There had been a lot of waiting from James's perspective, too. The time it had taken to get here, following the owl on their brooms, had dragged on forever in an incredibly mind-numbing way, but at least they'd been doing something. Waiting for the Order to arrive, to formulate a plan to get Remus out of the house they had found - that had been the most difficult part. But James had held it together through all of the waiting, despite the cold, despite the fact that he was worried about Remus, despite the fact that they'd no doubt been noticed missing at the castle by now. That was the part that kept him from making any moves to get Remus out - the fact that the person or people inside the house might well be expecting them.
But then the Order arrived, and they put together their plan. It hadn't been easy to get into the house, might have been impossible without the diversion the Order had provided, and James sent a silent prayer to whatever omniscient being might be listening that they would all get through this. Their part in it was relatively lower risk, if the diversion worked properly, though who knew what kind of booby traps there might be in a place like this.
They hadn't spent a summer on wards and traps for nothing, though, and they knew where they were headed. The basement was almost exactly what they expected, and there was Moony, chained to the wall. James let Sirius beat him to greeting their best friend. "You got the cuffs, Pads?" he asked. "I'll guard our exit."
He wanted very badly to hug Remus, to make sure he was alright, but that could wait until they were in the clear. One of them had to pay attention to their surroundings, because the whole thing would be pointless if they got to Moony only to be captured or killed in here themselves.