Once again, thank you to everyone who has reviewed. I honestly love to know what you think.

##

Fixing John's wounds did not take long and John gave Sirius a galleon as a token of his gratitude. That afternoon, Sirius went shopping and bought a week's supply of cigarettes, a bottle of firewhisky and just enough food to last for a couple of days. Afterwards, he went to the Ministry of Defence to pick up a book entitled 'Stealth: The Art of Not Being Seen' in order to prepare for an exam being held the next week.

All in all, Sirius was not gone for more than an hour but when he returned he found the flat empty.

"John? You in, John?" he called. There was no reply.

Sirius shrugged and went through to the kitchen. He took out the bottle of firewhisky, opened a cupboard and reached for a glass. Vaguely, he noticed that John must have washed up. He poured himself a glass of whisky and drank in quickly. It tasted good. Too good. It had been many months since Sirius had tasted good liqueur. He screwed the lid on the bottle quickly to avoid temptation and moved to put the bottle in the cupboard above the sink with the glasses.

There was a folded piece of paper in the otherwise empty cupboard. A feeling of dread enveloped Sirius as he reached for the message. The feeling of dread turned into a lead weight in his stomach as he unfolded the paper and read the words scribbled there:

Siriuss.

I dont wont to tell yu this but Orion has Remuss. He got him in Knokturn Ally. I had to do wot I did or Orion wud hav hurt me bad.

Yu must sleep with Orion or he wil hurt Remuss bad to. Dont bring a wand- he can tel.

Orion said I shud say this to yer face but last time you wer mad yu set me on fire.

Sorri,

John

Sirius stared at the childish writing in horror. "Oh God. Please no. No," Sirius murmured desperately. "Not Remus."

He grabbed the glass he had just drank from, tightened his grip on it until it smashed and let his blood drip from his cut hand onto the floor. "Lay a finger on him, Orion, and I'll kill you," he swore.

##

James Potter knocked on Sirius and Remus' front door. "Maybe there's nobody in," he said to his wife, Lily Potter, when nobody answered.

Lily grinned at her husband. She was heavily pregnant and glowing with health. "You knock like a girl," she teased, hammering on the door with amazing strength.

A moment of silence ensued in which James Potter gave his wife an 'I told you so' look.

"IF THAT'S YOU, JOHN, I'LL KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD!!!"

A moment later Sirius swung opened the door and brandished his wand at Lily. James jumped between them. "Christ Sirius! Lily's pregnant! This is no time for jokes!"

Sirius let the wand fall to the floor and shook his head hopelessly.

"I don't think this is a joke," said Lily quietly. She stepped forwards and opened her arms to Sirius, who hugged her tightly and started to weep.

James looked on, aghast. "Sirius, what on earth's up?" he asked.

Sirius broke away from Lily. "It's Remus," he said eventually. The tears still streamed down his face.

"Remus?"

"Oh God, James. I don't know what to do." Sirius threw himself into James' arms and James, taken by surprise, held Sirius awkwardly and patted his head.

"It's alright, mate," he said, soothingly.

"Tell us everything," said Lily, stepping through the door and into the hall.

##

James and Lily sat on the sofa and Sirius brought a chair from the kitchen table and set it down opposite them.

"It's Remus," he said again.

"We got that bit," said James and Lily elbowed him.

Sirius stared at the floor as if it might help him. Or swallow him up. He was wearing his leather trousers with a deep purple shirt that has several buttons undone. There was a bandage tied round his cut hand. "Remus and I…" began Sirius.

"Come on, mate. We're all friends here," prompted James. Lily shushed him.

"We're… For a while I've… Shit, this is hard… Remus and I, we, you know."

"No, I don't know," said James.

"We, erm…"

"What?"

"We…"

Lily interrupted. "Sirius is shagging Remus," she said.

James went very red.

"Oh," he said flatly.

"Do you mind?" asked Sirius.

James blushed even deeper. "Well, it isn't as if I want to shag Remus…or you for that matter."

Lily elbowed him again but Sirius smiled faintly. "Cheers, mate."

"I don't think its anything to cry about," continued James.

"It's not that," said Sirius. "I don't know what to do."

"Tell us everything," said Lily for the second time.

And Sirius told them everything about Orion, his stripping, his relationship with Remus, the bouncers and the fight. He showed them John's note.

"Bloody hell," said James, once Sirius had finished. "What are you going to do?"

Lily didn't let Sirius answer. "He's going to the Ministry of Magic, of course. This Orion's a wizard, isn't he? You can get the ministry police to arrest him."

Sirius shook his head. He went back into the kitchen and came back with the newspaper article Remus had read aloud- could it be- just three days ago. Three days ago when Sirius had been a stripper and Remus had been his friend; somebody to love from afar. In the last three days Sirius' entire world had turned upside down.

Lily and James were silent as they read the article: A savage werewolf, masquerading under the name Joseph Lester, has been jailed for life following a unanimous 'Guilty' verdict at yesterday's trial. The trial's Judge, the Honourable Wesley Brocket, said 'too long have werewolves threatened the lives of innocent wizards- I am only disappointed that the verdict was not death.' The Minister of Magic has declined to comment on the case.

"Best not to bring Remus to ministry attention, then," said Lily.

"So what are we going to do?" James asked.

Sirius shook his head. "We're not going to do anything. I'm going to see Orion."

"And do what?" demanded James.

"Do whatever he wants."

Neither James nor Lily said a word. Sirius left the room. When he came back in all traces of his tears had gone and he had on a long leather coat.

"How do I look?" he asked.

"Gorgeous," said Lily. She got up and kissed him on the cheek.

"James," said Sirius, offering his hand.

James ignored the hand. "You can't do this! You can't! This guy sounds like a maniac! God in heaven above, Sirius! He'll want you to have…" James shook his head awkwardly, unable to bring himself to say the word.

"Sex, James? I know," said Sirius coldly, withdrawing his hand. "Make yourselves at home while I'm gone, won't you?" He made for the front door.

"DON'T DO IT!" shouted James, as Sirius reached for the door handle. "Please," he added more quietly.

Sirius turned around. "I love Remus. Who can say what Orion will do if I don't sleep with him? I can't risk it."

"Please don't."

Sirius sighed. "If you have a better idea tell me now."

"Okay," said James. "I'll tell you my plan."

##

James was not happy. Lily was in hysterics. Sirius couldn't help it. He laughed.

"You have to be bloody joking!" moaned James.

James' plan was a simple one. Sirius would distract Orion long enough for James to get Remus out. Sirius was certain that Remus would be held in the Star Club's drinks cellar, which had been used as a muggle prison in the 18th century. The only entrance to the cellar that Sirius knew of was a small door behind the bar that opened onto a narrow stone staircase. Sirius also knew that in the early evening there was only one person required behind the bar. James would simply wait for that person to turn their back then he could leap over the bar and disappear through the door.

"No bloody way, Sirius."

It was Sirius' idea that James would arouse less suspicion if he was dressed as a woman- Remus' old dress robes had been hastily transfigured into a scarlet sequined floor-length dress.

"You know I think this might just work," said Sirius.

James was more confident. "Of course it'll work. You just go up to Orion's office- he'll think you've given in to him and will relax. Five minutes later I will arrive. I need ten minutes to get Remus out. You just need to keep Orion happy for fifteen minutes- ask for some champagne or something- and then you can back out. It's a good plan. Just one question?"

"What?"

"Why the hell do I need to be dressed as a woman?!"

Sirius sighed. "Orion might be expecting a rescue attempt. He'll have people on the look out for men about my age- dangerous looking types."

"Besides," said Lily. "You make a very attractive woman."

James was still moaning when they set off on the rescue mission.

##

James Potter sauntered into the Star Club and winked seductively at a group of attractive young men.

He distinctively heard someone mutter the words 'drag queen' and knew that he didn't make quite as good a woman as Sirius had thought. It was something of a relief, actually.

"I'll have a beer," he said to the barmaid, as he leaned casually against the bar.

James swallowed a mouthful of beer and prayed that the barmaid would turn around quickly. His prayers were soon answered in the form of an attractive young man that he presumed was the barmaid's boyfriend.

"Hello, darling," said the barmaid, leaning across the bar for a kiss.

And James glanced around the club to check he wasn't being observed, hitched his dress up and vaulted over the bar. Two seconds later he was through the door and standing in pitch-blackness. "Remus?" he called quietly. Nothing. He took a step forward and very nearly fell down a flight of extremely steep stairs. "Remus?" he called out again, while trying to negotiate the stairs in the dark.

"Remus? Where are you?"

There was no reply but that didn't mean anything- Remus could easily be under a silencing charm. James reached inside his dress for his wand at the same minute but froze as the point of a knife poked his back.

"One move and you dead, you hear me?" said the voice of John, the bouncer.

##

Orion was sitting at his desk in his office above the club when Sirius walked in.

"Doesn't anybody bother knocking nowadays?" asked Orion, abandoning his work instantly and giving Sirius a dazzling smile.

"I thought I'd surprise you," replied Sirius in his most seductive voice. He sprawled across Orion's desk.

"It is nice to see you," said Orion, desire darkening his eyes.

Sirius leaned forward. "You haven't seen anything yet," he whispered in Orion's ear.

"Shall we go to my bedroom?"

This was a little too quick for Sirius. "Can't I have something to drink? Some champagne maybe?" I need to give James more time, he thought desperately.

Orion pulled Sirius off his desk. "There's some in my room. Its icy cold and waiting for you."

Suddenly, Orion pushed Sirius up against the wall of his office behind his desk. He kissed the back of Sirius' neck making his flesh crawl.

"I thought we were going to the bedroom," said Sirius nervously, even as he realised that he had never noticed the existence of a door that could possibly lead onto Orion's bedroom.

"We are."

A moment later the wall gave way before Sirius and he realised that there must have been a secret door hidden there. He surveyed the room he found himself in. It was painted a deep shade of red. He could see no other doors or windows and a giant satin-covered bed dominated the room.

"Do you like the bed?" asked Orion.

But Sirius wasn't looking at the bed. He was staring at the corner of the room where Remus Lupin was gagged and tied to a chair.

"Oh God, Remus!" cried Sirius, as he realised that James' plan had failed.