hesmellslikeawetdog
"I was," Remus corrected, hitting each syllable like a nail. "Past tense. Whatever you're trying to say about me, about us, that ended tonight." The hand on the curtain tightened. "As of now, you and I are nothing."
The silence that followed didn't feel empty. It felt total. Sirius's grip loosened. The fabric slid a few centimeters through his fingers before he caught it again, but there was no strength behind it now. The fight went out of his arms as if someone had reached inside and flipped a switch.
"But... I love you," he said.
It came out small. For a boy who'd always worn confidence like a cloak, the words were shockingly bare. No flair, no bravado. Just a cracked confession, a final offering held out with shaking hands.
"You don't do this to someone you love."
-
Or after the prank, nothing is the same between the Marauders anymore: Regulus is ready to blow everything up for having left his brother in what are clearly the wrong hands (Evan and Barty in tow), Remus is a wreck, and Sirius is going down with him.