Remus feels something on his head. A light touch, like the whisper of a breeze in his hair. He hums, tilting his head towards it. It feels nice.
And then he thinks of how strange and how frightening this dream is. Sirius lying in a strange bed with his bones broken and his eyes closed. And Remus falling asleep, holding his hand.
Remus blinks. His eyelashes graze something firm. A mattress.
And the arm under his forehead has gone numb.
Not a dream.
His body is still slow and heavy with receding sleep, but he raises his head as quickly as he can. And Sirius is looking at him.
Sirius is looking at him.
"Hi," Sirius whispers, grazing his thumb over Remus' temple. There's a small smile on his pale lips.
Remus blinks. Is this a dream?
"Sirius," he whispers back when he can find his voice again. Sirius' hand falls from his hair when Remus sits up, so Remus takes it in his hands instead. It's so warm, and it's so alive. Sirius is alive. Right there in front of him, smiling the same smile he gives Remus when waking him up for breakfast. "You're awake," Remus breathes out.
"Sherlock Holmes just called," Sirius grins, "He said he can't rest in peace when you keep making him jealous."
Remus can't find it in himself to smile back.
"How do you feel?" He asks instead, holding Sirius' hand close to his chest and leaning forward to brush his hair away from his forehead.
"Good," Sirius grins, "Really good. And high. I think I'm on something."
Remus watches him, speechless. Eventually, he snaps out of it. "I... I need to call a nurse," he carefully places Sirius' hand back on the bed and stands up. He picks James' glasses up before walking over to him.
"James," he calls, shaking his shoulder, "Hey, James."
James jerks awake. "Up, up," he groans, rubbing his eyes.
"Sirius is awake... I thought I'd wake you before we call the nurse."
James blinks. "He's awake?" He jumps to his feet. Remus hands him his glasses, and he hurries over to the bed. Remus watches him lean over Sirius.
They talk in soft voices, and Remus catches only an I'm so sorry from James. After a minute, James straightens himself. "Shall we call her now?"
"Yeah," Remus nods, "Just press that button."
James does so. Nothing really happens, but almost instantly, there's a knock on the door, and the nurse walks in.
"Good morning," she smiles at the boys. Remus looks at the curtains, and he can see a warm glow from behind them. "Hello, Sirius," she walks over to the bed, "How are you feeling?"
"Just peachy," Sirius sighs. He's not smiling anymore.
"Madam Derwent will be here soon," the nurse turns to Remus and James. "Do you mind stepping out for a minute? You can get some breakfast, we might take a while."
The two boys scramble to get their things and quickly file out the door, Remus clutching his comfort water bottle and James carrying his coat. They walk to the cafeteria in silence.
"I'll order something for us," James tells Remus. "Why don't you find us a table and sit?"
Remus doesn't have to find a table. There are two dozens or so in total, and only three or four are occupied. Remus chooses one next to a large window. He sits down and pulls his phone out. 07:28.
"You calling Reg?" James asks, sliding into the seat in front of him.
"I was going to," Remus replies, "Unless you want to do it yourself?"
"No, you go ahead," James sighs.
Remus curves an eyebrow. "You should probably call Lily, you know. She might be worried..."
James bites his lip. Remus stares at him.
"Um, her phone is kinda... broken," James mumbles.
"Ah," Remus nods. "Okay. I'll call Reg, then."
Remus makes the call, staring out of the window. It's picked up on the third ring.
"Hello, Remus?" It's Auguste.
"Oh, hi," Remus says, "Sirius woke up,"
Remus hears Auguste mutter something under his breath. He can't make out the words, but they're accompanied by a sigh of relief.
"How is he? Are you with him?"
"He's... fine," Remus frowns a little, "The nurse sent us out of the room, so we're not with him right now."
"Oh. Wait, you said us? Is Potter there with you?"
"Yeah. He ended up coming here a little after you left."
"Can't wait to see him," Auguste mumbles. Remus bites back a smile. "I want to come right now, but I don't know if I should wake Regulus up."
"Give him some more time," Remus says, "He did fly over all the way from Italy after all. I have a feeling he won't—"
"Is that Remus? Is Sirius awake?" Regulus' voice comes through the phone, a little distant.
"Well," Remus laughs, "there you go."
"We'll be there in half an hour," Auguste says, and Remus can hear him smiling. "Bye, Remus."
***
Author's Note
I didn't know how to end this chapter. I can't be arsed with anything right now, dude
Btw I wanted to show you my room, which is constantly immersed in darkness because ✨aesthetic ✨
That right there is where I write and wallow in my misery and fantasize about girls and death.
Anyway, vote and comment. Love you xx