Padfoot's Bone pokes her head stealthily into her story. "Hellooo, anybody there?" There is no response. The wind howls forlornly through the empty web pages, and suddenly a tumble-weed rolls by. Seeing that the place is indeed completely deserted, Padfoot's Bone creeps in on tipty-toes. The place is a wreck. Rotting vegetables (mostly tomatoes) litter the floor, as do protest signs bearing messages such as: Padfoot's Bone Sucks! and Will you ever finish this story already?Hanging her head in shame, Padfoot's Bone makes her way over to the Update Story button, and presses it! Chapter 3 at last! "It's just too bad I've already lost all my readers! Now to clean this place up! La la la la la…"

Chapter 3: Consequences

James Potter had been really excited to be going back to Hogwarts. As much as he loved being home with his parents, it just wasn't as exciting as school. Sure, he didn't have homework, but he also didn't have his friends to play with, or anyone to torment and play jokes on either. He had been a little apprehensive, though, to hear how Sirius' holiday had gone. His friend had looked so glum when they had parted two weeks ago, like he was going to his doom or something. When James finally did see his friend again, he finally understood why.

Sirius looked terrible. He had several cuts on his face, plus some painful looking bruises on his neck. James could see that his hand was hurt too from the blood-soaked pajama sleeve that he had tied around it. But worst of all was the story that Sirius was now telling them. James felt more and more outraged as he listened to it. How could those people be so mean! They didn't seem to care about Sirius at all. When he got to the part where his father had only let his uncle punish him like that because he was too busy to do anything about it, James couldn't help but exclaim indignantly, "Those old gits! I can't believe no one believed you! Their own son!"

Sirius shook his head. "Welcome to my world," he said glumly. His voice had become a little raspy as he talked, which was to be expected considering that he had nearly been choked to death only 12 hours ago. James also noticed that his friend's eyes had been drooping for the past little while.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" he asked concernedly.

"I got an hour while they were deciding on my punishment," Sirius said, then yawned widely.

Everyone shook their heads in dismay, then insisted that Sirius lay down and take a nap. Obviously too tired to argue, he did as he was told, not even objecting when Remus covered him with one of his spare robes. After a moment they realized it was because he was already fast asleep.

James, Remus, and Peter spent the rest of the morning talking quietly among themselves on the seat opposite Sirius, every once in a while throwing him a worried glance when one of them got too loud. They needn't have concerned themselves, though, their friend was sleeping like a log.

An hour or two after lunch, the dark-haired girl that James had assumed was Sirius's Ravenclaw cousin Andromeda poked her head into their compartment. After looking around for a moment, she quickly withdrew back into the corridor, and they could hear her whispering to someone outside. "Shh! I found him! Quick, in here, Ted."

A sixth year Ravenclaw boy with straw-colored hair and a friendly face ducked quickly into their compartment, Andromeda right on his heels. "Stand guard," she whispered to the boy, Ted, and left him to stand in the doorway while she went over to Sirius. Kneeling down on the floor by her cousin, she turned to address the other three occupants of the compartment. "Did he tell you what happened last night?" she asked, more than a trace of indignation in her voice.

They nodded. "You're Andromeda, right?" James asked in return. The girl smiled ruefully.

"That's me, the other proud disgrace to the Black family name." She turned her attention back to her cousin, and they could see her gently running her fingers along his neck. "Ouch," she whispered softly to herself, "that looks worse than it did last night." Shaking her head, she continued her inspection, and after a moment she noticed Sirius's hand wrapped in the blood soaked pajama sleeve. "What happened to his hand?" she asked sharply.

As James explained about the punishment Sirius's uncle had dealt him last night, Andromeda slowly and carefully unwrapped his hand. When she had finished, they could all see that the back of it was covered in awful deep scratches, parts of which were still bleeding. Andromeda swore softly. "Those arrogant, stupid gits!" she said when she had calmed down a little, turning back to the boys. "Anyone got a bandage, or a handkerchief, or something?"

"I've got some bandages," Remus piped up, smiling with what looked to James like grim satisfaction. "I've also got some salve, I can't believe I didn't think of it earlier!"

After a few minutes of rummaging through his truck, Remus proffered the items to Andromeda, who accepted gratefully. Unscrewing the bottle of salve, she started to squeeze some onto her hand. "You just need a little, that stuff stings pretty bad," Remus said wisely. Nodding, Andromeda started to rub the stuff onto Sirius's hand as gently as she could manage.

It only took a second for Sirius to start stirring in discomfort. He groaned and tried to jerk his hand away. "Shh, it's okay, Sirius, it's me, Andromeda," his cousin started whispering reassuringly. She used her free hand to reach up and brush Sirius's hair out of his eyes. After a moment his eyes opened and he looked around blearily. "Oh, Sirius, I'm sorry, go back to sleep," Andromeda said softly. "I just needed to take care of your hand so it'll stop bleeding, you're okay, close your eyes." Sirius obeyed, and he was fast asleep again less than a minute after waking up.

Andromeda finished rubbing in the salve, then she carefully placed the bandage over her cousin's hand. After looking over Sirius one last time, she stood up and handed Remus his bottle of salve back. "Thanks, you three," she said with a pretty smile, "I'm glad he's got some friends who care about him."

They smiled back. "And we're glad he still has family who care about him, too," James said.

Andromeda's smile turned sad. "There aren't many of us. We outcasts have to stick together. You three just make sure Sirius goes to see Madam Pomfrey when we get back to Hogwarts, okay? She needs to take a look at his neck and hand especially." When the three of them agreed that they would, Andromeda turned toward the door. "Ted?" she asked simply.

The boy, who had been alternately watching the corridor and what was going on in the compartment, now turned his full attention outside. "Hold on," he said after a second, "there are two Slytherins heading this way."

The three boys watched in surprise as the sixth years took up positions on either side of the door, so as to be out of sight of anyone glancing inside. After a few moments, Ted poked his head around to have another look. "All clear, let's hurry," he said. "You first."

Andromeda ducked hurriedly out into the corridor after one last smile at the three friends and another sympathetic look at Sirius. Ted stared at his watch for a couple of minutes, then looked up. "Well," he began, "it was nice meeting you all. Uh, by the way, you didn't see us together, okay? I don't want to be a target." Then he ran out into the corridor after Andromeda.

The three friends exchanged bewildered looks. "That was interesting," James said simply. The others nodded.

The rest of the afternoon passed uneventfully. They told each other what they did on their vacation, and James couldn't help but feel that he had had the most interesting time, save for Sirius, of course. Peter was halfway through an account of everything he had eaten for Christmas dinner when the train finally started to slow down. James jumped up to look out the window. "Yes, we're here at last, mates!" he said excitedly. As Remus and Peter started assembling all their luggage, James went over to Sirius, who was still sound asleep. The fact that his friend had slept almost all day was worrisome to James, but he kept reminding himself that he had stayed up almost all night, after all. He pulled Remus's spare robe off and handed it to him, then shook Sirius's shoulder. "Hey wake up, mate," he said with a bit of hesitation. Having never had to do it before, he had no idea how his best friend would react to being woken up. His own father could be a real bear about it sometimes.

After a few seconds, Sirius started to stir. "Wha-" he mumbled groggily.

"Hurry and get dressed, we're here!" James said urgently as the train came to a halt. He went over and got a Hogwart's robe out of Sirius's trunk while his friend slowly sat up, blinking the sleep from his eyes. "Here, catch!" he said as he tossed the robe over. Sirius didn't even try to react. The robe landed in his lap, and after a moment he looked down at it as if he was trying to figure out what it was.

Frowning, James walked back over to his friend. He had never had this kind of trouble waking up before. He saw that Sirius's eyes looked slightly bloodshot and unfocused, which caused James to get even more worried. He snapped his fingers in the other boy's face. "Sirius, you with us?"

Sirius looked up and seemed to see his friend for the first time. "James," he said in a somewhat raspy sounding voice, "what's going on?"

"Hogwarts!" James replied, relieved that Sirius was finally being responsive. "Come on, get dressed, people are already getting off the train."

Leaving Sirius to fumble with his robes, the other three boys started hauling all of the trunks and various animals outside. After a few minutes the four of them were finally heading back to the castle, having been lucky enough to get a carriage to themselves. All through the trip James kept shooting Sirius furtive glances of concern. His friend was being too quiet, and he still looked really groggy. "You okay?" he asked after a while. Sirius just nodded. James wasn't convinced, but he decided not to press the matter. Yet.

Soon they arrived at Hogwarts, but instead of following the other students into dinner, James pulled Sirius aside. "You should go see Madam Pomfrey," he said, not needing Andromeda's admonition to tell him his friend needed a trip to the hospital wing.

But then Sirius started to struggle, the first real life he had shown all night. He pulled his arm out of his friend's grip. "Come on, James, I'm starving," he implored, his hand going to his stomach. "I'll see her later, okay?" He started to head back to the Great Hall, leaving James to follow after him.

Sirius slowly started to get back to being himself more and more as the meal went on, which allayed some of James's worries. At least until dessert, when Sirius reached up to rub his forehead with a wince. "What's wrong?" James asked immediately.

"Just a headache," Sirius responded, giving James a look that made him feel like a mother hen.

He grinned. "All right, I'll stop bothering you. But you really should-"

"Go see Madam Pomfrey, I know," Sirius said with a shake of his head. "I'll be okay." After a few minutes, Sirius looked around to make sure everyone else was occupied, then he leaned in close to James and started whispering. "Look, James, I don't want any trouble. I'll be fine. But if I go to the hospital wing-" He broke off with a sigh.

"What?" James prompted.

"Madam Pomfrey will wonder how I got hurt like this on vacation. What if she writes my parents to ask them what happened? Then I'll get in trouble for getting them in trouble."

"But don't you want them to get in trouble? They deserve it!"

Sirius shook his head. "I just want them to forget about me. The rest of the school year will go just fine if we pretend each other doesn't exist. That's the way I want it to be."

It was James's turn to sigh. Having come from a loving and supportive home, he couldn't imagine what it must be like to have such a family relationship. He decided not to press the matter. He had only been to the hospital wing once, so he really couldn't say what Madam Pomfrey would do. And he certainly didn't want Sirius to get in trouble. So he nodded in agreement, hoping they could just put this whole affair behind them. "All right, Sirius. But if you start to feel any worse, you will go get yourself looked at, won't you?"

"Sure thing," Sirius agreed, but James wasn't sure he sounded entirely convincing. He didn't have a chance to say anything, though, because dinner had ended by then and everyone was getting up to go back to their Houses. The four first year Gryffindors followed suit, and soon they were back in the familiar surroundings of their dormitory. Instead of taking time to settle back in like the others, Sirius just changed into his pajamas and climbed into bed, still rubbing his forehead from time to time.

"Night," he said to no one in particular, then fell fast asleep. The others exchanged brief looks of concern, but shrugged them off as they set about unpacking their trucks and getting ready for bed themselves.

James sighed as he climbed into bed a short while later. It was good to be back at Hogwarts. As great as it had been to see his parents, he was glad to be back among boys his own age again. Being an only child could get lonely sometimes. And nothing really exciting ever happened at home. Here at Hogwarts he had both- company, and endless opportunities to make all kinds of interesting things happen. Smiling to himself, James rolled over and fell asleep.

The next morning, he woke up from a restful sleep still in a happy mood. Peter and Remus were already up and moving about, Peter searching under his bed for shoes he had already somehow managed to misplace, and Remus packing his school bag. Sirius, however, was still asleep. James checked his watch as he put it on, and saw they still had twenty minutes before breakfast. He made as much noise as possible getting ready, but ten minutes later Sirius was still asleep.

"Wow, he must be really tired," Peter said quietly, "like he hasn't slept in weeks instead of just one night."

"Maybe we should just let him sleep, he could be sick," Remus suggested.

"That's what I'm worried about," James admitted, frowning. "I'm gonna make sure he's okay." He started shaking Sirius's shoulder to wake him up. And he kept shaking. "Hey, Sirius, wake up!" James said loudly. Still no response. He looked up at Remus, who had moved to stand by the bed, and saw that his eyes were widening in alarm.

"Pull the covers off, that always gets me," Remus said as he seized the blankets on Sirius's bed. After pulling them all off, they looked hopefully down at their friend, but it hadn't helped.

"I'll get some water!" Peter practically squeaked. He retrieved the cup of water he kept on his bedside table for nighttime thirstiness, then handed it to James, who promptly poured the whole thing into Sirius's face. Nothing.

"Come on, Sirius, this isn't funny!" he practically yelled, shaking the boy harder than ever. They could all see that he was breathing and everything, so what was wrong with him! "Wake up!"

"What should we do!" Peter squeaked again, wringing his hands in agitation.

"Go get help, Peter!" James ordered him, having come to the conclusion, rather rapidly, that they had a major problem here. "Madam Pomfrey'll know what to do."

As Peter bolted from the room, James and Remus shared another very worried look.

"I hope so," Remus said quietly. James said nothing. He didn't want to think about it.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"And so I turned to Ashlynn, and she said, 'Well, I guess it wasn't a wig, after all!'"

The knot of seventh years sitting around the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room burst into uproarious laughter as Henry Taylor finished regaling them with the tale of one of his exploits from the Christmas break.

Dan Spence, Head Boy, laughed with the rest, though he had a better story. And there would be just enough time to tell it before they had to head for breakfast. But just as he opened his mouth to begin, one of the little first year boys practically flew into their midst from the direction of the dormitories.

"Help!" the chubby boy squeaked breathlessly, zeroing in on Dan and his gleaming Head Boy badge. "My friend won't wake up!"

"Now hold on just a minute, there," Dan said, trying to sound reassuring despite the smile he was attempting to hide as a few people in the group chuckled. These first years were so funny. "Don't start panicking yet. How hard have you tried to wake him?"

Chubby, who was still trying to get his breath back, began waving his arms about as he exclaimed, "We've tried everything! We've yelled at him, and shook him, and ripped his covers off, and threw water on him, and-"

"Alright, alright," Dan held up his hand to stop the boy. Standing up, he continued, "I'll take a look. Lead on." He turned to share an amused glance with his friends before he followed Chubby up the stairs to the first year's dormitory. It was hard to imagine that he and his friends had ever been that young and ignorant, and so small.

Following Chubby into the room, he was met by a kid with black hair and glasses. Another boy, who looked a bit sickly to Dan, was standing by a bed on which a third boy was lying, also with black hair. Dan immediately recognized the unconscious boy as the Black kid.

Anyone familiar enough with the ways of the wizarding world knew about the Black family, how they were one of the oldest pure blood families, almost all Slytherins, and all steeped in the dark arts. Dan had been as shocked as the rest of the Gryffindors when a Black had been sorted into their house, and they had been watching the kid warily ever since. Luckily, though, he didn't start displaying dark tendencies, though he did seem to have a love of mischief making. But also from what Dan had observed, the kid with the glasses was even worse.

Glasses spoke now, walking back over to the bed and pointing at his friend. "We tried everything!" he exclaimed, clearly agitated. "He slept all day yesterday, and he said last night that he had a headache, and he went up here and fell asleep right after dinner. He must be sick! We need Madam Pomfrey!"

Dan looked over at Black again, lying on a bed with no covers, his face and hair wet. He shook his head. "He's probably playing a joke on you," he said, recalling the boys' love of mishief.

"He is not!" Glasses exclaimed indignantly.

"He would never do something like this!" Sickly spoke up, looking rather perturbed as well. "James is right, we need Madam Pomfrey!"

Dan was starting to grow impatient. He wanted to tell the boys to go and get Madam Pomfrey then, but he didn't think she could come up to the boys' dormitories. Which meant he would have to help them get him to the common room, at the very least, and he felt that he had wasted enough time on this already. Allison Hayworth had been in the group downstairs, and Dan had wanted to impress her with the story he had been about to tell about his visit to that dragon sanctuary in Romania over the break.

Dan stepped closer to the bed and watched the boy for a few seconds, but it did certainly appear that he was really unconscious. Unless he's a really good actor. He turned to the three boys. "Look," he said, trying not to sound too condescending, "you guys only tried non-magical ways of waking a person up. When you get older, like me, you'll know the proper way to do these things. Observe."

Dan turned back to the Black kid and drew his wand. "Ennervate" he said, his wand aimed at the boy's chest. Dan and the others watched, expecting Black to wake up, but it didn't happen. Instead something entirely unexpected happened. Black stopped moving altogether.

"WHAT DID YOU DO!" Glasses started hollering. "HE STOPPED BREATHING!"

"I CAN SEE THAT!" Dan yelled back. Knocking Glasses and Chubby out of the way, he rushed up to the bed. He grabbed Black by the shoulders and shook him, but to no avail. After a moment he recovered just enough of his wits to check for a pulse, which he found to his immense relief. It meant, at least, that he hadn't killed him. But what could have gone wrong! It was only a simple waking spell!

"WAKE UP, KID!" Dan yelled again, shaking Black harder than ever. "BREATHE!" He slapped him across the face then, but still there was no response.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Glasses screamed, jumping up and down in agitation. "GET HIM TO THE HOSPITAL WING, YOU IDIOT!"

Dan was too distressed to be annoyed at having a first year give him orders, or even at being called an idiot. Instead he simply obeyed. He lifted Black up into his arms, and it was alarming to feel how still the boy was. The other three boys had enough sense to get out of his way as he charged out of the dormitory, but he could hear them hot on his heels as he went bounding down the steps three at a time. It was a very good thing the Black kid was small for his age.

As Dan came charging into the common room carrying one first year with three others running after him, everyone naturally turned to stare. "Dan, what-" began one of his friends, but Dan had no time now for explanations.

"Out of the way!" he yelled at a group of third year girls who were climbing out of the portrait hole. They scattered with startled squeals as Dan came charging into their midst. He didn't waste any time apologizing when he knocked a few over.

Once Dan climbed through the portrait hole he adjusted his grip on Black, who was still deathly still. More frightened now than he had ever been in his life, Dan took off down the corridor at a dead run. The other boys remained close on his heels as he ran through the castle, feeling that the hospital wing could not be further away. Luckily the corridors and staircases were pretty deserted as they ran through them, as most everyone was at breakfast already. The few people they met had the good sense to get out of the way, especially after Dan yelled at them. Bounding down yet another staircase, Dan was relieved to see that he only had a corridor, one more staircase, and one more corridor to go before he made it to the hospital wing.

Most unfortunately, Mrs. Norris had picked this corridor to spy on this morning, and Dan did not see her until it was too late. He had almost reached the top of the staircase when the cat came slinking out of the shadows to stare disapprovingly at the students running in the castle. Dan ran full on into her, and before he knew what was happening he was pitching forward, and a second later a heavy weight slammed into him from behind. They all went crashing to the floor in a tangle of arms and legs, accompanied by the ear splitting shrieks of one very perturbed cat. But Dan was hardly aware of any of that. He had landed right at the edge of the staircase, so that his head and shoulders were lying suspended over the top step. And he had not managed to hold onto Black as he fell. Dan watched, utterly horrorstruck, as the kid tumbled down the steps. It was like the moment was suspended in time, somehow, and Dan was frozen as the only spectator of the horrible scene.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, though in truth it couldn't have been more than five seconds, Black landed in a heap at the bottom of the stairs and lay still. That sight finally spurred Dan back into action. He tried to lift himself up, but there was the weight of the first year boys on top of him, and from the sound of it, Mrs. Norris was attacking all three of them at once. "Get off, get off, GET OFF!" Dan screamed in desperation, pushing up off the floor with all his might. After a second the weight on top of him shifted enough that he was able to throw them off. Without even a backward glance to see how the boys were faring, Dan took off down the steps five at a time, his eyes still fixed on the kid lying at the bottom. If his neck is broken… Dan did not dwell long on that thought. He did not like to think what would happen to him if it turned out that he was responsible for killing an heir of one of the oldest, most powerful, and darkest wizarding families of Great Britain. They would probably send him to Azkaban! Or kidnap him and torture and kill him, and no one would ever be able to find out what really happened to him.

With these thoughts swirling unpleasantly through his head, Dan arrived at the bottom of the stairs. He was almost afraid to look closely at the kid, but he did it anyway. Dan cringed. One of Black's legs was lying at a most uncomfortable angle, and his right arm looked twisted. But more alarming still was the fact that Black's face and lips now had a definite bluish tinge to them. Dan decided then that any broken bones the kid had now didn't matter compared to the fact that he wasn't breathing.

Without another moment's hesitation, Dan carefully lifted the kid back up into his arms, but he cringed again when he realized he could feel that one of his legs was definitely broken. I am SO dead, he thought, even more terrified that ever, as he set off at a run down the corridor once more. He could still hear the shrieks of Mrs. Norris and the yells of the three first years as they attempted to fend off the angry cat.

Soon the doors to the hospital wing came into view, and they were the most welcome sight Dan had ever seen. "MADAM POMFREY! MADAM POMFREY!" he started yelling as loud as he could, while still halfway down the corridor. Several students down at the other end turned to see what all the ruckus was about as Dan charged into the hospital wing at full speed. He nearly ran into Madam Pomfrey as he entered, and had to swerve aside to avoid yet another unpleasant collision.

"What's going on? What happened?" Pomfrey asked in alarm as she took in the sight of Black in Dan's arms.

Breathing heavily, Dan started trying to explain what had happened, though it ended up sounding rather incoherent. "Black wouldn't wake…tried ennervate….stopped breathing…fell down stairs…his leg's broken…"

Luckily Pomfrey had been around children long enough that she was able to grasp the gist of what the Head Boy was telling her even before he finished with his winded explanation. "Lay him down there," she commanded, pointing to the bed nearest to them. "Carefully!" she admonished as Dan rushed over. Together they laid the boy down gently on the bed, Pomfrey helping to support his head and injured leg.

Dan backed up, watching anxiously as Pomfrey started examining her newest patient. He could tell that she was as alarmed as he was to see how blue the boy's face was. After a moment she drew back, then she lifted her wand and started firing spells in rapid succession at Black's chest.

Just then the three other first years came rushing into the hospital wing, having finally managed to extricate themselves from Mrs. Norris. Dan turned around and spread his arms to block them from running to their friend.

"Out of the way!" Glasses exclaimed as he struggled to get around the seventh year, who Dan noticed had several scratches on his arms and face, and his robe was torn. The other boys had fared no better.

"Stay back!" Dan said to them, glaring down at Glasses, who glared back. "You'll only make matters worse if you get in the way!"

"You're the one who made matters worse!" Glasses responded heatedly. "If you hadn't-"

Glasses's accusations were interrupted by the sudden sound of gasping from behind Dan, who turned around to see that Madam Pomfrey had at last succeeded in getting Black to breathe. The boy was now fighting desperately for air. Both Glasses and Sickly started forward, but Dan grabbed them each by the shoulder to stop them. He could tell by the look on Pomfrey's face that the kid wasn't out of the woods yet. Sickly stopped struggling, shoulders slumped in defeat, but Glasses was having nothing to do with it.

"LET GO!" he yelled, trying to throw Dan's hand off of him.

"Stay here, would you, and shut up!" Dan said quietly, knowing that Pomfrey was likely to throw them out any second now if this commotion continued, and definitely if Glasses were to go running up to his friend and get in her way. He looked up to see that Black had stopped gasping and was now coughing his lungs out from the sound of it. Pomfrey had turned him onto his side and was quietly uttering more spells, her wand tip glowing bright blue. Her other hand was stroking Black's hair in an effort to comfort the kid as he continued to fight for breath.

After a moment, Black started moaning piteously in between coughs, which were racking his entire body. It was too much for Glasses, and with a mighty wrench he broke free of Dan's grip, momentarily catching the Head Boy off guard. He ran up to the bed, exclaiming worriedly, "Sirius! Madam Pomfrey, is he going to be alright?"

Pomfrey looked up, clearly annoyed at the interruption. "Potter," she said sharply, "get back! Spence, get these boys out of here! Now!"

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey," Dan said resignedly, knowing the order had to come sooner or later. He glared at Sickly and Chubby to make sure they stayed put before going to fetch Glasses, who was still harassing the nurse with concerned questions about his friend. "Now you've done it," he said quietly to the first year as he grabbed him from behind. Glasses started struggling against him again, and Dan was really starting to get annoyed. He jerked the kid's arm up behind him and started pulling him backwards by it, so he couldn't struggle without hurting himself.

This only served to enrage Glasses even further. "LET GO OF ME!" he screamed, trying to kick back with his legs to get Dan in the shins.

At all the commotion, Pomfrey looked up again, her face turning red. "I SAID GET OUT!" she yelled. "I CAN'T CONCENTRATE WITH ALL THIS NOISE! OUT! I DON'T WANT-" She was interrupted in her indignation by the sight of the glow at her want tip turning from blue to red. She paled visibly. "Dan," Pomfrey said, alarmed, "get Dumbledore immediately! Hurry!"

There was such urgency in her voice that Glasses stopped struggling. Dan could see that Black had stopped coughing, and was now barely moving again, except that he was shaking slightly.

"NOW!" Pomfrey practically screamed when she saw that Dan had hesitated for a second.

Needing no further encouragement, Dan let Glasses go, turned about, and ran out of the hospital wing as fast as he could towards the Great Hall. He ran with as much desperation as he had before, since Pomfrey was clearly still very worried about her patient. He made it the Great Hall in record time, which wasn't very far anyway, luckily. Barreling through a crowd of students heading to their table, Dan ran through the Hall, knocking anyone aside who wasn't quick enough to get out of his way. Professor Dumbledore was already on his feet by the time Dan ran up to the head table, as was Professor McGonagall next to him.

"Madam Pomfrey needs you in the hospital wing right away!" Dan said hurriedly, hoping that the Headmaster wouldn't require further explanation before he got going. He didn't. He was already heading around the table before Dan had finished speaking, with Professor McGonagall following close behind. As they headed out of the Hall, Dumbledore motioned for Dan to join them. He told them the whole story as they walked very quickly back to the hospital wing. By the time they arrived, Dumbledore had his wand out, ready to assist in whatever Pomfrey needed.

Dan saw as they entered that the three boys were now huddled to the side, as close to Black's bed as they dared to come without enraging Pomfrey further, and looking very worried.

"Albus!" Pomfrey exclaimed, clearly relieved, as Dumbledore walked over to the bed. Dan saw that Black had gone still again, and was now starting to look rather pale. He was still breathing, but it was shallow and irregular.

"Minerva," Pomfrey addressed Professor McGonagall, "can you get these boys out of here, please?" Then she turned her full attention back to her patient as she started to talk to Dumbledore in hurried and quiet tones, so that no one else could hear what they were saying.

"Potter, Lupin, Pettigrew, out!" Professor McGonagall said to the first years as she started shooing them out of the hospital wing.

"But, Professor," Glasses began to protest, but McGonagall cut him off.

"That's enough, Potter. You boys need to hurry if you want any breakfast before class. Now get going! You too, Spence," McGonagall added, looking severely at the four boys as she herded them the rest of the way out of the hospital wing.

"But, Professor," Glasses began again, more angry this time, "I want to stay and see if Sirius is going to be alright, you can't just-"

"Potter, I said that's enough," McGonagall interrupted him. "I assure you that you three will be the first to be informed about Black's condition once it is determined. Which means," she added with a very pointed look down at the rebellious-looking black haired boy, "you need to stay where you're supposed to be so we can find you, understand?" When the three boys didn't reply, but continued to look mutinous, she repeated herself more loudly, "Is that understood?"

After a moment, the three boys nodded reluctantly and grumbled an agreement that didn't sound very convincing to anyone. Professor McGonagall turned to Dan, and said loud enough for the first years to hear, "Make sure that they find their way down to breakfast, would you, Spence?"

Dan nodded and said pointedly, facing the boys, "Yes, Professor. I'll make sure of it." The boys glared at him as Professor McGonagall turned around and re-entered the hospital wing, shutting the doors behind her.

Glasses, or Potter, Dan amended, remembering what McGonagall had called the kid, crossed his arms, planted both feet firmly on the ground, and proceeded to impale the Head Boy with some sort of Glare of Death.

Sighing inwardly, Dan returned the glare. "You lot had better clear off and get to breakfast like McGonagall said, alright?" he told them as politely as he could. This Potter kid was really starting to get on his nerves.

Chubby turned around and took a few hesitant steps down the corridor, while Sickly shuffled his feet uncertainly. But Potter didn't move. "This is all your fault," he accused. "And I'm not going anywhere."

What a surprise, Dan thought sarcastically. His brown eyes met Potter's defiant hazel ones, but then Dan became aware that there was a lot more than just rebelliousness and anger in the kid's face. There was a great deal of worry there too, worry for his friend, and Dan felt a stirring of guilt when he remembered that he had indeed played a part in causing that worry. He let out his breath slowly in an effort to gather his thoughts before he spoke again. "Look," he began, "I'm sorry this happened, I really am. I had no idea he would react to a simple waking spell like that, or I wouldn't have used it. But you're not doing your friend any good out here in the corridor. Professor Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey are looking after him, and they're the best there is. Now let's all do what Professor McGonagall wanted and go to breakfast, then on to class. That way she'll be able to find you when she has news, alright?"

Potter still looked far from convinced, but some of his anger had faded. His hands dropped to his side and he bowed his head. "I want to stay here," he said quietly, and this time it sounded more like a plea than a demand.

"And do what, sit in the corridor?" Dan retorted, hoping he didn't sound too unkind. "Come on, let's get down there before breakfast is over." He gestured to them as he started walking down the hallway. Sickly and Chubby moved to follow him, though reluctantly, as they kept glancing back at Potter, who was obviously their ring-leader, and who had yet to move. "Well, Potter, are you coming?" Dan asked after a minute. Potter glanced at the closed hospital wing doors, then back at his friends, and Dan saw him exchange a look with Sickly. After a moment the two boys nodded to each other, and Dan wondered just what it was the two of them were up to now. He wasn't given a chance to find out, though, as Potter finally started moving.

"Fine, I'm coming," the messy-haired boy said, stalking ahead of them down the corridor.

All through breakfast Dan tried to keep an eye on the three boys. He wished he could hear what they were saying, but they had deliberately sat as far away from him as possible. And his friends were begging him to tell them what all the commotion had been about. Every time he looked their way, the first years had their heads down in urgent talk, Potter looking grimly determined, Sickly looking vaguely unsure, and Chubby looking downright scared.

As everyone headed to class, Dan started to follow the boys, but they proved too fast for him. They ducked into a group of fourth year girls in the entrance hall, and by the time Dan had moved through the crowd himself, they were nowhere in sight. He rolled his eyes in exasperation, deciding that he had come to the end of his rope. Fine, he thought, let them get into trouble. I've had enough. Finding Allison in the crowd, he offered to carry her books to their first class. "So let me tell you about my trip to Romania over the Holiday…"

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There had been very few times in Poppy Pomfrey's life where she had felt truly worried about the life of one of her patients. Unfortunately, this was one of them. As soon as her wand tip had started glowing red, she knew Black was in trouble- it meant his body had begun to shut down. She had hoped that Albus would be able to help her, that way he could work on discovering what was wrong with the boy, while she worked to keep him alive. But now, half and hour later, the Headmaster had not come any closer to determining the cause of Black's malady, and her own efforts were starting to flag as the boy's condition grew steadily worse. Her wand tip was still glowing red. She looked up to where Albus was muttering spells rapidly under his breath while his own wand glowed a deep purple color. The expression on his face was not encouraging.

After a few more heartbeats, the glow faded and he slowly lowered his wand with a weary sigh. "I'm sorry, Poppy," he said with a shake of his head, "it's clear that Sirius has been poisoned, but I'm afraid every spell I know for discovering poisons has proven useless. This must be something new."

"Then you have no idea where to start in finding an antidote?" Poppy asked, trying hard to keep her voice even.

"I do, actually, Poppy," Albus said quietly. But instead of elaborating further, he walked pass Minerva, who had been standing anxiously but quietly by this whole time, and over to a goblet lying on a nearby table. Pointing his wand at it as he picked it up, he muttered, "Portus."

Poppy understood what the Headmaster intended at once, and she felt her heart sink into the floor. If he really felt sending the boy to St. Mungo's was his only chance… She looked into Albus's face as he headed back towards her, and she understood that he did. Nodding in defeat, she silently lifted the too-still first year into her arms, being careful not to jostle his broken bones that she had not yet had time to mend. She placed the hand of his good arm in hers, though a bit gingerly since she didn't know why it was bandaged. Then Albus placed the goblet in their hands and counted, "One, two, three…" Poppy's last sight before the portkey whisked them away was the sight of Minerva looking every bit as worried as she felt.

A second later the peace of Hogwart's hospital wing was replaced by the chaos that was St. Mungo's emergency ward for poison victims as Poppy and her charge landed gently on the floor. "New entry over here!" someone shouted from behind her, and soon she was surrounded by a small crowd of Healers.

Not wasting any time, the Healer-in-charge bent down and very gently lifted Black out of her arms, then someone helped her to her feet. Everyone followed the head Healer over to the nearest empty bed while Poppy hurriedly told them all she knew about the boy's condition. The head Healer began shouting orders as soon as he had laid down his newest patient, while Poppy backed up to give them room to work. The frantic activity that commenced as everyone rushed to carry out their orders made the child at the center of it all that much more conspicuous by his immobility. Poppy was startled to see how very still and pale he had become in just the last few minutes. To her, he looked dead.

And the only thing she could do now was hope with all her might that she was mistaken.

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Well, not only did it take me almost two years to update, I ended in a cliffie! I'm sooooo evil, aren't I? Well, seeing as how I hadn't updated in a really really long time, I was just going to let this story stay dead, since I'm sure I've lost all the people who were reading it long long ago anyway, but then I was going through my documents and realized to my surprise that I already had a great deal of chapter 3 written already. So I decided to go ahead and update and see what happens.

And now I must personally apologize to all the people that reviewed from two years ago for taking so long to update this, though I daresay that none of them will likely be looking at this anyway. I'm sorry nicole, Cloud Lupine, Snuffles2, Trinity Day, Senav Gold, Neo, Drachenaugen, Nora's magelet (didn't you used to be Padfoot-dreamer, or something like that?), yeen, Goldenlioness4, Sally Lupin-Black, Kaija, and Gohan Hugger! Thanks you guys for reading and reviewing my story two years ago! And just in case there really is anybody around to wonder, I won't take that long to update with chapter 4, which is the last chapter of my fic, since I am already well into writing it and I no longer have a life, so I can devote lots of time to this story now! Hooray!