Title: Glass Hearts

Rating: PG-13

Summary (of chapter): James and Sirius leave to help Remus. Remus runs into them, and they go to find Dumbledore to see what's behind these werewolf attacks.

--

"This is ridiculous!" James exclaimed, throwing The Daily Prophet on the floor.

His mother jumped. "What?" she asked.

"Why haven't they found out what's causing it?" James asked. "Six people - six bloody people - and one of them was killed!"

His parents glanced at each other, and then looked at James with wide eyes. James stood up. "I'm going to visit Sirius," he said.

"James," his mother groaned. "You got home at midnight last night!"

James ignored her. He went up to his room, grabbing his coat and shoes. Bloody Aurors. Bloody Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures - they would have prevented this if they knew how to do their job correctly. He would go get Sirius, break him out of St. Mungo's, and the two of them would leave to find Remus. James had sent an owl or two back and forth with Peter, but he was exiled to his house. Not that he would really bring him, anyways, since he would probably slow them down. He loved the guy, but there was a line drawn somewhere.

James Flooed to St. Mungo's, ignoring his parents. He checked in with the welcome witch, then jogged up to Sirius's ward. He was in a room with dozens of other beds and patients. St. Mungo's definitely wasn't empty. There was a commotion going on at Sirius's bed. Sirius was standing up in his white medical gown and arguing with Lily and the Head Healer of the ward.

"I'm an adult!" Sirius exclaimed. "I can check myself out!"

"Yes, technically, you can," the Healer said. "But it is not recommended."

"All I have are some sodding bruises left," Sirius said. "I'm fine! Trust me, I've had worse, and then all I had was -" he paused, seeing James walked towards them. "All I had was James Potter, and he did a better job than you have."

"Sirius, you're still on a potion," Lily said, her arms crossed.

"I'll take it home," Sirius snapped. He looked at James. "Ready?"

James nodded. Lily looked at them with an incredulous look. "You're checking yourself out because you're going to go fool around with James?" she asked.

The Healer put his hands to his temple, massaging it slowly. "You know what," he said. "You're an adult. Take the potion. I wouldn't recommend moving too much or getting in a fight with a werewolf anytime soon."

"Michael!" Lily exclaimed. "You're actually letting him leave?"

"Where are my clothes?" Sirius asked.

The Healer reached under Sirius's bed. Lily glared at them. "You're idiots," she said. "What stupid things do you have planned today?"

"None of your business," Sirius said harshly.

The Healer handed Sirius a bundle of clothes. "We cleaned and repaired them as well as we could," he said. "Have a good day, Mr. Black."

"You, too," Sirius said, inclining his head. He started taking off his medical gown, obviously too impatient to find a lavatory.

Lily let out a frustrated noise. James had to admit she was cute when she was angry. Her eyebrows furrowed and a small line of worry appeared. She looked around. "This is totally inappropriate," she said.

"Avert your eyes," Sirius said, pulling on his t-shirt. He pulled on his jeans, hopping around a little bit. Then he laced up his boots. He looked up at James. "Let's go."

The two of them began to leave. "See you later," James said, winking at Lily.

They had reached the corridor when they realized Lily was following them. Sirius rolled his eyes at James. She got unto the lift with them. "What are you doing?" Sirius asked.

"You forgot your potion," Lily said, holding it out for him.

"Thanks," Sirius said.

Lily looked at them intently. "This is about Remus, isn't it?" she asked.

James's eyes widened. Sirius shoved James aside to look at Lily. "What?" he said.

Lily pursed her lips, looking from Sirius to James. "You think I'm an idiot?" she asked. "You didn't think I'd catch on? Honestly. What are you going to do?"

"Did I mention it was none of your business?" Sirius asked.

Someone stepped unto the lift. They fell silent for a moment, and then Lily said, "How do you think you're going to help? Don't you think he'll be safe in Greece?"

"Is anywhere safe?" James asked.

There was a moment of silence again. "I want to go with you," Lily said.

"No!" James and Sirius said in unison.

"Why not?" Lily asked. "I'm his friend, too."

"No," James repeated, meeting her eyes.

They got off the lift and walked unto the ground floor. Lily followed behind them. "I want to go with you," she repeated.

James turned around. Lily nearly walked into him, and then blushed. "Lily, no," he said. "Remus wouldn't want you to come."

She looked hurt for a moment. James paused, searching for words. "Look, you have no idea. . ." he trailed off. There were many things he wanted to say. What we're doing. What it's like. How hard this is. How Remus is. He shook his head. "We'll see you later."

--

Remus's house was silent. Sirius and James broke in past the locks and spells. After they were sure nothing would give them away, they crept inside the foyer. The lights were off. James switched on the lights. They had been to Remus's house before, of course, but not without Remus. They walked to the kitchen, looking for an address to his uncle's house in Greece.

James looked on the refrigerator. There was a picture of the four of them, a few piece of papers, and a few odd magnets. He shook his head. Muggle things.

There was a pop! that made James jump out of his skin. He whipped out his wand, but then saw Remus standing in the living room. "What are you doing here?" he said.

"You scared the dung out of me!" James exclaimed, putting his hand over his heart.

Sirius walked in front the dining room. "Moony!" he said. "We helped ourselves in."

Remus dropped his backpack on the kitchen table. "What are you doing here?" he repeated.

"The question is," James said, pocketing his wand, "what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be Greece?"

"I left," Remus said shortly. "I was going to grab some more things and then run away to New Zealand."

"New Zealand?" James repeated. His eyebrows furrowed. "Where's that?"

"Does it matter?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, I'm going there," Remus said.

"We'll go to New Zealand with you," James said.

Sirius rolled his eyes. Remus's jaw flexed; James was pretty sure he was serious about running away to this mysterious land. "Right," he said. "Look, why don't we just go to the Forbidden Forest?"

Remus didn't say anything, but just looked miserable.

"Come on, what could be better than running around all night in our Animagus forms?" Sirius asked.

"You're kidding, right?" Remus raised his voice. "Going through that transformation every and night. Bloody splendid." He sat down at his kitchen table, obviously at his wit's end. He put his head in his hands, his shoulders shaking. James glanced at Sirius, the two of them silent.

"I was going to turn myself in," Remus finally said.

"To the Ministry?" Sirius asked incredulously. "That's ridiculous. You know they're putting the werewolves in Azkaban? As if you can bloody help it!"

Remus did not look up. James knew Sirius was right. Maybe Remus shouldn't have come back; Greece probably would have been safer. But there were Death Eaters and Dark Magic in other countries, including Greece, so who knew how long it would take before this spell reached there as well.

"Isn't it better than putting someone in danger?" Remus said weakly.

"No," Sirius said. "Look, I'm sure Dumbledore will let us use the Shrieking Shack."

"Me," Remus said. "He doesn't know you're Animagi. Do you have any intention of telling him?"

"We could get in through Zonko's," Sirius offered.

"Or you could just let me go by myself," Remus said.

This did not seem to be an option that had ever crossed Sirius's mind. He looked immensely confused, and looked at James as though trying to tell whether Remus was serious or not. "What would the point of that be?" Sirius asked.

"Gee, I don't know," Remus said, throwing up his arms. "Not killing you, not biting you. What do you think, James? Are those valid reasons? Don't you want to live to marry Lily and live a normal life?"

"Okay, you don't have to be a dick," Sirius snapped. James sighed; the two of them were like an old-married couple.

Remus stood up, knocking over the chair across from him. James jumped at the act of anger, and he could tell this was killing Remus. He never yelled, and he never got angry, especially at his friends. "Why not?" Remus yelled. "You're being an idiot!"

"How?" Sirius yelled back at him.

Remus put his hands on his head and pulled at his hair. He closed his eyes tightly and let out a frustrated yell. "You don't bloody get it!" he said. "You don't get anything, Sirius! You never think, and you don't ever consider. . .how it might feel if I bit you. . .or killed you!"

"Nothing has ever happened before!" Sirius shouted.

"Well, werewolves have never turned when it wasn't the full moon, either!" Remus yelled. "Maybe there's more to this spell than what we know! Maybe You-Know-Who is using them or something! Maybe I'm in deep shit. Did you ever think of that? That's why I want to turn myself in, okay?"

"You're not going to turn yourself in," Sirius said angrily.

"Right, and that's your decision to make!" Remus exclaimed.

He started pacing around the kitchen angrily. Sirius let out a frustrated sigh, leaning against the island in the kitchen. James put his hands in his pockets. "I say we go to Hogwarts," he said. "Dumbledore knows that we know. We'll just say we wanted to be with you. He'll have no idea about us being Animagi."

Remus paused, putting his hands on his hips. He started nodding. "Fine. Dumbledore," he said. "What's the quickest way to contact him?"

"Apparate to Hogsmeade and owl him?" Sirius suggested.

"Let's do that," Remus said. He grabbed his backpack, avoiding their eyes.

He flicked his lights off with his wand. "Where's Peter?" he asked.

"His mum has exiled him to his house," Sirius said.

"Right," Remus said. "Let's go." He paused as they got ready to Apparate. "Thanks, by the way."

--

Lily helped around St. Mungo's, but she wasn't able to concentrate. She kept thinking about where James and Sirius might be, and how Remus was doing. The Healers didn't notice her absent-mindedness because they were too busy. On her lunch break, she walked around after she was finished eating. On the ground floor, she saw Mrs. Potter talking with the welcome witch.

"About two hours ago, he checked himself out," the welcome witch said.

"He's allowed to do that?" Mrs. Potter asked, her eyes wide.

"He is an adult," the welcome with said calmly. "Are you his mother?"

"Yes," Mrs. Potter said without a second thought. She looked up and saw Lily. "Lily!"

Lily gave her a nervous smile. Mrs. Potter walked over to her. "Do you know where Sirius and James are?" she asked.

Lily just shrugged helplessly. She felt bad for lying to her, but she would feel worse giving them away. Mrs. Potter glanced around, a worried look on her face. "Look," she said, meeting Lily's eyes, "you wouldn't happen to know where Remus is, would you?"

Tensing, Lily paused, trying to figure out how to respond. "Um, isn't he vacationing in Greece?" she asked.

"I just. . ." Mrs. Potter trailed off. "Those boys can be so fool-hardy sometimes. And it's not safe for them. . .especially the three of them. . .Sirius is a supposed 'blood-traitor' and Remus is a half-blood and a. . ."

Lily realized she knew about Remus, somehow. Had Remus told her? Had Sirius or James? She couldn't see any of them telling her - so how had she found out?

Mrs. Potter swallowed, her look of worry getting worse. She sighed a little bit. "I need to find them," she said.

Lily hesitated before replying. She wanted to find them as well, but she didn't want to help Mrs. Potter find them. "Well, I don't think I can help," Lily said weakly.

Mrs. Potter nodded. "Thank you, dear," she said. "I'll see you later." She gave her a smile, then left. Lily watched after her, biting her lip, and worrying even more.

--

The Three Broomsticks was probably the most empty Sirius had ever seen it. After the attack, people were staying inside as much as they could. They had sent Dumbledore an owl and were waiting for a response. "Hopefully he's there," James said, his head on the table.

"Where else would he be?" Sirius asked.

Madam Rosmerta was washing tables, there were a few men huddled in a far corner, and the rest of the village was quiet. Remus hadn't spoken much. "What do you think they'll think after they hear the screams every night?" he said quietly.

"It's not going to be every night," Sirius said.

Remus looked at him. "It has been since the attack," he said.

"Have you changed?" James asked.

"No," Remus said. "But what if. . ."

"They're going to take care of it," James said.

"I'm glad you have that kind of faith," Remus said shortly.

Madam Rosmerta walked over to them, smiling. "You boys want anything else?" she asked.

Remus had, for the first time, finished his firewhiskey before the other two. "I'll have another one," he said, holding the jug out for Madam Rosmerta.

"Tough morning?" she asked, smirking.

"You have no idea," Remus said.

She walked away, her hips swaying in her ruby red robes. "If she wasn't twenty years older than me. . ." Sirius shook his head.

The door opened. Looking over James's shoulder, Sirius saw a few figures walked in with hooded cloaks. He watched them suspiciously as they drew their wands. "Watch out," Sirius said, taking out his wand.

Remus and James looked over their shoulders. One of the hooded men pointed his wand at them and yelled, "Werewolf!"

The three of them jumped up, drawing their wands. Sirius shot a spell at the leader of them, taking his voice. He responded with a non-verbal spell, flying Sirius into the table. The table's legs broke under the force of the spell, and the table dropped, painfully jolting Sirius. Sirius felt like his insides were on fire and let out a yell of pain.

Spells were being flown here and there. The men in the corner joined the duel, and James and Remus continued to try to defend themselves. Madam Rosmerta flung a few spells, trying to stop the duel, but she was Stunned quickly.

Sirius got up from his position on the ground, groaning. His knees were shaking; he had been hit with something good. The side of James's head was bleeding, but he yelled, "Protego!"

A Shield sprung up in between the three of them and the attackers - most likely Death Eaters. "Run!" James yelled at Remus. Remus looked upset for a moment, then seemed to realize he would rather run and be a coward than face the men who obviously had it in for werewolves.

There were four men fighting the three Death Eaters. One of them flung a spell at a Death Eater, sending his hood backwards. Sirius recognized his face - it was Bellatrix's husband Rodolphus. The one who had revealed him yelled at James and Sirius, "Go!"

James and Sirius glanced at each other, then bolted after Remus. Sirius stopped quickly, his insides killing him. He felt like he had after Snape broke his ribs, only worse. "Bloody hell," he groaned. What was it with Death Eaters going for his ribs?

James came back, half-dragging, half-pulling Sirius out of The Three Broomsticks. "Zonko's?" Remus asked. He was sporting his wand-wrist, which was bent at a funny angle.

"Make sure we're not being followed," James said, looking over his shoulder.

Remus grabbed Sirius's other arm, and the two of them pulled him to Zonko's, which was closed, of course. "Bloody hell!" James exclaimed. "It's a weekday!"

There was a pop! and then Albus Dumbledore was standing before them. He had a severe look on his face as he realized Sirius was injured. Sirius began to feel lightheaded. Something was seriously wrong. Dumbledore levitated him in the air. Sirius felt like he was flying as the three of them walked to the gates of Hogwarts. He tried not to black out, forcing himself to stay awake. The trees and sky moved above him, and they slowly faded to darkness.

--

Safe in the infirmary of Hogwarts, James, Remus, and Sirius were getting care for their injuries. The shoulder of James's shirt and the entire right side of his face was stained in blood. He had passed out soon after they entered the castle, but Madam Pompfrey was now cleaning him up. "He'll be fine," she said as she gently mended his wound.

Sirius was lying on the bed next to him, also unconscious, and a Healer from St. Mungo's was prodding his wand around Sirius's ribs. He still had bruises and cuts from getting attacked at Liverpool, and now there seemed to be internal damage.

"Remus, are you listening to me?" Dumbledore said.

Remus looked away from his friends up at his Headmaster. "Yes," he said.

"You're sure they didn't hex you with the words Moris Lupus?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes," Remus said. "There was the Cruciatus, then he broke my wand hand." He touched his wrist gingerly, but Madam Pompfrey had already healed it. "Nothing else."

"Nothing else," Dumbledore said. "You didn't feel any other sort of spell?"

"No," Remus said firmly. "Is that the spell that makes you transform when it isn't the full moon?"

"Yes," Dumbledore said. "Is it very, very Dark Magic. Along with the spell, a potion has to be injected into your blood, followed by another spell. If these three aren't performed in perfect sequenced and at the exact right time, the werewolf could die."

"Nothing happened," Remus said, sick to his stomach.

"Good," Dumbledore said, a look of relief on his face. "No one has ever tried it, but Voldemort has achieved much magic most people would never attempt in their wildest dreams. It is a rare Dark Magic that is on the way to being extinct because of the rarity of the potion ingredients."

"How did they know I was a werewolf?" Remus asked. He stared at his friends.

"There are many ways they could have found out," Dumbledore said. "For one, your letters."

Remus closed his eyes with a sigh, putting his head in his hands. "The Death Eaters intercept most owls, especially mine," Dumbledore said. "You have to be extremely careful, Remus." He paused. "They also have access to Werewolf Registry at the Ministry of Magic. They also know the man who bit you."

A chill of shock went through Remus. "The man who bit me?" he repeated.

"Fenrir Greyback," Dumbledore said. He looked at Remus. "Perhaps you should ask your father."

Remus stared at him. His father had never mentioned the man who bit him. He had always assumed it had been an accident. He had always pitied him. "What happened?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "Like I said, Remus, perhaps you should ask your father," he said.

"Why?" Remus said. "If you know -"

"It's his place," Dumbledore said.

Remus gritted his teeth. His father was in Greece at the moment, and he was here. There was a moment of silence. "So, where should I go to stay safe?" he asked. What he really meant was to keep others safe.

Dumbledore paused. "I do think you should stay indoors and away from Death Eaters," he said. "Where are your parents?"

"Greece," Remus said. "We were on vacation. I was afraid something might happen."

"That's understandable," Dumbledore said.

Remus felt a spark of annoyance. He doubted Dumbledore understood what it was like to be a werewolf and fear for the lives of his family and friends because of what he may do to them.

"But I think it would be safest to go back," Dumbledore said. "There are not too many Death Eaters in Greece. The spell I was telling you about only works for one night, and I don't think you are. . .valuable enough for them to follow you to Greece and give so much effort."

Remus looked over at Sirius and James again. "Will I be someday?" he asked. He could be used as a tool to kill James or Sirius when they became Aurors, when they became a threat.

"Perhaps," Dumbledore said. "Like I said, however, the ingredients for this potion are in extremely short supply, and they are getting shorter by the minute."

Remus didn't know what that meant, but he wasn't about to try to get straight answers from Dumbledore.

Before either of them could say more, Professor McGonagall came in. Mrs. Potter was trailing behind her, looking frantic. "Oh, boys!" she exclaimed. She ran past Professor McGonagall. She rushed to James's side first, tears streaming down her cheeks. "What happened?"

"They were attacked at The Three Broomsticks," Dumbledore said.

Mrs. Potter looked at Remus, then quickly looked away. His heart sank; she knew.

"He's going to be just fine," Madam Pompfrey told her gently.

Mrs. Potter walked to Sirius, crying openly. "What's wrong with him?" she asked the Healer.

"He's got some internal rib damage," the Healer told her.

"He got a few ribs broken just a month ago," Madam Pompfrey said, shaking her head. "That boy can't stay out of trouble."

Remus ran a hand through his hair. He felt horrible. There was a sinking feeling of guilt in the bottom of his stomach. He wanted to spew his brains out and then live in New Zealand until the war was over. There was a few soft footsteps, and then he felt Mrs. Potter's arms around him. He tensed, but she pulled him close. His arms were down at his sides, but he just relaxed into her embrace, feeling tears build up in the back of his throat. She pulled him even closer, her fragile arms doing what she could to hold him. He closed his eyes, tears falling down his face, and he knew that she forgave him.

--

A/N: FaithfulHPReader and -EHWIES : Thank you for the kind reviews!! The rest of you are slacking - I got 99 hits on the last chapter, and only two reviews. tsk, tsk, tsk.

Also, I'm not sure why the links didn't show up, but they're http:// glasshearts . insanejournal . com and http:// ghearts . livejournal . com - take out the spaces, of course.

Next up. . .we see Peter (yes, he's still alive!) and Remus returns to his parents to ask them about Fenrir Greyback.