Carry You Over To A New Morning

The kiss lasted only a split-second, before Remus broke it by pulling back, perhaps with a little more nervous force than necessary. Sirius's hand fell from his lime green Healer robes onto the sheets, and he was looking at Remus, his very grey eyes earnest. They were both silent, and what had just happened, however short it had been, hung thickly in the air between them.

Remus got up from the bed, smoothing down his robes as he tried to collect his thoughts, which were plentiful. The magical parchment, sensing treatment had ended, floated smoothly in the air towards him, and Remus looked down at it. Perhaps, he thought, as the proffered quill hovered near his left hand, it was best if he simply did not acknowledge it. Sirius, as if knowing him intimately, opened his mouth to say something, but at that very moment, the door swung open and James Potter appeared.

His arms were laden with a bright assortment of sweets: bars of Honeydukes Best Chocolate in a variety of tastes, Cauldron Cakes, Fizzing Whizzbees, Liquorice Wands and Sugar Quills. James walked over to the bed and dropped everything in Sirius's lap, rather unceremoniously. Sirius looked up at him, seemingly torn between being amused and annoyed.

'For the desperately wounded,' James said, plopping down next to Sirius on the bed. 'All right?'

'Yeah, cheers,' Sirius said, with his mouth wrapped around a Sugar Quill, his eyes deliberately not meeting Remus's.

Remus, meanwhile, had finished filling out the parchment; after he signed his name, the parchment and the quill to disappeared with a soft pop. Whereas the quill would fade into nothingness, the parchment would appear again on the desk of someone in Filing, and they would dutifully update Sirius's file with the happenings of today. Remus suddenly felt the headache, which had been pricking at the edges of his eyes for the entire day, thump heavily in the back of his head.

'Mr Black, the potion will be delivered by owl post to your house within the hour – '

James Potter rounded on him, eyes wide, and interrupted him with a suspicious, 'Potion? Why? What for?'

Sirius had looked over at Remus with bright, accusing eyes, and opened his mouth to respond when Remus did it for him.

'Infection,' he lied smoothly. 'Unfortunately, a piece of glass got into Mr Black's bloodstream and the potion will help to magically break it down, so it can cause no further damage.'

Sirius stared at him.

James blinked for a moment, and then said, seemingly accepting this turn of events, 'All right. Thank you for your care, Healer Lupin.'

Remus bowed to Sirius, and then to James, before making his way out of the room, his headache thumping vengefully. He made his way quietly down the stairs towards his office, which he had been given after his promotion. It was located on the sixth floor of the hospital, which was inaccessible to patients. He walked past the floor's Contact Secretary, who grinned happily at him, and then made his way over to his office. He touched his wand to the door, which unlocked easily, recognising his magical signature, and closed the door behind him. What he really needed, right now, was some time to think.

But he would get no chance, because Valerie was sitting primly in his visitor's chair, her blue robes draped elegantly over the leather. She smiled up at him and stood up, her silvery blond hair braided elegantly into a bun.

A feeling of unreality washed over him.

'Darling,' she said, kissing his cheek, 'I've come to take you to lunch.'

'Sounds good,' he found himself saying, and she laughed, looping her arm through his.

They had lunch in a restaurant that overlooked Diagon Alley; the same one Remus had visited many years ago on his first and only date with Martha, who had since left her job at St Mungo's. The restaurant had undergone a heavy renovation a while ago and gone was the elegant, French decor, replaced with wide-planked wood floors, dark grey walls and heavy fireplaces on either end of the restaurant. It felt infinitely homier, now.

Remus had barely touched his lamb, which smelled heavily of chorizo. His headache had taken a turn for the worse after he'd finished the glass of red wine Valerie had ordered for him. Valerie, on the other hand, was eating her spiced pumpkin across him, her eyes sparkling, and the wine glass she held fitting elegantly in her hand. She was telling him about the photographer she had approved just seconds before she'd made her way to St Mungo's to invite him for lunch.

'We shall have to see about him tomorrow,' she was saying now, her tone regretful, and Remus turned his attention to her. 'It will probably be dismally hot. The weather in Provence is never very forgiving.'

Remus gave a vague reply, consenting to this, and Valerie's sharp eyes regarded him.

'Did something happen?' she asked lightly.

'Headache,' Remus offered, in response.

She made a soft noise of discontent, setting down her glass on the table and putting her small, pale hand on his. 'Are you all right?'

'Yes,' said Remus, squeezing her hand softly, and then taking it away, running it through his hair. 'I'll take a Potion when I get back to work. When will you leave?'

'In a few hours,' Valerie said. 'Our Portkey is set to depart at five. With some luck, we'll be able to catch the last rays of sunlight for the photos.'

She signalled the waiter, who politely made his way over, and presented her with the bill. Remus had pulled out his wallet, but she ignored him completely, neatly signing her name to the parchment with the quill that was offered beside it. The words paid in full appeared at the top of it; after a few seconds, it glowed dutifully, indicating that the money had been transferred from Valerie's Gringotts account to the vault belonging to the proprietor.

'Thank you,' she told the waiter, who bowed deeply. She stood up, adjusting her cloak over her shoulder.

'Have a safe trip,' Remus told her, and when she turned her face his way, he leaned over and kissed her on the mouth. She stilled, unused to this public display of affection, but she was giving him a smile that was indulgent around the edges when he pulled back.

'Thank you. I'll see you in a few days.'

He returned to his office, tired, weary, his headache pulling with a vengeance at his mind, unforgiving in its ferocity. He wrote a memo to the Contact Secretary; a few minutes later, the boy stepped into the room with a familiar blue bottle, labelled Pepper-Up Potion, in his hand.

'Here you go, sir,' he said, putting the potion down on Remus's desk.

'Thank you, Ketteridge,' Remus said, gratefully, nodding at the boy.

'Sir,' said Ketteridge, 'I've received an urgent owl from Mrs Potter, requesting a meeting with you.'

'Oh,' said Remus. That was unexpected. 'Certainly. Tell her I will meet with her after I've finished my rounds.'

'Ah,' said Ketteridge nervously. 'Well, you see, sir, I had not exactly expected you to take such a long lunch break, and informed her that you would be free. She's waiting in the lobby.'

Remus stared at him for a moment, but then shrugged. 'All right. Send her in.'

'Thank you, sir,' said Ketteridge, who visibly relaxed. He left the room and Remus thoughtfully grabbed the Pepper-Up Potion, taking a sip. It made him feel impossibly warm and cleared up his headache. He knew the effect would only be temporary, because the Potion was meant to cure the common cold. And he did not have a cold; he rather suspected his headache was a by-product of Sirius Black, and too much wine. He turned round, his back to the door. His office offered a view over the bleak London buildings, which shimmered and glittered in the early July heat. If he looked really hard, on a clear day, he could catch a glint of the Thames.

'Healer Lupin,' said a clear voice, unexpectedly. Remus turned to find Euphemia Potter, dressed in a disarming set of green robes which made her hazel eyes sparkle. 'Thank you for seeing me on such short notice. I won't take up very much of your time.'

'Of course,' said Remus, waving his hand towards the leather chair Valerie had occupied not two hours ago, 'have a seat.'

She sat down and smiled at him as he took a seat behind his desk, meeting her smile. 'What can I do for you?'

The Potters, like the Blacks, were private, out-care patients. He was not assigned as their Healer, however – if he remembered correctly, that was a burly bloke called Rodgers. He had no idea why she wanted to talk to him, specifically.

'I only wished to tell you that we submitted a request with the board this morning to have Sirius Black reassigned into the care of our Healer, Rodgers. It was approved an hour ago,' she said.

'I see,' was all Remus could think to say.

'I do have an additional request, if that's all right,' she continued. 'Since Sirius is so very fond of you, I would like you to remain available for any advice he might need.'

Remus looked at her. As far as he was aware, this was a very unusual request, especially for out-care patients. He had no idea how that was going to affect his Healer confidentiality; Rodgers was a fine chap, if a bit short-tempered, and Remus wasn't sure if he'd be willing to co-operate with him.

'I'm not sure –' he started, but she only smiled up at him, brilliantly, and he closed his mouth again.

'I've already discussed things with Rodgers and he's absolutely fine with it, if that's what you're worried about.'

'Then, of course,' Remus found himself saying, and her smile widened.

'I'm glad. Thank you, Healer Lupin,' she said, and stood up. Remus noticed for the first time that he had been mistaken when he thought she had had blonde hair. In the forgiving firelight, burning brightly in Alice's living room, it had looked that way. But Mrs Potter's hair was actually a very light shade of off-white, tied neatly into a bun at the nape of her neck. She looked somehow older than Remus had expected her to be.

'Mrs Potter,' he said, and shook the hand she offered him. 'Thank you for coming in.'

She left, leaving him to thoughts of Sirius Black, whom he'd known since he was just a six-year-old boy.

Author's Note: Each floor of St Mungo's has one Contact Secretary, who manages and monitors the communication of each of the active Healers of that floor, both within and outside of St Mungo's.

I named Ketteridge for Elladora Ketteridge, who appeared on a Chocolate Frog card on Pottermore. She first discovered the properties Gillyweed, a discovery which was later credited to Beaumont Majoribanks.