CHAPTER EIGHT

By: The Demonic Duo

Remus apparently made good progress through his readings, since he was already halfway through the book. His eyes were straining now so, instead of continuing, he took a moment's break to walk around more of the limited library. He sat down on a bench, placing the book on the table and rubbing his eyes.

He felt more than heard someone sit across from him. By the time he bothered to acknowledge the person, he was displeased to see it was the head nurse. Molly Weasley stared at him, smiling pleasantly. Remus frowned at her, his eyebrow twitching. Deciding to ignore her, he burrowed in the book and began to pick up where he left off.

"You know, Remus, you're going to have to talk with us someday." She hummed.

Not paying particular attention to her, he turned the page and continued reading.

"If you don't start talking, Remus, I'll take your library privileges away."

That got Remus's attention. His head shot up and he stared angrily at her. She regarded him calmly, which only made Remus's body shake with rage.

"Well? If you don't talk to me now, I'm going to escort you out of the library and not permit you to be in here anymore. How would you feel then?" Molly raised an eyebrow. Remus shrugged, glancing away from her and staring at the book in his hands. "Fine, how about this..."

Remus looked up at her.

"How about I get a piece of paper and we can have a small conversation that way?" She bargained, folding her arms. "If you do so, then I will leave you alone for the rest of the week."

Leaning back in his seat, Remus narrowed his eyes at her and shrugged. Finally, he nodded and she stood, walking away from him and returning a moment later with a pen and piece of paper. He had considered walking away but she would have seen and he would have been punished anyways.

She made herself comfortable before staring at Remus expectantly. He stared back petulantly. Sighing, Molly picked up the pen and wrote very neatly; 'How is the book you're reading?'

Remus stared at the paper for a long while, pondering over what to write. Finally, he took the pen from her gently. 'It's good, but there's no sex yet.'

He handed the paper over to Molly who read it twice in shock. 'Oh, I see. So, how do you feel about living here at the hospital?'

Losing interest fast, Remus snatched the paper from her. 'I dislike being here because I have no personal space, get the hint?" Standing, he thrusted the paper and pen in front of her and walked off towards the back of the room.

He stopped, staring blankly at the wall before glancing down at the book in his hand. That hadn't gone all that well, but he supposed she couldn't exactly punish him. They had a very brief conversation on paper and that was all she asked for.

Remus turned his gaze from his book to a different direction. All around him were books and chairs. He scanned the library for Molly. When he didn't see her, he found a comfortable chair in the corner he was in. Pulling his legs into indian-style, he opened the book again and slouched over it.

As the day wore on, Remus found that he couldn't concentrate on the last few pages of the book. Closing it, he checked it out with some difficulty. Being as he wouldn't talk, the librarian was becoming impatient with him until he asked Remus to write his name and room number down. Once he did, he was on his way.

He stopped by his room, deposited the book on his bed before exiting the small room and ambling towards the cafeteria. It was dinner time, apparently. He had been so caught up with reading that he hadn't realized how hungry he was until he breathed in the pleasant odor of food.

Remus carefully took a tray from the serving line, blinking at the wink he received from a rather handsome and disheveled man in the back. He shook his head and walked to a mostly empty table. After his habitual inspection of the food, he dug into the gooey pile.

It was tuna casserole, he noted unhappily as he forced it down his throat. Disgusting. How completely revolting, Remus thought. He couldn't believe they would even hand this out to people to consume. He supposed that he was hungry enough that he could eat it, but boy, he certainly didn't want to.

Pushing the food around a bit, he put on a brave face and shoveled a forkful of the substance in his mouth and chewed quickly before swallowing and downing a quarter of his milk down.

After his almost painful experience, he finished most of it and dumped the rest out. Remus handed in his utensils and tray, then finally, headed back towards his room to finish the book and return it.

The next day, Remus stretched out in his bed comfortably. He didn't want to get up, but his lazy decision would be regretted later when he became hungry. Yawning mutely, he rolled out of bed and changed into the fresh pair of hospital clothes he was supplied.

Both the pants and the shirt were starch white and smelled much like his pillows had when he first arrived. He pushed the shirt against his face and inhaled before humming happily and slipping it over his head. He pushed his pants down and stepped into the clean pair, securing the waist band around his hips. He pulled on the rubber-soled slippers, which were also white, before checking his door.

It was still locked, which meant the staff wasn't around to his room yet. Remus sat back on his bed with a bored sigh. Fifteen or twenty minutes later, Lily unlocked his door and peeked in apologetically, her face flushed.

"Sorry about being so late, I had to do something."

Remus raised an eyebrow at her and opened his mouth. "Your boyfriend?"

Lily gaped at him, and Remus pushed past her to go to the library. He was faintly surprised with himself, as well. He hadn't expected himself to say anything, especially to a nurse. Of course she could have been more shocked at his comment...

Remus stopped in the hall, blinking before groaning quietly. Molly was going to hear about it and harass him. Shaking out of his miserable daze he moved down the hall quickly. He figured that if he was going to be bothered today, he was going to enjoy himself beforehand.

Turning a corner sharply, he ran into a firm body. Blinking, he glanced up and had a faint sense of de jà vu. It was Sirius, but it didn't seem as though Sirius knew what to make of Remus. He was staring quite blankly at him.

Sirius shoved Remus aside and stumbled past. Was it Remus, or were there dark circles under Sirius's eyes? Remus watched him wander aimlessly down the hall. He noted that Sirius's skin seemed paler under the lighting.

Remus turned fully and started walking after Sirius, completely intrigued by his state. Sirius turned another corner, and once Remus caught up he saw that a nurse was tugging gently on Sirius's arm and whispering soothingly to him. Sirius frowned at her, backing away quickly with a loud whimper. Remus's eyes widened at the whimper. He watched Sirius sit down on the floor and slump against the wall tiredly.

"Sirius, honey, if you're tired why don't you sleep?" The nurse murmured softly, swiping her dark blonde hair from her face. He recognized her as Jillian, known as Jill by both the staff and the patients.

"Can't." The dark-haired patient mumbled. "There was blood on m'bed."

"Blood, Sirius?" She asked, her eyes widened. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I did, but Molly said it wasn't there." He sighed, curling up on the floor. "Lily said-" Sirius started screaming, his voice becoming a high, masculine sound that echoed off the walls loudly. "GET IT OFF ME!"

Jillian leaned over him quickly, touching his arm and jumping back when he convulsed. Looking around, she pointed at someone. "Get Molly! GET MOLLY, NOW!"

TBC.

Dun, dun, dun! Horrible, aren't I? Well, while I apologize for the horrible ending, I'll make it up to you by digging deeper into Sirius's temperment in the next chapter. Please review.

PLEASE REFRAIN FROM POSTING FLAMES, THREATS AND SUCH OTHER NONESENSE FOR MY CLIFFHANGER! Wouldn't it be more preferable to read this in Sirius's point of view? Thank you.