The Beginning of The Journey

He had arrived when it was already dark, and was ushered in before he had finished knocking by a gruff, bear of a man and his diminutive wife.

\"Hagen,\" Remus greeted the man warmly, before being wrapped in a hug in which he struggled to breathe. He heard a soft laugh and was suddenly released and held at arms length, a toothy grin peeking out from underneath a mass of facial hair. He returned the smile, and at the sound of another soft laugh, turned his head.

\"Katja, are you going to let him smother me?\" Remus laughed along with her, however, and was soon embraced by her as well.

Soon they had him in a comfortable chair, and while Katja made sure he had a never-ending supply of tea, they spoke, and caught up on old times.

After awhile, when the fire had almost gone out, Hagen stood up to place another log on the fire, and then turned to look at Remus.

\"Tell me, alt bekannter, what brings you to us? You look as though the...teufel, himself has touched you.\"

Remus shook his head and his smile faded slightly, slipping easily back into the time he had spent here so many years ago. \"Nein...Teufel - the devil - races closely at my heels, however.\"

Katja made a small sound of disapproval and stood from her seat, kissing Hagen and then Remus in turn, and making her way from the room.

Remus raised his eyebrows and looked at Hagen oddly. \"Katja, she is well, yes - Empfindung ganz richtig?\"

Hagen shrugged and sat back down, opposite Remus. \"She worries. About you, me - the country. And the teufel man. There\'s been killings, whispers of a Dark Man among the Romani that Katja trades with...a young girl went missing, and now they are - futsch, verschwunden. Like smoke...even more so then usual.\"

Remus frowned and thought about what Hagen had just told him. Dark Man...with the Romani\'s , that usually translated into something definite, and he wondered if it could have been a Death Eater - though why Voldemort would send someone after a simple girl was beyond him at the moment.

He was startled from his thoughts as Katja brought them each a fire whiskey, and then left the room again with a murmured,\"Besser derzeitig Tee hierfür Vortrag...\"

Hagen chuckled, his deep voice carrying in the room, and shook his head. \"The - die sich umziehen zur Wolf - this she handles well. The other, not so well.\" He took a drink of the whiskey and grinned. \"And you, alt bekannter, how fares the wolf inside you?\"

Remus blushed slightly and took a drink before answering. \"I am beginning to accept it more Hagen. Its hard. When I was here it was hard, but now - it isn\'t quite so hard. It grows Bequemlichkeit - easier.\"

Hagen nodded and looked at Remus, noticing the dark circles under his eyes. \"Whatever you need, it can wait until the morning, alt bekannter, and then after you pick my brain, perhaps we can go for a run in the forest? Katja says I am underfoot to much.\"

Remus paled and shook his head. \"I still haven\'t mastered the wolf enough, Hagen. A friend said I fight it too much.\"

Hagen sighed and finished his drink, nodding at Remus to do the same. \"Tommorow then. I\'m going to help you with whatever you need, and then you an I - zur Wälder wir fahren , ja? We\'ll practice switching from one to the other.\"

Remus drained the rest of his drink and set the glass on an end table. \"To the woods we go,\" he agreed, and stood when Hagen did.

Katja entered the room again and smiled at Remus. \"No more talk of the tufel, alright? I have a room ready for you, and tomorrow will be time enough for whatever you two need done.\"

Remus laughed and nodded, knowing that arguing with her was a setting yourself up for a losing battle. Katja was small, but she ruled her house with a will not unlike Severus\'.

With another hug from Hagen, Katja led Remus to a room he had once called home for three years, and she refused to leave until he had slipped into a pair of pajamas that surprisingly fit perfectly, transformed from a pair of Hagen\'s, no doubt. She clucked at him when he protested modesty.

\"You forget, mien geehrte Remus, I tended your wounds as though you were my own babe. Slip into them, and then off to bed with you.\"

He chuckled and did as she instructed, and not until she had tucked the covers up around him did she finally leave, kissing him gently on the forehead and whispering to him. \"Schläfst wohlauf. Und ausführen nicht sich scheuen Bestand ein wer liebt Sie erledigen Sie, Remus.\"

When she had put out the oil lantern and clicked the door shut, Remus closed his eyes and lay there, feeling like he was at home. As he drifted off to sleep, he answered Katja\'s last words. \" I\'ll sleep well, Katja. I\'m not afraid to let those that love me help me - not when I\'m here with the both of you.\" He turned slightly, missing the feel of the man he loved in bed next to him, and drifted off to sleep with the sounds of happy laughter drifting in from the kitchen as Katja and Hagen spoke to one another - and as he drifted, it changed once again into the laughter of Lily and James, and then into the deep throaty laugh of Sirius, and then he was lost in his dreams.