Author's Note: I know. I'm awful. But it's an update! Nine and a half pages on word! Long like I promised! Although maybe not as question answering. Unless you look really close. I like using little thing to make the plot if you want a bit of a hint. This chapter is rated to everyone who continues to read this despite the strange updating pattern whether you review or not (I love reviews though). I also promised my friend Kes/Bii/Caleb (;D) that it's dedicated to him even though he keeps complaining about wanting some RemusxSirius mansex (which I'll be more than happy to obligue eventually, dear). Anyway, I'm sure you just want to story so I'll post the rest of my junk and let you get on with it.

Description: Actions come with consequences. When things went to far, he was expelled. When the pressure became too much he tried to vanish forever.

Warning: Craziness, ramblings of an insane author, Sirius happiness, random visits, threat of motorbike mutilation, and a spine-chilling you'll all hate.

Key: italics -stressed words, thoughts, handwriting

"..." -talking

The Act of Forgiving

Chapter 5 :So Much for Reunions

Sirius had most definitely over-worked himself the night before. He's rushed around to get every corner of the apartment spotless, every bit of furniture correctly lined up, everything in the fridge sorted a good bit better than it had been before. Though all his work could very well have been for naught (in fact, he was very convinced it was as such) he was able to fall asleep with a light, carefree smile across his lips. Sure, things were still very awkward and he knew it would take quite a time to get used to on both his part and everyone else's, but things were just going so... right after so long in the dark.

The next morning was like many others, aside from the slight skip in his step. He was all dressed up for classes on account of the fact that it was now Tuesday and walking toward his motorcycle when he noticed the voices in the apartment offices. It seemed that some sort of disturbance was taking place and as he knew the girl on duty this morning was new he figured it would be very nice of him to come in and check for any mail from the day before to give her a break from whoever was making her morning so stressful.

As he opened the door, his heart skipped a beat and it took all he had to not burst into a roar of barking laughter and goofy smiles as he realized it was a very familiar face arguing with the young lady as politely as the young man possibly could.

"You see, ma'am, I'm his friend. He forgot to give me the apartment number." Remus Lupin insisted, one hand fiddling with the sleeve of his worn clothes as he hoped for a more positive response.

"Your name isn't on the list of applicable persons able to receive such information, Mr. Lupin." the secretary informed him, one hand resting on her hip as the other ran down the page. Sirius shook his head lightly before deciding it would be in his best interest to interfere.

"Remus!" he called, voice suggesting that he had of course been expecting the werewolf at the very minute and had simply stopped by the office to see if anyone had seen him. "Why are you all the way down here? I could have sworn I'd given you the apartment number!" he threw an arm around his friend's shoulders, casually trying to turn him away from the desk to delay any further scene from taking place. "I'm sorry, miss. The inconvenience is all my fault." he threw over his shoulder to the now very irritated looking secretary as she scribbled down something in the book with pursed lips and an annoyed sigh. Remus smiled politely at her, throwing an apologetic wave over his shoulder as he was lead out of the building.

"Nice to see you too, Pads." Remus recited in the least sarcastic way possible for a Marauder. Sirius gave a nervous sort of laugh and quickly pulled his arm away as if fearing a rejection from the familiar touch.

"Sorry about the outburst, I didn't want her calling the police down." the young Black offered in response as the other male just grinned and rolled his eyes.

"It's really no problem, Sirius. It was my fault for not sending an owl." he responded easily, nodding to himself as he followed his friend up the stairs of one of the apartment buildings. "I just didn't have a whole lot of time. I hardly got done packing this morning." he went on before the other could open his mouth again.

Sirius tilted his head to the side, wondering what the rush would be for. "Well, firstly, you can visit whenever you like. No need to send owls. It kind of freaks the neighbors out. And secondly, hardly got done packing?"

"I... may have told you an untruth." the werewolf responded slowly, smile faltering before he decided to continue on. "I got evicted a few days ago. I had until this morning to get everything together and out... I should have told you yesterday but I was just... you know... I didn't want to have to rely on you. I thought maybe I could pull something together."

Sirius thought that over for a moment. Sure, he knew he didn't deserve complete trust from Remus or any of his old friends, but it still hurt to know that something like that had been kept from him after he'd been asked if his door was open for the other. He managed to bring a smile to his face, however. He understood that the young Lupin was a very independent and private person. After all, being a werewolf do that to anybody. "It's alright, I understand." he let the other know before stopping in front of one of the doors and fishing for his keys in one pocket. "I can't stay and help you unpack long, I've got classes to get to, but feel free to make yourself at home." he told the other before opening the door to reveal the apartment he'd kept since leaving school. It had been a gift from Albus, and he really didn't need anything bigger or smaller anyway so there was no point in moving out.

"Of course! Thanks, Sirius." Remus answered, stepping past his old friend to look around. The dog animagus just watched as the werewolf took in the entirety of the space, seeming to deep it appropriate as he turned to face the Black again. "Looks like you finally learned how to clean up after yourself." he teased, one hand slipping into his pocket to pull out a shrunken suitcase that fit neatly into the palm of his hand. "Which room am I looking for?"

Sirius felt a mischievous grin grace his features, worries crumbling at the light joking that he'd participated in over the past few days. "I was afraid a house elf might be taking things too far. This is a muggle neighborhood after all." he informed the other, stepping into the apartment and closing the door before starting into the hall. "Right this way, I assure you it's a five star environment." he teased, opening up the room and letting his friend slip inside in front of him. "I've got a few things on the closet shelf, but I moved everything else out last night when I was cleaning... you know... just in case."

Remus got his meaning and smiled gratefully, glad his friend had been so thoughtful. He couldn't stop himself from leaning forward to give Sirius a big hug, pulling away before giving the other a chance to react. "It's perfect, Sirius." he told him, setting the miniature suitcase on the bed and grabbing his wand from his other pocket as he recited the charm to size the bag and it's contents correctly again.

For a few minutes the two Marauders silently set about getting Remus unpacked. Though the majority was the young Black trying to be over-helpful and Remus having to refold random clothing items or pick them up to place them somewhere else before Sirius's eyes finally fell upon the clock.

"Shit... I gotta go, Remus. I'll see you later!" he threw out quickly, already rushing out of the room. "There's a spare key to the apartment on top of the fridge, you can keep it with you." he made sure to inform his friend before he was out the door and making a mad rush for his motorbike.

He went through his usual routine of paying mind during class, taking the proper notes, and waiting with a passion for the bell to chime so he could be off to work. After all, the sooner he got to work, the sooner his shift was over, and the sooner he could return home to see what Remus was up to. Or rather, that would have been his mindset toward his time in the cafe at least.

It was interrupted as the bell finally rang and he was driving himself to work. Or more specifically, as he entered the small cafe. The second he stepped through the front doors to make his way to the back there was a call. A very familiar call which caused his eyes to shoot up. "Sirius!" he blinked as his eyes widened slightly. He certainly hadn't expected James Potter to arrive at his place of work. He was briefly assaulted by what had happened last time someone visited him and he opened his mouth to reply.

"The guest room is already taken, if you got yourself kicked out. Go bother Peter." it was a joke, in all honesty, just to see James' head tilt to the side, brows furrowing in confusion as he scrambled to push his glasses back up his nose before they could have a chance at sliding down to the floor.

"A bloke can't come visit one of his best mates without needing a place to stay?" he asked incredulously and Sirius just rolled his eyes and grinned.

"I have work to do, James."

"So who's staying at your place after getting kicked out?" of course James was curious after Sirius let it slip that the spare room was taken. Of course, he'd just assumed that Remus had at least mentioned it to both Peter and the Potters after getting settled in this morning. After all, it would only take a quick owl or floo call. Of course, Remus might not know the floo was connected to the apartment. He'd have to remember to tell him when he got back...

"Remus."

"Oh." James sounded slightly surprised, but in a 'I knew something was up why didn't Remus tell me' sort of way. And then he seemed to think better of demanding his friend's time while he had a job to do, fell silent, and turned back to his drink.

Sirius made his way to the back where he pulled his hair into a quick, messy ponytail and pulled on an apron bearing the company logo. As he made his way out to take orders and care for customers he was very aware of the fact that James was still sitting there, casually ordering another drink while sending a wink his way. He supposed he'd be busy during his break again. Perhaps he could grab himself some lunch this time now that he wasn't far too excited to think straight.

It seemed James Potter still had as bottomless a stomach as ever as he ordered drink after random sandwich after drink. And finally 1:00 pm rolled around. Sirius made his way to the back, grabbed himself a sandwich and drink, and finally approached the table.

"Took you long enough." James teased, finally pushing the coffee cup away from himself and staring it down. That was, until he seemed to realize he couldn't win a staring contest against something with no eyes.

"As long as you're not one of the crazy people that dragged me out of here, I don't think anyone would kick you out if you waited for me without ordering the whole menu. You're going to have one hell of a bill." Sirius finally informed him, figuring that that must be James' true problem. One of his hands reached down to lazily grab his sandwich and he took a quick bit as the other's man's mouth opened and closed stupidly for a few moments.

"They... wouldn't?" James asked before groaning to himself. "I just figured I had to have something to stay." he explained, looking a little put out before suddenly grinning. "How's my best friend in the entire world?"

Sirius blinked, a little taken aback by such a statement and dropped his sandwich back to his plate. "Best friend... in the entire world?" he asked softly, raising an eyebrow. "James, we only just saw each other after years and--"

He was promptly cut off as James reached across the table to cuff him on the top of the head. The movement was not necessarily painful, but it was quite shocking and that same coworker that had been so apt to help the young Black out before looked over to see if his friend was alright. Really, Sirius needed to invest his time in people who weren't constantly picking on him.

"And you still think of us as your best friends, so why can't we think of you the same way?" the Potter countered his earlier statement, twisting his wrist to pat the spot he'd hit before settling back down. "It was a stupid mistake. We were all stupid teenagers. Get over it, Padfoot. The rest of us have."

Sirius found his eyes downcast as he thought over what had been said. His hands pulled his drink toward him as he tried to postpone his inevitable reply. It all seemed so simple when put that way but he just couldn't comprehend how it was even possible. After what he'd done... Putting Remus in danger like that when the werewolf didn't deserve it, when he'd never done a thing to hurt anyone ever... He sighed, offering James a pained smile. "Yeah, I know. I'll try." he responded, betting James' hand away as the stag animagus made to slap him again.

"Mm. You'll do better than try, you'll do. Because once a Marauder puts his mind to it, he gets it done. You know, all that once a Marauder always a Marauder jazz too." James told him with a wink and a toss of his messy hair.

"You didn't just come and see me to give me a pep-talk, did you James?" Sirius asked, rolling his silver eyes and picking up his sandwich again. He took a rather large bite as he waited for James' response.

"Of course not. Lily demanded that I ask you to the park tomorrow. Remus and Peter will be there too." the messy haired male replied, pushing his glasses up his nose and back into place. "Oh don't give me that look. She'll probably make some kind of picnic or something. And I'm sure you haven't taken a day off in months. It'll be fun."

Sirius found his eyes rolling again, but this time a smile played at his lips. He really hadn't taken a day off in a while. Not since James and Lily's wedding, actually. Perhaps... since he did have his friends back... "Oh fine. But I'm not calling in sick to class." he replied, finishing off his sandwich for some sort of emphasis that was completely unneeded.

James faked a gasp, letting his eyes widen. His lips couldn't help but to curl up in a grin though. "The great Sirius Orion Black actually wants to go to class?" he asked, all theatrics. "Never thought I'd live to see the day. Our little Paddlykins is all grown up." he ran a finger over one of his eyes, flicking away an imaginary tear as Sirius came up with his come back.

"Well Mr. James Potter, being a lawyer takes quite a bit of brains too. You must have really picked up your work when I left you all." though it was a bit of a tender subject his leaving, the joke was nonetheless funny for all intents and purposes and both black-haired males found it in them to let out a few chuckles.

Of course they had to be interrupted. The ever so diligent coworker chose that moment to come over, tapping on the table to get their attention. "As glad as I am to see you all smiles Sirius, I'm afraid you've got to get back to work. You've only got two minutes to get washed up and back out here."

Sirius looked up sharply. Two minutes? "Dammit." he mumbled, already collecting his trash together. "Right, thanks. I'll see you... when am I suppose to meet you all anyway?"

"Tomorrow. Right after class. Bring that bike of yours. I've only ever seen your obsessive picture collection up close and I'll be damned if you don't let me have a go." James replied with a mischievous wink and a wave.

"Right, right." Sirius replied and walked away, managing another smirk as he glanced back to see James with his bill and looking rather surprised. Ah, it was nice to have his best friends back.

He wasn't far into the last part of his shift before James had paid and left. The young Black spent the remainder of the time wondering how the next day would go in the park. Would it be like old times plus a not insulting/hexing/screaming/put-out Lily? Well, he didn't mean exactly like old times. After all, they hadn't been the nicest of people when they were young even if Sirius had managed to take it much too far. They'd sit around and think up schemes to torment the school, each plan involving a more complex and devious hex than the next. They may have been popular, but their antics had been quite a bit over the top and were really a bit childish to repeat as adults.

In fact, he could still remember the day that Albus had compared him to Severus Snape, the main object of their more cruelly intended pranks. Though he'd only half understood the words back then, they now seemed to shine with more clarity than he preferred to admit. Of course, he didn't tend to dwell on this too often seeing as he felt like he didn't deserve to be placed with such grace into a category with the man he'd so easily hurt. Then again, Severus wasn't bound to be anywhere close enough to become the target of any distasteful disturbances in the park. Perhaps he should dwell on nicer thoughts.

Thinking about past actions, he really preferred not to repeat them. He was almost glad he was incapable after being expelled. His wand had, of course, been snapped in two rendering him unable to preform the old spells and enchantments aside from his animagus abilities (which had to remain secret from everyone aside from the Marauders due to the fact that he was still quite unregistered) and the occasional burst of involuntary wandless magic.

Of course, he'd hardly managed to get anywhere with his thought thanks to the interruptions of orders and carrying trays and other such lovely cafe-related incidents before it was time to hang up his apron, talk to his boss about being off the next day, and begin his trek home. Home... right... back to Remus. A slight smile infected his face, refusing to diminish the entire ride back.

Even with his continued inner turmoil he could hardly contain the pure bursts of joy at the fact that the young Lupin trusted him enough to ask to stay in his apartment. As he'd argued with James earlier, it hadn't been very long since they had all formally met once more. Of course, something in the back of his decided to remind him of the numerous attempts at communication via owl and he couldn't help but feel a little bad for enforcing the isolation on them when they so obviously didn't agree. Of course, he'd managed to swallow down this guilt in favor of thinking they must all still be mad. Sure, it had been years, but people could hold grudges that long. Like his own grudge with his family.

Of course, that was all beside the point. The point being that he was still smiling (almost a goofy sort of expression) as he hopped off his bike and headed up the stairs to the apartment. Before long he was going about opening up the door, head tilting at the smell of food coming from the kitchen. He blinked, glancing over to see Remus standing there. His wand sat upon the counter top, not far from it a few pans were heating up some rather nice smelling food. As the door closed behind him, Sirius saw Remus look up.

"Hey, welcome back." the young Lupin threw toward him, stirring one of the pans before offering his friend a wink. "Dinner is almost ready. I figured it was the least I could do after you let me stay here." the werewolf added, turning off the stove and beginning to carry the pans to the table where he'd already set out some pot holders.

"Thanks, Remus. You really didn't have to." the young Black said, rather touched by the kind act even as he moved to take his seat. Remus just rolled his eyes and pushed his shoulder lightly.

"I know. Now eat up." the light brown haired man finished his task and took a seat himself.

They ate in silence for several minutes. Don't let that fool you though. It was far from an uncomfortable or awkward silence, it was just the silence of two old friends sitting around eating good food together and not talking because they didn't have anything intelligent to say. Of course, when Sirius did venture to talk it came out as an unintelligent, needless comment that Remus just blew off.

"Wow, this is great."

"I've had practice. It's nothing fancy."

Though those words were enough to give way to an actual conversation, however short. Starting with:

"How's the book shop?" courtesy of one Sirius Black.

"It's been doing fine. There was an incident with a window breaking that set funds back though." Remus said and Sirius suddenly understood why the werewolf had been having money trouble as of late.

"I see. That doesn't sound like fun." the dog animagus replied and Remus just nodded. Sirius decided they needed something better to talk about. "James invited me to the park tomorrow."

"I was wondering when he was going to ask you. Better late than never, hmm?"

"Yeah, I suppose you're quite right there."

The comfortable silence fell again, broken only when they parted ways for the night. For once the young Black actually allowed himself to relax enough for a dreamless sleep to fall over him.

When Sirius' alarm clock sounded the next morning he was out of bed quickly, quite afraid that the sound might wake Remus. Of course, as he shuffled out of the room toward the bathroom he found that his fears had been for naught. The young Lupin was sitting the the living room, a book in one hand and a stack of papers across his lap.

"Aren't you out of school?" he asked, wiping the sleep from his eyes to give the werewolf a once over. He got a laugh in return before those amber eyes were upon him, rolling before the mouth moved to answer him.

"I own a business, Sirius. That means I'm responsible for filling out all the paperwork. It's not so hard, really." the young Lupin couldn't help but to laugh at the look on Sirius' face. "Oh don't look at me like that. I'm sure you fill out more papers than me what with going to a muggle college and all."

It was Sirius' turn to roll his eyes and he did so with a flair. "I've never done so with such a content look on my face, Professor Lupin." he said, earning a snort from the werewolf.

"Go shower or whatever you got up to do." his friend teased, turning back to the papers and the dog animagus sighed, amused and shook hie head.

"Right, right. I can make breakfast when I'm done if you like."

"Don't worry about it. When you said 'make yourself at home' I immediately scoped out the kitchen."

"Of course you did. Get back to your work." the Black joked, turning back to the bathroom to shower. It was nicer than he ever could have imagined, having his friends back. Which he had really thought one too many times. But he couldn't help it. Here he was actually laughing thanks to a few morning greeting words with Remus Lupin who just happened to be staying with him. And later they would both be on their way to the park. What could be better?

Sirius was soon all ready to go and stood awkwardly by the door. "Do you need a ride to the park later?" he asked, not thinking about any magical means of transportation as Remus raised an eyebrow at him.

"I figured I'd just apparate to a safe zone near the park. Thanks though, Sirius. Can you get there all right?"

Sirius nodded, half relieved and half disappointed by the prospect that he wouldn't be taking Remus for a ride on the motorbike. He decided the cast the feelings aside and raised a hand in a wave. "I'll see you later then!"

"Bye, Padfoot."

The rest of that morning turned out to be rather uneventful. He rode his motorcycle off to class, and, after sitting through the lecture he eventually emerged to find himself in need of filling the motorbike's tank. This wasn't a problem as there was a filling station on the way to the park James had described yesterday and he was soon well and on his way there.

He was glad to see that he wasn't the first or last one there. James and Lily had already set up one of the picnic tables in the shade and were both drinking from bottles of lemonade. Sirius remembered at that point that Lily was a muggleborn and that it was likely that she exercised her knowledge of the world Sirius had been occupying these last few years in simple things like meal preparation. He offered them both a wave as he made his way over, glancing back to make sure his motorcycle was just was safely parked as it had been two seconds ago. Glancing back up he saw James' eyes on it while a pair of emerald green eyes rolled beside him.

"Want anything to drink, Sirius?" Lily asked him just as James stood up to make his way for the parking lot. His wife grabbed him by the back of the jacket and sat him right back down with one hand while offering the young Black a lemonade as he nodded.

"Thank you, Lily." he responded, opening up the bottle and smirking at James as he sighed and grumbled about not getting to go see the muggle contraption right away. "Hello to you too, James." the dog animagus cut in, taking a seat to await the arrival of Remus and Peter.

"Yeah, yeah. Hi Padfoot." James responded, pushing his glasses up as he turned back to the table. "Where's Moony?"

"He said he was going to apparate so I haven't seen him since this morning." the young Black replied and James looked quite surprised.

"You mean he had the perfect opportunity to take a ride on a real motorcycle and he turned it down? What's wrong with him?" the young Potter certainly did seem intent upon getting his turn and Sirius could help but to grin. Not only at what James said but because he could see something the other couldn't what with sitting on the opposite side of the table and all.

"There's nothing wrong with me, but you and Sirius sure have a problem. Do you have idea how dangerous those things are?" Remus asked, appearing behind James who jumped quite fantastically, not expecting the other.

Sirius, Lily, and Remus all burst out into laughs and James crossed his arms over his chest and gave them all light-hearted glares.

Within a few minutes Remus was sat down with a lemonade of his own and the four were carrying a light conversation over the safety of motorcycles. Though Lily agreed with Remus about their dangers, she most definitely seemed a lot more open minded about trying and after a little coaxing from James even admitted that she'd wanted to own one when she was younger. They were just about to considering beginning to eat without Peter when there was the sound of panting and running coming toward their table.

"Wormtail, mate. I thought you were going to be a no show." James teased, waving him into a seat. He smiled nervously and ran a hand through his mousy hair.

"Sorry... Got held up by my girlfriend." the young Pettigrew responded, gratefully taking the lemonade as Lily offered one. He took a long swig before turning to everyone else. "Thanks for waiting to start the party."

"Of course, Pete. It wouldn't be the same without you." Remus informed their friend, patting him on the shoulder. Sirius nodded to show he agreed but had other things on mind.

"So Lily, what's in the basket?" he knew full and well it was their lunch and as he watched her open it up to reveal-- you guessed it-- sandwiches, he grinned.

The five set about eating, a casual conversation ensuing. The second they had finished James jumped up. "Padfoot! We're going for a ride!" he declared, running around the table and plucking his friend's arm. "To the motorcycle!"

Sirius blinked, rather taken aback by the whole situation as he found himself stumbling behind the over-enthusiastic Potter. "Hey! Wait! Do you even know how to drive? James!"

Sirius had found himself relieved of the keys and James jumping haphazardly onto the black motorbike. He wasted no time in getting himself over there to cover the keyhole before the young Potter could potentially wreck his only means of transportation. James let out a sigh and crossed his arms.

"It can't be that difficult, Pads." he whined as Sirius reached up to grasp his keys and wrench them from the other man's grasp.

"It's only easy if you know what you're doing. I'm driving." the young Black insisted and James smirked in triumph. Even if he had to ride as a passenger he'd surely won this round.

So the two were off, Sirius driving them around while the other three watched. Impressed as ever by his friends accomplishing anything cool, Peter gave into the occasional urge to clap. Remus didn't seem so pleased and kept wincing every time it appeared the two might crash. Lily just rolled her eyes, laughing lightly as her husband offered her a huge grin and a thumbs up. After about two hours she and Peter had both been talked into taking a ride by an over-excited James. By the time they were all five back at the picnic table, it was no longer fun trying to tell Remus how much he'd missed out. They all parted ways all too soon as dinner began to approach. Or rather, James and Lily walked off together toward the apparation point with Peter trailing behind as Remus lingered back with Sirius.

"Is it really as fun as everyone kept saying?" he asked after an awkward moment of silence. That grin he'd missed so much the past few years flashed across Sirius' face and he nodded.

"I could give you a lift back to the apartment." he offered and Remus actually seemed to be considering it, amber eyes flickering around to make positive that the other three were truly gone.

"So long as you don't tell Prongs." he finally agreed.

Sirius was on;y too happy to oblige. The ride was quiet, both left to their thoughts as the wind rushed passed them. They ate with little conversation, perhaps reflecting upon the last few days before finally parting ways for bed.

The next day, Sirius' nightmare began anew.

The morning would have gone just fine had he not glanced at the calender upon instinct. 'Meeting.' had been scrawled in messy handwriting. Had Remus not already left to take care of his shop he would have been likely to ask about the slight gasp-turned-groan, perhaps stopped to Ask Sirius what was wrong as he skipped out on breakfast. But he wasn't there and instead the young Black was left to leave a note.

Remus,

If I'm back tonight it won't be until late. So... don't worry and have a nice night.

Love,

Sirius

Figuring that would suffice, he left for school. Dreading what was to come he begged the clock to move as slowly as it had the past few days. He prayed to whatever was out there that he'd get held up in traffic and forced to work late. He even wished himself ill will in some sort of accident as he finally started for the Italian restaurant. Needless to say, time sped, he arrived to work quite early, and no car suddenly found the need to plow into him and his precious motorbike. It wasn't long until he was escorted to a table.

"Sirius! There you are!" though the voice sounded so pleasant, so kind, it sent chill up and down the young Black's spine and caused his lips to fall further into their frown. So much for reunions. "I've been waiting for you. How have you been?"

And so concludes chapter five. Took me forever to think of it's title. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. This time I really can promise you'll get answers next chapter. I'm also probably going to have to change the raiting because the next chapter gets a bit graphic. We'll see.