In his entire life, Sirius had never once felt worse than he did at this moment.

Dumbledore had summoned him to his office as soon as James and Snape had returned from beneath the Willow—though upon seeing his bloodied face, he'd promptly called up Madam Pomfrey to tend to him before beginning their meeting. Now Sirius lurked in the back of the office with his head bandaged and salved, watching wordlessly as James and Snape screamed back and forth at each other in front of a stone-faced Dumbledore.

"I cannot believe you allow that beast to roam the school, Professor, he nearly killed me—"

"Call Remus a beast one more time, Snivellus, and I'll be the one to kill you—"

"He broke out of the Shack once, he could easily do it again—"

"Only because you were lurking about in the tunnel!"

"I was only in the tunnel because Black told me about it, wanting to see me mauled by the wolf…."

Dumbledore's eyes moved to meet Sirius's. "Is this true, Sirius?" He spoke quietly, but with enough authority to quiet James and Snape. "Did you tell Severus how to access the tunnel beneath the Whomping Willow?"

Sirius swallowed, stepping forward. There was no point in lying. "Yes, Professor."

Snape let out a triumphant cry. "You see? Black should be expelled too, he knew exactly what I was walking into; he wanted me dead, Potter said so himself!"

Sirius glanced at James from the sides of his eyes; James did not look back. Had he really said that? More importantly, was it true? Sirius had been filled with such anger, anger over Snape spouting off about Mudbloods and accusing Remus and saying that the two of them were the same…he really had wanted him dead, and a part of him still did. Most concerning of all was the fact that Sirius didn't even care.

"Mr Black is no killer, Severus," Dumbledore said firmly, which somehow made Sirius feel even more awful. "And neither is Remus Lupin. You, Severus, are the one who decided to pursue a werewolf on the night of the full moon, knowing full well all that that entailed." He nodded to James. "It is only thanks to Mr Potter's quick thinking and bravery that you are standing here right now. You owe him your life, Severus."

"Potter only saved me to cover for his friends!" Snape protested. "You know that, Professor—you can't be telling me that neither of them are getting expelled for this…."

"I will not hold Remus accountable for what he did or tried to do in his transformed state," Dumbledore said. Sirius let out an audible sigh of relief, and the tension in James's shoulders relaxed away just a little. "We will certainly be putting stronger wards on the Shrieking Shack to ensure something like this doesn't happen again. And Sirius…." Sirius forced himself not to look down as Dumbledore frowned at him. "For enabling Severus's recklessness, I am going to ask Professor McGonagall to award you a full month of detentions when you return to school in the fall."

"A month of detentions?" Snape asked incredulously. "That's it? He spends half his time in detention anyway!"

"And you, Severus," Dumbledore continued, gesturing to Sirius's bandaged head. "You are never again to perform the curse you used tonight on Mr Black. I would have you punished as well for the use of such a spell, but I believe your experience tonight has served as punishment enough."

Snape still looked as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Sirius would have reveled in it if he didn't feel so enormously terrible. He wished more than anything that James would look at him.

"He's going to tell everyone in the school about Remus, Professor," James said. "As soon as he gets out of here."

"He will not," Dumbledore replied. "Because he will swear to me right now that he will not breathe a word on Remus's condition to anyone outside this room, or else he will face severe consequences."

"Consequences?" Snape sounded almost hysterical now. "Me?"

"For ruining the life and career of an entirely innocent fellow student, Severus, yes, you would face consequences. Do you understand?" Dumbledore's gaze was unblinking as he surveyed Snape.

"Yes, Professor," Snape said tightly, his lips trembling with shock and rage and defeat. "I understand."

"Swear it to me."

"I swear that I will not tell anyone about the…the werewolf that attends our school."

"Good. I will hold you to that, Severus." Dumbledore stood then, glancing between the three boys. "It is now nearly three in the morning—go back to your dormitories and try to get some rest. We should all be grateful that tonight didn't end in tragedy."

But it had ended in tragedy, Sirius thought as he followed James from the office. With a single comment to Snape, he'd ruined every single thing that was good in his life, and he had no idea how he could possibly get any of it back.