A/N: This chapter is all Sirius-centered!

In the last A/N, I wanted to get right into the story, so there were a couple of things that I didn't include. Pretty much, this takes place just after the Marauders graduated from Hogwarts, when they're about eighteen/nineteen-ish. I wanted to use this story as a vehicle for explaining how the wizarding world found out that Lupin is a werewolf, and thus why he can't get a job, etc. I'm also a subscriber to the "Lycanthropy is AIDS!" metaphor/JKR conspiracy theory, so I'll be playing with that. My pre-existing headcanon that he's gay just adds to that.

Anyway, have fun, all you readers :)

Chapter 1: Helpless

Sirius sat in the waiting room of St. Mungo's, absently pulling at a thread on the sleeve of his sweater. His head was still swimming and his stomach was threatening to make him sick at any moment, but he ignored it. All he could think of was Remus.

Two hours ago, he had been lying in bed, waiting for Remus to return from the Three Broomsticks. He was flipping through the Daily Prophet, taking in a few phrases here and there through his migraine, when someone began pounding in the front door. He ran down the stairs as fast as his nausea would permit, and opened the door to the young girl Rosmerta, who lived nearby. She was crying and nearly incoherent, but insisting that he come with her. A bit annoyed, he donned his cloak and picked up his wand before following her.

The pair made their way through Hogsmeade, towards the High Street. A small crowd came into view, all congregated a bit down from the Three Broomsticks. Sirius pushed his way to the front of the pajama-clad throng, stopping dead at the sight that met his eyes.

Off to the side, two thugs had been Stunned and were watched by a few of the older wizards. But in the center of the circle lay Remus Lupin: bloodied, bruised, and beaten. His chest heaved with too much effort for his shallow breaths, and some of his bones were bent at odd angles. He looked like a man who had been completely broken.

After a long minute of initial shock, Sirius dropped to his knees next to Remus, trying to staunch some of the bleeding, and looking desperately around at the crowd.

"What happened?" he cried, trying not to let his voice crack, but doing nothing about the tears streaming down his cheeks. "Who did this?"

A tall man stepped foreword, and pointed to the two Stunned men. "It was them…I don't know exactly what happened, but I heard a commotion outside in the street. Loud enough to wake me up, it was." He shook his head. "I came running out to see them torturing this poor boy, and tried my best to stop it…luckily some others had noticed, too, and came to help."

Sirius nodded, still shocked. "Can I use someone's Floo connection? To get to St. Mungo's?"

"You can use mine, of course," the tall man replied. He came over, and helped lift Remus. "It's just over this way."

"Right," Sirius replied, draping the other boy's arm around his shoulders and all but carrying him to the man's house. "It's going to be alright, Moony," He said in a low voice, more to himself. "You're going to be okay…You have to be okay…"

They entered the cottage, where the man's wife and children were waiting in the sitting room. "Arnold, what happened—?" she stopped in midsentence, her jaw dropping at the gruesome sight of Remus' injuries. She tried to hide the children's eyes, but they pushed her hands away, staring.

"Emma, we need the Floo powder," Arnold replied, and she nodded slowly, handing him a flower pot from on top of the mantle. He took it. "I'm going to take these two to St. Mungo's, but I'll be back soon, alright?"

She looked back at him, still wide-eyed. "What's going on out there?"

"I'll explain everything when I get back," he promised. "But right now, I have to get them to a Healer." He threw some of the emerald powder into the grate, which burst into bright green flames. He put one foot in, and helped Sirius maneuver himself into the fireplace with Remus before looking back at Emma. "Call for the Aurors?"

She made a frightened sound of assent before her husband yelled "St. Mungo's!" and all three men disappeared.

The Floo journey certainly didn't do anything for Sirius' stomach, and it took all of his effort not to vomit when they stepped out of the hearth at the magical hospital. They were immediately attended to, and in a whirl of Healers and Nurses, Remus was whisked away into an intensive-care ward. Sirius tried to follow, but was immediately denied—they would let him in "soon." Arnold, seeing that he wasn't really needed anymore, went home, but promised to come back in the morning.

And thus, Sirius found himself alone in the waiting room of St. Mungo's; with nothing to ease his anxiety except for some back issues of Witch Weekly. He had sent Patronuses to Prongs and Wormtail, but he didn't expect to hear back from them for hours—it was the middle of the night, and there was no way that they could be awake.

He leaned back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling. The plaster was cracked and peeling, forming shapes. It was almost like staring at cloud formations. There was a cat, and a rabbit. The cat was chasing the rabbit around and around, and then they both drifted off, replaced by an eagle…

"Padfoot!"

Sirius jerked awake, looking around. His eyes landed on James and Lily, who were standing in front of him.

"What happened, mate?" James asked, taking a seat next to him. They both looked quite tired, and had obviously dressed quickly. "Your Patronus woke us up, and we got here as fast as we could."

"What time is it?" Sirius asked groggily.

"About three-thirty," he smiled grimly. "Much earlier than I usually like to wake up."

Lily looked earnest. "What happened, Sirius? You said that Remus was hurt…?"

He put his head in his hands, the enormity of the situation hitting him as he tried to answer. "He was attacked." Sirius spoke to his knees, feeling a fresh wave of tears on the way. "I don't know why, but they got the men who did it." He still didn't look up, not wanting to see whatever looks of shock or horror were on his friends' faces. "It was…terrible. He's in an awful state. They beat him, the cursed him…I know that some of his bones were broken…They could have killed him, if no one stepped in!" The tears started falling again, and he felt Lily put a gentle arm around him in sympathy. He could feel her shaking.

The three sat quietly for a long while, with no one else in the room to disturb their worries. The sun was rising by the time anyone spoke.

"I think…maybe we ought to ask what's going on," James said slowly. "I can't stand sitting here and wondering. I'm sure we could just go in for a minute, to see that he's okay, right?"

The other two agreed, and he stood up, stretching a bit. "I'll be back in a second, then." He walked out of the waiting room, and Lily and Sirius both sat up a bit straighter. They waited a couple of minutes for James to return, and when he came back through the door, he wore an expression that was both sour and worried.

"They won't let us in," he stated, slumping back into a chair.

"Why?" Lily asked, eyes wide. "They can't still be healing him, can they?"

"No," James sighed. "At least I don't think so. There was only one person in the room. I think they're just monitoring him now, and doing some minor things."

"Then why…?"

"Because visiting hours haven't started yet," James said bitterly.

"What?" Lily was outraged.

"They're not letting anyone in?" Sirius jumped out of his chair, and James shook his head. Sirius began to pace. "But I brought him here! I'm his bloody boyfriend! And you're his two best mates!" He rounded back on James. "They seriously aren't letting anyone in?"

"That's what they said, Padfoot," James replied, trying to gently pull him back down into a chair. "We have to wait another two hours, until eight o'clock."

Sirius crossed his arms, shutting his eyes against the nausea that had strengthened when he stood up. He didn't dare open his mouth, but nodded curtly. James and Lily exchanged worried looks.

They sat in another tense silence, but it was broken only a few minutes later by a small crowd that had come through the front door. Sirius opened his eyes, and the three were all rather puzzled.

No one in the crowd seemed to be ill, and they were all rather loud. A few were carrying quills and parchment, while others had large cameras.

"What d'you recon that's about?" James asked, and his companions shrugged. A minute later, a receptionist ran into the room from the door leading to the wards, looking frazzled. He began conversing with a young witch with short curled-blonde hair and red spectacles, before leading the group further into the hospital. James stood up curiously, and followed. He peered through the window, before calling to Sirius and Lily, appalled. "Blimey, they're letting the whole lot into Moony's room!"

"What?" Sirius tore across the room and pressed his face against the glass. They were indeed letting the entire raucous group into the room. Before anyone could stop him, he ripped open the door and pushed in after them.

Remus lay in the single occupied bad at the far side of the ward, heavily bandaged but alive. However, Sirius couldn't be relieved by this image; not with his blood boiling at everything else that was happening around him. The photographers were all hovering around the bed, trying to get a shot of Remus' unconscious form. The blonde woman was wandering around the room, dictating notes to an acid- green quill in front of her. A few of the other reporters were interrogating the Healer, who looked as if he needed someone to rescue him. Sirius ran over to Remus' bedside, attempting to ward off the photographers as if they were flies.

"This is a sickroom, give him some space!" he shouted, trying to shield Remus as best he could as his temper rose. "Please, let him rest! He's been through enough today; he doesn't need all of this!"

Most of the news-people turned to look at him in annoyance, but the blonde woman sauntered over, a twisted smile on her lips. "And who may you be, young man?" She asked, her toothy smile revealing a couple of gold teeth. She roughly took his hand and shook it, but there was no warmth in the gesture. "I'm Rita Skeeter, reporter for the Daily Prophet. You've heard of me, of course?"

"Er—" Sirius angrily pried his hand from her clutches, but she cut him off before he could reply further.

"So how do you know young Lumpkin here?" She asked, obviously trying for an interview.

"His name is Lupin," Sirius replied coldly. "And it's none of your fu—"

"You two are the best of friends, aren't you?" Skeeter asked, gruffly pushing him into the chair at the bedside and conjuring one for herself. She leaner closer, resting her cheek on a talloned hand. "Does it come as a shock to you, the events of tonight?"

"Well, yeah, of course," Sirius huffed. He didn't want to talk about how he was feeling right now, especially not to this woman. James caught his eye from the doorway, looking worried.

"And do the motivations concern you?" Skeeter asked, sensing that she had lost his attention for a second.

"What motivations?" Sirius' attention snapped back to her, a tiny bit of his anger falling away, replaced by an anxious curiosity. "Why did they do this?"

"Oh, didn't you know?" Skeeter had an annoyingly superior look on her face. "The boy is a werewolf!"

Sirius' jaw dropped. "How did you—?"

"Scandalous, I know!" She grinned evilly. "We did some digging after his attackers gave their motivations, and it turns out that it's true! He has been since childhood! He was even allowed to go to Hogwarts in his condition, can you imagine?" She cackled. "Just wait for the parents to find out…oh the angry letters, I wish I could read them!"

Sirius was dumbfounded, his rage multiplied by ten at her gleeful expression. "They did this because he's a werewolf, and you don't find that…awful?" He could hardly contain himself. He stood quickly, knocking his chair over. Before he had a chance to go further, however, a higher-ranking Healer ran into the room.

"OUT!" He bellowed. "Everybody, out of here!" He began herding the journalists out of the ward, but James, Lily, and Sirius stubbornly stood at Remus' bedside. Sirius saw Rita Skeeter shut her quill and parchment inside of a red crocodile-skin hand back before the door closed behind her with a satisfying slam.

There was silence between the three teenagers while the Healers conversed in the back of the room. After a minute, when he was sure that they wouldn't be thrown out too, Sirius righted the chair that he had knocked over, and sat in it. He tuned out James, Lily, and his own sick feelings, wanting only to concentrate on Remus' cold hand in his own, and wait.