Hold On

Chapter 17

Remus' POV
It's been 2 and a half days, James and I walked up to our dorm and saw our still sleeping best friends.
James whispered" 2 days straight. How drained are they, Rem?"
I whispered" I haven't a clue, James."
" I mean, they've slept through everything, us being loud in the mornings, us forgetting stuff. I'm starting to get worried."
" Me too..." We sat on his bed, looking at them,
" I could kill their parents... doing this to them! Exhausting their sons so much that all they can do is sleep!"
" Yeah... Come on, we better get to class or we'll be late."
" I don't care."
" I don't really either, but they're still asleep, we'll check on them again once class is over." I hit his shoulder as I stood up, he sighed and we walked out of our dorm.

I was pacing the room of requirement, terribly worried about Nikkie, and Sirius, of course, but Nikkie was mine. I needed him to be okay. He had to be okay, or I might go mad, well, madder than I already am. I punched the wall, then sighed, dropping to my knees, wiping my eyes as tears welled. I stood up, moving my hand quickly, I walked out, heading to meet up with James.

We walked into the dorm, I saw Sirius waking up, I hit James' shoulder then ran to Sirius.
Sirius groaned" What happened?"
James said" Take it easy, mate. You've been asleep for the past two days."
" 2 days?"
" Yeah." He grunted,
" 'M hungry." James chuckled, I smiled, shaking my head,
I said" Yeah, I'd guess so. Dinner is in an hour, can you wait?" He nodded, still trying to wake up,
" Where's Nik?"
" Still asleep." He laid back down, staring at the ceiling,
James said" Sirius, talk to us, mate."
Sirius said" Whatcha wanna know?"
" What the bloody hell happened to cause you to sleep for two days straight?"
" A lot... of torture. They stuck us in a freezing cold room, then zapped us at the party when we'd piss 'em off. Then after the party... they just went at it, till we escaped... he couldn't even walk after it, I had him turn into his animagus and practically carried him to yours." I heard Nikkie whimper, I ran to him, he opened his eyes and looked at me.
He mumbled" W-What..."
I said" Hey, you're okay, you're okay."
" Happened?"
" You've been asleep for the past 2 days, pretty exhausted, huh." He nodded, slowly," Are you hungry?" He nodded again," Dinner's in an hour, yeah?" He nodded again, then gave me puppy-dog eyes. I smiled and hugged him, his arms wrapped around my neck, he nuzzled his face into my shoulder.

We were at dinner, they were eating by themselves, they must have been starving.
Lily said" Oh, they're awake. Thank god." She sighed, then both boys flinched as some kid dropped a plate. James ran his hand through Sirius' hair as I rubbed Nikkie's back. Then Regulus Black walked up, James stood up, getting in front of both our friends.
He said" Get out of here, Regulus."
Regulus said" You think I liked seeing them get tortured?"
" Possibly, yeah."
" Maybe if they just behaved-"
" Sod off! You could have helped them! He's your brother."
" They were acting like fools! Mother and father were beyond embarrassed."
" Leave, Regulus. Before I make you." He held up his wand, cocking his head a bit to the side." I'm not bluffing." Regulus backed down and walked away, I sighed, James watched him walk away before dropping his wand arm.
Lily said" You weren't actually going to hurt him, right?"
" I wasn't bluffing." He sat back down next to Sirius,
" James, you weren't going to hurt him."
" He stood by and watched them scream in agony... maybe he deserves some pain too." Sirius was shaking," Sirius?"
Sirius snarled" Screw the lot of them." He slammed his fists onto the table, and his fear has turned to anger. Fantastic. Nikkie flinched and buried himself under my arm, I sighed and rubbed his shoulder, trying to comfort him.

Sirius was pacing the dorm, he was too angry for his own good, Nikkie was curled up on my lap, playing with the buttons on my shirt.
James said" Sirius, mate, you've got to calm down."
Sirius said" He had the audacity to walk up to us! After watching us get tortured! Standing idly by!"
" He's an ass, just like the rest of your family."
" I could kill him!" James took his wand away from him,
" Just going to take this till you've calmed down."
" Good idea..." He breathed heavily, pacing faster," What if they come back? Either of them!"
" You think I'd let anything happen to you again?"
" You can't stop them! They're evil. Evil always wins."
" Not twice. I swear, Sirius. I'm not letting them take you again."
" No!" He screamed, punching the wall with all his strength, he breathed heavily then walked to his bed. He just held out his fist,
" Episkey." Healing Sirius of any injury to his hand," Feel better yet?"
" Not really."
" Want to lay down now?"
" Yeah." James pushed him back, he laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling, exhausted from the burst of energy he had with the anger.
" Good. Lay."
He grumbled" Shut it, Prongs."
I whispered" Nikkie, you okay?" He nodded against my chest," Wanna look at me?" He shook his head," Okay." I rubbed his back, kissing his head, he looked up at me.
He whispered" Can we take a bath?" I smiled, nodding my head,
" Yeah, darling." He laid his head back on my chest, I sighed then looked to James, who was playing with Sirius' hair, and Sirius, who was already back to sleep.
James said" He all right?" I shook my head once I felt him doze off again," Yeah, they didn't deserve that."
" I wish we could actually help them."
" Why can't we?"
" We can't know how they feel, James. Sirius turns his fear into anger, and he was pissed. Nikkie is too quiet, especially when he's upset."
" We can still be there for them."
" Yeah, we can, all we want. We can support them, comfort them, but in the end, it'll have to be themselves to pull back."