A/N: As you might know, I am much further ahead in my writing of this than the updates show on here. In fact, it's really odd how real time keeps converging with what I write as I have just written chapters that take place in the Easter holidays. Very, very odd. Anyway, I am excited as this is one of my favourite chapters that I've written so far and so I really hope you all like it. A heartfelt conversation out on Gryffindor Tower.

Although it makes me sad when the tell me off for splitting infinitives, this story wouldn't make sense without Meg and Rosie.

Disclaimer: I know them well but, alas, I don't own them.

The daylight had long since slipped into twilight; twilight had somehow slipped into darkness, and as Remus quietly entered the dormitory, he struggled to see his way across the room to his bed. He had sat in the library with Lily for a while, not talking about anything after their initial conversation, each of them more than happy to just get on and read. His mind, at least, was not on the book in front of him. He could no longer take in the words he read and as he went through the motions of turning the pages, Remus' mind wandered through what had happened since he had returned to Hogwarts. It had been a promising start to the year; they had all joked and they had laughed, although now this laughter had been forgotten, and something much too dark for Remus' liking had taken its place. Lily had been scared when she had come to them - scared of what Snape was up to and what it could mean for them all. It had come as a surprise to hear the name 'Voldemort' being spoken again. In all honesty, Remus hadn't really thought about what had happened to Sirius at Grimmauld Place since all those months ago and yet now, as he placed the books he had borrowed from the library down on his bed, Remus felt as though maybe he should have.

He hadn't really been thinking when Sirius had returned. They had parted on bad terms and Remus had half-expected Sirius to still not be speaking to him when he came back. Yet what had happened between Sirius and Eleanor during the Quidditch match had somehow been forgotten; Sirius, apparently, either didn't remember or simply didn't care about it anymore. What had happened at Grimmauld Place had changed him, of that Remus could be certain; and now it seemed that what Lily had said to them seemed to be changing them all once more.

Remus sat on the bed and peered round in the darkness of the dormitory. It appeared that James and Peter had not yet returned; perhaps they had left the Great Hall after dinner and were now in the process of trying to find Sirius? Remus leant across and pulled open a drawer, reaching inside to find the Marauder's Map missing. If James and Peter had it, they would have found Sirius by now, which meant that Sirius must have it still.

It seemed colder than usual, and the fires hadn't been lit; Remus found himself shivering as a draft slowly seeped across the room. After pulling the robes he had hung up on the peg back on, Remus began to look around the room to find where the draft was coming from; his attention was caught by a gentle tap-tap coming from the opposite side of the room. It was then that Remus noticed one of the windows had not been shut properly; the catch had caught in the lock and now the wind from outside was gently swinging the window back and forth, knocking it against the latch.

Without a second thought Remus opened the window wide and began to shuffle carefully out onto the ledge. For the first time in many months there appeared to be no frost and Remus was grateful for the lack of ice as he cautiously shimmied along the ledge. He turned and, reaching upwards, found a solid place to cling on to as he clambered still higher on the outside of the tower. Whatever you do, Remus thought to himself, the wind whipping up the bottom of his robes, don't look down. Eventually Remus caught sight of his destination; a little way off to his right he saw a shadowy silhouette drawn against the navy sky and, after a moment or two of struggling to maintain his footing, Remus pulled himself level and carefully sat down beside Sirius.

"I saw you coming," Sirius said and Remus noticed for the first time the Marauder's Map spread carefully across his knees. Remus shrugged and Sirius, after peering down at the map for a while, asked, "How did you know where I was?"

Remus tucked his knees up to his chest and pulled his robes tightly around himself as he said, "You left the window open." Sirius nodded and, after pressing his wand to the parchment and muttering "Mischief Managed", he folded the map and put it in the pocket of his robes.

"And besides," Remus continued, stuffing his hands into his pockets to spare them from the cold, "where else would you be?"

Sirius said nothing as he turned his attention to the sky above; navy had now given way to inky blackness and on the horizon Remus could just about make out the dully twinkling shapes of the stars.

"Sirius…" Remus said, his breath freezing on the air as he spoke. Sirius didn't even twitch at the sound of his own name. Remus turned to face his friend, whose grey eyes were studying the horizon as though he were waiting for something. Remus felt a sad smile turning the corners of his lips as he repeated his friend's name. "Sirius…"

This time Sirius could not ignore him and he turned to face Remus, who suddenly, despite the confusion of the past few weeks, seemed to see things more clearly than ever before.

"Sirius, what's happening to us?" Sirius stared fixedly at Remus, his eyes seeming fathomless all of a sudden; he remained silent and shrugged. Remus nodded, expecting no more of an answer to come, and so he was surprised to hear, as he looked down to the tiles of the turret, Sirius say, "I don't know."

Remus quickly looked up and saw that Sirius' eyes were still on him, his face now illuminated by the strengthening light of the moon. Around them the air was freezing and Sirius looked down all of a sudden, examining his palms, turning his hands first one way and then the other before he said, "I don't understand."

Sirius seemed to shiver and Remus shuffled a little closer in order to comfort him with his own heat. Sirius suddenly laughed, a sharp bark of laughter that pierced the peaceful night that had descended and made Remus' stomach turn. Sirius shook his head and looked down at his feet, his hair falling in front of his eyes before he quickly tossed his head back and groaned to the sky.

"I used to think…" Remus began slowly. Every word seemed to be intruding on the insanity of the moment, but Sirius had stopped groaning and so Remus continued, "I used to think about what would happen to us all after here." Remus was sure Sirius rolled his eyes, but he pressed on before his friend had a chance to complain. "I used to imagine where we'd go and what we'd do and how we'd make our way in life. Despite how…difficult things might be for me after, I always somehow knew that it would be okay as long as…" Remus paused and swallowed hard, embarrassed about what he was going to say. "…as long as we all just stayed the same." Sirius gave a little snort of laughter and shook his head.

"But now it's like I can't see that future the way I used to imagine it. I try to and picture the things I could see before and I just can't do it." Remus looked up and saw the waxing moon cut like a sickle against the frosty sky, and he shuddered at it before looking back down. "Things are changing; things we can't control. And I'm not necessarily just talking about all this stuff to do with Voldemort…" Something about saying that name aloud made Remus hesitate. "We're changing; we're all changing as people, I mean - well…at least, I feel like I am. Things that I used to care so much about seem to feel like nothing at all. And things I never used to think of seem to mean so much, do you understand?"

Remus looked to Sirius, who had not said anything since Remus had begun to speak. Maybe it was something about the weak moonlight, or maybe it was something about the way his dark hair was framing his face, but all of a sudden Sirius appeared so much older than a boy of seventeen. His eyes seemed sunken in darkness, his brow lined with age, and, as he moved to speak, his cheeks appeared sallow and lifeless, like those of a man who hasn't lived much of a life at all.

"I don't understand any of this, however hard I try. I mean, don't get me wrong, Moony…" Sirius' voice seemed suddenly a whole lot louder; "…It's not that I don't understand what's happening with my family and Voldemort. In fact, I understand that better than I would like." He grimaced in the darkness before continuing impatiently, "What I don't understand…what I don't get is why this should be happening now; why it should be happening to us…I know, I know that you're going to say that this is something that is affecting everyone, and I know that, but then…" Sirius hesitated and his voice seemed to soften as he ended, "…but then why does it feel like it's just happening to us?"

Remus shrugged, unable to answer Sirius' question; unable to understand himself. Sirius exhaled loudly and buried his head in his hands, his fingers dragging his hair back painfully from his face before he began hurriedly, "I may not understand why this is happening but I do know that I will do anything to stop it. I won't let whatever's happening pull everything apart."

Remus reached out and placed his hand on Sirius' shoulder and at once Sirius' eyes were on him once more. Remus smiled and nodded firmly, his voice full of determination as he said, "I know you won't. And neither will I."

Sirius nodded and Remus allowed his hand to fall and return to its place in his lap. Remus turned to the black expanse above him; his eyes well practised at avoiding the moon, sought the stars instead. He read the familiar patterns within them, recalling hours spent drawing up charts for their Astronomy lessons. He could automatically separate the planets from the stars and as his eyes scoured the skyline he found Mars hanging low in the sky.

"Where are you, then?" Remus asked, his voice breaking the silence. Sirius rolled his eyes and, after gazing up at the sky for a few moments, he pointed. Remus followed Sirius' finger to a constellation just south of the moon. Remus smiled and Sirius, after staring at the sky for a moment in silence, eventually grumbled under his breath, "Bloody stupid name if you ask me."

Remus tutted gently and shook his head. Sirius looked down from the sky and laughed to himself, and for a moment Remus could almost forget the uncertainty of all that had happened before. He could almost ignore the way his behind had frozen from sitting in one position for so long, or the way that all around them the tiles to the turret were becoming dusted with frost. As Sirius laughed gently to himself, rubbing the palms of his hands on his thighs to restore some warmth, Remus could almost forget the painful words that had passed between them.

"I don't know what's worse," Sirius said finally, the laughter subsiding as he turned his attention to Remus once more. His face appeared cold and hard in the wintry moonlight, and the age that Remus had read in his features before had returned. "A man with no future or a man with no past."

Remus said nothing in response and Sirius, after reflecting on what he had just said, shifted awkwardly before saying, "Sometimes I think that I don't really have a past, what with my family being - well…what they are." He spat this venomously and Remus waited patiently for him to continue. "I don't really feel I have anything to look back on and think 'Yep, well done there'."

"Is that what a past is, then?" Remus asked and Sirius scowled at him before snapping, "Oh, I don't know..." Remus nodded to placate him and Sirius sighed heavily and looked down at his feet. Remus watched his face intently, reading the vulnerability that he was hiding behind petulance. Eventually Sirius sighed dramatically and laughed softly to himself; then he shrugged this laughter off before saying, "It's like you said, Moony; it somehow doesn't feel as if the future matters anymore. That somehow it's not going to be the same. And I just can't help but think that that star there…" Sirius pointed once more to the constellation. "That star will be here long after I've gone, long after any of us has gone. That star has a future whereas I…"

Sirius' words failed him and his bottom lip seemed to tremble somewhat as he looked down at his feet and began to shake his head. Remus inched closer; every instinct was telling him to comfort his friend, yet something seemed to be holding him back from placing a hand on his knee.

"I sometimes feel as if I'm a man with no future," Sirius whispered to his feet before looking up to Remus once again. His grey eyes were earnest and seemed full of fear, the light of the moon making them clear and wide as he said, "Isn't that odd?"

"I don't understand why you'd think that," Remus said, desperately trying to reassure Sirius, to make the pain drain from his face. "You're here now, aren't you? You're here, sitting beside me." Sirius nodded, unconvinced. "How could you think you're a man with no future? You, more than any of us, have the passion to grab life and make it whatever you want it to be. I don't know why you would doubt it at all…"

Sirius had begun to laugh as Remus had spoken, and Remus now stopped talking altogether. He was annoyed that Sirius had not been taking his words seriously; he had wholeheartedly meant every word he had just said. Yet as Sirius' laughter continued, Remus became aware that Sirius was not laughing at Remus; he was not even laughing at what he had said. His laughter was devoid of all humour, his face devoid of all smiles, and as he lifted his eyes to face Remus once more, the anger he had felt now disappeared.

"If you doubt, Moony," Sirius began and Remus understood, beginning to slowly shake his head. Sirius snorted and rubbed his forehead. "If you doubt, Moony, then what hope is there for the rest of us?"

Remus said nothing for a moment; it was true that he was, out of all the Marauders, the one who always seemed so certain of things. Yet he was doubting now - and this doubt seemed to be contagious, he thought as he watched Sirius yawn quietly to himself. Finally Remus shook his head in attempt to clear his mind of uncertainty and said gently, "All I know, Sirius, is that this isn't something that we can handle on our own. It's going to take all of us, working together, to fight it."

"I know," Sirius said.

I hope you liked that one. Let me know if you did. I promise another update soon xxx