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A special Thank you to DruidGoddess for beta-reading the story

Guilty of Being Innocent – Part 1

Sirius Black woke up slowly, very slowly. The first thing he noticed was that he was warm and comfortable. He was lying on a soft surface, definitely not the rocky ground in some cave.

I could get used to waking up like this, he thought.

Then something cold and wet was placed on his forehead and he almost panicked. Somehow he had assumed that he was alone. He always was alone when he woke up. His eyes flew open and he tried to jerk away, but was held in place by a pair of strong, yet gentle hands on his shoulders.

"Easy, easy Sirius. Relax, you are safe," a soft voice assured him; a voice he recognized even before his eyes had fully focused on the face above him.

"Moony," he whispered his voice rough and raspy. Suddenly he remembered where he was and why he had come here. Sirius tried to sit up but was stopped by Remus and a sharp, stabbing pain in his side.

Stupid, Muggles, stupid chickens, he thought angrily.

"Don't move, you still need to rest," Remus told him.

"It's okay," he answered. "I'm fine, really. I've got a good night of sleep"
The other man looked at him with a strangely worried expression on his face. "You were unconscious for nearly five days, Sirius. At times I wasn't sure you would ever wake up."

"Five days?" Black echoed.

Remus Lupin nodded as he removed the washcloth, soaked it in a bowl with cold water and placed it onto his forehead again. "You collapsed bleeding and exhausted on my doorsteps. Do you remember how you got injured?"

Sirius mumbled something about Muggles' chickens and Remus looked at him puzzled.
"I was hungry," the black-haired wizard explained. "All I wanted to steal was one lousy chicken. The place was full with them. How was I supposed to know the crazy Muggle would fire a gun at me? I always thought Muggles like dogs."

"Apparently not when they break into their property. You were lucky; the bullet only grazed you. My healing spells are really very limited, you know."

Sirius swallowed with a slight grimace and let his tongue run over his dry, chapped lips. Remus kicked himself mentally.

He is thirsty. Of coursewhy didn't I think of that? He jumped up from the edge of the bed he had been sitting on and reached for a water-pitcher on the nightstand. He poured glassful of the cool liquid and held it to his patient's lips.

Sirius glanced up at him as he sipped carefully.

"Thank you, Moony."

Remus winced at the name.

"I'm sorryI didn't mean to" Black apologized quietly.

The other man shook his head as he set the empty glass down. "It's okay. It's just that nobody has called me that in a very long time."

There was a short moment of awkward silence, before Remus cleared his throat and spoke again.

"You have got to be starving. I'll go and get something to eat for you."

Suddenly Sirius remembered that he had been sent here for a reason.

"Wait, Remus. We need to talk."

"We can talk after you ate." Lupin decided firmly as he left.

***

Sirius removed the washcloth from his forehead and tossed it into the bowl in the nightstand. He really didn't feel all that bad anymore. Remus obviously didn't give himself enough credit for his healing spells. For a moment Sirius looked around in the room; Remus' bedroom he assumed. The wide, four-poster (and extremely comfortable in his opinion) bed was set against one wall. On the other side were a mismatched wardrobe and a small dresser. Two side-tables right and left of the bed completed the sparse furnishing. When he pushed himself up into a sitting position Sirius discovered that he was wearing nothing but a pair of soft pajama pants. Remus must have undressed him while he was unconscious. The wizard felt himself blush at that realization. Just then his host walked back into the room carrying a tray with a bowl of steaming stew on it. Sirius reached quickly for the covers and pulled them up all the way to his neck. Never before had he felt so self-conscious. He was very well aware of the condition he was in. He was too thin, too bony and in desperate need of grooming. He looked more like a walking skeleton than like a person.

The tray was set down on the bed and Sirius felt his mouth water at the delicious smell.

"Eat slowly," Remus urged. "You don't want to get sick."

Black nodded as he reached for the spoon.

"So, what was it you wanted to tell me?" Lupin asked once his patient had finished his meal.

Sirius put his spoon down and stared into the empty bowl for a moment, lost in thought. Then he sighed. No, there wasn't an easy way to say this.

"Voldemort has risen again."

"What?" Remus paled. He had to reach for the bedpost to steady himself. Slowly, on shaking knees, he lowered himself onto the edge of the bed. "How?"

"Pettigrew!" Black spat. "Pettigrew helped him. I should have killed that slimy piece of scum in the Shrieking Shack when I had a chance. I really should have." His fist hit the tray hard, making the bowl jump into the air. The noise startled Sirius out of his fit of fury.

Remus just looked at him silently as Black gave a detailed account of everything that had happened. He told him about Harry and a second Hogwarts student being abducted from the Triwizard Cup and about Wormtail using his own hand and Harry's blood to resurrect the Dark Lord. By the time he came to the part about Voldemort forcing Harry into a duel with him Lupin's face had grown even paler (if that was at all possible).

"Is Harry okay?" he asked hoarsely.

Sirius nodded. "He will be, but the other boy, Cedric Diggory, died."

Remus closed his eyes at the mentioning of the name and Sirius realized that he probably had known the boy very well. He had been his D.A.D.A. teacher after all for almost a year.

"He was a good kid. He didn't deserve this." Remus whispered.

"Professor Dumbledore sent me to alert the old crowd," Black continued." You were the last person on my list. – I left Buckbeak with Arabella Figgs. He was easier to hide there" Sirius took a deep breath and glanced once more at Remus. "Dumbledore asked me to lie low here with you for a while. But of course I realize that I'm putting you in danger. And I really wouldn't blame you if you wouldn't want to keep me in your house. I'm sure I could find a place to hide somewhere nearby where Dumbledore and you could reach me when needed."

Remus' head jerked up, a sparkle of fury in those amber colored eyes.

"Sirius Black, you son of a bitch," he snapped. "What kind of a person do you think I am? You are half starved and your injuries have barely healed. Do you really think I'm going to kick you out of my house like a dog (no punt intended)? Is that what you think of me?"

Sirius looked like he had been slapped in the face. He blinked, then swallowed.

"That's not what I meant. I'm sorry if I"

Lupin signed as he dipped his head and buried his face in his hands.

"No, it's I who should be sorry. I don't know what came over me just now."

There was a long moment of silence. Sirius eyed the other wizard intensively before he suddenly stated:

"Remus, you look like shit."

"Thank you! You always had a strange way of complimenting people, you know." The other man answered wryly, looking up at him with a ghost of a smile on his lips.

"No, I mean it. Have you slept at all during those five days while I was sick?"

"I really don't need very much sleep," Remus replied evasively.

"Answer my question." Black demanded.

"I slept a few hours every once in a while."

"You are a lousy liar," the black-haired wizard stated seriously. "You need to get some rest soon. Go get some sleep I'll be fine."

This is so much like him. He is too kind. Always thinking about others first.

To his surprise Remus didn't even argue. "I think you are right. I'll be no help to anybody if I'm worn out. Are you sure you will be okay?"
Sirius nodded, and Lupin rose.

"I'll be in the other bedroom just across the hall, wake me if you need me."

For a moment Remus considered taking a shower. He probably could use one, but he was too exhausted to really care. He undressed, slipped into bed and was asleep before he his head hit the pillows.

**********

TBC