AN: I am evil! I just couldn't let them be happy, it's just against my nature. ^_^ ()

"Well, there's no turning back
No turning back this time
No use in running
It's always the same
You can count on the panic
It's the faces that change."

~ Tangled and Dark, Bonnie Rate

Remus stared at the front page of the Daily Prophet, his eyes wide and his appetite suddenly gone. Muggles…killed by wizards…for no apparent reason. He quickly read through the article, amazed at how much hype and paranoia the Prophet could cause without including much content. But he froze as he read the last line of the article.

~ We at the Prophet believe that these deaths may be connected to the disappearances of several Squibs in the recent month but the Ministry refused to comment on any connection. ~

He methodically folded the paper and shoved it in his pocket, revolving to forget about the article but also to write a letter to his father asking how Romulus was. He then got up and, ignoring James' question about where he was going, started off towards his first class. He doubted that Ms. Brohdin, his Runes teacher, would mind if he was early.

Sirius didn't show up for History of Magic or Charms and by lunchtime Remus had started to get really worried. James and Peter hadn't seen him either and as they headed down to the Great Hall Remus was just about to go and look for him when another thought struck him and he looked around to locate Peter. The sandy haired boy was walking a little behind he and James, lost in his own thoughts. Remus turned and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, Peter. Can I talk to you?" Peter looked up, startled, before nodding apprehensively. James raised an eyebrow, but shrugged when Remus waved him towards the Great Hall. They ducked into a recently vacated classroom and just stared at each other. 'You're the one who brought him in here,' Remus thought to himself. 'Now say something!' But no words came to him, he was just too nervous. He was pretty sure that he didn't liked what was happening between him and Sirius, but he didn't want to lose one of the few friends he had because of it.

"Are you okay with…?" he finally managed to speak, but his courage failed him half way through the sentence and he trailed off into silence.

"Does it matter?" Peter asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "It's not like Sirius'll listen if I don't agree with him." Remus blinked.

"What do you mean?" Remus asked, not understanding why Peter was upset.

"You weren't really friends with us at the time so I guess you never heard. But back in second year Sirius kept pestering this fourth year Ravenclaw girl to go out with him. But once he talked her into it he got bored and dumped her after only a week. And…" Peter paused in his tirade and frowned down at the ground. "And I know I freaked out about the werewolf thing at first, but, you're really nice, and I don't want to lose you just cause Sirius did something stupid."

"So…"Remus' voice cracked and cleared his throat, trying to sound like that bit of information wasn't as terrifying for him as Peter seemed to think it was. "So that's what's bothering you not…that Sirius and I are…" he trailed off again, this time not sure what word to use. 'Boyfriends' seemed too transient at the moment, and anything else made him feel like he was putting too much faith in Sirius' good intentions.

"Well that is pretty weird," Peter said, but smiled, taking the edge off the words. "But I've hung around James and Sirius for almost four years now. When you're around them for a while you just get used to weird thing happening all the time." Remus only nodded distractedly.

"It…it's not like he doesn't really like you," Peter said hurriedly. "But you know how he is…" Remus frowned. Yes, he knew what Sirius was like. When he set him mind on something, he made it happen one way or the other. But as soon as he'd gotten what he'd wanted he moved on to the next 'project' without a backwards glance. Remus took a deep breath and tried to calm down as his hands started to shake.

"Um…Remus?" Peter's voice broke through his thoughts and brought him back rather painful train of thought. 'I am not a project' he told himself fiercely.

"Yes?" he sighted.

"Do…do werewolves eat rats?" it took a few moments for Remus to follow the abrupt change of topic but eventually he replied.

"Um...no…Why?" Peter chuckled nervously and looked at the floor again.

"Well, cause I was actually able to turn that rutabaga into a rat in transfiguration the other day, so I thought that since I already know how to do that then that would be, you know, what I picked." The reminder of Sirius' idea for them to become animagi was both calming and worrying. 'Another one of Sirius' projects' he thought, not sure if he should be angry or not. 'I wonder how long that will last after he dumps me?' thought and then mentally smacked himself. He was being paranoid again.

"Peter, you don't have to pick anything if you don't want to. I doubt that Sirius and James are actually going to go through with it." He said calmly, trying not to think about reasons why they would lose interest in it.

"They will," Peter said, the utter confidence in his voice shocking Remus. "And it will help you wont it?" Remus nodded slightly. "Then I want to at least try to do it," he said firmly. Remus couldn't help but smile at him.

"Are you sure you want to be a rat?" Remus asked.

"I know some people think they're gross with their beady eyes and wormy tails, but their really not that bad. People just don't appreciate them. Kind of…kind of like me…" The last part was barely a whisper, but Remus heard it and put a comforting hand on the other boys shoulder.

"Nonsense, we appreciate you Peter," Remus said lightly, smiling at him, then his expression turned thoughtful.

"What?" Peter asked anxiously.

"Sirius seems to think we all need nicknames."

"What, like 'Moony'?" Peter said, smiling at him. Remus winced but nodded, he still hadn't been able to figure out exactly why he let Sirius call him that.

"Yeah, kind of," he said, rolling his eyes. "How about 'Wormtail'?" Peter's eyes lit up and he nodded vigorously.

"Sure!" The rest of them already had nicknames; he didn't care if he was last, just as long as he wasn't left out.

"And don't worry about me and Sirius," Remus said finally, as he headed out of the classroom. 'Because if he does do something like dump me in a week, there won't be much left of him to worry about' Remus thought silently.

He headed towards the dorms, intent on digging out their map and finding Sirius. It wasn't perfect, but he knew for a fact that Sirius showed up on it. And he knew he could go to the Great Hall, he had too much nervous energy to sit still long enough to eat lunch.

He made it to their dorm and muttered a silent apology to James before rummaging through his trunk. But Remus froze when he heard a muffled curse behind him. He jerked his head up to look around but ended up cursing himself as his head cracked against the lid of James' trunk.

"Ow…" he whimpered, rubbing the top of his head.

"Remus?" he turned around, slower this time, and stared at Sirius who had apparently been sitting on his bed the whole time. "What are you doing?" the question came out flat and once Remus got over the shock of finding him so quickly he realized that there was something very wrong with Sirius.

"I was looking for you," Remus said, all the things he had been going to say getting lost in his concern for his boyfriend. Sirius frowned and looked between James' open trunk and Remus. "I was trying to find the map." Remus clarified. Sirius just nodded.

"Are you okay?" Remus asked as he stood and walked over to Sirius' bed.

"Did you read the paper?" he asked, his voice still flat and unemotional. He looked up long enough to see Remus nod before bowing his head and staring at his clenched hands. "The reason that Dumbledore wanted to see me was because I knew one of the muggles that was killed." Remus couldn't stifle a gasp of surprise.

He was about to ask who, when Sirius suddenly pounded his fists into mattress. "And I shouldn't be upset! I was never going to see him again anyway." He sagged forward onto his arms, his breath hitching as he tried to keep from crying. Remus sat down next to him and put his arms around him in an awkward embrace, immediately Sirius turned and clung to him desperately.

"He…he deserved to die for what he did to me…so why…why does it hurt so much to know he's dead?" at Sirius' word, Remus finally understood who he was talking about and cringed.

"No matter how much you hate them, they're still your family." Remus said quietly to the shivering boy in his arms. He was talking more to himself than to Sirius, but neither of them really cared. They sat there in silence, Remus lost in his own thoughts as Sirius clung to him like a lifeline.

Slowly, Sirius stopped shivering and his breath evened out from the hitching gasps he had been taking in. Sirius tightened his hold on Remus for a moment and then let go, sitting back and just looking at him.

"Thank you," Sirius said quietly, giving him a tremulous smile. His hand reached out and stroked Remus' cheek. "I don't know what I'd do without you."