It Wouldn't Be An Adventure Without You

by myheadsgonenumb

When Peter sets out to rejoin Voldemort, Sirius is determined to hunt him down & stop him before he gets there. But travelling to Albania alone will be a long, hard slog. So he recruits Remus & together they embark on an epic and perilous journey across Europe to catch Peter, stop Voldemort from rising & prevent another war. But monsters bar their way & Umbridge dogs their steps.

8. Family Matters

Chapter Eight: Family Matters

Remus gripped Sirius tighter, giving him a shake so that he woke up. 'Whassat?' Sirius mumbled blearily… fighting to open his eyes.

'Sirius -'

Something in Remus' voice must have cut through the sleepy fog - a sharp note of panic that even his groggy brain could register - as he sat up at once - his eyes now open fully. 'What -'

And then he saw what Remus was looking at. His mouth fell open and his eyes flew to Remus' - and Remus could see the light of anxiety in there.

'And what brings you boys into our forest?' The man said to them, he was still leering. His voice was raspy and there was an edge to it - something … almost … like delight. But dark and twisted - and which meant nothing good for the two of them.

'We were just…' He wasn't sure what he was going to say, but he started to climb out of his sleeping bag - feeling the situation would be slightly less dire if he wasn't constricted, if he was on his feet.

But the man had other ideas, 'you're good right about there, mister. No getting up. So - you just thought you'd come for a stroll in our forest did you? A little camping trip.' His voice took on even more of a leer. 'Just … two boys … together.'

Remus blushed - but Sirius stared up at the man stonily. Presumably he hadn't understood what the man had been insinuating.

'You've come from the town? From Baden Zauberer?' the man asked.

'No.' Sirius said to him. 'We're not from there.'

'Muggles, then is it? You don't look like muggles...'

'If zey are muggles then zey vill not taste as good,' one of the men said in a strong German accent. 'Ve should leave them, Torstan.'

Sirius' nose had wrinkled in disgust. 'You - you eat people? You're cannibals?'

'Nothing of the sort. We're not human,' the man said - his eyes were glittering dangerously. 'You are not our kind and we owe nothing to you. We are werewolves.'

A bolt of heat ran straight through Remus, shame and panic and fear - and when he looked up it was to see that Sirius had turned to look at him. And - for just a moment - he thought he saw something flicker behind Sirius' eyes. That same look everyone got when they found out what he, Remus, truly was. And Sirius was looking at these werewolves … and then looking at Remus … and Remus' feeling of shame only intensified.

'Zey are muggles - just let zem go,' one of the werewolves said.

But another disagreed, 'nein - even muggles are better to eat than nothing. If zey walk so willingly into our lair…'

'You see, boys,' the first man - Torstan - said to them, almost conversationally, 'we have a problem. Everyone in that damned little gingerbread town knows we're out here. They don't come in. Certainly not on a full moon. Leaves my pack hungry - moon after moon and no humans to bite. So when some of your kind wander in here of their own volition - what can we do, but take you prisoner until the next full - and have ourselves a good hunt?'

'Ohh,' Sirius nodded his head, realising something. 'You're going to eat us once you've transformed. That's - well that's less disgusting.'

'I'm glad you approve.'

'Is that why you've been taking the children? From the town? To hunt them?'

Torstan's eyes flickered. 'We never took any children. Now on your feet, muggles - slowly. No funny business.'

They struggled their way out of their sleeping bags and got to their feet, eyeing up the pack of wolves which surrounded them, warily. Remus felt Sirius reach out and take hold of his wrist and they stood there, clinging together - and waiting to see who would make the first move: the wolves, or them.

The men in the wolf pack crept closer to them, the circle tightening around them. 'Zey are wearing robes,' one of them said. 'I do not think zey are muggles. Zey are lying to us.'

'Is that right?' Torstan's eyes glittered ever more dangerously. 'Grab them!'

And before either of them had a chance to raise their wands and defend themselves, they found themselves grabbed roughly and held by three or four werewolves each.

'Thought you were going to trick us, hey? Wait until our backs were turned and jinx us?' Torstan stood toe to toe with Sirius and peered into his face. Then - 'hand over your wand,' he snapped.

But before Sirius could, one of the werewolves holding Remus called out to his leader. While Torstan had been menacing Sirius, this wolf had been … sniffing Remus.

'Torstan - this von! This von is von of us!' He gave Remus a shake.

Remus felt the shame stab even deeper. 'I'm not!' he protested, 'I'm not like you.'

'It is Volf! Same as us!'

'Well, well, well,' Torstan abandoned Sirius and walked over to Remus instead. He sniffed at him - and Remus flinched backwards. 'Keeping that quiet, weren't we? So … you're a wolf too.'

'No - I mean, yes - I'm a werewolf - but I'm not … I'm a man; I'm a wizard.' He could feel all their eyes watching him, but he could feel Sirius' eyes most keenly of all.

The wolfpack all laughed, a jeering, raspy, cackling sound that sent the birds flying from the trees in alarm.

'You think you're not like us? You think you're better than us?'

He could feel his cheeks flaming, burning with shame and misery and humiliation. 'I - I don't live like you. I live with the - the normal people.'

'And they accept you do they?' Torstan's voice was a sneer, 'they treat you like one of them?'

He bit his lip and didn't say anything, he knew these other werewolves knew well enough what his life was like. He knew he couldn't lie to them, couldn't fool them.

But Sirius had different ideas. 'Some of us accept him,' he shouted, struggling against his captors. 'Some of us know he isn't any different to the rest of us.'

'Shut up, human,' Torstan snarled.

'You hear me! He isn't like you - he's a man, the same as me…'

But Torstan had had enough, he left Remus - went back to Sirius and smacked him across the face, raking his sharp nails into his skin, leaving claw marks. 'He is not like you,' he grunted through gritted teeth. 'He is like us - and we are not like you - and you can say you don't care what he is but don't ever expect us to put up with being called the same as your kind, human. Do you understand? We are different. We are proud to be different. You are nothing - prey - food.'

But Sirius just glared back at him. 'Remus is not like you,' he repeated.

Torstan hit him again, Sirius spat at him. The werewolf bellowed in rage and lunged towards him.

'Stop, please!' Remus called out. 'Sirius - be quiet. You're not helping.'

'Quite,' the old werewolf, took a deep breath and turned around. 'We're all civilised men here - for now.' He smiled at Remus, though it was calculating - lacking any kind of warmth. It was more of a lascivious grimace. 'So,' he headed back over to the other group, where Remus stood and patted him on the shoulder. 'You're English, aren't you?'

'Yes.'

'And you're not one of mine - too young. One of Fenrir's boys, is it?'

Remus winced. 'I'm not -'

'Did he send you here?' Torstan's voice rapped out like a staccato beat of rapid fire jinxes.

'No!'

'And I'm supposed to believe that? One of Fenrir's boys just turns up in my forest - and it's a coincidence?' He gave a laugh - a humourless snarl of a chuckle.

'I wasn't raised in a wolf pack,' Remus said, struggling to keep his voice even. He could still feel Sirius' eyes on him and wished more than anything that he would look away, that he wouldn't stand there and witness this. It was bad enough he had to see how the other wizards treated him. But it was mortifying to have him see these werewolves claim Remus as one of their own.

'I don't believe that - Fenrir bites them young. That's what he likes. We used to fight about it.'

'I know - I - I was only small when he bit me, but my parents kept me. I was raised as a wizard, I went to Hogwarts with Sirius. That's how I know him. I was never -' he winced again, 'never part of Fenrir's pack.'

'I don't believe that. I think he sent you here - to spy. On us.'

'No! We didn't know you were here - I didn't know there were werewolves in the forest, not until the people in the town said so.'

'So what brought you in here?'

'We were … we were chased in here.'

Torstan's grin grew wider, and Remus caught sight of his sharp, yellow teeth. 'They chased you out. Like they chased us out. You stand there and say you're not one of us, that you stay with them - but they chased you out just the same.'

Remus hung his head. It was true enough. He was glossing over the part where it was the Ministry who had chased them in there - he wasn't going to tell the werewolves they were wanted. Though they might claim they wanted nothing to do with the wizarding world, he knew well enough they wouldn't be above handing over hunted criminals and collecting the reward money. But nevertheless - for all it had been the sight of Umbridge that had driven them into the forest - he had already been cast out and told to go back to his fellows. To this wolfpack. Torstan was not wrong - wizards did not accept him as one of them.

'So - you went to the town as a tourist and got driven out to us did you? And you're one of Fenrir's boys but not loyal to him … I don't know, this all seems a bit convenient to me.'

'It's all true - not that I'm one of Fenrir's boys. I mean, he bit me - but I'm not, I never … Please don't call me that.'

'So - no love for Fenrir Greyback, is it? Well then -' he suddenly wrapped an arm around Remus' shoulders, pushing one of the other werewolves out of the way. Now that Torstan was beside him, he had a clear view of Sirius… though he found he was too ashamed to look at him.

The arm tightened around him, 'this is something of a family reunion isn't it? - A happy occasion. The father Fenrir turned on, meeting Fenrir's son who rejects him.'

'I'm not - I'm not -' he didn't think he'd ever been more horrified by a name he had been called in the past. And he had been called plenty.

But Torstan wasn't listening. 'So, Fenrir's boy - Remus, is it? - as you're one of us - as you're family, we'll give you a choice. Now - the human is going to die, you shouldn't have brought a human in here - unless you meant to keep him as a snack for yourself.'

Remus' skin was flaming - red hot and crimson, and he stared down at his shoes, tears in his eyes - far too ashamed to look up at Sirius.

'There's no choice in that. The human dies. But you…' He gave him another squeeze. 'You can join us here, become one of us - where you belong - and at the next full you can lead the hunt against your little human friend. Or … you can refuse. And stand there snivelling, insisting that you're not like us - that you're really like them, even though they hate and fear you. Even though you disgust them… And we'll kill you where you stand. So- ' he grinned again, leering and wolfish, 'what's it to be?'

Remus stared down at his shoes, the tears were blurring his vision.

'Don't listen to him, Remus,' he heard Sirius yell.

'Shut it, human!' Torstan snarled again. 'We'll see how much bluster you still have in you at the next full moon.'

And Remus realised something. The very first inkling of a plan to get out of this began to form in his brain. He looked up - looked straight into Torstan's sneering face. 'There's only one problem with you trying to kill Sirius at the next full moon.'

'Yeah - what 's that?'

And now - pushing his shame to the side, for now - he forced himself to look at Sirius - right into his grey eyes. 'Padfoot!' he said. And he stared at his friend. His attempt at telepathy might have failed on the train, but he stared so intently and thought so loudly that he was sure Sirius must hear him - must understand …

And sure enough, Sirius vanished and was instantly replaced by the gigantic black dog. The wolves holding onto him were knocked down in their surprise, and he ran - barking and growling - straight at Torstan. He knocked Torstan to the ground and - in that moment - Remus whipped his wand out. 'Stupefy!' he yelled, sending out red sparks and hitting one of his captors. 'Stupefy, stupefy! Stupefy!'

Those that had held him were knocked out cold and he turned to face the ones that had captured Sirius. They were now back on their feet and creeping towards him . 'Petrificus totalus! Stupefy! Furnunculus!'

One went stiff as a board and collapsed to the ground, the other was stunned into unconsciousness. The third gave a great bellow and brought his hands up to his face as gigantic, painful boils began to erupt over his skin. But he didn't stop coming for them - and, with a flick of his wand, Remus yelled 'levicorpus' and the werewolf was suddenly hoisted up into the air by one leg, where he hung - upside down - yowling.

With all the others taken care of, Remus turned to Torstan, who was still on the ground - pinned in place by a snarling Padfoot. The werewolf wasn't just lying there, however - he was snarling right back - his own teeth bared every bit as much as Sirius' were … And it was honestly hard to say whose face looked more animal right now: the dog's… or the man's.

Remus winced again when he saw the feral snarl on Torstan's face, when he saw it and knew that could so easily be him. He raised his wand, though his hand trembled when he pointed it. His voice trembled as he spoke as well. 'That's enough, Sirius.'

And Sirius backed away, turning back into a man. He pulled his own wand out - and they both levelled them at the downed werewolf.

With a growl of rage, Torstan leapt to his feet - springing towards them. But they both reacted at the same time. 'Stupefy!' yelled Remus, while Sirius cried out 'levicorpus!'

And within an instant, the werewolf was up in the air, dangling by one leg - his eyes closed. Upside down and out cold. He began to rotate slowly in the air.

Sirius watched him, lowering his wand. 'Nasty old bugger.' He looked around at the incapacitated wolfpack. 'Nice going, Moony - seven on one. Not quite so old, broken and past it now...'

But Remus was still shaking, and taking in great lungfuls of breath as he tried to calm his nerves, and fight down the shame and embarrassment he still felt at having been seen among these others of his kind, at having been welcomed by them. Like he was the same as them.

'We should tie them up,' Sirius said. 'The curses won't hold them for long. If they're tied up it'll give us longer to get away.'

Remus nodded and - still with his hand quivering - pointed his wand at the floating Torstan. 'Incarcero.'

Sirius did the same, walking around and tying up the rest of the pack, ropes springing from the tip of his wand and wrapping themselves around the prone werewolves. 'Come on, then,' he said gruffly, when he was done. 'I'll get the case.'

And together, they walked out of the forest clearing - leaving the werewolf pack behind - defeated, unconscious and bound.

...

They walked for many hours, the sun beating down on them - growing hotter by the moment. By now they were ragingly thirsty and light headed with hunger. They barely spoke as they walked. Remus was still burning with shame - and was miserably wondering what Sirius was thinking, but found himself too afraid to ask.

Eventually, they stumbled into another clearing - a bright glade where bluebells and foxgloves grew thickly among the grass - and sank down to the floor. Sirius conjured some goblets and water, and handed a cup to Remus.

'Thanks…' He frowned, as he finally looked at his friend and saw the claw marks standing out bright red against the skin of his face. 'We should do something about those,' he gestured to them. 'Do they hurt?'

'They're fine.'

'But if we don't treat them - they'll scar.'

'Then they'll make me look rakish, roguish and interesting - the way yours do for you.' He grinned at Remus, but Remus did not smile back - and after a moment, Sirius' expression became serious once more. 'What was going on back there?'

'Nothing - they were - it was nothing.'

'Who was that man? It seemed like he knew you.'

'We never met before today,' Remus said quickly.

'But you know who he was?'

Remus hesitated - and then nodded. 'That was Torstan Burnblade. He was a notorious British werewolf.'

'Was? As in past tense? What happened?'

He took a deep breath, inhaling sharply through his nose and closing his eyes before he spoke. 'Fenrir Greyback. A wolf called Fenrir Greyback happened.'

'Who is Fenrir Greyback? Why did Burnblade call you his son?'

'Because -' he swallowed, took another deep breath, his eyes darted around the clearing, miserably, wishing he didn't have to answer - looking for any way out. 'Because Greyback is the wolf who bit me…' he gave a dark and hollow laugh, 'he made me. Made me what I am. The man I am today.'

Sirius looked like he didn't know what to say. 'I'm sorry.'

'It was a long time ago - there's no point …' He didn't know what the end of that sentence was, what there was no point in doing … He just knew nothing could change the way things were and sympathy wouldn't help.

'So - who is Burnblade?'

'Burnblade is the wolf that made Greyback. They were - together they were ferocious, legendary… This was all before I was … but Burnblade ran the biggest pack in England, and Greyback was his deputy - his most favoured son. His most vicious disciple.'

'So what happened.'

'They fell out - Greyback decided he wanted all the power for himself. Decided he had enough being second fiddle to the old man who had made him. And they had … there was a difference of opinion.'

'What do you mean?'

He sighed deeply - and finally met Sirius' eyes. 'You heard what Torstan said. Fenrir likes … he likes them young. His victims. Me.' He couldn't keep the bitterness from his voice. 'He thinks - he thinks that if he bites a child young enough, takes them from their parents and raises them in the pack then he can build his own army. An army of wolves who hate and fear wizards the way wizards hate and fear them. He wants to bite enough people so that his kind … our kind … out number normal wizards. He wants … us to take over. But he thinks the only way to do that is to bite people young, indoctrinate them while they're children. Torstan Burnblade, he - he may be many things - but he isn't a dyed in the wool child killer. Oh - he couldn't stop himself on a full moon - the same as any of us couldn't - but as a man he would never agree to target children.'

'But the villagers say he's been taking children. There were no children in Baden Zauberer.'

'Yes - I don't understand that. He was never like Greyback - Greyback, he …' He broke off for a moment, his brow furrowing. 'He positions himself close to victims, you see. Decides who he wants to target and stays close to them before the moon rises. He chose to come after me. My getting bit was no accident. He climbed through my bedroom window as a man, while I was sleeping, and then attacked me as a wolf. If my father hadn't heard … hadn't arrived in time …' He shook his head, 'well, maybe it would have been better if he hadn't arrived in time.'

'Don't say that!' Sirius looked outraged.

'Why not?' he shrugged. 'Things would be easier. We wouldn't be here - being hunted. The three of you would never have become animagi. Peter would never have been able to escape - you wouldn't have gone to Azkaban. Maybe James and Lily wouldn't have... My life for theirs. Seems fair enough. It's not like I'm doing anything with it.'

'That's not how it works,' Sirius' voice was shaking. He actually sounded like he was suppressing anger - though Remus had no idea why that would be. 'The world would not be better off without you in it . I would not be better off without you here… and James would never - not in a million years - wish that you had died instead of him. That we had never got to know you.'

There was a tense silence, in which Sirius still looked angry and Remus still felt miserable. After a while, Sirius was the one to speak again. 'So where does Torstan fit into all this?'

'Oh - well - Fenrir started making noises about turning children. Torstan was horrified - refused point blank. He wanted an army of men - not boys - and he wanted to target the people who actually harmed our kind - not their children. Greyback said he was going soft, raised a rebellion and chased him out of the country. I'd heard he was hiding somewhere in Europe - running his own pack, but I didn't know for sure until today.'

'How do you know all this? I've never heard any of it.'

He felt himself blush. 'During the war - Dumbledore had me living among the wolf packs, spying - living rough.'

'I remember.'

'I heard it all then. Before that - I didn't even know who had bitten me before that. My father had never admitted the truth.'

'What do you mean?'

'I mean - I was targeted because of him. He insulted Greyback. When Voldemort was first rising to power, he worked at the Ministry, helping them round up dark creatures. He arrested Greyback. Told him werewolves were evil, soulless creatures worthy only of death. Well, Greyback didn't forget that - or forgive it…'

'I'm sorry.'

He shrugged again. 'It can't be changed now.'

They sat there in silence for a while, neither really knowing what to say, and then Sirius drained the last of his water and got back to his feet. 'Come on,' he said. 'We need to head back to the village. We have a rat to catch.'

...

They began to walk again - headed roughly in the direction they had come from, but taking different paths, hoping to avoid a further run in with the werewolves. They doubted they would be lucky enough to escape a second time. The sun beat down on them and the heat was oppressive - but nowhere near as oppressive as the tense silence that hung between them.

After a while, Sirius broke it - he dragged his feet until he came to a stop, and waited until Remus had turned back to look at him before he spoke: 'you're miserable, Remus. Why are you miserable? What's wrong?'

'Nothing.'

He gave a bark of laughter, 'then how come you haven't said more than two words since we left that clearing? Something is upsetting you. Tell me what it is … Please.'

'It doesn't matter.'

'It matters to me.'

'It's nothing.'

'It's to do with those werewolves, isn't it? And everything we talked about … and that stupid story we watched on that stupid muggle screen. Something about all this is eating away at you - tell me!'

'I told you - it's nothing.'

'And I told you it isn't!' his voice came out as a yell - and, high above their heads, a bird gave out a startled squawk and flew off from the tree.

They both watched it fly away and then: 'just leave it,' Remus said.

'I'm not leaving it. I don't want you to be miserable. I don't ever want you to be miserable. Tell me what's wrong, so I can make it better.'

Remus felt his skin grow hot again. 'You can't make it better,' he snapped. 'There's nothing you can do. You - you saw!'

'What? What did I see?'

'The other werewolves! What they're like - how dirty they are, how dangerous they are. It's bad enough you have to see the way normal people treat me - but then you saw them. And you - I saw it in your eyes. That's what I am. What I really am. I'm just like those men, and you saw it for the first time - me among my equals - and it disgusted you.'

'Are. You. Insane?' Sirius yelled at him. 'You're nothing like them - and you could never disgust me.'

'Of course I'm like them. We're all werewolves. If I - if I lived differently - that's what I'd be.'

'Exactly, Moony!' And now he sounded like he had somehow scored a point - like he was winning the argument. 'If you lived differently . But you don't. You choose not to! So you are nothing like them. I know you have the same condition as them. I don't deny you have that in common - but that is all you have in common. It isn't the wolf that makes them live out here and hunt people - it's their decision, the decision they make as men - no different to any other. You choose to behave differently. And that is what matters. It's not how you are the same - it is how you are different that matters.'

'Well nobody else sees it that way.'

'I do. James did. That Austrian wizard on the train, Dumbledore, Harry, all those kids you taught at school "Professor Lupin is the best Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher we ever had" - not one of them cares or thinks the worse of you. There are more people on your side than you think, Remus. More people who judge you for what you do than what you are than you realise.'

'And even more people who don't ever give me that chance.'

'That's their bigotry - and it's a choice too. Everything is a choice. We're currently hunting down the rat that betrayed and killed our best friend. He's a wizard - just like me - just like everyone in that godforsaken town back there. But we don't go around assuming that because there is Peter, and Voldemort and my mad cousin, Bella, that all wizards are dark and evil. That we're all the same. We recognise that our choices are what make us who we are - and we can only be judged on our own actions. Not anyone else's. The same is true for you - and every werewolf. And more people than you know know that.'

Remus snorted, and flooded his arms - creating a defensive barrier between them. 'That's ridiculous.'

Sirius took a step towards him, 'you're determined to be miserable. You're determined to see the worst in yourself. You know what your problem is, Moony? - You won't let yourself be happy. That's the real reason you've never even kissed … anyone .'

'Oh God - not this again. As if your great, long list of two girls somehow gives you the authority and experience to lecture me.'

'At least I've tried.'

'Well - bully for you - I can't. No one would ever want me, if they knew what I was, and it wouldn't be fair of me to start anything without telling them. They wouldn't want me touching them if they knew.'

'But I just told you - more people than you realise don't care at all.' He took another step closer.

'Oh right - well I'll get right on kissing Dumbledore and that Austrian wizard from the train, shall I?'

'Not them!' He was barely an inch from Remus now - and he pulled on Remus' arms, so they fell to his side and the barrier between them was removed. He was gazing furiously straight into Remus' face - his eyes were hard and blazing and there was a light in them Remus had never seen before.

His heart rate picked up, his blood thrummed through his veins as Sirius stood so close and he didn't understand what was happening and then …

The moment was interrupted by a strange and eldritch chuckle coming from deep within the undergrowth.

Immediately they stepped apart and looked around. 'What was that?'

'I don't know - it came from over there!' He raised his wand high and muttered 'lumos' igniting the tip so he could peer into the dark underbrush by the wandlight.

The chuckle came again.

'There!'

'Did you see it?'

'I saw something…'

Sirius took out his wand, too - and lit the tip - and together, they followed the sound - straining to see what was making it. They followed it deep under the trees, so they were far from the path. Every so often they would hear the strange, other worldly chuckle and they would twist around trying to find it. But it was like it came from some sprite or gnome - that was too well hidden, which knew the forest too well, and who could bounce its voice from the trees - sending only echoes back to the two young wizards to misdirect them.

'Maybe we should just leave it,' Remus said, 'go back to the path.'

'But if it's dangerous…'

'All the better reason to leave it well alone…' He stopped talking as his foot stepped on something hard and he heard a great crunch. He came to a halt and held his wand over his head, shining a light onto the forest floor. He reached out and grabbed Sirius. 'Look!'

Bones. He had stepped on a bone - and now they looked closely, the whole ground was covered in them, carpeted in them - like some monstrous elephant's graveyard. White and shining, sticking up from the soil and in varying states of decay.

Sirius bent down and picked one up. 'It's big for an animal,' he said, frowning at it. 'But it's small for a man - these aren't the bones of the people Burnblade and his wolves have been hunting.'

'No,' Remus said - feeling sick - the light from his wand had just illuminated something, and he had realised with a jolt what they were looking at - what Sirius was holding. 'They're not men's bones at all. Look.'

He pointed Sirius in the direction of what had caught his attention. It was a skull - small - barely bigger than his fist - but unmistakably human. A child's skull. Somehow, they had wandered into a grisly, scattered graveyard of children's bones.