"No!" I exclaimed. Dumbledore gave me a sad look. "I knew something bad was going to happen! How- what happened?"

"We don't know," McGonagall said heavily, wiping a stray tear from her eye. "We got there just as she Apparated away with him. We think she was making a grab for Sirius."

"Of course," I muttered bitterly. "Why couldn't it have been me? Oh, gosh, Sirius is going to feel so bad... How bad are he and Dad?"

"They will be fine," Dumbledore reassured me. "I am not positive how bad you father was. I was told he'd be absolutely fine. There isn't any permanent damage to either of them."

"Okay," I replied uneasily. "We've gotta get Remus back."

"We will," Dumbledore said softly. "Don't worry. We already have Aurors on the case."

"I'm helping," I said stubbornly. "Nobody hurts my friends, and that's two that Bellatrix has harmed. She isn't getting away. Not this time."

"Mr. Potter," McGonagall frowned sharply. I glared at her.

"She's a bloody murderer!" I growled. "She'd even kill her own cousin- she did kill her own cousin!"

McGonagall's eyes widened. "What? Who?"

I froze, and Dumbledore's eyes twinkled ever so slightly. "Uh..."

"Young James is actually fifteen," he declared. "He has travelled here, by my own device, I must add, to fix a terrible future. So far, I believe he and Miss Evans are succeeding."

"Sort of," I sighed. "Things have been backfiring left and right. The Death Eaters didn't dare attack Hogsmeade until my fifth year, and, even then, there was only one... only one death."

"Not one of my lions?" McGonagall asked urgently, the meaning of my previous statement obviously dawning on her. "Not Regulus or Sirius?"

"Sirius," I replied sadly, bowing my head. McGonagall let out a choked sort of sob. "I was there. Regulus, at that point, was still a Slytherin. He wasn't resorted until he ran away after Sirius... after he died."

"Oh, my poor little lions!" McGonagall exclaimed, and I was taken by surprise when she rushed forward and hugged me. "So brave! All of you!"

"Er... thanks?" I said, my face heating up. "Sirius is the really brave one. He always has been. Noble git."

"Well," McGonagall said crisply, pulling away and sniffling slightly. "At least you can save him. Tell me if I may be of any help- now wonder your grades shot up!"

"No wonder," I said dryly. "Now isn't the time, okay. We've got to find Remus."

"Yes, that's right," McGonagall said sheepishly. "The problem, is we've no idea where they've taken him."

I frowned. "Well, we'll have to look, then, won't we? And when we find him, Sirius can't come. He'll just get hurt."

"I don't think you should come, either," Dumbledore said slowly, and I turned to face him, glaring. "It's just as dangerous for you."

"Does it look like I care?" I growled. "I am going. There is nothing you can do to stop me."

"There isn't much we can do to prevent Sirius from coming," McGonagall pointed out softly. I clenched my fists; McGonagall was right. Very right.

"Then we rescue Remus before Sirius gets out of St. Mungo's," I said. "He doesn't even need to know."

"And your other friends?"

"Peter wouldn't want to go," I replied. "Lily's smart, she can keep an eye on Regulus," I paused. "I'm going to go, tell Lils and Reg. Try a tracking charm, will you? I will, too. As long as he isn't under the Fidelius, we should be able to find him."

It felt kind of weird giving orders to McGonagall and Dumbledore, and I was probably way out of line, but they both nodded, and I swept out of the room, my anger overpowering any other emotion at the moment. People in the halls stared at me, clearing a path. I made it to the Gryffindor common room in record time. Lily and Regulus were waiting for me just inside.

"James," Regulus smiled slightly, black eyes quite fearful. "Where are they?"

"Pete's in the hospital wing, Siri is at St. Mungo's," I took a deep, shaky breath. "And I don't know where Remus is."

"What do you mean, you don't know where he is?" Lily asked fearfully.

I frowned darkly. "Bellatrix grabbed him and Apparated away. McGonagall thinks she was trying to get Padfoot. The point is, the Death Eaters have Remus."

"No!" Regulus exclaimed, before sitting down heavily on the couch, burying his face in his hands. "My own cousin kidnapped my friend..."

"She's terrible," Lily cried. "Oh, poor Remus. You're going to save him, right?"

"Course I am," I replied. Regulus got a determined look on his face, and I groaned. "No, Regulus, you aren't going with us. I'm probably not even going to tell Sirius."

"Remus is my friend too! Regulus said stubbornly, hopping up. "Let me come!"

"No, it's too dangerous," I frowned sternly. "I don't want anyone getting hurt. Except maybe Bellatrix."

Lily looked like she wanted to reprimand me, but she sighed and nodded resignedly.

"I'm going to visit Dad and Sirius," I declared. "Regulus, would you like to come?"

Regulus sighed, and shook his head. "I'd rather not right now. I'm gonna go hang out in the dorm."

He sulked away up the stairs, looking very much like Sirius whenever things didn't go his way. I glanced to Lily. "Keep an eye on him, will you?"

"Don't worry," she smiled. "I'll look after him. Go see your dad and Sirius."

"James, how are you?" Dad greeted happily the moment I walked in. I must not have looked very happy, because his face fell almost immediately. "What's wrong?"

"Have you heard about Remus?" I asked miserably. Dad nodded solemnly, sitting up awkwardly in the hospital bed. "I'm going after him, you know. You can't stop me."

"I don't plan to," said Dad. "You have strength beyond your years."

"Isn't it 'wisdom beyond your years'?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Dad laughed, and nodded, eyes twinkling. "We're leaving after I visit Sirius."

"Are you going to tell Sirius?" Dad asked, giving me a knowing look.

"Well... no..." I admitted. "I don't need him going after Remus."

"Trust me, these Healers mean business," Dad laughed. "Sirius isn't going anywhere."

"You've underestimated the power of Sirius's hero complex," I said dryly. "If I tell him, he'll be out faster than you can say rescue."

"Did you tell Regulus?"

"Yeah, and I have Lily watching him," I replied. "He's every bit as stubborn as his brother."

"Must run in the family," Dad chuckled, before turning solemn again. "Listen, James. Going after Remus will be dangerous. I want you to promise me that you'll be careful. Don't do anything stupid."

"I won't," I promised. "I'll be careful; we'll get Remus back. And maybe we'll even catch Bellatrix."

"Don't count your geese before they hatch, kiddo," Dad smiled, and I gave him a weird look. "Muggle saying."

"I know," I replied. "And it's chickens, not geese, Dad."

"Oh," Dad said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I knew I messed that up."

"I still don't know," I frowned. "Whatever happened to you?"

"Some Dark curse got me in the leg," Dad replied, gesturing to his leg, which was heavily bandaged. "They're making me stay here until it's better; it's like they think I'll make it worse."

"You would," I grinned cheekily. "Especially if you're anything like me. Which you are."

"Ah, yes, you're probably right!" Dad laughed. "Well, kiddo, you'd better go see Sirius. I dunno what happened to him, but I know he'll probably be anxious for news."

"I almost hope he's asleep so I don't have to lie to him," I admitted. Dad shook his head smiling.

"Go see him, Jamie," he beamed. I nodded, and walked out the door, dreading lying to my best friend. A kind Healer led me to Sirius's room. I gently pushed the door open and walked in.

"Padfoot?" I called. He waved from his bed, gesturing for me to come over. I pulled a chair over and sat by his bed. "Hey. How are you feeling?"

"Like I was trampled by a Hippogriff," Sirius chuckled. "That seems to be the recurring theme. How are the others?"

"Er, fine," I said, only half-lying. For all I knew, Remus was perfectly fine. Sirius gave me sceptical look. "Well, you know, mostly."

"I'm not stupid, you know," he said. "I saw Bellatrix grab Remus. Have you got him back yet?"

I gulped; I hadn't been expecting that. "No. We haven't."

"Great, I can join in the fun," Sirius declared, and though the words were conversational, his expression was determined. "When do we leave?"

"We?" I repeated. "You aren't going anywhere, Mr. I-was-trampled-by-a-hippogriff."

"That was an exaggeration!" Sirius insisted. "I'm absolutely fine."

To prove his point, he climbed right out of bed and started walking to the door, only to stumble and fall flat on his face, groaning slightly and turning red from obvious embarrassment.

"Yep," I said dryly, helping him up. "Absolutely fine."

"I am fine," Sirius claimed resolutely. "See, that didn't even hurt."

"Sure," I replied, raising an eyebrow. "Should we see what the Healers say about your supposed status of 'fine'?"

Sirius paled. "Er, no, let's not. You've actually got to help me sneak out of here."

"Why?"

"Because," he frowned. "All the potions, and they think I'm 'bad off' and I'll need to stay for 'a while' and they want to do a full scan, in which case they'll find out everything my parents did to me and they'll keep me here even longer!"

"It can't be that bad," I replied, frowning and thinking what could possibly be so bad Sirius didn't want the Healers to know. "I've seen the scan thing Mum did. Mum didn't take you to St. Mungo's."

"Yeah, I saw it too," Sirius said. "And that only went back to when I was ten."

I blanched. "But- but that was a whole lot of injuries, there's no way, in three years-"

Sirius laughed mirthlessly. "Oh, yes, there's a way. To tell you the truth, my parents loved me up until I was four and I started going against them. Little things at first, they never used the Cruciatus until I was six."

I collapsed heavily into my chair as Sirius got back into his bed. "You were six? Sirius, what could possibly make them use that curse on a toddler?"

"I tried to befriend a Muggle," Sirius declared. "I'd been slowly realizing there was nothing wrong with them since I first saw one when I was four."

"Merlin, Sirius," I whispered, shaking my head slightly. "How are you still sane?"

"I'm stubborn," Sirius grinned. "I rather like my sanity, thanks. Besides, we're all a little crazy."

"Some more than others," I teased weakly, head reeling from this new revelation. I'd had no idea how bad my best friend- my brother's childhood had been. "I'm so sorry, Pads."

"Don't be," Sirius said, waving his hand lazily. "It's in the past. Now, what do you say you get me out of here and we go be the crazy Gryffindors we are and go rescue Remus?"

I hesitated; that sounded like a very bad plan, and, yet, I couldn't help but wonder if it actually was a good idea. Granted, I would rather Sirius stay here and safe... but, he was right, the Healers would probably never let him go if they found out about Sirius's childhood. I knew from Mum's face the other day; he was a medical miracle, just because he was still sane.

"Tell you what," I said slowly. "How about I get you out of here only if you promise to listen to me and not do anything dumb."

Sirius's eyes lit up like it was Christmas Day. "You bet, Prongs. This is going to be absolutely wonderful!"

I chuckled, and wondered vaguely how bad he'd take it when I told him to stay at Hogwarts with Lily and Regulus.

A/N: Finally finished this! And you still don't know anything about Moony cause I haven't decided some specifics yet. Some more of poor Siri's childhood revealed. Makes me want to seriously hurt his parents. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Big thank you to jeremiah123, Theta-McBride, Accalia Silvermoon, N.E. Person, and sk8boards4ever for reviewing! Let's see, since you haven't seen poor Moony since last chapter, you can have plushies of him! :) Hope you liked it!

I will never own Harry Potter.