The Hidden One

bonus chapter

Remus had lived without his best friends for over a decade. He had lived without Sirius for almost as long. 

But now they were all standing in front of him with Regulus and Cedric with them, Rose cradled in Sirius' arms.

"No," Remus repeated a few times. "I'm dreaming. This isn't real."

"Moony, I've missed you so much!" James tackled Remus in a hug that he didn't hesitate to fall into his best friend's arms, even more tears running down his face. 

"She actually did it," Remus said happily as he moved to hug Lily, who was smiling as tears ran down her face. 

"My little girl," Sirius said proudly, holding Rose as if she was a baby and weighed next to nothing. 

"Look at you," James teased, a bright smile on his face despite his red eyes. "You got old."

"And it's a shame you didn't," Remus responded. He had to reach out and hug James again, not yet believing that they were alive and standing right in front of him, much less looking like they did when they died. 

"Professor Lupin, where are we?" Cedric spoke up, his voice shaky. Remus felt guilty as he had forgotten that the boy was there. Lily moved to comfort the terrified boy, a concerned look on her face. "I don't- everything is... what's happening?"

"All will be answered in good time."

The group all jumped in shock and turned to see Dumbledore walking over to them, a smile on his face. In a surprise to all of them, he walked to Regulus first. 

"Professor," Regulus said tensely. 

"Where does your loyalty lie?" Dumbledore asked, not looking as kind as he had mere seconds ago. 

"With my family," Regulus answered, looking over to Sirius and Rose. "With my niece."

"Then it's a joy to see you again," Dumbledore said with a smile. Sirius sent his brother a grateful smile, but the younger boy just nodded and looked away, staring at the archway. 

"What's happening?" Lily asked. "Where's-where's Harry?"

"Harry attempted to duel Voldemort," Dumbledore announced, making everyone look at him in shock, their eyes wide. "He is alive and as well as he can be. Now, let's move to a more comfortable location."

Everybody hesitantly touched a Portkey, landing in Grimmauld Place.

"Sirius, is that you?" Marlene asked, doing her best to hurry from upstairs. "Is my Rosie okay?"

Sirius gently placed Rose down on the couch and hurried to the steps to help his wife down.

"Marls, I love you," Sirius breathed, stopping halfway to hug her. 

"What happened?" Marlene asked, her breath caught in her throat. She grabbed desperately at his hands, pulling him as close as she could, her eyes wide as she observed him, not seeing any obvious injuries. "Who...Is everyone okay? Alive?"

"More than that," Sirius said happily. Marlene furrowed her eyebrows and accepted Sirius' help down the steps. 

"Oh Merlin!" Marlene breathed out as she surveyed the room. James and Lily were standing by the fireplace, his arm around her waist. Remus was standing next to them, looking around with wide eyes as he tried to comprehend everything. Cedric was sitting by Rose, her head in his lap while Regulus was in a chair in the corner, looking less than pleased to be in the house. Dumbledore was in the center of the room, looking very happy.

"You got fat," James said, breaking the silence. Lily had a bright and happy smile on her face and was having to stop herself from attacking Marlene in a hug, not wanting to scare her. 

"Oi, that's my fiancee!" Sirius said, half joking as a bright smile was on his face. 

"You-that's impossible!" Marlene gasped but her eyes went to Rose and she angrily turned to Sirius, who immediately looked scared. "You let our Rosie die!"

"I died too!" Sirius defended himself, but apparently this was the wrong thing to say because Marlene looked even angrier and starting hitting him with a pillow from a nearby chair. 

"I told you not to die, you idiot!" Marlene yelled angrily. Sirius gently grabbed the pillow from his very pregnant love and gave her a smile, his eyes watery while she was letting the tears fall.

"They're all back," Sirius whispered, grabbing her face and wiping the tears away. "Rosie brought them back."

Marlene let out a sob and then hurried over to where James and Lily were standing, letting them wrap her in a hug.

"You're really back," Marlene sobbed. 

"I've missed you so much," Lily cried.

"I've missed you more," Marlene said softly, sitting down heavily, shock still on her face. "I spent all my time in St. Mungo's listening to everyone around me talking about you. I could... I could see what happened to you even though I wasn't there. It was horrible."

"St. Mungo's?" Lily asked, her voice shaky. Marlene just shook her head, not liking to talk about it.

"She was tortured," Sirius explained, her voice soft. 

"I'm so sorry," James said softly. 

"You all have a lot to catch up on," Dumbledore announced. "Mr. Diggory and Mr. Black deserve an explanation, so tell them as much as you would like. I'll let you all be for the night, but keep me updated on Ms. Black. Have a good night."

Dumbledore left not long after, leaving an uncomfortable silence through the room.

"So, how exactly am I alive?" Cedric asked. Rose mumbled Harry's name in her sleep, making Lily, Marlene and James smile while Remus and Sirius looked disturbed. 

"She'll probably sleep for a long time," Remus sighed as he looked at his goddaughter. 

"I'll bring her to her room and then we can explain," Sirius sighed. 

Once Rose was comfortable, the adults all explained what exactly happened, leaving out some details. Regulus didn't say much as the others talked about the past decade, leaving to go to his room after a few hours. Sirius watched him leave with sad eyes and James nudged his shoulder. 

"Now is your chance to finally have a good relationship with your brother," James whispered as Remus talked about Harry and his quidditch skills. "Go talk to him."

Sirius made sure Marlene was okay before he went after his brother, smiling a little when he saw Regulus sitting in the same spot that Rose always sat. 

"How are you?" Sirius asked as he came and sat next to his brother.

"You don't like heights," Regulus said instead of answering the question. "I don't know how you played quidditch."

"It's freeing when you're in the air," Sirius explained, hesitating and not looking down as he sat next to his brother. "It's just scary up here. I don't know how you or Rose can sit up here for so long."

"Rose likes it up here?" Regulus asked, finally allowing himself to give a small smile.

"She loves it," Sirius nodded. Regulus was staring at the constellations and avoiding looking at his brother. The two brothers were silent for a while before Sirius cleared his throat. "I missed you, Reggie."

Regulus could hear how his brother's voice was shaking and he glanced over to see his older brother wiping away some tears. For the first time in over a decade, Regulus hugged his big brother, ignoring how they didn't even know each other anymore. 

"I missed you too," Regulus admitted, his voice shaking as well. Neither brother had ever been big on hugs, but they didn't want to let go of the other. 

"I failed you," Sirius whispered, his tears preventing him from speaking any louder. 

"No, I was just dumb," Regulus said with a bitter laugh, finally pulling away from the hug. He didn't know how much he missed being around his brother until this moment. "You tried. You tried so hard. I promise you, Siri, I wanted to leave. I tried to escape."

"I know. I believe you," Sirius said, wiping his eyes. 

And the two brothers finally felt like friends instead of enemies.