Rose stared at the note, reading and rereading it, trying to find some clue as to what could have possibly made him go. When the note offered nothing, she thought back to the past two weeks. Had she said something to offend him without realizing it? No…she couldn't think of a single thing she'd said that could have been taken the wrong way…and she had never considered Sirius a very sensitive person anyway.

So what happened? During the day directly before he had apparently left, he seemed perfectly normal…normal for Sirius, that is. She had noticed absolutely nothing amiss. She could think of only one thing to do at this point. She had to write to Remus. Maybe Sirius had mentioned something to him once he'd gotten there. She pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill. She wrote sloppily because, for some unfathomable reason, her hand was shaking.

Remus,

Sorry I haven't answered that last owl you sent me. I've honestly been meaning to…I just forgot. I looked, and I don't have any of your books with me, sorry. I'd ask James if I were you…could be his idea of a joke.

I also wanted to know whether Sirius got to your place alright. He was here for a couple of weeks and then just sort of…left. The note he left sounded a bit strange, like he was angry about something, and I can't figure out what it is. I was just wondering if he'd mentioned anything to you about it. Write back as soon as you can.

Rose

She let the family owl, Rowan, out from his cage, and tied the letter to his leg. She watched as he flew out of sight, and sighed. With nothing further to do, she decided to go down to breakfast, and then spent the rest of the day waiting for Remus' reply. His letter came that night.

Rose,

Sirius got here about two hours before I got your letter. He's fine…well…I mean he's not injured or anything. Rose, I don't know what, but something's wrong with him. He hardly ever speaks, and he spent most of the day curled up on my bedroom floor, moping. He's really got me worried. Any suggestions?

Remus

Rose groaned. She hadn't the slightest idea what they were going to do about this. Grabbing her quill from her dresser, she turned over Remus' note, and scribbled frantically on the back.

I'm coming over there. I might get there before the letter, so sorry for the intrusion, but we have to work this out.

Rose

Rose took a deep breath, and once again changed into her beautiful golden Animagus form. Stretching her long wings briefly, she headed for her bedroom window, jumped out, and began to circle the area around her home within a ninety mile radius. She had absolutely no idea where Remus lived…she began to rethink her attempt at finding it, when she caught sight of Remus standing outside a small house, waving his hands above his head. She landed directly in front of him, and changed back into human form.

"Just how exactly did you think you were going to find the place?" asked Remus with a slight smirk on his face.

"Not one of my brightest ideas," Rose admitted, "Where is he?"

"Upstairs."

They entered the little blue house, and ran up the staircase into what Rose assumed was Remus' bedroom. There was very little in the room. It consisted of a bed, a desk, and a chair. The walls were bare except for a picture on the wall of Remus, Sirius, Peter, James, and Rose, all grinning and waving at the camera. In the far corner of the room was Sirius, with his knees drawn up to his chest and his head down.

When he looked up, Rose could clearly see that he had been crying. His eyes were red-rimmed and his cheeks were stained with tears. What could have possibly caused this?

He glared at her, but seeing as he would have to walk directly past her in order to leave the room, he remained where he was.

Unsure of what to say, Rose stammered, "Sirius, I-"

"What the hell are you doing here?" Sirius cut her off.

"What do you think I'm doing here?" she asked, frustrated, "Your note wasn't exactly reassuring! Why did you go?"

"Maybe I'm just sick and tired of acting like a sitting target! Maybe we all are, little miss Death Eater!"

"What did you just call me?! Sirius, I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"You can drop the act, Rose. Your brothers spilled the beans. Now. Get. Out."

With some extreme difficulty, Remus managed to force Rose out of the room.

"We'll talk later," he whispered when they were out of Sirius' earshot, "there's obviously been some huge misunderstanding. I'll try to get him to talk to me, and then I'll write to you."

"DON'T BOTHER, REMUS!" Rose shouted so that Sirius would be able to hear her, "LET HIM BELIEVE WHAT HE RUDDY WELL WANTS! GREAT FRIEND, AREN'T YOU, SIRIUS?! WE'VE BEEN BEST FRIENDS FOR FIVE YEARS, AND YOU'LL BELIEVE SOMETHING YOU HEARD FROM MY IDIOT BROTHERS WHEN I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THE HELL YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT? WELL, GOOD RIDDANCE!"

And with that, she stomped out the door, slamming it behind her. Sirius watched as a beautiful golden owl flew past his window without glancing at him.

Nothing made sense anymore.

A/N: Ew…another cliffhanger…I really didn't want to just end it like that, believe me…would have been a longer chapter, but I've got a stupid Latin test to study for, and I wanted to put something up for you guys tonight. I'll try to get another one up tomorrow! Review, please!