"He's okay though isn't he?" James asked hopefully.
"He's stable, but feeling quite ill, it will take several weeks for him to recover, though I can't give you an exact timeline."
"He's coming back this year isn't he?" Remus placed a hand on James' shoulder.
"It's difficult to say, but if you want my guess, he will not be returning to class until September." Dumbledore replied.
"Come on, it's Sirius, he couldn't possibly be feeling that bad."
"Mr. Potter, it's not always easy to face the truth when it comes to our loved one's health, but the truth remains that he could very well have died. I would advise you to be grateful rather than dwelling on the difficult nature of the situation."
"You're sending him straight home from the hospital then?" Remus asked, a look of concern on his face.
"I think it's important that he is given the proper amount of time to rest and the right environment while he heals."
"I'm just curious, but since none of what you said describes Sirius's home or family from what I understand...where would we get all that?"Dumbledore smiled faintly.
"I have a place in mind.I assure you. For the moment, I believe you have classes, I'm going to excuse you from my office and ask that you finish out your day. If anything changes, I'll pass along the information."
"Hang on, you can't just dismiss us and expect everything to be fine, if he's that ill-"
"Come on James, we have potions to be getting to. Thank you for letting us know about Sirius." Remus said grabbing James' arm and pulling from the room. Peter followed close behind.
"Awfully quiet tonight Peter." Remus commented.
"Just concerned about Sirius. I know Dumbledore says he's stable an all that,but I hate to think about him lying there like that."
"We may not see him again until start of next term. That's a long way away." James added.
"Yes, but like you said in the office, he's Sirius. He'll be back. He really was ill, think of how much better he'll be he just needs some rest and things will be back to normal before we know it.
Sirius listened to the steady beeps from his monitor, he wanted to sleep. With the returning pain and nausea, it seemed impossible. He moaned quietly and dad his best to ignore the discomfort. He tried to shift into a more comfortable spot only to realize that he wasn't strong enough and the movement caused him to gasp in pain.
"You shouldn't do that, you just had stomach surgery,you could really hurt yourself." Sirius turned his head to the voice.
A young woman dressed in a nurse's uniform stepped into the room and approached Sirius's bed.
"I just want to check up on you, take your temperature and if you want it I'll give you some more pain medication." She said smiling cheerfully, Sirius remained silent, he couldn't put his finger on it, but something about the nurse irritated him.
"I'll start with your temperature, open your mouth and put it under your tongue." She held out the thermometer,Sirius just laid still.
"Come on, Sirius is it, just open up and we can-" It was then that her realized what was causing his aggregation.
"Are you always so cheerfully?"He asked weakly.
"Of course." She replied in her chipper voice causing Sirius to sigh and comply with her instructions,he hoped to be rid of her quickly. When the thermometer was removed, Sirius watched her write down the information.
"So, how do you feel, are you feeling any pain?" She asked.
'No, having surgery, having a ruptured appendix is not painful at all, in fact, nearly dying was was an absolute pleasure to experience, perhaps you should try it one day.' Sirius thought mildly amused by his own sarcasm.
"Yes. I also feel as if I'll be ill, is there anything you could possibly give me to help?"
"I'll talk to the doctor for you. Right now, I've been given the go ahead for pain medication. I'll just grab it and be right back, is there anything I can get for you?"
"No." Sirius said, he felt relieved to know she would soon leave. Sirius closed his eyes and pushed the blanket to the side, he knew that his fever hadn't changed.
He found himself thinking of his friends, what were they doing in his absence, were they alright?
He knew James would be less than happy when Dumbledore told him the news. He missed them. The hospital room was filled with beeps from his monitors and sometimes his IV. Those noises made him miss the dorm at Hogwarts, Peter would be snoring, James would be making jokes and then there would be Remus, sitting quietly on his bed reading and shaking his head at them with occasional whisper of Honestly ' escaping him. He wanted so much to be at school,his weakness and pain to be gone. He winced at another sharp pain in his belly. He would only have to wait a few minutes,but it felt like eternity.
The figure walked briskly through the hall, his footsteps echoing in the silence.
He hastily entered Dumbledore's office and made his way to the desk where the old man was waiting
."what this Albus?" He asked angrily.
"Ah, Orion, you got my owl, I needed to speak to you in person about Sirius, please sit down, we have much to discuss."
