Remus' stomach turned as they swirled around, gripping Sirius more firmly around the waist as they stumbled and James threw out a hand to slow them down.

Stepping out proved to be a bit of a challenge as James didn't manage more than a step before he abruptly turned to the side and lost his breakfast.

"Oh my, here dear," Madam Pomfrey hurried towards them and pushed a bucket into James' trembling hands, swiftly cleaning up the floor with a wave of her wand.

She guided James to a bed, allowing Remus to focus completely on Sirius, who had taken on an alarmingly pale tint and was shaking.

"Note, don't use Floo when dizzy," James gasped while Sirius blinked rapidly several times as Remus slowly helped him to the bed.

"Duly noted," Sirius murmured, sitting down gratefully.

"From the sight of you, I assume you were right in the middle of things?"

"They fought You-Know-Who himself," Moody had appeared through the Floo as well.

"Poor children, how badly..."

"They fought him and held their ground while protecting others," Remus couldn't help but think Moody would've been smarter to start with that, but didn't comment on the man's words.

"They what?!"

"You heard me," Moody barely spared the newly arrived McGonagall a glance before turning back to them to see what Madam Pomfrey was doing.

"You fought You-Know-Who and survived? How...you're thirteen!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed, pausing in her diagnostic casting.

"Thirteen?" Moody's eyes widened and he cast a more thorough look at James and Sirius, clearly seeing for the first time just how young they truly were. "How..."

"We're part of the duel club," James pulled a face as Madam Pomfrey handed him a potion.

"I was part of the duel club in my time, at your age, I did not have the spell range you boys do," Moody grumbled.

"Sit down, Remus. As you seem the least hurt I'll look after you last," Madam Pomfrey ordered and Remus automatically sat down beside Sirius.

"I'm not hurt. Sirius pushed me underneath the shield he raised to protect the students."

"A shield they kept intact despite several Death Eaters and You-Know-Who targeting them specifically," the awe in Moody's voice was unmistakable as he stared at them.

"We did what we could," James looked up to Madam Pomfrey. "Why aren't you taking care of him first? He's the one more hurt."

"Because that would be wasting my time as we are both well aware he won't let me look at him until I have had a look at you," Madam Pomfrey's displeasure with that was easy to hear, though Remus couldn't stop himself from stifling a laugh as it was completely true.

It wouldn't be the first time Sirius refused treatment when he wasn't the only one injured and Remus had no doubt it wouldn't be the last time either.

"It is still an amazing feat," Moody ignored the little exchange. "I have never seen a shield that You-Know-Who couldn't break."

"My relatives are known for their wards so I used their knowledge to develop a proper shield."

"Alice wants you to teach her how to make one," Remus suddenly remembered.

"I wouldn't say no to that either," Moody agreed wholeheartedly.

"It's infused with my personal DNA."

"That is highly advanced magic," McGonagall gasped.

"I was bored so I dragged them into researching it with me."

"You research when you are bored?" Moody raised an eyebrow. "You know most boys your age would be playing games or fooling around, right?"

"They get bored a lot," Remus explained, smiling at the disbelief on the man's face.

"You would think they are being kept busy by all their classes," if Remus didn't know better, he'd have said McGonagall sounded resigned. "But despite the average of eight classes, they still play plenty of pranks."

"It's not our fault that the classes are so alarmingly easy," Sirius objected, making James nod enthusiastically in agreement.

"We are growing boys; we need to be kept busy! And since classes don't manage that, we train and research stuff."

"I can assure you, Mister Black, that hardly anyone shares that mindset and I do wish you would find other ways to remain busy than playing pranks."

"Black?" Moody's eyes widened. "Sirius Black...you are the heir to the Black family?!"

"Unusual, I know," Sirius sighed. "And even scarier, my best friend is a Potter."

"Had already figured that one out," Moody seemed to compose himself so he wasn't gaping at Sirius any more. "The hair is a dead give-away. I know both your father and grandfather fairly well."

"I know, that's how I recognised your name," suddenly James pouted. "It's always the hair that gives my identity away."

"That or the glasses," Sirius teased.

"He doesn't wear any glasses," Moody noted as he pulled out two chairs so that McGonagall could sit down as well.

"Yet," Remus and Sirius said in unison, making James grumble unintelligently.

"Are you done yet? I'm completely fine."

"So it seems," Madam Pomfrey gave him a knowing look. "But I still want you to take it careful and bandage your arm after you've cleaned up. Your turn, Remus, a little room to work, please?"

"I'm fine," Sirius spluttered as she turned to him and Remus hurried to get out of the way.

"Of course you are, that is why you almost keeled over when stepping out of the Floo and you are as pale as a sheet," Madam Pomfrey raised her wand.

"This is completely unnecessary," Sirius grumbled as she cast her diagnostic charm and for a moment Remus half hoped it would reveal more than what his friend openly displayed so he could get proper treatment. But Madam Pomfrey gave no indication of that as she finished and healed a few smaller wounds, turning to retrieve a few potions.

They'd promised never to reveal what they knew about Sirius' home life, not wanting to make things worse for him. But if someone else would discover it on accident, surely they'd try to help him.

But as Remus met James' eyes for a moment and caught the small shake of the head, he realised that wouldn't necessarily be true and might just make life even more difficult for their friend than it already was.

"What's the verdict?" None of the adults had caught their silent exchange and Remus shifted uncomfortable as he knew there was no way Sirius had walked out of that unscratched and no idea how much he was hiding from them.

"Besides the obvious bruising and cuts, he pulled a few muscles and received some burns. And that is after most of his injuries were already healed," she sighed. "He'll be fine as well, but after you clean up I want that arm in a sling so it'll get some rest and the muscles you pulled can properly heal. I am not going to have to remind you to take it easy, do I?"

"No," Sirius shook his head as she fed him several potions as well.

"Good, overall they both got extremely lucky. Remus?"

"Yes?"

"I'm putting you in charge of these; make sure they take them before breakfast and bed. They will both experience some cramping. Rub the cramping muscles with this salve, it will help."

Accepting the items, he pulled his bag out of his pocket and put them in there after enlarging it again.

"When did you learn that?" McGonagall's eyes widened.

"We looked up a few useful spells when we felt our book bags were too heavy," Sirius spoke for him, grimacing as he was handed yet another potion.

"Is there anything I need to keep an eye out for?" Remus asked Madam Pomfrey as he put the bag away again and McGonagall gaped at them in utter disbelief., despite the fact that she really should know them by now.

"Disorientation, distraction, dizziness and headaches. If any of those occur, bring them back to me. The same goes if the muscle spasms hold on," she gave all three of them a stern look. "I mean it, boys. I know you are quite capable of taking care of yourselves, but I expect you back here at any sign of those symptoms."

"But they are dizzy now," Remus said even as both boys immediately protested.

"If it holds on overnight. Neither of them has a concussion so it should lessen soon enough, but if they still feel dizzy in the morning you should bring them back."

"I will."

"And no magic! Your magical reserves are exhausted after all the magic you've used and will hurt you psychically if you don't take proper rest. Drink plenty of fluids and eat iron rich food."

"We will," Sirius and James chorused, making Madam Pomfrey roll her eyes fondly.

"Right, if they are fine then I would like to hear exactly what happened and how you came to protect all those students."

"How many did we manage to keep safe?" James stretched a little.

"From the quick readings my Aurors took upon arrival, there were a hundred and seventy two students underneath your shield. That is not counting the students that were brought into safety by guiding them to Floos or hidden away like your other friend and the thirty-two other students with him."

"You found Peter?" Sirius sounded relieved as Moody nodded.

"All of them are all right, ruffled from being shoved in a dark place without much of an explanation, but no worse for wear. They are being checked over and questioned before they'll be brought back to the castle with the other students."

"At least they are alive," McGonagall breathed out relieved.

"That is more than we could have ever hoped after today. So, can you tell me what happened?"

"Are our guardians not required to be present at the questioning of a minor?" Remus asked.

"I hope not," Sirius' muttered words made Remus wince, aware his relatives would not like that he had made a stand against Voldemort but James shook his head.

"Our Head of House is present and unless we're the ones in trouble that is enough."

"I can assure you that the last thing you are is in trouble," Moody cleared his throat as Madam Pomfrey handed out chocolate. "I would just like to know what happened to form a picture of past events and make a case against the Death Eaters you managed to take out."

"Peter and I were in Honeydukes when the first explosion occurred."

"You were not together with your friends?" Moody interrupted Sirius as he made notes.

"No, Peter lost his wallet so we split up for a short time. Sirius and Peter returning to Honeydukes where he'd last used it, while Remus and I continued on to Tomes and Scrolls," James explained.

"All right, so you separated. Continue with your story before I'll hear your version," Moody directed at Sirius.

"Right, someone screamed that Death Eaters were attacking so I pushed everyone in Honeydukes with me to the back room, where I noticed the hatch and decided to have them hide there."

"Why didn't you hide with them?"

"James and Remus were out there so I went to find them and if I could get some people to safety while I was at it, well...how could I not try?" Sirius said.

"How did you get the idea to protect people under the shield?"

"They were targeting the students who were making it easy by running around in a blind panic. If I left them at it, they would all have been killed. Herding them together would give the ones fighting a better chance of protecting the others," Sirius looked at Remus and James and the latter slipped a hand in his as he continued.

"I found them while herding the last of the students I could grab and realising we wouldn't stand a chance if we'd have to try and protect them from every stray spell, we formed the shield to be able to fight freely while at the same time protect them all."

"We had just reached Tomes and Scrolls..." Remus shifted closer to Sirius, wrapping an arm around him as he realised once more how close he'd come to lose his friends.

The action made Moody raise an eyebrow, but Sirius didn't seem to notice as he listened to James' side of the story.

"Do you need us for anything else?" James asked once he was done, squeezing Sirius' hand.

"No, you should go fresh up and get some rest. If we need something else I will contact your Head of House or your guardians," Moody put away his writing equipment.

"Head of House is fine," Sirius immediately said, causing a small twitch on Moody's lips as he clearly thought about where Sirius came from.

"Then I shall contact your Head of House, should we need more information," he rose to his feet. "Once we have heard everyone on the scene, I'll contact you about possible rewards."

"All I care about is a hot shower and my bed," Sirius rose to his feet as well, the others following his example.

"Make sure you don't forget to tape those ribs after you've had a shower," Madam Pomfrey warned them.

"We won't," Remus promised. "While the two of you take a shower, I'll see if I can find us something to eat."

"Actually, I think we might need your help," Sirius admitted. "I can't lift my arm properly and neither can he."

"Just this once I will have the house-elves bring something to your dorm so you can remain there for the rest of the day should you like to," McGonagall eyed them for a moment. "Elf!"

Immediately a small house-elf appeared, one Remus recognised immediately.

"Hello, Tiffy," Sirius and James greeted her, to McGonagall's clear surprise.

"What's Siri and his Jamsie done this time?" Tiffy squeaked, rushing forward to examine them.

"We got caught up in a Death Eater attack," Sirius gave a tiny jerk of his head as the large eyes narrowed. "We'll be fine."

"You know one another?"

"We've seen each other at late nights in the common room. No reason for her not to be able to do her job just because we're making it a late night," James shrugged.

"I see," McGonagall eyed them oddly. "Take them to their dorm and arrange for some dinner to be brought up to them."

"Tiffy," Sirius cut in before the little house-elf could reply.

"What?"

"Her name is Tiffy and would it really hurt to say a please and thank you when requesting something?" Sirius asked, making all three adults stare at him and Remus wince while James tried to hide a smile. "House-elves are living sentient beings and although they love to serve, that doesn't mean they don't deserve respect for what they do for us."

"I..."McGonagall blinked and to Remus' surprise her usual stiff posture seemed to deflate a little. "My apologies...Tiffy. Would you be so kind as to take them to their dorm and arrange for some dinner for them to be brought up?"

"Of course, Mistress," Tiffy bowed low, making Remus smile as Sirius slipped a hand in his while James did the same on his other side as Tiffy reached out to place her hand on Sirius' leg.

Remus' stomach rolled as the small house-elf side-Apparated them directly into their dorm, effectively avoiding any curious students left behind.

Sirius gasped as he threw out his injured arm to prevent James from stumbling over his own two feet upon arrival.

"How is it that you are the one more seriously injured, yet manage to appear perfectly gracefully?" James complained as he wrapped an arm around Sirius to support him as the other protectively shielded his arm from more harm.

"Practice, thank you Tiffy."

"Jamsie and Remsie take care of yous now?" The elf eyed Sirius worriedly.

"They will," Sirius' answer told Remus he'd been right in believing his friend had been hiding part of his injuries, even from Madam Pomfrey's watchful eyes.

"Tiffy will have food ready in thirty minutes. You leaves clothes in bathroom so Tiffy can cleans them."

"Don't bother, I think these are a lost cause, Tiffy," Sirius indicated to their torn clothes.

"Silly Siri, Tiffy will make them," the little elf shook her head fondly.

"Thank you," Sirius smiled, waving as the house-elf Disapparated.

"All right, let's see the actual damage," James steered Sirius to the bathroom. "We're picking up my medical training the moment we're back on our feet."

"You already know more than most."

"Yet not enough to heal your injuries like you healed mine," James sighed. "Can you take off your robe yourself?"

"No, I wasn't lying when I said I couldn't move my arm properly."

"I'll help," Remus stepped forward to carefully remove Sirius' over-robe, making quick work of the torn sweater and shirt as well.

Unlocking the rune his friend usually kept active, Remus winced as deep marks were revealed, the skin on Sirius' torso and upper side already turning yellow. "Turn."

His back was even worse and the recently healed white scars stood out eerily in contrast to the rapidly discolouring skin.

"Would the anti-bruise cream help with this?" James sucked in a deep breath, not that Remus could blame him as it was a difficult sight for him as well to see their friend beat up again so soon after he'd finally finished healing from the previous beating.

"Every little bit helps," Remus retrieved the first aid kit and placed it on one of the sinks along with three pair of clean pyjamas.

"Let's get into the showers so that we can see exactly what we're dealing with without dirt being in the way," James suggested.

"I..." Sirius flushed in clear embarrassment. "I don't think I can manage on my own."

"Then we'll help you," Remus undressed, aware his own clothing was covered in dirt and some of his friends' blood and just when had he become used to that? "Honestly, you never have a problem helping me or James."

"I know, it's silly..." Sirius looked down at his feet, sighing.

"You feel like a little kid, incapable of taking care of himself?" Remus asked knowingly. "I felt the same when you first had to help me. But you were the one who taught me it's all right for friends to lean on each other in times of need."

"No, it's just...I just managed to shower on my own again. It makes me feel useless to need help again so soon," Sirius sighed as he carefully kicked off the rest of his clothes.

"Trust me, if there is anything you are not, it's useless," James snorted, already undressed. "Now show me how much movement you have in your arm, because from the state of it I'm surprised you managed to hide it."

Remus couldn't help but agree with that statement as the arm was completely discoloured, from the wrist to the neck.

"I twisted it painfully when pulling Remus away from an exploding wall and then I couldn't avoid both a bone crushing spell and something I couldn't identify completely," Sirius admitted. "But it's kind of numb due to the potions Madam Pomfrey fed me."

"I'm sorry," Remus carefully examined the shoulder. "It's dislocated."

"I know, but I couldn't let her see any injuries that would require me to remove my clothes."

"Why? I thought the rune hid whatever you wanted it to?"

"Not entirely. While it does hide most, a diagnostic charm could still reveal it if the caster notices something off and specifically scans for hidden injuries."

"Meaning you have to hide every injury that might raise suspicion," James realised. "You know how to reset his shoulder, don't you?"

"Yes, I've had to do it for myself often enough. But it is fairly painful."

"I think this will hurt more in the long run, don't you? At least now he's still sedated it will be a bit less painful," James glanced at Sirius' shoulder. "Well, slightly less painful."

"Maybe we ought to wait until after the shower so his muscles aren't all tensed up."

"So you can try to catch me unaware and it might not hurt as much?" Sirius gave him a tight smile. "Just do it."

Not bothering to ask if his best friend was ready, Remus swiftly pushed the shoulder in place again.

James tensed beside him as Sirius let out a strangled whimper, but their youngest gave no other sign of distress.

"H-how are your injuries?" Sirius asked after a long moment as James rubbed his shoulder carefully.

"My arm's sore from casting spells so much and I have no doubt I'll be stiff as a board tomorrow morning, but you treated everything else."

"We'll rub some ointment into your muscles after the shower," Remus gently pushed Sirius under the stream of warm water.

The water they stood in quickly turned pink as he rinsed and washed Sirius' hair and body, but Remus wasn't alarmed as he knew that water always made blood loss seem worse.

"Are you dizzy?" James eyed the water warily before skimming over Sirius' skin.

"No and it's not as much blood as it seems. When blood mixes with water, it makes it appear in much greater volume than it truly is," Sirius reassured him. "I'm neither bleeding nor dizzy, are you?"

"Not so much any more now that my stomach is not being rolled around," James admitted, looking down at his own feet. "You know, I really don't like that you know that kind of stuff."

"I read it in the medical journals Madam Pomfrey gave me," Sirius' eyes were mostly shut, presumably to prevent the shampoo from getting into his eyes, but Remus still tried to hurry up helping them as they were clearly tired.

Shutting of the water once he couldn't detect any lingering smell of blood or dirt on them, he reached for towels.

"Not going through that hell again," Sirius glared at the towels, a sweep of his wand having all three of them suddenly dry.

"When did you learn that?" James wondered as they dressed, leaving their tops off so Remus could rub the ointment into their stiff muscles and wrap bandages on the places Madam Pomfrey had indicated.

"A few weeks ago, after the fiasco of having to let you try and hurt me as little as possible when drying my back, I started looking for an easier way to dry off without it hurting," Sirius admitted, shifting uncomfortably as Remus wrapped bandages around his ribs and arm.

"Good call," James wasn't the only one who winced as Remus, too, remembered the agony they had to put their friend through when the wounds on his back had still been open and they tried to clean them properly.

"Figured it would come in handy some day, just didn't think it would be this quickly. I'll teach it to you both later."

"It's a handy spell indeed," Remus remarked as he carefully rubbed the ointment into James' skin, making the other sigh relieved as the effect was immediate.

Sirius had worked his way into his pyjama shirt before sighing as James held out the sling Madam Pomfrey had given them.

"Do I have to?"

"You heard her, that arm needs complete rest," he helped Sirius into it as Remus had to turn away not to laugh at the pout on his face.

"Why doesn't your arm need to be in a sling as well?"

"Because I overstrained it while casting spells around while they tried to take your wand arm out of commission," a sly smile spread over James' lips. "Too bad they didn't know you're ambidextrous."

"And ever so glad we decided to learn that," Sirius answered his smile with a similar one.

"You are both mental," shaking his head, Remus guided them back into their dorm, where a tray with food was waiting for them, and the meat already cut small as Tiffy had clearly anticipated their restricted mobility.

"Do you think she knows how much we love her?" James grinned as he bounced onto the bed, wincing as the moment jolted his muscles.

"You'd think he would have learned to be more careful by now," Sirius chuckled. "We'll send her chocolate for Christmas as a thank you."

He took more care to shuffle onto the bed, popping a Brussels Sprout into his mouth.

"I still can't believe you can stand to eat that," James grimaced.

"Iron rich food is important when you've been injured, something Tiffy clearly thought of as almost everything on here is rich in it," Sirius picked up some strawberries, handing some over to both of them.

"Roast beef contains iron as well, no need to eat Brussels Sprouts."

"Fair enough," Sirius reached out to pierce a piece of roast beef onto his fork, tensing as the movement strained his back.

"If the two of you could just be patient for a moment, I could place the tray onto the bed between us," Remus laughed, knowing that if he was hungry his friends had to be starving after all that activity.

"But we're hungry," James complained good-naturedly, making room so that the tray wouldn't be unbalanced as Remus joined them on the bed.

"Then eat, you starving monster, before you eat us instead," Sirius unsteadily picked up another piece.

"I guess our fine motor skills will be put to the test this week," James eyed him. "We can fight with our non-dominant hands easily, but can we write?"

"We could also charm our quills to record what we're saying when we do our homework. I don't know about you, but I intent to be out of this thing by the time classes start again."

"You did hear Madam Pomfrey say no magic for a week, right?" Remus looked at his friends sternly, not surprised to see them both freeze.

"Do you think she'll find out about me magically drying us off?" Sirius asked sheepishly.

"Not if we don't use magic from now on," James collected both of their wands and placed them on the night-stand. "Remus can take care of any magical stuff this week."

"Sure, but after you're cleared to use magic again, we're picking up our training. I don't ever want to feel as useless as today again."

"You weren't exactly useless, Rem. That was one heck of a Protego you produced," Sirius complimented him.

"That was one moment of pure luck. I mean it, Siri. It is pathetic how limited my spell range is and my stamina really needs some work."

"Then we'll work on increasing both and add another training to our schedule," James decided.

"Do you think Peter will join us this time?"

"With exercise?" James snorted. "Only if it would be towards the kitchen."

"We need to work on that. I don't ever want to be forced to lock him in a cellar ever again."

"What does that have to do with him having to exercise?" Remus asked confused, surprised when Sirius looked down embarrassed.

"You locked him in there because you didn't think he'd be able to keep up with you, didn't you?" James' voice was soft but enough to make Sirius look up, eyes full of guilt.

"I feel horrible, but yes. I'd have felt better if I could have kept him at my side, but I needed to find you guys and ...well..."

"Peter's not made for quick moving," Remus sighed. "Well, we'll change that. We'll force him if we have to."

"Do you think he will be mad?"

"For saving his life?"

"No...I kind of shoved him down there with the others without a word and locked the latch before he could say anything."

"He might be a bit upset about that, yes," Remus acknowledged. "But you did it to save his life."

"And apparently thirty-two others. How on earth did you manage to squeeze them all in there?"

"I think it's a tunnel actually," Sirius admitted. "I was going to enlarge the space behind the staircase, but they kept moving further into the hole and I could fit them all in easily."

"A tunnel, huh?" James' eyes took on a curious glint. "Where do you think it leads?"

"I have no doubt that you'll want to find out in due time," Sirius said, suddenly groaning. "I haven't gotten a Christmas present for you yet. I had planned to get you that book you've been talking about at Tomes and Scrolls."

"Ancient History of the Maya Wizarding Culture?"

"That's the one. I couldn't order it at the Shop here as it is officially considered a work of fiction."

"I'm sure that if you talk to Madam Pomfrey, she'd be willing to pick up the order for you. Lots of students haven't been able to get their Christmas presents," James said.

"I'll stop by on Monday, unless you think she'll open extra tomorrow after what happened today?"

"I doubt Christmas presents are on anyone's mind but yours right now, Siri," Remus chuckled. "But I'll need to order something for you as well."

"Why don't we go together then?" Sirius yawned. 'I hope Pete will return quickly, I'm knackered."

"It might still be a while if he's coming with all the other students," Remus eyed his two friends. "Why don't the two of you take a nap while I wait for Peter?"

"Are you sure?" even as he spoke, Remus could see James had slipped down a little, eyes drooping and Sirius unsuccessfully tried to stifle a chuckle.

"I don't think you would be able to stay awake, even if you did try."

"Like you are any better," James shot back.

"At least my eyes are still open," Sirius laugh turned into another yawn that he hurriedly hid behind his hand.

"Yes, but for how long? Go get comfortable, I'll wake you in time for supper."

"I can't believe it is just barely past noon," Sirius worked himself underneath the comforter while Remus cleared away the leftover food, placing it in the cooled cupboard the house-elves had arranged for them at James' request when Sirius had been so ill earlier in the year. Although they had been ready to return it once Sirius had been on his feet again, the house-elves had told them to keep it as it would come in handy with their tendency to order take out on Saturday nights.

He was thankful for that now as it would keep the leftover food fresh longer than when they'd used spells, though he didn't think it would last long once Peter had returned.

"We did leave early this morning, and only visited a few shops before they attacked," Remus also cleared their purchases away while he was at it and picked up the potions Madam Pomfrey had given him. "Hey, don't for..."

The sight of two sleeping boys curled up together had him momentarily taken aback.

"I guess you were more exhausted than you let on," he whispered, straightening the comforter around them carefully and pushing a pillow behind Sirius so he couldn't roll onto his back, but neither boy so much at twitched.

Grabbing a book from their stock, he pulled a chair up beside the bed to keep vigil over them and wait for Peter to return.

With his enhanced hearing he was able to eventually hear the students return, discussing what had happened between them.

Thankful for the advanced and modified silencing charm James and Sirius had placed on their dorm, he moved to the door, knowing the students couldn't hear him move around.

He was saddened to learn three students had been killed in the initial explosion and two more during the fight.

But he knew it could've...would've been a lot worse without Sirius' quick thinking and both of their efforts.

He tensed as someone tried to come up to their dorm, but it quickly became clear the person couldn't come even near.

"There's a spell on the stairs, I can't even set a foot on them!" someone complained.

"What did you expect? There are two heirs to old Pure-Blood families living up there, there's no way there won't be extra protections on their dorm."

"We're all Gryffindors! What do they think we'll do?" the first snapped, clearly offended.

"Try to enter their dorm without permission, kind of what you just tried to do," the second dryly replied.

"I just wanted to see if they were there!"

"That's none of our business. Even if they were in there, you'd not stand a chance of getting in as they've shown just how capable of shielding they are," a third added.

Tuning out the bickering that followed, Remus returned to his chair, only to notice a single brown eye peering up at him.

"I had hoped they hadn't woken you."

"How long have I been asleep?" James made no attempt to move as Sirius was curled up against him, looking much like an oversized cat.

"Almost three hours, the students are just returning. How are you feeling?"

"Sore and tired," James yawned. "Pete back yet?"

"Not yet, he's still asleep?" Remus indicated to Sirius.

"Out like a light, I'm not surprised with all the potions she fed him and how much magic he's used," James' voice was still rough with sleep. "Heck, I feel like I could sleep for a week."

"You look like it, too," Remus laughed, tensing as he realised how loud the sound was, but Sirius didn't even stir.

"It's weird, he usually sleeps as light as a feather," James mused, his expression soft as he gazed down at the sleeping form at his side.

"James...what did Sirius say to you?" It was something Remus had wondered about, but hadn't been sure he wanted to know. "When you were put under the Cruciatus."

"He told me to curl my back and focus on shooting back any spell I could think of so I could break free, should it happen again," James' expression tightened. "Merlin...I can't even explain how much it hurts, and he's been put under it enough to build up a strategy against it."

"Put it to good use, too," Remus softly said, aware his voice was thick as he listened to James' words. "The way he was fighting, it was both terrifying and amazing."

"I know," James gave out a low chuckle. "And to think he doubted he'd be any good in a duel competition when he held his ground against Voldemort himself."

"Yeah," Remus bit his lip. "Same goes for you, you know?"

"Maybe I could talk him into entering it together," James mused as he shifted to get comfortable again.

"Are you kidding me? When word gets out, no one will ever dare to duel against you again," Remus exclaimed, taking care to keep his voice down.

"I somehow doubt that, we made quite a few enemies today."

"And gained quite a few admirers as well," Remus eyed him as James yawned once more. "Why don't you sleep some more? You're not going to be able to move any time soon anyway, so use it to your advantage."

"Yeah, but I feel bad about you. From the sound of it, you'll be just as restricted as we are, just in a different way."

"This is a very thick book and I have plenty of snacks and drinks," Remus nodded to the full cupboard. "I won't be bored so go back to sleep before he wakes up as well."

He wasn't surprised the threat worked as he'd known James wouldn't want to wake his best friend from the rest he so badly needed.

James was quick to settle again, not taking long to fall back asleep again as he was clearly still knackered.

As Remus resumed his vigil to keep watch and wait for Peter, he vowed that he would work as hard as he could so that if anything ever happened again, he would be fighting right alongside his friends instead of being protected.