Authors note: Haha! And I'm back, from a very long break from this story! I apologise, I tried to make this an amusing story but...well...it didn't quite turn out as planned. It turns out I don't write funny. :/ Ah well, please tell me what you think, I am ever so grateful to the reviews I have so far! Thank you, from the very bottom of my heart. :)

Chapter six

It didn't take long, where once had been a boy beneath me there was now a rather large and terrifying looking black dog. He was panting and whining slightly, he was badly wounded but alive. A werewolf's bite would not affect him now.

James uttered a sudden gasp as he realised what had happened and I heard a scuffle. I turned my head and saw a huge stag stood where James had once been, he was driving off the wolf with his head lowered so his antlers protected him. Wormtail sighed with relief before morphing his own shape. Soon we were all animals. James stood at my side, as we protected Sirius with our bodies.

Mooney, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs.

We were together once again and I growled, a low and dangerous threat as the pack leader moved towards us. James lowered his head and pawed the ground, Peter scuttled over to us, dodging the odd swipe from a claw before settling down on Padfoot's body.

"It seems that you are all very devoted to each other." The pack leader growled as he drew closer. "However, even in the form of an animal your friend will not last much longer..."

I glanced down and saw Sirius's sides heaving, his eyes were half closed, revealing the whites. I felt a shiver of fear. His soft whimpers making my ears flatten against my head. I was confused, the scent of Sirius's blood was familiar and it sent me into an odd half animal state and slowly my thoughts became strange...they were disconnected.

James suddenly lowered his head, antlers aimed at the pack leader who stood before us, half transformed from the light of the day moon. "You cannot win. We will..."

An explosion cut him off. There were horrendous screams as Werewolves were thrown across the floor boards, crashing into walls. I flinched slightly and felt myself blown off my feet. Before darkness claimed me I saw Sirius's body return to his human form...

My eyes flickered open slowly, I groaned and rolled onto my side. My body ached and I was shivering with cold. It took a moment for my eyes readjust to the dim light but when they did I found myself lying on a cold, damp stone floor. The walls were roughly hewn blocks. I looked around as I struggled into a kneeling position, there were heavy bars across the mouth of my little prison. My eyes widened and I moved closer to them, my fingers wrapping tightly around the freezing metal so I could gaze out at a long corridor. I shivered, ice filled my veins and I closed my eyes briefly.

"Moony?"

James's weak voice made me open my eyes and I saw him in the cell directly opposite mine. "James! What happened?"

I heard a clink as he moved forward and saw that he had heavy manacles on his wrists and one on his ankle, he smiled slightly. "They caught us." He began. "They must have spotted us and followed us into the werewolf sanctuary...and now I guess we're in some kind of prison." He shrugged slightly, but I could see a deep darkness in his eyes.

"Who?" I whispered.

"The Ministry." James ran fingers through his hair, his breath plumed from his lips and he winced. "I-I don't know what happened to Sirius...They took him away before stunning me. Shit! We should have been more careful!"

I shivered violently in the badly made robes. "Why's it so cold in here?" I asked, not really expecting an answer.

"Dementors." James whispered, he wrapped his arms around his knees and stared off into a corner, his eyes dark and slightly haunted.

My eyes widened slightly. "D-dementors?" I repeated. James nodded and closed his eyes.

"They patrol every half hour or so...and if we try to escape they'll be waiting...outside..." He gritted his teeth. "Damn it!"

"What's going to happen to us?" I asked, afraid of the answer. I could feel the despair as it leaked through the walls of our prison.

It seemed to be affecting James too as he covered his head with his arms in a poor attempt to hide from it. "I don't know! I don't know! Remus...I'm sorry...I've got us all killed!"

I couldn't say anything to that so I slumped down against the bars and stared despondently down the corridor. Suddenly the cold became worse. I could see the flames in the lamps flickering violently as a door at the far end of the corridor opened slowly. I groaned and moved away from the cell door. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly and gritted my teeth. I had to try and fight the upsurge of fear and despair...but...there was no hope.

We were alone, in a strange world...in a strange time...no one could save us. No one would even know what happened...or be able to explain to our parents how or why we'd died. I could hear an awful rattling breath and choked on my breath as the Dementor glided up towards us. I heard James's sharp intake of breath but he couldn't hear the things I could...he wasn't driven back into the past...I could feel the agony of the wolf's claws, the teeth as they pierced my body...I screamed. I could hear my mother's desperate sobbing as I lay in the hospital bed, I could see my father's guilt ridden face. I knew...long before they had told me...My mother had left shortly after that, blaming my father for my condition. She had returned but she was never the same. I was plunged into memories of meeting people who, when they learned of my condition, would give me a look mixed with fear and disgust...

I woke up feeling as if I had just run a marathon. My body shook violently as I pulled myself to my knees again.

"Remus? Are you alright?" James hissed through the darkness.

"Y-Yeah..." I gasped, trying to still my shaking hands. "I-I...What happened?"

"The Dementor...It was stood outside your cell for a long time..." James sighed heavily. "We're never going to get out of here."

"Where's Peter?" I asked quietly, still feeling too weak, I could hardly even move.

"Somewhere around here, I'm sure...but they've got us bound up in these bloody chains...I-I can't break free...and I can't transform! They even took our wands!"

I sighed and closed my eyes. "I...I'm sorry..." I whispered.

"Not your fault, Remus." James fell silent and I followed suit, there was little more we could say to each other.

I slipped to the floor and curled in on myself. As the night wore on I could feel Dementors patrolling regularly, each time I felt that awful draining wrench on my soul...and each time I got weaker.

Finally after an unknowable amount of time the silence was shattered. There was a scream the likes of which I had never heard before, James was up, his chains clanking as he grabbed the bars of his cell. We both looked down the corridor at the door but little more than that could be done. The screams got louder, and I realised with a sickening jolt it was Sirius. "They're torturing him!" James gasped, he turned to me with a white face. There was nothing we could do except listen to Sirius's screams. After a while there was a long moment of silence before we heard, through the wooden door, a voice.

"Now...are you going to change your ways?" It was Cepheus. I could faintly hear ragged breathing. My fingers gripped the bars so tightly my knuckles were white, James seemed unable to tear his gaze from the door. "I cannot believe that such a filthy, disgusting, bloodtraitor could have been born into our family! No matter how far into the future..." Sirius screamed again, it ripped through my soul like a knife and I closed my eyes tightly and tried to cover my ears. But it was useless...

"I-I'm sorry!" Sirius's voice reached us and my eyes flew open, James met my horrified gaze. "P-Please...N-No more...I-I'm sorry...M-Mother...No! No more! I'm beggi..." there was a sharp slap and silence fell. We could hear Sirius gasping slightly and the sound of footsteps as if someone beyond the door was pacing.

"You, and people like you, are the shame of our proud name! Do you understand?"

Sirius groaned, a half sob escaping him. "Y-Yes..." He muttered, his voice barely audible through the wood of the door.

"You disgust me! That such filth could be spawned from such pure lineage is...disgraceful! I never would have thought it..." there was a brief pause before Sirius let out another scream that echoed through my head long after it had finished. "Now, I may be willing to forgive you...if you change your bloodtraitor ways..."

"Nnn..." Sirius's voice was growing fainter, he seemed to gasp something but there another ringing slap and he fell silent.

"I think another few hours with the Dementors will do...throw him in the cell!"

James and I scrambled back from the cell doors as once again the place was flooded with freezing cold. Ice chilled my heart and began muttering under my breath, my arms covering my head as the Dementor reached my cell... "No..." I groaned and opened my eyes unwillingly. I saw the great big cloaked thing as it opened the cell door and threw something that resembled a rag doll in with me. It paused and I could hear its rattling breaths before it closed the door with a clang and moved away. Once the place had warmed up slightly I took a shuddery breath and turned to what I took to be a heap of robes lying beside me, but when I drew closer I realised it was Sirius. "Sirius!" I gasped and heard James's question.

"Is he alright?"

I leaned over my friend and rolled him onto his back, he was unconscious. I could see a long cut down the side of his face, his robes had been torn and his wounds from the Werewolf attack had been healed...but many more had replaced it. He shuddered and I drew him into my arms, automatically seeking to comfort him. I closed my eyes. "Sirius..." he twitched slightly and groaned. "Sirius...wake up."

I watched his eyes flicker and slowly they opened. He blinked in the half light and his tongue darted out to lick his bloodied lips. "Mmmooony..." he muttered. I could see the evidence of torture covering his body and yet he still had that amazing grin on his face, even if it lacked his usual vigour. "Whassup?" He tried to sit up but I held him still, a gentle hand on his chest. He winced and groaned as pain obviously tore through him. "F-feel like...I've done ten rounds with a...Manticore..." he gasped, gently pushing my hand aside and forcing himself into a sitting position. He threw his head back and gritted his teeth once he had got himself into a sitting position, I tried to go to him but he pushed me away. "Nn...No..." he gasped, his eyes glazing with pain. "'M fine...Moons."

"But you're not!" I insisted.

"Don't!" he snapped suddenly, making my eyes widen. "Don't...touch me...'M fine."

"What happened? What did he do to you?" James asked desperately.

Sirius's eyes fell closed and his face crumpled. He lowered his head so hair fell into his eyes. "Nothing." He said softly, his voice barely above a whisper. "Nothing I can't handle."

"He was torturing you!" James said from across the hall.

Sirius slowly curled in on himself, his arms covering his head. "No! No...No its fine. Nothing...happened!"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" James said incredulously.

"James." I said sharply. There was something wrong with Sirius...his whole body was shaking violently and he had his face hidden from me. "Just...just be quiet." His faint sobs were quite loud as they echoed off the walls. I watched my friend break down, crying. Sirius never cried. I was glued to the spot in shock. I lifted my hand out to him but he flinched away so violently I withdrew it.

"A-always...The same thing..." He gasped. "I-I can't...do this...anymore..."

I heard James shift. I stayed silent, not having any idea how to comfort him. "It's alright..." I began but he looked up at me, his face screwed up with fury, pain and grief.

"What do you know?" He hissed. Blood trickled down the side of his face and I drew away from him on impulse, he looked deranged. "You don't know what I have to put up with at home! You don't understand what that woman does to me! She..." He stopped and shook his head quickly. A wet chuckle escaped him, but it lacked humour. "Every time! Every damn time! Nothing will ever change...It's always the same..." he suddenly drew up his sleeve and I gasped as I saw words carved into his arm, words that still bled sluggishly. "Bloodtraitor!" he muttered furiously. "A permanent reminder of what I am...of my betrayal! They may as well have carved it into my soul!"

"Sirius...I-I..." I had no idea what to say. Words seemed empty somehow. I understood how he felt, who better to understand the hatred of others than a Werewolf?

With a violent shudder he leaned against the wall, his breathing was still shaky and I could smell the blood. "We're all going to die here." He whispered softly. I watched his eyes close as he slipped down the wall. "And I for one...welcome it."

James was silent, but I could almost hear him thinking desperately. But I knew it was useless. I knew we would all meet our end at the trials...and we would die horribly and painfully. I moved to the opposite wall and sat down, staring off into darkness.

No one considered it odd how there was no noise from Peter...not one of us found it strange that he hadn't spoken a word. And so, we had no idea that the Ministry were missing one prisoner.