AN: Sorry this chapter is so short, but I felt it was time I updated this. Enjoy!
Sirius was just beginning to cool down. The Minister had sent a letter to Sirius late the night before asking if he could enlist Remus's help on catching Greyback – who was one of the most dangerous Death Eaters remaining uncaught, if you could call him a Death Eater . He was more of a mercenary who happened to have worked for Voldemort, and there was a slight difference. The Minister's reasoning in requesting Remus had been that you need to think like him to catch him, and so far none of his men had been able to do it, so he decided to go after the nicest werewolf he knew for help.
Sirius's response had been as follows: "For one thing, I am not in charge of Remus. Yeah, I'm his alpha. That doesn't mean I get control over what he does. So next time you want his help, ask him yourself. And Remus does not think like Greyback just because they have the same problem. Greyback goes around looking for people to attack, while Remus does everything in his power to avoid getting anywhere near people on the night of the full moon. Greyback looks after no one but himself while Remus looks after everyone else before himself. They are nothing alike, and if that is your reasoning for enlisting Remus's help, you can just shove your request up your own behind. And if you haven't caught him in this many years, it's your own damn fault. I reiterate: talk to Remus if you have to ask him for something, Remus and Greyback are nothing alike, and you're the one who's let him roam free for this long."
Sirius had stormed out after that, not allowing the current Minister – who was just as bad as the last – say anything else. Now he was at a coffee shop trying to calm down so he wouldn't come home angry. He had decided that after he finished the last half of his coffee, he would go back home, but his plans were changed when he felt a tug at something deep inside that immediately made his thoughts focus on his mate.
Remus was reaching out to him. He needed Sirius. He wasn't hurt, at least not physically, but he was scared and anxious and alone. Sirius abandoned his coffee, went to the first empty alley he could run to, and apparated home. There he found Remus sitting on the sofa with a stunned look on his face, a note clinched in his hand, and Severus pacing up and down frantically. Sirius immediately recognized the scent in the air. He felt a chill on his skin. Somehow, he had a hunch this led back to Harry. He didn't know what he would do if something was wrong with his pup. First he had to get this situation under control, then he could move on to whatever caused it – he could still hope Harry was safe somewhere, even if he was only deluding himself.
First he would tend to his omega, because that was an instinct he simply couldn't fight. "Remus," he said, sitting gingerly beside the other man. "Come here." When Remus leaned toward him, he wrapped both arms around his shoulders and held him close, knowing that being wrapped up in his alpha's arms always calmed Remus. Sirius was like a protective barrier between Remus and whatever dangers threatened him. Sirius kissed his hair as he felt Remus relax a little. When Sirius kissed Remus's hair, it always reminded Remus somehow of how much Sirius loved him. "It'll be alright," Sirius assured him. The soft words caused Remus to visibly relax and he slumped, completely relying on Sirius now to keep him from falling to the floor. Now that Remus had settled enough, he moved his attention to Severus.
"I don't know what the situation is, and I don't expect you to suddenly become alright with it," he began, "but you need to calm down."
Severus turned hard eyes onto Sirius. "I can't," he uttered tersely. "Would you be able to calm down if your mate and pup had been taken by someone who you knew was an abusive rapist?"
"Maybe not, but at least get yourself under control. Whether you realize it or not, your scent at the moment is making both Remus and myself uncomfortable and you're scaring Remus, which I won't stand for, and you're making me beyond uneasy right now." The uneasiness was giving Sirius a fierce desire to protect Remus, and it was becoming a challenge not to fully yell at the other alpha.
Severus seemed to realize what his body was doing and he immediately took a few calming breaths. It would do no good to upset either of the men in the room, and in his current state he couldn't even think clearly enough to figure out a way to help his own mate. "Do you happen to have a calming draught I might take?" he asked quietly.
"In the kitchen cabinet, directly to the right of the window," Sirius answered.
Severus left without another word and Sirius's attentions immediately returned to Remus. "Are you alright, love?" he asked.
"No," Remus said. "Harry – he's been taken. We have to get him safe again. And it's not just Harry. Ivy's gone, too. What if they get hurt and we can't do anything about it? What if we can't find them? Siri, what do we do?"
Sirius felt his jaw tighten at learning fully what had happened. As if he didn't already have enough protective urges flowing through him. "We will get them safe again, at least we will if I have anything to say about it. Besides, Harry is a resourceful man. He's not completely defenseless. We're not going to let him go so easily. We won't lose him without a fight, and if experience says anything, we're all quite good at putting up a descent opposition." Remus nodded and stayed in his alpha's arms, where he felt safe at the moment. Except… he couldn't stop himself from thinking that Harry probably didn't feel safe.
When Severus came back into the room, he was no longer giving off the horrible scent. "Have you read the note?" he asked Sirius.
"No," Sirius answered as Remus held the now-wrinkled note out to him. Sirius felt his anger begin to rise at what he read. As if Nathaniel hadn't already been the person he hated most – at least, out of the people still alive – he was now the person he most strongly detested with every single solitary fiber of his very being. "Nathaniel will not get away with this. There is no chance. We will find Harry, and we will make that man pay."
"But how? How do we even begin?" Severus asked.
"For starters, I know you do not want to hear it, but you need to go to work," Sirius said. Knowing the other man was about to protest, he pressed on. "I know that is the last thing you want to hear, but he might be watching you. If he is, he needs to be given the impression that you aren't going to try to look for Harry. There is a slight chance he's all talk and he won't watch you, but it's better to err on the side of Harry's safety.
"Meanwhile, I'm going to take this to the only psychologist I know anything about – Ethan Robins. I'm going to have him look at this as see if he can determine where this man's head is and where he might have taken Harry. Remus, I'd like you to come with me, if you feel up to it. Then I think the two of us should see if we can get Nathaniel's address from Ron since he works at the Ministry but won't give us away. Then I think we should go to his place just to see if there are any signs of where he might have taken Harry, or if he was stupid enough to take him to where he lives. You don't have to go with me if you don't feel up to it – I would just feel a little better with a little backup."
"I can do it," Remus said.
"You will keep me in the loop?" Severus asked.
"Yes, if we find out anything of importance, we will immediately let you know. If not, we'll just update you once you close the shop."
"Alright. Well, I suppose I will be going now," Severus said before he took the Floo to his apothecary.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Sirius checked once more after Severus had left.
"Overprotective alpha," Remus muttered fondly. "I think that's the hundredth time you've checked on my well-being in about as many seconds."
"The question still stands," Sirius pressed.
"Not really," Remus admitted, "but I don't think I will be until we get our cub back.".
"Okay. Let's get over to St. Mungo's then and see if we can get in to see Ethan." Remus nodded in agreement.
AN: That's all for now. Reviews/favorites/follows inspire me.
I always forget to do this, so I'm amending for my oversight in chapter one: I am not JK Rowling. I do not own Harry Potter. Anything recognizable does not belong to me. I am not making money by writing this. There, disclaimer complete.
P.S. I think it might be appropriate to go ahead and mention this: part of my reason for writing this particular story is to inevitably give Nathaniel what he truly deserves. So to those of you who are still waiting for the real retribution, it is coming.