Disclaimer... Tisn't mine. None of it is. I don't claim to own any of it, and I will not make any profit. Just think of it as an exercise in writing technique, of which I have none either.

Dedication... To alcohol. I still drink to your health.

Randomness... Sorry about the wait folks...I've been working full time and also trying to buy a house. But thanks to those who have stuck with it! I love Remus and Sirius and so writing this story has been great. As you can no doubt tell, this is the last chapter, so I hope you've all enjoyed it.

The song in this chapter is "Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica.

~ Chapter 13 ~

Remus watched McNair laughing as Sirius made a show of struggling against the bonds. He had mentally tried to will Sirius to transform and go for help, but he knew the other man would never leave him, no matter how much their relationship was in tatters. He quickly berated himself for thinking about things like that when in such a dire situation. They had to get out of here.

"So," McNair had obviously given up waiting for Remus to join in the struggle, and placed their wands on the dusty mantelpiece. "No doubt you are wondering why you are here." Remus heard Sirius snort and looked over at the dark-haired man who appeared to be trying not to laugh.

"Right. Is this the part where you call us 'Meester Bond' and reveal your entire evil scheme?" Remus frowned in confusion, but Sirius seemed to find it highly amusing. McNair pulled back and slammed a fist into Sirius' nose which broke with a sickening crack. Remus winced and turned away. McNair leaned in close to Sirius.

"No, Black. This is where I decide whether to kill you for a spare, or serve you as a gift to my Master." Sirius rolled his eyes, still chuckling through the blood flowing from his nose. He hadn't even seemed to notice it. Remus decided to pull McNair's attention from him. He spoke in a low voice; a controlled voice he had always found useful when teaching.

"So what do you want with me. I gather this is all a wild goose chase yes?" McNair turned and grinned at him. It was a hideous sight. This was a man who had always been dark and quiet. His good humour and change was no doubt do to Voldemort's return, but it made it no easier to see.

"A wild goose chase? No. A wild wolf chase." He and all the others in the room seemed to find this highly funny and Remus swore he saw one of the wizards slap another on the back in humour. He scowled deeply.

"There were no other wolves. There was just Anna. You made here a wolf because you knew I lived near there, but not exactly why. And if there was a trail of wolves, I would follow it to stop the killing. Dayfus was just another pawn. But that's not his real name." Remus cursed as McNair' broadening grin confirmed all that he had just said. "You just wanted me. Why." The last came out more as a statement than a question and Sirius looked over at him, puzzled at the resignation in his voice.

"You know why."

Sirius chimed in, voice slightly thick. "I don't" McNair answered him with a kick to the stomach. Before he knew it Remus was trying to get to his feet growling at McNair. He was bound to the chair, but he lunged toward the heavyset Death Eater. Strong hands pulled him back and sat him back down.

"Well well. The wolf likes to protect the helpless little fugitive." He turned his attentions back to Sirius. "I may have to keep you alive after all then Black. Torturing you may get him to turn more quickly than if we just worked on him." Remus growled deeply. The only thing that kept him from lunging forward again to fasten his teeth onto McNair's throat was the knowledge that Sirius could get out of here anytime he wanted.

McNair kept his grin as he looked pointedly again at Remus. He then turned towards the door, laughing. He spoke to one of the wizards. "Watch them closely. Black escaped Azkaban so he's a tricky one. I'm going to owl Wormtail that his old friend has finally taken the bait."

Remus looked at Sirius and saw his own thoughts mirrored there. As soon as Wormtail heard that Sirius was here too he would tell them that he was an animagus and any chance of escape would be gone. They had to move fast. With McNair having just left the room the guards would not be expecting an immediate escape attempt, especially having seen how useless Remus' had been. All they had to do was get far enough outside of the wards to aparate.

There were three wizards left in the room. It would take seconds for Sirius to change, get to their wands and free Remus, but with three wands pointed at them those few seconds might not be enough. Remus took a deep breath. He had to give Sirius all the time he could.

Remus jumped to his feet, unable to stand properly with the chair there, but he ran towards the nearest wizard. They may have planned this capture, but no doubt expecting only one person to guard. With any luck the other two would both try to help, leaving Sirius unguarded for a few seconds. As he felt two pairs of strong hands pull him off the wizard he grinned. He saw the wizard's eyes widen as he looked over Remus shoulder, no doubt only just realising the error. Remus heard a voice hiss 'stupify' and then blackness overtook him.

*

Remus fought his way up through what seemed like wads of black cotton wool back to consciousness. As he became more aware he remembered that they were trapped in the old house and struggled to sit up. Hands gripped his shoulders and pressed him back onto the soft – soft – sheets beneath him.

"It's ok Remus. We're safe now." Remus blinked a few times and saw Sirius sitting above him. He rubbed at his eyes and moved his head uncomfortably.

"That was some charm you put on us Sirius." He frowned. "How long was I out? Why didn't you wake me?" He paused. "How the hell did we get out?"

Sirius grinned and stood up. "By the ingeniousness of myself and James Bond films." Remus' frown deepened. "Come on Remus. James Bond!" For some reason Remus felt he should at least pretend to know what the other man was talking about. At least Sirius was talking to him. "No one had heard your idiotic charge at the guard, or else expected there to be some noise, but after you were all out of it no on came bursting in as I expected." Sirius was gesticulating wildly as he spoke, evidently much pleased with himself. "I pulled the one guy's robes on, put another set on you –" Remus looked down to see that he was in fact wearing a stolen robe, "- and flung you over my shoulder. I then ran out shouting that you had knocked out one of the guards, that I was taking you out to wake up, and that two more should go in to take our places. Once outside I did the summoning spell Dumbledore gave us for the Aurors and aparated us the hell out of there." Sirius stood, hands on hip, grinning. Remus blinked.

"And that worked?" Sirius nodded happily. "So they completely failed to notice that we looked nothing like the guards and believed what you said?"

"As I said, I ran past pretty quickly, plus, if you remember, being a watcher of James Bond films helped." Remus knew he must look as confused at he felt because Sirius laughed and clarified. "In those films James doesn't even bother with disguises. He just sticks with the premise that if you say something firmly enough, and with enough conviction, people will believe you. And by the time they have a chance to think about it, you have a good 5-10 second head start on them. And that's all I really needed right then."

Remus felt himself grinning back as he sat up again. Only Sirius black could have done something so bizarre and unorthodox and have it pay off. "So did the Aurors catch them?" He swung his legs over the side of the bed, peering around trying to gather where they were. Sirius answered his unspoken question, as well as the spoken one."

"It's an old flat that Dumbledore says he's kept since the old days when someone might need it to hide out. Apparently he has one in every city." Sirius shrugged. "And yes, they were caught. All but McNair and one other. Dumbledore told me they must have been upstairs and managed to get out pretty quickly."

Remus stood up. "How the hell long was I out?" A lot seemed to have happened. Sirius shrugged again.

"Couple of hours. There was no point in waking you. We aparated to the place we planned, Dumbledore was there about two seconds afterwards, then he aparated us here. I was going to wake you sooner, but – " He shrugged again, the happy grin fading. Remus knew why he hadn't woken him sooner.

"Sirius –" He began.

"No Remus. I don't want to talk about it. All that needs to be said has been." Sirius' voice seemed to devoid of emotion. At least when he was angry Remus could react to that, but the sheer loss of hope in the usually strong voice made Remus' heart ache.

"Please Sirius, you have to understand –" He stopped as Sirius finally met his eyes.

"I do Moony. I understand completely."

Remus wanted to tell him that he loved him, that he wanted to be with him and that it didn't really matter if anyone else knew, but the set look in Sirius' eyes stopped him. He swallowed deeply.

"Um – " Remus swallowed again. "How about a drink to celebrate?" Remus saw the sadness in Sirius' eyes at the change of subject even as his mouth curled into a smile. With that small sentence Remus knew he had told Sirius that he could not give him what he needed.

The ghost smile on Sirius' face grew slightly. "Oh God yes. I really need a drink." Remus grinned back, slowly at first. This was ok. Maybe they would be fine being just friends. Friends could go out together and have a drink. They could celebrate a job well done and a trap carefully avoided. He tried to ignore the pain in his heart.

*

"Well." Remus said.

"Yes." Sirius agreed with him. "Well."

Remus leaned out of the two-man booth to look behind him at the view Sirius had. "Well."

Sirius nodded. They looked up at each other, both breaking into identical grins at the same time. "Muggles certainly know how to live really don't they." Sirius had paused to look around again. "It should have been obvious from the name really."

Remus snorted. They had wandered down a few streets, wondering where to have a drink, finally picking a place tucked away that seemed pretty empty. It had red leather covered seats, some of which were set out as booths for just couples, as opposed to the usual sized ones that held four. There was a dance floor up at one end. They had had a few drinks before others started to fill the place up and now there were quite a few drinking and dancing. All men.

"'The Queen's Court.' All makes sense now." Sirius snorted. "We have great taste in muggle clubs Sirius. We really do." Sirius laughed. Suddenly a look of sheer joy passed over his face and he fell about in hyserics. Remus looked over his own shoulder, but saw nothing that should have warranted such an outburst.

"What?" Sirius looked up and him and laughed even harder. "What!?"

Sirius seemed to be trying to get his mirth back under control. "You – "he began, bursts of laughter interrupting " – you hate the idea that anyone might suspect you of having feelings for a man – what they might think of you – and then here you are! In a gay club!" Sirius curled up slightly, gripping his stomach and laughing. Remus scowled. He had not thought about it. Everyone here must be looking at him and thinking he was gay. His frown lightened. But they were all gay, so it didn't matter. He picked up his pint and finished it off, electing to ignore Sirius until he had regained some composure. The darker man breathed deeply to stop laughing before picking up his own empty glass and standing.

"We need more drinks. Be right back." Remus watched Sirius walk over the bar, admiring how his behind looked in his black jeans. Friends. Yes, this was going to work. He sat back and watched Sirius waiting for the barman and chatting idly with the blond man standing next to him. He was clearly flirting with Sirius, who seemed to be responding. Remus allowed himself an indulgent smile. It didn't matter. Sirius was here with him.

The blond man glanced over at Remus, no doubt asking something about him. Sirius glanced at him over his should and then smiled at the man, shaking his head and saying something. The blond man smiled more and moved in a little closer. Remus felt a pang of jealousy. The man must have just asked if Sirius was with Remus, and Sirius had told him that they were not a couple. Which was true, but he could not stop the desire to grab Sirius and tell the blond to keep away. But if they were just friends then Sirius could do whatever he wanted. He didn't even have to come back to the flat tonight. And he didn't have to come back to Remus' house the next day. Remus stomach flipped. He had not realised how much his heart had wanted Sirius living with him. He had felt marginally ok with the idea of friends as long as it still meant that Sirius would be with him, in his house, in his life. But if the dark-haired man chose to go off and finds someone else, there was nothing he could do.

Remus' mind was reeling. Was he really going to let Sirius run off with this blond man because he didn't want a few homophobic idiots thinking he was gay?

"Remus? Do you want the drink?" Remus looked up into Sirius' eyes. He had been so lost in thought that he hadn't noticed Sirius return with the drinks. Remus glanced over and saw that the blond man was looking over, no doubt having watched Sirius walk just as he had a few moments before. The jealousy flared. Sirius was his. No one else had the right to even look at him.

Remus breathed deeply. He knew the jealousy was just masking further feelings. He knew he wanted to be with Sirius more than anything. More than he cared about what others thought, that was for sure.

Remus looked up at Sirius who had been watching him think as a song started to play. This was his chance. His chance to show Sirius that he was able to be what he needed. He was able to put his feelings for this man ahead of his petty fear about what others might say. Plus this way he might actually get laid tonight.

The intro to the song was slow and long, Remus had plenty of time to get Sirius to the dance floor where other men were wrapping their arms round each other. Sirius had said nothing. Remus suspected he was waiting to see what this gesture was meant to prove.

As Remus wrapped his arms around the other man the hauntingly beautiful words began to pour out of the speakers.

"So close, no matter how far,

Couldn't be much more from the heart,

Forever trusting who we are,

And nothing else matters...

Remus had never heard much Muggle music, but this song made him shiver. It made him think of Sirius, of himself.

...Never opened myself this way,

Life is ours; we live it our way,

All these words I don't just say,

And nothing else matters...

Remus felt his heart leap. Had someone crawled inside his mind and read his heart they could not have produced a song with music and words so in tune with his feelings. This was how he felt. Sirius knew who and what he was, yet still accepted and loved him. Who cared if anyone could not accept them just because of baseless bigotry? The words were right. Nothing else mattered.

...Trust I seek, and I find in you,

Everyday for us something new,

Open mind for a different view,

And nothing else matters...

Remus pulled Sirius closer to him. The other man seemed to be gradually softening. Could he sense the emotional revelation the music was eliciting in Remus' chest? He wanted to sing this song to Sirius, to let him know that the words were spoken from his heart and soul. Open mind. That was what he had been lacking, but no more. He loved Sirius. Why could that ever be wrong?

...Never cared for what they do,

Never cared for what they know,

But I know...

Remus looked into Sirius' eyes. He wanted to tell it all to his lover, his friend, the only person he had ever really loved. He wanted to beg forgiveness and live forever making it up to him, but he could see the understanding in the black eyes. Sirius knew. Their eyes stayed locked.

...So close, no matter how far,

Couldn't be much more from the heart,

Forever trusting who we are,

And nothing else matters...

Remus closed his eyes and kissed Sirius gently on the lips. It was a kiss of pure emotion and love. Sirius responded, pulling Remus tight to him. Remus moved his lips round to Sirius' ear. "I love you Sirius. I love you too much sometimes, I think." Sirius' grip became almost painful.

"No Moony. Never too much." He whispered back as the music continued, lyrics moving almost through the two men. There was no one else, the rest of the club had disappeared and was forgotten.

"Forgive me? I've been an idiot." Remus knew he didn't have to ask, but wanted to anyway. He wanted Sirius to know what he meant.

Sirius laughed slightly, a laugh of relief and complete happiness. "God Remus! Always! I love you so much I think my heart will break from the strain." The two men pressed their heads together again and kissed. The song ended and died away, but still the two men swayed to it and their own tune.