Hey! So I promised to update, and look at that - I did! I feel like the style in this chapter is different to how it was in the last one, so let me know by sending me a review! Seriously, it would mean a lot. Oh, and I am aware that both this chapter and the previous one are both from Sirius's POV - don't worry, next time it WILL be Remus.

Like I said, leave a review! I'll update for a Ch3 soon xx

- Sasha

Sirius

The next few weeks flew by in the same sort of way - James, Peter and Sirius mucking around, Remus occasionally trailing behind. Lily rolling her eyes and talking to Snivellus. James pretending not to care.

And all too soon, it was Christmas break. The day before everyone was due to leave, the three boys were sitting round the fire in the common room.

"I'm so excited to go back," Peter said with a sigh. "As much as I love Hogwarts, I miss home."

"Me too," James said. "And Christmas! God, I'm so excited."

"Remember to send something to me," Pete said.

"Of course I will, mate," James replied. "And I'll send something to you too, Sirius."

Sirius looked up. "Thanks, mate," he replied. "I'll try and get you two some stuff as well."

James smiled at him, whilst Peter yawned in his chair. "Sorry guys, it's late. I'm gonna go sleep," he said.

James looked at the clock across the room. "Pete, it's not even 9."

Pete glared at him. "I need my beauty sleep!" he announced, before marching up the stairs to their dorm, where Remus was probably already asleep.

Remus had been hanging out with the three boys more and more as the term went on, although Sirius felt that he still wasn't fully comfortable with them yet. And although that was something that Sirius could understand, it made James - and Peter, too - frustrated sometimes.

James and Sirius chatted for a while longer in the common room, before James announced that he was going to bed as well. Quietly, he crept into their dorm so as not to wake Peter and Remus. But curled up on the couch, Sirius was feeling too cozy to move, so he decided he would stay there for a while. Quickly, though, 'a while' turned into 'a very long while', and as his thoughts swirled around him, Sirius fell into a doze.

What would Christmas be like at Hogwarts, he wondered, half-asleep. How different would it be?

Sirius reflected on past Christmases at the Black family mansion. Early mornings, with light filtering in through the shutters of the parlour room windows. Him and Regulus, sitting silently on the carpet that Kreacher always forgot to dust. Their many relatives standing and talking formally, politely. The tenseness which came with every family situation. Andromeda, the only cousin that he liked, waving at him from across the room. Bellatrix glaring at her.

There were barely presents at a Black family Christmas. Sirius had been gifted the occasional book (the type of which, he realised now, would probably only be found in the Restricted Section of the Hogwarts Library). Two years ago, Andromeda had been a third-year at Hogwarts, and was allowed to visit Hogsmeade for the first time. Secretly, making sure no other members of the Black family were watching, she had gifted him and Regulus a jar of Jelly Slugs each. Sirius had been astounded. Snacks were a limited item in the Black household, and all other cooking was done by Kreacher, who wasn't exactly a gifted chef. But still, his bland food was better than no food - and ever since Sirius knew that firsthand.

Sirius took a moment to think of poor Regulus, trapped in that hideous old house. Now that Sirius was away, enjoying his newfound freedom without his mother watching over his shoulder, his brother would be the sole person for her to blame whenever something happened. He really ought to write a letter to Regulus soon. He would do that in the morning, he figured.

A noise outside stirred Sirius awake. He hadn't even realised he had fallen asleep. He was the only one left in the common room.

His head was still heavy with the echoes of his dreams, and, still half-asleep, Sirius lifted himself out of the armchair and trudged up towards his dorm. Staggering into the doorway, he saw James and Pete, fast asleep in their beds - curtains open like always. At the foot of their four-posters were their trunks, which, for the first time all term, were packed neatly with all their belongings. But that wasn't the only things that Sirius registered as unusual.

Remus's curtains were open.

The bed was empty.

Sirius scanned the room quickly. Definitely no Remus in here, and he wasn't in the bathroom either. Sirius scampered down the stairs into the Gryffindor common room. Empty, again, except for -

"Oh. Hello, Evans."

Lily Evans stood with her head against the window, peering out onto the grounds. She barely flinched when she heard Sirius's voice. After another few moments of looking, she turned to face Sirius.

"Black." She greeted him curtly. "What are you doing down here?" She asked.

"I was looking for Remus," Sirius replied back. "He's not in the dorm."

Lily cocked an eyebrow, and glanced out the window again.

"Anyway, what are you doing down here, Evans?" Sirius replied, moving closer to see what she was staring at.

"Just ... thinking," she replied vaguely.

Sirius peered though the window to see what Lily was looking at, down on the snow-covered grounds. The moon was full tonight, illuminating everything in its realm. Sirius followed Lily's eyes towards a large, twisted tree, branches bared as winter fell upon it.

"Clearly trees interest you more than James does," Sirius joked. Lily shot him a frosty glare, and continued looking at it. "Listen, you haven't seen Remus, have you?" Sirius asked quickly. Lily shook her head without moving her gaze.

"Why are you so worried about him, anyway?" She asked.

"I - it's not - it's just -" Sirius sputtered. "I guess it's just weird that he's out so late."

He didn't even know himself why he was so worried about Remus. It wasn't like Hogwarts was a dangerous place - but still ... the thought that something could happen to Remus was stressful. And the fact that he had just disappeared like that - and he was so small - anything could happen ...

"Doesn't he have to go to the Hospital Wing a lot?" Lily replied, turning to him. "Maybe he's there."

"Maybe," Sirius shrugged. He had noticed Remus's frequent visits under Madam Pomfrey's care. He hadn't really thought much of it, as Remus had told the three boys that he got sick a lot.

Outside the window, something moved, and Lily's eyes darted back to the grounds.

"It's just a rabbit," Sirius said.

Lily rolled her eyes. "I can see that," she answered.

"No need to get all snappy with me, Evans," Sirius replied lightly. "So, you going home for the holidays?"

"Of course - anything to get away from you and Potter."

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "Harsh," he said.

"Anyways, I'd better get back to bed." Lily turned away from the window and walked back upstairs to her dorm at the other end of the common room, without looking back at Sirius. After a short while, he turned back to the window, and stared out at the pristine grounds.

He looked for a while, but after about five minutes, nothing had moved. The night was still. "God, Evans," he muttered under his breath. "I don't know what you were looking for, but you're wasting your time."

Sirius woke, in his own dorm, late in the morning. Something was off.

The quietness in the room was weird. It was unusual.

He sat up, and opened the curtains of his four-poster. Ah, yes. That was what it was - Peter and James had already left on the Hogwarts Express. Remus was still missing, though. He sighed.

Trying to ignore the silence, Sirius got up and rifled through his trunk to find the perfect outfit for the first day of the holidays. As he pulled out his outfit, he smiled to himself.

"Sirius Black, what are you wearing!?"

This response came from Marlene McKinnon, a friend of Lily Evans and a fellow first-year to Sirius. He grinned at her reaction, and draped himself over a couch in the common room.

"It's festive," he replied.

The clothes in question were incredibly bright and absolutely hideous. They consisted of a bright red ugly Christmas sweater, and tight pants with Christmas-coloured striped. The sweater was enchanted, so that the blindingly white snowflakes seemed forever in motion, and down his arms blinked several yellow Christmas lights. It was enough to give anyone a seizure.

"God, it hurts my eyes," Marlene said.

"That would be the point," Sirius replied. "Hey, you haven't seen Remus anywhere, have you?"

"Remus? No," she replied, and buried her nose back in her book.

Sirius's brow furrowed. Where could Remus be?

He thought back to what Lily said last night, about Remus in the Hospital Wing. He didn't know Lily very personally - she had thoroughly rebuffed all of James's advances - but he knew she was smart. And so he knew she was probably - hopefully - right.

It was a start, anyway.

"Well, as much as I've enjoyed this conversation, I must go," Sirius said, jumping off of the couch and heading for the portrait hole.

"Sirius!" Marlene shouted. "You're not going anywhere like that, are you?"

Sirius smirked. "Yes, yes I am," he replied. Seeing Marlene's shocked expression, his grin only widened, and he called, from halfway out the portrait hole, "I'm going to bless their eyes, Marlene!"

Needless to say, the many people he crossed on the way to the Hospital Wing didn't consider their eyes blessed. In fact, Sirius himself got shocked when he accidentally caught sight of himself in the reflection of a window. But it was Madam Pomfrey who was the most disapproving.

"Yes, Mr Black, Remus is in here - but you can't go in dressed like that," Madam Pomfrey said at the entrance to the Hospital Wing, towering over Sirius as if he were a small child.

"But why?" Sirius whined.

"Why? Because you'll give the poor boy a heart attack, that's why!" she replied.

"Please? I just want to see him!"

Madam Pomfrey looked Sirius up and down, and sighed.

"All right," she said finally.

"Thank you!" Sirius said, and bounded inside.

The festive mood outside, with Christmas decorations being set up everywhere you looked, was dampened by the muffled silence of the Hospital Wing. As far as Sirius could tell, it was empty except for him and Madam Pomfrey - and Remus.

"He's just here," Madam Pomfrey said, pointing to a bed about halfway down, with the curtains drawn around it. Quickly, she shuffled in, drawing the curtain back ever so slightly so that Sirius could see Remus.

"Mr Lupin?" Madam Pomfrey whispered to him. She whispered something else, barely audible, before bustling out and motioning for Sirius to come in.

"He's very poorly," she said to Sirius as he entered, "So you can't talk for long."

Sirius nodded, and walked inside.

Remus was lying in the hospital bed, bandages visible on his arms, and Sirius could tell that, under the blankets, there was countless more. His face was bruised, and covered with scratches.

"Jeez, Remus ... what happened?" Sirius asked in shock, his eyes travelling up and down the length of Remus's body. Under the blankets, Sirius could see his figure, and it was even skinnier than he'd realised.

"I ... told you," Remus said, his voice raspy. "I get ... sick ... a lot."

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "Remus, this isn't just sick. Something's happened. Does this happen ... every time you've gone to the Hospital Wing?"

Remus didn't reply, but Sirius knew the answer.

God, he felt so stupid. Before, when Remus was staying in the Hospital Wing, he'd barely noticed. He'd figured he maybe had the flu, or something else that was a little harder to cure. His heart had always ached when he had seen how weak Remus was after a stay in the Hospital. But this ... he had never imagined this.

Remus motioned for Sirius to pass him the cup full of water on the table next to him. Not wanting to make life any harder for Remus than it already was, Sirius grabbed the cup quickly and lifted it to Remus's lips. He gulped down the water as if he hadn't drunk for days. For a split second, their eyes met, but both boys looked quickly away.

When Remus was done drinking, Sirius took the cup and put it on the bench again. He looked at Remus. Remus looked at him.

"So," Sirius said, eventually. "Can you tell me what's wrong?"

That's it guys! Ch2 done! I'm not sure whether I like it or not, but I did do a lot of editing. I feel like it could've been longer, but I decided it was time for Remus to have a go at the POV. Please leave a review, it means a lot. And like I said at the top, Ch3 WILL BE COMING SOON!

Love you all!