Title: Empty & Raw
Rating: R
Word Count: 200
Pairing: Remus/Sirius

He didn't know if it was because Sirius needed some – any – control in his life, or if it was because Remus' own life was so empty he was willing to take any form of completeness he could get, but ever since they had moved into 12 Grimmauld, their love making had become less a ritual of love and more an exorcism of hate, despair, and everything that made them retreat into themselves in the daylight.

It was always the same. Sirius would come to him at night and Remus would lie and let him take what he needed, what they both needed. Afterwards they curled back inside themselves as empty as before. Together, but still alone.

They made love slowly one night, an act of compassion and raw emotion. Remus could feel Sirius' helplessness and hurt seeping out just under the surface onto his skin. He was surprised to find tears on both their faces as they clung to each other afterwards.

It only happened once and they never spoke of it. Somehow confronting Sirius' anger was easier than confronting the endless vortex of emotions that spun just under the surface raw and bleeding, a wound that would never heal.