The dungeons had never seemed so cold. 

Sirius, James and Peter all stood gaping at Remus's empty cell. Each boy was imagining every terrible thing that could be happening to Remus at that very second while they stood there, unsure of what to do. Sirius himself was panicking to the point where he was pacing up and down the corridor. "We have to go find him," he said, looking at James and Pete then turning to Lily. "We have to save him."

"Are you crazy?" James asked. "We have no idea where he is!"

"We have to try!" Sirius cried. "I promised him, didn't I? I promised him that if he was taken that I'd find him and rescue him. I can't break that promise now." James sighed, running a hand through his hair and turning away. 

"Even if he could find him, he's going to be surrounded by dozens of Death Eaters," James said. "What are three kids that know no real offensive spells going to do against them? They'd catch us then we'd all be expelled. Maybe even something worse." Sirius stared at James, then to Peter who looked awfully conflicted. Maybe James was right. Sirius was thinking like an aristocratic pureblood, one that was treated like a prince with all the protections that came with it. James and Peter didn't have that kind of protection, not like he did. If they were caught, then there was no telling what would happen to them. Worst case scenario for Sirius was a slap on the wrist, and maybe even a repulsive letter from his mother congratulating him on wanting to get involved with torturing a mudblood.

He took a deep breath, his hand going to his forehead in defeat. "You're right," he said to James.

"Well, of course I am," James retorted. 

"You two go back to the dorms," Sirius said. "I'm going to find Remus."

"WHAT!?" James exclaimed. "Are you out of your mind?"

"They won't hurt me," Sirius said. "They wouldn't dare, or face the wrath of my parents. Believe me, no one wants to go up against them."

"Sirius, it's too dangerous," James said desperately. "Please, we can think of something better. We can."

"There isn't time!" Sirius cried, throwing up his hands in exasperation. "Remus could be being tortured right now! I need to do something! I can't just stand here!"

"James," Pete said quietly. "This is Remus we're talking about. I know he's not with us all the time but...but he is our friend. You said you'd always help your friends." James stared at Peter incredulously before his eyes softened. He patted Peter's shoulder, looking down at the ground almost in shame.

"He is our friend," he said softly. "And we should go after him. No matter the cost." Sirius looked at the two boys in front of him and was suddenly hit by just how lucky he was to have them. 

"Wait," a quiet voice said. All three boys whipped round to see Lily, still curled up and shaking in her cell. She looked up at them, her green eyes shining with tears but she slowly rose to her feet, her hands trembling. 

"Merlin, Lily, I'm sorry," James said, rushing towards her. "Are you okay? Did they hurt you?"

"I'm fine," Lily said, her voice firm albeit a little shaken. "But I don't think you should go after Remus." Sirius gritted his teeth, closing his hands into fists at her words. James seemed to notice his anger and gestured for him to calm down.

"We have to go find him, Lily," he said. "He's our mate."

"You don't understand," Lily said, shaking her head. "You didn't hear what the guards were saying. You didn't see what happened."

"You told us that they were going to kill him!" Sirius exploded. "You can't take that back now!" 

"Will you just shut up and let me explain!?" Lily shouted. Sirius fell silent at her outburst, suddenly quite shocked at himself for losing it like that. 

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "Please...tell us what happened." Lily looked at him for a moment before turning back to James.

"It wasn't like when other people get taken," she said. "They didn't take him down the corridor like they take everyone else. They took him down the tunnel under the stone where you guys come from." Sirius furrowed his eyebrows, looking at Peter who also seemed to be on the same line of thought he was.

"I always wondered how he knew about that tunnel," Peter said, voicing Sirius's mind. "He's gone down there before, hasn't he?" Of course, they didn't actually know the answer to that, but Remus had always seemed to know a lot more than he was letting on. If he'd been down the tunnel before, maybe even regularly, then it would explain how he knew to send Sirius down there are a quick escape route. 

"There's one more thing," Lily said. "The Death Eaters who took him...well, Remus didn't seem surprised at all. He didn't even fight. It was like he knew it was coming. Even when they called him half-breed-"

"Wait," Sirius said suddenly, cutting her off. "They called him half-breed?"

"Yes," Lily said, her voice solemn. "When I was at the muggle-born farm, they had some...some poor people that they called 'half-breeds' working there too. Most of them were half-giants. But there was one...one who was a werewolf."

Sirius felt sick. His heart was slamming into his rib cage at such a rapid pace he was sure it was going to explode out of his chest. He looked up at James who also had turned pale and clammy, his eyes wide with shock and maybe the slightest hint of fear. How could Sirius not have seen this before? All the signs were there! All the clues and the hints had been plain to see and yet he'd missed them. He could remember all the lessons he'd had at home from his disgusting tutor, lecturing him on the dangers of beasts and creatures. But always had he hammered home the point that half-breeds were the most dangerous of the lot of them. Monsters that could pass off as human, as even a wizard in some cases, but inside were vicious creatures. 

Sirius should have put together the signs. Remus' scars, the lines scratched into the back wall of his cell, the way he refused to tell Sirius the truth of why he was in here in the first place, the word BEAST that Parkinson had carved into his arm, the full moon tonight... All the pieces of the puzzle slotted together. 

"You think Remus is a werewolf?" Peter squeaked. "A werewolf!? Are you mad?"

"She's right," James said quietly. "I mean, it makes sense."

"Then why didn't he tell us?" Peter asked. 

"Because he was scared," Sirius said finally. "He was scared of what we'd think." He glanced at the other three who looked at him, confused. "I mean, Remus has been in...in 'captivity' for so long. People hate werewolves. They call them dangerous and vicious and monsters. Some of them are."

"But not Remus!" Lily cried. "Never Remus! He's kind and thoughtful! He's been nothing but nice to me since I got here." She suddenly looked cross. "Don't tell me you three are just as prejudice as the awful people who put us in here?!" James looked at Lily sheepishly.

"We've all heard terrible stories of what werewolves have done," he said meekly.

"I don't care!" Lily said, stamping her foot. "Remus hasn't done anything! Oh come on, you all know just as well as I do that Remus wouldn't hurt a fly if he could help it! Oh, how scared he must be, having to transform out there alone! Don't you have any sympathy? Aren't you worried for what he might be going through?" Sirius had never thought about what it must be like for a werewolf to transform before. He supposed it must be dreadfully painful, all your bones snapping out of place like that. Suddenly, a wave of guilt washed over him. Was he really just thinking that Remus was a monster?

"They've obviously taken him some place for him to transform," Lily continued, breathing hard and her cheeks flushed in her anger. "They can't exactly have him transform here with all the prisoners. God...he looked really ill when he left too..."

"Lily's right," Sirius said suddenly. "Remus...Remus can't be like all the werewolves we've heard about. He's different. Besides, have any of us actually met a werewolf before?" Both James and Peter shook their heads slowly. "There, exactly. So how can we make a judgement then. I'm sure that Remus doesn't want to hurt us at all."

He watched as Peter and James looked at each other, a silent agreement going between them. "All right," James said. "All right, but we stay vigilant. Tomorrow, when they bring Remus back from wherever they take him to transform, we force him to tell us the truth. Then we can decide what to do." Sirius wasn't quite keen on the plan but he accepted it anyway, knowing that it was going to make James and Peter more willing to still help Remus as a friend. Truth be told, even Sirius wan'ted some reassurance that Remus wasn't planning to rip their heads off. 

"Okay," he said. "That's what we'll do."

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