Thank you again to everyone who took the time to read and review my story. Here is the third and final chapter.

Pain. The sensation clouded Remus' head and added to his delirium. A coughing fit left him retching onto the floorboards for several moments. Lying back, he attempted to catalogue his injuries. The wolf had been angry at his weakness and had chewed itself mercilessly all night. His left leg was mangled beyond recognition, causing him to look away in horror.

'Must get away, have to get away,' Remus murmured over and over to himself. Slowly, he crawled toward the door and then out into the snow, dragging his useless left limb behind him. As he painfully made his way toward the castle, a trail of red followed in his wake.

Sirius bolted upright in bed, listening carefully. He had tossed and turned all night, unable to get Remus' face out of his head. Just a moment ago, though, he could have sworn he heard a loud thumping noise that pulled him awake completely. Crossing the room silently, he opened the door to the hallway and peered out.

"Oh God, no. . . shit!" Sirius swore in terror as he stared down at Remus' bloody form sprawled out near the door. "James, get out here now!"

James, hearing the urgency in Sirius' voice, jumped out of bed. He, too, hadn't slept well that night. By the time he reached the door, Sirius was cradling Remus' head in his lap and whispering to him that everything would be fine.

"I'll get Madam Pomfrey," James said quickly and took off down the hall without waiting for a response.

Sirius, meanwhile, was numb with shock. There was so much blood and Remus was so hot despite the fact that his tattered clothes were soaked through with icy water. 'He must have crawled here' Sirius realized suddenly. 'This is all my fault. . . I should've tried harder to make things right, I should have realized how sick he was. . . '

Footsteps pounded on the stairs and in seconds, James and a very concerned Madam Pomfrey were standing there.

'James must have run the whole way,' Sirius thought dully as Madam Pomfrey levitated Remus into their room and onto his bed. He and James exchanged mournful looks as the bed curtains were whisked shut. They knew better than to interrupt Madam Pomfrey while she worked. So, both boys perched nervously on the edge of Sirius' bed and waited.

Forty-five minutes later, when Sirius' fidgeting had taken James to the brink of sanity and he was seriously considering knocking his friend senseless, Madam Pomfrey emerged.

"How is he?" Sirius demanded, leaping to his feet.

"Well, Mr. Lupin is very bad off," Madam Pomfrey began, eyeing both boys sternly. "He is extremely ill, and it would seem he had an unfortunate run-in with a. . . a wild animal," she finished hastily. "I've healed what I can of his injuries, but I'm afraid the left leg will take some time to fully mend."

"What happens next? Can we see him?" James queried anxiously.

"I'm not sure Mr. Lupin should be moved, given his condition, so I'm entrusting his well-being to you gentlemen," Madam Pomfrey explained gravely. "I've given him some medication that will help, and I'll be back to check on him later today. If anything occurs, come and get me immediately!"

"Yes, Ma'am," Sirius answered with confidence.

As Madam Pomfrey left, the two boys pulled back the curtains and examined Remus with their own eyes. Their friend looked small and very fragile. His entire leg was covered in bandages, and his cheeks were flushed bright with fever. Sirius moved swiftly to Remus' side and clutched his hand.

"Crap!" James exclaimed suddenly.

"What?"

"I forgot I'm supposed to give a tutoring session on flying today," James replied bitterly.

"Go on, I'll take care of things here," Sirius said reassuringly.

"I won't be gone too long, I promise." James moved swiftly to change and then headed out the door, calling over his shoulder, "Let me know if you need me and I'll be back in a heartbeat!"

After the door closed behind James, Sirius settled down in a chair next to Remus' bed. He needed to be there, he reasoned, in case Remus woke up confused or scared. Studying his friend closely, Sirius realized with a start that Remus was shaking almost imperceptibly. As the minutes ticked on, the shaking grew worse and was accompanied by low whimpering sounds. Sirius felt his heart breaking – what could he do?

Just then, Remus let out a small moan. Sirius made up his mind in an instant. He threw back the blankets and crawled into the bed. Drawing the blankets back over both of them, Sirius reached out and gently moved Remus into his arms, mindful of the bandaged leg. The soaking wet robe was gone, he noted, so Madam Pomfrey must have somehow gotten Remus into the pajamas he was now wearing. Resting his cheek on top of his friend's fair hair, Sirius tried to make Remus feel as warm and safe as he could. After a little while, Remus stopped shaking and seemed to fall into a deep sleep. Lulled by the quiet of the room and the fact that he had slept very little the night before, Sirius also succumbed to sleep. . .

A couple of hours later, Sirius was awakened by an elbow in his ribs. He grunted slightly, causing Remus to freeze.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," Remus whispered, looking abashed.

Sirius rubbed his eyes. "It's OK. . . I shouldn't have fallen asleep anyway." Placing a hand on Remus' forehead, he was relieved to find that it was somewhat cooler, although still fairly warm. "You, on the other hand, should still be sleeping."

"I woke up and couldn't get comfortable again," Remus said sheepishly. "My leg is kind of bothering me."

Sirius swore lightly and started to move off of the bed. "Kind of bothering you? In Remus-speak, that means you're in a lot of pain. I'll get some of the medicine Madam Pomfrey left. . . "

"Please don't go! I just. . . I don't want to be alone right now."

The request took Sirius off guard. He had worried that Remus would be uncomfortable at finding Sirius in his bed. Instead, though, he was pleading with him not to get up. In truth, Sirius didn't want to move at all. For reasons he had yet to figure out, holding Remus felt completely right to him.

"Remmie?" Sirius began hesitantly as he shifted back over and wrapped his arms around his friend.

"Yeah?"

The words came out all in a rush. "I'm sorry about yesterday – I didn't mean what I said, I was just angry that you wouldn't let us help you and I wasn't thinking. . . "

"I know," Remus said quietly. "I'm sorry I overreacted. I know you guys just want to help, but sometimes I worry that you don't fully understand what I become. I couldn't live with myself if I ever hurt you. I'm also scared of losing my best friends."

"Remus," Sirius began sternly, feeling agonized at his friend's admission, "We will always be there for you. I'll always be there for you. Nothing will ever change that fact."

Sirius pulled Remus closer as his friend's shoulders began to shake with sobs of relief. After a few moments, the tears subsided and Remus said drowsily, "Thank you, Siri. And. . . I'll think about it."

"About what?" Sirius asked, puzzled.

"About the whole animagi thing," Remus responded before resting his head on Sirius' shoulder and falling back to sleep.

Sirius sighed contentedly and closed his eyes. "Don't worry," he murmured, "I'll be here when you wake up."

James closed the door to the room quietly and stepped back, smiling to himself. He hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but he really wanted to know if Sirius and Remus were patching things up. And, it appeared, everything was back to normal.

Heading for the stairs, James had a great idea. "I haven't tortured Lily at all today. . . I wonder where she's gone off to. . . "

END