Predominantly set during Harry Potter the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter does not belong to me.

—

When Sirius had landed on his doorstep a year ago with the news that Voldemort had returned and that Harry had, once again, thwarted his efforts, Remus' chest tightened. He had lost so much in the first war. They all had.

They were tasked with regrouping the Order of the Phoenix - or at least, what was left of it, he'd thought bitterly. The members, both old and new, all met the summons in the same way; bone-chilling fear featuring second only to steely determination. Yes, they had lost a great deal, but there was more yet to fight for. They were more prepared this time. They were no longer children, only recently cast out from the safety of Hogwarts.

They were better able to communicate this time around, he and Sirius. While each had suspected the other of switching sides in 1981, Sirius' imprisonment and recently-revealed innocence, as well as Peter's betrayal, had peculiarly strengthened their trust in one another. It was almost as though they had both passed an important test.

That's not to say things were easy. Trauma hung heavy over both of them, and old wounds had been reopened. They had both changed immeasurably, in ways that they were still figuring out. But they tried. And they talked.

In a way, Remus had already been through what his friend was experiencing now. 12 years of isolation before the gut-wrenching experience of reuniting with the child, now teenager, who should have been for all intents and purposes their nephew. He should have grown up with the love of his parents, the support of his surrogate uncle and the guidance and bad influence of his Godfather. They had lost a great deal but Harry had lost even more. So they healed and they planned and they prepared, adamant that history would not repeat itself.

—

"Try not to let Snivelly get to you," Remus said gently, placing a hand on Sirius' shoulder as they watched the last of the Order members leave Grimmauld Place. Severus had once again taken the opportunity of the recent Order meeting to gloat over Sirius' house arrest. This time, he maintained that Sirius was settling in well to his role of 'glorified House Elf' as he tried to make the new Headquarters somewhat liveable. It was getting tiresome.

"He knows his cleaning spells can't match yours, Padfoot. Look at his hair for God's sake."

Sirius gave a genuine laugh at that. Remus had always refrained from using the nickname James and Sirius had bestowed upon Snape in school. To hear him use it now washed away any bad feeling lingering after Severus' words.

"Maybe I should let dear old mum have a go at him next time," Sirius grinned, his eyes twinkling. "She was always big on appearances, not to mention the fact he's a half-blood. Do you think I could convince Tonks to strategically stand beside Snivelly next time she trips over the umbrella stand?"

Both men returned to the kitchen, Remus stoking up the fire and Sirius clearing away the debris of the recent meeting. Since Harry and the younger Weasleys had returned to Hogwarts, and Molly and Arthur to the Burrow, Remus had taken to spending his time in Grimmauld Place when he wasn't working for the Order. He had just days ago returned from a very painful Full Moon spent with a rather hostile Werewolf Pack in Scotland. They weren't open to hearing of Dumbledore's offers of security, but they were very much open to torturing his "Spy". He had made it out the day after thanks to his quick thinking and even quicker wandwork, but he was still a little worse for wear.

Once the table had been cleared, Sirius took down the small healing kit he kept in the kitchen and gestured for Remus to sit down again. It had become somewhat of a ritual since Sirius had come downstairs 4 nights ago to see a very battered and bloody Remus attempting to make his way through the front door while half-delirious with pain.

"These are healing up well," Sirius remarked as he checked the bandages that littered Remus' arms and torso.

"They're beginning to scar over already so we should be able to remove the bandages tomorrow. You were lucky, Moony," he said, concern clearly etched on his face. "Thank God you can handle yourself in a fight."

Remus chuckled at that. Of the four Marauders, Remus was the pacifist. He never raised his wand to another person and never involved himself in any mischief that was targeted at specific students. It came as a huge surprise then, when they all joined the duelling club set up in their 4th year, that Remus wiped the floor with the rest of them. Not even the 7th years stood a chance against him. Rumour was that some of the teachers had taken to placing bets, though it wasn't long before that stopped - no-one was stupid enough to bet against Remus. Somehow Mad-Eye Moody, then Head of the Auror Office, had heard of his skills with a wand and had begged Dumbledore to let him recruit Remus early. If it wasn't for that pesky anti-werewolf legislation, Remus could be Head Auror himself by now. But such is life.

"Will you teach me to fight?"

Remus glanced up at Sirius, who had paused in his care of Remus' wounds to ask the question.

"What? You know how to fight, Padfoot. Besides, I'm trying to keep you away from the war, not launch you into it," Remus replied.

Sirius slowly packed away the healing supplies, carefully crafting his response. And wasn't this new; Sirius Black, thinking before talking.

"Remus, I'm trying my best to be good and to stay out of harm's way, but we know how this goes. Sooner or later something will happen, and I will need to fight.

"Beyond turning into Padfoot, and basic household cleaning spells, I am completely out of practice," Sirius said, adding with a wry smile, "and as much as I'd love to Scourgify Voldemort, I just don't think that will cut it, Moony!"

Remus couldn't fault the logic and so the following evening found them clearing out a room to use as a duelling space.

—

They practiced most evenings - when Remus' missions and 'Furry Little Problem' allowed. Sometimes Tonks joined them after work at Sirius' invitation, much to Remus' discomfort. It wasn't that he didn't like the Auror. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Sirius had to get his entertainment where he could these days and watching Remus staunchly refuse to duel Tonks (he claimed that he was no match for her skills) was a true joy for Sirius.

"I'll just watch your form, Padfoot," Remus told him.

"Are you sure it's my form you're watching?" Sirius retorted, laughing even as a sharp stinging hex forced him to drop his wand. He picked it up and stood to face Tonks, still chuckling to himself.

"Oh come on, Remus," Tonks whined a few minutes later, deflecting Sirius' hexes with relative ease. "He's hardly any competition-"

"Hey, I-"

"And he could do with a proper demonstration of a duel! If my mum is to be believed, Walburga would be horrified to see the heir to the Nobel and Most Ancient House of Black leaving himself defenceless," Tonks said, flicking her wand toward her cousin, who suddenly became immobile.

Remus stepped in to catch his friend before he hit the floor and, muttering a quick Finite Incantatem, pulled him back to his feet.

"To be fair, Walburga would be horrified if she knew her heir was being trained in duelling by her blood traitor niece and a werewolf, so a little matter of me leaving myself open to attack or even certain death would probably bother mother dearest very little," Sirius quipped, brushing himself down. "Come on Remus; don't be such a spoil sport. Let me give my weary bones a break while you and Tonks give me a demonstration of a proper duel!"

Remus was almost certain that Sirius was pulling his punches on purpose this evening. They had been practicing regularly for several months now and most duels these days ended in a stalemate.

The truth was that Remus wasn't ashamed of his duelling abilities - it was nice to have a natural talent for something. It's just that when he duelled… he was dangerous. It had nothing to do with the werewolf. Sure, people were plenty afraid of him because of that, but Remus had resigned himself to it. For someone to fear his human form…

Remus had spent his whole life shrinking himself to appear insignificant and harmless. When he let himself enjoy his new-found skills in 4th year it backfired spectacularly. The 1st and 2nd years he had been tutoring suddenly cancelled their study sessions. As a Prefect in his 5th year, the Common Room fell to a hush whenever he walked in. So he resigned from the duelling club and after a few months and some well-timed tricks from the Marauders to act as a distraction, normality resumed.

Something must have shown on his face, because when he looked over to Sirius, he was met with an expression of confusion and worry.

"Okay," he nodded. "But only for 5 minutes. Sirius, if you could do the honours?"

"Fantastic," Tonks grinned, changing her stance as she faced Remus. "Don't hold back on me now! Sirius told me you were top of the school when you were 14, so I'll know if you're letting me win!"

Remus bowed his head to Tonks, and they began.

Less than three minutes later, Remus pointed his wand to the floor. Tonks had been disarmed and both she and Sirius were staring at Remus wide-eyed.

"Bloody hell, Remus," Tonks breathed, "I'm glad you're on our side!"

"That's probably enough practice for this evening," Remus said quickly, his eyes not quite meeting their faces. "I'm on duty tonight so I'd better get a move on."

He moved to the door.

"I'll see you tomorrow Padfoot," he nodded to Sirius, wordlessly summoning a patched-up jacket from the hallway. "Have a good evening Tonks," he added, before striding out the door.

"Well I wasn't expecting that!" Tonks exclaimed as the front door closed.

—

The Grimmauld Duelling Club, as Sirius had dubbed it, continued without Tonks for a time as Remus was suddenly - and rather suspiciously - only available when Tonks was away on Order business.

"She asks about you, you know." Sirius said as they sat in the kitchen one evening.

"Who does?" Remus didn't even look up from the newspaper to answer.

"My sainted mother, Remus. She wanted to know how you liked our family silverware," Sirius rolled his eyes. "Tonks, you Flobberworm."

"Oh."

"She asked me yesterday if you were interested in anyone when we were at school."

"What did you tell her?" Remus asked, feigning indifference - poorly.

"I told her you spent a lot of time with Poppy Pomfrey," Sirius stopped abruptly as his head felt the sharp 'thwack' of a rolled up newspaper.

"And they say you're the pacifist. That's abuse that is!"

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Remus stood up.

"I've asked you to drop it Padfoot. Don't be encouraging poor Tonks."

"That's just it Remus," Sirius replied, exasperated. "She doesn't need any encouragement. You asked me to drop it and I did, but Tonks can't. She really likes you, mate. And speaking as both a cousin and a friend, I approve on both sides."

"You shouldn't; I'm far too old and not to mention, too dangerous," Remus began, but Sirius cut in.

"You're 35 Remus, not 85. Besides, I thought we'd rid you of this 'woe is me; I'm a werewolf' rubbish years ago."

"I'm glad my life is 'rubbish' to you, Padfoot," Remus stared coolly at his friend, before turning to leave.

"You know what I mean, Moony," Sirius stood and grabbed Remus' arm, forcing him to turn back around. He took a deep breath and softened his tone before continuing, recognising Remus' 'Fight or Flight' instincts kicking in.

"Tonks knows you're a werewolf. She knows you could kill us all in our sleep in either form - though she does wonder how you managed to exercise enough self-restraint to not kill me in the 7 years we shared a dorm."

Remus couldn't help a small smile at that and Sirius, encouraged, continued.

"She knows you can't keep a long-term job, and that your time of the month can take you out of action for days at a time. She knows that society will judge her for choosing you, but she doesn't hold much stock in bigoted opinions anyway.

"She knows that you're loyal to a fault and that you would rather hurt yourself than even think of hurting anyone else," and hadn't Sirius himself seen this firsthand when Remus struggled through his transformations locked up and alone, only to turn his anger and frustration on himself.

"She knows that you're ridiculously intelligent and hard-working and if it wasn't for the whole werewolf thing," Sirius waved his hand vaguely, "you could have any job you wanted.

"She knows that you're sensitive and kind and infuriatingly self-deprecating.

"Oh, and she also knows that it was you who charmed the Hourglasses to swear loudly every time Slytherin received House points in our 6th year. It was too good a story not to share," Sirius grinned apologetically, finally releasing Remus' arm.

"You deserve happiness, Moony, and she makes you happy in a way I don't think I've ever seen in you."

"She also makes you dinner, if you're up for it?" another voice added.

Both men jumped as Tonks, her face almost as pink as her hair, sheepishly peered through the doorway. She had a shopping bag in her hands.

Sirius beamed before clapping Remus heartily on the back and checking the watch he wasn't even wearing.

"I'm afraid it's feeding time for Buckbeak, so I'm dreadfully busy this evening," he said. "But do enjoy," he winked at Tonks as he swept out the door and jogged up the stairs, whistling as he went.

—

Duelling practice resumed as a trio, with all parties now actively involved. Tonks ran Remus and Sirius through some basic fitness and stamina exercises she learned during Auror training, while Remus lectured on offensive and defensive spells and stances. Sirius, for his part, carefully dissected his family's library for any useful spells they could add to their repertoires, and when Tonks or Remus (or sometimes both, much to Sirius' genuine delight) were unavailable, he would brew healing potions and salves to make sure they were ready for all eventualities.

Sirius was doing just that one evening when he could hear the front door of Grimmauld Place fly open, and his name being shouted.

He heard heavy, panicked footsteps sprint through the rooms downstairs, all the while shouting his name.

"Moony?" Sirius called back, leaving his cauldron brewing and peering down the staircase. Remus' appeared at the foot of the stairs where, upon seeing Sirius, he grasped the bannister, legs turning to jelly in sheer relief.

Sirius' heart just about stopped and he ran down to steady Remus, who pulled him into a tight hug.

"Moony," Sirius pulled away to face his friend, fear still shining in his eyes. "What's going on?"

Leading Sirius to the kitchen, Remus began to relate the day's events. Harry had been sitting his History of Magic exam when he became unwell. He'd had a vision - similar to the one he'd had of Mr Weasley's attack - that Sirius was being held hostage and tortured in the Department of Mysteries by Voldemort.

"Harry was apparently trying to use the floo in Umbridge's Office to contact you to see if you were okay, but she caught him. She called Severus in for backup and Harry tried to alert Severus to what he believed was happening," Remus explained, still breathless, leaning against the fireplace. "I was in Hogsmeade and Severus sent me a Patronus to check in on you.

"Which reminds me," Remus stalled, waving his wand to send a Patronus back to Snape.

"Padfoot is safe," he murmured, before waving the large silver wolf away.

"What about Harry," Sirius urged. "Is he okay?"

He had no sooner finished his sentence than the fire in the kitchen glowed green and a familiar head appeared.

"As sorry as I am to break up this little reunion - again," Snape drawled, "I feel it prudent to notify you that Potter and his friends have disappeared. They are no longer on the grounds."

As Snape disappeared from the flames, the front door to Grimmauld Place opened once again and a thump, followed by the screams of Mrs Black, pre-empted the appearance of a very flustered-looking Tonks.

"Mad-Eye has summoned the Order to the Department of Mysteries," she stated, over Walburga Black's screeches. "We've received word that a large group of known Death Eaters are on their way there as we speak."

Although she had directed her words to Remus, Sirius was the first to move towards the door.

Tonks went to speak but when she met Remus' eyes he gave a minute shake of his head.

Remus looked at Sirius.

"Is there any way at all I can stop you from coming with us?"

"Absolutely not."

Remus grasped his friend's shoulder and nodded.

"Please don't make me regret this, Padfoot."

—

Bursting through the door, Remus quickly flung his arms up to stop Sirius and Tonks from falling over the ledge of the tiered room. Joined quickly by Moody and Kingsley Shacklebolt, they could see Harry and Neville surrounded on the dais below by Death Eaters, Lucius Malfoy's distinctive hair giving him away as the ringleader. Tonks shot a stunning spell at him as the members of the Order sprinted down the steps, throwing curses and hexes as they went.

The flashing lights of spells surrounding him was overwhelming for Remus being, as it was, less than a week until the Full Moon. Rather than dulling his abilities though, the days before the full always gave him a surge of energy, sharpened his senses and focused his magic, meaning that every spell he cast hit its target.

He chanced a glance at his comrades. Sirius was duelling - and more than holding his own, Remus noted with relief - just a few metres away. Tonks was still halfway up the stone steps but was trading spells at lightning speed with her aunt, Bellatrix.

Remus heard a shout and whirled to see Harry and Neville facing another Death Eater. He didn't have time to wonder about Neville sticking a wand directly into the Death Eater's eye though, nor to marvel at Harry's powerful stunning spell, as he sensed a presence behind him and turned to engage his opponent.

Mad-Eye Moody was down, but Sirius and Harry had dispatched Dolohov together before he could cause any more damage. Remus vaguely heard Sirius imploring Harry to take Neville and the Prophecy and run, when a flash of pink caught his eye, and his heart leapt into his mouth. Tonks was falling, falling, falling…

But he didn't have time to react. Lucius Malfoy had his wand pointed at Harry and without pausing to think, Remus ran towards them.

"Get the others and go, Harry," he shouted, his wand almost a blur as he aimed curse after curse at Malfoy, pushing him back toward the dais.

Moments later, with Malfoy subdued, Remus heard a door opening. He gazed up, hope blossoming as he took in the figure of Albus Dumbledore. His attention was taken seconds later, however, when the bright flash of a stunning spell returned him swiftly to a defensive stance as he turned to take in the battle behind him.

Bellatrix and Sirius were evenly-matched, but channeled their magic in vastly different ways. Where Bellatrix was chaos and destruction, Sirius was focus and intention.

"You can do better than that," Sirius goaded his cousin, dancing out of the way of another curse.

Perhaps it was another side effect of his lycanthropy, or maybe he was just good at catastrophising. Either way, as he saw Sirius' dodge take him closer to the archway on the dais, Remus could sense that something bad was about to happen.

Remus had twice vowed to protect Harry with his life. The first time was when Lily and James had presented their son to him the day he was born. The second was when he rejoined the Order of the Phoenix almost two years ago. He and Padfoot had sworn to have each other's backs, but agreed that no matter what happened, Harry was the priority.

Harry had lost so much, but this was one loss Remus could prevent.

Without a second's hesitation, he turned on the spot and apparated to the platform, knocking Sirius down just as Bellatrix screamed 'STUPEFY'.

Time slowed almost to a complete halt, and several things happened at once.

The spell, meant for Sirius, hit Remus square in the chest, knocking him backwards.

Frantic shouts of 'MOONY' and 'LUPIN' echoed around the room, drowning out Bellatrix's cackling laugh.

Remus' fall was broken by the veil in the archway which seemed to almost pull him in; the room around him becoming darker and darker. Whispers of people he didn't recognise surrounded him and the last thing he saw was Sirius staring wide-eyed and devastated but with his arms wrapped tightly around Harry, who was fighting to be freed.

Mischief Managed, Remus thought, as he let the darkness claim him.