All The Pieces

Chapter One

REMUS

"Come on, Mooney. I need help!" 

"Yes, I know that." Remus Lupin rolled his eyes. Cleaning with Sirius black was no fun. Remus thought of cleaning as a chance to start something new. To throw away the old, and start again with the new. Or, to drag out old things and give them new life. New meaning.

Sirius lugged an old box filled with ancient vials. Swamp-green liquid filled them. Bubbles rose to the surface of them and popped, emitting a smoky odor. Remus coughed, and examined the cracked glass of the vials. The corks keeping the liquid in were falling apart. 

"Toss them," advised Remus.

"I'll ask Mad-Eye about them. He'll probably put them to good use. Anyway, I have something to tell you." Sirius lifted a heavy box, which slipped from his fingers and dropped to the ground. 

"What was in there?" asked Remus.

Sirius gingerly lifted the flaps of the box and peered inside. "Just some old spellbooks, and... photos."

"Photos of what?" asked Remus.

"Nothing important." Sirius's sad face gave away his lie. He attempted to close the box, but Remus was too quick.

"Prongs," whispered Remus, running his thumb down the sleek glass in its frame. "And Wormtail." The werewolf selected a photo containing him, Sirius, and their friends. They were all proudly displaying brooms, and were in their Quidditch uniforms. All four of them looked happy.

Laying the photo back in the box, Remus carefully closed the cardboard flaps of the box and ran his hand over them. "What did you want to tell me?" asked Remus, shaking himself, as if awaking from a dream.

"Well, I--" Sirius took a deep breath. "Well, all I wanted to tell you was that..." The man gulped. "Hang on. Help me, let's put that box behind those." 

Remus nodded, and helped his friend push the box behind two others, sealing it away from view. The gaunt, hollow look had come back to Sirius's face, as if he were living the tragic day he had been hauled away from Azkaban all over again. Remus had been devastated, and had spent the next four days in his tiny apartment, not eating, sleeping, or speaking to anyone. All this had left a permanent weariness hanging over him, one that he couldn't escape from.

Shaking the bad thoughts away, Remus turned to his friend, and asked, "What did you want to tell me?"

A big smile came over Sirius's face. "My crazy cousin is coming to stay here."

"Andromeda?" asked Remus, raising an eyebrow.

"No, you remember her daughter, right? Nymphadora, her name is, but everyone calls her Tonks. She's an Auror at the Ministry of Magic. Mad-Eye's protegé. Do you remember?" asked Sirius.

Remus searched his memory. "Tonks... hmmm. Wait, I met her that one Christmas, right? She was seven, and accused me of spying on Santa and then tied me to a chair, right?"

"Yep. She was a crazy kid." A dreamy look came over Sirius's face. "The good old days, when I was free to go wherever without people trying to lock me up."

"But anyway, why is it important I know that your cousin's joining the order?" Remus sat on an overturned box, awaiting what was sure to be a long explanation.

"Because, she's your partner now." Sirius watched his friend's face carefully for his reaction.

"What do you mean? I thought Emmeline was my partner," said Remus. He looked confused.

"Well, Andromeda had a fit when she heard that Dumbledore wanted her precious daughter in the Order. Thinks Tonks is going to get killed or something. So, Mad-Eye made a deal with her. It really isn't Andromeda's decision, Tonks is... How old is she? She's thirteen years younger than us, so she's... I'm thirty-five... She's twenty two. But Andromeda's still freaking out. Anyway... where was I?" Sirius paused, searching his brain.