Author's note: CW discussion of intrusive thoughts

-x-

It was so hard sitting on the secret. Remus kept wanting to tell them, he was so excited! He could tell Pete was excited too, and it didn't take long for James and Sirius to figure out the two were keeping something from them. They kept trying to get the secret out, but Remus and thankfully Peter held firm, promising they'd share the secret on Friday. The two taller Marauders begged while the two smaller ones kept their mouths shut, rather enjoying seeing them squirm. Sirius said it wasn't fair, and Remus called him a hypocrite since the other three Marauders constantly kept secrets from Remus.

"Like what?!" Sirius demanded.

Remus stared. "The polyjuice potion? All your other little ideas to try and help me?"

His face darkened a little as James laughed. "That's different," Sirius insisted.

Remus's eyebrows shot right up, and he folded his arms, tilting his head. "How so?"

"It—you—the—" Sirius spluttered, before drawing himself to full height. "It just is!"

Remus laughed, not pressing the matter. They both knew Sirius lost. "You'll find out tomorrow, I promise."

But oh it was so hard to wait! He kept thinking about the books and on Friday morning, during their free period, he gave in. He told the others he needed to do something in the dorm, then he left; he intended on only getting one book, maybe two, and reading through them between classes. He wasn't going to look around much at all. Just see what sort of books were there.

But when he got to the hallway he froze, staring into Peter's accusing eyes.

"I knew it!" Pete flung a pointed finger towards him. "I knew you were sneaking up here!"

He went beet red. "Ah—I was—the thing—erm—"

Pete stamped his foot. "You made me promise and I've been keeping that promise!"

Remus ducked his head, feeling guilty. "I kept it too. I haven't told them. And I was only—only going to—er—"

"So it's okay if I wait but not you?"

He hung his head more. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, shame welling up inside of him. "I've been thinking about all those books in there and—and I gave into my temptation." He glanced at the wall then back at Peter. "I'm sorry."

Peter folded his arms, trying to scowl but was obviously not very angry. "It's all right. I'm excited too."

They headed back down to the corridor where James and Sirius were hanging out, neither of them the wiser to where Pete and Remus had been. Remus felt awful for the rest of the day, though part of him kept whispering that he never promised not to go back—just that they promised not to show James and Sirius until that evening. Still…

The day dragged on, the hours getting longer and longer as supper approached. The last free period was agony and even worse was the fact that after class, he'd still have to wait till after James's practice was over! And probably wait until after the others got some food in them.

At a little before four, Remus met up with Lily and Aegis to head to Ancient Runes. They were talking about something he couldn't really pay attention to, and probably would have been lost in a daydream about the storage room the entire lesson if someone didn't stop them from going into the classroom.

It was Jha, and he asked Remus if he had talked to Twycross yet. Remus stared blankly, trying to figure out what Jha meant. "For Defense?" Jha asked, squinting a bit.

"Oh!" Remus shook his head. "No, not yet. I—I lost track of time. Sorry. I'll ask her t—soon." He doubted he'd see her that night.

"You could ask her now," Lily said, pointing over to where Twycross was taking her seat.

Jha raised his eyebrows, a little smirk on his face. Sighing, Remus went into the classroom and over to the one person in the school he wanted to avoid the most. He hated some of the Slytherins more, but every time he even looked at Twycross all he could think about was her father's job.

"Pardon, er, Twycross?" he asked, and she looked up at him. "Uh—I was wondering… w-well, we were wondering—I mean, Jha, Maji, and I were wondering—"

"What are you babbling on about?" she asked crossly. "Class is going to start soon."

"The spells," he forced out. "For Defense. I think we should d-discuss them more and—and come to a group decision."

She flicked her ponytail over her shoulder. "Why?"

He blinked. "Erm. Be-because it's a—a group… project…?"

"Yes but Jenkins and I are the ones doing the spells, so we should get the final say," she said then she turned to look at Jenkins. "Right?"

"Huh? Are you talking to me?"

Twycross groaned. "Yes! Lupin says he and the others want to do different spells!"

Jenkins shrugged. "Yeah, Jha told me yesterday."

"Nobody tells me anything!" Twycross snapped bitterly. "You are all leaving me out of this?!"

Now Jenkins sighed. "Don't blame me! Jha said Loopy talked to you."

Twycross glared at Remus. "I, erm, was—was going to talk to you before today but—er—"

"I'm not changing my spell," she said firmly, whipping her head around to look at Jenkins. "I don't care if you do, but I am doing what I said I'd do. Now—look, we're going to get in trouble!" Quirke and Codde were setting things up at the front of the room but neither were paying attention to Remus or Twycross. "Go away!" she growled, sitting down quickly.

At least Jha had been near enough for his book to record all that down so Remus didn't need to repeat it to him. He sat down in his seat a little dejectedly, wishing he was stronger—braver—able to stand up to people like Twycross when they were like that.

He was a little grumpy through the rest of the class and after he almost went to the library before realizing he needed to be in the Great Hall, to meet with the Marauders. He sat at the corner of the Gryffindor table with his nose in a book, eating an apple and casting long looks at the doors until his friends came in. Peter was practically bouncing as he walked, while James and Sirius looked weary.

"Now can you tell us the big secret?" James demanded, throwing himself next to Remus. "Idiot here won't stop grinning like a demented ghoul." That sent Pete into a burst of giggles.

"Don't you want to eat first?" Remus asked.

"NO!" all three shouted in unison, garnering many looks from other students.

He shut his book, shrugging as he put it away. "Fine. Let's go. Peter—" He hesitated, nearly adding 'and I', before stopping. "Peter found a secret room."

"That's it?" James asked, sounding annoyed as they left the Hall. "A secret room?"

"Oh, it's brilliant," Peter giggled. "Wait till you see. It's more than a room. It's got—oh, you'll see!"

Sirius jammed his hands in his pockets. "This better be one hell of a room, with the way you're going on about it."

"Probably one we already know about," James said with a sigh. "Here I thought it was something brilliant."

Remus and Peter exchanged smiles, knowing perfectly well the others hadn't discovered it.

They went up to the seventh floor, heading towards the tapestry of Barnabas and the trolls. Remus hesitated, then smiled, telling them to wait a moment. He then began walking back and forth three times, thinking carefully about the storage room. James's mouth hung open and Sirius raised his eyebrows when the door appeared. Remus hummed what he could remember of the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey as he shoved the door open.

"Holy—"

"Hippogriffs."

The Marauders went in, and excitement seized hold of Remus as he stared around the room again. He had almost forgotten how crowded it was, how full of things it was. As the others gaped, he shut the door behind them so nobody would see the door if anyone happened to come by.

"It turns into two rooms," Pete said. "I mean, the room is two different rooms. Remus says it's what you think about. There's this room and then there's, um, you know, sort've like the common room with couches an' stuff."

James pushed his glasses up. "What do you mean two different rooms?"

"When I walked in front of it three times," Remus explained, sidling over towards a stack of books. "You do that while thinking about which room you want. This one or the lounge room. Or common room. Or whatever it is." He plucked a book from the pile at random. "The door opens into whichever one you're wanting—or needing. You know, I'm not entirely sure which it is. Maybe both?"

He opened the book up to see it was published fifty years ago. It was a book about home care. Spells to fix leaky roofs, ways to get rid of garden gnomes, what to do when infested by doxies… He closed it and opened another, finding a history of buizels. He idly flipped through, not realizing the others were talking until he heard a crashing sound. He looked up to see James had knocked over one of the suits of armor.

"Oops."

"Better be careful," he warned.

"Think Dumbles knows about this room?" James asked.

"Probably; he's the Headmaster, he knows everything about the school," Pete said, studying a fishing pole. "Right?"

"The castle's probably got its secrets, even from him," Sirius said, picking up an old tiara and fiddling with it. "I mean, he didn't know about Professor Young, right? The tunnels? And the underground stuff?"

Peter shuddered, face paling. "Please don't remind me of that. I still have nightmares."

"I wonder what this place is?" James asked, picking up an ancient looking broom.

"A Room of Hidden Things," Sirius said confidently and all three of them stared at him. "Right? Ow!" He yanked the tiara off his head. "That…" He didn't finish his sentence as he tossed the tiara on top of a bookshelf where it rolled off and onto a dresser.

"Room of what?" Remus asked.

"Huh?" Now Sirius laughed. "Oh, I dunno, it just popped into my head." He stared off to where the tiara landed, a frown on his face.

"The Room of Hidden Things," James muttered, trying to get the broom to go into the air. "It doesn't really ring, does it? Aw, come on, up! AAAUGH!" He screamed out as the broom bucked backwards, throwing him off and onto a huge stack of books, sending them all crashing down.

"Well, pardon!" Sirius huffed, finally tearing his gaze back to the group. "What would you call it then?"

James grunted as Peter helped him up. "I don't know. Room of Thrice."

"Room of Mice?"

"THRICE!" James dusted himself off. "You know, since Remy walked three times in front of it? It is three times, right?" Remus nodded before going back to his book. "There, you see."

He was lost in the words again, tuning out James and Sirius arguing over what to call the room. Finally, he shut the book and suggested the Room of Desire since it gave you whichever room you want, then went bright pink when Sirius said that sounded like a brothel's name. Pete wanted to know what a brothel was, and James told him it's where they made soup.

"How about the Room of Marauders," James said, ignoring Pete as he demanded to know what a brothel was.

"The Room of James's Arrogance," Remus replied and James gave him the two finger salute.

"It's where people go and shag prostitutes," Sirius told Peter who clamped his mouth shut, going redder than Remus had. He began choking on nothing and probably would have died if James hadn't whacked his back until he could breathe again.

"Why do we need a name anyway?" Remus asked.

"I dunno, Sirius is the one who said Room of Hidden Things," James said as he began going through a pile of magazines, examining a Quidditch one from ages ago that looked ready to fall apart. "Besides, this place feels like it needs a name, doesn't it?"

"Room of Prostitutes," Sirius said and Peter began dying again. Sirius grinned wickedly.

Remus found another book and began browsing through. "Room of Thrice isn't bad, and it rolls off the tongue."

"Like a prostitute," Sirius added.

"STOP!" Peter shrieked, wallowing on the ground as he went rather purple.

Sirius laughed as he went over to the life-sized stuffed troll, examining it. "Room of Thrice isn't too bad, really." He tugged at the figure then, after deciding it was sturdy enough, began climbing on top. He snagged the helmet and sword off some armor as he went and was soon perched on the troll's shoulder, sword raised like a knight going into battle. "Imagine having battle trolls. CHARGE!"

"They did, though," Remus muttered, mostly to himself as he began to get lost in a book.

"Peter?" James asked, and Pete made a gurgling sound; he was now face down against a pile of pillows. "Thrice?"

"Mmmph."

"Is that a mumble of agreement?"

"Mmmph."

"I'll just assume yes. All right, then. Room of Thrice!"

Time passed quickly for Remus, who had no idea how much had gone by. He sat down in the middle of a book-made aisle with a pile of books in front of him, going through them in hopes of finding something interesting. He occasionally looked up when he heard a crashing sound or loud shriek, but with the walls of books on either side of him he couldn't tell what was going on. Hopefully they weren't destroying anything.

Then suddenly Sirius was in front of him, grabbing his hand and tugging him to his feet, telling him something happened; he could hear Peter wailing from somewhere in the enormous room. He allowed himself to be led through a maze of books and furniture until Sirius pulled him to a small 'clearing' where Peter stood with a wooden… thing attached to his hand. James kept tugging at it and Peter whimpered in pain.

"Stop," Remus snapped, hurrying over. "That's dangerous."

James let go while Peter's eyes grew huge. "Dangerous?"

"It's a very old-fashioned thief deterrent, sold to those who couldn't magically protect whatever it was they needed to protect." Remus took Peter's hand, pulling it close for inspection. The object was roughly shaped like a solid mitten and it was clasped tightly around Pete's hand like it was shaking it. "Very, very old. You're in luck."

"Luck?"

Remus pushed his fringe back. "These are supposed to go for the wrist and they dig little strands of magic into you. The only way to remove it is either the proper password from the owner, going to a healer and having it removed, or cutting off your hand."

"MY HAND HAS TO BE CUT OFF?!" Peter screamed, going pure white. He looked ready to faint and might have collapsed if Sirius wasn't suddenly by his side, putting an arm around him to keep him upright.

"No…" Remus shook his head and bent in even closer, studying where the wooden 'mitten' was touching Pete's skin. "As I said, it's old. The spells on it haven't been kept up so it should easily be removed. Where did you get it?"

James pointed to a trunk of old clothes, and that's when Remus realized James was wearing a pointed hat styled from the 17th century, Sirius wore a ruffled shirt over his clothes, and Peter had a fancy belt on. They were playing dress up.

Sighing, Remus sat down on the floor with Peter, having James and Sirius light up their wands so he could see better. He pushed his finger between the wood and Pete's hand, running along the edge, asking if anything hurt. Pete said it only hurt when James tried to yank it off. Remus explained that's because the magic in the center was still active, though weakened. If it was as strong as it was back when it was made, he wouldn't have been able to put his finger between the wood and Pete.

"This might feel weird." Remus carefully wriggled the tip of his wand under the edge of the wood. "Finite incantatem." He put a lot of effort and focus into the spell, and felt the wooden mitten loosen slightly. Licking his lips, he tried again, this time with more force. Peter yelped in pain, and the wood was almost completely loose. "Finite incantatem!" He felt sweat dripping down his forehead and soaking his armpits, and the wooden mitten fell to the ground, a little bit of Peter's flesh still clinging to it.

Peter was silent for half a second then began shrieking in pain as blood dripped down his hand.

Remus slumped back, letting the others take care of Pete while he used the hem of his jumper to mop up the sweat before turning to the wooden mitten. Gingerly, he picked it up, inspecting it carefully. He prodded it with his wand a few times and was satisfied the thief deterrent was completely harmless; the centuries old spell was gone. After wrapping it up in an old sock, he shoved it deep inside the trunk.

"You're fine!" James was saying. Peter had stopped screaming and was just sniffling now as James tied a handkerchief tightly around the wound. "I'm sure some healing salve will fix it right up."

"Or you'll lose your hand," Sirius said and Peter gave another wail.

"Salve'll fix it," Remus muttered, rubbing his eyes, exhausted now from the effort. "I think this is a sign we should go back to our dorm."

"But we've barely started to explore!" James protested. There were faintly shimmering designs on his hat that sparkled as he moved his head. Remus opened his mouth to argue then began swaying, nearly falling into James who caught him. "You all right?"

Sirius put a hand to his forehead. "I think getting that thing off Petey took it out of him. We should get him back to his bed. Here, I'll carry him."

"I'm fine," Remus argued as James transferred him to Sirius's warm, comfortable arms. "I can walk!" He pulled away and stumbled, ignoring Sirius's raised eyebrows. "I can walk," he repeated firmly.

As they headed out of the room, James took the hat off, leaving it near the door; he double-checked with Remus that they could come back the next day and Remus gave a sleepy sort of nod. He knew they'd be exploring that place for weeks.

Despite what he said, it was hard to walk. It felt like his core had weakened. Almost like he had been sick for a week or something. His muscles ached, throbbing a little as his werewolf ability kept trying to heal him. But there was only so much it could do against magical exhaustion. At least he hadn't passed out, like he did back in their first year.

They got back to their dorm, where James got out his potions to rub on Pete's wound, and Remus collapsed on his bed. He kicked off his shoes before wriggling his way to the top of the bed, managing to tug part of his blanket over him before falling asleep.

X

Tap-tap.

"Remy?"

Remus stirred, eyelids fluttering open as bewilderment swept through him. It took another moment for his brain to catch up, to remember everything that happened. "Huh?"

His curtains twitched aside and Sirius's pale face peered in. "Hey."

"Was I—" He broke off into a yawn as he sat up. "Did I yell out?"

"No. I needed to talk to you. Can I… er, come in?" Remus nodded and Sirius crawled into his bed, shutting the curtains behind him. "James just went to sleep."

Remus rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?"

"I think around three. I didn't want to wake you up but I did want to talk to you about—about—" Sirius stopped, gaze sliding down as if it was something… embarrassing? "How are you feeling? Any better?"

"That's not what you wanted to talk about."

Sirius sighed. "No, but I want to know."

"Better." Remus shifted into a fully sitting position, feeling more awake. "How's Pete?"

"Grumpy that he had to be a looko—oh, his hand? Fine."

His eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Lookout?"

Sirius gave him a grin. "For the portrait, to keep it open. James and I went back to the room. We just got back half an hour ago. Found some really neat stuff. There's this jeweled dagger I found that you really ought to see, I think it's—"

Remus shook his head, not surprised. "What did you want to talk about?" Sirius didn't respond right away, he simply fiddled with his fingernails, studiously looking away from Remus. "What's going on?"

Sirius sighed, letting his hands drop. "I think that thing I put on earlier was cursed or something."

"Hmm?"

He reached up, miming putting something on his head. "That… crown thing?"

"Why do you think it was cursed?" He thought back to what had happened. "You reacted like it hurt you. Did it?"

"No, I mean—not physically. It—I—" Sirius raked his fingers through his hair. "When I put it on, I felt smarter all of a sudden. That's when I thought of the hidden items thingie, you know." Remus nodded, not sure where this was going. "But then I felt angry. T—towards you." His voice had dropped to a whisper, and he looked so apologetic that it took a couple of seconds for his words to reach Remus's brain.

"Angry?"

"For being so smart, all the time. That's when I yanked the thing off and threw it. I—I didn't like feeling that. And I knew it had to be the crown because I really like—how smart you are," he said, hesitating for just the barest, minimum, splittest of seconds that sent a shiver down Remus's spine at what could have been said. "But I felt guilty for feeling that way."

"It sounds like it wasn't of your own volition," Remus said slowly. "The tiara was probably cursed, or perhaps it was a prank thing. You know, put it on and you're smart but also jealous."

Sirius was shaking his head like he didn't believe it. "I can still feel it, a little bit. It's been fading but—but—it's still there. A little sliver of… well, jealousy. And anger. It's lingered."

Remus reached over, nervously putting a hand on Sirius's arm to reassure him. "Again, it isn't your fault. I think you're right. Your feelings came from that tiara." Sirius slid back a little, looking so small. More like a child than he had when he was eleven. Remus wondered what was really bothering him. "Sirius?"

Then suddenly he was all smiles. "You're right, it's not of my own volition, yeah? Nothing to worry about—"

"Sirius."

"Sorry to bother you—"

"Sirius!"

Sirius was climbing over him, tumbling out of the bed. Remus followed him, scared about how bizarre his friend was acting.

"What's wrong?" Remus whispered, keeping his voice down as much as possible. "Do you want me to wake up James so you can talk to him?" It hurt a little to ask that but Sirius was closer to James than to him.

Sirius hesitated, eyes flickering around the dark room before shaking his head. "Come on," he mumbled, dragging Remus out of the dorm room and into the bathroom.

"I'm worried about you," Remus said as soon as the door shut. "I've never seen you act like this."

"I don't want to be like them," Sirius said bluntly. Remus frowned. "My family."

"You're not."

He slumped down against the wall. "Sometimes I'm scared I will be. End up like them. When my temper gets really bad. Or when I feel like I did earlier, towards you. Even if it was the tiara-crown-thing, it—I don't—I got scared because of how intense the—the negative feelings were. The anger. The jealousy. It made me worry that that's the truth of me. Deep down. That I'm a—a bad person. Like them."

Remus swallowed heavily before reaching out, taking Sirius's hands without even thinking. "You're not a bad person. And this proves it. If you were a bad person, you wouldn't be so worried about being one. Isn't that what you've told me a zillion times? And jealousy isn't necessarily a bad thing. Everyone gets jealous, in some way or another. You were in contact with some really messed up magic that simply magnified it."

He itched to put his hands on Sirius's cheeks; not in a romantic gesture but a reassuring one, but he was also too afraid to do such a thing.

"Maybe it just brought out what's inside of me."

"Hey." He tightened his grip on Sirius's hands, only a little. He didn't want to hurt him. "You're a good person. A damn good person. James, Peter, and I all know that. Plus, if I have to trust you when you say I'm not a bad person then you have to trust me in reverse. It's only fair."

That managed to bring a small smile to Sirius's face. "Sometimes I get… thoughts. Bad thoughts."

Remus thought of all the times he had to force the wolf back down, or when his anxiety got the better of him; when his brain tried to convince him his friends hated him, or he was doing something wrong, or, or, or.

"Do you want to have them?"

"No," Sirius retorted without any hesitation. Then he moaned. "You're going to tell me that's more proof I'm not a bad person, aren't you?"

"Isn't it?"

He thought Sirius would argue or make a joke. Instead he looked down and said, "I wish I wasn't an Occlumens. I wish Miss Fawley could look in my head like she does you three, and—and she could tell me."

There was something about that that made Remus feel ill. It seemed so unnatural for Sirius to need so much validation. "You don't need someone to scour every inch of your brain to know if you're good or not." He ached to help him though, ached to make all this pain and fear go away. He hated seeing Sirius so… hurt.

"You don't know what it's like, though," Sirius whispered. "Being in my family."

"I don't," Remus admitted, wanting to tell him, I know they abuse you, they hurt you, they mistreat you, you deserve better, so much better. "But I know you. You are good, and kind, and strong, and—and from where I'm standing, you are better than them. And you shouldn't let a touch with—with weird, or dark, or awful magic—whatever it was—make you feel like you're not."

"Sometimes I want to hurt people," Sirius blurted out. Remus stared at him and he looked away, face darkening a little. "Sometimes when I get mad, I want to lash out."

Blood dripping down his nose, the blackness ebbing at his vision, the painful claws as the wolf tried to break free. Oh, Remus knew what it was like to want to lash out. And part of him wanted to tell Sirius he understood. To tell him how he felt when things got… like that. But a little part of him was also afraid because it was different. He was a werewolf. Sirius was human. Sirius's desire to lash out was a lot safer than Remus's.

That didn't mean it was easier, and he knew it, and also knew it would be vastly unfair if he said any of that.

He also wondered if he could help his friend. He didn't know what else to say. This all felt beyond him. He wanted to erase Sirius's hurt but he simply didn't know what else to do about it. Because he didn't know how far down the rabbit hole went, how deep this pain was for Sirius. How it was being in the Black family. Then…

"I think you should talk to Miss Fawley," he said and Sirius looked back, startled. "Even if she can't see your memories like you want her to, she is a good listener and gives good advice." He gave Sirius a wry smile. "I'll bet you a galleon she'll tell you that it's only human to want to lash out like that. And for what it's worth, I agree."

He did know one thing to say. Something he knew he'd want to hear if the situation was reversed.

"Also, I'm not bothered by that," he said cautiously. "I don't…" The words were slipping around, difficult to grab hold. He felt his tongue getting thicker and his mouth drying out. Then, suddenly, the words flowed out as if they had been there the whole time. "I don't think any less of you for wanting to lash out, or to sometimes hurt people."

Sirius's expression softened a little. "I tell you I want to hurt people and you don't care?"

Remus shrugged. "Wanting to do something and actually doing them are two very different things. We can't control our wants, as much as we wish we could sometimes."

Merlin did he know that.

"Didn't you just try to tell me that wanting to not have these bad thoughts makes me a good person? But now it doesn't matter what I con—I mean, it doesn't—the wants I—" He stopped, sucking in a deep breath. "Bollocks. Which is it, then? Me wanting isn't a bad thing or me doing isn't a bad thing?"

He frowned. "Both. I'm not saying it's one or the other. And that—that's not quite the same thing. I mean… we all have things we actively want to do, ones we do control or embrace or put out in the world; and then we have other wants we can't control and don't want to… er, want, and I don't think we should be judged on those. And those are very different wants. And I think it's okay—it's human to have both."

Sirius was silent for a few seconds then, "You're right." His expression softened a little. "As always, you're right."

"Not always."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Enough times you are." He pulled his hands free (had they been holding hands all that time?) and tousled Remus's hair. "I think I will talk to Miss Fawley, if she doesn't mind. I know she… it's… a bit awkward since… you know, my aunt and all, but…"

"Miss Fawley cares about you." He remembered something, and smiled. "Though I don't know if she would be the best person to talk to about tempers, considering she gave her ex-husband permanent donkey ears."

Sirius laughed, a real laugh, that made Remus giggle too. Then Sirius was hugging him tightly.

"Thanks, Remy. I'm glad I decided to talk to you."

Remus tried hard to fight off the wants he didn't want to want as he hugged Sirius back. "Anytime. I mean it." He paused. "Is… this something you've never talked about with… er, anyone?"

"You mean James," Sirius said, and Remus shrugged. "No. Not like this. He knows some things but not—not this much. I love him, but sometimes it's hard since he's… it seems like he's never had many problems, do you know what I mean?"

He hasn't been through as much trauma as we've been through as kids, Remus thought, and simply nodded in silence.

"I've certainly never told anyone about wanting to hurt people," he added quietly.

"Well, as I said, that doesn't make you a bad person."

Sirius looked at the far wall. "It makes me feel like a Black."

"Not to me," Remus said quickly. "And didn't you just say I'm right enough times?"

Another laugh, and this time Sirius elbowed him. "I'm glad you don't see me that way, at least."

"Never," Remus promised. Sirius stared at him for so long that he wondered if there was something else… but then Sirius's smile returned, and he opened the bathroom door.

They went back to their dorm, Sirius going to his bed, Remus going to his. He lay there for a long time until he was sure Sirius was asleep and then he got up, putting his slippers on and leaving the dorm. He went down and out of the common room, hoping the Fat Lady would still be there when he got back. If not… well, it wouldn't be the first time he slept somewhere else.

He went back and forth until the Room opened up to the storage room. "Lumos," he said once the door was shut, and went over to where he had seen Sirius toss the tiara. He stared at it for several minutes, wondering if it was cursed… or just a prank object. Maybe it was one of those things nasty wizards made to throw out into the Muggle world.

No matter what it was, Remus didn't want it laying around like that, especially so near the door. He grabbed an old curtain lying bunched up nearby and used that to pick the tiara up, not wanting to touch it with his bare hands. He wandered deeper into the room until he felt completely lost. He finally stopped, looking around to decide where to put it before deciding on behind an old crate. He leaned across the crate, accidentally knocking over a bust of a rather ugly warlock that had been perched on the crate. Quickly, he jammed the tiara down behind the crate then picked the bust up, wincing when he saw he had chipped it. Oh well. He placed it back where it was then stepped back, kicking the little piece of marble nose away before making sure there was no noticeable sign of the tiara.

Satisfied, he left the Room of Thrice and returned to his dorm, glad the Fat Lady was still there to let him in. He crawled into bed and soon fell back into a deep sleep.