The sun was setting as you stepped off the train, the warm hues of orange and pink streaking across the sky. Your heart pounded in your chest, not just from the excitement of being home for the summer but for the promise that this time, everything was going to be different. Sirius was coming home. After years of whispers, secrets, and stolen moments, his name had finally been cleared. The father you had only truly come to know in fragments—letters, stories, and a few brief encounters—was finally free.

Remus was waiting on the platform, his worn cardigan slightly askew as he scanned the crowd of students and parents. The moment his eyes landed on you, a warm smile spread across his face, and he waved you over. “There’s my girl,” he said as you reached him, pulling you into a tight hug. The familiar scent of old books and the faint trace of chocolate wrapped around you like a safety net.

“How was the train ride?” he asked, taking your trunk in one hand as the two of you began to walk toward the Apparition point. But before you could answer, you caught sight of a figure leaning casually against a nearby post.

He was thinner than you remembered, his hair still a little wild, but his face was brighter, his eyes no longer haunted. Sirius straightened up as he saw you, his signature grin spreading across his face. “Took you long enough,” he teased, though his voice was thick with emotion.

For a moment, the world seemed to stand still. He was here. Not as a fugitive, not as a shadow lurking in the background of your life, but here. Free. Home.

“Well, don’t just stand there gawking,” Sirius said, opening his arms. “Get over here and give your old man a hug.”