wise men say
it looks like rain today
it crackled on the speakers
and trickled down the sleepy subway trains
for heavy eyes could hardly hold us
aching legs that often told us
it's all worth it

We All Fall In Love Sometimes

Chapter 28: Snippets

"I demand to be let in!"

"I'm sorry, sir," the green-robed witch said, shrinking back from a very upset James. "Our policy is strict. Family members only."

"Look," the man growled, pointing at the door, "if you don't let me in the room within the next five minutes I swear -"

"WAIT!" Footsteps clattered down the tiled hallway as Sirius, pursued by three or four St. Mungo's security guards, sprinted up to the door and skidded to a stop. "Let me in, at least."

"Name?"

"Sirius Phineas Black."

"You're not listed," the mediwitch replied promptly, dropping the papers on her clipboard. "I'm very sorry, sir… though… I can show you to the waiting room, if you'd like…" she trailed off, eyeing him hopefully.

"Look," the second man said loftily, "That man in there is my husband. And this," he added, clapping James on the shoulder, "is his brother-in-law."

James grinned weakly.

The witch faltered. "You're…"

"Gay? Yes," Sirius sighed dramatically, "irreversibly so."

She shifted nervously. "But… you're not listed…"

"Well, no, I wouldn't be, would I?" He rolled his eyes. "Really, the insensitivity of people these days…"

"I am so sorry," she gasped as the security guards, who at this point had caught up and heard most of the exchange, nodded in agreement. "Please go in. Both of you."

"Thank you," James said snidely as they stepped past her into the room.

Upon this they realized that their endeavors had been in vain, as Remus was already awake and crawling out of bed when they entered. He looked up at the click of the door and smiled.

"About time you came along," he laughed, holding up an arm. It was bandaged rather minimally. "If you're here to pull my ventilator you're a bit too late, they already saved me."

"Damn," Sirius said, making a show of slapping his forehead. "You have no idea what we had to say to get in here."

"I have some idea," Remus replied dryly. "I heard you through the door. Oi, James, I've got your wand."

"Thanks." James accepted and looked over it critically. "Huh, not a scratch. Well done, mate."

Sirius cast a Muffliato spell on the room, which would prevent anyone from overhearing their conversation. "You two ought to be more careful."

"Yeah, yeah. I trust Dumbledore got the reports?"

"He's got a few people on it right now."

"We're going to need more than a few. They're a pretty nasty bunch, and if you don't recall, the full moon's coming up…"

Sirius quirked an eyebrow, leaning against the closed door. "What's that got to do with anything?"

James sighed angrily. He understood what Remus meant, but it was a bigger problem than he would've expected. Than anyone would've expected. "It means they're working together, Sirius. It means they've already got a grip. They've already made a decision, and it's not a good one."

There was a thick silence in the room.

"Therefore, we need to go talk to Dumbledore, now."

"He knows, James," Remus said. "It was all in my message. I just hope he's doing the right thing by not sending out a larger force."

"Or perhaps we can't afford a larger force."

"So what if a couple werewolves are causing trouble? They're always causing trouble," Sirius said dismissively. "Sorry, Remus, but most of them aren't exactly Muggle-friendly. What we should really be worried about are -"

"- exactly what I've been investigating," Remus reminded him. "So long as I can see Dumbledore soon, we might have a shot. They want to hear it from him."

"Everyone wants to hear it from him." James began pacing anxiously, angrily. It was too much.

Pressure had been building up on the war for more than fifteen years, but things were getting far worse. People kept inside their homes after dark for fear of Death Eaters. The Gringotts bank had doubled, even tripled security, making it harder to withdraw money. The Daily Prophet was churning out papers as fast as it could with stories of death, disappearance, and calamity.

Remus grabbed his robes and pulled them on over his hospital garments, not saying anything. He understood James's frustration, but it was so different watching objectively than it was being in the thick of it.

In his opinion, James had it lucky.

"Leaving Britain again sounds like a pretty nice idea right about now," Sirius commented, a wrinkle forming in his brow. "I know I told Dumbledore I'd do anything for the Order, but a carefree vacation would be cool. And maybe the opportunity to date some girls."

Remus snorted. "You don't have time for a girlfriend."

"I had time."

"That's different," James said, slightly irked. Yes, Sirius had turned her over, but it was still annoying to be reminded of… them, going through the motions of being a couple and knowing things together no one else would know…

The atmosphere wasn't – tense, exactly, but it was stiff. No one knew what to say. The whole situation was ambiguous and vague from an outsider's point of view, and no one wanted to elaborate.

Snippets, here and there. Just snippets. Bit of news so everyone was safely updated but never completely informed.

Remus sighed deeply. Maybe they didn't tell each other everything anymore – maybe it was safer if they didn't – but one day everything would become clear.

So he didn't ask.

He just waited.


Author's Note: Again, sorry for the wait. I'm just a chronically slow updater... and what's more, I only have a four-chapter backlog right now. But as soon as I get time off I'll started updating more often, I swear. D:

Please review. It's quite inspiring. :D