It had been six months since your brother insisted that you go into hiding. You weren't allowed to send letters or communicate with anyone, keeping within your home and the small village to get anything you needed to survive. It was unbearably lonely. You missed your fiancé, he had been gone long before you left, having gone to do something under Dumbledore's orders and having not returned by the time you had left. Not only did you miss Remus, you missed your brother James. The two of you had barely spent a day apart until you left school and even then, you had visited his home a couple of times a week, to see him, his wife and son. You miss all of them terribly, including your friends Sirius and Peter.

Everyday was hard. You waited by the window, hoping, praying that James would turn up to welcome you back, to tell you the war had been won and that you were safe to go back to family, but he didn't. Each day became harder. Not knowing was the worst. You didn't know where they were or what they were doing. Maybe your nephew Harry had said his first word, or James and Lily could even be expecting a baby. You didn't know anything about them and that made it the hardest.

You had left your life behind at the end of April and yesterday it was the first day of November. Christmas was around the corner, your favourite time of year, yet you wouldn't be celebrating it, not unless James came to get you.

Having just eaten breakfast, you took your place on the windowsill, curling your knees to your chest to watch the world go by. You were in a rural area, the nearest village being about twenty minutes away, so little happened. Sometimes you'd see a fox late in the evening scamper past, or early in the morning there was often a rabbit hopping back into the overgrowth of the neighbouring field. Other than that, you didn't see people. During a storm a month ago, one of the farmers from across the field had visited to make sure you had enough fire wood and food as he knew you were a young woman whom was living alone. Apart from that you didn't see your neighbours by your home, only if you had both gone to the market at the same time.

You watched the bare trees moving in the breeze, hoping to see the frizzy haired man you were related to. By this point you had lost hope, you had lost any ability to believe he was coming to get you. Maybe he forgot about you?

As you waited, you thought you had begun to hallucinate as you were sure you could see your fiancé walking down the path towards your home. You rubbed your eyes viciously, wondering if the tiredness of the sleepless nights had gotten to you. When you looked again he was still walking towards your home. He looked a bit different, but it was certainly your Remus.

His hair had a clear touch of grey growing through it even though he was merely twenty-one, the bags under his eyes were prominent even at this distance and you could see he had more scars on his skin than he had ever had before the two of you left the group. He still had his usual old jumper on it that he had told you that his nan knitted him a few years back, but it was patched more than you remembered.

As he got to the door, your heart dropped. What if it wasn't Remus? What if it was a death eater under Polyjuice potion?

He knocked at the door.

You gripped hold of your wand ready to attack if it wasn't the man you loved. Approaching the door, you lifted the letter flap.

"Who is it?" You said, your voice shaky.

"Remus, Y/N, it's Remus," he responded, his voice cracking as though he had been crying or he hadn't spoken in a while.

"Prove it," you stated firmly.

"What?" He questioned.

"Where were we planning to live?" You questioned. "Before you left."

He let out a small sigh.

"Next to James and Lily. We even put down our deposit and measured the living room for carpet," he said fondly.

"Um... What did you give me for Christmas last year?"

"A stack of books. All the ones you'd mentioned wanting across the year before," he stated.

You knew it was him. Those were things that only Remus would know, and he wasn't going to be telling anyone.

Pulling the latch across, you moved the handle to let the door open. You didn't realise how happy you could possibly be to see Remus. He was finally here, and you could finally see him in person something you had missed for so long.

"Remus," you smiled softly, trying not to cry.

Without a second thought, you leaped at him to hold him in the tightest hug you could possibly manage. He held you tight, as though he never wanted to let you go.

"Come in Remus," you whispered, not knowing if it was safe to be outside.

The two of you moved towards the lounge.

"I've missed you so much Remus, where have you been? When did you get back from the mission Dumbledore sent you on?" You smiled

"I was with Fenrir Greyback's pack getting information. I only returned yesterday and came straight to you," he explained.

How could Dumbledore send Remus to such an atrocious place?

"Are you okay?" You questioned. "Did you get hurt?"

He shook his head. "I'm fine Y/N, but there is something I must tell you."

"Is the war over? Does James know you are here? Did he send you?" You asked.

Having lost contact with everyone, you desperately needed information from your fiancé about what was going on back home.

"Voldemort was killed two nights ago," he stated.

"The war is over?" You smiled almost gleefully. You could go home.

"Yes, but Y/N-"

You cut him off, pulling him into a joyous hug, ever so happy to finally know that Voldemort was dead, and the war was finally over.

"This is wonderful. Can we go home Remus? I need to see James and Lily and Harry," you grinned.

Remus rested his hands onto your shoulders, stopping you from moving. His expression was solemn, something you rarely had seen.

"What Remus?" You whispered. "What happened?"

Only something terrible could have happened if Remus looked so sad.

"Two nights ago, Voldemort entered your brothers home in Godric's Hollow. James and Lily fought to the very end to save their son, Voldemort died during the fight, before he could kill Harry."

Your expression dropped. Your brother and sister-in-law were dead? They had been killed? But how? No one could know where they were or be able to get to them unless the secret keeper divulged their whereabouts.

"James is dead?" You whispered, your knees becoming weak.

Remus supported you, stopping you from falling onto the floor as the tears tumbled down your cheeks.

"I'm sorry Y/N," he said softly, pulling you into a hug.

"But... but how? Sirius would have never hurt James. He loved him," you whispered, completely confused how this could have happened.

Sirius and James had been best friends since they first met, and when Sirius moved in with your family he was as much a Potter child as you and your biological brother were.

"That's what we all thought," Remus stated. "He was working for Voldemort, he led him to your brother's home and meant they died. Peter found out and went to apprehend him. Sirius killed him and twelve muggles."

Remus must have been lying. Sirius would never do that. His family may have been supporters of Voldemort, but Sirius was nothing like them. He was a good man and he wouldn't have hurt your brother. Remus must have been wrong.

"You're lying Remus. Sirius wouldn't have hurt them. You know him. Padfoot was a good man. He went through so much crap in life, but he was a good man. He wouldn't have done that."

Remus shook his head at you. "He did Y/N. He is in Azkaban now. I know it's hard to believe, he was our friend, but he did it. He is the reason your brother and sister-in-law and friend are all dead."

"No! There must be something else to it. I know Sirius Black. He would have died for James. I believe he could and would have killed someone but only to protect the people he loved. He'd never hurt them."

Everything was too much. You focused on what Remus said before your mind snapped back to your infant nephew.

"Wait," you stated firmly.

"What Y/N?" He asked.

"Where is Harry? You said he wasn't killed by Voldemort. So, is he alive?"

"No. He has a scar from that night, but he is fine. Dumbledore checked that for himself. He has sent him to stay with Lily's sister. She has a son about the same age. I didn't agree with it. I tried to convince him to let you have him. He is your nephew also and you are a witch, you can protect him and teach him far more than they could, but he wouldn't hear it," Remus explained.

"The Dursley's?" You exclaimed.

How the hell could anyone think that the Dursley's could be guardians of anyone? They are nasty people, mean to Lily even though she was there blood while also despising your brother for being of a magical family.

Remus nodded.

"Like hell am I leaving my nephew with them. James and Lily would have never have wanted that and Dumbledore knows that. We're going to get my nephew and then I'm giving that old man a piece of my mind," you said angrily.

You were going to save your nephew from their horrible clutches and you were going to do everything in your power to prove that Sirius would innocent because even if there wasn't any proof, you knew he wouldn't hurt James and you needed to get him out of Azkaban.

~*~

Written by Charlotte.

Requested by