“I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world.”
― Madeline Miller, The Song of Achilles
I would know him in death
I would know him
I would
I
Remus knows Sirius isn’t dead. Maybe it’s because they can’t be, because the two of them have already lost too much time, maybe it’s because Remus just refuses to believe that Sirius could really be gone, but he isn’t, he ISN’T, Remus tells himself, as he holds Harry back, caging the sobbing teenager with his arms.
Even though Remus had seen Sirius fall through the veil, he can feel Sirius still, tugging at the bond between them, reaching, calling for him.
The bond that’s always been there, undeniable, a rope tethering them together, no matter how much Remus had tried to bury it.
As real as the inked black dog that had shown up on Remus’ sternum when he was 14. Two weeks before Sirius turned into Padfoot for the first time, already hiding a wolf in the exact same spot.
A matched set. A mark that says, you’re mine and I’m yours.
Soulmates.
So rare, soulmates are often thought to be the stuff of wizarding myths.
Two souls intertwined down to their magical cores, inextricably bound to one another.
Sirius always joked their bond was like Moony’s leash for Padfoot.
For Remus’ 18th birthday, James actually gave him a leather leash and collar inscribed with the words:
Padfoot
Property of Moony
Meant to be a gag gift, Remus is fairly certain James would be horrified to know how much use they got - and continue to get - out of it.
The light from Bellatrix’ wind was red, Remus reasons as he walks up to the Veil, not quite touching, only pushing against the magic there.
Maybe, the spell might have just been enough to knock Sirius to the other side, whatever the other side is.
Remus can sense Harry behind him, all anger and hurt and pain, but Remus forces him to wait.
Listens for Sirius.
And there is the answering swell of Sirius’ magic, overwhelming and warm and desperate.
Without stopping to think,
Wanting nothing more than to see those eyes again,
Remus gives it a tug.
And then
Sirius
Sirius
Sirius is stumbling into his arms, shaking and chilled but alive .
Alive, alive, alive, is all Remus thinks, as their bodies collapse together onto the floor, chaos breaking out around them, but all Remus can focus on is the feeling of Sirius’ breath against his cheeks.
Remus presses kisses onto Sirius’ fingertips, his eyelids, his cheekbones, his lips, their magic swirling together in hungry desperation, soothing their ache for one another.
No more hiding.
Even Death cannot do us part, Remus thinks. I will not allow it.