Chapter 11

Remus sighed and reluctantly closed his book.

Glancing over at the clock, he swore softly when he saw what time it was.

It wouldn't be the first time he'd gone to bed well past midnight because of a good book, and it wasn't like he would actually regret it the next morning, but there was only so many cups of tea he could consume in a day to keep him awake, and he'd been succeeding that limit quite a lot recently...

Standing up, he slowly stretched out his stiff joints, before throwing a block of wood into the fire and turning off the sitting room lights. Heading up the old rickety stairs, he made sure to avoid all the creaky steps so as to not wake the other, and silently made his way down the hall to his and Sirius's room.

When he got half-way, however, he came to an abrupt stop.

He listened closely.

He could have sworn he'd heard a... whimper?

And there it was again.

Another cry.

Letting his wolf's senses take over, he sniffed the air and slowly turned around at an all-too-familiar acrid tasting scent.

Fear.

Slowly walking back through the corridor, he passed Harry's room, and finally came to a stop outside an old wooden door.

Regulus's room.

Or, more accurately... Alex's room.

Pausing, he debated on what to do.

He could hear faint whimpers and cries coming from inside the room, and his wolf just ached to climb out and scratch a hole in the door to go in and comfort his youngest cub. So, option one, go in.

But his wolf also told him that said-newest-cub was still asleep.

So, there was no intruder then.

Just... nightmares.

But even spies needed saving from them sometimes.

Taking a deep breath, Remus chose the second option, and reached up before knocked quietly on the black wooden door, "... Alex?"

Nothing.

Another whimper.

He clenched his jaw and knocked on the door again, louder this time as worry bubbled up inside of him, "Alex?"

The boy still didn't wake.

Slowly reaching down, he grasped the cool handle of the door, and pushed it open.

Peering into the room, he allowed his eyesight to adjust to the lack of light, and, for once, thanked his wolf for the nocturnal gaze.

Stepping into the dark room, he gently closed the door behind himself, and casted a Lumos around the room.

Turning on the overhead light could wake the boy with a start, and he would most definitely panic when momentarily blinded upon waking.

Slowly creeping forwards, Remus located the blonde boy twisted amongst the sheets, a sheen of sweat covering his forehead, and his limbs occasionally twitching in place.

He was in the middle of a nightmare.

Or a flashback, Remus thought, remembering the first few months after Sirius had returned from twelve years in Azkaban.

Keeping that though in mind, he carefully sat down on the edge of the bed and tried to remember what had calmed his husband all those years ago.

"Alex?" He called softly.

No answer.

"Alex, you need to wake up" He tried again.

Nothing.

Sighing, he cautiously reached forwards, perfectly well aware that this was a trained spy he was dealing with that could very easily kill him even while still asleep.

He gently shook his shoulder, "Alex, come on".

Silence.

"You're dreaming, Cub, you need to wake up".

He only tossed and turned some more.

Dropping his hand, he stared at the troubled teen, a look of pain coming over the blonde's features.

Okay, so, Sirius's method didn't work.

But he had dealt with more than post-traumatic-stress-disorder sufferer in the past, and for Harry, there was only one thing that calmed him down after he woke in a cold sweat from remembering parts of the war.

"Alex? Alex, it's Remus, okay?" He said softly, gently running his hands through the boy's blonde hair, "It's okay, Alex, everything's okay now, I promise. Will you wake up for me? Nothing bad is happening out here. It's just a dream, Alex. You need to wake up. I'm here, you're alright, you just need to wake up, okay?"

And rather surprisingly, it eventually worked.

Alex woke with a start, and immediately sat up, gasping for breath, chest heaving under the strain.

The room was basked in a warm white light, and there was someone's hand on his shoulder, soft and comforting.

"Hey, Alex, you're alright, you're fine, okay? It's just me, it's just Remus. You're safe now, I promise. It was just a dream. It was all just a dream..."

The soothing words and reassurances continued until his breathing had finally evened out and he didn't feel like collapsing at any given time without warning.

"... You alright?"

He slowly turned to face the voice.

Remus sat on the bed next to him, concern and worry etched into his features, but a clear look of understanding in his eyes.

"Are you alright?" He repeated, but Alex carefully avoided the question, not wanting to lie to the kind-hearted man.

Staring down at the pale hand that still rested warmly on his shoulder, he spoke.

"Did I wake you?"

"No".

"... Ok".

And if the next morning, Alex came downstairs looking a little more tired and haggard than usual, nobody mentioned it.

And if Harry teased and annoyed him by asking how his lazy lie-in had gone, he didn't rise to the bait.

And if Alex looked directly at Remus as he replied with a "it was fine, thank you", well, no one but the pair themselves were to know the true meaning behind the words.

So yes, Remus decided, smiling into this tea cup and watching the two younger wizards bicker back and forth, Sirius animatedly trying to keep up with the two, I could very gladly get used to this in the morning indeed.