"Oh my God," Remus gasps into his phone, "Miss Hall, I'm so sorry,"

Remus scrambles around for the light switch and turns it on. He  throws his feet off the bed and unplugs his phone from the charger. It's past seven in the evening, and he's just woken up to his phone vibrating.

"At least you're not dead," Miss Hall replies, "Rather rude of you to not show up at work, dear,"

Remus bites his lip. "I'm really so sorry," he says.

"Well, you did say that once already. Do I get an excuse, at least?"

"Uhm," Remus shifts a little, grabbing his pillow and bringing it on to his lap. "Sirius is in hospital,"

"Didn't try to kill himself, did he?"

The words hit Remus like the Hogwarts Express, and the reality of Sirius' situation, which still feels a little more like a dream than it feels like reality, finally starts to sink in.

"Oh dear, he did?" Miss Hall sighs into the phone. "How is he now?"

"He's fine, I think," Remus sighs as well, "I didn't really get to talk to him yet..."

"Ah, I see," Miss Hall pauses, "Would a week be enough?"

"I'm sorry?"

"A week, dear. Seven days. Is that long enough?"

"For what, Miss Hall?"

"Why, to take care of your boyfriend, of course,"

"He's not... he's not my boyfriend, and I... Miss Hall, you really don't have to. I'll come to work tomorrow—"

"What a ludicrous idea," Miss Hall gasps, "Who would take care of him?"

"His brother is here. And there are some friends of his..."

"Well, let's pretend they aren't. You can nurse him back to health," Miss Hall sighs dreamily, and it makes Remus roll his eyes. "It will be like in those wartime romances, you know. I think it's a charming plot."

Remus slaps his forehead.

"So... should I stop expecting you to move in?" Miss Hall asks.

Remus bites his lip. "I don't know," he says quietly. "I don't know if Sirius would want me to stay,"

"Of course he wants you to stay,"

"Yeah," Remus tucks the pillow under his chin, "Must be why he asked me to go,"

"Watch your tone, young man," Miss Hall replies. Talking to her like this makes Remus feel a little less uneasy about everything in general. "But, as I was saying, he wants you to stay,"

"Okay," Remus mumbles, sounding a hundred and thirty percent convinced.

"Do you not believe me? It's a tale as old as time, isn't it? Well, maybe not that old, but certainly as old as me... Not that it's relevant at all, of course,"

"Oh?"

"It's simple, really. He thinks he's bad for you and he wants to spare you the pain of being with him,"

"That's ridiculous," Remus sits up straight. But he knows it's true.

"Men are ridiculous, dear."

Remus smiles. "I can't stay here when he's asked me to leave, Miss Hall,"

"Well, yes, but something tells me he'll change his mind soon. Maybe he'll see how much you love him when you nurse him back to health,"

"I'm not nursing him back to—"

"Why, that's a little rude, isn't it," Miss Hall tsks, "You have to help your friends in need. Even if they're boyfriends,"

"Oh my God, for the millionth time, he's not my boyfriend,"

"Yet," Miss Hall laughs. Remus rolls his eyes again. It's like he's turning into Regulus 2.0. "It would be great to have someone live here with me, but that someone is not going to be you,"

"Thank you so much, Miss Hall. I knew I could count on you,"

Miss Hall laughs into the phone. Remus makes a note in his head to call his mom.

"I'll see you around, dear. Telephone me if you need anything. I make an amazing soup, if your boyfriend needs some help changing his mind,"

Remus wants to snort, but he holds it in. "Of course, Miss Hall," he pauses as his tone changes, "And thank you so much. I really do mean it."

Once they've ended the call, he stands up and stretches his feet. He goes to get some clothes so that he can have a shower, but something makes him stop. He feels a little uneasy, like he's not alone. He wonders if James is back, and walks down the stairs to see.

When he walks into the kitchen, James is there, sure enough. But so is Auguste. They're sitting close together at the table, looking at anything but each other. Remus blinks.

"Um, hey," he says, tugging at the sleeve of his jumper.

"Hi," James waves, a little too excited. But then again, James is always excited.

"What are you up to?" Remus asks, looking for any signs of a fight. Nothing's broken or out of place, but James and Auguste don't get physical anyway.

"Uhm, I was just... asking Auguste a question," James says, wincing a little.

"He was asking me if I wanted tea," Auguste clarifies.

"Oh," Remus says. "Can you make me some, too, please? I'll go have a shower real quick."

"No problem at all," James smiles. Remus drags himself back up the stairs.

Thank God for tea.

***

Author's Note

For those of you who really don't wanna read anything James x Auguste, you can skip the next part. Whenever I break a chapter into two and add part one or part two within brackets at the end of the title, you can skip part two.

I'll write it so that you won't miss anything plot-wise. You'll get to hear whatever happens through James as part of a dialogue with Remus or Sirius, but you won't have to read it.