This chapter is for EsScaper, who wanted to see a tougher Remus. Thanks to Nox for the Italian.

Peter POV (coz I seem to have pretty much abandoned him- he was only mentioned in one chapter)

Save me save me save me
I can't face this life alone
Save me save me save me...
I'm naked and I'm far from home

I walk into the library, and through the stacks to the table we use on the rare occasions we enter. James is slouched in a chair, watching his fingers drum. I sit opposite him. "Prongs? Where's Padfoot?"

He shrugs. "Don't know. Hopefully nowhere near here."

I don't know what's happened. Before Remus went away, everything was normal. Not completely. Remus and Sirius were closer than they'd been before, going off every so often and leaving me and James together. I think Sirius felt guilty about the accident. One night, I woke up and got up to go to the loo, and he was out on the balcony. I could hear him crying, saying 'all my fault, Remmie broken, all my fault'. I thought he was just drunk again.

But since Remus came back from St Mungo's everything has changed. Sirius doesn't talk to us anymore, and whenever I ask James makes a sarcastic comment, and glances at Remus to make sure he's ok. Something happened between them, and I want to know what.

It's not fair, the way they've cut me out. I'm their friend too. I might not be as intelligent as them, or as good looking, or as popular, but I'm still a Marauder. And as such, I deserve to know the truth. I'm going to find out what happened if I have to ask everyone.

Remus walks in, and sits next to me, smiling slightly. "Hey guys."

James nods. "Moony. What're you gonna do?"

Remus smiles. "Potions. 'The Properties of Wolfsbane'." He pulls out parchment and a quill and begins to make notes.

I turn to him. "Moony, have you seen Padfoot?"

He speaks without looking up. "No, and to be brutally honest I hope wherever he is he's in terrible pain."

"What? But he's…"

"Arrogant, two faced, traitorous," he pauses, "a bastard?"

I stare at his bent head. "I was going to say your best friend."

The little I can see of his face twists, and he presses the quill down so hard that it snaps. "He was more than that," he whispers, so soft that for a moment I think I imagined it.

"Then why aren't you talking to him?" I say, placing one hand on his arm.

He shrugs me off tersely. "You wouldn't understand."

"Why not?"

"You just wouldn't, Peter." He pulls out another quill. "Now go chuck yourself off a tower."

"I was just worried about you, no need to bite my head off."

"Worry about someone who wants it."

James is frowning at him across the table. "Rem, are you ok?"

"Firstly, don't call me that. I hate being called that." That's a lie; it's what Sirius used to call him all the time, and Remus never got annoyed then. If anything, he seemed to enjoy it. He always smiled slightly. "Secondly, I'm fine. Absolutely hunky-bloody-dory."

James raises an eyebrow. "Remus, you don't sound ok."

"I've cut that git out of my life. It's the best thing I've ever done." Remus smirks, his eyes bitter. "Now I won't have to destroy myself every day at his whim. I can do it my own way."

James taps his quill on the table, looking thoughtful. "He said something just like that."

"No wonder." Remus looks down again. "We're both the same, deep down. Monsters."

I gasp. "But you're not, Moony!"

"Leave it, Pete. We've had this argument a lot, and Moony won't let his mind be changed."

Remus salutes James ironically. "Well done, you've finally learnt when you're fighting a losing cause."

He freezes, staring beyond James, then rests his head on his hand, shielding his eyes. James and I follow his line of sight. Sirius is standing behind the stack, peering through the gap left by missing books. He looks like a deer in the headlights, his eyes wide and his lips parted slightly, as though he was about to say something. James sighs angrily, and turns back to the table determinedly. Sirius' face tightens with some emotion, and he spins round to leave the library with his robes swirling around him.

"Um, guys, I have to get something from the dorm." The other two don't even look up as I leave the library to follow Sirius.

As I run into the corridor, I see his robes turning the corner. I follow, my breath coming in huffs and puffs. He's always just too far in front, and so I pause to gather my breath and shout.

"Padfoot! Sirius! Wait up!" He stops for a moment, and then continues. I run, the break giving me extra strength. I manage to catch him outside a Charms classroom and place my hand on his shoulder to stop him. "Padfoot, stop."

He doesn't turn round. "What, Wormtail? Have you come to yell at me?"

"No." I pull him into the classroom. He refuses to look at me, keeping his head bowed so that his hair covers his face. "What the hell has happened?"

"It's none of your business. None of Potter's either. It's between me and Lupin."

"Why are you calling them that?"

He laughs, his face still hidden. "Because that's how they refer to me. It's either 'Black' or 'that bastard' or just plain 'him'."

I sit on one of the tables, swinging my legs. "Neither of you are happy, so why don't you just make up?"

He looks up then, and I can see his face. I catch my breath. His eyes are surrounded by huge black circles, and they're beginning to puff up. Even though I don't follow his style, I know that the makeup will only run when it gets wet. He's been crying. "Gee, Peter, I really don't know what I'd do without your brilliant ideas." He runs his hand back through his hair. "Lupin hates me."

"Why? What did you do?"

He laughs. "Ab-so-lutely nothing. Not a single thing. Well, I did, but not something that merits this."

"So talk to him!"

"Ok, Wormtail, you get him to stand still and actually look at me, and I'll take it from there." He breathes in and shuts his eyes. "Just go away. O cessa te di piagarmi o la scia te mi morir."

I stare at him. "What?"

"It's from a song. It's Italian. It means… oh no longer seek to pain me, oh give o'er and let me die. In other words, piss off and let me wallow in my misery."
I move closer to him and lay a hand on his arm. "Padfoot, it can't be anything too serious. You've done worse. Like when you told Snape about…"

He jumps, startling me. He stares off into space, his face hard. "Snape…" he breathes. "I'll bet it was him, he always fancied him, I'll kill the greasy bastard…"

"Padfoot, what are you on about? What has Snape done?"

"I don't know. But it's him, he turned Remus against me. I'll make him pay."

I try to stop him, standing in the doorway. "Please, don't do anything stupid."

He snarls and pushes me out of the way. This isn't good. Knowing Sirius, he could well beat Snape into a pulp. The only people who'd stand a chance of stopping him are James and Remus, but they're not talking to him. Still, this is more important.

I sprint towards the library, praying that I'll find them quickly.

I literally run into them down the corridor, falling into Remus and pushing him to the floor. He looks up at me, a questioning look in his eyes.

"In a hurry, Pete?"

"It's Sirius," I gasp. "He's gonna kill Snape."

Remus pales instantly. James pulls me up as Remus scrabbles in his bag and pulls out an old piece of parchment. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good," he says urgently. "Come on, come on… shit. Snape is in the dungeons, and Sirius is nearly there." He stuffs his things back into his bag and takes off, leaving James and I to follow.

I've never seen Remus run this fast. Then again, I've never seen him so angry before. I don't know who's going to end up in worse shape- Snape or Sirius.

We stumble down the steps and into an almost deserted corridor. Only Snape and Sirius are in front of us. We stop and stare. Sirius has Snape pinned to the ground, the front of his robes clutched in one hand. "You thought you could turn Remus against me?" He drops Snape. "You'll regret everything!" He pulls his fist back and pounds down repeatedly. The relentless thud of flesh on flesh is sickening. Remus rushes forward and pulls Sirius off, throwing him bodily to the floor. Snape doesn't move. Sirius stares upwards. "Rem, it was him-"

"Shut up." Remus' voice is icy. "James, Peter, help Severus to the Hospital Wing."

"Rem, it's his fault!

"No!" The retort is like a whip. "It's your fault, Black. No one else's." He turns and leaves. Sirius stays on the ground, breathing heavily. Neither James nor I have moved. We just stare at Sirius and the unconscious Snape.

SlashyKitty- Hmm… strange epiphany… :looks innocent: Lykaios Nyx- Where are you! checkmarks- Thank you. LiTOSWTAZN- You think this is confusing? Try writing it! MoonyNZ- Here is your next update. Versipellis- There's a big queue of angry reviewers to 'teach him' ;) QFan- The secret to lots of emotion is trying to write while being attacked by my cousin while also watching Shrek 2. Lady of Faerie- I'm sorry! It wasn't one of my shortest, but still majorly sorry. bloodyredlips- What's your idea? Sunshine Pie- Only person to comment on James. butterflywings32- Wow… I'm brilliant… as your beta, MORE TYPING! ;) Jessica Goldberg- Probably gonna be 21 chapters, with maybe an epilogue. Ayame Lupin- Once you're in, you'll never get out! KawaiiMegami86- I need to read some fluff urgently, I depressed myself with angst earlier. Tuttle is the best episode EVER. TheDreamerLady- Would you want me to spoil it? Selene182- Stay together! clamsofmacabre- A plot thought up when I was bored is brilliant? I should be bored more. aishteru- You turn up everywhere! Ta! thequeeneb- I am glad you're hooked. Keep reviewing! carpe-nox-sulum-nox- Ta! The only thing I'm addicted to is reviews. And biscuits. sesshomaruhasafluffytail- Don't feel unloved!
With thanks to bluefire-elemental, Queen of the Paperclips, Silverwitch07, caramel, EsScaper, foreverandever, decaydancexx and MinervaEvenstar