Jet Black Heart // Wolfstar Short

2 - Time and Space

By the time Remus returned to the the boys' dorm that night, he was exhausted. He had spent half the night pacing the passage to Honeydukes, arguing with himself about what exactly he was supposed to do in this situation. He usually found Sirius's "act first, think later" mentality endearing, but last night's events showed him just how dangerous this mentality could really be.

But does that matter, since it's never put anyone in real danger before?

How could it not matter, as it almost got someone killed?

Back and forth his thoughts ran, throwing out support for both sides of the debate until his mind was reduced to a pile of Sirius-centric mush. Even when he sat down in the passageway, opening a chocolate bar that he had found in his robes, Remus was no closer to coming to a decision about the future of his relationship with Sirius. Resignedly he climbed back up to Gryffindor Tower, hoping that Sirius would be asleep by the time he got there so he could avoid speaking to him for a little while longer.

The alternating sounds of alarmingly loud snores and quick puffs of air greeted Remus when he walked into the dorm. Peter and James are back, then, Remus thought. There were no mumbles or quiet "boofs" - the kind dogs make when they're on guard but not sure if they should bark - meaning that Sirius was not asleep like the others.

Remus glanced at Sirius's bed, surprised to find it empty. A look at his own bed revealed a note on his pillow. Picking up the parchment, Remus had to blink several times to get his sleepy, tear-drained eyes to focus on the handwriting he knew so well.

Moony~

I know you need time and space to think about everything, so that's what I'm giving you. Please, please, please don't give up on us. I'll be waiting for you til you decide.

Love you forever,

Padfoot

Remus carefully put the parchment in his desk drawer and laid down, too exhausted to bother changing into his pajamas. His mind was swimming with questions, hypothetical situations, and images from the night's events, but only one thought, whose existence and importance confused him even further, came to the front of his thoughts as he stared out the window before closing his eyes:

Was Sirius okay?