Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and I most likely never will.

Do you know how sorry I am? Well I can't tell you how much I have. I seriously had no idea how to follow up from the last chapter but it now seems I am back on track.

This chapter is dedicated to my tears because I shed a lot of them whilst writing this. I'm a big sook.

Sirius blinked open his eyes. Light was dimming in the hospital wing and flicks of orange were being reflected across the crisp white linen on each of the beds. His eyes shifted to the bed beside him; a lump formed in his throat at Hermione's pale, unconscious face.

"Sirius, you need to go have some dinner," Lily told him from the other side of Hermione's bed. "You've been here for three days now. Madam Pomphrey told you that Hermione was unlikely to wake up yet."

Sirius shook his head. "I want to be here when she wakes up," he said in a voice unlike his own; strained and tired.

Footsteps echoed through the stone wing and Lily and Sirius both looked to the head of the bed, where Remus and James just appeared. They looked wary and just as tired as Sirius, both of their faces grim.

James's gaze moved from Hermione to Sirius and his mouth thinned. "Dumbledore doesn't know what's wrong with her, neither does McGonagall. They asked Moony and I if we've seen anything suspicious around Jasmine."

With a sigh, Sirius rubbed his sore eyes and rose from his armchair. "I just want her to wake up." He heaved in a huge breath and looked to his best friends. "I can't take this. I just want her to wake up."

James moved to Sirius and clapped a hand on his back. "Look mate, it's going to be okay." They both looked down at Hermione and breathed deep. "When has Madam P ever failed?"

Squeezing his eyes shut tight, Sirius breathed deep and felt his heart shake. For three days now he had to sit by and watch as his girlfriend's face went whiter. Her face was fast becoming thin and her breathing was becoming shallower. Opening his eyes, he looked around to each of his friends, all of their faces showing sympathy. They were as scared as he was.

Sirius moved to the edge of Hermione's bed and knelt beside it, clasping her cold hand in his. "Please don't leave me Jasmine, please," he whispered softly. "I can't live without you."

James came up behind him and placed his hand on his sad friend's shoulder. "Look Sirius there isn't anything we can do and Jasmine wouldn't want you to sit here and waste away. Please come have some dinner?"

Sighing, Sirius let go of her hand and straightened. "Fine," he murmured, "I'll go have dinner but I swear if anything happens here while I'm gone you all won't have a breath in your body after I'm done." Shrugging James's hand off his shoulder, Sirius narrowed his eyes at them and turned and left the wing.

James looked down at Hermione's face. "He loves her," he sighed.

Suppressing a sniff, Lily rose from her seat. "It's killing me to see him like this," she told them as they closed the curtains and walked out of the hospital wing. "What if she doesn't make it through this? For the past two days Jasmine's breathing has slowed and we haven't seen a flicker of her eyelids. Dumbledore doesn't even know what's wrong."

Tears were pooling in Lily's emerald eyes and James slid an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. "All we can do is hope."

Beside James, Remus frowned. "While we're hoping we need to find out how this happened."

Both James and Lily looked to Remus. "What do you mean," James asked as they rounded a corner and stopped in front of the doors to the great hall.

"It's obvious that this isn't something that just 'happened'. Something must have triggered it."

James shook his head at his obviously tired friend. "Look Moony I think you need some sleep. We all do."

Lily pulled James into the great hall with Remus following behind him. As they sat down in their usual seats next to a quiet Sirius, something nagged at Remus's mind. Shrugging lightly and putting it aside as being tired, he leaned over and helped himself to some potatoes.

OOOO-OOOO-OOOO-OOOO-OOOO

Sirius groaned at the light emerging through the thick maroon curtains. He blinked his eyes open to the harsh light and his heart plummeted. There, on his bedside table, was the necklace he had bought Hermione was Christmas. The pretty sapphires were winking in the morning sunlight. He leant over and picked up the necklace, daggling it in front of his face.

Two minutes later James yawned from across the room and rolled out of bed to see Sirius sitting in that exact position. "Padfoot? You okay?" he asked hesitantly as he moved towards his friend's bed.

Sirius's gaze moved past the sapphires and to James. "She left this here one night when I asked her if she would just lie with me. That's all I wanted to do, just lie there with her in my arms."

"Pad I'm really sorry," James said sadly. "I wish we didn't have to go through this."

Sighing, Sirius placed the necklace back carefully on his table. "I had everything planned for Valentines day…but I didn't care about that," he murmured, more to himself then his friend. "I wanted to spend the day with her." He rolled out of his bed and trudged over to his dresser. "I think I love her Prongs, I really do."

"I know," James replied softly.

James woke up Remus and they got ready in silence. Neither Remus nor James had the courage to shatter the resolve Sirius currently had. He had been a walking ghost from the exact moment he and James had heard Lily's scream and rushed to find Hermione unconscious across the girls' bedroom floor. Due to being afraid their girlfriends would kill them, the marauders hadn't used the charm to get into the girls dorm. But as soon as Sirius heard that scream, any hesitation flew away.

Walking out of the boys' dorm and towards the great hall in silence, James and Remus both pondered the same thought. What if Hermione didn't make it?

Unable to comprehend what would happen, James opened the doors to the great hall and they all made their way to their usual seats. Turning to Lily, he saw her grim face and frowned. "What's wrong?" he asked in a soft voice as he reached for some toast.

Tears were pooling in her emerald eyes which made James frown harder. "Lily?" his hand covered hers under the table and entwined their fingers. "What's wrong?"

"I just went to the hospital wing," she told him softly. "Jasmine is barely breathing. Dumbledore is there now with Slughorn and McGonagall."

A chill went down James's spine as the words registered. "Have they found out what's wrong yet?"

Lily shook her head. "And I don't know if they will," her face screwed up as to keep herself from crying.

Wrapping his arms around her he crushed her body into his. "It's okay," he murmured softly and looked over to Sirius and Remus. Fortunately Sirius was too busy absorbed with stabbing his toast to see Lily crying in his arms.

Lily sniffed into his neck before pushing his arms off of her. "I have to go to Arithmacy," she told them quietly and rose from the table. "I'm going to see Jasmine at lunch so if you want to come with me then just meet me there."

Sirius raised his head and nodded, as did Remus and James. When Lily disappeared from sight, James turned to Sirius. "If I tell you something you have to promise that you will not jump up and run. You have to promise me that you will wait until lunch."

Frowning slightly, Sirius nodded. "What?"

"Jasmine's breathing is barely breathing. Dumbledore and McGonagall are there now."

Sirius's face changed from a frown to agony. "And why the hell can't I go there now if that's happened?" he asked in a strained, angry voice. "She's my girlfriend and I want to be there if something is seriously wrong."

"Look Sirius you know that as soon as you get there McGonagall will send you straight to class," Remus told his friend sympathetically.

"I don't want her to die," Sirius said angrily and slammed his drink on the table, sloshing orange juice. "I shouldn't have to sit around in class when Jasmine could die. How would it make me feel knowing I could have seen her one last time but was told to go to class?"

James bit back a groan. "Don't get angry at us Pads," he retorted quickly. "Do you think that we don't want to see Jasmine? She is our friend to and we are as scared as you so don't think you're the only one that cares about her."

Looking down at his toast, Sirius bit his lip and blinked his eyes. "I'm sorry; I just can't do this anymore." He blinked back a couple of tears. "How would you feel if Lily was in the hospital wing and you had to stand by, feeling helpless and useless?"

"Sirius-"

"I can't do anything. Everyone expects me to sit back and watch as she fades away." Breathing in deeply, Sirius had to blink back a couple more tears. "I know she isn't getting better, I can see it for myself, and everything is a constant reminder that I might lose her. I can't handle it."

James and Remus exchanged sad glances. After a few silent moments, Remus looked to his watch. "We had better go to Defense. As soon as that class is over we can go to the hospital wing."

They rose from the table and slung their bags over their shoulders. In silent, again, they walked from the great hall and towards the staircase. They made their way to the second floor and towards their Defense room.

Evan Rosier sneered at them as the waited outside with the rest of the class. "Why so glum?" he asked them.

The temper in Sirius sparked up but he quickly shoved his clenched fists into his pockets. "Shut up Rosier or I will knock your teeth out."

"Is it my fault Granger is in the hospital wing?" He turned to his companion, Malfoy, and asked the question again. "Lucius is it my fault that his little girlfriend is in the hospital wing?"

Smiling cruelly, Malfoy shrugged. "I'm not sure Rosier, is it?"

"Just shut up," Sirius hissed. From the corner of his eyes he saw Remus and James talking to Pettigrew a couple of metres away. He was on his own.

Rosier crossed his arms. "I knocked into her a couple of weeks ago. I think I dropped my book. If she wakes up I want you to tell her that I want it back."

Sirius clenched his teeth. "If huh?" Nodding his head slowly, he wished he could sink his fist into both of those Slytherin brats. "Oh she will get up Rosier and when she does, I hope she clocks you straight in your face."

"And why would she do that?" he asked menacingly. "I've done nothing to her."

"I have a feeling you have," Sirius drawled as he crossed his arms. "And if I find out that you had anything to do with her ending up in the hospital wing, I promise you that I will kill you."

Rosier raised a brow. "Is that a threat?"

"No," Sirius told him as the teacher opened the door. "It's a promise"

XX

After an uneventful class, Sirius almost ran to the hospital wing. When he got there, Dumbledore and McGonagall were still crowded around Hermione's bed, talking in low voices. Lily was seat in the armchair next to Hermione's bed, tears streaming down her pale cheeks.

His heart started to beat faster as he strode swiftly across the stone and towards his girlfriend's bed. Dumbledore stopped talking when he approached. "Mr. Black, we knew you would be here soon."

Looking to Lily's pale sad face, a vice clenched around his heart. "What's wrong?" he asked Dumbledore quickly. "Why is Lily crying?"

The sparkle was gone from Dumbledore's blue eyes. "Professor McGonagall and I have found what is wrong with Miss Granger here."

"Then why is Lily crying?" Sirius asked again but he feared what Dumbledore was going to say. "Just tell me what's wrong and what you're trying to do to help her!"

"It seems, Mr. Black," Dumbledore started with a frown pinched across his brow. "That Miss Granger has been cursed. But it is no ordinary curse because it is acting like a poison."

Suddenly Sirius could see black dots in front of his eyes and his lungs threatened to stop. But he forced himself to ask, "What's going to happen to Jasmine?"

The frown morphed into sadness. "Because the curse is like a poison, it does not kill quickly. Professor McGonagall and I have been trying to fight off the curse before it spreads throughout her entire body. If it has, then there is nothing we can do. But if we have steamed to flow, there may be a chance that Jasmine may live." He paused to exchange a glance with McGonagall. "But because of the rarity of the curse, we weren't entirely sure how to steam the flow. All we can do now is hope."

Well Rosier is bad…I guess that's a little information I can tell you. Rosier is very very bad so turn over that piece of info.

I don't know if you all know considering it has been aged since I have updated but I have a brand new niece named Chloe. She is my gorgeous little girl and I love her to pieces. Maybe I'm biased?