Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling.

"I Like it Rough" and "Dance In The Dark" belong to Lady GaGa.

Author's Note: Remember I said Remus is Italian? Yup. Translation is right after the section :)

Beyond her kiss is a vampire grin
Moon lights her way while she's howling at him
She looks good, but her boyfriend says she's a mess
She's a mess, she's a mess, yeah, the girl is stressed...

Baby loves to dance in the dark,
'Cause when he's looking, she falls apart

I'm in the bedroom with tissues and when--
I know you're outside banging, but I won't let you in!
'Cause it's a hard life with love in the world,
and now our hard-boy loving is like chewing on pearls…

Sirius awoke to Remus' groans. He came to, dirty and unkempt, laying on the floor of the landing of the Shrieking Shack. His head was pounding.

The door on the landing was opening slowly. And out came his little friend, his darling companion. He emerged slowly and tiredly from the room and onto the landing.

Remus was completely naked, and he was bleeding from several places on his body; he had apparently got it all over his hands and unconsciously rubbed it all over himself. His eyes were very pale amber. They wouldn't look at Sirius.

Sirius rose and walked slowly over to him.

Shit, it was bad.

Remus had four beautiful gashes going down his left arm, all lined up. The wounds were still raw. He also had a nice long wound going from the base of his throat across his chest-- no doubt from the scuffle with Padfoot the night before.

Everything else was cuts and scratches; he was also limping. Sirius was limping too.

Remus finally looked at him.

Their hearts simultaneously broke.

Sirius took in his friend's pale, drawn face, the dark, dark circles, and most of all, his sad and frightened eyes-- usually so expressive and deep, now wounded and destroyed.

He drew out his hand to touch Remus' cheek but the boy recoiled.

"No…" Remus' eyes shut tightly; his face turned away.

His 'no' had that twang to it. When Remus was at his wit's end, he reverted to his childhood Italian-- the language of his ancestors.

All right. Sirius could go there with him; he had gone there with him a few times over the years, actually. His own childhood had been filled with all the Latin-based tongues.

"Tu sai che io non ti lascerei," he whispered.

Remus glanced at Sirius' wounds.

"Le cose non dovevano succedere in questo modo."

Sirius laughed mirthlessly.

"Cose mai risultato in questo modo, amore." He reached over again to touch Remus; the boy let him.

The werewolf's skin was cold. Sirius couldn't bear to see him standing there naked and torn so he took off his own boots, jacket, jeans and sweater, dropping them to the floor, then took off his undershirt.

Remus gave him a puzzled look until Sirius hesitantly raised the undershirt up to his face. He, again, immediately recoiled, but Sirius held him steady.

"Lasciatemi."

He wiped the smeared blood off Remus' body with the shirt; it wasn't so bad. Then he stared long and hard at his wounds. He made a decision and grabbed his wand from his discarded jeans.

"Lasciatemi," he repeated before Remus could protest. He ran his fingers cautiously along the wound on his throat. "Io so come eseguire questa cosa."

Remus gazed at him and sighed. Out of trust, he let himself be handled.

Sirius ran his wand tip over the wound on his throat.

"Hm…"

He closed his eyes and focused on the young man; he felt the humanity in him-- the wolf as well-- and the magic coursing through him. Remus was strong because he had to be; but, his fibers had been soft and fresh at first…

Sirius found the other boy's equilibrium, his center, and drew out the healing powers. He summoned Remus' strength and compassion. It answered and rushed to where his wand lay. Remus gasped.

Beautiful, healing liquid seeped from the wound and began to weave itself into the broken flesh, healing it. Sirius' love poured from his wand, bolstering the mending.

He moved to Remus' arm, handling it gently. He softly kissed the boy's cheek and healed his arm the same way he healed his chest.

Remus then gently pushed him away. He could deal with the rest.

Sirius understood. He picked up the clothes and handed them to Remus.

"Indossare questi," he ordered. "Io sono un cucciolo! Camminerò con ti in quella forma. Posso guarire la mia gamba."

Remus nodded.

Sirius watched Remus wince as he put the sweater and jeans on.

"Dimmi," he murmured when he was finished. "Di cosa ha bisogno?"

Remus slid down the wall and sat; he motioned for the half-naked Sirius to sit next to him. He did. Remus wrapped the leather jacket around him.

"Nulla."

"Non essere orgogliosi, Remu." Sirius spoke forcefully. "E non vi aggrada. Siete troppo forti per questo."

"Quando verrà a sapere che questa è la mia battaglia?" Remus grasped angrily onto his arm. "Se solo tu sapessi come mi vogliono proteggerti da tutto questo! Ti amo troppo per essere una creatura selvaggia…" He rested his head on Sirius' shoulder. "Che cosa inguista!"

"Si tratta di una prova di forza." Sirius stroked his back. "Non mi ritiro."

Remus smiled sadly and shook his head.

"Coraggiosi e sciocca."

"La vita è così. Senza riguardo," Sirius combed Remus' hair with his fingers, "starò con ti nel dormitorio. Io ti guarirà. Io saranno nutrimento."

Remus stilled.

"Nostro amici…"

"Essi non sono più amici, né fratelli, fino a quando non ci accettano!" Sirius scowled at the memory of Peter and James from last night.

"Essi sono spaventati, Siri. Io non li biasimo. Io non capisco perché non ti è spaventata." Remus looked at him seriously. "Che cosa faremo?"

Sirius took his chin in his hands and stared deeply into his eyes; he was exhausted and over-emotional.

"Conosco la sofferenza. Sono certo che la vita mi darà molto di più la sofferenza. Ma, se seguo questo," he kissed him, then, more fiercely and passionately then ever before because right now the world was changing, "allora la sofferenza cesserà di conoscere me."

"Che Dio ci scudo, poi!" Remus' voice was hoarse and broken.

"Che sta facendo così. Ed questa notte," Sirius buried his face in Remus' hair, "voglio fare l'amore con te."

Remus' breath hitched. Despite his exhaustion, blood momentarily threatened to rush down to the place between his legs.

"…con le nostre mani e le nostre bocche. Caro?"

"'Altre' cose non sono per noi," Sirius whispered. "Ma, lascia che di toccarti, per la prima volta?"

"Certamente," Remus breathed. "Ma, non dimenticare il sogno che avevi."

"Principe, non ci sarà alcuna somiglianza!" Sirius laughed. "Io non ti chiederà di indossare un abito da sposa!"

He ruffled Remus' hair and let bliss overflow his insides when he saw him smile genuinely.

"And I refuse to wear one, either!"

##

--"You know I won't leave you."

--"Things shouldn't have happened the way they did."

--"Things never happen the way they should, love."

--"Let me."

--"Let me. I know how to do this."

--"Put these on." … "I'm a puppy! I'll walk back with you in that form. I'll heal my leg."

--"Tell me. What do you need?"

--"Nothing."

--"Don't be proud, Remus. It doesn't suit you. You're too strong for that."

--"When are you going to see that this is my battle? If you could only see how I want to protect you from all this! I love you too much for a savage creature…" … "What an injustice!"

--"It's a test of fortitude." … "I'm not backing out."

--"Courageous and stupid."

--"Life is like that. Regardless," … "I'll stay with you in the dormitory. I'll watch over you. I'll nourish you."

--"Our friends?"

--"They are not our friends, nor our brothers, until they accept us!"

--"They're frightened, Sirius. I don't blame them. I don't understand how you are not frightened." … "What are we going to do?"

--"I know what suffering is. I'm certain life will hand me even more suffering. But, if I follow this," … "then suffering will cease to know me."

--"May God shield us, then!"

--"He already is. And tonight," … "I want to make love to you."

--"…with our hands and our mouths. Sweetheart?"

--"Any of those 'other' things aren't for us." … "But, let me touch you, for the first time?"

--"Of course." … "But, don't forget that dream I had."

--"My prince, there'll be no similarity!" … "I would never ask you to put on a wedding dress!"

##

T.B.C.

End-of-chapter commentary: I like the Italian. I do. I don’t want to say, "they spoke in Italian" and write everything in English. It's too contrived. Thanks for the input, everyone :)