Halloween, 1981
Dear Mr. and Mr. Lupin,
It is with great urgency that I must inform you that your son, Leo Cerf Lupin, has become the center of a prophecy.
The prophecy says that Leo will have the ability to vanquish Voldemort, but it will come at a great cost.
I fear that this means that Voldemort will come for you and your son and I will ask you to leave your current home and move to a Safe House in Godric’s Hollow.
This decision is ultimately yours, but I implore that you think about this carefully.
If you decide to move, you will need a Secret Keeper, and I would like to volunteer for that position. If you would rather it not be me, I have a list of people who have volunteered enclosed below.
Andromeda Tonks
James Potter
Regulus Black
Lily Evans
Mary MacDonald
Minerva McGonagall
Poppy Pomfrey
Peter Pettigrew
I urge you to consider this matter carefully and respond as soon as possible. Time is of the essence.
Albus Dumbledore
Sirius and Remus stared at the letter in horror.
Their son?
Their lion?
They refused to accept it.
But if Dumbledore was telling the truth…
“Should we?” Sirius mutters, not even really a question, because this is not a question.
There is one clear answer: Yes.
Yes, they would do anything to keep their son safe.
Yes, even if that meant leaving their home behind.
Yes.
“Reckon that’s the last box.” Remus grunts, dragging a box full of Leo’s stuffed animals up the front steps to their new house in Godric's Hollow.
“Why didn’t you just levitate it?” Sirius asks, raising his eyebrow.
“Because I’m stupid, that’s why.” Remus groans.
“I don’t think you’re stupid, love.” Sirius says.
“Well, obviously you don’t. I’m miles ahead of you. Doesn’t mean I’m not stupid, though.” Remus jokes.
Sirius mocks offense.
“No kisses tonight!” He declares.
“No! My love, why?!” Remus smiles, leaning down to kiss Sirius.
“Fine, I guess one won’t hurt.”
Remus smiles into Sirius’s lips.
“Ew! Get a room!” James shouts, walking out of the house.
“This is our house!” Sirius tells him.
“Gross!” James yells.
Remus just smiles.
“Oi! Help me with this chair, would you? And get this bloody child off my leg!” Regulus’s voice comes drifting outside.
Sirius chuckles and walks into the cottage.
It was a little less than two weeks after the two Lupins had received the letter about Leo, and they were just about fully moved into their new house.
The only thing left to do was choose a Secret Keeper.
They had argued over and over again about it. James and Lily were obvious answers: James was Sirius’s best mate and Lily was Remus’s. Sirius thought it was a great idea, but Remus argued that it would be too obvious.
Remus thought that maybe they should choose Madam Pomfrey or Professor McGonagall. Sirius argued that they didn’t know them well enough.
That left Andromeda, Regulus, Peter and Mary.
Andromeda had a child of her own. They didn’t want to put her at risk.
Regulus was dating James, and was Sirius’s brother. No way in fuck were they using him.
Mary and Peter were both completely willing, and had no relationships to put at risk.
They were at a standstill. Remus wanted Mary, Sirius wanted Peter.
They decided to just let it rest for tonight. Nobody was at risk; it wasn’t like Voldemort was going to come for them tonight.
Plus, it was Halloween! They had parties to go to!
They entered the house, and sure enough, Leo was latched onto Regulus’s leg, shouting, “Pway wif me, Uncle Reggie!”
Regulus was trying to kick him off.
“Oi!” Sirius shouts, running straight towards Leo, who is now cheering in glee.
Sirius scoops Leo up, tickling the child’s stomach, which Leo giggles at.
“No kicking my child.” Sirius says sternly to Regulus.
“He wouldn’t get off!” Regulus objects.
“No kicking my child!” Sirius repeats.
“Fine.” Regulus grumbles.
“Thank you.” Sirius nods, before handing Leo to Remus.
“You can relax, love. I know the moon’s coming up.” He says.
“Thank you.” Remus tells him appreciatively, taking Leo and himself over to a maroon armchair.
He begins gently bouncing Leo on his leg.
Two years ago, Remus and Sirius had tried desperately to adopt a child. None of the children they could find from any of the care homes (Remus insisted) had any magic, and eventually, the couple began to give up.
And then Andromeda volunteered.
She had magic, and she looked enough like Sirius that the child would still look like Remus and Sirius’s child, so they said yes.
Nine months later, they had their beautiful Lion.
They had wanted to honor Regulus, so they went with Leo, which was the constellation that the Regulus star laid in, but they also wanted to honor James, so they decided on Cerf; French for deer.
They had decided that James and Regulus would be the godparents of Leo, since they were by far the closest to Remus and Sirius. However, in the event that James and Regulus were… unavailable, Lily was the next in line.
In times of war, you could never be too safe, and especially with the prophecy, they wanted precautions, so there was a whole line of godparents. They did not want Leo in a care home or orphanage, like Remus was.
First, it was James and Regulus, then Lily, Mary, Peter, Madame Pomfrey, Andromeda, Professor McGonagall, and Narcissa, if the worst happened.
In short, there was no way in hell that Leo would end up where Remus and Sirius didn’t want him. They both had very detailed wills written out, and each of them had Unbreakable Vows with Dumbledore that he wouldn’t fuck up their wishes if they died.
In short, they were prepared.
“Papa! Papa! Guess what?!” Leo exclaims.
“Bit too loud for Papa right now, Leo.” Remus winces.
“Sowwy Papa.” Leo says.
“That’s alright, love. What did you do?” Remus responds.
“I dwew a pictuwe of you, and Daddy, and Uncle Pwongs, and Uncle Weggie!” The one-year old stage whispered.
“That’s incredible! Would you go get it so I can see?”
“Yes!” Leo says, jumping up from Remus’s lap and toddling to the kitchen.
Remus sighs, rubbing his temple.
“You okay, Moony?” Sirius asks, coming over and rubbing Remus’s back.
“Fine. Why did he inherit your noisiness?” Remus responds.
“Dunno. Let’s hope he’s as studious as you, though. Are you sure you don’t want to go lie down? We can be late to the parties. We still have to finish the kitchen.” Sirius questions.
“I think I’m okay.”
“Okay. I’m going to help Regulus some more, but let me know if you want a nap.” Sirius says, kissing Remus on the forehead and walking away.
Leo comes running back from the kitchen.
“Look at it!” He exclaims, shoving the drawing in front of Remus’s face.
There wasn’t much on the paper except for random blobs of color, but Remus thought he could make out James’s messy black hair, Sirius’s leather jacket, his own scars, and Regulus’s signature frown.
“This is brilliant!” He says, “Straight on the fridge!”
“Weally?!” Leo asks, excited.
“Really.” Remus confirms.
Leo jumps up and down in glee.
“Can I show Daddy?!” he pleads.
“Go ahead. I think he’s in our room with Uncle Reggie and Uncle Prongs.”
“Okay!” Leo skips off.
Remus loves the kid, but sometimes he can be a bit much. Especially around the full moons.
Remus decides just to rest his eyes for a little bit.
When he wakes up, it’s dark out already, and Sirius is in his costume (Professor McGonagall), and is helping Leo into his costume (Nearly-Headless Nick). A few years ago, they had made a tradition of all dressing up as their old Professors, and Leo just decided to be one of the ghosts. This year, Remus was going as Madame Pomfrey, Sirius was going as Professor McGonagall, James was Professor Slughorn, Lily was Madame Hooch, Mary was Professor Dumbledore, and Peter had dropped out this year, saying he was too busy at the Ministry.
“Hi, love. I was just going to wake you up.” Sirius says.
“How long was I out for?” Remus asks.
“Few hours. It’s fine though. Had to get this one in the bath, and he refused for a very long time.” He points his finger at Leo, who smiles mischievously.
“Shoot!” Remus mutters; they had a running bet that he wouldn’t swear for the entire year, and so far he was winning. “I’ve got to get my costume on!”
“It’s okay. I’ve got all of it ready. It’s upstairs.” Sirius tells him.
“Thank you, Padfoot.” Remus says, rising from his seat and darting up the stairs.
When he gets to their sparsely decorated room, he finds his outfit on the bed.
He’s got a grey wig, along with nursing robes, a bonnet, and a grey dress.
He rushes to put it on.
“Sirius!” He shouts, “Help me with my hair, will you?”
“Be right there!”
Remus hears the soft footfall of Sirius coming up the stairs.
“Oh my god, you look brilliant!” Sirius whoops.
“Quiet!” Remus tells him. “Also, I don’t know how to do buns.”
“Alright.”
Sirius steps behind Remus and grabs the hair on the wig, twisting it in different directions until he says, “Ta-da!” and takes a step back, admiring his work.
“You look just like Pomfrey!” He announces with glee. “Gotta go finish up Nearly-Headless downstairs though, see you in a minute?”
“Yeah, thanks.” Remus tells him, already trying to get the bonnet on.
Sirius skipped downstairs.
By the time Remus was ready, it was already 7:30, and they were supposed to be at James’s by six.
But oh well, they had “Werewolf and child” excuses.
When they got to the Potters, they were greeted by Lily, who was a little bit tipsy.
“James!” Sirius shouts, before storming off, probably to lecture James on alcohol around children.
Remus led Leo inside the house. Leo immediately yelled, “AUNT MARY!!” and ran off to give Mary her hug.
Remus went over to Sirius, who was arguing with James.
“James, for Merlin’s sake! We’ve had Leo for almost two years now, and you still can’t get rid of the alcohol! He was raised by two Marauders! If you don’t think he’ll go off and sneak some then you’re dead wrong!” Sirius shouts.
“Look, mate, I get that you don’t like it, but I swear, I’ve hidden it well. And, for the record, I don’t know what Lily was having; I only have Butterbeer available for guests.” James argues.
“Oh… well, then thank you for being responsible.” Sirius says, taken by surprise.
“You’re welcome.” James replies smugly. “And I’ll talk to Lily.”
“Thank you.” Remus says, placing a hand on Sirius’s back.
“Yup!” James chirps, skipping away, hopefully to talk to Lily.
After that, the party goes well. Remus goes to talk with Regulus about the book that he had been reading most recently, Sirius sings karaoke with his wand amplifying his voice.
It’s not the same without Marlene, but they're getting through.
Eventually, Remus walks up to Sirius, who is singing his own version of “Lady Stardust”.
“Reckon we should get Leo to bed.” Remus says.
“Alright.” Sirius replies. “Let me finish this then we’ll go.”
“Righto; I’ll go get Leo.”
Leo is easy to find. He’s entertaining Lily and Mary by pretending his head is falling off. Mary and Lily (who are still tipsy) are laughing harder than they should, but honestly? Whatever. It was Halloween. Let them have their fun.
“Leo, love, it’s time to go.” Remus tells him, “Want a piggyback?”
“Yes pwease!” Leo cheers, smiling toothily at Remus.
“Alright, get on then.” Remus says, squatting down so that Leo can get on his back.
“Bye Remus! Bye Leo!” Lily shouts cheerily.
“Bye-bye Aunt Mary and Aunt Lily!” Leo replies.
They walk back over to Sirius, who has just finished his karaoke.
“Alright, we’re leaving guys! See you later!” Sirius says, blowing a kiss at James, who pretends to be smitten.
“Oi!” Remus and Regulus shout.
They all laugh.
When they get home, they get Leo to wriggle out of his costume, and tell him that he can put on the TV for half-an-hour before bed.
He agrees happily.
Sirius and Remus wander upstairs to get changed.
“That was fun!” Sirius says.
“Too loud.” Remus tells him.
“Everything’s too loud for you, Moony.”
“Fair enough.”
It was already nine-thirty at night, and Remus was exhausted, but he was willing to stay up a bit longer.
They change in silence.
Then they head downstairs.
“Leo, what’re you watching?” Sirius asks.
“Flintstones!” Leo exclaims.
“Alright.”
“Do you want some tea, Sirius?” Remus asks, heading into the kitchen.
“Sure. Thanks.” Sirius replies, sitting on the couch and snuggling with Leo.
As Remus starts heating up the water, he smiles at Sirius and Leo. They were his two favorite people in the whole world, and nothing would ever change that. He loved them so much, and they looked so beautiful cuddled together like that.
He would miss that, when Leo got older.
They didn’t have to worry about that for a long time, though.
When the water finished, he poured it into their mugs, put in the tea bags, and added two sugar cubes to Sirius’s tea. He preferred his with nothing in it.
He grabbed the mugs and walked back into the living room.
He hears the comical voice of Fred Flintstone shouting “Yabba dabba doo!”
He doesn’t think anything could be better than what he has now.
He hands Sirius his tea.
“Thanks, love.” Sirius says.
Remus goes to sit down on the other side of Leo.
When the episode is over, Remus goes to tuck Leo into bed. They alternate nights, and also, Sirius has to do the dishes.
“Good night, my little Lion.” Remus is saying.
Then he hears a knock on the door.
He hears Sirius open the door.
Then he hears Sirius scream.
And then a flash of green light and a thud.
Footsteps coming up the stairs.
He darts back into Leo’s room, trying not to think the worst.
“Sirius is dead. He’s dead and you didn’t do anything to stop it.” His brain tells him.
He stands in front of Leo’s bed, arms and legs spread wide, protecting his son.
“Papa? What’s going on? Why did Daddy scream?” Leo asks, face pale.
“Shh, honey, it’ll be okay.” Remus (tries to) console Leo.
Leo’s bedroom door bangs open.
A man with a white face, red eyes, no hair and no nose steps in.
Remus recognizes him: Voldemort.
“Step away, boy.” The monster hisses.
“No.” Remus tells him, tears beginning to stream down his face.
“Step away, and you will not die.”
“No!”
“Let me kill your son!”
“Leave him alone!”
“Avada Kedavra!”
Remus sees another flash of lime green light, and then he doesn’t see anything else.
“Avada Kedavra!” The scary man yells.
Papa falls down.
“Papa!?” Leo screams.
Papa doesn’t answer.
The scary man steps over Papa’s body, straight toward Leo.
“You’re a clever one, aren’t you?” The man asks.
“What did you do to my Papa!?” Leo shouts in reply.
“He’s dead.”
Leo is in shock.
“What does ‘dead’ mean?” he wants to ask, “Why isn’t he getting up?”
He doesn’t.
Instead, he stares right into the man's red eyes.
The man aims his wand at Leo.
“Avada Kedavra!” he shouts.
The curse flies at Leo, but then it seems to bounce off.
The man stumbles, then begins to disintegrate.
Leo feels a sharp pain in his arm.
He begins to cry even more.
Once everybody had left the party, James and Regulus began to clean up. It was well past midnight now, but when James realized that Sirius had left his scarf, he decided to apparate to Godric’s Hollow to give it to him.
“Love you!” He shouts to Regulus as he walks out of the door. “Don’t burn anything down!”
“No promises!” Regulus yells in response.
Then James turns, and apparates to Sirius and Remus’s new house.
As soon as he arrives, he can tell something’s wrong.
The door is ajar, and all the lights are on.
Yet there is only the faint sound of crying coming from the house.
He steps in the house cautiously and as soon as he does, he knows what’s wrong.
Sirius is dead.
He’s lying on the floor, just out of sight of the door, right in front of the stairs. His face is left in everlasting shock, and his hair is splayed out around his head.
James feels tears begin to fill his eyes.
Sirius is dead, Sirius is dead, Sirius is dead, Holy Bloody Merlin, Sirius is dead. Sirius Lupin, my best friend and my brother is dead.
He wasn’t even holding his wand.
James takes a shaky breath, and hesitantly steps over his best friend’s body. Leo is crying. He needs to focus on Leo right now.
He walks up the stairs.
Leo’s door is open.
He walks in, and there Leo is, sitting on his bed and sobbing.
Remus’s dead body is lying right in front of the bed, like he was protecting Leo.
Sirius and Remus are dead.
The fact barely registers.
He walks around Remus’s body, and scoops Leo up.
“It’s okay love.” He murmurs, tears running down his cheeks. “It’s okay. We’re going to go back to my house, and we’ll take care of you.”
“But what about Papa! Why won’t he answer me?!” Leo sobs.
“I’ll explain when you’re older, Lion.” James says.
“I want a hug.” Leo requests.
James obliges, and soon they collapse onto the bed, crying together.
“Sirius and Remus are dead. Sirius and Remus are dead. SIRIUS AND REMUS ARE DEAD.” His brain screams at him.
He doesn’t have the energy to tell it to shut up.
After Regulus had finished cleaning away all the garbage on the floor, he realized that James had already been gone for at least an hour.
“Probably getting drunk with them; the bastard.”
He grabbed his wand and apparated to the Lupins’
The first thing he noticed was that the door was wide open.
“Weird.”
He continues.
When he steps in, the first thing he sees is his brother’s dead body.
“Sirius!”
He runs over, frantically checking for a pulse.
No pulse.
Sirius looks as if he’d been lying there for hours. He was pale, his eyes were glassy, and his mouth was open in a never-finished scream.
Regulus slowly closes Sirius’s eyes and mouth.
“Now it just looks like he’s sleeping.”
“Wait- James!”
He jumps up, frantically looking around for his fiancee.
“Sirius will never be able to go to the wedding, now.”
“SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!”
He looks around the house more, eyes filling with tears.
His breaths are shaky and uneven, but he refuses to stop looking until he finds James.
Finally, he goes upstairs.
First room: Remus and Sirius’s. Nothing.
Second room: Bathroom. Nothing.
Third room: Guest room. Nothing.
Fourth room: Leo’s room. Remus Lupin’s dead body and James Potter clutching Leo Lupin.
Regulus runs in.
“What happened?!” He asks, voice hitching.
“Remus.”
They had been close friends ever since Regulus and James had started dating. Remus had been with Regulus through almost all the highs and lows of his life. Regulus had been Remus’s best man, and Remus was going to be his.
But now he’s gone.
Regulus lost his best friend and his brother in the same night.
“What happened!” He pleads.
“I- I don’t know.” James hiccups. “I- I got here, and they were like this. Leo was just sobbing.”
Regulus nods.
He can’t take in any more information right now.
“We have to take him, Regulus. We can’t just leave him here.” James says.
“Okay.” Regulus agrees numbly.
James stands up, wiping at his eyes, and holding Leo with one arm.
“Will you carry him?” James asks.
Regulus takes Leo.
“Let’s go. I can’t stay here anymore. We can take care of their bodies… later.” Regulus says.
“Okay.” James replies.
They apparate home.
Leo claims the couch, still not understanding what’s happened.
Regulus and James don’t sleep that night. They both sit at the kitchen table, haunted by their own thoughts.