Come Tuesday morning, Remus is a fucking wreck.

He's curled under his blanket, shaking, and he wants to cry. Because fuck, his hearing... And fuck, he has to leave. Leave and never come back.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

And then there's a fucking knock on the door. And Remus fucking whimpers.

"Remus?"

The door opens, and Sirius comes in. Remus doesn't look up, only pulls the blanket over his head.

"Hey," Sirius says softly, and Remus feels the bed dip down. "Remus, what's wrong?"

"Everything," Remus mumbles.

Sirius tugs the blanket down to Remus' waist, and curls his fingers around Remus' hand. "It's going to be fine," he says, smiling, like he isn't breaking Remus' heart right now. "You'll be alright."

And for a second, when Sirius is looking at him with such earnest, Remus feels like he can actually believe him.

"Come on, you need to get dressed. And we're leaving in an hour,"

"I don't want to. I want to die in here, can't I die in here?" Remus mumbles, sounding so miserable that even he feels sorry for himself.

"No, you can't," Sirius nudges him with his elbow.

"It's not going to go well," Remus sighs.

"It really isn't, if you don't turn up. They'll probably throw away your case if you don't. Which is why you should go get dressed. Unless you want me to Levicorpus you on to my bike in your pyjamas. Which I'm happy to do, by the way,"

"God, no," Remus sits up, "I haven't even brushed my teeth yet,"

"I could've done without hearing that," Sirius grumbles, standing up. "Go on, then. Brush your teeth. And get dressed. And come down for breakfast, I'm waiting for you."

***

Remus chews on his lip the whole time he's on the bike, his arms around Sirius' waist and his chin on Sirius' shoulder. They don't fly this time, becuase the last thing they need is to be spotted by a Muggle.

Every once in a while, when the traffic isn't too bad, Sirius removes a hand from the handle of his bike to give Remus' hands a small squeeze. Remus can't tell if that makes him feel better, or even more despondent.

He doesn't want to leave.

They stay quiet the entire journey, and when Sirius stops his bike in front of a shabby pub in a small street, James and Lily are waiting for them.

"Hi, Re," Lily gives Remus a little kiss on the cheek. "How are you doing?"

Miserable.

"I'm alright, Lily, thanks. Just a little nervous. Well," Remus sighs, "more like very nervous."

"Aw, Remus," James gives him a big hug, squeezing him. "Don't be nervous. We're gonna do great, I'm sure."

"Yeah, I hope so," Remus smiles at him as they pull away. "I really do."

James goes to give Sirius a hug, his hands a lot more gentle than they were with Remus. "Padfoot," he says, "it's good to see you."

"I know, I know," Sirius smiles, "it's cause I'm so pretty."

Lily gives him a hug as well.

"Lawyering Remus up today, Evans?" He grins, and she gives him a little shove.

"No teasing, Sirius."

"I wonder where Auguste is..." Sirius wonders out loud. Remus knows that he has no right, but he doesn't like it when Sirius speaks that name.

"On his way," James replies immediately.

Sirius turns to him, an eyebrow curving up. "Since when do you keep tabs on Auguste?"

"Oh, they're best friends now," Lily grins, making James groan.

"We are not friends," James mumbles.

"That's quite rude, Potter," a voice sounds from behind Remus. They turn around, and sure enough, Auguste is there. "What ever will I do with the friendship bracelets now?"

"Oh, you're here... hi," Sirius gives him a little wave, and Remus tries not to stare. God help him. God fucking help them all.

"Great, now can we just go in,"  James huffs, stomping towards a aancient-looking telephone box that looks like it might as well be something Miss Hall's grandparents would fondly recount memories of.

"Don't mind him," Lily laughs, "He's a little grumpy because I made him brush his hair."

"Really," Auguste turns to give his receding figure a brief glance. "I couldn't tell."

Sirius chokes on a laugh.

"Oh, he's gone," Lily points at the empty telephone box. "We better get going, he'll probably get lost."

"He's definitely going to get lost," Sirius grins. "Let's go." And he grabs Remus' hand, the sensation of which, mixing in with how nervous he is, makes Remus feel a little woozy.

They let Lily go first, and then Auguste.

"Ready?" Sirius asks, opening the door of the phone box for Remus.

"Yeah," Remus takes a shaky breath, stepping in. "Ready as I could ever hope to be."

***

Three hours later, the hearing is going...

Well.

"So far, Mr. Lupin has presented us with two so-called witnesses who neither saw nor heard anything that happened on the fifteenth of September," the legal representative for the defence—Mr. Murray—says, jumping to his feet like he's starting in some sort of criminal justice reality show on TV.

Remus flinches, and feels Sirius squeeze his hand. They've been holding hands ever since they came in, except when Remus had to stand up and tell the judge what happened that night. James, Lily and Auguste are sitting behind them.

There's little etiquette when it comes to Wizarding courtrooms, so Lily stands up. It feels more like a glorified meeting than an actual courtroom procedure.

"We have another witness," she says, her voice ringing across the mostly empty courtroom. Remus keeps his head down, not wanting to look at the defendants, who are all sat right across the room from him.

"Oh?" Mr. Murray raises an eyebrow, and Remus is absolutely positive that he doesn't like that little smirk on the man's lips.

"Yes," Lily narrows her eyes, and then turns to the judge. "May I present him now, sir?" She asks him.

The judge gives her an unimpressed look. "Of course," he says coldly. He's been cold to everyone. To James, to Auguste, to Remus and also to Murray.

Maybe he's just a grumpy man by nature. But maybe he just hates this case. Remus doesn't want to be too pessimistic, but right now, anyone affiliated with the Ministry is not to be trusted.

"Go on, Sirius," Lily pats Sirius' shoulder. He gives Remus' hand a small squeeze. "Wish me luck," he flashes Remus a grin and stands up. Sick with nerves, Remus watches him walk to the tall chair in the middle of the room. He walks as coolly as he would walk to the fridge to get Remus some apple juice after breakfast.

"Name in full," the judge demands roughly after Sirius sits down.

"Sirius Orion Black."

The atmosphere in the room shifts a little.

"It says here," the judge holds a piece of parchment up, "That you saw what happened?"

"I did," Sirius replies.

"Repeat everything as you remember, Mr. Black."

Sirius turns his head, and for a second, his eyes stay right on Remus'. He gives Remus the smallest hint of a smile, turns to the judge and  launches into his story.

It's hard for Remus to listen to it. He doesn't want to.

It takes a while, but when Sirius finishes, the room is quiet. Sirius' words are enough to turn the case upside down, and everyone in the courtroom is well aware of it.

"Can you," the judge leans forward, and for the first time, Remus doesn't feel like the man is trying to make them lose the case. "Remember any faces?"

"Yes." Sirius' reply is clear and confident, and it sends a ripple of emotion across the room.

"This should've been considered during the investigation," the judge shakes his head.

"We can consider it now," Lily's voice sounds from behind him, making Remus jump.

The judge turns his head to look at her. And then he nods.

"Please stand up, Mr. Black," the judge says, "And see if you can recognize any of the defendants."

Sirius does as he's told. He ends up recognizing six. Six out of twenty-eight isn't a big number, but if even one of them started talking, that would help Remus' side a lot.

Remus dares to look at the men—boys, some of them—sitting opposite him. Their faces all display various degrees of worry. All except for one. Murray.

"You can return to your seat," the judge tells Sirius, stroking his beard. Sirius comes to sit next to Remus. James gives him a small pat on the back. "Well done, Padfoot," he whispers.

Sirius grins at Remus, and Remus smiles back.

"You do realise that this is quite substantial evidence against you?" The judge turns to the defendants.

"Substantial evidence?" Murray jumps to his feet again, looking too arrogant to make Remus feel anything less than terrified.

The judge raises an eyebrow.

"Are we really going to consider the words of Sirius Black as legitimate testimony?" Murray turns to Sirius, a nasty smirk on his lips.

Remus' heart sinks in his chest. Something is wrong.

"What are you suggesting, Murray?" The judge snaps.

"I'm suggesting that, it isn't very appropriate for the high Wizarding court of Britain to acquit these defendants based on the words of this man. The same man," Murray pauses to give another mean grin in Sirius and Remus' direction, "who claimed to hear his boyfriend's voice until six months after his death, and had to spend the good part of a year at St. Mungo's because of it. Surely, we can't just accept the words of a madman?"

Remus thinks his heart actually stops beating. He claps his hand over his mouth.

The judge turns to Sirius, frowning.

"That's not fair, sir," Lily says quickly, standing up again. "That was more than a year ago. And... And Sirius is not a madman."

Remus turns to Sirius, whose face has turned several shades paler, rendering his skin a scary white. His hands are curled into tight fists on his knees. His eyes are lowered, not looking at Remus.

"Is what Mr. Murray said true?" The judge asks.

"Sir, Sirius is—"

"Is it true or not, Miss Evans?"

"It's... It's true," Lily's voice falters for the first time. Remus keeps staring at Sirius. Nothing else matters right now. "But..."

"This is crucial information that the accuser withheld from court," Murray says loudly. Remus tears his eyes away from Sirius to look at the judge.

The judge gives a long sigh.

"I believe I need some time to consider this," he says scratching his beard. "Court is dismissed for today. You'll all be notified when to come back."

And then he stands up and leaves the room, still scratching his beard.