Warning: This story contains mention of homosexuality, child abuse, language and other themes which may be considered offensive. (If you're not mature enough to read, don't.)

Remus Lupin was awakened from a sound sleep by faint sounds of whimpering from across the room. He stirred in his bed for a moment in that stage between sleep and waking. His bed was warm and soft and he hugged his pillow close and shut his eyes tight in an attempt to fall back asleep, but was immediately roused to waking by the sound of quiet sobbing from across the room where his boyfriend lay sleeping. He quickly climbed out of his bed and stood on shaky legs. He spotted Sirius curled up on his bed hugging his pillow close to himself. The dark-haired boy had wet streaks down his face where he had been crying in his sleep, but the crying had ceased. Remus sat down at the edge of Sirius's bed and gently dried his lover's beautiful face. He could feel Sirius trembling and heard his indistinct muttering in his sleep. Remus laid down beside the love of his life and wrapped him arms around him carefully. Pulling Sirius close, he positioned him so that the other young man could rest his head on his shoulder. Sirius contined to shake and the soft-spoken words continued to fall from his lips. Remus carefully ran his fingers through the frightened young man's hair.

Remus had sadly become accustomed to being awakened by Sirius's nightmares. The arrogant, flirtatious, outlandish young man that Lupin had fallen so desperately in love with had grown up in a home full of all forms of abuse. A "home" where calling a child as young as five horrible names was not just accepted, but expected. A "home" where a child learned to hold all of his emotions beneath a glass facade just hoping to avoid the daily beatings. A "home" where an innocent child had learned to associate all physical contact with pain and humiliation so that the first time Remus had reached out to touch his beautiful face, Sirius had just jumped and flinched thinking that one he loved so much had reached out to slap him for absolutely no reason at all. Remus remembered pulling his hand back and gazing into Sirius's eyes trying to reassure him that he would never mean to hurt him and that he was there to be his comfort and refuge. Sirius had stared down at his feet for a moment trying to regain his composure - trying to pretend that his mask had not fallen off.

Remus now sat looking at a Sirius who could not put his mask back on and held him close as the nightmare driven mutterings became louder."...don't...please...I'll do better...I promise...not the belt...I'm sorry that I'm bad...sorry...sorry...sorry...mother..." Remus's heart broke at these words and at the thought of whatever nightmares were tormenting his boyfriend. For a moment, he considered waking Sirius, but he knew that if he woke him every time he had a nightmare that Sirius would never sleep through the night. Remus tried his best to comfort him by holding him close and quieting his crying. The boy had stopped his incoherent rambling and was just shaking like the frightened child he was in all of his nightmares.

From the corner of his eyes, Remus saw James get out of his bed and stride over. The messy-haired youth sat down beside Remus. "Rough night for him, Moony?" James questioned. As Padfoot's best friend, James was completely familiar with Sirius's night time terrors. Remus nodded solemnly and inquired in a whisper."Prongs, what the hell did his mother say in that howler? Sirius has nightmares more often than not, but I've never felt him shake this much. What did that bitch say to him? He wouldn't tell me." James' face paled visibly and he began to ruffle his hair which was a sure sign that he was nervous. A few minutes passed before Remus spoke,

"James... He's your best friend and my boyfriend... there's no one in this world who care about him more than you and me... We need to both be here for him. That means that I need to know what has put him in such a state and I know that it was something...that...horrid woman did. So, tell me, James." James looked first at Remus and then stared at Sirius's face. His best friend was still trembling and pain was written across his face as plain as day.

Remus watched as James closed his eyes and braced himself before he slowly began, "Regulus told her about your relationship... She was less than pleased to discover that her oldest son was not planning on having a biological child to carry on the noble lineage of the House of Black." Remus nodded numbly; understanding that Sirius had once and for all chosen his love for Remus over his genuine fear of his family.

"What else do I need to know, Prongs?" Remus dared to question, unsure that he wanted an answer. James stared down at the floor as if it had the answer of how to get into Lily Evans' pants written upon it and began what was obviously going to be an uncomfortable explanation. "I know Sirius has told you... certain things that his parents did to him... that they both verbally abused him, that they physically abused him, that they neglected him...failed to love him like a child needs...that they made him go weeks without food...and days without water..about being locked in the basement...just because he failed to bow properly when an important Ministry official came to visit. But even though you know all that, there are certain things ... he didn't tell you...certain things he was too ashamed to tell... that I only know because he had to tell me when I asked him about certain...disturbing things I heard him say in his sleep... I'm only going to tell you this because I know how much you love him and I believe that you can help him. But Remus, if anyone else... even Peter finds out about this... Sirius will never trust either of us again. Do you understand, Moony?" Remus nodded and tried to brace himself for whatever horrendous treatment could be worse than what he already knew- whatever Sirius could have been through that was even more hellish for him.

James' voice shook as he began, "Sirius was... abused in... other ways... ...that woman who doesn't deserve to be called a mother used to... used to... use him... used to use his body...she did things to him...made him do things when he shouldn't have even known about them...I heard him crying once in his sleep when we were First Years begging...begging not to be touched...like that..." James had tears in the corners of his eyes and Remus's heart was pounding, but James began sharing Sirius' traumatic tale again." I woke him up... he was sobbing in his sleep... he didn't tell me details, but he... made clear what he had been through... He told me that it had stopped- that he must have been too old for her then, but it had went on for years... from his earliest memories until he left for Hogwarts...That howler...she...she said she didn't believe he was gay... that it was just some excuse to ruin their name...another one of his selfish pranks, but the worst was that... she said that she knew he liked girls... that bitch insinuated... that he had liked it... she all, but said that he had... enjoyed his body being used for things he didn't want... when he was too young to even understand what was happening."

Remus's heart had stopped- he didn't know what to say, what to think or how to respond... he wanted to take Sirius somewhere far away from anyone... somewhere that only the Marauders knew how to get to... somewhere Sirius would never be hurt again. Remus finally asked in a dead voice, "...why didn't he... why doesn't he want me to know?" James looked at Remus and told him the truth, "When we were younger, he didn't want you to know because he didn't want you look at him any differently... when you started dating... he didn't tell you because he wants to believe that it didn't happen... he wanted to believe that you were the only person he had ever... ever been with like that..."

Remus felt the anger rising in him- he wanted to break something or anything, but he would prefer to destroy that woman who had hurt someone so wonderful so badly that he had to hold all of his hurt inside. He held Sirius closer and the tears began running down his face at the thought of any child especially his Sirius being treated so unspeakably by someone he should have been able to trust. James looked uncomfortable, but more than that he looked shaken. Remus understood of course that James loved Sirius differently, but almost as much as Remus loved him. James whispered, "I'll leave you two alone now..." and walked over to his bed which he crawled into and pretended to sleep.

Remus hugged Sirius close and must have held him too tight because Sirius woke with a start. Upon seeing Remus, his face took on a calmness that it didn't have in normal circumstances. "Hey, babe..." Remus whispered with a catch in his voice.

Sirius hugged him and buried his face in Remus's shoulder, "Will you sleep with me tonight, Moony?"

"Sure, Sirius..." Remus replied and pulled the blankets over them. He held Sirius tight and they fit together perfectly as they drifted to sleep.

Author's Note: I appreciate reviews! I appreciate criticism. Feel free to tell me what you think!