Who: Sirius Black and Severus Snape What: Keeping watch over Remus--unfortunately, together When: Sunday morningish Rating: PG, surprisingly enough (they were in public)
It had been days. Sirius Black was no specialist in healing or medicine of any sort, but he knew the fact that Remus' state was prolonged didn't bode well. More than once they'd told him the longer his friend was out, the more worried they were. But he'd also been told that Remus was healing. His current state was his body's effort to right itself, in its own way, and that much at least gave him a slight bit of hope.
Sirius missed Draco immensely. He knew the boy was worried, and he would've kept him with him at St. Mungo's if the large family unit they'd created hadn't all thought he'd be worse off there. So Sirius stopped by the Macmillans as often as he could. Admittedly, though, he was afraid to be too far from Remus. He didn't want--well, he wanted to be there if he was needed.
So that's how he found himself, outside the door of Remus' hospital room. If there was one thing Sirius had it was gold, and he was making certain that one of his closest friends had all of the comforts he could possibly need. Even if he couldn't feel them just then. He had a private room, a mediwitch attending solely to him, and the best team of Healers he could get. But all the money in the world couldn't do more than Nature intended, and it made Sirius angry and hurt and scared and worried and all sorts of emotions he'd never fess up to ordinarily. Instead, he leaned against the wall, his fingers to his temples. He couldn't stay in the room for too long, not with so many others wanting to spend time with Remus. But he wouldn't stray far. He'd even begun taking his meals in the hall. Admittedly, he was scared.
Severus had been to see Draco the day before, which had alleviated some of the stress he was feeling. The little prince was able to take his mind off things, if just a little while. Caring for Draco did not necessarily come second nature, but it was close to it by now, and he would even allow himself to admit that he would gladly have sacrificed a great many things for the boy's happiness.
But Remus was a different issue.
Severus emerged from Remus' room with a mediwitch, the two of them having been conversing on one of the potions Remus was being given through an intravenous drip. He had been concerned that the measure was not properly balanced, and had engaged the senior mediwitch on duty with the subject. He would obviously have to go to the Healer, after seeing exactly how useless this girl was. His jaw locked in disapproval as she excused herself, and he barely even noticed that Sirius was standing near the entrance, which showed how much sleep he'd been getting since the -- since the incident, as he preferred to call it. It was only a moment or two later that he recognized Sirius at all, which didn't help his mood. The other man, at least, looked as exhausted, if not more. Severus did not think of that, merely nodded jerkily. "Black."
Sirius was so tired of having Severus around. Keeping up a polite air was doing nothing to help his mood any. All he wanted to do was be left alone, but he could at least appreciate having James and Lily coming in and out. It was this man who drove him mad. And yet, he couldn't say anything. Severus had, after all, done nothing wrong. He'd alerted Sirius immediately, and he'd taken care of Remus when he'd needed it. It was all he could ask, after all, and Sirius could only sigh and tolerate the other man's presence.
As the door to his friend's room opened, Sirius' head jerked up, as it did anytime someone went in or out. "Any change?" he asked as his greeting, not willing to be bothered with niceties. This would all be said and done soon enough and they could go back to not-so-casually despising each other. Now they had to fake nice for Remus' sake.
Faking nice, as Black would have put it, was the farthest thing from Severus' capabilities. He either was nice, or he wasn't. For Remus' sake, he could hold his tongue, but not very much. "No. The mediwitches are incompetent idiots and your healer clearly cannot be bothered with paying attention to how they are poisoning his charge," Severus said bluntly.
Lifting his eyebrows, Sirius paused. "He's one of the best in the country, Snape, if not Europe. What's the issue?"
The issue was that Severus, aside from knowing the full range of healing potions, had not become a healer himself and was therefore powerless to actually do something about Remus' condition. He frowned. "Nothing you would be capable of understanding."
Sirius rolled his eyes, but had no urge to start a fight. He was reluctant to even spar with the man when everything just felt so hopeless. "I'm sure," he said instead, turning his head towards the door.
Severus pursed his lips, considering before he eyed the other man critically. "You need to go home and rest," he said, taking a tack that even surprised him. "Remus won't thank you if you've worried yourself sick over this."
"I'm not leaving," Sirius replied stubbornly. "I've been by the Macmillans, otherwise I'm needed here." No one, least of all this man, was pulling him from Remus' bedside.
Severus snorted. "Really? Have you noticed, then, that the Macmillans are at their wits' end with Draco? That the longer he stays there the more untenable he becomes? He misses you." The words were sour on his tongue.
"You think I don't know that?" Sirius finally snapped. He didn't need anyone telling him how to raise the boy. He loved Draco, but Draco missed not only Sirius but Remus. And Sirius couldn't possibly feel more guilty if anything happened to Remus than he would when he had to tell Draco.
"Well then do something about it," Severus snapped back icily.
"I'm needed here, Snape," Sirius said bitterly. "I see Draco plenty. He's scared, I know that. But he doesn't belong here and you know it."
"No, he doesn't. And given the way you look, you don't either." Severus reverted to coldly clinical, the tone that said he didn't give a shit either way, which may or may not have been true. For Draco's sake, it might have been.
"I'm fine," Sirius insisted. "I don't need you watching out for me." That much was true, at least. He already had Lily worried about him. Yes, he was tired, but he was getting some sleep. "A few more days. If he's...if he's not better than, I'll go home for a bit. Just come back in the evenings or something." Even though Sirius knew that the longer Remus was unconscious, the more he would be there, not less.
Severus' mouth twisted. "I'm not watching out for you, I am protecting my godson," he reminded Sirius. "Stop waiting for Remus to reach some sort of landmark, Black. He is ...stable, at the moment. That should be enough."
But Sirius shook his head furiously, dark hair flying around his face. "No," he replied angrily. "It's not enough, it won't be enough, nothing's enough until he's..." One way or the other. And dear Merlin let it be the right way.
Severus was given pause at the idea of Remus dying. It caused an irrational upswell of feeling, one that tightened his chest and made him look back at Sirius with darkly glittering eyes. "Remus will be fine," he gritted out. "But while he recovers, the rest of the world cannot stop. For Salazar's sake, get a hold of yourself."
"As if you haven't been here nearly as much as I have," Sirius countered. "If it weren't for classes, you'd probably be here just as much, so I don't really want to hear it."
"The difference being, of course, that I do not have a small child to take care of," Severus shot back.
Sirius glared. He hated this. It wasn't as if he wasn't worried enough about his parenting. But to be called out on it by Severus Snape, who so many people likely still thought should have gotten custody of Draco to begin with, was awful. "So what, I should just abandon Remus then?" he asked, his voice shaking more than he'd like.
Severus wanted to put his head in his hands. Sirius Black was the emblem of why he found Gryffindors so damn literalistic - and for that matter, so annoying. "No," he returned. "But Draco requires a great deal more attention than the Macmillans are capable of providing. They have their own children to take care of. I will see to Remus."
"Just for the weekend," Sirius pleaded, almost desperate in the tone he used. He'd never beg. Not Snape. But it was as close as he'd allow. "Just...the end of the day. If there's no change, I'll bring Draco home."
Severus regarded him carefully, disliking the options placed before him, and yet, somewhat secretly relishing the idea of power. He squelched it as best he could, however. "The end of the day," he warned Sirius.
Sirius nodded, holding his breath. It was painful. Incredibly painful, relying on Snape this way. Still. "Thank you," he said roughly, rather ashamed for having to say it but knowing it needed to be said. "For taking care of him."
Which 'him' Sirius was referring to, Severus didn't care to ascertain. Perhaps it was best that he not guess. He shrugged. "That is what I do."
Biting back a scathing reply, Sirius only nodded again. "You should get something to eat," he said, purposely trying to get the man away from the room. If Sirius only had today to keep vigil, he wanted to do so alone. "Tea room upstairs, if you're planning on staying and all."
Severus did want to laugh. The idea was preposterous, that Sirius might actually care; in truth, it was more likely a gesture to get him away. He understood that; he'd been far more than irritated when interrupted with a mediwitch when alone with Remus. "I'm headed to the Healer's," he reminded Sirius, and turned to go.
Sirius didn't make an effort to stop him. If Snape knew what he was doing, let him go. Sirius only gave a short nod before slipping back through the door to continue his bedside watch.