Chapter 28 of Year 4: THE CHAPTER I WAS GOING TO CALL BAD MOON RISING BEFORE MY SCATTERED BRAIN FUCKED IT UP (grr) so let's call it Trouble on the Way instead. (UGH I DON'T LIKE IT)

It was the silence that woke him. Even at night while everyone was asleep, their dormitory was always somehow lively. With Remus snoring, Peter twisting about, and James mumbling incoherently there was usually some ambient noise to lull him back to sleep. This morning was different.

He was on the floor, to begin with, next to what would be his bed if James hadn't passed out in it the night before. His plush blanket, that was supposed to be under him to protect his elbows and ribs from the hardwood floor, was now on top and smothering him in heat. He rolled over and attempted to ignore the strangeness for the sake of a few more minutes of sleep. Through his eyelashes, he saw a river of brown hair, shining in the early morning sun and he was able to remember a few blurred images.

He remembered being angry and annoyed. He remembered dancing with Lily and being proud of her. He remembered running. Hearing the sickening crunch of breaking bones. James's slurred words and unfocused eyes.

Eilidh slept curled up across the room in last nights dress robes because they were supposed to be keeping an eye on James and it was his turn. He shot up, his head spinning as a wave of nausea hit him. His head ached horribly. He shouldn't have fallen asleep.

James appeared to be exactly as he last remembered seeing him. In fact, it was exactly the same as when they had put him to bed. The blanket was drawn over his torso, his arm securely at his sides, his mouth in a perfectly straight line across his face. He usually slept with his mouth gaping open, drool dampening his pillow. He was always sweaty in the morning but today he was perfectly dry.

"James?" Sirius murmured, poking into his shoulder hard. James didn't move. Sirius shook him roughly and spoke firmly, "James," before taking a step back. Surely this would cause some turmoil of a reaction.

"Wha's the matter?" Peter yawned, rubbing his eyes, sitting up in his bed.

"He won't wake up." Sirius's usually overactive mind had gone as still as James. He couldn't think of what to do.

Peter crossed the room, pointed his wand at James and said, "Aguamenti."

"Peter!" Sirius pulled Peter by his sleeve as water spewed from his wand onto James. He still didn't wake.

Stubbornly, Sirius stepped forward.

"Rennervate!"

James's body reacted to the spell then fell back, as still as ever.

"He - he's still breathing," Peter pointed out unnecessarily.

"Yes, Pete, he's not dead!" Sirius hissed angrily, his heart suddenly thundering in his chest. "We need to take him to Madam Pomfrey."

"How're we going to do that?" Peter asked, gazing at Sirius with a worried expression which only served to aid his agitation.

"It's a first-year spell, Peter," Sirius spat and with a swish and flick of his wand, the mattress rose to hover over the bed frame.

Peter dashed to hold the door open while Sirius pushed the mattress into motion, ripping the bed curtain in his haste.

Madam Pomfrey was not in the Hospital Wing. Sirius set James down on one of the hospital beds, pounded on the witch's office door at the end of the ward, and received no answer.

"What's the point of having a nurse if she's never fucking here?"

"I don't think Remus is here either," Peter said carefully, probably afraid of setting Sirius off again.

With effort Sirius held back a belittling 'so?' and instead, stared at Peter until he answered the unspoken question.

"Maybe she's taking him to the shack? It is a… full moon tonight," Peter mumbled.

"They should have a teacher take him. It's a hospital wing for Merlin's sake!" Sirius groaned, kicked the door, and then with a sudden burst of determinations pointed his wand to the handle. "Alohomora."

The office door swung open revealing a desk covered with large stacks of paper and bookshelves overstuffed with books on healing magic. Sirius strode for the biggest book in sight.

"Sirius are you sure-"

"Quiet, Peter," Sirius muttered, searching through the index but for what he hadn't the faintest idea.

"Sirius -"

"Shut up, Peter!"

"You three again! I told you yesterday they'll be no visiting Mr Lupin today. He's much too sick." It seemed that Madam Pomfrey had taken one look at Peter and had assumed that it was all three of them returning, against her repeated instructions, to visit Remus as they had done so often in the past. This time was different.

"It's James," Sirius said loudly so she could hear him from her office. He shoved the book back on its shelf and ran out. "He didn't wake up this morning."

"What do you mean?" Madam Pomfrey asked rather stupidly in Sirius's opinion but she appeared to be positively perplexed by this.

"Exactly what I said," Sirius snapped. "You should have a teacher take Remus out, people don't plan emergencies!"

For one measly second Madam Pomfrey's expression contorted with anger. Then, she took a deep breath and forced herself to calm.

"Where is your friend?" she asked patiently. Sirius pointed to where he had left James's unmoving body and watched as Madam Pomfrey pry his eyelids open and take his pulse.

"One of you needs to tell me exactly what happened. The other, go fetch Professor Slughorn. I do hope he's awake at this hour." Madam Pomfrey's voice came out constricted and professional which was not reassuring.

"I'll get Slughorn," Peter muttered and with a quick worried glance at Sirius scurried out of the ward.

Sirius told her of every blurred image he could remember from dancing with Lily to putting James to bed. He skipped over their argument in the common room, considering it unimportant.

"Where did your friend get the calming draught?" Pomfrey questioned. Sirius didn't know. Eilidh had seemed so sure of what to do at the time he didn't think to question it.

Pomfrey sighed irritably and shook her head.

"Go get Professor McGonagall."

"I'm staying with James," Sirius stated, defiantly. Madam Pomfrey held her carefully fixed expression this time though her voice was more stern than patient.

"As Head of Gryffindor house, it is her-"

"Poppy?"

Sirius had never before been particularly happy to see Slughorn but he was grateful to see him striding quickly through the ward.

"I was hoping you could help with the Rontgen Powder?" Madam Pomfrey scurried around James's bed to a pantry and pulled out a small pouch very like the ones used to carry Floo Powder.

"What's Rontgen Powder?" Sirius asked, taking a small step closer to James.

"New healing magic," Slughorn explained, "used to see beneath the skin." Slughorn rolled up his sleeves, his eyes scrutinizing Sirius under thick, frowned eyebrows. "I do believe I have a bone to pick with you, Mr Black."

"But why do you need to use that powder stuff on James?" Sirius questioned, ignoring Slughorn's change of topic. The prank was so trivial in comparison Sirius wondered how he could even think of it.

"James will be fine, my boy, it's just to make sure everything is operating properly," Slughorn said breezily, accepting the pouch from Madam Pomfrey.

"Please get Professor McGonagall," she said firmly, then to Slughorn, "where's the other one?"

"I sent him to get the friend," muttered Slughorn, sprinkling gold powder over James. It hovered a few inches over his body, swirling into wispy swirls before taking the form of James's muscles.

"The Calming Draught?" Pomfrey asked.

Slughorn nodded, almost absentmindedly, his fingers twitching oddly. The powder began to swirl again this time forming into a million lines, each one alive with some sort of pulsing current. It swirled again and reformed into James's skeletal system.

"Professor McGonagall!" Pomfrey hissed, pointing a harsh finger at the door.

Sirius reluctantly moved forward, keeping a watchful eye over his shoulder as he went. The powder had taken the form of James's organs. Slughorn picked up the gold brain and twisted it, to see it from different angles. Slughorn split the brain in halves, then in fourths.

"Ah! Here, Poppy." He pointed at a spot on James's floating brain. He didn't look worried. Neither did Madam Pomfrey as she murmured in agreement so Sirius opened the door with a smaller amount of reluctance.

"Oi! Fistie!" The first year he had spotted, probably making her way to breakfast, jumped and spun around. "You know where McGonagall's office is?" She nodded. "Go get her then!"

"Is everything alright?" the first year asked, looking more curious than concerned.

"Go get McGonagall!" Sirius barked and she jumped again but this time she started for McGonagall's office, muttering along the way.

"What happened to James's brain?" Sirius demanded after making sure the hospital's doors were safely shut behind him. The last thing they needed now was rumours flying around about James.

"He's been concussed," Pomfrey said shortly. "Now really, go -"

"I've sent a first year to get her," Sirius argued, moving closer to James so he could see their work. They were still working with the powder but it now resembled a magnified spider's web rather than a brain. He chewed on the skin around his thumb. He's had a concussion before, it hadn't turned out like this.

"We need Professor Haas. I don't want to pull him out if it was a curse that sent him into it," Pomfrey said, attempting to speak quietly so Sirius wouldn't hear.

"Into what? What's wrong with him?" The only curse that Sirius ever heard of that could make someone so unresponsive was the killing curse. He had to remind himself that James was still breathing.

"Oh!" Madam Pomfrey growled.

"Sirius," Professor Slughorn draped an arm around his shoulders and led him across the room. "How 'bout you come with me to wake Professor Haas and we can discuss what happened to your friend a little more, hmm?"

Sirius wriggled himself free from Slughorn's grasp and took a few steps back out of his reach.

"There's nothing to discuss! The Slytherins targeted James and now he's in the Hospital wing. Apparently concussed!" Sirius turned to Madam Pomfrey for more answers. Something was not adding up.

Pomfrey turned completely around to face him, all patience drained from her expression.

"Mr Black." Professor McGonagall stood at the end of the ward, her hands on her hips, her lips pressed into a thin disapproving line. "This is a Hospital Wing, not a circus. If you cannot keep your voice down, you will be forced to leave the premises. Poppy, what's happened here?"

"It's the Potter boy. His parents need to be contacted," Madam Pomfrey answered, once again at work, "and Professor Haas needs to be sent for."

"I'll get Professor Haas," said Slughorn. "He's on my way to the Headmaster's office."

"Come with me, Sirius," McGonagall voice had softened considerably but was still firm. "Madam Pomfrey needs to work."

Sirius sent James one last desperate look then followed McGonagall out.

The Potters had been contacted and were scheduled to arrive by portkey shortly after first period. Sirius's story had been told and defended three consecutive times: First to McGonagall then to Dumbledore, and lastly to Abbott's father who happened to be on the Board of Governors. Sirius found the possibility of Abbott not being expelled because of this fact both redundant and infuriating and was planning on addressing the issue to Dumbledore after James got better.

Sirius and Peter had been locked out of the Hospital Wing and were currently sat against its doors staring blankly down the empty corridor. Occasionally, they'd hear the echoed voices of a class answering in unison, or Professor Haas's carrying voice as he, unnecessarily, interrogated Eilidh about her Calming Draught. Professor Slughorn was already dissecting its remains on the off chance that it had been tampered with.

Eilidh's dorm mates showed up after breakfast offering smuggled toast and bacon. Except for Lily but Sirius didn't ask why. Mostly because he couldn't think of anything agreeable to say about her at the moment.

Mary informed them that James's condition sounded a lot like what happened to her aunt after a car crash, something muggles called a coma. Peter's and Josie's reactions to this news were worrying. They both became rather sombre, in fact, Peter looked a little pale. Marlene, on the other hand, became overly chipper.

"Did Madam Pomfrey say when he was going to wake up?"

"No, she just said that he was fine."

"That's good! Pomfrey's never been wrong before."

They excused themselves rather quickly after that.

Peter and Sirius were told to go to class by multiple professors but neither seemed too inclined to obey the order.

"We'll go to class after his parents get here. That way he has someone there for him in case he wakes up," Peter said decidedly.

"When he wakes up," Sirius said firmly. As long as Madam Pomfrey insisted that James was fine, he refused to believe any different.

"I only meant in case he wakes up while we're in class not… that."

Eilidh showed up looking ghostly pale and on the verge of either vomiting or crying, her eyes glued to the wall behind them.

"What'd he say?" asked Peter.

"Slughorn said the potion was clean, it hadn't been tampered with," she answered quietly.

"It took him that long to figure that out," Sirius scoffed.

"It still could have been what -" she took in a ragged breath and shook her head. "I'm going to change out of these robes. I'll be back."

"I hope he wasn't too hard on her," Peter muttered, sinking back into the wall.

Sirius had the sudden need to pace.

Eilidh didn't return for quite some time but when she did it was with a stack of books at least as tall as she was.

"I've been to the library," she told them unnecessarily, using the wall to balance the books on her knee. "These were all the books I could find on healing magic and brain injuries. Be on the lookout for Madam Wryn, she had murder in her eyes when I last saw her."

"Mary said he's in a coma," Sirius said, accepting the book she handed to him. Eilidh looked shocked for a moment then her books fell with an echoing clatter. She dropped to the floor, hiding her face behind her hair. "She said her aunt had the same symptoms," Sirius pressed.

Eilidh stacked her books one on top of the other loudly, trying to down out his voice. Sirius reached to catch her hands. She stilled instantly, took a deep, calming breath, then spoke in a monotonous voice:

"I'm not sure what happened to Mary's aunt but her brother is actually her cousin. Her parents adopted him a few years back."

"People don't usually make it out of comas," Peter added, ominously.

"When they do it's considered a miracle," Eilidh agreed.

"We're wizards!" Sirius yelled angrily. He tired of people acting like James was already dead, like he was done for. "We have magic! You ever hear of a wizard dying of influenza? It's the same thing!"

Eilidh nodded in agreement, used her wand to pin up her hair, curled up against the wall, and dove into a book. "To be fair muggles don't die from influenza anymore."

Sirius scowled at her before realizing that she was joking.

"We should be discussing what we're going to do to the Slytherins when James wakes up." Sirius flipped through the book she had given him without looking at the pages.

"We could set their dormitory on fire," Peter muttered angrily to the window. "With them inside it."

"We could break the glass separating them from the Black Lake and flood them out," Sirius suggested.

"The squid could eat the survivors," Peter grinned.

"I wonder if he likes the taste of snakes?" Sirius added cruelly.

"You're being disgusting and not any better than them." Eilidh glared at both Sirius and Peter.

Sirius had to laugh. She acting too much like Lily Evans for his taste.

"And what would you suggest, princess?" he mocked. Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Wait it out. See what Dumbledore does and go from there."

"And why would we do that?" Sirius demanded.

"Because, Sirius, if we do something now it's going to make Dumbledore less inclined to expel them," she answered testily. "Right now it looks like Death Eaters targeting a blood traitor. If we do something it'll look like the age-old feud between Gryffindor and Slytherin getting out of hand. Again. Which will make our punishment more severe and Abbott and his Costellos will still be in school."

Sirius could only stare at her. He was reluctant to admit that she was right but that usually was how things worked out.

"You sure you're not in Slytherin?" Peter asked.

"Fuck off," Eilidh groaned, returning to her book.

"I'm just saying, that was a rather cunning plan," Peter continued.

"My parents are pretty manipulative so I guess I picked up a few things," Eilidh said to her book.

"And what about Lily?" Sirius asked, simply to fulfil his need to argue.

"What about her?" she asked, sounding indifferent but she became noticeably stiff.

"James would be here if it were her," Sirius said defensively.

"She's not James," Eilidh said simply.

"Well, that's obvious," Sirius scoffed.

"You'd think it would be," Eilidh muttered, loudly turning the page.

"She doesn't deserve him," Sirius pressed.

"I'm not going to argue about this with you," she bit back with the look of warning Sirius had learned to take seriously.

"Fine," he sneered and they fell silent, reading the books that would do nothing more than pass the time.

"You can do what you want Albus. Right now I'm going to see my son," came Mrs Potter's strong, clear, and fearful voice, drifting down the corridor. Moments later she rounded the corner with both Professor Dumbledore and Mr Potter at her heels. Sirius abandoned his book and scrambled to his feet.

"Sirius, how are you?" Mrs Potter asked as Professor Dumbledore unlocked the doors to let them in. Mr Potter gave a short smile, his face lined with distress.

"Bit worried, honestly," Sirius admitted. He was happy to see that James looked more alive than he had hours ago though he was still dormant.

"We all are dear," Mrs Potter said sweetly with a hand on his cheek.

"James will be fine," Sirius said firmly for what felt like the millionth time that day.

"Of course he will. He's our James." Mrs Potter said lightly, scurrying forward to James's bedside.

Mr Potter smiled softly while resting a heavy hand on Sirius's shoulder. With the presence of the Potters finally bringing some relief to his rather tense morning, Sirius was able to smile back.

Madam Pomfrey explained James's condition to all of them though she never said the word 'coma.' She also said she expected James to wake up at any moment.

"It's all up to him in the end," she added, glancing at James with an indiscernible expression.

Mr Potter made arrangements for him and his wife at the Three Broomsticks while Mrs Potter settled comfortably in the chair beside James's bed.

Professor Dumbledore explained that nothing could be done until he heard both sides of the story which sounded like utter rubbish but no one said anything.

"I should… get to class," Eilidh said awkwardly, already making her way toward the door.

"I'll let you know when he wakes up," Sirius told her. She nodded then scurried her way out.

"Was that Lily?" Mrs Potter whispered.

"No, that's Eilidh. A friend," Sirius answered.

"Sirius's girlfriend," Peter added, smirking.

"Shut up, Peter," Sirius growled.

Mrs Potter smiled benignly then turned to stroke her son's hair.

"You know he never got sick when he was little. He fell through ice in the dead of winter and only had a small cough the next day." used her free hand to wipe her eyes, then laughed, "he could never sit still! He was such a good boy. Oh, he would hate this!"

Sirius froze. He had reached uncharted territory and had no idea how to react. Peter looked just as frightfully out of place as Sirius felt, he thought of James.

"He'll be fine," he said, resting a hand on Mrs Potter's shoulder in what he hoped to be a comforting manner. "You heard Madam Pomfrey."

"Oh I know," she smiled at him, taking his hand and giving it a light squeeze. "I just hate to think that he's suffering."

Mrs Potter never left James's bedside, she never let go of James's hand, not even when Mr Potter tried to convince her to get some rest at the three broomsticks. It was almost midnight when Sirius and Peter left under strict orders from McGonagall. Eilidh was watching the fire slowly die out in the Common Room when they arrived.

"I couldn't sleep," she explained.

"Nothing's changed," Sirius grumbled.

The three of them sat there silently waiting for the sun to rise.

They ran into Hagrid in the morning, coming out of the Hospital wing carrying a handful of potions in his dustbin lid sized hands.

"All righ', you three?" he greeted with a cheery smile.

"All right, Hagrid? How's Remus?" Sirius returned.

"Oh, he's -"

"Hagrid!" Madam Pomfrey stuck her head through the door, interrupting Hagrid's response. "Where's Albus?"

"Mum!" came James's exasperated voice.

"Is that-?"

"Yes, he's awake. Go in and say hello. Hagrid, do you know where Albus is?" Pomfrey repeated.

The three of them didn't hear where the Headmaster was. They had bustled past the two and burst into the ward. James was being smothered in kisses from his mother.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again, Jamie!" Mrs Potter hugged his head to her chest.

"Can't...breathe!"

Mrs Potter released him, cupped his face between her soft, plump hands to smile at him for a moment then kissed his forehead.

"I'm going to write your father. Will you be alright here with your friends?"

"Yes, Mum," James answered in a patient voice.

"I'll bring some breakfast with me when I come back."

"Thank you, Mum."

"Alright," Mrs Potter gave James one last loving look. "Morning dears."

"Good Morning," the three of them echoed, watching as she left the hospital.

"Do I have lipstick on my face?" James asked, rubbing his hand against his cheek.

"It's hardly noticeable" Sirius answered, taking the other side of James's bed.

"Besides, you can just tell everyone it's from a girl. That's not your mum," Peter added.

"Do you think anyone would believe that it was, Lily?" James grinned.

"Not a chance," Peter laughed. Sirius bit his tongue. This was an argument that could wait.

"What's eating you?" James asked, peering around Peter. Eilidh was standing by the door, teary-eyed. "I was only joking. I wouldn't actually go around saying I kissed Lily Evans. I'm not that much of a prat."

"I know," She said thickly, rubbing the heel of her palm into her eye. "I'm just glad that you're awake."

James sent a questioning look at Sirius. He just shrugged his shoulders.

"I think this side's a little low on lipstick if you wanted to…," James smirked at her, tapping one of his cheeks with his forefinger. Eilidh chuckled but quickly grew sombre.

"James," she started, " I know you probably want to blame the Slytherins for this-"

"What are you on about?" James asked. "I do blame the Slytherins. I told you what happened."

"Yes but-"

"But nothing, it's their fault," Sirius said, firmly.

"It was the Calming Draught-"

"Who told you that?" Sirius demanded. Eilidh shrugged and looked at the floor. "Whatever. It's a load of rubbish. You were trying to help."

"James-"

"He's right, you know," James told her.

"I'm just sorry," Eilidh said quickly before she could be interrupted again.

"You're not forgiven. Now, get over here and make awful jokes about Snivellus with us," James said bruskly, patting the side of his bed that Sirius was not on Eilidh sighed, shook her head and did as she was told.

"Did you guys remember to do that thing last night? And this morning?" James asked Sirius and Peter.

"There was too much going on," Peter mumbled

"Your mum kind of reminded us, last minute, when she mentioned Remus." Sirius chuckled.

"Do we know how he is?" James asked.

"Hagrid was taking him his potions this morning," Eilidh answered.

"Suppose that's a good sign," James nodded, glancing out the window. "He doesn't know about this yet, does he?"

"Pete and I decided it'd be too much for him at the moment," Sirius said.

"Good. So what are we going to do about our snakey friends?" James grinned mischievously. Eilidh rolled her eyes.

"Sirius and Peter already have a few plans involving fire and the giant squid."

James, Sirius, and Peter laughed.

"Maybe we could combine the two," James suggested.

"Brilliant," Sirius beamed.

******Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or any other form of a medical professional. I took a semester of Anatomy maybe four years ago and I got a C so yeah. Lucky for me magic is the ultimate loophole.

Bromance dude. Platonic love should be celebrated more.

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Until next time,

XO******