Chapter 3: The Living Dead

The train was packed with old face, people he had last seen in the midst of the first war or in some cases at their funerals. He felt like he was walking amongst ghosts. He moves through the train corridor towards the last compartment on the left. It was their compartment. They always sat in the third car last compartment on the left, it became a tradition after that fateful first meeting.

Lily Evans was already seating in the corner staring longingly at the platorform. Remus gently slid open the door.

"excuse me. May I join you?" Lily looked up at his words but only nodded in response. Remus hoisted his trunk onto the luggage rack and sat in the seat farthest from Lily. He tried so hard not to stare at her. She looked so young and innocent. Soon the door slid open and in walked Peter Pettigrew. He tripped over his own feet as he tried to get his trunk in. Remus considered helping the boy but could not find it in his heart. He needed to be strong for this, he needed to be forgiving but Remus hadn't thought to prepare himself for seeing Wormtail. He knew that he would see the dead and that would be difficult but he'd forgotten how important Peter was to their lives, how much he knew and how he destroyed all of them. How could Remus forgive him? How could Remus look at the sniveling boy and not feel contempt at the man he would become? Peter meekly glanced at the other two members of the compartment before settling himself closer to Lily and therefore away from the brooding Remus. The last whistle blew and Remus watched the last of the children and parents part as they rushed to the train. The compartment door slammed open and Sirius Black stood there grinning from ear to ear. He always had to make an entrance wherever he went. His smile remained plastered on his face as he jerked his head to indict a request to sit in the seat next to Remus. Remus nodded and Sirius unceremoniously plopped down on the seat placing his feet on the one across from him. Seconds later, before any introductions could be made, James Potter entered, still wiping lipstick from his cheek. He glanced over his fellow compartment members and shifted his trunk onto some of the remaining luggage space.

"Hey there. My name's James Potter" He declared staring at everyone waiting for a response. Sirius snickered slightly before offering out a hand to shake James's.

"Sirius Bl-" he paused before finishing his last name in a silent murmur hoping no one would hear. Before James could comment on the muttering Remus broke into the conversation.

"Remus Lupin" he said smiling at both boys with a reassuring grin "I guess we're all first years?" The two boys nodded and then all three looked expectingly at Peter and Lily.

Peter ducked his head down "er. my name is uh peter." he stammered. The group looked at Lily who still was staring unblinkingly at the platform.

"Hey. Redhead. Girl!" James called over to her making a whistling noise for her attention. Lily's head snapped up her green eyes filled with annoyance.

"yea?" she snapped.

"Got a name?" Sirius joined in.

"It's Lily. What does it matter?"

"just thought we should get to know each other if we're going to share a compartment." James smirked as he finally sat next to Sirius. "are you a first year?" he continued.

"Yes. " She replied quickly before looking back out at the window as the train began to move. Sirius shrugged at James and the two resumed attempting to get to know the remainder of the compartment.

"So. what do you think this test to get into house is going to be like?" James asked looking at the others. "I'm an only child and my parents wouldn't tell me what it was. They said I should be surprised."

"my cousins all said it's something gruesome. My oldest cousin she told me we have to fight a troll in the dungeons." Sirius declared lowering his voice for dramatic effect as Peter began to look ill.

Remus rolled his eyes "Sirius. Your cousin clearly was trying to scare you. It's probably just something simple like they point at us and put us into a house."

"Maybe." Sirius said casually as he leaned back again. "or they'll have us fight a dragon."

James snorted "there'd be no one left to go to Hogwarts if that was the case."

The two continued to talk of ridiculous ways that they would be sorted into the houses, laughing as each became more elaborate and more absurd. The two became so absorbed in their conversation they did not notice that Severus Snape had entered the compartment and it was not until his mention of Slytherin house that James acknowledged his arrival. Remus tried to listen to the words that the people around him were saying but he could only stare at Severus. He never truly understood the boy or the man, his motives never really seemed clear to Remus and now he knew. The only motive that Severus Snape ever held was love and Remus thought himself a fool for never seeing it before. How did he not remember the days when Lily would always be around Severus, how she would stand up for him in spite of James' potential wrath? How was he so blind to everything that surrounded him when he was younger?

He came out of his thoughts as the door slammed shut and Lily and Severus had walked out.

Sirius was laughing and James looked amused "well I guess we're going to be best friends with them?" Sirius said in between chuckles.

"oh yea. I'm sure I'll marry her. She seems to like me so much" James added sarcastically.

He watched again as Sirius and James began to joke once more and he smiled to himself as he saw how well they clicked from the moment they met. Lily used to joke later that Sirius was her only true competition to win James' heart. Remus would silently agree but he knew that the two of them needed a grounded person to control their wildness. Lily and Remus subdued them and complimented their wild unrestrained actions with their cool calculated wits. James and Sirius were one in the same. They were both fiercely loyal towards those they loved and would always act before thinking through the consequences. The only difference was Sirius never believed that others loved him back. He was so quick to doubt the motives of kindness and always expected the worse in any situation. He had grown up never understanding what love was or how to have relationships that were based on manipulations. His family was sick and twisted and as much as Sirius tried to deny his past, it left him with deep internal scars. In a way, Sirius thought less of the consequances of his actions on others. He never thought what it might mean to someone to lose him or watch him be carried off to Azkaban ….no Remus could not allow his thoughts to go there. He could not think of that time. Not when he had them back. Not when he was surrounded by his long lost friends. For now he needed to force his thoughts onto the problem at hand, how to change the fates of Severus Snape and Peter Pettigrew.

The train pulled into the station and the students milled around the platform. The familiar voice of Hagrid filled the air as he called the first years over to him. Remus smiled up at the half-giant. Hagrid was younger than he'd last seen him, in 1998, the day of the fateful last battle. Remus didn't know if Hagrid had lived through that night or if he had died earlier in the midst of the ruins of Hogwarts. The first years piled into the boats and began their journey across the lake to the caste.

Hogwarts castle glowed in the moonlight. Remus sighed as he stared at the castle. It was still intact. It was still there and the air wasn't filled with the sounds of screams or flashes of green light.

Remus ran through the corridors of his youth. He needed to find her, he couldn't leave his son abandoned and she had more to live for than him. He had no intention of surviving the night but Nymphadora had to, she had to live for Teddy. The air was thick with dust as the castle collapsed around him. Up ahead he saw a recognizable figure

"Kingsley" he shouted as he choked on the debris in the air. The man was kneeled over and looked back at Remus with a sad look in his eyes. Remus knew that look. He had been on enough missions over the course of two wars to know the eyes of man seeing a friend or lover or family member dead. Remus approached slowly and saw familiar shade of red peek out around Kingsley's coat.

"He's dead." He croaked, it was more a statement than a question but Kingsley nodded. Remus moved closer to the body and examined the face, the ear. He still had both ears, it was Fred.

"Molly? George? The rest?"

"Percy was here when I ran past. The only way I could get him to move was to send him to find someone to help move the body…we've been moving the dead to the Great Hall. There's so much death Remus. So many young people dying before their time." Remus nodded solemnly looking at the Weasley boy. Fred and George had always reminded him of Sirius and James, another pair that died before their time, one in October 1981 the other over the course of thirteen years in Azkaban.

"She came." Kingsley said breaking Remus from his thoughts. "I tried to send her back. I tried to tell her to go to her son."

"Where did you last see her?"

"Last I saw, she was fighting Bellatrix outside" Remus and Kingsley shared one last look. They this was it. One of them wouldn't survive and if Remus was going for Bellatrix he didn't think he would live for the next hour.

"Take care of my son." He said as Kingsley reached out to shake his hand.

"I hope I won't have to" the main replied. As they released hands, Percy and Charlie appeared to take over the movement of Fred. Charlie gently hoisted his brother's limp body as Percy covered the pair from any attackers.

He looked back one last time at Kingsley who had begun to run towards the incoming acromantulas. Remus sprinted towards the main grounds, passing bodies and children that must have snuck back to fight, they were crying out in fear and pain and he tried to ignore their pleas. He needed to think of his son.

"Professor Lupin. Please" he had to turn. He had to look. He looked at one of the Patil twins, she had Gryffindor colors, it must have been Padma. She was huddled over another bundled and bloody form.

"it was Fenir Greyback. He just attacked her. Hermione Granger shot him off…but she's lost so much blood." She tried to control her tears as she explained. He couldn't leave not now that she recognized him and not now that he knew what monster attacked her friend. He bent down and checked the pulse of the bloodied body, it was faint.

"she's alive. but barely" he said to Padme. He looked around for something to use to help. He pulled off parts of his tattered robes.

"Augumenti" he pointed his wand at the torn cloth "clean her blood of with this, so you can find where the wounds are. Then tie these near the wounds to stop the bleeding. They're collecting the dead in the Great Hall. Perhaps the wounded will be helped there as well. Look for essence of Murtlap to clear the cut." The girl looked at him and mouthed thank you before she began to clean the blood.

He returned to his original purpose, he needed to find his wife. He knew she was probably already dead, he had little hope left but he needed to at least try, he could not allow anyone else to die without a least trying to fight. The grounds were worse than the castle. Suits of armor lay crumpled over bodies of both sides. The bodies of the giants lay on the ground in mangled heaps and spells were flying in every direction. There was no where to hide out here. He was distracted by all the chaos and so he was caught off guard when a spell hit him in the stomach knocked him to the ground.

"ph why if it isn't my nephew in law. What will your poor little wolf cub do now that both mommy and daddy are both gone." she smirked standing over him, her hair was untamed and her eyes maniacal.

"Bellatrix" another voice broke in. Dora he thought. No. Don't pick this fight. He wanted to scream out for her to go to run.

"ennuverate" she said as she pointed her wand at Remus allowing him to move. Bellatrix had already begun to turn around ready to face her more exciting prey.

"ah my little niece. How lovely to see you. I was hoping we would meet today." The two began to duel with their wands swirling and spells flying. They were evenly matched, for now. Bellatrix wouldn't fight fair for long.

He tried to step in between them but he was stopped by a massive figure, Dolohov. He remembered him from their Hogwarts' days. Remus swiftly moved his wand in attempt to disarm the man but his attempts were blocked. They continued to duel but Remus was tired. He was tired of death and destruction and he was tired of war. And he felt his wand fly out of his hand and fell backwards and he knew it was over. He looked to his right where Nymphadora lay collapsed having lost to Bellatrix and he prepared to die and see all the people he loved once more.

"Remus!" Sirius's high pitched pre-pubescent boice snapped him out of his thoughts. "you alright?"

Remus looked at the other boys in the boat who were staring at him like he was insane.

"I'm fine. Just shocked that I'm here is all"

"you're face just went completely white and your eyes glazed over" Peter bluntly stated.

"just shock is all. Nerves. I'm fine" Fantastic he thought. They already think I'm nuts.

The boats pulled up the castle and the first-years unloaded and were brought into the hall where they were introduced for the first time to Minerva McGonagall. The long line of first-years peered eagerly around each other as the Deputy Headmistress lead them into the Great Hall. He watched as students filed forwards to be placed in their future houses. Some of the names stabbed him in the gut as he looked upon the face of the living dead. Edgar Bones was the first to step forward and Remus winced, remembering his funeral. The other names rang hollowly in his ear making his sorting ceremony feel like the nightly list of the dead during the war. When at least he placed in Gryffindor by a rather confused sorting hat, he glanced around him and tried to take in all of the faces. The living dead would be surrounding him all the time now, he needed to not allow them to ruin his ability to function.