Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Sirius' back stung. He could still feel all the lines snaking across his back where his father's whip had slashed him. It was humiliating that he had been brought so low as to have been unable to defend himself against his own father – he wasn't sure he could bear it if the other marauders knew.

Over the next couple of months, everything went back to normal, Sirius was laughing, joking and pranking as usual and his spirits were kept high. Making sure none of the other marauders saw his marks of shame wasn't easy, but all he had to do was make sure they didn't watch him undress and that was simple to avoid with a few shouts of "Oi, pervert!". All in all, things were going swimmingly.

Mulciber and Avery were being their usual selves at breakfast, that is to say, that they were being brash, rude, misogynistic and crass. James looked over with a spark of mischief in his eye, along with something Sirius couldn't quite identify – anger, maybe? Sirius took the hint and began evilly plotting with James.

"What do you say we hex the statues to follow them around for a day, professing their undying love for the romance between our unsuspecting victims?"

Sirius paused in disbelief, "You know how to do that?"

James smirked and replied "Of course I do, I'm the most brilliant, intelligen…Oof!"

"Oh shut up, which Ravenclaw did you overhear?"

"As if! It was professor Mcgonogall actually," James mumbled, head held low, "How on earth did you figure it out?" Sirius decided that that wasn't worthy of a response. As their unsuspecting victims left for their first class, he just gave James the thumbs up and slyly winked.

Two hours later, the marauders were all giggling over their success in the common room. After all, who could resist seeing two slytherins almost reduced to tears after having been first terrified, then mortified of the giant statues trailing them with their ridiculous monologues. The statues had even gone as far as to construct poems about how beautiful Mulciber and Avery were as a couple. Even Remus had snorted when he heard a deep baritone announce that 'Muvery' was the most romantic thing since moonlit picnics. They hadn't been the only ones in fits of laughter either, everyone they saw was straining to contain chuckles. The only slight hiccup in the plan came when Sirius crawled out of the common room to sneak some pie from the house elves.

"Well what do we have here?" crowed Mulciber, "Could it be another piece of trash that has abandoned their family to be a mudblood-loving milksop? Hang on, I only know one pathetic piece of rubbish that fits that description, it must be Sirius Black."

Sirius waited for the inevitable snigger and was satisfied when the unimaginative idiot known as Avery decided that this was the most hilarious comment he had ever heard. He was in a slight spot of trouble, he belatedly realised, as not only were Mulciber and Avery there, but Snivellus, Amycus and even Lucius (who must have decided that this was entertainment worth being there for, or perhaps to cover for the gang should anything go awry). Sirius could effortlessly take three of these weaklings, four would be some fun, but without backup and facing five, his odds went down to about 4 in 5 of beating the idiotic imbeciles strutting before him. He wasn't particularly keen on using the unforgivable curses either which put him at a slight disadvantage. Surely it wasn't anything he couldn't handle though?

He flicked his wand and cast a bat bogey hex aimed for Mulciber, before shooting off a dozen varied curses/hexes at the putrid people in front of him. The shock came when he slowed down enough to realise that not one of them were harmed and they were just staring at him with massive smug smiles on their faces. He cursed inwardly as he realised that one of them must be casting a shield charm over the whole gathering, but under a disillusionment spell, giving him no chance of ever catching the dolt. This wasn't a fight he could win. The last thing he felt before he fell unconscious was the mind-numbing pain. The last thing he heard was the word "Crucio".

Remus was tearing his hair out. Not only had James' bragging about the prank on Avery stopped him from reading his book, but Sirius was nowhere to be found – something that really didn't help his mood. Sirius always cheered him up with his seemingly endless string of nonsensical babble and ridiculous assumptions about how many people had as high an opinion of himself as he did. However, Sirius was nowhere in sight and Remus was growing increasingly frustrated as he struggled to tune James out (no offence to James of course). So when James decided to leave because "Padfoot should be back with the bloody pie already", he was relieved. Until, of course, he realised that James had a point and Sirius had been gone for ages. Maybe Sirius was hooking up with a bird, maybe Remus was just unnecessarily worrying, but he remembered the looks of fury on Avery and Mulciber's faces and decided that just in case the evil schmucks hadn't decided that they didn't mind being humiliated all that much and revenge was unnecessary, he should go looking too. When he put it like that Remus got rather worried, not that he didn't rate Sirius' chances of beating Avery and Mulciber in a fair fight. Unfortunately, the snots were pack animals, so it was doubtful that just the two had gone seeking revenge, which made it all the more important that he move his bum and go find Sirius.

The map showed that Sirius wasn't in the hospital wing, a relief, knowing all the trouble Sirius could have gotten into. Remus popped a piece of chocolate in his mouth as he searched further for Sirius. He was starting to freak out a little when he saw that Sirius was nowhere near the kitchens, or, in fact, any of his usual hidey-holes or broom closets. Finally, he spotted him on his own lying near the slytherin wing of the castle. Speed was now of the essence.

When Remus got there, he was almost overjoyed to see Sirius in all his glory. Except he was lying on his side in the foetal position. Except he wasn't moving. Except there was blood seeping through his shirt. Carefully, Remus pried away Sirius' shirt, taking a moment to appreciate just what he was doing - the majority of the birds at Hogwarts would have loved to take Sirius' shirt off. The world seemed to stop turning when he saw the whip marks. They weren't new either, just opened up again. Only his parents could have made these marks and they were going to pay for it dearly. It seemed unnatural that Sirius, so full of cheer, could be hurt this way. No wonder he had been touchy about undressing in the dorm, he had his pride. Out of the corner of his eye, Remus saw eyelashes flutter and the world resumed turning. He picked him up, calling on the wolfy strength that Sirius had such faith in and carried him discreetly to the hospital ward, where he swore Madame Pomfrey to silence. Remus didn't want Sirius to have to tell them, better to keep it quiet so that he wouldn't need to get upset or defensive. Sirius didn't need to reveal his secret yet. There were other ways Remus could support him.