Out of Reach

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Remus Lupin hated the dark. He didn't just hate it, he loathed it with every fiber of his being. Ever since he'd been a little boy, and the werewolf had bitten him in the dead of night, the darkness made something inside him want to crawl into a corner and hide. It represented everything he hated: evil, fear, his own lycanthropy, and death. For Lily and James had been killed in the dead of night, and Sirius Black had nearly met a fate worse than death in the darkness almost exactly a year ago.

Thinking of Lily and James caused an old ache to stir inside him, but it was the thought of Sirius and the dementors that made Remus shiver with fear. If harry hadn't been able to conjure that Patronus, if he hadn't taught Harry how to conjure one in the first place, if-

No, it was best not to dwell of 'What if's. Sirius was alive now, wherever he was, and so was Harry, though perhaps for not much longer. Remus had been avidly following the news of the Triwizard tournament since he'd read the (highly fabricated) article in the Daily Prophet about Harry's personal life. He suspected someone was trying to kill Harry yet again, and had written so to Dumbledore, who had been inclined to agree with the young werewolf. Tonight was the final task for the tournament, and Remus was awaiting the morning Prophet with a sense of dread. If Harry didn't make it...

Remus shook his head. Dwelling on such depressing things was beginning to give him a headache. He moved from the living room of his small house, to the cramped kitchen to make himself a cup of tea. It would help sooth his nerves, and perhaps some of the aches in his body after the full moon of three nights before.

A heavy scratching at his door startled Remus into knocking over the old blue teapot, spilling tea all over his pajama pants and the kitchen floor. Cleaning the floor with a wave of his wand, Remus moved to the door, his wand still held at the ready if needed. Cautiously, he opened the door to find a familiar shaggy black dog sitting on his side porch, regarding him thoughtfully.

"Sirius, what are-" Remus' question was cut off as Padfoot pounced on him, knocking him to the floor, and began to lick his face in earnest, tail wagging.

"Oy, get off me, you great big lump of fur!" he cried in protest, pushing Sirius up off his chest. He moved to shut the door, and turned around to face the now human Sirius standing in his kitchen, barefoot and shabbily dressed, but grinning like a fool at his friend.

"Fancy seeing you here, Moony," he said by way of greeting, crossing his arms over his chest and shivering. "Don't suppose you'd mind me kipping here for a bit, seeing as how I'm a wanted man and all."

Remus grinned back at Sirius, too thrilled at the arrival of his dearest friend to wonder for long at the circumstances that had brought him to his doorstep. "Not at all, old friend. If you don't mind me saying so, you look awful."

Sirius gave a hollow laugh and, for a moment, his gaze took on the sunken, depressed look that twelve years in Azkaban had given him. But the look was gone as swiftly as it had come, and Sirius grimaced, looking down at his tattered robes. "A shower and some clean clothes wouldn't be amiss right now, Moony."

"And something to eat," Remus said, taking a mental note to have a long talk with Sirius about what was wrong. "The shower is right where it's always been, and I'll try and find some clothing that isn't worn to rags."

Sirius gave a haughty sniff and did a passable imitation of Lucius Malfoy, holding himself regally aloft. "For your information, Mr. Lupin, these are the highest fashion in Paris right now," he drawled, making Moony laugh for the first time in weeks. He gave a shake of his hips, making Remus laugh harder, and sauntered off to the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

"Mad, he is," Remus muttered to himself, heading across the hall to the spare bedroom, where he kept all the bits and boxes that didn't go anywhere else. He had a trunk full of Sirius' things in there somewhere, carefully hidden for thirteen years. It was dark, and Remus stubbed his toe once and muttered a few choice words before pulling out his wand and whispering "Lumos."

The trunk was tucked in the corner, between a broken hat stand and a cardboard box labeled 'A.L.-DNO.' The trunk bore Sirius' initials on a tarnished gold plate, and a simple "Alohomora" opened the lock easily, revealing the contents of the brimming trunk. Piles of photographs, a few moth-eaten sweaters, an old Gryffindor tie, a box labeled 'Dangerous!' in Sirius' untidy scrawl, and a scattering of old Muggle clothes, including a pair of jeans that Remus remembered being very fond of seeing Sirius in. Those came out, along with a plain white t-shirt and one of the less tattered robes. He moved to close the trunk, but paused, one of the photographs catching his eye. He did a double take, wondering where in the world Sirius had gotten a photograph of that particular incident. His seventeen year old self was struggling helplessly under the onslaught of a seventeen year old Sirius, holding a sprig of mistletoe high above the two of them. As Remus watched, his younger self lost the battle and Sirius kissed him deeply. The memories came flooding back--

"It's getting a bit chilly here, Moony."

Remus jumped at the sound of Sirius' voice and hastily shoved the photograph back in the trunk, turning around. Sirius stood in the doorway, a towel wrapped around his waist, his long black hair damp and shiny from the shower. Remus gulped, words dying in his throat, and thrust out the handful of clothes at Sirius, blushing.

"He-here you go, Padfoot," he stammered, not looking at his friend. Sirius gave him an odd look, then shrugged and took the clothes in one hand, moving his gaze from the strange behavior of Moony to the trunk, which he had just closed.

"Are those my old school things and the like?" he asked, genuinely interested.

Remus nodded, daring to look up at Sirius, now that his embarrassment had somewhat waned. "Yeah. Your mum was only too pleased to get rid of it after you, erm, after-"

"After I was a stupid git and went to Azkaban." Sirius finished without a trace of self-pity. "Right. Well, maybe we can look through that later. Right now, clothes. Ta, Moony." And he disappeared back into the bathroom again with a twitch of his hips, leaving a breathless and stunned Remus staring in shock behind him.