Again, thanks for the lovely reviews! I was desperately to get this written and published before I start my night shift tonight. You know when you just need to get it out? Yeah that's how I was feeling today.

I hope you enjoy the next chapter :)

CRIMINALS
The Full Moon

Sirius was sitting alone in the Gryffindor common room, staring out of the window. It was already dark, and the nights were getting colder. It was misty outside, and just staring out made Sirius shiver a little. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on what he was there to think about. He lost focus when he heard a chair move. He turned to face James, who had just sat down opposite him.

"What's wrong?" James asked.

Sirius sighed and shrugged. "Nothing."

"Sirius, you forget I've known you for seven years," James said. "I know your worried face, and you have it on right now."

"Not worried," Sirius said. "Just… unsure of what to do."

"What's up?"

Sirius glanced out of the window and then back at James. "It's a full moon tonight. I'm still so angry at Remus, but I've never not helped him at the full moon."

James nodded. "I know what you're feeling."

Sirius raised his eyebrows.

"Remus and I weren't talking for almost seven months," James said quietly. "I never missed one full moon though."

"I want to miss it," Sirius said through gritted teeth. "Does that make me a horrible person?"

"Of course not," James said. "You're upset, and you're hurt. So you want him to hurt too."

"Exactly!"

"But haven't you hurt him enough these past few weeks?" James pointed out. "He's been in the hospital wing so much lately."

"Of course I don't want him to rip himself apart tonight. I don't want that. I hate him but I still care about him, on a higher level. The very thought of missing a full moon just feels like that's the end of our relationship forever."

"So you must still want him as a friend," James said. "Otherwise you wouldn't care."

"In the past, he's been the most wonderful, empathetic and compassionate friend. He even taught me those big words. Why would I want to lose a friend like that? But then I think to myself, was he really empathetic? Maybe it was just a lie. I don't know, James. He's broken my trust."

"I know you'll do the right thing," James said with a smile. "Do you know what helped me when I was angry with Remus? I tried to think of things from his point of view. It really made me realise that maybe I was being a bit of an idiot."

"A bit?" Sirius joked. "I'm kidding. But when I think of things from Remus's perspective all I can imagine is them kissing and I don't want that image in my head."

James nodded. "Incoming," he said, his voice dropping a few octaves.

Sirius turned around and rolled his eyes as Lily walked in. "I'm going upstairs then."

"Hey, Evans!"

"I thought we were now on a first name basis after becoming head boy and girl?" Lily said.

"Well, that suits me just fine. How are you, Lily?"

"I'm fine. We have a prefect meeting to plan," Lily said coolly.

"Or we could just kiss?" James said.

Sirius heard a thump and glanced down to see James clutching at his forehead and Lily holding a particularly heavy book. Sirius laughed to himself and opened the door to his dormitory.

Peter's curtains were closed, so Sirius could only assume he had smuggled Shannon Bowler into the dormitory and was doing unspeakable (and unthinkable) things behind the curtains. Sirius tried to scourgify his mind.

Remus was sitting on his own bed. He had looked up when Sirius had entered the room, and hastily went back to reading his book.

Sirius sat down on his own bed and looked at Remus. He looked awful. He was covered in bruises still, even though it had been a few days since Sirius had last gotten into a fight with him. Remus always looked awful before a full moon, but today he looked terrible. Sirius hoped it had nothing to do with their fight.

"It's a full moon tonight," Sirius said quietly, not looking at Remus.

He didn't get a reply.

"I've spent all day wondering whether I should go down the Shrieking Shack tonight."

He glanced at Remus who was looking at him now. Remus shrugged.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sirius asked.

"It means that I don't care."

"You do care."

"I really don't. You mean nothing to me," Remus said coldly.

Sirius nodded. "That's fine, I won't be coming then."

"Cool."

"Right."

Remus went back to reading his book, and Sirius used all of his strength to stop himself walking up to Remus and punching him again. Just looking at Remus made him angry.

He stood up and headed back out of the dormitory again. He walked straight past James and Lily, who were sitting at a desk talking quietly. Sirius was amazed at how civil Lily was being. It was a rare occasion to see the two of them like that.

He headed down through the different moving staircases and through tapestries and corridors, not really headed anywhere, just walking.

Sirius had a feeling that if he didn't go down to the Shrieking Shack tonight to be there for Remus, he would regret it for a long time. At the same time, he felt like he was letting himself down by going.

He hated this. The amount of difficult choices and decisions he had to make, and the number of things he had to be stressed about – it wasn't normal for someone of his age. Couldn't he be carefree like others?

He wished he was in Hufflepuff. They always seemed so happy and calm. Not a care in the world. He shook his head. That would be a wonderful thing.

He was so deep in thought that he didn't realise that he was about to walk into someone until they were both on the floor.

"Sorry," he muttered. When he looked up, he groaned. He wished he hadn't apologised.

"Watch where you're going, Black," Snape spat, getting to his feet. Sirius stood up.

"You too, Snivelly."

"Heard you put Lupin in the hospital wing," Snape said with a sneer. "Is that how you treat your friends?"

"Mind your own business," Sirius said.

"Makes me think you've had a disagreement," Snape continued. "He can't be in a good place right now."

"As much as this has been a lovely conversation, I am sick of hearing your voice to I'm going now," Sirius said, starting to walk away.

"It's a full moon tonight, isn't it? I heard that werewolves have died on full moons after going through stressful situations. Let's hope he's not too stressed, shall we?"

Sirius swivelled round to see Snape smirking at him. Why did he think this was funny? He wanted more than anything to hex him, but he knew he shouldn't.

"You're making that up!"

"I'm not, actually," Snape said, with a satisfied smile. "The anger or stress that he feels, the wolf will feel too. He could literally claw himself to death. That's the leading cause of death in werewolves, since most are clinically depressed because they are werewolves. It's a tragic cycle."

"Why are you smiling? You're sick, if you think somebody killing themselves is funny," Sirius spat, angrily.

"Oh, I'm not smiling because he might kill himself," Snape said. "I'm smiling because if he did kill himself, you would be responsible. I'd love to see your face then."

Sirius had no words.

"I'd love to see you spiral out of control. Maybe you'd handle it better than your brother, or I'm hoping you won't be so lucky and you take one too many pills."

"How dare you!" Sirius yelled, his blood boiling beneath his skin. "If you're not careful, I'll fucking kill you. I'm sure your parents wouldn't find that funny."

"And you really would kill me, wouldn't you?" Snape said, unbothered by Sirius's harsh words. "See, that's the difference between you and I. I think before I act, and you act before you think. You almost killed me once, you will probably kill Lupin tonight, and you've just threatened to kill me right now."

"You say that like I'm a murderer," Sirius said, irritated.

"Not yet, but I don't doubt that you will be," Snape replied. "I should get going. Say 'hello' to Lupin for me."

Sirius clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.

Don't go after him. Don't go after him. Calm down. It isn't worth it.

He inhaled, and exhaled. Heading into a classroom nearby, he checked the time. Remus should be on his way down to the Whomping Willow right about now.

Snape's words haunted his mind.

'You will probably kill Lupin tonight'.

Sirius shivered and walked back the way he'd came. He hoped to encounter Remus on the way back up to the Gryffindor Tower, but he hadn't. He would have said anything to put Remus's mind at ease for this one night.

But he was too late – Remus was already down there.

Sirius's choice was made. He would have to go down there tonight, and do everything within his power to stop Remus from killing himself. He also feared for his friend's lives because if he was angrier than usual, they probably weren't safe.

By the time Sirius entered the dormitory, James and Peter were getting ready to go down to the Whomping Willow.

"I'm coming with you," Sirius said breathlessly. "I need to."

James smiled. "That's good. I knew you'd make the right choice."

"Are you okay, Sirius?" Peter asked, looking worried. "You seem upset."

"I don't think Remus is safe," Sirius said. "Apparently werewolves have killed themselves in the past if they've been upset or angry about something. If he kills himself…"

"-He won't," Peter said. "Who told you that?"

"Snivellus."

"Since when do you take what he says seriously?" James said. "Remus will be fine. Come on."

Sirius nodded and followed them out of the dormitory, but he had a bad feeling that Snape had not been lying.

The three of them were standing before the Whomping Willow, as always. They nodded to one another before transforming into their animagus forms. James stood tall, while Peter disappeared in the long grass. Moments later, the tree froze, and Peter reappeared and climbed up onto James's antler.

They headed down through the secret passageway that led to the Shrieking Shack. It was a very long passageway, but Sirius could always hear Remus from afar with his dog hearing.

Remus certainly sounded more dangerous than usual. His growls were louder, more ferocious. Sirius was not sure he wanted to enter the room at the end of the tunnel.

They finally reached the door, and Sirius stood up on two legs to open it. The three of them slowly edged into the room, and Sirius was immediately flung to the ground.

He looked up and the wolf was on top of him, teeth bared. Sirius was truly terrified. He barked at the wolf, in hope that he would back down, but he kept snapping at him.

Remus was thrown off of him by James, and Sirius took this opportunity to get up. Remus was definitely acting out of the ordinary.

Ordinarily, the three of them would keep him company and he wouldn't dare to attack them.

Now, his stare was burning deep into Sirius. He let out a fierce growl and lunged back at him. Sirius managed to get out of the way.

James stepped forwards, leaning his head down so that his sharp antlers were in place to attack Remus if he had to. Remus could see that this was what James had planned, so backed away.

Hesitantly, Sirius stepped towards the wolf. He made a small sound which was the equivalent to a 'sorry' in dog language.

The wolf growled at him again, and Sirius bravely continued forwards.

It happened all at once – one moment Sirius and Remus were standing facing one another, and the next, the wolf was tearing shreds into him.

The pain was excruciating. He was desperately trying to get free, but the wolf was much bigger and much stronger.

He knew that James was attempting to help but Remus wasn't having it.

Sirius tried to bite back, to cause some sort of damage, but before he knew it, the wolf had sunk its teeth deep into Sirius's side, causing him to let out a loud howl.

The more Sirius struggled against the wolf, the more painful it was becoming. Remus's claws were like razorblades, cutting deep gashes into him from all angles.

He was ready to pass out from the pain. He used every ounce of strength he had left in him to try and push Remus off of him, but he was only awarded with another excruciating bite to the front leg.

And suddenly the weight had been lifted, and Remus was no longer on top of him. His vision was going blurry, and he was barely conscious of what was happening.

All he could see was a flash of light, and all he could hear was the wolf howling in pain.

He glanced over to James, who was no longer a stag. He had transformed into human form and had his wand out, his arm shaking. His wand was still pointed at Remus.

"Peter, turn and help Sirius out of the room," James said.

Sirius saw Peter turn back into himself, and he could feel himself being pulled out of the room.

A loud growl came from the room, and then the door slammed, and James was next to him. He had left Remus alone in the room.

"We need to get Sirius to the hospital wing. Can you hear me, mate?" James said quickly. Sirius let out a whine to acknowledge James.

"You'll need to turn back into a human," James said.

Sirius turned back and the pain seemed to triple. The dog had been stronger than Sirius, so he immediately let out an ear-splitting cry and grasped at his side, where Remus had bitten him.

"Is that – I mean – will you become a werewolf too?" Peter asked, sounding terrified.

"He won't," James said, but Sirius could hear the uncertainty in his voice.

He felt himself being lifted, and somewhere between the door to the Shrieking Shack and the hospital wing, he completely blacked out.

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