Bradley was drawing, kneeling at the coffee table, the suitcase open beside him, Dougal the demiguise seated on the edge of it, clinging onto the ladder, opaque when Sirius first stepped through the floo, but fading out of view the moment he laid eyes on the new arrival. Bradley looked at Dougal. "You don't have to disappear, Dou, it's just Sirius Black..." But the demiguise was already transparent and Bradley sighed, shaking his head. "He's so shy," he said, looking up at Sirius.

Sirius was shaking, a little bit breathless, and pale.

"Um... You alright?" Bradley asked, staring up at him.

Sirius nodded, staggered 'round the end of the couch, and disappeared up the hallway.

Bradley looked at Dougal, then leaned into the briefcase 'round the demiguise, "Hey Remus?" he called.

Remus was in the middle of holding seeds out to a whooper. "Yeah?" he looked up at the suitcase opening.

"Sirius just came home and I don't think he feels good."

Remus hesitated, poured out the rest of the seed onto the ground in front of the whooper, who enthusiastically started pecking at it with gusto, and hurried to get up the ladder and out of the suitcase. "What' makes you think that?" he asked on his way up.

"Dunno, just, he was quiet --"

"Yeah, red flag," muttered Remus, halfway up the ladder.

"And pale and stuff." Bradley continued.

There was a loud crash from up the hallway.

Bradley glanced at the hallway. "Also there's stuff breaking in your room."

"Grand." Remus climbed out of the suitcase, lifting Dougal with him. "Are you going to watch Dou or does he need to go back in the case?"

"I'll watch him," Bradley answered.

Remus closed the briefcase so the Niffler wouldn't get out and rushed down the hallway.

Sirius was in the bedroom, his walking in circles, hair unkempt - wild, really - and his eyes glistening but not quite to the point of crying. Red, though, Remus noticed, which meant he most definitely had been. He paced manically, shaking his head, muttering.

"...Sirius?" Remus was tentative.

Sirius stopped abruptly and looked up.

"You alright?"

"He's a mess, he's a mess and he's not telling me and there's something going on - there's something happened and I don't understand -  don't get it - something about time, time and there's things been messed up... I was dead, then I was alive, and there's Maryrose - twice! - twice, Remus! and then... Oh You Know Who was just - just... laced... everywhere, everywhere, Remus. Like a god-damn fudge ripple from Hell! Woven all throughout, just recoloring everything. Ruining everything. EVERYTHING, Remus, every memory... From color to black and white, just like that, just like that - and he wonders why he can't remember - and that woman - oh, oh, oh - Remus! That woman -- she --" Sirius stopped. 

Remus was staring at him with fear-filled eyes. "What are you on about?"

Sirius realized suddenly he didn't know what he should tell Remus and what he shouldn't. This was James's private stuff after all, and if it was him, Sirius, he wouldn't want James or Lily or Remus or anyone to go blabbering about all his private stuff to everyone else. And he suddenly felt very, very guilty for having done the love magic without James's permission anyway and he flushed dark and turned away, putting his hands up into his hair.

He wanted to undo it.

He couldn't undo it.

And he shouldn't, even if he could, because James Potter clearly so desperately needed it and just had no idea. Someone should've done this for him a long time ago. He was too damn proud to ask for help but bloody hell if he didn't need it.

Sirius felt sick. 

"Sirius?" Remus pressed.

Sirius shook his head and started pacing again, his hands in his hair.

"Is this about Regulus?" Remus asked, and his brows furrowed. He glanced at the frame with the portrait, laying on Sirius's nightstand with the watch. The portrait was smiling more how Remus had drawn him, the eyes roving about the room, head turning one way to the other, but not speaking. "Did he talk to you?"

Sirius was back to muttering again and didn't hear Remus's question.

"Sirius!"

Sirius whipped around.

"What did he say to you?"

"He didn't SAY anything," Sirius said, thinking Remus was talking about James.

Remus's face was full of concern. He glanced at the frame, then back at Sirius as he walked from one end of the bedroom to the other. Remus said, "I really don't like this. I don't think it's healthy for you to --"

"CAN'T GO BACK NOW, CAN I?" Sirius said, popping off as he turned about on the ball of his foot, his eyes wide, "And he needs me - he needs me to help him, if not me then who?"

"Needs you?" Remus's concern only grew. "Needs you to help him with what?" He's a portrait, Remus thought, he shouldn't need anything. He shouldn't be asking for help, he should be just - existing. Hell, he shouldn't even be doing that much, it wasn't like he was a planned magical portrait, it was an accident if anything did come of it. And if the portrait had come to life and started voicing needs so quickly then there was something wrong - something was afoot - and though Remus didn't know what it was, he didn't like it and he didn't trust it and he certainly didn't trust Sirius's judgement on it... When it came to Regulus, Sirius was very, very emotional and a little bit unhinged and if something sinister was going on --

All Remus could think about was the way the floo had been left open that morning and how, unguarded, anything in the world could have happened.

He wildly imagined someone coming in and doing some sort of horrible magic work to control the portrait. Why, he couldn't say, but he pictured Voldemort himself in his mind, and felt equally unhinged because of how ridiculous a thought it was, but his skin crawled with unease as Sirius continued pacing and tugging at his hair.

"Perhaps we need to go to James and talk about this and he can talk to Mr. Underhill or Mad-Eye Moody and we can figure out what --"

"You want to talk to the heads of the Department of Law Enforcement?" Sirius's laugh was barking as he stopped on the far end of the room, his face flush. "Extreme, isn't that?"

"I mean, depending what he's asked you to do --"

"HE DIDN'T ASK ME TO DO ANYTHING! It's what any good brother would do!" Sirius shouted, "How can I just abandon him to himself without trying to help him! I - you don't understand, Remus, you don't understand what it's like to have something dark inside of you CRUSHING YOU like Achlys does to me, like You Know Who does to him!"

Remus flinched. "Excuse me?" he asked quietly, "I don't know what it means to have something dark inside of me crushing me like that? Me?" 

"No, you've no idea!" Sirius said.

"Hello? Werewolf?"

"It's different than that," Sirius answered, "It's different, it's --"

"Like being taken over by something you can't control that forces you into feeling things that you can't stop yourself feeling and making you do stuff you can't stop yourself from doing?" Remus snapped, "Bit like an imperius curse, but you can't even block it?" He laughed, "You're right, I don't know what it's like. It's not like I don't have depression, too. Or no, rather, werewolves don't have feelings do they? Quick, get your manual on beasts out and see what it says about whether I can feel or not. Or did they confiscate that from you when they meant to come and take your pet away?"

Sirius stared at Remus. "What are you on about?" he snapped. "Why are you making this about you?"

"I don't know, I ought not to do it, but I suppose it's a little unnerving seeing my husband lose his mind like this when you haven't even had any sort of emotional response toward what's been going on between YOU AND I yet!" Remus felt it bubbling up inside of him - anger. Anger because Sirius was incredibly upset over a picture and he hadn't even apologized for putting Remus through the trauma of nearly being collected and forced to register with the Ministry. "I mean - I mean you got me EXPELLED from my school, told my secret to people, broke my heart all over again just like a few years ago, despite you SWEARING TO ME that it wouldn't happen again... I trusted it wouldn't, but I suppose what they say about it happens once shame on you but twice it's on me or however that rot goes!"

Sirius blinked. "Hang on, you're bringing THAT up? NOW?"

"You say NOW like it's an inappropriate time to!"

"It IS an inappropriate time to! I'm in the middle of a crisis and --"

"A crisis?" Remus laughed, he shook his head. "Look, Sirius, let's like work through some of the bullshit that we've already got in our lives before we go digging and snuffing up some more, can't we just?"

Sirius glared at Remus, "Don't you give a shit about him?"

"Of course I do but I think that OUR needs have to come first!"

"You've been acting like you're just fine since you came back," Sirius snapped. "You talk about me bringing it up but you haven't either. You haven't asked me a single thing about what happened while I was IN JAIL." And now he was angry and he didn't even know why - it was a combination of the nerves that had been coursing through him all week ever since he'd opened his big stupid mouth at that Leonard woman all the way through now, this  moment, standing in the kitchen and feeling all the jittery electric aftermath of incorporating James Potter and finding out that his hero was anything but the icon of stability that he'd thought.

He felt guilty and tangled and helpless and useless all at once.

And now Remus was wanting more out of him?

"What do you even want me to say?" hissed Sirius.

"How about SORRY?" Remus demanded.

"How about YOU say sorry for once?" Sirius snarled. 

"What the HELL do I have to be sorry for?" Remus asked.

"I dunno, disappearing on me, not even TRYING to visit me? Going off to America --"

"I HAD TO GO WITH NEWT SCAMANDER, SIRIUS, BECAUSE IF I DIDN'T THE MINISTRY WAS GOING TO CAPTURE ME AND THROW ME IN RIGHT BESIDE YOU, THROW YOU TO AZKABAN AND ME TO -- LITERALLY TO THE WOVLES --" Remus yelled. "YOU ARE THE ONE THAT BETRAYED ME -- AGAIN! -- AND -- AGAIN! -- YOU'RE ACTING LIKE I'M THE ONE IN THE WRONG THAT OUGHT TO BE APOLOGIZING BECAUSE -- AGAIN! -- YOU'RE HAVING SOME KIND OF MENTAL BREAKDOWN -- AS USUAL -- AND --"

"As usual?" Sirius hissed.

"Yes -" Remus's voice was shaking, "As usual. It's incredible the timing you have with these things - every time YOU mess up and YOU get called out on it, suddenly I can't say anything to you because you're breaking down over it. Well WHEN DO I GET TO BREAK DOWN A BIT, HUH?"

Sirius looked about, grabbed a balled up pair of socks and lobbed it at Remus with all his might. "Get the fuck out of here!" Remus caught the balled up socks against his chest and his face was one of fury. He chucked it back at Sirius and Sirius drew his wand and with a wave the socks turned to dust and fell to the floor. He turned to Remus.

"What're you going to do? Hex me?"

"Yes."

"Do it." Remus's voice was firm.

Sirius glared at him.

"DO IT," Remus dared him.

Sirius threw his wand onto the bed. "JUST LEAVE ME ALONE, IF YOU DON'T WANT TO HELP ME HELP JAMES THEN YOU CAN JUST GO AND --"

"Help - Help James?" Remus asked, confused, all the anger dropping out of his tone. 

"-- FUUUUCK YOURSELF," Sirius was finishing the sentence before.

"Wait, wait," Remus waved his palms, "Wait. James? I thought we were talking about Regulus?"

"What? Why the flying fuck would we be talking about Regulus?"

Remus stared at Sirius. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I did love magic on James!" Sirius said, "And he's really fucked up and I'm kind of having an existential crisis BUT APPARENTLY I FAKE THOSE --"

"I didn't say you fake them - oh bloody hell, I'm an idiot. Sirius --"

"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"Sirius!" 

"REMUS SO HELP ME MERLIN I WILL TURN YOU INTO A SLUG." He turned toward the bed, reaching for his wand again.

"SIRIUS!"

Sirius shot a spell that hit the dresser and one of the drawers cracked. Remus jumped back at the shock of the sound and stared wide-eyed at Sirius. 

"LEAVE ME TO MY FAKE BREAKDOWN."

Remus stepped forward.

"FERFUCKSSAKE MOONY, I'M NOT MESSING WITH YOU!" Sirius yelled.

"Look, I didn't mean what I said --"

"NOT MEAN IT OUT OF THIS ROOM PLEASE."

"Sirius --"

Sirius flicked his wand and it was like Remus had been pushed with firm hands to the chest, he was knocked back a couple feet, hitting the wall next to the door squarely, the light switch digging into his back. He blinked in surprise at Sirius.

"I --"

"GO!"

Remus hesitated only a moment longer, then his jaw tightened. "Fine." He stepped into the hallway and SLAMMED the door behind him as hard as he could, his fists balled into knots, and he swore, and banged his fist against the wall, frustrated, then, spitting angry, he stormed down the hall.

Inside the room, Sirius had collapsed onto the floor and was holding his head in his hands.

He needed to talk to James.