A World Dissolving

A tumultuous rain currently poured down Grover Street while a young man, appearing weary, wore a raincoat that seemed to match his mood. He shielded his face to avoid becoming drenched, but that thought had occurred after the fact. Instead, he used the opportunity to chance a glance at the rain's origin, which was etched in the deeply troubled clouds. The only light that stood among the evening's violet skies was the light from several streetlights scattered around, as most were either burned out or broken. Remus Lupin considered the situation for a moment, but decided he dared not demonstrate his wizarding powers merely two hours before curfew. Even though everyone had, at this point, had barricaded themselves in their houses (even Muggles, who didn't even know what for and were only offered vague descriptions by the government) he didn't want to risk Azkaban just because he needed a nightlight on his poorly selected evening stroll.

A loud buzzing noise began to accompany the sound of an oncoming storm. The sound of an inkblot amplified by one thousand times echoed throughout the neighborhood, and, Remus surmised, all of London.

"The curfew," the booming voice began, "for London," it said, taking a breath every few seconds for the strain the Sonorous charm must have put on his voice. "Has been sent back one hour for the night of October 30^th due to a severe risk in attacks. We request that all residents and visitors return to their homes before eight pm tonight. This is for your protection."

With a click, the message was gone.

Muggles didn't even know what "attacks" meant. They had only known of them for several months, and in several additional months, and whether the War was over or not, they were likely to swim to the abyss of their news. They simply assumed it was some madman running about on and escapade, and for one reason or other authorities were unable to stop him.

Well, that much was true.

Remus sneered, pulling his drenched raincoat closer towards him. The way the government volleyed the risks up and down, it was difficult to know when there was a genuine risk or not. Still, it was enough to make someone a little uneasy. With this in mind, he took a quick turn on his heel and started back towards his flat. Garbage littered the front yards of once pristinely kept lawns, as Muggles garbage men had not made their rounds for several weeks.

It was certainly far from his birth home, deep in the country of Wales, where so long ago he had had that first corruption of freedom, of innocence in the woods near his home. He felt a similar sort of detachment, nineteen years later, walking amongst ghosts of men and a ghost of a community, restricted to his shoddy flat.

What little rain that did not seem to hit the street's only visible inhabitant was invariably swept up by the side of the curb, now a mini river rushing with the rainwater that had been falling all evening. The pour, however, had never reached a trifle more than a light shower, and the torrential rain above was a recent development. As he neared the crosswalks of the road, he leaned against a lamppost for a moment. He shut his eyes momentarily, realizing for the first time that night that he was exhausted. He felt a prick on the back of his neck, however, and attempted to remove what he thought was a particularly pointing bug. Opening one eye, he instead spotted the corner of a slim piece of parchment that looked rather like the wanted ads in old Muggle Westerns. Its handwriting was charmed to fade in and out, which, in Remus' mind, was a very foolish thing to do in a Muggle environment, but he had to admit that it peaked his interest.

'If you feel like you have any valuable information to contribute to the Ministry, or any knowledge of recent attacks and suspects, please come forward. There is a financial reward to all those who do.'

It was cleverly worded (thank Merlin they hadn't put Ministry of Magic), to be sure, but in Remus' opinion looked a bit shady. There were probably disadvantaged people who went there and just made up stories to get the money.

"So that's where everyone in this neighborhood's gone off to," he laughed to himself. Such a light-hearted comment (even when directed to absolutely no one, which was a bit scary in and of itself) caused him to smile slightly, and he lifted his head up to the sky, attempting to let all the worry wash over him.

It didn't work. He sighed, crossing the walkway. It would take the most amusing thing in the world to resolve these issues.

The rainwater collected in small pools within the dents in the various newspaper dispensers along the curbsides. A sudden gust of wind whistled past, causing the raindrops to slide against the Plexiglas shielding the newspaper from the weather. The rain distorted the titles, though this wasn't particularly upsetting; the headlines rarely proclaimed good news anymore. This time, where was only more mentioning of deaths and disappearances. It was almost as if Barnabus Cuffe, the editor of the Daily Prophet, was in cohorts with the Ministry to scare the public; and whether or not that was true, fear was certainly rampant.

Despite the recent curfew warning, Remus was not the only one wandering the streets at this particular hour. Granted, the general public had holed themselves up in their respective flats, drawing their curtains tight and keeping their lights low and locks secure. Perhaps their effort were rather silly - if any wizard so desired to break in and kill them, it would be an incredibly simple task that something as pedestrian as a lock wouldn't be able to stop. However, no one (especially Muggles) seemed to think this far in advance, which is why some wizards had to occasionally stand about street corners and be wary of any suspicious activity.

As Remus neared his flat, the footsteps of two others became audible. The footsteps were slightly heavy and nearly hurried as whoever was walking drew closer. Remus kept his eyes trained toward his worn dragon hide boots, clearly not paying any mind toward whoever was coming toward him. On any other day, anyone usually out was a Ministry official ensuring people were abiding by the imposed curfew. However, whoever was walking wasn't any sort of Ministry official, but rather a pair of Remus' old schoolfriends. Within moments, Remus felt himself collide against someone's shoulder. Startled, he suddenly looked up, finding himself eye to eye with Sirius Black.

The next moment was passed in uncomfortable silence, the only sounds being that of rain hitting pavement and wind whistling past. Finally, Remus' gaze slid sideways and he found himself gazing at Sirius' current companion, Gloria White. Remus suddenly flinched, tearing his eyes away from Gloria to look back at Sirius. Still, no words were exchanged.

"It's nice to see you, Remus," Gloria finally said softly, her voice breaking slightly as the rain thickened. Nervously, she brought her hand against her face, carefully moving wet strands of hair from away her eyes.

Finally, Sirius cleared his throat, deciding now was the appropriate moment to speak. "Hello. Fancy seeing you here," he greeted, sounding somewhat stiff before distracting himself by gingerly untangling a leaf from Gloria's hair.

"Lovely weather we're having," Remus bantered dryly. He hadn't seen them in nearly a month so he tried to keep things cordial and very business as usual, but truthfully he didn't feel like talking to much of anyone anymore, especially after the death of his father eight months ago. At least, that was the excuse he hoped people attributed- he really hadn't felt all too comfortable around Sirius or any of the Order after it had been revealed that there was a spy among the friends of the Potters. It tore at the pit of his heart, but he knew it had to be someone close.

He swallowed slightly, turning away. "You caught me at a bad time. I was just leaving for my apartment."

Sirius gave a dodgy look at the houses that surrounded them, which were mostly shambles of structures at best.

Remus sidestepped Sirius, but Sirius toed his heels.

"We'll walk you home."

"It's just down the block," he said. "Thanks," he quickly added, leading the stride towards a rather shady-looking level of flats. Even though he was fairly certain he didn't sound too thankful. If Sirius or Gloria had noticed, they did show it - however, Gloria was casting a series of downward glances, indicating she didn't know quite what to say.

"What are you doing in the neighborhood?" Remus asked. Of course, what he really meant was, 'What are you guys doing in this neighborhood instead of at your subsequent mansions?'

Another awkward pause.

"Oh, well we were just... er... Well, we were just in the neighborhood," Sirius said after a moment, slipping an arm behind Gloria, not realizing he had completely evaded the question.

"Er, patrolling," Gloria offered, adding a nervous smile.

Remus quirked a brow, folding his arms slightly. He frowned, which Gloria seemed to take as some sort of affront. Sirius, however, looked as collected as ever, an amused look planted upon his face as though he enjoyed seeing Remus calculate the scenario.

They stared at each other for a few lasting moments before a smile crept back up onto Remus' face, which made Sirius grin widely.

"Well, come on then," Remus beckoned, leading the way. Sirius nodded, following him. For a moment, Gloria stalled almost in apprehension, but a quick backward glance from Sirius soon got her caught up.

The doorstep to the building was flanked with wild brushes, and one had to nearly massacre the brush to make a path. Remus gently pushed it aside while several leaves fell upon Gloria's hair, which Sirius carefully picked out. The two had had an odd penchant for touching each other's hair since they began dating their seventh year, though the public display of affection nowhere near began to bridge the wide and sometimes frightening displays James and Lily would put on in front of them.

Smiling sagely, he turned away from them momentarily to unlatch his keys from his belt. Fumbling with them for a moment and proceeding to select his house key, he placed it in the keyhole, opening the door for Sirius and Gloria.

"You know, I think I can find my way home from here," he laughed hoarsely. In truth, he was getting a bit nervous- he really didn't want to invite them in, but he knew convention would have him do so. He just didn't want to deal with any reactions on where he was living.

"Nah, we came to walk you to your door," Sirius said, entering the lobby. Gloria took an index finger and took a swipe of dirt of the wall, which was a currently decrepit with grime. She gave it a disgusted glance and wiped the residue upon Sirius arm, who didn't seem to notice. Remus' own flat was rather clean (there wasn't much to dirty) but he still didn't care for any commentary or sympathy.

"All right," he said, edging along the staircase slowly. Remus racked his brain, searching for some conversation or upcoming gatherings. There probably wouldn't be another Order meeting for a month or so, but Remus chose not to bring that subject up. It a was rather tense subject to talk about around people you suspected were potential Death Eaters, and it made it even more complex when they were also your closest friends and last recollections of happier days at Hogwarts. Blinded by his thoughts, Remus strolled towards his door as if he was a zombie rather than a werewolf. It wasn't until his eyes met the stark white paper hung upon his door that he drew himself from his trance. It said, in bold red print:

EVICTED

as of Oct. 30, 1981

His mute look fell suddenly, replaced by a look of that resembled a lost dog. For a rare moment in time, Remus resembled someone who was his actual age. Though he did not seem too shocked, the pallor of his skin reached three new shades of white.

Gloria opened her mouth for a moment, and then quickly decided against speaking. It wasn't exactly the opportune moment. Sidestepping, she moved herself next to Sirius, angling her elbow to nudge him in the ribs, using that as a signal that they should offer assistance. "Look Moony," Sirius began behind him, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "If you need help with the month or anything..."

"No," Remus resisted immediately placing a hand in front of him, frowning. "I'm fine. I just forgot."

Sirius cast a quick glance towards Gloria, who merely placed her palm against the small of his back to encourage him. As far as Remus was concerned, he might as well of nudged her and said, "See what I mean?" Remus was an eerily good liar, and could look someone dead in the pupils and tell the most revolting lie of his life. It had gotten the Marauders out of quite a few scruples with Filch at Hogwarts, but Remus suspected it wasn't the best quality to be known for with the wizarding world in its current state of affairs. However, he knew at this precise moment that Sirius was having a hard time not believing him, but Sirius, being a Black, was extremely adept at sly behavior and knew Remus too well.

If there was one thing Remus despised, it was others attempting to control the parts of his lives he felt he could have control over. Unfortunately, the one day of the month he could not control himself resulted in residual effects that withheld other parts of his life from taking flight.

Sirius seemed to realize this and it was reflected in his face and tone.

"Look Remus, I'm just trying to help you out. Will you just take it for once? I'm not trying to make you my charity case or anything. We just --" Sirius replied impatiently, cutting himself off once he felt Gloria tug on his forearm. Obviously, this wasn't going to go anywhere productive.

His eyes downcast, face burning red, Remus could barely stand to face his friend.

"You two should head home," he muttered coolly, crumpling the notice in a fist. "It's almost curfew."

Sirius sighed, and Gloria started down the staircases first, folding her arms across her chest in protection against the chill drafting through the building. Sirius made a motion for her to stop for a moment, and she did, though she looked slightly disappointed over Remus' reaction. Remus began to open his door, wishing only to drift into the shadows of his flat. Hand placed against his wall as he entered, he was about to utter a final goodbye to Gloria and Sirius.

"Hey Moony?" Sirius called out before he could utter a word. "It was good to see you."

Remus paused, replying softly, "Thanks, Padfoot."

He latched the door behind him.

--

The next minutes were passed in silence as Sirius and Gloria descended the first stairwell to put them back in the lobby before escorting themselves out of the building completely. Once they had reached the outside, Gloria merely kept walking, carefully stepping down the steps leading to the sidewalk. She seemed almost offended, though she couldn't exactly place why. There was no part of her that actually expected Remus to take any financial assistance offered by his friends; she knew he preferred to keep such things under his control. Stepping down on the pavement, she bit down on her lower lip bitterly, bringing her hand against her brow to shield her eyes from the rain.

Sirius paused for a moment, standing at the top of the stairwell, seeming slightly defeated. He turned his back toward Remus' building, staring down at the mossy cracks between the stairs. Sirius nearly seemed enraged, but quickly divested his face of any such expression when he heard Gloria's voice.

"It was worth a shot," she supplied, though sounding completely unconvinced of her own statement. Naturally, she wanted to help Remus, but that fact wasn't coming off clearly; it almost appeared as if she had merely nudged Sirius for the sake of politeness than honest good will.

Dropping his hands to his sides, Sirius casually began descending the stairs, acting as if nothing particularly significant had transpired within the past few minutes. Once he found himself at Gloria's side, he merely gazed down at her calmly, considering his reply.

Deciding not to acknowledge her, he veered their banter in a different direction. Like any other man, he didn't particularly care to discuss his feelings in the middle of the street, no matter what part of him wanted to. "Patrolling?" he finally stated, echoing Gloria's previous lame explanation as to why they had decided to be 'in the neighborhood.'

Rolling her eyes, Gloria quickly abandoned any hope of getting him to talk about Remus and went along with his change of subject. "Well, what the hell did you expect me to say? 'Well, Remus, we accidentally wandered into the red light district. Did you know you lived in astonishing proximity to various brothels? Oh and there's this field close by, too. Real handy if you want some privacy.' Please," she shot back defensively, picking another leaf out of her hair irritably.

In spite of everything, Sirius let out a bark of a laugh, sliding an arm around Gloria's shoulders. "Well, that field did certainly prove itself useful -"

Gloria suddenly wrenched herself away, gesturing toward Remus' building exasperatedly. If there was anyone peeking through their blinds, they would certainly be nervous of two people loitering on their street, and truthfully, Gloria was amazed some Ministry law enforcement representative hadn't come to personally escort them home.

Looking somewhat stung, Sirius knitted his brows together as he reached toward Gloria's shoulder again, trying to lock his eyes with hers. He had always had somewhat of a fascination with her eyes; he was easily entranced by how the sapphire color of her irises bled into a deep violet hue surrounding her pupils. They were certainly much more interesting than his own grey orbs, but he was always frustrated with how increasingly difficult she was to read, even when he thought he'd gotten her at her at the most intimate time.

"What?" he demanded, sounding much more forceful than intended. Sirius continued to study her delicate features carefully, observing a raindrop slide down her aquiline nose before continuing on past the curve of her lips. He saw her clench her jaw in some vague semblance of irritation, though he didn't exactly understand why. Was all this really because of Remus?

If Sirius thought her mind had wandered toward Remus, he would be correct. Gloria let out a slight sigh at the same time the wind finally began to die down, though the rain was pouring down as hard as ever. "It's nothing. For some stupid reason, I thought he'd let us help him," she finally replied, sounding strained. Slipping a hand through her hair, she found herself wringing out the tips, though this was done in vain, seeing that her hair would continue to collect water the longer she stood outside.

Sirius didn't find it necessary to explain anything; he knew Remus wasn't about to sacrifice his pride merely because there was a looming possibility of eviction. Instead of addressing her, Sirius merely pulled her close to him in an embrace, finding it was the least he could do.

However, such a tender moment was quickly interrupted by a violently bright light shone in his face.

"Oi, laddie. It's nearin' eight," a large man barked gruffly, keeping his lit wand near his broad chest. Of course, the Ministry was now making their rounds to ensure their curfew was being followed. "Wouldn' wanna be out 'ere alone. 'Specially a girlie like you," the man added, leering toward Gloria.

Dropping her jaw, Gloria was ready to swear at the man before Sirius quickly spoke up.

"We were patrolling," he stated calmly, making it seem as if they were also Ministry officials. "But we're on our way now. Shift's over. Good luck, mate," Sirius added brightly, steering Gloria away before she could potentially say anything inappropriate.

"Patrolling," Gloria muttered darkly, ignoring Sirius' squeeze against her waist as she walked alongside him and away from the man from the Ministry and Remus' flat. Within seconds, there was a light popping sound, and both Sirius and Gloria disappeared and returned to their more comfortable life.

--

It wasn't long before Remus' clock struck eight.

He paced the tile of his floor, haven taken a shower and now in fully dried clothing. His worn boots creaked against the cracked and water-damaged tiles. Right hand curled around a cigarette, he paused for a moment, noting how ridiculous he was behaving. He inhaled a drag from his cigarette before abruptly placing himself upon the wooden stool that lay in the center of the room. Exhaling dully, he wrapped his arms around the back of his chair, only to find his arm grasping at air. Oh right, he thought, resisting the urge to smack his forehead. He didn't own a chair.

Sirius had been right about one thing- he did need money, and he certainly hadn't forgotten. In fact, it had been all his mind had encountered on his endless quest to find a job. Unfortunately, all an employer had to do was a swift background check and find that Remus Lupin had been listed in the Werewolf Registry since the age of three.

He turned his cigarette over with a tapered hand, which had one long scar that ran upon it. He smiled at the smoke curling around it- his mother, when alive, often spoke ill of his nasty habit. He folded the cigarette and threw it onto an ashtray, deterring himself from the thought.

Remus placed a hand upon his chin, gazing around the ramparts of his flat. He couldn't believe he was concocting a plan to save this. Nevertheless, it was his home, even if it wasn't exactly a sanctuary from the outer world. He certainly wasn't going to accept finances from his friends, and he'd done all the odd jobs Dumbledore had available. He had no parents to fall back on, and even people who he had once trusted seemed to have had a falling out with honesty as soon as Voldemort had come along.

In spite of himself, the Ministry's ad's words kept ringing in his ears:

'If you feel like you have any valuable information to contribute to the Ministry, or any knowledge of recent attacks and suspects, please come forward. There is a financial reward to all those who do.'

Well, he supposed he could tell them what he knew, which pretty much amounted to what everyone else knew. The best he could do was regale them his knowledge of the past few years, hoping that it would result in something good in turn, whether it be lawful or financial. There were many people in the Ministry that Remus detested and made it almost impossible for him to get a job. However, as much as he hated to admit it, he was willing to exchange services with them.

Heaving a despairing sigh, Remus relinquished himself from his seat and strode towards the center of the room. He raised his wand, closed his eyes, and within moments he felt his center of gravity rush towards the depths of the floor.