Chapter 31

"What's wrong with me?" Sirius asked Madame Pomfery. She didn't say anything, just watched him carefully. Sirius looked at her expectantly, waiting for her answer.

"You need to take this," she said finally, handing him a pink potion rather than answering his question.

Dani, apparently fed up with her snapped, "We would like to know what is wrong with Sirius. So," she continued, suddenly becoming a little bit subdued, "what's wrong?"

Madame Pomfery sighed and shook her head slightly. "Mr. Black, right now, I'm pretty sure that the medication you are taking for your former speech impairment is making you ill. I'm not sure why, but it would appear that if you don't get off of it soon, your immune system will start collapsing and then you will become deathly ill and unable to fight any sort of illness."

She stopped for a moment and then watched him closely to see his reaction. Sirius was sitting frozen, seeming to be unresponsive to what she was saying. As she opened her mouth to repeat herself, he shook his head and looked up, sorrow shining through his eyes. "I don't want to give up talking," he said softly, fighting back tears it would appear.

Madame Pomfery sighed. "By all rights you shouldn't be talking now. The medication was supposed to get you back to talking over a period of three years, not one. Because Mrs. Potter started giving it to you about a year before you started Hogwarts, right?"

Sirius nodded and then turned away from the nurse, as if in denial. She sighed and walked away. Once she was gone, he turned to look at James, desperation shining through his eyes and attitude. "I'm gonna lose my ability to speak again, aren't I?"

James opened his mouth to protest that, but closed it again, not wanting to lie to his friend. Sirius smiled at this and nodded. "At least your honest," he muttered and looked down at his hands in his lap. He knew he wanted to be healthy, but…he was happiest when he was able to speak his mind instead of having to mouth and hope the person he was speaking to would respond.

"I hope everything goes alright with you," Dani said randomly, watching the boy carefully. She could tell that he was facing intense internal conflict and wished that she could help him.

"Well, you'll be here every step of the way to watch," teased Sirius. As soon as the words left his mouth, she looked down at the ground, almost guiltily. Ben did too, Sirius noticed.

"Actually, we're leaving soon," she murmured. Sirius looked at her carefully. Why would they be leaving when they had just gotten there. As if she could hear his unasked question, she responded, "We never stay in one place long. It's not safe for us or our friends."

"Why not?" asked Remus, who had been silently watching all of the ongoing events. Dani looked at him curiously, but it was Ben who answered.

"Well, our family had been targeted by Voldemort, and if Voldemort wants you dead, you usually don't live long. Our parents were killed at his hands, and we barely escaped. So, we figure if we move around a lot and have different aliases everywhere we go, we'll have a pretty good chance at surviving. Then again, what do we know?"

James looked at them and sighed. He was going to miss them. In the weeks that they had been there, they had brought good ideas, laughter, and interesting conversations. Not to mention he loved seeing someone getting the better of Lily. "I'm going to miss you guys," he muttered. Sirius and Remus nodded and the twins smiled slightly before spinning on their heels to leave.

"We have to go pack. After that…who knows? Maybe our paths will cross again," Dani said mysteriously and then left the hospital wing. Ben hesitated at the door and then grinned.

"Get better, Sirius. You have some pranks to pull, if I remember correctly. Best of luck, mates."

Then they were both gone. Sirius suddenly felt very guilty. He had never said anything nice to Dani and he had been indifferent towards Ben after their first philosophical debate. He wished that he could change that and be nicer, but if he could change all the things of his past that had gone wrong, then a lot of things would be different.

"What a shame," Remus said as he stared at the door that they had both just exited out of. Sirius nodded his agreement and then turned his focus back on his own predicament.

"What am I going to do?" he asked sadly. James looked at him as if he had suddenly lost his mind.

"You're going to stop taking the medication, if that's what is hurting you!" exclaimed James, very emphatic about keeping his friend healthy.

Sirius rolled his eyes. How could James understand? He had not gone through the shame of not being able to voice his opinions. James had always had everything, and here he was trying to tell Sirius to give up the one thing that had helped him defy his parents and what they had done to him. "Easy for you to say," he said, sounding highly resentful of his best friend's opinion.

"What's that supposed to mean," hissed James angrily. Remus sighed, sensing a fight about to break out.

"Well, you've always been able to talk, you've never had to give it up. As such, it is only so easy for you take it for granted and command me to give it up," he retorted, angry in his turn.

"Oh, so actually not wanting you to die is a crime now, huh? You'd rather talk and die then lose your speaking ability and live," James snarled, thinking that his friend was being irrational.

"James, maybe I like being able to get a person's attention by saying something rather than throwing stuff at him."

"You're being so pathetic right now. You are valuing the things that don't really matter at all."

Sirius was seeing red. How could James say that? What really mattered to him…was nothing? "James, get the hell out of here!" he shouted. "I don't know why I even bother trying to explain things to you! You are an insensitive, mean bastard!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted them. James stood there, trying to register what his best friend had just said to him. When it clicked, James spun on his heel and stormed away from his friend. "If that's what you think, then why should I bother with you," he hissed cruelly. "Maybe your parents were right. Maybe you are just a worthless mistake. I'm sorry I decided to convince my parents that you deserved a place to live. Come to think of it, I'm sorry I decided to befriend you. See ya."

He left the room, leaving Sirius and Remus in dead silence. Remus looked between Sirius and the door that James had just exited from. How could they have said such harsh things to each other when they were clearly soul brothers?

"Remmie," Sirius muttered numbly. Remus looked down at Sirius to see that his friend seemed to be frozen by the occurring events. "What just happened?"

A.N. I always love a good conflict. Anyways, I got tired of Dani and Ben, so they're gone. They might reappear, but…what do I know? Um…I'll update as soon as possible, but I'm running low on ideas. Anyone want to volunteer one?