It was dark. Clouds covered the moon, the stars, shadows were forgotten, there was only an inky black stain over his eyes. It coated everything in darkness. The roof in one corner was destroyed, bits of tile and jagged wood littered the ground still, a horrific reminder of what once was.
They'd kept him locked up for a while, even after they declared him innocent of the crimes held against him. They kept him in the small cell, fed well, clean and empty of blame. But he'd been insane when they hauled him from his cubs side, insane and just a bit suicidal. They had to make sure he wasn't anymore.
So they made him talk. Talk to professionals, talk to people who "understood what he'd been through" and would "help him integrate back into society." He'd spoken to his old bosses, very briefly, who'd told him that until a full evaluation could be done, until he'd been trained back up, he couldn't come back to work.
It wasn't that he minded. His mother had died while he'd "been away", so he'd come into his inheritance. It turns out that burning a name off a tapestry didn't count in terms of blood relations. Besides, after being thrown into jail with his cousins it turns out his mother had welcomed him back into the fold.
So he didn't need to work. He shivered as he wrapped the coat tighter around his skinny frame. They'd fed him so much, but he truly couldn't keep much down. He'd have to be careful, rich foods did not agree with his delicate stomach any longer. He scoffed. Delicate indeed.
"It all changed that night," the voice was soft; he didn't bother to turn around.
"Yes," his own voice still sounded wrong in his ears. Scratched, tired from the screams that haunted his dreams, dry, crumbled to dust.
"I understand why you didn't tell me," the voice was closer, warmer with the implied forgiveness.
"Do you?" he asked, not quite sure that the smaller man did.
"Sirius," the small rebuke had him curling in on himself as the clouds shifted away from the moon. It was only in a crescent, but it was enough light for them to look each other in the eye.
"I'm so sorry Moony," the tears threatened, but he held them back. He needed to see the absolution, he needed the forgiveness or he was sure he'd just crack.
Remus walked up to his old friend, outside of the ruined house that had been like home to them both, and brought the shaking man into a careful embrace. Sirius let his head drop to Remus's shoulder, and the tears drop from his eyes.
no more for tonight... this needs to stand alone.