Chapter Five! I apologize in advance for any weird formatting; it uploaded really weird and I had to reformat it, like, four times (I've been working on the format for an hour and a half), so I don't know what this will look like to you guys until I post it.

Thank you for all the reviews (and favorites and follows)! I really love hearing what you guys have to say, and it lets me know you're interested, so please leave on if you have the time! I really appreciate it.

WARNINGS: mentions of child abuse, some language (maybe), and RAPE (thought it's not really graphic) I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.

"What about this one?" Remus examined one of the brooms on display. Truth be told, he had little to no idea what constituted a "good broom", but he figured that this one must be nice, considering the staggeringly high price on the tag.

Sirius snorted and ruffled Remus's hair playfully. "I'm sure Harry would appreciate that you tried to help, Remus."

Remus shrugged, not overly concerned that he and followed Sirius as the taller man made his way across the store towards a broom on display on the other side of the room. Remus found himself running into Sirius's chest when Sirius stopped walking suddenly and turned to face him, gripping Remus's arms tightly. "Sirius, what are you-?"

Sirius scrutinized him with concern and brushed Remus's hair out of his eyes. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," Remus replied, cocking an eyebrow at Sirius. He was a little tired and sore, but that always happened before the Moon. It wasn't anything new. "Stop worrying, Sirius. I've been doing this since I was five."

"That," Sirius sighed softly and squeezed Remus's arms, pulling the man closer to him for a quick hug, appreciating the solid reassurance that Remus was there with him, safe. "Is not what I was talking about."

"I don't know what you mean, then," Remus shrugged and moved away from Sirius, rubbing his own arms and looking around self-consciously. No one was looking at them, though; the store was relatively empty. "Is that the broom you wanted? I don't see how it's any different than the one I pointed out…"

Sirius let it go, knowing he wouldn't get anything from Remus if the man was determined to shut him out, and followed Remus over to the broom he'd been eyeing a few moments ago.

"…so I told him that if he was going to keep lying, I'd get a warrant and we'd find the stuff anyway," Sirius shifted the long, wrapped package in his arms and held it more tightly to himself. Diagon Alley wasn't horribly crowded, not nearly as bad as it was at the beginning of the school year, but it was fairly busy.

"I'm assuming you found his stash," Remus allowed a small grin to tug at his mouth. As much as he still felt guilt about the way they'd treated Snape at Hogwarts, he couldn't help but feel a little resentment towards the man after the way he'd been treating Harry.

"Of course we did," Sirius saw Remus's lips quirk into a smile. He was proud of Remus for letting his bitter feelings for Snape show instead of pushing them aside, but felt the familiar stir of resentment at the thought of why Remus disliked Snape so much. "But somehow, while we were gone to get a warrant from a judge, he got a permit for the dragon blood, dated a week before the delivery date on the bottles."

"Damn," Remus muttered. "Of course he did. I'd be disappointed if he hadn't."

"Dumbledore would never let us arrest him anyway," Sirius pointed out, knowing exactly what Remus would say to that before the words came out of his mouth. "He's probably the one who forged him the permit the second he heard we searched the creep's office."

Remus rolled his eyes and tilted his head in agreement. "I trust Dumbledore. Even if Snape is…is a jerk, it doesn't mean that he's a Death Eater."

Sirius shook his head and moved the broom to one arm so he could wrap the other around Remus's waist. Remus allowed him to pull him closer to his side and moved his arm so it was loosely draped around Sirius's waist. Maybe it was because he was getting older, or because Harry's upcoming birthday was making him sentimental, but Sirius smiled at the feel of Remus's strong arm circled around his waist and the man's slim body pressed against his side.

"Your capacity for forgiveness never ceases to amaze me," Sirius pursed his lips and squeezed Remus's waist tightly.

Remus smiled humorlessly and ducked his head so his honey colored hair hid his eyes. "It's not forgiveness."

Snape saw them before Lucius did. He stopped halfway through what he was saying about the potion Lucius was asking about and stared, caught off guard by seeing Black and Lupin making their way down the cobblestone street. Black's arm wound its way around the werewolf's waist and pulled him closer; Snape's lip curled. Lupin smiled shyly at his partner, ducking his head and hiding his grin with his thick golden hair. Black looked inordinately pleased with himself for making Lupin smile. It was pathetic.

"What are you looking at Severus?" Lucius asked, turning and following Snape's gaze with his pale eyes until they came to rest on Black and Lupin. When he saw them, his eyebrows drew together for a moment before his lips unfurled into a lazy grin. "Oh. What a pleasant surprise."

"Malfoy," Snape said warningly, not liking the look in Lucius's eye. "Leave him be."

"I just want to say hello," Lucius said innocently, and he was striding away towards the couple before Snape could say anything to stop him. Lucius intercepted Black and Lupin as they weaved through the people on the street and made their way towards the exit into the Leaky Cauldron.

Black caught sight of Malfoy first and stopped short, gripping Lupin's arm to stop him before he could run right into Lucius.

"Malfoy," Black greeted him coldly. He shifted his body so that he was standing protectively in front of Lupin, trying to block him from Lucius's view.

"Black," Lucius nodded to him before moving his eyes to Lupin, his smile lazy and suggestive. "Remus."

"Excuse us," Black tried to push by Lucius, but found himself being easily blocked by the man. Lucius grinned down at them, his gaze raking over Lupin's body. Black turned to go around him, pulling Lupin with him, and snarling at Lucius, but stopped when he saw Snape standing there. He shifted Lupin behind him again, clutching at the smaller man's jacket to move him firmly out of Snape's line of vision. "What do you want?"

"We just came over to say hello, see how you were doing," Lucius said, voice dripping with false politeness. "I haven't seen you in years, Remus. Not since Hogwarts."

"I was hoping to keep it that way," Lupin said, his normally soft voice harsh.

"I certainly wasn't," Lucius smiled. "I heard your brother was around again because he got divorced. He must be on his third wife by now."

Lupin raised his eyebrows in reluctant agreement. Snape noticed that Lupin was gripping the hem of Black's shirt tightly.

"Tell him I said hello," Lucius said, leaning closer to Lupin. Black snarled quietly and tried to push the werewolf further behind him. Lupin shot him a dark look and pulled away from Black, obviously wanting to show he could protect himself (but kept an iron grip on Black's shirt, Snape noted). "And tell him I said thank you, you know. For letting us borrow you from your Daddy."

There was a sudden flurry of motion and a loud thump and crack, and next thing Snape knew, Lucius was on the ground, pinned there by a furious Remus Lupin. Lupin's chest heaved and he gripped the front of Lucius's robes, digging his knees into Malfoy's elbows to keep him from moving his arms. He leaned over Lucius, his honey colored hair falling around his flushed cheeks. "Stay the fuck away from me. I'm not a scared kid anymore, and I will not let you do this to me."

And damn it if the only thought Snape had at that moment was of how fucking beautiful Remus Lupin had turned out to be.

Romulus made his way to Dumbledore's office, his hands shoved deep in his pockets. This was the last time he was going to have to pretend to get along with the old man; he'd been putting up with him for far too long, and Romulus had a few questions for the man that he wanted answers to before everything came out into the open after the Moon. He gave the Gargoyle the password (Sugar Quills; Romulus hated them, Remus had always been the one with a sweet tooth), and it jumped aside to let him in.

"Hello, Romulus," Dumbledore greeted him, sliming warmly and motioning to the chair in front of his desk. "I trust you're well."

"I'm fine," Romulus nodded, taking a seat. "Staying with Remus for now, at least. Until I can find a new place."

"I'm sorry to hear about your divorce," Dumbledore said sincerely.

Romulus smiled politely. "Thank you." She was an idiot and only wanted me for my money, and yet again, I have to watch my love life fall apart while my werewolf brother has his fucking perfect relationship with Sirius Black, but thank you.

"Has there been any movement by the Death Eaters on your end?" Dumbledore asked after a few moments, examining Romulus curiously, obviously wondering why he was there.

Romulus shrugged and shook his head. "No. There have been murmurs of the Dark Lord returning, but no one has found any concrete evidence to go off of yet. Even if someone did find him, there would be virtually no way to bring him back completely without Harry's blood."

"I suppose that's a good thing," Dumbledore leaned back in his chair. "Harry is protected by the blood spell so long as Lily and James are buried on the property, and besides that Remus has an unusual aptitude when it comes to wards. That cottage is one of the safest places Harry can be."

"Listen, Albus," Romulus began softly. "If…if someone did somehow get rid of Harry's parents, moved them off the property…would the blood spell hold?"

"No," Dumbledore replied, regarding Romulus with mild suspicion and surprise. "Why do you ask?"

"I need to know what to look out for," Romulus lied smoothly. He could feel the old man picking at his mind to see if he was telling the truth and he almost scoffed out loud. If he couldn't shield his thoughts perfectly from the view of others, how far would he have gotten when he was spying on Lucius? "If I them start to talk about the bodies, I'll know what they're planning. Is there any other way to break the spell, anything I should watch out for?"

"No, that's the only way," Dumbledore seemed satisfied with the answer. "And Lucius remains unsuspecting?"

"Of course," Romulus nodded, firmly thinking only about how he was gathering information for Dumbledore, and letting none of his true intentions slip to the front of his mind. "He has no idea I'm working for you."

"Very good," Dumbledore smiled, eyes twinkling kindly. It made Romulus sick. Dumbledore could sit here and use them like pawns, and people kept on with it, kept following his orders because he made you feel like you actually mattered to him in the scheme of things. He still had Remus believing it, and it wasn't right; Dumbledore gave him the validation Remus so desperately craved from their own father. "Is there anything else?"

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about what happened my seventh year here," Romulus said carefully, biting at the inside of his bottom lip. He fidgeted nervously, worrying the hem of his shirt between his fingers. "About…about what I did to Remus to gain Malfoy's trust. Seeing him…he hates me, Albus. I just wanted to…was there any other way I could have handled it? Did it have to happen?" he hesitated before pressing on recklessly. "Did you know what Lucius wanted when you asked me to try to get on his good side?"

Dumbledore scrutinized Romulus with a concerned expression before nodding slowly. Romulus's stomach dropped. Dumbledore had chosen him knowing what would happen to Remus. Remus practically idolized Dumbledore; it would kill him to know that the man who he had trusted completely through his teenage years and adult life had basically offered him up like a lamb for slaughter to Lucius Malfoy and his sick perversions. "Yes, I did. It had to happen. You did it for the greater good, Romulus. Remus would understand that."

Romulus suppressed a shudder and tugged his cloak around him more tightly, feeling a chill settle in his bones. "That's what scares me."

"Romulus, what is so important?" Remus's voice drifted down the hallway and into the classroom Snape and a handful of others were waiting in. "It's three a.m. The Moon's in less than a day."

"It's important, Remus," Romulus said firmly, his voice coming closer. "Let's just go in here and talk for a second, alright?"

"Is this about Dad? Did something happen?" Remus's voice was suddenly tense with worry. Romulus tensed; how could Remus still worry about their dad, after all he'd done? "Romulus…"

"Come on," Romulus pushed his younger brother into the class room and pulled the door shut behind them. "I don't understand why…" Remus trailed off when he realized there were other people in the room. "What…Romulus, what's going on?"

"I'm trying to help you," Romulus said softly, apologetically. He positioned himself in front of the door. "You and Sirius…that has to stop."

"Why are they here?" Remus demanded, his voice shaking almost imperceptibly. "Romulus, let me out." He reached for his wand, but found that it wasn't in his belt where he usually kept it. Romulus motioned to Remus's wand where it was sticking out of his own pocket.

Remus took a step back and found himself bumping right into the chest of a seventh year Ravenclaw who grabbed the smaller boy and shoved him further into the room. Remus stumbled and caught himself on a desk, disoriented. Moonlight shone through the large windows of the classroom, and it felt like it was burning his skin; he could feel the almost-full Moon tugging at the wolf pacing restlessly in his mind.

"Remus," Romulus moved to stand in front of his brother, gripping his shoulders to turn Remus to face him. Remus was pale and obviously exhausted, that dark shadows under his eyes more dramatic in the cold light of the moon. Remus scratched at his own arms uncomfortably; the moonlight on his skin was making him uncomfortably itchy. Romulus felt sick that he had to do this. It was the only way Lucius would trust him; it was some kind of sick initiation into his inner circle. "Listen to me. You have to leave him."

"No," Remus replied snappishly, trying to push Romulus off of him. "Let me go."

"I told you he'd have to learn the hard way," Lucius spoke up, stepping forward. He shoved a few of the desks out of the way, opening a circle of space on the floor. "You've done what you can, Romulus."

Remus still didn't understand what was going on, but he was scared now. He didn't have his wand, he was weak from the approaching moon, and he was surrounded by Lucius Malfoy's future Death Eaters of Britain Club.

Lucius moved closer, until he was inches away from Remus. Remus tried to take a step back, frantic to put some distance between them, but found himself pressed against his brother and unable to move any further away. Lucius smiled darkly and raised a hand to touch Remus's cheek, stroking it gently. Remus smacked his hand away. "Don't touch me, Malfoy."

Lucius pursed his lips, pleased, and backed away. "I knew you'd be a firecracker, Lupin. I guess we'll have to take care of that before you and I have our…chat."

Two of the others in the room, a Slytherin girl and the boy from Ravenclaw, moved towards Remus and grabbed his arms. They tried to pull him away from his brother, but he kept a strong grip on Romulus's shirt.

"Remus, let go," Romulus muttered, trying to untangle his brother's fingers from the front of his shirt. "I had to do this."

"No," Remus clung to his brother and tried to bury himself in his chest. Romulus could feel his warm breath against his skin and was painfully reminded of the day he'd left home for good. "Rom, please, please don't do this, please…"

It broke Romulus's heart to hear his brother's pleas; it was eerily similar to the way Remus had begged their father not to touch him on the day before the Moon, when his body was so sensitive it hurt him to be even touched too roughly.

It had always amazed Romulus how exact it was; the second it was midnight on the night before the Moon, Remus would shoot up in bed, woken by the sudden discomfort he felt of the sheets against his skin. Over the next few hours, it got worse and worse until by the time he was about to transform he couldn't even have people looking at him for too long without feeling uncomfortably itchy where their eyes rested on his skin.

He thought of Dumbledore's words, "Anything you have to do, Romulus, do it. We need to know what they're up to. Malfoy is dangerous, and we need someone on the inside."

"Let go, Remus," Romulus forced himself to shove his brother away. The second Remus's grip on Romulus was dislodged, Remus was yanked away by Lucius's two goons and thrown to the floor. Remus looked up at his brother, eyes shining with confusion and betrayal. He tried to stand up again, but was roughly shoved back to the floor by one of the other's in the room.

"Rom…" Remus hadn't called him that in years.

Romulus turned away from the classroom and faced the wall, biting the knuckles of his right hand and ignoring the twisting pain in his gut.

For the Order. For the Order.

His shoulders hunched a little more every time he heard the familiar sound of a fist or a foot hitting flesh. He felt like he owed it to Remus to listen, but he couldn't bring himself to watch; he didn't deserve to pretend this wasn't happening when Remus had to live through it.

Remus didn't make a sound as he was mercilessly beaten by the small crowd of Lucius's followers.

Finally, Romulus heard Lucius's soft command to stop. Romulus turned back to the room, afraid of what he was going to see. Remus was curled up on the stone floor, nothing more than a shaking, bloody lump. Blood streaked his hair and torn clothing. His wrist was limp and bent the wrong way, and he flinched every time he tried to take a breath that was too deep. Lucius approached him and turned Remus over so he was lying on his back. Remus didn't fight; he couldn't. His eyes were glassy and confused and his movements were sluggish, like he wasn't quite in control of his body. Concussion; Romulus observed detachedly.

Lucius pushed Remus's hair out of his eyes and leaned down to seal his lips over Remus's. Remus's body tensed, but he was too weak to fight back beyond trying in vain to push Lucius off of him. Lucius grinned and straddled Remus's hips, leaning back to rest his weight on the boy's thighs. Remus's blood was smeared on Lucius's bottom lip. "The rest of you can go; I don't think he'll be much trouble." His gaze flickered to Snape. "Unless you'd rather stay, Severus."

Remus squirmed weakly under him and turned his head to the side, squeezing his eyes closed so he didn't have to look at the monster on top of him; this wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening; his brother would never let this happen. He tried to buck the older boy off, but Lucius only leered down at him and moved his hands to Remus's wrists so he was pinning Remus's arms to the ground.

"Rom…Romulus…" Remus pleaded, digging his nails into the stone floor so hard his fingernails bent and cracked. "Please…please help…"

Romulus blinked and swallowed past the painful lump in his throat. He felt sick, like something was wrapping around his chest and pulling tightly and twisting his stomach painfully at the same time; he was having a hard time breathing.

He fumbled for the doorknob and practically fell out of the room. He slammed the door behind him and collapsed back against it. He shut his eyes tightly, but that didn't stop the tears from squeezing past his clenched eyelids and dripping down his face.

He didn't move, no matter how much he wanted to. He stayed hunched up against the door, feeling his chest tighten more painfully with every noise he heard from within; Remus's soft, hoarse voice, pleading lowly for Lucius to stop; Lucius's vicious, humiliating taunts mixed with lustful words of twisted praise; Remus whimpering quietly, trying valiantly to hold back his sobs; Lucius telling him to shut up and take it like a fucking man, that he should be used to it with Dad, and with Black…

At Black's name, a small, choked sob escaped Remus's lips. There was the sound of a slap a moment later.

"He'll never love you after he finds out about this," Lucius vowed quietly. "He'd never love someone like you anyway; Sirius deserves someone who's not…damaged."

A few moments later, the soft, low murmurs suddenly rose into a scream of pure agony. Romulus covered his ears and hunched over, pressing his forehead to his knees. It felt like the scream ripped through him and tore him apart; he was sure the whole castle must have heard it. The scream died down to an incoherent series of words that were sobbed out in painful gasps; Romulus twitched when he realized what Remus was saying.

"No…please, stop, please, it HURTS. God…God, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Dad…Please….Rom, help me, please, I promise I'll be good, please, I didn't mean to, Daddy…"

Romulus stuffed his fist in his mouth and choked down a sob. He was having a flashback, and a bad one; Remus hadn't called their Dad "Daddy" since he was five, he hadn't begged for Romulus like that since he was seven.

He did this. This was his fault. He was sitting here crying while Remus was being raped. He could go in there and stop it, but he didn't. He clenched his fists and thought of the Order, thought of the lives they could save having him on the inside of Malfoy's circle, the information they could get from him; it could help win the oncoming war, or at least turn the tide in their favor. It was a necessary sacrifice for Remus to make; he just didn't know it yet.

"Maybe you should go, Lupin." Romulus started at the voice and peered up at the source of the voice. Snape was standing on the opposite side of the hallway from where Romulus was hunched over. His eyes glittered in the pale torch light and his expression was solemn.

"What, and leave him here alone so you can have a go at him after Lucius is done?" Romulus snapped angrily.

Snape set his jaw irritably. "Lucius may like taking someone against their will; that doesn't mean I do."

"You want him, though," Romulus pointed out cruelly. Snape blinked at him, giving nothing away. "You wish you could have him like that, you want him to sleep with you. Newsflash, Snape; he never will. He's not interested, and he never will be, so leave him the hell alone! He doesn't need people like you and Malfoy ogling him and leering at him everywhere he goes."

"I won't deny I find your brother attractive, and I would sleep with him if he ever asked," Snape said bluntly, taking a step closer to Romulus. Romulus wrapped his hand around his wand cautiously, unsure of his intentions. "But not like that. And not solely for the reason you believe. Remus is much more than a pretty face, Romulus, and some people recognize him for it."

"I'm his brother," Romulus snarled, rising to his feet, his grip on his wand tightening. "Don't act like you know him better than I do."

"If you're his brother, then why did you let this happen," Snape said quietly, his voice laced with anger. "Why did you bring him here, knowing what Lucius wanted? To get into Lucius's little club?"

Romulus didn't reply, just glared at the younger boy and ground his teeth together, stung by the harsh words slipping from Snape's lips. He wished like hell that he could tell Snape the real reason, make him see that he had to do this, that he had no choice…

"Was it worth it?" Snape asked softly. "Was getting into Lucius's stupid little group of imbeciles worth your little brother being violated like this?"

A low, broken wail floated up from the crack under the rough wooden door and Romulus heard Lucius roll off of Remus and stand up. There was the rustle of clothes before Lucius's voice spoke softly. "If you tell a teacher what happened here, I will make sure everyone in this school knows you're a werewolf by the next morning. Do you understand?"

Silence.

There was the sound of a palm hitting someone's face, hard.

"I said do you understand?" Lucius hissed.

"Yes," Remus's voice was weak and hoarse. He sounded like he was close to tears, if not already crying.

"Good boy," Lucius sneered. I heard him move towards the door, his shoes clicking loudly on the stone floor. His steps paused for a moment when he was close to the door and he added over his shoulder, "You did beautifully, Remus. I see why Sirius keeps you around, sweetheart."

The door to the room was pulled open and Lucius stepped out, looking slightly ruffled, but otherwise composed. His appearance showed no trace of what he'd just done. He smiled at Romulus and moved closer, shutting the door behind him. Romulus caught a fleeting glance of a huddled figure bathed in moonlight before the door blocked any view of the room.

"I don't think Black will be a problem anymore," Lucius said smugly, smoothing the front of his robes. "Good job, Romulus. I think you've proven yourself."

"Have I?" Romulus gritted his teeth and tried to smile, pushing aside the thought of his baby brother curled up and bleeding just beyond the door.

"Giving up the only family member you have, the brother you've spent your life protecting?" Lucius smirked. "If you can do that, I think you have what we're looking for. Come with me." He started down the hallway.

Romulus hovered in the alcove where the door hiding his brother was, torn between following Lucius and leaving Remus there alone.

"I'll take care of it," Snape spoke up from his place near the wall. "Go with him."

"I swear to God…" Romulus breathed threateningly. "If I find out you even looked at him in a way he didn't like…"

"I'm going to speak with him, and then I am going to get Sirius," Snape said calmly. It pained him to say those words. He desperately wanted to be able to comfort Remus on his own, but now was not the time for jealousy to get in the way. Remus would want someone he trusted implicitly, if he wanted someone at all, and as much as Snape hated to admit it, that person was Sirius Black. "Now go."

"Romulus?" Lucius called. He turned and looked down the hallway, eyes squinting to try to make out Romulus in the faint glow of the flickering torches. "Come on."

Romulus hesitated for a few moments before he nodded and rushed down the hall to catch up with Lucius. The damage was done; he had to make Remus's sacrifice worth something.

Lucius grinned up at Remus and tilted his head, examining the werewolf carefully. "As much as I'd like to, I'm not doing anything to you right now. I just wanted to have a polite conversation."

"That's the last thing you'd want from me," Remus muttered, pushing himself to his feet and stepping away from Lucius. He waited for Lucius to stand before continuing. "Stay away from me, and stay away from my family."

"Oh, yes, Harry's birthday is in two days, isn't it?" Lucius observed, watching Remus closely for a reaction. "Grow up so fast, don't they? Pity it's the day after the full moon."

"Good bye, Malfoy," Remus snapped, grabbing Sirius's hand and pulling him forward. He slid by Malfoy with Sirius trailing behind him. Sirius took care to accidently elbow Malfoy hard in the side. Remus glanced up from the dirty cobblestones and found himself face to face with Snape.

Snape's expression inexplicably softened for a fraction of a second when his dark eyes met Remus's. "Good evening, Lupin."

Remus looked away and kept walking, tightening his grip on Sirius's hand and determinedly not looking back.

Sirius allowed Remus to drag him along, concerned with the way Remus was shaking and how pale he'd become.

He glanced up into the darkening sky and saw that it was one of those days when the moon had appeared in the sky before the sun had completely given up its reign. Tomorrow was the full; the orb was almost completely round.

So there it is. I hope you all liked it. Leave a review if you can, I really appreciate them!

Next chapter: the Moon, Sirius and Romulus argue (though I don't think it will be their last, or most dramatic, one yet), and FINALLY what Romulus has going on with Malfoy.

Thanks for reading!