To My Dear and Loving Husband

To My Dear and Loving Husband

Chapter 2 - To see you standing in the dark

*~*~*~*

"Bye Hagrid!" Harry, Ron and Hermione waved their goodbyes quickly, then shut the window against the cold December winds. Harry sighed happily in delight. For the first time, he would be spending his Christmas break away from Hogwarts. In some small way, he supposed he would be missing out on the fantastical decorations and wonderful food - but spending the two weeks at Remus's house, with his best friends, would make up for it. In the past couple of weeks, making plans for the trip, he had grown close to his two friends again. There was still a division, but Harry had learned to cope with it. He was actually counting on Ron and Hermione's togetherness to have some alone time with Remus. Harry knew the older man would have a lot to talk about, especially regarding Sirius.

Dumbledore, who was originally against the idea of Harry and his friends staying with Remus, had reconsidered after Sirius's death. Remus's last owl, over a week ago, had mentioned that Sirius's sister might also be visiting. Harry hadn't even known that Sirius had a sister!

As the three settled down to a long train ride, they heard the sounds of a brewing argument outside. They all shared a private happy grin - Malfoy was arguing with Conan Mordecai, the new teacher's son. They had got off on a rather bad start, and while Draco had always enjoyed tormenting the Trio, it had always been Draco angering the Gryffindors. Malfoy had never met someone who could make him furiously angry before, and Conan seemed to be just as surprised at the fierce arguments that sprang up between the two Slytherins.

"Just shut up already!" That would probably be Sorcha, the level-headed 5^th year daughter. Alanna, the youngest, was (simply) a spoiled brat. However, when the compartment door flung open, it was Luna Lovegood who stalked in. "Oooh, those stupid Slytherins! They can take their argument somewhere else!" She plopped down on a seat before asking, "Oh, can I sit here?"

All three had been watching her with amused looks, and they all nodded. There was nothing crucially important to talk about.

Knock, knock. "Come on in, we're open!" Ron called out. Hermione snickered. Harry wasn't sure he had ever heard Hermione snicker, exactly...

Ginny and Sorcha came in, nodded at the older kids, and sat near Luna. Sorcha pushed her curly black hair, longer and wavier than her mother's, behind one ear. Her eyes were a bright chocolate-y brown. Although a Slytherin, she got along better with Ginny's crowd. The only reason the three Mordecai children were in Slytherin, as Sorcha had once explained, was that they had all been in Sainon at Salem. To make it easier in transfers, the schools just had corresponding houses, and Sainon corresponded to Slytherin.

The train ride was happy and exciting, as more and more people dropped in. At one point, they had the aforementioned six, plus: Seamus, Neville, Dean, Colin, Dennis, Alanna, Conan, Justin, Hannah... Harry still wasn't sure how they all fit in! But it was the start of what was sure to be a happy, full Christmas. Harry wasn't worried about being lost with a crowd like that; they all seemed to want to wish him well and give him presents. He was also sure at least three of the girls had kissed him on the cheek, although he wasn't sure which ones. He had a sneaking suspicion that Hermione was one of them.

When the Trio reached Remus's yard (by way of Portkey), they were surprised to find a sweet little cottage at the edge of a forest, complete with an extensive herb garden. No one was home, but the door was unlocked, so they trooped in with their trunks.

Ron perhaps said it best: "Well then!"

He and Hermione went upstairs to scout out rooms. Harry could have followed, but he was having an uneasy feeling about this. He sincerely hoped that it just something stupid that Remus was out for, but all the recent close calls made Harry nervous.

He decided to cook something. All this worrying was getting him nowhere, and it had been half a year since he had last cooked. The action always calmed him down. Harry had decided, over the summer, that he would learn to cook and get up in the middle of the night so as not to starve. Also, it had helped him ease the nightmares about his godfather. Aunt Petunia kept a tight hand over her kitchen, so Harry was sure to be extra-careful.

He hummed a familiar Muggle song as he raided Remus's refrigerator, deciding on Christmas cookies to keep in spirit of the season. Hmm... you know it only breaks my heart... doot doot doot... Where have those two disappeared to? Harry shrugged and continued baking. It wasn't any concern of his; the trysting lovers might as well get it over with before Lupin gets home. If he - Harry cut his thoughts off with the next line of the song - to see you standing in the dark... oh-whoa, waiting there for me...

"Hey Harry, we put your trunk in a room," "It's the first one on the right." "What'cha making?"

Harry was used to them finishing each other's sentences like that. "Christmas cookies. If you want to be helpful, you could search for cookie cutters, and some sprinkles or something."

To his surprise, Remus had a grand collection of cookie cutters, and quite a few colors of sprinkles. Harry relegated frosting-making to the couple, who took on the task with relish. He suspected that they, too, were trying to clear the worry from their minds.

As the cookies were baking, Hermione commented that there were no decorations, and no tree. So that was the task they tackled next, wanting to use wands but unfortunately having to do it the Muggle way. There were several boxes of decorations in the attic, but there was nothing for a tree, and no tree. Hermione was uncharacteristically upset at the rule that disallowed magic outside of school.

"Hermione, I thought you liked that rule!" Harry grinned.

She sighed heavily. "Well, I just want things to be perfect when Lupin gets home." There was a pause, while each friend finished the statement with an 'if'.

"Well," Harry broke in, "There's more than one way to skin a cat." There was another pause, of a different nature. Ron broke the silence this time.

"Why'd you want to skin a cat?"

Both Hermione and Harry, who had grown up as Muggles, erupted into laughter. "It's just a saying, Ron!"

Ron still didn't get it. Harry tried to explain."It's like... there's more than one way to solve a problem."

"Then why didn't you just say that?"

Harry left Hermione to deal with him. He poked through Remus's garden tools, finally finding a hatchet. He had seen several Christmas-looking trees in the forest behind the cottage, and he had the idea of cutting one down for a real Christmas tree.

He decided on a tree that was only a little taller than he was. He hoped he knew what he was doing... After a few episodes that surely would have been humorous to Ron if he had been there (but were purely frustrating to Harry), he got it down. However, he would need help to drag it inside.

"Hermione! Ron! Can you help me with this?"

They came tumbling out to help, just as the first few flakes of snow began to fall. "Looks like we may have a White Christmas after all!" Another Muggle idea, and Harry explained it to Ron this time.

Getting the tree to stand straight was another bridge to cross. Eventually the Trio invented some crazy contraption of rope and wood that got it to stay sturdy and stable. Up in the attic, there was a box of tree ornaments and lights that looked like they hadn't been used in years. They probably hadn't, mused Harry.

"Are you sure this is the right house?" Hermione said, as they were trimming the tree.

Ron responded first. "I hope so. This is the portkey from Dumbledore, right?"

Harry shook his head. "This is definitely the right house. Look at the mantle."

The other two obediently turned their eyes to the fireplace, and saw what Harry was talking about. The pictures on the mantle were obvious to anyone with eyes - there was one of just Remus, grimacing and hiding his face, one of Sirius and James, out of Hogwarts already, caught in some discussion. There was one with Lily and a pretty brown-haired girl. There was one of James and Lily's wedding, and one with Baby Harry that was a copy of the one his photo album. However, the crowning glory, the centerpiece, was a panoramic Muggle photo of what must have been a grand achievement in the Marauder days. James and Sirius, in the middle, were hanging a young Severus Snape upside down by the ankles, and his smiley face boxer shorts stood out clear and strong. To the right, Peter had collapsed with laughter, and Remus was holding back a thin blond boy, most likely Lucius Malfoy. To the left of the picture, Lily and the girl from the other picture were laughing, an older girl with blond hair was trying to look dignified but trying not to laugh, a younger blond girl was looking horrified, and a tall black-haired girl had her face in her hands, as if to say, "those children!"

It was definitely the right house.

The decorations were up, the cookies were done, the fire was blazing, and Hermione had gone to get the presents to put under the tree.

And still no sign of him.

Harry and Ron sat next to each other on the sofa, watching the clock as it struck one. Hermione came back down with the presents, and then took an armchair next to them.

1:05.

1:10.

1:15.

1:17 - the door opened.

All three students jumped up and turned to the door, but what they saw wasn't quite what they expected.

It was Remus Lupin all right, but in his arms there was an unconscious man, and a stern-looking woman was walking behind him. At the sight of the Trio, both standing adults put on expressions of surprise and bewilderment. "Remus..." the woman said.

Lupin blinked a few times. "Where did you guys come from? What..." He looked around the room dazedly, and then said, "Is it really Christmas?"

"Yes, we got here this evening." Hermione looked as confused as the adults.

"Well, Remus, you've always prided yourself on your impeccable timing." The woman raised an eyebrow and grinned, looking suddenly ten years younger.

Remus sighed. "Well. That's... Yes, yes, welcome..." He put the unconscious man down on the now-empty couch, and as Harry got a good look at his face, he suddenly realized who it was.

"SIRIUS?!?!?!?!" Hermione and Ron whipped around to get a good look at him, and yes, indeed, it was Sirius...

"Yes, yes, don't touch him quite yet, I suppose he'll wake up soon, and then we'll explain everything. Good job with the tree, for no magic..." As Lupin took out his wand to fix it up, the woman turned to the Trio with a smile.

"I'm sorry for not introducing myself. I'm Artemis Black, Sirius's sister. I'm - oh, he's waking up..."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione, leaned a little closer to the man on the couch.

"What the fuck?"

Artemis brushed the kids away from the couch and leaned to her brother. "Hey squirt, it's me, Artemis."

"Arty? What're you doing here?"

"Don't you remember?"

"Not really."

"Never mind. The point is... you're home. Well," she corrected herself, "you're at Remus's."

"Remy? Where is he?"

Artemis moved back and Remus stepped forward, almost shyly. "Hey Siri."

"Hey RJ. You rescued me?"

Remus nodded.

"What's with all the lights?"

"It's Christmas. Harry, Ron, and Hermione as here... they were going to just visit me, but I guess it'll be nice to see you, too."

"Remy... I feel like shit."

On the other side of the couch, Artemis was drawing complicated light blue symbols in the air. "You won't for long, squirt."

"Don't call me squirt, I'm taller than you."

"Shut up."

"You shut up."

"Both of you, stop that." Remus grinned. "Feeling better yet?"

"Much." Sirius grimaced as he tried to move, but it faded into a smile as he stopped. "I guess I'm not up for much moving, but where's my godson?"

Harry, teary-eyed, ran forward to hug his godfather, taking care not to hurt him. Ron and Hermione stood close by as well, both almost crying in disbelief.

"Hey Sirius."

"Hey, Harry. You been doing well?"

"Well enough, I suppose. I missed you a lot."

"Yeah, well, I was dead." Harry laughed wetly at that. "Hey, it's Christmas! Happy occasion! Are those Christmas cookies I see there?"

"Yeah, I made them."

"Pass one over, will you?"

Artemis took one as well, then picked up her bag and started emptying it's contents onto the rug, looked for something. There were a lot of strange blue devices, and a grappling hook with quite a lot of rope, and several fancy daggers. She finally found what she was looking for, and threw a few presents under the much-enlarged tree. Remus gave her a strange look, and she grinned widely.

Remus went to his room to grab presents and added them to the pile. Sirius was catching up with the Trio, raising an eyebrow when Harry told him of Ron and Hermione's relationship. "Well, it's about time!"

"Um, Lupin..." "Please, call me Remus," "Remus... how exactly did you bring Sirius back?"

Lupin and Artemis shared a look. "Do you want to start, or should I?" he finally said.

"I'll start." Artemis cleared her throat. "This is all strictly confidential, but Dumbledore wanted you to know, so-"

"He knew?" Harry broke in.

"He wanted it to be a surprise. You come to Remus's, guess who's waiting for you? However, we did not expect it to take this long." She glared as if to say, no more interruptions. "I work for the Department of Mysteries. All our work is completely confidential, so it was lucky that Remus remembered the specific location of the hole that Sirius fell through. These holes could lead anywhere, usually to another world." She grinned mirthlessly. "Yes, there are other worlds, connected at different points in each one. One of the functions of the Department of Mysteries is to monitor these points. The Ministry building was built over the junction of several. In any case, Remus and I traveled through into the world, trying to find Sirius..."

Remus picked up, "...and ran into a problem." Artemis glared at him and took over again.

"See, when a person is transported into a world, they displace someone else. For non-magical folk, the transition either kills them or drives them insane, and only very few worlds have magic as readily as we do. However, Sirius is a wizard, so he survived the transition intact, as did Remus and I... I'm getting off track. The point is, transitions like this are rare, and the Department usually does not go to great lengths to bring the people back. Well, obviously, Sirius is my little brother, and he's very special. Remus is the only other friend of his whom, I think, would be willing to go to the lengths we did..."

"Oh god..."

"The reason we were late, is when we went to Arda to find Sirius, Remus displaced him! Not to mention, this link was not a simple back and forth matter, but a whole string of worlds. It took quite a while to sort out..."

"But somehow we were able to get back just after you guys appeared." Remus shook his head. "My sense of time was completely messed up by the constant world-jumping..."

"Sirius, do you remember any of this?" Artemis was definitely concerned about Sirius's memory loss.

"I think... I think I'm starting to. I remember elves." He grinned.

"Good. I know the final transition was a little rough."

They continued to talk, until suddenly Artemis noticed that the sky was lightening.

"It can't be dawn already!" Remus exclaimed.

They all looked at the clock - it read 6:45.

"No way," Ron said, shaking his head.

"Well," Hermione said, "Happy Christmas."

A murmur of 'Happy Christmas's came from around the room.

"Let's do presents!" Harry finally said.

This suggestion was received favorably. Sirius watched from his vantage point of the couch as his makeshift family exchanged presents. They were all soon surrounded by colorful paper, growing as owls came in to deliver more gifts.

"Thanks, Aunt Petunia!" Harry called out as he unwrapped his present from them - a rock, most likely from the backyard.

"Oh Ron, you didn't!"

"I did."

"How did you..."

"I saved it up... with a little borrowed from Fred and George."

Hermione held up her gift for the others to see - a silver heart-shaped locket, with an engraved flower on it. "It's beautiful."

"I helped pick it out!" Harry put in.

"Oh thanks, Artemis, now I can remember the weeks of hell I spent world-jumping!" No one understood the little blue instrument in Remus's hands, but it must have some relation to their trip.

"Was it worth it?" Sirius asked playfully from the couch.

Sirius was joking, but Remus gave a very serious answer. "Of course it was. I'd do anything for you."

"Harry!!" Hermione's tone was half joking, half angry. She had just unwrapped three books that she had lent him in the past year, all looking well-read; though it could have been Harry's or Hermione's doing.

"Don't worry; I got you a real present too." However, the next package yielded three mushy romance novels of the type Hermione hated, and that elicited another bout of laughter.

"This one had better be good!" Hermione said, opening the last package from Harry. It was smaller than all the others, and it was in a plain white box. Hermione opened it puzzlingly to find a pretty gold and brown watch, ticking quietly. She gave Harry a funny look.

He shrugged. "Your old one broke. I got you a new one. It's got an otter on the band, if that accounts for anything." Then he pointed to the box, where an instruction booklet was resting.

"I don't need instructions, it's a watch..." But then she saw that it was a magical watch, and the booklet told of how to utilize all the little gadgets.

She gasped. "Thanks, Harry!"

Harry unwrapped the present from Remus - a carved wooden box, large enough to hold a few scrolls. He opened it to find a plain iron key, and held it up curiously. "What's this for?"

Sirius caught Remus's eye, and Remus smiled strangely. "Just in case."

~*~

At about 8:00, everyone finally realized how tired they were. Artemis waved good-bye regretfully, but she had work to do. Harry, Ron, and Hermione trooped up to their respective rooms - Harry noticed that Ron and Hermione both ended up in Ron's room, but at that point he didn't really care.

Remus waited for his young guests to go upstairs, then picked Sirius up carefully and carried him up to his room. "Hey RJ... what about you?" Sirius asked, as Remus set him down on the bed.

"I'll be fine. You should have a proper bed."

Sirius nodded sleepily. "You gave Harry the key."

"You're still too sick to be of much help."

"But after I'm well..."

"You have other protections. Harry needs everything he can."

Sirius nodded again, almost falling asleep. "Hey Remy..."

"Yes?"

"It wasn't as simple as that, was it?"

Remus sighed, smiling. "You saw right through that. Well. Do you have to know now?"

"Yes."

Remus sighed again. "It was difficult. We were forcibly pushing ourselves through barriers that people only ever travel by accident, half the times we ended up separated, and on the final stretch...

"On the final stretch, I was completely alone. As Artemis put it, only someone who loved you could go through that, and she had to be there to hold it, and it was dark and the bluethingieswerehardtouseandImissedyouand..." After speeding up, Remus just trailed off, hoping Sirius would be too sleepy to notice what he had really just said.

But Sirius was still awake, and now he smiled. "Did... did you say you loved me?"

"Well, I..."

"Shh." Sirius reached out and drew Remus close to him, kissing the werewolf on the lips. "No talking."