Lily came to see him every day after that.
She'd never really liked Sirius, if she was honest, and had just dismissed him as another one of James' tosspot friends who was a bit of a whore. The only reason she'd even come back in the first place was because deep down she was a caring person, and she saw the pain in Sirius' grey eyes when he talked about his friends. So she went back, because she needed to know what had happened, and even though Sirius never actually told her, to her immense surprise, she realised that Sirius was a lot more than he made himself out to be.
He wasn't stupid, and he certainly wasn't as arrogant or self-confident as he portrayed himself to be. He didn't like to talk about himself a lot, and neither did Lily, so they settled on a comfortable middle ground, either talking about James or sitting in companionable silence whilst Lily read a book and Sirius caught up on all his work. After a few days, Sirius was feeling a lot better, though the millions of cuts on his body still hadn't faded. Madame Pomfrey had opted to let the shallow ones heal naturally, but she gave him a specific spell to heal the deep ones, so they were pretty much gone already. His ribs and arm were fixed, but his chest still ached a lot. He felt virtually no pain in his back, but the rope burn around his neck still hurt, although it had already healed quite well thanks to the potion he had drank on the first day. Lily checked with Madame Pomfrey every time she was in here, before Sirius even knew she was here, and then would come and sit with him. He was mildly surprised when she first came to his bedside, but he had to admit, he did enjoy the company.
"Now Sirius, Madame Pomfrey says she can release you tomorrow if you start eating the food she gives you. So eat!" Lily smiled, pushing a plateful of food towards him. Sirius picked at the sandwich, as well as the crisps, and swallowed a mouthful of water after every bite he took - he refused to even touch pumpkin juice after what had happened on that night, but by the end he'd eaten over half his meal. Sirius didn't think it was enough, but Madame Pomfrey was remarkably pleased with his progress, telling him that his appetite probably wouldn't be back for a few weeks after what had happened to his neck, so it was important to eat properly until then. Sirius nodded and thanked her, ignoring Lily's enquiring stare. For days she had been asking him what happened to his neck, and each time he had just told her he'd rather not talk about that. She respected that, but each time she pushed a little harder, though she remained gentle, but still, Sirius wasn't opening up anytime soon.
Lily informed Sirius that she had started talking to James a little more, and Sirius warned her that they should only talk when hardly anyone was around, not because he was ashamed, but because he was afraid she'd publicly humiliate him once again by rejecting him, so he was more likely to act like a dick.
"He doesn't want anyone to think it hurts him, see." Sirius explained. "But it does. His face always falls when he thinks no one's looking. It's important to him to not show his real emotions, to be a guy I guess."
Lily nodded, reading over Sirius' Transfiguration essay and scratching out a sentence or two.
"There you go! Almost perfect, Sirius." she beamed at him, and he gave her a small smile.
Madame Pomfrey released him from the Hospital Wing the next day, at six in the morning. Sirius had been awake for the better part of an hour, worrying about what would happen when he saw his friends again. He was still quite clearly injured, but he didn't want them to notice or pity him. He was a very proud person that way, and hated receiving sympathy.
It was a Thursday, so he decided he'd sneak into the dormitory before any of them woke up, and then stay in there all day, skipping all the meals except for the evening meal. He'd originally planned to skip that too but Madame Pomfrey would fret if he wasn't seen in the Dinner Hall all day, and besides, it was better for them to see him there first, rather than him just appearing in the dormitory from his bed and scaring the life out of them all.
So when she released him, Sirius walked up back to the Griffindor common room carrying all of his stuff in the same bag he'd left with. Lily had informed him of the new password so he murmured it to the Fat Lady, clambered through the portrait hole, and snuck up the stairs. He was careful to be extremely quiet as he opened the door, and he gently padded through the door.
He let out a sigh of relief when he was at his bed, gently placing his bag down on top of it and climbing in with it. The other had left his curtains drawn to his relief, and he pulled out his wand, casting a Silencing Charm around the bed and then allowing himself to breathe properly again.
When he heard his old friends begin to rouse, he lay down on his side, his eyes closed tightly, praying they wouldn't find him here. He just wanted a half-day of peace before the real hell broke loose.
Remus was the first to wake up. Sirius recognised his quiet footsteps as he headed to the shower, and revelled in the bookish smell the other boy carried around.
A half hour later and James woke up. Sirius fully tensed up; James was a Seeker and trained to notice the smallest differences. But thankfully he remained oblivious that three had become four, and got straight in the shower after Remus had finished. The other two pulled Peter out of bed when James had finished, so he'd have time to have his shower.
Sirius was borrowed under his covers at this point. He was quite skinny, so they wouldn't notice any silhouette from behind his hangings.
"When do you think Sirius will be back?" Peter squeaked, and Sirius' breath caught in his throat. James sighed heavily.
"I have no idea." Remus said quietly, and Sirius' eyes filled with tears when he heard the pain in Remus' voice. He was filled with anger at himself for being the cause of that pain, and cursed under his breath.
"Don't let that bastard bother you, Remus." James snapped, throwing a pair of jeans forcefully on the floor. "I'm going to breakfast."
James then walked out of the dormitory, Peter following. Sirius assumed Remus had left with them, even though he heard no footsteps, so he yanked his hangings apart and headed for the bathroom, suicide on his mind. To his horror, however, he whacked into Remus, sending him flying to the floor.
Out of instinct, Sirius reached out and caught the other boy, pulling him to his feet. The contact sent him dizzy, and the immediately took his hands away, not daring to meet the other boy's eyes.
"S-Sirius?" Remus asked, confused as all hell. Sirius nodded meekly.
"You can hit me if you want." he murmured. Remus stepped back in shock.
"Wha-what are you doing here? What happened to your face?" Remus' voice was thick with emotion.
"I got what I deserved. I'm sorry, Remus." Sirius said quietly. Remus frowned.
"Sirius, I-I'm not ready to forgive you." he blurted. Sirius felt like a dagger had gone through his heart, and the pain must've shown on his face, because Remus took a step forward out of habit.
"I have to shower." Sirius heard himself say, and stumbled towards the bathroom, keeping his head low so Remus wouldn't see the tears that were spilling down his face.
