As Potter is to Snape

Chapter 54

Sirius Black stood in front of the large window in Dumbledore's office. It was the next morning and the sun was just rising over the quidditch pitch. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, reveling in the fresh morning air of his first day as a free man.

"New clothes?"

Sirius turned around to see Remus leaning in the doorway. He hadn't even heard him come in. He looked down at the dark blue shirt and black trousers.

"Your mum," Sirius replied with a grin. "She's always had a soft spot for me."

Remus laughed. "That she has."

Sirius watched as Remus limped further into the room and dropped heavily into one of the empty chairs on the other side of Dumbledore's desk. His face was pale and he moved slowly, as if simply breathing caused him pain.

"Are you—"

"Don't look at me like that," Remus interrupted with a wave of his hand. "I've looked worse plenty of times and you know it."

Sirius wanted to say more but he refrained, nodding instead. He took another look out the window before coming to sit beside his friend.

"It's been a long time, old friend," he said with a sigh.

"Too long. A lifetime it seems. How are you feeling?"

Sirius let out a bitter laugh. He picked up one of the shiny, whirling gadgets on Dumbledore's desk and stared at his reflection. He examined the lines around his eyes and mouth. The weathered look of his skin. He'd spent a long time in the bath that morning trying to scrub off the filth, not just from his time on the run, but also from the twelve years he had spent in Azkaban. He had washed and trimmed his beard, and though he looked marginally better, he was still a long way away from the young, carefree twenty-one year old that had been locked up.

Sirius replaced the gadget and ran a hand through his dark curls. "I'm... I..." He blew out a long breath and groaned. "Ah, Moony, I don't know. Angry at how everything turned out? Happy that I'm out of that bloody prison but scared that at any moment they could take me back. Missing James. Always missing James and at the same time, thrilled to have met Harry." He ran a hand down his face. "Bloody hell, Moony. Harry's thirteen?"

Remus nodded. "He is."

The two men grew quiet until Remus sighed. "Padfoot, I can't tell you how sorry I am. I—"

Sirius held up a hand. "No. If I had been in your shoes, I would have done the same thing. You couldn't have known about Peter."

Remus shook his head. "I should have. I should have known that you would never betray James and Lily. I should have fought harder to look for the truth."

"Moony, don't. Please, there's no need. What's done is done and it's time to move forward now. Tell me how things have been. Tell me about Harry." His brows furrowed and his gray eyes turned the color of storm clouds. "Tell me what he's doing with Snape."

Remus took a deep breath. "That's a really long story."

Sirius huffed. "Well, it's been a long time since I've heard a long story."

"Alright," Remus nodded, "but I suppose I should start at the very beginning if I'm going to tell it."

"Always a good place to start," Sirius commented.

Remus cleared his throat and looked away from his friend. For a long moment, he was silent as he chose his words carefully.

"When my dad died and Albus and Minerva adopted me, they had already adopted someone else the year before. Severus's mother had died and his father... Well, that's not my story to tell. He didn't want anyone else to know, and honestly, I was too much of a coward to tell you or James anyway. I knew how you would both react. Especially when you found out that over that first summer, not only had we grown to not hate each other, but we had even tentatively become friends."