Remus clicked his knee back into place, the sound resounding in the emptiness of the basement. The basement whose floor was now covered in blood and the walls deformed with scratches.

It had been a rough moon, and the change back into his human form had gone slightly askew. The wolf had been destressed. Remus wasn't surprised. What else do you expect when there is no one available to take care of two year old Harry since their usual babysitters (which was Sirius' cousin Andromeda and her husband Ted) were both laid up with the flu.

Remus had resigned him to his lonely transformation, and boy had the wolf inside him been distressed. It had been too long since he'd transformed alone and he was no longer used to not having his fellow animals with him.

It took a while for him to get dressed since with his severed tendon on his right arm. Damn that was going to be a bitch to heal. But soon in enough, he was hobbling out of the basement after the door allowed him to leave, since Remus had charmed it to lock at the rising of the moon and open only once the cruel glowing orb had descended. Once he'd finished the Herculaneum of a task that were the stairs, Remus headed into the living room were Sirius was attempting in vain to calm down a crying Harry.

Sirius looked better, his face had stopped becoming sharper as it had begun after James and Lily. Remus could only thank what he regarded as a non-existent god that they had in their will that Sirius would be Harry's guardian. They'd wanted to also put Remus' name as well but anti-werewolf laws were getting tighter, and under one of its numerous and ridiculous articles, 'dark creatures' were not allowed to have nor adopt children. This left Lily deeply saddened and James utterly outraged at the cruelty of the wizarding society. But Harry had Sirius and even if not legally accepted, he had Remus as well. He couldn't even begin to imagine what would have happened if Sirius wasn't here. Remus shuddered at the thought.

"Moony." said Sirius, bringing Remus out of his musings and back to the reality of his body being in pain. Sirius walked over to his friend, one arm cradling as still sobbing Harry on one side while helping take some of the werewolf's weight on the other. Remus hissed through clenched teeth as he lowered himself down into the sofa before Sirius gently laid Harry in his aching arms.

Soon enough Sirius returned with his monthly healing potions and some bandages for the unhealable wounds. Remus swallowed them each without stopping before drink the large glass of water he was offered, trying to not think too hard about the taste.

"Take it easy big guy." Sirius said as he watched Remus' Adam's apple work furiously to get the water down his throat. Placing the various mugs and glasses on the coffee table, Sirius began attending Remus' wounds.

Sirius sighed as he laid down next to Remus. "I can't believe he stopped crying once you took him." he said as they gazed at the sleeping child in Remus' arms. "He probably knew that you were downstairs alone and in pain. He cried all night."

Remus understood the hidden bitterness in his friends tone.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you. Especially on Christmas eve night."

"Don't beat yourself up Sirius. You had to take care of Harry. Please don't dwell on it."

Sirius' eyes suddenly filled with a more playful light. "I might be able to forget it if you could maybe… take my mind off it."

Remus' lips curled up into a tiered smile before he leaned in to place his lips gently atop Sirius' who was now grinning as they kissed in the winter morning's darkness under the soft lights of the Christmas tree.

"Merry Christmas Padfoot."

"Merry Christmas Moony."

And with the feel of Sirius' lips on his and Harry heavy with sleep in his arms, Remus couldn't help but feel like things were going to be alright.