siriussideoflife
Spring was coming. Remus could see it in the way frost no longer covered the entirety of the windows in the morning, and he could feel it in not being woken up in the middle of the night by his freezing and shivering body. It was getting warmer, and mother nature was waking up from her deep slumber. But Remus' emotional winter was nowhere close to ending. Someone had stopped the clock on the change of seasons within him, and now he was doomed to eternal cold and gloom.
//
Why her? she often asked herself. Why her? Of course, the answer was in the letter she had received on that fateful morning when Vernon had opened the door to find her nephew there, all bundled up. The answer was that her sisterly bonds to Lily protected Harry from He-who-must-not-be-named, and what if Dumbledore was right and terrible things were to happen to her family, should Harry not be able to grow up under her protection? She was not willing to find out. She had to arrange somehow to live with that child.
Six months have passed since Voldemort murdered Lily and James Potter, six months since Harry Potter was given under the care of his aunt and uncle, six months since Peter Pettigrew was murdered by Sirius Black, and six months since the latter has been imprisoned in Azkaban. Six months in which Remus Lupin's life has fallen apart. In an attempt to get his life back in order and find a job that will cover his living expenses, Remus discovers Harry's toy broomstick in his storage and decides to visit the boy in his new home ...
Meanwhile, Petunia Dursley is also struggling with the role that was forced upon her. Home alone with two demanding toddlers, she can barely keep up with life. And it's not particularly helpful that one of those toddlers looks like the man that dragged her sister out of her life and into her death but has the eyes of that sister she failed to make amends with. Then one day, a strange man appears on her front porch, asking to see Harry ...