The song I was listening to was 'Far Away' by Nickelback for this piece.

I don't own anything mentioned here, or in any future chapters.

The news had hit Remus Lupin hard. The normally composed and rather calm werewolf couldn't keep the shock and disbelief from creeping across his face, as he stood there and was told (by an errant gossip, no less!) about the showdown between Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. Remus sunk onto a bench outside of a small pub in London, and stared at the ground while his mind tried to process the information.

Sirius...was a Death Eater? This clashed horribly with what Remus knew of him. Remus knew how much Sirius despised his family's pureblood ideaology...and how much they despised Sirius. Sirius was the "white sheep" of the Black family...there was no way that he would ever be a Death Eater.

And killing Pettigrew and twelve Muggles? The worst spell Remus had ever seen Sirius cast was usually a harmless jink, or a Stunner. Sirius Black just couldn't do that, not even if his life depended on it. But Sirius had been hauled away to Azkaban - no visitors, and no trial. It was as if the Ministry of Magic had decided that the case really was that simple, and didn't care about imprisoning what was probably an innocent man...

And as far as Remus Lupin knew Sirius Black (and it was really quite far), he also knew that the man would rather die or kill himself than to betray James, who was like a brother to him, or Lily, for that matter. Lily and Sirius had had their disagreements, but they'd eventually warmed up to each and had even become friends. Hell, Sirius Black was named the godfather of James and Lily's son!

Despite the circumstantial evidence, and despite that it was a very unpopular opinion to have (though, as a werewolf, Remus had never been overly concerned with popularity), he chose to believe that Sirius was innocent. He only hoped that, with time, the real traitor would be revealed, and Sirius could go home, a free man.

As Remus lay in bed that night, he glanced over at the empty spot beside him. It was still made, with the sheets turned down as if the other occupant were expected home soon. A small, wolflike whine escaped Remus' throat, and he closed his eyes, wishing that Sirius were there with him. The scent of Sirius' favorite aftershave hung in the air, mixed with the other scents that were just purely Sirius in nature. Remus enjoyed them as he drifted off to sleep, knowing that those smells would fade, in time, and all Remus would be left with was a memory of the man he loved, and the man who loved him deeply in return...scars and all.