Stolen: Greyback's Revenge
Chapter 5 - Redemption

Remus waited for the impending sensation of Greyback's teeth sinking into his skin, trying to brace himself for the pain that was to come. As Greyback drew closer, he pressed his hand even harder against Remus's throat, eventually cutting off his airway completely. Remus opened his mouth, trying desperately to suck in another breath, but nothing came.

In the end, he was glad, because Remus began to feel like he was in a dream. His vision grew darker by the minute, and nothing felt quite right or real. At least it would help to numb the pain a bit when Greyback finally decided to put him out of his misery. Perhaps Remus would even lose consciousness before Greyback got too far into his meal, and Remus wouldn't feel much of anything at all. He prayed for that.

His only regret was that Harry was still out there, all alone and depending on someone to find him. That made Remus's heart hurt, that he had set out to save Harry, and he had only succeeded in making things worse. In letting Harry down. In making things harder for Sirius. That thought should have been enough to spur Remus on to get out of this; after all, it had saved him once before, but he was just so weak. Even all the desire in the world to get out of this and put things right wasn't enough to counteract the damage Greyback was already inflicting on him by depriving him of air.

It seemed that Greyback had learned from his mistakes after allowing Remus to escape once before by using wandless magic. As it was, Remus could barely even remember the names of the spells, much less use his voice to speak it. Greyback had cut off every single last one of his options and now he was going to get exactly what he had wanted this entire time - to teach Remus a lesson. Remus's last thought was one of regret for getting Harry tied up in this at all. If Remus had known where things were going to end up, he would have willingly gone to Greyback himself before he decided to use Harry as bait. Anything to save Harry. Always anything for Harry.

A tear escaped from Remus's right eye, and he could feel it falling down his cheek, stopping when it reached Greyback's finger. The trail it left was cool and somehow more real and more there than anything else he was feeling at the moment. Remus thought it was the last tear he would ever shed, the last emotion he would ever feel, because he didn't see any way out of this. Not now. He simply waited for Greyback to do with him what he wanted.

But then somewhere, Remus heard something. A muffled bang that Remus couldn't quite place, one that he thought should be louder than it was. He currently felt like he was behind some sort of veil that was dulling his senses. He thought he opened his eyes, but everything was mostly black with a strange and muted swirl of colors. It was similar to what he saw when he closed his eyes, the way images took a while to fade behind closed eyelids, so he couldn't quite tell whether they were open or not.

There were voices, but they were completely unintelligible and unrecognizable to him. He had been without air for far too long. Nothing made sense to him anymore. He couldn't even tell if Greyback had started to eat him yet, because Remus couldn't feel much of anything anymore.

A moment later, the sensation of falling suddenly hit Remus, but it only last for a few short seconds. He was sure that that must be what dying felt like, but then it miraculously stopped. Remus landed hard on something, and then he realized that he could breathe again. He noisily sucked in mouthful after mouthful of air. His throat was killing him, like someone had shoved a bunch of broken glass through it, but he didn't care. All that mattered to him was glorious air.

The room around him was a mess of chaos as it reformed - more voices that he couldn't understand and perhaps the sound of a scuffle going on. Remus couldn't quite tell, but slowly things began to make sense to him again. The blackness had receded from his vision enough for him to begin making out distinct shapes again. He blinked several times, trying to help it along, and then he realized that Sirius was there. For a moment, Remus couldn't quite believe it; in fact, he almost started to think he must have died and gone to heaven.

"MOONY!"

Remus blinked and gulped in some more air, still trying to make sense out of everything. And then it finally occurred to him that he was seated on the floor of the shack with his back pressed up against the wall. Incredibly, just in front of him was Sirius, crouching down now and placing a hand on Remus's shoulder. It was something Remus had thought he would never see again.

"Are you okay?"

This time, Sirius's voice made complete sense to him. Everything made sense to him. Another tear leaked out of Remus's eye, but this time it was one of relief instead of hopelessness. Remus wasn't even sure where the hell Greyback currently was, nor did he even care. The demented werewolf was the furthest thought from Remus's mind. The only thing that kept rushing through his head was that he was alive. He was breathing. He hadn't left Harry or Sirius behind just yet.

Slowly, Remus's hand went up to his throat. For a moment, he was sure that he would feel find the area wet with blood soaking into the collar of his shirt. That Greyback had already taken a bite or two out of him. Other than his sore throat, Remus didn't feel any pain there indicating that his skin had been split open, but perhaps he was just too disoriented for it to register. But there was nothing there. He was a bit sweaty after his struggle with Greyback, but otherwise, his hand came away clean.

His throat still too sore to speak, Remus nodded. Having gotten enough air, Remus shut his mouth and swallowed several times, trying to work up enough saliva to moisten his throat. He closed his eyes again and rested his head against the wall behind him, trying to recover from what had been near-death.

"In that case," Sirius exclaimed, "what in the HELL is WRONG with you?!"

Remus blinked. When he had been fearing for his life only moments before, Remus hadn't exactly been expecting Sirius to yell at him.

Sirius straightened up. "You leave without a word to me - which gave me a heart attack by the way - to chase after a psychotic maniac on your own!" Sirius used his wand to gesture behind him to where Remus now realized Greyback was laying on the floor in a crumpled heap. He was stirring slightly, but before Remus could say anything, Sirius asked, "Are you NUTS?! You almost got yourself KILLED!"

Rather than answer any of Sirius's questions, Remus asked, "How'd you know where I was?" His voice came out a gravelly and rough sounding.

With his free hand, Sirius reached into his pocket and produced the note from Greyback. He held it out for Remus to see, who closed his eyes. Greyback had told him to come on his own, and Remus was caught somewhere between relief for his own life and fear that leaving the note behind could have had negative consequences for Harry. You must be alone if you wish to see him alive again, was what Greyback had written, after all. It hadn't even occurred to Remus that he had left the note behind. He had been so out of his mind with anger and terror at the time, he hadn't even registered half of what he was doing.

Remus, however, very well knew that would have been dead if Sirius hadn't come. That Greyback very well might be feasting on him at this very moment. And here he was, whole and in one piece, if only a little worse for wear. Remus's eyes went up to Sirius's, then back down to the floor. He felt his cheeks burn red in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry," was all Remus could think of to say. "I thought…I could do it on my own. Come put Greyback in his place and bring Harry back to you before you even woke." He met his best friend's eyes again. "I wanted to be there waiting with him when you woke up. Like your dream might have been coming true, because I know that's what was going through your mind as you slept. I keep imagining the look on your face…you would have been so happy."

Sirius pressed his lips together, his shoulders sagging in defeat. "Moony…" Sirius bent his knees and crouched down so that he was at Remus's eye level again. His hand found Remus's shoulder again, gripping it tightly, and he said, "You and Harry are the two most important things in this world to me. Yes, I want to see Harry again so badly I can taste it, but I need you, too. I would have died if something had happened to you, especially while I was sleeping. If I woke up and realized I'd never see you again…I don't know what I would have done. I need you. Like I need air to breathe. When I don't know what's going on with you, when I don't know whether you're safe or not, that's exactly how I feel - like I'm without oxygen, just like you were a minute ago." He gave Remus's shoulder a gentle nudge. "Whenever things like this happen, I want you to tell me. I want to know so I can keep an eye on you! I know you can take care of yourself, but I want to do whatever I can to help, if only in some small way. You're far too important to me to let you go off chasing after Death Eaters by yourself."

Remus smiled, the first one since this entire ordeal had begun…had it only been that morning? It already seemed so much longer than that. Like a lifetime, and he knew that was how Sirius felt - that without Harry, things seemed to drag on forever. Without any one of them, the other two would be caught up in some kind of cruel limbo. That was how things had been for Remus all those years Sirius had been in Azkaban, and he knew things hadn't been much better for Harry either. How foolish Remus had been to risk subjecting his best friend to the very thing that had nearly destroyed him.

But it made Remus feel slightly better to hear Sirius's words - that he was important. Remus knew he was, but sometimes he just needed to be told. Especially now, when he primarily held himself responsible for Harry's current predicament. "I know," Remus sighed.

Sirius tightened his hand on Remus's shoulder and then tugged it forward. He pulled Remus into his arms, hugging him perhaps more tightly than he ever had in his life.

"Don't you ever do that to me again," Sirius warned quietly. "I think I may just have to kill you if you do."

Remus let out a breathless laugh, pulling away. "No, you wouldn't," Remus said knowledgeably, "because you'd die without me."

"Yeah, well," Sirius agreed, "just stop running off anyway, okay? It's not good for my health. Between you and Harry, I'm liable to end up in the hospital."

The mention of Harry's name immediately seemed to remind them of why they were there. It cut into the room like a knife, spoiling any good feelings that had begun to resurface. Both of their expressions turned grim, and they fell into silence.

Finally, Sirius held out a hand, which Remus took. "Can you stand?" Sirius asked.

Remus nodded and said, "I think so." Sirius stood and pulled on Remus's hand gently, helping him to his feet. Remus went slowly at first, still feeling a bit tired from everything that had happened, but it wasn't unlike waking up after a transformation, something he was all too familiar with. He held onto the wall for a minute, getting his bearings. Then Remus ran a hand through his hair and glanced around for his wand, spotting it laying on the floor about ten feet away. He grabbed it up, Sirius watching him like a hawk the entire time.

"I'm all right," Remus said reassuringly.

Sirius stared at him for a few more seconds before returning his attention to Greyback. The hulking werewolf was still in a lump on the floor, although he had managed to turn over onto his back. He had a hand pressed to his forehead, and his eyes were swiveling around in their sockets like he was disoriented. Remus noticed he had a streak of blood dripping down the left side of his head.

"What did you do to him?" Remus asked. Other than the damage Remus had done to him the last time he left the pack, he had never seen Greyback in such a state.

"Nothing!" Sirius cried, holding up his hands. "I cast a Reducto spell as a distraction when I came in." He gestured up towards the ceiling with his wand, indicating the missing chunks of wood that must have fallen prey to the spell. "I must have overdone it a bit."

Remus realized that there were indeed broken and splintered pieces of wood on the floor around Greyback. A rather large portion must have hit him in just the right place to hinder him for a while.

"I HATE that spell!" Greyback roared, stomping the heel of one his boots into the floor in frustration.

"You hate every spell, don't you?" Sirius asked.

"That spell in particular is a sore spot for him right now, I think," Remus explained. "It was the one I used the last time Harry and I got away from him."

Sirius approached Greyback, looming over him and aiming his wand downwards. "Speaking of Harry," Sirius asked, "where is he?"

Greyback lowered his hand so he could see Sirius better, a smirk growing on his face. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Oh," Sirius growled, sounding a bit too much like Greyback for comfort, "you are hardly in a position to be smart." Sirius lifted one of his feet off the ground and swung it, the toe of his shoe connecting with the left side of Greyback's stomach.

Greyback's eyes squeezed shut and his mouth opened in a silent scream. Remus knew he most likely had a high tolerance for pain and wasn't one to start screaming every time he was injured. It was a survival instinct that Greyback had probably developed over the years; showing any kind of weakness to other animals only endangered oneself further. Greyback's hands flew to his abdomen, pressing them against his stomach. He turned over a bit onto his right side, trying to get away from Sirius if he chose to attack again.

"Padfoot!" Remus cried, grabbing onto Sirius's arm to try and stop him. Yes, this had all been Greyback's doing and he needed to be held responsible for it, but they already had him in a vulnerable position. There was no need to torture the poor bastard. They weren't like him, after all.

Sirius shook off Remus's hand, continuing to keep his wand aimed at Greyback. "You'd best answer me," Sirius demanded, "before I do something to you that can't be fixed."

"Go to hell," Greyback muttered, not even bothering to look at him. "You think I'd tell you after that? Really? Besides, I never even said he was here. He could be long gone. I might have handed him over to the Dark Lord for all you know."

Sirius looked livid. He lifted his foot off the floor again and drew it back, attempting to kick Greyback once more, this time in the back. Remus, however, grabbed onto Sirius's arm and yanked it back, causing Sirius to drop his foot and stumble a bit.

"Sirius," Remus said firmly, "don't let him rile you up. The last think he would do is something to help Voldemort." He took pleasure in saying the name and watching Greyback flinch away from it. "He only does things when there's something in it for him. I don't need him to tell me anyway. I know Harry is here." Sirius looked at Remus like he was absolutely insane.

Now that Sirius was out of striking range, Greyback rolled over onto his back again. "You don't know half as much as you think you do," Greyback laughed snidely.

Remus crossed his arms over his chest, smirking. "I know a lot more than you give me credit for. I wouldn't expect you to understand it. You see, Harry's in my pack." Greyback opened his mouth to interject, but Remus kept on talking. "Not a pack like yours. Not even close. Those are your…minions. The kind of pack I'm speaking of is born out of love. When you feel such a close connection with someone, they become like your family and you can feel the things that they feel." Greyback appeared to be on the verge of hysterical laughter, which Remus had fully expected, but it didn't deter him. He knew full well that he spoke the truth; ever since he'd entered the shack, Remus had been feeling more and more that Harry was very close. It was almost like there was a compass inside him now, pointing him in the right direction. "It's something you'd never be able to experience and yes, I pity you for that."

"I don't need your pity!" Greyback snarled, trying his best to get up into a sitting position. He struggled for a moment, and Sirius raised his wand towards him again, ready to open fire. Once he was upright, Greyback stopped, glaring at the both of them. "I don't regret the path I've chosen one bit!"

"Go find Harry," Remus told Sirius, placing a hand on his arm once more. "I'll take care of this."

"Oh, no," Sirius replied in a tone that suggested the idea was absolutely absurd. "I am not leaving you alone with this lunatic. Not again."

"I wouldn't either," Greyback agreed. "Can't leave him alone for a minute."

"I have this, Sirius," Remus insisted, his voice leaving no room for argument. He narrowed his eyes and tightened his fingers around his wand, keeping it trained on Greyback. "Go. I know you want nothing more than to see him."

Sirius lowered his own wand and turned toward Remus, tilting his head. "Moony…"

"I'll be fine," Remus interrupted. "You need to make sure Harry's okay. The sooner we can get him help if he needs it. I'm sure he's dying to see you anyway. He hasn't seen a friendly face in nearly twenty-four hours."

There was something in Remus's voice that scared Sirius. It sounded almost dead in a way, but Sirius couldn't exactly argue with the fact that they did need to make sure Harry wasn't in any immediate danger. Perhaps Remus would be okay, just for a moment. Sirius was still reluctant to go, but he couldn't help the almost overpowering sensation that seemed to be pulling him towards the stairs. Was his godson really in the same building, just a short distance away? It made a lump rise up in Sirius's throat, but it was almost a welcome feeling. He wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around his godson in that very moment, to make sure he was safe, and if Remus was right, he could be doing so in a matter of seconds.

Sirius took a few hesitant steps towards the staircase, watching Remus closely as he went. "He does anything to you, give me a shout. I'll be down in a second to put him out of his misery once and for all."

"You don't have it in you," Greyback taunted. "You're all too soft. Makes me sick."

Ignoring Greyback, Remus glanced at Sirius one last time and smiled the tiniest bit. "Trust me."

Sirius took that as confirmation that Remus would be okay. Sirius nodded, turned on his heel, and took the steps two at a time, leaving Remus alone with Greyback once more.

Remus stalked towards Greyback, keeping his wand out in front of him. At the same time, he was careful to keep a safe distance between them in case Greyback decided to attack him again. "You may not think so," Remus barked, "but I do have it in me. I am sick and tired of you interfering in my life, of you trying to exact your revenge on me by hurting my family. I'm not going to be able to rest until you are gone from this earth. I know that now."

Greyback looked amused. "You're not going to kill me. I told you you're too soft. These humans have coddled you too much. You have no idea what it takes to actually kill someone." Greyback climbed to his feet, and Remus had almost forgotten how much grace he could move with. The giant werewolf had almost looked like a beached whale, flailing around on the floor, but sometimes he moved with the agility of the animal he was. "You can't have any fear, any reservations that you're doing the wrong thing. You just have to act, not think, and I know you don't have that in you. You worry way too much about everyone else and not enough about yourself to be able to do it."

Remus knew better than to let Greyback get too close to him this time. Before Greyback could take another step forward, Remus flicked his wand and said, "Incarcerous."

Ropes shot forth from the end of Remus's wand, curling around Greyback's massive figure. He tried to throw his arms out, attempting to escape the ropes, but they quickly wound themselves around him regardless. His arms were bound to his sides and his legs to tied together. The inertia of his gait caused him to suddenly lean forward, and he toppled over, landing facedown on the floor with a loud thud.

Remus placed the toe of one of his shoes against Greyback's shoulder and used it to force Greyback to roll over. Once he was on his back, Remus saw that Greyback was shaking with uncontrollable laughter. He had tears streaming from his eyes, and he barely managed to say, "I told you you couldn't do it. You don't have it in you to be a cold-blooded killer. Not like me, and I pity you for that." He continued to laugh, a cruel and ugly sound.

His chest heaving with anger, Remus squeezed the handle of his wand so tightly, his knuckles began to turn white. His other hand formed into a fist, his fingernails digging painfully into his palm, but he barely noticed. Everything he had been through in the last few months collected in his mind, fueling the fire that had erupted inside him. His hands began to shake with the absolute fury that was coursing through his veins. For a very precarious moment, Remus almost thought he could feel the words forming on his tongue, could even imagine the green light sprouting from his wand. He really thought he could do it, that he would become a murderer. The things he was feeling were surely more than sufficient for the spell to work. Just two little words, and Fenrir Greyback would never be able to hurt anyone ever again.

When Remus opened his mouth, "Petrificus Totalus," was what he said instead. Greyback froze in mid laugh, his mouth stuck in a repulsive grin, the tears on his cheeks transforming into little drops of ice. "No," Remus said around a heavy breath, like he was commanding himself not to do anything rash. "You're right. I'm not like you. I never will be."

Barely sparing him another look, Remus turned and followed Sirius's previous trail up the stairs. There was someone else much more important who required his attention.

When Sirius got to the door of the master bedroom, he paused, silently praying that Harry would be there. He had already checked the other two bedrooms, and they had proved to be empty, his heart sinking lower in his chest with every door he opened. This was the last one, and if he didn't find Harry, Sirius thought he might just lose it. Remus had been so positive Harry was there, and Sirius wasn't sure what they would do if he was wrong. It had already occurred to Sirius that Remus might have done something irreversible to Greyback, and in that case, they might never find Harry. He could be anywhere, and they'd have no way of knowing.

But Sirius supposed he should find out for sure before he sent his mind off in a million different directions. He closed his eyes and turned the doorknob, his heart suddenly leaping up to lodge in his throat. He didn't know if he could handle finding another empty room. He just didn't. He slowly pushed the door open, his eyes still closed, not wanting to know for sure. As long as he didn't look, he could still hope that Harry was just there on the other side. Sirius squeezed the doorknob so tightly it became slightly painful, the metal pressing uncomfortably into his palm.

And then his unasked question was answered. He heard it - a very quiet and muffled cry, but he knew beyond a doubt who it belonged to.

Sirius sucked in a breath and opened his eyes, his heart about to pound out of his chest. Harry was there, tied spread-eagled to the bed, each of his limbs bound to a bedpost. There was a thin scrap of white cloth tied around his neck and passing in between his lips, serving as a gag to keep him from screaming too loudly. He appeared to be a bit bruised and bloody, but he was still very much alive. Harry had lifted his head from the mattress, his eyes wide and afraid behind his glasses, doing his best to form words around the piece of fabric in his mouth.

A wave of emotions swept over Sirius, his bottom lip beginning to quiver with the weight of it all. "Harry." His voice barely came out above a whisper. Sirius almost felt like simply breaking down then and there, like collapsing to the floor and letting out every single emotion he had been feeling during the course of the day, but his godson obviously needed his attention. Sirius quickly crossed the floor to him on shaky legs, reaching out a hand to pull the gag from Harry's mouth.

Harry shook his head away from it and opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, trying to replace the saliva that the cloth had been robbing from him. Finally, he whispered, "Sirius," his voice very tired, weak, and dry. "How'd you find me?"

"It's a long story-" Sirius said, but then he paused. He trusted Remus implicitly, and if Remus said Harry was here, then Sirius believed him, but he knew he had to check. Remus would probably kill him if he didn't. Sirius took a small step backward, raising his wand. "What was the first meal the three of us ate together after Moony came back from living with the werewolves?"

For the briefest moment, Harry blinked in confusion, causing Sirius's heart to begin its downward descent towards his stomach again. Sirius really wished it would stop doing that. He kept joking about it, but he really thought he might have a heart attack one of these days. Then suddenly, the bewilderment in Harry's eyes faded and was immediately replaced with certainty. "Roast beef sandwiches," Harry replied firmly, a small smile forming on his lips. "With cheese. And chips. And cheese on those, too. And you picked a hell of a question, because I barely remember what I ate last week."

Sirius let his wand drop to his side, overcome with an intense wave of emotions again. It was everything he could do to remain standing, his legs were wobbling so violently with excitement. "It was the first thing that came to my mind, and you know I had to check," he said around a breathless laugh. Heavily, he sat down on the edge of the mattress, reaching up untie each of Harry's hands. As soon as he was freed, Harry thrust himself up and against Sirius's chest. He wrapped his arms around his godfather's middle, squeezing him so tightly, it almost cut off Sirius's ability to breathe. Sirius, however, didn't care. He hugged Harry just as tightly to him, pressing his nose against Harry's hair which was damp with sweat. Harry shook against him, sobs beginning to escape from his throat.

"It's okay," Sirius soothed, pressing a calming hand to Harry's head. "I'm here now."

Harry pulled away slightly, looking up at his godfather with tear-filled eyes. "I thought I'd never see you again. I wandered off when I wasn't supposed to. Greyback was on the grounds waiting for me, all because he wanted revenge against Remus, and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gone off like that, I shouldn't have been-"

"Shhh," Sirius cut him off gently, "it doesn't matter." He pulled Harry against him again, hugging him even more tightly than he had before. "Oh, you're not off the hook, but we'll talk about that later. What's important is that you're safe now." Sirius had begun rocking his godson in an effort to calm him, but then he stopped. He held Harry out at arms' length, looking him over. "You are safe, aren't you? He didn't hurt you in anyway that needs attention, did he?"

Harry shook his head. "Just this," he said, his hand going up to his chest, where the front his sweatshirt was torn to shreds and bloody. Then his hand went to the left side of his head. There was a bruise forming around the outer edge of his left eye, and there was dried blood plastered on his skin and in his hair. "And I got this when he attacked me. I fell and hit it on a rock or something. But I'm okay."

"You're sure?" Sirius asked sharply, his hand going up to inspect the damage to Harry's head. Harry flinched away from the touch in pain, but he nodded. "We should probably have that looked at," Sirius said, "but at least you're awake and coherent. I think I would have had a heart attack if I found you in here unconscious."

"I did pass out for a while after I hit my head," Harry explained, squinting his eyes in thought. "I don't even really remember much about it, and the next thing I knew, I woke up here. Actually…I'm surprised I woke up at all, because I thought for sure he was going to eat me."

Sirius's face paled. "Don't put thoughts like that in my head. Not now. I'm still recovering from this entire ordeal for Merlin's sake."

Harry snickered. "Sorry." Then he frowned. "How long was I gone?"

"We found out his morning, so you must have wandered off last night."

Harry looked confused. "Only a day?" When Sirius nodded, Harry said, "I didn't know how long I had been unconscious, so I lost track of time. It seemed a lot longer than that." He snorted. "I guess being tied to a bed by a Death Eater will have that effect on you."

"It felt like a lifetime to me, too, believe me. I'm lost without you," Sirius said, glancing up and down Harry's body one more time. "You're sure you're okay?"

Harry gave one simple but firm nod. "Positive." A cry suddenly escaped him, his eyes filling with tears anew. "I am now that you're here." He pressed his face into his godfather's robes, feeling very much like a small and frightened child, but not caring.

Sirius pressed a kiss to the top of his head, but then Harry pulled away and asked, "What about Remus? Is he…?"

"He's here," Sirius began. He had fully intended on elaborating further, but he forced himself to stop. He really didn't want to voice what he thought might have been going on downstairs at that moment. But then a voice came from the doorway, interrupting his thoughts.

"Indeed I am," Remus said, causing both Sirius and Harry to glance up. Remus hurried over to the bed, stopping just at the foot of it. "Did you…?" he began to ask Sirius. He didn't finish, but he didn't need to; Sirius always knew what he was thinking.

"It's him," Sirius reassured, "I checked."

Remus let out a deep and cleansing breath, one he wasn't aware he'd been holding. In that moment, all the weight that had built up on his shoulders over nearly the last twenty-four hours seemed to dissipate. He no longer felt like he was supporting a ton, like he had to stay strong for Sirius, and he felt his body almost sag at the relief that flooded through him. Harry was here, and he was safe. For now, things were okay again. His family was okay.

Dropping down on the other side of the mattress, Remus pulled Harry into a firm embrace, squeezing him against his chest. Harry buried his nose into the front of Remus's robes, always feeling comforted by their softness. Sirius reached up a hand to Harry's head, pushing some of his hair out of his face, and for the first time in a long time, Harry felt completely safe again.

"Are you okay?" This time, it was Remus's turn to ask.

Harry nodded against Remus's chest, and when he spoke again, his voice was muffled against the fabric. "Yeah. Just a few bruises, but I'm okay. Sirius already gave me the third degree, too, don't worry."

"Oh, you're not done yet, young man," Sirius warned, but then he turned his attention toward Remus. "What about Greyback? You didn't…?" He didn't need to finish the question; they had both been well aware of what Remus had intended to do.

Remus almost laughed. The idea seemed so ludicrous now. Just a few moments ago, he seriously thought he had been on the brink of killing Greyback, but now, he couldn't imagine ever actually bringing about the end of someone's life. Even someone as awful as Greyback. He just couldn't. It wasn't his place to decide. What had come over him that he ever thought he could? That wasn't him, but he could only assume that the feeling was born out of absolute fear for a member of his family. "I didn't kill him. As someone told me not very long ago, he isn't worth becoming a murderer over. I didn't even hurt him. He's just downstairs, tied up and in a full body bind."

At Remus's reassurances, Sirius had relaxed a bit and then set about untying Harry's ankles from the foot of the bed. "No," Sirius agreed, pulling the ties loose, "he isn't worth it. He isn't worth much of anything." When he had finished, he turned back to the two most important people on the face of the earth to him. "So let's stop talking about the bastard, because he's irrelevant."

Without warning, Sirius reached out and wrapped his arms around Remus's shoulders, drawing both him and Harry closer. Harry was, in effect, crushed in between the weight of both Remus and Sirius, the three of them hugging clumsily. Harry didn't care. He just buried his face deeper into Remus's robes, reveling in the feeling of being sandwiched in between his two godparents. Harry suddenly thought of the cream filling in a cookie, and that thought made him smile; he wouldn't have rather been any other place in the world.

To be continued…