Took me ages to get the inspiration for this chapter, but then it just smacked me in the head at half eight Saturday night. Now it is boxing my insides and I hope it will stay with me for another few chapters. I have a huge amount of revision to get done so this will probably be the only chappie up this weekend, and next weekend I'm going away, but I might be able to get something up depending on how tired I am. Oh, and I apologise in advance for the weirdness of the chapter.

Still don't own em.

Tissue Paper Hearts

Oh what am I going to do? Remus inwardly panicked, regarding the young Gryffindor with every outward sign of indifference whilst his brain screamed confused curses at him.

"I'm sorry professor!" The boy tried.

Remus took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Tell me what you saw Harry," he commanded with enforced gentleness.

Harry refused to meet his gaze. "Um.. I saw Sirius Black."

His heart wrenched. Oh Merlin.

"When he was arrested. And I saw you."

Oh. That night. Well, in hindsight, that wasn't too bad a memory for him to have come across. At least Harry hadn't seen any of the more incriminating memories or the memories involving his parents. Or of his Lycanthropy. That would be much harder to explain. "Is that all?"

He nodded quickly. "Yes."

Remus sighed. "Okay. You may go."

The Gryffindor looked amazed. "Is that all sir? You aren't going to take points or anything?"

"I am merely assuming that you will not reveal what you have seen to anyone. Therefore there is no sense in taking points."

The boy opened his mouth to speak.

"And I would assure you that Professor Dumbledore is already well aware of my association with Black and many other things besides. Go back to the common room."

Harry fled. Remus might not be as intimidating at Snape or as strict as McGonnagal but he had a certain presence that Harry had no wish to be on the bad side of. And invading his privacy was probably something that would put him right there on that side.

Remus locked his office and slunk irritably over to his personal chambers to drown his sorrows with an abundance of Honeydukes' best chocolate. Once the whole bar was devoured, he blankly changed for bed and slid beneath the sheets, hoping that once again, his dreams would save him from the reality of his life.

A shadowed figure stood framed in the window, watching the werewolf's every action with a painfully wistful gaze. The wind from the open window ruffled his tattered clothes and long straggly hair. Silver tears hung on dark lashes, casting his prominent cheekbones in an eerie shadow.

Peter was here. He could finally exact his revenge upon him for what he did to Lily and James. He had once suspected that the man lying curled up protectively in the four poster bed opposite had been the betrayer, but looking at him now, Sirius couldn't even imagine why he had thought that. He knew that Remus believed him to be the betrayer and it made his heart ache. He could understand why, but it didn't stop him from being hurt.

The moment he had left that infernal island, his good memories had begun to return. Night after night he was flooded with dreams of his past that seemed like a lifetime ago. Then he had been in control. He had taken his life and pulled it away from what everyone suspected. The moment he had been Sorted into Gryffindor, he knew that his life was his own to control. Now he had none of that assurance and the only thing he could control was removing Peter Pettigrew from his apparent safety. Everything had been thrown upside down the night James and Lily were betrayed and there was nothing Sirius could do. He hated that the most significant thing he could do was to lend Hagrid his illegal flying motorcycle. He hated that he had sunk so low as to suspect Remus and he hated that he had spent twelve years of his life stuck in a Dementor ridden prison where he couldn't watch Harry's growing up.

He hated most of all that he had to take the stupid rat from Harry's friend, hide from Remus and potentially put the two most important people in his life, even if they didn't know it, in danger. All under the collective noses of the same Dementors that had guarded him in Azkaban.

Well, nothing worthwhile is easy.

He took a hesitant step forward, needing to see his werewolf properly but fearing detection.

The Professor stirred and clutched the sheets closer, mumbling something incoherent.

Sirius found himself sliding beneath the covers next to his old friend. Remus stirred again and released the covers, latching on to the extra form in his bed instead.

Sirius cursed. You're an idiot Black. He told himself. I have no idea how you manage to get yourself into these predicaments. Well, he couldn't move without waking the werewolf now. He figured he would just have to wait until he decided to release the convict. He just would have to keep himself awake.

Within half an hour he was deep asleep, wrapped in Remus's fervent unconscious embrace.

He awoke at sometime around one in the morning, forcibly extracted himself from the bed, realising that if he allowed himself to fall asleep again, the werewolf would wake up with a man he considered his enemy.

Sirius decided to make the most of his time in the castle and pay a visit to a particular sleazy rat. Perhaps he could exact his revenge and be out of the country all in one night.

The way to Gryffindor Tower was imprinted on his mind. He found himself stuck however, when he realised that he couldn't get past the Fat Lady.

Anger burning deep inside him, he all but clawed his way through the portrait and flew up the stairs, skidding and sliding in his eagerness. He tore through the drapes around Ron's bed, searching for the elusive creature.

The boy in question shot up out of his bed, locked eyes with Sirius and screamed. He cursed and, again without thinking, leapt out of the window.

"S-Sirius Black was here!" Ron announced to his dorm-mates.

An incessant knocking shook Remus from his peaceful slumber. He stretched lazily and reached out to his side as if expecting someone else to be there. He patted the bed and sighed when he realised that he was alone.

"REMUS!"

He rubbed his eyes and sat up.

"Minerva?"

"Black is in the castle. You need to get up."

His heart leapt into his throat, then plummeted cruelly to his toes. It hadn't been a dream. Sirius could have been in his bed.

He pulled himself out of bed, dragged on a dressing gown and followed Minerva to the Great Hall. She talked frantically as they strode down the corridors.

"Ron Weasly saw him. Looking straight at him with a knife the man was. The drapes are torn, the Fat Lady's portrait destroyed, but there's no sign of him. Albus has decided that the students should sleep in the Great Hall. For their own safety you know. Do you think he-"

"-Was after me?" Harry whispered to Ron, who was on his left.

The Weasly snuggled into his sleeping bag. "If he's in the castle, Dumbledore'll find him."

Harry turned on to his back, biting his lip. If only he could see more of Lupin's memories. He was sure that he would be able to see why Black wanted to kill him, and if he was honest with himself he really wanted to see more of his parents. The Mirror of Erised incident had left him craving even the faintest image of his family. It had left him with a memory of what they looked like, a taster of what his life could have been.

Perhaps Remus's memories could offer more insight into his parents' personalities. And maybe -

"Go to sleep Harry."

Sirius... I wish none of this had happened. I wish Lily and James and Peter were alive. I wish you weren't on the run. I wish things are how they used to be.

A hand ruffles his hair as he reads through his Charms essay.

"Hey Remmie."

"Sirius."

"Checkmate! Ha! Take that Peter!" Floats across the room.

A bright grin flashes across Sirius's face. He takes out his Charms homework and a quill. Remus gapes at him.

"You've actually done your homework?"

"Yeah.."

He looks faint.

"Except I still need two more uses of the Patronus Charm."

Remus sighs in relief and confesses to the taller boy that he had been worried that Sirius had been taken over by an impostor. This earns him a swat in the shoulder.

Remus smiled wistfully and turned his mind back to the present, safe in the knowledge that Sirius would be safe.

A/N: I uploaded this and the word count on my computer was bigger than on the website. Not by much but if you come across something that doesn't make sense, hit me with it.