Hunting The Traitor

by FairyTale

Would Harry's life have been better if he hadn't lived with the Dursleys? Seven year old Harry Potter's world collapses within the blink of an eye, and now it's up to Remus to hunt down the traitor responsible for it.

14. Cui Ci Sono Dei Mostri

Okay folks, here goes chapter 14. That was faster than last time, wasn't it?

The chapter is quite long again, but there are long A/Ns at the beginning, so if you're not interested in them you'll have to skip them.

A/N:

Mia: Erm…yes, you see: when I posted the part about "Chapter 13 will be up in two weeks", I was convinced that it actually would be up in that time. I'm sorry that things again didn't work out as I thought. I learned my lesson, and from now on will refrain from making promises I can't keep. But the one big barrier is crossed, and I got myself some help (a big bow in front of Morgan D.) for the last obstacles I have to overcome, so I hope that things will go more smoothly from now on.

But thank you for bearing the wait and for keeping up with me (though that poke in the eye hurt!).

Ah, and now I'm evil, yes? Well, thank you. *g*

Mella deRanged: Now, if I'd answer that question, I could as well save myself the trouble of writing the last two or three chapters at all, couldn't I? All I can say is that I hope the end will be a bit surprising, gripping and shocking. I hope it'll work out. I can tell you that Sirius is not insane without telling too much. No, not insane. It's a bit more difficult with him, you know?

Nicky: Thanks, I'm doing my best to get the next update out faster. You're taking really wild guesses there, but from what I understood you got a thing or two wrong. Janus didn't lose his good position due to Lucas telling on him. They're both still in the same position than before – and partners – and the only disadvantage they'll have from what Lucas did is that they'll be closely observed for some time and maybe won't be given the high-explosive cases. But they haven't been degraded. And though you do a good job there in blaming everything on Lucas, I can tell you that he did not tell on Janus out of disloyalty. He just thought that a) Janus had done the wrong thing even though he had warned him b) it would be blamed on both of them as they're regarded as a team and c) because he thought that the consequences would be far worse if their boss found out about it from other sources. Lucas *did* warn Janus, you know?

Who will be expecting them when they arrive? *g* Who said somebody would?

But you're perfectly right about Serena. LOL!

NightSpear: Yes, I'm still there. You are right, the story *has* been moving slowly, or more slowly than any of my other stories at least, but you might have guessed after the end of chapter 13 that now things get moving. Quickly. Thanks for thinking I keep everyone in character. Even my OCs, I think it would be weird if they started acting differently in the end of the story than in the beginning. Thank you for the compliment.

A.Dee: Calm down. Breathe. All right? You weren't very communicative in your review. Sounded like a faint, to be honest. Breathe and trust me...oh well, maybe add a little prayer or two. *g*

Anaxandra: Thanks a lot. I'm glad you like the style of the story. Though the flashback in this chapter is probably the last one. No, Serena's pregnancy won't play a big role in this story, it's just a little side-touch. I'm playing around with the idea of letting you all see Janus' whole family in one of the later chapters of "The Last MarauderRevised". Poor Janus. But it's definitely not important in the remaining chapters of this story.

Rykatu*L: Yes, I simply needed a Janus chapter right now. Yes, that portkey...

Azn A: Yes, the wonderful world of cliffhangers – welcome back! Oh come on, I had so few of them in this story. I know that the chapter was not eventful, but as you said it was needed. Both the chapter and the flashback mostly served for the purpose of shedding some more light on the character of Janus and his part of the family. But you might have guessed that things get moving now. I cut out the Harry scene and put it into this chapter. First for length reasons, and secondly because of chapter composition (yes, lately I've been paying attention to that one!). It just didn't fit into the Janus chapter.

Moongirl: I might have been accused of being evil lately, yes. Though I always try to take it as a compliment. *g*

chips challenge: Why do they want Remus? Interesting question indeed. To answer that question, it would be interesting to know who 'they' are, wouldn't it? And then the next question would be "Who do they want to get whom?", but maybe that one is already answered when you find out who 'they' are. And why are you talking about 'they' by the way?

I don't think it's all that surprising that Remus would try and search Sirius on his own. He's desperate, he wants to find Harry. Janus told him that Sirius has escaped from Azkaban and the logical deduction is that he has something to do with Harry's disappearance. He thinks he knows Sirius better than anybody else involved in the search, but he also knows that Janus and Richard would rather tie him to the bed before they let him go out and search fro Sirius in his current state. So he gets himself released from the hospital and starts looking for Sirius in the places where he thinks his former friend might have hidden, places he thinks the Ministry won't search. But I hope your wondering will stop in one or two chapters, then things should be clearer. Until then, I'm glad you like the story so far.

Lisande: Oh, but cliffhangers are just so much fun! At least from this side of the story (meaning my place as the all-knowing author *g*). Thank you. Actually I don't really like Harry being sick, and the chicken/Dragonpox coincidence was not meant to be published so close to each other. The sick!Harry flashback was written mostly with the intention to introduce Serena in the flashbacks. I'm glad you liked Janus in this chapter, thanks. Somebody actually asked for more about Janus and his family, and I myself wanted to have some more of him in the story before...well, before the next couple of chapters come out. I'm doing my best not to take that much time again before the next update.

Fantome: I'm trying my best to get the next chapter out sooner. But who said it would contain the answer to where Janus and Remus were taken? There's so much that needs to be done before that could easily fill the next chapter without answering that particular question... *evil chuckle*

Bookworm2000: Now don't laugh, but the reason why the chapter took so long to finish was that I had no idea how I could get Janus and Remus to the place where I wanted them to be. And then I thought 'this is a magical world we're talking about, isn't it?', hit my head against something hard for about an hour or so and wrote the portkey scene. I was searching for a difficult answer to an easy question, actually. But you're right, the next chapters are going to be interesting for our dear protagonists. Not to mention confusing and taxing and scary and dangerous and exciting and ... well, you get the point.

Moony Lover: Thank you. Now, I can't answer that question, can I? Try answering it for yourself. Who could it be? Make a list of the suspects and cross out the ones who can't be it. The one who remains, no matter how unlikely, has to be the perpetrator. I think Arthur Conan Doyle always lets Sherlock Holmes say something along those lines. But to answer at least one of your questions: yes, definitely pregnant. Only Janus is a bit clueless about it, you know? If nobody told him, he possibly would not realize it until the baby was born. *g* Men.

But which Auror-Death Eater thing are you talking about which you suspect Lucas about? I didn't quite get that reference.

Aubretia Lycania: Hmmm, my dictionary gives me two translations for "dastardly": insidious and cowardly. I do hope you mean the first one. *g* I'm glad you like the flashback/present style of the story, I keep trying to connect the contents of both of them. Update ASAP, but I can't make any promises or give exact dates. But what's your id? *frowns*

C. Rose: Do I have? Hmmm, maybe. But maybe not. You'll see.

Eva: You're definitely right about the upcoming excitement. Very much excitement indeed...

Shawny Wong: I'm glad you liked how I kept Janus in that chapter. But whether he feels more guilty because he and Remus didn't get along for so long is a difficult question to answer. But it's interesting that you should ask it. Let me put it this way: both of them have changed a lot since Voldemort's downfall, and they have definitely grown closer since then. But that does not answer the question whether the initial reason for their estrangement has been overcome completely. I say it's interesting that you ask about this because it will have to be seen in a later chapter. To give you an answer: Janus cares deeply for Remus, he definitely loves his little brother, but there are some issues he simply has not thought about for a couple of years. And they might re-surface. Might.

Blueberrie: Thank you!

Ms. Issues: Here you go! Thanks!

tcoflvrdkisses07: That name is a real pain to type, do you know that? Thank you, though, and here you go.

padfoot1979: Thank you! I'm glad that there are people who start liking Janus because he's very dear to me. You will get all your answers as the story concludes, so don't worry about that. And my next story will have far more Sirius in it, I promise.

Liara: *hands tissue for Liara's drooling problem* Thank you. But unfortunately I can't answer your questions now, you'll surely understand why. I'd not say you're gullible, I'd say you're suspicious, as it is your right to be. Well, but healthy or not Remus has grabbed that portkey and now he'll have to confront whatever is waiting for him. At least he has Janus to take care of him. *g* Thank you so much, I'm glad you like my characters. OCs are really hard to work out, they took me quite long to develop and I'm kinda proud of them.

Lady Coia: Yes, at least both of them went. Though Janus will be a bit angry about it, I can promise that much. Thank you so much for all your compliments, I'm just glad that you like the story and my writing style. So thank you very much and here is your update.

Sailor Sol: Thank you! And you definitely don't need to be sorry for not reviewing earlier, I'm glad about every review I get. I read "Enemies" regularly, and you're right that there are some similarities between Charly/Orion and Lucas/Janus. But on a closer look the similarities are more superficial than anything, but I think they seem so strong because the basic idea with the Unspeakables as something like an "Elite-Auror" unit and the partners there being close friends who trust each other completely is similar. But Charly is definitely more funny in his conversations with Orion, I always enjoy those. But I enjoyed it quite a bit when she started posting "Enemies" to find those little similarities, it's funny because none of us took the idea from the other (and I'm convinced that the stories will end up quite differently).

Morgan D.: I haven't even said Thank You yet, have I? Your comments on the chapter-parts I sent you helped a lot, though you won't find any remarkable changes in this chapter which had to be made after your comments. That might come next chapter...

All right, unfortunately I didn't catch everybody who was so kind to leave a review. Sorry, but I appreciated all of them. Thanks!

A big Thank You goes out to Morgan D. who took the time to pre-read this chapter and parts of the next chapter and commented on them to help me find out if the story was moving into the direction I want it to without being all too obvious about it.

Well folks, that was faster than the last one, wasn't it?

By my momentary estimation we have about four to five chapters plus an epilogue left, so there's still something to come.

The first part of this chapter moves back a little to let you see what led to the last part of the last chapter.

As for now:

Enjoy!

Cui Ci Sono Dei Mostri

Harry had stopped struggling against being dragged down corridors and through rooms by the stranger who had hit him. There were still tears streaming down his face, and from time to time the child could not suppress a sob, but he did his best not to make any sounds. Too scared he was that the man in the dark robe might hit him again, might shout at him again and said more things he didn't want to hear.

Harry was still trying to understand what the man had told him when he had taken him out of the room Harry had woken up in. That Remus would not come to get him. Could not come and bring him home. That was what the man had said. That Remus was lucky if he still was alive. But Remus could not be not alive, could he? He was Remus, he would always be there. And Remus would come for him, Harry only had to hold on until he did.

Harry sniffed lowly and again wished that he still had Rory to hold on to. What would Remus say if he found out that Harry had lost the precious stuffed lion? It had been a gift, the first gift he had ever received from his godfather and now it was gone. Harry wanted his lion back, and even more so he wanted Remus to come and take him home.

But Remus was still not here.

With quite a start Harry realized that the man who carried him had stopped moving. From out his tear-fogged eyes and glasses Harry saw the man fumble around with his wand in front of a locked door, then he roughly kicked it open and non-too gently pushed Harry inside where he landed on his bottom quite painfully. Before the child realized what was going on, he heard the lock snap shut behind him and again he was alone, in another dark room without a real window.

Panicky, Harry looked around the room with wide eyes and a trembling lower lip, no longer caring to wipe away his tears. Not even bothering to get up Harry scrambled backwards until his back came into contact with the wall, then he quickly pulled up his knees to his chest and tried to will himself to stop shivering.

What did that mean? Why had that man taken him out of the first room and dragged him around for minutes on end only to lock him up again in another room that looked just like the first, only that it had absolutely no furniture? Why? And what would come next?

Harry had never been so scared before ever in his entire life, and he didn't like that feeling at all. He was hungry and thirsty, shivering with nothing but his thin pyjamas to keep him warm, and his clothes were damp and dirty. And he was tired. If Harry had not been so scared, he could have closed his eyes there and then and slept for at least a day, but as it was fear and adrenaline were keeping him awake.

So he sat there, shivering and crying silently, waiting for what was to come.

Harry didn't know how much time had passed before he heard footsteps approaching in the corridor again. This time he didn't even allow himself to hope that it might be Remus who was finally coming for him. Nevertheless, Harry flinched back as the sound of the lock snapping open sounded unnaturally loud through the room. The door opened up and there was the man again, towering dangerously over Harry's shivering form. Totally scared, Harry buried his head in his arms and silently hoped that the man would go away.

But he didn't.

Of course.

Instead, Harry felt something being thrown into his lap. Confusedly, he looked up. A piece of parchment? When Harry looked up farther, he flinched as the man's icy eyes were still turned on his face, unwavering.

"Can you write?"

Automatically, Harry nodded, still too scared to speak. His breaths were coming in small gasps by now and his head was starting to ache.

"Then write."

It took Harry some moments to realize that the man was holding out a quill to him. But still, he didn't understand. What did the man want him to write? Why? He could spell, and in the past year in school he had learnt writing. He was quite good at it, though not really fast yet, but he didn't know why the man was asking him about that now.

"Write!"

"What?" It was a squeaky, shaking syllable, but it seemed to anger that man only further. He lifted his hand as if to strike Harry, but instead he grabbed Harry's left arm and held it tightly in a painful grip. Harry winced.

"You are daft, aren't you? Write to your godfather. Ask him for help. Actually, I don't care what you write as long as he recognizes your handwriting."

Harry didn't really understand anything of what the man was saying, the pain in his left arm was just too much for him to notice anything but. The man's fingers were digging in his flesh with bruising force and Harry could not help but cry out.

"Ouch! Stop...stop..."

The pressure on his arm was released a little, but not enough to completely stop it from hurting. The man laughed harshly.

"Write. As it seems, your precious godfather is miraculously still alive, so I think we invite him for our little gathering here, don't you think?"

If the situation had been different, and if Remus or another member of his family had used the word, Harry would have asked what a gathering was. But as the situation was, he wasn't even particularly interested in knowing. Something in the man's voice told him that it would not be good if Remus came here. Of course Harry wanted Remus to come and take him home, but what if that man here hurt his godfather, just like he had tried to hurt him? Harry didn't want Remus to be hurt, but he also didn't want the man to hurt his own arm again.

The man thrust the quill into Harry's right hand and pushed it towards the parchment.

"Will you finally start writing, or do I have to force you?"

Harry's hand was shaking too badly for him to even write something legible, and as he didn't immediately start writing the man increased the pressure on his arm again. Again, Harry cried out in pain.

"It can't be too difficult, can it? I don't want you to write a novel or a poem, so for Merlin's sake finally get it done! I don't have time for this!"

Harry pressed his eyes close tightly, and after a moment the man let go off his arm. Hesitantly, Harry opened his eyes again.

"Now, one last time. We can make this easy, or we can make it hard. Either you write something like 'Help me Remus' right now, or I will have to hurt you some more. It's your choice."

It wasn't really a choice, that much was clear even to a seven year old boy. And Harry didn't want that man to hurt him again, his arm was still aching even though the man had let go off it by now.

His hand still shaking, Harry brought the quill down on the paper and wrote the words the man had told him. The letters were shaky and didn't look too much like his own handwriting normally did, but Harry hoped that it was good enough for the man to just leave him alone again.

Without another word, the parchment was ripped out of Harry's hands, as was the quill, and with another steely look at Harry the man left him alone in his cell again.

Harry cradled his hurting left arm against his chest, pulled his knees up again and started crying anew. He didn't know what would happen next, but still he wanted to go home more than anything else. Maybe if he closed his eyes tightly for some time he would wake up and find that it all had been a horrible nightmare. Then he could sneak into Remus' bed and feel safe again. But even as Harry closed his eyes he knew that this was not true.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Remus felt Harry's hand tightening its hold on his own and he squeezed his godson's hand once in reassurance. Harry had never liked big crowds, and though most of his initial shyness had vanished over the past two and a half years, the five year old boy still didn't like being around too many strangers at a time. But today it could not have been prevented. For one, Harry could not stay away from strangers forever with only his family around him. And secondly he had needed new clothes after his last growth spurt, and buying clothes for Harry was something Remus could not do by eye measure. So he had taken an afternoon off and had spent it with Harry in Diagon Alley. By now it was nearly evening, Remus was laden with bags and packages that contained robes, trousers, shirts and shoes and he was glad that they were finally finished and on their way back to the Leaky Cauldron. There was full moon the next evening and he already felt tired and drained.

He heard Harry noisily suckling on his ice-cream – strawberry and chocolate, wrung out of Remus by Harry's famous 'lost puppy look' despite all of Remus' reservations against sweets before dinner – and smiled down at the child.

"Better finish that, we're going to floo soon."

Harry nodded and tried to swallow as much of the ice cream as soon as possible. Remus rolled his eyes. He had not meant for the child to devour the ice all on one bite.

"No need to hurry just that much, you'll only give yourself a headache, pup."

They stopped in front of the pub and Remus patiently waited for Harry to finish his ice. When the last bit of the cone had vanished, he reached into his pocket for a tissue and crouched down in front of Harry to wipe away the chocolate streaks around his mouth. Harry pulled a face and squirmed, trying to move away.

"Don't Remus! I'm not dirty."

Remus only laughed.

"Oh no, of course not. You only got the chocolate smeared all over your face, it's a wonder you haven't smeared it into your hair as well. There you go, now you look like a child again and not like a cave-troll."

"I'm not a cave-troll!"

Remus affectionately ruffled Harry's hair. "No, of course you're not. Right, how about we go back home now, I make us something to eat and then we'll sort out all the old clothes from your wardrobe?"

Harry nodded.
"And then you go to bed early just for once, so that you won't be so tired for your sleep-over at Janus' tomorrow."
Harry pulled a face. "I don't want to sleep over at Uncle Janus'!"

"Why not?"

Harry shrugged. "I just don't want to. I want to stay at home with you."

Remus sighed. Discussing with Harry had become a bit exasperating lately as the child obviously was in the middle of a phase where he thought he had to disagree with his godfather about everything, just for the sake of it. Harry was testing his limits with Remus – something that was only normal and natural – but from time to time Remus had to fight hard as to not to lose his temper with the child. He didn't like going all authoritarian on Harry, but lately it could not be avoided from time to time.

"Why don't we floo home first and then talk about it, all right?"

Harry defiantly shook his head. "No! I don't want to floo home!"

Remus sighed. Why couldn't he have waited to mention the sleep-over until they were safely at home? Now he had a stubborn Harry to deal with about something as unimportant as flooing home. But he would not settle that particular argument here on Diagon Alley, definitely not.

"Well, you will have to or you won't get home."

Harry pulled his lips into a pout and stomped his foot once.

"I don't want to floo."

"Oh, and how do you want to go home?"

"I want to fly home!"

Inwardly, Remus sighed. Flying. He wanted to kick Janus into the behind for taking Harry with him on his broom a couple of months ago. Ever since then the child had been obsessed with flying and had been constantly begging Remus for his own broom.

"We can't fly home, Harry. We can't just take a broom and fly across Muggle London. And flying home will take many hours from here, and it will be quite cold up there. And we don't have a broom with us. So I guess we will have to floo home."

Harry wordlessly shook his head and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Fine, if the boy wanted to pout he should just try it, but Remus would not give in to that.

"I don't know what you will do, but I will go into the pub now and floo home. If you don't want to come with me, then I guess you will have to stay here for the night."

"I'll stay here!"

Harry still glared at Remus, but the older man could see the child's resolve start to crumble despite his words, and his green eyes flickered a bit as if he was debating inwardly what to do next. Remus continued talking Harry into agreeing.
"I don't think it would be comfortable to sleep here, on the hard stone floor. And you would be hungry, because there is nobody here to cook dinner for you. Nobody to tell you a story, and nobody to kiss you goodnight before you go to bed." Again, Remus crouched down in front of Harry so that he was on eye-level with the child. He didn't particularly like bribing the child into agreeing like that, but at the moment he neither had the will nor the strength to go through a lengthy argument with Harry. "And I would be quite alone without you, Harry. The house would be all too empty and silent and I would be lonely. I really don't want that, Harry."

Harry's green eyes stared into Remus' for a long moment, then he hesitantly nodded and reached for his godfather's hand.

"Okay. But I won't sleep at Uncle Janus' tomorrow."

Remus could see another discussion coming up, but he decided not to say anything about that until they were safely home.

"Thank you, Harry. Let's go home and I'll make us some dinner."

He lead Harry into the dark and smoky interior of the Leaky Cauldron and after a short small talk with Tom the owner he shrunk their shopping bags and put them into his pocked. Then he lifted Harry up, placed him on his hip and threw the floo powder into the flames before he stepped into the fireplace. Harry held on tightly and buried his face in Remus' shoulder as the fireplaces began to spin by in front of them.

With his five years, Remus thought Harry far too young to floo alone, afraid that he would say something wrong and end up somewhere completely different than intended, but using the floo network with a five year old child in his arms was not Remus' favourite way to travel either. They fell out of the fireplace in Remus' living room quite clumsily, but at least Remus managed to regain his balance before he and Harry hit the floor. Harry quickly disentangled himself from his godfather and tried to wipe some of the soot from his face.

Remus unpacked the shopping bags and gestured Harry to move upstairs. "Okay pup, why don't you get out of your robes and clean yourself up a bit before I make dinner?"

Remus was already prepared for another minute-long argument, but much to his surprise the child only sighed loudly to show that he didn't really want to do it but nevertheless moved towards the staircase without complaining any further. Remus silently thanked the boy for being so obedient just for once.

About an hour later Harry and Remus had eaten dinner, all of Harry's new clothes had been sorted into the wardrobe and the two of them were sitting on the living room sofa. But before he sent Harry to bed, Remus wanted to approach the necessity of Harry spending the next night with his uncle rather than at home once more.

"So, what are you planning to do with your aunt and uncle tomorrow?" Remus tried to sound cheerful and without any intention in his voice, hoping that Harry had already forgotten about his earlier unwillingness to spend the night away from home. But Remus didn't have that luck, which he soon realized from the way Harry's face started to transform into a pout again.

"I'm not going."

Remus sighed.

"Why not? Don't you want to spend time with your Uncle Janus and your Aunt Serena?"

"Not tomorrow. Don't want to go tomorrow."

"Why not tomorrow?"

Harry shrugged and turned his eyes back onto the colouring book he had been doodling into earlier.

"Because."

"Just because?"

Harry nodded, not looking up from his drawing. "Yes. Because I don't want."

Remus sighed and put his hand on Harry's back to get the child's attention. Harry looked up.

"Listen Harry, I'm afraid that you will have to spend the afternoon and night tomorrow with Janus. I won't be here, I'll be with Dad like every month."

"Can't I come with you to visit Grandpa? I want to visit Grandpa, not Uncle Janus."

Remus sadly shook his head. "No Harry, I'm sorry but you can't. We can visit your Grandpa the day after, or he can come over."

"Why not tomorrow?"

Remus bent his head and wearily rubbed his temples with his hands. He knew that when Harry wanted to know something and started asking questions he could be quite persistent. A couple of times Harry had already questioned the reason for Remus' monthly disappearances, but somehow he had the feeling that if Harry seriously started this today, he would not be able to evade answering them this time. Remus knew that he would have to tell Harry that he was a werewolf, and sooner rather than later, but for the life of him he had absolutely no idea how to do that. He couldn't just say 'Oh pup, by the way, I vanish once a month because I turn into a savage, raging beast'.

Only thinking about it made him remember the one moment, two months ago, when he had had a similarly difficult talk with his godson. Janus' wife Serena was six months pregnant by now, and when they had told Harry that she was having a baby the child had turned his innocent green eyes on Remus and had asked him where the babies came from. Remus' chin had dropped as far as it went, Janus had started laughing out loud and Serena had quickly left the room before anybody could ask her to tell Harry about the facts of life.

What had followed had been the most embarrassing thirty minutes of Remus' life during which he had desperately tried to give Harry the answers to his questions in a way a five year old boy could understand. In the end Remus had been flushed a deep tomato red in embarrassment, Harry had been appalled and Janus had been having the time of his life making fun of his little brother.

And compared with what was about to come now this had been a picnic.

Remus sighed deeply and tried to steel himself for what was about to come.

"Harry, you can't come with me to Grandpa tomorrow. It's like last month when you stayed with Janus and Serena."

"Why?"

"I'm going to tell you why, but...it's not easy to explain, Harry. It's a long and difficult story and I hope you understand it. It might be a bit scary, but there is no need to be afraid, okay? And if you don't understand something, just ask."

Harry nodded, muted by the sudden serious and heavy tone of Remus' voice.

"Okay. You know that when I was at your age, your Grandpa, Uncle Janus and I lived in France, right?"

"Yes."

"We were living in a small town and there was a forest nearby. Your Grandpa had forbidden Janus and me to go in there without an adult, because it was big and especially at night also dangerous. Now, when I was five years old I snuck out of my room one night. Dad had not allowed me to go outside that day because I was slightly sick and I was pouting. So I decided that I could as well sneak out for an hour or so after dinner, when they thought I was already asleep. I somehow managed to get past my parents and Janus without them noticing me and snuck out. I don't know how late it was, but it was autumn and already dark outside. But the moon was full and there was enough light to see everything clearly. I don't really remember what happened then, but somehow I must have gotten too close to the forest during my playing in the garden. I was already beneath the first trees and though I could still see the house I was farther away than I was allowed to be.

As I said, I don't remember what happened, but I know that while I was out there in the forest I got bitten by an animal. Dad heard me screaming when it happened and he and my Mum ran out to see what was going on. When they were coming for me they scared away the animal that had bitten me. They brought me back into the house and called a doctor.

Harry, you remember the scar that I have on my shoulder?"

Remus ran his hand along the outline of the scar that was hidden under his shirt. Harry nodded.

"That was where I was bitten."

Harry's eyes widened in shock.

"It must have been a really big animal."

Remus shook his head slowly.

"No. I was a lot smaller when I got the bite, as tall as you maybe. And when I grew, the scar grew with me, that's why it seems so big. But the animal which bit me wasn't."

"What animal bit you?"

Remus closed his eyes and took another deep breath.

"It was a werewolf, Harry."

Remus knew that he had not told the child anything about werewolves, but he could not be entirely sure that the child had never heard the word before by somebody else. But Harry's somewhat blank expression told him that obviously the child hadn't, or if he had he didn't remember.

"You were bitten by a wolf?"

Remus nodded.

"By a werewolf, yes. It's...not exactly a normal wolf."

Harry's small forehead frowned, his eyes shifting back to where he knew the scar from the bite wound was on Remus' shoulder.

"But...but that was long ago. It's good again now, right? I got bitten by Eric's mouse once and it got better soon."

Remus watched his godson with a pained sadness in his eyes. He only hoped that Harry would take it well when he told him the truth now. There would be nothing able to devastate him more if Harry got frightened or appalled by this so far unknown side of Remus.
"No Harry, unfortunately it's not good again now. Werewolves are not like normal wolves. Werewolves are magical creatures, and they only become wolves one night a month, when it is full moon. During the rest of the time they are humans."

The look in Harry's eyes told Remus that he had absolutely no idea what his godfather was talking about.

"Harry, when somebody is bitten by a werewolf like I was, they become a werewolf themselves."

A pause during which the silence was oppressing. Then, after what seemed like a small eternity:

"You are a wolf?"

Again, Harry's eyes widened remarkably, even more so as Remus nodded.

"One night a month, when there is a full moon, I turn into a wolf."

Remus gave Harry some time to process that piece of information, all the while watching the child's face intensely. Harry was staring at the carpet, his brow furrowed and a look of extreme concentration on his face. After some moments, he looked up at Remus again.
"But why can't I be with you when you turn into a wolf? I want to see you as a wolf!"

Remus shook his head.

"You can't. Werewolves are not normal wolves. They are dangerous and try to bite and hurt every human they meet. That is why every full moon, I go to your Grandpa's house and lock myself in for the night so that I won't hurt anybody. It's going to happen again tomorrow, and that's why you can't come with me. It's too dangerous."

Harry shook his head vehemently. "You would not hurt me."

Remus smiled sadly and ran his hand through Harry's hair, resting it against the boy's cheek as he spoke.

"Harry, I would never hurt you. Never. But when I turn into the wolf, I'm not myself. I'm dangerous to everybody, even the people I love. I take a potion every month", Remus smiled as Harry disgustedly pulled a face, showing his extreme dislike for any potion he had been forced to take in his life so far, "and that potion makes me a bit safer. But it would still be too dangerous for anybody to be with me. That is why I want you to stay with Janus and Serena tomorrow night, okay?"

Harry nodded, though somewhat reluctantly still. Remus guessed that the child didn't really understand the full impact of what Remus had just told him. How could he? Harry was only five years old, five and a half nearly, and so simply could not grasp the extend of what he had heard completely.

"Is there anything you want to ask me?"

Harry looked up and just stared at Remus for a long time. He tried to read the child's expression, tried to find out what Harry was thinking, but a bit concernedly he had to realize that he could not read what he was thinking from Harry's face.

"You only are a wolf at one night?"

Remus heard the worry in Harry's voice and immediately put a calming hand on his shoulder.

"Only one night. When the full moon comes out I change into the wolf and when the moon sets in the morning I change back again. But it can't happen any time else, only during full moon nights. There is no reason for you to be afraid of it, you'll never be around when that happens."

A pause.

"Okay."

Harry didn't sound entirely convinced.

"There is one more thing Harry." Remus gave another sigh and hoped that Harry would understand how important this was.

"You mustn't tell anybody what I just told you."
"About you being a wolf?"

Remus nodded. "Yes."

"Why?"

"Because Harry, people are afraid of werewolves. They know that werewolves are dangerous and so they are afraid. Which is good, because if they are afraid they will take care that they never meet one. But they are not only afraid of the wolf, they are also afraid of the humans who are a werewolf. Do you understand that difference, Harry?"

Harry frowned again and thought for a moment.

"You mean that you are not dangerous when you are you. Only when you are a wolf."

Remus nodded. "Yes. But not everybody understands that. And when people know that somebody is a werewolf, they get afraid of that person and often try to stay away from them and their families."

"Why?"

"Because they don't know better. They're afraid of what they don't know. A couple of people know about me being a werewolf, your Grandpa, Janus, Serena, Claire, but I don't want everybody to know. I don't want people to behave differently towards you just because they are afraid of me.

Can you promise me that you won't tell anybody about it?"

Harry looked into Remus' face and slowly nodded.

"'kay."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Remus smiled in relief and squeezed his godson's shoulder tightly. "Thank you, Harry."

Remus could tell that a lot of things were going on in Harry's mind and that he still needed time to process everything that he had been told during the past minutes. He didn't want to push the child, but nevertheless he hoped that it would not be bothering Harry for too long.

"If there is anything you want to know, you can always ask me. Anytime."

Green eyes looked up at Remus and he saw that there was something bothering him. He tried to smile reassuringly. "You can always ask me everything Harry. Always."

"Does...are you...are you bad?"

The last word came out as a low whisper and Remus felt a painful tug in his chest. That was what he had been worried about, that Harry would be scared of him once he got to know that his godfather was a werewolf.

"Harry, I'm still the same person I was before I told you this, the same person you've always known. Do you think that I'm bad?"

Harry shook his head, not daring to look up in his godfather's eyes.

"I didn't tell you about all this before because I wanted to scare you. I told you now because I think you're old enough to understand it, and because you asked why I go away once a month and I think you earned an honest answer. I've been a werewolf long before you came to live with me, and things won't change because now you know about it. I'm still the same person you've always known, only now you know why I can't be with you one night a month."

He watched Harry chew on his bottom lip, a sure sign that the boy was thinking about something very hard.

"You are a bit confused now, right?"

Harry nodded, still not meeting Remus' gaze. With his hands Remus gently framed Harry's face and lifted it up so that their eyes met.

"Don't worry too much about it, okay? Nothing has changed, only that you now know the truth."

He smoothed his hand through Harry's hair, inwardly chiding himself that he had started his whole 'coming out' shortly before Harry's bedtime. It would be his fault if the child would not be able to sleep in tonight because he was too confused. Harry sat next to him for a moment, his legs dangling off the edge of the sofa and his eyes on the long-forgotten drawing book on the table, though Remus guessed he was not really looking at it. After some moments, Harry leaned against Remus' side and tucked himself under his godfather's arm. Remus smiled as Harry soon afterwards seemed to have come to the decision that this was also not a truly comfortable position, climbed into Remus' lap and hugged him around the waist as tightly as he could. Remus immediately wrapped his arms around the small boy and for some long minutes just hugged him tightly without saying a word.

He took it as a good sign that Harry still wanted to be close to him and seemed to draw comfort from that proximity. The child was confused, true enough, but Remus hoped that this was something that could be settled with more open and honest talking. With his five years Harry was too young to understand it fully, but telling him now was definitely better than confronting him with the truth in a couple of years when it would come like a big, bad surprise. No, it was definitely better to let him grow up knowing the truth and Harry's reaction was better than Remus had expected it to be.

James would have been proud of his son, Remus thought.

Tears dwelled up in his eyes beyond his ability to control it and with quite a surprise Remus realized that he had not thought about James or Lily in a very long time. When Harry had first come to live with him, only looking at the child had often conjured up painful memories of them, but over the years this had lessened more and more. Of course Harry would always remain James' son, but somewhere along the way that had stopped being the fist thing Remus thought about when Harry was concerned.

He would change it if he could, would gladly give Harry his real family back if there was any way to do that, but as he knew this was impossible Remus had accepted it as his responsibility to raise the child and fill the gap that had been torn into Harry's life. Truth be told, he didn't think he could love Harry any more than he already did, even if he had been his own child.

Remus didn't know what he had done to earn something as precious as this, but he was glad that he had it.

Harry shifted slightly in Remus' lap and when Remus looked down he saw him yawn heartily. One look at the clock told Remus that it was nearly an hour past Harry's bedtime. He carefully got up from the sofa and shifted Harry slightly in his arms so that he could carry him more comfortably up the stairs. The fact that Harry didn't even protest against being brought upstairs showed Remus that he was obviously very tired. Ten minutes later he had managed to make Harry brush his teeth and change into his pyjamas for the night, though this had not gone without the usual tired protests about not wanting to go to bed. Despite all this, Harry was nearly asleep by the time Remus pulled up the blanket and bent down to kiss him goodnight.

"Sleep well, pup. I love you."

Harry smiled sleepily and snuggled deeper into the pillow, holding his stuffed lion tightly in his arm like he did every night. Harry mumbled something that Remus decided to understand as 'love you, too'. He gave Harry another quick kiss on the forehead, then tucked him in tightly and turned off the lights, leaving the room with the feeling that a huge weight had been taken from his shoulders.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Janus fell to the ground hard, the force of the impact knocking the air out of his lungs and for a moment his vision turned black, bright red and white stars dancing in front of his eyes. That was exactly why portkeys should only be taken while standing still, the transport only increased any movements that were made, and right now Janus felt thoroughly smashed. His vision was still blackened and blurry, and his chest felt as if somebody had used his ribs to play xylophone on them with an iron bar. He didn't even dare to take a breath at the moment.

"Janus?"
Upon hearing Remus' concerned voice he drew a deep shuddering breath despite all his reservations against it and suppressed a wince as the immediate result was a searing pain that shot through his ribcage.

"Janus, can you hear me?"

Remus definitely sounded worried now, so Janus gingerly lifted his left arm and waved his hand in what he hoped was understood as a gesture to give him a moment to compose himself. He slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position, one arm wrapped around his aching middle.

"Are you all right?"

As his vision slowly cleared, Janus saw that Remus was kneeling next to him, one hand placed steadying on Janus' shoulder. Janus quickly nodded and rose to his feet as fast as his body would permit it. Remus was still steadying him and only let go when Janus was standing securely on his own feet again.

"Yeah, I'm all right. You?"

He looked up into Remus' face and saw his brother nod. Anger flared up in him as he remembered that his brother's carelessness had brought them into this position.

"What the fuck did you think you were doing? Didn't you think for just one moment before you opened that bloody package? It was a bloody obvious trap and you fell for it!"
Remus just stared back at him confusedly, the stuffed lion still clutched tightly in his left hand.

"I...but it was...Harry, it was his stuffed lion and I didn't think..."

"That's right, you didn't think! Bloody hell Remus, do you think whoever kidnapped Harry just sends you his stuffed lion because they think you might want it back? Fuck Remus, you are not completely daft, are you?"

Remus simply stared back at his brother, too stunned by Janus' angry outburst to reply anything. Janus glared at him some more, then he abruptly turned around and vented off his remaining anger in a harsh snort. He wanted to knock his brother on the head for this stupidity, but at the moment there were more pressing matters to be seen to. Like trying to get home, for example. Unharmed, if Janus got his will.

Both then took a closer look at their surroundings, Janus drawing his wand in an automatic movement. At least it had not been damaged by his rather unprofessional landing.

They were in a plain room in what appeared to be an old mansion of sorts, the thick stone walls enough indication for that. There was no furniture in the room, and the two small windows that allowed some moonlight to filter in were too high above for them to look through. At the far off wall there was a door, closed at the moment but seemingly the only way out of the room.

Janus lit his wand and quickly strode across the room, searching the walls and corners for concealed exits or other things that might not be visible on first sight. After he had convinced himself that they were alone in a room without any other exits, he returned to Remus' side.

Remus was leaning against the wall, still holding Harry's stuffed lion, his hands absent-mindly stroking through the fur of the animal. He had the feeling that his heart had stopped beating the moment he had seen Harry's writing on the letter. He was fairly sure that it was Harry who had written it, though small children's handwritings often looked alike. But somehow he had just felt that it had been Harry's handwriting, that it had been Harry begging him to come and help him. The thought that Harry was alive rose his hopes a bit, but thinking that his pup was alone and scared, hoping for him to come, was heartbreaking. Harry was waiting for him, relying on him to come and help him, and he had left his child alone.

And upon seeing the stuffed lion, Remus had just stopped thinking clearly. This morning after he had gotten himself released from hospital he had spent a good half hour sitting in Harry's room, looking through his things. He had immediately noticed that Rory was missing, but as the stuffed lion always lay in Harry's bed at night he had already guessed that the child might have clung to it while he had been taken away. And that fear had been only confirmed when whoever had taken Harry had sent it to him, as if to mock his fears.

Turning the lion in to a portkey had been a devious way to get Remus here, and a sure one at that.

Janus on the other hand was thinking about something entirely different.

Why would someone go the lengths of nearly killing Remus the night Harry was abducted only to send him a portkey to this place two days later? That would only make sense if the plan had been to kill Remus that night and whoever was responsible for it had found out that it had not succeeded. But still, there were easier ways to accomplish that goal than taking the risk of sending him a portkey. Black – if he truly was behind it, which Janus didn't doubt – must have been so sure that the portkey would reach Remus in person, and that his younger brother would take it.

Janus sighed, trying to suppress the leaden lump that was beginning to form in his stomach. Black had sent the portkey to his place, and that strung a chord which made him feel slightly sick. Either that meant that the portkey had been designed to send him and not Remus here, in that case it could be a most dangerous trap and he needed to get his brother out of here as soon as possible. But somehow he didn't think that this was the case. Black was stupid if he just sent Janus a portkey and hoped that would be enough to bring him here. Janus would surely not have touched the stuffed animal without further examination had it not been for Remus, and identifying it as a portkey would have been a matter of moments.

That left another possibility, one that made Janus' stomach jerk painfully. Black must have known that Remus was at his place, that his brother would not share Janus' professional hesitation when faced with something that belonged to his missing godson. And that meant Black must have been watching the house, must have been around somewhere waiting for Remus to show up. The thought that Black had been around the house in which his brother, wife and daughter had been made Janus' hands shake in anger.

But no matter what Black's plans and motives were, they needed to get out of here as soon as possible. They didn't know if being here brought them any closer to finding Harry, but even if it did, Janus would not play the game according to Black's rules. It was far too dangerous, especially for Remus.

"It's a trap. We need to get out of here."

Remus just stared at him dumbly, protest already written across his features. "But Harry..."

"Remus, we don't know if he's even here. Black is playing his games with us, we could be anywhere."

Remus shook his head determinedly.

"No. No, I won't go away as long as I didn't make sure that Harry is not here. You can't force me!"

Janus closed his eyes and slowly counted to ten. He could force Remus to leave, and his brother knew that as well, but he'd rather have him see reason and leave on his own.

"Listen to me, because I won't repeat myself. This is a trap. We don't know where we are and who else is here. We could be outnumbered by twenty to one, and if we're dead we won't be of any use for Harry. Listen, we'll take the portkey back with us and as soon as we're safely out of here I'll have a tracking charm placed on the lion. Portkeys can be traced back, you know that, and as long as we have the lion I'll be able to come back here and search for Harry, but with reinforcements and a plan."

Remus still shook his head to show his disagreement.

"No, we don't have the time. If we come back later, Harry could be hurt or...or worse in the meantime."

With a sigh, Janus made a step towards his brother and framed Remus' face with his hands, forcing him to look into his eyes.

"We need to get out of here. Now. Because if we stay, it's likely that we both get hurt or killed, and then we won't have another chance to get to Harry. I know that it's hard for you, but it's the only way. Trust me, okay?"

Remus hesitated for a moment, but then he nodded, dropping his eyes in defeat. Janus couldn't even begin to guess how hard it was for him to even consider going back without having searched for Harry. With every minute that didn't bring him any closer to finding his pup, Remus felt like he was failing Harry over and over again. He would not be able to take this for much longer.

"Do you have gloves with you?"
Remus frowned at the strange question and shook his head. "No, why?"

"Never mind."
Janus rummaged around in his pockets, finally producing a handkerchief which he transfigured into a glove and handed Remus. His brother frowned, but obediently put it over his left hand. Janus then produced the emergency portkey he always carried around with him and held the box open for Remus to see.
Remus grimaced upon recognizing the silver sickle.

"Sorry, I never thought I'd have to take you with me, otherwise I'd have taken something else."

Remus just shrugged. "I don't think that matters right now."

"All right. On the count of three."
He activated the portkey with a tip of his wand and looked at Remus. His brother nodded, and Janus counted them down.

"Okay, one – two – three."

Even as Remus' hand descended towards the small coin he felt Janus' fingers close around his wrist, thus making sure that Remus indeed touched the portkey and not only pretended to do so to start his own search once Janus had vanished. He didn't have much time to think about that small breach of trust because then his finger touched the portkey and he steeled himself for the upcoming transport – and nothing happened. Janus tipped the portkey again with his wand, but only a soft blue glow lightened up that vanished immediately, like a muggle light bulb that burned out. Remus frowned.

"Erm, Janus? I know that I'm not an expert on these things, but shouldn't the portkey...well, you know – take us away?"

Without reacting to his brother, Janus waved the wand a couple of times above the portkey, then with a frustrated sigh stuffed the box into his pocket again.

"It's blocked! That bloody bastard blocked the bloody house against portkeys. I don't believe it! All right, I'm afraid it won't be successful either, but we should try apparating out. It could draw unwanted attention to us, but whoever sent the portkey knows that we landed here, anyway."

Remus nodded and drew his own wand, but moments later pocketed it again after two attempts to apparate without success. Janus was right. Whoever had tricked them here, they'd been extremely thorough in their preparations.

"All right, just give me a moment to think this through."

Janus started pacing the room for what appeared to be endless minutes, all the while scratching his head absent-mindly with his wand. He was still moving a bit gingerly, as if the pain from his previous impact had not completely vanished yet. Remus noticed this, but he knew that any further inquiries about his brother's wellbeing would only fall on deaf ears in their momentary situation.

"Okay, I'm afraid we'll have to play along to Black's rules until we find a way out here. He got us transported into a room with only one door, so I guess he wants us to leave through it. But he also would want us to search for the little one heedlessly, and that's where we won't play along with him. As soon as we find a fireplace or any other way to get out, we'll leave, understand?" When Remus nodded reluctantly, he continued. "It's important that no matter what happens Remus, you listen to what I tell you. I know that you're a good wizard, but you're not experienced with those kinds of situations. I need you to promise me that whatever happens, you'll do what I tell you. No matter what, promise me?"
"Yeah, whatever."

Janus had to hold himself back from forcefully shaking his brother then until he saw sense in it all. He knew that Remus' mind was on Harry and on Harry's safety alone, but he also knew that this was exactly the wrong thing in their current situation. They could not rescue Harry as long as they themselves were potentially in danger. He could not walk around unknown territory with the possibility of being attacked any moment when his brother had his mind somewhere completely else.
"Remus, I'm not joking! This is important!"

Remus sighed loudly.

"All right, all right. I promise."

Janus nodded. "You'd better stick to it. If you don't, I won't hesitate to stun you and take you out with me. Right, keep your wand out and stay behind me."

Janus carefully opened the door and looked out, finding himself faced with a corridor that stretched out in both directions. He carefully let his gaze wander along both to the left and right. After a quick moment of thinking Janus decided that as he had no indication to which direction would be best to take either decision was as well as the other. He stepped out and gestured his brother to follow him as he turned towards the left.

"Listen Remus, we're searching for either a fireplace or a way out of that mansion to get behind the anti-apparition wards. That means we'll probably have to look downstairs, see if we find a kitchen or a lounge of some kind. If you see something, tell me, but keep your eyes open and watch your back. And hold on to that lion."

Remus placed Rory into the inner pocket of his robe, securing it with a sticking charm, then followed his brother down the corridor. At the end they found a staircase leading both down as well as upwards. After Janus had looked gone upstairs a few steps, listened and searched for possible booby traps he gestured for them to move on downstairs. They descended one storey until the stairs ended, though Janus was convinced they were not on ground level yet. As they emerged they found themselves in another corridor that looked exactly like the one above. Plain stone walls, no picture frames anywhere, from time to time a locked door to the left or right. No windows as there were rooms to both sides of the corridor, but torches in irregular intervals lit up the space in ghostly light, making the shadows come alive around them. In the dim light, they could not see the other end of the corridor.

"In that kind of house, one can get lost for weeks on end on the search for the bathroom."
Remus didn't respond to Janus' jest, and Janus had to forcefully remind himself that he was not investigating this scene with his partner, but with his brother. With Lucas, the tasks were distributed clearly, and Janus could rely blindly on his partner covering his back. That's why with Lucas he could allow himself such a little joke at the right time. But right now, he was here with Remus and that meant that Janus had to pay more attention than usual, that he had to watch his brother's back as well as his own. Their lives were his responsibility right now, though Remus would protest against that thought had Janus uttered it aloud, but he knew that if his attention got distracted right now, their lives would be in even more danger. Inwardly, Janus cursed himself for not paying more attention earlier. If he had taken that package from Remus, they would not be in this situation right now.

They reached what Remus supposed was approximately the middle of the corridor and to their right was a door that looked different from the others they had passed so far. It was nearly twice as wide, with ornamental carvings and two wings instead of one. Janus tried his memory and came to the conclusion that this door had to be nearly exactly below the room they had first found themselves in. If he had counted the doors right, that was. Janus gestured Remus to stop.

"Double-winged door stands a bit out against the others. Chances are that this might be a study or a living room of some sorts, something bigger than the other rooms here. We might find a fireplace in there."

Remus frowned at him. "But why didn't we try any of the other doors we've passed? Wizarding houses usually have plenty of fireplaces, we could already have found one."

Janus shook his head, again reminding himself that Remus was not Lucas. But how should he explain his brother what came so naturally with their work after years of experience? The more doors you opened, the bigger the chances became that you got distracted by what you found and thus gave the opponents just the chance they had been waiting for to strike against you. It was easier to trap somebody in a room than in a corridor, and it was easier to trace those who were standing still than the ones who were moving. One of the first lessons those who did field work for the DMLE learned was that when trapped in a situation out of your control, the worst thing to do was losing your head. Blindly opening doors and searching for a way out led to panic easily, especially when there were civilians trapped with you.

Stick to the book, think clearly, don't lose your head.

That was what Janus had been taught by his mentor in the French Auror department, and though Janus had not always stuck to the book during his work, he had always preferred to keep calm even when the situation got hopeless. He knew that he himself could have kept calm even if he had blindly flung open every door on their way to reveal anything but the fireplace they searched for, but he wasn't so sure Remus could have. And if Remus lost his head now their situation only got worse. His brother was right, they could have already found a fireplace by now, but just as well they could have found another trap or worse – Black could have found them. And Janus just could not explain all this to his brother at the moment.
"Trust me?", he repeated his earlier question.

"Yes", Remus answered without hesitation. Janus nodded.

"Then trust me that I know what I'm doing. Now, I'm going to open that door here. Keep your wand out, keep ready to stun anything that might be in there and wait here until I've made sure the room is clear."

Remus nodded and moved to the side while Janus opened the door with a whispered 'Alohomora'.

The double wings swung open on surprisingly well-oiled hinges and revealed a dimly lit room which was nearly twice the size of the one Remus and Janus had been transported to, but which was equally empty concerning furniture, pictures, or a fireplace. Janus made a tentative step into the room and cursed loudly when he realized that it was not completely empty. In one corner to his right, somebody was lying on the damp stone floor, unmoving and either unconscious or worse. It took Janus only a short moment to recognize the person who was lying there, though his brain refused to process that information. It just didn't make sense. Janus swallowed heavily, and a moment later he was storming towards the prone figure.

"Lucas?"

He knelt down next to his partner's side, his fingers immediately moving towards his throat in search of a pulse. His actions were carried out automatically after years of training and field experience, but in his head one question buzzed through after the other, all of them unanswered. He sighed in relief as he immediately found a steady and regular heartbeat and then slowly and gently turned Lucas over onto his back. Lucas was alive and if they could wake him then maybe his partner would have some of the answers Janus so desperately searched for.

Moving Lucas to his back drew a low pained moan from him, followed by the fluttering of his eyelids as he slowly gained consciousness again.

Remus had followed Janus into the room and now knelt down on the other side of Janus' partner, turning a questioning and worried gaze on Janus.

"What happened?"

Janus shook his head.

"I have absolutely no idea. Lucas", he patted Lucas' cheek with his hand repeatedly, "Lucas, can you hear me?"

Again, Lucas moaned and slowly opened his eyes, dazedly looking around the room. As his eyes fell onto Janus Remus saw how he struggled to focus his gaze, then he frowned and tried to sit up, only to be held back by his partner's hand on his shoulder.

"Janus? But where...? What...?"

"Lie back for a moment and let me make sure that you're all right." He raised his wand and waved it over Lucas' body, searching for injuries. "Does anything hurt?"

Lucas lifted his hand and gingerly fingered the right side of his head. "My head. Else, I'm alright, I think."

Janus pried Lucas' fingers away and had a look on the rather large bump on the side of Lucas' head.

"Somebody knocked you out pretty good, that's for sure. Lucas, how in Merlin's name did you end up here?"
Again, Lucas struggled to sit up and this time Janus helped him into a sitting position.

"I don't know. Care to tell me where 'here' is?"

"I have no idea. What happened to you?"

Lucas held his head in both hands as he leaned against the wall for support. "I just don't know. I was in the office after I left at your place, I think until nine or so. Ryder assigned us a new case, I was reading into the files. When I apparated home there was an owl waiting for me, but the letter was a portkey. I don't know why I didn't realize anything amiss, but I think I didn't suspect the letter to be a threat. Before I knew what happened, the portkey activated and...", he looked up at Janus, a helpless expression on his face, "then I don't know. Somebody must have knocked me out, but I don't know who, where or what. It's all so blurred at the moment."

Janus squeezed Lucas' shoulder gently and then stood up again.

"I don't think you have a concussion, but whoever knocked you out did a good job with it."
"Janus, how come you are here?"
"Same as you. Somebody sent a portkey, and before I could stop him, Remus had touched it. I tried to intervene, but the portkey took both of us instead. My own emergency portkey is blocked, apparating doesn't work and so Remus and I have been searching for a way out of here. That's how we found you."
Lucas shook his head, wincing as the movement caused his head to hurt even worse.

"That doesn't make sense."
Janus sighed wearily and walked through the room, making sure no unpleasant surprises were waiting for them in a corner.

"In a way it does. I think Black sent the portkeys, and if I'm right about that he's somewhere around here, waiting for us. I don't know if he has hidden Harry here, but I'm pretty sure he wants us to think he has. What I don't know is why he should send you a portkey, having you here could only endanger him further."
"Not while I'm unconscious." Lucas groaned.

"I still don't see how. I could understand if he wants to take out Remus for whatever twisted reason his mind supplies, but bringing either of us here means increasing our advantage. Why not Remus alone? One on one Black would have the biggest chance to kill him. And I more or less came here accidentally. But why you?"

"Bait?" Lucas asked. Janus only shrugged. "I don't know, but it's not impossible. Maybe he's just plain mad, maybe he knows we're partners, maybe he just thinks you're a friend of mine and wants to bait me with you. I just don't know, Lucas. Everything I can think of doesn't make sense."

"What now?"

Both turned towards Remus as he asked the question, and the looks on their faces told clearly that they had already forgotten his presence in the room during their conversation. Janus came over from where he had been inspecting the far off wall and held a hand out to help Lucas up.

"The same as before, we'll go and search a way out of here." Seeing that Remus was about to protest, he quickly shook his head. "No, don't even start it, Remus. Yes, now Lucas is with us as well, but as long as we don't know what we're up against, even two Unspeakables is not enough for my liking, especially since Lucas took a pretty nasty hit on the head. This mansion is huge, and I don't want to think about how many traps there could be in here. No, we'll stick to the plan and search for a way out."

Janus realized that Remus still didn't like the plan, and somehow he could understand his brother. The only thing on Remus' mind right now was Harry and the faint hope that they could still find him alive. The letter and the stuffed lion had only stirred up that hope, and now that they had been transported here – wherever here was – Remus had the feeling that he might have come a step closer to finding Harry. But Janus just could not give in now, he could not go search for Harry despite how much he himself wished to do so.

Janus gave Lucas another minute or two to get his mind and balance together again while he silently contemplated how to get out of this situation. They were still stuck in this mansion, and slowly Janus got the sinking feeling that Black had planned out his trap a lot more carefully than he had anticipated at first. By now, he wasn't so sure anymore that they would find a way out all that easily. They needed to find a fireplace, whether connected to the Floo Network or not, and they especially needed to keep moving. They had already stayed in this one room for far too long for Janus' liking. He turned a questioning gaze at Lucas.

"What do you suggest?"

Lucas looked at him and shrugged slightly.

"No portkey, no apparating, so I guess we'll either have to search for a door or fireplace. What storey are we in?"
"I don't know. We're above ground, but not on ground level, and there are at least two other storeys above us."
Contemplating this, Lucas nodded slowly. "Then I guess we search for the stairs leading downstairs, trying to work out way to the ground level. There has to be a way out."

"Yes, but there's also the high possibility that this place is swarming with Death Eaters. Just because we haven't encountered anybody so far doesn't mean that they won't come crawling out of their holes as soon as we make a wrong move."

"The way I see it, we don't have any other choice Janus. We need to get out here, and if we can take out a bunch of Death Eaters on our way, all the better."

Janus frowned at his partner. "This is not about hunting down Death Eaters, Lucas. Especially not when Remus is around and you have just woken up from being knocked out cold for Merlin knows how long. Am I the only one here who had his mind in the right state? We try to keep ourselves hidden for as long as possible, maybe we can get out here without attracting any unwanted attention at all."
"And maybe Voldemort was just a misunderstood benefactor for Britain's muggle-born witches and wizards. Come on Janus, somebody went lengths to bring the two respectively the three of us here, and now they surely won't sit back and watch us leave again, don't you think?"

"Anyway", Janus sighed impatiently, "we have to move sooner or later and I'd suggest to do it sooner. You sure you're all right?" He'd rather change the topic than think even more about the possibility that with every move they made they did exactly what Black wanted them to do.

Lucas nodded and pushed himself off the wall against which he had been leaning. "Yeah, I am. Let's go."

They left the room again through the door, Janus walking first and Lucas backing up their rear with Remus in the middle. Remus didn't like at all that ever since they had found Lucas, Janus excluded him even more from the decisions about how to proceed. And he could not help but wonder why Sirius should have brought Lucas here. How had he known about his connection to Janus and thus to Remus? But then again, what reason was there for Sirius to kidnap somebody just because he had a connection to Remus? But why Lucas, a trained Unspeakable who posed a possible threat to Sirius' plans and not Richard or Claire who would be more defenceless than Lucas?

Remus had the feeling that it was even more urgent now to search for Harry instead of seeking a way out of this mansion, but he knew that no matter what he said right now he would not be able to convince Janus or Lucas of it. The team of them was together again right now, and Remus was only the tag-along who had to be protected. He had no power to decide anything at the moment, but he just could not help the feeling that something fishy was going on here, and that no matter what they decided to do now, they'd be in trouble pretty soon.

There seemed to be a silent understanding going on between Janus and Lucas, because none of them spoke as they slowly made their way through the corridor again. Not once did one of them stop in front of one of the doors, nor ask the other about the best way to proceed. Remus moved between them, once or twice looking at either of them as if he was about to ask a question but then decided not to.

After maybe five minutes, they reached the end of the corridor, but there was no staircase. Instead, they found themselves in front of another door that looked exactly like most of the others they had passed. One single torch next to it lightened the space up enough to see that there was no other way out from here.

"And now?"

Janus leaned against the wall and looked at Lucas, his wand still in his hand and the watchful expression in his eyes never wavering. He might look as if he was leaning casually against the wall and taking a pause, but both Remus and Lucas knew that he was ready to react to anything that might occur within the fraction of a moment.

Lucas hesitated before he answered, his eyes quickly darting up the other end of the corridor and back again.

"There was no staircase on the other end of the corridor?"

Janus shook his head. "No. Only the one we descended, but nothing that led further down."

"Then I guess either there is no obvious way downstairs, or there is one behind this door."

"Or behind any other door on this corridor", Remus interrupted. Both Lucas and Janus turned towards him, and he got the distinct impression that they were both glaring at him for interrupting their loud thinking.

"Or behind any other door here," Janus agreed. "But either way we have to decide what to do now."

Somehow, Remus got the impression that his voice would not count very much when this decision was concerned and he didn't like this at all.

After a short moment, Lucas spoke again.

"I think we should try that door. It's as good a guess as any, I think. If there's nothing behind it, we can think of another way to try something, but right now the end of the corridor seems most likely to hold a way down to me."

Janus nodded his agreement, and before Remus could do or say anything the decision had been made. Janus pushed his younger brother slightly to the side so that he wasn't standing directly in front of the door anymore, then he and Lucas took up positions. Lucas unlocked the door with a wave of his wand and covered Janus' back as the older Lupin brother stepped into the room with his wand raised. With one look Lucas checked that the corridor behind them was still empty, then he followed Janus in the room, Remus at his heels.

They found themselves in another room that was bare of any furniture or decoration – not to mention that again there was no fireplace – but on the far off wall there was a window which allowed them to look out, showing the treetops of a forest directly outside that indicated they were in approximately the second storey. There was also a small recess in which stone steps led downstairs, the possible way down for which they had been searching.

A door-sized opening in the wall led into another room, and as Remus looked into that direction movement caught his eye. Janus and Lucas both spun around immediately, positioning themselves slightly in front of Remus. A figure appeared in the doorway, staring at the three men in front of him for a long moment, and suddenly a hell broke lose.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Remus stared at the man he had once called a friend for what seemed like a small eternity though in fact it might have only been the fragments of a couple of seconds.

Sirius was wearing a robe that once might have been black but now was faded to a faded grey colour, worn and dirty, even torn in some places. It appeared to be at least three or four sizes too big for him, but he also appeared to have become so much thinner since Remus had last seen him. His  face was gaunt, fallen in around the cheeks and though for some strange reason he had not grown a complete beard, there were possibly two weeks worth of stubble on the lower part of his face. His hair no longer was shoulder length as it had been during the last two years after school, but hung around his face and across his shoulders and back in long, dirty and dishevelled tresses. From underneath the hair that hung in his face, Sirius' eyes stared hollowly at Remus – and at Remus alone – seemingly not noticing Lucas' or Janus' presence at all. One look into those eyes reminded Remus why he no longer counted Sirius amongst his friends, because the hatred that shone back at him from out their depths painfully reminded him of what this man was able to do and of what he had already done. James, Lily and Peter had been delivered to death by him, and now he had tried to kill Remus and had taken Harry.

Harry.

Just one thought about his godson stopped all musings in which Remus might have lost himself immediately as the pain about the possible loss of his godson stabbed through him with renewed force. Finally Remus was standing face to face with the man who had taken Harry away from him, who might have hurt him or even worse. And Remus could not let the man get away who had harmed his child.

And suddenly all rational thought was forgotten.

Not caring the slightest about what Janus and Lucas might think or do, Remus leaped forward into Sirius' direction, launching himself at the other man with his wand still tightly in his hand.

Sirius started to move at precisely the same moment, and both of them collided in mid-way, each falling to the floor with the impact of it. Remus was lucky enough to land on top, and he immediately seized his chance to grab the collar of Sirius' robes, pulling him up and smashing him down onto the floor again with all the force he could muster. Sirius' head collided with the floor with a force that must have been painful, but his blue eyes turned on Remus as if he didn't even realize that his head was hit against the stone floor. Something seemed to flicker in those eyes, and within the fragment of a moment recognition, sadness, doubt and other emotions passed through those eyes, far too fast for Remus to recognize them all, but after a short moment they were replaced by a look of such seething anger as Remus had never seen it before.

And before Remus could do anything about it, Sirius' gaze became opaque again and he seized Remus roughly by the front of his robe, somehow managing to push Remus away from himself and reverse their positions in one motion, pinning Remus underneath him with bruising force.

Before Remus could try to do something against his position the first punch had already hit his nose and he was far too busy defending himself. For some long moments, both men lay on the floor brawling like adolescent boys in a fight, but with the full intention to hurt the other as much as possible, without any hesitation or reserve.

After what seemed like a small eternity, Remus saw Janus' face appear in his line of vision and felt how his brother was pulling Sirius away from him, pointing his wand at the escaped convict's throat while he drew Sirius' arm behind his back to stop him from lashing out. Another pair of hands grabbed Remus around his shoulders and pulled him towards the other side of the room, but Remus was just too angry to seize his struggles. He was still trying to lash out into Sirius' direction, trying to hit him even as the two Unspeakables pulled them away from each other. Not even when Lucas poked his wand into Remus' side, threatening to stun him if necessary did Remus stop trying to evade his grasp. he didn't have proper or rational behaviour on his mind right now, he was only thinking about how he could make Sirius feel at least a little of the pain he himself and probably Harry even more so had been put through.

Janus was not fairing better. He tightened his hold on Black's struggling body, but with difficulty. Janus Lupin by no means was a weak man, and Black had spent the past five years in a place that had made physical exercise become an unnecessary pastime activity, but nevertheless it took him all his strength to keep Black from breaking free and storming over towards Remus again. There was something in Black's eyes that that scared even Janus. Those were not the eyes of a person who had become mad in Azkaban, he realized. No, Black was not mad, but whatever had happened to him in that place, it had brought out the worst in him. Black might not be mad, but that didn't make him less dangerous. The contrary, he was probably even more dangerous now than he had been before.

Across the room, he could see Lucas struggling to keep his brother in an equally tight grip. Remus didn't struggle as strongly as Black did, but he was shooting murderous glares into his former friend's direction and there was a wild look in his eyes that made Janus shudder.

Janus kept his wand in a firm grip against Black's throat, his left hand holding the other's arm behind his back in a tight grip, but ready to reach for his knife should Black try to do something stupid again. But he could see that no matter what Lucas did Remus didn't seem to have any intention to stop trying to get at Black's throat. Black just glared at him with equally matched force, so that it was hard to tell who of the two hated the other more.

"Where is he, Sirius?"
Black's gaze did not move away from Remus as he spoke, but upon realizing that he had been talked to, some of the wild rage seemed to vanish from his expression, his eyes clearing somewhat.

"What?"
His voice was hoarse and scratchy, just as if he had not used it in a long time. Which was probably true. For a fleeting moment, Janus contemplated whether this came from screaming himself hoarse in the presence of the Dementors, but he quickly dismissed the thought. Actually he didn't want to know what happened to Black in Azkaban, because however bad it had been, it had not been nearly enough to punish him for what he had done to Remus and to Harry.

"I asked you where he is!"
Remus was losing his patience, Janus realized, but Black either didn't seem to notice or he plainly didn't care. Instead, he looked at Remus from expressionless eyes, his pupils dilated so much that there was hardly any colour except from black visible anymore.

"Who?"

Remus seized his struggles, stunned and angered at the same time. He bit his lower lip as if to keep back a harsh remark, but before he could respond something, Janus beat him to it.

"You know perfectly well who, Black. Harry, that's whom we're talking about. Harry Potter, what did you do to him?"

Black turned slightly for a moment, his eyes quickly darting over Janus' face. For a short moment, something flickered in those blue and black depths, as if Janus' words had penetrated through his hull of anger and loathing for a moment, but when he turned towards Remus again the look had vanished again, replaced by the opaque and yet hateful expression it had shown earlier. He stared at Remus for a moment, the intensity of his gaze making a shiver run down Remus' spine.

"Harry is dead."