"I wonder why there's no one else up here", Lily mused. "It's been ten years, after all."
"Maybe there's some kind of portal between the worlds", James mumbled. He wasn't paying attention, though; Lily could tell. He was peering over the edge of the cloud into the mirrored pool of sky below, staring into a dusty, dimly lit basement. It was little more than a dungeon cell; protective spells glimmered on the walls, which were stained with blood. The silver moonlight fell onto the face of a man in the corner; he was still young, but there were gray streaks in his hair and premature lines on his face.

Though the sky that surrounded them held no sun or moon, through the barred window of the cellar, Lily could see the moon. It was full, casting cold, pale golden light across the dusty cellar. The young man in the corner appeared to be avoiding looking at it. His face was white, his jaw clenched and his eyes pressed shut. A shudder passed over him and he lowered his head, hunching his bare, scarred shoulders. Lily felt like her heart was being squeezed painfully; out of all the Marauders, her friendship with Remus had probably been the longest. And yet, even with that, it had taken her a long time to find out exactly how much pain he'd become so adept at hiding.

He appeared to be trying to make himself as small as possible; his knees were tucked up to his chest, and he was trembling uncontrollably. James gritted his teeth, hating the sight of his friend in pain and wishing there was something he could do. He looked up at the touch of a cool, soft hand on his shoulder.
"I know", Lily said softly. "Maybe you could try going down there as Prongs? He might sense that you're there. I had things like that happen to me when I was.. younger."
She avoided saying "alive", because it just felt odd to use it in the past tense. She was trying desperately to take her mind off of the sounds coming from the scene below.

James shrugged. "It's worth a try."

He lept over the edge of the cloud, transforming into his Animagus form on the way down. Lily watched as the glimmering, spectral stag gently nosed the werewolf. The humanoid wolf-beast looked up from chewing on its paw and tilted its head in a curious way that might've been cute, if it were a dog. It gave a little growl, then got up and began pacing, growing more and more agitated as it discovered that it was trapped.

The wolf slammed itself against the walls and clawed at itself, trying desperately to break free of this prison and rid itself of the human annoyance that flickered in its brain. Prongs leapt around it, trying to get its attention, but he simply didn't exist enough to really make a difference. Again and again, Moony slammed himself against the concrete walls of the dark cellar, clawing at the walls, itself, and anything else within reach in frustration.

Lily closed her eyes, trying to block out the sickening thuds, whimpers, and howls that rang out so clearly. How did James stand it, being there every month for so long? How did Remus stand it? How did he go on living, when he had nothing left to live for? Why, how was this fair- they'd been so close once, so carefree, and look at them now. Two dead, one dead to the rest, and the last two living what barely deserved to be called life.

Who even decided why all this happened, why the best people should be the ones to have their lives ruined? Even being dead, Lily still was no closer to the answer. Her heart hurt to see the shimmering stag prance ever more desperately around the werewolf, but it was too far gone to even notice he was there.

So the hours passed, and Lily turned away, trying to distract herself with something, anything, but what was there to do? James finally returned as the sun's light began to shine through the bars of the basement, illuminating the fresh scarlet blood that was now dark against the stone walls. He put his arm around Lily, and she held him like a lifeline. Thinking that this place was supposed to always be happy, she bit back tears for the first time in a very long time.

The werewolf curled up as if it was going to sleep and slowly turned back into Remus. His robes were torn and tattered, his many scars were bare, and he was covered in bruises and raw, bloody wounds. He looked up, opened tired eyes, then began to sit up and winced in pain. He slumped back against the wall, looking around him at the crude prison and blood-drenched walls, and Lily thought that she had never seen someone look so defeated. Suddenly, she noticed that there were tears streaming down his face, a quiet release of what she had already seen. He had nothing left to live for.
And she couldn't help it.
She began to cry with him.