Disclaimer: All people and places belong to J. K. Rowling.

Life Had Just Begun

By Terra

Chapter Fourteen: Morning After

I shot straight up but found myself tangled in weird tubes and bandages. I couldn't see anything but blurs, which meant I wasn't wearing my glasses. There was a deluge of bells, whistles, and mechanical screeches. I flailed madly about, trying to dislodge myself from the tubes when I heard someone run into the room.

"Mr. Potter!" a young woman's voice protested. "Please, stay calm!"

"Where am I?" I demanded.

"In St. Mungo's. Please, sir, if you would just relax, I'll get your..."

"Where's my wife? Where's Lily? Where are my glasses?" I worked on removing the tubes but the woman screamed and restrained me.

"Please, those have to stay in! Stay calm!"

"How am I supposed to stay calm? I'm connected to these weird tubes, I can't get out of this bed, I don't know where my wife is, I don't know how I got here, and I can't see!"

The woman moaned. "Oh, God, he's gone blind!"

"I'm not blind! I'm severely near-sighted! I want my glasses!" I made a terrible effort to throw the woman off but I found I was very weak and my limbs weren't operating the way they should.

"If I give you your glasses, will you stop trying to take your tubes out? Will you stay calm so I can summon your doctor?"

"Yes, just give me my glasses!" I heard the clink of glasses being touched against a plastic surface before being open and put on my face. The woman was wearing a white nurse's uniform. She was very young, probably just out of Hogwarts, with short black hair. She was very bony and freckled with frightened hazel eyes. She was panting heavily.

"Now you have your glasses. Can you see now?"

"Yes. Where am I?"

"In St. Mungo's as I've said before."

"How did I get here?"

"I don't know, sir. I'm going to call your doctor. He'll explain everything." She hit a button over my head. Within seconds, a team of doctors in Medi-Wizard uniforms and nurses came into my room.

"Doctor Harvey, this man has just woken up," the young nurse stammered, "I heard him flailing about and he doesn't seem to know why he's here."

"I understand," Doctor Harvey, a man in his early-thirties with a thick brown beard, answered friendly. "Thank you, Nurse O'Collins. You may continue your rounds." Nurse O'Collins shuffled out of the room as quickly as possible. Once she was gone, the other Medi-wizards and nurses examined the chart at the end of my bed and the many beeping, whistling, and whirring machines around me. Doctor Harvey smiled at me and said, "It's good to have you awake at last, Mr. Potter."

"Excuse me, but how did I get here? I don't remember going to hospital."

"What's the last thing you do remember?"

"I wasn't feeling too well, I haven't been for weeks, actually, and a lot of terrible things had happened that day and... I fell asleep on the couch with my wife. That's all."

He sighed and replied solemnly, "Mr. Potter, you've been in a coma for two weeks."

My jaw literally dropped. "WHAT?"

"When you fell asleep, you didn't wake up again. You didn't respond to stimuli, your body temperature had dropped to unhealthy levels, your pulse was weak and rapid, and your breathing was shallow and largely unproductive."

"I thought I was just coming down with the flu!"

"No, Mr. Potter, you had been poisoned."

"Poisoned?" I repeated but then I panicked and machines began to screech, "LILY! Where's Lily?!"

"Your wife is fine. Your friend, Mr. Black I think is the name, is also fine. We feel that it is something that you alone ate or drank."

"What was it?"

"It is the potion normally referred to as the 'Silent Parasite Potion'."

"Isn't that the one where it takes months for it to take effect?"

He nodded. "The very one, Mr. Potter. We would like to know if there is anything you can recollect that you solely ate that passed through the hands of another unknown person. Did you ever order in food that you did not see prepared or assigned someone else to deliver?"

"Well, the only thing I can think of is that my wife has been sending me lunch since January. I don't know what the company is or who made it, though."

He nodded again. "We'll inquire about it to your wife. There might be a particular company in league with You-Know-Who."

"You're sure it's the Dark Lord?"

"An Azkaban prisoner told the Aurors that many people had been poisoned and were going to die soon, regardless of his imprisonment or not."

I thought back on my last encounter with Percy Weatherby. Now, that he mentioned it... "Was the prisoner Percy Weatherby?"

He raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Why do you say that?"

"Because the day I fell ill, he told me to 'stay well' and then laughed. I thought he was just mocking me about my father but perhaps this is what he was referring to. I'm right, aren't I?"

"I'm afraid you are. He told the Aurors that he had personally brewed the potions himself."

"Sick is what that is," a nurse spat. "Ten people in here for this poison."

"Ten people?" I asked, astonished.

"You're the only one who is awake. You were the first to come in, of course," Doctor Harvey explained. "But how are you feeling?"

"Fine, I guess. A little weak."

"Perfectly normal. You haven't moved in two weeks, I'm not surprised. Well, Mr. Potter, if there is anything else...?"

I shook my head. "No, nothing, thank you."

"I'll continue my rounds. I'll be back again shortly. There is a call button over your head there," he explained, pointing until I turned my head around to look at the green button labeled: "Doctor", "that you can press if anything comes up before I return. Try to just relax a bit. Your body still needs time to heal but the worst, I think, is over."

I settled back into the pillow of my starch white bed. Now that I was alone and calmer, I took in my surroundings. The walls were bleach white. Weird blinking and humming machines surrounded me. The ceiling was tiled with white squares and black specks. There was a vase of mixed flowers on my bedside table along with papers I couldn't identify, probably for medical use.

I half-dozed briefly before a nurse came in and said calmly, "There's a Mrs. Potter to see you, sir."

"Let her in," I answered.

I expected it to be Lily but it was my mother. Although I hadn't anticipated her arrival, I felt relieved. It was nice for her to visit.

"Hi, Mother."

"Hello, James."

I couldn't help but laugh. "It seems we're back to where we started; with me laying in bed, all sick."

She chuckled. "Well, at least you still have an upbeat look about it."

"Yes, I guess I do."

"I thought positive, like last time. And it worked again, I see. Your father certainly had at least one good idea."

"I saw him."

My mother was taken aback. "How?"

"I was going towards this white light. It was so warm and nice and I wanted to go so badly but he stopped me."

"Did he really?" My mother asked, sitting on the edge of the bed like she did when I was younger.

I nodded. "He said it wasn't my time yet. And then I told him all the things I've been thinking but I couldn't say because I thought he was gone. But he isn't really gone, you know. He's still here and everything. Just because he's dead doesn't mean he's gone for good. I know that now."

"Of course."

"And it was so nice. I finally got to say everything I wanted to say and we just kept saying 'I love you' over and over again. I wanted to stay a little longer but he convinced me to go." I laughed. "He was all young again, like when I was really little. He was going to wait, he told me. Oh, and he gives his best to you, of course. I think he misses you."

"I miss him, too."

"I wish you could have been there. It was so nice. I can't explain it. I really, really wish you could have been there too."

"I know and I wish that too."

"You'll see him again. He's the lucky one, one hundred years is nothing to him. But it's has to be frustrating too, just waiting for us."

"Dear? Are you crying?"

I felt my face and there were tears running down my face. "Seems so. But I'm not sad in the slightest. Actually, I haven't felt this happy in months. It felt so good to talk to him again. I feel like there was this heavy weight on me that's gone now. You know what I mean?"

"I do. I'm happy that you're still here. Your father must really be watching over you. There were some close calls but your father was right, it wasn't your time." For a little while we talked over how she was doing before she had to go to a prior appointment.

"Visit again soon, okay? And bring a book, I'm really kind of bored here," I reminded. She nodded and left.

Soon after she left, I started getting itchy. The itch never went away no matter where I scratched. Then the itch turned into a twinge. The twinge turned into a throb. The throb turned into pain. The pain turned into agony. The agony turned into torture. By the time Doctor Harvey returned an hour after his departure, I was screaming and howling in my bed. Even my hair hurt.

"Mr. Potter? Are you alright?" he demanded over my cries.

"No, of course not! I feel like I'm dying!"

"On a scale from one to ten, one being lowest, ten being highest, how would you rate your pain?"

"Can I try fifteen?!" I howled. "Oh, God! Someone knock me out!"

"We're going to try some pain relieving charms, Mr. Potter."

They went through every pain relieving charm in the entire world and then made up some. No matter how much power they put into it, I felt nothing. They might as well as had done nothing at all.

Four hours later, they turned to potions. Half of the potions were eliminated because they would react with an element in the poison, which might have still remained in my body. A large bulk was also not considered because they weren't strong enough. Finally, there was only three possible choices left. Then one had to be removed because I was allergic to it.

They tried the first one. They might as well as given me water and I was forced to spent six hours in agony waiting for the useless potion to take effect but it never did.

Around eleven at night, I was still hissing in pain and now exhausted as well. The doctors and nurses looked at each other with anxiety written on their faces. They had to figure out a solution.

"We have to try it," Doctor Harvey commanded.

"But it's very powerful!" a nurse responded.

"We need powerful."

"We'll need a waiver!"

"Then get one." The nurse darted out of the room as Doctor Harvey bent down to speak to me.

"Mr. Potter? Can you hear me?"

"Yes," I hissed through clenched teeth.

"Is there any change in your symptoms?"

"No!"

"There is one last thing we can try."

"Then try it!"

"It's very powerful. It's the 'Euphoria Potion' and it's a controlled substance so we don't use it very often."

"Thanks for the medicine lesson! I don't care what it is, just give it to me!"

"We need you to understand that the side effects are very powerful. It will cause you to be 'out of sorts', let's say, for a couple of days until the inflammation has stopped."

"Basically, I'll be high, is that what you're saying?" I asked through clenched teeth.

"Yes, precisely. I want you to consider this carefully. Many people wouldn't like to experience..."

"Will it take the pain away?" I demanded sharply.

"It is the strongest pain relieving potion known to wizards at this time."

"Then I don't care if it's illegal. Give it to me now." I ordered slowly.

The nurse returned with a legal waiver. Doctor Harvey asked firmly, "You do understand the effects of this treatment?"

"Yes."

"You agree fully to this treatment? You were not convinced to try this approach?"

"Yes, I agree. No, this is my decision."

"Please sign." It was absolute agony holding the quill and signing my name. I screamed several times. Finally, the last letter of my last name made it on paper and I could fall back into the soft pillow that felt like red-hot desert sands to my body.

The potion was delivered swiftly and put into my drips. "The lowest possible dose, please," Doctor Harvey reminded the nurse, who nodded. The needle was pressed into my body, a lever was pulled and the potion entered my body.

The effect was immediate. It was like dipping in a cool pool of water after walking naked in the scorching sun. I practically cried from relief.

"How are you feeling, Mr. Potter?" Doctor Harvey asked.

"Oh, this is so nice," I moaned.

"How would you rate your pain now, Mr. Potter?"

"Negative 5. Oh, oh, oh. This is so good."

"Well, that was a success. Write this down for future reference when the others wake up."

"They're going to love this, trust me," I told him, laughing. "Oh, I feel so great right now."

With each passing second, I went from feeling good to feeling absolutely fantastic and above and beyond. My mind began to fog over and everything seemed very far away. I was beyond absolutely happy, there is no word for the feeling I had. For the next three days, I drifted from sleep to being awake but it made little difference. I sort of perceived people coming and going from my room but I couldn't tell who they were at what time or even if all of them were real.

After my trip to La-La Land during those three days, I woke up sober on the fourth morning. I was mildly disappointed that I had lost that feeling but it was refreshing to see the world clearly for a change. There were more flowers on my bedside table along with some "Get Well" cards. I was stiff but no longer in pain. I was also bored again.

Luckily, someone rapped on the jam of my open door.

"Hey," Sirius called softly, "are you awake, James? I came to visit."

"Yeah," I answered back in a normal tone, "I'm awake."

Sirius frowned briefly. "What, no more Junkie James?"

" 'Junkie James'?"

"You were on drugs, James. Therefore, you are a junkie."

"It wasn't like that!" I retorted.

"Says you. You didn't see yourself." Sirius dragged over a chair and sat on it. "I didn't bring flowers, you've got enough."

"I'm crushed by your cruelty," I replied sarcastically. "Where's Lily?"

"Doctor. It's called something special..."

"Pre-natal?"

"That's it. Anyway, she's there." I narrowed my eyes. "What's wrong with that?"

"She's there alone?" I asked.

"Well, I have to visit you, didn't I?"

"I wasn't going to run away. Your job is to stay near her and make sure nothing happens."

"She walked into the doctor's office. She stays in the doctor's office for hours. She walks outside to a taxi. The taxi drives as close as he can to St. Mungo's. She gets out of the taxi and rides her broomstick the rest of the way. I'll think she can manage."

"Sirius, have you been living under a rock? My father got kidnapped while buying Communication Powder! And he had his wand!"

"She was getting suspicious! And she doesn't like anyone but you with her in the doctor's office." With a high-pitched voice, he added using his fingers to indicate a direct quotation, " 'It's private'." He continued in his normal voice, "My original plan was wait in the waiting room until she was done but she insisted that I visit you." Again with the same high-pitched voice, he went on to say, " 'What if he wakes up and no one's there? How will he feel? He'll think we don't care.'" Back to his natural voice, he concluded, "And since she was raising such a fit about your emotional needs, I came here. And this is the thanks I get. Look, if you want me to go back, I will."

I buzzed my lips in annoyance. "No, stay."

"Speaking of emotional needs," Sirius began with a clear look of irritation, "the next time you're going to pass out and go into a coma, could you refrain from saying terribly cryptic and morbid things to your wife?"

"What did I say?"

" 'If I die, don't kill yourself'. Excellent thing to say, James. Lily practically had a panic attack when we couldn't wake you. It took hours to calm her down enough to get some sense in her head."

"Well, I bet just me not waking up would have caused the same reaction."

"Yeah, but it made it ten times worse. She just kept thinking about that, repeating it over and over."

"Have you come here just to yell at me?" I asked.

Sirius put his head on the back of the chair over his folded arms. "James, you have no idea what it was like those two weeks. I have never been that afraid my entire life." He slightly turned his head so only his eyes could be seen. "I guess I should tell you what happened after you fell asleep."

"Sure."

"Well, I went to the grocer's when you were getting all sick."

"Sorry."

"Don't be. I was going anyway, I was waiting for you to come home first. Anyway, so I took my time so you would have some time to compose yourself before I got back. When I finally did, you had already fallen asleep on the couch and Lily was reading one of those pregnancy advice books. I put all the food away and came back and looked at you. James, you looked absolutely awful. You were this unhealthy pale colour. I caught Lily's attention and asked her what was wrong but she hadn't really noticed the colour until I pointed it out. I tried to see if you had a temperature but you were like ice, it was really spooky. Your breathing was really forced and shallow. So, I tried seeing if you could wake up. It was really to see if you were even alive."

"Did I?"

"You know how even if you shake someone and they don't really wake up, they kind of flutter their eyes or moan or try to push away? You did nothing. You gave no sign of even noticing me. I tried everything. Then you stopped breathing all together. I tried feeling for your heart but I couldn't feel it beating."

"My heart stopped beating?"

"Completely. It was for maybe ten to twenty seconds but it was long enough for us to realize that you needed to get to St. Mungo's right that minute. So, I made Lily call them on the fire while I tried to wake you up again, which didn't work. Then you were brought here and connected to all this stuff. We were allowed to stay in the room but your heart stopped three times while we were here."

"My heart stopped beating again?!"

"After the third time, the doctors made us wait outside. So, then, I called Peter who had Remus over and..."

"Remus? How was Remus there?"

"Turns out he was on holiday for the next three weeks. He spent two of it worrying over you. He's still here and he's only got two days to enjoy with you. Anyway, that's not the point. So, they rallied around. Then Remus called your mother and Marguerite, who happened to be just off duty, came around to console Lily, which was a relief because I was running out of comforting things to say. Your mother told us all about your father's idea of 'positive thinking' to which Lily said, and I quote, 'that is the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my entire life.' To which your mother replied, 'That's what I said and it still worked anyway.'"

"Sounds like quite an adventure."

"Yeah, it gets better. Finally, the doctors said that they got you 'stabilized' but you still weren't awake and if any of those machines were turned off, you'd die. They made us go home because there was nothing we could really do at that point. Of course, Lily wasn't exactly relaxing on the couch or anything."

"How is she now?"

"Well," Sirius answered with a little smile, "she was happy when she found out you were awake. We received the news late so we didn't come in time. We were at the Lupins' so Lily could get out of house and not be either at home or at the hospital worrying over you. Not that she didn't anyway but I did try to make her feel better. They delivered the message to your house, not to us specifically so we found an owl there when we got back and by that time, it was already too late to go so there was no point."

"When did you guys come?"

"The next morning as soon as possible. The four of us, Lily, Remus, Peter, and me, went." Sirius started to snicker. "That's when we found out about the pain medication. I knew a group of illegal drug dealers in Recluse Proper, they made that Euphoria Potion all the time and sold eye-droppers full at parties in Recluse Proper, although I'm sure the kids there weren't their only customers. Anyway, that's what first came to my mind and I was trying so hard not to laugh because I knew why you had to take it."

"I was in severe pain," I sharply reminded.

"I know. They told us how you were screaming from pain. I knew that stuff is powerful though, that's why it's illegal to bootleg it without a license and without a prescription. I remember people taking it and falling asleep as they were walking around. Bad stuff could happen, you could fall asleep as you were walking home and fall into the river or hit your head. But I had to laugh because it was you."

"Thanks. You said earlier that I didn't see myself so calling me a junkie was justified."

Sirius actually laughed out loud. "Oh, you were a riot. Well, after the doctor explained the situation, we were let in. You were just lying there in your bed, calm as anything. I've never seen you happier, I'm not kidding. You spoke in this really excited, little kid voice but you could barely connect two thoughts together. You would actually fall asleep in the middle of your sentences! Your eyes kept wandering too and you kept losing your concentration. You kept changing the subject, sometimes in mid-sentence! Oh, and you kept forgetting who was in the room. Like, you greeted us all when we came in and started talking to me and then you greeted, say, Remus again, asking when he got here then talk to him, and then come back to me and ask when I got here! It was so funny, I couldn't barely keep myself from laughing. You just said whatever floated across your mind. You said some very interesting stuff, I must say."

I began to get worried. "What sort of stuff?"

"Oh, should I tell you?' Sirius asked himself, then he nodded, "Yeah, I will, just to see your reaction. Okay, Lily was sitting by your head, I was sitting where I'm sitting now, Remus was standing at the foot of the bed, and Peter was by the wall. So, we're talking to you and you're rambling on when you stop and kind of half-dozed again, you did that a lot, until you stared at Lily and asked," Sirius made his voice sound very high-pitched and somewhat slurred, his impression of my voice, " 'Did you have our baby yet?'"

He changed to a more feminine voice, his parody of Lily, " 'No, we have three months left.'

" 'But I want it now!'"

" 'I'm sorry but the baby is going to come when it's ready.'"

" 'No! Not the baby! I want to have sex now!'" Sirius began laughing so hard that he nearly fell out of the chair.

"I did not say that," I gasped, horrified.

"You did and in front of everyone!" Sirius chortled, gasping for breath, "Peter just fell over laughing. He could barely breathe! It gets better." He composed himself again and changed his voice back to Lily's high pitched squeak, " 'But you can't! You're in bed anyway!'"

" 'That's okay! We can work around that! Come on, jump up here!'"

" 'There's people here! All your friends are here!'"

" 'So what? They can watch! We'll be entertaining and educational!'"

"Educational?" I asked.

Sirius was too busy laughing to answer.

"I'm so embarrassed," I muttered, putting my face in my hands.

"And then you just moved on about French literature or something," he gasped out. "Oh, it was her face, James. Lily was so red. But she was happy that you were alive. She was a nightmare for those two weeks. I had to sleep with her to shut her up at night." His eyes widened and he clapped his hands over his mouth.

"You had to WHAT?!" I managed enough adrenaline to press myself up on my elbows.

"I didn't mean it like that!" Sirius said behind his mouth.

"Then how did you mean it?!"
"I didn't sleep sleep with her. I just slept in the same bed, on top of the covers and everything."

"I'm not getting convinced here."

"I was Padfoot! Even Crookshanks was between us!"

"Who are you? Siegfried saving Brunhilde? Was there a ring of fire involved perchance?"

"It was completely innocent, James. Lily was a nervous wreck. It took forever to get her to go to bed and sleep. When she finally did, she had nightmares about you dying. Every single time, I had to get up and calm her down so she could go back and have another nightmare. I got sick of getting up every five minutes so I finally said to hell with it and stayed in her room as Padfoot. And Lily said that having me there beside her made her calm because she didn't feel so alone." He rubbed the bridge of his nose and groaned, "I know how that sounds. It sounds like the beginning of a bad radio soap opera story arc but you didn't see her. When they come, ask Peter and Remus, they'll tell. Ask Marguerite, if you want. Lily was not in a good state at all. She was crying at the drop of a hat. I tried everything to calm her down. I know that pregnant women shouldn't get too stressed out or their babies will miscarry and all that. That bed was covered in all those stuffed animals that we've bought along with Crookshanks and me. She needed company, she needed support. You told me to care take of her, so I did."

I glared at Sirius for a very long time, reading his eyes for any sign that he was being even remotely false. His eyes were worn-out and pained. Slowly, bitterly, I came to accept that Sirius was telling the truth but I had to ask, "You swear that you did nothing."

"Believe me, the experience was not a turn-on in any way. If I had another way, I would have done it. It was the only thing I could think of. You can ask Lily if you really don't believe me."

Before I could respond, Lily barged in happily. "Hi, James! Are you really off the medication?"

"Yes, I am. Can I ask a question?"

"Anything!"

"Did you really sleep with Sirius?"

Lily flushed red with anger and Sirius put his arms over his head in preparation. "Sirius! Why did you tell him that?"

"It came out! I didn't mean to!" Sirius pleaded, crouched in the chair as Lily took a swipe.

"I bet you told him all about the nightlight!" Lily accused.

"Actually, I had forgotten all about that."

There was dead silence for a few moments. Finally, I said, "You slept with a nightlight?"

"Go ahead! Laugh!"

"I didn't even know we had one."

"I bought one earlier this year. But I bet he told you about the stuffed animals."

"He did. Along with Crookshanks and him."

Lily sighed, looking clearly embarrassed, "Look, it wasn't like that at all. The bed just seemed so big so I put stuff in it to clutter it up, Sirius was just there to fill up space and to save time from running up and down the house to comfort me. I just kept having these nightmares... and..." She choked up and tears began to rain down her face.

"Oh, Lily, don't cry, sit down now. Move, Sirius!" I shooed Sirius out of his chair and he led Lily to sit down in it. "It's alright."

"I was so scared all the time. I knew that any minute... any minute... you'd be dead... I didn't know what'd I do... if you died... please, don't be mad..." She began to wail. I hoisted myself up in order to pull her close to me and let her cry into my chest. Sirius mumbled something about drinks and left the room.

"I'm here, Lily. I'm not mad, I just wanted to make sure. I trust you, it just sounded a bit... liberal, I guess."

"Oh... I understand... I totally understand... I mean, if you had done the same thing with, like, Olivia, then I would have been furious." She sniffled into my hospital robe. "I mean," she began, wiping her eyes with her hand but not moving away from me, "Padfoot was not my ideal companion and I hated having him there. I felt like such a baby, like when I was little and I would sleep in my parents' room after I had a nightmare. I thought I had outgrown that." I stroked her hair as she spoke softly, "I would cry myself to sleep. And I had all those nightmares. Sirius was so good about everything, he had to put up with a lot from me. Even the waking day was like one long nightmare that wouldn't end. I missed you so much and you were in here dying and there was... there was..." she choked up again.

"Shh... I'm fine now. It's over. Don't cry."

"This is a mild version of what I was like for the past two weeks," Lily joked, hugging me tight. "Don't ever think that Sirius was a fine replacement because he definitely was not. His dog breath is horrible," she giggled. "And he snores."

"He does snore but it's not that bad. Maybe being a dog makes it worse."

"Maybe. Oh, I thought I'd never hear your voice again."

I tutted, "What a little pessimist! Have you no faith at all?"

But Lily didn't laugh. She just looked up at me with wet eyes. "You were very close."

"But I didn't. I'm still here. We're going to have that baby soon, aren't we?"

"Yes."

"Well, I wasn't about to miss that." I smiled and added jokingly, "But if that baby comes out with blue eyes, I'm going to be upset."

Lily laughed. "James! All babies have blue eyes at first!"

I kissed her on the forehead and smiled. "You know what I mean, you little scarlet woman."

Lily cocked her head back and laughed fully. "Yes, I'm playing around with your delicate little heart!"

"Scarlet woman!"

"I seriously can't believe you people still use that phrase!" She jumped slightly. "Baby kicked," she explained with a slight smile.

"He's telling us to keep the noise down. Probably studying for his O.W.L.s already."

"That was last month, James. This month, he's reviewing for the N.E.W.T.s!" Lily joked.

For the next hour, Lily and I talked freely about what we were going to do the minute I was allowed to leave that stupid bed and loving every minute of it.

To Be Continued...

Author's Notes: What's with this rash of happy endings? It was fun writing that "James on happy drugs" part. Originally, this chapter was a lot sadder which James crying over his father still with his mother, saying how everything is his fault. My friend, Naisumi, recently said that James was crying too much and after some thinking, I realized that she had a point so I went with the "calm and at peace" beginning. I like it better, personally. No, I am not advocating the theory that Sirius secretly loved Lily, it was really pure and innocent. It's exactly how it's explained here. No unresolved sexual tension, understand? Good. Wow, I just realized that this is actually the first funny chapter in a long while. Oh, Siegfried is part of a Norse myth/legend about a woman named Brunhilde who was destined to marry the man who could save her from this ring of fire. This one prince wanted her but he was too cowardly to actually get her so he sent Siegfried instead. So, he spends three nights with her but to make sure he doesn't "taint" Brunhilde for her future husband, he places a sword between them (why it takes three days I have no idea. I mean, he got in fine, why couldn't he grab her and leave?). That's what James was talking about. If you want the full version, since there's more to the story after that, it's in Edith Hamilton's Mythology in the Norse section. Thanks to my buddy who reminded me of the characters' names. Don't worry, Remus fans! He's going to appear sometime soon! I promise! I meant to introduce him (and Peter, although you all would probably rather not have him in this) in this chapter but he didn't fit. Sorry! Anyway, I would appreciate comments and questions through the review button (please leave your e-mail address!) or e-mail at destinyplot@lycos.com ! I'll write back! See ya later!