Here is the fifth chapter of "Legally Binding"…
Disclaimer: I own nothing. For more detail, feel free to read disclaimer in Chapter 1.
September 9, 2009
Remus Lupin was not a heavy sleeper. He often found himself tossing and turning in the middle of the night, whipping his blankets to the floor in frustration. This particular night, he found himself cursing his werewolf senses for being on high alert all the flippin time. If it wasn't the leaky faucet in the bathroom, it was his neighbor in the next house watching late night talk shows. Everything from the ticking of the clock downstairs to the lingering smell of coffee in the kitchen kept him awake. Once he finally drifted to sleep, the creaking of a floorboard down the hall would wake him up instantly. Some nights were worse than others, with this one being the worst he'd had in a while. Even his own heartbeat was too loud for the wolf tonight. The clock blinked 4:13, mocking him with its exact knowledge of how long he would lie awake, sleepless.
Suddenly, a shrill, earsplitting ring permeated through the house. To say that Remus was startled would be an understatement. The slim man shot out of his bed, and into a defensive crouch. A split second later he realized that the shrill noise was his telephone and he straightened up, embarrassed. He brushed his clothes smooth and coughed uncomfortably, momentarily forgetting he was indeed alone in his bedroom. He sunk back into his bed, reaching for the phone, extremely curious as to who would be calling him at such an ungodly hour.
He reached for the plastic muggle device; pressing the button he knew would allow the person on the other end to talk to him. His voice was wary when he spoke, suddenly afraid of bad news.
"Hello?"
A man's voice was heard on the other end of the phone. The man sounded apologetic and strangely careful.
"Mr. Lupin?"
Remus felt a sinking in his chest. That was not a good tone of voice. He had heard that tone of voice before, when his parents had died.
"Mr. Lupin? Are you still there?"
Remus cleared his throat.
"Uh, yes sir." He felt a cold numbness creep into his lower back. "What can I help you with?"
The man on the other end of the phone hesitated.
"Mr. Lupin, I'm afraid I have some bad news."
Remus drew in a shaking breath, bracing himself for the worst.
"I'd rather tell you in person, truth be told." The man suddenly sounded exhausted. "If you would just floo to St. Mungo's, it would be much appreciated."
Remus couldn't get off the phone quickly enough. He hung it up and was out of bed faster than you could say hippogriff. Distantly it registered in his brain that he had hung up on the man, but by the time he realized this it was much too late to do anything about it. He grabbed the first sweater he could find, pulling the thick wool sweatshirt over his head, rumpling his hair. He staggered over to the floo, pulling on last night's jeans as he went, barely remembering to shove his wand into his pocket before he launched himself through the fireplace.
Everything was a swirl of green, and he felt himself spinning, the familiar sensations of floo-travel making him feel distinctly queasy for the first time in his life. He stumbled out of the dusty fireplace, not caring in the slightest that he was lightly covered in a film of ashy residue. He sprinted up to the counter, a few curious heads in the waiting room turning to watch him. If the receptionist was surprised to see him, she did not appear to be. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, leading him into a small room behind the nurse's station.
The walls were cream, the room sparsely decorated with typically washed out watercolors, their painted tides sloshing back and forth on the sand. A few scraggly looking plants were placed around the room, placing Remus on edge. This room was designed to be comforting an familiar, but was nothing of the sort. His sensitive nose picked up lingering hints of cleaning products, sickness and death. He hated hospitals. A small, exhausted, balding man sat across the table from him, looking at him sympathetically.
The rest of the night passed in a blur, his pulse pounding in his ears. A few words sunk in here and there, but mostly he was just numb. He managed to glean enough to realize that Voldemort, the distant threat in the back of his mind was somehow involved. And that his two best friends in the entire world were dead. His head spun, making him dizzy and devastated and sick all in one. Sometime later, minutes or hours, Remus didn't know, a hand found his shoulder. The warmth of the hand anchored him back to the world. He looked up into a familiar face.
Sirius Black. Never in his whole life, had Remus been so glad to see Sirius Black. He shakily rose to his feet and launched himself into Sirius's arms, clinging desperately to the shreds of his life that he felt disappearing so quickly all around him. Sirius clung back, his strong arms holding Remus to him, barring him from leaving. They held each other desperately, knowing that the person in their arms was the only thing they had left. The one person that they hated most in the world.
As their sobs began to subside they both came to the same realization. Sirius was the first to disentangle himself from the desperate embrace, his broken, raw voice managing to croak out the word they were both hopefully clinging to.
"Harry"
It wasn't a question, but it didn't need to be, the healer in front of them let out a large breath and began to explain.
"He's fine. We have to keep him overnight, but he seems to be physically fine. He's a miracle. No one has ever survived the killing curse before. He's very lucky to be alive."
The two men sunk into the worn couch.
"How can they say he's lucky when both his parents are dead?"
Remus nodded his assent.
"He's lost everything" Remus whispered. "He's just too young to realize it."