Will-o'-the-Wisp

Remus was still asleep when Sirius woke up the next morning. That in and of itself was unusual, but Sirius figured it was only to be expected considering the shock he'd had the previous evening. Glancing at the clock, Sirius saw that neither one of them had to be up for another fifteen minutes, but he figured it couldn't hurt to get up, dress, and start making breakfast. Carefully, so as not to wake Remus, he eased out of bed and set about getting ready for the day.

Usually it was Remus who made the breakfast and Sirius who slept until they absolutely had to get up; consequently, Remus was rather good at pancakes. Sirius usually took care of dinner. That morning, however, he dug out one of the numerous pancake recipes floating about the small kitchen and tried his best.

He wasn't sure they had turned out right at all, but at least they smelled all right. A smile crossed his face as he recalled the numerous mornings he had woken up to the heavenly smell and stumbled into the kitchen, only to find Remus waiting on him with a warm smile. Morning, Siri. How many pancakes do you want?

The smile faded as he realised that Remus had not come into the kitchen yet. Sirius could smell pancakes in his sleep; that smell woke him up more often than Remus, who usually only came in to wake Sirius up when they were out of some vital ingredient for the pancakes, such as flour or eggs. He calmed himself down by rationalising that Remus more than likely could not smell things in his sleep, and besides was probably far too tired to notice. Swallowing, he went down the hall.

Remus was curled up into a ball under the covers, one hand clenching the pillow next to him where Sirius usually slept. Sirius paused for a second, smiling fondly at Remus as he slept. What a cliché you are, Black...watching your true love sleeping, he mused, shaking his head. Still smiling, he sat down on the edge of the bed and shook Remus gently.

"Remus, honey," he said softly. "Time to get up."

Remus stretched, groaned, then blinked up at Sirius. A small smile crossed his face. "Hey," he said in a quiet voice.

"Hey," Sirius smiled back. "Did you sleep well?"

The smile faded. "No, not really. What happened last night...it really shook me up. I kept having nightmares." Remus squinted up at Sirius. "Sorry if I kept you awake..."

"You didn't," Sirius assured him, kissing his forehead. "I wasn't tired at first...but when I did get to sleep, I slept like a log. I just woke up earlier than you did this morning is all."

Remus struggled to a sitting position, looking alarmed. "What time is it?"

"Relax. It's only eight." Sirius rubbed Remus's back. "I made breakfast."

Remus smiled a little. "You could've woken me up."

"You needed your sleep," Sirius objected. "Come on, sweetheart, let's go eat."

The morning passed relatively as normal after that. Remus helped Sirius clean the dishes after they ate, then finished getting dressed. The morning was rather chilly, so Remus dug out his long brown trenchcoat--his jean jacket wasn't quite warm enough--but Sirius shrugged into his leather jacket. Pocketing their wands, which they always did simply as a matter of precaution--one could never be too careful with Voldemort on the loose--Remus made sure to lock the door behind them. Sirius managed to talk him into letting Sirius give him a ride on his motorcycle, so he hung on tight as Sirius, keeping to the street this time, drove off.

"See you after work, honey," Sirius said with a smile as a rather shaky Remus dismounted. Remus kissed him briefly, then headed into the restaurant. Sirius continued on to the pub.

The day went on as usual; Sirius served drinks with a professional twist, bantered easily with the customers, and broke up a couple of bar fights. He kept glancing out the back door to the alley, wondering if the guy would show up again. Ten minutes before his shift was up, there was a jingle from the bell over the door and another man walked into the dusky pub, hung up his jacket, and ducked behind the bar. "Hullo, Sirius."

Sirius blinked in surprise. "Otis! What on earth are you doing here?"

"I work here, remember?" Otis said with a grin, coming over to join Sirius. "You've covered my ass a good few times...I thought I'd cover yours in case you wanted to leave early today. You know, to pick up your friend from work?"

Sirius was even more startled than before. "You really...why?"

Otis shrugged. "One of my customers noticed a commotion just after you left...I glanced out and saw you wrestling with someone. I'd've come out, but the pub was crowded, and besides you looked like you were doing fine on your own. A minute or two later, I saw that friend of yours that comes by to pick you up sometimes, when you have to cover me...I know he works the same shift you do...and he looked like he'd been scared out of a year's growth." He frowned at Sirius. "That guy was attacking your friend, wasn't he?"

"Oh, hell, yes," Sirius said, remembering the events of the night before. "Thanks, Otis...I really appreciate this. I owe you."

"Nah. Like I said before, you've covered my ass enough. This barely covers last night...I was ten minutes late, wasn't I?"

"Fifteen, but that's hardly the point." Sirius untied his apron. "It wasn't because the love of your life was in danger."
Otis stared at Sirius in surprise as he took the apron. "Sirius, are you gay?"

"I thought you knew that. Remus is my life partner."

"No, I had no idea."

"It doesn't...you know...bother you, does it?"

"'Course not. My sister's a lesbian...and besides, I'm usually too high to care." Otis tied on the apron. "But that just reinforces my point. I'm late because of stupid things, like I'm too lazy to get out the door on time, or because I'm drunk or stoned out of my mind. I think I've, cumulatively, missed three shifts in bits and pieces. Covering ten minutes of your shift so you can protect someone you care about hardly goes into the total."

Sirius grinned. "Thanks, Otis."

"No problem. Now go pick your boyfriend up before tall, dark, and stupid turns up and starts bothering him again."

Sirius laughed and headed out the door, pausing only to grab his jacket. He arrived at the restaurant about five minutes before Remus's shift ended, parked his bike, pocketed the keys, and walked in.

The woman at the front desk looked up as he came in. "Hi, welcome to--oh, hi, Sirius. Bit early, aren't you?"

Sirius grinned. "Hi, Sharon. Wonder of all unspeakable wonders, my relief turned up ten minutes early, so I'm off. Is Remus ready to go?"

"Just about, I think he's cleaning up Table Fifteen." Sharon hesitated. "Is he feeling all right?"

Sirius blinked. "Why do you ask?"
"Oh, I don't know," Sharon said, scanning the restaurant. "It's just...he's been kind of shaky all day, kind of pale. I wondered if he was starting to get sick again."

"No...no, I don't think so," Sirius said slowly. "He...he had a rather traumatic experience last night, it left him kind of upset. I should've realised he'd still be having problems...if I'd thought about it, I'd've made him stay home today, but..."

"His work's been fine," Sharon assured him hastily. "He's just...different."

"Different is the word." Sirius suddenly caught Remus's eye and waved. Remus, who was wiping catsup off of a table, paused and smiled at Sirius, then held up the rag. Sirius nodded.

A couple minutes later, Remus came to the front desk, grinning, and lifted his coat off of the coat rack. "Hey, Siri, you're early."

"Would you believe me if I said Otis showed up early?" Sirius grinned back. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah." Remus shrugged into his coat. "See you tomorrow, Sharon."

"See you, Remus...nice talking with you, Sirius." Sharon smiled and turned to handle a customer who had come up to pay a check.

"So how was your day?" Sirius asked Remus as they walked out to where he'd parked the motorbike.

"Fine. Chaotic. Frustrating." Remus smiled. "You know. The usual. How was your day?"

Sirius grinned. "All right. Pretty typical, actually, except that Archie wasn't there."

"Is he feeling all right?" Remus asked, climbing onto the motorbike behind Sirius.

"Family reunion in Arkansas...hold on." Sirius switched on the bike and gunned the motor, then set off, keeping the motorbike at a respectable speed.

As they rounded the corner of their street, however, he suddenly killed the motor, causing Remus to bump his head on Sirius's shoulder. "Is something wrong?" Remus asked anxiously.

"I don't know." Sirius climbed off the bike and frowned down the street. "What are all those people doing down there?"
Remus climbed down and stood beside Sirius, who was gripping the handlebars. "Did Mrs. McGillicutty break a hip again?"

"That would mean an ambulance, not a crowd," Sirius pointed out. "Maybe Reuben had an accident."

The two walked uncertainly down the street, Sirius wheeling his bike along with them. Suddenly, someone separated from the crowd and hurried towards them. It was James, his face pale but relieved.

"Thank God, you two are okay," he gasped as he reached them.

Sirius stopped dead, a hard knot of dread starting to form in the pit of his stomach. "Why wouldn't we be? What happened?"

James pointed. Remus gripped Sirius's arm tightly.

The McGillicutty house had a circular patch of soot above the kitchen window. Reuben Tomoko was studying a blackened patch of his roof. There was nothing left in between but a pile of smouldering rubble.

"Wh...what the hell?" Sirius managed. "What happened?"

James shrugged. "They're not sure. One of your neighbours--the old lady on your left--"

"Mrs. McGillicutty," Remus murmured, still clutching Sirius' arm so tightly it hurt.

"Right, her. She smelled smoke and called the police, thinking you guys were burning leaves. The police--and the fire department--turned up and found your place on fire." James swallowed hard. "Lily and I were listening to the radio earlier...there was a bulletin about a fire, and when they gave the address I panicked. They said it had been burning for quite some time before it was detected...I was afraid you guys were still inside." James hugged them both tightly. "I'm so glad you're all right."

Sirius hugged him back almost absently. "Did they...do they know what caused the fire?"

James shook his head, his eyes rather wet. "They're not sure, but the fire chief thinks it might have been arson."

"Arson?"

"They think it was deliberately set."

Sirius swallowed and thought back to that morning. Had he turned off the griddle? They had a gas stove...could it have ignited something, caught the house on fire?

Remus, as he often did, seemed to read Sirius's thoughts and put an arm around his shoulder. "It's not your fault, Siri. I double-checked the griddle before we left...you turned it off." His voice was shaking. Sirius knew exactly what he was thinking, because he had the same thoughts. It's gone. All of it, gone, just like that. Everything.

Sirius hugged Remus comfortingly. "Hey, it's okay," he said softly. "It's just stuff. The important thing is that we're all right."

Remus leaned his head on Sirius's shoulder. "I know, I'm just...there's so much we can't replace. All our photographs from Hogwarts...our diplomas..."

"I know."

"Some of those recipes...I don't know if I can remember them all, and a lot of them were my grandmother's. And all your sketchbooks...Siri, you've had those since you were nine, they meant a lot to you."

"I know." Sirius held Remus a little tighter. "You know, maybe it didn't all burn. We can look, see what's left, and then...I don't know."

James, who had been watching quietly, stepped forward and placed his hand gently on Sirius's shoulder. "Come on, guys. I'll help you salvage what we can, then I'm taking you home."

Sirius looked at his friend in surprise. "Wh-what do you mean?"

"Just that. You two are my best friends, and right now you have nowhere to stay. You're going to come and stay with us until you find another flat...or you can stay for good. Of course, that's just me offering, we might have to check with Lily on that point...but you're staying with us until you find somewhere to live."

Sirius frowned a little. "James, you don't have to..."

"Of course I do," James interrupted him. "You'd do the same thing if Lily and I suddenly found ourselves homeless. Why should you expect any less from me?"

Sirius wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "Thanks, James."

"Hey, that's what friends are for." James smiled wetly at them. "Come on, let's see what survived."

There wasn't much. Sirius unearthed a bright yellow pocket folder, which had been enchanted to be waterproof in case something got spilled on it; apparently the waterproofing had saved it from the worst of the fire. The folder contained several of the recipes Remus had learned from his mother and grandmother. James found a brightly coloured photo box containing a few of Sirius's sketchbooks. Remus found a book the two had been reading together; the bookmark was gone, but the book was somehow intact. Beyond that, everything was reduced to ashes or burned beyond recognition.

"I have extra sets of our wedding pictures," James offered. "I mean, if you want them."

"We might take you up on that," Remus said softly. "Thanks, James."

"No problem." James helped Sirius to his feet. "Come on, let's go home."

The three walked back towards where Sirius had left his motorbike, but a sudden call from behind them halted them. "Boys...wait a minute!"

Sirius and Remus turned. Martha McGillicutty was hobbling towards them, clutching in her arms some sort of bundle. She thrust it at Remus as she reached them. "Here...I want you to have these," she croaked. "There's a warm quilt--I made it myself, years ago--and some of the clothing my Roger outgrew, bless his heart. I think it'll fit you."

"Mrs. McGillicutty, we don't want to take your son's clothes," Remus protested, trying to hand the bundle back to her.

"No, no, take it," Martha insisted, pushing it back at him. "I told you, Roger outgrew them years ago...you've met him, he's easily three hundred pounds. You boys don't have anything left, you'll need something so you don't have to wear the same clothes for weeks on end."

Sirius smiled and hugged her. "Thank you, Mrs. McGillicutty. You don't know what this means to us."

"I lost everything in a fire when I was a girl," Martha said with a smile. "I know what it's like. Good luck, boys."

"Thank you again," Remus said, hugging her as well. She gave him a smile as well, then hobbled back towards her house.

Sirius felt a tug at his shirt and looked down to see seven-year-old Carmi Tomoko looking up at him. "Mr. Sirius, are you and Mr. Remus okay?"

"Yes, Carmi, we're fine," Sirius answered, kneeling down on the little boy's level. "We were at work when the fire happened."

"That's what Daddy said, but Mummy said she wasn't sure 'cause nobody knew when the fire started. Here...I want you to have this." Carmi pushed something into Sirius's hand. Sirius looked down and realised it was a fifty pence piece. "It's my pocket money for this week."

"Oh, Carmi, you don't need to give us your pocket money," Sirius told the boy, giving it back. "It's okay, we don't need it..."

"I know, but I want you to have it," Carmi answered. He put the coin in Sirius's hand and curled the man's fingers around it. "Rachel says good neighbours help each other when they're in trouble, and I want to be a good neighbour. I know fifty pence can't do much, but it might help."

Tears sprang to Sirius's eyes as he hugged the little boy. "Thank you, Carmi. We appreciate that."

Carmi gave him a gap-toothed grin. Sirius straightened as Carmi's fifteen-year-old sister Rachel hurried up to the group. "I'm glad you're all right, Mr. Sirius," she said with a relieved smile. "I just got home, Dad told me what happened." She reached into her pocket, pulled out a roll of pound notes, and handed it to him. "Here, I want to help out as much as I can. Take this..."

Sirius really felt embarrassed. "Rachel, it's okay, we--"

"No, really." Rachel thrust the money into his hand, then jammed her fists in her pockets to show she was serious. "I have an after-school job now, I've got plenty. I don't need it and I don't want it. You and Mr. Remus don't have anything...I want to help out."

Sirius again tried to blink back tears as he hugged Rachel. "Thank you, Rachel. You don't have to do this, you know."

"Yes, I do," Rachel said with a smile, hugging first Sirius and then Remus. "It's all part of being good neighbours. Good luck."

James was grinning as Rachel led her little brother off. "You have great neighbours. I doubt ours would lift a hand to help us if they could see someone murdering us."

Remus wiped his eyes as he helped Sirius fit Martha's bundle into one of the panniers. "This is a really close-knit community. Everybody looks after everyone else."

Just then, a tall, stringy man hurried up. "Are you leaving?" he asked breathlessly.

Sirius waved an arm at the smouldering rubble. "Looks like we're going to have to, Ted."

"Too bad...we're going to miss you." Theodore Dukakis hesitated. "Think you'll stop by from time to time?"

"We'll try," Remus promised.

Theodore nodded. "Well...before you go, the missus wants you to have this." He handed Remus a battered black tome with a slight orange stain on the cover. Faded silver words read HOLY BIBLE. "I know, I know, it's kinda been through the mill...but she thought it might help."

"Thanks, Ted," Remus said, managing a smile. "Everyone's been so helpful."

"Well, you two are great kids, great neighbours. We'll all miss you."

Remus slipped the Bible into a pannier, then sat behind Sirius on the motorbike. James climbed on behind him. The entire neighbourhood waved as Sirius snapped on the bike and drove off down the street.