Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. However, since Rowling discarded my favourite characters I picked them up and took them into my care to give them the love and attention they deserve...and occasionally give them reason to need that love and attention no matter how much they deserve it without needing a reason.
Summary: Remus is saved during a mission gone horribly wrong and is reminded of his place among his friends.
Warnings: Strong bromance, can't stomach boys being extremely close without it being sexual, then this is not the story for you and you should hit the return button. Some violence and the use of language.
This story is part of a series called A bond of Family. If you are interested in reading the entire series, the chronological order can be found on my profile.
Special thanks to Kitty for beta-ing this story for me and giving me endless support and inspiration for this series. Thank you for your endless patience with my grammar and for all the lessons you've taught me and are still trying to stamp into my brain.
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Remus' heart hammered in his throat as he backed up towards the edge of the forest, trying not to jolt his injured arm too badly.
He clenched his teeth against the pain, knowing he couldn't afford to be distracted for even a split second as the pack circled him predatory.
They had wrenched his wand from him within moments of attacking him, tearing into his exposed flesh with their sharp finger nails.
The only reason he hadn't been killed right that instant was because an unexpected burst of magic had thrown them backwards, allowing him the chance to run.
This particular pack clearly enjoyed the hunt as they chased him and he'd thought himself safe when he reached the wards, only to be thrown backwards when trying to pass them.
Fear had clouded his judgement then as he realised the wards were placed there, not to keep intruders out, but to keep his kind inside and he had no way of escape as the wards also prevented Apparition.
A pained gasp escaped him as he stepped wrongly on his injured foot, the pack suddenly moving forward as one, clearly seeing their chance.
Remus clenched his eyes shut, knowing he didn't stand a chance when suddenly a loud crack sounded as someone broke through the wards with enough force to explode the trees around them.
Heat washed over him as fire spread out in a circle around him, protecting him from the pack that was forced to back up or be burned alive and his heart jumped as he saw who had saved him.
"Sirius..." he breathed out as his best friend stepped protectively in front of him, controlling the Fiendfyre.
"Where's your wand."
"They took it from me," Remus swallowed at the anger in the man's voice, the light of the fire casting shadows over the dark-haired man's handsome face and lightening his light grey eyes like they were on fire themselves.
"Accio wand," the piece of wood soared through the sky and Sirius caught it out of the air without even glancing in the direction.
"Ferula," Remus sighed relieved as the pain in his broken arm immediately lessened as Sirius tightly bound it to his side with bandages. It was still rendered useless, but at least there was no danger of it being hurt further.
"Si..."
"Any life threatening injuries that need to be taken care of right away that I can't see?" Sirius cut him off and Remus shook his head.
"Dizzy, nauseous?"
"Both," Remus clenched his eyes shut for a moment as his other injuries made themselves known now his arm wasn't taking up the immediate foreground.
"Guess I'll have to fight our way out, but take this just in case," Remus felt Sirius slip his wand into his left hand and gripped it tightly.
"I can't Apparate and the wards keep me inside," Remus warned him.
"I'm well aware of that and since it took most of what I had to get through the wards without breaking them I'll need to make a Portkey to get out again."
"Can you?"
"We'll see in a moment, Portus," was the short reply and Remus shifted closer to Sirius when his vision swam and Sirius pushed a branch into the bandages.
Sirius slipped an arm around his waist, pulling him closer as he had clearly realised Remus would be useless in a fight and might not stay on his feet for too much longer.
The fire began to thin out, but nothing happened and Remus swallowed as he realised the Portkey had failed and they were stuck.
"Leave me..."
"You're delusional, stay back or I will kill you!" Sirius warned the pack as they all moved in, and he raised his wand threateningly, clearly seeing the fire burning out.
"Kill the wolf... maim, kill," the leader of the pack snarled and a red spell shot from Sirius' wand, stunning the werewolf coming too near in a clear warning.
But it didn't work and several of them attacked when their leader snarled again, jumping over the fading fire, but Sirius blasted them backwards while pushing Remus protectively behind him; letting out a string of curses that forced the others back, killing those who attempted to come close regardless.
Suddenly his grip tightened on Remus' good arm to an almost painful one and Remus gasped when all of a sudden he felt a sharp tug behind his navel and the world became unfocused as the Portkey activated after all.
He would have landed in a painful heap on the ground if Sirius hadn't had such a strong grip on his arm, keeping him upright as they landed and immediately Remus' stomach turned.
Sirius barely managed to get out of the way as Remus emptied out his stomach in the grass below him, not aware of anything and utterly useless should they still be under attack as he couldn't focus on anything but the burning of his throat and he panicked as he was suddenly unable to breath.
"Easy..." as sudden as it had begun, his airway cleared again and he coughed more roughly as air returned to him and he sagged against Sirius, breathing deeply.
"Next time I ask you if you have any life threatening injuries, don't lie to me," Sirius eventually grumbled and Remus suddenly became aware that he wasn't in half as much pain any more and his head was now resting in Sirius' lap.
"Sorry..."
"I'm taking us to James in a little while so you can rest properly there."
"Thanks, how did you know I was in trouble?"
"Alice. She overheard where Dumbledore send you and immediately warned me."
"Why warn?" Remus asked shakily, the world turning before his eyes as he tried to sit up and thankfully closed his eyes when Sirius let him lean against him; holding him up so he wasn't lying down any more.
"Because every wizard knows about the Highland pack and knows it is suicide to go there."
"I had never heard of them before," Remus took slow breaths as Sirius had clearly healed his other injuries already.
"That's because you fail to do your research before leaving on these useless missions."
"They are not useless, Siri...I..." Remus swallowed, unable to lie to his best friend when he knew he was right. It didn't matter how long Remus lived among his own kind, the only thing every pack agreed upon was that they'd be better off under Voldemort's rule.
And if he was very honest with himself, he couldn't blame them, not when most of society shunned creatures like him and hate ran wide and deep against them for something they couldn't even help.
"Yeah well, I'm not sorry to say I disagree. And I will be having a word with Dumbledore, the bastard should have known better than to send you there."
"I doubt he knew..." Remus tried to defend their old headmaster.
"That's nonsense; he should know where he sends members of the Order, especially when he insists on sending a valuable one on these uselessly dangerous missions."
"I'm not...I'm the only one who can do this, Siri..." Remus whispered.
"Why? Because the packs don't trust wizards? How are they ever going to trust anyone if they only send other werewolves to talk to them? What sign to a promise of a better life does it give when they can't even bother to send a wizard?"
"You do realise I am also a wizard, don't you?" Remus asked a hint of a smile on his face.
"Then start acting like one. Because from what I've seen today, you're an awful excuse of one," Sirius snapped. "You are a brilliant wizard, strong and powerful when you want to be. So why didn't you blast them to smithereens?"
"I...are you mad at me?" Remus blinked.
"Yes! No...darn it, Remus, you are better than these useless missions and you're going to get yourself killed at this rate and for what? For Dumbledore's ego trips in thinking he can change things like this because I can tell you it's not going to work."
"Sirius..."
"Don't...just...don't talk right now. Let's go to James' so you can rest and I can vent my anger at the right person," Sirius cut him off.
Remus swallowed thickly as he allowed the dark-haired man to pull him to his feet and pull the now useless Portkey from between his bandages, transfiguring it into a garbage can before holding it out to him.
"In case your stomach gets upset again."
"Thank you for coming after me," Remus ignored the garbage can in favour of grabbing Sirius' wrist.
"Yeah...don't make me have to do it again. If that Rune hadn't activated when it did..."
"I thought I recognised your signature in that burst of magic. When did you draw it on me?"
"Last night while you slept, after you told me that...that...that he wanted to see you at noon," Sirius' tone was curt and Remus only nodded, aware the younger man was trying his hardest not to yell at him.
He finally caught a glimpse of their surroundings and was surprised to find they were next to a small stream at the base from a hill on which stood a large cylindrical house.
"Where are we?"
"That's Pandora's house," Sirius nodded to the odd looking house.
"Should have known," Remus chuckled fondly. "Wasn't she home?"
"It was the only place I could think of not in the middle of a Muggle environment and it's kind of late to go banging on a door just to say hello to a highly pregnant woman in the evening," Sirius shrugged, not truly answering his question.
"You never know, they're odd enough to just let us in.," Remus teased, feeling a little better.
"That might be, but I'm against disturbing her when there's no need for it. Once I'd assessed your injuries I realised there was no need for outside help and dragged you to the stream to clean you up."
"How long have we been here?" Remus asked confused, having thought only a few minutes had passed since they'd arrived.
"About four hours. You passed out once you could breathe again and I healed your injuries in that time and let you rest for a bit."
"I'm sorry..."
"I know. We should go though; we'll probably wake Harry as it is."
"What time is it?"
"Past eleven, you left for your mission around four pm and I found you just after six," he informed him so he could form his own time-line, clearly aware he still felt a bit foggy.
"Oh...you could also just take us home. I could rest there too," Remus offered despite being aware Sirius would never leave him alone but would want to yell at Dumbledore as soon as possible before his temper left.
"You're going to James' and Lily's, don't bother arguing. Now lean against me as I don't think I'd be able to catch you again if you slip," Sirius admitted and Remus looked down at him, suddenly aware of just how tight the other man's expression was and that he was covered in blood.
"Are you hurt?"
"You're the one who's been used as a scratching post," Sirius brushed him off so Remus wrapped his unbound arm around Sirius' waist to get a good grip on him and closed his eyes when indicated so Sirius could Apparate them.