Remus Lupin sat on the floor in front of the fireplace in the house that once blossomed with life. Not only was the house the home of Remus, it also used to enhabit Peter Pettigrew, Marlene McKinnon and Sirius Black. There was a short time when Lily Evans and James Potter also lived there, but Evans became Potter and they soon moved out.

The group had shared many wonderful memories, some of which were held in the boxes sitting by Remus. Three boxes, overflowing with muggle photographs of him and his friends.

It seemed almost too soon to be looking through the photographs, but Remus knew that if he didn't do it now, he'd never do it. And it had to be done, whether he liked it or not.

He opened the first box and picked out the first image he saw; a smiling Marlene with her hands on Lily's stomach, feeling Harry, who was not yet born, move around inside his mother. Remus smiled at the memory, setting the photograph down to one side. He would keep this one.

The next photo to catch his eye was of him, Peter, James and Sirius. A Marauders weekend away adventuring resulted in the four boys finding a lake in a forest. The moment they saw the lake, the boys has stripped down to their underwear and jumped into the cool water, using a large boulder as a makeshift diving platform. The photograph showed the four boys jumping from the boulder, holding hands, arms raised to the sky.
Sirius was on the end of the chain, making Remus's job slightly easier.

With shaking hands and teary eyes, Remus took his wand and muttered the incantation to remove Sirius from the image. He wanted to keep the memory, just without Sirius. After all, he was the reason that memories like this could never again be made.

After a few more photographs, Remus picked one up that he had forgotten about. They sat under the tree by the lake. The two sixth year boys were both sleeping, Sirius resting his head on Remus's chest. Remus held Sirius close to him, as he always did when they slept. It was as if he was protecting him from the nightmares that often came. Nightmares of his family, what they had done to him, what they had done to many others. After everything they'd put him through, Remus found it hard to fathom why he would decide to join them on the side of evil.
Remus finally tore his gaze from the image and set it aside, starting a second pile of photographs.

The following photo was taken exactly 5 years ago. It was Sirius's 17th birthday and he was yet to wake up. Gifts from his friends had been piled on his bed and on top of him. He looked comical, his mouth open slightly, hair all over the place, face squashed by one of the larger gifts. Remus didn't think twice before putting it with the previous image.

Remus stopped for a minute, getting lost in his thoughts.
It was Sirius's 22nd birthday today, and he was rotting away in a cell. Remus told himself that Sirius was where he belonged, but he couldn't quite get himself to believe it.
Instead of letting his mind run wild, he continued to sort the photos.

Half of the first box of photographs had been sorted now; a pile to keep and a pile he didnt want to think about. Remus reached into the box and pulled out a photo of Sirius holding Harry in his arms.
He hated it. He hated how innocent the whole thing looked, how naïve everyone was of Sirius and his plans to sell his friends, the parents of the baby he was holding along with the baby himself, to their murderer.
Remus knew that Harry was still alive, but he didn't know where he was. People were refusing to tell him for whatever reason, and in a way, that was worse than Harry being dead along with Lily and James.
He couldn't get rid of a photograph of Harry, he just couldn't! Instead, he took his wand and transfigured Sirius into Peter.

The next picture showed Lily on her wedding day, dancing with Sirius. They both looked so happy, so full of life, so at peace with the world. On that day, the ongoing war was forgotten. Remus replaced Sirius with himself and moved on, feeling himself begin to cry.

Dozens of images, two piles.

The final photograph in the box was one of two younger boys, their arms around each other. They were sitting in the sun. One boy had light brown hair, an abundance of freckles, his eye were closed and his nose had a long scar across it. Even so, he was smiling. The other boy had shaggy, dark hair, pale skin, and was kissing the first boy on the cheek. Then, the action was platonic, but looking back now, the two young boys were so clearly in love, even at the age of thirteen.

One box was enough for today.

Remus put one pile of photographs back into the box. He then lit a fire, collected the second pile in his arms, and watched as the memories of his best friend, his soulmate, his betrayer, burned into nothing but ash.