Prongslet

Chapter Two: Meeting Remus

Remus John Lupin sighed, as he looked at the fireplace, as if expecting ice to fall out of it. For ten years, he had believed the only true friend he had left, to be a traitor, a murderer, dammit.

And now, he couldn't quite bring himself to refuse his request, the letter now in his lap.

To Remus John Lupin,

I won't say I'm exactly glad to be communicating with you right now, but this is a necessary evil, of sorts, or you wouldn't be hearing from me.

According to the Magical Law of Adoption and Custody, there must be two legal guardians for a young child to be taken into custody. Since James trusted you as much as he did me, I thought it plain courtesy to ask if you would assist. If, of course, you are uninterested in this, rest assured that I bear no grudge against you for it.

If you wish to take up this offer, please send me a reply, with a time and place for us to meet. I'm fine with going anywhere, and all formalities have been completed. I am Harry's official guardian.

Sirius Orion Black.

He wanted this, he really did. He missed James, Prongs, and there was nothing that could make him happier than bringing up his son. Of course, he had replied to Sirius, right away, apologising for not defending him before, while making clear that he would love to have custody of Harry.

They had agreed to meet at Remus's place, after Sirius finished meeting with the Headmaster. Now, he was waiting for the last Marauder. A large Grimm Patronus had appeared a few moments earlier, saying Sirius was on his way.

The Floo powder flared green in his small fireplace, and a handsome figure stepped out. Remus felt his breath hitch, as his gaze washed over the long, curly hair framing the slender face holding stormy, gray blue eyes, proud nose and powerful jawline. His former best friend. The innocent man he had not stood up for.

"Thank you for accepting the offer, Lupin," he said formally, stepping into the living room.

"Sirius, please," Remus sighed. "Have a seat. So, Dumbledore gave you custody of James' son?"

"I got custody the moment my name was cleared. And he has a name of his own," Sirius said curtly.

"Harry," Remus corrected. "He would have just turned three, considering it's August, right?"

"We lost him right after he was born, and given how adamant Lily was about never, not over her life sending him to her crazy sister, that's exactly what that snow-beard has done." Sirius spoke evenly, forcing emotion out of his eyes. Remus didn't need to see that, what the thought of Harry, his godson, living with those Muggles was doing to him. The werewolf didn't care anyway.

"I wasn't too fond of the idea, but understandably, the Ministry as well as Dumbledore, neither would agree to let me look after him," Remus said, watching his former friend carefully.

"Well, with or without you, I'm taking him back. The Ministry, unfortunately, doesn't seem to entertain the thought of someone who left Azkaban with his his sanity intact, giving out the instructions on how to do so, to those still there. I'm going to get him, but if you're doing this, then we need to be on the same page before we go get him," Sirius growled.

"Agreed," Remus sighed. "Sirius, just sit, alright? Your pacing is annoying."

With a soft, discontent growl, Sirius flopped into the nearest chair. "Happy much? I just wanted to say, Lupin -"

"Remus." Remus snapped. Sirius starting to address him by his surname was frustrating, it was clearly showing the rift between them. "If we're doing this, we have to be on a first name basis."

"Fine." Sirius scowled. "But it doesn't change anything. That's all that I wanted to say."

"I really didn't know that you were innocent, Sirius, or I would have done something." Remus knew, though, it wasn't going to be easy, to forgive what he had done to Sirius.

"Do I care? No! No, Remus, I'm not here to take whatever excuses you have. I'm here to tell you that I don't want to hear ANY of it. And for once, I've got a damn good reason, or maybe a couple of hundred of them, so just stop interrupting me and listen, okay?" Sirius hauled in a breath, waiting until Remus settled down into a chair, looking slightly pale by his calm, reined anger.

"I trusted you, Remus. After James, the only person who has ever had my full trust was you, despite whatever prejudices people had against you. I never trusted Pettigrew. It was James and you, again, that trusted him. The only reason why I was thrown into Azkaban in the first place, is because I believed in the trust that you both had in him. If I, you or Dumbledore were to be made Secret Keeper, well, that's the first place Voldemort would start looking. That's why I told James, that night, to make Pettigrew the Secret Keeper. No one would suspect the damn worm, or so I thought. But apparently, he was already Voldemort's pawn, so well, what happened had happened. I figured it out, so I went after him. The bloody idiot cut off his own finger, screamed to the world that I had murdered James and Lily, transformed into a rat, and fled to the sewers. He got an Order of Merlin, First Rank, for that, while I got Azkaban as a new home. And if you had said something instead of standing around with your mouth hanging right to the ground, I might have listened to you now. But you didn't. You couldn't have even asked. You agreed with them, and now that the truth is out, you expect things to go right back to how it was before James and Lily died?"

Sirius had managed, somehow, to say all of that calmly. Remus had nothing to say, he knew that Sirius was right. He used to wonder, sometimes, how Azkaban could change a person. Now, he needed no more proof. The thought saddened him deeply, guilt cut through him like a knife.

Sirius Black, the prankster who was second maybe only to James Potter, who never bothered trying to control his temper, and who would torture the life out of anyone who betrayed him, was nothing like himself anymore. He was just about shaking with fury, yet his words were calm and controlled, and he hadn't flown for Remus' throat, which was an accomplishment. The once bright, brilliant, gray-blue mauve eyes had dimmed significantly, now they looked faded.

"Sorry." It was the only word that managed to wrench past Remus' guilt. "I really am."

"Save it," Sirius sighed. Fighting with his former best friend was definitely not making his day any better. "Anyway, if you want to do this, you'll have to move to Black Manor soon. I thought I'd clear things up with you first, before going to pick Harry. Are you coming?"

"Of course." Grateful that venting his feelings had calmed Sirius down somewhat, Remus took him up on that offer. After all, he too, had been named honorary godfather of Harry James Potter, and he was more than eager to meet his godson after three years. Last time either of them had seen Harry was on Halloween, three years ago, a three-month-old infant.