Chapter 6

The werewolf's tongue gently massaged the wound and with each healing lick, the wound lessened in pain and the skin healed and the matted fur because fine, like it should have been. All throughout this the shiny black eyes of the dog looked on to his old friend. The once sandy brown fur now had specks of grey, showing signs of maturity. The amber eyes shone and he seemed to be larger than he last remembered him. The werewolf backed off and stood his ground, waiting for the other canine to react in any way.

'It's nice to see you again Remus.' The dog said to him.

'I really wish I could say the same to you.' The werewolf replied, maybe just a little too harshly as Padfoot reclined a little at that.

A pregnant pause.

'Listen Remus, what happened that night, it was a huge mistake…I was confused and stressed…'

'And because of that you lost your best friends.' Remus interrupted. Looking at the black dog before him with dislike.

'Yes, my best friends, my world, my freedom…you.' Padfoot said the last part quietly. Remus softened a little on that part.

'Listen Padfoot. I want the truth.'

'You sure you'll be able to handle it?' A lingering pause encompassed the room before Remus finally replied.

'Yes.'

'I'll tell you. But not tonight. I'm tired and I haven't had a decent meal in ages.' Remus growled at that reply but left it as it was. He had to agree that Sirius' animagi form looked more that just a little pathetic, and beyond tired. If dogs could grin, you could see a quirky smile appear on Padfoot, a mere shadow of what the dog used to look like when he did that.

The black dog stretch and yawned. He then lay down and rested his head, closing his eyes, quickly falling into slumber. Remus suddenly felt a heavy weight lift off of him. Even if Sirius was guilty, he couldn't bare to see him like this. He was so thin and his once glossy black fur was now tangled and matted. Remus himself was tired as it seemed to be around about 2.30am in the morning. He lay down next to his former best friend and yawned baring his menacing teeth. He lay his head down and closed his eyes. He could feel Padfoot's breathing on his fur and hear his light snores. And those were the last sounds he heard before he himself drifted to the land of nod.

***

Shortly before dawn Remus woke up to find that he was no longer in the body of the wolf and back to his 'normal' self. He sighed and ran a hand through his sandy brown hair. He heard a light snoring next to him and saw the black dog still sleeping comfortably. Last night's meeting came back to him as he stretched.

Without noticing it, he started to stroke the black dog. It seemed natural and he had done it many times before when they were formerly Hogwarts pupils. His fingers ran through the black fur, untangling some knots and smoothing them down. And when he stopped, even for a moment, the dog would whine quietly until he was stroking the black dog again. The dog finally woke up fully half an hour later.

They sat there for a while, just looking at each other. Searching for answers just by looking into each other's eyes, trying to read the other's mind.

"Could you, possibly turn into your human form?" Remus asked unsurely. The dog seemed to scrunch up his face in an expression that clearly read 'you won't like what you see.'

"Please?" Remus pleaded.

The dog needed a little persuading but Remus managed to make him give in. He trotted to a shady corner of the room. Remus saw how the fur disappeared and was replaced by pale translucent skin. The paws morphed into the shape of hands and feet and the face of the dog grew a slight beard and long hair. The man stepped out of the shadows. Remus gasped.

That loud, boisterous boy he knew at school was now a thin man. You could see his rips through his ragged shirt and he looked like someone who came out from the sewers.

"Sirius…"

The man nodded, his intense eyes fixed on Remus.

"I've had better days." The man replied hoarsely.

Remus raised his hand to cover his gasp again.

"Listen Remus. You'll be expected to be up soon. Come down here whenever you can. I'll be waiting. But…could you possibly bring some food?" he asked. Remus nodded and smiled.

"Yes I will. You could do with a bath too."

***

A/N: Hi everyone! Sorry about the lack in updates! I'll try to update whenever I can though! And reviews will motivate me (hint!)! Even if they are bad reviews!