Remus was in a great deal of pain, lying naked on the cold, splintery floor of the Shrieking Shack. His bones felt as if they'd all been broken and remade only to revert back to their original state, his skin as if it had been stretched and twisted around his new skeleton, and his entire body as if someone had taken a very hefty crowbar and beaten him about because they could. And oddly enough, that was precisely what had happened.

Well, the first two things anyway.

Remus was aware that James was there, and that Sirius and Peter were not. Beyond that, everything was a dull blur.

James patted his head awkwardly. "How are you doin' there, Moony?"

"I will kill you if you ever ask me that again," Remus groaned irritably. "Just as soon as I can move my arms."

James laughed a bit at that. If Remus had been a bit more conscious, he would have noted the discomfort in it.

"Where's Sirius?" Remus asked, his voice sounding a bit too much like a pouting child for James's comfort. But then, Remus always did act a little strange after a change.

James swallowed, glancing down at Remus's bare back. "Does it matter?"

Remus tried to uncurl his body to stare at James, but then he remembered that that was a physical impossibility. "It does matter if I ripped his throat out."

"Well, if you ripped his throat out, I might mention it."

"Yes, you might. I have no guarantees."

James opened his mouth, perhaps trying to think of a joke to improve Remus's mood and perhaps to voice some frustration at this line of conversation. In the end he sighed and said, "He went back with Peter."

Remus did not ask if Peter was all right.

"You stepped on him you know," James said. "He's sort of a U-shape."

"That's unfortunate," Remus said.

James nodded, sitting in silence for a moment, trying to say something. A moment later, he sighed and said, "Come on, I'll help you up."

James bent down, slinging Remus's arm over his shoulder as gently as he could. He helped Remus to his feet, struggling a bit, but it was manageable. When Remus was upright, he laid his head on James's shoulder, keeping his eyes shut before the light of dawn. He was too exhausted to say anything else.

He was never too tired when it was Sirius.