Title: A Wolf by Any Other Name

Summary: AU, Multi-chaptered. Remus goes undercover in Voldemort's army. This chapter, Sirius' rescue starts.

Rating: M

Warnings: Language, violence

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, J.K. Rowling does.

A/N: Two more chapters and an epilogue to go. Thank you thank you thank you for the reviews, and keep 'em coming! Enjoy :)

Also, I fixed a formatting thing from chapter 9, so that's what's going on if you got multiple alerts or something.

Chapter 10

"The problem between the two of us is… I have no idea if I can trust you, Regulus." Remus was pacing back and forth in his rooms, and the young wizard was still sitting in a chair, occasionally gulping air to keep from crying again. "I mean, you are a Death Eater…" Remus continued.

Regulus looked at him, his tear-streaked face incredulous. "As are you."

Remus stopped pacing and regarded him silently. Finally, after a very long pause, he sighed. "My dedication to your brother… supersedes my allegiance to Lord Voldemort."

Regulus nodded slowly, and looked down again. "When I joined the Death Eaters, I did so with the promise that since I was a member, Sirius would be left alone. I wouldn't have joined up if I'd thought Sirius would ever be in danger."

Remus raised his eyebrows, surprised. "I… didn't realize… you were…"

"That I cared?" Regulus said harshly. "I do. He's my brother, Remus. And without him, I doubt I would have survived childhood. Our father is… a rather violent man. Sirius made sure all his attentions were focused away from me. I owe him my life. I won't—will. not. let him die."

Remus gave him a small half-smile. "Well. When I found out Sirius had been taken," he said slowly, half-lying, as there was no need for Regulus to know the whole truth, "I contacted the Order of the Phoenix."

Regulus' eyes widened. "What!"

"There was no other way," Remus shrugged. "Anyway, I talked to my old friends. They're planning a rescue for nightfall. Several of the Dark Lord's supporters will be out of the castle. There is a good chance the Sirius will be rescued and we will not suffer heavy losses."

"I don't care if we suffer heavy losses. I won't be a Death Eater after tonight."

"Hmm," Remus said. "No, neither of us likely will. We'll probably be found out if we help the Order. We may be killed."

"Don't care."

"My sentiments, as well. For now, we should patrol the castle, try to lift as many protection spells as we can. We can give the Order members easier access that way." Remus was nervous telling Regulus this—despite Regulus' confession, he still didn't really trust him.

"Fine," Regulus said shortly. "I'll meet you back here a little before sundown." He stood up and wiped his face, strode to the door and then stopped, his hand on the latch. His eyes were fixed firmly on the ground.

"When we were in school Sirius always raved about you. He drove me crazy—Remus did this, Remus did that. Remus is so wonderful..." he sighed. "You were his life. So I hated you when you left him, because I can't even imagine the pain he went through. That you put him through. After this… don't hurt him again, because I swear to Merlin, I will kill you."

"The last thing I want is for Sirius to suffer."

"Good." Regulus threw open the door and stalked out, slamming it behind him.

OoOoOoO

Remus was sliding as silently as he could down a side corridor. He had his wand out, and was muttering softly to himself as he broke the stunning jinx that was set to go off if anyone other than a resident of the castle stepped down here.

He breathed out a sigh as he successfully lifted the jinx. This was hard work—several of the protection spells he'd already broken were very complex, and he was still quite tired. He hoped Regulus was able to work faster than he was.

Remus turned a corner and slammed into something warm and solid. He fell over and landed on his back, looking up into a face he had managed to avoid for the last several days.

"Igor."

Their… relationship, for lack of a better word… had improved since Sariah had spoken to him a few months ago. His rising in the ranks of Greyback's pack had also helped slow the violence, but Remus had recently reached his breaking point.

Truthfully, Karkaroff was beyond disgusting, and Remus had felt progressively dirtier and dirtier every time they had fucked. He was reminded strongly of his aversion when he now laid eyes on Igor, and last night's passionate encounter with Sirius only served to strengthen his repulsion with the older wizard.

"Remus. Haven't seen you in awhile. What are you doing here—wasn't the full last night? Shouldn't you be recuperating?"

"I'm fine," Remus gritted out, pushing himself to his feet. He stepped back, not bothering to hide the small snarl on his lips when he realized Karkaroff had moved uncomfortably close. The older wizard reached out and caught a hold of Remus' robes, running his fingers over the clasp.

"Well… if you feel fine, you should come back to my rooms. It's been awhile." He bared his yellow teeth in what may have been his attempt at a smile, and Remus' snarl grew more pronounced.

"No," Remus said shortly, pulling his robes from Igor's grasp. "I'm busy."

Igor's eyes narrowed. "Doing what?"

Remus blinked. "Patrolling."

"No, you're not," Karkaroff said, his voice suspicious. "Greyback's second in command doesn't get patrol duty. What are you really doing?" Suddenly, his hand flashed down, then back up, and Remus was staring at the tip of a wand before he had a chance to react.

Karkaroff glanced around, and seeing nothing amiss, began to slowly lower his wand. Remus relaxed for a moment before a calculating look shone in Igor's eye, and he muttered a showing spell under his breath, looking for ambient spells in the air and walls around the two men. His face twisted into a snarl when he found nothing. Remus flinched.

"You're breaking the protections on the castle, Lupin."

"…No, I'm not… why would I do that…" Remus protested feebly, trying to judge how fast he would be able to go for his wand, which was lying on the ground where he had dropped it when he fell. He wondered if he could jump to the side quickly enough to avoid the spell Karkaroff would inevitably cast.

The Dark wizard pressed closer, his wand jabbing painfully into Remus' neck. "I think our Lord would like to hear about this, wolf." Suddenly, his eyes flicked behind Remus, and his brow furrowed, his mouth opening in confusion.

Remus had just enough time to duck when he heard a shouted "Stupefy!" Unfortunately, Karkaroff had time to dodge as well, and the stunning spell only hit him in the arm. While Igor swore and rubbed his bicep, Remus dived toward his own wand, and brought it up swiftly, yelling "Impedimenta" at the same time another stupefy went sailing over his head.

Remus barely registered Karkaroff countering with "Protego" and then Regulus was by his side, pulling him into the mild protection of an alcove.

"Idiot," Regulus hissed. "You let Karkaroff catch you? What's wrong with you? He could be going to tell everyone now!" His eyes were wild, and he looked on the edge of panic.

Remus stared into space for a moment, steeling himself to do what he knew he needed to. Igor couldn't get away. It was too dangerous, he had seen both of them, he knew what they were doing… he stood up and stepped out of the alcove, wand pointed at Karkaroff, who was hastily drawing something on the ground with the tip of his wand and speaking quickly under his breath.

"Get up, Igor. I won't attack you with your back turned." Remus widened his stance, his face impassive and wand held at the ready. Karkaroff looked up, smiling nastily at him.

"Going to try and stun me again, Remus? Oh, I'm so scared." His lip curled. "I should have known you'd never really switch sides, you filthy half-breed." He considered the other man for a moment, a toothy grin growing on his face. "At least I got a few good fucks out of you while you were here. I love to hear you scream, wolf. And you have no idea how pleasurable it was to beat you within an inch of your life. To make you bleed, cry for mercy. Better than the strongest aphrodisiac."

He stood up and raised his wand. Remus' face was still carefully impassive, but his hand was shaking very slightly. Karkaroff continued to smile. "Don't like to hear about how I plundered you? What would your friends with the Order think if they knew you'd been taking my dick up your ass for the past year? What would Sirius Black think? Would he cry?"

"Shut it, Karkaroff," Remus spat. "I let you into my bed to get information, which you so readily provided. Think about it—you're directly responsible for some of Voldemort's more miserable failures over the past year."

"Yes, well, not this time. This time, I'll bring your head in on a platter. Oh, and I've placed an anti-Apparition spell on the castle. If you were planning on backup, you won't get it."

Remus ground his teeth, and whispered softly under his breath, even as Karkaroff flourished his wand and opened his mouth. The Dark wizard managed to get out a shouted "Avada-" before a flash of green shot from Remus' wand and hit him directly in the chest. His face showed a burst of shocked surprise before he dropped dead where he stood.

"You killed him," Regulus said shakily, stepping out of the alcove as well. "That's—"

"It was necessary. Now help me try to remove the anti-Apparition spell." Remus waved his wand, and Karkaroff's body floated up and settled behind a nearby tapestry. It wouldn't be good if he was found now.

"Right," Regulus said, eyeing Remus carefully. "You know, you're a bit terrifying, Remus."

"Only when I need to be."

OoOoOoO

It was late evening, and almost fully dark. Remus and Regulus were crouching in the shadows, separated from the entrance to the dungeons by a large courtyard. They were watching a dementor float lazily back and forth in front of the large wooden doors. They were far enough away that they only felt mildly depressed, but getting past the thing might be a problem.

"What are we going to do?" whispered Regulus. "If we can't lift the anti-Apparition spell, they won't be able to get close enough…"

"They'll just Apparate outside the walls. It will be fine—we sliced through the castle's defenses. They shouldn't have a hard time getting in."

As they were talking, two things happened: first, the sun slid its last edge beneath the horizon, and second, the door they were watching opened a crack, and a long-skirted figure slid through the opening. Remus let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "There she is. I was wondering where she'd got to."

"The vampire?" Regulus' voice was dripping with loathing. "Disgusting creature. She was the one that brought Sirius in. Do we get to kill her?"

Remus looked sharply at him. "No. She's working with us."

"What? She brought him in. Why would she care what happens to Sirius?"

"…It's a long story. I'll fill you in later."

During their whispered conversation, Sariah had been gesturing at the dementor, which had stopped its gliding patrol and faced her. She appeared to be trying to get it to leave, but dementors were notoriously thick, and it didn't seem to be getting the picture. Finally, exasperated, she drew her wand and shot a small burst of blue smoke at it. It shrank back slightly, but then turned and glided away.

After she watched after it to make sure it didn't double back, Sariah turned and headed straight for the two men. When she reached them, she snarled slightly at Regulus. "I could hear you, you know. I'm a disgusting creature? I think not, you blood-bag. And I was nice to you earlier." She turned her attention to Remus, leaving Regulus pale-faced and gaping. "What's he doing here?"

"Regulus is helping. Sirius is his brother, you know."

"I am aware. Sirius is down in the dungeons, momentarily unguarded. His injuries are… extensive. And whatever Dolohov was doing to him, he combined with jinxes. I can't get his wounds to heal. He's in very bad shape."

Remus nodded, not wanting to think what could be wrong with Sirius that Sariah couldn't heal. "The members of the Order should be here soon, but we ran into a snag earlier."

Regulus snorted. "Snag? A bit more than that… Karkaroff caught us breaking the castle's protective spells. He and Remus dueled, and Remus killed him. But Karkaroff set up anti-Apparition in the castle, so the Order members will be deflected to outside the walls."

Sariah was silent for a moment, before turning back to Remus. "Why did you kill Karkaroff? Couldn't you have just stunned him?"

Remus' gaze was steely. "He deserved it."

"He could have gone to trial. Killing him was unnecessary. Your morals are slipping, Remus."

"I've killed before. I'm quite good at it, remember?" He glared at her, a grimace playing around his lips that usually worked quite well to intimidate the members of his pack. Sariah did not appear affected, though Regulus backed up a step.

"You need to leave this place. It's changing you," the vampire said softly. Remus suddenly felt embarrassed under her blank gaze.

"I know," he whispered in return.

Suddenly, the night was split by several loud cracks, coming from all directions around the castle, surrounding them.

"The Order's here," Remus breathed. "We should go. I told them not to hurt you," he said to Sariah, "but I didn't know about you when I last talked to them," he finished, directing this comment at Regulus. "Sariah, go see how you can help them. Regulus, come with me. We'll try to get Sirius out in the confusion."

The other two nodded. Sariah spun and moved quickly along the wall in the direction the nearest crack of Apparition had come from. Remus and Regulus sprinted toward the entrance to the dungeons and slipped inside.

OoOoOoO

James was surrounded by a loose circle of Order members, all who were rubbing their heads. Getting repelled by an anti-Apparition spell wasn't the most pleasant of experiences, and several were frustrated. Whispers were already circling that Remus had led them into a trap.

James was doing his best to reassure people and trying to get them to spread out and attack quickly, before they lost the element of surprise. Most agreed readily, and quickly, the twenty-seven wizards split up, magically breaking through doors and silently mounting brooms to scale the walls.

Just as James turned to follow Moody, a shadow detached itself from the wall and glided toward him. James drew his wand, and came within a half a second of attacking before he realized this was the vampire Remus had told him about.

She held up her hands. "Sorry I didn't show myself earlier. I didn't want to take a chance with a large group of angry wizards. But how can I help?"

James bit his lip while he looked at her. Remus had promised that she was one of the good guys, but… vampires… this was a bit surreal.

"I guess be backup for everyone. Take out as many Death Eaters as you can? We're trying not to kill unless we have to, but my guess is we're going to have to quite often, tonight."

She nodded. "Remus and Regulus Black are trying to get Sirius out right now."

James blinked in surprise. "Regulus?"

"He apparently cares more about his brother than we thought. He knows the Order is attacking, but not that Remus and I are spies."

"Alright," James shrugged. "Let's go."

OoOoOoO

Lily Potter stared out a window of her home in Godric's Hollow as she rocked Harry to sleep. Her face was lined with worry, and she had given up trying to sing a lullaby to Harry. Her voice was shaking too badly.

She was terrified for James and the rest. As she laid Harry in his crib, she closed her eyes and prayed that everyone would come out of this—that James would come home, that Sirius was still alive, that everything would be okay.

OoOoOoO

"Lumos," whispered Regulus. All the torches in the dungeon were out—undoubtedly because of the dementor that had until recently been guarding the doors. Remus glanced at him and then lit his wand as well. Holding them aloft, the two men walked quickly downwards, into silence.

A few minutes passed, and a sickly yellow light began to flicker ahead of them, around a corner. Remus drew in a sharp breath and ran toward it, ignoring Regulus' hiss to slow down. Remus skidded around the corner, and crashed into an iron grate that closed off a cramped cell. He cringed at the noise, but they were deep in the belly of the castle—it was unlikely anyone heard them.

Inside the cell, Sirius was lying collapsed in the corner. From where Remus was standing, he couldn't see if he was breathing or not. Remus pointed his wand at the lock, but all that came out of his mouth was a strangled noise.

Regulus joined him at that second, and his muttered "Alohomora" sprung the lock open. Remus rushed inside, falling on his knees next to Sirius, and Regulus turned, watching their exit.

"Sirius. Sirius, please wake up, please…" Remus murmured, pulling Sirius mostly into his lap. He let out a shaky breath when he realized how badly he was bleeding… how sunken his chest looked… the odd angles his legs were lying in. Sariah hadn't exaggerated the extent of his injuries.

He let out a quiet sob, and Regulus turned to him, eyes wide. "He's alive, right?" Remus nodded, and then concentrated, trying various spells in an attempt to heal. Aside from healing a few minor abrasions and cleaning off Sirius' face, he was unsuccessful. He swore and instead conjured bandages, wrapping them tightly to try to stop the blood loss.

Sirius groaned when his muddled mind registered the pressure from the bandages. He opened one eye—the other was to swollen to move. Sandy brown hair and a concerned face swum in front of his unfocused vision. "…Moony…?"

"I'm here, Sirius. So's Regulus. We're going to get you out, ok? Hold still." Sirius whimpered in response, and fell into unconsciousness again. Remus stood up, raised his wand, and said "Levicorpus." Sirius' body rose off the ground, and floated gently in midair. Regulus again lit his wand, and the three men moved quickly from the dungeons.

"We need to get him outside the castle walls," said Regulus. "Then you can Apparate with him to St. Mungo's. I'll stay and cover your retreat." Remus nodded.

"Thank you, Regulus. I couldn't have…"

"I know. Be careful."

They had reached the doors that led to the courtyard. As Remus put a hand on the latch, they were rocked backward by the sound of a large explosion somewhere overhead. Bits of dirt dusted down from the ceiling, and the two men looked at each other.

Regulus took a deep breath and Remus tightened his grip on his wand.

"Let's go," said the werewolf, and Regulus nodded. The pushed the door open and stepped into hell.