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"Sirius," Remus called over his shoulder, shrugging a coat over himself before he grabbed hold of his cane. "I'm going out."
As if summoned, a flurry of footsteps immediately sounded, his boyfriend following soon after. "Without me?" There was a pout already resting on Sirius' lips, eyes glinting even as he grabbed a scarf from a hook, throwing it over Remus' neck while keeping a hold on both ends. Without pause, he pulled Remus in for a kiss, ignoring the sound of protest that left Remus' lips.
He laughed, and Remus could only grin in return as they split apart, managing only a fond shake of his head. "It was you who asked me to drop--" He squinted at the package in his free hand, "--whatever this is off to your brother, wasn't it?"
Sirius shrugged, "Was it? Doesn't sound like me."
Remus barely resisted an exasperated sigh, staring at Sirius pointedly instead until he finally relented. "Fine, yes, whatever." Sirius ran a hand through his hair, throwing his head back as if searching the ceiling for courage before finally meeting Remus' eyes once more. "You-" He swallowed, "You remember what I told you?"
Softening, as he always did in front of Sirius, Remus nodded. "Hood up, drop it off, ring the doorbell, and leave immediately." His grip tightened on his cane, the only sign of his apprehension as he said, "You do know the two of you will have to talk eventually, right?"
"Yeah," Came the reply, and then, in the face of Remus' raised eyebrow -- "Really, I know. It's just, well, he hasn't reached out yet. And, before you say anything, because I know you're about to," Sirius looked away, "Yes, I have his number too. But I want him to have this choice, if only because he's never been allowed to choose anything in his life."
Remus shifted his weight on to his good leg, lifted his hand from his cane, and pulled Sirius in once more. "Okay." He murmured into the kiss, "You know I'll support any decision you make, right?" He added as he finally leaned away.
Sirius smiled, bright and true, and Remus' heart fluttered as it always did, "I know. Love you, Moony."
"Love you, too." Remus answered, tracing Sirius with his eyes as he reached for the door, "Try not to burn down the house down while I'm gone."
"That was one time," Sirius protested, as Remus slipped out the door, quietly shutting it behind him. "And it was mostly James' fault."
"Sure," Remus murmered as he stepped onto the sidewalk, but a fond smile was on his face nevertheless.
Sirius, above all, was passionate. He threw himself into almost everything he did with no fear of failure, only the easy confidence that he would succeed, and if not, still manage to twist things around until it seemed like he had succeeded. It was hard, sometimes, but Remus found that he loved Sirius all the more for it.
It was with careful steps that Remus made his way to the corner of their street, wincing slightly as a jolt of pain ran up his spine. It was, in hindsight, not a particularly good idea to walk somewhere that was at least ten minutes away when he had woken up with more pain than usual in his joints, but though Remus might've made the best decisions out of his friends, he certainly still wasn't the smartest.
Still, he was nothing but stubborn when he had to be.
Of course, everything had to go successfully until he was one street away from being home. The universe hated Remus Lupin, after all.
"Oh, fuck." He swore as his cane landed unevenly, wincing as pain shot up his spine. Barely managing to catch himself before he fell face first into the sidewalk, he quickly straightened, looking around for the suspect.
On the ground, lay a shiny, slightly damaged looking gold-necklace.
Remus picked it up, slightly curious, looks expensive. I should bring it to the police, maybe. He turned it around in his hand, admiring the intricate design for all of one second before his vision went blurry as the world spun around him.
His last thoughts before he died? Sirius is going to kill me.
Just kidding.
When Remus finally managed to open his eyes again, slightly dizzy and entirely disorientated, but somehow still outright, it took every ounce of courage in him to not close them again.
Looking around, the only words that seemed appropriate in the moment fell from Remus' lips, "What the fuck."
It was still winter, but the buildings around him had somehow all merged into an castle that looked like it had been built far before he, or, well, anyone he knew, had even been conceived. "If this is some sort of prank," He said, under his breath, momentarily relieved to find his cane still in his hand. "I do not have the time for this."
He couldn't imagine how it was possible, but at the same time, Remus didn't want to think about the other possibilities if it wasn't a prank.
Remus reminded himself to breathe, chest tightening under his growing panic.
There was the sound of laughter from behind him, and he spun quickly, eyes landing on a familiar head of messy dark curls and warm, hazel eyes. "Moony! What are you wearing? Is this some sort of muggle clothing, 'cause if so, I think I've seen better."
"James?" Relief was evident for one brief moment before he looked closer and realized, that can't be James.
"Yeah?" Someone who was definitely not James and yet shared their face looked up at Remus, grinning from ear to ear. "Where have you been, by the way -- Sirius has been looking for you all over, mate." They pulled out what looked like a fancy stick, waving it in the air.
"Are you pretending to be some sort of witch?" Remus asked, too bewildered to say anything else.
Not-James frowned, "What are you talking about?"
"Never mind. Where are we?"
Not-James squinted at Remus, "Have you hit your head? Was it the Slytherins? Tell me which one, I'll go hex them for you." Their eyes narrowed, "Wait no, I'll bring you to Poppy first, and then I'll go hex them."
Remus took a step back, wary, "If this is some sort of prank, James, I really don't have the time for this. Sirius told me to bring something to Regulus and I really do need to be going or-" He frowned.
"Regulus?" Not-James caught on to that word, the name sounding strangely familiar on their tongue, fond in a way Remus wasn't particularly interested in finding out the reason behind, "I thought they still weren't talking? Did something change?" The switch between topics came fast enough that Remus could only manage to answer with a shrug, his thoughts racing as he tried to grasp a sense of all that was happening.
"Not the important factor at hand right now." Remus said, dryly, masking the panic that was all-too quickly rising in his throat.
Rubbing the back of their neck in a way that was almost sheepish, if any version of James could muster up the ability to leave their natural confidence behind for a moment, they nodded. "Right." Not-James looked concerned, eyebrows furrowed together. "Okay, seriously then, let's get you to Poppy. What curse did the Slytherins use, do your remember?"
"Curse?" Remus asked, completely taken aback, "Slither-in-what-now? Is that a band? What are you even talking about?" He asked, for this was the second time Not-James had mentioned it now, and he was frankly not used to hearing words he didn't understand. Remus reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone, only to find that it had gone completely dark, seemingly powerless. "I swear I just charged it," He muttered, deciding to ignore Not-James, who had clearly had a bit too much to drink.
"Remus-"
"Moony!" A voice that Remus would always recognize, called, and he instinctively turned to respond, only to stop mid-word.
He took in the newcomer with widening eyes, gaze tracing over the shoulder-length black hair, piercing grey eyes, and blinding smile. It was Sirius, there was no question about it and yet- "You're not Sirius."
"I am serious, actually, it's in the name." Not-Sirius replied, eyes glinting with a familiar amusement before he frowned, "Wait, what are you talking about?"
Remus squeezed his eyes shut, "Stop that."
"Moony?"
Not-James took the opportunity to speak up, "He's been acting weird. I think someone must have cast a spell on him. I wanted to bring him to Poppy but he's just acting confused and refusing to go."
Remus opened his eyes in time to see Not-Sirius frown, "But he knows who we are?"
"I don't know. He knows our names, I think? But he asked where we were and had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned the Slytherins."
Almost instinctively, Remus interjected quietly, "I'm still here, you know."
Some things never changed, and the way Sirius and James so easily fell into each other's gravities was apparently one of them. Soulmates, he had called them once, and Sirius had only laughed, easy agreement on his face, 'Maybe,' He had said, 'But you're mine in a completely different way.' And Remus had huffed a laugh, and smiled, for he wouldn't change anything about it.
He ran a hand through his hair, exasperation colouring his face in an all-too familiar manner, even when every part of him screamed that this was wrong. "But go ahead and talk. I'll sit here and wait to wake up."
Not-James reached over, pinching him and then immediately wincing when Remus reflexively slapped their hand away. "Oh, that's Remus all right, no one else's reactions are that quick." They muttered to Not-Sirius, before turning back to Remus, "And you're not dreaming, my bet is some amnesia spell."
"James--" A voice cried, and Remus did his best not to throw his hands up into the sky because that was most definitely Peter and yet, the boy who Remus saw when he turned his head, while sharing the same face, was not his Peter. "Have you seen Sirius? Remus was looking for him and-" He stopped midsentence as he caught sight of Sirius. "Never mind then."
Not-James nudged Not-Peter, "Did you say Moony was looking for Sirius?"
Not-Peter nodded absentmindedly, turning slightly as he started, "Yeah, something about the map, I think he needs it for something but-" His words drifted off as he met Remus' eyes, "Wait, how'd you get here so quickly?" He frowned, confused. "And did you just change?"
There was a beat of silence as all eyes turned on Remus. "Nope," he answered Not-Sirius' silent question, "Still have no idea what you lot are talking about, I haven't talked to Peter since yesterday." And regardless, I talked to my Peter, not this one.
"Wait, so if you just talked to Moony-" Not-James started, eyes widening.
Not-Sirius finished for them, taking a step back, "That can't be him, then. Remus doesn't have a twin, after all, much less one that would be so clueless."
"Again," Remus said, dryly, "Still here."
"Are you lot really standing around after I talked us out of detention, I told Peter to come and get you, not to-" The new voice traveled through the air, an familiarity to it that Remus couldn't quite place until he turned around, and the words stilled in the newcomer's mouth, eyes widening.
"Oh, I'm definitely dreaming." Remus said, eyes caught on himself. Well, not himself, but another version of him. Other-Remus, he quickly deemed in his mind, because he was about to go crazy.
"Alright, who made polyjuice without telling me again?" Other-Remus sighed, voice quiet but disapproving all the same. Poly-what now? Remus thought, and immediately decided that was not the problem at hand. When no one raised their hand, all eyes wide and mouths slightly open, shocked into a rare-silence, Other-Remus frowned, "Okay, just tell me," He turned to Remus, "Which one of them gave you the drink?"
Remus resisted the urge to just turn around and walk away.
"There was no drink," He said, slowly, doing his best to process the overload of information he had just gotten.
Other-Remus glanced over at Not-Peter, "Pete--" He started, but Not-Peter was already shaking his head.
"It really wasn't us." He said, and Not-Sirius and Not-James nodded in agreement.
Other-Remus stared, scars distorting as he frowned at them. "Explanation please, then."
Not-James shrugged lazily, "I know about as much as you do, mate. Maybe a cloning spell? Is that a thing?"
"What is it with you and the constant mentioning of spells? You aren't a magician." Remus finally interjected, curiosity enough to press his panic down slightly.
Other-Remus frowned at him, and Remus did his best not to shift backwards under his own amber stare. "You don't know anything about magic, then?" Without waiting for an answer, he turned back to Not-Sirius, "Did you ask him anything about himself?"
Not-Sirius waved the question away easily, "Didn't cross my mind yet."
"Good idea," Not-James interjected. "What's your name?"
Not-Peter groaned, "Really?"
"What? It's better to make sure we start off on the same page!"
Remus answered before they could bicker any further, "Remus Lupin." Other-Remus' lips tightened into a line, fingers twitching, but he didn't say anything else.
Not-Peter asked, "How'd you get here?"
"That," Remus said, "I'm not sure. I was just delivering something for Sirius, not this one," He clarified, gesturing to Not-Sirius, "and I think there was a gold necklace? I picked it up and everything else was a blur until I landed here. Wherever here is." The beginning of an idea began to form in his mind, and he pushed on before anyone could interject, "What's the date?"
Not-Sirius glanced at Not-James, who glanced at Not-Peter, who glanced at Other-Remus, who sighed and answered, "December 17th."
Remus asked, cautious, "And the year?"
"1978."
The 'oh, fuck,' left Remus' mouth before he could stop it, eyes widening.
"Why do you sound so surprised? It's not like you could possibly be-" Not-Peter started, and then cut himself off, eyes widening. "Merlin. You're a time traveler!"
Remus answered, adamant, "I am not a time-traveler."
"But you time-travelled? Or are you just sensitive to the number 1978?" Not-Peter pushed back, and Not-James snickered as Remus rolled his eyes, lips twitching upwards.
"I'm not a time-traveler," Remus repeated, and then added, more hesitantly, "Even if it does seem like I just time-travelled." The mere idea of that seemed to finally settle in his mind, and his head spun as he tried to wrap his mind around the idea, swaying slightly.
"So, he's a time-travelling Moony from the future?" Not-Sirius mused, eyes narrowed slightly in interest.
Not-James tilted their head to the side, "Not just from the future, I think."
Nodding, Not-Sirius conceded, "Right, he doesn't look that old, after all. And it wouldn't explain why he's acting dumb about, well, everything."
Other-Remus interjected, "Not everything," He trailed off, finishing quietly, "Just magic." Fishing out a slightly bent stick, he handed it to Remus, who took it hesitantly. "Wave this around."
Remus did so, albeit with a confused look in his eyes. When nothing happened, Other-Remus took it back, and nodded, "Must be an entirely different universe, then, where magic doesn't exist."
At this point, Remus was done with pretending he understood what was going on and instead blankly stared at the other four as Not-Peter picked up what Other-Remus was saying.
"So it's muggle-Remus? From a different universe?"
"That's the only explanation I can think of."
"I'm sorry, what did you just call me? I haven't mugged anyone."
"It's the term for non-magical people."
"Magical," Remus repeated, sketicism layered heavily on the word. "Are you saying you're some sort of witch? You can what, do spells and such? Quit pulling my leg here."
Not-Sirius' lips tugged upwards in an half-smirk, slipping out a stick that was similar to the Other-Remus had pressed into his hand earlier. With a wave of it, a small flower appeared in his hand and Remus couldn't help the comical widening of his eyes. "Show-off," Not-Peter rolled his eyes, voice light even as Not-Sirius elbowed him.
"Magic--" Not-Sirius said, gesturing to the flower in his hand before reaching over to Other-Remus, and pressing it into his hands, "Here, Moony."
Not-James asked, knowingly, "How long have you had that vanished and ready to conjure up?"
Not-Sirius pointedly ignored the question, while Remus absentmindedly noted the way Other-Remus' mouth opened slightly as if to say something before tucking the flower into his robes with a strange level of care.
"Right." Remus said, words heavy with shock, "Magic."
Not-Peter shook his head in disbelief, "This is so hard to wrap my head around." His gaze swept over Remus again, before he tilted his head to the side, "Say, if you don't know about magic, how'd you get your scars?" There was an air of familiarity to his words, as if he had forgotten that they were still technically strangers still.
Remus glanced over in time to see Other-Remus flinch slightly, but only answered, "I don't see what magic would have to do with these." His grip tightened on his cane as he explained, "Wild animal attack. Also why I need this." His eyes flickered down to his cane, before returning to Other-Remus.
Not-Sirius huffed a laugh, "Now, that's a little funny." He nudged Other-Remus, "C'mon, even you've got to admit it."
Other-Remus shifted away, "Don't be insensitive," He muttered, while Remus, at the same time, asked, "Why?"
Not-James spoke before Not-Sirius could, "Not important. He just got his scars in a different way."
Remus' eyes flashed with curiosity, but didn't press further. "So, you lot are all just-- magical, then?" It was still strange, but perhaps not any stranger than the fact that he had apparently somehow teleported into another universe. Anything was possible, at this point. "What's next, you can all turn into animals?"
Not-Sirius choked, coughing for a few moments as Other-Remus patted his back while the others seemed to be stifling a laugh. "Not-" He started, amusement heavy on his words, "Not exactly."
Remus stared.
"Right." He said, because this was starting to remind him how much he missed a world that made sense, "Great talk guys, really, but as much as this is fascinating and all I really need to get home before my boyfriend panics--" The words tumbled out of Remus' mouth before he could stop them and instantly, he recognized that he had made a mistake.
Not-Sirius' eyes had narrowed, lips pressed together into a thin line. He looked away, and Remus knew that if he looked down, Not-Sirius' hands would be clenched into fists. On his right, Other-Remus's eyes had widened before he quickly schooled his features into a neutral expression, and while Remus spent most of his time actively avoiding looking into a mirror, he could still see the tells of surprise in the twitch of Other-Remus' lips, and the stillness in the rest of him as he glanced over at Not-Sirius.
"Boyfriend?" Not-Peter questioned, taking advantage of the sudden silence that had fallen over them to ask the question in everyone's mind.
Remus grimaced.
"I take it you're not dating anyone?" He asked, deflecting instead.
Not-Sirius replied before Other-Remus could, voice hard, "No. He isn't." Even without looking, Remus could feel the weight of Not-James' stare on his back, heavy with implication.
"Right." Remus said, and tried not to wince. It wasn't as if he found it unbelievable, but to come face to face with some version of Sirius and himself where they weren't together? The very thought was foreign in his mind. "Well, I won't mention it anymore, then."
"No, no," Not-Sirius said, "Do tell us more, who is this," He paused, voice turning bitter, "Boyfriend?"
Oh, Remus realized belatedly, that's his jealous voice.
"Really, it's not important." Remus insisted, because he was already in some sort of alternate universe, he didn't need to become an relationship counselor while he was at it. Maybe Sirius would have, his Sirius, of course, but Remus had never been the meddling type and he didn't intend to start now.
Not-Sirius opened his mouth, only to be elbowed sharply by Not-James, "Sirius." They warned, and Not-Sirius rolled his eyes, but backed down. Other-Remus averted his eyes, head slightly lowered as he stared at the ground.
With a slight cough, Not-Peter quickly said, "Right, then. Did you say gold necklace, earlier?"
Remus shot an grateful glance his way, before nodding. "Gold necklace, yes. It was like an hourglass? But weirdly shaped. It seemed almost," He paused, hesitant as he tried to put his thoughts into words, "Broken? Warped?"
"Sounds like a time-turner." Not-Sirius said, voice still darker than usual.
Other-Remus frowned, "Where would he get one of those if he's from a non-magical universe?"
He shrugged, "No idea, but it makes sense, doesn't it? If it was broken it would explain why he didn't just travel in time."
Not-James nodded, "It does, yeah. Godric, you really are lucky you were found by us." They shook their head, "Imagine if he had been found by the Slytherins?"
Not-Peter shuddered, "Dead meat."
Remus ignored them, turning to Other-Remus once more, "So can you get me another one of those-" He paused, "Time-turners, was it? Maybe it'll work in reverse."
Other-Remus shook his head, "They're under strict lockdown by the Ministry, that's our ah- government?" Remus fought down the wave of disappointment that washed over him, nodding in acknowledgement at Other-Remus' attempt to make sure he at least understood what he was saying.
"But the one he used should still be with him, shouldn't it?" Not-Sirius cut in, and Remus' eyes lit up with hope.
Not-Peter scanned the ground around them, while Not-James tilted their head up, as if making sure it hadn't gotten caught on anything before falling to the ground, "Don't see anything," The two of them said in unison.
Other-Remus watched with a mild look of amusement as Remus asked, confused, "Isn't there a spell for just, making it appear, or something?"
"No," He answered, "But there is a summoning spell." Not-Peter and Not-James both straightened, looking away from Other-Remus as Not-Sirius laughed, the sound causing Remus to smile almost unconsciously.
"Accio time-turner," Other-Remus said, and from the undergrowth, it came flying. Not-James caught it easily, a grin lighting up their face before they passed it to Remus.
Remus took is carefully, holding it out to one side as he swallowed, throat suddenly dry. "What if it doesn't work?" He asked, the words soft, strangely vulnerable. The others exchanged a look, but Not-Sirius was the one to speak up, that easy confidence carrying over.
"Then we'll figure something else out."
"Right." Remus said, and then, because apparently his earlier words were a lie, and he did like to meddle,"Before I do anything, could I talk to, ah, Sirius, for a moment?" Not-Sirius raised an eyebrow, but took a step forward. Remus leaned in slightly, voice quiet enough that only Not-Sirius would hear as he whispered, "That boyfriend I was talking about? It's the you in my universe."
He took a step back, watching with a fond smile as Not-Sirius' eyes widened, "Wait-" Remus spun the necklace before Not-Sirius could finish his sentence, mentally crossing his fingers as he tightened his grip on his cane.
The world spun.
And Remus was back home.
Later that night, his boyfriend curled up next to him on the couch, a movie playing in the background, Remus said, "You know, I fall in love with you in every universe."
Sirius laughed quietly, "Yeah? I think I would fall for you in every one, too."
And then,
"Oh, and I found this necklace, it looks kind of fun."
He held it up to the light, and spun it.
Remus thought: Well, shit.