A/N Still following FAKE as much as I can. It seems that since school started, writing the following chapters will take a lot of time, but this is not the end. This will become a loooong story. Anyway. I hope you like it.
OooO
Chapter 2
In a big house not too far from Hogsmeade, Sirius and James were sitting on the floor of some room. Their kidnappers were standing around them. They obviouly couldn't find what they were looking for.
"I don't see it boss" one of the men said. He was just checking the pockets of Sirius and James' jackets.
"And we didn't find anything at the kid's apartment, either" another man said. The boss seemed a little frustrated. He grabbed James by the front of his shirt. He was holding a cigar on his other hand.
"All right, kid, listen up. The stuff your daddy filched from us wasn't a lot, but it's top of the line, uncut shit, you know? If I had to put a value on it, it'd be 100 mil easy. Not to mention if the stuff I got from Beirut falls into the hands of Aurors or the muggle police, then I might as well put flashing lights up around this place to point me out." It was weird how stupid some criminals could be. It was like he just wanted to talk. He couldn't possibly think this would get James to tell him anything or to feel sympathy. Or maybe he could. At least with an angry face and bared teeth the boy would tell him everything. "So why don't you be a good boy and freakin' feel a bit sorry for all the shit you've caused me, huh!" Well, if Sirius' angry face had no effect on James, why would this man be any different. James put on his own angry face and did what he does best. James kicked the man in the chin. So, maybe that wasn't the smartest plan, but the man sure got the message. Now he was really angry though.
"Why, you little piece of shit! I'm being nice to you and that's how you repay me!" the boss yelled and cut his cigar in two pieces. He brought his hand down hard attending to hit James but Sirius was faster and came between them getting hit across the cheek.
"Sirius!" James shouted. He was standing right behind Sirius. Sirius was on one knee, head down, trying to control himself. When he turned his head up, he looked like he could barely keep himself from attacking the other man.
"Why don't you pick on someone your own size, you super-sized son of a bitch!" Sirius said almost hissing.
"That sounds like an invitation to me!" the other man said and drew out his wand. Not that Sirius was the same size, but he was quite tall for his age. He was almost as tall as the boss. The boss' physique was just different from Sirius' lean body.
OooO
Soon Sirius and James were thrown in to what seemed to be some kind of storage room.
"Y...You okay, Sirius?" James asked. Sirius was sitting on the floor holding his right arm with his left.
"I'm a boy, of course I am. What's a broken bone...or two...or three?" Sirius said smirking.
"Stop acting so tough. That would almost be funny except... your arm's really busted up" James said. Sirius didn't like the conversation. He hadn't had the 'tough guy conversation' with Remus.
"And by the way... you straight up lied to Moony, didn't you?" he changed the subject.
"W...What about?" James couldn't have sounded any more guilty.
"Ah, just give it up, kid. About the stuff Richard was talking about" Sirius said. "Your father... He gave it to you, didn't he?" James was sitting quiet, staring at the floor. "What do you expect to gain by keeping quiet, huh? You think you can avenge him or something?" Sirius continued. James still refused to say a word. "It's not like I don't understand how you fell but... ahh shit, forget it. Right now, if we don't figure out how to get out of this mess, my arm will be the least of our problems" Sirius said. He did understand how James felt, he just didn't want to think about it right now. It wouldn't help them out of the house. And James was staring at him now. They sat there, thinking for a moment.
"Th... That Moony... He seems a bit out of it, but he's pretty reliable, you know. Ha ha ha! I'm sure he'll figure it out and come rescue us." Sirius said suddenly.
"You sure about that? Really? I thought he just looked reliable but was kind of off on most things" James said. He did have a point. They could only hope. All conversation died and the two settled to just sit and wait for the time being.
OooO
It was pretty late already. In the darkness outside the house Remus was about to start the next step of his rescuing plan. He took out one guard with a nice little stupefy and checked his pulse.
"Good... He's still breathing. Whew." It wouldn't be good to kill a guard. The guard didn't really do anything. Remus couldn't say it was self defence. Remus put his wand back to his pocket and looked around. Security's pretty thin here, thanks to it being his private residence. Remus looked up and saw a dormer window. After climbing up to the roof and then jumping in from the window Remus found himself from... the attic, huh?But I guess this'll do... Remus had made a little surprise for the guys living in the house. One of his old friends had taught him how to make a bomb. Let's see... If I have it go off in two hours... that should give me plenty of time to find Sirius and James by then. I just hope it goes off like it should. And I hope they're both okay... A loud banging noise from down stairs interrupted Remus before he had time to have second thoughts about his plan. It seemed to come directly beneath him.
OooO
In the storage room Sirius had finally lost his temper.
"Damn you all! Are you guys even listening to us!" he yelled and kicked the door with both feet sitting on the floor in front of it. "Because if you are, you better bring us something to eat and hurry the hell up with it, you bastards! We're starving here! Don't make me come out there! Dammit dammit dammit dammit!" Sirius raged.
„"Shuddap! Shut the hell up, you idiot!" shouted the man sitting on guard on the other side of the door.
"Don't tell me to shut up!" Sirius shouted.
"Why would we have food?" asked the guard. While Sirius was arguing through the door with the man outside, James sat behind him looking bored. At least until he felt a soft tap on his shoulder. He turned around surprised. He was about to speak but Remus gestured him to keep quiet. Then Remus went to tap Sirius on the shoulder. Sirius turned.
"What is it, James..." he stopped when he saw Remus. "Moo.." he started surprised. Remus quickly put his hand over Sirius' mouth to keep him quiet.
"Shhh!" Remus hissed and sat on the floor between the other two. "I'm so glad I found you guys so soon. What do you say we blaze out of here, huh?" he whispered.
"Easier said than done, don't you think?" Sirius whispered. He always had been the optimist.
"I set up a bomb in the attic. It's supposed to go off two hours from now... at 10 o'clock"
"Where the hell did you get a bomb?" Sirius asked.
"My old friend taught me how to make one. I never thought I'd need that information but he was a real crazy person. And I was able to track the portkey that brought you here" Remus answered the guestions Sirius would have asked next, too. "It's a pretty crude bomb but in a house of this size? It'll probably take half of it down when it blows. Also, before I came out here, I went to see Dumbledore. I asked him if he could call the Aurors. I didn't think McGonagall would have let me come" he explained. Then he noticed something. "Your arm" he said to Sirius.
"Ehhh?" Sirius said looking confused for a second. "Oh, this thing? Yeah, it sorta went 'crick' when I fell on the floor with the Cruciatus. It's nothing. Don't worry about it" Sirius tried to sound nonchalant and smirked but it didn't look very convincing.
"What do you mean, don't worry about it! Of course I will! They used the Cruciatus on you and your arm's broken. Didn't you try to splint it at all! That's basic first aid, Sirius!" Remus was holding Sirius' hand in front of him to look at the wound. With his other hand he was taking off his scarf to tie Sirius' arm. Sirius was watching him with a strange expression. He looked like he was thinking of something but Remus couldn't say what it was.
"Guess you were worried about me, huh?" Sirius finally said.
"Huh...?" Remus turned to look at Sirius. Sirius was staring at his own hand still in Remus' hands. "Of course I was. It's natural to worry about your partner." Remus turned back to look at Sirius' arm and tie the scarf around it.
"Yeah, I guess so" Sirius said smiling just a little. The moment was broken very soon by James.
"Ahh, just leave the damn thing alone. It'll heal by itself" he said grumpily jumping between Sirius and Remus so that Remus let go of Sirius' hand. That was not something Sirius had wanted to happen. He turned to glare at James who was glaring back at him just as angrily.
"All... all right, then. We move out at 10. Got it? And by the way, whose fault is it that my arm is broken, huh?" Sirius said. "You are so dead once we get out of here, kid" he hissed to James.
"Did I ask you to jump into the blow?" James hissed back.
"Okay." Remus said, trying to ignore the fight that was probably going to start any minute. "In two hours." Then he remembered. "W...Wait, Sirius! We can't wait that long. Let's move out now!" Remus grabbed Sirius by the front of his shirt with both hands.
"I don't get it. What's gone wrong all of a sudden? What happened to your master plan?" Sirius asked.
"10 o'clock will be too late." Remus said. James watched the two of them with his hands behind his head.
"For what?" Sirius asked. Remus had let go of his shirt.
"It's in the attic right upstairs!" Remus answered.
"What is!" Sirius asked though he could almost guess the answer. And so Remus confirmed his doubts.
"The bomb..." Well, Sirius did not want to really hear that. For a moment everything was quiet and they all just stared at each other. Sirius recovered first.
"YOU IDIOT!" he yelled. "The plan was to rescue us, not kill us! Didn't you think this out at all?" Now he was the one holding Remus by the shirt.
"I didn't think you'd be right under my nose!" Remus said.
"I told you he was out of it" James tought. "Shut up...the both of you!" he shouted. "Let's get the hell out of here." Sirius and Remus turned to look at him.
"O... okay."
"Y... yeah."
"Out of my way!" And so Sirius threw himself against the door and it slammed open. In the next second Sirius kicked the guard and he was out of the game.
"What we need to do is move out right before the explosion" Remus said drawing his wand out of his pocket again and started casting spells.
"And get as far away as we can from this spot. Then, we need to stall them somehow." Sirius said. "Grab on tight, James" He lifted the smaller boy up and was about to stand when James stopped him.
"Sirius! Wait!"
"What the...?"Sirius turned to look at James who was trying to reach his broom while still holding on to Sirius. When he got it Sirius ran. Remus was covering them. They all ran out of the house but stopped dead right outside the front door. They were surrounded. Feldman, the boss, was standing in front of them.
"Game over, boys" he grinned maliciously. "Can't have you thinking it's so easy to escape from here, can I?" he said. "Now, why don't you throw your wand down and go back inside quietly, okay?"
"No way" Sirius said. Remus turned to look at him. What the hell was Sirius doing? "Check it out, assholes!" Sirius shouted and drew a muggle pen out of his pocket. He held it between his fingers for the men to see. "Are you losers quaking in your boots yet?" he asked. Remus just stared at Sirius. He had completely lost all words. It didn't seem to be any better with James. "Listen up good. We've planted an explosive somewhere in your beloved house. And this here is the trigger for it." Sirius said and took a better hold of the pen. "Now, if you guys don't back off, then I'll set it off. Understand!" Well, that stopped the pureblood Death Eaters for a moment. It's not like they had too much experience with muggle thing, except for drugs. They used magic to blow things up. Of course they didn't buy it without doubt, but what if...
"Sirius!" Remus whispered desperately through gritted teeth.
"Don't worry, it's just an ordinary pen. The scariest thing about it is if I click it, the pointy part comes out is all" Sirius whispered back.
"Actually I was referring to their complete look of suspicion over your little charade" Remus whispered.
"Didn't you think they'd figure this out in, like, three seconds!" James whispered from behind Sirius.
"Trust me, okay? Why else do you think I wanted us to stall 'em?" Sirius said and then he clicked the pen. All eyes turned to look at Sirius' hand and the pen in it. A few seconds later the surprise wore off and the Death Eaters were on the move, ready to attack the boys.
"Trying to trick us, eh! Can't have that, can we!" "You scared the piss out of me!" "Get 'em!" "Don't thind you can get away freakin' us out like that, punk! You're dead!" Before the men got to the three boys though, the house exploded. Or a big part of it did, anyway. Everyone jumped to the groud and tried to get some cover.
"Oh, I get it! It's 10 o'clock!" Remus said when the smoke had retreated so that he could see again.
"Celebrate later, run now. Or else we'll be listening to McGonagall yell all night. Owwww" Sirius said. He was about to leave with Remus when James stopped them again.
"Sirius... Moony!" he said. "I... I have to stay." Remus looked at him a confused expression on his face. Sirius nodded.
"I know" Sirius said with a little smile. He patted James on the head. "Good luck, kid."
"Thanks" James said still holdind his broom in his other hand. Remus just stood there with a huge question mark drawn all over his face. And so they left the scene, leaving James waving behind them.
OooO
A few moments later Professor McGonagall came with the Aurors and a couple of members of the Order of the Phoenix. She introduced herself and told whatever reason Dumbledore had given her to get the Aurors there.
"Hey..." Feldman whispered to the nearest of his men.
"Don't worry boss. We'we moved all the goods over to a different location. We're absolutely clean, sir" the man reassured him. McGonagall turned to look at the men a minute later.
"Why, if it isn't you, Mr. Feldman. How's it hanging tonight?" She asked, her voice full of sarcasm.
"Why, hello there, yourself, Professor McGonagall. Working hard, I see" Feldman said with very much the same kind of manner. "But what a surprise. I never thougt to see the Professor out and about for such a minor disturbance like this."
"Well, let's just say business was a little slow at the school. Now I'll be able to devote all my time to see your house is searched from corner to corner, rat hole to rat hole" McGonagall answered. They laughed. They both knew they hated each other and Feldman would have liked nothing better than have the Professor leave as soon as possible. McGonagall's greatest wish at the moment was to see Feldman in Azkaban.
"Professor" one of the Aurors came closer with James. He gave McGonagall a little bag of something. "We found this in the room where this boy was being held." Feldman went pale and the other man turned to look at James who grinned widely while the Professor checked the contents of the bag.
"Oh, did you now..." she asked. "Why, it's cocaine? What a surprise...!" she smirked. Soon Feldman was being taken to the ministry for a trial and McGonagall turned to James. "All right, boy, come over here a second. Just gotta ask you a few questions."
"Okay" James said. McGonagall lighted a cigarette.
"By the way, kid, what happened to your bodyguards, huh?" the Professor asked. James looked up at her.
"We got separated along the way." Good answer, if I do say so myself.
"Oh, I see... Separated, huh?" They're so dead.
OooO
Back at the Hogwart's grounds, near the Forbidden Forest, Sirius and Remus were sitting on the ground, leaning on trees across from each other.
"I bet she's mad."
"Don't worry about it. She's always mad."
"Always mad! Maybe at you, but not at me!" Remus just couldn't stop worrying. It was part of his nature. "Say... why did James choose to stay?" he asked the next question that bothered him.
"His dad was skimming drugs from Feldman. Before he died, he gave everything he had to James for safe keeping. He must have hidden the stash in his broom somehow. Why else would he have made an effort to pick it up even in the middle of a fight?" Sirius said. "Anyhow... He's not the smartest kid... but he must have thought long and hard about how to avenge his father. In the end he decided that the best way to get back at Feldman was to have the Aurors handle him. You know the rest." It seemed Sirius had thought about the reason himself.
"Somewhere along the line, you've learned more about James than I have" Remus said.
"That's not true. I hate kids, after all" Sirius said. He lifted his left, unharmed, hand to his hair.
"You sure about that?" Remus asked.
"But I like you" Sirius said.
"Huh?" Remus was looking at Sirius with the question mark written on his face again. Sirius looked at him from the corner of his eye and smiled a little. Remus stared for a moment and then he blushed.
"Aah...O...kay then...ha ha. You're making me blush, man. Th... thanks... I think." Doh, my eyes are totally giving me away. The way he says things like that... I can't help but think he means it to some degree and... damn if it doesn't affect me... Remus stood up. "A... at any rate, we better get you to the infirmary" he said.
"Don't worry about me. You go join the investigation... If you go now, the Professor will let you off the hook with just a cuss of two" Sirius said. Remus kneeled next to him.
"But..." he tried to say but couldn't come up with anything good.
"You can't be writing apologies and doing paperwork on your first case" Sirius assured him. "Me – I'm used to it, though. It's okay. I don't mind." Or at least he tried to assure Remus. Remus just wasn't assured.
"It's not okay" he said.
"It is!"
"I am your partner after all. Aren't I?" Remus smiled a little at Sirius. It was a very pretty smile and Sirius just watched a moment. Then Remus held out his hand to help Sirius get up.
"Come on, let's go... Here, give me your hand" he said. And Sirius did give him his hand, but not to get up. He grabbed Remus' hand and pulled it so that Remus lost his balance and fell almost in Sirius' lap. Sirius turned his head a little and their lips met. He closed his eyes and kissed the other boy. Remus was too shocked to do much anything and before he could really understand what happened Sirius leaned back. Slowly he raised his eyes to look at Remus' eyes. Then he suddenly grabbed Remus into a brotherly hug and slapped him in the back.
"Welcome aboard...partner" he said. Then he stood up leaving Remus on his knees to the groud. "Alrighty, let's head to the infirmary, shall we?" he grinned widely as he started walking towards the castle. Remus was staring at the ground not knowing what to do or think.
"Urrg..." was all that came out when he tried to talk. "Sirius..." was the next word. "It's not like it was my first kiss but... but... with a guy... in a public place... Noooooooo..." he moaned quietly.
OooO
The next day Remus was writing in the Gryffindor common room and Sirius sat on the table in front of him looking highly annoyed.
"Yo, Moony!" No answer. "Moony? Anybody home?"
"What!"
"What's up with you today? Fell out of the wrong side of the bed or something?" Sirius asked.
"Well, whose fault do you think that is!" Remus glared at him.
"Huh? You're implying it's my fault?"
"Yes, of course it's your fault! Who else!" Remus pointed at him, his glare even angrier if possible. Sirius turned his head away.
"Whatever... it was just a kiss, okay? You won't die from it" he huffed.
"I hope not!" Remus screamed. "But if you haven't noticed, we're both boys! And... you didn't even ask my permission!" Suddenly Remus found Sirius' face very close to his own.
"Ohhh! So in other words, if I have your permission, then we're golden, right?" Sirius grinned predatorially.
"SIRIUS!" That was all Remus could say before a foot connected with Sirius' chin again.
"Don't touch Moony like that, you bastard" James had come to Remus' rescue.
"What the hell was that for, you little snot?" Sirius raged.
"None of your freakin' business, is it?" James retorted. "Besides, I'm gonna live with Moony from now on."
"My aunt and uncle said it would be okay" Remus said.
"I'm totally against this! No friggin' way! Uh, uh, nope, nope, nope! No fair! I'm totally jealous!" Sirius yelled. James made a face.
"Guess you know who's the boss now, huh? Loser!" he shouted. Then he kicked Sirius on the stomach. "Take that!" And then he ran sticking out his tongue. Sirius was holding his arm that had been just healed. Remus sat on the table watching the two. There was really no point trying to calm them down.
"James... You little!" Sirius growled.