It was the afternoon when the guards came to get him.

Remus was sitting at the back of his cell, leaning back against the wall with his legs stretched out in front of him. His eyes were closed but his face tense with discomfort. It was the full moon that night and Remus was already feeling its painful effects despite the midday sun shining above the castle. His muscles were tight, especially in his lower back and legs. His head pounded with a heavy and intense migraine and, worse still, his lungs felt like they were on fire as his body prepared to make the transformation from boy to wolf. Any other boy would have long succumbed to the pain, but Remus was no ordinary boy.

Across the corridor, Lily Evans was watching Remus wince. She didn't know what was the matter with him, but had already tried to call out. He had only opened one eye and told her he had a headache then promptly ignored her after that. He knew Lily wasn't stupid though and so he tried his absolute best to keep his expressions of pain to a minimum. Worrying Lily would help no one.

But of course, he couldn't help it when the guards marched down the corridor and stopped outside his cell. It was a routine he was used to by now but the sight of the Death Eaters still sent shivers of fear down his spine. He opened his eyes and looked up at their faces, their eyes cold and hating.

"Time to go," one said gruffly. "Get up. Now!" Remus sighed, pushing himself onto his knees before struggling to his feet. His knees and hips cracked and creaked, his muscles straining and trembling with the effort. Eventually, the guards grew impatient. One of them drew his wand, muttered a quick unlocking spell and marched inside the cell. He grabbed Remus by the back of the neck, ignoring his whimpers and cries of pain as he was dragged out of the cells and into the corridor. The guard threw him into the bars of Lily's cell with a clang.

"Leave him alone!" Lily yelled but quickly fell silent when the other Death Eater cast a sharp stinging charm her way.

"Shut it, mudblood!" He spat.

"Don't call her that," Remus groaned from the floor but that earned him a harsh kick to the ribs.

"You'll have much worse than that in a few hours," snarled the first guard. "You disgusting half-breed!" Remus couldn't help the burn of shame that reddened his cheeks. He looked down at the floor, bowing his head to prevent any further harm from coming to Lily. He let himself be grabbed again and hoisted to his feet. One of the men held him while the other knelt down to remove the fake stone over the passageway. Remus just hoped that Sirius hadn't left anything down there that would give him away. He really didn't want to think about all the trouble the boys would get into. Luckily, as the guards shoved Remus down into the passageway, he could see no evidence of the boys ever having been there.

The two Death Eaters shoved him along, not caring for his aching muscles or creaking bones. Eventually, they came out into the open by the side of the castle. The Forbidden Forest was in sight, as were the ruins of a little hut that used to stand by it. They were met by two other Death Eaters by the door who hauled them up and started shoving Remus towards the Dark Forest.

"Get a move on, beast," the guard snarled. Into the forest they went, and Remus felt himself getting colder and colder as the fear set deep into his bones. He hated the place they locked him in, he was terrified of it. That place had no mercy. None at all. As the forest got thicker, the air became heavy with poison and warning. Even the Death Eaters looked uneasy as they trekked further into the darkness. But their discomfort was nothing compared to the crushing, paralyzing terror that Remus felt squeezing at his heart like a fist.

All too quickly they had arrived. Deep in the forest, at the roots of one of the biggest trees, was Remus's own personal prison. It was much worse than any of the cells under Hogwarts. Dug into the earth was a pit, fortified with protection and strengthening charms to prevent the walls from weakening at the wolf's fury. Covering the pit was a trap door, again strengthened by spells and enchantments. It had been specially constructed just to keep the wolf controlled but out of the way from any wandering students. Out here, it was as far away from anything as it could possibly be.

One of the Death Eaters stepped forwards and opened up the hatch, peering down into the dark. He turned back to the group. "Alright, in you go, mutt," he hissed. Remus was pushed forwards against his will but he didn't struggle. He had long ago stopped fighting against them, knowing it always made it worse in the end. Once he was shoved down into the pit, a Death Eater followed him in and ordered him to back into the mud wall. Remus knew the drill by now. The Death Eater picked up some silver shackles that were bolted into the wall and turned to face Remus, grabbing his wrists and locking them in. Remus tried not to show any pain as the silver burned into his flesh. Once he was 'secured', the Death Eater stepped back and climbed out of the pit.

"See you tomorrow, mutt," he said with a nasty smirk. Then he slammed the trap door closed, locking it from the outside and plunging Remus into darkness.

It was so dark, and so cold. Remus could feel himself shivering already. He slowly slid down the wall, curling his knees up and hugging his legs as he rocked himself. His body hurt, his wrists were searing, and all the while the dark seemed to be closing in on him. It was so suffocating. Remus could hardly breathe. The air refused to reach his lungs and he found himself hyperventilating.

"Calm down," he whispered to himself. "It's okay. It'll be okay. It'll be fine. Please let it be fine..." But despite his words, he broke down in tears all the same, sobs wracking his body. Not for the first time, he found himself thinking of his mother and wishing she were still here. He missed her soft touches, her gentle comfort. He missed the nights she would spend reading him stories of great heroes and amazing adventures. He missed her everlasting love.

But she was gone. And she was never coming back.

He buried his face into his lap, breathing hard, waiting for the moon to rise and for the wolf to take control for the night.

***
Sirius was bored. He had spent the afternoon in the library, trying to complete his Dark Arts homework for the lesson tomorrow. If it had been any other teacher, he probably wouldn't have even bothered to do it. But it was Avery. The Dark Arts teacher had been getting even more evil with the punishments he handed out recently and Sirius didn't want to give him any reason to give him detention. The only thing was, he was meant to be doing his homework with James and yet the other boy hadn't shown up at all.

"Come on, Potter," Sirius muttered. "Don't abandon me here of all places." He glanced out the window and realised that it was starting to get dark. Dinner would be ready soon. Right on cue, his stomach rumbled, demanding to be fed. Sirius sighed, packing up his Ink and quill with his parchment and headed to the Great Hall.

Most of the other first years had already arrived when he got there and he slid onto the bench next to Peter. But James wasn't there. "Where's James, Pete?" Sirius asked the other boy. "Have you seen him?" Peter looked up from his book and shook his head, frowning.

"No, I haven't," he said. "Come to think of it, I don't think I've seen him since potions. Why? You think he's up to something?" Sirius didn't answer, looking down at the table just as the feast appeared.

That was the question, wasn't it? In the past few months, James Potter had disappeared on them quite often. Sometimes he would vanish during the day then suddenly turn up again later that evening, claiming that he'd been studying or having a walk. Other times he'd disappear at night long after curfew and come back late, looking tired as he shuffled back to his bedroom. Sirius had no idea what James was up to, but he was certainly being suspicious about it. Whatever it was, James didn't want anyone else to know, not even Sirius and Peter. Which meant it was something dangerous. Sirius just had to figure it out, for the sake of James's safety. He had to help him no matter what it was. Afterall, he couldn't just let his best mate get himself killed.

As if summoned, the bench suddenly jolted and James heaved himself down next to Sirius. "Where the hell have you been?" Sirius hissed at him. "You had me and Pete worried about you." James reached forwards and started piling his plate up with food.

"I was just doing some homework," he said. "No need to panic." Sirius narrowed his eyes.

"You said you'd do the Dark Arts homework with me," he said. "I was waiting for you in the library all afternoon." James's hand froze as he reached for a dinner roll, his mouth hanging open.

"Oh Merlin, I'm so sorry, Sirius," James rambled. "I must have totally forgotten! I honestly wouldn't have left you if I had remembered! I was just so caught up with-" He stopped suddenly, cutting himself off quickly but Sirius spotted his hesitation. Even Peter looked up, looking at James questioningly.

"Caught up with what, James?" Sirius asked. "Surely not homework." James looked around at the other first years, all of whom were preoccupied with their own conversations. "James," Sirius pressed.

"Nothing," James said softly. Sirius blinked but dropped the subject. It was obvious that James didn't want to talk about it. Maybe later Sirius could try and pry some more information out of his friend. But not now.

They ate dinner quickly and made their way up to the dorms early. Going down each night to see Remus and Lily really took it out of their sleep pattern and so often the three boys would nap until midnight before going down to the dungeons. Later that night, they all met up, sneaking down to the entrance of the secret passageway outside. Recently they had been using it to get into the dungeons as well as out, not wanting to risk running into the guards by going through the main prison entrance. They chatted as they went through the tunnel, reaching the ladder and the trap door. James went through first, pushing up the false stone and climbing up. Peter went next. But just as Sirius was climbing up, he heard a stifled gasp. He scrambled up the ladder, rising to his feet. He looked to Remus's cell and felt his heart plummet.

Remus's cell was empty.

Behind him, he could hear James asking Lily what happened, begging her to tell him. She was shaking, curled up on the stone.

"They took him," she whispered. "The guards took him. I think..."

"You think what?" Sirius asked frantically. "Lily, you think what!?"

"I think they're going to kill him."

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Please forgive any typos, I wrote the majority of this on my phone aha.