[It darn near broke Shin's heart to hear that from Sirius and not for the reasons Sirius was expecting. Shin went right up to Syr's back and put his hands there, then leaned his forehead against Syr's spine.]

Please, don't do this again - don't think of yourself that way. [It made sense in retrospect how Sirius had acted, but that didn't make Shin feel any better. Sirius was still in pain.] It's disgusting what Peter caused to happen - truly disgusting - but when evil people set their minds to such deeds... What would be truly horrible is if you were proud of those acts, if you had no remorse.

Anta, I'm... [He clenched his fists.] I'm no better. Do you really think anyone who's been in battle has no blood on their soul?