Chapter 6:

'Mr Potter, WHAT are you doing?' pierced into James eardrum along with a dull ringing sound and a strong, thudding pain in his hand. And all over his body, now that he thought about it. He opened his eyelids groggily and slowly looked up. Professor McGonagall was standing over him, her smooth face set hard. James was about to attempt an ingratiating smile, but found that he couldn't be bothered. He sighed, and looked down at his hands. McGonagall's eyes followed his.

'What have you done to your hand!' she cried, swooping down to kneel beside him. His hand was encrusted in a thick layer of dried blood, and one bit was still bleeding a little. He looked away, staring hard into the stone cold floor. McGonagall pulled out her wand, vanished the blood, cleaned the wound, and wound it in bandages.

'There we go, Mr Potter, that should help.' and before he knew it, he was on a stretcher, and being carted off to the hospital wing.

Normally, he would have protested. He would have hopped off the stretcher, grinned jovially, made up some ridiculous story, given a wink, and scuttled off to the dormitory to await the owl that would bring him the time of his detention.

But he didn't. He lay there, silent, still and cold. He saw the portraits looking curiously down on him, but soon all manner of things became a blur before his eyes, and everything went black.

o

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James yawned loudly. He felt very groggy, and he tried to open his eyes. He heard furtive whispering, coming from the direction of...Remus' bed? He opened his eyes and scanned the room.

This wasn't the right dormitory. The beds were all wrong. There were way too many. Where am I? he thought furtively, and sat up so fast he felt all the blood rushing to his head. He closed his eyes, and heard footsteps come rushing towards him.

He opened his eyes again, and saw Remus and Sirius sitting beside him.

'Where the hell am I?' asked James. His friends exchanged glances.

'You'll have to speak more clearly, James, we can't understand you.' said Sirius, a smirk of a smile on his face.

'WHERE...AM...I?' James said loudly. Sirius shook his head.

'You're in the hospital wing, James.' said Remus clearly.

'Yeah, you dick, you've got one hell of a hangover. What were you drinking last night?' asked Sirius.
Last night. Last night. Where was I last night? James thought to himself. An image of a mirror came into his head first, and then all the images and events of the previous evening came flooding back. James closer his eyes, took a deep breath, and shook his head.

'I didn't have anything to drink last night.' Sirius' smile broadened.

'Lies make baby Jesus fat.' he said.

'Who's baby Jesus?' asked Remus curiously.

'Oh, some muggle dude the muggles worship.'

'Why?'

'How should I know?'

'Why do lies make him fat?'

'It's just a saying!'

'I've never heard it.'

'Yeah, well, you're not a muggle-'

'I didn't have anything to drink last night.' James interrupted loudly. Remus shifted in his seat.

'Nothing?' asked Remus. James sighed.

'Nothing.' he reiterated. A guilty look spread across Remus' face, and he jumped up.

'Be back in a sec, okay?' he said, and ran off. James looked at Sirius.

'Remus convinced the nurse to give you a potion for your "hangover". They can be really helpful if you have one, but if you don't, like you say, they can have some strange...side effects. He's probably off to get the antidote to it.' Sirius said, answering James' unasked question. James sighed, and lay back down.

'So...what were you doing last night, then, if you weren't drinking, aye? Where were you?' asked Sirius, trying to sound casual and teasing, but James could hear the worry. James considered his answer.

'In my mind.' he said finally. Sirius looked uneasy.

'Oh, ok. And, ah, where in the castle is that, may I ask?' Again, James paused.

'Wherever I want it to be.' Sirius gave a weak smile.

'Talking in riddles today, are we?' James looked at Sirius, then looked away. Sirius noticed the dull expression in his hollow eyes, and the dark rings around them. Sirius saw his friend drowning, but couldn't reach him, couldn't pull him out. Drowning in a sea of testosterone, Sirius heard Lily's voice ringing through his head: her favourite saying. He laughed softly. James made no reaction, just stared dumbly at the ceiling.

'Hey, mate, come on. What's wrong with you?' asked Sirius. James had a faraway look in his eyes.

'Nothing.' he said, distantly. Suddenly, his eyes came back into focus, as though the impact of his words had hit him. 'There's nothing...' and suddenly his lips opened to reveal his teeth, but it looked more like a grimace than a smile to Sirius.

Suddenly they heard the bustle of footsteps, and Remus came towards them, with a steaming hot jar clasped in his hands.

'Drink this,' he instructed, handing the jar to James. James eyes it wearily. 'Honestly, if you don't, you'll fell a hell of a lot worse.' James took the jar, sipped it tentatively, the sculled the whole thing. Remus was shocked, and he stared at James, a horrified expression on his face.

'That's...that's...you...it...that's gotta hurt, mate! It's boiling hot! You'll...it'll-' but Remus was interrupted as James slumped down on his pillow, his low snores now filling the air.

'Knock you right out.' Sirius said, finishing Remus' sentence for him. Remus stared at Sirius, who turned around and walked slowly out of the hospital wing, no idea where he was headed.