fic: first light (April Fic Challenge)

[csi_sanders1129]

Title: first light
Chapters: 1/1
Author:csi_sanders1129
Ratings: K+
Word Count: 1138
Pairings/Characters: Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Harry Potter
Synopsis: In which something is lurking in the shadows.
Comments: Written for my April Fic Challenge 2021, Prompt: Shadows. Can technically be in the same universe as my other HP fic, Happy, wherein Harry goes to Lupin instead of the Dursley’s. AU. Can be Gen or Pre-Slash for Remus/Sirius. Comments and kudos would be awesome. Enjoy!

Remus Lupin is not afraid of the dark.

After all, there is nothing in the darkness that is scarier than his own curse.

But that does not mean that there is nothing in the darkness, in the shadows.

Something lurks there, darker than the darkness that surrounds it at the edge of the woods. It's watching, he can feel the eyes on him, following him soundlessly through the trees as he staggers steadily toward home once his lycanthropy has run its course for the month and left him to pick up the pieces.

The moon is bright and full overhead, the sky clear and speckled with so very many stars – it casts long shadows across the grass of the field that separates the dirt path he's walking along from the woods in which the shadow lurks, and an eerie glow where the light sparkles on the dew.

There is something there, of that he is certain. But what it is or who it is, what intentions it has – those are things he is less certain about. He's too tired to deal with this. Full moons are exhausting affairs even with the measures he takes to lessen the effects of them. He doesn't have time to deal with it, either – young Harry is waiting for him at home and he does not like leaving the fussy toddler alone for any longer than is absolutely necessary to ensure his safety.

He doesn't have his wand, but Remus forces himself to turn and confront his shadow. "Show yourself," he demands.

Something slinks out of the tree line, a large black shape with four legs. He recognizes it immediately.

Sirius.

He doesn't have his wand.

The animagus heads right towards him. He remembers the first time he saw it, when the other Marauder's had finally figured out his curse and offered to break the law to join him on full moons, to make sure he wasn't alone with his monster. James' stag, Peter's rat, and Sirius' dog. But now it's just them. Prongs is dead. Wormtail's dead. And it's Padfoot's fault. And now, surely, he's come to take Harry, too.

How did he get here? He hadn't heard of an escape from Azkaban – surely, such a thing would have been news all across the wizarding world, such a thing should have had Dumbledore at his door offering protection for the boy he hadn't wanted to surrender to Remus in the first place.

The shaggy, ill-kempt dog limps across the field, but stops before he gets too close. He lays down, eyes on Remus as he lets out a truly pitiful whine. It's not an attack, but Remus would almost prefer that to this… trickery. Sirius can't truly think Remus would ever forgive him for his actions, could he?

"That's not going to work," Remus warns. "You're wasting what little time you have before the Dementors find you here. I'm sure they're looking by now."

Another whine, and Sirius edges a little bit closer. In the moonlight, Remus can see the matted patches of fur, the shine of blood on black fur, the prickles and dirt caked in. Slowly, the fur fades away as Sirius shifts back. Now, it's skin that's covered in scratches, bruised purple and black, spattered in smears of blood, dried and fresh.

"Moony," Sirius dares to call him, "Moony," he begs, his voice hoarse and barely audible, "Please. It wasn't me," he sobs, still low on the ground where he poses the least threat, "It wasn't. I would never."

Remus doesn't believe him. Sirius was their Secret Keeper. No one else could have betrayed James and Lily. No one else could have told Voldemort about Godric's Hollow. As much as Remus would love to believe it wasn't true, it had to be.

"I thought you were the spy," Sirius admits. "I thought it was you and so I convinced James and Lily to make Peter the Secret Keeper instead of me, to throw you off. But it was him. Not me. It was Peter. I confronted him," he continues, "and he attacked, he killed all those muggles with the Blasting Curse – turned himself into the rat that he is and ran off."

And, well, Remus just can't bring himself to believe that, either.

"Please, Moony," he pleads, "You have to believe me. I'll do whatever I have to do to prove it to you. Dose me with Veritaserum. Find a legillimens to go digging around in my head. Just… please. Moony, I need you." Head in his hands, he adds, "I'm so tired, I can't do this anymore."

With a sigh of defeat, Remus relents. He needs to know. The seed of doubt has been planted now – the idea that maybe Sirius really is innocent in all this. He needs to know. "Transform back to the dog," he says, "Stay the dog. No matter what. If you have a wand, throw it here."

A gnarled wand lands at his feet, no doubt stolen from someone along the route here. Sirius obligingly shifts back into his animagus, and slowly moves closer and sits at Remus' feet, awaiting further instructions.

"Follow me," he says, wondering just how much of a mistake he's making by taking Sirius directly to Harry, but there's nowhere else he can go. When they get close, though, Sirius freezes, stops dead in his tracks and whines at Remus again. "What?"

Sirius looks between Remus and the little cottage they're approaching and sniffs the air pointedly, cocks his head to the side in confusion.

Oh. "You didn't know I had Harry?"

The dog offers a huff, a shake of his head.

"Does that change anything?"

Sirius gently wags his tail and resumes following, giving Remus a little more distance as they near the cottage in what Remus can only imagine is a move meant to show that he means no harm.

Inside, with the first light of morning on the horizon, Remus finds Harry still soundly asleep, safely tucked away from the world. "Dumbledore wanted to send him off with muggle relatives, and that's what was reported to the Daily Prophet, but I convinced him that he'd be safer with me," he explains, watching carefully as dog Sirius cautiously nudges the boys hand with his nose.

Harry squirms in his sleep, grabs at a handful of fur for a moment before he rolls over and settles again.

"Sirius," Remus says, drawing the dogs attention away from the little boy who looks so very much like their lost friends. His gaze settles hard on Sirius' canine eyes and he searches intently for the merest shadow of deception there. "It really wasn't you?" he asks.

Whatever he finds there, it's enough.

He pulls the disheveled dog into a fierce hug and holds tight. "Okay," he says, "Okay, I believe you."