Next chapter! I figured I'd post it now. Thanks for bearing with me with the cliffhanger. That was mean of me:) I hope you guys like it! I'm thinking one more chapter after this (maybe?) and then an epilogue.

Also, I just want to say thank you for the overwhelming amount of support! This was my first story on here that was chaptered, and the reviews and follows have been amazing. I never expected so much of a response, and I thank all of you for it.

Enjoy!

"Sirius," Dumbledore's voice boomed warmly across the field as he made his way towards where Moody and Sirius stood. His robes billowed around him in waves of dark blue and purple, the silver stars on the heavy fabric glittering as he strode through the tall grass. He came to a stop in front of the two Aurors and greeted them genially. "Alastor. I haven't seen either of you in quite a while. It's nice to see you again, though I'm sorry the circumstances are so grim."

"Someone called you in, Albus?" Moody asked, his eyebrows drawing together. He hadn't sent for Dumbledore, but there was always a chance someone at the office had called for him, thinking Albus could give them some help.

"I heard what was going on through one of my friends in the Ministry," Dumbledore replied. His piercing blue eyes were fixed on where the wards were set, studying the area carefully. "I thought I would drop by."

"Considerate of you," Sirius snapped, rubbing his face with his hands tiredly. He regretted it the second the harsh words fell from his lips. This wasn't Albus's fault. He had no right to be short with the man. Honestly, Albus would be a huge help. If anyone had a chance of getting them through the wards, it would be Dumbledore.

Pictures and sounds from that night from their fifth year flashed though Sirius's mind unrelentingly; Remus collapsed into a bloody, shaking heap on the stone floor; the dark blood that stained the inside of his thighs; the wolf's muzzle sinking into its own flesh the next night over, and over, and over; Remus's desperate whimpers for Madame Pomphrey to "stop, please stop, it hurts, please, please, STOP!" as she tried to fix him up; the terrified screams and tears that Remus woke himself up with from his nightmares for months...

"Sirius," Dumbledore's gentle voice pulled him back to the present. Sirius blinked and shook his head, trying to dislodge the memories and focus on the problem at hand. "Sirius, listen to me. I know you're worried about them. They will be okay. Romulus wouldn't let anyone kill Remus, and Remus wouldn't let anyone hurt Harry."

"What do you know?" Sirius demanded, his blood boiling when Dumbledore had to audacity to stick up for Romulus. He had no idea what Romulus had done, he had no idea what Remus had gone through because of his brother. "You have no idea what Romulus has put Remus through!"

"Yes, I do," Dumbledore said, his voice suddenly low and tinged with regret, his gaze meeting Sirius's somberly.

Sirius felt like he'd just been punched in the stomach. He gaped and Dumbledore and spluttered, "You...you knew? But you didn't expel him! You didn't report him!"

"I couldn't," Dumbledore pursed his lips and regarded Sirius sadly. He sounded genuinely sorry, but Sirius was beyond caring about absolving Dumbledore of his guilt. "Romulus was a spy for us at that point. He was crucial; I couldn't give him up. He was too valuable. He had the perfect chance to see what Malfoy was up to. I'm sorry that had to happen to Remus. I wish there had been another way..."

"He was..." Sirius stared at Dumbledore, stunned, unable to speak for a moment. "You...you..."

Without warning, Sirius hauled back and punched Dumbledore, hard. Dumbledore seemed genuinely surprised, and stumbled back a step. His eyes widened slightly as he looked at Sirius, his blue irises dark with regret and pain.

"Black!" Moody exclaimed gruffly, shock written on his rough features. He grabbed Sirius's arm and yanked him away from Dumbledore harshly. "What the hell do you-?"

"I'm not going to let you use him like a fucking pawn anymore," Sirius growled at Dumbledore, his body singing with fury, easily shaking off Moody's grip with annoyance. "He deserves better than that. He trusted you."

Sirius turned on his heel and strode away from them, twisting his hair through his hands and trying to contain the anger, concern, and fear warring for dominance in his mind.

"Are you alright, sir?" Moody asked Dumbledore, uncertainly watching Dumbledore as the old man gazed after Sirius. Leave it to Sirius fucking Black to haul back and punch one of the greatest wizards of all time in a fit of rage. Black was protective of Remus (and Harry) to a fault, and Moody had seen first-hand how it could cloud his judgment. "He's been up for over twenty four hours, and he's worried about his family. He's strung out."

"I know," Dumbledore agreed quietly, touching his cheek where Sirius's fist had made contact. Sirius paced through the grass, rubbing his face and running his pale fingers through his ebony hair worriedly, obviously distraught and furious.

Dumbledore had doubted their relationship when he found out about it. Sirius was full of endless energy and exceedingly loud and outgoing, and Remus was quiet and content to curl up with a book. He figured Sirius would get bored quickly and move on, leaving Remus heartbroken. Instead, Sirius's complete and utter devotion to Remus as his best friend had deepened, and Sirius had fallen so hard for him it had actually hurt to watch. Remus had been the more hesitant one (with his father, Dumbledore couldn't blame him for being a little scared), but the deep friendship Remus felt for Sirius had obviously blossomed into romantic feelings. And now, years later, they was still just as fiercely protective and in love as they had been when they were sixteen.

Dumbledore felt a dull pain in his chest when his mind wandered, unbidden, to Grindelwald. That was how Dumbledore had felt about him, every bit as protective and loving, wanting him to be safe and happy.

He'd never meant to hurt Grindelwald, but he had, in the end. That was the difference between Sirius and himself. It was a dangerous trait Sirius had, to love someone else so much that they were more important to him than anything else was, but one that Dumbledore admired.

He sucked in a deep breath and steeled himself. Romulus had been his responsibility and he'd let the man fool him into thinking he was loyal to the Order. Dumbledore should have seen it coming.

He looked back to where this had all began, to where he'd started this years ago, and regretted the day he'd called a sixteen year old Romulus Lupin into his office to tell him about the Order of the Phoenix.

Remus squeezed his eyes shut and held Harry to him tightly, blocking him bodily from the curse. Harry clung to Remus, burying his face in the man's chest and steadily ignoring the tears leaking from his eyes and soaking into Remus's sweater.

Remus braced himself for the impact of the curse, but it didn't come. There was a crackling sound, a dull 'thud' against his side, and then a flash of white light that Remus could see through his eyelids. He hunched more protectively over Harry, burying his face in the boy's unruly hair and holding him closer. He could feel Harry's chest rising and falling under his.

"Remus..." Harry gasped, choking on his tears and huddling against him, confused and scared.

Remus hesitated, just as confused. He should be dead. He'd felt the spell hit him. That flash of light and crackling noise, though, they weren't usual...

He risked looking up and saw the motionless forms of the Death Eaters all around them, collapsed, unconscious or dead. He pushed himself up, dizzy and blinking sluggishly to bring things into a better focus.

"Remus, what-?" Harry tried to sit up a little bit, but found himself being suddenly yanked to his feet and yanked out of Remus's weakened grip. He struggled, but the man holding him had an iron, unrelenting grip.

"Romulus?" Remus blinked at his brother, disoriented, his vision still swimming and blurring. "What the hell happened?"

"You weren't supposed to try to save him, Remus," Romulus snarled, digging the knife into Harry's throat so beads of blood appeared under the blade. Remus's heart jumped to his throat at the sight of the blood. "I put a spell on that ring so you would be safe if Malfoy decided to try to hurt you, not so you could save him."

"Let him go, right now," Remus commanded, moving closer, so he was only feet from Romulus. Romulus's eyes were crazed with anger and desperation. Remus had never seen him so out of control before. "Romulus, let go of him. Please."

"It's not done," Romulus shook his head and jerked Harry a step back with him. Harry whimpered and tried not to move, afraid to dig the knife deeper into his neck. "He has to die to bring Voldemort back. I'm trying to help you, Remus, I'm trying to save you."

"I don't need to be saved," Remus shook his head, desperately trying to convey to Romulus that he didn't have to do this. "Please, Romulus, I don't need you to do this. I have a family now, I'm fine, I'm happy, please..."

"You can't get married," Romulus shook his head wildly, eyes flashing with urgency. "You can't even adopt him. You just tried to die in his place, Remus! And they think you're unfit to take care of him? You deserve better, Voldemort can make things better for you, for people like you..."

"He can't," Remus argued, slowly moving closer and watching carefully for a chance to get the knife away from his brother. He just needed a short window, just a few seconds… "He's lying to you. They just used you to get to Harry."

"You're wrong!" Romulus yelled. Harry jumped, shocked by the sudden loud voice next to his ear, and tried to wiggle away from the blade. Remus flinched and watched the blood trickle from under the knife blade. He took another step towards his brother, holding his hands out imploringly, desperate to get Harry away from that knife, unharmed, as soon as possible. "Why can't you just let me protect you, Remus? All I ever fucking wanted was for you to be safe! I tired, and I tried, and I screwed it up every time! Just let me try once more!" Romulus growled and shifted his grip on Harry, trying to keep a good hold on the squirming boy. "Hold still, you little—"

Remus took the opportunity while Romulus was distracted to plow into his solar plexus, grabbing for the knife. He knocked them both to the ground, dislodging Romulus's grip on Harry, and managed to get a hold of the knife after scrabbling with Romulus's loosened grip for a few seconds. Remus hissed when the silver burned against his skin, but tightened his grip on the knife despite the pain. Harry rolled off Romulus and tried to crawl away, but Romulus grabbed his ankle and dragged him back. Harry yelped Remus's name as Romulus landed on top of him. Remus tried to use his grip on Romulus to pull him away from Harry, but Romulus threw him off easily, sending him sprawling a few feet away in the grass. Romulus leaned over Harry and wrapped his hands around Harry's throat, squeezing hard.

Remus rolled a few feet when Romulus shoved him away before managing to right himself. Romulus was putting more and more pressure on Harry's neck, ignoring Harry's hands clawing wildly at his strong fingers. Harry's face was rapidly growing more and more red.

White flashed through Remus's vision, blinding him for a moment.

When the white faded from his vision and the clearing came back into focus, he found himself kneeling over Romulus, straddling his waist, and gripping the hilt of the knife, which was now driven deep into Romulus's chest. Romulus stared up at him, shocked.

"Remus..." he muttered, looking down at the knife and then back up at his younger brother, the sharp pain jarring him out of his panicked trance. Remus seemed just as stunned as he was; he blinked in shock at the knife in his hand. "Remus, you..."

"I'm sorry," Remus gasped, letting go of the knife and covering his mouth with his shaking hands. "Oh, God, Romulus, I'm so sorry...I didn't mean to...I don't know..."

"Hey, hey, hey, Remus," Romulus used what little strength he had to reach up and cup Remus's cheek. Remus didn't flinch away from him, just stared down at him with those wide, innocent, golden eyes (just like Mom's…) filled with shock. "Don't, okay? Don't be..." Romulus gasped and winced, trying to ignore the pain in his chest. Blood seeped through his shirt, soaking it in red, staining Remus's hands and clothes as well. "Don't be sorry. I don't...it's okay. It's alright. This isn't your fault. Don't blame yourself. For any of it."

"How could you say this is alright?" Remus gasped, trying to stem the flow of blood from Romulus's chest with his hands, his voice high and panicked.

Romulus pushed his hands away and twined his fingers with Remus's, squeezing gently. He could feel the rough, blistered skin on Remus's right hand where the silver knife had seared his skin. "I'm sorry. I'm so fucking sorry, Remus."

"No," Remus shook his head, his honey hair falling into his eyes. He didn't bother to brush it away. "No, don't so this. You can't just get away with this, you can't just check out before I'm done with you." Tears slipped down Remus's cheeks, sticking in his hair and dripping off his jaw. He swallowed hard and yelled angrily, desperately, "You betrayed me again, you almost killed my family. We are not done here!" Remus paused and gripped the front of Romulus's shirt, his fingers tugging at the fabric and aggravating the knife, making it shift around slightly in Romulus's chest. It hurt like hell, but Romulus bit back his wince. Remus stared down at him, looking lost and furious and exhausted and horribly, painfully…broken. "I hate you!"

Romulus smiled up at Remus; a real, honest, albeit weak smile. His vision slipped in and out of blackness as his chest fell more and more shallowly with each breath. "I love you, too."

"I can't get through," Dumbledore admitted, slipping his wand back into his sleeve. "They're too strong."

"So what are we going to do?" Sirius demanded, frustrated. He felt his bond with Remus thrumming with terror and pain. "We have to get in there! It's already been too long, they're hurt!"

Driven by anger, Sirius slammed his fist into the wards. He stumbled forward when they seemed to slide around his fist instead of throwing him back out again. He took a few more careful steps towards the edge of the woods within the wards. When he made it to the edge of the forest, he still wasn't ejected back out of the perimeter of the wards.

"Sirius, take them down!" Moody commanded, torn between being thrilled the wards had broken to let Sirius back through and scared for what them breaking might mean.

Sirius raised his wand, touching it to the wards. The large bubble around the cottage and surrounding area lit up in a filmy mix of fluid greens, pinks, and blues when Sirius's wand came in contact with it. Sirius muttered the enchantment Remus had taught him and drew a long line in the swirling colors. It left a thin line in the wards and Sirius gripped the edge of it, peeling it back until it was big enough to let a person walk through.

"Impressive," Dumbledore commented, raising his eyebrows at the amoeba like balls of light sliding around the exterior of the dome. Remus was gifted, no doubt about that.

"Alright, everyone, let's move in," Moody demanded sharply, stepping inside the opening first. "We've got some Death Eaters to bring down who are long overdue for Azkaban."

Harry gasped, his chest rising and falling sporadically as he tried to draw air back into his oxygen-starved lungs. His body heaved as he coughed, the trick of breathing slowing coming back to him as he gulped in lungfulls of sweet air. He could distantly hear Remus and Romulus talking. Remus was yelling; Harry had never heard Remus yell at someone before. Harry just hoped that Romulus would leave him alone, that Remus could keep his brother under control. Harry rubbed at his throat where he knew livid, hand shaped bruises would form and focused on breathing in and out, choking when his abused throat seized up when he breathed too deeply.

"Harry! Remus!" Harry's ears perked up at the sound of a familiar voice in the distance. He couldn't…Sirius couldn't have gotten in…Harry shook his head. He must have been hearing things.

"Harry! Remus!"

Harry pushed himself up and looked around the clearing frantically when he heard his godfather's voice again, closer this time. "Sirius? Sirius!"

Harry's voice cracked and broke, drawing Remus's attention from his dead brother. Remus watched as Harry struggled to push himself up, holding his tender throat and coughing painfully, his thin body heaving with the effort of sucking air into his lungs. Remus untangled himself from Romulus and made his way over to Harry, plopping down in the grass next to the boy and scooping him into his arms. Harry gratefully latched into Remus's sweater and buried his face in the thick yarn, the tears streaming down his face soaking into the front of the sweater. Remus hugged Harry tightly to his chest and kissed the top of his messy hair, rubbing Harry's back with his good hand soothingly. "It's okay, Harry. We're okay, sweetheart. You're safe, I've got you…You're safe, babe…"

There you go! I hope you all enjoyed it. I was nervous about writing this because it's kind of the resolution, and I wanted to make sure it was as good as I could possibly make it after all the chapters of build up.

Please leave a review and let me know what you thought! Romulus's death..? Honestly, even I didn't see that coming. I really appreciate hearing from all of you. I'm going on a *shudder* college visit this weekend, so send me some reviews to brighten my day?

Thanks for reading!