"SHIT!" both of them hissed as Sirius fell off the roof. Muttering a stream of furious curses, Remus leapt over in time to grab Sirius's wrist. But unfortunately for the pair, the momentum threw him off and both went toppling into the bushes.

Fortunately, it was only a 15-foot fall…what? It could've been more. And luckily the bushes broke their fall, as prickly as they were. Remus coughed and pulled himself from the bushes. He grabbed Sirius's wrist and the boy's eyes fluttered slightly open before closing again.

"Stupid…idiot." he mumbled. Remus smiled genuinely and pulled his friend out of the bushes. When he went into the neighbors' backyard, Remus noticed the family was asleep. He went in through the sliding back door (which was graciously left open) and used the floo powder to bring him and Sirius back to his home.

It was risky, putting him and Sirius through the powder at the same time, but thankfully it worked. They toppled out of the fireplace without knocking anything over. His parents were asleep and he prayed silently for complete silence as he tried his best to bring Sirius up the stairs and into his room. Hopefully in the morning his parents would understand the situation and let Sirius stay.

But his parents never found out. That morning, Remus panicked when his mum knocked on the door and gently put Sirius into his closet. Same thing occurred the morning after that and so on.

'Cowardice be damned', Remus thought. 'I'm just protecting Sirius'.

And so, Remus wrote the letter to James, cleaned up Sirius's wounds, and bit his nails furiously to pass the time.

Every now and then, Sirius would wake up from his restless unconsciousness and cry, rambling on with such sentences as, "I can't do it! I won't!" and "I'm not one of them! I never will be!" And every time, Remus would rush over, hug the shattered form of his best friend, and pray for James to hurry up.

And now was no different. Remus continued his pacing, subconsciously rubbing his elbow at the memory of falling. 'James should be on his way…' Remus thought, trying to calm himself down. At this rate, he could shock half of London with the static electricity in his socks against the carpet. He walked over and opened the window to his room despite the rain, getting more and more impatient at James's lateness.

Suddenly Sirius turned in his sleep. His watery eyes opened to reveal bright grey irises littered with fear and worry.

"Stop, Mother, no! I won't do it! No!" he groaned, crying and curling up under Remus's sheets. Remus sighed heavily and started to walk over to the trembling form. Suddenly, Sirius's head shot up to look Remus straight in the eye. Remus paused. Sirius was focused on him, looking slightly confused.

"…Remy?…" whispered Sirius. It was the first time he said the name since school. Remus was shocked and excited that Sirius actually recognized him. He raced over to Sirius's side and sat down next to him.

"Padfoot, are you all right?"

Sirius rubbed his tear-soaked eyes and cheeks, wincing when he rubbed over the bandage.

"I…I think so." he answered weakly. Remus smiled and gently embraced him. "What happened?…Where's James?" Sirius asked, suddenly getting worried. "Oh no! He said he was going to come and get me…what if he runs into mum…oh, bugger!"

"Sirius, calm down." Remus said. "Everything'll be fine. I sent a letter to him yesterday asking him to come here…it's only a matter of time." That seemed to be enough to calm Sirius down, for he relaxed against the bed and sighed heavily.

Suddenly, both boys found their nerves awoken with surprise as something zoomed through the window and hit the floor with a thud. Remus turned around towards the sound but saw nothing. But both he and Sirius knew what happened.

James appeared in a wet, ruffled mess on the floor as he threw off the Invisibility cloak. He slumped down against his broom, breathing heavily. He sat up and ran a hand through his unruly, soaked hair and looked at the pair in front of him. He started when his eyes landed on Sirius.

"Padfoot!" he exclaimed, standing up and nearly losing his balance. He rushed over to the boy's side as Remus got up to close the window and pick up the cloak and broom.

James looked at his best friend with concern, gently skimming his fingers over the bandaged cuts on his arms, neck, and cheek. Sirius looked at James with heavy sadness and a hint of humiliation. He was the self-proclaimed lady killer, not the pathetic, abused sixteen-year-old on the verge of tears.

James sighed heavily. "Who did this to you?…" Sirius looked away, his cheeks reddening. James knew. He wrapped his arms around Sirius, who broke down immediately. James looked at Remus, who cast him a sad look. As James looked down at Sirius, Remus walked over and took the glasses off of James's face, wiping them with his shirt and placing them back on the seeker's face. Then he sat down next to the other two boys, resting his head against the headboard. He seemed to be thinking heavily.

Sirius sniffled quietly and sat up, rubbing his eyes and brushing the hair out of his face. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so pitiful…"

"No, you're not!" came the response from both Remus and James. Sirius blinked, momentarily confused. He looked at James, then at Remus, and smiled slightly.

"I missed you two," he whispered. To which came the response of two massive hugs from both boys.

A/N: Review and tell me what ya think!