"Sirius, can we talk?" James placed a hand on Sirius' shoulder as he spoke, causing the other boy to nearly jump out of his skin. Pulling his hand back as if burned, his eyes went wide as Sirius dissolved into a mess of panicked breathing and tears.

"Shit, I didn't mean to. Remus! I don't know what to do!" James looked frantic.

"How about we start by you not touching him. What possessed you to do that after what you saw last night?" Remus began leading Sirius in grounding techniques as he spoke to him in a soothing voice.

"I just wanted to talk to him. I put my hand on his shoulder like I used to do. I didn't mean-"

"Well things aren't like before; you can't just do that, not after what you did to him." James hung his head.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I'm so, so, so sorry for what I've done. I'll fix his back, I'll become his body guard or man servant, I'll do whatever it takes to prove I'm sorry." Tears began leaking out of the corner of James' eyes.

"Do you know why he left home this last summer?" Remus finally stood from Sirius, who had finally regained control. "He told me I was the first person he said anything to about it. His parents found out he's gay. They found something he had written about me, how he feels. And they did unspeakable things to him. Unforgivable curses, locking him in a closet, his father even forced himself onto him, trying to 'fix him.'" James nearly puked on Remus' shoes. "But he was getting better because he knew he had us, he had a better family. And you ruined that. He trusted you more than anyone, so what you did to him was worse in his mind. And you will have to live knowing that you are the one who took away our strong, rebel Sirius and replaced him with all of this pain." James fell to his knees, sitting beside Sirius on the floor, being careful not to touch him.

"Please, Sirius, I'm so sorry, I can't ever tell you how sorry I am. I am a terrible person. I'll fix your back, I'll do any task you assign me, I'll go to your parents', anything!"James had removed his glasses since they had fogged over from crying.

"I don't want my back fixed. It reminds me to be careful, that the world is worse than I imagined." Sirius stood up, wiping his lip. The seam where it had been busted in yesterday's fight had opened. "But you can start by getting everyone to back off of Remus and me. No more names, no more shoulders, no more jeers. It all ends, or I go to Dumbledore himself. I'm tired. Tired of having to fight every day for just being me."

And James kept his word. It took a long time, the rest of sixth year and all of seventh year, for Sirius to be able to trust James enough for even a pat on the shoulder. Things were never the same, but James was there for Sirius and Remus' wedding, and Sirius and Remus were there for James'.