A/N This story diverges from canon after the night of the full moon at the end of POA - everything else that has happened or is happening beyond the confines of the story is canon compliant. As per the character pairing tags it is a wolfstar fic and is an extreme slow burn - though it is predominantly an adventure story, their being in love is a part of it. Every Indiana Jones movie comes with a love interest ... and so does this story.

It Wouldn't Be An Adventure Without You

Chapter One: Waning Gibbous

It was dark by the time Remus finally arrived home. The carriage ride had been a long one. Normally he would just apparate but … after last night he was still too tired, his bones too weary. He ached far too much still.

The great, silver moon shone down on him as struggled his way up the garden path with his suitcase and the Grindylow tank. Merlin only knew what he was going to do with an empty Grindylow tank now … He considered getting some fish. But fish would have to be fed and he could not afford the needless expense.

He did not know how long the money he had earned since September was going to have to last him - though he knew far better by now than to assume paid work would be forthcoming any time soon. And - as was all too clear to him in the pale moonlight - his cottage had gone even more to wrack and ruin in his 9 month absence. The garden was overgrown, the thatch had new holes in it and the chimney was sitting at a strange angle. And that was just the damage he could see from the outside. He would patch up what he could himself but … some of it may require having to pay someone more specialised to come in and fix. And that would eat into the meagre savings he had managed to build up.

Plus he already needed another set of robes. The ones from last night … when he had transformed so suddenly … there was no saving them. Even if they hadn't already been old and frayed and darned and patched to within an inch of their life. Even something brand new could not have been mended after being torn apart that way. It would have been beyond Madam Malkin to save them … it was way beyond him.

He shifted his grip on the tank and dug in his pockets for his keys … but when he came to twist the handle, the door was already unlocked and it swung open by itself. Immediately he was wary, on the alert.

Squaring his shoulders, he stepped inside the dark hallway, dropped his suitcase on the floor with a thud, deposited the Grindylow tank onto the hall table and took out his wand. 'Who's there?' he asked, his voice was sharp.

'Nice Grindylow tank,' a voice croaked from the shadows. 'What are you going to put in it?'

Remus just had time to feel a wave of relief, and the adrenaline start to ebb away, before Sirius Black stepped out of the shadows - and he felt his heart rate pick up once more. Though he was used to hiding that … the physiological effects Sirius had on him. He had hidden it all through school - and he had hidden it last night, without even having to think about it. Some things you never forgot … like riding a broomstick.

He lowered his wand. 'What are you doing here, Sirius?' Tired and achy as he was, there was a note of amusement in his voice. He couldn't pretend he was not happy to see his old friend here. After last night - and Peter's escape - he thought he had lost him again.

'I'm waiting for you.'

With a wave of his wand, Remus locked the door, closed all the blinds and lit the lamps. He could see Sirius much more clearly now, see how thin he was - see all the damage Azkaban had done to him. 'Yes, I understand that. But why are you here waiting for me?'

The other man shrugged his bony shoulders. 'I knew you'd be back. After you transformed last night, I knew they'd kick you out. Mummies and daddies not wanting their precious little darlings being taught by the big, bad wolf.' There was a growl to his voice, and a look of disgust on his face - the way there always had been, when they were young, and he was suddenly confronted with the type of prejudice Remus had to live with every day.

'They didn't kick me out. I resigned.'

'Because if you didn't they'd have kicked you out. Things never change. They never change. I don't know how you stick it out.'

'I don't exactly have a choice,' he said lightly. 'Come on,' he gestured to the kitchen with his head. 'I'll put the kettle on.'

...

He led Sirius into the kitchen, and frowned as he saw that the tap had developed a leak while he had been gone. That would have to go on the list of jobs. For now he just filled the kettle up and then tapped it with his wand - it shrieked and emitted a spout of steam. He hastily shoved teabags into chipped mugs, realised he had no milk in the house as he poured the boiling water into the cups and grabbed his wand again, muttering 'lacciomente'. A fountain of milk cascaded from his wand tip and he directed it into the tea. He stirred the tea, took out the teabags, picked up the mugs and carried them across to the kitchen table, where Sirius had sat down.

Putting one cup of tea in front of Sirius, he scraped a chair back and sat down opposite him. 'So apart from the fact you knew I'd get kicked out of Hogwarts, what are you doing here?'

But Sirius wasn't listening. He had gripped the warm cup in his skeletal hands, hugging it to his chest as if to absorb all of its warmth into his body. And when he took a sip - a look of nostalgia and pleasure and finally satisfied longing spread across his face. His eyes were closed, and he let out a great and contented sigh. 'You always did make a good cup of tea, Moony.'

'When was the last time you had one?'

'The day James and Lily…' He left the sentence dangling.

Remus just stared at him in stunned silence. He couldn't imagine … Of course he knew Sirius had been in prison all that time - or on the run. And though he'd never been to Azkaban himself, he knew enough about it to know that rations were basic - bread and water… Just looking at Sirius' half starved mask of a face told him that. But he had never really considered ... He couldn't quite get his head around the idea of going twelve whole years without a cup of tea. He didn't think he would have survived it. 'I'm guessing you didn't have any chocolate in that time either.'

'Oh yeah - the dementors handed it out every Friday with our pocket money, if we'd been good,' he opened one eye and grinned at Remus.

Despite himself, Remus found himself grinning back. 'I suppose that might possibly make the top ten list of stupidest things I've ever said.'

'Oh, I dunno, Moony - there's some stiff competition.'

Remus kicked him under the table.

'Ow.'

They both started to laugh - and for a while they couldn't stop. It had been so long - for both of them - since they had sat with a friend, a friend they really loved, and laughed at nothing in particular - but just because everything was funny when you were with friends.

As Sirius laughed, the ravages of Azkaban seemed to melt from his face - and the boy he had been shone through. Watching him, and laughing along himself, Remus felt his own aches and pains start to recede - just fade in importance - and he felt younger than he had in years.

They had always been laughing, once upon a time. And now, together, in this dismal little kitchen with its dripping tap, it suddenly felt like they were finally themselves again. Who they had been and who they were always supposed to be. Not the two broken down and damaged men, old before their time, that they had become. But the boys who had the whole world in front of them. Life had been cruel - to the both of them - but now they were together again and suddenly that didn't matter. They were still Moony and Padfoot. They would always be Moony and Padfoot.

Eventually, they sobered up - and went back to their tea. This was the first cup Sirius had had in twelve years, after all. He didn't want to drink it cold.

'So why did you come?' Remus asked again. 'They might look for you here, might find you.'

Sirius frowned - his face gaunt and waxy once more. 'Did they think you were helping me? Are you in trouble?'

'No - no, Dumbledore convinced the Minister I had nothing to do with any of it.'

His face relaxed, 'then they won't look for me here. If I was what they say I am, then out of everyone, Moony, you would have reason to hate me the most. I would have taken the most from you.'

'What about Harry?'

'He never knew James. He doesn't really understand exactly what he lost. And now he's at Hogwarts - and he has those friends. Friends who are willing to die for him… like we used to have. You, though … you lost everything that night.'

'I know.' He couldn't hide the tremble in his voice. Even after all this time - twelve years - it still hurt. Whenever a dementor had got too close, all year, he was taken back to that moment of discovery… James and Lily dead. Peter dead. Sirius a spy. And Remus was all alone, left only with people who hated him for what he was - who didn't trust him and who wanted nothing to do with him. Whenever a dementor had got too close he had felt every one of his twelve years of loneliness … and the loss of Sirius. The sting of betrayal. His own broken heart and the crushing of hopes that he had never really dared to hope in the first place. That was what he had never really recovered from.

He looked up - and noticed Sirius watching him, calculatingly. 'What?'

'How much … how much did you hate me? All those years?' There seemed to be a tremble in Sirius' voice too.

'I … it doesn't matter. I don't have to hate you any more.' He smiled. 'I'm just happy to have you back…' And Sirius would never know just how true that was.

'But you did hate me.'

'I … it was … complicated . I hated what you'd done. What I thought you'd done. In a way it felt like you had died as well. Because the Sirius I thought I knew could never have done those things, so the man who went to Azkaban … he couldn't possibly be you.' He struggled to keep his voice light, to try and make this all seem far less serious and painful than it really was. 'A lot of the time I grieved you as if you were dead as well … it… it hurt less that way.'

'That's how I felt.'

Remus looked up at him in surprise, not understanding.

'When I thought you were the spy. When Dumbledore said one of us was a traitor and I thought it must be you … that's exactly how I felt. Like it would have been easier if you had died. Less painful. I had … I had a long time to regret that in Azkaban.'

'Well - it's over now. And we both know the truth.'

'The world doesn't though.'

'No.'

'That's why I'm here.' He put his empty cup down on the table and leaned forward. 'I'm not giving up. I'm not giving up until I've finished what I started. I broke out of Azkaban to kill Peter and that's what I'm going to do.'

'But … you knew where he was before. He could be anywhere now.'

But Sirius just let out a bark like laugh. 'We both know where he's going. He's only got one place left to go.'

'Voldemort.'

'Exactly. They say he's hiding out in a forest in Albania. Little Peter will be making his way there as we speak. I'm going to stop him before he can get there. Not just so I can clear my name and because the little rat deserves death - but because we cannot allow a servant of Voldemort to return to his master. They say Voldemort is a wreck of a wizard, barely alive. But if he has someone to help him…'

'He could rise again.'

'He could gain power again. Start another war. I have to stop that. I don't want Harry having to grow up and fight the way we did. James wouldn't want it either. We were too young - and it took far too much from us. It ruined our lives. But Harry ... I owe it to Harry to give him a better world, if I possibly can.'

'I understand.' He nodded his head. Having spent this past year with Harry, seeing so much of James in him, seeing his own circle of friends from his own school days reflected back in Hermione and Ron - and how loyal they were … it had driven home more than ever just how young he and his friends had been when they had gone to war. And how important it was that young witches and wizards never be asked to fight again - that there never be another lost generation. No more broken lives. 'So … why exactly are you here?'

Sirius' expression became soft - it was strange to see on his corpse-like face, like he had forgotten softness long ago and this return to it was making his skin crack. His tone became wheedling. 'Oh come on, Moony - being on the run, hunting down Peter, it's been one long, hard slog all year. And chasing him all the way to Albania won't be any better. But … if you come with me…'

'Sirius…'

'It will be an adventure! Come on - you know it will. As long as we're together it will feel like an adventure.'

That made Remus laugh - though it was a dry laugh, at the expense of Sirius' naivete. He had often laughed at how naive Sirius could be when they were younger - he had thought Azkaban would have knocked that out of him… Apparently not. 'Adventures don't feel like they're adventures until they're over - and you know how they end,' he said. 'Until then it's just danger and being afraid; being too hot or too cold, too hungry and thirsty and getting rained on. My being there won't make any difference to that .'

Sirius had arched an eyebrow - 'and do you have anything better planned?' he asked.

'No,' Remus replied, simply.

'Well then,' he stretched his arms out. He leaned back in his chair, looking like he had already won. Remus remembered that look all too well. 'You've got no excuse.'

'Well I haven't thought of one yet - but give me time.'

'Say you'll come with me, Moony.'

And how could Remus say "no" to that? How could he ever say no to Sirius? Even after all these years - even after the damage of Azkaban and the ravages of time - he was Sirius. And Remus was fooling himself if he thought he could ever stand against him. 'Alright.' He gave a small smile, 'just as long as you promise to never refer to it as an "adventure" ever again.'

'It's a deal!' His face cracked into a real grin once again - and once again the handsome boy he had used to be shone through, the years melted away and it was like he had fired an arrow right into Remus' heart.