AN: Sorry it's been a while. I've been busy with school and all that rubbish. So, my apologies and…hope you don't mind that this chapter's a little bit short. Enjoy the angst! XD Oh, and pls REVIEW! Thank you to all my wonderful reviewers, it really inspires me to get them!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. If I had some polyjuice potion and acquired wonderful writing skills, then…I might have a chance. But still…I don't own that stuff, so…may have to borrow it…

The blur of colors were the only things that stood out in this word of hazy, pounding fatigue and pain.

A haze of grey as sharp as his own eyes, and for a long time all he could see was dull red, patterns shifting into a fog of cold.

Burning heat left him shivering in the wake of those black smudges; then that pure, golden amber that was hovering in front of him for a fleeting second.

The colors hurt.

He wasn't used to so much light, not after weeks of being locked in the dark, monsters creeping up on him with their beady grey eyes alight and their crazed laughter sneaking into his dreams.

The smudges of color disappeared before he snapped his eyes open again, afraid of the dark they held.

But it hurt too much to deny the black nothingness.

oOo

"James, please stop pacing."

"Dammit, Remus, he's been out two full days!"

That long? Merlin, what have I missed? And what happened? I'm not home anymore…

Open his sleep-sticky eyes, Sirius swiped his tongue over his dry lips. "Where 'm I?"

Three slightly-blurry faces, all both concerned and excited, peered at him.

"You're in the hospital wing, Padfoot. You were burning up on the train so we took you here. What happened?"

"What do you mean?" Memories were returning that Sirius would rather not have; endless time waited out in a dark, musty cellar; screams of pain that he didn't even recognize as his own.

"What did they do to you?" Remus pressed. "They hurt you."

"Who?" Play dumb, play dumb. What happens in the Black house stays in the Black house.

"Your parents."

Sirius nearly choked on his own panic, feeling himself tremble. His heart pounded in his throat, every breath shuddering in a warped relief and pure terror."No, they don't." Had he said it too fast? Could they hear his pounding heart? Emotionless, cold…turn your face into a mask.

His friends' faces didn't lose their worried expressions.

"They never laid a hand on me," he insisted, trying to quell the tremor in his voice. "Never."

"How about a wand?" James asked shrewdly.

Sirius shook his head vigorously, then stopped as a jolt of pain shot through it.

The devastated look in Remus' eyes almost made him bellow the truth, but that would render a fatal blow to all of them; Sirius Black did not fall. He was incapable of falling. Because once he fell, his weight would make the others crumble beneath him.

"Then why are you so sick?" James persisted. "Then why did they lock you in a fucking room?!"

Remus caught Sirius' hand as it flew up to scrub at his face, heat spreading from where the deft fingers curled around his wrist, breath catching in his throat from the simple contact. The coldness was gone, replaced by warm, sparking flames. "James, leave it alone." Remus' voice seemed a pitch lower, uttered softly, almost like a purr.

James' huff made Sirius look up once again. "When did Madame Pomfrey say you could leave?" he asked, abruptly changing subjects.

"T-Today," Sirius muttered, shame spreading across his cheeks like rippling wind skimming the surface of the Great Lake at his stutter. He didn't stutter for Merlin's sake.

"Okay," James said, seeming slightly lost.

With a slight blush Sirius pulled his hand away from Remus', who hastened to stick his in his pocket.

"How about Wizard Chess?" Peter piped up. "I brought my set."

Anything to end the awkwardness. "Good idea, Wormy." He fought to keep his voice even.

The little boy beamed and pulled out the game. "D'you want to play against me?"

Sirius nodded despite being positive that he was going to fall asleep before he made a single move. However, though he did not fall asleep, Sirius was loosing rather spectacularly against a jubilant Peter.

"My Chess tutors must be screaming at me from Heaven," Sirius murmured, voice slurring slightly, frowning tiredly over the board.

"Why Heaven?" Remus asked the same time as James said, "You had Chess tutors?"

"Oh yeah. Then Mum threw 'em out- the most horrific shrieks she had let out in days, mind you- and probably blasted a few spells in their direction too. That most likely killed them one way or another," he added.

Remus tapped him gently on the shoulder and Sirius automatically froze, cringing slightly. He was relieved when his friend didn't press the matter, only whispered what his next Chess move should be.

Sirius ended up loosing to a gleeful Peter and drifting off as his friends played. Before sleep had fully overcome him, he eyed them- Peter concentrating, James grinning slightly, Remus watching passively- and felt his heart twist. They knew, and he could tell in the harsh worry lines that formed in their faces when they weren't busy trying to laugh. They knew and Sirius knew his friends wouldn't let it go.