Chapter Eleven: A Shady Business

If the sun had been hot in Germany, that was nothing compared to the sweltering heat that greeted the boys as they apparated into Italy. It was like walking straight into a fire - and with no possible escape. They had never felt anything quite like it - and it was still only ten o'clock in the morning!

Maggiora was a blindingly bright and beautiful wizarding town right on the coast. It was made up of tall, gracious buildings in pastel colours with large windows, grand doorways and dinky little wrought iron balconies - old renaissance palazzos that were now shops, restaurants and apartments for the inhabitants of the town.

Some streets were dark and twisty, offering at least a bit of shade, and the two of them hurried down these gratefully - past striped awnings outside dark and cavernous stores where strange and arcane things could be glimpsed through the grimy windows.

But every so often, the alleyways would lead out into bright, open, sweeping piazzas - where the sun beat down into every corner and children played in the fountains. Keeping close to the walls of the building, trying to hide in whatever shade they could, they crept their way around these squares - anxious to dive back into the cool darkness at the earliest opportunity. Their robes had never felt heavier - and they were sweating profusely.

Eventually they came right to the harbour, where the sea shone a glistening blue and little boats bobbed on the waves and Giuseppe's Gelatos were being sold from a counter and doing a roaring trade. Gulls soared overhead - dark shapes against the sun.

'I think we've beaten the train,' Remus said, looking around. The town was not as full as it would be if The Flying Frenchman had just disgorged all its passengers.

'So what do we do?'

'Head to the station - see what time it's due in, and then lie in wait.'

'But - lie in wait somewhere inside, yes? Somewhere with a cooling charm?'

Remus smiled, 'I'm not going to argue with that.'

They walked along the streets, following the signs to the train station. Like all the other buildings in town, the ticket office and terminal turned out to be a large building of fading grandeur that had no doubt once been something else. It had marble floors and a chandelier covered in flickering candles and - after the heat of the sun - was deliciously cool.

There were two trains due into the station today - The Flying Frenchman coming from the west and The Mad Man of Moscow coming in from the East.

'Should be an hour or so,' Sirius said, looking at the board.

'Excusa me, signors,' the witch behind the ticket counter said to them. They turned to look. 'You are a wanting The Flying Frenchmen?'

'Yes - we're waiting to meet someone off it.' … In a manner of speaking, that was true.

'I am a sorry - it has been delayed.'

'Delayed?' Remus furrowed his brow. 'How - what happened?'

'There was a herd of rampaging centauri just outside of Beruckengen. The train - it was a stopped all night on the tracks. It will not be in until tomorrow.'

They looked at each other, 'another day? What now?'

Remus shrugged, 'we wait. Grazie, signora,' he nodded to the witch - who smiled at him. He ignored Sirius' splutter at his attempt at Italian.

They left the station. As they walked out into the street, a cold shadow flitted across them - just for a moment, plunging the temperature and making everything dark - and then just like that it was gone again. Remus frowned and looked around, 'Did you feel that? What was that?'

'Dunno - do you think Peter stayed on the train - with all those centaurs rampaging around?'

'I can't see that he'd get off. He has a first class ticket that's good all the way to Kobolddorf. He won't be slumming it like we were - it'll be three course meals and champagne and four poster beds up in first class. He's not giving that up to walk all the way to Italy on his little rat feet. He'll be here tomorrow. We have a day to ourselves.'

'So,' Sirius grinned, 'what do we do with our sudden found freedom?'

...

They checked into a little hotel near the station, left the case, and then went back out into the town. The sun was riding high in the sky now and shadows were in short supply … but once again that cold darkness flitted past them. They both stopped, frowned and looked upward - but there was nothing to see.

They bought themselves gelatos from Giuseppe - great, freezing mounds of sorbet in seven different flavours - and walked slowly back to the main piazza, where there was a large fountain with a statue of Pan and his nymphs in the middle. They sat on the edge of the fountain and Sirius cupped some water into his hand and then wiped it across his bright, red face.

Remus watched him - dipped a hand into the water as well - and then splashed Sirius as hard as he could.

'Hey - wha - ah-' he spluttered, lost his balance, and by the time he had regained it an evil twinkle was lighting his eyes. He stuck both hands in the fountain and pushed a great tidal wave of water at Remus. Remus was drenched - and spluttering - and he did the same right back.

Sirius dove on him, they rolled around - lost their balance and splashed right into the fountain. They both hit the bottom and came up, choking and laughing - still splashing water at each other - diving on each other and pushing the other under the surface again, struggling and flailing and fighting to get the upper hand.

No one seemed to notice. The rest of the square was deserted. With the sun this hot, all the shops had rolled down their blinds or closed their shutters. The town seemed to be taking a siesta. Only mad dogs and Englishmen went out in the noonday sun - and Remus and Sirius were technically both.

They sat in the fountain, soaking wet and laughing - until the mysterious shadow passed them by a third time and turned everything cold. 'What is that?' Remus asked, as they clambered out, shivering now.

They used a quick charm to dry themselves off and, looking borderline respectable once again, went to find something that was open.

As most places were shut, and they were so hot they just wanted to lurk indoors, they stopped off at the only place that would let them in - the museo della stregoneria - the local witchcraft museum. They paid their two sickles entrance fee to the wizard on the door and then stepped into a large chamber packed with exhibits. They were pleased to note that a cooling charm had indeed been placed on the building, and a gentle, chill breeze blew around them. They both sighed in contentment, and walked slowly to the first display - which was a diorama of the founding of the town back in Roman times, enchanted so they could watch the little figures build the amphitheatre and the viaducts.

There was another exhibit, a bit further along, which detailed the history of the ransacking of Maggiora by Cesare Borgia in the fifteenth century and another about the witch trials around the same time.

There was a creepy moving statue of a reptilian looking woman with bat wings and pointed ears like a dog - a local monster called a Striga - who, according to the information, was not an omen of misfortune but a bringer of it. She was a parasite who selected her victims carefully, preferring handsome young men above all others, and stalked them in shadows until she made her attack.

There was a moving fresco of centaurs carrying off the women of the town - who all wailed and cried, while the wizards chased after them with their wands raised. They both stood in front of that and watched it for a long while, with raised eyebrows. 'You think that's what the centaurs did on the train?' Sirius asked.

'I hope not - what if the Ministry Hag is back on there?'

'I don't think even rampaging centaurs would want the Ministry Hag.' They both shuddered at the thought, and moved on to the next exhibit which told of the time a sphinx had been brought into the town, asked a riddle, and promptly eaten everybody.

They walked past a rather sad looking stuffed chimera with an eye missing and a cabinet filled with the broken shells of basilisk eggs. They looked at the moving scale model of the galaxy said to have been made by Galileo himself and the cauldron which, local legend had it, had brewed the very first batch of polyjuice potion - causing quite a commotion and a large scale wizard's duel when the townspeople unexpectedly bumped into their own doppelgangers.

They finished up with one of the most interesting things on show - a muggle bomb from their war of the 40s, which had fallen on the town and been disarmed with a freezing charm. The freezing charm could wear off any moment, the information said - having already held for fifty years - and they believed that this would blow the museum and anyone in it sky high … which added a frisson of excitement to the whole place.

And then there was nothing else to see, and reluctantly they went back out into the heat.

...

Despite the intensity of the sun, they still managed to have a nice day. It was their first carefree day in … decades. Peter had not been there, there was nothing for them to do but wait - there seemed to be no sign of the Ministry … they were truly free.

They went for a walk in the park, which was packed full of fascinating magical plants and trees. Fairies flew between the snargaluff plants, bowtruckles peered down at them from the cypress trees and they even thought they caught sight of some porlocks chasing through the shrubbery.

They had another ice cream, and browsed in Pergamenna e Penna - the bookstore. Although most of the books were in Italian.

By now, the sun was lower and the streets were starting to fill up again. As they left the book shop, the cold shadow flitted above them once more. 'There it is again!' Remus said, staring up into the clear sky, unable to see what was casting it. 'It's like it's following us.'

'No one else seems to have noticed it.'

'Well - we're not imagining it.'

'No - I don't suppose we are.'

As the sun sank beyond the horizon, they stopped off at a little pavement cafe and ordered Tortellini.

When it arrived, Sirius prodded it suspiciously with his fork, 'what is this exactly?'

'It's pasta,' Remus said, as if Sirius was being slow.

'What's that?'

'What do you mean "what's that"?'

'Pasta?'

'I … don't understand the question. It's pasta - you can't have not had pasta before.'

'I've been in prison for twelve years.'

'Oh - yeah … I don't think Italian food had really reached England before you were arrested, had it? And they certainly never serve this at Hogwarts - not even now, it's strictly shepherd's pie and beef casserole and boiled potatoes.'

'Well there's nothing wrong with a shepherd's pie,' Sirius said defensively.

'No - but there's nothing wrong with pasta either. Muggles have it all the time - I get it from the shop near my house. I made you a lasagna before we left home.'

'I don't remember it - a lassanya.'

He snorted with laughter. 'Well you liked it well enough - you had three helpings.'

'Huh.' He speared a tortellini onto his fork and popped it into his mouth. Remus watched him expectantly, unable to keep the fond, broad smile from his face at the hopelessness of his friend. After a moment's chewing, Sirius nodded and happily speared up another one.

'So that's a vote for tortellini, is it?' Remus asked him, laughing.

'It's really not bad … not as good as shepherd's pie. But not bad.'

'High praise indeed.'

They polished off the pasta, ordered a tiramisu and drank wine. By the time they had paid their bill it was fully dark and lanterns had been lit all along the streets.

It was still warm - but much more comfortably so, now that the glare from the sun was gone, and the town was still packed with witches and wizards and their children, out for a stroll, enjoying the night air.

The two of them also strolled through the piazzas - it being far too nice to go straight back to the hotel. They walked in companionable silence for a while - until finally Sirius broke it. 'Italy's nice isn't it?'

'Yes - I suppose it is.'

'Sort of romantic, don't you think - with the flowers and the fountains and the lanterns?'

Remus gave him a strange look, 'yes,' he said slowly. 'I suppose it would be - if you'd brought Mary McDonald with you and not me.'

Sirius only shook his head and - Remus wasn't quite sure, but he thought he heard him tut. 'And I already told you,' Sirius muttered in a voice so low Remus could barely catch it. 'I don't want to marry Mary McDonald.'

...

It was past eleven by the time they finally decided to head back to their hotel. The train would be getting in in about twelve hours - so they wouldn't need an early start. The plan was to lurk around the station until the passengers all got off - keep their eyes peeled for Peter and then nab him before he had time to run away.

They were then going to keep him stunned and chained to them, while they apparated their way back to England - where they would contact Dumbledore and get him to act as their go-between with the Ministry. They knew well enough that - no matter how many supposedly dead wizards they produced - the Ministry was both corrupt and incompetent enough that they would prefer to arrest the escaped prisoner and the werewolf and call it case closed, rather than actually investigate the truth.

They made themselves a cup of tea (at the restaurant they had been offered an espresso - but Sirius had said coffee that late at night was sheer madness, much to the amusement of the Italian waiter) and got into their pajamas.

Peering into the bathroom mirror - and knowing this was going to be the quietest they had it for a while - Remus decided it was definitely time for a shave. Even if they caught Peter the next day, it would take a couple of days apparating in stages to get home - and then they would be taken in front of the wizengamot, their pictures in the paper … If he didn't sort his stubble out now, he would be appearing publicly in front of all of wizarding Britain looking like everyone's very worst idea of a werewolf.

He stripped off his pajama top and discarded it, filling the sink with warm water and started applying the foam to his face. Sirius appeared in the doorway just as he made the first swipe with his razor.

'What time shall I set the alarm for?'

'Oh - er - ' he glanced down at his bare chest, embarrassed to have been caught with his scars out on show. 'Not too early.'

Sirius gave a bark of laughter. 'Want to be more specific?'

'I - uh - hang on, let me put my shirt on.' He dropped the razor and picked up his pajama top.

'Why?' Sirius sounded genuinely puzzled, 'you'll only drip all over it. You took it off for a reason.'

'Yes - but I was in private then. Now you're here.'

'So?'

He looked helplessly down at his scars - at the way the ugly lines cut across his skin, gnarly and bumpy and twisting strange pathways into his chest hair. 'Well - you don't want to have to - I mean I don't want you to…'

He wasn't sure - but he thought Sirius tutted - again .

'What?'

'You don't have to cover up, Moony.'

His hands drifted downward, crossing over his chest protectively, hiding himself from view. 'No one wants to have to see this if they don't have to,' he said, struggling to make it sound like it was just a bit of a joke. That he didn't mind being ugly.

'Fine,' Sirius shook his head. 'I'll leave you to it - I'll set the alarm for half eight.' He walked away.

Remus frowned. Sirius had sounded almost … cold. And he was reminded of the way Sirius had looked at him while he had muttered something about Mary McDonald under his breath. For a moment he considered going after him - asking what was wrong - but then he glanced down, realised he was still bare chested - and that his face was still covered in shaving cream - and thought he had better finish what he had started.

He didn't want to have to make Sirius talk to him when his scars were visible, he didn't want to have to stand in front of someone as beautiful as Sirius while his own ruined body was on display … and yet his putting his shirt back on mid shave seemed to be what had annoyed the other man in the first place. It was far less complicated to finish up, get dressed again and just pretend the whole strange encounter had never happened. Which is what he did.

...

Sirius was already in the bed, when he left the bathroom. He got in beside him, Sirius didn't say anything - instead just waving his wand to put out the lights, they lay down … and nothing happened.

Sirius lay rigidly at his side.

Remus frowned into the darkness. He opened his mouth - thought better of it and it closed it again - and then thought better once again and started to speak. 'You're not - er - clinging tonight?'

'You seem not to like it.'

'I never said that.'

'Well - you certainly seem to want your space all of a sudden. Since when have I not been allowed to stand in the door if you're in the bathroom?' His voice was still cold, he sounded sniffy and offended.

Remus sighed. 'That was - I don't not want you near me.' He took a deep breath, willed his body not to betray him, and rolled onto his side - wrapping his own arm around Sirius and holding him tightly. If Sirius needed this, after all those years alone, then Remus was happy to give it … even if he had to keep very tight control of himself. He wasn't going to let Sirius think he wasn't loved - or that he was a nuisance. He wasn't going to let him down like that. Immediately, Sirius wrapped his own arm over Remus', holding him tight in place.

'So what was that about? If you don't want me away from you?'

'I just - I don't like people seeing me … you know, without my shirt on. I don't want you to have to see me. I know what it - what I - look like.'

'There's nothing wrong with the way you look. If you don't like people seeing, that's up to you - but you shouldn't ever feel that you have to cover up. And never in front of me.'

'You're being kind.'

'I'm not.'

'My body looks awful.'

'It doesn't.'

He smiled. 'Well - if you think that, then you're the only person in the world who does. Night, Sirius.'

'Night, Remus.'

He closed his eyes and gave into the softness and the darkness. His breathing became heavy and regular and his thoughts more woolly. It was just as the last vestiges of his conscious mind were slipping away that he thought he heard a voice - Sirius' voice - say quietly: 'you know I love you, Moony?'

But he was probably already dreaming. And even if he wasn't … Sirius only meant as a brother.

...

All night he dreamed of the shadow - the mysterious, cold one that had flitted overhead when they walked through the town. Sometimes his dreams were punctuated by wild, rasping cries - like from a monstrous bird - and one time he heard the rustle of bat wings. A feeling of dread settled into the pit of his stomach, even as he slept, and the shadow seemed to draw closer and closer ...

He was woken up when the croaking sound became deafening - and seemed to be coming right from the end of their bed. He sat up with a start, Sirius jerking awake beside him - and they both yelped in shock as their eyes settled on a scaly skinned, reptilian woman sitting naked and hunched on their bed post.

'What is it?' Sirius yelled, grabbing his wand.

The woman pricked up her dog like ears and then unfurled gigantic bat wings. She reached out for them with sharp talons. 'Pretty!' she hissed. And then she dived at them - flying through the air, claws outstretched.

'Impedimenta!' Sirius yelled. She slowed right down, and they both rolled from the bed and out of the way. She crashed down onto the mattress but then immediately sprang up again, looking between them - breathing heavily. 'Pretty pretty!'

She dove at Sirius again, this time managing to scratch him - ripping through the sleeve of his pajamas and drawing blood. A long tongue flicked out from her mouth - towards his cut - as if to start lapping away the redness that shone there.

Remus watched in horror. ' Langlock' he cried - and her snake-like tongue was suddenly glued to the roof of her mouth, she gagged and wretched and clawed at her throat.

'Immobulus, ' Sirius roared - and she froze in place. They looked at each other - nodded - and then both pointed their wands and cried 'apagio!' and the frozen monster was hurled right out of the window - the glass smashing and crashing as she was flung through.

They both raced to peer out - and saw her unfreeze mid air, her wings unfurl, and her fly away again - croaking and screaming as she vanished back to wherever she had come from.

With his hand shaking a little, Sirius waved his wand, muttered 'reparo' - and the glass jumped back into one sheet and sat snugly in the window frame. 'That was one ugly looking woman … she made the Ministry Hag look almost passable.' He shuddered, 'well - maybe not the Ministry Hag.'

'You're hurt,' Remus said, looking at the cut.

Sirius glanced down at it, 'it's just a scratch.'

'Here, let me see.' He got back onto the bed, pulling Sirius after him and then helped Sirius off with his shirt so they could better examine the scratch. Remus tried not to notice how much healthier Sirius was looking these days, or how nice his chest was, or how smooth his skin was in comparison to Remus' own ravaged body.

'What was that thing?' Sirius asked - as Remus waved his wand over the cut, sealing it back together.

'The striga - from the museum, remember? She must have come for you.'

'Me - why me?'

'She goes for handsome men - that's what it said.'

'Well - why not you?'

Remus stared at him - as if he were mad. 'You're the good looking one.'

'After twelve years in Azkaban? - I don't think so. That was what was following us yesterday? The shadow?'

'Yes I think so - I dreamed about it all night.'

'Ha! I told you - she was after both of us.'

Remus shook his head. That thing followed attractive men - like Sirius, not damaged and broken halfbreeds - like him. 'Are you OK?' He asked. The cut was mended now, and Remus reached out and touched the spot where it had been. Sirius inhaled sharply - and then, he took hold of Remus' arm - in the same place. They sat there - their faces an inch apart, Sirius still bare chested, holding each other… Remus felt his heart begin to beat faster, the blood began to thrum through his veins again and the air felt trapped in his lungs and the way Sirius was looking at him was... He wasn't sure exactly what was going on but … it was … it was almost like ...

And then his ears registered a popping noise. They both looked around. There was another - and then another. People were appearing out of thin air, surrounding them where they sat holding each other on the bed. The Ministry wizards had just apparated straight into their bedroom. They were caught...