Title: Seven Days
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Sirius/Remus
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all characters and settings therein are the property of J.K. Rowling.
Summary: Remus has fallen under the effects of a magical coma. Only his true love can awaken him. Who is this person? Will the other Marauders find them before it is too late? SLASH.

Chapter One:

Sirius Black stared at the empty chair across from him. Normally, it was filled with one hundred and sixty-five pounds of Remus Lupin, his dormmate and fellow Marauder. Strangely, said Marauder had uncharacteristically chosen to sleep in that morning. Sirius' other friend, James Potter, leaned toward him and murmured, "Classes are starting in twenty minutes. Moony will kill us if we don't wake him up."

"I'll go," Sirius said, finishing off his toast and standing. James made to go with him, but he shook his head. "Prongs, it's fine. Finish eating and we'll meet you outside the Potions room. See you, Peter."

Peter Pettigrew waved absently, his mouth full of eggs. Sirius smiled a bit in his direction before leaving the Great Hall. On the way up to Gryffindor Tower, an ominous feeling settled in the pit of his stomach, but he just waved it off, blaming the blueberry syrup from breakfast.

"Faerie Lights," he said as he stopped in front of the portrait guarding the Tower. The Fat Lady in the painting blushed and waved him inside. There were a couple first years gathering their things by the fire, but other than that, the Common Room was empty.

Sirius grinned at one of the younger girls, who sighed wistfully as she watched him walk up the stairs leading to the boy's dormitories. He paused in front of the door marked 'Seventh Years' to listen for any sign that Remus was awake. It was silent, and the ominous feeling was growing stronger. Pushing the door open, Sirius called out, "Moony, are you awake?"

Nothing. The curtains around Remus' bed were shut tight. Thinking there might be a silencing charm on them, Sirius walked over and pulled them open. "Remus," he said. "Classes start in ten minutes."

Again, nothing. It was then that Sirius noticed how pale his friend was, as well as the beads of sweat breaking out on his forehead. He leaned down and shook Remus' arm. He didn't stir.

"Remus," Sirius said again, getting more worried by the second. "Moony. Wake up. Please, wake up?" Nothing. "Oh, Merlin." He shook him again. "Remus. Remus, you HAVE to wake up." After still getting no response from the sleeping lycanthrope, Sirius was panicking. He ran out of the room and down the stairs, hoping there were still students in the Common Room.

"Quick," he yelled to the lone first year, who jumped. "Go get McGonagall. It's an emergency." When all they did was stare at him, he raised his voice. "Are you deaf? NOW!"

That was all it took to send the poor boy running. As he waited for the arrival of his Head of House, Sirius paced the floor in front of the stairs. It was, at the most, ten minutes before the professor arrived, but to Sirius it felt like days.

"Mister Black, what seems to be the problem?" The stern woman said, no doubt thinking this was another of his infamous pranks.

"It's Remus, Professor," Sirius said breathlessly. "He wouldn't wake up and he's pale and sweating . . . I don't know what's wrong with him."

"Where is he?"

"Still in bed. I wasn't sure if I should take him to Madam Pompfrey or not." Sirius led McGonagall up the stairs to the dorm, not bothering to clean up beforehand or hide any of the dungbombs. All that was trivial compared to Remus.

"Mister Lupin," McGonagall said softly, shaking his arm in the same manner that Sirius did. "Remus. You need to wake up. This isn't funny." At receiving no response, she pursed her lips so tight that they were practically invisible. Pulling out her wand, she directed her next statement at Sirius. "I think you'd better wait outside, Mister Black. This will only take a minute."

"Why?" Sirius asked. "What are you going to do to him?"

"Outside, Black. Now."

Sirius did as she asked without comment. Though it was obvious that he wasn't happy about it. Once again, he paced as he waited for McGonagall. After fifteen minutes, Professor McGonagall poked her head out of the door. Sirius opened his mouth to ask her a question, but she held up her hand. "I need you to fetch Professor Dumbledore. The password is-"

"Acid Pops, I know," Sirius said, before racing down the stairs. It was a long way to the Headmaster's office, but he ran the entire way. He shouted the password to the gargoyle, and only stopped to breathe once he was on the revolving staircase. Knocking quickly on the door, he pushed it open before Dumbledore could answer. "Headmaster, Professor McGonagall needs you in Gryffindor Tower. Something's wrong with Remus."

Dumbledore stood. "Lead the way."

That was all Sirius needed to hear before he took off running again. Occasionally, he would look back to see if Dumbledore was still behind him, but he needn't have worried. When he got to the Tower, the Fat Lady opened the portrait as he said the password, and he almost ran into McGonagall, who was standing directly on the other side.

"Albus, it seems that Mister Lupin is in a coma. More than likely due to his, ahem, condition. His seventeenth birthday is in exactly one week, as is the-"

"Full moon," Dumbledore said, nodding. "Floo Poppy and let her know that we will be bringing him in. Also, fetch Messrs. Potter and Pettigrew. They, along with Sirius, here, will be more help to Remus than we could be."

McGonagall looked as if she wanted to argue, but did as Dumbledore asked. As soon as she was gone, Dumbledore turned to Sirius, whose mouth was opened in shock. He patted him on the shoulder. "I will explain everything in due time. At the moment, I will require your assistance with moving him to the Hospital Wing."

Sirius nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat. The two made their way up to the dorm and Sirius grabbed Remus' trunk when Dumbledore told him to. The Headmaster then conjured a stretcher and levitated Remus on top of it. Sirius felt sick when he saw Remus' arm dangling over the side. He looked like a corpse. It wasn't a comforting thought, to say the least.

Later, in the Hospital Wing, with James and Peter on either side of him, ready to catch him if he passed out, he listened as Dumbledore explained the situation to the three of them.

"Remus is in a magical coma," the old wizard said. "Every werewolf, when their birthday lies on the same day as a full moon, is expected to have bonded with their mate. They have seven days before the moon to bond, or they will die when they transform."

Breathing seemed impossible for Sirius. James was the first to speak. "Don't werewolves bond by, er, having sex, sir?"

"Not in all cases. There is a ritual that can be performed. Some choose to do this in order for family and friends to be present during the ceremony."

"But," Sirius said, finding his voice at last, "That seems kind of unfair, given the state that Moony's in. What if he doesn't like the person he's bonded to?"

Dumbledore smiled. "The ritual can only be performed between the werewolf and his or her true love. The bond is forfeit otherwise."

"How do we know who Remus' true love is, though?" Peter asked, his voice low and worried. "It's not as if we can go around asking everybody."

"No," Dumbledore agreed. "That would cause too many questions. But it is my understanding that Remus kept journals." The three Gryffindors winced at the past tense. "If you can find out any detail, such as if he mentions someone often, or his sexual orientation, it might make things easier. Pay close attention to any dreams he may have written down, also. The subconscious is more in tune with the heart than anything."

And on that note, he turned and walked out, leaving the three of them to their thoughts. They sat in silence, which was broken only when the doors burst open to reveal Lily Evans, James' girlfriend, who looked to be on the verge of tears.

"McGonagall told me what happened," she said, walking up and throwing her arms around her boyfriend. She sobbed into his shoulder, soaking his shirt. When she pulled away, she wiped at her eyes. "She wouldn't give me details, but said that Remus was in a coma. Details," she said again. "When is he going to wake up?"

"Unless he wakes up within the next week, he's going to die," James said softly, and Lily's eyes widened.

"What? Why? Is it because of the full moon?" The Marauders looked at her in shock. "Yes, I know. I've known for two years," she said, rolling her eyes. "Well, it explains everything now. Have you found his true love yet?"

"No," Sirius said, overcoming his shock. "But we're not going to let him die. We need to look at his journals. Let's go."

He didn't wait for them to follow before going into the main room of the Hospital. Remus' trunk was in front of his bed, and Sirius opened it, making sure not to upset anything. He made a valiant effort to keep his eyes trained on the contents of the trunk rather than its owner.

"Aha!" he cried, pulling a stack of books out and placing them on the bed beside Remus'. It wasn't until he opened one that he realized another obstacle. "What the hell?"

"I know what that is," Lily whispered in awe. "It's Theban. The Wiccan alphabet. But I had no idea that Remus knew it."

"You can translate it, right?" Peter asked, hopefully.

Lily shook her head. "I've only read about it. It could take days to translate all of this."

"Are you or are you not a witch?" Sirius asked impatiently. "Just cast a translation charm."

Again, Lily shook her head. "It's not that simple. See this glyph here," she pointed to a foreign mark on the front of each of the journals, "It's a protection charm. What looks to be a very old one. It keeps anyone besides the owner from translating it with magic. We're going to have to do this the hard way."

James ran a hand through his hair. "Bloody hell. We don't have much time."

"One week," Sirius agreed. "I, for one, don't plan to let him down." He sat down in the chair beside Remus' bed. "Lily, can you get as many books from the library you can on this alphabet? We'll need them."

"Of course," she said, glancing from Sirius to the unconscious boy in the bed. "James, can you help me?"

James nodded and the two left for the library. "It'll be all right, Moony," Sirius murmured, leaning forward in the chair. He didn't notice Peter leave to join James and Lily. "It has to be. Who else will help us with our homework?" he joked half-heartedly.

He picked up one of the journals and leafed through it, sighing. "Why couldn't you have written these in French, eh? Or Italian? Something I was fluent in? No. You had to pick some weird language that no one knows. Not even Lily. Bloody show-off." He sighed again. "We'll figure it out, though, Remus. You'll be awake in no time. And with a mate, to boot."

As he waited for his friends to come back, Sirius tried to ignore the overwhelming sense of jealousy that overcame him at the thought of someone bonding with Remus.

A/N: I would have posted this two days ago, but I was distracted by the holidays. LoL. This story is almost complete. I have to finish the final chapter, but the whole thing should be up by the end of the week. Review!