Too Much Trouble COMPLETE

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Chapter 7
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Remus was drowning in Sirius’s kiss. He needed oxygen but he couldn’t bring himself to pull away long enough to take a breath.

Hands were stroking his back, creeping lower and lower, beneath the waistband of his pyjamas, caressing his arse and pulling him even closer.

Sirius made short work of his pyjamas, the seams tearing as he struggled to remove them without breaking their kiss. Finally they were gone and Sirius’s hands were free to wander where they liked.

Remus groaned as one of Sirius’s hands moved around his hips, stroking in careful circles, making their slow way towards his rapidly increasing erection.

They didn’t break their kiss as Sirius palmed him and Remus thrust his tongue into Sirius’s mouth. He thrust his hips frantically, his tongue matching the rhythm.

Remus reached between them and blindly tugged at the drawstring of Sirius’s own pyjamas. Sirius’s own impressive member sprang free and Remus moved closer, pushing Sirius back down onto the covers so that he could straddle him.

He hovered over Sirius and teasingly rubbed his arse against Sirius’s cock, causing the other man to buck slightly at the touch.

He pulled out of the kiss only long enough to grab the lubricant from the bedside table.

“Let me,” Sirius said and he took the tube from his lover’s hand and squeezed a liberal amount onto his fingers. His pushed his hand between Remus’s legs, eliciting a moan as his fingers began their exploration.

But it was too slow. Remus wanted Sirius, and he wanted him now. He grabbed the tube back and impatiently took matters into his own hands. Once he was satisfied that Sirius’s cock was sufficiently prepared he impaled himself on the length, groaning loudly as he once again became accustomed to the familiar intrusion.

“Remus?” Sirius gasped out as he looked up at him.

Remus looked down questioningly before taking hold of Sirius’s hand and guiding it to his own aching shaft.

“Ride me, Remus,” Sirius demanded as he thrust his hips sharply upwards.

Remus growled as he obeyed the command.

Remus knew that he could easily drown in the sensations that he had discovered as the lover of Sirius Black.

He loved everything about the man beneath him, even his flaws.

“Love you, Sirius,” he gasped.

He leaned down to kiss him once again, Sirius straining upwards to meet him part way.

Remus was drowning in Sirius’s kisses and didn’t think he could ever get enough of them.

-o-xXx-o-

The lips against his were soft and familiar, but the kiss wasn’t that of Sirius Black.

It was soft, sweet even, but had a nervous and hesitant quality to it.

The passion that Sirius usually poured into his kisses was missing, but a tenderness had taken its place. Remus felt Sirius’s hand caressing his cheek as the kiss deepened. He knew he should pull away, but he just couldn’t seem to find the willpower to do so.

He felt a tongue brushing against his lips and moaned slightly when Sirius tilted his head to a more comfortable angle.

The longer the kiss continued, the more familiar it felt. Remus flicked out his tongue to meet Sirius’s and felt one of Sirius’s arms reach around his back to pull him closer still.

Their knees bumped together on the mattress and Remus shifted his position so that he was straddling Sirius’s thighs. Somewhere, deep in the back of his mind, he was trying to remember why he shouldn’t be doing this, but the longer they kissed the harder it was to recall the reasons why this was so very wrong.

He could feel Sirius’s arousal through both their pyjamas and he rubbed against him. He moaned as he felt Sirius thrust against him, once, twice and then a third and final time. He felt the dampness between his own legs and realised that Sirius had climaxed.

“Never knew it could be like that,” Sirius gasped as he clung to Remus.

The words were enough to bring Remus back to reality, to remind him where he was and who he was with. “Shit!” he swore as he pushed Sirius away.

“Remus?” Sirius asked, his voice still somewhat breathless.

Remus looked at Sirius in horror. “I can’t do this,” he whispered. “I can’t betray him like this.”

“He’ll forgive you,” Sirius replied as he caressed Remus’s cheek. “I forgave my Remus far more than this. Your Sirius will understand.”

“You’re right,” Remus agreed. “He would forgive me anything, even this.”

“Then what’s stopping us?”

“He might forgive me, but I’ll never forgive myself,” Remus stated simply. “I’m sorry, I can’t do this.”

Sirius nodded sadly, but climbed off of the bed. A moment later a large black dog was in the young man’s place and the animal climbed into the dog bed with barely a whimper.

Remus burrowed back under the covers and tried to sleep, but his thoughts kept drifting back to the kiss. He could still feel the sticky evidence of his betrayal on the front of his pyjamas and he cursed himself for his weakness. He knew Sirius would forgive him, but that did nothing to alleviate the guilt that had settled around his heart. He had to find a way back to his own Sirius, and soon.

-o-xXx-o-

“Bloody hell!” the remaining Ravenclaw Sirius said as they approached the Lupin family home.

Sirius stood gaping at the mansion they were approaching. It made Malfoy Manor look like a hovel and as for Grimmauld Place…

He shook his head as he followed the others up the driveway. Remus had always said that his family had spent all their savings and money trying to find a cure for his Lycanthropy. He’d never said that they’d been this wealthy. He wondered if this wealth was unique to the Remus of this world, but quickly realised that that was probably not the case.

The mansion was in the same location where Remus had told him the Lupins used to live. From what he had said, the Lupins who lived in this mansion had the same professions as Remus’s parents had, before they had given up everything to try to find a cure.

“What’s the library like?” he asked with a grin.

“Extensive,” Remus replied shortly without turning round.

Sirius had no doubt about that. “So, what’s your nickname?” he asked.

“Don’t have one.”

“Liar.”

“Fine, it’s none of your business. My nickname is for my friends only.”

“I’ll find out eventually,” Sirius told him. “I’m Padfoot by the way. With all us Sirius Blacks hanging around, it’ll be easier to just call me by Padfoot if you want to get my attention.”

“And why would I want to do that?”

Sirius ground his teeth in annoyance. “Have I done something to annoy you, or do you always have a broom up your arse?”

Remus turned to glare at him. Well, at least that got a reaction.

“You shouldn’t frown like that,” Sirius advised. “You’ll get wrinkles. You should smile instead, it takes less muscles to smile and makes you look really sexy.”

Remus’s frown deepened and he turned his back on Sirius.

“Must be losing my touch,” Sirius muttered to himself as Remus let them into the house.

“Guest rooms are in the West Wing,” Remus told them and he pointed the way.

“Where do you sleep?” Sirius asked. “In case we need anything.”

Remus merely scowled at him.

“Sirius!” Sirius, and all his counterparts looked to where the voice had come from and saw a petite blonde barrelling down the stairs towards them.

“Amy!” Werewolf Sirius called as he hurried over to her and swept her into his arms with a grin. “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you at our place?”

“Knew you’d come here first,” Amy replied, as though this was obvious. “Who are all this lot?” She pointed at the various Siriuses who were standing around, as though waiting for something to happen.

“My doubles from other worlds,” Sirius explained. “We’ve brought them back here to try and get them home.”

“Oh. Well, I’m sure if anyone can manage it, you can.”

“Actually,” Sirius interrupted. “Before we all get home, we could do with making a detour back to the last world.”

“Why?” Remus asked.

“Because one of us got left behind in the prison.”

“And you couldn’t have mentioned this back there?”

“You seemed kind of anxious to get back to your friends.” He gave James and Peter a pointed look.

“You should still have said something.”

“I’m saying something now.”

“Fine, I’ll see what we can do.”

“Good. Now, what’s for dinner around here?”

Remus, despite not being a werewolf, gave a very wolf-like growl as he stalked across the hall.

Sirius turned to James. “Is he always like this?”

“Not usually,” James admitted. “I think you just rub him up the wrong way.”

“Or the right way,” Peter suggested with a snicker.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Why don’t you figure that out for yourself,” James said. “Kitchen’s down the hall on the left.” He pointed the way Remus had gone and Sirius followed after him.

Remus was rummaging around in the larder when Sirius arrived in the kitchen. “Dinner won’t be ready for at least an hour,” he told him. “You might as well go and settle in upstairs.”

“Don’t want to.”

“Suit yourself.”

“Are you going to tell me what I’ve done, or do I have to guess?”

Remus ignored him and slammed various pots and pans onto the work surface.

“I usually know when I’ve done something to upset my Remus,” Sirius continued.

“Presumably because he tells you what you’ve done.”

“Not always. So, are you going to tell me what I’ve done?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because you haven’t done anything…that I know of.”

“Then why are you being such a complete arse?”

Remus flushed. “Maybe I just don’t want my home overrun with Sirius Blacks.”

“Possibly, but I’m not buying that explanation.”

“You think you know me that well?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, you’re wrong. You don’t know me at all. I don’t want you here. I have my hands full with one Sirius Black, without having to put up with a whole house of them, eating everything in sight, leaving things lying all over the place, flirting with every female with a pulse and generally disturbing my peace and quiet.”

“Oh.”

Remus looked like he was about to continue with further complaints, but Sirius raised a hand to stop him from speaking.

“I don’t eat that much, especially if I eat as a dog. I don’t have anything to leave lying around, and I don’t flirt with every female with a pulse as you put it. In fact, I don’t flirt – not seriously anyway – with anyone except my partner.”

“Really? Do you know how many worlds I visited before I finally found our missing Sirius? Fourteen. Fourteen worlds, with fourteen Sirius Blacks and each one seems to have been a serial flirt with a one track mind when it comes to the opposite sex. I have had as much as I can take of the lot of you, and while I will do everything I can to get you all home, that doesn’t mean I want to spend so much as a minute with you.”

“You’re really not like my Remus at all, are you?” Sirius mused.

“You mean I’m not fawning all over you and hanging on your every word?”

“My Remus doesn’t do that, but he is polite and hospitable to his guests. I’m surprised your Sirius puts up with you.”

“My Sirius is the only one of you lot I’m able to stand, but even he spends most of his time mooning over Amy and wandering around like a love-sick puppy.”

“And what about you? Do you have anyone you moon over?”

“What’s it to you?”

“Just trying to make conversation.”

“I suggest you stick to less inquisitive subjects…the weather perhaps?”

“I prefer to talk about you.”

“Well, I don’t!”

Remus slammed utensils onto the table and proceeded to thoroughly ignore Sirius.

Eventually Sirius gave up and stood to leave. “You always were the only one who could ignore me quite so completely,” he said as he closed the door behind him.

-o-xXx-o-

That night Sirius sat outside on the balcony of the room he had commandeered as his own. There was no point in trying to sleep; he hadn’t had a decent night’s kip since he had been snatched from his world. He pulled out a packet of cigarettes that he’d begged from one of his doubles. It was a disgusting habit, and Remus would do his nut if he could see him – he’d quit barely weeks after starting the habit after Remus had told him it was like kissing an ashtray. But he needed something to occupy his hands and it was either a fag or a wank and he’d already taken the opportunity to do the latter three times since dinner.

He flicked the hot ash over the railing and stared up at the night sky.

“That’s a revolting habit, you know?” Remus called from the inside his room.

“What’s it to you?” Sirius replied calmly as he took another drag.

“Nothing, just making a comment.”

“You want something?”

“I saw you from the gardens,” Remus told him. “I brewed you a sleeping potion since you seem to be having trouble.”

“Trying to poison me?”

“Just trying to help.”

“Considering your skill in Potions, I doubt that very much.”

“I got an Outstanding at NEWT Potions, I’ll have you know.”

“Really?” Sirius turned round in his chair so that Remus could see his surprise.

“Yes, really. Didn’t your Remus?”

“Barely scraped an OWL and didn’t bother with the NEWT.”

“Yeah, well...it’s a perfectly good sleeping potion. You should drink it while it’s still fresh though.”

Sirius shrugged. He didn’t want a sleeping potion, he knew it wouldn’t help. Getting to sleep wasn’t the problem; it was the nightmares that disturbed his rest that troubled him, and the calming presence of Remus wasn’t there to help him through the night.

-o-xXx-o-

Remus crept from his bed in the early hours of the morning, carefully tiptoeing out of the door so as not to wake the sleeping canine.

He was relieved that his kidnappers had seen fit to leave him his wand, though it wasn’t too surprising since they wanted the people here to believe that he was his double. Not to mention that they hadn’t stuck around long enough for him to even regain consciousness, let alone use it on them.

He wondered if the spell he had in mind would work, but figured that even if it didn’t it was worth a shot.

There was no movement in the house and he went into the living room to ensure that no one heard him.

He recalled what Dumbledore had taught him about using the Patronus Charm to communicate and hoped that the Dumbledore of his world had had the same idea. Even more, he hoped that the Dumbledore in this world was still around to get the message he was about to send.

He was so busy concentrating on the spell, he didn’t hear the sound of footsteps in the staircase, and he didn’t see James Potter watching him from the doorway.

The large dog, a perfect silver copy of the animagus sleeping upstairs, disappeared out of the window with his message and Remus wished he had the ability to follow it.

“You really are a different Remus, aren’t you?” James asked quietly.

“I thought we’d already covered this yesterday?” Remus countered.

“I meant completely different. Your Patronus is Padfoot.”

“Yeah, has been ever since I could conjure it completely.”

“Our Remus’s Patronus is some bird.”

“A human Patronus?”

James laughed and shook his head. “No, a bird with wings, looked like a vulture or something. You can’t fake a Patronus.”

“I know. I just hope that it gets my message to Dumbledore soon.”

“You can use a Patronus to send messages?”

“Yes, can’t you?”

James shook his head and sat down on the sofa. “Never even heard of that being possible.”

“Dumbledore taught all the members of the Order how to do it. It’s the safest way to communicate.”

“What’s the Order?”

“The Order of the Phoenix,” Remus said. “I guess you call it something different since it was named after Dumbledore’s phoenix. It’s a group of witches and wizards who are fighting against our own dark wizard…Voldemort.”

“One dark wizard gets defeated and another one rises to take his place.”

“Unfortunately.”

The two young men sat quietly for a while, each lost in their own thoughts. Remus wondered whether Dumbledore would know how to send a message back to him. He worried that he hadn’t given him enough information and that he’d given him too much. He had half made up his mind to send a second message when James spoke again.

“Have you tried sending a message to your Sirius?”

“I don’t even know if he’s in this world.”

“You could at least try.”

Remus shrugged and pulled out his wand again. “It will probably just home in on the Sirius upstairs.”

“One way to find out.”

Remus cast the charm and watched the large dog form once more. He waited to see which way the Patronus went, but watched in disappointment as it merely shimmered out of sight without leaving the room.

“I guess it didn’t know where to go,” James suggested.

“I guess not.”

-o-xXx-o-

Sirius was just finishing his cigarette when he caught sight of a glimmer of silver out of the corner of his eye.

“Sirius, I hope this message gets to you okay. I don’t know if we’re in the same world any more, but I swear I am going to find you and bring you home. I love you.”

“What was that?” Remus asked as the silvery dog vanished.

“That was a message from my Remus,” Sirius replied with a smile. “Can I borrow your wand to send one back?”

Remus reluctantly handed over his wand and Sirius tried to cast the charm. It wasn’t easy with the unfamiliar wand, but he managed it on the third attempt. The wolf was weaker than Remus’s dog, and he hoped it was strong enough to carry his message back.

-o-xXx-o-

Remus watched the silvery Patronus appear in the place where his own had so recently vanished from.

“Got your message, Moony. Love you too, and am trying to find my way back to you. Try not to do anything stupid.”

“Stupid!” Remus muttered as he pulled out his wand again.

“Mr Moony would like to point out that Mr Padfoot was the first one to get kidnapped.”

“You got kidnapped? Where are you?”

“On another world. I called Dumbledore for help and couldn’t take on him and your double together.”

“Dumbledore was in on it.”

“I know that now!”

“How long have you been there? Are you doing okay?”

“Since yesterday. James and Lily are letting me stay with them. I’m fine.”

“Why aren’t you staying with my double? He’s not another evil one, is he?”

“He’s living here too.”

“I’m staying with your double too, and a whole bunch of other Sirius Blacks.”

“Sounds confusing.”

“I’d say that I wish you could meet them, but I’d rather you didn’t. I don’t want you falling for the charms of any other Sirius Black but me.”

Remus groaned as the latest of Sirius’s messages faded. The ever-present guilt he had been feeling since the previous evening magnified tenfold and he buried his face in his hands. “Fuck!”

James had long since disappeared back upstairs and Remus breathed a sigh of relief that he was not around to see his reaction to the message. This James was far too perceptive for his own good and would be sure to sense that something had happened.

He was still deliberating over what to send back when another Patronus wolf appeared in front of him.

“Remus? What’s wrong? What’s happened?”

Remus pulled out his wand and conjured his Patronus one more time.

“I need you here, Sirius. I miss you so much. I can’t be without you.”

Sirius listened to the message that answered none of his questions at all.

“Sounds like your Remus has been playing away,” the other Remus commented.

“He wouldn’t!” Sirius snapped as he glared at the smirking wizard standing before him.

“Are you sure? He went quiet when you suggested him falling for another you. You know that one of your doubles is living in the same house as he is. You asked him what was wrong and he ignored the question. Seems to me like he’s hiding something.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t I?” Remus smirked at him. “Then why aren’t you sending another message back to him?”

Sirius glared at Remus as he cast the spell once again.

“Love you, Remus. Nothing will ever change that…nothing!”