Letters From A Stranger || James and Lily ||

Two Way Mirror

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, I would have stopped writing at "All was well".

/unedited chapter/

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Chapter 55

Remus returned to an empty dorm. He made both his and Peter's unmade beds, staring for a brief moment at Sirius's bed.

The emptiness in the room was glaringly obvious. Not having Sirius around felt like all the happiness had been sucked away, leaving behind a vaccum of numbness. No matter how much Remus pretended to be annoyed with Sirius, at the end of the day they were best friends. But for the meanwhile, he had to get used to not hearing his name chanted every minute of the day by an overexcited Sirius who followed him around like a curious puppy.

Remus shook his head and made to head down to the common room when he heard what sounded unmistakably like James's voice. He froze, looking around the empty room with wild eyes, expecting the impossible, sighing when he realized that the room was just as empty as it had been when he came in.

"Moony? Remus?"

This time Remus was sure he hadn't imagined it. His sensitive ears quickly caught on that the source of the voice was Sirius's bedside drawer. He opened the drawer with shaking hands to find Sirius's mirror tucked in a corner, James's face staring back at him instead of his own.

"James what the fuck? Where are you?" he asked grabbing the mirror in a frenzy.

James pressed a finger to his lips, asking Remus to keep his voice down.

"Take the mirror to Dumbledore as fast as you can."

Remus didn't wait to hear anymore. In seconds, he was out of the room, bolting down the stairs. The Fat Lady shouted a few colourful words at him as the door closed shut behind him.

Remus ran like his life depended on it. Well, it kind of did. James and Sirius were just as valuable as his own life. He ignored the stitch on his side, lungs burning with strain as he ran across the castle to Dumbledore's office.

He stopped in front of the gargoyle, realization dawning on him as he remembered that he didn't know the password. Panic was beginning to set in. How was he supposed to get in?

"Mr. Lupin?"

Remus turned around startled, coming face to face with a very concerned looking Slughorn.

"Are you alright, my boy?" the professor asked, taking note of Remus's flushed face and heavy breathing. Remus slipped his hand between the folds of his robes, hiding the mirror from view. Slughorn was a teacher of course, but Remus trusted no one at the moment.

"Professor." Remus breathed out, "Please tell me the password. It's urgent. I need to talk to Professor Dumbledore."

Slughorn blinked in confusion before nodding to the gargoyle. "Cockroach clusters."

Remus didn't wait another moment. He muttered a hasty thank you before stepping into the stairwell. The stairs took him up to the entrance to Dumbledore's office. He knocked on the door and waited for it to swing open. Which it did after a moment.

"Professor." Remus called out, rushing towards Dumbledore's desk. The said professor looked up, confusion clouding his blue eyes.

"Yes, Mr. Lupin? Something wrong?"

"James." was all Remus said before sliding the mirror towards Dumbledore, who took the object in his hand at once.

Dumbledore turned away from Remus, quietly talking into the mirror. Remus stood back, worrying his lips as his heart beat painfully against his chest. He was allowing himself to hope that James and Sirius were fine, that they'd make it out of wherever they were.