AN: For Carmen (lupuscarmen13) for the Monthly Drabble Exchange.

Also, I know Remus got bitten as a child, but for the purposes of this story I had him bit while he was at Hogwarts.

Breakdown

"Come on James, you're on the Quidditch team. Surely you're faster that that!" Sirius called as he raced through the castle on his way back to the Common Room after the latest prank he and James had pulled.

"Just be thankful you didn't bring Pettigrew with you!" his friend yelled at him, gasping for breath. Sirius just laughed and carried on running. He'd just gone through a tapestry into a hidden corridor when he tripped over a pair of legs and landed sprawled out on the floor. Getting up, Sirius turned around to make some snide remark to what was probably a lost first year but stopped himself when he realised who it was huddled against the wall.

"Remus, what's wrong?" Sirius asked his heart racing as he knelt down next to his best friend. When there was no reply he asked again, more urgently this time. "Remus! Remus mate, what's wrong? Is it the bite again?"

Sirius saw the boy next to him stir and he let out a breath he didn't realise he'd been holding. He rearranged himself into a more comfortable position and sat against the wall next to the other boy until he decided he wanted to talk. Sirius only wished he had some food with him, who knew how long it was going to take Remus to tell him what was wrong. Fortunately, luck was on his side as it was only about 5 minutes later when he heard his friend's voice.

"I…" Remus started, "yeah, it was the bite. It was hurting again and I just couldn't take it so I went for a walk, try and walk it off you know, and I just started feeling lightheaded so I sat down and I guess I must have passed out since the next thing I know is I'm on the floor and someone tripped over my legs!"

Sirius sat there for a while, both unsure whether his friend would say anything more on the matter and what he could say to reassure the boy next to him.

"It's going to be okay, you know," Sirius finally told him, "Dumbledore's doing his best to see what he can do to help, there's plenty of wolfsbane potion brewing and Madam Pomfrey said it might not even turn you."

"But what if it does?" Remus asked his voice catching. Sirius could tell that his friend was trying to hold back tears. Listening out for anyone nearby Sirius decided to tell Remus the plan he'd come up with to solve the werewolf problem.

"If it does – which, again, we don't know – then we're going to deal with that as and when it happens. But," Sirius continued, cutting off whatever Remus was about to say, "that doesn't mean we're not doing anything. I've decided that we – that's James, Peter and I – are going to become animagi. We've started looking into it and it doesn't seem so hard."

Remus couldn't help but laugh at this. "'Doesn't seem so hard'? Mate, we're third years, that's complex stuff. There's no way you'd be able to pull that off!"

"Do you doubt the only sensible Black family member's abilities? You should be careful who you insult, wasn't your mouth the thing that got you bitten in the first place?" Sirius teased, but instantly regretted it as he watched Remus' face fall again.

"I don't want to be a werewolf…" Remus mumbled the tears that had threatened to spill earlier now flowing from his eyes.

"I know, mate. I know." Sirius replied gently, pulling the other boy into his arms.

AN: This was my first time writing anything Marauders era so let me know what you think. I was planning on making it more romantic, but this just seemed like a good place to stop.

Also for (because they fit):

Fanfiction Scavenger Hunt;

Marauders Era.

Harry Potter Chapter Competition;

Percy and Padfoot – Write about Sirius.

Disney Character Competition;

Peter Pan – Sirius Black.

The Title Challenge;

Breakdown.

Daily Inspiration Challenge;

Monday 28th July - Remus/Sirius.