Title: On the Way to Nowhere

Archive: Here, but if you want it, just review and tell me you're taking it.

Rating: Mostly "R" I think that's how it'll stay.

**Sirius **

He didn't like the way Remus glared at him, as if the mere, scrawny werewolf could do anything to stop him. But the intent was barely formed, even in Sirius' mind. He didn't know what he wanted to do, only that he wanted to do…something…anything to break up those two that sat so closely together and seemed so happy. They were both his, his—and only his, how dare they try to find happiness together. Remus was Sirius' even more so than James; because James had always been his best friend, and always would be, but Sirius' had changed himself to be closer to Remus.

So damn them both if they thought they would ever be happy together. They wouldn't. Remus was meant to be with Sirius, and the dark-haired boy knew, even if that werewolf didn't, that everyone recognized that. This little farce with James wasn't going to last. It was irreversibly doomed to fail. Still, Remus glared at him as if he could defy fate and Sirius. But he couldn't. Sirius would win in the end, he would have Remus.

And then there was the quiet, slightly more rational side of Sirius that watched the way Remus could sit so quietly, and wondered why in the hell he thought he deserved someone that soft and that perfect. But even as Sirius watched, he recognized the darkness in Remus as clearly as the werewolf saw it inside of Sirius. They were meant to be together—the darkest of the Marauders—they were twinned and mated from before they first fell into one another on that train. James and Peter could never match the darkness inside of Sirius and Remus, and thus, they could never be happy together. Nobody was meant to be so much as Sirius was meant to be with Remus.

Soon, they would all realize that.

Chapter Da Fifth

James leaned against the wall, his head throbbing, and waited for Lucius to pass by. Sirius had been in an unusually foul mood since the attack on Peter. And it seemed the boy was singling out James to take the brunt of his anger. It was a quiet, covert anger, but it was there, in the way Sirius yelled at him for anything he did—or didn't do. The words echoed in his head: really, Prongs, did you think Remus would always be there to protect you? And it held meaning far deeper than those words. James, like Peter, had fallen to the Slytherins'. He was nursing an awful green and black hairy rash on his back. But the words weren't in reference to his new rash, they were a threat.

"You're pulse is racing," Remus whispered. His hand was loosely around James' wrist, offering a warmth that eradicated all of Sirius' coldness. "What happened while I was gone?"

The best thing, James reasoned, about being with Remus was never having to verbally say what was bothering you. It was just understood that Remus knew, and would always know. "Sirius is being…"

"An arrogant brute?" Remus offered. He let his hand fall away, and he seemed to leave James' side—not physically—but his eyes lost the look of attentive concern, and he was drifting somewhere inside of himself.

"Yeah," James agreed. He watched people pass by and a thought struck him suddenly. "Hey—did you know that you were voted the most physically attractive anti-social boy?" James asked.

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Aren't these polls getting a bit specific? Physically attractive and anti-social?"

James laughed at the perplexed look on Remus' face and then sighed. "It's rumored that half the Slytherins admitted to having certain dreams about you that would be considered highly inappropriate."

"Really?" Remus said. He looked suddenly very cold—almost like Sirius in the way he smiled calmly and yet there moved something in his eyes that would frighten away even the bravest of men.

James nodded and turned to look back in the stream of passing wizards and witches. One caught his eye, and he waved to her—instantly recognizing her as the girl who had been receiving the most of Sirius' time recently. She walked over to stand next to him, smiling brightly.

"Hello James," Lily said. She nodded at Remus as he turned and walked away and then looked back at James. "I've been meaning to corner you."

James smiled brilliantly, "Really?"

"Yes. I have to write a History of Magic essay, and I was wondering if you would help me out. Sirius told me that you were especially fond of that subject." She rocked on her feet for a moment and then looked behind him. "Were you waiting for someone? And why did Remus leave all of a sudden?"

James turned to look behind him. The Slytherin idiots—Crabbe and Goyle—were standing guard at the entrance to the dungeons. James mumbled something derogatory under his breath and then turned to face Lily. "Could you do me a huge favor and see if you can find Sirius."

"You are not going back there to face those two alone," Lily said, she grabbed his hand and drug him away from the corner. "I know exactly where Sirius is, come on."

****~~****

Remus blinked dispassionately as he was shoved face first into the large wooden door. He heard the group of them behind him—but at least they hadn't gotten James again. He recognized Severus, the boy reeked of indecision and yet a certainty of his own slimy-ungoodness. And Lucius who managed to stink of evil and decay and yet cover it—or attempt to—with as a façade of elegance. Crabbe and Goyle, both stank of gym socks, were left at the top of the steps. But there was someone else there, distinctly familiar, although distant.

Remus might have smiled, but then the two idiots behind him would have taken it the wrong way. So he grunted when they shoved him through the door and kicked him up against an abandoned table. Lucius passed back and forth slowly, like a cat, and looked at Severus before looking back at Remus.

"It seems you're quite popular," Lucius said.

Remus climbed to his feet and shrugged, dusting his shoulders. He didn't say anything, just crossed his arms over his chest and waited. Eventually, Lucius and Severus would get to the point.

"I honestly don't see what's so pretty about him," Lucius remarked to Severus. "He seems pretty plain to me."

Severus shrugged. He wasn't really a vicious boy, he was caught up in his hero-worship and determined to make himself look good in front of the self-declared king of the Slytherins. But Remus knew that Severus was quite capable of horrible things. When it came right down to it, Snape was capable of murder—and probably much more dastardly and disgusting deeds.

Which, is exactly what Remus could smell on them both. They were covered from head to foot in the rich stench of arousal and the promise of certain entertainment. Separate, neither of them were really a threat, together they were stupid enough to attempt something. And there was only one way to get them separate. But first, Severus had to get close enough.

Lucius took his wand and then motioned at Severus. "As I understand it, you're always hiding behind your friends. James and the ridiculous Sirius. He fancies himself a threat, doesn't he?" Lucius twirled Remus' wand in his fingers. "But he's nothing compared to what we can do…"

With that, Severus knocked Remus back onto the table and grabbed the werewolf's wrists before Remus could move to save himself.

"Of course, with Sirius reputation…" Lucius dropped Remus' wand and pulled a knife out of his pocket. "And you're new found popularity, it wouldn't be hard to put two and two together. I mean…" Lucius ripped open Remus' robe and pulled a handful of sweater and shirt up before slicing through them with a knife, exposing Remus' chest and stomach. "It would be a shame for the Gryffindor house to suffer such a contraversy before the House Cup can be awarded. How many points to do you think Dumbledore will deduct for rape?" Lucius grabbed Remus' pants and ripped them open in the front before back up. "Or at least…attempted rape?"

Remus raised an eyebrow and then shrugged. "How many points will he deduct for biting, you think?" Remus asked.

"What?" Lucius demanded.

But Severus had begun to shake, enough that his hold on Remus' hands loosened, as soon as it did, Remus grabbed Snape by the wrist and yanked him around to where he could sink his teeth into the side of Severus' hand. The boy yelped and the screamed as he pulled away with inhuman strength. He wrapped his fingers around the new injury and ran out of the room, screaming at intervals. Too bad Lucius didn't know what Remus was, or that would have scared them both away.

"I'd go get him before he gets too far, Lucius. You wouldn't want your precious Slytherins getting bested by one little Gryffindor." Remus sat up on the table, his robe slipping down one arm. He smiled and his bloodstained teeth made him look ghastly. He stood up, and swept across the room faster than Lucius could get to the door. He grabbed the blond by the throat and pressed him hard against the stone wall. "Lions travel in packs Lucius," Remus said lowly.

Behind Remus, Sirius let the invisibility cloak fall and he frowned, his wand raised. "I'd watch your back from now on," Sirius whispered. Then Remus stepped away, and Lucius ran from the room, in his haste he forgot his knife.

Remus leaned back against the table again and looked at Sirius. "I suppose I should thank you for allowing Severus to get into the shrieking shack. After all, he might not have run away like a baby without that certain knowledge."

"Anytime," Sirius whispered darkly. He took the torn flaps of clothe and looked into them, at Remus' chest, to see if the idiots had damaged any of the soft skin.

"I'm with James, Sirius." Remus removed Sirius' hands.

"You should be with me," Sirius whispered. He leaned in close, flicking his tongue out to taste the blood on Remus' lips and then pulled back, still staring with dark intensity.

"Soon enough, Sirius, soon enough." With that, Remus fell back onto the table and covered his eyes with one hand, looking very frail and very frightened.

James and Lily burst into the room, followed closely by Peter who was dangerously close to squeaking with anticipation. "Severus is running through the halls screaming 'Make it stop, make it stop, I can feel it moving.' And Lucius is running after him." James stopped in mid-sentence and rushed over to Remus, staring at the torn clothes and the bloody mouth. "What happened?" James demanded.

Sirius opened his mouth to say something, but James stepped past him and picked up the Invisibility cloak. The boy shook then, with rage and hurt, and as he turned to look at Sirius, he seemed to growl. "How could you do that, Sirius!"

"What?" Sirius yelled back.

James threw the cloth and it narrowly missed Peter's head. "Were you in here, watching?" James demanded, "And how long would you have stood there? Huh? Were you in on it? Because honestly, it seems that the only thing you like to do now days is hurt people!"

Sirius growled lowly and then pounced, slamming James against the ground. Sirius held the thinner boy by the neck and pressed him into the ground. "How dare you!" Sirius screamed. "How dare you say that! How dare you think that! How dare you!" He shook the boy beneath him until James' teeth rattled with the intensity.

Remus rolled off the table and grabbed Sirius by the collar, lifting him clean off the floor—and James—and putting him down on the table. Sirius tried to rip away from Remus, but the werewolf glared at him out of the corner of his eye. Sirius clenched his fists tightly and stayed still, teeth grinding in aggravation.

Lily was kneeling next to James, helping him sit up and staring without understanding anything.

"Now," Remus said quietly, "Perhaps we can explain this better. James—Sirius was outside the room until Severus opened to the door to run out. Secondly, even if he were in the room it would have been worse, because they were trying to frame him. To have him in the room at the time of the…actions…would have been very damning evidence. You know, as well as I, that I don't need to see someone to recognize them."

James climbed to his feet. "Why were they trying to frame him?"

"To destroy the four of us," Remus said simply. "And you cannot deny that it would have worked."

James shrugged Lily away from him and turned to leave the room. Sirius stood next to Remus as James left and then Lily. Only Peter was left when Remus turned to glare at Sirius.

"If you don't stay away from James, Sirius, I'll make you pay for every word that leaves your stupid mouth." And then he left too.

~~~~~~~~~

Weldon: Yeah, he was kind of blunt. But Remus already knew that Sirius knew. And of course Peter's slow; he's my least favorite.

Net line sixth lie I'm glad you like it.

Theexquisitecorpse: They are going to get together. Just give me a few more chapters. As you can see, the first distance is put between James and Remus. Soon, Lily will grow on James like fungus too, and then Remus will be a free man.

magical me: sorry it took a bit to post the last chapter. I had it finished, it's just my ISP hates me. They haven't gotten to that revenge yet. Perhaps they will. Perhaps they won't…

Orangina: Do you still think James and Remus are sweet? And that Sirius is the only dark one?

Review, review, review!!!!! Please please!!!