Disclaimer - I still own nothing that you recognise.

Notes - This story is the fifth in my Trouble/Parallel Worlds series. Yes, I know I said the fourth one was the last one - but I this one suddenly popped into my head and demanded to be written as well. It should (I hope) pretty much stand alone, but if you want to read the previous ones they are Double Trouble, Catch A Quaffle, Triple Trouble and Trouble with a Capital T. Enjoy.

Warnings - Slash - am tempted to include several pairings in this one but the main one will be Remus and Sirius. There won't be anything very graphic in the story though. There will also be a bit of bad language.

Too Much Trouble

"This is the one!" Sirius exclaimed as he threw himself backward onto the bed. Apparently, the signs warning customers not to test the merchandise weren't relevant to him.

"You're sure this time?" Remus asked, as he walked to the other side of the bed to check the price.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Sirius replied, and he reached out to pull Remus down onto the bed with him. "It's perfect."

"Then let's find a member of staff and pay for it," Remus suggested. "Before we get thrown out."

Remus sat on the window seat, looking out at the night sky. He cast the occasional glance towards the bed, where the gold motifs on the deep red bedding were shining in the moonlight.

Sirius was stretched out on the bed, fast asleep. He would have appeared dead to the world, were it not for the occasional snore that practically shook the room. Remus smiled to himself as a particularly loud one resonated through the room. His smile disappeared though, when he heard the sound of a dog-like whimper coming from the bed. He turned to look at Sirius and saw that one of his arms was stretched out across the mattress, his hand reaching out blindly in the dark.

Remus hopped down from the window seat and padded across to the bed, slipping back beneath the sheets as carefully as he could.

Sirius's hand soon found what he was searching for and a contented smile appeared on his face. He pulled Remus closer and sleepily nuzzled his neck.

The bed was perfect, but Sirius could only sleep peacefully when he was sharing it with Remus.

-o-xXx-o-

Remus stood in the Entrance Hall of Hogwarts Castle. The walls were bare of pictures and the few torches in the sconces had long since burnt out.

He walked towards the Great Hall, listening for the sounds of students, only to hear nothing.

It wouldn't have been so disconcerting if it had been night. Remus and his friends had wandered the school during the night on many occasions, and knew how deserted it appeared in the hours of darkness. But the bright sunlight glaring through the windows gave away the hour of the day.

The Great Hall was deserted and Remus turned down one of the corridors, wondering if this was what the school was like during the holidays.

He walked towards the nearest classroom and tried the door. The room was locked and he moved on to the next one, only to find that was locked too.

Remus wandered the school for some time before he made his way towards the familiar haven of Gryffindor Tower. The Fat Lady was, as he'd expected, absent from her post at the entrance. Instead a simple painting of a gateway guarded the entrance. He tried several of the passwords that he recalled from his days at school, but none of them opened the doorway.

He was about to give up and make his way to the headmaster's office when he heard the first sound not made by himself since he'd arrived.

The scream came from below him and echoed eerily through the castle. It was a scream of terror and one that he knew immediately who had made it. "Sirius," he breathed as he took off at a run down the stairs.

The screams came again and again, beckoning Remus downwards, until finally he was in the underground corridor that led to the Slytherin dungeons.

Remus reached for his wand, only to find it was missing. He stumbled down the corridor, tripping occasionally in the darkness. The further down the corridor he went, the more sounds he could hear that proved he wasn't alone in the building. Each door was locked, but Remus could hear whispers, groans and cries coming from each of them as he passed.

Finally, he reached the end of the corridor and the entrance to the Slytherin common room. Just like Gryffindor Tower, the common room's portrait was no longer guarding the entrance. A painting of a gateway, almost identical to the previous one, was in the place of the portrait…this one however stood open, and Remus found that he could easily swing open the painting and enter the room.

A single torch lit the room that Remus knew as the Slytherin common room. Most of the room was still in darkness, but Remus could see enough to make out the solitary figure curled up on the floor.

Black hair, longer than he remembered, fell into the man's eyes. Remus stepped forward to brush it back. He'd found what he was looking for…he'd found Sirius.

His hand reached for Sirius' s own, but it seemed that the man lying on the floor didn't want his touch. He recoiled in horror.

"It's okay, Sirius," Remus whispered. "It's me, Remus. I've come to get you."

"Remus?" Sirius whimpered.

"That's right," Remus replied.

"Remus." Sirius whispered his name, practically hissing the 's', before finally turning to face him. Remus's smile froze on his face as Sirius let out another scream of horror at seeing him there.

-o-xXx-o-

Remus woke to the familiar sensation of soft lips pressed against his own. He opened his eyes and looked into the grey ones twinkling down at him.

"Morning," Sirius greeted him with a grin and another kiss. "Sleep well?"

"Hmm," Remus replied, deliberately looking away as he mumbled the lie.

Sirius gripped his chin tenderly and turned his face back to him. "The nightmare came back again?" he asked.

Remus nodded mutely.

"You worry too much," Sirius scolded. "None of the Marauders are evil on this world, least of all you."

"But-"

"Remus, stop it! If you were evil, you'd hardly be spending so much time worrying about it, would you?"

Remus gave a small shrug.

"I'm not a Death Eater, Peter's not a Death Eater, James and Lily aren't Death Eaters and you aren't one either."

"I know that," Remus sighed. "But, it doesn't stop the nightmare coming back again and again."

"I could never scream in horror at seeing you," Sirius told him. "No matter what happens, you're my Moony, and I love you."

Remus smiled up at Sirius and wound his arms around the other man's waist. "What would I do without you?" he asked.

"You'd suffer dreadfully, from boredom during the day and sexual frustration at night," Sirius answered with a grin.

Remus laughed and flipped Sirius onto his back. "I'll give you sexual frustration," he teased.

"I've got work today," Sirius pointed out with obvious regret.

"Call in sick," Remus suggested with a wicked grin.

"I've already missed two days this month. And it's only the twelfth."

Remus ignored him as he trailed kisses down his chest, his hand already wandering towards the increasing bulge in Sirius's boxers.

"I'll need to think of some more original illnesses," Sirius commented as he shivered under Remus's ministrations. Then he felt Remus's hand gripping him and forgot about work entirely.

-o-xXx-o-

Despite Remus's best efforts to persuade him otherwise, Sirius decided that perhaps skipping the entire day might be pushing things too far. He downed a particularly revolting potion to induce cold-like symptoms and headed out to work.

He parked his motorbike in the muggle parking lot a few minutes walk from Diagon Alley and strolled out into the afternoon sun. He didn't see the wizard following close behind him, and he didn't hear any whispered incantation. One moment he was walking down the street, the next there was nothing but pain and blackness.

-o-xXx-o-

When Sirius first returned to consciousness he wasn't entirely sure that he had. Only the pain in his lower back, where the stunning spell had hit him, gave away the fact that he was awake.

"I see you're awake," a familiar voice commented from behind him.

Sirius tried to turn to face the speaker, but the full body bind he was in prevented him from moving.

He heard footsteps approaching him and then long purple robes came into view. "As you can see, he's your exact double," Dumbledore said, turning to face someone out of Sirius's view.

"Remarkable."

Sirius felt his heart rate increase as he recognised his own voice.

"He works for the Quidditch League Organisation, based in Diagon Alley," Dumbledore announced in a business-like manner, almost as though he was merely introducing the two of them over dinner. "He lives in a flat on the outskirts of London, chosen for its suitability for the werewolf who shares it with him."

"Werewolf?"

"Remus Lupin," Dumbledore explained. "He was in your year at school, Gryffindor student…"

"Ah, yes. I remember him now. Sickly looking kid."

"That's the one. You'll have to convince him that you are his friend with minimal information. Do you think you can do it?"

"Not like I've got much choice," Sirius snapped. "The Dark Lord was defeated three months ago in my world, I don't intend joining him in Azkaban. If I take this one's place, I'll be home free."

"You'll also be my right hand man, when the time comes," Dumbledore stated.

"On this world?"

"I don't know yet," Dumbledore admitted. "I've been setting various plans into motion on numerous worlds…which world I retire to will depend on how well those plans come to fruition."

"Is this your original world?"

"Goodness, no!" Dumbledore exclaimed. "My foolish double on this world was the one who opened the portal to my world, and inadvertently released me from my prison. I left him languishing in my cell, stole his wand and took over his life with very little trouble."

"I hope I can take over this one's life as easily," Sirius sneered, stepping into the eye line of the still bound Sirius for the first time.

"It should be easy enough," Dumbledore replied. "The only thing you need to be aware of is that your double and his friends have done some portal travelling of their own, including a brief visit to a possible future. They know things."

Sirius shrugged easily. "Not a problem. They won't have a clue we've switched."

"Then let's send your double somewhere he can't cause any mischief," Dumbledore said with barely concealed eagerness.

Sirius felt the body bind spell vanish and he flexed his limbs slightly before struggling to his feet. "You won't be able to fool Moony for more than a minute," he sneered.

"Moony, is it?" the other Sirius smirked, and Sirius swore under his breath that within a matter of seconds he'd given his duplicate information that would help him.

He glared at the two men facing him and reached for his wand, not surprised in the least to find that it had gone.

-o-xXx-o-

It didn't escape Sirius's notice that he was being taken to the dungeons and the Slytherin quarters of the school…the same place that haunted Remus's nightmares. Night had long since fallen, and he knew that Remus was no doubt already worried at his absence.

Sirius could see no way out of his predicament, but where he might fail, Padfoot would sometimes succeed.

He waited until they were in the Entrance Hall before transforming into his animagus form and bolting for the door. He made it part way to the school gates before another stunning spell hit him and he passed out for the second time that day.

-o-xXx-o-

Remus looked at the clock for the fourth time in as many minutes. It wasn't like Sirius to be late home, in fact he usually crept out of work early. Remus hoped he wasn't in trouble for failing to go in that morning, and that he was merely putting in a few extra hours to make up for his absence.

It was nearly midnight when he heard the door quietly opening.

"Through here," he called out, sensing that Sirius was being quiet in order to avoid waking him.

"You didn't have to wait up for me," Sirius scolded.

"I was worried," Remus admitted. "You didn't get in trouble for skiving off this morning, did you?"

"Nah, nothing the old Black charm can't handle."

Remus breathed a sigh of relief. "So, want to pick up where we left off this morning?" he asked seductively.

Sirius looked back at him blankly for a moment before realisation dawned. "Actually, I'm feeling kind of tired, long day you know?"

Remus tried to quell the disappointment he felt at the rejection. Sirius never turned down the offer of sex. He wondered if perhaps Sirius had got into more trouble at work than he was letting on, and he merely nodded his response. He watched as Sirius made his way towards the kitchen, emerging a moment later with a glass of water, before heading to the bedroom.

Remus sat up a little longer before finally making his way to the bedroom. Sirius was stretched out in his usual place on the bed, snoring away, and perfectly content. Remus smiled as he undressed and climbed into the bed. Sirius must have been exhausted to have dropped off to sleep so suddenly and deeply. He inched his way closer to the other man and made to snuggle up beside him. He told himself that Sirius was still asleep, and had no idea what he was doing, as he turned over, away from Remus and his touch.

-o-xXx-o-

When Sirius came to he found himself in a damp and cold room, and facing his double once more.

"You bastard!" he yelled as he scrambled towards the other Sirius and tackled him to the ground.

"Ge' off," the other Sirius choked out as Sirius grabbed him round the throat. He felt hands pulling him back and struggled to release himself from their grip.

"Calm down, mate," a voice said to his left and he turned to goggle at another Sirius double.

"Yeah," a third Sirius said from his other side. "We've all been there, taken from our own worlds and shoved in here whilst our doubles wreak havoc with our lives."

Sirius looked around the room and saw one Sirius after another step forward into the light. "How many are there?" he asked.

"You're number twelve," the Sirius to his right said. "Welcome to Hogwart's Prison."

-o-xXx-o-

A/N: I am not going to promise rapid updates on this one, though I will try to squeeze out at least one per month in between updating my other stories.