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2.
Remus placed Sirius onto the nearest bed as gently as he could, but was roughly shoved out of the way as Dumbledore, Madam Pomfrey and an unknown healer brought in from St Mungo's crowded around the bed. He leant where James lay on the next bed along, and peered through the gaps in people to try and find out what was happening.
They were removing Sirius' torn and soiled clothes with a flick of a wand, placing a blanket over his lower half to protect his dignity. Remus could see that he was right about Sirius having lost weight. His ribs stuck out, he was all the shades of a bruise and there were large cuts and welts running down the length of his body.
"We'll have to wake him for this," the healer said.
"Is it really necessary?"
"We need more knowledge about the injuries before we treat them," he insisted.
Sirius groaned as he was roused, but rather than a simple complaint like first thing in the morning, his moans continued and soon transcended into loud sobs. The noise prevented Remus from hearing what was being said, but he gathered Sirius had been able to tell them what they needed to know, for they started plastering his arms and chest with some kind of lotion. He cried out every time they touched one of the wounds. The noises were shocking on their own, but were wholly unfamiliar coming from Sirius, making them even more haunting. Remus sat on his hands as he watched, trying to stop them shaking.
Eventually Madam Pomfrey and the healer headed back to the store cupboard, and Dumbledore beckoned him over.
"Will he be okay?" Remus asked, looking at Sirius, who was still moaning slightly.
"We think so." Dumbledore lowered his voice. "It looks as if he's been tortured for some time. We're going to give him some potion that should help treat all of the injuries, but he'll be mostly unconscious for a few days."
Remus felt his knees buckle beneath him, and was grateful when Dumbledore grabbed his arm, and helped him remain on his feet.
"You can sit with him for a while if you like."
Remus collapsed into the armchair by the bed and cautiously put his hand in Sirius'. Sirius' fingers were cold, and remained still beneath Remus' touch. He ceased making noises though, and in confidence Remus gripped his hand firmer. "You're going to be okay."
Madam Pomfrey bustled back over to the bed carrying a large beaker of liquid with a straw sticking out of it. She lowered the drink and with her free hand gently touched Sirius' tear stained cheek. "Drink this," she said and stuck the straw in his mouth.
Sirius slowly slurped at the liquid, frequently stopping for breath. As he worked his way further through the drink his body grew fractionally stronger and he managed to briefly squeeze Remus' hand; the gesture being an attempt at saying both 'thanks' and 'I'm scared'.
Remus returned the squeeze, and used his other hand to stroke Sirius' hair out of his eyes. When the potion was finished, Sirius' grip slackened and his eyes flickered shut. They all watched him for a minute, and then as if snapping out of a trance, Madam Pomfrey headed back to her office, the healer made his excuses to leave, and Dumbledore turned to Remus.
"You should get back to bed."
"No, I want to stay here. Please."
Dumbledore considered. "Very well." He moved an extra chair next to the bed and conjured two blankets. "For when Mr Potter wakes up." He sighed "I would stay, but I'm afraid I have an awful lot of business to attend to. I shall be back, of course."
"Thank you."
Dumbledore smiled. "Thank you."
Remus was unsure how many hours he'd been sitting there for, with Sirius' limp hand still in his own, when his own name being called jolted him out of his daze.
"Moony."
He turned around to see James, still pale, sitting up in bed. "How are you feeling?"
"What happened?"
"You dived in front of a stunning spell aimed at Sirius. A strong one apparently."
"Oh," James said, sounding completely unconcerned for his own wellbeing. "Is he..?"
"He's going to be okay... eventually."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
James swung his legs over the side of the bed but before he had the chance to stand Remus was by his side with an arm around his waist.
"Lean on me."
James put an arm round Remus' shoulder and shakily stood up. His legs felt weak and he was grateful for the support. Together they walked back over to Sirius. James slumped onto the chair, looking paler than ever. Remus threw one of the blankets over him, and took the other for himself.
"I can't believe they did this to him," James said.
"He was screaming earlier; properly shouting and crying. What the hell happened there?"
"We knew they were bad people."
"Not like this though."
"No," James agreed. "He will... he will wake up?"
"In a few days, Dumbledore said."
They fell back to silence, both tired out after a long and draining night.
After another few hours of brief conversation and short stretches of sleep, Dumbledore returned. He smiled at the pair.
"I'm afraid I must insist you go to bed this time. Lessons are due to start in an hour or so, but you're both excused for today. Creep back up under the cloak, so no-one questions you."
"What about Peter?"
"I think you can tell Mr Pettigrew the basics, seeing as I know he is also a good friend of yours. However, I think Sirius would prefer for the whole school not to know."
"Of course," Remus said, climbing to his feet.
"One moment," Dumbledore said, summoning two cups from the store room. "Drink this – it's a dreamless sleep potion. You'll have ten minutes to get back up to your dormitory before it kicks in."
They both drank up, and headed upstairs under the cloak. In their dormitory, Peter was sitting on his bed looking confused. When they appeared from under the cloak he jumped, and looked at them frantically.
"Where have you been? What's going on?"
"Saving Sirius," James said.
"Saving? What?"
"It's too late for story time, Wormtail," Remus replied.
"It's eight in the morning!"
"Yes, late," James said, collapsing on his bed and getting under the covers fully dressed. "Night."
Remus yawned. "Night Prongs, Wormtail."
"What?" Peter repeated, staring at his friends as they both fell into a deep sleep.