A story, chucked into my head by a question asked by Mesteria in the Bellatrix Lestrange: The Dark Lord's Most Faithful forum.

The creaking old building was silent; creepily so. A tall boy stood in the upstairs, a hand pressed against a closed door, staring down at the bare floorboards. His white teeth were clenched together, he had a slither of blood trickling from the gash in his forehead, slipping through his eyebrow, over his closed amber eye, down his chiselled high cheek bone, to the corner of his mouth. His tongue slipped out to taste the copper like liquid.

It had been hours, it was completely silent, for a few moments more, then the whimpering started. The sun had started to filter into the building, casting long shadows. It was over for now. Sirius sighed, looking up at the ceiling, steeling himself for what he was about to walk in on. They did this every month. One thought you'd get used to it, but every time, his heart wrenched harder than ever. He ran his hand through his black hair, pushing the unruly locks behind his ear as he stalled. He couldn't put it off any longer though.

He turned towards the door, reached out. His hand wrapped around the brass knob, and stayed there. He was shaking, from head to foot. So much for his Gryffindor courage. He was scared. He knew what he would find, but he was terrified. His heart was hammering in his chest as though it was trying to break out from his ribs. It was painful. He took in a deep breath and twisted the knob. The door creaked on its hinges, groaning from years of use. It opened fully, and Sirius stopped. His heart stopped. His brain stopped. His breathing stopped... He crumpled to his knees, staring at the curled up, bloody shaking mess of his best friend.

Naked skin was streaked with blood, rips, teeth marks, dirt. Sweat and blood matted light brown hair in tufts over the boy's eyes, tears left clean lines on his face. His lips were parted, releasing short pain filled whimpers and harsh fits of coughs from having such a dry mouth. Around the naked boy, there were scratches etched into the floor and walls, blood spattered everywhere, it looked as though someone had been murdered in there. The old decrepit curtains were half rotten and let in more light than they kept out, allowing streaks of the early morning sun to fall across the young man's naked tortured body.

"Mate..." Sirius whispered. Tears welled in his amber eyes threatening to spill over in fat streams. He scrambled towards his friend, scratching at the filthy floorboards in his effort to get to Moony. As carefully as he could, he lifted the naked boy into his arms, and sat there cradling him. Moony was so weak he just leant limply against him. Sirius's mind was completely blank. Other than comforting the young man in his arms, he didn't know what to do. Prongs and Wormtail had somehow managed to get in detention the night before. He'd been here all night, keeping an eye out the best he could, but the others couldn't get out. He simply held Moony against himself, hoping and praying that he would be ok until the other two could finally get to them.

"Sirius," a very hoarse, rattling, quiet voice sounded out from under his chin, where he was cradling the other boys head. Sirius pulled back, looking into the dark brown eyes of his best friend. The pain reflected in them, shattered what little bit of Sirius's heart was left.

"I'm not healing," He croaked. Panic flashed in Sirius's eyes.

"I... Moony." The black haired boy's face crinkled in horrified worry. He'd have to carry him back on his own.

"I'm going to put you down, and go find the clothes Prongs hid downstairs for you. I'll only be a moment." He pressed his thin lips to his friend's forehead, trying to reassure him. Damn it why hadn't Prongs and Wormtail turned up yet?

He set the weak boy back down on the floorboards, scrambled to his feet and went in search of the clothes. James always kept some there for moments like these. He might be a complete imbecile at times, but he was always quick to defend his friends from embarrassment. And what was more embarrassing than being carried through Hogwarts naked? It took a good 15 minutes of searching for Sirius to locate the clothing. James had them hidden in a cupboard in what had once been a kitchen. He had pulled the door so hard, the whole thing came away from the wall, crashing to the floor, skinning his shin on the way down.

He swore ferociously, kicking at the rotten wood with his right foot and lost his balance. His handsome, strong proud persona was crumbling as he almost broke down. Nothing seemed to be going right. His best friend in the whole world, the one who would lay his life on the line for, was damaged, bleeding, torn upstairs, and he was falling apart at the seams. He grabbed the pants and shirt, yanking them from underneath the rotten wood. He knew they wouldn't be very hygienic now. He scourgified them as he ran back up the stairs. Remus lay, silent, limp and unconscious on the floor, still bleeding freely from his wounds.

Sirius acted quickly, yanking the loose pants up the boys legs. He was horrified at how thin and brittle he looked, his ribs jutting out, his skin pale and sickly looking, from what you could see between the drying blood. He lifted the thin boys torso, leaning him forward against himself, steadying him with one arm, as he tried to pull the shirt onto him with the other. He didn't bother fastening it, he didn't have time to fiddle with buttons. He lifted the boy into his arms, almost glad of his thinness because it made him easier to carry. He walked as fast as he could to the passage and swore vehemently at it for being such a tight squeeze.

"I'm sorry mate," He whispered to his unconscious friend as he rearranged him. He was now hugging his legs as he lifted him over his shoulder. It took too long to get him back to Hogwarts grounds. He couldn't run for fear of jerking the boy and damaging him further. He went as quickly and calmly as he possibly could, cursing the winding twisting confined corridor. He finally made it to the whomping willow which stilled at a touch of the knot in it. Rearranging Moony for the second time he ran like a maniac, shouting at the top of his lungs for Dumbledore as he burst through the front doors of the school. It was still breakfast time and the great hall was crowded with tired students. Everyone turned, shocked, and quickly horrified at the sight of one of the Marauders sobbing, and carrying a limp unconscious blood covered marauder. Dumbledore was there in mere seconds, guiding him towards the hospital wing, trying to comfort and get as much information out of him as he could.

Days passed by. Sirius stayed by the boys side, never leaving, except for rare toilet breaks. James and Peter stopped by whenever they could, spending breakfast, dinner, tea and any spare time they could in the hospital ward with them, but Sirius refused to leave. Everything had been explained away to him, and he knew that Remus was safe. He knew right to the pit of his being that his Moony wasn't going to get any worse, but he couldn't leave until the other boys eyes were open and he could say the words.

"Silly boy... why did you have to have a muggle mum? You know if you didn't, you wouldn't have gotten a cold," Sirius said to the sleeping boy. "Silly, silly boy. It put your defences down, stripped your healing abilities." He sighed, holding back his unmanly tears as he gripped the boy's right hand. "I've never been so scared in my life," He whispered. He looked up, his amber eyes betraying his surprise as he felt a hand on his shoulder. Dumbledore smiled softly down into his eyes. He gave a tight lipped smile back, before turning back to his friend. Dumbledore popped in once a day, trying to comfort Sirius with his presence he supposed. He came in, gave his shoulder a squeeze and went off to talk to Madam Pomfrey.

On the fourth day Remus woke, looking up at his 3 friends. It was Sunday and they had sat around, talking quietly all day with each other. It was almost dinner when a croaking ratting cough escaped from between Moony's lips. His eyes opened slowly, red and foggy from being closed for so long. He sat up coughing, wincing and gasping as he tried to get the tickle out of his throat. Sirius was there immediately with a glass of water, holding his friend steadily as he put the glass to his lips.

"If you ever get a cold again, I will kill you myself," He said in to his friend's ear. When the glass was replaced on the little cabinet at the side of the bed, Moony found himself at the bottom of a marauders pile-on. They laughed as they welcomed him back to the group, holding him tight until he complained of lack of air. It was still Sirius that stayed beside him when the other two went for food. When the boys eyes met, Moony saw a silent message in his best friends eyes. They smiled, and butted foreheads affectionately holding onto each other, knowing they wouldn't be parted. Not this time.

Reviews are very much welcome. even if its just to point out spelling mistakes :D To those who found faults, tell me, its the only way i'll ever get better :D

x em