Disclaimer: See first Chapter

"So that's Kingsley, Dung, Emmeline, Hestia, Podmore, Doge, Diggle, Mad-Eye Moody, Tonks and…" Lupin trailed off, his eyes widening. Why couldn't he remember the last man? He tapped the parchment with the tip of his quill and turned to Sirius. "Right, let's go over this again."

Sirius sighed. "It's you, Remus."

Lupin rolled his eyes and sighed, taking the parchment back and scribbling his own name at the bottom of the list. "Of course! Thanks, Pads." He rolled up the list he had insisted on making for the umpteenth time just so he knew who he was expecting, and got to his feet.

"Why can't I come?"

"You know why, Sirius."

Sirius blocked the door out of the library. "Come on, Moon. You can appoint me as the eleventh man. You're leading it, aren't you?"

Lupin nodded. "Only because Albus seems to think I'm the best man for the job. Personally, I voted Moody."

Sirius snorted. "Yeah, you'd have to set off three days early so you could be briefed on safety."

He was given a meaningful glare and a warning for that remark.

"Remus, I'm his godfather. I should be there to protect him."

"Who do you think he needs protecting from?"

Forced to move out of Lupin's way, Sirius followed him along the hall and up to his new bedroom. He had been shifted to the Attic so that Number 12 could house the entire Weasley clan and Hermione Granger as well as Tonks on a regular basis.

"You for starters," Sirius answered.

"Are you questioning my leadership skills?"

Lupin attempted to shut the door on him. No such luck. Sirius slipped in behind him and perched on the windowsill, refusing to budge.

"Remus, you don't even have leadership skills."

"Off the windowsill."

Sirius complied but continued to protest. "He's going to need reassurance. Harry doesn't know any of these people and suddenly they're all going to show up at his Aunt and Uncle's? He'll need me there as a familiar face. Besides, I'd die for him, you know that."

Lupin nodded. "He'll know me."

"He hasn't seen you in over a year!"

"Sirius, he's hardly going to have forgotten what I look like."

Sirius harrumphed. "What would James say?"

Lupin added his list to a small pile of documents, tied together and locked in the top drawer of the desk he had insisted on saving from the pyre. "He'd agree that it was far too dangerous for you to be going out when there's a price on your head."

"No he wouldn't. He'd say 'Remus, stop being such a fuddy-duddy."

Lupin raised an eyebrow. "Not funny. Look, we're leaving tonight and I have a formation to keep to. Adding you in at the last moment will mess it up. Sirius, they're not my rules but nevertheless, I would like you to stick to them. It's for your own good. Trust me. If you're bored, you can get on with the cleaning."

Wordlessly, Sirius left, leaving Lupin wondering whether he ought to follow him.

"Am I late?"

Lupin nodded. "You're not the last. Everyone's in the front room. Go on in."

Tonks did as she was told, dragging her broomstick along with her. She was closely followed by Lupin who evidently had no intention of waiting in the hallway for Mundungus Fletcher who would unquestionably arrive later than late.

Sirius stood to greet her and kissed her cheeks, asking her how she was and generally fussing over her to make it absolutely clear that he was pointedly ignoring Lupin who did not appear fazed by this at all.

"I'm on the Lupin diet," he told her. "I have actually eaten a midday snack today. I had yogurt, granola and berries. I am so ashamed of myself but it was de-bloody-lightful."

Tonks furrowed her brow. "Have you two been arguing?"

Both answered at the same time.

"No!"

"Yes."

Fortunately for them, Mundungus Fletcher chose the most awkward time to arrive.

"Am I late?"

"Yes," snapped Moody. "Now, Lupin's going to talk us through the plan."

Lupin appeared to be rather flustered by the idea. "Not much to say really," he explained. "We're flying to Surrey, that's a southerly direction and I've told you where you'll be flying so there should be no confusion. Any questions?" He clocked the raised hands of both Moody and Tonks. "No? Good."

Moody coughed. "Is there a reserve guard?"

Lupin stared at him. "Why would we need more of us? There are already far too many to be inconspicuous."

"Should we die, Lupin-"

"You'll forgive Mad-Eye, Remus," laughed Tonks. "He never takes a mission seriously."

"And in event of a flood-"

"Alastor, I hate to interrupt you but we should have been in Surrey ten minutes ago. Incidentally, you can all thank Dung if anything goes wrong vis-à-vis timing. To address the concerns of our Head of Aurors, we're miles in the air. I'm not even worrying about a Tsunami."

Sirius escorted the Advance Guard to the back garden and stood before Lupin, a smirk dancing across his face. "Well, everyone, you're under the direction of Remus Lupin so there has never been a better time to have a panic attack."

This earned him a few titters and he smiled.

"Sirius, I am so glad I'm wearing a corset, you could have cracked my ribs."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "You're wearing a corset, Remus?"

Lupin kicked off hard and sped into the air, shouting back, "It's a figure of speech, arsehole!" At least he was laughing.

On the ground, Sirius grinned back despite knowing that none of them would see except perhaps Mad-Eye who he got the feeling could see his innards if he so wanted. He contemplated waving but thought better of it for the same reason. He would only end up looking like an imbecile.

He sighed and trudged back into the kitchen. At least with Harry around, things would brighten up a bit. Life would certainly be more exciting.