Too Much Trouble COMPLETE

A/N: So, how about we pretend it hasn't been months and months since I updated this story? Hmm, no? I'll try and not leave it so long next time.

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Chaper Ten
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“Do you ever wonder what you’d be doing if you hadn’t been bitten?”

Remus turned to look at Sirius and smiled softly. “No.”

“But your life could be so different.”

“It could, but who says I want it to be?”

“I guess, but don’t you ever wonder?”

“There’s only one thing I wonder about,” Remus admitted quietly. “I wonder what my animagus form would have been if I had been able to turn into one.”

“Why can’t you?”

“Only humans have an animagus form,” Remus explained. “That is, those who are completely human. Werewolves are no longer entirely human. The wolf takes over the part of the body that the animagus transformation needs. That’s why the merfolk and the centaurs can’t turn into complete animals. The wolf is as much a part of me as the fish and horse is a part of those. But I’m curious to know what I might have been.”

“A dog,” Sirius stated firmly. “Just like me.”

Remus chuckled. Let Sirius believe that if he wanted to, if it made him happy.

-o-xXx-o-

The three of them faced the portal together. It would take all of them to keep the guards at bay until the portal closed.

Remus was still contemplating whether spells would make it through the portal at all when Sirius’s double pointed his wand at the portal and conjured a shield right across the whole thing.

“Will that hold?” Sirius asked.

“Only one way to find out,” his double replied without taking his eyes off the portal.

Remus watched as one of the guards tried to follow them through the portal and immediately fell backwards into the room as he hit the invisible barrier.

“Yes!” Sirius exclaimed, pointing his own wand at the portal and doubling the strength of the shield with one of his own.

The guards soon tired of trying to get through the portal and instead decided on a different tactic, turning their wands towards Albus Dumbledore. The leader of the guards looked at them with a smirk, silently daring them to come back through the portal to them, or let their prisoner take the consequences.

Dumbledore stepped into view and calmly smiled at them through the portal, waving his hand as though he were merely bidding them farewell.

“They won’t hurt him,” Remus said. “If they do, Grindelwald will kill them.”

“But they could hurt him,” Sirius replied taking a step closer.

Dumbledore saw his move and shook his head.

The guard didn’t waste any more time before he brought Dumbledore to his knees with a well-aimed curse.

All three young men on the other side of the portal cringed and moved forward again. Their help was not needed though, because although they could not hear Dumbledore’s cries, Gellert Grindelwald could, and he appeared in the room moments later.

He turned his wand on the guards, killing two of them swiftly and sending the rest of them running.

They watched through the portal as Grindelwald helped Dumbledore to his feet and guided him towards his chair.

Once Dumbledore was seated he turned to the portal and looked with mild annoyance at them. Then he gave a small salute at being out manoeuvred a turned away.

“Can he call you in this world?” Sirius’s double asked quietly, gesturing to his arm.

“I don’t know,” Remus replied. “I hope not, but I don’t know for sure.”

“I guess we’ll find out if he ever tries to summon you.”

“We?” Sirius asked with a raise of his eyebrow.

Remus sighed and watched with relief as the portal slowly closed once more. “I hope Dumbledore’s going to be okay,” he said.

“I’m sure he will,” Sirius replied. “I don’t think that Grindelwald will let anything happen to him, not if the look in his eyes just now is anything to go by.”

“Now what?” Remus asked. “Do you have any ideas on how to get us home yet?”

Sirius shook his head. “Let’s just head back to your double’s house and see if they’ve made any progress with their research.”

“And there are how many Sirius Blacks there?” Remus asked with a grin.

“Far too many,” Sirius muttered, casting a quick glance over the additional one that was about to join them. “Just remember, that your Sirius is the one with his hand on your arse.”

Remus chuckled and wrapped his arms around Sirius’s waist. “You okay with apparating all three of us?”

Sirius nodded and waited for his double to step closer and once they were ready he took them all back to the entrance to the Lupin residence.

“Sweet Merlin!” Sirius’s double exclaimed when he saw the house.

“Quite a place, isn’t it?” Sirius said with a grin. “A small part of me wants to ship the Remus of his world back to our old flat and stay here with Moony.”

Remus knew that Sirius’s double had caught the ‘our’ in the sentence as well as he had. Sirius was staking his territory in no uncertain terms.

“Come on, I’ll introduce you,” Sirius said as they walked through the gates and down the path towards the entrance.

Remus walked alongside him, and Sirius’s double turned into Padfoot and took up his position on his other side. Remus looked at the lavish building and was in the middle of counting all the windows when one of said windows smashed and the sounds of yelling came from one of the rooms on the second floor.

Sirius took it all in his stride and continued down the path. They were just reaching the front steps when the door swung open, revealing the owner of the house, who was looking at the end of his tether.

“Hi, Remus,” Sirius called. “Come say hello to my Moony.”

Remus glared down the steps at them, his gaze settling on Padfoot. “Bloody Merlin, not another one.”

Padfoot cringed slightly at the far from friendly greeting and Remus narrowed his eyes as he looked at his double.

“He’s always like this,” Sirius explained. “He’s not exactly the most hospitable of hosts.”

“Be thankful I’m not making you all sleep outside,” Remus snapped. “And if you want that mutt to stay, you’d better go make up one of the empty rooms.”

“Come on,” Sirius said as he pushed past Remus’s double and into the house. “Just ignore him.”

Remus turned to his double. “You go ahead Sirius, I’ll catch you and Padfoot up in a minute.”

Sirius nodded hesitantly, but disappeared inside the house with the large black dog at his heels.

“So, you’re a werewolf?” Remus’s double asked him, his voice merely curious.

“Yes. Is that going to be a problem?”

His double shook his head. “You wanted to say something to me?” he asked. “Something you don’t want your sweetie to hear? Something you’re keeping from him perhaps?”

Remus smiled. “You’re one suspicious bloke, aren’t you?” he commented with a chuckle. “No, I didn’t want to confess my sins to you, if that’s what you’re asking. I wanted to warn you to lay off Padfoot.”

“Which one?” his double muttered.

“The one that’s just arrived with me,” Remus replied. “The rest of them can take care of themselves, but if I see you so much as look at that one in any way that isn’t at the very least courteously polite, then you’ll have me to answer to.”

“You’re championing your new friend, but not your own Sirius?” his double asked with a smirk.

“My Sirius can defend himself if he has to. This is just a friendly warning.”

His double shrugged and waved him into the house.

“Oh, and one more thing,” Remus said before he turned to join Sirius and Padfoot at the top of the stairs. “Don’t call Sirius my sweetie if you want to keep your balls intact.”

“Isn’t he?”

Remus shook his head with a smile. “He’s many things, but he’s no more fond of stupid names like that than I imagine either of us are.”

Remus didn’t wait to hear a reply. He turned and hurried up the stairs, to where Sirius was waiting for him.

“All sorted?” Sirius asked as a wrapped an arm around Remus’s waist.

Remus nodded. “I think so.”

-o-xXx-o-

Remus stood on the balcony, looking down at the cigarette ends littered around his feet.

Sirius felt a guilty flush spreading over his face when he saw where Remus’s gaze was focused.

“I can explain,” he whispered as he approached Remus.

“There’s no need,” Remus replied. “You’ve not been sleeping, have you?”

Sirius shook his head. “So, you don’t mind that I resorted to lighting up?”

“Don’t be daft.” Remus turned and wrapped his arms around Sirius, holding him close as he summoned the courage to make his own, much worse, confession.

“What is it?” Sirius asked, sensing Remus’s hesitation and worry.

“I have something to tell you,” Remus admitted. “Something you aren’t going to like.”

“Oh?”

Remus stepped away from Sirius and turned to look out over the garden.

“Is this about him?” Sirius asked, nodding back inside the room, even though Remus could not see his gesture. Remus knew who Sirius was referring to though, and he nodded slowly.

“Did something happen?” Sirius asked quietly, stepping forward so that he was standing alongside Remus, and looking at him from the corner of his eye.

Remus nodded again.

“Oh…”

“Damn, this is harder than I thought it would be,” Remus said. “And I didn’t think it was going to be easy in the first place.”

“Did you sleep with him?” Sirius whispered.

“No,” Remus replied immediately, and he turned to face Sirius as he spoke, needing to know what was going through Sirius’s mind, but unable to read anything from his expression.

“But something happened?” Sirius prompted.

“I kissed him,” Remus admitted.

“Oh.”

They stood quietly for several minutes until finally Sirius spoke again. “Was he a good kisser?”

Remus turned to him with a frown of confusion. “Is that all you’ve got to say?”

Sirius shrugged. “I don’t want to fight with you tonight.”

“But I kissed him!”

Sirius stepped closer to Remus and turned him round to face him straight on. “And I’m going to spend tonight wiping that kiss from your memory with some of my own. Even if it takes all night.”

“But aren’t you angry?”

“I should be, but getting trapped in a different world kind of puts things in perspective for me. I’ve got you back with me, and that’s all that I care about.”

“I don’t deserve you,” Remus whispered.

“Of course you do,” Sirius replied with a snort of laughter. “Now, come here and let me kiss you.”

Remus gave a half-hearted chuckle, but did as Sirius asked. He wondered briefly if Sirius was even bothered by the fact that he had just confessed to kissing another bloke, but then he felt the possessiveness in the kiss, and knew that despite his words, he was. Sirius wanted to make sure that Remus knew who he belonged to, and his kiss was making that more than clear.

Remus could feel the railings digging into his back as Sirius pushed him up against them. “The wall,” Remus gasped between kisses, not entirely secure in the stability of the railings of the balcony.

Sirius answered his plea by twisting them around and pushing Remus back up against the wall of the house instead.

Remus felt Sirius slip one leg between his own and he groaned loudly. He dimly heard the sound of a door closing inside the house, and he realised that Sirius’s double had heard them and was making himself scarce. He knew he should feel guilty about hurting him, but his own Sirius, back in his arms at last, was doing a marvellous job of making him forget everything except him.

Sirius’s hands slipped inside his robes, tugging his shirt from out of his trousers as he searched for bare skin.

Remus wrapped his arms around Sirius’s neck and hooked one of his legs around Sirius’s own, pulling him as close as he could, even though he knew that it wasn’t close enough – not yet.

Sirius’s hand moved from his hips and he pulled back just enough so that he could pull down the zipper of Remus’s trousers and slip his hand inside.

“Forgot him yet?” Sirius whispered into his ear as he took Remus in hand and gave him a not entirely pleasant squeeze.

“Who?” Remus gasped as he jerked his hips forward, trying to thrust into Sirius’s hand.

Sirius grinned as he looked into Remus’s dazed eyes. “That’s my Moony,” he said as he began to stroke him, his fingers teasing him, even as his breath ghosted along his neck, making him shiver with anticipation.

Remus whimpered as Sirius struggled to pull down his trousers and underpants, eventually tearing the already worn seams of the former in his eagerness. Remus helped remove them with shaking hands, finally kicking them out of the way.

Then Sirius’s hand was between his legs, his fingers searching for his entrance and probing him. He wasn’t exactly gentle, but Remus had no intention of asking him to be. He had betrayed him, even if it was only for a few minutes, and a little discomfort as Sirius reclaimed him was no more than he deserved.

Sirius seemed to read his thoughts and he stilled his hand when two fingers were buried inside him. “Aren’t you going to ask me to get the lube?” he asked.

Remus shook his head and bit down on his lower lip.

“You think I’d hurt you during sex for revenge?”

“I’d deserve it,” Remus replied quietly.

“Oh, Moony,” Sirius said with a sigh, pulling his fingers out and taking a step back. “You don’t really think I’d do that to you, do you?” He paused and waited for a moment, and realisation soon dawned. “Hell, Moony. You do think that, don’t you? Come on!”

Remus let Sirius tug him inside and towards the bed. “Do you even have any lube?” he asked.

Sirius nodded. “Your double on this world prefers men, too. So, I snuck into his private bathroom and grabbed some earlier.”

Remus breathed a sigh of relief.

“Do you want him instead of me?” Sirius asked quietly. “Is that other Sirius preferable to this one?”

“No!” Remus exclaimed, shaking his head rapidly. He pulled Sirius into his arms and held him as though he was about to be taken from him again.

Sirius hugged him back and pulled them down so that they were both stretched out on the bed. “Oh, Remus,” he sighed, before dipping his head to kiss Remus softly on the lips.

“You know I love you more than anything, right?” Remus whispered.

Sirius’s smile lit up the room. “Just make sure that from now on the only Sirius who touches you is me.”

Remus smiled back at him. “And are you going to?” he asked.

Sirius answered him by scooting down the bed so that his head was level with his cock. Leaning forward he quickly lapped at the head, causing Remus to whimper slightly at the blatant teasing.

“This is your punishment,” Sirius told him. “I’m going to keep you up all night in revenge.”

Remus nodded and turned onto his back, tugging the buttons of his shirt undone and quickly getting rid of it. Sirius meanwhile had turned to his feet and had removed his shoes and socks.

In no time at all Remus was stretched out on the bed, entirely naked, and under the very intense scrutiny of the still fully clothed Sirius Black.

“Hard and fast,” Remus stated as Sirius reached for the lube and set about preparing him properly.

Sirius snorted. “That’s hardly a punishment,” he pointed out. “That’s the way you like it best.”

Remus would have argued, pleaded, begged, but Sirius’s fingers had already found his prostate and he had lost the power of speech.

Then the fingers disappeared and he opened his eyes to the sight of Sirius undoing his belt and pulling down the zipper of his trousers. His movements were so slow they couldn’t be anything more than a deliberate way of teasing him. He growled in frustration, but Sirius didn’t quicken his pace.

He shifted his position and spread his legs as wide as he could manage, but Sirius shook his head and gestured for him to turn over onto his knees.

“I thought you didn’t like this position?” Remus questioned curiously.

“I like to see your face when you come,” Sirius said. “But we both know I last longer when we do it this way.”

Remus groaned, knowing it was true. He groan turned to a moaning whimper as Sirius ran his hands over his arse, his fingers teasing his crack, but never quite entering him.

“Please,” Remus begged. “I need to feel you.”

Sirius chuckled and removed his fingers, causing Remus to glare at him over his shoulder. “Impatient wolf,” he scolded, but he shifted his position so that his cock was now teasing where his fingers had previously been.

“Oh, Merlin,” Remus gasped, pushing backwards as much as he could, but knowing that without Sirius’s help he wasn’t going to get what he wanted.

Sirius leaned forward, stretching along his back and licking at his ear. “Tell me what you want,” he whispered.

“You!” Remus cried. “I want you!”

“Only me?” Sirius murmured, and he planted a light kiss on Remus’s neck.

“Only you,” Remus agreed. “Please, Sirius!”

Then the warm breath was gone and a different kind of heat was demanding his attention. The burning heat of Sirius entering him, hard and fast, just how Remus liked it.

Sirius didn’t say anything as he quickly found his rhythm, and the only sounds he made were the increasingly breathless pants of exertion.

Remus on the other hand was, and always had been, a noisy lover, and tonight was no exception. He came with a loud cry a few seconds before Sirius and they both collapsed onto the mattress in the tangle of limbs.

“Good?” Sirius asked a few minutes later when he had got some of his breath back.

Remus, speechless now, nodded slowly. Sirius gave a firm nod of contentment and turned Remus onto his back so that he could kiss him again.

“And don’t think you’re going to sleep tonight,” he warned with a grin. “I intend to keep my word and keep you awake all night in revenge. I don’t want you dreaming about any other Sirius Black.”

Remus cringed slightly at that, and Sirius kissed him quickly again, promising him that he didn’t mean it, it was a thoughtless comment, and he had already forgiven him for his brief transgression.

Finally, Remus was assured that Sirius had truly forgiven him and he vowed that never again would his lover have cause to doubt him.

-o-xXx-o-

Despite Sirius’s threat to keep him up all night, the two young men fell asleep in the early hours of the morning, both too exhausted to keep their eyes open a moment longer.

When Remus woke up the following day he wasn’t surprised to find that it was well after noon.

He turned over to check the clock for the exact time and groaned as the movement reminded him of the events of the previous night. He ached all over and knew that he would for some time to come.

“Afternoon,” Sirius greeted him.

Remus searched for the owner of the voice and saw him looking in at him from outside on the balcony. “Hi,” he replied groggily. “How long have you been up for?”

“Not long,” Sirius replied. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been well and truly shagged,” Remus muttered as he gingerly sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

Sirius chuckled momentarily before his face turned serious once more. “Did I really hurt you?” he asked as he hurried inside.

Remus shook his head. “No. I’m just a bit sore.”

“Sorry,” Sirius offered, though he didn’t look as though he really meant it. There was a certain amount of smugness in his face that Remus found mildly amusing.

Remus stood up and walked gingerly out onto the balcony. “Did you get any sleep?” he asked quietly as Sirius pulled him onto his lap.

“More than any other night since we were last together,” Sirius replied.

Remus frowned as he realised that the shadows under his eyes were still lingering. “Let’s go back to bed,” he suggested. He reached up to push Sirius’s hair from out of his eyes as he spoke, but Sirius shook his head, causing the loose strands to fall back into his face.

“We should be trying to find a way to get us all home,” he pointed out quietly. “We can’t stay here forever.”

Remus nodded in agreement. “How about we find something to eat and then start working on it?”

Sirius’s stomach growled loudly in response. “First things first,” he said, patting Remus on the backside. “Clothes. Don’t want anyone getting any ideas.”

Remus looked at his torn clothes and grimaced. “You think my double would loan me some?”

Sirius laughed. “He won’t have any choice,” he said as he eased Remus off of his lap and stood up. “Wait here.”

Remus had gathered up all their belongings, made the bed and cleared away numerous plates and dishes with half-eaten meals still on them, by the time that Sirius returned.

Once they were both suitably dressed, they went downstairs in search of breakfast and a way home.

Remus came to a halt as soon as he walked into the kitchen. The sight of three Sirius Blacks arguing over the last of the donuts was something he had never thought he would see.

His own Sirius took in the situation with a sweep of his eyes and he strolled over to the counter, grabbed the donut and returned to Remus before the others had even noticed it was gone. “Here you go,” he said as he put the treat into Remus’s hand.

“This isn’t exactly a healthy meal,” Remus pointed out with a grin.

Sirius grinned back. “If you don’t want it, there are four of us here in the room who’ll be happy to take it off your hands.”

Remus smirked. “I didn’t say that,” he replied, and he took a large bite of the jam-filled dessert.

He sat down at the table as Sirius began to rummage through the cupboards for his own lunch. Both of them ignored the others, who were now glaring at him with undisguised annoyance.

Sirius returned to the table and sat down next to him. “You missed a bit,” he said as he reached out and wiped a bit of jam from the edge of Remus’s mouth with his finger.

Remus licked at his lips and gave him a seductive smile.

“You’re not going to start shagging on the table or anything, are you?” one of the other Sirius’s asked, screwing up his nose in distaste.

Sirius waggled his eyebrows at Remus. “What do you think?” he asked. “Up for round two?”

Remus grinned. “Oh behave,” he replied. “We’ve got research to do.” He gave a gesture that included the others and wasn’t surprised to see looks of boredom and horror in their faces.

“Well,” he commented when he realised that no one was exactly jumping up and down with enthusiasm. “I can see where the problem is.”

“Problem?” asked the Sirius who was adding his empty bowl to the pile in the sink, but clearly not bothering to wash it.

Remus nodded firmly. “You need someone to get you all to get your backsides into gear and actually do some work. With this many Sirius Blacks on the job, you should have had it figured out ages ago, instead you’ve been doing what? Loafing about the place? Arguing? Making a mess?” He pointed towards the sink. “You can start by cleaning up the pots.”

His own Sirius grinned widely at him. “I love it when you get all dominant,” he teased.

Remus tried to glare at him, but the smile on his lips kept forcing its way to the surface. “Come on, we’ve got work to do.”

-o-xXx-o-

Remus rounded up the rest of the Sirius Blacks – all except the one he had brought with him, who had not reappeared since his disappearance from the room the previous night – and set them to work in the library.

Then he went in search of the final Sirius, hoping that he hadn’t hurt him too much.

“Moony?” Sirius asked quietly as he followed Remus out of the mansion and onto the lawns.

Remus turned to face him.

“I’ll get back to the research in a minute,” Sirius assured him. “Just… I…”

Remus nodded in understanding. “Why don’t you take a seat out here?” he suggested, pointing to a nearby stone bench. “You can read out here and still keep an eye on me; I’m not going far.” He pointed to where Padfoot was sniffing around the flowerbeds.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you,” Sirius hurriedly explained. “I just don’t think I can bear to let you out of my sight just yet.”

“I know,” Remus replied. “I feel the same way about you.”

“You do?”

Remus nodded again. “I’ll just be over there. I have to check he’s okay.”

Sirius sat on the bench and opened the book he had brought from the library. Remus smiled and walked over to the large black dog. Padfoot gave a small bark of acknowledgement at his greeting, but he didn’t turn back into his human form.

“You aren’t going to talk to me?” Remus asked as he sat down on the grass. He reached out to ruffle Padfoot’s fur, but drew back immediately when the animagus pulled away from him. Remus sighed. “It’s not like you didn’t know I was with him,” he pointed out impatiently.

The animagus looked at him and turned back into the dark-haired young man that was the mirror image of the one sitting on the stone bench behind him.

“It’s okay,” Sirius said quietly. “I’m okay with your decision. It’s just…”

“You thought I’d pick you,” Remus concluded sadly.

Sirius shook his head. “No. I knew you’d choose him. I just wish I’d had you to myself for a bit longer. Maybe then I could have changed your mind. I can see why you chose him though.”

“You can?”

“He’s confidant and smart. He’s everything I’m not.”

“That’s not true,” Remus told him. “He has insecurities just like the rest of us. And I think that the Black confidence is in you as well. It’s just been buried a bit. You two aren’t as different as you seem to think.”

Sirius shrugged. “So it’s just bad luck that he met you first?”

“Well, it probably helps that we grew up in the same dimension.”

“While I grew up in a world where Remus Lupin hates me…”

“Your Remus is an idiot,” Remus told him.

Sirius gave a small smile.

“You know what you need?”

Remus turned to see that his own Sirius had come up behind him. He gracefully flopped down onto the grass and grinned widely.

“Some privacy?” the other Sirius suggested.

“Not with my Remus,” Sirius replied, only half teasing. “What you need is to find a world where it’s the reverse of your own.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, in your world you fancy Remus and he doesn’t like you back, right?”

“Yes.”

“So, what we need to do is find you a world where there’s a Remus who fancies a Sirius and has no chance with him.”

“What we need is to find a way to get him home,” Remus argued.

“They’re not expecting me back,” Sirius argued. “I left a note for James and Lily telling them that I was going to go with you… that I was going to stay with you.”

Remus frowned. “We still need to get you home. They’ll be worried about you.”

“I’m not a child,” Sirius argued. “I’ll go where I please!”

Remus grinned. “Now that’s more like the Sirius that I know.”

“Hey!” the Sirius that he knew exclaimed, punching him lightly on the arm. “Anyway, you’ve not heard the best part of my plan.”

Remus raised an eyebrow and Sirius grinned widely. “And?” he prompted.

“And, the best part is that we’re already here,” Sirius declared.

“What do you mean?” the other Sirius asked cautiously.

Sirius smirked. “I mean that we’re in a world where there is a Remus Lupin who – unless I am very much mistaken, and we all know I never am – desperately wants to shag his straight best friend, Sirius Black.”

Remus shook his head rapidly. “No! Don’t even think about it.”

“Too late,” Sirius replied with a grin. “He’s gagging for it. He’d probably jump in bed with me if I offered.”

“He would?” Remus interrupted, annoyed at himself for the stab of jealousy he felt at the idea.

Sirius nodded. “It’s perfect.”

“I don’t know,” Remus said. “He doesn’t act like he wants to get involved with anyone. Seems like a bit of a loner to me.”

“And you weren’t back in first year?” Sirius pointed out. “The quiet little boy with the dark secret. I’m telling you that the Remus of this world is in love with Sirius, and the only one who doesn’t realise it is Sirius himself. That’s his secret and it’s eating at him, making him irritable and bad-tempered, just like you were when we were close to figuring out your secret.”

“But just because he fancies the Sirius in this world, it doesn’t mean he’ll settle for any other Sirius that throws himself at him.”

“I wasn’t planning on throwing myself at anyone,” the other Sirius interrupted. “I’ve taken a chance on two Remuses now, and look where it’s got me!”

Remus sighed as he watched Sirius turn back into Padfoot and take off across the lawn towards the nearby woods.

“You want me to go after him?” Sirius asked.

Remus shook his head and stood up. He was about to go after him himself when he saw a movement from the corner of his eye. He turned to see an adult fox looking at him from a spot in the shade of the nearby hedge.

Sirius followed his gaze and chuckled when he saw who was eavesdropping. “Well, what are you waiting for?” he called, nodding towards the woods.

Remus watched as the fox took Sirius’s advice and darted towards the woods.

“I knew it!” Sirius declared, tugging Remus back down to the grass.

“Care to explain?”

“The Sirius of this world is a werewolf,” Sirius said with a grin. “And the Remus of this world is an animagus… a fox animagus.”

“And you’re sure that that was him, and not just a regular fox coming by in the hope of getting a free meal?”

Sirius laughed. “Oh, that was Remus all right. No other fox has ever looked at me with quite so much disapproval before.”

“He’d better not be giving him a hard time,” Remus muttered as he looked towards the woods.

Sirius gave him an entirely inappropriately lewd look.

“You know what I mean,” Remus scolded.

Sirius grinned and leaned back on his elbows. “Going to give me a hard time?” he asked.

Remus rolled his eyes, but that didn’t stop him from leaning in kiss Sirius long and – most definitely – hard.

“I’m going to get us home,” he promised when they finally walked back towards the mansion. “I promise.”

“This place isn’t so bad,” Sirius replied. “Not now you’re here with me.”

“Thought you were done with all the riches and stuff when you ran away from home?” Remus teased. “Starting to miss it?”

Sirius snorted. “Hardly. The Blacks might have had money, but I never saw much of it. But you’ve got to admit: this place is nice. Who wouldn’t want to stick around a while?”

Remus smiled as he looked at the home that – had things been different – could have been his. “Come on,” he said as he opened the door to the library. “Let’s figure out a way to get us all out of this mess.”

Inside the library it was immediately clear that they were going to have their work cut out for them. There was only one Sirius left in the room, and he was snoring loudly.

“Guess it’s down to us,” Remus declared as he reached for a huge book and dropped it onto the table with a loud bang. A cloud of dust flew up from the book, which clearly hadn’t been opened in years, and the sleeping Sirius shot up in his seat as though he’d been hexed.

“Back to work,” Remus stated as he glared at the slacker.

“My Remus isn’t nearly so bossy,” he complained as he stretched and yawned.

“Your Remus isn’t going to get you home either,” Sirius pointed out. “But my Remus will. So, get back to it and start helping.”

“You, too,” Remus said to Sirius. “Go and round up the others and get them in here.”

“Yes, Sir,” Sirius teased.

Remus smiled as he set about organising a group of very reluctant Sirius Blacks. They were going to have their work cut out for them, but he was sure that if they all worked together they would find their way home.