Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the wonderful wizarding world and all credit must be given to Ms. JK Rowling, however, anything unrecognisable is of my own creation.

Chapter 31: Hospital Wing

Madam Pomfrey placed Sirius in a magically induced coma and gave him multiple rejuvenation potions, whilst the Phoenix tears detoxified his body. Her diagnosis was that Sirius would be perfectly fine and just needed to rest: there'd be no lasting damage. I was relieved to hear that Sirius would be all right, because for a moment back in the chamber, I'd thought that the venom had been allowed to spread too far. I remained by Sirius's bedside, so Madam Pomfrey gave me a calming draught and a sugary cup of tea. It meant that when Dumbledore arrived I was coherent enough to explain what had happened in the Chamber of Secrets. The headmaster didn't visit for long, but took the Sword of Gryffindor, because it was safest in his office now that it's impregnated with Basilisk venom. He'd also come up with a cover story to tell people. He said I must tell people that Sirius and I had been having an advanced potions class with Professor Slughorn; that the potion I'd brewed had gone wrong and accidently poisoned Sirius. I wasn't convinced that people would believe I was capable of brewing a potion incorrectly, but I assured Dumbledore that I would stick to the story. The next visitors were the Marauders, which I fully expected: James was positively frantic.

'Padfoot!' I hushed James.

'He's asleep.' James, Remus, and Peter crowded around the end of Sirius's bed. James spoke again.

'What happened?!' His tone was accusing, but that didn't bother me and I calmly explained.

'He came with me to an advanced potions class that Slughorn was teaching me. I... I don't know what happened... something went wrong with the potion and, well, Sirius got poisoned.' I surprised the Marauders with a sudden burst of fake tears, and as I continued to cry Remus wrapped his arm around me.

'Hey, shhh, Poppy will fix him up... don't blame yourself.' I gasped for breath as James backed up Remus's reassurance.

'Yeah, sis... he'll be back on his feet by tomorrow, just as annoying as ever.' I laughed, which made the Marauders smile. I remained snuggled against Remus, because I was still a little scared that Sirius would be permanently damaged. James sent Peter to fetch me some breakfast, which was graciously received because I hadn't eaten this morning. I'm glad the Marauders stayed with me for a little while, because it was nice to have the company. The Marauders eventually had to leave, though, because they were skipping classes, and Professor McGonagall found out. This meant I was left on my own again with Sirius: I found myself taking hold of Sirius's hand, with a bit of a smile.

'You better wake up soon, Sirius Black... or else.' I caressed Sirius's cheek with my hand. I was surprised when Madam Pomfrey let me stay in the Hospital Wing all day; though, it's probably because I was quiet and didn't disturb anyone. Remus brought me a book to read from the library; it was an interesting book about advanced charms. I was concentrating deeply on this book, when Dorea burst into the Hospital Wing. I hadn't considered that James might tell his mother that Sirius was in the Hospital Wing. I watched Dorea approach Sirius's bedside as she spoke.

'What happened?' I made eye contact with the motherly witch.

'A potions mix up. He's alright, just needs rest.' Dorea didn't seem convinced, and before I could stop her she'd cast a diagnostics charm. I felt my stomach flip, because this charm would definitely detect traces of inactivated Basilisk venom in Sirius's blood. I watched anxiously as Dorea examined the results of her diagnostics charm. She seemed thoughtful for a moment, not showing any form of shock, and then she lowered her wand.

'He's in a magically induced coma?' I nodded; a little surprised that Dorea didn't mentioned the Basilisk venom.

'Yes. Madam Pomfrey's releasing him from it tomorrow morning.' Dorea nodded, and began performing other therapeutic spells. I don't understand why she didn't confront me about the real reason why Sirius is unconscious. There's no chance she'd have missed it, because that's all that's wrong with him and her spells would be telling her that. I remained silent, whilst Dorea continued to tend to Sirius, and when she was finished she kissed him on the forehead.

'You behave when you wake up, do as Poppy says.' Dorea then straightened up, smiling towards me. 'Has James invited you to spend Christmas with us?' I shook my head, making Dorea smile. 'Well then, I guess I'm inviting you now... we'd be delighted to have you stay with us again.' I smiled.

'I'd like that, thank you.' Dorea told me it was no trouble at all, before saying that she must be getting back to Potter Manor. I promised to look after Sirius for her. Dorea's behaviour confused me, as she obviously knew about the Basilisk venom, but didn't question it, or confront me as to why a potion I was making contained Basilisk venom.

Sirius came around the following morning: a little drowsy and confused at first, meaning I caressed his cheek.

'Siri, baby?' He groaned.

'What happened?' I stroked his cheek again.

'You don't remember?' Sirius shook his head, raising his hand to place it over mine.

'I remember... but everything went black.' I kissed his forehead, before whispering into his ear.

'You impaled yourself on a Basilisk fang... but you're alright now, Fawkes saved you.' Sirius groaned again.

'I feel like I've been hit by the Knight Bus.' I chuckled, stroking his hair.

'You just need rest, love... but I'm glad you're awake. You scared me.' Sirius grinned.

'Sorry... Do the guys know I'm here?' I nodded.

'Yes. They think you came with me to an advanced potions class with Slughorn, and that I accidently poisoned you.' Sirius raised his eyebrows.

'... and they believed that?' I nodded, kissing Sirius on the forehead.

'Yes. Dorea visited too, she knows about the Basilisk venom.' Sirius attempted to sit up, meaning I helped him as he spoke.

'She knows?' I shook my head.

'She preformed a diagnostics charm; so she would've detected the venom... but she didn't mention it. I confess I am a little confused as to why she didn't confront me about it. There aren't many potions that contain Basilisk venom, and those which do... well, they're not potions that I should be brewing.' Sirius was now propped up against his pillows. He snuck a kiss as I fluffed one of the pillows for him.

'If I know Aunt Dorea, she'll confront you once she's had some time to think and the two of you are somewhere private.' I frowned.

'So... at Potter Manor this Christmas?' Sirius suddenly grinned again.

'You're spending Christmas with us?' I nodded.

'Dorea invited me.' Sirius continued grinning.

'What are you going to tell her?' I raised my eyebrows.

'I said that I'd love to spend Christmas at Potter Manor.' Sirius laughed.

'I meant about the Basilisk venom.' Oh! I flushed red.

'I... I don't know. I can't tell her the complete truth, it would be too dangerous.' Sirius was silent for a moment before responding.

'What if she made an unbreakable vow?' I shook my head.

'I can't. It's too dangerous, she'd sacrifice herself to save James: you and I both know that.' I could sense Sirius was about to continue the conversation, but the Marauders interrupted us. The next second, James had slumped down on Sirius's bed, whilst speaking.

'Padfoot! You gave us a scare, bro!' As James spoke, Remus and Peter appeared either side of my chair: Remus reprimanded James.

'James volume, or Poppy will throw us out.' I grinned, though when I did Sirius took hold of my hand. I glanced towards him with a smile, before speaking.

'See, I said they were worried.' Sirius smirked.

'Yeah, I believed you... you know Prongs, you didn't have to tell your mum.' James disagreed with Sirius's statement.

'Of course I did, she's practically your mother too... and she would've killed me if I hadn't told her.' Sirius let the subject drop at this point, meaning James continued talking. 'So... when's Poppy letting you out?' Sirius glanced towards me for the answer to this question: I shrugged.

'I'm not sure, she never said.' When I said this James and Peter quickly nominated Remus to go find out, because Madam Pomfrey has a soft spot for the werewolf and was unlikely to chuck him out. Remus walked away muttering about cowards. It wasn't long before Remus returned with Madam Pomfrey, who ushered us all away from the bed whilst she examined Sirius. James spoke to me as we waited on the other side of the screen that Poppy had conjured.

'You coming to my place for Christmas, sis?' I raised my eyebrows at James.

'Yes, your mum invited me... and you have to stop calling me that.' James played dumb.

'Calling you what?' I sighed, whilst James continued talking about Christmas, getting quite excited in the process. He was still talking animatedly about Christmas when Madam Pomfrey removed the screen from in front of Sirius's hospital bed.

'Mr. Black can return to his dormitory, though he requires complete rest, no mischief.' I smirked as Madam Pomfrey glanced directly at James. James smiled widely at the mediwitch.

'I solemnly swear... no mischief will be bestowed in Sirius's company.' I'm one hundred percent sure that Poppy didn't believe this, mainly because she just rolled her eyes and moved on to her next patient. We then headed back to Gryffindor Tower, where Sirius and I quickly fell to sleep in each other's arms: it sure has been a long couple of days.

A/N: Hey! Really sorry about the delay in updating, I meant to get around to proof reading this chapter last week and didn't. Sorry. Thanks to all of my reviews from the last chapter, you all make me feel really guilty about not updating sooner, which is good motivation. I keep getting comments on my dialogue, that it's confusing, but I'm not really sure what people mean by this: the dialogue rules I was taught at school is that every time someone new speaks you start a new paragraph... and I usually say who's speaking before the dialogue, because it makes sense to me that it comes before, and when some authors put after it confuses me.

Anyway, I'm very happy that most of you are enjoying the story, though it has come to my attention recently that some people aren't enjoying this story, and you know what that's perfectly fine, and it's perfectly fine if you want to waste your life away sending me hateful reviews, because you know what, it's your life to waste. Love RoxannetheLaugh x. P.s. Next chapter is coming soon, I solemnly swear.