Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Remus jerks awake.

"Hey," James' voice reaches Remus before his eyes focus on his face. "It's only me, no need to panic."

Remus sits up groggily, his legs cramped because of the way he was curled up. The lights have been turned on. It can't be that late, but he sun has gone down1. "You didn't find him?" He asks, rubbing his eyes.

"Uhm, when i said it's only me, I didn't mean it that literally," James ruffles his hair.

And suddenly, Remus is a whole new kind of awake.

He peers from around James and sure enough, there Sirius is, leaning against the wall by the door, looking like a stranger in his own house. His cheeks are pale, and there's a rainbow scarf wrapped around his neck, pleasantly out of congruence with his otherwise all black outfit.

Everything around him is colourless and a little bit dead except for that cheery scarf, and Remus tries not to stare.

"Uhm, I'm also here," Auguste waves from beside James.

"Hi," Remus blushes, embarrassed. If he's lucky enough, maybe the whole of Wizarding Britain will have walked in on him sleeping on a couch by the end of the year.

"Right... well, I'm..." James rubs the back of his neck.

"Maybe I should go," Auguste offers, already moving towards the door.

"No, no," James says, "Merlin, we were stuck in a car for hours, have some tea before you go."

"I'll make it," Sirius speaks up for the first time.

Everyone turns to him, and he shifts uncomfortably under their collective gaze.

"It's... my house," he fiddles with the hem of his t-shirt, not meeting anyone's eyes.

"You haven't been acting much like it, Padfoot," James tells him, his tone uncharacteristically careful. "But you can make the tea. Come on, I'll help."

Remus watches them disappear into the kitchen, James' arm slung around Sirius' shoulder, pulling Sirius into his side. It's kind of adorable.

"Uhm," Remus turns to Auguste, who's still standing where he was. "Why don't you sit down?"

Auguste gives him a brilliant smile, the kind you'd see in a toothpaste commercial. Picture perfect. "Thank you," he says, sliding on to a recliner. "Were you waiting for us?" He asks, reaching forward to pet Marshbutton, who's happily having a bath on the coffee table. She rubs her head against his palm, making him laugh.

"I was waiting for James and Sirius," Remus says, "I didn't know you'd come as well."

"Oh,"

"No, not in a bad way," Remus says quickly, "It's just that James told me that he'd bring Sirius home and, well, I really didn't expect him to go with you."

"Oh?"

"Oh God, I just... I just didn't think you were friends, James and you. That's all," Remus cringes inwardly, silently cursing himself.

"I'm not surprised at all," Auguste laughs, "Partly because it's true. Potter and I aren't friends, as he would be very glad to assure you. And I was just teasing you, Remus."

"Oh," Remus sighs in relief, "Okay. Must have been fun, watching me panic,"

"Very much so," Auguste smiles at him, petting Marshbutton's belly. He looks like he wants to say something else, but the whistling of the kettle makes Marshbutton scramble to her feet, startling both him and Remus.

Whatever Auguste wanted to say, Remus never gets to hear it. They wait for James and Sirius.

Tea passes slowly, and in an uncomfortably prolonged silence during which no one looks at anyone else properly. Remus is so relieved when they're done.

"I'll be going now," Auguste stands up. They say their goodbyes and send him off. At least Remus and James do. Sirius just sits in his chair, arms wrapped around himself and legs close together.

Remus looks at James, hesitant.

"Why don't you go up to your room," James says quietly in his ear, "And I'll have a little chat with him? Ugh, I'm starting to sound like Dumbledore... Next thing I know, my hair will be going grey and I'll wake up to a foot-long beard on my face," he rubs his forehead.

"I think I can already see a couple of grey hairs," Remus makes a show of squinting at James' hair. "But I'm sure you can pull it off." He gives James a small smile, mostly to calm his own pounding heart. "I'll go now, I... Good luck, James."

"Thanks," James whispers, throwing a furtive glance at Sirius, who's too busy staring at his lap to notice it. "I'm sure I'm going to need it."

***

Remus is trying to read.

The operative word there being trying. He's been staring at CHAPTER ONE for what feels like hours. This guest room is so... empty. Sirius' room has always been neat and well-kept, the exact opposite of Remus' room back home, but it was still Sirius' room. Somewhere between the cupcake magazine and the lava lamp and the peculiarly shaped window and the jars of quills and brushes on his desk, there was also, undeniably, him.

And this room with its pale walls, it's too clean. Too empty.

He raises his head when there's a knock on the door. It's James.

"Hey," he pops his head in through the door, and then slides in. "I thought you'd be sleeping."

Remus pats the bed next to him, and James hops on, almost throwing the book out of Remus' hands.

"Sorry," James grins, "I'm just excited,"

"Anyone would be if they were seeing me," Remus says, putting his book away.

"Well, yes. You're adorable,"

"And have a face full of scars," Remus tells him pointedly, "What happened?"

James frowns at him, a silent chastisement. He opens his mouth, still frowning, but Remus nudges him. "Okay, I have an adorable face full of scars. Now tell me why you were so excited,"

"Okay, fine. I," James bursts into a grin, "talked to Sirius."

Remus is tempted to applaud, but settles for a very impressed look instead.

James pouts, "It's a lot harder than you think, you know. Anyway, he's totally hyped about being your witness,"

"That's what you talked to him about?" Remus feels so offended it hurts.

"That's what I told him to get his attention," James pats Remus' knee reassuringly, "You know, so that he would, like, listen to me. For longer than five minutes."

Remus bites his lip, trying to make sense of it, but he ends up blushing when James adds, "He'd listen to me for three hours if it was about you."

Remus feels his cheeks cool down a little, and spends a while trying to figure out what question to ask James. There's so many in his head, fighting to go first, and each has a dozen follow-up questions waiting in line behind itself.

So he settles for the simplest, and perhaps the most important. No, not perhaps. Definitely the most important.

"Is he okay?"

"Maybe not completely," James says after a small, thoughtful pause, "But you know. He never really is. But he always comes through, and... well, he will this time, too. He just needs a little help on the way."

Remus finds this answer more comforting than a simple yes or no would've been.

"And we'll help him," James says, nudging Remus gently, "Right?"

Remus looks at him, and for the first time in a while, he can smile a full smile without feeling wrong about it. "Right," he agrees, "Of course we will."

***

Author's Note

The way some of you ship James and Auguste-