Sirius took a deep breath, preparing himself mentally for what he felt was effectively giving in, at least a little bit, to his enemy. But he was doing it for Remus. For no other reason than for his friendship, which was too valuable to lose, and which Sirius had almost lost, a thought which was unendurable to the boy.
"Ready," he said. He looked into Remus' topaz eyes, drawing courage from them. He could do this, he knew. He'd done far worse things before, been subjected to worse by his family. Things he would never reveal, not even to his friends. This was only calculated to hurt his pride. Granted, he possessed a lot of pride.