Title: Who is Remus Lupin?

Warnings: Magical AU.

Rating: M

Artwork: Sirius x Remus ID by Sirius-x-Remus

A/N: I know I'm a bit behind on replying to my reviews but I promise to get back to everyone who has been kind enough to leave one in the next couple of days. I just couldn't wait to post this chapter because...yeah...I was excited. :")

'Blimey, what is he wearing?'

'Tiffy is a she, Remus,' Sirius explained, rolling his eyes at how middle class Remus was acting. The sandy blond had confessed to him earlier that he had never met an elf before, but Sirius had assumed that living with Alphard would have given him a bit more knowledge about house servants. Even the poor house elf seemed embarrassed by his awe and was trying not to let her eyes wander as he circled her in inspection.

'Well, there's no way of knowing that, is there?' Remus exclaimed, bending down and peering into the elf's upturned ears curiously as she patiently stood still in the middle of the kitchen. If Remus was looking for a way to identify the servant's gender, he would certainly not find it in her ears. 'You've dressed the poor thing in what appears to be a pillow case and not a very new one at that!' he squatted down to the ground so that he was eye level with the elf. 'Well, what's your name, little elf?' he asked, his amber eyes still curiously surveying her features as if trying to find hidden answers in them.

'Tiffy, sir,' the little elf squeaked, keeping her posture straight even as Remus was staring at her toes with peculiar interest.

'Well, it is a pleasure meeting you, Tiffy,' Remus replied kindly, looking up, 'I'm Remus.'

Tiffy curtsied. 'Tiffy is happy to be serving Master Remus.'

'Please, call me Remus,' he waved off the formality and Sirius could not help but let out a derisive chuckle.

'Master Remus,' Tiffy nodded, clearly not understanding.

'Tiffy isn't allowed to call you by name only, Remus,' Sirius explained snootily, his pureblood cockiness showing through. 'She is your servant.'

'Well, then I shall call her Lady Tiffy from now,' Remus replied back with a smile that was both rebellious and prideful, clearly challenging Sirius. 'Lady Tiffy The First,' he went on cheekily, his hand reaching up to clearly ruffle the elf's hair and only stopping when Sirius help him urgently by the wrist. By then, poor Tiffy had already recoiled and hunched in on herself in fear.

'Dear Merlin, Remus,' Sirius scolded, letting the boy's hand drop despite how warm it fell in his, 'you cannot touch a house elf unless you are trying to punish her! Do you know nothing?'

Remus's eyes widened in realisation. 'I'm sorry to have startled you, Tiffy,' he amended, holding his palms up in peace. He waited until the elf straightened back up and curtsied again. 'Welcome to the Lupin house. It's a small house compared to what you're used to, but it's certainly more of a challenge to maintain with me around.' He smiled encouragingly, again waiting for Tiffy to smile back in response. He really was very kind, no matter how foolish. 'Hopefully I can sort out your clothes by tonight; maybe shrink something of mine that has less wear in it and then transfigure it to make it look a little more pretty for you.'

Sirius sighed in exasperation, resisting the urge to slap a palm to his forehead. 'Remus,' he moaned with frustration, 'you cannot give an elf clothes unless you're trying to sack it.'

'For God's sake,' Remus stood up, stamping his foot childishly. His muggle roots were clearly showing in his choice of language when angry. 'There are simply too many rules to having a house elf. I can't have her wear this eye sore in the house,' he growled, pointing at the ragged pillow case Tiffy was wearing, 'so if anything, having to wear my clothes is a punishment I'm enforcing on her to protect my delicate vision. Giving this elf a uniform is enslaving her to this house and my services, especially if I am to give her a skirt which will objectify her as a woman rather than amplify her talent in the kitchen. Is that macabre enough for your pureblood standards?' He asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest and glaring at Sirius challengingly.

Tiffy giggled, stifling it by pressing her lips together when Sirius shot her a disapproving look.

'Now, Lady Tiffy, could you please prepare us some breakfast?' Remus said, self-importantly when Sirius could not help but concede to him with a hopeless smile.

After all, Sirius was here in the Lupin house to be away from his Mother, so why follow her rules even in her absence. As his friend, James, had once mentioned, just because it was something everyone around him believed didn't necessarily make it right.

'Soldiers for me and scrambled for Master Sirius, here. We'll have it in the garden if it's not much of a fuss.'

'It is being no fuss at all, Master Remus!' Tiffy squeaked happily, already running to the kitchen and gathering pots and pans with an easy efficiency and familiarity that only comes from house elf magic. 'Master Remus will be having the bestest breakfast in the world!' she assured, her fingers waving to activate all the household spells that Sirius had only ever heard of but never seen in the Black house or Hogwarts as elves always tried their best to be discrete.

'Looks like someone has taken quite a shine to you,' Sirius commented, following Remus out to the garden. The weather was wonderfully clear, the sun shining down on them merrily in a way that made Sirius feel woozy with both happiness and love struck awe at how lovely it made Remus look. Amber eyes sparkling, pale skin flushed, and a golden halo on dowdy sandy blonde curls: Sirius could certainly not blame Tiffy for being besotted.

'I'm not surprised,' Remus replied with a silly grin, dumping the books that were strewn about on the wicker table onto one of the garden chairs. 'I am quite the ladies' man, after all.' He laughed along with Sirius, as they held opposite ends of a white table cloth and let it fall onto the table neatly.

The couple of days Sirius had stayed here, he discovered that Remus very much enjoyed having breakfast or tea outside in the back garden, especially after having pottered around with his exotic plants or spent a busy day in the lab. The table was kept farther to the corner, thankfully away from the potentially poisonous vegetation and also hidden away behind bushes from any prying neighbourhood eyes to ensure perfect privacy. It really was a perfect safe haven and Sirius could see why Remus preferred it so much. The only thing he did not understand however was why Remus felt it was appropriate to enjoy breakfast outside in bare feet. When he had asked the other boy about it, Remus had only laughed as he usually did and vaguely answered that the animal in his likes the freedom of not having to wear shoes.

'Trying to steal my research?' Remus mock accused as Sirius rearranged the notebooks that had been discarded back on the table so that he had a place to sit.

Sirius snorted. 'I would, but it seems all of it is just the gibberish of a mad scientist,' he pointed out at the weird pattern of letters, numbers and runes that dotted the pages of Remus's research notebook in no apparent pattern, style, or even discernible handwriting.

'Only to you,' Remus replied conspiratorially. 'It's coded, see' he explained excitedly, leaning closer to Sirius to turn page after page to show him. Unfortunately, all Sirius could concentrate on was how close the other boy was and how warm it felt when their hands brushed accidentally. 'It only appears gibberish to anyone who looks at it without the password and there is no way to decode it because it changes every other day in no particular pattern.' Remus's hair smelled particularly lovely today, like chocolate and coconuts, and Sirius unashamedly leaned forwards to take a generous sniff. 'You can say it's a type of cipher that codes itself only for those unauthorised to gaze upon my brilliance.'

'Fascinating,' Sirius replied dazedly, completely unable to think when Remus laid a hand on his knee to explain further.

'It also has self-destruct spells on it, so the moment someone tries to reveal it with a spell, it incinerates itself.' Sirius's heart threatened to beat right out of its rib cage and Remus's hand squeezed his knee with enthusiasm. He could do nothing but look at those lovely nimble fingers, his mind running through lewd images of all the other things they could do if they only focused their attention a little higher up his leg. 'It also self-destructs if anyone other than me tries to take it out of the house without a password. Alphard's research was an absolute mess before I enforced all this security. It was a miracle he didn't think of them given the nature-Sirius, are you even listening to me.'

'I think I was at some point,' Sirius replied, clearing his voice and trying his hardest to concentrate. 'But then I got lost in your beautiful eyes.'

Watching Remus blush brightly was worth the hit he took to the back of his head.

He sees him being dragged off down the staircases and their eyes meet only for seconds before Sirius looks away with a sense of detachment he has always felt for his family. Regulus is Mother's favourite after all; the son that did her proud and sorted into Slytherin. He has no doubt that his brother will receive nothing but a slap on the wrist and then be sent off to bed without dinner. Child's play compared to what Sirius has had to endure for all these years.

No more though.

As Sirius closes the door and locks it, his face splits into a true smile. He cannot stop looking at his neatly packed trunk and his broomstick leaning against it, ready to leave tonight – forever. As of tomorrow morning, he will be one of the Potters and James's true brother. He will be rid of this name, this house, and most of all, his mother. He will finally be free.

It is that very excitement and anticipation of freedom that keeps him awake in the dead of the night.

Awake enough to hear the piercing screams of fear that chills him to the bone and sets his heart racing as he runs to the dungeon with his wand at hand. The minutes it takes for him to unlock the doors and navigate through the chambers feel like unbearable hours. The screams are harrowing, unstoppable, and shrill, and Sirius's imagination conjures up horrific images of his brother being mangled and beaten. When he finally reaches the end of the passage, he finds his younger sibling crouched in a darkened corner, knees pulled close to his chest, eyes closed tightly and hands over his ears as he sobs an endless chant of 'no, no, no, no'. There is a hand closed around his ankle, pale and blue, but unmoving.

The hand belongs to Sirius.

Not the Sirius that is standing there, his wand poised and body shaking in both terror and disbelief.

Another Sirius.

A Sirius that is dead.

Sirius woke up sweating and panicked, his legs struggling with the bed sheets tangled around his ankles as he tried to get out of bed. He rushed to the fireplace, his breath coming out in shallow gasps and beads of sweat trickling down his forehead and the tip of his nose as he kneeled down. His hands were shaking even as he threw the Floo powder in and panted out Grimmauld Place's address. His blood ran cold when he saw Regulus sitting beside his Mother in the study. His brother's face was taut, as if trying to school his disapproval and Sirius could tell that he had intruded upon some kind important conversation between them.

'Sirius, I hope you have some good news for me,' His mother's steely grey eyes met his own. 'I must say, I'm running out of patience with you. If you honestly can tell me nothing, then I will arrange for a trip myself.'

'Lupin is guarded, I've told you already,' Sirius replied, looking between Regulus and Walburga suspiciously. His brother definitely looked uncomfortable, shifting his legs in his chair in an almost nervous manner. 'I think you are on a fool's errand anyway. He's innocent and there is nothing you can say against him.' He tried to ignore the niggling voice that reminded him of the conversation he had heard the other day at the inn. 'He is Alphard's colleague and from the looks of it, he has very little interest in his money and possessions. If anything, he is much more bothered with his research.'

'And was he a permanent addition to Alphard's research or does he work on certain projects only?' Walburga asked, her eyes contemplative and scheming.

'I didn't ask,' Sirius replied, his brows furrowing. He weighed his words, wondering what kind of information she was looking for with this question and answered carefully, 'From what I understand, he was Alphard's research partner. He works in the lab every day, so I doubt he's restricted to single projects.' He maintained focus on her to gauge what she was thinking but her face remained frustratingly impassive. She was definitely looking for a connection; a way she could frame Remus by showing he had an illicit relationship and interest in Alphard. Sirius was not going to give her anything, most certainly nothing that would in any way hurt the other boy. 'What does this have to do with the inheritance?' he asked finally, when Walburga contemplated in prolonged silence. 'I believe, of all things, Alphard's intellectual property was of least interest to you.'

Dark lashes lifted to reveal grey eyes and a smile that sent a shiver down Sirius's spine. 'Do you know, Sirius, asking too many questions can get you into very unwanted situations,' she said in a sweetened voice. 'I was just explaining this to your brother yesterday and-'

'Don't lay a hand on him!' Sirius growled, lurching forward as he momentarily forgot that he was on Floo call and not facing her. His gut lurched and twisted before he caught himself.

'Sirius, calm down!' Regulus exclaimed, standing up in his chair but sitting back down when Walburga shot him a stern glare. 'Mother and I were only speaking of the dinner party we attended last night.' He glanced back at Mother, legs crossing then uncrossing. 'There was a Mr. Tom Riddle who I found most interesting. We talked about loyalty and blood purity; he was explaining to me about how mudbloods fool the good wizarding society into believing that they are worthy of being a part of our world.' His grey eyes, so similar to their mother's, hardened with hidden meaning as he looked directly at Sirius. 'But not everything is as it seems.'

'I could not agree more,' Walburga interrupted, breaking whatever connection the two brothers were having at that very moment and leaving Sirius confused and muddled as to exactly what Regulus was trying to tell him. 'Not everything is as it seems, especially in the case of this Lupin boy.' She stood up and slowly walked to the fireplace, kneeling down until they were face to face and whispering only for him to hear, 'I don't like hurting my youngest, Sirius, I really don't. Merlin knows you will get yourself killed one day and I will certainly need my backup.' She laughed when Sirius's expression turned fowl. 'Come now, Sirius, you know Mother loves you both equally.' She stroked the flames surrounding his face with the tips of her nails. 'However, love comes at a price and Regulus's is for you continue your lookout of this boy. Find out exactly what he had been working on before my dear brother's health took a turn. They say Alphard died in the laboratory, didn't they?'

Sirius looked at her, shocked. 'Do you think Alphard was murdered?'

Walburga laughed again, the noise grating on Sirius's nerves. 'Remember what I said about questions, Sirius,' she reminded him in a sing-songy voice.

Grudgingly, Sirius said nothing. He nodded and then pulled out of the Floo, signalling the end of the conversation. His mind reeled with thoughts: Regulus's hidden message and his mother's implication of Alphard's death being less than natural. But most of all, he felt fear. His heart was consumed by it, overriding his mind and reminding him of Regulus, of his little brother who was still so very young and fragile. Images from his dream flashed back in his mind, burning behind his eyelids as he closed his eyes shut tightly and pressed his hand against his still sweaty forehead.

'Tiffy!' he yelled, his voice shaking.

A short pop and the house elf was standing in front of Sirius, levitating what could only be laundry to her right. Tiffy's demeanour had changed greatly since she'd come to the Lupin house a week ago. She looked much more presentable, for one, in her white shirt and pink pleated skirt, and she almost always greeted him with a smile on her face. She was already becoming very attached to Remus, often making his favourite cakes and puddings without having to be asked. Sirius had initially chosen her to serve here because she was the least offensive among all the Black house elves; she did not spend her time praising the ground Walburga Black walked on and therefore spoke little about pureblood supremacy – something Remus would definitely appreciate. This also made her the most tolerable to Sirius, who despised everything that elves represented otherwise. He saw them as slaves; unquestioningly working away for their masters without an ounce of self. In effect, he also saw himself in them.

'Run a warm bath for me,' he ordered, rubbing his face tiredly. 'Charm it to stay for an hour.'

'Yes, Master Sirius.'

Sirius looked up, then frowned as he noticed something off about the pile of laundry floating near Tiffy's head. 'Are these Remus's clothes?' he asked, picking up one of them and inspecting the oddly long sleeves and wider shoulders. 'I thought he didn't wear wizarding robes. These are a bit big for him as well, aren't they?'

'They is Master Alphard's, Master Sirius,' Tiffy replied obediently, folding the shirt Sirius ad picked out back up and placing it in the floating pile. 'Master Remus is ordering them to be cleaned and stored in the attic to make spaces for his own clothes.'

Sirius sifted through the clothes again, as if looking for a clue he was still not sure of. Alphard's clothes weren't filthy, but spoke of a life without the convenience of a house elf. While obviously expensive, there were stains everywhere of a variety of colours; undoubtedly from the experiments he conducted. For moments, Sirius had paused when he noticed a reddish brown stain that looked suspiciously like blood before remembering that Alphard had died of heart problems and not any sort of bleeding. At least, that's what they'd told everyone. Nonetheless, he brought it to his nose to see if he could smell the metallic tang of blood. 'Why does he want space for his own clothes? Isn't there enough in his room?'

'Master Remus is never using his old room, Sir. He is sleeping in Master Alphard's old room. Today, he is asking Tiffy for everything to be changed and cleaned. He is a very nice master, Master Sirius.' She smiled shyly, her cheeks colouring. 'He says to Tiffy that with Tiffy's beginning in this house will come other, much nicer new beginnings. He is a kind master.'

'Very well,' Sirius waved off, a million questions now racing through his head, none of them answerable by a house elf. 'Delay the bath by an hour, Tiffy. I would like to talk to your kind Master Remus first.'

He did not wait for Tiffy to respond or disapparate, walking out of his room and down the winding staircases. Sirius had only been to the lab once before this, when Remus had been showing him around the house. It was an added extension to the house, overlooking the back garden. There was a small hallway that connected the lab to the rest of the house and the air within it crackled with the magic of protection spells that had been put to safeguard the rest of the house from repercussions of wayward experiments as well as soundproofing and privacy spells to ensure maximum exclusivity when working. The lab itself looked like something Sirius had only seen in textbooks, with the walls covered with rows upon rows of ingredients and a myriad of apparatus scattered everywhere. There were cauldrons bubbling everywhere, miniature explosions happening in some of them (both planned and unplanned), coloured smoke passing through the vents in the wall, and knives charmed to chop up ingredients. And amidst all that chaos was one Remus Lupin, wearing a gas mask and his black rimmed glasses, as he sat in one of the two desks in the corner of the room and furiously scribbled away.

'Sirius!' Remus exclaimed, jumping in his seat in shock when Sirius put a hand on his shoulder to draw his attention. His voice came out muffled behind the mask and his breath rattled almost eerily as he spoke. 'You startled me there! You shouldn't be in the lab right now; I think I may have screwed up one of the potions here and it's emitting a red gas of some sort.' He summoned another gas mask and quickly pulled it over Sirius's head. 'I'm not sure what it does yet, but its red which is never a good colour for anything to be. Except strawberries; strawberries are lovely when they're red.' He grinned sheepishly, clearly ashamed at having been caught botching up a potion. 'So what brings the great Sirius Black down to the lair of doom? You don't usually grace me with your presence at this time.'

Sirius was not one to beat around the bush. 'Why are you sleeping in Alphard's quarters?'

The question clearly caught Remus off guard and while Sirius couldn't see his expression behind the mask, his body language told him that he was clearly shocked by the abrupt question. 'Well, it's the master bedroom, isn't it?' he answered once he'd managed to recompose himself. 'And I am the master of the house now. I'd say a little shifting is deserved.' He laughed, but it came out as weak and unconvincing. It was clear that he was lying and he himself knew it because he quickly tried to change the subject. 'Have you eaten anything yet? Tiffy is an absolute miracle in the kitchen; she did this brilliant thing with-'

'Why were you wearing his clothes?' Sirius interrupted, 'Tiffy mentioned that you'd given her all of Alphard's clothes to clean but they clearly smell like you.' He did not mention how he knew Remus's smell so well or exactly how wonderful he felt Remus always smelled; like chocolate and fresh parchment.

'Clearly you have failed to notice my complete inability to do any sort of household charms,' Remus laughed off, this time his voice more confident and sure of himself as he started to walk away from Sirius and occupied himself with one of the cauldrons. He vanished the potion that had been smoking red, but still kept his mask on. 'I put off laundry till the last minute and then I have nothing to wear, so I simply borrow Alphard's. Now that I have Tiffy, I can finally put them away for good. I didn't realise I had stunk them up so badly.'

Sirius had seen Remus every single day since Alphard's death, but had never seen him wear his uncle's robes. In fact, Sirius had never seen Remus wear anything even moderately as expensive as those robes had clearly been; he had always kept to very ordinary muggle clothing. Robes tailored like Alphard's would certainly make one feel quite important – like the master of the house and certainly like a man who had finally inherited a very large fortune. Wearing Alphard's robes would definitely feel very satisfying, if Mother's inkling was right and Remus was somehow responsible for his death. It would also explain why Remus felt the need to hide something like this.

'Why are you here Remus?' Sirius asked, knowing full well that what he was about to say was going to sound rude and intrusive. Yet, for the first time since they met, he could not help but feel that there was something very, very wrong with Remus Lupin. The secrets he kept were unnerving and Sirius wanted answers from the horse's mouth rather than jump to conclusions and support his mother's ridiculous ideas. 'From what I understood, you had no discernible talent in potions or research; yet, Alphard chose you to assist him. You have no relation to the Black family; yet here you are, an heir to Alphard's proverbial throne. You are taking over everything he ever owned, including his research, and despite being just an assistant co-worker, you seem quite adept at holding the Ministry's funding all by yourself.'

Remus's hands were shaking.

Sirius felt sorry for him, but his curiosity and anger overrode any sympathy he felt. 'Answer me, Remus. Why are you here?'

Remus's hands stilled and he turned to Sirius, finally lifting his gas mask to reveal hardened amber eyes. 'Only if you tell me why you are here, Sirius.' When the silence between them stretched for far too long, he looked away with a bitter laugh and tossed his mask to the side. 'We all have our secrets, Sirius, but some of us have learned to respect them.'