Aghh it's been a while.. WRITER'S BLOCK! This chapter just wasn't coming to me LOL but I'm glad it's finally done :D I hope you enjoy reading it (:

The first thing Sirius did when he saw James was run over to him and pull him into a brotherly hug. It was his way of saying 'I'm sorry. I was an idiot. I should have listened to you. Forgive me.' James hugged him back, and Sirius could tell that it meant 'it's OK. I forgive you. Everybody does stupid things.' When they pulled apart, they grinned at each other and walked inside James' house.

"Are you all right, dear?" asked Mrs Potter worriedly, touching Sirius' forehead. "Can I get you anything?"

"Oh, no thank you," said Sirius with a smile. "I'm OK."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Well," she said. "If you need anything, don't be shy. Just come and ask, OK?"

"Yeah. Thank you."

"It's alright dear," she replied as she made her way to the kitchen. James turned to Sirius.

"Do you want to go upstairs?" he asked, and Sirius shrugged.

"OK."

When they got up to James' room, James shut the door. "Sit," he said, pointing to the bed. Sirius looked at him for a second and then sat down. James sat down on the chair by his desk and looked at Sirius seriously.

"Will you tell me what happened?" he asked softly. Sirius shifted awkwardly.

"I don't want to talk about it," he said quietly, looking at his hands.

"It's not good to keep things bottled up, Sirius," James said. "And despite everything we've been through, I'm still your best friend. You know you can speak to me."

"Don't tell anyone," whispered Sirius. "It's..." his voice broke. "God, I wish I could just go back in time and fix everything. I made the biggest mistakes of my life! I hate myself so much!"

"It's OK, It's OK. Let it all out," James said, rubbing Sirius' back soothingly. "So tell me what happened."

"Right," breathed Sirius, after calming down a bit. "Well, when I got home last week, my mother treated me with a warm welcome of sending me straight up to my room. Regulus came in and we had some argument about something stupid – I don't remember, and then my mum came up and started yelling at me. She... well... she h-hit me," Sirius said, so quietly that if James hadn't been listening so intently, he would've missed it. James gasped.

"She hit you?" he said loudly, and Sirius shushed him.

"Yes," he replied. "She told me I had to be down for dinner so I made my way downstairs and the whole bloody family were there," Sirius said, clenching his fists. "My dad announced that they've arranged for Regulus to marry some girl-"

"-WHAT?" James exclaimed suddenly. "Oh Sirius," he said. "I'm sorry."

"It's... well... what can I do?" Sirius sighed. "Well then, Bellatrix made some comment about me which turned everyones attention back to me. I answered back, and she made some comment about how they liked to use the cruciatus curse on Andromeda – you know, my cousin?"

"The cruciatus curse?" James said angrily. "They better not have used it on you!"

"They... well, they did," Sirius said, his voice getting quieter again. "In front of everyone, my dad did it. I kept begging Reg to make him stop..." he started crying. "He didn't do anything. He just s-stood there and w-w-watched it happen. I c-couldn't think about anything at all... he just... he b-betrayed me."

"That asshole!" shouted James in fury. He put his arm around Sirius comfortingly. "You're OK now, though?"

"Well, I ignored Reg for the whole of last week. I just stayed up in my room, but he came in today. We got into a huge argument about what happened. He..." Sirius swallowed, and shook his head. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Hey, you're almost there," said James. "Just tell me."

"It hurts... to even think about it," Sirius said, rubbing his eyes. "I... d-don't want-"

"- What did he say to you?" asked James.

"H-h-he b-broke up with me," sobbed Sirius, feeling his heart break all over again as he recounted the memory. "He said it was all a bit of fun and he d-d-didn't feel anything... it was then that I got angry."

"I'd have thought you'd be more upset than angry," said James.

"Oh, I was upset... but I was really angry. He thought it was just a bit of fun? I hurt Remus so badly for Reg to have a little bit of fun? How... I just... IF HE WANTED A BIT OF FUN, HE COULD HAVE GONE TO SOMEONE ELSE! WHY ME?"

"But... I thought you loved him?" James asked softly, trying to calm down Sirius.

"I did... I... still do. But I would never have fallen for him if he hadn't kissed me in the first place... I got angry and started hitting him."

"You what?"

"Hard. Across the face. I wanted him to feel the pain he inflicted on me! And he pushed me over... he... he..."

"What did he do?" James whispered.

"Took his wand out. He... tried to use the cruciatus curse on me," choked Sirius.

"Oh god," said James. "But what do you mean, 'he tried'?"

"It didn't work," said Sirius. "I don't know why..."

"What happened then?"

"He ran out of the room. I left. Why would I want to stay there when all my family want to do is hurt me?"

"It's OK. I understand. I just can't believe they'd do that to you – especially Regulus," said James. "I'm so sorry, Sirius. Really, I am."

"Thanks," Sirius said. "I just don't want to think about it right now."

"Of course you don't," said James. "Let's take your mind off it, yeah?"

"Yeah," Sirius said, wiping away the last of the tears.

"Well, I'm afraid you'll have to sleep in here with me," said James. "My mum's got a tent that you can have as your room. Only, it'll be in my room, if you understand?"

"Great!" said Sirius brightly.

"That means you can decorate it however you want," said James.

"Thank you, James," said Sirius. "For letting me stay with you. I really am grateful."

"It's no problem," grinned James.

##

The rest of the holidays were both relieving and exciting for Sirius. He was so happy to be away from his family at last, and James helped him keep his mind off Regulus by playing Quidditch and making plans for new pranks. When January finally came around, Sirius was in a much better state than he'd been in previously, and he only had James to thank for that.

"Have a wonderful year, boys," said Mrs Potter briefly before giving both Sirius and James a quick kiss on the cheek and sending them through the fireplace by floo.

When they arrived at Platform Nine and Three Quarters, it was extremely busy – probably due to the fact that they'd arrived only two minutes before the train was due to leave.

"Quick, let's get on the train," said James, grabbing Sirius by the arm and pulling him on board. They found an empty compartment and sat opposite one another, looking out of the window.

"I'm so glad we're going back to Hogwarts," said Sirius. "This has been one hell of a holiday."

"Just make sure you ignore Regulus in the corridors," said James, and Sirius felt his heart break a little.

"Oh yeah," he said quietly. "I forgot I'd be seeing him at school."

"Don't worry about him. If he says anything, just tell me and I'll deal with him."

"Thanks," said Sirius, smiling slightly at James. The compartment door slid open and Remus and Peter walked in. Remus seemed to be trying not to look at Sirius, and Peter grinned at him.

"You're back!" he said happily, pulling him into a hug.

"Yeah," said Sirius. "Miss me?"

"Of course!" said Peter. Sirius cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Hey Remus," he said, looking at Remus cautiously. Remus looked up quickly and smiled.

"Hi," he said. "Good to see you back."

"Good to be back," he grinned, trying to act as usual. Unfortunately, he and James both knew that it was just an act. He was really hurting inside.

As the train journey went on, Sirius became more and more talkative. Even Remus grew more comfortable talking to him, which was a relief to Sirius, who wanted more than anything to have his friend back. Just as they were nearing the castle, there was a knock on the compartment door and Sirius looked up to see – to his dismay – Regulus. He cast a sideways glance to James in panic, who nodded to him.

Regulus didn't wait to be invited in, but opened the door anyway.

"Er... can I speak to you for a minute, Sirius?" he asked quietly. Before Sirius could reply, James stood up and closed the space between himself and Regulus in an instant, so that their faces were only inches from each others.

"No," he said. "You can not speak to Sirius. Ever. Leave him alone, he doesn't want to speak to you ever again. Do you understand me?"

"Can you just let me-"

"-I asked you a question. You do not just use my friend like that. You do not just hurt him like that. How dare you? I suggest you leave right now before I hurt you."

"I-"

"Leave," said James coldly, shoving Regulus hard in the chest and slamming the compartment door shut. He turned to Sirius. "Did I say the right things?"

"Yeah," said Sirius. "Thank you, James."

"It's OK."

"Why... er... what happened?" asked Remus.

"I... just... well... it's a long story," said Sirius.

"We can keep up," said Peter with a light smile.

"In short, I got in trouble with my family and Regulus broke up with me. I ran away from home and I'm living with James now," Sirius said.

"You ran away from home?" Peter shouted. "But why?"

"He hates his family," said Remus. "Why wouldn't he run away?"

"Why did Regulus break up with you?" asked Peter.

"Can you guys give it a rest for a while? He's pretty upset over it," James said, and Sirius cast him a thankful look.

"Of course," said Remus. "Just know that you can talk to me if you want."

"Thanks," said Sirius.

He couldn't fathom why. Why in a million years Remus was being so nice to him – after what he'd done to Remus. It felt as if the whole thing hadn't happened, and Remus was just his friend again. Not that Sirius was complaining, but it all seemed a little weird.

##

The rest of the night flew by, and before he knew it, Sirius was tucked up in bed. After a few minutes of lying in silence, he felt his bed move and a face emerged through the curtains. Remus sat down on his bed and shut the curtains behind him.

"Hi," he said quietly. Sirius sat up.

"Hi," he replied, squinting through the darkness to see his friends face. "What's up?" he asked.

"Nothing... I... well, I just wanted to see if you were OK," Remus whispered. "Are you OK?"

"I'm fine in comparison to how you must have felt when... well, you know..."

"I already told you, Sirius. I'm over that," Remus said. "Actually, over the Christmas holidays I think I've got over you."

"You've gotten over me?" asked Sirius. For some reason, that revelation hurt him.

"Yeah. I realised that it was no good trying to go after someone who didn't love me back, and I realised that yeah – there is someone else who I believe I could have a chance with."

"And who's that?" Sirius asked in curiosity. Remus shifted slightly, leaning forward a bit.

"You can't tell anyone," he whispered.

"I promise I won't," said Sirius.

"It's James," Remus said. Sirius wasn't sure he'd heard correctly. Did Remus like James?

"Er... you mean our James? Prongs?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah... who else would it be?" said Remus.

"Um... no offence Moony, but James is straight. And he is in love with Evans."

"How do you know that for sure?" Remus asked defensively. "You saw the way he stuck up for me when you cheated on me."

"Because he's your friend... he stuck up for me just the same on the train today," Sirius said. "I don't think you should get your hopes up."

"No," Remus said angrily. "Last time I got my hopes up you came and crushed them. I won't let you crush them this time!" With that, he marched off of the bed and back towards his own, leaving Sirius feeling empty.

What else was he supposed to do – encourage him? He was only being truthful, and he didn't want Remus to get hurt twice. And what was the deal about Remus being 'over' the incident when he obviously wasn't? Sirius couldn't think clearly, and tried to push the encounter out of his mind as he focused on the fact that he was back at Hogwarts with James and Peter. He would pull many more pranks and enjoy Quidditch again. But Remus was over him? Sirius really didn't like the sound of that. Even though he didn't feel the same way, it was always nice to have someone care that much about you, and now that it was gone, Sirius felt more lonely.

The only thing he could think about was that in the morning, he was most definitely going to find himself a girlfriend. It was the only thing he could do to take his mind off of Remus and Regulus and every other thing that had happened in the past few months... hey... he might even get into a successful relationship! That was something that helped him get to sleep that night – the sheer possibility of a happy, successful relationship – without lying, or cheating or forbidden love. Just pure happiness. That's what Sirius needed.

##