November 8th, 1991, 4:46p.m., an island in the North Sea

Remus Lupin

The air was heavy with the depressive aura of the Dementors and the cold that infiltrated every living thing. Remus hugged his cloak about him tighter, his heart heavier as he followed an Auror down the dark and dank corridor.

"Don't know why the hell you'd want to visit this piece of shit," the Auror said over his shoulder to Remus. "Y'know he's the one who got the Potters killed, right? Killed thirteen people the next night, too."

"I know," Remus mumbled. The Auror shrugged and stopped.

"That's his cell, down there," said the Auror. "We keep all the Death Eaters down here, but he gets his very own cell block, on account he's a mass murder and You-Know-Who's second in command." Remus felt a pang in his gut. "You got chocolate? There's about a 'undred of them Dementors down there, you're gonna want plenty of chocolate."

"I have some," Remus said.

"Remember, you're not allowed to use Patroni down in High Security. So don't stay long."

"Are you leaving?"

"Yeah. I can't stand it down there."

Remus nodded. The Auror turned and started back up the hall, moving quickly around a corner and out of sight. Remus reached into his pocket and withdrew a chocolate frog. He had several, so he opened this one as he began down the long corridor to Sirius Black's cell. The Dementors here all watched him as he walked. He bit into the chocolate, trying to ignore the effect they had on him already. As his gait slowed and the distance decreased, he was already regretting coming. He reached the end, facing a door with iron bars.

"… no, no, that's not it," mumbled a raspy voice. "No, that one goes there…"

Remus swallowed his anxiety and stepped closer. He peered into the cell, looking for him.

"That's not how you play Exploding Snap, James, come off it…"

Remus clenched his jaw. Sirius was laying on the floor, his knees held to his chest and his matted hair covering his face. He looked filthy and ill. His skin was yellow and clung to his bones, and even from a distance, Remus could see the gooseflesh that covered his bare skin as he shivered in the cold.

"THEY'RE DEAD, YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

The sudden scream made him jump backward. Sirius was holding his arms out, shaking something Remus couldn't see but his ex-lover apparently could.

"NO! YOU FILTHY RAT!"

Remus exhaled shakily. So he was reliving the moment when he murdered one of his best friends. And Remus got to watch.

"I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

"Sirius," Remus said, his voice quiet.

Sirius immediately dropped his arms. He froze, his eyes squeezed shut tightly still. "No, no, no," he muttered, shrinking backward and pressing himself to the wall. "No, no nonono… I didn't… No…"

"Can you understand me?" Remus called.

Sirius's shoulders began to shake, and Remus realized that he was sobbing. "No! I didn't! I didn't mean to!"

"You didn't what, Sirius?"

"NO!" Sirius screamed. "You're not real! Leave me alone!"

Remus couldn't say anything to that. Sirius turned his back to the cell door, hugging the wall as his body trembled with sobs, muttering to himself: "You're not real, he's not here, you're not real, he wouldn't come here, you're never real…"

"Sirius…."

"I'm so sorry," Sirius whispered. Remus's eyes widened.

"You're sorry?" he said.

"I didn't mean to… He… he said it would be okay…"

Anger rose in him. "Who did, Sirius? Voldemort? Did he tell you that he just wanted a chat with James and Lily? That he'd let them live? Or that you wouldn't be held responsible? What are you sorry for? Murdering Peter, getting James and Lily killed, or being captured and locked up here?"

"No… no! NO!"

"No what, Sirius?" Remus spat. "Do you not like the truth?"

"No…" whimpered Sirius, like a scared puppy.

Remus's anger quelled, being overwhelmed with regret and pain. "What are you sorry for?" he asked. He didn't expect Sirius to answer him. He began to move away, when he spoke again.

"I'm sorry for hurting him. I'm sorry I got them killed."

Remus stopped. "You admit it?"

"It was my fault… It was my idea… Peter…"

He turned back, his heart pounding hard against his ribcage now. "You murdered them, Sirius. They're dead, because of you."

"It was my fault…"

"You're mad, Sirius."

"No. No, I'm not mad, no, no. No, I'm innocent."

"You just said that you killed them!" Remus shouted.

"I'm innocent! The filthy bastard, he lied!"

"You're insane!" Remus spat. "You're insane, a traitor, and a liar."

"I'm so sorry, Remus…"

Remus's mouth snapped shut. "What?"

"I didn't mean it. I didn't want you to… I thought… I thought it would be okay."

"You have no idea what you're saying, do you?" Remus mumbled.

"I'm so sorry…"

"You're not even awake," Remus said, drawing in a short huff of a breath. "You're talking in your sleep, and you're mad."

"No, no, I'm not mad. I'm innocent. I didn't get him. I'll get him one day, soon."

"Why did I come here?" Remus whispered. "All I've done is break my own heart over again."

"I'm so sorry, I never meant to hurt him."

"Liar," Remus hissed.

Sirius's sobs redoubled for a moment, he mumbled something else, but Remus could not hear what it was. Then his shoulders stopped shaking, for a moment as he breathed in deeply, and he fell still. He rolled over, his face calm and blank of what he'd just said.

"Sirius?" Remus called.

He said nothing.

Remus turned away again, but he hesitated. He reached into his pockets, feeling the packets of chocolate frogs. He squeezed his eyes shut, sighed deeply, and against his better judgment drew one out. He turned back and tossed it through the bars of the cell. It bounced on the stone floor and flew upward in an arc to hit Sirius's arm. As Remus turned away, Sirius finally opened his eyes. He saw the chocolate frog pack on the floor, then looked up to see Remus already walking away.

"REMUS!"

Remus turned the corner, blinking away tears.

A/N: Hello lovelies, welcome to my new spin-off series for Wolfstar! We're starting off with a doozy bc who doesn't love being punched in the feels hard enough that your grandchildren might feel it? For the future, tho, I do promise that there will be fluffy chapters as well as heart-wrenching ones. But you can expect that they'll be no longer than this, a new chapter might range anywhere from 400 words to 1500, who knows. Nor will any major plot twists for the main story be revealed in the spin-off. This has been a brief introduction, have a lovely evening or morning or afternoon or whatever the hell your timezone is experiencing at this given moment in time.