Waking up in a strange place with no recollection of how you got there or what happened is certainly just as confusing and frightening as you might imagine, and it was no different for James Potter as he opened his eyes to the daylight with pain in his chest and and a dullness in his brain that made him feel sluggish and weak, like a cloud over his mind, not helped by that fact that his glasses had been removed. His vision was fuzzy, going in and out of focus.

The room he found himself in was white and unnaturally clean, from the window through which sun blinded him to the sheets that he had kicked to the end of the bed and the strange cloth pants that he did not remember putting on. It smelled clean too, like lemons, the same scent that reminded him strongly of the hospital wing at Hogwarts, suggesting he was at St Mungos, and the theory was supported by the fact that he was bare from the waist up, a thick bandage wrapped around his chest. He could make out other scratches and bruises on his arms and torso despite his poor vision.

James took a deep breath, feeling the ache in his ribs, and made to reach up to brush his hair from his eyes and shield them from the light that shone through at him, but his hand was stopped short, restrained by some sort of cuff that held his arms firmly to each side of the bed. He stared down at them in surprise, then turned to see if he could find his wand or in the very least his glasses.

Instead he caught sight of a blurry version of Sirius slumped in the armchair next to his bed, eyes closed, gentle breathing indicating that he was asleep. James fought to remember what might have happened but the last thing he could picture was eating dinner with Lily and the other marauders at headquarters after the meeting, however he had no idea when that had been or for how many days he had been lying in bed unconscious, for hunger had begun to gnaw at his stomach with the thought of food, and his head itched as though he hadn't showered in days.

He pulled at the restraints a few times knowing full well that they weren't about to give. He didn't even try to speculate on why he was bound as his mind was still fuzzy and he had the distinct impression that he would be happier not knowing what had happened. He watched his friend sleep for a few brief moments but his need was greater. He had to know where Lily and the others were and why his wand was nowhere to be seen and he himself had been tied down. He tried to pull himself into a sitting position but couldn't manage it comfortably, finally giving in and lying back against the thick pillows.

"Padfoot!"

His friends eyes snapped open instantly as though he had been waiting to be called. Sirius stood and came to stand over him, and James detected a certain wariness in his expression.

"James."

"What the hell is going on here?"

He indicated the cuffs and Sirius glanced down at them, clearly perfectly aware of their existence.

"How are you feeling?" Sirius finally asked rather cautiously. Annoyed, James shook his head. "I'm fine. Where's Lily?"

Sirius glanced away uncomfortably, and something knotted itself deep in James' gut.

"Did something happen to her? Is she hurt? Sirius, I can't remember anything. You have to get me out of these damn things."

Sirius looked at the door and James wondered whether he was expecting, or maybe hoping for someone to come in. It was the first time since the day they had met that his best friend didn't seem to know what to say and it was making him panic.

"Tell me what happened Padfoot" James demanded furiously. "Where is Lily?"

Sirius rubbed his face and sat back down in the chair, drawing closer to the bed.

"You don't remember anything?" he asked finally, his tone and face unreadable. James shook his head desperately.

"Prongs" Sirius started. He paused, took a deep breath and scratched his head, thinking. "We don't know exactly what happened either actually." He held up a hand as James opened his mouth to question him.

"What were pretty sure happened is that you were cursed." Again, he stopped James from interrupting. "Not the imperius or anything like that. We don't actually know what it was, even the healers and Dumbledore couldn't be sure, I mean they think that it was a curse that ended up going wrong somehow. But listen James, you woke up once before this, last night, and Lily was here, but it really didn't go well, so Remus and Peter took her back to headquarters, we all thought it would be better if..."

"So she's alright then?" James cut him off frantically. Again, Sirius looked away uncomfortably but he nodded.

"And the others."

"Fine, everyones fine. Oh, I forgot." Sirius reached to the floor and came up with James' glasses. He reached for them but of course his hand was yanked back.

"Get me out of these won't you?" he asked in frustration.

"I'm not sure I should."

James couldn't help but smile. "Since when do you care about what you should and shouldn't do?" But Sirius did not smile in return.

"Come on Padfoot, just give me one of my hands then, let me put my glasses on" he said, annoyed that he was sitting there so helplessly and that his best friend intended to leave him that way.

"You're certain that you're feeling alright?" Sirius asked uncertainly.

"Just fine. It only hurts when I breath."

Again Sirius didn't smile, but he nodded, pulled his wand from his pocket and tapped the strap around James' wrist. It fell away instantly and he was finally able to put on his glasses and see things clearly, including the very concerned look on his friends face.

Footsteps sounded on the other side of the door and James noticed that Sirius looked relieved as it opened. Remus appeared, looking surprised to see him awake but he crossed instantly to the bed, staring down at James curiously, eyebrows narrowed.

"James?" he said, as though it might be someone else lying in front of him.

"Yes, it's me, were you expecting someone else?" He was getting extremely frustrated not knowing what was going on and he was being treated like he was about to explode.

"Well last time you woke up you still weren't yourself you know." Remus replied calmly as though what he said was supposed to make sense.

"What are you talking about? Will someone please explain to me what happened? Where is Lily?" he demanded.

Remus frowned. "She's down the hall with Peter just now. We didn't think it was a good idea for her to come in here again."

"What's that supposed to mean, anyway?" James asked. Remus and Sirius exchanged a glance that did not make him feel any better. "You said I was cursed" he said, turning back to Sirius. "So what did I do? Tell me what happened."

Sirius rubbed his face again and James wondered how long his friend had been sitting at his bedside.

It was Remus who finally spoke.

"James, we don't know exactly what happened."

"Ya, Sirius told me" he said in frustration. "Just give it a guess then."

"All we really know is what Lily told us and what Sirius saw when he got there."

"Good enough for me."

"James, we think you must have been cursed, and it happened sometime between when you left us and when you got back to headquarters, which means you had to have stopped somewhere else first. Do you know where that might have been?"

"No. Moony, I don't remember anything. How long have I been here?"

"Three days now. You woke up yesterday but it didn't last long. Mad Eye and Dumbledore will want to talk to you now that you're awake I expect."

"But I did something that made you decide that Lily should stay away from me?" he asked, ignoring the last part. The gut feeling was digging itself deeper inside of him. He swallowed hard.

"How about you start from the beginning because the last thing I remember is dinner on Saturday."

"Oh." They exchanged further meaningful glances. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes, feeling the severity of the situation.

"James, three days ago you and Frank and Alice were checking out this house that Mad Eye thought might be under use by the death eaters. You were watching it, keeping track of the people who came in and out, normal stuff. Do you remember that?" Sirius said. James shook his head.

"We were taking it in shifts" Remus said. "You guys had been there for nearly eight hours. It was early afternoon when Peter, Caradoc and I showed up to replace you. Alice and Frank left for home. You stuck around for a bit to catch us up and talk and then you left too. I assumed you were headed right back to headquarters to get some sleep. You said Lily was going to meet you there." He paused.

"So what happened?" James urged him.

"Well eventually you did get back to headquarters, but apparently it was a lot later than it would have been had you gone straight there. It was the middle of the day, so no one else was around except for you and Lily, everyone was either at home or out on assignment." Remus shoved his hands in his pockets.

"So?" James said.

"We're not sure exactly what happened next."

"Not sure of much, are you?"

Remus ignored him. "Lily said that she was in your bedroom and she heard you come in. She waited for awhile because she assumed you were going to come up as you hadn't slept in days." Remus was clearly drawing the story out. James nodded impatiently for him to continue.

"When you didn't come up she thought it might have been somebody else or that maybe you didn't know she was there...it doesn't matter really, she went downstairs to look for you, and she found you just standing in the front drawing room as if you had just come in, staring at the wall. She started talking to you but you wouldn't answer her so she grabbed your arm." He stopped completely and looked to Sirius. James did the same. He thought he was going to be sick and he didn't even know why. Sirius wasn't looking at him, avoiding his gaze but he continued the story where Remus had left off, looking from his hands to the wall to the pristine white bedspread.

"You attacked her Prongs. You were cursed, and you attacked her. Not with your wand though. Just the minute she touched you you went right for her."