Harry felt defeated. Never in his life had he felt this low before. Slowly, he turned his head, feeling slight pain as he moved it from the position it had been in for the last few hours. He leant forward, away from the door he had fallen asleep on. Not that it had been a comfortable sleep, but at least he had managed to escape this reality and enter a world, which was totally his.

He sighed heavily, his eyes still wet with moisture and red. He hesitantly touched them, trying to rid himself of the tears that had been endlessly falling for what felt like years.

He blinked away his emotions and frowned slightly on upon hearing no sounds from downstairs. Deciding it was best to stay put, he closed his eyes again and leant back. He didn't particularly want to see Voldemort again.

Who was soon to be his master.

He swallowed nervously, wishing for his thoughts to drift to something else. But they wouldn't. His mind kept replaying the words he had said to Voldemort. The look on Voldemort's face when he had given in. What Voldemort had said before he left.

Tonight. He said he'd see him tonight.

Harry's eyes snapped open and he let his gaze wonder around the room, his eyes locking on the silver mask beside his bed. He quickly looked away, not wanting to be caught in its gleam.

A dull thud broke his gaze from the Slytherin banner across the room and to the floor, knowing he had heard something move downstairs. But what?

He knelt down, pressing his ear to the wooden floor in his room, not knowing what he was really listening for. Another thud broke the silence.

They were doing something down there. He didn't know what, and he wasn't sure that he quite wanted to know…

He got up from the floor, dusting off his robes and painfully moving his legs after their cramped positioning, but then turned as he heard footsteps up the stairs.

He backed away from the door as the footsteps grew closer and closer, then stopping, apparently right outside his door.

Harry froze, his breathing uneven. He stared at the door, wondering who was behind it. And why they had stopped.

He waited a moment. But there was no move to open the door. No short knock, or voice emitting from the other side. There was someone there all right. And they obviously wanted him to be the one to open the door.

Harry's frown deepened, and he slowly moved across the room, hating the creaks from the floorboards as he took each step.

He reached the door, and bit his lip, moving his hand towards the handle, twisting it, then pulling it open.

The door opened slowly, squeaking annoyingly, and revealing who was on the other side to a wide-eyed Harry.

Sirius woke up, opening his eyes in one swift motion, his gaze instantly travelling to a worn out looking Remus.

He changed back into his human form, and ran a hand through his hair tiredly, smiling slightly at the good sleep he had slept.

But he knew today was going to be an obstacle. If anything he had to apologize to Remus, for he knew what he had done was wrong…but there was still the issue of friendship.

Would Remus forgive him?

He sighed, secretly wishing he had asked more questions last night. Remus seemed to be hiding a lot more things. Sirius just wished Remus wasn't so good at it.

He sat down in the armchair next to his friend and watched him thoughtfully, eyes travelling over the dark eyes, the dishevelled hair and the pale skin.

The full moon…

He smiled grimly then froze.

Wait…the full moon was last night.

Sirius's eyes widened as he realised the happenings of last night. No, Remus had been with him all along. He couldn't have left during the night. He would have woken up.

He frowned in confusion, wondering if he had gotten the date wrong. But no, it had been last night. He was sure of it. Absolutely sure.

His mouth opened widely in surprise, musing over whether or not he was the one who was loopy. He pinched himself to make sure he was awake. Unfortunately he was. He stood up, stretching slightly, and decided to confront Remus later. Without veritaserum.

What could he have been thinking?

He pulled out his wand and smiled as an idea popped into his head. He could prank Moony, but deciding he knew exactly how to apologize, he conjured up a few items, waiting silently for Remus to awaken.

Remus's eyes began to flutter slightly and Sirius moved back, keeping his face expressionless all the while.

Remus finally awoke, letting his eyes adjust to the light streaming through some of the windows. Slowly he glanced round, then his eyes locked with Sirius's, and his tired expression turned to one of anger.

Sirius moved forward.

"Remus, please let me explain…I-"

Sirius was cut off as Remus held up a hand and spoke, not looking at him.

"Whatever it is, I don't want to know. I really don't."

Remus slowly got up, before Sirius came over and pushed him down again angrily.

"I'm trying to apologize here, Moony. I'm trying to say sorry. Please, listen to me."

Remus gave a mocking laugh, and his eyes seemed to flame over as he looked upon his so-called friend.

"You want to be listened to. How about you listen to me. I will state the facts, just so we don't get anything wrong, shall I? First off, you were meant to be my friend. You forced me to drink veritaserum, and forced answers out of me. Answers that I could have provided for myself. You invaded my privacy and-"

A livid Sirius, who stood over Remus, arms crossed, interrupted Remus's outburst.

"For your own good! You weren't confiding in me, Remus! Isn't that what friends are meant to do? I was being cut off from your life. I don't know what the hell you do anymore! Or where the hell you go! I rarely see you now."

Remus glared at an equally angry Sirius and they both stared at each other before Sirius sighed and uncrossed his arms.

"Listen to my side of the story, Remus. Please."

Sirius's eyes were huge and dark, pleading with Remus's amber orbs for a way to have forgiveness.

Remus sighed also, and leant back in his chair, not saying anything, waiting for Sirius to begin.

"Its been too long, Remus. You need to lighten up. I need you to tell me what's going on. What the experimentation thing is. And I want to know what it is between our friendship that is making you like this."

Sirius didn't tear his eyes from Remus as spoke, wanting a reply. Remus averted his gaze, but began to speak, this time, willingly.

"I'm sorry Sirius." He croaked, his face set in a stony expression. He stood up, but this time Sirius did not move to stop him.

Sirius watched his friend leave this time, sighing in frustration. This wasn't going to be easy. He had to regain trust. A hard thing to earn. He looked towards the items he had conjured which lay on a table on the other side of the room, and walked towards them, deciding to take them upstairs and stash under his bed.

He could use them later.

He pushed them under the dark wooden frame of the bed, and flopped onto it, his hair sticking in all directions, as he planned new ways of confronting Moony.

Barty stood in front of Harry, smiling in a friendly way.

"Hey Harry. Care to talk?"

Instead of waiting for an answer he strolled in and sat down on Harry's bed, patting the space next to him. He looked up at a surprised Harry and motioned for him to sit.

"Sit."

Harry felt a surge of anger towards this man. He obviously knew about Harry giving in. He was probably here to mock him about it. Or congratulate him. Either way, Harry knew he couldn't stand this much longer.

Harry stood stock still, and crossed his arms.

"I told you to sit."

Barty looked irritated, and patted the space next to him harder. He watched Harry, eyes ordering for him to come over.

But Harry decided he wasn't going to move.

"I'm all right standing." He drawled, cursing himself for sounding like Malfoy.

Barty frowned and stood, walking over to Harry until he was right in front of him, his chocolate eyes burning into Harry's.

"Fine. We'll stand." Barty said, not taking his eyes away from Harry.

Harry didn't reply, fixing his determination on not blinking or looking away from Barty.

"I heard that us Death Eaters have a new recruit to our group." He commented, eyes teasing Harry.

Harry ignored him.

"Turns out this new recruit you."

Harry clenched his fists, keeping his eyes trained into Barty's.

"Apparently, the Dark Lord blackmailed you. You afraid of your family getting hurt?"

Harry flipped.

SMACK!

He swung his fist into Barty's jaw, not caring at how much his knuckles were throbbing right now, but enjoying the speculation of seeing Barty fly across the room.

Barty hadn't expected that, he was sure of it.

Barty got up from leaning on the wall, massaging his red jaw with one hand and grinning madly. He walked towards Harry, and laughed.

"Great. That was great. You released your anger. Good punch."

Barty was smiling proudly at a now frowning Harry who had thought Barty was going to hit him back. He raised his eyebrows at the man.

"Bet you haven't punched many people before Harry." Said Barty, circling the teenager, edging for a response.

Harry decided it was best not to answer. He had punched Barty. And Barty thought it was good. But good wasn't right. Anything Barty or Voldemort thought was good was definitely not right.

Barty stopped circling him.

"I'll be teaching you soon. I want to see more stuff like that."

Harry refused to dignify this statement with a response. But Barty was still smiling. Slowly, Barty turned and left the room, leaving Harry with his sore knuckles.

Sirius walked around the castle aimlessly. He had just been to visit Dumbledore. No news on Harry as usual. The godfather was now beyond worried.

He hadn't seen Remus either. He looked around every corridor, and then deciding there was no point, he went back to the Gryffindor tower

He swallowed nervously as he walked towards the bed that had been Harry's. They hadn't moved any of his things. It had been left, as it was when he had disappeared.

Sirius slowly bent down, unlatching Harry's trunk.

Tears formed in his eyes as he looked through the teenager's things, and he smiled at all the quidditch things.

Just like his father.

Then, feeling his hands touch something smooth and silky, he pulled it out, discovering James's old invisibility cloak.

Sirius's smile faltered as he held the material in front of him, recalling fond memories of his friend and when he had attended Hogwarts himself, years ago.

Not wanting to bring it closer to him, he packed it away again, trying to keep his emotions at bay.

He looked through a few more things but found nothing but robes and books. He picked up a quidditch book with some interest, flicking the cover open. A piece of parchment fluttered out and landed in front of him.

Sirius bent to pick it up and as he held it, froze. The Marauders Map was in his hands. He turned it over, hardly believing what he was seeing…but then again, he could be wrong…

He pulled out his wand in a hurry and tapped the map.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

The map's inky lines formed from the tip of his wand, spreading out far in different directions, labelling every man and woman in the castle and showing every secret passageway.

Sirius smiled proudly at it; still amazed it had survived so long. Harry had used it, that was for sure.

He looked around at some of the labels. Dumbledore was in his office, talking to Snivellus. McGonagall was in the Great Hall.

Sirius yawned, his eyes leaving the page for a second, before seeing something that caught his attention.

Remus Lupin

Moony was walking down, out of the entrance. He must have gone into the grounds.

Sirius frowned, and then deciding he had nothing better to do, got up, folding the map to put in his pocket.

He quickly walked out, heading towards the grounds, scanning the scenery around him for any sign of his friend. He walked around, still not spotting anyone, until his eyes locked on a figure by the lake.

Not sure if the dark form by the water was Moony, he carefully headed towards it, curious.

As Sirius moved closer, Remus turned around and gave him a stony look.

"Follow me, did you?" he asked coldly.

Sirius shrugged and looked around, suddenly realising where they both were. Then, he moved closer to Remus and sat down beside him.

"It feels strange to be back here again."

Remus didn't answer. He just watched the water, ignoring the tree behind them, and the many memories that were filling his mind.

Sirius cast his eyes towards the water as well, and they sat in silence before Sirius began to talk.

"Help me understand."

Remus raised his eyebrows but did not look at his friend, refusing the eye contact Sirius wanted to make.

"How?" he asked after a moment.

Sirius shrugged.

"However you want to."

Remus sighed, and looked at the ground, feeling incredibly weary.

"I can't."

It was Sirius's turn to sigh, and he moved closer to his friend.

"Try."

They sat in silence before Remus began to talk, slowly, finally allowing the emotions that he had held inside of him for most of his life to come out into the open.

Authors note: I know, I know. I'm mean for all the cliffhangers I leave you with, and I'm sorry, but I can't help it, honest. Plus, it keeps you all reading, which is a bonus, lol.

Anyway, I wrote this chapter in a hurry, but I havent checked it. If there is something wrong with it, either ignore it or tell me.

Please, review, read, enjoy, etc. The next chapter I will try and write in a week at most.

x X x gothlyssa x X x