It had been four years since that first night with Sirius, and two years since James had nearly cracked the foundations of Potter Manor to bring his soulmate home. Now it was Remus’s turn. The ritual could only be cast every two years when the celestial alignment was perfect, and the pressure was suffocating.

Remus stood at the edge of the garden, his scarred hands trembling slightly as he adjusted his sleeves. He watched James and Sirius across the lawn, both of them looking more settled and vibrant than they ever had in their youth. They were happy. They were complete.

But Remus couldn't stop thinking about the cost. He had been the one to brew the restorative draughts. He had seen the bruising on their skin from the interdimensional travel, the confusion in their eyes, and the grief of being ripped away from everything they knew. James and Sirius saw it as a rescue; Remus saw it as a kidnapping, no matter how much the soulmate bond eventually smoothed over the edges of that trauma.

"I shouldn't do this," Remus muttered, his voice barely audible over the rustle of the leaves. "It’s selfish. To force someone here just because I am tired of being the odd man out?"

"You aren't forcing them, Moony," Sirius said, appearing at his side with a heavy hand on his shoulder. "The magic only works if they belong here. If they’re the other half of you."

"And if they were happy where they were?" Remus countered, his amber eyes sharp with a flash of the wolf’s bitterness.

"Then you will spend the rest of your life making them even happier here," James added, joining them with a look of absolute certainty. He didn't understand Remus's hesitation; to James, love was the only thing that mattered.

They had already set it up. The basin was filled, the moon was at its zenith, and the air was thick with the combined magical residue of the three of them. Remus looked at the silver dagger and then at the empty space beside him that had felt like a hollow ache for a decade. He hated himself for wanting it. He hated the wolf for its sudden, desperate whine for its mate. With a silent apology to the person on the other side of the veil, Remus stepped forward. He sliced his palm, the blood dark and slow, and let it fall.

The moment Remus’s blood touched the silver liquid, the air around them went dead still. Then suddenly the basin started to violently vibrate before it cracked in two. The liquid hit the grass and the ground seemed to turn into blackened, bottomless water. Remus quickly moved back with a startled cry, his heart hammering.

Sirius reached for his wand, his face pale as he pulled his own soulmate back. "Moony, get back!"

James stepped forward, his eyes wide behind his glasses. "The magic... it is different. It is not tearing reality, it is submerging it."

But then a figure began to rise out of the dark pool. The moment they were fully out, the black water and the shattered basin simply disappeared, leaving the grass dry as if nothing had happened. Remus was there in an instant, pulling one of the heavy blankets he had prepared around them.

Pulling them into his chest, he ran his hand over their hair, his touch frantic but gentle. He could feel the bond snapping into place, a tether of pure warmth. The skin on his leg, where their name was now etched, burned with a fierce heat as he finally held his soulmate.

"I am sorry," he whispered into their hair, his voice cracking with a mix of guilt and relief. "I am so sorry. But you are safe. I have you." Sirius let out a breath before laughing softly a small, lopsided smile catching on his face. "He did it! Hell yeah I knew it would work.” He and James high fived.