Together

It had been two weeks since Remus had made the suggestion and Sirius had began to love the idea more than Remus.

So, one Tuesday night after Harry and Luna had gone home, Remus and Sirius sat in their study, Remus sat in the black leather spinning chair in front of the computer and Sirius stood behind him slightly bent down with his hands on Remus's shoulders as they googled how to get into the adoption system.

"I think this is it." Remus said pulling up a form, "We just fill this in then... I dunno."

"Okay then." Sirius relied, Remus could feel his nervous energy and he Sirius could feel his.

Remus clicked on the first bar of the form, it was asking where they lived.

After they had filled out the form the screen flashed with a picture of an old mouldy looking, dark building.

St. Edmunds is your nearest adoption centre.

"Shit. That's St. Edmunds?"

"Yeah." Remus breathed, it looked even worse than the time he'd last seen it. A window in the dorm for the 15yr olds was smashed. The grass on the grounds was cut way to short so that splatters of mud peeked through. Remus had clear memories of being thrown into mud like that, face first and having someone holding his head down into the mud until he was screaming for air.

"Hey Moony?" Sirius was squeezing his shoulder and Remus realised he'd zoned out.

"Huh?"

"You good?"

"Fine, yeah."

"Let's leave this for today, yeah?"

"Yeah."

They ordered a Chinese and watched TV.

***
After months of house inspections and telling friends they were finally given papers that said the government had deemed them worthy of adoption. From what Remus could gather, they simply had to show a Matron these papers, then they would be good to go.
They had emailed St. Edmunds asking to come for a meeting. It's wouldn't be that bad, no one there would know him. All the old boys would be gone now.
Three days later they got a reply asking them to come in the following Thursday.

***

The following Thursday,

*But if you close you eye's,
does it almost feel like nothing changed at all.
And if you close your eye's,
does it almost feel like you've been here before?*

They apparated to a field near St. Edmunds and walked through the streets of the village Remus grew up in. The streets he'd walked around when he was bored, simply waiting for the police to pick him up and take him back. They passed the shops he would nick cigarettes from to sell at Hogwarts.
Sirius held his hand the whole way, some people stared but he didn't care. He didn't have the space in his head to care.

"Moons?" Came Sirius's soft voice as the approached the gates. He hadn't realised he'd stopped walking, he just stared at the big black twisting metal of the gates that spiralled into jagged points at the top. Matron had told them it was to keep animals out. No one believed her. It was to keep the children in.

"It looks like a cage." Sirius breathed looking up, "It is a cage." Remus relied.
Sirius squeezed his hand, "Let's get someone out of it then." Remus nodded and reached for the chain hanging at the side of the gate which rang a bell, alerting the boys in the garden to get matron.

"What 'cha want?" A boy said, he looked about seventeen and had his hand crossed over his chest. Remus knew the type. Thought they owned the place and answered the gate, trying to scare off adopters. Remus was sick of them. The seven-year-old in him still held a grudge against these type of people.

"Look, I know you think your tough," Remus said pulling his hand away from Sirius so he could crouch slightly to the boys level. People like him hated being talked to like that, "But I also know the only reason your here is because you don't think your gonna get adopted so your try'na scare away potentials for other kids." The boy blinked.

"Potentials?" He repeated, Remus blinked. He hadn't even realised he'd said that. Potentials was the word the boys used for adopters because 'adopters' sounded like the kids didn't have a choice. In Matron's opinion, they didn't.

"Yeah." Remus said, trying not to break character.

"Who are you?" The boy asked seemingly also trying not to break character.

"Nonya."

The boy frowned.

"Matron's coming." Remus said looking over the boy's shoulder, "Run." He did.

Remus straightened up turning to a frowning Sirius, "What-"

"Don't." Matron was at the gate now. Remus was so used to her face he didn't even realise she was still the same Matron he'd had. Shit.

"Sorry I'm late." She smiled. She smiled, it made Remus want to punch her. 'Don't put on an act around me!' he wanted to snap, 'I know you lock kids in rooms if they misbehave in the slightest.'

But he didn't say a thing. He was to fixated on the fact that this was the same Matron that had been here since he was seven. Nearly twenty years. That had to be some sort of record. He remembered, two weeks after she'd started, older boys were saying she'd be gone in four months, 'like the last one.' they'd said. And now Remus was twenty six and the features of his childhood nightmares was standing in front of him again.

"What are your names?" She asked, sickly sweet smile still plastered on her shrivelled face.

"Sirius Black and Remus Lupin."

"Remus Lupin!?" Her mask slipped as she looked Remus up and down, before remembering herself.

"Remus! My dear," She smiled even wider and if it weren't for the face he was not longer seventeen we might have punched her. He really fucking wanted to. "You look well! It's been ages! Well come back!" Remus didn't say anything just glared blankly.

"Now," She said leading the two boys into the grounds and up the stone steps to the building, "I will need to see your papers," She held out her hand as they entered her office, last time Remus was in here was the day Dumbledore came and told him he was a wizard.

Sirius fished around in the black, over shoulder, messenger bag Remus had bought him for his birthday. Today he paired it with black jeans, a navy blue Nirvana t-shirt and, of course, his leather jacket.

"Here." Sirius handed her the papers in a neat envelope, she opened it and read through them.

"Your ID?" Sirius pulled out his drivers licence - the only muggle ID he had - and Remus's passport. She scanned them both before handing them back, smiling. "Sit," They sat in the two chairs on the other side of Matrons desk as she slid into the large black chair in front of them.

"I got an email from Mr Dumbledore last week, it informed me that you are looking for my young Miss Maisy?"

"Miss?" Remus asked, not even wanting to know how Dumbledore knew they were here.

"Yes, you see Remus, shortly after you left many other schools like ours were shut down. Being big enough, we were given the chore of taking on the girls from St. Agnus's all girls school. If you remember we used to go to church with them?" Remus nodded, "Well, much to my slight dismay, St. Agnus sent over a girl with... well, with the same condition as you."

Remus blinked. They had disregarded the idea of adopting someone with lycanthropy long ago when they had found that the only other care home was in Scotland. Remus had never thought someone with lycanthropy would be at St. Edmunds. Especially after him.

"Maisy did you say?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, Miss Maisy Abbott."

"Abbott?" Sirius asked, Matron looked slightly annoyed now,

"Yes, I believe she is one of... your type."

"A witch?" Sirius asked, Remus squeezed his knee. Matron hated questions. She believed people should simply be able to read her mind.

"Dumbledore believes so."

"Can we see her?" Remus asked.

"I shall call her." She reached for a landline phone on her desk and spoke into it, her voice echoed though the speakers that lined the building.

"Maisy Abbott report to Matrons office immediately."

"Report." Sirius hissed with disgust under his breath, Matron didn't hear.
Seconds later a slight knock was at the door, "Enter." A small girl with blonde hair down her shoulders walked in, she had to stretch up slightly to reach the door handle, she was very young. Remus didn't know why but he had been expecting an older person, fourteen or something. This girl looked about six.

"Ah, Maisy. Come." Maisy shut the door and turned walked into the room, she didn't look particularly shy her head was dipped slightly but not as much as Remus's would have been. Her eye's were wide and curious, Scanning Remus and Sirius's faces as she turned to face them after standing next to Matron.

"Maisy, these are Remus and Sirius. Say hello."

"Hello." Her voice was sharp, proper. Clipped in a way Lily's was after seven years of boarding school. In a way Sirius's had been until he forced himself out of it.

"Remus here, used to live here. This very building. He was one of my first pupils." Her eyes widened slightly as she looked him over again. Remus almost laughed thinking how he must look so different to the other boys. He'd never had believed Matron if she'd told younger him that older him went to St. Edmunds.

"And another thing, Maisy." The girl turned to look at Matron and Remus caught a glimpse of a scar going from the bottom of her ear, round her neck slightly and into the collar of her dress. "Remus, he's like you."

Remus felt his cheeks heat up as the girl frowned and turned to look back at him. Her eyes widened as a smile fought its way onto her face. She held up her pointed finger and traced three lines onto her face marking the ones Remus displayed. It was a question.
Remus nodded.
The girls shocked smile made his heart swell. It would have meant the world to younger him to meet another one. Even for a breve second.

"Would you like to go to the meeting room?"

The girl bit her bottom lip to suppress her smile, her hand were scrunching the fabric of her dress and Remus could feel the excited energy radiating off of her.

"Yeah." Remus said and Matron rose from her chair. "This way."