill from his hazy eyes.

"It was so disturbing," Lily remarked, her voice filled with the weight of the shared experience.

A heavy silence settled over them, broken only by the sound of Barty's shallow breaths as he stared downward. Remus couldn't fathom how the boy before him could be the one he just saw.

"It's not your fault," Pandora offered softly, attempting to offer some measure of comfort.

"Isn't it? Your future self seemed to believe it was," Barty murmured, his pain evident in his voice.

"We can delve into his confusing future later. There's much to unpack. But for now, we have another Horcrux," Pandora announced, her tone tinged with urgency.

"What?" Lily exclaimed, her exhaustion evident in her voice.

"Luna is a seer, and visions don't always work literally. Mine does, but not hers. She knows things, and she isn't aware of it. She knew Moody was Barty, but not enough. Regulus crying after she faced a dark artefact means his soul was distressed about an unfinished business. We learned what it is, didn't we?" Pandora explained in distress.

"I'm sorry," whispered Evan.

Don't be; she seemed fine," Pandora replied, her eyes closed as a tear traced its path down her cheek.

"So, we have three Horcruxes, one-half Horcrux and the Deathly Hallows," Regulus stated flatly.

"The cup, the locket, and the diary," Evan clarified.

"We can't be certain if they're where we believe them to be yet, and we're already altering the future. We're in the midst of it," Pandora asserted.

"Should we pretend like nothing's happening?" Dorcas inquired.

Pandora shook her head. "Pretending won't change the fact that this is no longer our future."

Barty didn’t come to breakfast. Remus was refusing to think about him for the time. James and Remus dragged Sirius to the Hall. “You can’t miss Potions. Slughorn would kick you out of the class.” James said as Sirius whined.

Remus talked to Lily about what he should do. Remus wasn’t there for him after they broke up. He watched and acknowledged what was going on, worried about him, but never took care of him. “He will be better once he starts taking the meds. I would say make him comfortable enough to talk to you, but it’s far-fetched for you two. Peter is usually the one who talks about stuff. James has the emotional intelligence of a teaspoon, so he handles the rest.” Lily grimaced as Peter’s name left her mouth and, after a while, added, “Let him feel you still love him. It won’t hurt. Love can exist in many forms.” It would hurt, but Remus didn’t say anything.

After potions, Evan caught Remus and Lily, but Lily's demeanour shifted, and she quickly excused herself. Evan watched her departure with a puzzled expression. "What's wrong with her?" he muttered, turning to Remus for answers.

"It has to do with the fact that you're a pure-blood supremacist," Remus replied with a hint of indifference in his tone.

Evan huffed in frustration. "But we're planning to kill the Dark Lord together. What more can I do?"

Remus raised an eyebrow, his expression unreadable. "Stop calling Muggle-borns Mudbloods, for starters," he suggested bluntly. "The situation you are in doesn't automatically make you a safe person for her to be around."

“Have you seen Barty?” He asked reluctantly after he held his eye for a while. “You two look close. I don’t know who else to ask. How is he?”

Remus relaxed a bit. “I don’t know, he didn’t come to breakfast, and I don’t know what to do with him,” Remus confessed.

Evan’s expression changed to annoyance. “You were quick to forgive your friend.”

“I’m not having this conversation with you,” Remus said. He would not explain his complex emotions towards Peter to him. “Why don’t you ask Pandora? Their schedules are the same.”

“I thought he couldn't come near us,” Evan asked with a puzzled expression.

“Pandora is allowed now since you disowned her. Go talk to her.” Remus said and shushed him when he demanded more explanation.

Remus went to the library with the girls after the lunch break. He learned that Barty didn’t talk to Pandora, and his icy expression from Imperius looked more prominent from afar. He didn’t come to lunch either. It was uneasy to see both Sirius and Barty with the dark clouds over their heads.

Dorcas hasn’t started to teach him legitimency yet.

“So, baby Hitler is really a baby Hitler,” Marlene said on a smoke break. Remus tried smoking for the first time. He didn’t like it, but Lily looked like she had been smoking for years.

“I don’t think Hitler had his dead boyfriend and best friend taunting him in his head,” Remus murmured.

“It was funny if we didn’t have to live it.” Marlene chuckled as she took another drag from the cig. “Regulus was so funny. Is he funny in real life, too?” She asked.

“Yes, at least in his element,” Remus answered with a fond smile.

Remus went back to their room after classes were finished. James was at practice, and Sirius and Peter stopped talking when they saw him. “I can leave if it is private,” Remus said with concern.

“No, we won’t kick you out of your own room,” Sirius said calmly. He looked exhausted. “I thought you were going to be with your new study buddies.”

“I was with them at lunch break.” Remus explained, then asked before he could stop himself, “Are you okay?”

Remus expected to be avoided at best .“No. Remus. I’m not.” Sirius sighed and wasn’t that the bravest thing Remus had ever heard. He was stunned.

“Do you need something?” He asked, stuttering.

“I want to sleep, but Peter doesn’t let me,” Sirius said, sulking. To Peter’s glare, he added, “What? Mr Evans said sleeping has healing properties.”

Peter rolled his eyes. “Not when you do it for twenty hours a day.” He said.

Peter forced Sirius to do some schoolwork. They gossiped for a while. “I heard Diggory got married to a hot Italian supermodel,” Peter said excitedly. Remus remembered the boy who died in Barty’s vision. Cedric Diggory. He wasn’t short of his father in the looks department.

“That man is the epitome of beauty. Why are you even surprised, Wormtail?” Sirius gave a silent laugh, which cut out with a clouded expression.

“Because every hot man in this school is gay. I’t like a law.” Peter smirked and wiggled his eyebrows at Remus.

“Malfoy isn’t.” Sirius sighed dreamily. “He is the man of my dreams. I could be his disowned escapade, too. And Dora is so beautiful, too; I wonder if they would be willing to take a third.” He added and tried to glide into his bed, but Peter didn’t let him.

“Dora?” Remus asked, an eyebrow raised. “Are you two close?”

“She was at James’ the half of the summer when you were away,” Sirius said, and his eyes flickered. “You know Effie likes to take disowned royalty in.” After Sirius finished his work, Peter let him sleep.

When James came from the practice, he took the map angrily from Peter’s drawer. “I solemnly swear I’m up to no good,” he murmured the incantation. His eyes were in the dungeons. Regulus was with Snape and Evan. “He’s after something,” James said, his anger palpable.

“What happened?” Remus asked in a whisper, eyeing Sirius secretly and pulling James to the common room. Peter followed them. They sat on the sofa, and Remus waited for him to calm down.

“I was trying to find Slughorn for the practice schedules. He was in the classroom. Brewing this.” He threw a parchment to Remus. It was instructions for veritaserum. Remus couldn’t help himself and smiled. James didn’t seem to notice. “Isn’t it the last thing we learn at Potions? Why does he need it? Will they hurt someone with it?” James asked. His head was between his hands, and he was rocking frantically.

Peter shot him a look that meant, “Look, I was right about him going mad.”

“He is Slughorn’s assistant. I’m sure he wouldn’t let him use it.” Peter said and patted his back.

When they went to bed, James was still watching Regulus on the map. Remus thought his obsession died when Lily and him got together. His dreams about seeing Anthony tonight died. He sent him a note to say sorry instead.

“Pandora Rosier,” The spirit announced.

“Xen, love, can you help me with this?”

Pandora showed him her notes. They talked about it. It was about a silent protection and healing charm for Imperius’s long-lasting effects. Evan asked for it once, but Pandora was too angry to consider it. She dreamed about it a couple of weeks ago. Usually, Pandora was good at keeping her visions in check. It had to be important.

“I don’t even know what the lasting effects are?” Pandora sighed. “They almost always die. You can’t expect someone to use it for so long to break the victim and not finish the job after.”

“Mom, I can’t find Ceci,” yelled Luna from the other room. Ceci, the Kneazle, was under the bed.

“Give her some time, love. She will come back.” Pandora said softly.

“What if she is lost?” Luna asked anxiously from the door frame. Ceci scooted so she couldn’t see her.

“She is too smart for that, hun.” Xenophilius inquired. When Luna leaves, he starts talking again. “There is someone in Paris. Grindelwald used him for years to access Ministry files. He went to Nurmengard before he got a chance to kill him. Antony Cornillac. Achilles interviewed him when it first happened. I can get the information if you want.”

They were speaking French. Remus didn’t learn French for many reasons. Fine. He liked being utterly helpless when Sirius spoke it. But he could understand through Pandora’s filter.

“Thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk to you, Mr. Cornillac,” Pandora said as she sat in front of him.

Cornillac was an older man than Dumbledore. He was tall and skinny, and Remus could feel the ache in his bones.

“I would like to know what happened during and after your… imprisonment. Not the things you have done. What happened in your mind, and what is left after.”

Cornilliac laughed. “That is a good way to put it, Mrs. Lovegood,” he said.

“Pandora, please, if you don’t mind.” Pandora smiled shyly.

“Of course, Pandora. You know how the curse works, right?” Pandora nodded.

“When there is nothing there for so long,” he pointed to his head, “Your brain starts to create new things, and because it's mad at you for allowing it, they are not kind. Voices that taunt your loved ones, looking at you with disgust. But it was not as bad as after. They vanish after a while; the curse doesn’t let them stick around.” Cornillac smiled, but it was strained.

“What happens after?” Pandora asked.

“They come in full force when they find an outlet. I lived with my dead sister, taunting me in my head since. Some of them come and go, some of them stick around.” Cornillac said, lost in thought, fixed on something behind. His leg was twitching. A flashback filled Pandora’s mind. Barty watching something that doesn't exist and twitching. Pandora sent it back.

“What else, magical or physical?” Pandora asked.

“Well, I don’t know if it's magical, it could be psychological, but… Do you know who Albus Dumbledore is?” He asked.

“Yes, of course, he was my headmaster,” Pandora answered.

“I mean in any other way.”

“My friends were fighting for him in the war. Most of them are dead now, two are left alive, and one of them was accused of killing his best friends without a trial, which Dumbledore did nothing for, he would never do, and the other was so traumatized by it that he left the magical world entirely so I don’t know how to feel about him.” Pandora answered honestly. That was what exactly Remus would do, running and not looking back. Cornillac sneered at her but stopped quickly in realization.

“This is what I mean.” He muttered. “He stopped Grindelwald, so he saved me. I am utterly devoted to him, but I can't find a reason for it. Our worldviews aren't remotely similar. I’m a pure-blood traditionalist, or I was. I’m not sure anymore.”

Another flashback came.

“You, of all people, Barty. You! How can you be on his side?” Pandora cried.

“I don’t know why Dora, but I am.” Barty was screaming. Tears running down his face. But it went quickly as it came.

“Did he use it?” Pandora asked calmly, her voice devoid of emotion, but her hands were shaking.

“Yes, but not as much as he could have been. He could have used me as his lap dog, and I wouldn’t argue.” He answered. “I think it’s a way of restoring balance. I got used to following orders and became needy of them afterwards. Who could I choose anyone other than the man who saved me? But it could be magical, too. I don’t know.”

“Thank you, Mr. Cornillac.”

“Now, tell me. Are you French? You look familiar?” Cornillac smiled.

“Yes.” She answered.

“Maiden name?”

“Rosier.” she breathed reluctantly.

“Lovegood isn’t a pure-blood name, is it? My best friend was a Rosier, too. Evan.” He pointed towards his forehead. “He’s in here too. He died from dragonpox sometime after we graduated. I still miss him. We could have been more.” Pandora stiffened. The history book on the shelf… Remus thought.

“No, it isn’t. I’m sorry for your loss.” Pandora replied, her mind racing with thoughts.

“It’s very brave of you to do that. I can’t imagine your family would be very supportive.” Cornillac said and gave her a sympathetic half-smile.

“My husband is a pure-blood too. We are just blood traitors. We changed our surnames.” She brought her lips into a thin line.

Cornillac looked into her eyes to assess something. “Better than I thought,” he said.

She started working immediately. Her mind filled with Barty’s odd acts; the last time they talked, they shouted at each other. The morning she learned he was announced dead and the pang on her heart and guilt she couldn't get rid of. She thought about the fact that Evan asked her to find a way to get rid of the effects that connected everything. Her parchments were wet with her teardrops at the end of the night.

Working on hallucinations was easy enough. It works almost the same as Muggles, and Muggles researched it through and through. She needed to fix the chemistry of his brain and create a charm that helped him to find his inner balance. Like a muggle therapist but better, always inside your head. Her method was exactly like Sirius’. She probably learned it from him. When she went back to Cornillac, she inspected him for blood bonds and unintentional vows. There was a thin string of magic towards Scotland that resembled an unbreakable vow. You can’t break an unbreakable vow without dying.

“Mom, Dad made dinner,” Luna called her. “Have you eaten today? You are so silly sometimes.”

Pandora couldn’t argue with that.

“Love.” Xenophilius peppered kisses on her shoulder as she tried to wake up.

“Good morning,” she said, turning around and kissing him passionately. They stayed in bed until noon.

Things got twisted after dinner. Pandora was delirious, and her head was spinning. There are snippets of visions filling her mind. There was a boy, eighteen at most, with white hair and grey eyes in fear and pain, burning in the fire in a cluttered room. He was crying for help, but it didn’t come. Then, in another scene came another boy slaying a snake, getting bitten by it at the same time, then lying on the ground pale and lifeless with a sword and a fallen snake on his side. Luna was crying next to him. Then another, Nascissa whispering to yet another boy, Harry, “Is he alive, Draco? Is he alive?” No, he wasn’t; he died in the fire. They killed the boy again.

“I’m trying to find a way to break an unbreakable wow.” Pandora sighed.

“Dumbledore did it,” Xenophilius said. Pandora looked at him in shock. “What? I’m a journalist.” he shrugged like it explained anything.

“How?” She asked expectantly.

“Even he didn’t know how. Newt said it was something about clashing intents of Protecting and Killing. I think he and Grindelwald broke the vow at the same time for completely opposite purposes, and it didn’t kill them, but it’s just a theory, and it’s also nearly impossible to replicate.”

“Nearly,” she repeated. Cornillac didn’t make an unbreakable vow. It just comes from the same root. He wouldn’t die if he objected. He just can’t. But what if they clash? Being a pure-blood supremacist and working for Dumbledore aren’t exactly the opposite things. You can still gain something from him.

Being the least prejudiced person Pandora knew and working for you-know-who aren’t entirely opposite things either.

They were in school. He was sixteen when he started to defend you-know-who’s actions. Who would use an unforgivable on the son of the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement? Was it his father himself?

“I love you because you are a lunatic, baby, but don’t put yourself in danger,” Xenophilius said and kissed her cheeks.

“I wasn’t thinking about taking an unbreakable just to try to break it. I’m not that dumb. We went to school together.” Pandora pouted.

They headed to Felix’s house. It was his birthday. “How are you, dear?” Pandora asked, wrapping her arms around him.

“We are the same age,” Felix said brokenly, pointing to Evan’s portrait.

“He would be so proud of you. As I am.”

They moved to the couch. Luna was running around. “Uncle Ev. Look!” Luna shouted to the portrait, changing the hair of the doll in her hands. Evan beamed at her.

“I don’t know why we don't clear his name,” Felix said.

“The Ministry knows,” Xenophilius said with a frown. “They messed up so badly at the end of the first Wizarding War. They killed and imprisoned whoever came up without proper investigation. That’s how my dear brother was able to escape imprisonment. He threatened them to leak the information. Imperius allegations weren't exactly lies.” Pandora shot him a dark look. “He is twenty-one now. He has a right to know. They treated it like a war. It was a cult. Everybody in a cult is a victim. They should have dug deeper.”

Pandora took the portrait to the spare room. Evan looked confused. “It’s nauseating!” He yelled.

“Sorry, sorry.” Pandora put him down and showed him her notes.

Evan hummed. “That looks about right.” He said. “Have you found a solution?”

“Not for breaking the bond.” Pandora shook her head.

“It’s too late anyway.”

“He didn’t need to torture Longbottoms. Voldemort was dead.” Pandora said, looking into the emptiness.

“He was cruel and mentally unstable even before all of it, Pandora. No magical bond makes you act like someone you aren’t. Dark Lord just used his artificial loyalty. You loved him knowing this. I loved him because of this. He avenged me, and I’m not judging him for it. I was made before Alice tortured your brother, but I’m not unaware of how crutiatus feels.”

Pandora had some self-preservation skills, but they weren’t enough. She was working on another project, and it was much more dangerous than she anticipated. And she was reckless because of the visions, guilt and the thrill of finding something. She died while her daughter was watching him. It was one of her many regrets.

“Now we know why?” Dorcas murmured. Looking at Barty’s pale face.

“Visions. What do they mean?” Marlene asked.

“They are literal,” Pandora answered. “Just what you see, but they wouldn’t have happened because I saw them.

“It was fiendfyre,” Evan murmured, angsty with probably the memory of the burning boy, Draco. “The snake was a Horcrux.”

“How are you so sure of it anyway?” Marlene squinted her eyes.

“They smell like death,” Evan stated. Remus tensed; he didn’t notice anything. His bond with Horcruxes was exceeding Remus’ expectations. They were visions inside of visions, and he could feel them.

“The spell I performed on Harry. According to my research, it’s used in horcrux making. But only a part of it. He wasn’t a whole Horcrux. Have you felt something from the fire?” Lily asked Evan if their minds were working in sync, and Remus understood. Pandora’s visions showed three scenes. In two of them, a Horcrux was destroyed.

Evan shook his head. “Fiendyfire masked all the others. There are tons of dark artefacts in the room of hidden things.”

“How do you know about the room of hidden things?” Dorcas asked suspiciously.

“I steal divination books from Rosier library and hide them there.” Evan rolled his eyes, but Dorcas’s stern look softened. She smiled softly.

“What was that sword? There are only three ways to destroy a Horcrux. Basilisk venom, fiendfyre and killing curse. You can’t slay a living one with just a sword.” Lily asked, looking back at the memories with the new information Evan provided.

“It’s the Sword of Gryffindor.” Regulus looked at her, baffled. “How are you a Gryffindor?”

“It’s impossible. Basilisk venom, fiendfyre and killing curse, that's it.” Lily said determinedly.

“It’s a pretty powerful artefact,” Regulus murmured. “We will find out.”

“Hufflepuff's cup, Slytherin’s locket, Gryffinfor’s sword…” Evan murmured after a while. Oh. This was the pattern Remus missed. Hogwarts founders.

“Do you think all of them are horcruxes?” Marlene asked as she worried her lip.

“Sword isn’t.” Remus cut in. “It's been in Dumbledore's possession since the dawn of time. He wouldn’t let something like that happen to it. But the rest can be.”

“How do we find the Diadem? It was stolen ages ago.” Barty asked.

“I have been meaning to ask this. We should get help.” Regulus started. “I’m suggesting Alphard and Cecilia.”

“We can tell my parents, too,” Dorcas said.

“And Proffesor Lupin.” Lilly added. Remus turned so quickly towards her that his neck made a strange noise. “What? He is a trusted adult with exceedingly good skills.”

“I’m going to tell my parents too,” Marlene said.

“Raven!” Pandora called. “If we tell what has been going on here to other people, can they tell others? Are you protecting that, too?”

“No. The secret would be out, and you can’t talk about the library. You need to find an excuse.”

“I think after they found the first Horcrux, they won’t need a source,” Regulus mumbled.

It was Saturday. Pandora forced Barty to come to breakfast as she complained later, and Remus did the same with Sirius. James force-fed him. Towards the end of it, Pandora and Barty come to their table.

“Now that your name is cleared, you can start acting like a living human being,” Pandora said as she pulled him forcefully. Barty still looked resigned.

Sirius’ face lightened. “Hey, Dora.” He said. “What is going on?” He asked, his eyes flickering between her and Barty. “When did you guys make it up?”

“Since I heard his reasons.” Pandora smiled cryptically and turned to Barty. “Now go talk to your other platonic soulmate or something.” She pushed him to Remus, who caught him between his arms.

“Or something.” Barty huffed into Remus’ chest. “It doesn’t change what I did or what I’m capable of.” He said as he pulled away that he still wasn’t able to look Remus in the eye.

Pandora rolled her eyes. “You didn’t do anything. If you knew how many people I saw turned dark in my visions, you would pat yourself on the back.”

“She saw me killing Wormtail once.” Sirius pouted. Remus felt his blood draining. She saw him killing Peter, and it wouldn’t happen. “I would never!” Sirius exclaimed as he nudged Peter’s arm. Peter laughed it off. “Wait! Were you a dick because Pandora saw something yesterday? How can you be so stupid? What about the twelve O’s?” He raised his eyebrows.

“I can see the error of my ways now. Thank you, Black.” Barty said sarcastically, then turned to Remus again with a grin. “Hi, baby.”

“Hi, love.” Remus returned the grin and wrapped his arms around him.

“I haven’t told her about Diggory,” Sirius whined after Pandora left.

“Oh, she knows everything,” Barty said with a glint in his eyes. Remus realized how much he missed him.

“Did the voices start? Do you remember anything from Pandora’s spell?” Remus asked. He didn’t want to miss the opportunity.

“Yes, I wrote it down, but… I don’t think it will work if I don’t get rid of it for good.” Barty sulked. “Speaking of the solution to this particular problem. Lily, do you happen to know any muggle-born with a mind healer as a family member. I need to rewrite the spell. I need books.”

“Psychiatrist.” James chimed in. “Muggle mind healers are called psychiatrists..”

“And my dad is one,” Lily added.

“We would be happy if you could fill us in. Feeling a bit hurt here,” said James.

“I have some complications because of a spell. It’s not getting better, and I need help. Mind healers couldn’t do much, so I’m researching for a cure. Pandora knew how to solve my problem in theory. She gave me a start. Her theory is that instability itself wasn’t magical. It doesn’t mean physical injuries are magical because they are caused by magic. So, I’m taking my chances with the muggles. They researched the soul of a man much more than wizardkind. It’s so ironic.” Barty explained.

“That’s a pretty solid theory. I wonder if people who lost their minds from unforgivables could benefit from something like this. Cruciatus is easy to detect, but Imperus isn’t.” Sirius spoke without realizing the impact of his words.

“Imperius?” asked Barty. He was looking at Remus with confusion.

“Oh, it’s because of our DADA paper; the curse is constantly in my mind. They expect us to write something like how to be better at life, be strong, and resist the curse, but I know it doesn’t work like that. You can’t just be immune to it by trying. Some people are born with it, some gain it, but not everyone.” Sirius explained. It was a peace offer, too. Barty offered a big smile.

Dorcas, Remus, Sirius and the girl named Millie Abott were assigned to the paper Sirius talked about. Remus internally screamed. They met in one of the study rooms. Dorcas looked worried.

“You look like you would rather be dead than be here,” Millie said accusingly to Dorcas.

“It’s not you,” Dorcas murmured. “I have some personal issues.” She said, looking Remus in the eye. Dorcas was the last one. They were about to see her death. It was easier to spend the day when you didn’t know.

“Has anybody experienced it before?” Millie asked.

“It is rather a personal question. Isn’t it?” Dorcas snapped after she saw Sirius froze.

“Sheesh. Okay, I will shut up, and you can do whatever you want.” Millie said and turned to her book.

They worked in silence as Remus and Dorcas shared knowing looks when they debated about the lasting effects. It was searched by many if it was for a short amount of time. Ticks and twitches lasted two to six months. Psychological instability like dissociation, they didn’t call it that; they described it as the soul losing its ability to control the body, which could be healed with potions. After every single instance that lasts more than a month, the victim committed suicide if they weren’t dead already in a week or less. Cornillac was a strong man. Remus wondered what he might be doing right now.

At lunch, they decided to eat outside. Barty and Sirius were bickering the whole time. Remus called Dorcas, Marlene and Lily. Pandora had all the gossip possible to know. “I heard Bellatrix was cheating on Rodolphus with Rita Skeeter.” She said to Sirius.

Sirius’ mouth opened in bewilderment. It was unsettling to hear them talking about the vilest people like they were next-door neighbours. Well, there were more; they were family, but it was still disturbing. “Wasn’t her mother a muggle-born?” Sirius asked, still in shock. “You would think she would kill her on the spot.”

“Apparently, it’s not that important when you do it behind closed doors,” Pandora said, irritated with a scoff.

Remus caught Lily for an alone time afterwards. She couldn’t take her eyes from Snape across the yard. He was with Mulciber arguing about something. “I don’t know what to do with him,” Lily said after she noticed how Remus looked at her.

“I don’t think we should act on our personal lives based on what we saw, Lily. I would be in Sirius’ arms right now if I did.” Lily looked at him, puzzled. Maybe she didn’t notice or didn’t care enough. It wasn’t that obvious if you didn't put in the effort of placing the puzzle pieces, yet it was all Remus had done over the past two days.

“Twelve years in Azkaban, Lily, for a crime he didn’t commit, for killing James, and he was still there, with your son, with me, after I left him there after I ran. The black dog Dumbledore asked for. It was him. And he died for Harry. I want to comfort him for something that didn’t and won’t happen. I even want to go down on my knees and beg for forgiveness. He made it up to me. Didn’t he?” Remus asked desperately for a way out. Lily didn’t answer for a while. She was lost in the realization.

“Oh my.” She breathed. “He really did, but he will be the Sirius we have known for a long time. I don’t want you to mix it in your head. He will break your heart again.”

Remus nodded, looking down.

He took the map from James almost forcefully. It was guaranteed that he would figure out that Remus went to Regulus with his re-established obsession. He found him at Slughorn’s classroom and returned his Veritaserum instructions.

“I memorized it already,” Regulus said with a huff. “I can’t believe he would think stealing this would stop me.”

Remus laughed. “He’s watching you on the map all day. It’s like the fifth year all over again. He just has a better way now.”

Regulus frowned. “Why?”

“He thinks you are up to something.”

“Here, I finished it.” Regulus passed a vial; it was colourless. “When will we interrogate him?”

“I don’t want to commit the same crime in a week. If you can obliviate him afterwards, we can do it even today.” Remus said as he wrapped his arm around Regulus.

“No chance, Dumbledore checks my wand. Ask Lily.” Regulus murmured.

They chatted about how life was going. Regulus told him about how his summer went. It wasn’t what Remus expected. “I thought after Sirius left, they would pay me more attention. Not that I want it, but… Anyways, I went to Greece with Alphard…” He talked about other werewolves he met. It turns out that Professor Black knew many of them. He talked about the beaches, the sun, and warm people.

In return, Remus told him how his mission was with the werewolf pack he spent the summer with. He didn’t even talk about it with James, but they shared much bigger secrets with Regulus. It wasn’t great was the understatement of the century. They didn’t like him from the start with his nice clothes and his educated relationship with magic. He could fake being financially comfortable, but he couldn’t fake magic. They were feral, and they used magic instinctively, just like little children. Then they found out who his father was, and everything went downhill from there. Remus’ charisma he depended on didn’t work on them. They didn’t know beauty; they just wanted to live.

“Dumbledore is the most short-sighted man I know. He thinks if he plans seven steps ahead, he will do the right thing. If he thought for one second about who you are, this wouldn’t happen.” Regulus said in anger. “Fool.” He breathed.

He met with Anthony after. He felt like he was cheating on him.

Remus thought he knew about being in love before Anthony, but he didn’t. Obsession, dependency and lust weren’t love; neither Remus nor Sirius knew this when they were dating. I loved you, too, in my own twisted way.

He was disappointed in himself for even thinking about someone else, but he was. Because he felt it in the vision. He was in love with Sirius, and he had lost him. He was in love with Anthony, and he was going to lose him because of this.

They just chatted this time. Remus couldn’t bring himself to do more than a couple soft kisses. But it was good. The reminder of why he was his safe haven was helping him. But they both knew it ended.

When he went back to his room, James snatched the map from him. “Where were you anyway?” He asked.

“I went for a walk, I didn’t want to bump into Snape.” Remus lied. James nodded, opened the map, and watched Regulus.

“Keep it down,” Remus warned James, looking at Sirius, who was watching them curiously. “What are you guys doing?” He asked Peter and Sirius.

“Prongs was going crazy, so I took my art supplies for Padfoot to protect him from the freak-out. He’s doing great.” Peter showed him the painting Sirius had made. It was a landscape that was unprofessional and wobbly, but you could feel what Sirius was feeling just by looking at it. He painted an empty, dark sky with only the shadow of the moon. City lights dimmed the stars; even Sirius wasn’t there.

Remus took one of his sketchbooks and started drawing next to them. He sketched a face that resembled Sirius more and more each step. He was older, in his sixties. If he didn’t know who it was himself, he would mistake it for Professor Black. He was good at sketches, only portraits; he did it instinctively but had never learned how to paint. It was too much to learn techniques. It was Peter’s speciality, honestly. He didn’t show them the sketch, but it was peaceful to spend time with them for once.

“Dorcas Meadowes,” the spirit announced faintly.

Dorcas jolted awake, ripped from a dreamless sleep. The setting sun cast an orange glow through the dust-coated window, the first sunlight she’d seen in days. With a sigh that spoke volumes, she pushed herself upright, wincing at the unfamiliar ache in her bones. Marlene was dead, and Dorcas didn’t seem to be alive either.

A shimmering mist coalesced in the room, a non-corporeal patronus. “Coming through in five!” it said.

Dorcas groaned, “Not in the bloody mood for your antics, Sirius.”

He came through the door, a shadow of his usual self. The playful glint in his eyes was replaced by a hollowness that mirrored the dark circles beneath them. “Missed me, haven’t you?” he offered a forced chirp in his voice.

Dorcas snorted. “Like a flobberworm to the face.” Her sarcasm was laced with a weariness that belied her flippant tone. “How’s Lily taking everything?”

Sirius’s grin faltered completely. “We had a disagreement. I left.”

Dorcas raised an eyebrow, a question hanging heavy in the air.

“Let’s just say at the end, she offered some…unflattering observations about my mental state,” he mumbled, avoiding her gaze. “So, I sought solace with my other equally deranged best friend.”

“Peachy,” Dorcas deadpanned, rolling her eyes, though a flicker of concern flickered across her face.

“It was about Remus,” Sirius blurted out, finally meeting her gaze.

Dorcas sighed, the sound heavy with unspoken emotions. “More drama, then. Let me grab a bite to eat first.” Her voice was strained. “Chispita,” she called out, her voice hoarse, “a sandwich, please.”

A tiny pop echoed in the room, and a house elf bowed deeply. “Yes, Miss Meadows. Chispita would be honoured.” She returned moments later with a simple but hearty sandwich, placing it carefully on the coffee table. Sirius fidgeted on the couch, his eyes darting around the room as if searching for an escape.

“Alright,” Dorcas said finally, taking a bite of the sandwich, “spill. What did you do this time, Sirius?”

He hesitated, then blurted, “I found out who he’s dating.”

“Who?”

“Greengrass.”

“Oh! I know his wife. Nice woman. Cassandra never shut up about her. What is the problem? Don’t tell me you are jealous?”

“I am, but it’s not the problem. Have you read the news?”

Dorcas nodded. “Heartbreaking, actually. I will miss them.” Her heart clenched.

“Greengrass and Rosier were inseparable, and they caught Wilkes last week,” Sirius whispered.

“So?” Dorcas co*cked an eyebrow.

“Isn’t it suspicious? We don’t know how many of them from their little gang are Death Eaters.”

“Do you think he’s the spy?” Dorcas frowned.

Sirius looked up, his eyes red-rimmed. “I want to believe he isn’t. But after everything…can I trust my gut anymore? He keeps secrets, Dorcas, too many of them. It’s…” His voice trailed off.

“We all have our secrets, Sirius,” Dorcas said softly. “Pandora does the same thing with me, you know? Talks about everything except the truly important things. But I see it in her eyes, the fear, the determination. She’s doing as much as she can, just like me.” She closed her eyes, weariness pulling at her. “I was inseparable from him, too. Hell, Pandora is his sister.”

“Well, you were a child, and you can’t choose your siblings. I would know.” Sirius pursed his lips into a thin line.

“It still breaks my heart to see this.” She said, poking at the newspaper.

“I will lose him for good after all of this, and I hope I will be the one in the wrong,” Sirius mumbled.

Dorcas woke with a gasp, the familiar ache in her bones a dull throb. Disoriented, she realized she'd slept for another chunk of the day. Sirius was gone, the room empty and cold. A pang of loneliness settled in her stomach, a constant companion these days.

She apparated to Marlene's family cottage. She dropped down beside her tombstone and started sobbing. This was her life now. She would come here, talk with Marlene, say things like Canons won the last game, Marls can you believe that, cry for hours, leave and sleep.

When she came back, she dropped into the bed, intending to grab another hour of sleep, but a prickling sensation snaked down her spine. It was a primal instinct honed by years of war, and it screamed danger. Dorcas bolted upright in bed, her wand snatched from the nightstand in one fluid motion.

The source of the foreboding was evident the moment she stepped into the living room. The air crackled with a dark energy, a pressure that sent shivers down her spine. And then she saw him. Voldemort, perched on her couch like a grotesque visitor, his scarlet eyes gleaming with an unholy light.

"Greetings, Ms. Meadows," he rasped, his voice a cold, slithering caress.

Dorcas's heart hammered against her ribs, but her hand remained steady as she pointed her wand at him. "You can't possibly think I'd welcome you into my home," she spat, her voice laced with venom.

Voldemort's lips stretched into a humourless smile. "Oh, none of that, I assure you. I come in… peace." The word sounded alien on his tongue, dripping with an oily falsehood.

Dorcas scoffed. "Peace? You who bathes in violence? You who have taken everything from me."

"A slight exaggeration, wouldn't you say, Ms. Meadows?" His voice held a dangerous edge. "However, sentimentalities aside, I have a proposition for you."

"I'm not interested in your bargains," Dorcas snarled. "There's nothing you could offer that would tempt me."

"Perhaps not your life," he conceded, his voice devoid of emotion. "But what about the lives of those you hold dear?" None of them are here. Dorcas wanted to say.

"What exactly do you want?"

"The key to your vault in Gringotts, Spain," Voldemort declared, his voice cold and laced with avarice. "In exchange, I might allow you to live a tad longer."

Dorcas's lips curled into a humourless sneer. "Did you ransack every vault in Britain and come up short, or are you simply that greedy?"

"Gold holds no interest for me, Ms. Meadows," he hissed, a dangerous glint in his serpentine eyes. "There's a specific artefact within that vault, one I require."

Understanding dawned on Dorcas's face, swift and horrifying. "Then you'll have to kill me," she stated, her voice ringing with a steely resolve. "Because I will never give it to you. And I assure you, I won't go down without a fight."

Voldemort's lips twisted into a parody of a smile. "As you wish, Ms. Meadows. But know this – your defiance will be your undoing."

Voldemort's smile vanished, replaced by a cold fury.

With a flick of his wand, the room erupted in chaos. A jet of sickly green light shot towards Dorcas, who contorted her body with inhuman agility, dodging the Killing Curse by a hair's breadth. The emerald bolt slammed into the wall behind her, leaving a crater.

Dorcas retaliated instantly. A vicious curse, one she'd only used in the darkest corners of the war, ripped from her wand, materialized as a chilling mist, wrapping around Voldemort, tendrils of despair and hopelessness reaching for him.

Voldemort shrieked a sound that sent a tremor of revulsion through Dorcas. But he was a formidable opponent. With a burst of crimson light, he banished the curse, his face contorted in rage.

Dorcas duelled with a ferocity born of desperation, her spells laced with a darkness she'd previously kept at bay. A jet of light ricocheted off a shield charm, shattering a window and raining glass shards into the night. A curse aimed at Voldemort's legs erupted in a geyser of flame, forcing him to retreat.

But Voldemort was relentless. He countered every curse with chilling efficiency, his own dark magic imbued with a sad*stic pleasure. A wave of Crucio slammed into Dorcas, searing pain ripping through her. She screamed a primal, raw sound, but through gritted teeth, she forced another spell from her wand – a debilitating curse that momentarily froze Voldemort in place.

Seeing the fragile advantage, Dorcas launched a barrage of spells, each one fueled by a desperate need to survive. Yet, Voldemort was a duelist of unmatched skill. He deflected a curse with a casual flick of his wand, and the deflected spell struck a bookshelf, sending a cascade of books crashing down on Dorcas.

Disoriented and momentarily pinned under the weight of the books, Dorcas watched in horror as Voldemort raised his wand, a cruel smile twisting his lips. "Seems your defiance is at an end, Ms. Meadows."

Dorcas knew she was out of options. But a fierce defiance, a refusal to yield, surged through her. With a guttural roar that echoed through the ruined room, she thrust her wand forward, channelling every ounce of her magic, dark and light, into one final, desperate curse.

The air crackled with an unnatural power. The very room seemed to shudder under the strain. Voldemort's eyes widened in surprise, his own spell faltering.

It surged through Dorcas, a searing pain ripping through her veins. Her vision blurred, the world dissolving into a kaleidoscope of colours. She felt her magic falter, the spell breaking away from her control.

Voldemort seized his chance. With a cry, he unleashed the Killing Curse, a bolt of emerald light speeding towards Dorcas's exposed chest.

Dorcas tried to move, to shield herself, but it was too late. The curse struck true, and a cold emptiness washed over her. The last thing she saw was Voldemort's triumphant sneer before darkness claimed her.

"Well, we should change that," Dorcas said, imitating Barty's sardonic tone days ago.

"What was in the vault? Another Horcrux?" Regulus asked his voice tight with concern.

"No," Dorcas answered, a shiver running down her spine. "It's a stone. It shows you two seconds ahead of time. Think about Quidditch - dodging every Bludger before it arrives. Handy in theory, but once you touch it, you're trapped in.” Dorcas rubbed her temples, the room seeming to wobble slightly. “It's like your brain is constantly trying to catch up while you constantly change the future. You miss everything happening now.”

Regulus's eyes widened. "Why would he want to use it?"

Dorcas shook her head. "He's a paranoid maniac. He'd never risk his own mind on something like that. But he'd gladly use someone else as a pawn.” Her gaze shifted to Barty. “Someone with quick thinking but foolish enough to be loyal to him."

"Raven!" Remus called, his voice laced with urgency.

"Yes, Remus," Raven said, its head tilted inquisitively.

"Why didn't you remove Barty's curse completely? How did you even do it by half?" Remus pressed, frustration creeping into his voice.

Something clattered in the cavernous library, a symphony of disarray as scrolls and tomes sprawled across every available surface. At least a hundred books, perhaps more, lay open in precarious stacks.

"If you want to know how," Raven hooted, its large, black eyes gleaming ", you need to search through and master all of them. As for why, I think you know.”

"Are you sure he won't be bound?" Pandora asked, her voice trembling slightly.

The spirit dipped its head in a slow, deliberate nod.

It was over, right? They had all the information they could get, but they weren’t as organized as he preferred, so he made a list.

Horcruxes: Locklet, Cup, Snake, Diary, Harry Potter (not yet), Diadem (maybe)

To destroy them: Fiendfyre, Basilisk Venom, Killing Curse, Sword of Gryffindor (questionable)

Deathly Hallows: Invisibility Cloak: James, Elder Wand: Dumbledore, Resurrection Stone: Voldemort (maybe, hope not)

The first thing in the morning after he convinced Barty, Remus barged into Dumbledore’s office. “Did you know one of your students has been under Imperius since last year?”

Dumbledore shifted in his seat, not changing his expression, but Remus could smell his distress. “Who would that be?” He asked.

“Barty, Barty Crouch Jr.”

“Do you know who cast it?”

“His father,” Remus murmured. “Will you do something about it?”

“I will handle it,” Dumbledore assured him.

“What about his father?”

“Remus, we are in the middle of a war. I don’t think that is wise. But I promise you I will get rid of the curse.”

Remus bore his gaze into his eyes. How could he be so blind? Dumbledore’s little pet. He could see it now. He nodded and left the room.

All of them were gathered in the Room of Requirement. It took the shape of the common room without any colours. It had been Lily's idea, yet she seemed the most uneasy about being with this group by choice. They needed to form an action plan.

Barty slumped down next to Regulus, leaning into him with a sigh. It was the first real physical connection they'd shared in over a year; Regulus was subtly playing with Barty's hair.

“He took me to Gringotts, pushed me under a waterfall and puffed it’s gone,” Barty said in awe.

Evan, on the other hand, sat as still as Lily, his face carefully blank as he observed the exchange between Barty and Regulus.

"What exactly are we going to tell them?" Marlene sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat.

"And what excuse will we use?" Dorcas murmured.

Remus, sinking onto a nearby couch, offered a solution, “Lily and Barty lied about it to Sirius and James. They said that Pandora saw a vision."

Regulus raised an eyebrow, scepticism clear in his voice, "And how will we do that without getting Pandora in trouble? People don’t know she is a seer. She doesn’t want to be a seer."

“No! Find another excuse.” Evan said, glaring at Remus.

“Can’t we leave hints?” Pandora chimed in and started to speak with mocking theatrical dramatics, “Professor, I read something called a Horcrux.” She sighed and fluttered his eyes. “Oh! How vile. Only the most monstrous would do something like that.”

Marlene squinted her eyes. “Why is that an actually good idea?”

“Or we could tell Ceci everything,” Evan suggested.

And they made an action plan. Nobody was willing to let the others make themselves martyrs. Remus wasn’t opposed to the idea of a Horcrux hunt if only he could do it by himself. Remus understood why they were selected beyond their intelligence when they willingly and freely interacted. There was James, Sirius, Alice, Vance, Bones, oh god, Snape, and even Mulciber. They were maybe better, maybe not, but they wouldn’t fit.

There was a tightly knitted bond between all of them and the right amount of animosity. The animosity that leads to questioning, not war.

Lily was understandably cautious. She was the target here, working with the people who once targeted her and Evan wasn’t redeemed or seemed to want to. But Remus was good at seeing people as they were beyond their upbringing. He could see ifs and whys.

If Evan wasn’t a pure-blood supremacist, he would be Lily’s soulmate. They didn’t notice it yet, but they were at the same frequency, and they thrived on it. Sometimes, they didn’t even register that they were talking to each other as individuals, always in the same line of thought. They processed things in the same way. Maybe if Lily wasn’t a muggle-born, she would be like him, too. Intelligence didn’t make you immune to manipulation; it was an entirely different set of skills, and Remus, too, apparently didn’t have it.

Remus would have thought Evan was a kind and compassionate person if he didn’t know better. Maybe he really didn’t know better. He thought about his mom’s family, how they were kind and full of love, but the second they saw a queer on tv, they would turn into their spiteful selves.

Regulus and Lily were the two sides of the same coin. They were two people thrown into exact opposite situations, and the outcome was one and the same. Hostility without the brainwashing the others experienced. That’s why they got along so well and clashed so badly in the end.

Regulus didn’t think muggle-borns were less powerful or less of a wizard. He didn’t think muggles were less human. He loved Lily. He loved Remus’ mum, but they were the only exceptions. He hated them as a concept, with reasons Remus could understand. Regulus just failed to understand every concept you made up in your head about a group of people who didn’t choose to be one was an illusion. An illusion to keep you safe per se. Prejudice was a survival mechanism long before humans even existed. But Regulus also hated his family. He hated how wrapped up in things that didn't matter they were, how they treated Sirius, how they treated him. He was proud to be a Black. He was a Black above anything else, but that didn’t mean he would blindly follow the rules.

And Lily didn’t think all of the pure-bloods were evil and less than a human. She loved James. She loved Sirius. She just hated them as a concept, with reasons not only Remus could understand. Lily also failed to understand the illusion that tries to keep her safe. Lily also hated muggles. Not as a concept. She hated the existence of their culture as a globe.

Dorcas’ family sided with Grindelwald in the Global Wizarding War. Remus would admit he was a much better politician than any of the wizards was today. He would also admit he found his views respectable if he didn’t turn into a Dark Lord in the end. They were publicly opposed to Voldemort now. Dorcas’ view of the world was entirely different from any of the others. She was Spanish, and in Spain, they were strict with muggle relations, and the whole nation seemed to accept it. It was illegal to marry a muggle, and muggle-borns kept their magic secret from their family. They didn’t discriminate against muggle-borns, but some families preferred to stay pure blood without the mania. Meadowes’ was one of them.

Barty was the most complicated of them all, in Remus’s opinion. He didn’t discriminate. He hated everyone equally, at least Remus thought before he met him properly. Frank was balancing him. He never shied away from violence if he found it necessary. People were afraid of him and charmed by him. Remus was starting to understand that there was just a scared boy underneath. They were all children.

The plan included these.

Telling Cecilia Prewett everything. She wouldn’t use anything against Pandora. She was the most trusted adult that the whole group could agree on, and she had a haircut. They needed to know if she knew what it was.

Hinting things to Professor Black, Dorcas’ and Marlene’s parents. Dreadfully, his father.

Finding out if the resurrection stone is with Voldemort, and if not, its location.

Sirius spent the whole day as Padfoot. Lily said that dogs' minds aren’t as complicated as experiencing a depressive episode, but it didn’t mean Padfoot wasn’t sad. Remus felt the urge to sit on his bed and pat him before he stopped himself.

He sighed to himself. How did they get there?

Then, an owl arrived. There was a letter and a phone with a note attached to it. “Let’s not upset these beautiful animals by sending them across the continent again. Hogwarts is cruel to not let you use technology,” it said.

Remus Hi!

I got your letter. Yes, Reg talked about you much more than I prefer, honestly.

I’m coming to Britain on the next full moon. Dad said he missed me. I asked my mom, and she said we could include you. There is a forest in Edinburg. I always loved it there.

You don’t need to ask permission from your headmaster. It’s an international deal. You can bring an image of friends of yours if they could come.

Don’t mind me asking, but how is Reg doing? I heard the war got even worse, and he didn't have the safest company. Is it dangerous? Honestly, I don’t understand Europeans at all. There is a group like that here; they are muggles, racist things you won’t understand. They manipulate teenagers and send them on suicide missions for the “greater good”. One of my friends lost a sibling like that.

He doesn’t talk to me about it. I’m worried about him. Take care of him for me, will you?

Love, Asena

Remus texted Asena back immediately; he felt like he had gotten part of his soul back with access to the internet. Addiction it was. It was charmed and protected; Remus hadn't seen anything like that before. Lily sometimes stole it to binge-watch shows with James.

He talked to Asena all through the week. It usually went like this.

Asena: Our infectious disease professor is crazy. I love her. I will become her.

Remus: Are you going to uni?

Asena: Yup! Med.

Remus: Why?

Asena: Because I hate myself.

Remus: Why don’t you work on something magical? Isn’t Turkey supposed to be safe?

Asena: It’s safe. I just wanted to be a doctor. There is so much you can imply to magic.

Or

Asena: Do you have any control over the full moon?

Remus: Can you do that? I don’t even remember what he did after.

Asena: That's alright. I’m going to teach you.

Remus: How are you not “infectious”.

Asena: That is a question for the later handsome.

Or

Asena: I f*cking hate my roommate.

Remus: Can’t relate.

Asena: Right… How are things going with Reg’s brother?

Remus: Did he tell you that too?

Asena: He told me everything.

Remus: Your roommate…

Asena: She sh*t talks about my husband using a wand.

Remus: Why?

Asena: We don’t use them here. He’s a Brit, so he learned how to use it.

Or

Asena: How much do you want me to annoy your headmaster?

Remus: Start with four out of ten.

Asena: I’m going to demand a personal quarter then.

Remus: Up your game.

Asena: I can terrorize students. I do coreless magic. Nobody will know.

Remus: You are five years older than us. You can’t bully children.

Asena: Nobody will die from not being able to talk for one day.

Or

Remus: Do you have any suggestions for the pain?

Asena: Mandrake leaf, didn’t you do the ritual?

Remus: What ritual?

Asena: I swear I will ransack the ministry. Didn’t they tell you?

Remus: I’m not registered…

Asena: Smart move. It’s like animagi ritual to prepare your body for transformation. Just use Mandrake Restorative Draught for now. We are registering you under the Turkish Ministry. It’ll be useful if you get caught.

Remus: That is not necessary.

Asena: It is.

And

Asena: I’m filling out a form. I have questions. Birth year, the year you got bitten, by who and if you bit anyone. It’ll be all in a secret file.

Remus: Do we have to do this?

Asena: I’m trying to help you.

Remus: Alright… 2000, 2004, Fenrir Greyback and no.

Asena: Oh… This complicates things. Do you want us to open a case against him?

Remus: Do I have to do anything?

Asena: You just have to testify.

Remus: Okay then…

Other than Asena, the week went quite peacefully, considering the full moon creeping.

Sirius was getting better. They talked to each other this week more than the entirety of last year.

He was composing a song. It was soft and sad.

“Did you know Van Gogh never touched a brush when he was in a depressive episode?” Sirius said.

Peter raised his head from his sketchbook. “Was he like you too?”

“Yup.” Sirius nodded. “Lily said you need to be some kind of mentally deranged to be a great artist.”

Remus choked in shock. “Lily would never say that.”

“‘Deranged’ wasn't the word she used. She was more medically appropriate.” Sirius chuckled, and Remus’ heart skipped. “She isn’t wrong,” Sirius added. “How are you?” Sirius asked. His eyes never left Remus.

“I’m alright,” Remus mumbled. “Someone suggested Mandrake Restorative Draught for the full. I’m trying to stock it. It’s tiring.” He asked Regulus for help. Veritaserum, on his top drawer, was still looking at him alongside it. He still didn’t know what to do with Peter.

Dorcas was pestering him for eminency lessons. He would be horrified at the thought of preferring Evan to let into his mind rather than Dorcas a month ago. He needed to find him.

Sirius’ eyes widened, and understanding settled on his face. “Merlin, Why didn’t we think about that?” He muttered to himself.

He found Evan buried in a book, a familiar one, The One That Got Away by Cassiopeia Black. Remus read the book at least six times. It was captivating and made you second guess everything you know.

It was a story about an obsessive serial killer with a list which she treated like a prophecy. The author didn’t state explicitly, but Remus liked to think it was.

She was trying and succeeding in finding flaws that deserve punishment to soothe her conscience. She couldn’t get rid of the obsession, so she embraced it.

She falls in love with the last one, and he turns out to be the villain of the story.

Other than its blood-purist undertones, it was a revolutionary book.

“That's a good one,” Remus said, dropping on the chair next to Evan. They were in the ancient runes classroom.

Evan hummed. “Lesbians write like it’s breathing.”

“Why didn’t you tell everyone that I’m a werewolf?” Remus asked without beating around the bush.

“It was not my business,” Evan murmured without lifting his eyes from the book.

“Forgive me, I don't believe that you are more bothered with me being a half-blood than a half-breed,” Remus said darkly.

“I guess I was curious about how you will end up. I have never met a werewolf with magical education.” Evan lifted his head and looked at him. “You didn’t disappoint.”

Remus lifted an eyebrow. “You met others then.” He said curiously.

Evans sighed and rolled his shoulders. “My father was the most loyal servant of the Dark Lord. You tend to meet people.”

“Oh! Insider knowledge. How I love those.” Remus said sarcastically. “How long did you know?”

“Since the third year. I started to pick up the stench of dark magic then.” Evan answered nonchalantly as if it was the most normal thing that had happened.

Remus asked for legilimency lessons, to which Evan replied that he was naive and would not do it sooner with a condition like his.

“Occlumency is harder than Legilimency,” Evan said. “Try to focus on how I block rather than my memories.”

He showed him the wand movement and the intent behind it. He couldn’t do it the first ten tries. Evan was patient, but Remus was still annoyed with himself, and for the first time, it wasn't the wolf's fault.

He was successful on the eleventh try.

“First, show them something important enough. The longer they are trapped in the memory, the harder it gets to break the wall.”

Evan was in his dormitory. Anthony was lying on Evan’s bed. “He is so… Evan, you can’t even begin to understand what he’s doing to me.”

“I might have an idea,” Evan murmured; he looked annoyed. He carefully picked the next words. “Especially if what Severus says is true. They are great f*cks.”

Anthony looked dazed and chuckled softly. “See! You f*ck everyone with a dick attached to it, but the moment I fell in love, I’m the problem.” Anthony rolled his eyes.

Evan sighed. “He is going to break your heart.”

Antony sulked and buried his face in his hands. “I know.” He whined. “And Sev is going to kill me.”

Remus needed to look around the edges to find a weak spot to break the wall. But they were talking about him. Anthony was wearing an earring Remus gifted him.

“Then don’t tell him. It’s not like it will last long.” Evan said and returned to his study.

“You are such a great support,” Antony said sarcastically.

“I’m here for when you destroy yourself, not in the process of doing it. Talk to Bruce. Maybe you both can find a way to keep your half-blood boyfriends.” Well, what?

He found the crack.

“You can’t show them another shallow memory; every one of them needs to be deeper than the last; you must trick them into thinking everyone is the last.”

“Are you really going after her?” Evan said, frustrated.

He was in a manor, newly decorated. Remus thought every ancient pure-blood family lived in Victorian houses.

There was a man in his fifties in front of him with the same piercing blue eyes Evan possessed. His hair was grey rather than blonde.

“She was useful.” The man roared.

“Do you really want to get in a row with Euphemia Potter for a blood traitor of a daughter? If Black’s couldn’t do it, how do you think you could?” Evan sneered. “You became too soft.”

“Don’t belittle me.” Evan’s father reached for his wand.

“Touch me…” Evan said with a knowing smirk. “Touch me, and you’ll see what I‘m capable of. Stay away from her; she isn’t worth our family's time.”

This was before his father got imprisoned this summer.

Remus found another crack. He pushed harder this time with all his power.

“You must build the walls carefully. If you falter, and the wizard is too powerful, they will see the pit of your soul.”

Voldemort was sitting on a sofa. His red eyes were twinkling with malice.

“You called for me, my Lord,” Evan said. His voice was trembling, but not with fear, with excitement. He looked different. Maybe last year?

“It came to my attention that you are special,” Voldemort said, eyeing him like a predator.

“How so, my Lord,” Evan asked. His eyes were shining with attention.

Voldemort patted his thigh. Evan’s eyes widened, and he felt a flutter in his stomach. “Sit.” He ordered. Evan sat eagerly. Voldemort touched his chest. “There is a hole in your soul right there, my boy,” Voldemort said, his voice laced with a dark undertone. “Just like mine. That is what makes us powerful.” He said dark magic surged through Evan’s body.

Remus quickly pulled back from Evan’s mind.

“I’m sorry.” Remus breathed. “I didn’t mean to.”

“Don’t be. I was too confident in my ability.” Evan said, snapping away from his daze. “This is what happens when you lose yourself in the memory you were showing. Secret for a secret.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Remus asked softly.

Evan pursed his lips. “Not really.”

“Alright,” Remus murmured.

“I was willing, you know? I was excited about it. This is not a tragedy. Not yet.”

Remus nodded, staying silent. “You were at most sixteen.” went unsaid.

“I didn’t know it was wrong until I saw the future.” He focused on a painting on the wall. He walked towards the door and turned to him in the middle of it. “You will be alright.” He said and left.

Not even a week after they wrote to Cecilia, Voldemort was dead.