Sirius woke early. Remus was still curled up around him but Sirius gently rolled him away and climbed out of bed, headed in the directions of the showers intent on getting rid of the erection sleeping next to Remus had given him.

He made sure the water was as cold as it could be before parts of him died from frost bite and then wanked off, moaning quietly until he came gasping his friends name.

The water washed away the mess from his skin and Sirius leant against the wall of the shower, breathing hard and cursing himself. Remus wouldn't want to be part of his sick fantasies and Remus, kind, lovely Remus deserved to have anything he wanted.

Today Sirius would redeem himself, he would find Remus a girl who would be perfect and Remus would be happy, and Sirius could stop wanting him.

He began the look out for a girlfriend for Remus at breakfast – the first person he saw was of course Lily but she was already taken and probably wouldn't have taken well to Sirius propositioning on Remus's behalf.

The second person was one of Lily's friends who Sirius remembered Peter having dated – she hadn't been to keen on letting it go any further then a few kisses but Remus wasn't the kind of boy to push. Sirius considered her for a few more moments before mentally discarding her because she had blond hair – Remus needed someone with black hair.

During the first lesson of the day he discarded half of his class for things as pity as she wore pink hair clips and Remus didn't like the colour or that she was allergic to chocolate and Remus loved it.

The second lesson potions didn't go so well. He was trying to remember if Karen McDowell in Slytherin had been putting it about last year or if that had been someone else when suddenly Snape's face was right in front of him.

Sirius jumped back slightly and reached for his wand.

"What do you want?" he hissed.

"I want to talk to you." Snape said and Sirius frowned.

"I don't want to talk to you," he turned away from Snape and pretended to be interested in what he was doing, he wasn't supposed to have any confrontations with Snape since what had happened last year – the risk of expulsion still hung over his head and he didn't think he could stand listening to Snape for a few moments longer.

"I have to talk to you, its about Lupin."
Sirius's head whipped round quickly and if he'd been less worried about Remus he would have noticed the strange gleam in Snape's eyes.

"What about Remus?"

"Meet me in here after curfew, its important." And then Snape was gone, back with his partner and chastising him over adding the newt too soon.

Sirius looked back down into his own potion that was a horrid bubbling sludge colour and considered if he could really trust Snape. He knew Snape was a bastard who'd sell him down the river first chance he got but if Snape knew something important about Remus then Sirius wanted to know it too.

Even if it meant being civil with the enemy for more than a few moments.

…

Sirius slipped in to the dungeon classroom a few minuets after curfew, wand drawn, and was greeted by silence and inky blackness that told him no one else was there. Snape had lied to him then, tricked him into coming out after curfew and was probably leading Filch to him right now.

It was while he was thinking this that Snape slammed into him from behind, knocking them both over and Sirius's wand out of his hand, and the wand span across the room and under a desk. Snape recovered first and pinned Sirius to the floor, snarling slightly.

"I know what you are, you're disgusting, Black. Perverted!" he sneered.

Sirius kicked and squirmed, trying to buck Snape off him. His skin crawled from where Snape touched him and Sirius imagined that something horrible and oily and pure Snape was creeping over him, making him unclean. He wanted to be rid of Snape, to go and found the showers and wash any touch of him away – how he wished he had his wand because he'd curse Snape into next week if he had.

"You don't know anything!" Sirius roared, still struggling.

"I know about you and your friend," Snape spat the word as if it was dirty. "and what you do together. you're abnormal, Black. A shirt-lifter, a poof. I don't think you're brother would like that. Poor Regulus already has enough problems from you without that as well"

Sirius's heart sank immediately at the mention of his younger brother.

"You leave him out of this"

"I'm going to get you thrown out of school, both of you. Hogwarts doesn't want abnormals like you." Snape's mouth twisted into an ugly smile "I bet you fiddle with the little first year too, don't you?"

Sirius felt sick. Snape had gone mad, he must have. He'd let this stupid vendetta between them go to far and now he was completely cracked.

"That's disgusting, your sick. Your sick and crazy!"

"You're the one that's sick. You and that Lupin boy! I know about the two of you and I'm going to tell everyone."

Sirius froze, he stopped struggling and Snape crowed triumphantly as if he had obtained some huge victory.

"I knew I was right! You and Lupin! you really are sick Black, with a werewolf! Does he like it rough then? Like you to bite?"

"Shut up, Snape! Don't you dare to about Remus's like that."

"Or you'll what? Cry?"

"No," came a soft, dangerous voice from the doorway. "I'll hex your head off." Each of them looked to the doorway.

James was standing there face flushed red, Peter behind him, his whole body shaking. Both of them had their wands drawn pointed at Snape who seemed suddenly to reconsidering his position.

He carefully climbed of Sirius and dusted himself off as if trying to get rid of the last ten minuets from that.

"You shouldn't be protecting him, Potter." Snape sneered. "He's abnormal, him and Lupin and what there doing but then I suppose you're all in on aren't you. Close group of friends like you…"

Sirius scrambled up and hefted a punch at Snape, it caught him across his oversized nose and sent him sprawling, tears of rage and pain filling his eyes and blood gushing from his nose.

"I'll kill you if you say anything like that about me or my friends again!" Sirius growled. "and I'll use unforgivable."

And with that he stalked away, stopping only to retrieve his wand, past James and Peter and their worried questions, back to the Gryffindor common room.