Harry Potter One Shots (Vol. I)

Love Laid to Rest (Remus Lupin)

This one shot was requested by Sarasapen who made a request for Remus and Sirius's little sister. It's been a while since you requested it, but I hope you like it ~ 

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Sometimes, I felt like I was still dreaming. That eventually, something would happen and I'd wake up and find myself alone in Grimmauld Place again with only wretched Kreacher to keep me company. I still didn't completely believe that Sirius was out of Azkaban and he was here with me, home and safe and where he should have been all along.

I'd been separated from my brother for over a decade only for him to turn up one day, out of the blue with no prior indication that he was coming home. At first, part of me refused to accept that the skeletal man was my brother because how could he be? My brother always smiled and laughed and didn't look as if he would topple over if a strong gust of wind brushed past him. But I'd pushed the utter outrage I felt towards the Ministry for doing this to my brother, for reducing him to this, and instead embraced him, completely ignoring the dirty state of him. In that moment, I'd reverted back to be a little girl again who sought out her older brother and struggled not to cry to him about how lonely I'd been without him. Because, no matter what my protests were, he'd had it worse. Much worse.

It had taken some time, but eventually we'd acclimatised, slipping slowly back into the easy relationship we'd shared before his wrongful imprisonment. There were still moments where I'd stumble across him sitting in a random room, seeking time away from the other occupants of our home as he alone dealt with his inner ghosts. It took work, but we were getting there. Even with the Order of the Phoenix settling into our home and preparing to use it as a base, most of my focus was on my brother, on making sure that I helped him put some meat on his bones and to regain his health.

"Stop picking at your food," I insisted from across the dining table, watching as Sirius pushed his spinach to one side. How was he still such a picky eater? "You need to eat your vegetables, Sirius."

"Yes mother," he grumbled, reluctantly shovelling a mouthful of spinach into his mouth. Then he paused, glancing around the dining room in a way he'd been doing often since he came home.

"Why do you keep doing that?" I asked eventually.

He shrugged, even as he went on to explain, "This house feels as lonely as it used to when we were kids."

"It does," I agreed in a heartbeat. With only the two of us in this house, it felt too empty even if it was haunted by the ghosts of our pasts. The last time I'd felt so overwhelmingly alone in this house was after we'd found out Regulus had died – I'd lost both my brothers by then. One had moved out, and the other had died for reasons I didn't know. Reasons I still didn't know. But hopefully, with the Order set to arrive soon, they'd breathe some much needed life back into this hollow shell of a home.

"You know," Sirius started slowly, bringing me from my thoughts. I looked to my older brother then, finding him studying his plate the way he did whenever he wanted to probe into my life without risking getting a hex to the face. A fleeting smile played at the corner of my mouth; he was almost like he was in his fifth year when he cornered me to find out just which Gryffindor, I was caught dating. Of course, when he did find out, he'd been more than pleased. "Whenever I thought about home whilst I was stuck in the place, I always thought it would be much livelier than it is now. That there would be little feet running around and making too much trouble for Kreacher."

I held my silence, just long enough for him to lift his head to study me closely. Then, it was my turn to focus on my own plate of food, "Why would you think that?"