God, I am SO sorry about how late this is. First, I was on cloud nine because of my new boyfriend. Then I had finals and then a strange and painful virus. When I got better, I hadn't felt motivated enough to write. Then, it seemed, that everytime I started writing I got interrupted by my family or my boyfriend. It's annoying, really, oh well. After that I had to worry about my highschool proficiency test, which thankfully I passed. Whew! Then I broke up with my boyfriend and now I'm working on getting a job while checking out different colleges that I might want to get into.

Oh well, here's a chapter! Feel free to review! Hopefully the next chapter won't be so long. See? I haven't given up!

CHAPTER TEN

By: The Demonic Duo

Remus's day started easily after a nice, fresh rest. Just as he was stretching and rolling around in his rather comfortable bed, his door was unlocked and cracked open just a bit. For a moment he expected someone to enter, but scowled as he realised it was simply opened for the sake of being... open. Anyone could barge in and harass him, but did anyone think of that? No, probably not.

Kicking the covers off, he lie on his back for a moment and enjoying the fresh morning chill before standing and slamming the door loudly. He shivered as the echo travelled down the hall and wondered briefly if anyone cared enough to scold him about it.

Finding that he couldn't quite bring himself to care, he stripped from his night clothes and slipped into the mostly identical daytime outfit. Plain and boring, just like nearly everything else that was in the facility.

Remus went to the cafeteria, grabbing a tray and seating himself away from everyone, poking the cereal a bit and consuming it quickly and leaving before anyone could even blink. He worked his way to the main lobby, to the shower-log.

The way it worked was that a patient would sign up and request a shower that day. Either the morning shift or the afternoon shift. This was a precaution used to monitor the patients to keep them from abusing the privilege and possibly drowning themselves. He had managed a couple days without a proper shower, but never again would he wait that long. He would degrade himself by showering in front of someone if he had to, but he did not want to be grungy. He had a near phobia with uncleanliness.

Turning around, Remus worked his way towards Sirius's room to see if he was still a whimpering, helpless pile of skin and bones. Upon arrival he noted that Sirius's door was open ajar and that Sirius was still inside. Peeking in, he raised an eyebrow at the frigidly still lump on the bed. The beam of light from the hall split across the room and onto Sirius's face. Livid looking, blood-shot eyes stared back at him. He shivered, pushing the door open more.

"Get out."

Sirius's voice was hoarse, causing Remus to exhale sharply in surprise. They stared at eachother for a long time before Remus relented and left, closing the door. He stared at the door with a mildly bummed expression before huffing and stomping down the corridor and into a man from the cafeteria.

He frowned at him a long moment, almost suspiciously before trudging past the poor guy. James, as Remus recalled his name, had seemed a bit hesitant, and Remus wasn't sure of what he thought of him. What was he hesitant of, he wondered...

Remus wandered around the building for about the umpteenth time before he rediscovered the activity room. He peeked in and skulked along the wall to the airhockey table. His brother had owned one, but he had never played before. He never had the erge to try before but, peering down at it, he felt compelled to at least try it once while he was there. The only problem was that he didn't have a partner to play with.

Glancing up, he spotted Sirius strolling in. The dark haired patient was staring with unease at the people already in the room, and he was half-tempted to invite him to play a game, but spotting James grab his arm, he quashed the idea and instead watched them. Sirius's mood seemed to brighten with the touch, and he smiled weakly at James who grinned at him a bit lopsidedly. James's smile seemed a bit strained, and he obviously didn't want to be there, but aside from that, he followed Sirius all the way into the room and to a chess table.

Frowning, feeling a tad bit angry, Remus flopped into a seat and crossed his arms. No one paid him any mind and went on with their games and entertainment. He didn't care, his attention was strictly on Sirius and the intruder. He watched James sit down, taking a deck of cards and shuffling them carefully, chatting amiably with his Sirius.

Sirius nodded to something James had said, taking the deck and dealing the cards back and forth until he ran out of cards and they both had an even pile. Not wanting to watch, Remus pursed his lips and stood up, leaving the game room with a rather hostile look cast in James's direction.

Heaving another sigh, he went to the library to pass some time. He slinked down the isles of the bookcases and grabbed a book. Remus looked both ways, searching to see if he was alone before breathing in relief and reading the back cover.

"Remus." Molly said, appearing from out of nowhere, startling him. "I heard from Lily that you spoke to her. She said it wasn't a particularly nice comment, but that you spoke reguardless."

Closing his eyes, Remus grit his teeth and jammed the book back in it's place and stomped towards the exit of the library. Even though he refused to look back, he knew that Molly was following after him.

"Remus, please, just let me know that you're making some sort of progress? I'm sure your parents would appreciate it."

He glanced over his shoulder, snorting in disbelief. Molly stared back patiently, keeping her expression clear and professionally blank. Losing interest, he shrugged and tried to open the door, blinking. It was locked and as he scanned the room, he noticed that he and Molly were alone.

"Can you at least say one sentence?" She cooed slowly.

Remus pressed his forehead against the door, leaning back and yanking the door viciously. He continued at his rhythmic and loud pace of yanking and banging the door, unyeilding before finally stopping and rushing towards a table and grabbing a chair.

Molly's eyes widened when he picked it up. "REMUS." She fumbled with her keys before unlocking the door and watching him leave. He smirked back at her with a sick triumphant grin and glided towards the front lobby.

Grabbing a pen, Remus ripped a corner of a piece of paper off and wrote his name on it. Satisfied with his neat script, he searched for the showers and when the man asked his name, he presented the small ripped paper.

Clearly satisfied, the man uncaringly ushered Remus in and it was apparent that the man had this job long enough for it to be a routine. Remus stripped akwardly and handed the man his clothes and shoes, feeling more vulnerable when his clothing was passed on to another person. The said person smiled at him and left, and with little else to do, he adjusted the water temperature and rinsed himself off. There were three bottles lined in front of him, one a body wash, another shampoo and the final one a conditioner.

Grabbing the shampoo, he lathered his hair with relish and rinsed it out and put conditioner on his ends and waited before washing that out as well. Once done with his hair, he washed his face and then cleaned his body carefully and just stood under the water. Finally he turned the tap off and turned around akwardly, surprised to see clothes folded and waiting for him with the more chipper nurse smiling at him. Managing a weak smile, he took the clothes and walked towards another section of the room where it was dry, slipping into them. The outfit was the same as his other one, only black which was nice for a change.

Slipping the shoes on, he stood and smoothed his clothes out and startled when a towel was draped over his head and his hair being towel-dried.

"There you go. Go on, I've got other people to help."

Nodding, he slipped past him and shook his mousey hair, running his fingers through it. He realised he'd have to go back to his room to grab his comb. That would at least give him something to do, he figured.

After the small walk to his room, he opened the door and stepped in, closing it and grabbing his brush and working on his still very damp hair. Once he combed it, he shook his hair and huffed slightly when it plastered against his face and neck.

"Remus?" Someone said, sticking their head in. It was HIM, James. Frowning at him, Remus glanced away and combed his hair again, trying to brush out the curls and clearly letting James know what he thought of him and his presence. "Um, you've got company, care to follow me? Everyone else is busy."

Looking up with a small mewl of surprise, Remus stood and followed him out. Company could only mean on thing. Family.

TBC.

Sorry about the shortness, but I'll work on the next chapter. Been busy lately, but I'll hopefully get another chapter up by the end of next month. Not saying much, I know, but I'm still trying. I don't particularly care for this chapter, but the next one will hopefully be more to mine as well as your liking. Read and Review! Please.