Chapter Ten: Dawning Realisation

They searched the whole of Baden Zauberer - from top to bottom. Peter had left the cafe less than half an hour before they arrived back in the town … and then had simply vanished into thin air. Or so it would seem.

They were aided in their search by Wolfgang's father, who shook the photograph of Peter under every witch and wizard's nose and yelled at them in a mixture of English and very fast German. 'He is very bad wizard! Very bad! Hast du ihn gesehen? Unsere Helden mussen ihn finden!' But he was only met with bemused looks and shaking heads.

They spent the afternoon combing back through every shop, every restaurant, the pub, the post office - Wolfgang and his father banged on the door of every little gingerbread cottage and insisted on searching it high and low. They even twisted the arm of the mayor of the town, until he unlocked the church and let Remus and Sirius climb to the very top of the steeple.

They stood underneath the bell and looked out - the whole village and then the forest seemed to be laid out before them like a tiny, toy town spread out on a child's bedroom floor. In the very distance they could see wisps of steam blowing up to the sky, where - miles away now - The Flying Frenchman was rattling its way towards its next stop. They could even see right the way clear to the nearest muggle town - it's high rise blocks of flats and office buildings pointing to the sky.

But what they couldn't see was Peter.

When they got back down to the ground, they found the wizard from the cafe in a very serious conversation with Siegfried Schmidt - from the ice cream parlour.

'Siegfried has seen your dark wizard!' the man said.

'I knew it! - fat, little git… Peter not you,' Sirius hurriedly clarified to Herr Schmidt.

Herr Schmidt nodded in understanding. 'Ja - he came in. He tried my gooseberry tart und meringue ice cream und said he did not like it!' His voice went up in pitch at the end - his eyes looked wide and offended.

'Well - he never did have any taste, he's a Death Eater - don't take it personally,' Remus said, soothingly. 'We liked it, didn't we, Padfoot?'

'Uhuh - very nice.'

Siegfried beamed at them. 'So then he ordered ein triple choco hot fudge sundae mit strawberries und whipped cream and asked if ve ever got wizards from Albania in ze town.'

'He asked about Albania?'

'Ja ja - well, I said to him, we get wizards from all over ze world. Baden Zauberer is a world renowned beauty spot.'

'And what did he say?' Sirius asked, his eyes were narrowed.

'He said "for sure - but what about Albanian wizards?" I told him - I said - we must get some, but I am not remembering ze last time I am meeting one.'

'And did he just leave it at that?'

'Nein - he asked if I hat ever been to Albania. So I am telling him "no". And zen he finished his sundae and vent to look at ze town clock.'

Both their heads turned, and their eyes raked over the clock and its runic carvings, standing in the centre of the square … but, as with everywhere else - there was no sign of Peter.

'So - he's asking about Albania, is he?' Sirius said thoughtfully.

'He's trying to collect rumours - now that he's getting closer.'

The two German wizards were looking politely puzzled, 'entschuldigen Sie - aber - rumours about was?' The wizard from the cafe asked.

The two young wizards exchanged a glance. 'They say Albania is where Lord Voldemort fled to when he lost his powers,' Remus said. The two German wizards paled at the sound of the name - but did not say anything. 'We believe Peter is going to find him - to help him rise again. That's why we're following him - we're trying to stop him before he can get there.'

'Zen - why is your Ministry hunting for ze two of you?'

They exchanged another glance. 'They think it's us that are trying to get to Voldemort to help him rise,' Sirius said. He inhaled sharply. 'I'm Sirius Black - they think I'm Voldemort's right hand man. They think I was a spy for him.'

'But he wasn't,' Remus added, quickly. 'Everyone got it wrong. It was Peter who was the spy.'

'You do not have to tell us you are not dark wizards,' the man assured them. 'You saved our children - we know you are gut men. That it is this Peter who is ze ze - Schweinehund! Zat your Ministry -zey are verdammte dummkopfs if zey think you are bad men.'

'Thanks,' Remus looked at Sirius. 'If Peter has been and gone, if he is ahead of us again - we need to get moving. Try and track him down.'

'But we need to keep our heads down - the Ministry was swarming around here yesterday, they'll be waiting for us in the next wizarding town. Or the one after that.'

'Ve vill help you!' the man said. Siegfried nodded along, beaming. 'Ve vill call your Ministry back here - tell zem we saw you and that you were going to - to -'

'Kobolddorf,' Siegfried suggested.

'Ja - in Austria! Then do not go to Austria. Go someplace else.'

'That will shake them for a while,' Sirius said, nodding. 'Give us at least a chance to catch up with little Peter - thank you.' He turned to Remus. 'So - how far can we apparate?'

...

They spent the night on the far border of Lichtenstein, in yet another muggle hotel … though they both skirted the screen in their room and did not bother to switch it on this time. After a night in the forest and a day fighting werewolves and erklings, it was nice to be inside for a change - with a cup of tea and the curtains drawn to ward off the night.

They studied the map for a while - and agreed that they should be able to make it to Maggiora, the Italian all wizarding town, the next day.

'We need to be careful, though,' Remus said, taking a sip of his tea. 'That's where our train tickets were for. That's where I told the Ministry Hag we were headed. Even with the people in Baden Zauberer lying for us - we can't assume every single last Ministry wizard will have abandoned Italy for Austria.'

'Yes - they'd have to be even bigger dummkopfs than we already know they are to do that.'

Remus spat out some tea and started to laugh. 'Listen to you - speaking German!'

Sirius grinned - and blushed a little. 'I listen - I can pick up the odd word here or there.'

'Oh - so you just leave me to do all the translating out of laziness do you?'

'Well you're better at it than me!'

'I've never learned another language either!'

'Your mum was Welsh - you speak Welsh.'

'I can count to ten and say "Cymru" - I'm hardly fluent.'

'Well - it's more than I can do.'

'Not true - you now know dummkopf .'

'And "schweinehund" - I don't know what it means but it sounds insulting.'

Remus laughed some more, shaking his head - while Sirius grinned at him. 'You're hopeless - and I don't know how I got stuck with you,' Remus said.

'Destiny.'

'Oh - that hardly seems fair! Not bad enough I was destined to be a werewolf, I was also fated to get stuck with the biggest idiot in Britain?'

'I'm not in Britain.'

'Biggest idiot in Lichtenstein.' He threw his discarded teabag at Sirius - it hit him full in the face, and he choked and spluttered and then peeled it from his nose and hurled it back. Remus' hand flashed out and snatched it from the air before it hit him.

'Nice!' Sirius sounded impressed. 'How come you were never on the quidditch team, with reflexes like that?'

'Because I think my teammates would have noticed how many practices I missed every full moon - don't you?'

'Oh, yeah - but Gryffindor needed you! Remember that year we got flattened by Slytherin? And the time Hufflepuff beat us 220 points to zero?' He shuddered at the memory. 'You should have been our seeker. James could have covered for you when you missed practice.'

But Remus shook his head, 'he was as big an idiot as you are…' he muttered darkly.

...

A while later, once their tea was finished, Remus lay in their one bed - on the left hand side, which had somehow become his side since Sirius had barged back into his life and into his sleeping habits - and waited for Sirius to finish up in the bathroom before he switched the light out.

He closed his eyes and listened to the sound of the tap running, and the frantic brushing - where Sirius still went overboard, after twelve years with no toothbrush. Outside the window, he heard the rattle and the chugging of a muggle train passing by on some nearby tracks …

The brushing stopped abruptly, though the tap kept running. Then came the sound of the door creaking open. Remus opened his eyes and saw Sirius standing there, his toothbrush clutched in his hand, flecks of toothpaste on his lips. 'We're being stupid,' Sirius said.

'What?'

'So stupid!'

'What are you talking about?'

'He was in Baden Zauberer - and then he just wasn't…'

'So?'

'What passed us in the forest, as we walked back into town?'

'Er-' he furrowed his brow, not understanding what Sirius was talking about.

'The train!' Sirius practically yelled. 'The Flying Frenchman. Don't you see? Peter is on it!'

'What? - He can't be!'

'He is! - Probably scurried onto it as a rat and then,' he snapped his fingers, 'do you remember? That door that slammed? Just as we got on - and there was a sort of yelp?'

'That was Peter?'

'Just a couple of compartments away, but he didn't have a ticket and the train was full. He couldn't stay there - and he couldn't hang around in rat form because we would recognise him. So he lurked in the bathroom and then knocked that wizard out - the one with all the gold.'

'He stole his first class ticket…'

'And probably a whole load of money - he seems to be flashing the cash in all the places he's going. And it's not like he's earned any as a rat these past 13 years. And then he went up to First Class - probably saw that Toad-faced witch and didn't want to risk getting recognised - so he exploded half the train … probably using the same curse he killed all those muggles with…'

'And that drove the Ministry Hag straight to us...'

'And lo and behold - we get found out, kicked off the train and now we're the hunted and not the hunters. The Ministry knows I'm in mainland Europe, the world now thinks you helped me escape from Hogwarts - maybe from Azkaban - we're Britain's most wanted wizards and we're having to dodge the authorities left, right and centre so we don't end up back in prison.' He snorted and shook his head. 'Little Peter is a lot more cunning than I ever give him credit for. I should have realised, after last time…'

'So - he's back on the train, right now.' Remus grabbed the map and looked at it again, tracing the route of The Flying Frenchman with his finger. 'There's a tiny wizarding village in Lichtenstein - half the size of Hogsmeade - Beruckengen - the train will have reached there already - but it won't have stopped for long.'

'And is Maggiora the next stop?'

Remus nodded. 'And that's where he'll leave the train - same as we planned to. It heads north after that - back up into Austria, to Kobolddorf and then into Eastern Europe. He doesn't want to go there. He needs to keep heading south.'

'If we apparate out of here first thing tomorrow, we'll still beat the train to Italy, won't we?'

'Probably - though it'll be tight. Maggiora is right near the top, on the Adriatic coast. If he gets past us there, then he'll cross the sea and head for Croatia.'

'Well - we can't let that happen. We'll cut him off in Italy. Right,' he nodded his head - as if a decision had been made and headed back into the bathroom. The tap was turned off and he came back out - now devoid of his toothbrush. 'Switch the light off then, Moony - we need to get to sleep. We need to be up early.'

Remus leaned across and flicked the light switch - a little impressed at how clever and convenient muggle lighting was - and lay down.

He felt the covers lift up and then the mattress sink, as Sirius got in beside him. He waited a moment and then .. sure enough … Sirius had curled around him and flung an arm across him.

He shook his head on his pillow, took a deep breath and tried to will away the aching heat and pleasurable heaviness that was now burning between his legs.

...

He woke up as the first rosy fingers of dawn started to creep across the room, and the early morning sun peeped its head through the crack in the curtains. Rather than disentangle in the night, Sirius seemed to have pressed even closer, his arm was wrapped around Remus' all the tighter and - somehow - their fingers had become intertwined so they were now lying in bed together, holding hands.

Once again the heat flooded straight to his groin, both frustrating and tantalising; exciting and terrifying - and he took a few deep breaths trying to make it go away … He couldn't give himself away like that.

He heard Sirius stir in the bed beside him and then … 'morning,' Sirius' voice was still thick with sleep. Perhaps that was why he didn't immediately disengage hands - perhaps he was still too asleep to realise what they were doing...

'Morning,' Remus replied - not quite trusting his voice not to betray something of the feelings stirring inside of him … and very decidedly outside of him. When he found that he sounded reasonably normal, he decided to speak again. 'You know - you're quite the clingy sleeper,' he said - attempting to sound dry and amused and completely detached. As if it meant absolutely nothing to him at all.

Amazingly, rather than pull away, Sirius only pressed in closer. 'I spent twelve years in solitary confinement with dementors outside my door, sucking out every hope and happiness and memory of love that I ever had, Moony,' he murmured. 'Humour me.'

And suddenly all the arousal and excited terror just drained out of him and Remus was left feeling sick. Just thinking about Sirius living that way - all those years … True enough he had spent every night of the past thirteen years equally alone, unloved and untouched … by anyone but himself. But at least he had been able to feel pleasure - and happiness. He may have ached with loneliness and longing most nights - but at least he could remember happier times - and hope for better, no matter how little he believed anything would ever really improve. To be trapped with the dementors - all alone - and unable to feel anything but misery… for twelve long years…

He gripped Sirius' hand tighter, squeezing it. 'Sorry,' he said.

'You don't have to be sorry - just don't go anywhere.'

'I won't.'

And though they were supposed to be getting up, getting a head start on the day - and hunting down Peter, they just lay there instead - enjoying the first rays of the sunshine, tangled up, holding hands and just quietly being together.

...

They were eventually interrupted by a quiet but persistent tapping at the window. 'What is that?' Remus murmured. Finally, he felt Sirius detach his hand and move away - as he rolled over to look outside. Remus' hand immediately felt empty - missing Sirius the moment he was gone.

'It's an owl,' Sirius said, 'a white one. A snowy.'

Remus rolled over as well - and peered across Sirius and out of the window, frowning. 'Is it Hedwig?'

'Who's Hedwig?'

'Mmph,' he forced himself upright and rubbed his face, 'Harry's owl - I think that's Harry's owl.'

'Oh' - and suddenly Sirius - wide awake - had leapt from the bed and dashed across to the window, throwing it open and bringing the owl inside. She hopped onto his arm and he carried her back across to the bed, got in again - perched her on the chest of drawers and then started to remove the scroll of parchment tied to her foot.

Remus reached out and patted her on the head. 'I'm sorry we don't have anything to give you - wait a minute. For a reply.' She nipped at his finger affectionately and gave a soft hoot.

Meanwhile Sirius had unrolled the parchment and begun to read out loud.

Dear Sirius,

What on earth are the pair of you up to? I'm trying not to worry - but the Daily Prophet is making it very difficult. They're running a lot of stories - about both of you. They're not very flattering - Hermione is now refusing to even read it. (and Hermione has never ever, in the history of her life, refused to read something before!)

They both laughed at that.

It's Professor Lupin that is of most interest here at Hogwarts, of course - you're old news, Sirius (sorry!) But our Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher running off with a mass murderer has got everyone talking.

Remus thought of their linked hands, and the way they spent every night wrapped up together and blushed … wondering what the students would say if they understood the full connotations of what 'running off with' meant. Or at least - what he wanted it to mean.

No one cared he was a werewolf when he first left, we all just wanted him to stay - but now people think he's a Voldemort supporter as well, some of them are starting to say some pretty ugly things about him. Ron got a detention from Snape the other day for hexing some fourth years in the corridor who called Professor Lupin a … well, I won't put it in the letter in case you read this out to him. But it was bad. I hope he's OK - I hope you both are.

They looked at each other. 'So ...none of the students care that I'm a werewolf, do they? More people are on my side than I realise?' He struggled to keep his voice light - as if it was no great matter.

Sirius flushed. 'They didn't care that you were a werewolf! That's exactly what Harry says. They care that you're a Voldemort supporter … or that they think you are one. They're still judging you on what you're doing - not what you are. It's just they've got the wrong idea about what you're doing. Once our names are cleared you'll be back to the best Defence teacher they ever had and they'll forget every nasty thing they ever said about you.'

'Mmhmm,' Remus said, disbelievingly.

Sirius shook his head and went back to reading.

Speaking of Ron and Snape - yes Ron's leg is mended and yes Snape is giving me a hard time. But he's always giving me a hard time. I'm used to it.

Sirius, I'm sure that whatever you're doing is important - but please be careful. And try not to get Professor Lupin into any more trouble than he is already in. We really don't want either of you to end up in Azkaban.

School ends in a couple of weeks. I'm not looking forward to it - I can't stand the thought of another two months with the Dursley's - especially as it looked for a minute like I was going to get to leave them forever and come and live with you. I hope you get your name cleared so I can come and see you over the summer - having no one but Dudley to talk to is a fate worse than death.

Don't get caught! Don't let Professor Lupin get caught!

Harry

P.S - Ron and Hermione say "hi".

'Are you going to answer him?' Remus asked.

'Yeah - just a quick reply.' He pulled the muggle notepad and quill that were on the nightstand over to himself and started to scribble out his response.

'I'll make us a cup of tea,' he got up and put the kettle on, while Sirius wrote his letter.

Dear Harry,

Everything is still fine. We're making progress in a geographical sense even if we're not actually any closer to clearing our names. Moony is being ever so good about not complaining that I've made him the second most wanted wizard in Britain. I hope if you and Ron ever have to go on the run, that Ron will prove to be as good a sport about it all.

I'm not allowed to call what we're doing an "adventure" on pain of being hexed - but this is the most fun I've had since Hogwarts. Just yesterday we fought off a werewolf pack and rescued a whole load of children from the underground lair of some erklings.

I know it's easier said than done to say 'don't worry' - but really, there is no need. The Daily Prophet has been saying they're close to finding me ever since I first escaped. It's a lie to make the readers feel better. We keep on the move and we stay well hidden - so don't worry .

We're hoping to bring this to an end soon and then we can come home and you can come and stay with us.

My best to Ron and Hermione.

Sirius.

P.S Remus isn't your teacher any more - you don't have to keep calling him "Professor Lupin".

Remus got back into the bed just as Sirius was finishing off, and handed him his cup of tea. 'There you go.' Then he sat there sipping it, while Sirius started rolling up the notepaper (it was much harder to roll than proper parchment and it kept springing open and unrolling). Finally he got it in a tight scroll, tied the ribbon from Harry's own letter around it and then tied it onto Hedwig's foot.

Just as he was done, there was the sound of a key turning in the lock - they both turned to the door in alarm - and watched in horror as the muggle housekeeping maid pushed her trolley into the room.

She stopped on the threshold and stared - her eyes going wide in surprise as she took in the two men in bed together - in their pajamas - with their tea and the live owl, with a letter attached to its foot, readying to fly out of the open window.

'Was? Was ist …?'

'Oh, bugger,' Remus snatched up his wand, blushing as he saw the way she kept looking at them in the bed together - her eyes flickering between them, and pointed it at her. 'Sorry about this. Obliviate! '

Her expression became blank and dreamy - and he stumbled out of the bed and pushed her and her trolley back out into the hallway and slammed the door shut behind her. He looked back at Sirius, panting heavily. 'Right - get dressed - we're leaving.'

And - as Hedwig flew off out of the open window and soared up into the skies - the pair of them packed up the last of their things, gripped arms and then apparated away to Maggiora.