It was another two days until James woke up from the drugged sleep madam Pomfrey had put him into. Although he ensured Remus over and over that there was no problem with what he called "the little incident", Remus had started getting it more and more difficult to fall asleep at nights, and he as waking up two or three times every night, until he finally got up at four or five in the morning.
After five days, Sirius was still unconscious; and almost every day after class, Remus came up to the Hospital Wing to find a sleeping James, and a pale and quiet Jasmine sitting by Sirius's bed. Once or twice, he'd tried talking to her, but the faint, fragile answer he got very time - not more than a few words - got him to stop. It seemed that Jasmine was, if not happy, but satisfied with sitting by Sirius's bed for a few hours, and then quietly leaving.
It was not until the sixth day that Sirius woke up, and Remus was almost happy that it was Jasmine sitting by his bed in that moment, not himself, for wouldn't have managed to look Sirius in the eyes.
Jasmine just felt empty; like there was not even the slightest glimpse of thought or feeling in her mind. The first time she came to the Hospital Wing, she had felt the ground spinning under her feet, and a weary Madam Pomfrey had immediately put her on a chair and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. Jasmine supposed she was a little shocked, but the name of her condition didn't matter.
Nothing seemed to matter at this moment. Nothing but the desperate hope that Sirius would wake up, or that Madam Pomfrey for sure could tell that he would be completely restored.
It had been six days now, and Jasmine found herself sitting by the sick bed for longer and longer periods of time, sometimes skipping lunch, other times dinner, in order to just sit there and wait.
Remus did the same thing. Mostly, Madam Pomfrey asked some of the house elves to bring him some food, or James would have to nag at him for hours until he left the Hospital Wing in order to get something to eat.
Jasmine didn't blame him, but he must think she did, for each time he talked to her, she herd her own answer being fragile and short. And in return, all the times she tried to speak to him, the words seemed to slip away, and then the look at his face made her loose whatever sentence was left as well.
Jasmine shifted positions on the chair, and managed to pull her feet onto the seat so she could wrap her arms around her knees, leaning a little to the bed not to fall off. Sirius was pale, much paler than what could be healthy. He still had the bandage around his throat, though Madam Pomfrey had stopped making a turn over his head now, and it didn't bleed through any more.
Night was falling, and Jasmine was just considering leaving so Madam Pomfrey wouldn't have to tell her again, when a soft moan from the bed beside her made her freeze.
A little wrinkle had appeared between Sirius's eyebrows, and his lips were shaping words, but he didn't speak them.
Jasmine stood, though she hadn't noticed herself rising from the chair. "Sirius?"
His eyelids flicked, and he opened a pair of slightly misty eyes, that slowly cleared and fixed on her.
For a few moments, he looked at her as if he didn't recognise her, then a trembling smile showed at his lips, and he raised a hand towards her.
"Jas.." His whisper was rough, cracked and Jasmine interrupted him by placing her fingers over his mouth.
"Don't", she said softly, and managed a smile; his hand fell back on the mattress, "Madam.. Madam Pomfrey says you shouldn't speak for a while yet."
He nodded, and under her hand, his lips quit moving. With a strained little breath, Sirius closed his eyes, and kept them closed for so long, Jasmine thought he had gone back to sleep. But when she carefully stroke some wisps of hair out of his face, he smiled, and his hand rose to take hers.
For once, he was the cold one, and Jasmines little hand in his was warm. She smiled at this phenomenon, and without anything to say, she just remained as she were, standing by Sirius's bed, gently caressing the back of his hand with her free one, slowly warming it, until Madam Pomfrey in a determined way said that it was time for Jasmine to leave, and that she wouldn't tell her any more times.