"you have me. until the very last star in the galaxy dies, you have me."
With a war on the rise, 8 friends must try to understand their importance in a world that is slowly crumbling around them. Darkness appears out of every place in their lives...
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"the end"
The two men held onto the young woman between them as they limped down the road before apparating out of sight, leaving the haunted remnants of the Potter house behind them.
With a loud crack, they arrived in Cleo and Sirius's living room, their home so glaringly ordinary compared to what they had just seen, that it made Cleo feel sick all over again. She sunk to the floor and felt the waves of nausea sweep over her once again, pulling her head down to her knees. It was only in a haze that Cleo heard Sirius's voice, the rumbling of his words as though underwater, saying, "Remus... look after her, please. Take care of her."
"Sirius, don't, just stay here. We can–"
"Someone has to find him, Remus. The rat is probably in hiding now. I'll be back, just stay here. Watch over her, please."
Cleo tried to breathe, but the air was suffocating. She felt as though all the oxygen in the room had disappeared, and she was left in a sucking vacuum of space that closed in on her inch by inch. She didn't realize that tears continued to leak from her eyes, never letting up as she pressed her forehead harder into the carpet.
Hands pushed her hair back from her face, dragged her head up only briefly. Lips pressed against her temple, and she grabbed the sleeve of the man that engulfed her airless cocoon with his scent, holding him to her.
"I'll be back, Cleo. Stay here, I'll be back. Just breathe, darling. I love you, I'll be back."
When the fog cleared and she opened her eyes, he was gone, and Remus wrapped his arms around her shoulders and drew her into him. She didn't realize she was screaming.
✯
Peter Pettigrew stood on the street corner in West London, watching the cars go by. They honked at one another, all rushing to get to where they were going, as crowds of people moved in and out of one another. Their lives were so horribly ordinary, and Peter watched them as they walked past him, as though he wasn't even there. As though he was merely an apparition in the crowd, passing through him, as he had always been. They were all so unwittingly ignorant, not even knowing what he had just done.
Peter stood on the very edge of the sidewalk, his toes hanging off the edge into the street. A red double-decker bus honked as it zoomed past him, and the wind whooshed past him, ruffling his hair. He felt the heat of the bus radiate on his skin and he closed his eyes, feeling alive.
When he opened them, the bus was gone. When he opened them, a dark-haired man stood across the street, watching him, eyes murderous.
Peter stared at Sirius Black, knowing. He knew they were going to come for him eventually, and he felt a glimmer of hope that it was who he thought it would be. Had it been Remus, or even Cleo, Peter wasn't sure his plan would work. But Sirius often did things without thinking; he often acted upon his anger, and Peter knew then that he had everything under control.
