Sanctuary

Chapter 45

Saturday, 9th September 1972

Remus took little notice of the owl at the window once he knew it wasn't for him, not until Sirius started growling under his breath, anyway. The enraged sound made him look up from his book and frown at his friend in concern. It was more than likely another cruel letter from his mother, and it was even more likely that he would need comforting when he was finished reading it. With that in mind, Remus put his book to one side, but before he could stand, Sirius screwed the parchment up in his fist and stormed from the room.

When Remus glanced over at James and Peter, he found them both looking back at him, their faces mirroring the alarm he was feeling, and without a moment's hesitation, all three jumped to their feet and followed Sirius out of the door.

His anger-fuelled sprint from the dorm had given him a head start, and Remus, James and Peter could do nothing more than keep him in sight as they followed his dash down the Grand Staircase and into the dungeons.

When the three finally caught up with him, he was pounding his fists on the blank stretch of wall that hid the Slytherin common room and shouting for Regulus to get his ass outside immediately. Blood trickled down his wrists where he'd torn the skin of his hands on the rough stone, and the smell made Remus' mouth water, but he ignored it. This wasn't the time for him to have a crisis.

Remus reached out to grab his arm and stop him from doing any further damage to his knuckles. 'Sirius, stop. You're hurting yourself.'

Sirius whirled around and glared at him. 'Do you know another way to get him out here? No? Then shut the fuck up, Lupin!' He turned back to the wall and continued pounding on it. Remus was reminded of the last time a letter from home had caused Sirius to yell at him and continued on undeterred. Sirius' anger wasn't directed at him, not really. It was directed at Regulus and whatever was in that letter. Remus wasn't going to let it keep him from protecting Sirius. Even if the person he needed protecting from was himself.

He grabbed Sirius' wrist again and James grabbed the other one. Together, they pulled him away from the wall.

'Stop it. Right now,' James said, his voice firm. 'We'll wait here for someone to come out or go in, alright?'

Sirius struggled against them for a minute but the fight was averted when the wall vanished and a Slytherin first year stepped out. She glanced at them suspiciously, her eyes darting down to Sirius' bloody fists and noting James and Remus' death grips on his wrists.

Peter jumped into action when he saw her. 'Hey, do you know Regulus Black?'

She raised an eyebrow but nodded. 'He's in the common room.'

'Would you please tell him his brother's waiting outside to have a word?'

She turned around and walked back towards the common room. After just a few steps, the wall reappeared and they could no longer see her, but they only had to wait a few seconds before it vanished again to reveal the girl had returned with Reg in tow. Remus daren't let go of Sirius yet, though; he didn't know what he might do, and James seemed to have the same reservations because he continued to keep a tight hold on his other arm.

'Thank you, Annette,' Regulus said to the girl. She nodded to him and headed down the corridor towards the Great Hall. They all watched her leave and when she disappeared out of sight, Regulus turned to Sirius and sighed.

'What do you want, Sirius? It had better be important.'

Sirius tried to get his arms free again, but Remus and James refused to let go.

'Will you get off of me? I'm not going to hit him for fuck's sake.'

'You promise?' James asked.