A Dangerous Game

A/N: This story is set around the last few weeks of the original Order of the Phoenix, leading up till the tragic end of one story, and the beginning of the series known as Harry Potter.

Disclaimer: I do own Harry Potter or anything related. I am not JK Rowling.

The kitchen door of Haven, the underground home of Remus Lupin, creaked open. At least, he liked to think of it as an "underground home," it made it seem more romantic than the shabby basement apartment it was in actuality. The name Haven was a bit of joke he had with his fellow members of the Order of the Phoenix; the unsuspecting apartment was equipped with spare rooms for tired wizards coming in after a long night of duty, and was guaranteed to be safe by countless spells. Remus just felt lucky that he didn't have to pay rent, currently being unemployed. After the proprietors of Flourish and Blotts decided that a werewolf was too much of a liability to keep around, despite his love of books, he had been living entirely off Dumbledore's generosity.

Remus, who was sitting in the area designated as a kitchen when the door opened, looked up to see a bleary eyed Sirius enter. "How goes the watch?" he asked, rising quickly from the table to put water on the stove to boil.

"Same as ever," Sirius groaned sitting down at the large round table. It was about two in the morning, and he had been hiding in the bushes outside of Lily and James's house for the last four hours.

"Did James figure out that you were there?" Remus asked as he added tea leaves to thebubbling water.

"Nope." Sirius paused, and Remus's head jerked up with a look of surprise. "It was Lily."

He sighed, tiredly. "Ah. Well, Dumbledore should have known that they would guess we're having them watched. I mean, he's Prongs, we've been best friends since we were eleven years old."

Sirius bowed his head, "I know, but it's for their own good. Since Dumbledore heard." Sirius stopped and rephrased quickly, "Since Dumbledore acquired his new information, they're in real danger."

Remus handed Sirius a mug of the steaming scented tea, "But you know James," he said after taking a long draught from his own mug, "he will never admit that there's a problem he might need help with. How angry was he tonight?"

"He didn't know. Lily said it had been a bad day and she wasn't planning on making it worse." Sirius chuckled, shaking his head at the thought of what Lily had to put up with. James, with his Quidditch player's love of open spaces was not taking quietly to the security measures he referred to as "a bloody house arrest".

Remus also smiled wryly, "Glad you caught her in a good mood. Where would James be if it wasn't for her?"

Sirius closed his eyes and sighed, "I think he would still be as immature as we were in our 5th year, mussing his hair, hurling hexes at anyone who looked at him sideways," he laughed softly, "or else he would be de—"

"Don't say that." Remus said sharply, looking up from the half empty, but still steaming mug. At Sirius's surprised expression he continued softly, "We have enough to worry about."

Sirius nodded, "Agreed."

Remus looked his old friend over and inwardly shuddered at his appearance. The normally smooth black hair, which had attracted more ladies than Remus had even brought himself to speak to in high school, was shaggy and tangled with bits of leaves and twigs. His glittering black eyes seemed to be dug into his skull, so dark were the circles underneath them.

Remus knew that Sirius was throwing himself into the quest to keep James and Lily safe far more exuberantly than anyone else, stopping only when Dumbledore forced him to, or else he passed out. James wasn't the only stubborn Marauder, after all. Remus knew by now that the only thing he could do was give his friend the best care possible until everything was over, and all of his friends were safe. It was almost a nice bit of change to not be the one that everyone worried over, to be the worrier for once. A transformation once a month is a danger that can be foreseen. Death Eater attacks were sporadic, perceived patterns were meaningless, you could never know who or where the next attack would occur.

"You need sleep Sirius," Remus admonished finishing the last of his tea, "go back to one of the special rooms, and don't forget to seal yourself in!"

"Alright." Sirius rose and walked towards the door. Halfway there, he turned and half smiled tiredly at his old friend, "Thanks Moony."

"It's nothing, now go get some sleep!" Remus ordered, laughing, as he picked up the two cooled mugs and took them over to the sink, looking at his surroundings. The dark paneled walls and low ceilings gave the place a bit of the feeling of a cave, which may have disconcerted others, but was oddly comforting to Remus. He liked small spaces, and the main room was certainly that, the tiny well stocked kitchen area was separated from the rest of the room by a dark wood bar. Then there was the large round table, much more often the home of tense discussions than dinners.

The other half of the room, which Remus thought of as the "den", pardon the pun, was slightly sunken, in an uncertain way that could have been accident or art, and hosted a large enchanted stone fireplace, where a Floo-fire always burned. There were several shabby couches and chairs around the hearth, and of course the "library", a large bookcase full of Remus's favorite volumes, both magical and non. This was the whole of the actual apartment, the other rooms were magical additions, and the door to them was camouflaged to look like just more paneling.

This was all part of Lupin's important job for the Order. As Voldemort's power had grown, the need to protect Order members had increased drastically. Remus had quite willingly volunteer to be the host, not only because he needed the place to sleep and store his books, but because he wanted to help. He liked taking care of people, and he was good at it.

Whatever the time, he had pledged to be ready to take care of those in the Order. With food, bed, or special stealthy owls to take messages, Remus had to be ready. The apartment had been magically enlarged to hold a handful of cozy rooms. They were equipped with beds, desks, and bathrooms, all in comfortable colors that were far more welcoming than a hotel room, or dark house would have been. They were sealed off from the inside so they couldn't be infiltrated, making them places of absolute rest and warmth.

Although it may have been part of his job, Remus shouldn't have worried only about Sirius's health. He should have been thinking of his own. This "being ready all the time one person welcome wagon" job was depriving him of sleep. All of the Marauders must have been stubborn though, because Remus wasn't planning on sleeping until someone was there to relieve him.

This was not likely to be any time soon as he never asked for help, and with all that was going on, few thought to offer it. Most of the people who came to his house were too tired to notice that their host was barely alive on his feet. But Sirius would always make sure that Remus had a few hours of sleep before he left. What were friends for?

Remus was done washing up the dishes and had begun feeding the many owls that were kept in an adjoining room. At times like this he felt like the old man he was far from being. It did not seem real that so recently he had been a carefree Hogwarts youth. Although, if he was honest with himself, he remembered that he had never really been carefree.

He was wondering if he should maybe risk some sleep, before he actually passed out, when he heard a rapping at the window. Blinking, he let the familiar golden owl in and opened the letter it carried. As the owl took its newly clean perch and began to gulp at its water, Remus read the note. In a precise, but shaky hand it said:

Lupin, He just struck again, only a few miles from where the Longbottoms are staying. Fifteen Muggles were killed. Get messages out to everyone that shifts will be going by halves, with everyone we can spare on the Longbottom's place. We don't want tired people, so make sure that the shifts don't forget to show up after only 2 hours instead of 4, all right? Also, extend the Potter shifts to 6 hours so we have more people to spare for the Longbottom's. I feel it Remus, the end is coming. God only knows how many of us will be left when it comes. Take care.
-Albus Dumbledore

He sighed and threw the letter into the crackling emerald Floo-fire. So much for sleep.