Sirius was staring vacantly at the white wall in front of him.

Such an odd color, white was. Not quite a shade, but certainly not one color. If you were looking at it in just the right angle, Sirius supposed it could be a whole multitude of colors and perhaps that was why it could never be classified as one color in the first place. . .

He'd been going out of his mind for the past hour and a half.

If Sirius Black had been more in touch with his emotions, he would have been a pool of stress right about now. As it was, Pettigrew seemed to be doing enough nail-biting for all three of them, and James was doing a decent job at keeping his expression composed. If Sirius hadn't known him so well, he never would have been able to detect that look of anxiety behind James' gaze.

Sirius was quite sure nothing had shocked him more than hearing the words, 'Remus Lupin in jail." The mere thought, the very idea of it, was so ridiculous that under different circumstances, all four boys would be laughing hysterically.

If any of them was going to be thrown in Azkaban, then their best guess would be Sirius would be the first to go.

It wasn't anything personal, but given his family history, Sirius didn't doubt his own abilities in terms of landing himself in that dreadful place sometime in the near future. But the thought of Lupin in there with the dementors was enough to make Sirius sick to his stomach. Perhaps there was some way he and Lupin could switch places. Remus was one of the kindest people that Sirius knew, and he himself had envied Lupin's easy ability to be gentle with things and people in general. Sirius was rough on everyone and everything; including the people he cared about.

Perhaps it was the fault of his parents, but maybe something inside of Sirius Black had been born broken and there was no way that he could possibly fix it.

He wasn't surprised by how little that shocked him.

Just as Sirius had successfully drowned himself in self-pity, Dumbledore threw open the office door, looking as close to worn-out as the boys had ever seen him.

Immediately, all three boys began talking at once.

"What's happened?" Demanded James, looking as if he was about to grab Albus Dumbledore by the front of his robes and shake the answer out of him. "Where's Remus?"

"Please tell us he hasn't been arrested." Peter squeaked, his voice going up an octave.

"Is he going to be alright?" Sirius asked lastly, glad that his voice didn't quaver.

Dumbledore held up a hand, and the room grew silent at once.

"Remus Lupin is, at the present moment, residing in the hospital wing after a nasty incident that took place this afternoon that I cannot disclose to the three of you. All you need to know is that he is going to be alright and all he really requires is a good night's rest. It has been an exhausting day for him."

"Are they going to send him to Azkaban?" Sirius blurted out.

Dumbledore looked him right in the eye. "Of course not, Mr. Black. Mr. Lupin will be staying in Hogwarts."

Sirius' shoulders sagged with relief.

"Can we go and see him, then?" James demanded.

Dumbledore nodded. "Of course. I won't keep you."

They all uttered quick words of thanks before they were racing down the hallway towards the hospital wing.

It seemed they were not the first, nor the only ones here.

. . .

Marlene knew she shouldn't have been so surprised to see them.

Remus was, after all, their best friend. She had been expecting a lot more dread when Sirius Black walked into the room, but strangely she felt almost nothing.

His dark hair was perfectly rumpled and his school tie was loose around his neck. The setting sunlight illuminated his face, making the sharp angles and planes a lot more prominent than they usually were. He looked like a beautiful statue as he stood there, staring at Remus.

And then his eyes flickered up to her's.

His gray eyes had darkened, his jaw tightening fractionally for a split of a second before he looked back at the floor so quickly that she was sure, for a moment, that perhaps he hadn't really looked at her after all.

"How is he?" James was the first to speak up, his gaze lingering on Lily, who for once did not glare at him, but moved her eyes to Lupin, who was lying in the hospital bed, his chest rising and falling steadily with each breath.

"Better," Marlene's best friend murmured, tucking her red hair behind her ear.

Sirius began tapping his foot on the floor. "Well, can we see him then?"

Marlene looked back up at him, but his eyes were on Lily, narrowed into fine slits.

"Oh, well." Lily said, shooting Marlene a glance that said they'd better leave. "I suppose we should step out. Marlene?"

She nodded, standing and walking past the boys. Sirius took her arm for a moment, stopping her in her tracks.

"Thank you," he murmured, his eyes lowering to meet her own. They were lighter than usual today, she noticed dazedly. Like the light gray of clouds just as a storm is about to approach.

Don't even go there, McKinnon.

Marlene, on the other hand, just stood there with her lips parted, surely looking like an idiot. "O-of course," she said, hating how her voice stuttered like it had.

Sirius smirked. "Well, I'll be seeing you, McKinnon." He said before he released her and she was stumbling out of the hospital wing after Lily.

When she had gotten out, her best friend merely frowned at her, a little crease appearing between her perfect eyebrows. "What was that all about?"

Marlene shook her head, sparing one last glance at the boys surrounding the bed of their best friend before the doors sealed shut behind them. James was at Remus' side, his face turned from her so that she couldn't read his expression. Peter was standing, biting anxiously at his fingernails. She turned once more to Lily, who was still watching her with a curious gaze.

"I don't know."