p style="text-align: left;"emstrongSirius/strong/embr / Curses flew through the air as the boy hid from them. He ducked and crouched underneath tables until he couldn't run any longer. He gave up and offered himself to his mother. He thought maybe the running had made his parents even angrier as his mother stood over him and screamed "Crucio!" The red curse shot through the end of her wand and hit Sirius like a ton of bricks. His entire body writhed in pain. He knew it would end soon, as this hadn't been the first time his mother had tortured him, but he couldn't clear his mind enough to prevent the pain. It felt as though his entire body had been crushed between two motorbikes going full speed. His head felt ready to explode, and a part of him wished it would. The pain would be over if he would just die...br / Then it stopped. Walburga was standing over Sirius with a frown upon her face. Sirius hadn't seen her without a frown since he was young. She had been disappointed with him from a young age. He had never shared his family's values, especially after he had been sorted into Gryffindor and met James, Remus, and Peter. He knew that he couldn't live in this house any longer. Sirius knew that if he stayed at 12 Grimmauld Place then he would be dead inside of a year. His father joined his mother standing over his still limp body. His father and mother shared a kick to his head and his world went black. br / When Sirius came to, the room was empty. He knew he had very little time to get his things together and make up his mind. He was still fairly weak from the Unforgivable Curse used on him earlier that evening. He gathered a few clothes and books into a small bag. He couldn't afford the time of packing a trunk and having to lug it around. Sirius threw the bag over his shoulder and ran out of 12 Grimmauld Place as fast as he could considering the effects of the Unforgivable Curses left on him. br /br / Sirius knocked on the door of the only place he knew he could call home. He knew it was late, but he had to get out of the rain. He was shivering from the wet clothes and couldn't bear braving the weather any longer. He pounded on the door before he finally fell against the wood, hoping to receive as much protection from the storm as possible until morning. Then the front door flew open. Euphemia Potter rushed to lift her son's best friend off the ground and called up to James. br /"James, darling! Can you come here for a moment? Bring some warm pajamas!" br / Sirius held himself up as best as he could to walk to the sofa that Euphemia was carrying him to. James Potter appeared at the bottom of the staircase and Remus Lupin was not too far behind him. Sirius hadn't expected to see Remus here, especially not awake at this time of night or in the Potters' house at all. br /"I-I-I didn't know w-w-where else to g-go," Sirius stuttered. br / James Potter ran to his best friend and smiled down at him. Slowly, James changed Sirius into the warmer clothes, forcing the boy to lay down on the couch. Remus finally moved to be next to Sirius and smiled weakly at him. br /"You're always welcome here, Padfoot," James whispered. br /"You weren't supposed to see me like this," Sirius was speaking to Remus now as he pulled the blanket that Euphemia had gotten for him up to his chin. br /Remus sighed and rolled his eyes. "You always say that when I see a scratch on you."br /Sirius cocked his head. "Do I have a scratch on me?" He hadn't gotten a chance to look in the mirror. br / Remus smirked and looked to James whose eyes had gone wide. br /emstrongJames/strong/embr / James had heard the knocking at the door and covered his head with his pillow. He didn't know who it might have been, but he did know that the thunder had kept him up almost all night long and he just wanted to sleep. A few nights before he had been up all night with Remus through the full moon. He felt like he hadn't slept in ages. Then he heard a small yelp from the room across the hall and someone was running down the stairs. James was now curious. When James turned over, Remus was laying in bed, wide-eyed. br /"James, darling! Can you come here for a moment? Bring some warm pajamas!" James recognized his mother's concerned voice. br / The boys sprung out of bed and James grabbed the fluffiest fleece pajamas that he owned and trotted down the stairs with Remus right behind him. On the sofa in the living room sat his best friend, Sirius Black. Sirius had a purple, black eye that was so swollen that you could barely see his eye, and the little that you could see was blood red. His other eye was purple and bruised but not as swollen. His top lip was cut and his bottom lip trembled. His hair looked stringy and hung over his shoulders as it dripped dry. His face had water droplets all over, but James couldn't tell if they were tears or raindrops. br / "I-I-I didn't know w-w-where else to g-go," Sirius stuttered. Remus let out a faint gasp, but James was sure that Sirius hadn't heard it. James finally got up the courage to approach Sirius. br / After telling the boy that he was always welcome, James forced his best friend to lay down on the sofa as he gently changed the boy into the fleece pajamas that he had brought down. James hated that this wasn't the first time that he had to change Sirius into clean clothes because he was too weak to do so himself. He also hated that he knew that Sirius had a younger brother that was stuck in that same house. Sirius had started speaking to Remus now. When he reached for the blanket that James' mother had brought, his hands trembled. James knew what that was a sign of and after Sirius had asked Remus if he had a scratch on him, James ran to the kitchen to speak to his mother. br /***br /"Mum! They used an Unforgivable Curse on their son! Surely, we can get them locked up or something!"br /"Darling, I will handle this with Walburga. Why don't you make up the guest room for Sirius so when he's feeling better, he can have his own room?"br /"His own room? You mean he's staying?"br /"James..."br /"Okay, okay, I'm going.."br /emstrongRemus/strong/embr / Remus's parents had been out of town for the full moon, so he went to stay with the Potters. It was selfish of him, really. To put this burden on one of his best friends and his family. But things had gone well for the most part. The full moon had passed about a week earlier and he was already feeling much better. He was still a bit tired, but it was storming outside and he knew that James hadn't ever liked storms. The thunder kept the boys awake for most of the night anyway. Remus had intended to owl Sirius in the morning but didn't know what to say, so he hadn't even written the letter yet. br / When the pounding on the door started, Remus was nervous that it was his father wanting him to be back home. His father would know how selfish he was being and make him go home immediately. Euphemia yelped from her bedroom and then Remus heard her running down the stairs. James and Remus made eye contact and both stood up as soon as Euphemia yelled for James. The boys rushed down the stairs where Remus saw the worst shape he's ever seen Sirius in. He knew he would barely be able to help anyway, but he wanted to be there in case he could do something. Euphemia said something about making some tea and hurried into the kitchen after bringing Sirius a blanket. Sirius stuttered out a few words about how he didn't know where else to go and James approached him and assured him that he was always welcome in their house. Which is exactly what James had said when weak pre-full moon Remus had shown up outside of the Potter residence. br / Remus had finally been able to pull himself from his spot at the bottom of the stairs and approached Sirius as James put the warm pajamas on the boy's frail body. br /"You weren't supposed to see me like this," Sirius whispered to Remus. Remus sighed, exasperated. He knew why Sirius didn't want Remus to see him like that, but that wasn't a concern of his right now. He justed Sirius to be alright. br / James excused himself to the kitchen and Remus looked Sirius over. Making sure they were no other marks that the three of them missed. "What about your back?" Remus asked, looking over Sirius' bruised ribcage. br /"There might be a wound or two from my mother's high heels, but I doubt it will be any problem at all."br / Remus covered his face with his hands and made Sirius turn over so he could see the wounds that Sirius mentioned. br /"Love, I'm fine," Sirius whispering, grasping Remus's face as he sat up on the sofa. Sirius winced at the movement but made no verbal protest. br /"I know you are, Siri, you always are."br /"Why are you here? Wasn't the full moon last week?"br /"Yes, but my dad made my mum go out of town on business with him. I didn't want to be alone, I know I shouldn't have come here, but I didn't want to be alone."br /"Oh, Moony..."br / Remus knew now Sirius was feeling more sorry for Remus than himself. Remus made Sirius lay down on the couch and excused himself into the kitchen. br /"Mrs. Potter, do you have a First Aid or Healing kit that I could use for Sirius?"br /"Let's let him rest, dear. We can heal him in the morning."br /"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow, Mrs. Potter. Good night."br /"Good night, my dear!"br /emstrongEuphemia/strong/embr / The storm was calming as Euphemia Potter laid in bed next to her husband. She had heard something outside and when she heard a pounding on the front door, she looked out her window. She saw a very frail boy with long black hair outside of her front door, and she knew exactly who it was. She yelped at the sight and pulled her robe around her body. br /"Fleamont! It's Sirius, wake up!" Euphemia whispered to her snoring husband. She didn't want to wake her son and his company until she knew the condition that Sirius was in. She ran down the stairs as fast as she could and threw the front door open. The young man practically fell into her open arms and she helped him to the sofa. He was mumbling under his breath, but she didn't know what she was saying or if he was even coherent. She called for James and knew that he would bring Remus. br / When James came downstairs with his pajamas, she left the trio in her living room, knowing that they'd need privacy. She knew exactly what this was. As this wasn't the first time that Sirius had shown up to her house after Walburga had abused him. But the one thing that she did know was that it would be the last. The boys didn't think she was very observant, but she knew almost everything about the group that they didn't think she knew. br / She knew that Remus was a werewolf. She knew her son was an Animagus and she was pretty sure that Sirius was, too. She even knew about the relationship between Sirius and Remus, but that might have been because she was a bit too nosy for her own good. She had planned to make tea, but after talking to Remus and her son, her husband had called her back to bed so that they could talk, so she decided against the tea and let Sirius sleep off his injuries. br / The next morning, Euphemia and Fleamont were rudely awakened by the pounding on the front door again. When the couple had reached the foyer, Sirius was hiding behind their sofa and shaking his head. James and Remus were not far behind her husband and her, so they took Sirius into their arms and held him. She opened her front door to a screaming Walburga Black with her husband and son in tow. Orion and Regulus were standing in Euphemia's front yard, with stern faces as if that would threaten Euphemia. br /"I want my son back, Euphemia."br /"We have had this conversation too many times, Walburga. This is the last time."br /"He's my son, you can't keep him front me," Walburga screamed. br /"Actually, Walburga, you have used more than one Unforgivable Curse on this boy, your husband, too. So if you'd like to stay out of Azkaban, then I suggest you leave right this instant and don't come back." Fleamont nodded in approval of his wife. br / Walburga and Orion Black looked at Euphemia in disgust, but Walburga did fall back. Euphemia then called out to Regulus, "Reg, darling, if you've ever had enough, you have a bed here, too." Though the child looked hopeful, he walked with his parents with his mother's sharp black nails impaled his arm. br / Sirius ran to Euphemia and engulfed her in a hug. "Thank you. Thank you so much. I don't think I would have survived another week there, let alone a year."br /"Honey, you'll never live there again. If you need anything, we will get it for you."br / Fleamont clapped Sirius on the shoulder and on the way to the study called, "Welcome to the family, son!"/p