The twenty third time I shared a bed with Sirius Black I thought he was never going to wake up. There had been a raid on a Death eater safehouse in southern Scotland. It had been Sirius, Remus, Mad-eye and some of the others from the Order, a simple operation, nothing special. I'd been at St. Mungos with Lily at the time. She was getting a scan to check on the baby. We'd just found out it was going to be a boy when and owl had come through the window. It was from Remus, written in shaky handwriting. Sirius was badly hurt. He was at Hogwarts. They couldn't risk moving him to St. Mungos. I needed to get there right away.

I left Lily in maternity. She promised she'd follow as soon as the scan was finished. I took the public floo to Hogwarts as fast as I could and raced to the hospital wing. I'll never forget the sight that met me there. Sirius was covered in blood, lying on a stark white bed, motionless. I had never seen him so still, even when he slept. I crossed to him immediately, stopped by Moony and Madame Pomfrey. Dumbledore was standing beside him.

'You're his next of kin, James. I have to tell you that it doesn't look good. He's been hit by a blood boiling curse. We didn't know the house was going to be occupied or we would have sent a bigger force. We've done everything we can. Now it's just up to him. I'm so sorry,' he said, looking older than I'd ever seen him. I didn't even acknowledge his words. Moony let go of me and I rushed to Sirius' side, taking his hand, focusing on his face under all the blood.

'Come on Padfoot.' I muttered under my breath, 'Live for me mate.'

I have vague recollections of the day passing. Moony spent most of it by our side, leaving only to fetch some food for me at regular intervals and in the evening for the Shrieking Shack. I'd forgotten it was a full moon. Wormtail arrived after work looking harassed and stayed silently with us before accompanying Moony. Lily was there at some point too, her arms round me, crying, going home when Madame Pomfrey told her that she was in not fit state to be sitting on a cold chair in a castle in the middle of the night.

Though all this, I had simply stared at Sirius, willing him silently to wake up. He didn't. I felt my eyes drooping, exhaustion threatening to overcome me. I shuffled closer so that I was half lying on Sirius' bed and watched the candle flickering.

I awoke with my head on his chest and a crick in my neck. I longed to look up and see Sirius's morning eyes, half shut, screwed tightly against the offending light streaming through the curtains. Nothing. I couldn't bring myself to leave his chest, the comforting warmth and the sound of his heart still beating, proving he was still alive.

Finally, when I judged that Moony and Wormtail would soon be back, I sat up stiffly, rubbing my neck and stretching my back.

's'coldProngs,' I heard the murmur and turned sharply, wincing as my neck protested. His eyes were open and he was grinning weakly at me. I felt an answering grin erupting on my face.

'Padfoot! Thank god! If you ever worry me again like that I swear to God I'll...' He rolled his eyes. I glared for a moment before the grin erupted on my face again.

'Yesh. You'lldo...summinkbad. Lecturemelater, s'cold.' He replied. I could see he was shivering and realised he hadn't been joking before.

'Bloody hell mate.' I gasped, pulling the blanket further up and rubbing his arms. He reached out and grabbed my hand, stopping me.

'An' anks m'te' he slurred. I blinked, confused.

'What for?'

'Had to 'ave summin...to come 'ack for,' he answered, eyes fluttering shut as he did so. It was only then that I recovered the presence of mind to call for Madame Pomfrey. She checked him over. The miraculous had happened. He was going to live. And yet his slurred speech still echoed through my mind. He'd had to have something to come back for. He'd come back for me.