Remus had been sitting in a chair he'd conjured by the fireplace, one knee crossed over the other, reading a copy of the Daily Prophet. Spencer had fallen asleep and Storm sat on a bed, also conjured by Remus, sharpening the blade on his pocket knife carefully. Suddenly Remus had looked up from the Prophet and looked around the room, his nose twitching.

"Alpha?" Storm's voice was low and he sat up right, high alert, one leg lowering off the side of the bed, ready to spring into action. "What is it?"

"I thought I smelled..." Remus paused, letting his voice trail off, his brow furrowed with concern.

Storm sniffed at the air, but he couldn't identify anything unusual that Remus might be picking up on, only typical scents that one might come across at an inn in a village like the one they were in - which Storm found perfectly fascinating, by the by. The whole concept of a wizarding town had really excited him and he'd been asking Remus near to constant questions before Spencer had fallen asleep, at which point they'd gone quiet so as not to disturb him.

Remus shook his head and leaned back in his chair, his mind racing over thoughts. It made sense in some ways that Sirius would be here in Hogsmeade, but to be so bold as to take out a room at the inn? Surely not. It wasn't as though a dog would be able to let out a room, after all, and what other explanation would there by for Sirius - in his dog form or not - to be at the inn in Hogsmeade? Harry was at Hogwarts, sure, but if Sirius was anywhere near by, he'd be staying in the woods or the caves overlooking the village, surely.

Though Remus had brought them by the Shrieking Shack on the way to the inn. Just in case. Just for a quick glance to calm his over-thinking, over-hopeful mind... and there'd been no sign of him there, no light, no sound.

Remus turned back to his paper and, seeing Remus return to relaxation, Strom relaxed, too, and the quiet fffing, fffffing, fffffing of the whetting stone sliding over the sharp edge of the knife shivered through the room.

Until Remus caught the scent again.

He folded the paper this time, got up, and threw the Prophet onto the seat, walking hurriedly to the door. It was stronger now... and he started undoing the locks.

"Where are you going?" Storm asked, and he got to his feet too, pocketing the whetting stone, but keeping the knife out. "What do you smell?"

Remus didn't reply, he just opened the door and stuck his head out, taking a deep breath and smelling --

"Sirius?" Remus could barely breathe the name, could scarcely believe his eyes. And then his husband - in full human form - came lunging down the corridor, his arms wide, and threw himself at Remus Lupin. Or tried to. He was mid-way when Storm caught him by the back of the shirt and lifted him clear off the ground near to a foot from the floor, Sirius's legs and arms flailing wildly as he spun rather comically, dangling there from Storm's fist.

Remus's jaw dropped in surprise.

Sirius was kicking and cursing and Storm raised his pocket knife, and Remus snapped to himself with the flash of the silver blade. "Hey, hey, hey! Enough! Put him down." Storm hesitated and Remus glared, "Now."

Storm lowered his fist and Sirius's feet touched the carpet, though Storm didn't fully let go of the back of his shirt, and Sirius tore out of his fist roughly, glaring. "Unhand me!" He'd had enough manhandling in his time, and the forceful grip reminded him rather unceremoniously of the night he'd been arrested... "Who the fuck are you?" He looked to Remus, "Who the fuck is this?"

"Storm," they both answered at once. Sirius motioned with his hands to indicate this was not explanation enough and Remus glanced around the corridor nervously, "Come in our room and I'll explain."

Sirius glanced back at Oliver Kent's door, then hesitantly followed Remus into their room, followed by Storm, who reluctantly folded his pocket knife and came along into the room. When they'd closed the door, Remus turned to Sirius. "Storm is one of the werewolf leaders in my pack and he was accompanying me to --"

Spencer sat up in the bed, "What's going on?" he asked sleepily, then, seeing Sirius, he gasped loudly. "You! What are you doing here?!" Panic was clear on his face.

"Stewie! It's alright!" Remus shouted at exactly the same time as Sirius snarled -

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here? In my husband's bed, no less." His eyes darkened, "Again."

Stewie said, "But you're supposed to be in Azkaban."

"I escaped," hissed Sirius, "Just to commit the murder I ought to have done eleven years ago --" Sirius's eyes flashed at Spencer, implying he was the one Sirius had escaped to search out and Spencer's eyes widened.

"Spencer is in his own bed," Remus said harshly, cutting in. "Mine is the one closer to the window, if you must know. This is my delegation party and we are on our way back to Iceland after visiting one of the other families in the pack and have stopped here so I could meet with Dumbledore on our findings during our delegation. Now, Sirius, if you will please take a breath and stop jumping to conclusions -- The question is what are you doing here, wandering around the inn in your --" Remus paused, not wanting to say human form, even if neither Storm nor Stewie would particularly understand the implications. "What if you're caught?"

"Well I wasn't just wandering around," Sirius said, "I was writing a letter in a locked room and smelled my husband."

"How did you get a room?" Remus asked.

"Husband?" Storm said.

Remus only stared at Sirius, though, and Sirius at Remus. It was as though nothing else existed outside the pair of them. They'd always had that knack of closing off the rest of the world, of being present only with each other, and they were doing that now.

"If you had read my letters, you'd have known I was here, trying to help my godson," Sirius snapped.

"What letters?" Remus scoffed.

"I've only sent about a hundred!" Sirius replied hotly.

"You haven't," Remus said.

Sirius growled, "Maybe you should ask your little guard dogs if they've been pilfering your mail."

"I would never!" Spencer flared up and Remus waved a palm for him to quiet.

"My guard dogs do not receive my owls, but I have only had correspondence from Albus Dumbledore for some time now, Sirius. The last owl you sent was before I went north."

Sirius glared at Remus, "Before you abandoned me, you mean?"

"Me abandon you? Sirius, who left who in Costa Rica?"

"For my godson! For James!"

"Your godson is named HARRY, Sirius, and I followed after you near to immediately and nearly got myself captured by the Ministry because you couldn't wait bloody five seconds to think things through before acting on a bloody whim!" Remus snapped. "AS USUAL!"

"There was no time for thinking about it!" Sirius bellowed, "If James is in danger --"

"His name is Harry!"

"I KNOW WHAT MY GODSON'S FUCKING NAME IS!"

"And what have you done to help him thus far?" Remus demanded nastily. "Are you going to fight the dragon for him? As Snuffles? Just go and nip at the dragon's ankles?"

"What dragon?"

"Ah yes, you're so well connected that even in Iceland, I've managed to hear about the dragons before you have done."

"Because apparently Dumbledore's kept you in his pocket as a nice little pet --"

"Dumbledore didn't tell me about the dragons!" Remus said, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah? Then who did? Certainly not Harry."

"Charlie Weasley," Remus said, "And Nymphadora Tonks." Remus had one hand in a pocket and then stirred back up and said, "Actually no you know what, Harry could have written to me, why the bloody hell did you say it like that? You don't know!"

"Oh so Tonks and Cha-cha can go and see you and hear from you but Heaven forbid your fucking husband get that same opportunity, huh, Professor Lupin? On the run from the Ministry but inviting an Auror over for tea seems intelligent as all hell!"

"Tonks knew where the Pack House is located and came of her own volition," Remus said. "It had nothing to do with tea!"

"You could've at least invited me, too," Sirius was rambling on, ignoring Remus's explanation.

"Do you want to come to Iceland with me?" Remus demanded. "You can come with us when we leave tomorrow if that's what you want. You can prove yourself more useful there than you've done here, at least."

"Clearly it isn't what you want!"

"Sirius I was concerned for your sake, because of Chase Volsung - as I am concerned now! He could have a trace on me and arrive at any moment, and then what?"

"We jump out the window like last time," Sirius shrugged.

"Jump out the --?" Storm looked concerned.

"Well then come to fucking Iceland!" Remus shouted. "And I'll show you just which window to take a flying fucking leap from."

"I can't! I'm needed here. We are needed here. By my godson, Remus, by James's son! By Harry! Remember him? We swore to Lily we'd protect him if anything ever happened."

"And what are we going to do? Again, are you going to bloody nip the ankles of a dragon as Snuffes?"

"IF I MUST!"

"SNUFFLES TEETH WOULD BE WHOLLY INEFFECTUAL AGAINST A DRAGON, YOU ARSEHOLE!"

"I COULD CERTAINLY GIVE IT A GO INSTEAD OF SIMPLY ABANDONING EVERYONE TO GO AND PLAY ALPHA WITH A BUNCH OF FUCKING WOLVES THAT HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU. THEY AREN'T YOUR RESPONSIBILITY!"

"I am not playing Alpha to them I actually fucking AM their Alpha!" Remus growled. "The werewolves need me and yes, they ARE my responsibility actually. The second I fought Greyback they were mine and I've let them down once and I'm not going to do it again. You have no idea what is going on in Iceland, in my community, in my family.... You're blind to it, just as you've always been, wildly coming in here and accusing me of not writing you and instantly getting on to Spencer. You've no idea what he's been through all these years you've been gone --"

"What HE has been through? What HE has -- What about what I'VE been through? Twelve years in Azkaban, Remus! TWELVE YEARS IN AZKABAN WITH DEMENTORS AND HAVE YOU ASKED ME EVEN ONCE ABOUT MY EXPERIENCES, ABOUT WHAT IT WAS LIKE IN THAT SHITHOLE OF A PRISON, WITH THE WAVES CRASHING AND CONSTANT THUNDER AND THE HISSING OF THAT INCESSANT ACHYLYS? WITH MY MOTHER'S MOANINGS AND MY DARLING COUSINS CALLING OUT ACROSS THE WAY? NO YOU HAVEN'T ASKED BECAUSE YOU'VE NEVER GIVEN A DAMN ABOUT WHAT I GO THROUGH ALSO LONG AS YOU AREN'T TO BLAME FOR IT."

"Your mother?"

"You don't even know."

"YOU'VE NEVER TOLD ME OF COURSE I DON'T!"

"ASK!"

"TELL ME WITHOUT ME ASKING IF YOU WANT ME TO KNOW SOMETHING FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, I AM NOT A MIND READER SIRIUS, I DON'T KNOW THAT YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO TELL ME IF YOU DON'T - JUST - TELL - ME!"

"You should care enough to WONDER."

"I DIDN'T WANT TO HURT YOU BY MAKING YOU RELIVE SHIT YOU PUT IN YOUR PAST!!"

"YOU HURT ME BY NOT CARING ENOUGH TO ASK!"

Remus pinched the bridge of his nose. Tears threatened his eyes and he looked down at his feet, taking deep breaths, trying to steady himself. "Sirius," he said when he'd leveled off, "You never ask me this sort of stuff either. You don't know where the Pack House is in Iceland because YOU NEVER ASKED. Not in 1980 and not now. You could've known where to find me ages ago. But you were too busy coming up with convoluted theories and calling me the fucking traitor when all the gods-damned time it was ----" Remus stopped mid sentence.

Sirius glared.

Remus glared back.

"It wasn't me. It wasn't me, Remus, it wasn't me. I don't know how many ways I can tell that to you, how many ways I can prove it. I didn't fucking betray you. I'D RATHER DIE THAN BETRAY YOU."

"THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU COME TO ICELAND?"

Sirius scowled. "You didn't want me there then... and I don't believe you want me there now. I'm not one of you." He waved his hands around the room at Storm and Spencer.

"You're right Sirius, you're NOT one of us," Remus snapped, "And you should be really glad because you think your life is sooo hard the way it is, try doing it with a Furry Little Problem that never stops destroying you. Over and over again."

Sirius stared directly at Remus for a long moment, his voice low he muttered, "YOU ARE the Furry Little Problem that never stops destroying me, over and over again."