"Oh, Merlin," James muttered under his breath. Sirius's hands balled up into fists, his anger almost palpable. Peter squared his shoulders, and the three of them made their way down the corridor. They weren't even friends with Remus, really, but he was their dormmate and the three of them had enough sense and loyalty to break up a fight when it involved one of their own.

"What do you think you're doing, Nott?" Peter asked, his voice carrying the threatening tone better than Sirius would have thought possible. Sirius himself, on the other hand, didn't waste time with words. He charged into the fray, pushing himself in between Remus and Nott. He punched the Slytherin square in the face; the other boy reeled backwards, hands flying to stem the blood from his nose.

James and Peter had gone off to the sidelines, trying to keep anyone else from joining the fight. Sirius turned to face Remus, a hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright? You're bleeding."

"I'm fine," Remus said, but he didn't look it. "Sirius, watch it—!" But Sirius was too slow, Rosier had come up right behind them. Remus, having been torn out of the brawl once already, was prepared this time. He swung his fist back, bringing it back around to fall right on the side of his neck. The force of the blow threw Rosier backwards, but a new voice made Sirius's heart drop.

"What is going on here?"

Remus sighed, putting his face in his hands. They came away bloodstained, but he paid it no mind. Sirius turned up, starting on the defensive yet again. "Professor, they started it!"

"And I see you finished it." McGonagall took a moment to assess the injured students before her. "Are you alright?" she asked, shooting a look at Remus, Nott, and Rosier in turn. They all nodded, with varied levels of meekness and aggressiveness. "The four of you, come with me." Sirius joined the aforementioned boys, all begrudgingly following McGonagall to the nearest empty classroom.

She gestured them in and closed the door. "What happened?"

Sirius shot a quick look at Remus, whose face was impassive, before answering. "We were on our way to dinner, Professor, but we saw these two ganging up on Remus."

"Who started the fight?"

Nott, Rosier, and Remus avoided eye contact; none of them answered. "Who threw the first punch?" she amended.

Both of the Slytherins turned to Remus immediately. "That was Lupin, Professor." Other than setting his jaw, Remus didn't react to this. McGonagall's eyebrows rose, and she turned on him.

"You started this?"

He took a deep breath. "I—I started the physical portion of the fight. I shouldn't have, but the things they were saying—I couldn't just…"

Sirius glanced over at Remus again. His eyes were wet, his gaze steely and unseeing. Sirius knew how the other boy felt, he'd been there before, but his empathy was overshadowed by his anger at the other two boys in the room. "This wasn't all Remus's fault, Professor."

"No, I believe you were all at fault here, Mr. Black, so you will all receive detention."

"What?!"

"You're joking!"

McGonagall pursed her lips, looking at each of them in turn. "Does it look like I'm joking, Mr. Black? Tomorrow evening, my office." She gave them a look and led them out of the room.

Sirius hung back, waiting for Remus. Once back out in the corridor, he said, "You know getting into a fight for each other makes us friends, right?"

Remus stared blankly at him. "What?"

"C'mon," Sirius said, laughing. "Let's go find James and Peter."

The whole way upstairs, they were accosted by other students. Apparently, news spread fast around Hogwarts, and apparently winning a fight against two Slytherins made them rather well-liked in most circles. Maybe detention was worth it.

.

A/N: Written for Advent Calendar Day 20: (word) Empathy;

Writing Club - Disney Challenge C3: Write about wanting vengeance; Showtime 3: (plot point) Getting beaten up; Amber's Attic R3: Write about someone or something gaining popularity in an unconventional way; Liza's Loves 7: Write a friendship fic; Angel's Arcade 7: (dialogue) "Does it look like I'm joking?", (pairing) RemusSirius, (plot point) Saving someone; Lo's Lowdown C5: Write about someone who argues for what is right;

Writing Month and Dragons: wc 641