Supposedly mental symptoms will ensue, don't flame me for my efforts, please. Plus, I do appologize if this chapter's a bit confusing, I do have two P.O.V.s in it...

CHAPTER NINE

By: The Demonic Duo

(Sirius's P.O.V. from isolation release.)

Sirius was released from the isolation ward before the breakfast shift, by Lily who seemed a bit concerned about his food consumption, or lack thereof. She had attempted in vain to get him to eat. Instead, he gurgled something inaudibly and lurched past her, out of the room. Lily alerted Molly immediately of Sirius's behavior, and the head nurse came forthwith.

"Sirius, dear, aren't you going to eat?" She had asked, just as the younger woman had. This time, she merely received a grumpy look in response. "Fine, it's fine, Sirius, how about you go rest?"

Molly led Sirius to his room, unlocked the door and pushed it open. He stumbled past her and his eyes widened. Sirius whipped his head around quickly, looking from wall to wall in shock before settling his startled gaze to his bed.

"Sirius..." She cooed soothingly, raising a hand to touch him. He dropped down, plopping hard onto his bum and bringing his knees up to his chin. Instead of wrapping his arms around his legs, he draped them over his head. He never once looked at her, instead staring at the bed with unwavering concentration. "What is it, sweetie?"

"There's blood, everywhere, it's there." He said hoarsely, causing Lily and Molly to glance at each other in worry.

"No, Sirius, there's no blood." Molly stated softly. She glanced around the room, staring at the boring beige walls before looking at the freshly made bed. "The room's... spotless, hun."

Sirius turned his head at a faint angle, staring up at her with a blank look. Taken back, Molly blinked owlishly and looked at Lily. Sirius was rarely like this, and the only way to deal with his mood was to let it be and keep him closely monitored. They tried to keep medication to an all time low, and unless Sirius warranted a pill or two, they would refrain from doping him to the gills.

"Sirius, maybe you'd like to sleep somewhere else?" Lily said, smiling weakly. "There's no blood, but if your room's making you uncomfortable..."

"Just because you don't see it, doesn't mean it's not there." Sirius stood, turning on heel and ambling out of the room with a reeling sway. He placed his hand on the wall for balance, waiting for the world to stop spinning before stepping carefully, testing himself before launching himself quickly down the hall with an absurdly quick pace. He rounded a corner, gripped the person's shoulders before he could even focus on the person's face. Sirius stared for a long moment, his mind processing that it was Remus, and with remote interest, he moved him aside and stumbled onward.

Sirius made his way around another corner, heading down the corridor slowly and stopping to stare off into space. He was shaken out of his daze when Jillian, a beautiful middle-aged nurse, touched his arm and smiled charmingly at him.

"Hello, Sirius."

It took Sirius a moment, but he eventually answered with a mildly snappish hello. Jill blinked, her broad smile wilting around the edges.

"Are you okay?" She wrapped her delicate hand around his upper arm, helping him stay steady. "You look as though you haven't gotten a wink of sleep at all!"

Sirius blinked incomprehensively, staring past her. His body twitched and he whimpered loudly, stepping away with a sharp frown. He leaned against the wall heavily, the shock of it sending hollow chills through his ribcage as he slid down and slouched in exhaustion.

"Sirius, honey, if you're tired why don't you sleep?"

"Can't." Sirius grumbled "There was blood on m'bed."

"Blood, Sirius?" She asked, her eyes widening while her voice upped a hysterical notch. "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 began, his eyes widening at the sight of a tiny spider on his hand. "GET IT OFF ME!"

Jillian loomed over him quizzically, touching his arm and backing away when he shook and waved his arm frantically to get the small arachnid off. Gazing around frantically, Jillian turned her gaze to a fellow nurse and pointed to them to gain their attention. "Get Molly! GET MOLLY, NOW!"

Once the orders were given, Sirius began to calm down, breathing heavily through clenched teeth. Staring at the floor, he watched feet shuffle back and forth while people skirted around his form. Molly finally kneeled next to him and he directed his attention upward.

"Sirius, what was the screaming about?" She frowned, wiping his face off with a moist cloth one of the other nurses were thoughtful enough to retrieve. He closed his eyes, stretching out on the floor.

"Spider."

Molly gave a frustrated sigh. "A spider? You were screaming bloody murder over a spider? Where is this spider?"

"I don't know." Sirius sat up, looking at his arm unblinkingly. Molly pursed her lips, standing up. Sirius followed her lead, using the wall to help him up. With another sigh, the head nurse gripped his arm and directed him towards a room.

Upon entering the room, Sirius glanced around with feelings of faint stolidity. It was apparently time for art class, which meant he would have access to water colors, crayons, paper, pencils and, if he was lucky, safety scissors. He sat in a chair randomly, staring forward at the art 'teacher.' The art teacher was named Severus Snape. He was only older than Sirius by a few years and had the greasiest mop of hair anyone ever saw. Of course the twenty-one year old man also had the foulest mood, which made it surprising that he would do volunteer work.

Sirius was gradually becomming wired off of his lack of sleep, his hands twitching expectantly while his brain functioned in an obscure state. Severus was watching him curiously, sending cold looks back and forth between other patients, but paying the most attention to Sirius.

Sirius noticed that Remus was now in his artclass. The other patient was sitting in the corner, eyeing the wall with his boredom written across his features. He looked as though he wished to disappear and keep his participation to a very bare minimum.

Feeling a hand drop onto his shoulder, Sirius jumped and gazed up at Lily whom was smiling down at him. She had gold eyeshadow on, though her lovely green eyes looked unnaturally tired.

"I'm here to keep you company, Sirius, isn't that great?"

"Yeah." He said, breathing shallowly.

Lily pulled a chair next to him, smoothing her dress pants as she sat into the uncomfortably stiff seat. She winked at Sirius, turning her eyes forward to Severus whom was holding a cardboard box filled with watercolors.

"Today's the same as usual, I don't want any nonsense, but I would like it if you attempted a landscape." Severus said flatly, handing out the small, cheap trays of waterpaints with their plastic brushes. He was, whether you noticed it or not, being rather cruel. The only amount of land most of the patients remember seeing are the ones from home, or a place they were fond of before they were taken away and placed into a mental prison.

Severus arrived at Sirius's small desk, sneering down at him and dropping the paint tray loudly onto the genuinely wooden surface. He nodded curtly at Lily and moved on. Sirius stared at his paint container and then at Lily. She smiled back at him, nodding.

"Go ahead, Sirius, get some water to paint with."

He stared at her, being unresponsive. She tilted her head in concern and reached a hand over to him. Sirius's eyes widened at the sight of her hand. His body was beginning to shake terribly, sweat forming almost instantaneously on his forhead and neck. Seeing this, Lily moved her hand away and frowned as Sirius backed away, still breathing irregularly. Sirius's blue orbs were focused on her hands still, his face screwed up in terror.

"Sirius?" Lily whispered, wondering if he was having an anxiety attack. She hadn't done anything to provoke the response and was hesitant to do anything. "S-Sirius?

"Lily." Severus said, breaking Lily out of her near panic. "Perhaps you should go retrieve help."

"Right." The young nurse said, standing up and racing out of the room. A group arrived, consisting of Lily, Jillian and two male nurses that Sirius didn't know.

Sirius was shaking horribly, his breathing still shaky but better than it was before in the room. The nurses were speaking of Sirius getting something to eat and resting in his room. Lily had split from the group and was hurrying into the direction of the kitchen. She had darkened tear tracks down her face from the makeup that smeared. She was probably still upset that Sirius fearfully panicked over her.

They arrived to Sirius's room and pushed open the unlocked room. He entered without much of a fight, sitting on the bed and flopping down. Lily came in and placed a paper plate on the floor with a cold sandwhich on it and a bottle of water. The redheaded nurse movied it more towards the bed, smiling weakly at Sirius.

"There's a turkey sandwhich if you want it, Sirius." She murmured, hiccuping a sob when he didn't respond. She exited quickly, the others in the staff following after.

Sirius was left alone in the darkened room, staring at the ceiling and seeing shapes that no one else probably would. He was starting to feel alone and very, very claustrophobic.

(Remus's P.O.V. from the scene in the hallway.)

After witnessing Sirius's wailing, he was startled enough to step back and into a man who Remus definitely didn't recognize. He gazed curiously at the dark-haired intruder and immediately decided that he didn't like the man. He had a crooked nose that was probably broken once or twice and a set of dark eyes that glared at him with disgust. Well, Remus thought, at least he looks intelligent. Moving his gaze downward, he read the name tag, which said Severus Snape. He was a visitor, apparently.

Without much interest, Remus was about to walk away when the most annoying woman ever came to stand beside them both. Snape sneered at her, and Remus was almost positive that his face was an almost perfect mirror image.

"Oh, good! You've met." She giggled, her voice high and grating. Her name was Nina, and she had the appearance of snow white, with the voice that rivaled Mickey Mouse. Yes, her voice was high but somehow masculine, as if it was recorded and played again in slow motion. Actually, Remus didn't know how you would describe her voice. It was awful, and he would tell her so if he felt like talking. "Remus, this is Sev, but, um, you can call him Severus or Mr. Snape. Sev, this is Remus."

As if I talk? Remus sighed to himself, staring mutely at her as she beamed airily back.

"He'll be your art instructor. Your class will be soon, so just follow him, 'kay?"

Severus growled at her, sending Remus a cold look before storming off in one direction. The situation with Sirius was forgotten with the presence of the cranky art teacher. Remus followed, bopping along behind him.

Once they entered the room, Remus snorted at the lack of color and light. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this was going to be an absolutely interesting, but horrible art class. He seated himself in the corner, crossing his legs and staring around quietly. Severus was busy ignoring him, moving a box around and counting whatever items that were in the box. He seemed to be relieved that Remus kept to himself, but Remus knew the man probably thought he had something seriously wrong with him. Whatever, that was fine, Remus didn't paricularly care for him anyway.

Five minutes past and Sirius was dragged into the room. Remus paid attention just long enough to see him sit into a chair. He turned his attention back to the wall, his eyes glazing over. Vaguely hearing the instructions from Severus, Remus blinked when a watercolor tray was dropped unceremoniously in front of him.

He turned his light eyes to watch Severus walk away, finding that he had nice broad shoulders and a rather snake-like sway. It was fascinating to watch him walk, even if he had no sense of attraction towards the older man.

Remus opened his art container, amused to see it was an incredibly cheap one with a plastic tray and a paper-plastic lining where the chalky colors were. He supposed that the paints were from the man's pocket, so he didn't really have anything against it. It was all non-toxic, too, so that was a really important gesture. At least Remus now knew the man wasn't there to murder them all, right? ...Right?

Remus glanced over at Sirius, raising an eyebrow at the sight of Lily's muttering. She looked fretful and Sirius just looked plain... terrified. He blandly noted the sweat forming on the teenager's face and the startling speed that his eyes darted around. He was looking everwhere but at Lily.

"Lily." Severus said calmly. "Perhaps you should go retrieve help."

"Right." She said, darting out of the room immediately. Lily came back with the nurse that was in the hall when Sirius was wailing, Jill. Two others accompanied her, one he didn't know and other was the nurse he met on his first day in the lunch room. He was slowly recognizing people, and not liking any one of them.

Sirius was carefully escorted out of the room. Interested, he stood and followed as Sirius was removed from the area, unnoticed by everyone, including the ever watchful Severus Snape.

Remus hid in an area for a moment, slumping onto the floor and waiting for the commotion to die down. He yawned quietly and inspected his nails quietly, a sharp frown marring his features. He was horrified to see how filthy his nails were, having collected dirt and grime from various places in the hospital and in the garden outside.

Closing his eyes he shuddered at the thought of how un-hygienic his fingers now were. He'd have to clean them, immediately.

Picking himself up off of the floor, he brushed his pants off and glanced around the hall. Since there was no one in sight that could bust him for skipping out of art, he scampered towards the nearest bathroom. He closed the door and then placed his hands under the faucet and soaping and lathering his hands and using his nails to clean under the other nails.

He rinsed them off and gave a small mewl of disappointment. The dirt was still lodged under his fingernails. Remus figured that he would have to, gasp, ASK someone for a nailbrush or something.

Remus ambled out of the bathroom, trying not to stare at his fingers as he worked his way though the corridors to Sirius's room. He sighed in relief when he finally made it, trying the doorhandly and raising an eyebrow when he found that it was locked. He wasn't surprised, just interested.

There were small, whimpers and yelps comming from inside Sirius's room, causing Remus's curiosity to be piqued as he leaned closer to the door and listened more intently.

He frowned when the sounds stopped and stepped back quickly when Sirius's gaunt face came into view.

"What is it?" He frowned, staring down at Remus as he pressed himself against the door.

Remus picked himself up, brushing his clothes off and staring at Sirius evenly before shrugging and walking off, afraid to admit that he was a bit creeped out by Sirius's state.

TBC.

Aah, sorry. I got rather tired of writing it from Sirius's point of view so it's sort of like a bonus chapter! Whooooo! You got a bit of Siri and some Remmy, whee! Haha. This is to appologize for updating SoOoOo late! I've been sick for about a month with just a regular cold, sad eh? Then! As soon as I got better I donated some blood. Had to recover from that and once I did, well, I got to some writing.

Sorry for any typos and all that.

Thank you everyone for enjoying my fanfic and for those who have instant messaged me on AIM, I really appreciate it!

THE NEXT UPDATE WILL BE A WHILE! I APPOLOGIZE IN ADVANCE!