First of all, thank to the people who reviewed! You have no idea how awesome it is to hear that you're interested, I appreciate it:) And thank you to all the people who followed and favorited this.

Second, this is getting close to the end. A couple more chapters (I haven't decided a number yet. We'll see) So thanks to all the people who have stuck with this so far.

Hope you like this chapter.

WARNINGS: violence (minor), slash, vague discussion of abuse/sexual assault

"What do you want, Lupin?" Snape snapped at the man standing on his hearth rug and slammed the cover of the book on his desk shut with irritation. He turned on his heel to search for another book on the dusty shelf, refusing to look at Romulus. The mere sight of the man made anger thrum through Snape's veins, even after all these years. "I don't have time for your-"

"Remus is in danger," Romulus cut him off abruptly, watching Snape's body language closely for a reaction.

Snape's hand stuttered as he ran his fingers along the spines of the books. Romulus saw him force himself to play it off and tug another book out and place it on his desk. "I don't see why that's my problem."

"I think we both know why that's your problem," Romulus said softly, stepping closer to the opposite side of Snape's desk. "Tell me you don't still have feelings for him."

"I don't," Snape replied coldly, convincingly. His long, pale fingers clutched the heavy tome resting on his desk and he met Romulus's eyes steadily. His dark hair fell in greasy curtains around his face and his black eyes flashed with anger. His jaw was set, but Romulus saw the beginnings of a pained frown on his thin lips before he regained control of his reaction. "Even if I did, it wouldn't matter."

"I need you to do something for me before you bring him to Malfoy tonight," Romulus dropped the plastic bag with his mother's tarnished wedding ring onto Snape's desk. "Just slip this in his pocket. Please."

"You've charmed it?" Snape raised an eyebrow and plucked the bag off the desk to study the contents with interest.

"It's strong enough to protect him," Romulus nodded, relaxing a little bit. No matter how much Snape denied it, he obviously still harbored feelings for Remus. Romulus managed to push aside his disgust with Snape infatuation with his little brother to complete the task at hand; Remus's safety was more important than Snape's long term crush. "I don't know what Lucius will try."

Snape considered Romulus for a moment with his cold, dark eyes. Romulus felt Snape trying to pick at his mind, searching for an ulterior motive. Romulus pushed the genuine feelings of concern for Remus's safety to the front of his mind.

Snape let out a small huff through his nose. He pocketed the ring and nodded shortly. "I suppose it couldn't hurt. Black will be pissed enough when he gets a hold of you with the werewolf being killed." Snape smirked slightly at Romulus, amusement flickering across his pursed lips. "I certainly wouldn't want him to wreck your face like he did last time."

Romulus smiled back, slightly. "I think you'd like nothing more than that."

"Can I borrow your Ancient Runes notes?" Romulus reached over and took Michael's sheafs of parchment from his hands without waiting for an answer. Michael shrugged and tugged his potions book closer to him on the table of the Great Hall. Romulus had been touchy this week, and MIchael couldn't blame him. Remus was in the hospital wing, unconscious and showing no sign of waking up anytime soon. Rumors spread like wildfire that he'd been attacked, mauled by some kind of animal down by the Forbidden Forest.

"Romulus!"

Romulus look up from Michael's notes, recognizing the voice immediately and mouthing a curse at the stone floor. He sat up straight and forced a smile at a fuming Sirius Black. "Sirius, what's up?"

"Don't give me that crap," Black snarled, grabbing the front of Romulus's robes and slamming the bigger man into the table. Romulus glanced around the room quickly. It was between meal times; the halls was full of students milling around, but devoid of any teachers at the moment. Black shook the front of his robes to drag Romulus's attention back to him. "He's still unconscious. He spent all night crying and begging for me to help him in his sleep, and I couldn't wake him up. Do you even fucking care?"

"It's not my choice to not visit him," Romulus snapped, trying to shove Sirius away from him. "You're the one who told Pomphrey not to let me in."

"I don't want you anywhere near him!" Sirius growled, glaring at Romulus with anger and exhaustion swirling in his dark gray eyes. Romulus was surprised by the fierce amount of protectiveness Sirius displayed over Remus. He had doubted Black would be able to deal with the emotional repercussions Remus would suffer; he'd been sure the idea of dealing with such a damaged boyfriend would make Black run for the hills. On the contrary, it only seemed to make Black's devotion to Remus stronger in his intentions to help Remus try to recover.

"You wouldn't understand," Romulus said softly, his eyes flickering away from Sirius's, unable to hold the smaller man's intense gaze. His heart burned with the thought of Remus's small, frail body curled up in the hospital wing, his chest barely rising and falling, trapped in the memories of Malfoy's hands and their father's touches running over his battered body in a way they had no right to. "It's for his own good."

Romulus was thrown back into the edge of the table when Sirius's fist connected with his face solidly. Romulus touched his jaw where Sirius's fist had made contact and blinked at the dark haired man, surprised. "That won't help Remus."

"That one wasn't for Remus," Sirius hauled back and slammed his fist into Romulus's face again. Romulus heard the familiar crack indicating a broken nose and felt a trickle of blood trailing down his upper lip. "That one was."

Romulus caught himself on the table and clutched his nose. He curled his other hand into a weak fist, but when he looked up at Sirius, he couldn't bring himself to hit his brother's distraught, worried boyfriend for being angry at him.

"Well?" Sirius's voice had raised, and now he was yelling, furious, his face going red. "Are you going to hit me? Do it!"

Romulus's breath caught in his throat as he took in Sirius's words, garnering a flash of understanding. Sirius was mad at him, yes; however, Sirius was more angry with himself. For not being there. For not saving Remus from this. He wanted Romulus to hit him.

"I'm not going to hit you," Romulus muttered thickly, standing up straight.

Sirius was obviously confused by Romulus's reaction. He gripped Romulus's arms so tightly it would leave bruises and said harshly, "Stay away from him. When he gets out of the hospital wing, stay away from him. Just leave him alone. You're sick. You let him get hurt in the worst way possible. Do you understand how fucking ashamed of himself he already was? He thinks he's disgusting, and it's all your fault for letting this happen."

"I know," Romulus said softly, his stomach twisting painfully as he thought of Remus's baggy, conservative wardrobe that easily hid his slim frame from the eyes of other people. He knew Remus hated himself, hated his body and the way it seemed to constantly betray him.

"You know?" Sirius was screaming now, and in that moment, he wasn't Sirius Black, confident, egotistical, playboy who slept with anything that moved; he was Sirius Black, a concerned man who was terrified for his severely hurt best friend-turned-boyfriend. "If you know, then why would you do it? You don't know! You don't get to be apologetic and act all self sacrificing and penitent! You have no fucking right!"

The last sentence was punctuated with a few punches to Romulus's stomach and face. Romulus tried to shield himself, but Black was beyond caring what part of Romulus he hit, powered by raw anger and fear.

"SIRIUS!" the fists raining down on Romulus stopped suddenly and Romulus risked looking up. Sirius was being dragged away by James Potter and Peter Pettigrew. He fought against them vainly; he was tired and weak. He'd spent all week at Remus's bedside, head bowed and clutching the werewolf's bandaged hand in his own.

James jerked Sirius back, an arm around his chest to restrain him. "Sirius-" James gasped when Sirius's elbow caught his stomach. "Sirius, calm down!"

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Sirius snarled, glaring at Romulus and trying to throw his friends off. "He did this, this is his fault, Remus is hurt because of him!"

"Sirius, Remus is awake!" Peter shouted, tightening his grip on Sirius. "He woke up, he's asking for you."

Sirius froze so suddenly James and Peter almost lost their grips on him. He slid out of James and Peter's slackened hands and took off down the hallway towards the hospital wing without sparing a glance over his shoulder.

Romulus pressed his sleeve to his nose, trying to stem the bleeding. Potter fixed him with a cold glare than was a stark contrast to Black's burning anger. "I'd get that fixed somewhere besides the hospital wing. No one there is feeling particularly fond of you right now."

Sirius shifted impatiently and glanced at his watch for what felt like the hundredth time that hour. 5:46. Remus would start to transform in roughly twenty minutes. He looked back up at the parchment Kingsley had tacked up on the wall. The small black dots that represented the supposed Death Eaters the Ministry kept a track on were flocking at Lucius Malfoy's house.

"What are they doing?" Moody growled, watching the map with his good eye. Sirius could feel the other one on himself through the side of Moody's skull, which would have creeped him out if he wasn't so used to it. "They're been collecting there all day..."

"Can't we just go check it out?" Gregson sighed, burying his face in his hands. "We've been watching them move all day, Moody. Let's go see what's going on."

"We can't just go running in there," Moody snapped. "Use yer head, Gregson. Malfoy may be scum, but he's still got rights."

"Funny how that works," Sirius snorted, looking at his watch. 5:47. "Seriously, Moody, do I have to be here? You've got plenty of manpower here."

"You have kept him away from his boyfriend all day," Stephan Thomas spoke up from where he was sprawled in his chair across the room. "I've heard werewolves are especially sensitive the day before the Moon; I bet you have him begging for you, Black."

"That's not what they mean when they say sensitive," Sirius said through gritted teeth. He clutched the plastic mug of tea in his hands and took a deep breath. They'd all been trapped in there all day; everyone was grating on everyone's nerves.

Thomas snorted derisively. "That's not what I've heard from Malfoy when he drops by here."

Sirius's mug clattered to the floor and he stood up, turning to face Thomas angrily. "Lucius Malfoy is a sadistic jerk who deserves to be locked up in Azkaban for the rest of his life, and I would appreciate it if you shut the hell up about my partner."

"Don't be so touchy," Thomas held up his hands defensively. "I didn't mean to insult you. I was just repeating what I'd heard."

Sirius humphed and plopped back down into his seat. He scooped up his mug and glanced at his watch. 5:56.

"I'm sorry, Black," Moody's voice was slightly less rough when he leaned over to speak quietly to Sirius. "I know you like to be there for him, and I know it isn't easy, but we need everyone here. This could be nothing, but it could be something really bad. We have to stay vigilant."

"I get it," Sirius sighed and tugged at his hair a little bit. "I'll be right back, I'm going to see if I can catch him through the fireplace before he goes down to the basement. I told him I'd be home."

"Go ahead," Moody nodded to the door. "Keep it short."

Sirius rolled his eyes, but gave Moody a grateful smile as he slipped out of the room. He grabbed a pinch of powder from the silver box on the fireplace in the deserted Auror's office and tossed it into the orange flames. They turned green and he gave the cottage's address and the password he and Remus had set on the Floo. Muskrat; Remus had picked it, deeming it appropriately obscure and impersonal.

He leaned into the fireplace and found himself looking into their living room. No one was in there, but he could hear movement in the kitchen. "Remus?"

Harry appeared in the archway between the living room and kitchen with a spoon in his hand. He saw Sirius in the fire and came to kneel on the floor so he was level with Sirius's face floating in the fire. "Hey, Sirius."

"Hey, Harry," Sirius smiled at his godson. "How's it been today?"

"Good," Harry shrugged. "Remus cleaned the second half of the day, of course, before he practically fell into bed for an hour. I can hear him coming down the stairs now."

"Good," Sirius replied. "What have you been doing?" he felt bad about how he hadn't be around as much for Harry these past few days. Remus's brother had been taking up most of his time. Harry's birthday was tomorrow, too. Hopefully this Death Eater thing, whatever it was, will have blown over by then.

"I worked on some of my summer homework," Harry made a face.

Sirius laughed. "You actually do that?"

"Of course he does," Remus's disapproving voice came from the kitchen doorway and Sirius saw his bare feet as he padded over to the fireplace to kneel down next to Harry. "Don't let him make you feel bad for being a good student. Lord knows how he became an Auror with his study habits."

Sirius shrugged, smiling a little, and giving Remus a once over. He was pale and his smile was strained. He rubbed his arms and shifted uncomfortably, scratching at the fabric of his sweater. Dark shadows were prominent under his eyes and Sirius had the feeling that this transformation wouldn't be easy. It had been a rough few days for everyone with Romulus around, and it was taking a toll of Remus most of all.

"You're stuck there?" Remus asked, his bittersweet smile indicating he already knew the answer.

"I'm sorry," Sirius pursed his lips apologetically. "Will you be alright?"

Remus rolled his eyes and huffed softly, his breath rustling his honey colored bangs. "Sirius, I will be fine. I've done this a few times in my life. Just catch whoever it is you're hunting and come home for Harry's birthday tomorrow."

"I promise," Sirius said firmly. "I've got to get back. If something happens..."

"Nothing will happen, Sirius," Remus smiled reassuringly. He wound his arm around his waist as a shudder ran through his body and his eyebrows drew together for a moment. "I've got to go lock myself in. See you tomorrow. Good luck, babe."

"Night, Harry," Sirius said, turning his attention to Harry for a moment. "I'll see you tomorrow. Remus, just...just be careful, alright?"

He could tell Remus was getting frustrated with his mother henning (he was always more irritable around the Moon), but continued on before Remus could snap at him, "I love you both, so much. Bye."

He stood up and stepped out of the cool flames back into the Auror's office and brushed the ash off his robes. He chewed the inside of his lip and shook his head, trying to shake the worries clinging to his mind away as he headed back to the conference room. Remus and Harry would be fine.

Remus pulled the heavy door shut behind him, sealing himself into the small dark basement. He waved his wand to lock in securely from the inside so the wolf couldn't get the door open and stripped his sweater, jeans, and boxers off, folding them carefully. He dug one of the large cement blocks out of the wall to expose the small nook behind it and placed the pile of clothes inside with his wand before replacing the heavy brick, shivering as he felt his skin crawl and bones shift slightly. He sank down to the floor and wrapped his arms around his knees, pressing his back to the cold wall. His skin sang with the sensation of the cold cement and the burning feeling of his own breath puffing on his folded arms.

He sucked in a deep breath and ignored the stinging feeling in his eyes.

He did not need Sirius here, for God's sake. He was a grown man, he'd been doing this since he was five.

Honestly, besides the moments when he woke up after the transformation, the moments before were the worst part. He could feel it about to happen, he could feel his body starting to shift around in itself. His muscles were pounding as they got ready to be stretched and torn and his bones creaked as they prepared to be shifted and lengthened. The anticipation of the pain was what Remus hated the most. Not that the transformation itself was pleasant.

After a few minutes, Remus felt the his spine curl and stretch and crack as the transformation took hold of his shaking body.

Romulus cringed when he heard the howl of a wolf cut through the night and glanced out the kitchen window where the moon cast a cool glow over the back garden. He heard pacing for a few moments and then a more mournful howl before the wolf started to throw itself against the door.

Harry glanced up from his book at Romulus, unsure of what to say. Remus had threatened Romulus with everything under the sun when he found out Sirius couldn't get back to stay with Harry, and Romulus seemed to believe his brother would make good on his threats.

"Is he usually this...uh...?" Romulus paused when another howl of agony tore through the night and drowned out his words. "Is he usually this...upset?"

"Not usually," Harry replied slowly, shifting in his chair awkwardly. "He, uh...sometimes. When Sirius isn't here it's usually worse. The wolf's just gotten used to having him there."

Romulus's eyes were flickering from the clock to the backyard. He had until the moon went down to do what he had to to get Harry's parents off the property. Lucius had told him to knock the boy out and take him with him and not run the risk of Harry catching on and trying to get away, but now that the time came he was reluctant to do it.

Remus would move on from losing Harry. He was resilient, he'd lost a lot of people close to him. Harry was the price Remus would pay to have a better life, the sacrifice Remus had to make for himself.

"Do you, uh, do you want something to eat?" Harry asked, desperate for something to do besides awkwardly sit across the table from Remus's silent, intense brother.

"Sure," Romulus's eyes moved to Harry and he watched the boy with disconcerting focus. "Whatever you want."

Harry nodded and went to the icebox to see what they had frozen in there that he could heat up.
He felt a sharp pain on the back of his head and then everything went black.

Romulus lowered his wand and Harry's immobile form was dropped gently to the ground next to his parent's graves. He was still unconscious, and should be for a good number of hours. Just in case,

Romulus had conjured up ropes around Harry's wrists and ankles, binding him tigthly so that if he woke up, he couldn't move.

He adjusted the shovel in his hands and sighed, eyeing the graves reluctantly. Remus had been thorough; it was impossible to dig up the graves with magic, and it would take all night for Romulus to dig them up manually.

He set to work digging up James first, listening to the wolf's cries in the distance.

There you go! Next chapter should be up soon. Please, please, please take a minute to review! It means a lot to me, and it gives me something to look froward to when I get home from work.

Thanks for reading!