A/N: See you back on January 27th.
Sirius:
Consciousness was excruciating.
Sirius groaned and willed himself to dive back into the black oblivion he'd surfaced from.
"Should I get James?"
He must have been dreaming, that sounded just like Pete.
"Let's wait till he's talking. James is busy enough as it is to add running back here every time Sirius so much as shifts."
He wanted to keep under the assumption he was dreaming, but the sound of both Pete and Rems told Sirius things had either gone really well after he blacked out, or they'd gone horribly wrong.
And Sirius' brain wouldn't let him sleep till he knew.
"Who's with James," Sirius kept his eyes closed.
"No surprise that's his first question," Pete's voice was exasperated.
"Elias is, Sirius," Remus answered in his 'Head Healer' voice - patronizing and annoyingly omniscient. "Does anything hurt more than any particular thing?"
Sirius groaned. James had screwed up.
"Get James."
"Sure," Remus' awful voice sounded smug, "as soon as you answer my question."
Remus could be a right pain.
"Everything hurts, Mister Healer, sir, and I'd like it very much if you'd put me out of my misery."
Remus sighed, "Pete, please let James know Sirius is fine and insulting as ever."
Pete chuckled, and Sirius heard him leave.
"I need you to take this," Sirius felt Remus press a cup to his lips.
The liquid was foul and Sirius almost spat it back out.
"What in the devil was that," Sirius coughed and finally opened his eyes to glare at Remus.
"Your last dose of the potion that kept you alive these last two weeks."
Sirius blinked, "Two weeks?"
"Marlene and Mrs. Longbottom put it together to keep you breathing. But now that you're conscious, I feel confident that you can keep it up on your own."
"Then why give me that last dose?" Sirius tried to pull the taste out of his mouth.
"It was a good segway," Remus' tone made Sirius pause.
"A segway to what?"
"To asking whether or not Marlene was lying when she told me that the two of you were sharing the responsibility of protecting James and Lily."
Sirius pushed his head back into the pillow and closed his eyes. "She wasn't lying."
Remus was quiet, waiting for Sirius to explain.
He'd wait to his grave.
"Sirius!" James' voice rang out like church bells - loud and ear-splitting.
"What did you do?" Sirius opened his eyes. "Why aren't they here?"
James fisted his hand in his hair. "I have a plan to fix it. And now that you're awake I can start it. I just needed a reason to send a messenger back to Enid. What better reason than to assure them you haven't died?"
Sirius swore. "They think I'm dead?"
"I assured Marlene that I would do everything in my power to get you back on your feet." Remus interrupted, "I just needed access to my stores to take care of you. We moved you three days after your attack."
Remus went to say something before glancing at Elias, apparently thinking better of it.
Sirius smiled at his mentor. "Thanks, old friend, I appreciate you looking after this windbag while I couldn't."
"We're a tight group, Sirius, we step in for each other." Elias shrugged.
Sirius looked around the room. "Could I have a private word with his Majesty, here?"
"Sirius…" Remus started.
"Of course," James cut him off and turned to the three other men in the room. "You can wait in the sitting room, I'll be right out."
They grumbled a bit, but James was good at throwing around his rank when it came to his brother.
Sirius rather enjoyed that perk.
"James, what happened?" Sirius asked after he watched the door shut.
"Marlene put me to sleep for three days after the attack." James shrugged.
"Why?" Sirius stared him down.
James groaned, "Because I thought you had died and my grief overtook me, alright? When I came to and found out you weren't dead I told Lily what I had been meaning to tell her before we were attacked, told Marlene too, and then went and got an emergency messenger. We were back home before the day was out."
"Without Lily and Marlene," Sirius groaned.
"I'm working on fixing that! I'll send the messenger just as soon as we're done here."
Sirius took in a deep and quite painful breath.
"James, do me a favor and get her back. Remember that boon you asked of me after the first attack, you intertwined Lily into my oath with it."
"Wait, so if something happens to Lily…"
"Yes," Sirius cut him off. "Now please start your plan to get her back, and do me a favor and don't fail."
James swore. "Why did you agree to it then?"
"I'm a bit of a loyal prat when it comes to you, James." Sirius took in another deep breath and found it less painful than the first one had been.
There were other reasons he'd done it, none of which he was willing to discuss with anyone who was in his current vicinity.
"You have my word, Sirius, I'll have her here as soon as I can." James stood and nearly ran out the door.
Sirius closed his eyes again and tried to get control of his anger and disappointment.
It should have been Marlene protecting James and Lily right now. It should have been the three of them coming in when James was summoned.
He should have seen her today.
An unbidden smile crossed his lips as his mind brought forward his last memory before he blacked out. It was still clear, her rapier in hand, her golden curls plaited back, her blue eyes burning with vengeance, her small form strong and powerful, she was everything he'd ever considered beautiful and captivating.
And unless James pulled off a miracle, Sirius may never see her again.