There were days when Sirius was cheerful, and days when he was more blue. Regardless, one thing never changed. His distant, evasive nature.
Sirius was different from James because of his caprice. Although extremely different from each other, James, Remus and Peter shared one thing in common. They were consistent. James was consistent in his cheerful confidence, Remus in his diligence and rationality, and Peter in his gentle consideration of matters.
Sirius was only consistent in being inconsistent. He was driven only by his own impulse. His mood depended on nothing substantial. It just simply was.
Which is why James still didn't know how to react when Sirius looked like a walking dead body the next day. He seemed to be in a different world, his eyes never quite focusing on anything.
In the corridor, James caught Remus' arm and pulled him aside. "Hey, James," Remus looked behind him, but Sirius was already gone. He frowned.
"Remus, we have to talk. "
"Okay... but hurry up. I can't miss Potions."
James shook his head. "Not now. Meet me near the Clock Tower after last period, okay?"
Remus agreed, and ran to catch up with Sirius, who was slowly walking towards the Grand Staircase. He didn't seem to have noticed that Remus was missing.
The final period was Arithmancy for Remus, and Muggle Studies for James. Remus mumbled something about a Prefects' Meeting to Sirius, and dropped him off at the portrait of the Fat Lady. He watched him go inside, just to be sure, and set off towards the Clock Tower.
James was waiting for him at its base. They walked away from the school and found a dry bench to sit on.
"Do you have any idea what's going on with Sirius?" James asked, and Remus sighed, shaking his head. "He's not saying anything. Just says that he's worried about Regulus."
James sighed.
"Did you ever ask him about those marks that you saw?"
Remus frowned, "Marks? What marks?" James looked at him in disbelief. "The... burns on his arm?"
Remus frowned harder. "Are you playing some kind of joke, James? Because it's not funny at all."
James shook his head. He felt terribly uneasy, and the feeling that something was very, very wrong tugged at his chest.
"Remus," he said slowly. "I want you to very carefully think back to that night we looked for Sirius in the Shack, but you found him at Honeyduke's instead," he instructed.
Remus nodded.
"What do you remember?"
"He said that he was originally at the Shrieking Shack, but sneaked into Honeyduke's because we might look for him there. And then he fell asleep, he said... and asked me if I was angry, and I asked him why he gave Regulus' notebook back. He said Severus would help... and..." Remus felt dizzy. Why couldn't he remember?
"Do you remember anything else?"
I haven't forgotten, you know
But what exactly hadn't he forgotten by then, that he couldn't recall now?
"I remember asking him about something... we were close..." Remus drew in a breath.
I'm sorry
"A kiss?" he whispered. James would've been a lot more excited about that under different circumstances, but the possibility of something unacceptable was nagging at him.
As Remus tried to recall what had happened that night, he felt a sharp pain in his head.
James' eyes widened as the ugly realisation finally dawned on him. No way. Sirius would never.
He placed his hand on Remus' shoulder as he clutched his head. "Stop trying to remember, Remus. Let it go," he advised. Remus drew in a shaky breath.
Why's your wand pointed at me?
"He cast a Memory Charm on me."
***
Sirius curled up on his bed. He felt awfully cold. "Sirius, mate, are you okay?" A boy asked. Sirius nodded his head. "A little sleepy. I stayed up completing an essay." The boy nodded his head with a friendly smile, and walked outside.
Sirius drifted in and out of sleep. His mind was too busy. He had a heavy feeling, like something really bad was about to happen.
"Sirius," he jolted out of a nonsensical dream when he heard James. "Yeah?" He mumbled. James pulled him up rather roughly. The lack of sleep left him slightly dizzy. He would have to ask Severus for another vial of Wideye Potion.
"Remus wants to meet you. Go to the Astronomy Tower." Sirius was too tired to notice the edge to his voice. He thanked his best friend and made his way outside.
It had just started to rain. The wind made his hair fly behind him as he walked. Small drops of icy water were still clinging to his dark curls when he climbed up the Astronomy Tower. Remus was not there. He went to a glassless window, and looked outside. The view was beautiful, even if the rain painted a grey film over everything. He reached his hand out and held it under the rain. A small smile appeared on his lips as the rain hit his skin.
On hearing footsteps behind him, he turned around.
***
Remus had sent James to tell Sirius that he wanted to meet him at the Astronomy Tower. He had stayed seated until the small raindrops started falling from the grey sky.
As he walked towards the Tower, his anger rose. Sirius had crossed a line, messing with his head. Altering someone's memory was one of the most unethical things a wizard could do. He had absolutely no right.
Remus didn't want to beleive it. Would Sirius actually do that?
He climbed the stairs leading to the top of the tower as slowly as he could. He didn't want to address this. Remus was starting to wonder if he shouldn't have let James talk him into confronting Sirius.
"You have to talk to him about this, Remus. Forgetfulness Charms are not things to be trifled with."
When he reached the top of the stairs, Sirius was looking outside, his back to Remus, with a pale arm extended beyond the building to feel the raindrops. He turned around, face lit up with a wide smile. The wind blew his hair into his face.
He looked so beautiful, with the grey sky as his backdrop.
And Remus had never felt angrier.