A.N. yo, 'sup. Um, yeah there's really no excuse as to why this post took so long. I'm just lazy. rolls eyes at self. Anyways, here's the nice little chapter.

Chapter 25

They arrived at school and quickly went to go find carriages. Remus gave a start when he saw the carriages. There were animals there, harnessed and ready to pull the carriages. "Were they always there?" he wondered as he followed James and Sirius into one. Sirius was still silent from the morning's occurrences and Remus was beginning to get worried about him.

As he sat down next to James, he asked, "Did you see those animals out there?"

James looked at him confused, and Sirius looked at him in surprise. "What animals? There were no animals anywhere as far as I could tell. Where did you see it?"

Remus looked at James funny. Sirius was still silent but he looked thoughtful now. "They were outside, pulling the carriages."

At this, James laughed and shook his head slightly. "Good one, Remus. Way to let your imagination get the better of you."

The rest of the ride was in silence, mainly because Sirius was not in a talkative mood, Remus was never in a talkative mood, and James wanted to respect his friend in his brooding. However, now Sirius was thinking about the animals.

"I wonder who Remus saw die?" he thought to himself, looking at his friend from a different perspective. "Maybe that's why he's always going home when his mother's sick, because he's afraid he'll lose her like he lost...whoever it was before." The animals were thestrals and Sirius knew that. He had once been to a bedside vigil with his mother when he was young, and the lady had died. It had been one of his many aunts, Aunt Camila. She had been one of the nicer aunts and had always been nice to Sirius, even when his mother had told her specifically not to. The boy had been extremely saddened to see her die.

"Siri, are you alright?" James asked softly. He noticed that now his friend looked more thoughtful than sad.

Sirius nodded and looked at Remus. He was looking at his friend oddly. "So, Remus," Sirius asked conversationally, "who did you see die?"

Remus looked at him, a shocked expression now on his face. "How did you know that I..."

Sirius nodded toward the front of the carriage. "Well, you can see one of those thestrals, and that means that you've seen someone die. Only people who have seen death can see one of those things."

Understanding flashed across his face and he nodded slowly, all confusion gone from his face. "I saw my father die."

Immediately sorry for asking, Sirius apologized. Never before had even imagined not having a father. Sure, the one that he had was not very fatherly, but he still had one and knew him. Of course, Sirius hated the fact that he did, considering his father had just disowned him.

"Who did you see die?" Remus asked softly, his eyebrows raised and a thoughtful expression on his face. He did not seem to mind his father's death being brought up. In fact, he seemed to take everything in stride.

"I saw my Aunt Camila die when I was seven years old. My mother had taken me to a bedside vigil and she died there."

"Oh." Remus seemed to be a bit hesitant to tell his dark haired friend why his father died, but as they neared the castle, he said, "My father died protecting me."

Sirius nodded, still upset that he had made his friend sad in the slightest bit.

"Why did neither of you ever tell me this before?" James asked, looking at both of them as if he had never seen them before.

"No one in your family has died, or at least you weren't there when they died," answered Sirius before Remus could open his mouth. He was, however, going to say basically the same thing.

"Good answer," he muttered and stood up as the carriage came to a halt in front of the castle. He had never known that both of his friends had watched someone die. The way he figured, it was hard enough to lose someone you loved, but to watch them die must be horrible. Then again, Sirius most likely didn't care about the relative who had died.

They entered the school and sat down at the Gryffindor table. Sirius was starting to feel really tired and sick, almost to the point of vomiting. He had no idea what was wrong with him. He had felt fine all day and suddenly it had hit him.

"Are you alright?" questioned Remus, looking at his friend strangely. He seemed to be pale and looked like he was going to pass out.

Shaking his head as if to clear it, Sirius replied, "Yes, why wouldn't I be fine?"

"Because you look like crap," whispered James, also looking at his friend in concern. Sirius always seemed to be sick recently.

"Well, I don't feel like...whoa." A wave of dizziness suddenly hit him and the dark haired boy clutched at his head, as if trying to straighten up the world again. However, it didn't work, and Remus and James immediately helped him stand up and escorted him out of the Great Hall, much to everyone's surprise.

"Where are you boys going?" Professor McGonagall asked, stopping them as they reached the entrance. She didn't even notice Sirius's current condition. "The sorting is about to start."

"Sirius is really sick, professor," James answered, nodding towards his ill friend with his head. Remus nodded quickly in agreement, and Professor McGonagall looked at him closely for the first time. They boy seemed to be zoning in and out of barely conscious.

The professor sighed and nodded for them to continue on to the Hospital Wing. Lately it seemed the Sirius Black was always getting ill of hurt. She sighed again. The poor child went through so much.

"I'm really fine," Sirius said, after a while as the neared Hospital Wing, just as he completely passed out.

A.N. alrighty, how was that? Anwho, I hoped you liked that. I'm still open to any ideas you may have. Thanks for reviewing again. I'll try to be faster with my update next time. Go Lakers!