Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.
A/N: Wow guys, sorry for the delay. I've been busy working on my NaNoWriMo novel and I've had a lot of school work to do. The next chapter is already written (since it was originally a one shot), but it needs to be revised slightly. I should have it up within a week.
Sirius flew Buckbeak over the mountains near the edge of Hogsmeade. He was looking for the cave that the Marauders had found during their one of their many adventures around Hogsmeade. Twelve years in Azkaban had dulled his memories, but he was pretty sure that it was slightly ahead on his right.
"There it is, Buckbeak," Sirius whispered. Buckbeak flew down into the cave and walked towards the back. Sirius slid off his back and pet him on his neck. "Thank you," he whispered. "I need you to stay here for a little while. I'll be back later." He wasn't sure if Buckbeak understood him or not, but the hippogriff shook his head up and down, so Sirius took that as a yes. Sirius changed to Padfoot and raced towards the entrance of the cave. He listened intently, trying to see if he could hear Remus.
Remus. He still couldn't believe that he had seen Remus again. All this time in Azkaban he had been worrying about him; how he was doing, whether he had a job, whether he had any friends. He had come to Hogwarts to try to get Peter and, although he had failed in doing so, he still couldn't believe that he had seen Moony again. It was strange because, in a way, it was like the four Marauders were in the Shack again; Remus, Sirius, Peter and then Harry, who looked just like James did at that age.
He shook his head; right now, he needed to focus on finding Moony. He had promised his friend that he would always be there for him and now that he was free he intended to keep that promise, but first he needed to find his friend.
There- was that a howl? It was too far away for him to be sure, but Sirius thought he had heard a werewolf's howl. He ran down the slope, fully intent on at least trying to find Remus. He knew that his chances of finding his friends were very slim, especially since he only had a few hours until the sun would rise and he needed to comb through not only the Hogwarts grounds but the Forbidden Forest as well.
He started out at the Whomping Willow, trying to see if he could pick up Remus's scent. There were the human scents over it, but he did manage to pick it out. He tried tracing it into the forest, but the scent was getting old and he kept losing it.
After Sirius lost the trail for the fifth time, he growled angrily. At the rate he was going, he might as well just wait for the moon to set and listen for Remus' screams as he transformed back. Sirius jumped as he heard the all too familiar sound of Remus starting the transformation back to a human. I wasn't serious about that! Sirius thought at he raced towards the source of the sound.
He skidded into a small clearing in the woods, but didn't slow down until he had reached Remus. He knew from experience that Remus would be nearly oblivious to everything around him during his transformation but that didn't stop him from sitting down next to his friend. Remus was in the early phases of his transformation, the phases where his body was wracked with intense pains, though he hadn't actually started changing back yet. However, it wasn't long until Remus was first howling, and then screaming, with pain as his body reshaped itself into a human shape.
Sirius was used to having Remus be in shock, or possibly unconscious, after his transformation back into a human; with the sheer stress of two changes and of spending the night as a wolf Sirius would have been very surprised if he hadn't been affected at all. But even though Sirius may have missed twelve years worth of full moons, but he knew that Remus shouldn't have been out for as long as he was. He whimpered slightly and began to lick his friend's many wounds, trying to both clean them and encourage his friend to wake up.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to his worried companion, Remus started to come to. The first thing that he saw when he opened his eyes was something that he hadn't been expecting to see at all- a shaggy mass of black fur. "Sirius?" He said hoarsely. "Is that you?"
Sirius took a step back and changed back into his human form. "Hello Moony," he said. He reached out and enveloped his friend in a hug, being careful not to aggravate his injuries. "It's been awhile, hasn't it?" Remus looked down at the ground and didn't say anything. Although he didn't say it, Sirius knew that he was feeling guilty for thinking that Sirius had committed all of those crimes.
"So what's the plan now?" He said, trying to distract Remus. He didn't want his friend to be feeling guilty, since nothing was his fault.
Remus looked up at him and frowned. "What are you talking about?" He asked.
"Well, in case you haven't noticed you have just spent the night wandering around the Forbidden Forest," Sirius said. "However, unlike during our school years, I can't help you back to the Shack and leave you in the safe hands of Madam Pomfrey, who would come to get you in, oh, about ten minutes. So, how about I get you up to the castle and-"
"No," Remus said. Sirius looked at him in surprise. "You are not going anywhere near the castle."
Sirius rolled his eyes. "I'll go up there as Padfoot. No one will recognize me!"
"But I'm sure that Harry and his friends would have tried to tell them about you," Remus said patiently. "If they saw a black dog helping me up the castle, what would they think? I'm sorry Sirius, but I will not allow you to go anywhere near that castle."
"I'm not going to leave you alone, Remus!" Sirius said.
"Sirius, you won't be 'leaving me alone'," Remus told him.
Sirius shook his head. Remus would probably never understand how Sirius felt right not, Sirius wasn't even sure if he understood how he felt, but he had to try to explain it to his friend. "I'm not leaving you alone," Sirius said again. "When I was in Azkaban, all I could think about was what I told you that night on the roof. Do you remember that night Remus?"
Remus nodded; he would never be able to forget that night.
"Well, I told you that your friends would always be there for you. But we weren't," Sirius took a deep, shuddery breath before continuing. "I couldn't think of you a lot; the dementors would always suck those memories out of me. Even after they left, whenever I thought about you there was just this feeling I had, like I had abandoned you. When I got out I swore that I would never leave you alone again." He tried to grin, but it came out weak and forced. "So, I'll bring you back up to the school. Then, next month I'll meet you… somewhere, we'll have to work that out, and I can be there for you when you transform. How does that sound?"
Sirius looked about ready to break down. Remus wasn't sure if he could destroy his friend's plans, but he couldn't let Sirius go through with that. "Sirius, just listen to me," Remus said. "I know that you're innocent. But how do you think I would feel if you were captured while trying to help me?"
"But it wouldn't be your fault…" Sirius began, but Remus cut it off.
"No, it wouldn't, but how do you think I would feel?" He asked. "I would be blaming myself for whatever would happen to you- which, if I remember correctly, is the Kiss." Sirius's face paled at the thought of having that happen, but Remus continued before he could say anything. "Believe me when I tell you that I would rather howl alone for the rest of my life than see that happen to you."
Sirius just nodded. He knew that Remus was right and, although he would never admit it, he was terrified at the thought of getting the Kiss, but it still felt like he was abandoning his friend. He opened his mouth to make some reply, though he wasn't entirely sure what he would say, when he heard someone talking.
Remus's face was suddenly serious and alert; Sirius knew that his friend had heard the voice too. "That's Dumbledore," Remus whispered as he listened intently to the voice. "But I don't know if anyone else is with him." He looked over at Sirius, a worried look on his face. "Sirius, you have to go! Now, before he sees you!"
Sirius hesitated; he didn't want to leave his friend, not now after twelve years without seeing him. "Sirius, what are you doing?" Remus was definitely starting to sound panicky now. "Go!"
"I will howl with you again, Remus," Sirius told him quietly. "I promise." He quickly changed into Padfoot and, with one last look at Remus, turned and headed back towards Hogsmeade. Remus watched him run away and couldn't help but sigh. He knew that it was better this way, but Sirius hadn't even been gone for a minute and he was already missing him.
"Ah, there you are Remus," Dumbledore said as he walked into the clearing. "Let's get you up the castle; we can discuss what happened there." He held out a pile of clothes to Remus, who took them and put them on, feeling horribly embarrassed at being caught in this position. It was one thing for Sirius to see him after the full moon, but the headmaster of Hogwarts was completely different.
Remus tried to stand up, but his legs wouldn't support him. Dumbledore smiled at him and helped him up, allowing Remus to lean on him for support. Slowly the two of them made their way out of the Forbidden Forest. They had just gotten out of the forest when they heard a semi-soft howl. Remus jumped slightly when he heard it and looked around for the source. There, sitting on the top of a hill ahead of them and near the edge of the forest, was a large, shaggy black dog.
"Padfoot," Remus whispered, forgetting for a moment that no one was supposed to know where Sirius was. He closed his eyes and listened to his friend's howl for a moment. He hadn't heard that sound for twelve years, but it was exactly the same as it had been before. Remus just wanted to howl along with him, but then he remembered where he was- and who he was with. His eyes snapped open and he looked over at Dumbledore.
To his surprise, the headmaster was smiling. "It almost seems like that stray is waiting for a response, doesn't it?" The twinkle in his eyes was the only hint that he knew what was really going on.
The headmaster pretended to be suddenly interested in the forest behind them as Remus tilted his head back and let out a howl of his own. He was surprised and saddened when Sirius didn't howl along with him. I guess I will be howling alone for awhile, he thought sadly. His howl faltered for a moment at the thought, but when he heard Sirius start echoing his howl, he grinned. Finally, though neither wanted to stop, the two friends let their howls die out. The Hogwarts grounds were silent for a few seconds, before Sirius barked once, as if to remind Remus of his promise, and disappeared over the hill.