Midnight Talks
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all related characters is to J.K. Rowling
Harry woke up thirsty.
It wasn't that he was particularly parched, but waking up in the middle of the night sounded better if there was a reason behind it. It was not the bad dreams, he told himself. All he needed was a glass of water and he could go back to sleep just fine.
He got out of bed slowly, careful not to wake Ron up and arouse questions he was too sleepy to answer. The springs of the bed hardly creaked as he stood up, marveling at how sturdy most of the furniture in No. 12 Grimmauld Place was. It would never look or feel as comfortable and cozy as the Weasleys' house, but the Black residence still did look impressive considering that no one's been taking much care of it the last decade or so.
Harry had to smile at that. No wonder Sirius ran away from such a family. Sirius moved around the house comfortably enough; it's where he grew up, after all, and the sight of him drinking from monogrammed silver goblets didn't strike Harry as absurd as he'd first thought it would. But it was still pretty obvious that the constraints that come with such a lifestyle bored, if not altogether angered, Sirius Black.
So Harry couldn't really blame his godfather for being so restless most of the time, staying in the same house he thought he'd left forever. The fact that Sirius was also stuck doing housecleaning with Molly and the rest didn't seem to help matters any.
"Don't fuss. I'm fine."
Harry stopped, having reached the bottom of the staircase without realizing it. He looked around when he heard the voices, wondering where they were coming from.
"Goddamn right you're fine, you're bleeding all over the floors, Moony."
It was Sirius and Lupin talking, and Harry thought their voices were coming from somewhere near the hallway. The conversation was mostly done in whispers, owing to the fact that Mrs. Black might wake up at a squeak of a mouse.
Harry moved closer to the banisters, hoping that neither men would notice him if ever they'd walk past his way. He had a pretty vague idea about the sort of work that Lupin was doing for the order, requiring him to stay away from the house for long periods of time. But Harry wanted to know for sure what Lupin was doing exactly and this was a perfect chance to try figuring things out. Fred and George had the rest of the Extendable Ears, but Harry thought he'd risk it. It wasn't like Sirius and Lupin would think anyone else awake at this time of the night anyway.
"It's nothing much. Go get bandages, will you?"
"Come on."
Harry pressed against the shadows in the stairways as both men's footsteps went closer to where he was standing, moving towards the basement kitchen. That would be too far away for Harry to hear them properly, so he waited a few more seconds before following.
The door to the kitchen was left ajar, a sliver of light cutting a vertical line across the shadows and Harry stood close against the walls, straining his ears some more.
"I don't see how Dumbledore thinks this is going to help," said Sirius. The perfect beginning to any conversation, as far as Harry was concerned.
"We have to try all the options that we have. We're better prepared this time."
"If anything happens to you—"
"Listen to you, Sirius. You can take all sorts of risks and you worry about me?"
"Well, that's different." There was a pause, and then Lupin gave a sharp cry, followed by Sirius laughing. "Nothing much, huh? That cut's pretty deep."
"It's not if you're being gentle. Stop exaggerating." Lupin's voice was softer, and Harry had to step closer to the door to hear him.
"Wouldn't hurt you for the world, Moony," said Sirius, briskly. "Is it really so bad to worry about you?"
Lupin sighed. "Don't, Sirius."
"When are you leaving again?" said Sirius, testily. There were more footsteps, then the sound of someone stirring the logs, fire crackling.
"Dawn, by the latest."
"But your wounds haven't been properly treated yet!" There was a metallic sound that Harry took for Sirius striking the poker against something hard.
"This is fine. You've done a great job on it."
"It's not fine, Remus! What if you bleed to death in some alley—"
"Stop babying me, Padfoot."
Harry laughed silently. His godfather was behaving in a way that reminded Harry strongly of Molly Weasley, very much unlike the daredevil Sirius at all. But then again, he always did treat Lupin differently from everyone. Of course, there was something about Lupin that made people try to act calmly and make sense when he's around, which was perfect for a professor. The surprising thing was that it worked on Sirius as well.
Both men were silent for a while, and Harry thought of getting back up to his room without drinking his glass of water after all. But then Sirius spoke again.
"I still don't like it, no matter how many times you try to explain—"
"I know," said Lupin, making a shushing sound. Then there was a soft sound that Harry couldn't identify, and he heard Sirius sigh.
"But it has to be done."
"I promise to be careful if you would, Sirius."
"Not you too!"
"Well, it's not like you're the only one entitled to worry."
"Moony, can we just—" Sirius' voice was getting louder, closer to where Harry was standing.
Harry turned around, walking as fast as he could without making much sound. He was halfway down the hallway when Sirius called to him.
"Harry! How long have you been there?"
"I- I just came for a glass of water," stammered Harry, daring a glance at his godfather. The sight of Sirius' blushing face was so unexpected that Harry began to take heart. At least Sirius was too busy being embarrassed to scold him for eavesdropping, although what his godfather was being embarrassed about, Harry couldn't tell.
"Well, come on in, then."
Harry looked around before stepping in the kitchen. The fire provided the only light in the room, throwing the far sides in shadows. Lupin was leaning on one edge of the long table, holding his left arm gingerly. Harry couldn't see the arm under Lupin's robes, but there was a lot of blood on Lupin's clothes. Andarry Harry noticed there were some on Sirius' as well.
"Welcome back, Lupin," said Harry. "When did you get here?"
"Just a few minutes ago. I won't be staying long either," said Lupin, with a small smile. "There's something that still needs attending."
"When are you leaving?"
"Oh," said Lupin, giving Sirius a sidelong glance. "Before lunchtime, probably. I guess I'd rest a bit before working again, as should the both of you. We've all got a long day ahead of us."
"In different ways," muttered Harry.
"Maybe so," said Sirius, who seemed to have regained his good humor. "Now hurry up with that, Master Potter. The night is long, but not long enough. Let's to bed, shall we?"