A/N: I know, I know… People are wondering why this is so late! Honestly, I have a lot of trouble finding the right words and I keep getting stuck! It isn't the greatest excuse, but it's all I've got. ;)

James woke to voices, "D'you think he'll be alright?"

"Oh, I knew I shouldn't have left! It was all my fault…"

It took James several moments before he recognized them as Peter and Remus. He tried to open his eyes, but they were far too heavy. It was as though his eyelids were made of lead.

There was another voice, "Yes, yes, he'll be alright! Now get out, you two! Out, out, OUT!"

James struggled with his eyes and fetched his glasses. He saw Madame Pomfrey bending over another bed. Even with his glasses on, his vision was blurry. He squinted and tried to see who the occupant of the bed was.

James rubbed his eyes, but could not make out the figure. Helplessly, he leaned back onto the pillow, ready to fall back asleep. He squirmed in the bed and realized that was rather numb.

Madame Pomfrey looked over at him, "You're awake, then? I told Dumbledore… And yet did he listen? I don't think so…" She continued to mutter as she made her way to a cupboard and pulled out a large purple bottle. "Making such a ruckus… Fussing over such little things… ever look at the details? Of course not."

She took out two cups and poured a strangely colored liquid from the bottle and into the cups. She put the bottle back into the cupboard and continued mumbling.

"Always looking at what not important, never thinking about what is!" She made her way to James' bed and handed him a cup. "Drink this! I don't want to see a single drop left when I return." With that, she left his bedside to give the other cup to the occupant of the bed James was studying earlier. His eyes still weary, James was still unable to identify the person.

He sipped the drink and immediately spat it back into the cup. It was extremely sour – like sucking on a lemon. James coughed several times before he was able to try again. He swallowed quickly and set his cup down.

He heard sputtering from the other bed and looked over. He nearly gagged when he saw a very sickly looking Sirius. Sirius' eyes met with James and they both grinned.

They were quiet for a long while, sipping their disgustingly sour drinks. Sirius cleared his throat, "What was it?"

He didn't need to be specific for James to know what he meant. He was asking about the creature in the classroom.

"I was hoping you could tell me." James replied awkwardly.

"I have an idea of what it might have been…" Sirius said slowly. He chose his words carefully, "I overheard my mum talking with some Ministry wizard… But I can't tell you here."

For a few moments, they sat in silence. At last, Sirius broke the silence, "What is in this drink, anyway?"

Just then, Madame Pomfrey came in, looking sullen. "Have you finished?" She asked, rather icily. Both boys shrugged and she looked into Sirius' cup. "Humph. It'll have to do for now, I suppose."

She walked quickly to James' bed and grabbed his cup. ("Tsk, tsk…") She emptied the rest of their drinks into the sink and, grumbling, left the room again.

She returned moments later with a platter full of what looked like spaghetti, only it had blue sauce. James looked over to see Sirius turn an unnatural shade of green.

After their 'meal', Madame Pomfrey gave them both sleeping potions and they did not wake up for several hours…

Sirius' head was aching like there was no tomorrow. He rolled over in his bed, only to find that all around his bed was lava – steaming up at him. He tried to cry out, but nothing came out.

He stood up on the bed, to find that the bed was on a cliff, surrounded by nothing but lava as far as the eye could see. There was a little of the cliff on all sides of the bed, but Sirius merely sat down, stunned.

It was as though he sat for hours, waiting, thinking… Suddenly he heard a noise and he knew at once that it was what he had been waiting for. It sounded like a wolf, howling long and high.

The creature walked on all fours. It's feet were all that of a hawk: somewhat scabby and talon-like. The creature's talons were prune colored and slimy-looking. Its legs were hairless, but the creature's head, neck and back were covered in handsome yellow fur. Around it's head was a slender black circlet.

The creature had a beak like an eagle, only it was black. When it opened its beak, the creature sent out a long, high howl…

Sirius tried to take a step back, and almost fell off the bed in the process. Above him, a buzzing noise took charge of the air.

He looked up. There were stars now, and they were buzzing around in the sky. They circled around the moon, which was getting bigger by the second. Several of them flew down and buzzed around the creature, which seemed only aware of the pesky stars.

Three flew down to where Sirius stood. Sirius watched them flit around his head as he tried to see what they were. They looked like tiny stars. They didn't appear to have any solid shapes or forms.

One of the stars hit against Sirius' arm. He felt a small jolt, and automatically held completely still.

The star swirled around his head, making his hair stand on end. Sirius looked back at the creature, which was now a speck on the horizon. He looked up and saw the moon, as big as a house, had stopped moving.

Suddenly, Sirius felt the ground shake. It was like a small earthquake, slowly making itself larger and more dangerous.

"Sirius! Sirius – wake up!"

Sirius' eyes opened and he saw James, Madame Pomfrey and Dumbledore circled around his bed, looking deeply concerned.

Madame Pomfrey thrust a drink into Sirius' hands almost immediately. Sirius glanced down and was relieved to see that the drink was only hot cocoa.

"You ok, mate?" James' distress was apparent. When Sirius nodded, James asked, "You sure, Sirius? I mean, you were flipping around like there was no tomorrow!"

"I'm fine, honestly!" It was true – despite the fact that he was sweating and shaking uncontrollably. He feltfine; his body just didn't want to admit it.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and everyone became quiet. "I believe we should leave Mr. Black to rest."

Madame Pomfrey grabbed James' shoulder. "Quite right. You need rest – both of you!" She led James to a bed and pushed another cup of steaming cocoa into his hand. "Drink it up. You too, Black." She glanced at Sirius before following the headmaster out of the hospital wing.

James and Sirius were silent as statues for the longest of times. When James finally spoke, he sounded shaken, as though still bothered by Sirius' dream. "What happened, Sirius?"

Sirius said nothing, pondering his answer with great care. His words came raspy, almost like stones rubbing against each other. "I had a dream… It was the weirdest dream I've ever had! But I can't explain here."

During the next several days, the boys were mostly silent, with small breaks in between, where they would chat about random things.

Although the boys felt fine, Madame Pomfrey refused the let them leave. "You are absolutely not leaving this room for at least six more weeks."

The boys were in shock. James gaped at her. "Six more weeks! But – but, that just isn't right."

"I demand you let us out his instant." Sirius fumed. For a split-second, James was almost sure he saw steam rising from his friend's head, only to see that it was the way the light was angled.

"You two aren't ready to leave your beds." She snipped. "Lay down, Black."

When Madame Pomfrey finally let Remus and Peter in to visit their friends again, they were all excited. (Except, of course, Madame Pomfrey.)

James and Sirius had arranged it so that their beds were side-by-side. The four boys had apt room to talk.

Madame Pomfrey left them to it, stalking out of the Hospital Wing. Remus was the first to speak. "I knew I shouldn't have left you guys! Why didn't you talk me out of leaving? You could have been killed – or you could have ended up with more of an injury! But no – you guys had to let me leave! You had to make sure I got to class on time!" He seemed on the verge of tears. "Oh, I am so sorry…" He finished meekly, looking at his feet.

Peter nodded, but averted his eyes. Everyone was pretty sure he would have wormed out.

"It's alright." James reassured his friends, smiling broadly. "We're ok, really. Actually, I don't even know why Madame Pomfrey is keeping us here so long. I feel just fine, and so does Sirius."

"The whole school's nervous." Remus replied shakily. "No one really knows what it is, except the teachers."

"So, does anyone know when the Quidditch season is going to start?" James asked, pointedly changing the subject.

Their conversation remained on Quidditch until Madame Pomfrey ushered their visitors out.

A/N: Better just end there; I don't want anyone to think I've stopped writing. I have trouble staying on track.

InsanePirate: Oooh! ;) A favorites list, eh? Never thought I'd live to see the day. Of course, if I don't update regularly, I might not live long anyway. (Looks around nervously.)

Thecatgoesmoo: I was thinking about when they find out about Remus. I did some thinking, and if I'm correct then they don't find out about Remus being a werewolf until their second year sometime. Of course, I could make that change. Wink, wink… (It took them 'the best part of three years' to make the Animagus potions, and they finished in their fifth year. According to Remus.)

Jamie88: I didn't want to make Remus leave, but I decided that he still doesn't know them that well, so yah know… Sorry this chapter took so long, and truth to tell, I'm very impatient myself.

Baka KitsuneBri: Do you mean, in their classes or just from the Marauders (or both)? If you mean in their class, then I just didn't notice. But if you mean from the Marauders, I was thinking. Well, James and Sirius would want to know everything they could before they went to Hogwarts. I'm sure that even Sirius could get his hands on some books from his parents. :D

Goddess of Idun: Sorry, so sorry!