Chapter Two: Story of A Lonely Guy

Sirius sat in the dungeon outside of the Potions classroom. Why was he so stupid? What the hell had been going through his mind at that point? The young man sighed as he buried his head in his hands.

"You really fucked it up this time, Black," he said quietly to himself. "You took it too far…that never would have been funny. It wasn't a prank."

"I think that's the first smart thing I've ever heard you say."

Sirius looked up to see James sliding down the stone wall to sit next to him. "Hey, mate," he said quietly. James nodded at him. The pair sat in silence for quite some time. Sooner or later, more Gryffindors along with some Ravenclaws joined them, completely unaware of the events that had unfolded after curfew the previous night. The door to the classroom opened and our two boys led the way into the room, heading straight for the back where they were soon joined by Peter.

Want to go for a drink tonight? I could really use it right now.

-S

Actually, I'm meeting Moony for drinks tonight…

-J

Oh, alright. No big deal.

-S

I'm free tonight, Padfoot.

-P

Sounds good, Wormtail.

-S

I'm sorry, Padfoot.

-J

Don't apologize, Prongs…it's not a big deal. I'll be fine.

-S

James frowned as he read this last sentence. He could feel the proverbial tug of a fight between the best of friends…half of him was going one way-to Hogsmeade with Remus-and half of him was going the other. Yes, it was going to be a long rest-of-the-year indeed…

Sirius sat back as James shoved the note they had been passing into his bag and pulled out his copy of Advanced Potion Making. Sirius shook his head and sighed, deciding that he might as well pay attention…he was lucky that he was sitting there, that Dumbledore had given him this chance, rather than expelling him on the spot or worse, turning him over to the Ministry. He might as well take full advantage of it.

As the day wore on, Madame Pomfrey healed the various cuts and bites that Remus had inflicted upon himself the previous night with care. As Remus was preparing to leave for lunch, he saw a familiar face enter the Infirmary.

A redhead entered and went straight for Madame Pomfrey to request a potion for her headache. The mediwitch complied and the redhead was soon good to go. When she turned and saw him sitting there, she smiled softly at him and he noticed that her eyes looked a bit red as if she had been crying.

"Hello, Remus," she said softly. "What are you in for?"

"Oh," Remus said, standing and taking his cloak off of the chair next to his bed. "I think that dinner last night just rubbed me the wrong way. I wasn't feeling great this morning." It wasn't a complete lie…he hadn't been feeling great that morning and he still wasn't. "Are you alright?" Remus asked as he opened the door to let Lily out before him. "You look like you've been crying."

The green-eyed girl rubbed her eyes subconsciously with the back of her hand. "I'm fine," she said. "Just a bit of trouble on the home front."

"I'm sorry," Remus said sympathetically. "If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm an excellent listener."

With a soft smile, Lily Evans thanked the tall, skinny boy. "How is it-" she went on to ask "-that when I'm around your friends, I feel this infuriating anger rise from the pit of my stomach, but around you I'm fine?"

"It's because I'm amazing," Remus said jokingly. "Listen, I'm not really up to eating lunch in the Great Hall, but eating alone is never fun either. Do you want to run down to the kitchens with me for lunch?"

"What about the other three?" Lily questioned, undoubtedly meaning Peter, Sirius and James.

"Well…" Remus said. "Sirius and I had a bit of an argument, actually…"

Remus led Lily down past the loud, crowded Great Hall and down to the kitchens. As they walked, he fed her a fake story about a misunderstanding between himself and Sirius. She didn't question the story that he gave her…after all, she had no reason to do so.

The pair spent the lunch hour together talking about Prefect duties and grades. When the conversation turned to home life-Remus couldn't help but wonder what was wrong with her when he saw her in the Infirmary, after all-Lily drew back a bit. For the rest of their time together, she trusted him with personal information that she didn't usually like to mention otherwise. She felt that she could trust him…he seemed like a nice enough person. He had always been the Marauder that hadn't pissed her off, after all. Besides, she really needed to unload.

As the day wore on, Sirius became more and more depressed. It was now nearing the end of dinner and Remus hadn't so much as looked in his general direction. His somewhat childish hopes of a quick forgiveness proved to be just that…childish. At the present moment, Remus was sitting with Lily Evans, Patricia Martin and Alice Barber as they chattered away like sixteen year old girls do.

"Padfoot, stop staring at Moony…it's creepy," James said, trying to draw Sirius' attention back to the real world.

With a heavy sigh and a heavy heart, Sirius turned back to James and Peter. "Do you want me to stay with you tonight, mate?" James asked sincerely, allowing himself to be tugged in the proverbial tug of war.

Shaking his head, Sirius said, "Don't do that…don't get yourself caught up in this, James."

"We'll be alright, Sirius," James said reassuringly, grasping his best friend's shoulder from across the table. "Just give him some time and he'll come around."

"He shouldn't have to come around, James," Sirius said solemnly. "This is my fault…I'm not hungry."

Sirius stood and was gone from the Gryffindor Table before James or Peter could say a word. Out of the corner of his eye, Remus saw Sirius leave, but he made no move to prevent it. He felt bad for Peter and James, he really did, but not bad enough to go get Sirius…not yet.

Sirius, after leaving the Great Hall, had gone to his room. When James went up to the bedroom sometime later, he found that the curtains around Sirius' bed had been drawn, so he did not disturb his friend. Instead, he grabbed the Invisibility Cloak and the Marauders Map and returned to the common room to meet Remus.

This fight between the two Marauders had not even hit the twenty-four hour mark and already James was feeling torn up on the inside. He hated to see this happening and the fact that he couldn't prevent it. He hated to see Remus feel used and afraid of something that he couldn't control. He hated to see Sirius hurting so much that he would abandon his dinner and barely speak to anyone…not even any of the many girls that were so tightly wrapped around his pinky finger. He hated that something had finally come between the otherwise inseparable group of best friends…he simply hated it.