𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐒 [𝐑. 𝐋𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐧]

𝟏𝟐 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑

Song:
Right Where You Left Me (Taylor Swift)
"She's still 23 inside her fantasy. And you're sitting in front of me."

TW: talks of alcoholism & miscarriage

JUNE 1994

12 years had passed since the world crumbled under their feet.

12 years had passed since James Potter gave his life to protect his loved ones, only for Lily Potter to find him in the afterlife nothing but ten minutes later.

12 years had passed since Sirius Black's imprisonment. He was sentenced for life in Azkaban, where no other man had escaped from. He would only see the light of day when he was dead and cold, only remembered as a traitor.

12 years later, Callisto Lupin, née Claire, had cut out the events of the First Wizarding War in little pieces, and she had placed them carefully in boxes. She didn't want to think about ambiguity, about grey areas, or about what could have led Sirius Black to killing his best friends.

One man had single handedly ruined more lives than he should have the power to; even her marriage. The first year had been unbearable. Remus had developed a drinking habit. It was his way of coping, of grieving when everyone around him was in absolute bliss with the end of the war. They were lucky that she knew his behaviour was caused by the alcohol and not because he believed all those things he said to her day after day. It was also lucky that time heals all wounds, or in their case, that time made the pain more bearable.

12 years later, she could safely say they had fixed their lives. Remus was working as DADA Professor in Hogwarts, and even though she didn't see him often, they exchanged letters all the time. She was supplying St. Mango's with potions, and occasionally experimented with new recipes. Their relationship was stronger than ever now, it had matured with time. They were honest with each other, they had grown to know each other inside out. Callisto had only allowed herself to keep three secrets to herself: Brown's death, Lily's second pregnancy, and her own miscarriage a few months after the Potters' death.

Everything had changed, except for the Merlin's Order Award still left next to their sink.

She had a bad feeling as she strutted down the halls of Hogwarts after so many years. She didn't dare to look at the portraits, her eyes glued to the front as she paced to the Hospital Ward. Dumbledore had called her in urgently, and with the previous night's full moon, she was scared out of her mind.

She opened the heavy doors, the voices from inside the room stopping abruptly as everyone turned to look at her.

Before she knew it, her wand was out, pointed at a man she had never thought she would see again.

Sirius Black looked much different to what she remembered. His hair wasn't polished and well groomed, instead resembling a wild mane, his eyes hiding a tornado of emotions behind them as he looked at her with his hands raised in self-defence. He looked like a living corpse, tattered and dirty, but unfortunately, he was alive.