Remus woke to the rough sole of a boot digging into his ribs. He groaned and tried to heave himself up, coughing up a wad of phlegm from the back of his throat, but the boot pushed him back down.

The Change had been a rough one. The wolf had been stressed and restless. He foggily remembered pacing around the basement he used for his transformations, clawing at the walls and throwing himself repeatedly against the reinforced door. There were bruises down one side of his torso and probably a broken rib.

A broken rib, which was being made worse by the heavy boot pressing down on it.

Remus squinted up towards the three cloaked figures standing above him, each pointing the tip of a wand at his forehead. He opened his mouth to protest the boot pressing into his chest but was interrupted by the boot's owner.

"Good morning. Did I say you could speak yet?" The Auror's voice was gruff and unforgiving. The boot pressed harder against his broken rib causing Remus to cry out in pain

"Due to your status, anything you say will be treated as coercion until proper precautions have been set in place," the Auror continued before leaning in and snarling in his ear. "So if I were you, I'd just shut my mouth. Got it, wolf?"

Remus closed his eyes, slumping back down onto the floor. It had been a while since this had happened, almost twelve years in fact. They could have called him, sent a letter, even just waiting until midday when he was somewhat recovered from the transformation. Remus knew there were human rights laws to protect people against being so ruthlessly arrested without reason or evidence.

But Remus was not human. There were no rights protecting him.

Two metal cuffs were pressed to his wrists. He could smell the silver in them, not much but just enough to burn if he struggled too hard against them. Remus hissed as they were locked in place.

"Remus John Lupin," the voice said again. "On behalf of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, you are under arrest in connection with escaped convict: Sirius Black."

The Aurors dragged Remus to his feet where he hung limply in their arms. He caught a glimpse of the blown-in door to the basement; there were splinters of wood and stone scattered across the floor. They knew he would be here, they knew exactly where to look and when to find him at his most vulnerable. Remus didn't even try to protest as all three Aurors gripped his arm and apparated him away into the belly of the Ministry.

They left him in the cell for two days. An intimidation tactic, Remus thought. It had worked the last time they had arrested him, back when he was twenty-one. But he was younger then; angry, alone and scared. A drunk and retching mess on the floor of his apartment; his belongings smashed to pieces, empty whiskey bottles littering the floor and newspapers, showing his dead best friends, still burning in the fireplace.

Remus had put up a fight then. He knew better now.

Remus was no longer angry. He was calm. Sirius Black had escaped. He was probably going to go after Harry, perhaps come after Remus too. Sirius would try to finish the job he had started all those years earlier. Remus wasn't afraid. He was ready.

Remus heard the click of boots long before they reached the door. He stood, waiting as the door opened revealing two Aurors in dark cloaks with wands raised.

"You're to come with us," one of them said. Remus nodded and held out his wrists for the silver shackles again. The smaller of the Aurors stepped forward, clicking the cuffs into place.

"Sorry," a small voice muttered. "It's just procedure."

Remus looked down at her, puzzled.

"I know," he replied softly, catching the Auror's gaze for a second. She was young, probably barely out of Hogwarts. He gave her a small wink. "I'm used to it."

Remus was led down a maze of corridors to a small interrogation room. The interior was bare: a chair, a table and two stern-looking officials glowering at him. The small Auror moved forward to remove the shackles.

"Good luck," she whispered softly to him, nudging him forwards into the room and shutting the door behind him with a click.

"Sit." The order was sharp and firm.

Remus did, moving slowly through the room, not taking his eyes off the two officials. He said nothing.

"I am Broderick Fenwick, head of the Department of Magical Creatures: Beasts Division. This is my colleague, Guin McLean, the lead Auror in investigations with regards to the Black case."

Remus said nothing, choosing to simply shift his back against the seat and crossed his arms in front of him.

McLean took a small vial from the pocket of her robes and poured it into a conjured glass.

"Drink this and then place both hands on the table," she said sternly. Her hair was pulled back into a taut bun and her fierce look was reminiscent of Remus' old Transfiguration Professor.

Remus raised an eyebrow at the glass. He had to ask, though he already knew the answer.

"What is it?"

"Veritaserum," Fenwick grunted. "Under the Regulations of the Control of Magical Creatures, all non-humans are required to be interrogated under the effects of truth serum to ensure an honest cooperation."

"You think I'd lie?" Remus asked, stiffly.

"I don't know how your kind thinks." Fenwick said, glaring at him with dark, ruthless eyes. "Bottoms up."

Remus scowled but picked up the glass and drained it. The undiluted liquid was cool, smooth and completely tasteless. He felt his head spin as his thoughts were twisted and unfurled in his head. Suddenly, everything seemed crystal clear: easy, sensible and logical. There were no lies left to tell.

But Remus had been through this with the Ministry before. He had even messed with Veritaserum in Hogwarts when his friends had stolen a vial from Slughorn's stores in their third year. They had spent an evening in the dorms, pranking each other with truth or dares before letting the serum loose on the Slytherins and laughing as the snakes boasted of teddy bears and unrequited crushes.

Remus had practice. He had been hiding truths for years, hiding truths behind secrets, stories behind facts. He knew how to twist words, to say what people needed to hear, what they wanted to hear, not what Remus should tell them.

Once the Veritaserum had settled in his mind, Remus placed his hands on the table, wincing as the Sticking Charm took hold, glueing his hands to the wood. He wouldn't be able to leave until they allowed it.

Guin McLean smiled slyly at him, flourished her wand to produce a Quick-Quotes quill and began.

"Please state your name and status for the records."

"Remus John Lupin. Halfblood. Werewolf."

"Can you state the reason for your arrest on the 18th of July 1993?"

"I was arrested in connection with the escape of Sirius Black from Azkaban." The words flowed from Remus's lips like water. He bit the inside of his cheek; he needed to be more careful.

"And can you state your relationship to Sirius Black?"

Remus took a breath. They already knew that he and Sirius had been friends in 1981, otherwise they wouldn't have arrested him. Remus just had to keep his answers as general as possible, distance himself as much as he could from Sirius Black, just as he had done back then.

"We were dorm-mates at Hogwarts," Remus said carefully. "And we fought together during the war against Voldemort."

"And you stated in 1981 that you had no knowledge of Black's plans to betray the Potters or of his true allegiance?"

"I did."

"Can you elaborate on that statement?" McLean's eyes bored into his. Remus' hands twitched on the table, pulling at the Sticking Charm. His shoulders were already beginning to ache from it.

"Sirius' betrayal was a surprise to everyone. He loved James; he should have had no reason to hurt him."

It was the truth. Remus has wracked his brain over it for years. Why, why, why? Why hurt James and Lily? Why then show up at the Potters just to give Hagrid the motorbike and let Harry go? Why run to the middle of London before killing Peter? None of it made any sense.

But then, when had Sirius Black ever made any sense? Sirius had always been wild, chaotic and stubborn. He was rash and thoughtless, his actions fueled by emotion. Sirius was many things, but predictable had never been one of them; Remus knew that better than anyone.

McLean sniffed at his response and scanned the notes of the Quick-Quotes Quill. She knew Remus was stalling, he could tell. But Remus wasn't inclined to be any more forthcoming.

"Do you know the reason behind Black's escape from Azkaban?"

Images of baby Harry swaddled in Sirius' arms swam to the front of Remus's mind and onto his tongue, but he swallowed it down. Harry was safe, holed up at his aunt's house somewhere south. He wasn't about to alert the Ministry to start setting up guards around Harry's safehouse. It would shine like a beacon to Sirius.

Remus forced his mind to other truths, other reasons, other possibilities.

"Azkaban is a hellhole of a place. Sirius always hated being penned in and locked away. I think anyone in Azkaban would want to leave it."

'It wasn't a no', Remus thought, 'but it wasn't the yes they were looking for either'.

"Has Black been in contact with you since his escape?"

Remus let out a chuckle before he could stop himself. His two interrogators stared at him curiously.

"No. He hasn't," Remus said bitterly.

"Do you know of any affiliates Sirius may attempt to contact?"

Remus chuckled again, dropping his head to his chest. Who could Sirius get in contact with? There was barely anyone left. After the torture of the Longbottoms, the handful of Order members who were left had disbanded; they had hidden themselves behind office doors and in far off countries. Keeping their heads down as to not be another target for rogue Death Eaters. Remus hadn't heard from any of them in years. He didn't even know who was still around for Sirius to try contact.

And Sirius wouldn't try to contact him, Remus thought darkly, that much was certain. Because if Sirius came within cursing distance of Remus' wand, Remus would kill him. He would kill the person who made Harry James Potter an orphan, who lied to him for years, who tricked them into trusting him and then betrayed them all like it was nothing.

He wasn't going to give Sirius Black a second chance. Not this time.

"No," Remus said honestly. "I don't know anyone that Sirius would feel safe contacting."

McLean nodded her head stiffly.

"If he tries to contact you, you are to alert the Ministry immediately. Is that clear?"

"He won't," Remus said forcefully. Neither of his interrogators seemed surprised by this. Though Remus assumed that to be more on account of his lycanthropy than his revengeful desires.

Why would anyone want to contact a werewolf?

Unsurprising. No one had in over a decade.

"Do you know of any places Sirius Black is likely to be hiding?"

Remus' hands jerked on the table. The Sticking Charm was still holding fast, and the ache in Remus' shoulders from sitting upright and outstretched was beginning to sink into his bones.

There were a hundred places Sirius could be hiding, the Marauders were uniquely skilled at sneaking about. There were the Order's old hideouts, though most were long gone by now; either destroyed in raids or left to rot. Grimmauld Place stood empty, but with the disownment and Sirius' bitter hatred of his childhood home, Remus couldn't imagine Sirius ever being desperate enough to return.

"Sirius Black had a reputation for sneaking around back when we were at school," Remus said carefully. The Veritaserum was still swirling around his mind, trying to push specific truths to the forefront. But luckily for Remus, he had practice dealing with a mind that did not feel like his own. He knew how to navigate it.

"There are a handful of old Order hideouts still standing. I can give you the name of them. But Sirius won't be there. If he does not want to be found, you won't find him."

His interrogators shared a glance. McLean nodded, and Fenwick leant forward, tapping his wand on Remus' right hand which sprang off the table. Remus gasped and stretched out his fingers. A quill and parchment was pushed over to him.

"If you will."

Remus scribbled down the names of whatever hideouts he could remember. Some he knew to be derelict, but he figured the Aurors could find that out for themselves. He didn't mention Hogwarts, nor the passages that they had all used at school. Sirius could go there, but with Dumbledore so close and the school surrounded by teachers and students, he would be mad to try and sneak in to get Harry…

Remus shook his head at the maniacal, laughing face with crazed eyes that was burned into his mind.

Maybe he was already mad enough…

The Veritaserum in his mind seemed to deem it the truth.

Remus tried to raise his right hand to his forehead to steady his thoughts but found it, once again, stuck fast to the surface on the table.

"Final question, Mr Lupin," McLean said, leaning over to look him in the eye. "Is there any information you can give us which might lead to the capture of Sirius Black?"

Remus stared at her, unblinking. He tried not to flinch. He tried not to twitch or make any movement that would indicate the sudden alarm bells that had begun pounding in his head.

Animagus. ANIMAGUS. ANIMAGUS.

He should tell them. Every instinct in his body was fueling him to tell them. The Veritaserum was practically screaming at him to tell them.

But he didn't.

That was it, the Marauder's last secret. The last piece of his childhood, his teenage years. The happiest moments of his life were all wrapped in one secret. The beautiful, wonderful, magical thing his friends had done for him. For him and only him. Their ability was his gift; something to stop him from hurting himself, from being afraid of who he was, from being the only person with a beast trapped inside them.

They had saved him; James, Peter, and Sirius together. They had loved him in spite of what he was, and in return, he had promised to keep their Animagus ability a secret, as they had kept his own.

Remus couldn't break that. He wasn't Sirius. He wasn't the sort of person who could betray his friends, the people he loved.

James and Peter had trusted him. They had believed that he could be good, that he was worth saving. Remus couldn't break that trust, not now, not after he was the only one left to keep it.

If that meant not breaking his promise to Sirius either, then so be it.

At least no one could call him a traitor.

"There is nothing I am able to tell you that would help you catch Sirius Black." Remus said quietly.

And that was the truth of it.

Veritaserum can make you spill truths. But if the truth is hidden behind a promise? Well, it would be a lie to say you could break that promise, wouldn't it?

Fenwick and McLean frowned and leaned back in their seats. Remus kept his face passive as McLean cast a Silencing Charm over Remus, blocking out their conversation. Remus could see their lips moving quickly but wasn't able to make out the words. They were arguing.

"Thank you for your cooperation," Broderick Fenwick said finally, dropping the charm and turning back to face him. "Your information has been useful."

The two interrogators collected their papers and the Quick-Quotes Quill and stood to leave. Remus' hands were still glued to the table.

"Am I free to go?" he asked, nodding to his arms.

"An Auror will be in to process you. Then you can go."

"But you will need to stay close by in case of further questioning," McLean said sternly. "No leaving the country. Any movements or affiliations will need to be reported to an Auror. One will be assigned to you until Sirius Black is captured."

The two interrogators left, leaving Remus alone in the darkened room. He leant forward, putting his head between his glued hands and took a deep sigh. He was exhausted, his mind still swimming with Veritaserum. With the adrenaline of the interrogation gone, he began to truly feel the aches in his ribs, shoulders and wrists from sitting still. He just wanted to be left alone to sleep.

"Rough time, huh?"

Remus twisted his head. The young Auror was standing in the doorway. He smiled kindly at her.

"Not the most fun I've ever had, no."

"I remember the first time they put me under that stuff," she said, tapping her wand on the table and releasing Remus from its grip. "Balked all my secrets. Even told them about the time I stepped on Charlie Benson's toad and tried to replace it with one from the Transfiguration department…"

Remus laughed. "My friends and I once enlarged, then released all the Transfiguration animals. McGonagall was less than impressed."

The Auror smiled at him. "You're alright then after whatever happened in here?"

"No," Remus replied truthfully. "But I will be. Remus Lupin, by the way, we were never properly introduced."

"Oh!" The young Auror replied, stumbling over her obnoxiously large boots to shake his outstretched hand. "Tonks! I'm your designated Auror."

"Well, Tonks," said Remus, "I'm delighted to meet you."

THC

House: Gryffindor

Position: Astronomy

Standard

Prompt: [Dialogue] - Good morning. Did I say you could speak yet?

Word Count: 2996