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The sun was shining bright overhead, a pleasant change from the dreary drizzle of the past few days. Two figures stood alone in the cemetery. One was a tall man, Mason, with dark hair mussed by the light breeze, blue eyes undercast with shadows and scruffy facial hair that was mostly stubble. He was dressed in jeans and a worn winter coat with a threadbare bronze and blue scarf at his neck. Beside him stood a teenage girl, Shilo, with long, straight blonde hair pulled into a pony-tail. She was similarly dressed though her scarf was a solid green that matched her eyes.
Mason ran a hand over his face as he looked at the two simple headstones at his feet, genuinely unsure of what to do with himself or why he was even there. They were well kept, fresh flowers in a vase between them, the names, Remus and Nymphadora Lupin, polished and clean. Both dated for May 2, 1998, the memorial had been in place for just over ten years. What use did it even do Mason to be there so much later?
“Met your kid,” he finally said with a sigh. “He looks like you, though the blue hair was a bit weird.” He gave a short laugh and glanced at Shilo beside him. “Shame you’ll never meet mine in person.”
The girl shuffled on her feet before curling her arms around his and resting her head on his shoulder without saying anything. Mason smiled and patted her hand before looking at Remus’s grave again, the expression falling. It felt weird to be talking to a dead man, a man he hadn’t even seen for over a year before he’d died. They’d exchanged letters back and forth for a while after that, until the end of the War, and then Mason had found out months later that they’d stopped coming because his friend had died. He hadn’t known what to do with that information at the time and it had taken far too long for things to get even an ounce better for werewolves for him to be able to even consider it. The man who’d helped him come to terms with his affliction was gone but he’d already been figuring things out for himself for a while by then. Mason was only even there, at this quiet cemetery in a tiny little town in Wales that he’d never even thought to visit until this morning, because a little boy had reached out to him after finding some of his father’s old letters. He hadn’t even known this was where his old friend had been laid to rest.
“I’ve missed you,” Mason murmured at last before leaving it at that and turning to go with another sigh. He shoved both hands in his pockets even as his daughter kept ahold of his arm. Shilo said nothing and just walked along with him, keeping in step with a practiced ease that she’d begun as a tiny pup he’d stumbled across during a full moon years prior. Orphaned by the war and taken in by the pack Mason had fallen in with, she’d decided he was hers and he’d been powerless to do anything about it. Then eight years old and now seventeen, she’d given him a sense of purpose when he’d lost his own. What did it matter that he’d been in no way ready to abruptly become a parent at twenty-four? She’d needed him and he’d found in time that he’d needed her just as much.
None other than the savior of the wizarding world himself met them at the gate. He had a snuggly toddler, Connor, on his hip and a baby, Evelyn, asleep in a pushchair in front of him. Two boys were standing on either side of him, one who must have been about six tops, Oliver, and the other, a young boy of maybe ten or eleven, Teddy, Remus’s son. Mason hadn’t even known Remus had a son until a few weeks ago. Both boys grinned at Mason, unperturbed by the grumpy expression he was sure he was wearing.
Harry was wearing a gentle smile as he greeted the two of them with a small wave. “Ready to go?”
“Mmm,” Mason hummed in agreement, his gaze drifting to the blue-haired boy who was near bouncing on the balls of feet as he watched him. He felt himself smile again as the excited youngster and Teddy positively beamed back at him.
Harry rolled his eyes and ruffled the boy’s hair. “Sorry about this one. He’s starstruck. Makes a change not being the center of that sort of attention, though.”
“It’s fine,” Mason answered, huffing a bemused laugh before smiling at Teddy. Apparently, the boy had sent out his godfather’s owl without permission to ask about him, an old friend of his dad’s, and then after a few exchanges of owls with his guardian, they’d agreed to meet during their own visit to Remus’s grave. Shilo had been the one to nudge Mason to agree to it and he’d long since lost his ability to argue with her when it came to anything other than her own safety and wellbeing.
“Is it time to go see Mummy?” the little boy at Harry’s other side asked.
“Yeah, Ollie, time to go see Mummy.” Harry smiled sweetly at his son and then looked at Mason. “Hey, you fancy joining us for a quidditch match?”
Mason stared at him. He’d been about to say his goodbyes and head home with Shilo when the question caught him completely off guard. Of course he wanted to go to a quidditch match. He hadn’t in over a decade. Werewolves weren’t exactly welcomed into League stadiums even with the improvements in legislation in recent years and it wasn’t like he could afford it anyway. “Maybe another time,” he answered after a moment.
“Come on, mate. My wife’s a chaser for the Holyhead Harpies and they open the season this afternoon. Her first season back after the kids. It’s no worry to bring another guest along.” Harry gave him a dazzling smile and pushed his glasses up his nose as they slid down.
Mason knew all that, of course. Just because he couldn’t participate any more didn’t mean he’d lost his love of the game. He still followed it all religiously and desperately missed the days when he’d been the one reporting on it rather than having to catch up often weeks after a game. It was a tempting offer but it also felt like too much.
“We should go, Sunny,” Shilo said quietly beside him. She was barely loud enough for him to hear and Mason doubted that the others could hear her at all. She’d rarely spoken at all as a child and had always been soft spoken. Her words now were enough to get Mason to reconsider his refusal already but then she went on. “I’d like to see the game you always tell me stories about.”
“Yeah… Alright, we’ll go,” Mason agreed. Shilo gave him a beautiful smile of her own and hugged his arm a little tighter while Harry grinned at him. Together, they walked towards the closest floo network point, Oliver and Teddy now talking their ears off. Harry managed to keep up with his son’s excited chatter perfectly well while Teddy fell into step beside Mason and Shilo to ask him questions about Remus. Mason did what he could to answer them and wondered what Remus would think of his incredibly talkative little boy and the friendly smile he shared so easily. His own smile came easier for it.