Struggling in Moony's grasp, Sirius tried to curl in on himself. "I'm sorry, it's my fault, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He chanted quietly, trying to suppress his sobs.
"Sirius?" Whispered Remus. "What's wrong?"
"I'm bad, I'm sorry, so sorry. It's my fault, my fault." He whimpered. "So dirty, I feel so dirty. Can't get clean. Can't get him off me."
"Sirius, what's the matter?" Asked Remus again. Tugging at the sobbing boys robe, Remus tried to get Sirius to look at him, frustrated that Padfoot wouldn't meet his eyes.
"Whatever's the matter, it isn't your fault, ok?" Remus tried to reassure him, "You can tell me and we can fixed it."
Frantically shaking his head, Sirius curled up even more. "I can't, I… I…" he sobbed, "I can't tell y…you. You'll hate m…me an, an, and you'll go away."
Seeing his friend become more and more distressed, Remus felt tears well up in his eyes. "Oh Padfoot, I could never hate you." He whispered, placing a gentle kiss on the top of Sirius' head. "Nothing and I mean nothing could ever make me hate you."
Feeling the sobs slowly abate, he watched as Sirius fell into a fretful sleep.
"Mr Moony," came a vice from behind him, "if you could be so kind as to bring him to the hospital wing?" Said Madam Pomfrey, concern etched in her eyes. "We shall see what is wrong with Mr Black."
Standing up, Remus lifted Sirius in his arms, startled to find him so light. Worried he looked at Madam Pomfrey and James who had appeared next to her.
"Come now." She said, leading to two boys out of the classroom. "We'll get him sorted out, and he'll be back to causing all sort of mischief with you to."
Sitting on the chairs outside the hospital wing, Remus watched James pace up and down.
"I didn't even notice anything was wrong." Muttered James finally, as he flung himself down beside Peter. "What kind of friend am I?"
"Don't beat yourself up." Said Remus, "we didn't notice anything either."
"Yeah, but now that I think back, I knew something was wrong and I did nothing about it." Cried James. "I just left it alone, I didn't think to try and take to Padfoot, and look what happened."
"Do you think he'll be alright?" Asked Peter in a small voice.
Looking at the timid boy, Remus tried to offer a reassuring smile. "Sure he will, he's Sirius after all. Concussion doesn't even stop him." He laughed, remember the time Sirius had gone one on one with a bludger. Padfoot's head was really hard and he'd certainly proved that when it had hit him. Madam Pomfrey was only able to keep him in the hospital wing just long enough to bandage his head.
"Yeah," said Peter, a small smile making its way onto his face, "he's always ok isn't he?"
Nodding, Remus looked at the closed door. I'm not so sure this will be the case, he worried, I've never seen him like that before.
Coming out of his musings, Remus jumped when the door he had been focusing on opened, admitting Madam Pomfrey into the corridor.
"Is he ok?" asked the three boys in unison, rushing towards her.
"He's asleep and I plan to keep him that way until tomorrow. I'm afraid you can't see him until then," she forestalled their next question, "but if you come back tomorrow before breakfast you can spend a few minutes with him, asleep or not."
Opening his mouth to complain, James stepped forwards.
"I'm not changing my mind." Stated Poppy, her voice taking on a no nonsense tone. "Now off you all go back to your room before I get someone to escort you there."
Sighing, Remus, James and Peter slowly made their way to the dorm room, ignoring the questioning glances as they entered the Gryffindor common room.
Walking into their room, Remus headed towards James' trunk.
"Moony, what are you doing?" Asked James, watching as Remus pulled out his invisibility cloak.
"I'm going to go and visit Sirius, I won't be able to sleep without seeing he's ok for myself." Replied Remus.
"Ok, just let us know how he is." Said James, climbing into his bed.
Agreeing, Remus threw the cloak over himself and headed back down to the hospital wing. There was something going on and Madam Pomfrey hadn't answered the question they'd asked earlier. Just how was Sirius? And what was being kept from them?