Lies

By Neurotica

Seven

Sirius Apparated into the cottage at two-thirty that morning. He was completely exhausted and desperately needed a nice, long shower.

Before he could make his way to the bathroom, however, he noticed something was not right in his home. He looked around the living room and the first thing he saw was the glowing embers in the fireplace. It looked as though somebody had had the fire going, but let it die out. This was a strange occurrence, because Harry was at the Weasley home for the night and Remus never went to bed without making sure that the fire was totally out. Sirius turned and looked at the coffee table. He raised his eyebrows so high they threatened to become part of his hair line: Remus' book was laying wide open between a full glass of wine and a bowl of spaghetti. And it most definitely wasn't like Remus to leave a book and food sitting somewhere.

"Remus?" Sirius called into the darkness.

No answer.

Sirius' intention was to walk through the kitchen to Remus' bedroom to find out what kept his friend from tidying up after himself like he always did. He reached for the light switch in the kitchen and flicked it on and off a few times. The room remained in total darkness; perhaps the power was out?

"Lumos," Sirius muttered to his wand. With the thin beam of light that came out of his wand, Sirius saw that the entire kitchen was a mess. The table had been turned onto its side. Two chairs had been broken. There was a large dent in the refrigerator.

Breathing heavily, and trying to keep his body from shaking, Sirius knelt beside a dark crimson stain on the linoleum floor. Dried blood. He waved his wand over it and muttered a forensics spell to tell him to whom the blood belonged. He closed his eyes tightly as the hologram appeared before him, praying to whatever higher power that may be listening that the blood didn't belong to his friend.

Taking a deep breath, Sirius opened his eyes, looked at the hologram, and collapsed to the floor.

Lupin, Remus John

Aged: 34 years

Registered Lycanthrope

A picture of Remus appeared next to the words.

"REMUS!" Sirius yelled again through the house, though he knew there would be no answer.

He tried to calm himself long enough to think, but thoughts of what could be happening to his best friend continued to interrupt any useful training he had. Finally, the Auror in him overpowered his emotions. He stood from the kitchen floor, used the counter next to him to balance his shaking legs, and moved quickly to the living room. He grabbed a pinch of Floo powder from the mantle, threw it in the grate, and said as calmly as he could, "Hogwarts, Headmaster's office."

He stuck his head into the whirl of flames and waited for the spinning to stop. "Albus!" he called into the dimly lit, empty office. "DUMBLEDORE!"

"Well, well, well, if it isn't my great-great grandson," said a sly voice out of Sirius' line of sight. "What brings you here so late, may I ask?"

Sirius gritted his teeth and ignored Phineas Nigellus. "Dumbledore!" he yelled again.

At last, the old wizard emerged from Sirius' right wearing a dark purple dressing gown. "Good morning, Sirius," he said calmly. "What can I do—"

"Remus is gone, it looks like there's been a struggle, have any of the charms or wards in your office gone off tonight?" Sirius asked in one breath.

Dumbledore did not answer, but crossed his office to a silver spindly object Sirius didn't recognize. He tapped it with his wand once and muttered something. After a few moments, he turned back to Sirius. "The wards seem to have been taken down. Just after eleven o'clock last night. Whoever was in your home seems to have known exactly how to bypass the security measures without alerting any of us."

Sirius didn't even fell himself fall back out of the fireplace. This can't be happening, he thought desperately. Not again.


Remus was trying hard to catch his breath. His chest felt as if someone had dropped the whole castle of Hogwarts onto it. If this kept up, he wouldn't last much longer.

"Tell me, Lupin," Malfoy hissed impatiently.

"No," Remus tried to say. It came out as a hard cough. Was that blood he tasted?

"You could make this easier on the both of us, werewolf. Tell me how to get the stone!"

"NO!" Remus yelled as loud as he could; it was barely a whisper.

"Very well, you've brought this upon yourself," Malfoy said softly. "Crucio!"

Now Remus did scream. He screamed so loudly it was a wonder that his vocal chords didn't tear. But Remus was used to pain. Being a werewolf did sometimes have its advantages.

Malfoy jerked his wand back and stopped the curse. "Now, Lupin, what's more important: that stone or your precious Black and Potter? Because if you don't tell me how to get to the stone I will kill the both of them... slowly. I may even keep you alive long enough to witness it."

"You leave them alone, you bastard," Remus said with all the strength he could muster.

To his annoyance, Malfoy smirked. "So the mild-mannered professor is losing his temper. Black's had a bad influence on you, I see."

Malfoy's taunts were giving Remus strength and energy he didn't know he possessed. While the Death Eater continued with his taunts and threats, Remus made it to his knees and charged head first into his chest, pushing the both of them back into a wall. Caught off guard, and obviously out of practice with physical self-defense, Malfoy's wand flew from his hand ten feet away.

The second fight that night broke out between them with Remus punching and kicking every inch of Malfoy he could reach. His wand hadn't been seen since Malfoy teased him with it at the cottage, so Remus had to use other techniques. Techniques he had learned from Sirius and James.

After some time, Malfoy quit struggling. Breathing heavily, bleeding from many different places, Remus moved closer to check the Death Eater's pulse. His heart was still beating.

Damn.

Remus reached into Malfoy's robes and found his own wand, thankfully, still intact. He bound Malfoy and shakily stood, summoning Malfoy's wand and stuck it in his jeans pocket. Remus whispered a communication spell he hadn't used since Hogwarts into the tip of his wand.

"Sirius Black," he rasped, turning his back to Malfoy.

The tip of his wand glowed a dark blue and shot a silver beam of light in front of him. Instantly he could see a round image of his living room. Sirius had his back to the image; he was speaking to a small group of what Remus figured were Aurors. One of the Aurors turned and pointed out the hologram.

Sirius spun around quickly, horror, relief, and concern evident on his face. "Remus! Where are you? Are you okay?" he said, speaking into his wand.

"I don't know where I am. Malfoy's here, unconscious. I'm going to try and Apparate the both of us out of here. I'll be back soon," Remus breathed into his own wand.

Sirius seemed to hesitate, but nodded. "Okay. Be careful, Moony. If you're not back here in thirty minutes, we'll do a locating spell."

Remus nodded, cut off the communication spell, and turned back to Malfoy.

"Dammit," he said loudly, his eyes going wide.

Malfoy was gone. How and where he went was anyone's guess. There had been no Apparition pop; Remus would have heard it.

For the first time since his arrival, Remus looked around his surroundings. He seemed to be in an abandoned Muggle warehouse. Muggle crates and machine were all around him. Maybe Malfoy broke the binding charm and was hiding somewhere?

Using his better judgment, Remus decided it was best to leave the warehouse and go home. He still had Malfoy's wand, and he didn't have the strength to fight anymore. His back, ribs, and jaw were throbbing with intense pain, and he was sure his nose had been broken.

Remus found the exit and limped through it discovering... nothing. The land before him was bare of any trees; the grass was dead from what he could see in the night light. Taking a deep breath, and thinking of how painful it would be to splinch himself now, Remus Apparated home.

He fell before the roaring fireplace to the soft carpet floor hard. He immediately heard footsteps and urgent voices all around him. His head was throbbing horribly from the energy it had taken to Apparate and all he wanted to do now was sleep.

A pair of arms grabbed his shoulders and gently turned him over to his back.

"We've got a location," Remus heard a female voice say.

Remus opened his eyes and saw the blurry image of Sirius examining him concernedly. Remus groaned. "Sirius, haven't we gone over what I like and don't like opening my eyes to?"

Sirius smiled slightly and backed away, giving Remus some breathing room. "You all right?" he asked, while the other Aurors Disapparated around them.

"No," Remus moaned.

"I'm taking you to Hogwarts," Sirius said, standing.

"Why?" Remus said, trying to frown. His muscles didn't want to work correctly.

"Because Pomfrey's there and it's safer than St. Mungo's," Sirius replied distractedly, looking for an object to use as a portkey.

"Malfoy..." Remus breathed, closing his eyes once more.

"We saw him disappear just before the communication spell closed. We tried to get a location locked on the spell, but couldn't get anything. When you Disapparated from wherever you were, we were finally able to get a location," Sirius explained. "I've got a whole team of Aurors searching the place now. And before you ask, Harry's fine. I sent Tonks and Anderson to keep an eye on the Burrow."

Remus tried to nod. "Wand... pocket..." he muttered.

Sirius raised an eyebrow, but went back to Remus and knelt down. He felt around Remus' pocket and took the wand out. "Is this Malfoy's?" he asked, examining the black tube of wood.

"Yeah..."

"Here, touch this," Sirius said, pocketing the wand.

Remus blindly reached out, and with Sirius' assistance, touched what felt like the book he had been reading before.

Good, I'll have something to read in the hospital wing, he thought vaguely.

"Three... Two... One..." Sirius muttered.

The two of them were pulled by their navels through a vast array of colors that made Remus' head spin. When they landed in the hospital wing, Remus turned his head away from Sirius and vomited.

"Evanesco," Sirius muttered. "Madam Pomfrey!"

Remus didn't remember much after that as he slipped into unconsciousness.


"I do not think it safe for any of you to return to the cottage," Dumbledore said somberly.

Sirius leaned back in the chair and rubbed his hands over his face roughly. Two days without sleep was finally beginning to take its toll on the Auror. "Where do you suggest we go, then?" He regretted the question the moment it was out of his mouth.

Dumbledore merely raised his eyebrows.

Sirius groaned "No. There is no way in hell I am going there," he said bluntly. Dumbledore said nothing, but continued looking at Sirius over those damned half-moon spectacles. It was a look Sirius knew well. A look that told him there was no arguing in this situation. But he wouldn't be Sirius Black if he didn't argue. "How can you think that that... place... is safer than anywhere? They all know where it is!"

"This is true, but they would never be able to enter it if there was a Fidelius Charm placed over it," Dumbledore said quietly.

The Fidelius Charm. How Sirius loathed it... It was part of the reason his life had been hell for years. Sirius shook his head tiredly, but he knew Dumbledore was right. "You'd be the Secret-Keeper?" Sirius asked wearily.

"I would."

Pulling at his long hair, Sirius recognized defeat. "All right, but Harry goes nowhere near that place until I know exactly what's in there."

Dumbledore inclined his head slightly. "He would be more than welcome here at Hogwarts for the time being."

Sirius nodded, stood, and left Dumbledore's office to go check on Remus in the hospital wing. He sighed heavily as he walked down the dark corridors of Hogwarts. The last place he wanted to go was the only one that was safe—or so Dumbledore seemed to think. But Number Twelve, Grimmuald Place had so many ancient spells and charms over it that it often made Sirius wonder if it would implode.

Ironically, that was what Sirius had hoped would happen to his childhood home.

On his way to the hospital wing, Sirius passed the stairwell leading to the dungeons. For a moment he thought about going down and releasing some of his frustrations on a certain Potions Master. His conscience, however—which sounded exactly like Remus—told him to wait for another time. Wondering when he'd gained a conscience, Sirius continued to his destination.

Upon his entrance, Sirius was relieved to note that Remus seemed completely cured. His best friend was sitting up in his hospital bed eating from a box of Bertie Bott's Beans and talking with Harry. For the briefest second, Sirius was thrown back to his Hogwarts days when he and James would come to visit Remus after the full moon.

"Hey, Sirius," Harry said when he spotted his godfather.

Sirius smiled. "Hey, Harry. When'd you get here?"

"Mr. Weasley brought me about half an hour ago," Harry replied.

Sirius nodded. "Remus told you what happened?"

"Yeah," Harry responded quietly, looking into his lap.

"What did Dumbledore say?" Remus asked, ruffling Harry's hair in a comforting manner. Harry smiled slightly.

"Well," Sirius said in a fake cheerful tone, "we can't go back to the cottage as Dumbledore has deemed it unsafe at the present time."

"What?" Remus and Harry asked loudly.

"Yeah, he wants us to go somewhere else for a while."

"Where?" Remus asked cautiously. He knew the look that Sirius had on his face, and he didn't like it one bit.

Sirius grinned humorlessly. "The Most Noble and Ancient House of Black. Where else?"

"Please, for the love of all that is good in the world, tell me you're kidding," Remus groaned.

Sirius shook his head. "Nope. I'm going to recruit a few people to help me check it out and I'll probably have the new candidates help clean so it's at least somewhat inhabitable first, though. It's been eight years, and I don't want to even think about what's happened to it."

Remus nodded and popped a cherry flavored bean into his mouth. A sudden thought struck him; he hadn't thought about it once since the last time they'd been to the old house. "Is Kreacher still in the bathroom?" he asked curiously.

Sirius scowled, pouted more like. "I wish. Dumbledore went back after..." he glanced at Harry quickly, "well, after everyone was safe, and let him out."

"Ah," Remus said, trying not to laugh at Sirius' face.

Sirius conjured a chair with his wand and sat on the other side of Remus. Instantly, he let his head fall on the hospital bed. "Mmm... comfy..." he moaned aloud.

Remus raised an eyebrow. "When was the last time you slept, Padfoot?"

"No idea," Sirius mumbled into the crisp sheets.

"Maybe you should get some sleep before you do anything," Harry suggested.

Sirius raised his head to look over Remus and narrowed his eyes at Harry. "You're turning into him, you know that?" He jerked his head at Remus and let it fall back to the bed.

"Better be careful, Sirius. You wouldn't want Pomfrey to come in here and see you exhausted," Remus teased.

"Strangely enough, that's exactly what I want."

"I think you're about to get your wish," Harry muttered.

"Huh?"

"Sirius Black!" shrieked the unmistakable voice of Madam Poppy Pomfrey.

"Yes, Poppy?" Sirius said, turning his head to face the fuming nurse.

"Get into a bed this instant! I don't want to see you up until you've had a full eight hours sleep. Is that understood?" Pomfrey said sternly, one hand on her hip, one pointing to an empty hospital bed.

"Of course," Sirius muttered, standing from his chair and moving to the bed next to Remus.

"And you two," Pomfrey said, turning to Remus and Harry, "are not to disturb him."

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey," they said.

Pomfrey got Sirius situated in bed, checked Remus over for remaining injuries, and left for her office.

"Wow," Remus muttered.

"What?" Harry asked.

"It's just amazing the power she has over full grown wizards."

Sirius' snores filled the room moments later.


Remus walked alone to Dumbledore's office while Sirius slept and Harry visited Hagrid and Buckbeak. The stone gargoyle was open, allowing Remus to step onto the revolving staircase. He knocked on the office door twice and waited for it to open on its own accord.

McGonagall and Snape were already there with Dumbledore, waiting. They turned when Remus entered.

"How are you feeling, Remus?" McGonagall asked, conjuring a chair for Remus.

"Just fine, Minerva, thank you," Remus said, sitting next to her.

Dumbledore gazed at the three of them over his half-moon spectacles. Remus knew that the old man was waiting for him to speak, and Remus didn't feel like waiting for the small talk to commence.

"He wants the stone," Remus said quietly, looking Dumbledore in the eyes.

Dumbledore nodded. "I thought as much. The question is: How much does he already know?" he said, looking to Snape for an answer.

The look wasn't accusatory, merely interested. Snape looked back calmly—well, as calmly as Severus Snape ever could be—and softly said, "As far as I know, he does not know how to get to the stone. Unless of course Lupin told him, the stone remains safe."

"I didn't tell him anything, Severus," Remus said through gritted teeth.

"How did he know that Remus provided protection?" McGonagall asked, cutting off what would have surely been a rude reply from Snape.

"I do not believe he knew for sure who was providing protection for the stone. Perhaps he believed—and rightly so—that I trusted Remus enough to ask him for his help, and just happened to get lucky when Remus was captured," Dumbledore said.

What he's really trying to say, Remus thought dryly, is that Malfoy wants me dead and as an added bonus found out that I know how to get to the stone. This day's getting better and better...

"The question now is what do we do?" Dumbledore said, leaning back in his chair, watching Fawkes sleep.


Remus returned to the hospital wing hours later feeling much more depressed that he'd felt in years. In the end, Dumbledore believed it best to destroy the stone. He had already discussed the matter with Nicolas Flamel and his wife, Perenelle, and they decided it was time. True, they would die, but it was as Dumbledore said to his colleagues and Remus: Death is but the next great adventure.

Sighing, he pushed open the hospital doors and found Kingsley sitting beside Sirius' bed. The two Aurors were talking quietly.

"Hello, Kingsley," Remus said, approaching the bed.

"Hey, Lupin. You look better," Kingsley said.

"Thanks. What's going on?"

"You remember Bertha Jorkins, Moony?" Sirius asked. Remus nodded. "She was supposed to be back from vacation two weeks ago. No one knows where she is."