Author's Notes:

Hi everyone! I know these first few chapters have been published super quickly but that won't be an all the time thing! I have several chapters written already and I wanted to post two to develop some of the story for you guys. This chapter is going to be my regular weekly post. I'm hoping to upload on Fridays because I know I don't work and it gives me all of Thursday between classes to edit and review the chapter before posting.

I hope you guys like this chapter! I got the idea for James' predicament from a show called House M.D. It's an American medical show about a surly doctor who cures weird and random diseases.

And a special shout out to those of you who have favorited my story! Thank you! I'm looking forward to writing more.

Chapter Three: Only One Murder

James Potter awoke in a dimly lit room. His entire body was sore and stiff, his head pounding. He tried to move, to get up or call for help but nothing happened. He tried to look around the room but couldn't see much beside the ceiling above him. There was no noise, nothing but this soreness and pain.

He laid like that for hours it seemed, maybe days. He was trying to remember what happened. Something exploded, he remembered that and Harry was there. And Lily. Where is Lily? Shouldn't she be by his side crying about how he was injured? No. She must be with Harry. He would need someone to watch him. When will someone come to check on him? He needs help.

James continued to lay in that bed silent and trapped. To him it felt like days, maybe even years, but to the nurses at Saint Mungos it was only an hour when, finally, one of them opened the door and walked into his private ward. James tried to look towards the sound, desperate to get the healer's attention. But he couldn't.

"Well, Lord Potter, let's see how you're doing since we last checked on you. I think we have another round of potions for you today," the healer said to James.

James tried to respond, to make any noise. He couldn't. Please, give me the potions. Look at me!

The healer brought the potions over to James and tilted his head up so that he could put them into James' mouth. It wasn't until the healer put the second bottle to James' lips that he noticed that James' eyes were open, that he was aware of everything around him.

"Lord Potter! You're awake! Why didn't you say anything?" the healer asked. "Healer Smith, come in quick, Lord Potter is awake!"

A team of healers rushed into James' room and immediately began a work up on him. They waved, twirled, and circled their wands over him while muttering spells and incantations and administering potions.

"Lord Potter, can you move your fingers or toes for us? Can you say anything?" the healer that was called Smith asked James.

James blinked and tried to move his body or say something but nothing was working.

Healer Smith gave James a sad smile, "That's ok Lord Potter. We're hoping we can fix this. You received a severe brain injury two years ago and you've been in and out of consciousness since then. We've had high hopes that once your body healed and repaired itself that you would be functional again. Now it's just a matter of healing the part of your brain that isn't letting you move. For now, can you blink once for yes and twice for no so we can have some form of communication?"

James blinked once but his fear grew and his heart raced. Two years? That's not right. Everything just happened. Two—Harry, Lily. Where are they?

"I'm sure this probably seems scary to you. Waking up completely after two years can be a jarring experience. Do you remember anything from the night You-Know-Who attacked you and your family?" Healer Smith asked.

Yes. James blinked once.

"Good! Well, after Sirius Black and Poppy Pomfrey brought you to Hogwarts Poppy did everything she could for you there. And then Sirius Black was arrested for being a follower of You-Know-Who. He's the one who told You-Know-Who where you were."

James blinked rapidly. No. Sirius wouldn't do that.

Healer Smith, oblivious to James, continued, "The world isn't sure where your son, Harry, went. Dumbledore assured us, as your healers, that he will be well taken care of until you're better. Remus Lupin visits you from time to time when he can. And Minerva McGonagall, too. You've woken up a few times in the last two years, but you've never been awake enough to communicate with us. We hope to have you out of here in a few days, a week at most. Is there anyone we should call for you?"

Yes! Call Remus, Dumbledore, anyone! James thought as he blinked once for yes, his eyes still wide.

"Wonderful. Is that person someone I said visits you?"

James blinked once and then paused before blinking twice.

"Yes, they're on the list and no they aren't?" Healer Smith asked, his brow furrowing, "I'm sorry I'm not following. Do you want us to call Remus Lupin in?"

James blinked once.

"Wonderful! We'll have him come immediately," Healer Smith turned around and continued, "Healer Donovan, can you please floo Remus Lupin and have him come in for Lord Potter? Thank you," he turned back to James, "Now, let's see if we can figure out what's wrong with you, ok?"

James blinked once. Hurry.

~ID~

Remus stumbled out of the fireplace at Saint Mungos and into the lobby and caught himself on a nearby chair. He never manages to come out of the floo on his feet.

To get his bearings, Remus glanced around trying to find the stairs. He needed to get to the fourth floor and to James, the healers had told him he's woken up.

Seeing the stairs, Remus rushed over and up them until he reached the fourth floor. Then he dashed down the hall and around the corner, skidding to a stop at the door to James' ward. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and stepped inside.

The first thing he saw was that not much has changed other than the fact that more healers than normal were occupying the space around James' bed. Three or four healers were either waiving their wands over James or looking over documents in files. Remus walked over to a healer he recognized held out his hand.

Healer Smith looked up at the noise and smiled, extending his hand to Remus', "Mr. Lupin, so good to see you. And finally under better circumstances! I'm sure you've heard, Lord Potter has finally woken up."

Remus shook Healer Smith's hand and then ran his fingers through his golden locks, "I received the floo call. How is he, why is he still just lying there?" Remus glanced at James, concern growing in him, "Shouldn't we get him up and moving around? He's been lying there for two years now."

Healer Smith's smile faltered and fell, "Well, therein lies the issue. You see, he's woken up but he can't move or speak. He can communicate by blinking and that's really the extent of it. We call this locked in syndrome. It's not overly common amongst the muggles who gave this problem its name, and even less common among wizards. This only happens to wizards in cases of severe head trauma; which James did receive that night."

Remus sat in the chair next to James, his eyes scanning his friend's body before looking into the pale, blue eyes. The blue eyes bore into the golden ones, unmoving. "James," Remus breathed, "James you're awake."

James blinked once at Remus before looking at Healer Smith imploringly.

"Ah, right. We've come up with the code for communication. One blink is yes, two is no. It's hard to get information out of him, but it's working well enough until we can figure out what's wrong. I think we're on the verge of the answer. We're waiting to see what the results of the latest test are before we try any other potions."

"Oh, well, that's sensible I suppose. Once he's better, he'll be able to leave?" Remus asked.

Healer Smith smiled again and said, "We'll want to keep him for 24-48 hours observation but, assuming he does get better, yes he can leave after that."

Remus looked back at James and took his friend's hand, "James, are you in any pain? Is there anyone else I can have come to you? Did they tell you what's going on?"

James blinked once, paused, blinked once, paused, and then blinked once again.

"Who do you want in?"

James stared at Remus, closing his eyes slightly as if trying to figure out whether Remus was intentionally being a smart ass or not. Remus, catching this, ran his fingers through his hair and said, "Sorry, I forgot, yes or no questions. Do you want someone whose name is at the beginning of the alphabet?"

James blinked once.

"Is it someone with a name from A to F?"

James blinked once, again.

"Well, that rules out Peter and Minerva. Harry?"

James blinked once and then paused before blinking twice.

"You want to see Harry but, why no? Is there another person?"

James blinked once.

"Same section of the alphabet?" James Blinked once, "Ok, er, not Molly…Arthur Weasley?"

James blinked twice. "Dumbledore?" One blink, "Dumbledore? Ok that I can do. As for Harry, he's been living with Lily's sister and her husband. I don't think I can get him in here. They don't like magical people visiting him or bothering them," Remus turned to Healer Smith, "Can someone floo Dumbledore and have him come in for James?"

"Of course! Healer Donovan, can you make that call?" Healer Smith said.

Remus looked back at James, taking in the sight before him. If his friend wasn't so ill, Remus might have thought that James being able to see and hear everything going on, to understand it, but not be able to move or react was comical. This would have been a Marauder style joke; the one of the century! Maybe that could be something to look into once James was back on his feet. But now, seeing James lying in the hospital bed was anything but comedy inducing.

Remus squeezed James' hand again as he saw his friend's eyes look towards him. He smiled at James, trying to reassure him that everything would be ok, when the door to the ward opened again and Healer Donovan came back into the room.

"Dumbledore said he was on his way. He thinks he might know why Lord Potter has been stuck like this since he woke up," Healer Donovan said.

Remus let out a deep breath, "Thank you. I'm sure Dumbledore can fix this, er, minor inconvenience?"

James simply glared at Remus which caused him to chuckle at James.

"Clearly your sense of humor has been effected with all of this. We'll have to fix that right away."

Remus sat next to James for some time before the door to the ward finally opened again. This time, a tall, thin man with a long white beard and halfmoon spectacles crossed the threshold. Albus Dumbledore took a seat next to Remus and inspected James over the rim of his glasses, his eyes twinkling.

"Well, James, it seems you've gotten yourself in quite the predicament, wouldn't you say?" Dumbledore said.

"Do you have any idea what might be wrong with him, Professor?" Remus implored.

Dumbledore turned towards Remus and smiled, "Albus, please. You are no longer my student, Remus, and, therefore, you do not need to address me as 'professor'. As to whether I have any idea what's wrong with James, indeed I do. I believe his body is simply catching up with his brain. I think he woke up faster than his body had intended him to and he will begin to regain movement and control over his muscles over the next several hours and days. But I am not a healer and so I'm sure they will want to continue to run tests on James until such a time as he begins to regain that control."

"Do you really think it's that simple?" Remus asked, his eyes widening.

"Yes I do. However, whether I am right is another question all together, isn't it? In any case, I do have some time and so perhaps I will keep you and James some company to see if my theory is correct. That is," Dumbledore looked back at James, "if James is ok with that?"

James looked at Dumbledore for a few seconds before blinking once.

"Perhaps we should discuss some matters while you attempt to regain your ability to speak. I could start with the repercussions from that night at Godric's Hollow if you would like?" Dumbledore asked, his face solemn.

James blinked once and tried to nod his head. He succeeded in a slight twitch but nothing more.

"Wonderful. See, you are already regaining some movement. To begin I think you will be curious about where your son, Harry, has been residing."

James, regaining some of his movement, nodded stiffly at Dumbledore and tried to open his mouth to speak. He succeeded in letting his mouth lull open, a bit of drool coming out. Remus burst out laughing at this sight, laughing so hard he had to put his head in his hand.

Once Remus had finished laughing, Dumbledore continued, "I do enjoy that even in dark and sad times we are still able to find humor in our situations. Thank you, James, for that. As to Harry; he has been living with Lily's only surviving family since that night. He has been living with Petunia and Vernon Dursley for 2 years now. He is now three years old and seems to be a well-adjusted and happy child who, I'm sure you would be pleased to know, has shown signs of having strong magic."

James looked at Dumbledore before a raspy and soft voice escaped his lips. That voice said, "A—and Lily?"

"Oh good, you can speak! That's quite the improvement. I'm sorry, James, Lily died that night in Godric's Hollow. She gave her life to protect you and Harry from Lord Voldemort. Unfortunately, the events of that evening are a mystery to everyone. The only events anyone knows happened is that Lily died and that Harry, somehow, defeated Lord Voldemort on that Halloween night in 1981."

Tears welled in James' eyes as he looked back and forth from Dumbledore to Remus and back. He shook his head and said, "No. No, she can't be dead."

"I'm sorry, James, she was gone the moment the curse touched her. But she did leave something behind."

Remus' head snapped towards Dumbledore, his mouth agape, "What do you mean she left something behind? I was never told of that."

Dumbledore smiled as he looked back and forth between James and Remus, "Well, it's not a physical thing she left behind. She left her protection on both James and Harry. A protection so strong that it shielded them from Voldemort's curses that night. This is why I placed Harry in the care of Petunia."

"Is that how I survived that night?" James asked.

"I believe it is. But you would know that answer better than I because I wasn't there. You were. What happened, James?"

James thought for a moment, his eyes distant. Then he shook his head and turned it back towards Dumbledore, "I don't remember much; it's bits and pieces. I remember that our alarm went off and I was glad I had decided not to put my wand aside earlier that night like Lily had. I—I'm not sure what would have happened if I had done that. But we, we went up to Harry's room and I was trying to get Lily to take Harry and apparate somewhere safe with him. I don't remember why I couldn't, or wouldn't, take all three of us. And then…I remember Voldemort coming into the room and bright lights and then Harry was bleeding and there was this, ghost thing, leaving the house. And then I woke up here."

"A ghost thing?" Dumbledore asked, all sign of humor leaving his face, his eyes suddenly alight with curiosity.

James' brow furrowed, "Yeah. It was screaming and floating and it was see-through. It wasn't corporeal but it also didn't look like any of the ghosts from Hogwarts. I don't know how else to describe it. I'm sorry."

"James, this is very important. Was that ghost thing in the house before Voldemort attempted to kill Harry?"

"I—I don't think so. I don't remember it being there before the house…the house exploded."

Dumbledore sat back in his chair; his eyes distant as he twirled his wand around in his fingers. "Curious." Was all Dumbledore had to say on the matter.

James, confused, asked, "What's curious, Sir?"

Dumbledore smiled at James, his eyes twinkling behind his halfmoon spectacles, "Just an idea, James. I'm sure it means nothing. Thank you for sharing this with me. I do think it's time I took my leave, though. Please, have a wonderful day and I wish you all the speed in recovering."

Dumbledore stood up and moved towards the door when James stopped him, "Sir. Please. When I'm released from Saint Mungos, I want to pick Harry up and take him—take him home. He should be home with me."

Dumbledore turned back towards James before saying, "I'm sure we can discuss that when the time comes. However, I think you will have some matters that need addressed before you pick up Harry." Dumbledore turned to Remus and inclined his head, "Goodbye, Remus."

Remus nodded back towards Dumbledore, his golden eyes locked on the blue, "You, too, Albus."

Turning on his heel, Dumbledore walked out of the ward just as Healer Smith was returning.

"Well, Lord Potter, how are we feeling now?" Healer Smith asked as he walked towards James who was partially sitting up in his bed. "Lord Potter! This is quite the recovery! When did this happen?"

"While Dumbledore was here. He thought that I maybe woke up too quickly for my body and that it hadn't quite caught up to the fact that my brain was awake."

Healer Smith crossed the room and began making intricate movements with his wand over James. When he was done, he stepped back and smiled, "I do believe that Dumbledore was correct. It seems like your body is beginning to regain motor function. You should have full functionality by this evening and be able to be released by tomorrow night if all goes well."

James let out a sigh of relief, "Thank you Healer…?"

"Smith, Lord Potter. Healer Smith."

"Thank you, Healer Smith. For everything."

Healer Smith nodded before exiting the room again. James turned to look at Remus, worry growing in his chest, "Remus, where's Sirius? Why isn't he by my sick bed crying over my inability to move or tell him that he's a prat?"

Remus looked into James' eyes, his lips pursed, as he thought about how to respond. Really, how does one explain to their best friend that their other best friend betrayed him and sold out his young family to the evilest man since Grindelvald? Finally, Remus spoke, "James, I think we have a lot to discuss. I'm sorry. I didn't want to believe it but, Sirius is the reason that Lily is dead and you're in the hospital. He betrayed you; he betrayed all of us."