The Beginning of The Journey

Remus posted a note on his classroom door, canceling classes and assigning work to be done in his absence, and then went swiftly to his quarters - the ones he had before moving in with Severus. Albus had allowed him to keep the rooms, and for that he was utterly grateful. He smiled fondly at the once familiar surroundings, and began to rummage through his personal effects, knowing he should get started on the research, but unable to help himself. It had been months since he\'d been in here, and though the elves had kept everything clean and in order, it seemed unused and lonely, and it was making him remember how things had been. He levitated a trunk into the center of the room, and sat down in front of it with a sigh. Opening it up, he began to look at items he kept here so they wouldn\'t unduly upset his lover. Pictures of James and Lily - and Sirius...pictures of Harry when he was a babe. The small bit of things he had managed to salvage from Godric\'s Hollow, items he hadn\'t touched since he brought them from that scene of death and destruction so many years ago. He became lost in memories as he pulled out scraps of papers and photographs showing a happy family just beginning their life together.

Soon he was surrounded by bits and pieces of the past he hadn\'t let himself touch, and instead of painful memories, they brought mostly happy ones, although they were tinged with sadness at the fact the memories had been forced to stop by a hand that even now continued to take things that mattered to him. He had reached the bottom of the trunk, and now everything he pulled out was torn and burned - the last bits of Lily and James he had managed to salvage before the hoards of Muggles had descended on the house. A familiar script caught his eye, and he lifted a piece of paper up and read it, sure it was a note to James, or some other mundane artifact, but needing to read it regardless.

His eyes filled with tears for a moment and he remembered the softly laughing woman who had captured all of their hearts with her goodness, and swept James into a love that had produced a full and happy life and wonderful son that had been loved greatly, despite the time it had began in, and his sadness turned to anger at the thought it had been ripped away from them - from Harry, and it could never go back to that again.

He blinked his tears away and read the small scrap of paper, and then furrowed his brows and re-read it.

It seemed to be part of some charm, and was signed in Lily\'s swirling, precise script, but the small piece of parchment made absolutely no sense by itself. Remus placed it next to him, and began to methodically sort through all the papers, looking for the missing bit to this one. After going through them three times, he finally had to admit to himself that it wasn\'t there, and most probably had been destroyed.

He began to place the items back in the trunk one at a time, and almost as an afterthought, buried the small piece of parchment deep into the pocket of his trousers, and then finished putting everything back. He stood up slowly, stretching his cramped legs, and a glance at the clock reminded him he had been in here for nearly three hours. Time enough for memories when I return. He put the last item in the trunk, a smiling and waving picture of Sirius, and with a sad smile, closed the trunk and levitated it back to its proper place.

Sighing, he left the room and made his way back to the rooms he shared with Severus, leaving him a note, and then walked to the boundaries of the school, apparating as soon as he was able to with a small pop.

He looked around the deserted copse, eyes filling with tears he didn\'t let fall.

There is where James lifted his son up and let him touch his first snowflake, his small hand waving in the air. And Lily had watched from the window later that evening as James, Sirius and himself had a snowball fight. Her eyes had danced merrily when they had finally trudged in, faces red from the cold and the laughter, and she had admonished them all to be quiet, lest they wake Harry. James had picked her up in a bear hug and kissed her soundly, and she had laughed as snow fell from his hair and onto her face. Harry had woken and he had smiled softly at Lily and James and scooped young Harry up in his arms and rocked him gently until he feel back asleep. As he placed him back down, he had looked up and Lily, who was standing in the doorway, had graced him with a smile, her eyes filling up with tears as she watched her now sleeping son. She had whispered to Remus, her voice thick with emotions,\"We\'re lucky, the three of us, to have friends like you and Sirius...\"
And next to that tree, a tree Remus noted sadly was graced with an long slash in its trunk, that\'s where Sirius had promised forever. A promise he had been unable to keep twice. He closed his eyes and could feel Sirius\' breathe on his face, and the distant laughter of his friends as they played with their son.

He shook his head to rid himself of the memories and walked to where the house had once stood. The ground had small patches of grass peeking through the thin layer of snow that covered the ground, and even before his search began he knew it was fruitless. When he had finished, and found nothing, he took one last look around and apparated to the home of an old friend who he thought would have some idea of where to start the search for the object Severus had mentioned, and might be able to make more sense of the piece of parchment he had.