Chapter 1

"Sirius?" Remus called as he entered the lobby of Grimauld place number 12. The lobby was grim and dusty, with heavily curtained windows that were blocking the daylight. The floor was dirty and the ceiling was covered in huge cobwebs. It looked like that house hasn't been cleaned in years.

He glanced at the curtain-covered portrait of mrs. Black that was still hanging on the wall and thanked heavens that it didn't wake up.

Deciding not to touch anything, just in case, he slowly climbed the stairs to the second floor. Careful not to make unnecessary noise, he knocked lightly on the door to Sirius' bedroom.

No answer. Remus touched the door knob and entered the room.

It was empty. Remus shivered as he glanced at the wall above Sirius' bed. It was covered with photos of nude muggle girls and motorcycles. An eerie reminder of Sirius' rebellious youth. While they were still in Hogwarts. While they were still young and carefree. Well, he doubted Sirius was ever truly carefree. Even then he seemed like he had a lot on his mind.

He couldn't help but smile a little at the photos. His friend sure knew how to piss off his pureblood family. Remus sighed and decided to sit down and wait for Sirius. He didn't want to roam the house alone. He knew that it was full of dark magic. Sirius will show up eventually, he thought to himself. After all, he couldn't leave the house. He was still hiding from the Ministry.

Just as he was about to relax in the soft red armchair, the only attractive looking piece of furniture in the room, he heard a loud garggling noise coming from the bathroom.

Drawing his wand from his cloak pocket, he swung the door open and cursed loudly.

Sirius was lying in the tub, naked, with a bottle of Firewhiskey next to him, his head submerged under water. He seemed either unconscious or drunk out of his body. Remus grabbed him by his hair and sat him up.

"Piss off, will you?" Sirius slurred, his eyes still closed, and his fists narrowly missing Remus.

Remus was barely able to pull his uncooperating friend out of the tub. He was now lying on his stomach, spread-eagled as Remus gritted his teeth and fought a strange urge to kick him.

"What the bloody hell are you doing?" Remus spat out angrily, throwing a towel at his friend.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I was trying to top myself." Sirius mumbled incoherently.

Remus sighed and ran a hand through his sandy blond hair. This is going to be a long day, he thought.

Author's note:

Hello everyone. This is my first story after a very very long writer's block (5 years, yikes!) and I'd like to apologize if my writing's a bit... Clumsy.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please leave a review. :)