The following evening Sirius received an owl from Harry when he was out on a date. The letter simply read: 'An emergency has come up. Please come here as fast as possible. Your godson' Sirius cursed his luck, the witch opposite of him was rather pretty, but with a fiery temper. He didn't know how she'd take being dumped in the middle of a date, but Harry went first.

And he was right, one hit to the face later he was rushing out of the restaurant, eager to avoid any hexes she might send after him. Out of the restaurant, he quickly apparated to the grounds of Potter manor. He rushed into the house, not bothering to knock, anxious as to what had happened.

There he found Ginny waiting for him, and he could hear Hermione and Harry arguing in the next room, even though Hermione's voice sounded somewhat trembled, something totally unusual for the witty witch, usually she always won her arguments.

"What's going on?", Sirius asked Ginny breathless.

"Well, it's Hermione. She's been having this pain and she nearly passed out today. She was over to drop something off for Harry and then she nearly blackened out. We told her she needs to see a doctor, but she's refusing to go."

"And, what exactly did you need me for then? You know, my date wasn't very pleased that I just got up and left, to say the least." Sirius looked at the younger witch indignantly.

"Well, Harry and I haven't had a day to ourselves in ages. This was supposed to be our night out", pleaded Ginny. "And we need someone to actually ensure that Hermione is going to the hospital and stays there until they figure out what's wrong with her."

"Oh, but it doesn't matter that good old Sirius might have had a date of his own, does it." That was a rhetorical question after all, but Sirius was clearly annoyed.

"You owe her something after all", said Ginny, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "She was the one to save you, so you do owe her big time. I don't think you ever properly thanked her for that, did you?"

"Well, I don't recall any of you telling her how brilliant she did either?", Sirius countered.

Ginny looked taken aback for a second, clearly not having expected him to answer to that. "Well, maybe none of us thanked her properly enough, but it wasn't my life she saved that day."

Sirius looked rather sulky, he didn't like people playing the 'guilt' card. He knew he owed Hermione big time, he just didn't want to admit it.

However, since his date had been ruined anyway, surely there would be no harm in taking Hermione to the hospital. After all, that shouldn't take too long, should it?

He went into the next room still in a bad mood, nearly slamming the door, only to find Hermione sitting on the couch, clearly in pain while Harry was standing in front of her, urging her to be sensible and go see a doctor. Hermione however was reluctant to do so, saying that she just needed a moment, and that the pain would most likely go away in just a few minutes. Yeah, bloody likely. Sirius remembered how Hermione had already been holding on to her side the evening before. Stupid, stubborn witch.

When Sirius made this rather loud entry, both Harry and Hermione looked up. Harry looked relieved that he'd come, while Hermione looked outright offended that Harry and Ginny had felt the need to inform him.

She was about to say something, but Sirius quite rudely interrupted her. "Get up, we're going."

It was quite obvious that Sirius was still in a bad mood, and for once Hermione didn't dare to retort. Good, that made things easier. Sirius was just eager to get this over and done with.

Harry mouthed a 'thanks' at Sirius, before he and Hermione left via floo powder to St. Mungo's.

There he was sitting in the waiting area while Hermione was taken into a room for examination. A nurse emerged from said room shortly afterwards, looking for him.

"You're Miss Granger's boyfriend?", she addressed him.

"No!", exclaimed Sirius, somewhat shocked at the idea. "She's my godson's best friend", he called out.

"Alright, be that as it may", the nurse looked slightly irritated, clearly confused as to how his godson's daughter could be the same age as him. Sirius rolled his eyes inwardly, how could anyone not have heard of Hermione or him? He was about to question her when she interrupted his stream of thought. "Miss Granger suffers from appendicitis. Usually that wouldn't be too great of a problem. However, she seems to have ignored all the symptoms thus far and we're no longer able to stop the infection simply by healing methods. That means, she will actually have to undergo surgery. Since we muggles actually have far more advanced methods in that area and Miss Granger has already given us her consent, we'll do that the muggle way." Ah, she was a muggle, that explained it.

"Any further questions?", the nurse inquired.

"Well, how long is the whole thing going to take?", Sirius asked.

"Well, it's actually just a minor surgery, at least usually. However, considering that things are a lot further progressed than usually with Miss Granger, she'll have to stay here at least for a day for observation. It also seems she has seriously overworked herself, she looks very drained, not the best preconditions really. The operation itself won't take too long, as long as there aren't any complications. Right now, Miss Granger is being anesthetized. She might be slightly disorientated when she wakes up after the operation, so it'd be good if she'd have a – friend there."

"Alright, I'll wait", said Sirius, sighing. He didn't really feel like spending his evening in a hospital. Suddenly a voice behind them interrupted their conversation. "Sirius Black? Oh my god, this is Sirius Black, I can't believe it."

Oh crap, he really didn't need this, but what had he expected? Walking into a place full of wizards and witches and not being recognized? Not bloody likely.

The nurse's eyes widened when she finally recognized just who exactly was standing in front of her and who the patient inside was. Of course she'd heard all about them.

"Would you like to wait for Miss Granger in her room", she asked Sirius quietly. The latter nodded gratefully, desperate to get away from the squealing teenage girl that had addressed him.

The nurse hadn't promised too much, Hermione's operation didn't last for much longer than half an hour. Sirius was awakened from his light slumber when they wheeled the bed with the still sleeping Hermione into the room. She looked a bit pale, he noticed and wondered whether that was due to the operation or to the stress the witch put herself under. For once he was grateful for both of their celebrity status, since Hermione had therefore been granted a room of her own.

He followed the operating doctor outside, who had arrived a minute later and who had motioned for him to come outside.

"The operation went alright, no complications. The anesthetics should wear off very soon, however, it is quite likely that she won't even wake up, her imposed sleep simply turning into a natural one. Even though her situation is most stable and there shouldn't be any future problems, we won't release her for at least another day. Miss Granger has put herself under too much stress, so it seems, and that definitely didn't do much good to her health. For her to fully recover, she needs to relax and she shouldn't go back to work for at least another week."

Sirius nodded and said his thanks to the doctor before he went back inside and moved the chair he'd been sitting in before next to the bed. Just how exactly was he going to tell the stubborn witch that she wasn't allowed to work for at least a week.

Just then a thought crossed his mind. He knew she would be mad at him, but there would be nothing she'd be able to do about it afterwards. She probably wouldn't wake up until the next morning, so he had enough time on his hands.