Disclaimer: If these characters belonged to me, I'd be a happy person (Just like how Leonard Woolf is happy if he could go for a walk at 10 in the morning.)

This is a one-shot fic. Sorry if the storyline coincides with anybody else's storyline. Please read and review!

Promises Cast Away

The door slams open and Remus bursts into the room. He rummages his all-too-messy desk that is littered with several pieces of parchment, grabs his wand and is about to bolt out of the door when Sirius, who is lying casually in bed, trying in vain to be entertained by a book (which is incidentally, upside-down) calls,

'Where are you rushing off to?'

'It's Harry! He...'

Sirius jumps from the bed and as he checks his pocket for his wand, asks, 'So where are we going?'

Remus hesitates. To speak of Harry being trapped in the Ministry of Magic in Sirius' presence would be crazy, and to encourage him to come along with them on this rescue mission would be suicide. He turns away and pretends to drawls nonchalantly, 'Oh nothing...just, you know, regular Order stuff,' He tries not to stammer.

'You're lying.' Straight-face, straight-laced, Remus unconsciously rhymes in his head.

Remus considers an attempt to reason with him, but knowing better, replies tiredly, 'You know you're not supposed to leave the house, Padfoot. It's for your own good,'

'I wouldn't have guessed that you've joined the ranks of protective nannies employed by Dumbledore.' he retorted sharply, 'I know that Harry is in danger, and I'm going to save him,'

'You don't even know what this mission's all about! You don't even know the trouble we've taken to...' Remus knows they are heading towards a fight, and he clenches his fists and holds them down to prevent them from flying up in frustration. It feels like a losing battle he's fighting, his mind grappling against his arms that hang stiffly by his side.

'...to keep me like a prisoner? Oh, I escape from Azkaban to be imprisoned in my own house!' As he shouts these words, Sirius can feel the slight release of pressure on his chest, but the heaviness returns the very next instant, when Remus says, 'If you were thinking clearly, you would just stay here.' with his tone set and final, chin tilted up with slight authority. 'I'm going. You stay here. Period.'

A bony hand grips his wrist like a vine, long and thin and strong. The grip tightens as Remus tries to resist it.

'I'm his godfather, Moony. I can't fail him like I've failed James. He's all I've got. You know it'll kill me if he's dead. Let me come.' The last words were uttered softly, as though Sirius was afraid that if he had spoken them any louder, Harry's fate would be sealed that way. He looks into Remus' eyes, but Remus only turns away and shakes his wrist to rid it of the grip.

'Right, he's all you've got. But have you ever considered that you're all that's he's got, too? What if you die?' He sounds choked, as though the emotion in him would somehow burst forth, like water rushing against a breaking dam, if he doesn't keep it in check. A pause, and then he resumes, 'How would he feel? How would I feel? Have you ever thought about that?' And then he adds, slightly reluctantly but meaning every word, 'You bloody selfish asshole.'

'Then what do you expect me to do, huh? Stand at the sidelines and watch, as I've been doing this past year? I don't care, I'm going.' Sirius walks briskly to the door, and joins the ranks of Tonks, Moody and the rest.

'Fine,' Remus whispers fiercely under his breath, 'Suit yourself,' as the figures in front of him start becoming blurred and unclear.

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Just before they leave the house, Sirius turns toward Remus and grabs his shoulders between his hands. ''It's going to be fine. I'm going to be fine. I promise,'

Remus struggles against his grasp, but Sirius' palms are too warm, his grasp too reassuring and the tension between them is too great that it is all in vain. He falls into Sirius' arms in a quick embrace, and inhales deeply, for a moment, the scent of Sirius Black. A hand caresses his face, fingers running through his hair, as Sirius' words seem to be lifted by the wind and cast away from the dark recesses of his mind.

'I promise,' he repeats, silently, to himself.

The End