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The stars shined feebly though the numerous clouds-filled night sky. The slight breeze felt pleasant on my tired face as I walked towards the house. The road leading up to number thirteen was very dark, thanks to the absence of bulbs from three consecutive streetlights. The row of houses with their grimy windows looked inert. There wasn’t a soul outside on the street either. It was so quiet around that I could distinctly hear the dry grass in the unkempt gardens rustling under my feet. The muggle settlement of Grimmauld Place held a somber air.

Suddenly, a scurrying noise came to my years. I looked up to find something moving near a car parked in front of a number ten. I instinctively gripped my wand inside my cloak. It had been less than half an hour since Sirius...since, the event took place in the Ministry, and I couldn’t help but feel suspicious. As I approached the car, a faint whispering came to my ears.

‘We’d better stop here,’ came a hoarse whisper.

‘But we can’t have reached there yet?’ asked another voice, dubiously.

‘We haven’t. I think...I think we have lost our way,’ replied the first voice hesitantly.

‘Wow! Isn’t this like the third time tonight?’ came a third enthusiastic voice.

‘But how am I going to get back home? Mum will kill me if she finds out that I’m not in my bed,’ came a nervous and twitchy fourth. I suddenly felt my rigid jaw relax and my stiff lips curve into a faint smile. The Marauders are on the move, I thought, feeling oddly content.

They were four boys, judging by their voices, in their mid-teens and obviously out of their beds. I felt amused at the strange coincidence. As soon as I covered the remaining steps to the car, they again started moving, this time to the backyard of number ten. The four prowlers reminded me of my carefree Hogwarts days. Well, not carefree for me, but definitely for Wormtail, Prongs and Padfoot. Padfoot…

Thinking the name was enough for me to regain composure instantly. I increased my pace as I neared number eleven and soon I was standing at the familiar spot where number twelve should have been. Suddenly, the black battered door appeared out of nowhere, steadily followed by dirty walls and grimy windows similar to the ones I had seen before. I took a deep breath and tapped the silver doorknob with my wand. The door creaked open after the usual unlocking procedures and I swiftly closed it shut after I had proceeded inside. I knew the members must have assembled already, but the determination that I’d been gathering for the past fifteen minutes instantly vanished as I entered his house. Sirius’s house.

A sudden wave of emotion broke over me. It was so abrupt and so unexpected that I had to grip the wall for a few minutes. So many members of the Order had died before and so many condolence meetings had been held commemorating them. But this was a personal loss for me and hence, all the more painful. I took a deep breath and tried to clear my mind of the laughing and cheerful face of Sirius.

I can’t keep the others waiting, I thought as I moved towards the staircase leading to the basement kitchen where the meetings were held. I covered the steps not exactly watching where I was going. And as reached the landing outside the kitchen, I could hear low murmuring coming from inside. I took another deep breath, willing my racing heart to calm down a bit, before entering. The whispering and murmuring immediately ceased as the members looked at me.

‘Remus! You are here,’ came a soft voice. It was Arthur. He patted my back in a comforting manner. Molly was standing behind him, her eyes very red and a handkerchief clutched tightly in her pudgy hand. A small tear ran down her cheek but she wiped it off with her handkerchief and smiled at me reassuringly. I felt a hand on my shoulder and, turning around, I found myself face to face with Dumbledore. He appeared to be calm on the exterior, but his eyes betrayed him; they were the saddest that I had ever seen.

‘Remus, we were waiting for you,’ he said. It wasn’t an accusation, a remark or even a question. It was a simple statement that said that this condolence meeting couldn’t be started without at least one marauder. I felt a sudden painful lump in my throat that I couldn’t gulp down.

‘I’m sorry Professor,’ was all I could say. He squeezed my shoulder understandingly and walked me to the empty seat on the right side of his chair. I sat down, but he remained standing. He looked around the small cramped room once and then started speaking.

‘Members of the Order of Phoenix, we are gathered tonight to pray for a lively soul, who has departed from our ranks. A diligent member of the Order, a dedicated friend, a caring godfather and a fine student, Sirius Black was a gem.

‘For those of you who are not aware, he was killed tonight in the Ministry while fighting the Death Eaters. And for those who don’t know, it was entirely my fault he died,’ I turned to look at him, my face registering surprise. But Dumbledore didn’t elaborate. He resumed speaking about him, his school days, his academics, his mischeivous ways. His tone was reminiscent of someone speaking about his favourite nephew. But I was no longer listening to him. I was transported to some other place: a discussion held long ago, but amusing enough to remember for a lifetime.

‘Do you think, there is a thing such as heaven?’ asked Peter, unwrapping a chocolate frog. It was our fifth year and we’re traveling on the Hogwarts express to the school.

‘Of course, there is. That’s where most people go after they die,’ replied Sirius in an off handed voice.

‘So you think, you’ll go to heaven?!’ asked Prongs in a mock-exclamatory voice.

‘No!’ said Sirius in a scandalous tone. ‘How can I ever go to heaven? They’ll throw me out of there because of my marauder-ish ways,’ James and Peter started laughing. ‘Heaven is a place for good people like Moony,’ I looked up from the book I was reading and smiled feebly at him.

‘I’ll be better off in some place like hell,’ continued Sirius, grinning evilly. ‘Thinking of new pranks with the devil himself.’ He suddenly stuck out his fingers behind his heads and made imaginary horns. James and Peter started laughing harder. ‘I’ll miss the girls though,’ Sirius said loudly over the laughter.

‘What girls?’ I enquired although I almost knew what to expect.

‘You know the ones with huge feathery wings and golden halos on top of their heads, dressed in white and looking unbelievingly beautiful?’ he whispered dreamily. I saw James and Peter exchange looks.

‘Sirius, mate…?’ said James.

‘Yeah. I know… this will get me thrown out of heaven more than anything,’ another bout of laughter issued from our compartment, this time all four marauders laughing their hearts out.

‘Remus!’ I was jerked out of my flashback. I looked around to find every eye on me. I suddenly realized that I must be expected to speak something. I stood up uncertainly, not exactly sure of what I wanted to say. How could I summarize his entire life in just a few lines?

‘Sirius Black had the most unusual blend of qualities that one can find in a wizard. He was intractable but lithe, very mischievous but considerate, a rebellious enemy but a loyal friend and so determined, that nothing could dissuade him if he made up his mind. Professor Dumbledore said that Sirius was a dedicated friend. But I’ll say he was more than that. He never hesitated to take the blame when the other Marauders got into trouble. And that is what he did tonight too. He didn’t hesitate to give his life for us to go on,’ I faltered at this point. The emotion was overbearing for me. Dumbledore squeezed my shoulder again. I summoned my courage and went on with the last lines.

‘I ask you to raise your glasses to this great wizard, who truly was a gem,’ I raised my glass of blood red wine and said, ‘this last toast to Sirius Black,’ and immediately a low collective whisper of ‘to Sirius Black’ filled the kitchen. And I added quietly, ‘May he rest in peace.’ Everybody drained their glasses and got up to leave, a witch or wizard pausing occasionally to whisper their personal condolences. Once everyone left the room, I sat down again, my feet no longer being able to hold me. Arthur, Molly and Dumbledore hovered around me. I inwardly wanted to tell them to leave me alone for some time because the urge to shed tears was slowly overpowering me, and Molly’s renewed sobbing wasn’t helping either. For a moment silence reigned.

‘I really wished I could stay with you for awhile Remus,’ said Dumbledore gently.

‘You are leaving?’ shot Molly in surprise. Dumbledore bowed his head courteously.

‘Harry’s alone in my office and I have some explaining to do,’ he replied. Molly didn’t comment but a silent tear rolled down her cheek. Dumbledore smiled weakly at her and left the dingy kitchen.

A/N As we know, after this Dumbledore goes back to his office to talk to Harry. I am not that good at writing jokes and stuff, so if some of you feel that the exchange between the marauders was not funny at all, I apologize for that. This was an extremely interesting topic to write on and i hope i've done justice to it.

Thanks for taking the time to read it and kindly a review if you like.