Cleansing.

Remus let out a shaky breath which was followed by a whimper. Even breathing hurt the scrawny and sickly looking boy.

He was glad the other boys in his dorm were attending to their classes. He staggered towards the bed. Almost there… He reached out to support himself against the bedpost as another wave of dizziness washed over him again. He missed, and the cool wooden floor suddenly came right at him.

He didn't know how long he had been lying there, but once he had started to regain consciousness he could hear someone call out his name. Whoever it was sounded awfully worried…

He shifted uncomfortably as he forced his eyes open. The light blinded him, making him grimace. Slowly but surely a silhouette came to life. Sirius was hovering over him.

"Remus? Remus? Can you hear me?"

Sirius asked worriedly as he tried to resist the urge to shake the other. He had never seen Remus in such a bad state. He didn't dare to move him, and he had seen some pretty serious things. He placed a hand on Remus' forehead to feel his temperature. He felt cold yet clammy as expected. Remus nodded just the slightest, letting out a small strangled cry which tore Sirius' heart into pieces. He looked so broken as he laid there. He was covered with bruises and rather painful looking cuts.

The raven walked up to his best mate's bed and rummaged through the heavy looking trunk underneath it. He quickly found what he was looking for. The invisibility cloak. He let his fingers run over the fabric before making his way to Remus.

"Let's get you cleaned up.."

Sirius mumbled he scooped the boy up into his arms. Remus groaned, gripping onto Sirius shirt. He tightened his grip so much his knuckles went white. The raven grimaced as he noticed the blood which had seeped trough the back of Remus shirt and onto the floor. No wonder Remus was pale and couldn't stand on his own. He must've so much blood… He swung the cloak over them both before heading out of the dorm and towards the prefects bathroom.

Several times he had to cover Remus' mouth with his hand to muffle his whimpers so others wouldn't notice their presence. It was with a relieved sigh they entered the bathroom.

Remus reluctantly let go of Sirius' shirt as he was put down gently. He looked down at his hands which were covered in dried blood while Sirius filled the bath with soapy water, and added a generous amount of bath salts. The raven then quickly stripped himself of his clothing before making his way back to Remus.

"Remussy~"

He cooed lightly to get his attention as he slowly unbuttoned his pyjamas only discover some heavy bruising on his torso. How much worse was it going to get..?

"Siriusly".

The strained words sent him back to reality. Remus had talked! A part of him was ridiculously happy that he had gotten a reply while the other part was scolding himself for making Remus talk in his current condition. He sent him a cheesy smile as an awkward apology before he went back to undressing Remus.

He had dreamt about undressing Remus for so incredibly long, and now when it finally was happening it wasn't nearly as satisfying as expected. For when each piece of fabric that came off, they only revealed more bruises. He began to dread them. Luckily it was over fast since the other had been wearing his pyjamas.

Remus gently pushed him away, obviously not feeling like getting carried once again. He stood and slowly made his way into the bath. He winced and let out a hiss as he submerged his poor form into the hot water. He carefully sat down before leaning back and closing his eyes. It went to just above his navel. Despite the stinging sensation in his cuts the warmth soothed his aching muscles. It was almost like getting a massage.

Sirius pouted lightly and gently pushed Remus away from the edge so he could slip in behind him. He hoped Remus wouldn't mind him being so close to him. He dipped his hands in the water before he very carefully started to wash the dried blood off Remus' back.

Remus tensed but then he gradually relaxed into Sirius' touch. He even let out a small purr as Sirius ran his hands over his back in an always ghostly way. He barely even noticed when Sirius cleansed his wounds. Every once in a while words would be exchanged.

It felt so incredibly since to be sitting there. Just the two of them. It was silent, yes but it a comfortable way. It allowed him to focus on listening to Sirius' calm and somewhat slow breathing while the water droplets ran down his back. Caressing his bruised and broken skin oh so gently.

He must've dozed off by Sirius touch but when he finally came to he was lying in bed. Neatly tugged in and with a sleeping raven by his side.