James was a bit surprised at Sirius's calmness over the next few days. He hadn't told the others yet because Remus hadn't questioned him like James knew he would eventually. He didn't protest this, though he was a bit disappointed.
Once everyone knew, it would be okay for him to go out with Lily with out being seen or feeling too insensitive. And it seemed the more time he spent with her, the more he longed for that day.
Two weeks after finding out about the potion, things seemed to have gone back to normal as if it had never happened…
"Mr. Black."
Sirius was lying on his arms one Monday morning in Transfiguration, a lesson where everyone knew they had to pay attention. He looked up drowsily at Professor Mcgonagall as she called him.
"I'm sorry Professor… I'll listen now." She frowned and lifted his chin with her hand, her other hand on his forehead.
"You're burning up. Leave your things and go see Madam Pomfrey. And I shall be checking that you arrived." Without a word, wink or smile, he left the classroom.
When the class finished an hour later, they were walking out and a familiar voice called out to them.
"James!" Lily hurried over and James smiled. "How was your weekend?"
"It was okay. Yours?" Peter and Remus waited as the two made conversation.
"So, do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me on Friday? There's this little coffee shop…"
"Are you asking me out?" The two of his friends both looked up suddenly at James, who didn't seem to notice their stares.
"Maybe I am…"
"Aren't you and Black still…dating?"
"Nah… it ended a few weeks ago."
"Oh. I'm sorry."
"It's okay." James had the decency to look away from her for a moment. "Can I walk you to your dorm?"
As the two disappeared together, Remus and Peter looked at each other, neither having to say a word. They checked the dormitory.
Empty.
The Qudditch pitch. The astronomy tower. The kitchen. The grounds. The Honeyduke's cellar.
Sirius wasn't there either.
Deciding it couldn't hurt and feeling rather desperate, they made their way to the hospital wing. Imagine their shock when they saw Sirius lying on one of the beds, his back to them and the blankets pulled up to his neck.
"Class is over. You can stop faking it now." Remus said laughing and Sirius didn't move. "Sirius?" Putting a hand on his shoulder cautiously, he groaned and turned over, his face pale and his forehead sweaty.
"I'm not faking…" The two chuckled once again.
"You never get sick."
"There's a first time for everything, Mr. Pettigrew." She fluffed Sirius's pillows, putting a thermometer in his mouth. "He's staying here until after it breaks, and that could take anything up to week since we don't know what caused it."
As both sat down on the chairs next to his bed, he groaned again.
"Where's James?"
Remus looked at him for a moment before trying to let him down gently.
"He offered to walk Evans back to her dormitory."
"Why the sudden change?" He gave false laugh, which neither of his friends missed.
"She agreed to go out with him." The laugh vanished. Apparently he realized that pretending not be upset was useless. He shrugged half-heartedly
"We all knew it would happen someday. Good for Prongs!" There was an awkward silence.
"Why didn't you tell us you two broke up?" He shrugged again.
"I didn't think it was that important. It was so near the full moon anyway."
"What happened?"
"He dumped me."
"Why?!" Peter demanded, "You've barely been apart since school started!"
"That potion testing job we took over the Holidays? He said his was just an aphrodisiac. And once it started to wear off, well, he didn't need me anymore." Sirius scoffed.
"What was yours?"
"No idea. I don't think I really want to know anyway…"
"Are you going to be okay?" Sirius smiled at Peter, the hurt visible in his eyes.
"I'll get over it, don't worry..."
The two left the hospital wing a half-hour later discussing their friends and what they had just heard.
"I can't believe James would be so harsh. I mean, he's done it to girls before, but to Sirius?"
"I find it harder to see Sirius is upset. I've never seen him really sad over breaking up with someone. He just laughs and find another."
"I'm sure even Sirius can show more feelings than just happiness or anger, it just takes the right trigger." And though he didn't say, Remus got the feeling they were in for a lot of trouble now that James had pulled it.
James only got back to the dormitory late that night. He hadn't even realized the time until Lily had retrieved her watch from the pile of clothing dumped on the floor, after which both had hurriedly dressed and made an agreement to meet up the next Saturday.
What he didn't expect was two of his three friends sitting up waiting up for him. He subtly tried to cover the marks on his neck with his shirt collar, but Remus' sharp eyes had already spotted them.
"I know what you're thinking and i can explain. You see, Si-"
"Sirius already told us."
"Oh, right." James looked to the empty made-up bed closest to the bathroom. "Where is Padfoot anyway?"
"In the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey says he could be there till next week." James laughed at Remus' words and this angered Peter.
"He just didn't do his homework again. Sirius never gets sick. Where is he, really?"
"He really is there and he's really upset!" James and Remus were both surprised at Peter's unusual amount of backbone. "What kind of friend are you? Just dumping him like some dumb fifth year bird!" James had the decency to look ashamed of himself and in that moment managed to change the entire future. That tiny bit of confidence in Peter would be just enough to reject Lord Voldemort's offer in a dark alley just over three years in the future, even if he did lose his life for it.
"Well then how would you have done it, Mr. Sensitive?" James snarled as he regained his composure. Remus broke it up as Peter was about to respond.
"Shut up! Both of you." He shouted. "Arguing isn't helping the situation and and it sure as anything isn't helping Sirius." He looked at James.
"The damage is already done so we need to accept that. I think the most you can do is try to rebuild your friendship. It might take a while, but it's the best I can think of at the moment." James nodded. For the first time since it had happened, he'd thought about how Sirius must feel and understood why he was acting so oddly around him. And for the first time, he felt terrible about what he had done, even if he hadn't meant it.
He ignored Remus' look the next day when he politely refused their offer to go see Sirius with them during lunch, instead sitting next to Lily. He felt a bit bad when Peter told him that Sirius had been disappointed not to see him once again, but stuck to his plan.
It was two nights before James could get away from his friends. He didn't know why he felt the need to die it from them, but waited until they were both asleep anyway before slipping on his invisibility cloak and sneaking out of their dormitory.
It took him only a few minutes to decipher the lock on the hospital wing door, they often broke in to see Remus when Madam Pomfrey kept him there after the ful moons, and he opened it carefully.
He quickly spotted Sirius and made his way over to his bed carefully, (Yet another oddity of the boy, he could sleep through alarms, shaking and shouts that they were going to be late almost every day but the moment he sensed danger, he was up, wide eyed and wand at ready. James got the feeling it came from his family home and the vicious house elf) looking at his sleeping face.
As James watched him, he thought about how calm Sirius looked asleep and had to resist the temptation to poke him just to check he was still alive.
In all seriousness, James did feel worried for his friend. Sure, he'd gotten the flu before when someone in the house had caught it, (Who didn't really?) but he'd always seemed pretty healthy, more so than the rest of them and full of life. Now he looked sort of pale (well, paler than normal for an English boy) and worse than James had expected to see. He'd planned to not only apologize but ask him what'd he'd taken to fake it. He knew from looking at him that he wasn't.
He ran an invisible hand over his forehead and Sirius moved, his eyes opening slowly. James moved his hand and by the time Sirius was sitting up, looking around in confusion, James had disappeared out the door. Apologies could wait. He couldn't help think he was the cause of his illness somehow.
