6.

Term started and things weren't near as bad as Sirius had thought they would be. While this fact was, of course, reassuring, it was also highly embarrassing, given his behavior on the train. Peter calmed down and returned to normal in a few days. Hardly anyone seemed to know about what had happened over the summer. Those who did were his family, that is to say, practically the entire Slytherin house, but they seemed to have kept it a quiet, family fiasco, and Sirius wasn't complaining. The only time he saw Regulus was in the Great Hall during meals. He'd turn his head toward the Slytherin table hoping to catch a glimpse of his little brother. Sometimes he did. Sometimes they even made eye contact, but the look in Reggie's face was always unreadable. Sirius wanted to say something to him, but he didn't know what. He couldn't bring himself to say "I'm sorry" because he really wasn't, and he honestly didn't know how much Reggie knew. He knew that Orion Black had hit Sirius, he'd hit Regulus too, though much less often, but what else did he know? Would Sirius' action be justified in Regulus' mind, or not?

And once Remus had realized that Sirius wasn't about to completely lose it, he backed off; no more heart-to-heart talks, no more uncomfortable and prying questions that made Sirius' skin crawl, no more shrewd, piercing looks. He didn't just go back to the role of the quiet, bookish friend, though. There was an intensity to the way Remus looked at him sometimes, like he was asking Sirius to call him out on the "date" he'd promised, and once or twice he almost did, but he always chickened out at the last moment. Sirius didn't know whether this was a good thing or not.

So things carried on normally for the first couple weeks. Sirius rarely thought about his father. 'The Incident', as his friends came to call it, was surprisingly easy to put out of mind. It was only those random times when he and Regulus made eye contact across the Great Hall that even reminded him of it. None of them really had time to think about anything but school as they grew used to the mountains of homework professors were assigning, and as they got hang of studying for their NEWTs.

"Padfoot, mate, eat," James said and poked Sirius' arm with his fork.

"I ate," Sirius shrugged. "I'm full."

"Well, eat more," James said, and returned to shoveling food down his throat.

Sirius snorted and grinned. "Are you my mother now?"

James just shrugged and said, "You'll wish you had, later."

Sirius frowned and looked across the table to Peter and Remus, who were eating with just as much gusto as James. "Why?"

Remus looked up then, just for an instant, and then returned to his plate with a jerk of his shoulder.

Sirius' bafflement grew at what he'd seen in Remus' eyes. He'd looked... hurt? Sirius looked at him more closely. He was thin, tired-looking, and distinctly peaky... Sirius watched as he ran a hand through is hair. His hand trembled slightly.

James kicked his leg under the table and gave him a meaningful, angry look. It had always driven Sirius nuts the way he did that. It was so... feminine. Only girls could have those silent conversations successfully and how James expected him to interpret those looks was entirely beyond him-

And then he understood, well, 'remembered' was probably a better word, and he wanted to bang his head on the table a few times.

Tonight was the full moon.

He wanted to say something, apologize for forgetting, but instead he just ducked his head, and piled more food on his plate. James was right. In about five hours, when they were running around in the forest, he'd be hungry and wish he'd eaten more.

After a few abnormally silent minutes Remus said quietly, "I have to go meet Pomfrey." He stood and they all looked up at him.

"Yeah," James said and checked his watch. "We'll be out there in a few."

Remus just nodded, turned, and walked out of the Great Hall.

Sirius nodded at him, then glanced at the Slytherin table, hoping to catch a glimpse of his brother. He didn't see Regulus, instead he saw Snape. He watched Snape's beady little eyes follow Remus, and he wondered if the greasy git could see how tired he was... Then Snape stood and followed Remus out of the hall.

Sirius stood as well.

"Where are you going?" James asked

"I'll meet you out there," he said.

He burst out of the Great Hall and immediately ran into a seventh year Ravenclaw named Liam Gray, who was also leaving, just not quickly enough for Sirius. He uttered a quick apology and started running. He managed to catch Remus in a corridor before he got the the Hospital Wing; Snape was no where in sight. Still...

"Moony!" he called, and a little ways ahead Remus stopped and turned around.

"Sirius?" He frowned a bit, confused. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Sirius said breathlessly, stopping beside him. "I just... I'm sorry. I'm sorry I forgot."

Remus gave him a small, brittle smile and said, "Forget it, Pads. It's not your problem to worry about, is it?"

"What?" Sirius asked, more than a little hurt.

"I didn't mean that like it sounded; I'm just tired," Remus sighed and closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I know you have your own problems, I can't- and don't- expect you to take care of mine for me. You just forgot; it's no big deal." He looked at Sirius and smiled again, this one a little more real. "It's fine, Padfoot. Really."

"All right," Sirius sighed. "I'll see you in a few."

Remus nodded tiredly, turned, and walked toward the Hospital Wing.

Sirius watched him go for a moment, then turned and headed back, the image of Snape watching Remus with that sneer on his face burning in his mind. Usually Snape went after James, sometimes Sirius, but over the years Snape had learned that the best time to bully Remus was when he was 'ill'- meaning around the full moon. Any other time of the month he couldn't get a reaction out of him- Remus was too mature, too collected and controlled. But Snape had played some nasty tricks on him in the past, when Remus was tired and sick and fuzzy, and when Sirius had seen him follow Remus, he'd been sure that Snape was going to jump him... And if Sirius thought about it, that wild surge of protectiveness wasn't exactly a new development...

Suddenly his feet were swept out from beneath him. His head whipped back and hit the stone floor with a crack.

"Hello, Black."

Sirius looked up at the figure standing over him and forced his eyes to focus. When they finally did he saw lank, greasy hair, a hooked nose, and beady black eyes, glinting maliciously. It was Snape.

"Fuck."

Snape kicked him in the ribs. "Watch your language," he said and smirked.

Sirius rolled away from him and stood, albeit a little shakily. He was suddenly very glad he'd followed Remus. If Snape had caught him-

"Where's Lupin going?" Snape asked, seeming to follow Sirius' train of thought.

"I know that nose of yours is big, Snivellus, but try to keep it out of other people's business," Sirius scoffed. Did he want to try to go for his wand? Snape already had his in hand, most likely he'd jinx him before he could get wrestle it from his pocket.

"But other people's business is so much more interesting than my own," Snape said silkily. "For example, your little episode of patricide over the summer intrigued me."

Sirius clenched his jaw and glared, but said nothing.

Snape's eyes held nothing but cold, calculating curiosity. "Did he hit you often?"

Sirius snorted and, deciding he didn't have to listen to this, stepped around Snape and headed back for the Great Hall.

But Snape wasn't done with him. "Did he fuck you often?"

Sirius stopped short, his brain stuttering, and then a thousand different emotions and thoughts crashed over him like a tidal wave; the most predominant one was fear. Snape knew; he wouldn't just make something like that up. It was a card he wouldn't play unless he was sure... How did he know? Slowly Sirius turned to face him. His limbs felt odd; not numb, exactly, but like he didn't have complete control over them.

"Regulus told me," Snape chuckled, answering Sirius' unasked question. Sirius wasn't exactly surprised; Reggie was the closest thing Snape had to a friend. "Have you told Potter?"

"No," Sirius said quietly.

"Lupin?"

"No."

"Do you want them to find out?" Snape asked with a wicked, malicious glint in his beady little eyes.

"No," Sirius said for the third time, trying to ignore the pathetic twinge of desperation in his voice.

"Well then, you're going to have to convince me to stay quiet, aren't you?"

Sirius lunged and slammed Snape against the wall, his hands wrapping themselves around Snape's throat before he'd made a conscious decision to move. He wanted to wipe the smirk off of that low, petty, sniveling bastard's face. He was supposed to convince him to keep silent? Fine. He could choke the life out of the son of a bitch-

There was a loud bang and Sirius was thrown back. He hit the wall with enough force to knock the breath out of him and crumpled down into a little heap on the floor. Before he could move Snape had him flat on his back with a knee on his chest, a hand around his throat, and a wand in his face. How had Snape managed this? he wondered a little wildly. He'd never been able to beat Sirius before... Snape was saying something...

"... Just like you Black, to head straight for the physical violence. You're so stupid. No wonder your own father fucked you, it's probably the only thing you're good for."

Sirius opened his mouth to retort, but the only thing that came out was a kind of half strangled snarl.

Snape smirked and leaned in so close that Sirius could practically see his pores oozing grease. "What are you going to do to ensure I stay quiet?" he asked, but loosened his grip on Sirius' throat enough so he could speak.

"What do you want?" Sirius asked hoarsely, begrudgingly. Asking that question was a serious blow on his ego.

Snape smirked again. "I like the sound of that," he said. "I want to know what the deal is with Lupin. Where does he go every month?"

Sirius snorted. If Snape had noticed that Remus disappeared every month and still hadn't put the pieces together, he really was stupider than he looked. "No," he said.

"No?" Snape repeated silkily. "Why not? Is the subject too near and dear?"

"No." Sirius said firmly. "I don't care. But Remus would." This was only half true. Yes, Remus would care, but so would Sirius. But maybe if he acted nonchalantly about it, Snape would forget-

The tip of Snape's wand dug into his cheek. "Then by tomorrow at breakfast the entire school will know what a sick, perverted little freak you are."

You think I wanted it? Sirius wanted to scream angrily. You think I liked it? Instead he just shook his head. He wouldn't tell. He would not betray Remus like that. Nothing short of Snape raping him himself could get him to tell...

Snape slammed his head down onto the floor a few times. Partly, Sirius thought, because he wanted Sirius to tell him, and partly because he simply wanted to. "Fine. Later then," Snape snorted, apparently sensing a lost cause. Sirius had to focus to understand; his words had to fight their way through a haze of pain and confusion. "So you're going to do this instead; next time Potter starts in on me, I want you to stay out of it. Next time I decide to hex Potter or Lupin or Pettigrew, I want you to stay out of it. Understand?"

Sirius nodded painfully.

"Good," Snape said, then adds as an afterthought, "And I want you to do my Transfiguration homework."

"Fine," Sirius muttered.

"And don't tell anyone," Snape hisses, trying to look threatening. Sirius is disturbed to realize that he succeeds. "Good." He bangs Sirius' head against the floor a few more times for good measure, then leaves him lying in the middle of the corridor.

Sirius stayed there for a while. He stared at the ceiling and counted all the times he'd felt worse than he did right then. He only had to use one hand, and even then, not all the fingers. He was pissed at Reggie for telling and pissed at Snape for using it against him and scared that Snape would tell and disgusted with himself for giving in so easily and for being so scared and Good God, he hadn't taken a breath in at least two minutes-

After a little while, he got up off the floor and drug himself up to Gryffindor tower, his eyes burning with unshed tears the whole way. Once in his dormitory, he slid under his covers, and hid his aching head beneath them, but he didn't cry. He would not cry. He would not cry because of a filthy, low, disgusting little slug like Severus Snape. But his nightmares had never felt so close as they did right then; he was going to have plenty of noisy nightmares tonight, he was sure, if he could ever fall asleep....

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A/N:

So, basically, chapter 5 sucked, I know, and I'm sorry. Hopefully this one was better. What do you think? Thanks for reading!! Can I have a review please?