When It's All Been Said And Done

It was a cold, blustery, November afternoon. The clouds blocked out the golden sun, making the sky look gray. Nature looked as if to be in a state of mourning. Flowers wilted while leaves fluttered to the ground, as if they had lost the will to hold on any longer. Remus Lupin watched as a brown leaf floated to the barren ground. He caught it by its stem and looked at it sadly, before releasing the leaf to continue down its journey. Remus stopped and looked up at the rain filled clouds. Then, tightening his scarf, he continued his unhappy walk, to the most unhappy place in the wizarding world.

Azkaban sat on top of a high island. The water surrounding the speck of land was, like the sky, an unearthly gray. Maybe everything wasn't gray to others, but to Remus, everything had lost its color. Everything seemed dead and forgotten, despite what others saw.

Remus came to a stop at a tattered small building that looked like a toll booth. The sign above an abandoned window read, in peeling letters, DROP OFF WANDS HERE. Remus stuck his hand into his cloak pocket and pulled out a long, slender piece of wood. Remus could still remember, eleven years ago, when he received his wand.

"Birch wood, with a hair of a werewolf. Particularly good for Defense

Against the Dark Arts," a stout, aged, wizard said. He took down a long, lean,

box from a shelf and opened it, handing the wand inside to the boy in front of

him. The boy looked at the wizard as if this was all a dream. The boy slowly

reached his hand toward the wand. Once his fingertips touched the wood, it

was as if magic was searing throughout his whole body. Never, in his lifetime,

did he think he would ever experience this feeling.

Remus dropped his wand inside the window. He knew wands weren't inside the prison, reasons such as possible breakouts, or in other cases...revenge. Remus continued walking, he slowed down as he moved under a steel, metal, archway, that had the word AZKABAN written over it. A spine tingling coldness enveloped Remus, as memories were trying to make their way back to him, but he pushed them out of his mind. He was here for one purpose and nothing, not even dementors, were going to get in the way of that.

A broken down bulletin board was placed near the entrance, showing where which prisoners were located. A crisp, clean, new piece of paper was tacked upon the board. It read "October first, the Dark Lord was vanquished. The war is over, celebrate!". Remus untacked the post and gently ripped it to pieces, and threw them into the wind. Remus felt as if Azkaban was the only place that reflected the way he felt. Back in London, everyone was so jubilant and happy, which was the opposite for Remus. He directed his vision to the list of prisoners and scanned down the page.

"Black, Black, Black," Remus muttered, running his finger down the list until he stopped at the name Sirius Black, in cell A27. Remus took a right, walking between rows of cells, where the watching eyes of insane prisoners lay. But, Remus didn't care, all he was thinking about was a couple days ago, on the morning of November third.

"Albus, I came back from Syria as soon as I could. A wizard told

me that the war is over, is it true? Is Voldemort gone?" asked a twenty-two year

old man, bursting into a tiny room with one window. The old wizard, who was

gazing out a window, nodded. "Who did it? How did it happen?"

"A baby boy," said Albus Dumbledore, quietly.

"A baby!" Remus Lupin said, shocked. "Surley if the best aurors weren't able

to... then a baby couldn't."

"His mother, died to save him. Love, I believe, is what destroyed Voldemort,"

said Dumbledore, again quietly.

"That's terrible, about the baby's mother, I mean," Remus said

sympathetically.

"His father, died too. He was trying to ward off Voldemort," Dumbledore

said.

"So, this baby is an orphan?"

"Yes, but that's not the end of it," Dumbledore sighed. "Their best friend

betrayed them, which is how Voldemort knew where the family was. Not only that,

but after that deed was done, that same best friend came after another friend of

his and destroyed him too."

"How could someone do that? That's like Sirius betraying James and Lily,"

Remus said and Dumbledore turned around slowly. "Which reminds me, I haven't

gotten around to visiting them yet. Where are they?"

"The baby boy was Harry, Remus," Dumbledore said sadly.

"Harry? But, that's James and Lily's baby boy..." Remus frantically looked

at Dumbledore. "No..no. That can't be. That would mean that...Sirius...was a

traitor. And that he...Peter! No...no. You must be mistaken, it must be a different

Harry. Sirius would never."

"Sirius did, Remus. He lead the Potters to their deaths. He destroyed

Peter. They're gone," Dumbledore said as he conjured a chair and Remus fell

into it, covering his face with his hands.

"YOU'RE WRONG!" Remus yelled, as hot tears were filling up in his eyes.

Dumbledore shook his head and handed Remus that latest edition of the

Daily Prophet, which showed, the former Marauder, Sirius Black, being dragged

to Azkaban.

"I'm sorry, Remus. A funeral will be held a week from now for James, Lily,

and Peter, if you would like to attend. As for Harry, he is with relatives now, he'll

be fine. But I know, for you, this will take a long time to heal."

"Black...he's in Azkaban?" Remus asked, looking up at Dumbledore who

nodded. "And, James, Lily, and Peter...they're all truly gone? All of them?"

Dumbledore nodded again. Remus stood up slowly and walked out the door.

That's what drove him here, to the miserable place of Azkaban. Remus looked at the cell numbers, as he was going past, one by one.

"A24, A25, A26," Remus muttered. He stopped before getting to the next cell. Rethinking everything, wondering if he'll be able to keep his composure. Remus walked forward a few more steps and turned to look at the man behind bars.

"Remus, I thought you'd come," came a voice from inside the shadows.

"Come into the light, Black, let me see what has become of the traitor," Remus said coldly. A man moved into the light. He was fairly young, about twenty-two years old, like Remus. He was in good condition compared to the other prisoners, because he was newly imported. Both Remus and Black stood in silence for minutes. The burning question was tugging at Remus's mind.

"Why did you do it?" Remus asked, finally, looking into Black's eyes for answers. "Why did you betray them? Why did you destroy Peter?" The anger was boiling up in him. "They were your FRIENDS! You're FRIENDS! You're Harry's godfather, and you have the nerve to kill his real father and mother! You were James's best man at his wedding! And Peter... he looked up to you! And then you go and do this! James offered you a place to stay when you had nowhere to go. And this is how you repay him! Was I who you were going to come after next? Picking off the Marauders one by one? We were BEST FRIENDS! No, we were more than that. We were brothers!" Remus's eyes were stone cold, but Black remained silent. Remus pulled up on the left arm of his cloak, exposing his upper arm that had MWPP engraved on. "Remember! REMEMBER! Seventh year! Two days before graduation..."

Four boys stood in a circle in a room unknown to others. All were eighteen

years old. One of which had sandy hair, with auburn eyes, another with glasses

and jet black hair, the third had dark brown hair, while the fourth was a little chubby

with blonde hair.

"We're almost out of this place," said an eighteen year old version of Sirius

Black.

"Arms out," another teenager said, this one had jet black hair and glasses.

"Let's make this permanent."

All four boys held out their arms, which each engraved a letter in the other's

skin and in their own, with their wands. Then, by pricking their fingers, they added

a drop of blood into the letter they cut on the others arm. All four boys had, in

glistening ruby letters, MWPP on their arms permanently.

"Now we can say that Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and

James Potter are as close to brothers as we will ever get," said the boy with the

jet black hair.

"We were BLOOD BROTHERS!" Remus said, as if to be pleading with him. "Remember the adventures? The detentions? The midnight runs through Hogsmead? I thought you really cared, you became an animagus for me. But, the man before me is a different person than who I knew in school. How could you leave me like this? You, James, and Peter meant everything to me! EVERYTHING! And now, for the rest of my life, I'm to go on with no one. It's been so hard, even these past five days. You took everything away from me that I loved. All to please Voldemort?" Prisoners in nearby cells were heard squirming at that name. "We all knew there was a traitor in our midst, but we never thought it was you," Remus said quietly, the tears that was haunting him everyday were coming back. For the first time, Black spoke.

"Remus, I didn't—," he said hoarsly, but Remus cut him off.

"LIAR!" Remus shouted, enraged.

"Moony, please, listen—,"Sirius pleaded.

"Don't EVER call me that again. You are no longer worthy to be called a Marauder." Remus hissed. "And don't think of turning into a you-know-what and getting out of here. If I EVER get word you have escaped, I will hunt you down and kill you myself," Remus snarled.

"Goodbye, Black." Remus said quietly, as he turned around, leaving Sirius Black alone.