Chapter Fifty Four: Promises

"How did you get that burn?"

Sirius has arrived at the place where Remus's parents' home was. He has deliberately apparated a few yards away from the house in order to remain conspicuous, and given that this was in the countryside, there weren't any other houses in the vicinity. He and Robbie walked up the gentle slope atop which was nestled the little house where Remus had lived for a month or so.

Sirius didn't answer Robbie's question straight away. Unconsciously, he raised a hand to touch his left cheek. The burn has long dried, leaving a dark ugly scar over his skin. He didn't feel his touch – he was numb in that area.

"It was during a mission," he answered simply. Robbie didn't question further.

They reached the house. The sun has risen by now, spreading a soft glow all over them. He looked at his companion properly for the first time.

Robbie, like every other people fighting the war, had signs of exertion written all over his features. His dark hair was grey in some places, his jaws hard, and eyes sparkling with determination and defeat at the same time. Sirius could see his bones sticking out under his skin in places that weren't covered by his clothes, and could tell that he was healthy once upon a time. Even so, he wasn't as skinny as Sirius has become, courtesy of living with muggles untouched by the war.

"What if Remus's father kicks us out?" asked Robbie, peeking through one of the windows like a creep. "Does he know about wizards?"

"Remus may have told him," said Sirius. "I don't know."

"What if he refuses to answer to us?"

"Only one way to find out, isn't there?"

Without waiting for Robbie, he reached up to the front porch and knocked. The former quickly moved away from the window and joined him, trying to look innocent. The door opened a few seconds later, and the man who was so close and yet so distant to Sirius, came up in front of him.

"What can I do for you?" he asked, eyeing the two of them suspiciously. Their tattered and dirt caked clothes couldn't have given off friendly vibes.

"Lyall Lupin?" Sirius inquired, even though he knew perfectly well that it was him. When he nodded, he said, "We have come to talk about your son."

His eyebrows rose. "Is something wrong?"

Sirius was about to answer when Robbie stopped him. "Can we come inside? Please. It's not safe."

Lyall seemed inclined to protest, but there must have been something on Robbie's face that made him accept them inside. He let them sit on the sofa, and himself sat opposite them. He glanced back and forth between the two of them, before his eyes fixed on Sirius. Scrutinising him for a while, he asked, taking him by surprise, "Are you Nathan?"

"I – am not. Do you know him?"

"Remus told me about him," he answered nonchalantly. "Nathan has given him a few books and I saw him reading them the other day."

An inexplicable sense of envy crept up Sirius's spine. He quickly pushed it aside. "My name is Sirius."

"Are you one of those people?" asked Lyall suddenly. "Wizards?"

Sirius and Robbie glanced at each other. Whilst Lyall didn't seem to be harmful – indeed, he was simply a muggle – Sirius felt that they should, nevertheless, tread cautiously. If the death eaters had found Remus, who was to say they haven't placed an Imperius Curse on his father?

"You know about us?" asked Robbie warily. Sirius was glad to see that he wasn't letting his guard down.

Lyall's face lit up. "Remus told me about you people. He said that you can do magic and make Potions and perform spells! I saw those strange books that you use, the ones with moving pictures. I have always believed as a child that wizards existed, it feels great to meet you!"

"Listen," Sirius interrupted before he could ask for their autographs. "We would love to chat with you. But we have come here for an urgent matter. We believe that your son is in danger, and we need you to answer a few questions."

The colour drained out of Lyall's face and the initial enthusiasm faded to give way to fear. He looked at Robbie desperately, as though for confirmation, but when he didn't refute Sirius's claims, he looked back at him again. "What happened?"

"We think that he was captured by death eaters."

Lyall stared at them in disbelief. "The – the people who hate muggles?"

Sirius nodded morosely.

Robbie and he took turns to explain to Lyall what may have happened to the best of their abilities. He was dumbstruck, terrified, and simply refused to believe them, thinking that it was some sort of a cruel practical joke. But in the end, he had no choice but to accept their words.

"It's my fault," he muttered to himself. "I should have stopped him. I knew he wasn't going home."

Sirius, who was staring vacantly out through the window, snapped his head towards him. "What do you mean by that?"

Lyall looked at him apprehensively. "He asked me about Godric's Hollow. I saw the name of the place in a book, and I told him that I have been there. He asked me where it was and he wanted me to describe its location precisely. Then he left afterwards, saying he was missing his work. I suspected that maybe he was going to Godric's Hollow, but I didn't suspect that it could be this bad, so I didn't stop him."

Sirius stared, speechless, at Lyall. So Remus has gone to Godric's Hollow – a favourite haunting place of the death eaters. He shot up from his seat and began to pace the room.

"You went to Godric's Hollow," he began to mutter under his breath. His hands went up to pull at his hair. "Why would you go to Godric's Hollow? Why would you be so stupid?"

He could hear Robbie speaking to Lyall, comforting him, soothing him, but he couldn't hear the exact words. Their voices flew over his head. His fingers curled tightly around his hair, trying to pull them off their roots. Bellatrix's cackle sounded in his ears.

"We have to go now," he stopped pacing and whipped towards Robbie. "Come on. We have to go."

"You don't know where he is," Robbie stopped him and pulled him back on his chair. "Where will you go now? There are so many places he could be. We have to think this through."

"Think what through?" Sirius bellowed. "There is nothing to think about! We have to get to work right now. We don't know what they could be doing to Remus."

Lyall's face, if possible, paled even more. With a shuddering voice, he asked, "But why would they take my son? What did he do?"

Robbie pressed his arm reassuringly, but his eyes fixed on Sirius. "Sirius, let's go home first. If we burst into enemy territory without any precaution, it will do more harm than good. Calm down. I will help you get Remus back, but you have to trust me."

Sirius finally relaxed, even if only a bit. He could hardly hear what Robbie or Lyall were saying – there seemed to be a continuous ringing in his ears. A large part of him wanted him to get into action immediately, but the smaller, rational part agreed with Robbie. What was there to do? There really were countless places where Remus could be now. The death eater headquarters? He had no idea where they were, and there was a huge possibility that they changed the location every once in a while. One of the Sacred 28 houses? Sirius felt that it was likely, but even if he omitted the ones that weren't on Voldemort's side – like the Weasleys and the Longbottoms – there would still be too many to browse through without getting caught.

And there was still a distinct possibility of them killing Remus should he fail to reveal the hiding place of the wizards he has been acquainted with – and Sirius could only hope that they would keep him alive to use him as bait.

He didn't like the thought at all, but what other choice did he have?

"We will do our best to bring Remus back to you," Sirius vaguely heard Robbie promising Lyall. "In the meantime, we request you to not leave your house. It's not safe."

Lyall didn't seem to like the idea. "So I just stay here all day while my son remains caged up in some death eater headquarters?"

"I'm sorry, but there's nothing else you can do. We will keep you informed of any updates, but as Sirius said, we need to go now."

They nodded at Lyall and swiftly left the house. Sirius couldn't help but notice the precise word choice Robbie has used – he hasn't specifically promised to bring Remus back, just that he would try his best to do so.

❇

this chapter is terrible i'm sorry