To say it was a shock was an understatement.

Sirius had to stare again and again, still in disbelief, Remus was walking to the Slytherin table? His gray eyes lost their playful essence, now drained of resentment, after years, so many secrets, laughter, memories — such as those that inflamed his mind now —, all of it in vain. James had a pitiful reaction, his shoulders slumping dejectedly and his throat feeling like it was being choked with a wire of anguish, a reaction that everyone would report to losing a brother, and indeed, Remus was like a brother to James, but now it was lost.

An empathetic glow enveloped Regulus's irises, his eyes green as the crest of his house welcoming the tingle of recognition. Remus remembered Regulus, the bitterness of betrayal in his blood, the feeling of intimacy overflowing, Regulus knew what it was like, needing to kill part of themselves because they no longer felt the same way they used to.

A welcoming smile spread across Pandora's soft, glossed lips, and she made room for Remus. Dorcas gave a silent nod. "Don't bother too much, wild tooth." She asked, a forced, fake smile on her lips, but soon softening, with a trace of her sarcasm and a rare and hidden but still noticeable sign of sympathy. Barty took a drag on his smoldering cigarette and tossed the smoke ring at Remus with a sour, amused smile. "Don't make the noise that will shut you up, newbie." He added, before passing the cigarette to Evan, who ran his calloused fingers from the skate park—due to the escapades with Barty on the rebellious nights in which one of them got lectured and stinging slaps—through his white hair, recently dyed with the help of Pandora, the same one who made the braided lock attached to a snake pendant. Evan tapped him on the shoulder, sucking in the addictive, relaxing taste of the cigarette, hitting his jittery nerves. "Aren't you going to say hi to our new cub?" He teased as his eyes took in Remus's figure as he sat down at the table and stole a chocolate brownie.