Sorry it's taken me so long to update! I thought I had put all three parts of this story up *head desk* Anyway, here's the final installment, I hope you like it! Please leave a review and you can have some cyber sweeties :)

Part 3:

Snape, Sirius and James filed resolutely into Dumbledore's office, the old man striding ahead of them. He sat down in the high backed chair behind his desk, and crossed his fingers on the dark wood. He motioned to the three chairs, already arranged in a misshapen semi-circle, and the boys sat down before him. They all stayed silent, all too shocked and ashamed to say anything, not even in defence of themselves.

It was Dumbledore who broke the silence, looking at each of the boys individually with his piercing blue eyes. "I have never been as disgusted with the actions of any student as I am with those of you three boys today." He intoned in a severe voice the likes of which Sirius had never heard before on Dumbledore's tongue. This was without a doubt the angriest he had seen Dumbledore in his time at Hogwarts, and he wised desperately that he had not caused it. A heavy ball of dread settled in his stomach and on his shoulders, and he slumped forwards in his chair. He caught a sidelong glance from James, which was still saturated the anger for his stupidity that had not dissipated at all in the half-hour- had it really only been that long?- since he had left him so coldly. He could tell it would take some time for that rage to fully disappear, if it ever did. The worst thing was that he knew he deserved it all.

"I know there are several sides to this story and, frankly, I would rather not hear them, but it is my duty as headmaster to understand this. Mr Snape, if you would go first please."

Snape looked uncomfortable, repeatedly clearing his lank hair from his vision. "Well, sir, I was doing some research, in the library, this afternoon, when Black came in and punched me and-"

"Sir, he did this!" Sirius interrupted angrily, pointing to the gash in his cheek, the edges of which were just starting to heal.

"Enough, Mr Black, you will have your turn!" Dumbledore silenced him.

Snape's mouth twitched in the beginning of a sneer, and he carried on. "And then he told me to go into the willow if I wanted to find out about Lupin, obviously hoping the monster would kill me."

Sirius was on him in a moment, his wand in hand, bearing down on Snape with a face like thunder. "Liar! You little-"

"Mr Black, sit down! Or I will be forced to inform your parents about this," Sirius shied away from Dumbledore's threat, because he knew that Snape was not worth that. When he returned to his seat, Dumbledore sighed, and motioned Snape to continue.

"So I went down to the tree, and Potter came after me, probably to make sure the door was shut behind me," Sirius held his tongue at this, clenching his fists so hard that he could feel the tiny crescent bruises being formed under his nails. "And then he got cold feet and pulled me out when he thought I would tell people," Dumbledore shot a warning glance at James, who had been getting to his feet, and he stopped himself from retaliating.

"But I am going to expose this, Professor. A werewolf, in our school, a werewolf! What if it kills someone, or bites someone? It's a beast, it-"

There was a flash and Sirius was blasted back into his chair, his wand spinning through the air until Dumbledore caught it between two withered, old fingers. Sirius nodded in defeat, and did not make to get up again. Dumbledore spun to face Snape.

"You will not tell anyone of this, Mr Snape, if you value your place at this school."

"But, sir, they hid a werewolf! How can you-"

"No, Mr Snape, I allowed Mr Lupin to attend this school in full awareness of his condition. Whilst the actions of Mr Black were foolish and dangerous, the ultimate blame for this incident lies with me." Dumbledore said, with a measure of finality. Snape looked appalled.

"But that's against the law!"

"Any wizard child has the right to an education; surely you knew that, Severus?"

"Yes, but-"

"But what?" Dumbledore interrupted, with the tone of voice that suggested he were talking to an infuriating two-year-old, not a boy of sixteen.

"But he's a monster!"

"So you keep saying, Mr Snape, but I have never found Mr Lupin anything but a charming lad with great potential." The corners of Dumbledore's mouth curled up in a small smile as he said this, which made Sirius want to hug the old man for his fairness.

Snape gaped. "I'm still going to report this," he said, but not with the conviction of someone who would carry out their threats.

"Unless you wish to be expelled, I suggest you do not." Dumbledore turned back to Sirius, the smile dead on his lips. "Seeing as you seem to be the main antagonist of this incident, I wish to hear your version of events next, Mr Black."

Sirius nodded, and swallowed, trying to clear his head. It was swimming with excuses, reasons and various ways he could turn this around, and he could barely find himself in the mess of it all. This wasn't a time for lies.

"I... I was bored, sir, and so I went to the library. Well, I went to the library to find Snape." He amended, keeping his eyes shamefully down. "And, I, I mean, we fought and I wasn't thinking so I told him to go jab the willow- so he'd get beaten up, not get in- and then I walked off. I never thought he'd get in, sir, never!"

"He's lying, Professor! He wanted Lupin to kill me, he-"

"Mr Snape, what I said to Mr Black on the subject of interrupting extends just as easily to you," Dumbledore warned, his piercing gaze still fixed on Sirius. Snape quieted begrudgingly.

Sirius carried on, hoping that he would finish what he needed to say before his courage deserted him. "And so I went back to the tower and told James, just as a joke, and he got worried and went to save Snape, because he knew I had done it all wrong. James only helped Snape, sir, he never did anything like what I did; you mustn't punish him!" Sirius had been about to say something else but the Headmaster cut him off, a brief smile passing over his face.

"Mr Potter will not be punished Mr Black, have no fear of that." Dumbledore assured him, with a warning tone in his voice. "You, on the other hand..."

Sirius bowed his head. "Whatever you want, Professor."

Dumbledore smiled grimly at the boy before him, pleased by the humility he was displaying. Snape gave a little snort.

Dumbledore's attention was then drawn to the other boy in the room, whose untidy black hair was falling gracelessly across the thick lenses that covered his eyes. James did not look like any hero- the surly teenager with mud-splattered jeans and a torn shirt whose fist was clenched tightly at his side. This, added to the inch-think detention file labelled 'James Potter', made the aging wizard what manner of a boy was sitting before him.

"Mr Potter, would you please tell us all what happened it the Shrieking Shack?"

"What's to tell? I made him come back; I made sure Remus didn't hurt him- isn't that enough?"

James struggled with himself, with all his emotions. His fist tightened ad he bit his tongue to stop him from screaming. He just did not know what to think, what to do, what to say. Instead, he concentrated on keeping everything buried beneath his skin, where only he could worry about it.

He heard Dumbledore clear his throat as though from a distance, unconnected to the world he lived in. "Very good, Mr Potter."

He half-listened as Dumbledore doled out the punishments- a week's detention for Snape, for being out of bounds after hours, and a month's worth for Sirius, who was also required to help the house elves to make breakfast in the morning for the next week as extra reprimand for his stupidity. James hardly cared. Sirius deserved everything he got.

With this done, Dumbledore warned Snape to keep his silence once more then dismissed them. They left the office in a surly silence, ad for once Sirius did not taunt Snape once they were out of earshot. Sirius walked at James' side, but James paid no attention to him.

"James, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do anything you know that-"

"Shut up Sirius. I am not in the mood for it. If you want to do something, go and wait to help Moony when he... comes back."

He turned away and walked back to Gryffindor tower with his fists clenched at his side. He shut everything out and tied not to think about any of it. It was not until he reached the portrait hole that he realised he had come back alone.

Remus' head was killing him, and for a moment he didn't know where he was. Then the world came back into focus, and he found that he was resting face-down on the mistreated floor of the shack, with claw marks all around him. Before he got up, he did an inventory of his wounds and was displeased by what he found. There were three parallel scratches leaking wetness from his calf, and a ring of bloody holes close to his wrist that tapered up his arm. He flexed his fingers. They seemed to work fine, so he rolled himself over with a small moan and began to sit up. He had expected this, of course, when he realised he would not have company that night, but he had hoped that perhaps the time with the other animals would have tamed the wolf some so that it would not try to satiate its bloodlust with its own (and Remus') flesh. Flashes of the night before struck him, but he ignored them because they seemed utterly nonsensical- random images clouded with anger and blood. With a grimace, he spat on the floorboards, leaving a red stain.

A scuffle caught his attention, and his eyes swivelled to look into the corner of the ruined room. Sirius was there, hugging his knees to his chest in Remus' chair, looking haunted and vulnerable. There were bluish-purple bruises under his eyes and his hair was dishevelled, hanging in thick clumps around his ears. There were lines up and down his arms and, most chilling of all, a semi-circle of jagged indents visible through the torn material of his shirt on his shoulder.

"Sirius?" Remus said in a strangled yelp, fearing the worst and hating himself beyond belief. He staggered to his feet, ignoring the pain that flared in his leg, and ran to Sirius. "What happened, Sirius? Oh my god, I didn't..."

"It's fine, Moony, I was transformed." Sirius stated numbly without making eye contact.

"But what if I still infected you? Sirius, I'm so sorry, please-"

"Remus, you've bitten me before and it didn't do anything. I just didn't tell you about it,"

Remus let himself breathe again, but Sirius stayed stock still where he was sitting, staring into space. Remus looked down at himself and self-consciously took his clothes from the chest of drawers and dressed himself with his back to Sirius. The nylon material of his shirt stuck to his skin, slick with sweat, saliva and blood, and his trousers were uncomfortable and itchy on his wounds, but he was used to that.

"It's not you that should be apologizing anyway, Moony; it's me. You haven't done anything wrong."

The sincerity in Sirius' voice caught Remus somewhat off-guard. He dropped to his knees to look him in the eye, but Sirius just looked through him. Up close, he could see the evidence of tear trails down Sirius' face. "What's going on?"

"I," he began, then bit his lip and stopped. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"I told Snape how to get into the shack. He knows."

Remus' legs went weak and his knees shook. "W-what?"

Sirius put his head in his hands to hide his face. "I told him. I didn't mean to- it was supposed to be a joke, not this. Not this."

Remus sat down heavily on the floor, breathing hard. "Is he...?" He questioned as his world crashed about his ears.

"No! No, Remus, James... stopped you. And Snape won't tell anyone. He promised Dumbledore." Sirius blinked sharply, and shook himself. He knew he had no right to be so desolate when it was Remus that had suffered.

Remus nodded, his eyes glistening. "Okay, Sirius. Okay."

"But... aren't you mad at me?" Sirius looked up dazedly, but with a glimmer of scepticism and guardedness. Remus shook his head sadly and piteously.

"No. I'd like to be- that would make things easier- but I can't be. You're alive, James's alive, I assume Peter is fine and Snape is not hurt and won't talk. That seems okay to me." Remus shrugged, then wished he hadn't when it irritated his arm. "I just wish you had thought about this a little more."

Sirius rubbed his eyes and slapped the side of his head. "But, I-"

Remus put his hands on Sirius' shoulders and made him look him in the eye. "Sirius, I know you. You did not mean to hurt anyone. And it's not like this is the worst thing anyone has ever done to me- look at Fenrir Greyback."

"Who?"

Remus mentally kicked himself and crossed his arms on his lap. "The man who bit me. That's his name."

"Oh, right."

There was an awkward silence. The house creaked ominously in the wind and Remus was thankful that it was summer rather than winter; if it was December, the house would be freezing.

"So what did Dumbledore give you?"

Sirius shrugged. "A month of detention and a week of breakfast duty, nothing bad. I deserved more- James thinks so anyway."

Remus smiled and nodded grimly. "I'll talk to him; he'll listen to me."

Sirius smiled at him in amusement, shaking his head near imperceptibly. "You're mad- you know that, right? I almost got you and Snape killed, and you are defending me?" He muttered incredulously.

"It comes from being friends with you lot." He ducked, as Sirius swung a playful punch at his head, and winced too obviously for Sirius not to notice. He stood up and offered his hand to Remus.

"C'mon, let's let Pomfrey have at look at you." Remus glanced pointedly at the mark on Sirius' forearm. Sirius rolled his eyes. "Okay, and me." He conceded.

Remus smiled and pulled himself up on Sirius' hand. "Prongs is going to destroy you whatever I say, you know that?" Sirius nodded.

"Just make sure they put white lining in my coffin, okay?"

"Done," Remus chuckled. "But I am choosing the music."

"Not a chance, Jazz freak!"

They left the shack laughing, already forgetting the past few hours. They were young, and there were more interesting things to explore.

AN: And we have come to the end... I hope you enjoyed the ride.

-Jess