In celebration of the glorious American holiday (funny story: the other day I'm sitting in my room and I came to the most startling conclusion of my life. I tear into my brother's room and yell, "Dude! English people don't have Thanksgiving! Hell, no one else does? How do they live? Thanksgiving is all about eating!" I had never really though about that before. It made me sad. No lie.) here's an update.

404: Wow, I'm sorry I brought up horrible things. For your sake I'll try to remember to put more humor in. I hope you don't take this wrong, but I'm a bit pleased that someone could relate to what I've written. I've been told that that's an important aspect of literature.

Maraudering-siriusly: Dude, you should see my ipod. I think I have almost 100 Disney songs, plus things from other musicals and junk. It's pretty much silly of me. But hey, I'm a Disney gal at heart.

Lil Smartass: yeah, that was a pretty obvious way, but with the way I've made Sirius, he already thinks James knowing what happened is bad enough. If they had told Remus and Peter help watch over him while he slept, they would be even more curious, which Sirius would have been very much against. Plus I don't think Sirius would want to inconnivance them like that. About Peter, I know, but it's so hard! You just want to exclude him and junk all the time. I know I keep saying I'll try to add him in more, and I really do mean to, but I just plain don't like him.

To everyone else: I'm sorry I made you all wait for the chapters. I just have so much less time right now. But when I get chances, I write little bits. Also, I'm sorry his mother is a terrible little wench from hell. And sorry about the suspence.

HAPPY TURKEY WEEKEND!

Chapter 14

The group burst into the Hospital Wing. As usual, Madam Pomfrey stood with her hands on her hips, a stern expression on her face until she saw the patient. "Dear God," she cried. "Get him onto a bed." McGonagall levitated Sirius onto the nearest bed. Madam Pomfrey shooed the worried students out of her way. She placed a hand on Sirius's soaking forehead. "Sweet Merlin, he's boiling up."

She quickly went to the back of the room and returned with a bowl of cold water and a rag. She wetted the rag and placed it on Sirius's forehead. She pulled off his shoes and took off his shirt. She discarded the wet piece of clothing on the floor and pulled the blankets at the foot of the bed over his body. She stuck a thermometer into his mouth. "104.2," she said in alarm. "Does this boy think he's invincible?" McGonagall frowned.

Madam Pomfrey walked away from the bed, and James called, "Aren't you going to give him a potion or something?"

The matron turned back. "When he wakes up," she said. "Let him get some sleep for bit."

"No," James said suddenly. "He needs a potion now."

"Potter," McGonagall said. "I understand that you are concerned for Black, but you will remember that Madam Pomfrey is the one in charge here."

"Professor," James protested. "Sirius is really sick." He bit his bottom lip. What should he do? He needed to explain how Sirius had been treating his body the past few days. But that would make them ask questions, questions that James couldn't answer. Sirius hadn't told anyone a thing about what had happened to him. James wasn't going to go against him. But he needed to explain. "H-he hasn't been sleeping well for a few days," James tried. "Couldn't he at least have a Dreamless Sleep potion?" They didn't need to see the Blacks trying to invade their son's dreams.

"I'd have to wake him up for that," Madam Pomfrey said.

"I really think that it would be a good idea, Professor," James said to his Head of House.

McGonagall stared at him for a few seconds, her eyes narrowed as if trying to see through him. Finally, she said, "Give him the potion, Poppy. He'll only be up for a few seconds, I'm sure."

Madam Pomfrey didn't look happy, but she went to retrieve the potion. With a flick of her wand, Sirius's eyes opened. The grey orbs were unfocused, and he gasped for breath. James wrenched the potion from the matron and said gently, "Hey, mate. Take this." Sirius didn't object to James pouring the potion down his throat. Sirius's eyelids dropped, and he was asleep again in seconds. James placed the potion on the table by the bed and sat down.

"Mr. Potter," Madam Pomfrey said, "you will remember you have a class right now."

"I don't care," James said.

Madam Pomfrey was about to continue, but she was stopped, oddly enough, by Professor McGonagall. "Let the boy stay, Poppy." The other three Gryffindors began to move towards the bed. "The rest of you, get to class." Lily looked rather dejected, and Remus and Peter began to protest. "No," their Head said. "Get going." The two boys frowned but followed Lily out.

McGonagall motioned with her head for Madam Pomfrey to leave. She nodded slowly and walked into her office. McGonagall turned to James. The young man wasn't paying attention to anything in the room but Sirius. He reached forward and grasped the sleeping boy's hand. He bit his bottom lip in worry. "James," McGonagall said. "James, what happened to him?"

James sighed and dropped his shoulders. "Look, Professor," he said, "if it was up to me, I'd tell you so we could help him, but he won't have it."

"Why won't he talk to anyone," she asked.

"He's not ready for it," James said. Then his eyes narrowed and he turned to look at McGonagall with a dark face. "I hope you can take this respectfully, Professor, but if someone tries to make him say anything and I hear about it, I won't be able to take responsibility for my actions."

McGonagall sat down on another chair besides her student. She studied the intense look on his face. For once, he seemed more like a young man than a boy. He sat rigidly, his hand still grasping his friend's. "James," she said, "I do hope you understand the intensity and implications of such a statement." James opened his mouth to speak, but she held up a hand for silence. "It shows just how good of a soul you are." James was taken aback.

"I have been teaching here for a good number of years, Potter," McGonagall said, leaning her elbows on her knees. "I have seen children grow up, seen friendships come and go. I've seen much, but never have I seen the level of intensity as can be found in the friendship you and Sirius share. I have seen the lengths you have gone so far to protect and back each other, and I can only conclude that those levels will become more extreme as you get closer. Although how the two of you could get any closer is beyond me." She smiled. "Your friendship is a treasure, a true gift. And I know that you will always see it as such. For this, I am very proud of you both." She stood and placed a comforting hand on James's shoulder. "Continue to do it."

The usual stern professor walked briskly from the room, leaving James to wonder if she had really said all those things.

It was not until after dinner that Sirius awoke. He was no better than he had been the first time, and his temperature had not gone down. Madam Pomfrey placed another wet rag on his forehead and administered three different potions to him. Sirius lay against the pillows, fighting sleep after the matron left. Remus and Peter softly urged him to just let it come. Sirius turned his unfocused eyes to James.

James quickly grabbed the Dreamless Sleep from the bedside table. He held it up for Sirius to drink. The liquid fell down his throat, and Sirius allowed sleep to overcome him. Once his breathing had become more even, Remus looked up at James. "He isn't doing so well," the werewolf said, rubbing his own eyes. "He hasn't been doing well for days. Why didn't he come get a potion?" Remus had suggested to Sirius that he do such a thing three days ago, but Sirius had been rather snappy with him. Remus knew better than to deal with Sirius when he was in a temper, so he had let it be. He had figured James would talk sense into him. That was how the two always worked. There were just situations where Sirius couldn't be reasoned with. For those situations, there was James.

"He couldn't," James said, a firm edge taking to his voice. "He couldn't, and that's that."

"No, James," Remus said. "That's not that. This is his health we're talking about. And we call ourselves his friends?"

Peter frowned and said, "Well, what are we going to do when he snaps at us? You left him alone too, Remus."

"I know," Remus said, "and now I'm regretting it. He could have been seriously ill. Merlin, he is. He fainted after a step."

James's face was dark. He pushed his glasses up on his nose and said, "Listen, mates, I don't want you to take this personal like, because it's not. Sirius is going through something right now. You know how he gets, and if it weren't for freak coincidence, I wouldn't even know about it."

The other two looked only slightly comforted knowing that James should have been in the dark too. James continued, "He doesn't really talk to me about it, I promise. But I know that when he's ready, he'll tell us everything. We just have to give him time. Until then, we just need to be there and not ask questions." They didn't look too happy about it, but Remus and Peter nodded. "I am sorry, lads, but it's not my call."

"We understand," Peter said. James nodded at him, thankful that Peter was able to be mature about something like this. Remus narrowed his golden eyes, but he too nodded.

James refused to leave the Hospital Wing that night. He put up a very tough fight with the matron and bested her in a screaming match. Remus and Peter had long since headed back up to the dorm. James shifted in the uncomfortable wooden chair beside Sirius's bed. He pushed his glasses to the top of his head and rubbed his eyes.

This was one of the most uncomfortable nights of his life, but James was feeling like he deserved it. He should have been paying more attention to his friend. He should have been much more insistent and forceful about Sirius getting rest. He had allowed the other boy to deprive himself of desperately needed sleep. And now he was ill. James cursed himself. He had failed to notice what Sirius had been going through at home, and he had failed to keep him in good health.

James grunted and leaned his head on his shoulder, hoping some small form of sleep would come to him that night.

The next morning, James was awoken by the golden light streaming into the Hospital Wing and the bustling about of the matron. James rubbed his eyes and blinked rapidly. God, everything was unfocused still. "When you toss around that much, they tend to fall off," a silky voice said. James turned and could see the very blurry form of Sirius sitting in bed. He was holding something out to James. James grinned and took the offered spectacles and slipped them over his nose. The world came into clear focus, as did Sirius's smirk.

"All right, mate," James asked. "You still look pretty under."

"I still feel under," Sirius said, running a hand through his hair. "And I'm confined here until tomorrow, drill sergeant's orders," he added, jerking a thumb to the busy matron.

"It'll do you good," James said. "That spell yesterday had everyone real worried. Peter and Remus are getting antsy about all this." Sirius frowned. "I didn't say anything," James quickly confirmed. Sirius relaxed a bit on his pillows. James drew in a deep breath and said, "Look, I know you don't want to, but they are our friends, brothers. They deserve to know the truth, especially Remus. You know his secret."

Sirius's face darkened, and he suddenly looked very much like a Black. "James," he said sharply, "I've never even really said anything to you. If I don't talk to you, then who else stands a chance?" James sighed and rolled his eyes. Sirius leaned back down on the pillows and shut his eyes. "It's hard enough coming to terms with everything on my own, but it's a whole other ballgame to have other people knowing. You have to worry about their reactions. Will they think you're weak and pathetic? Will they stare at you with their damned sympathy?"

"Padfoot," James began, "You know we wouldn't—"

Sirius cut him off. "Prongs, please," he said. "You don't understand how it feels. Your parents are saints. Mine are demons. We come from two very different worlds, mate. No matter how much I regard you my brother, we are very different people."

Sirius was reluctant to speak much after that, and Madam Pomfrey soon came bursting in, demanding that James allow Sirius to get some rest. Sirius quickly downed a dosage of Dreamless Sleep and drifted off. James once again refused to leave the Hospital Wing. It didn't matter right now anyway. He didn't have class until after lunch.

Just after the bells rag for lunch hour, the door to the Hospital Wing opened, and Lily Evans slipped inside. She bit her bottom lip and walked hesitantly up behind James. She stood there for a few minutes debating whether or not to speak. Drawing in a breath, she said softly, "Potter."

James lifted his head and nodded at her in greeting. "Evans," he said. Lily raised her brows in surprise. He wasn't trying to make any passes at her. This reminded her terribly of the week that Sirius hadn't been at school. Although it had been a bit refreshing, it had also been frightening. James had been a totally different person without Sirius around. Not his normal confident self, he had been quiet and withdrawn.

She inclined her head to Sirius's sleeping form. "He doing any better," she asked.

James nodded. "Yeah, he was up and talking earlier. He's under orders to rest here for the night, and he'll be good to go tomorrow morning."

"He looked awful yesterday," Lily said. "He couldn't have been feeling much better if he fainted like that."

"Pneumonia, she said," James answered. "He'd be in bed for weeks if we were Muggles. He also could have died because of it, if it were serious enough. I think she said it weakens the immune system really bad."

Lily nodded, shocked. "He'd have been susceptible to more serious illnesses," she said, running a hand over her cheek.

They sat in awkward silence for several moments before Lily finally said, "Look, Potter, I just wanted to say that, well, Sirius just seems to be having an awful term, and, well, I'm glad he has you through what ever it is he's going through."

James stared at her. Her cheeks were glowing pink, and her eyes were sparkling. He wasn't sure if she had ever seemed so attractive to him before. He resisted the urge to shake his head. That wasn't important right now, but it meant something. He reached out and took her hand. He gave it a quick squeeze before letting go. "Thanks, Lily," he said. "That really does mean a lot."

By now Lily was nearly the color of her hair. She stood quickly and lifted her bag over her shoulder. "Yes, well, I just wanted to let you know, Ja—Potter," she said quickly. "I need to be going. Library. Have a paper to finish for Potions." She was out the door faster than James had ever seen her move. He raised a brow. What was that about? Lily was always done with her papers days before they were due.

Had Slughorn even assigned anything this week?