Remus ran a hand through his unkempt hair and sighed loudly. He could see the healers nearby eyeing him tiredly and shaking their heads at each other. He knew why this was, too. He had been staying at the hospital ever since school had closed for the summer. That had been June, and it was now September. His parents had, of course, visited him and they had attempted to persuade him to come home. But he couldn't. Coming home would mean admitting defeat and abandoning Kendra and he couldn't do that to her - or more selfishly - himself.

The doctors had given her a slim chance of survival because she had been in a coma for so long, but he knew that he would stay by her side until… until it ended. Either she would wake up, or she wouldn't.

He would have cried, but he had used up all his tears months ago. Now he could just sigh, and wonder why the world was so unfair.

Remus didn't even know what she was to him anymore. Before she had fallen asleep, and into the coma, she had forgiven him and he had done the same for her, and she had become his girlfriend again. But would she still feel the same way about him when she woke up? If he had moved faster, if only he had realized she wasn't just asleep! Would things have turned out differently?

And of course his friends had come and visited, but they didn't agree with his idea of staying with Kendra, so they had gone home at the end of their visit. He had their latest owls and apparently Lily had only just found out about her friend's hospitalization, and the three of them - James, Sirius and herself - were planning on visiting St Mungo's tomorrow and 'dragging' him out of there. He wasn't looking forward to that - James and Sirius really didn't understand how he felt about Kendra. If they put themselves and their respective girlfriends in his situation, he was sure that they would change their minds entirely.

A sudden beeping on Kendra's monitor interrupted his thoughts, and his whole being came fully alive and awake when he saw her heart monitor, which had been steadily scrawling across the screen for months. It was now leaping all over the place, and the beeping was getting louder.

He leapt up and grabbed one of the healers that now surrounded her bed.

"What's going on?" he asked desperately, his eyes flashing as he demanded an answer.

The healers brushed him off and glared at him. "Leave this to the professionals, or I'll have to ask you to leave."

More healers were arriving, drawn like bees to honey at Kendra's bedside. She could be dying and he didn't know. He had no idea!

"No!" he roared angrily, pushing the healers aside, drawing on his inner wolf that came out once a month. "Something's happening to her and I want to know why!"

There were security guards hauling him to his feet and across the room. They were taking him outside, away from Kendra.

"KENDRA!" he yelled, struggling furiously. "No! KENDRA!"

And then he was outside, banned from the hospital for the rest of the week. Now he found he was able to cry, and he felt warm tears sliding down his cheeks as he crumpled up into a heap by the entrance to St Mungo's.

What would my friends say if they could see me now?

xXoXx

Lily entered the room next to hers, in which her best friend was being tended to. Mel was sleeping fitfully, obviously catching up on much needed rest, but this did not stop Sirius worrying about her. As much as he protested that he didn't care about her anymore, it was clear to both Lily and her boyfriend that he really did still love her. She wondered if Mel suspected this, because from what her friend had told her before the holidays, she had gotten over Sirius Black.

She walked over to Mel's bedside and sat down in the chair opposite Sirius.

"Rough day, huh?" he muttered, allowing his head to fall forward into his hands.

She chuckled quietly. "Yeah, James is really getting it in the neck from Jake."

Sirius snorted. "Getting it in the neck?! You can hear them from up here, Evans."

"Lily," she reprimanded, but she smiled anyway. Sirius could make even a grumpy dragon smile, she mused.

And sure enough, when she listened hard enough she could just hear James yelling something about, "Not that big a deal… It wasn't dangerous…"

After James had gotten back into the house the night before after his little stroll in the garden, Jake had really started laying into him. Lily felt conflicted - on the one hand, Jake was so simply right, and on the other, James was her boyfriend - but she had stood firm and stuck by Jake when James had looked to her for help. As a result, he had been sour all morning and he had only come up to check on Mel once.

"Yeah, well, I'm never gonna get used to that," Sirius grumbled, but she could tell he was only teasing her. "You know," he mused, putting a finger on his chin as if in deep thought, "I think Evans suits you a whole lot more than Lily."

She pulled her wand out jokingly, and pointed it at him.

He laughed loudly. "Geez Ev- Lily!" he rectified, seeing her murderous expression.

"That's better," she said, stowing her wand away in her jeans pocket. "So I guess the whole Remus thing is postponed?"

Sirius jumped up so fast it looked as if he had just discovered he had been sitting on a pin. "Remus! St Mungo's! Oh sweet Merlin - how could we forget?"

"You'd forgotten?"

"Oh shit," he moaned, "I can't believe it!" He laughed suddenly, but this was a different kind of laugh to the kind his earlier laughs had been. He sounded cynical and sarcastic, as if he was thinking something ironic. "I mean, here I am, caring for my ex-girlfriend and forgetting all about one of my best mates!"

"You don't have to do this," she reminded him. She pitied him intensely, but in a sad, twisted way she was glad it was him and not her that had to go through the emotional heartbreak of unrequited love. "She won't forgive you for it."

He stared at her, hard. "What are you saying?" he asked roughly, all traces of humour gone from his voice.

She scoffed. "Oh come on, Black! You can't possibly even try to deny it. You still love her - it's obvious! I can see the way you look at her, heck, even James can see it!"

He had stiffened noticeably during her speech. "So?"

"She's moved on, Sirius." She spoke more quietly now, urgently. "She doesn't want you any more because you broke her heart! So please, for her sake and yours, just get over her. Forget her!"

"I can't," he said quietly, intensely. His face was pale and she could tell he really meant what he said. "Believe me, I've tried. I've kissed other girls since we broke up, but when it came to sex… I just couldn't! Do you know why?" He gave a bitter laugh. "Every time I touched the girl, I thought of her. Can you even imagine what that was like for me? Can you even comprehend it?"

"No, but-"

"THEN DON'T PRETEND YOU DO!" Sirius was well and truly worked up now, as he vented the feelings of frustration and loneliness he had been feeling ever since he had broken up with Mel. "YOU DON'T KNOW A DAMN THING ABOUT ME, EVANS! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT MY LIFE'S BEEN LIKE, OR HOW I FELT WHEN SHE THREW MY RING BACK IN MY FACE, AND YOU MOST CERTAINLY DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT YOUR SO-CALLED BEST FRIEND! Did you even know she refused to screw me? Did you know anything about her being disowned? She must've hated her family, Evans, just like me! But in a whole six years she's never told you!"

Lily stared at him for a long moment. She could vaguely feel the tears slipping down her face, but her mind was lost to her thoughts. What Sirius had said was true and that was why it had hurt her so much. It was hard for her to admit it, but he was right.

She turned on her heel and stormed out of the room, but not before retorting angrily, "Well at least I know why she won't screw you, Black!"

Dinner that night was a muted affair. James and Jake were glaring at each other steadfastly, and Lily and Sirius were doing the same. The tension in the room was stifling, and so Lily felt she had to say something.

"I made Head Girl," she finally said, allowing herself a small smile for this great achievement. She had thought perhaps Lisa Eddison, from Ravenclaw… or maybe Anne Goyle, the Slytherin…

But no, she had gotten her Hogwarts letter a few days prior to coming to the Potter Mansion, and there had been an extra badge, and an extra letter to read. She hadn't been that happy in a while, because of Chloe's death.

She glanced up to see James give Jake a smug look, and then her boyfriend spoke, joy lighting his surly features.

"Well done, Lils! Do you know who the Head Boy is?"

She heard Sirius give a snort from across the table, but she shook her head dumbly.

"Well, would you believe that I-"

"Yeah, yeah, you poor thing Prongs," Sirius interrupted, still scowling at Lily. "You'd have to be fucking mental to want to spend a whole year in a dorm with Evans."

His words stung, but the implication behind them was clear: James was Head Boy. James was her co-Head!

She let out a squeal and hugged him happily. "Wow, James! I'm so proud of you! This year's gonna rock!"

He smiled at her, "Yeah it is, isn't it?"

Sirius pretended he was going to be sick and made vomiting noises, but the girl he was trying to get to did not have to yell at him because her boyfriend and his best mate did it first.

"What the fucking hell's your problem?" James hissed at his best friend dangerously. Sirius could see how angry James was, and so he tried to play it down.

"Prongs… I didn't mean it like that, it's just-"

"He can't listen!" Lily interjected furiously, her lips drawn together in a frown.

"You can't run my life!" Sirius retorted tempestuously, standing up from the table and facing her.

"Well you JUST WON'T ACCEPT HELP FROM ANYONE!"

"MAYBE I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP, EVANS! I'VE MANAGED JUST FINE ALL MY LIFE AND NOW YOU COME ALONG AND YOU WANT TO CHANGE EVERYTHING!" Sirius shouted back, enraged. "Just fuck off and do the world a favour, Evans!"

"Scourgify! That'll teach you to badmouth me, Black! And if you ask me, your last name reflects your personality."

"Impedimenta! Nobody did, Evans! Just face it - no one wants your help!"

And then they were duelling, hard and fast, while Jake, James and Allison looked on, astounded.

"Stupefy! You'd be surprised, Black!"

Lily's stunning spell missed Sirius by an inch, and they continued their fight with renewed energy.

"Avis! Well if you had helped the one person who needed it, Kendra wouldn't be lying in St Mungo's right now!"

"Protego!" James yelled, and immediately a large shield charm forced Sirius and Lily to stop their duel. The sudden quiet was unusual, and he found it unsettling.

"Now, what the hell is going on here?"

Jake and Allison exchanged a look and both left the table.

"You three got yourselves into this mess, so I suggest you find your own way back out," Jake said ominously.

"Just don't break any of the furniture," Allison rectified.

The moment his aunt and uncle left, James leapt back into action.

"You two just started duelling, for Godric's sake! What are you, five?"

"And what about you today?" Sirius reminded him with more than a trace of ire in his voice. "You weren't exactly acting cordially to Jake, were you?"

"Pads, don't change the subject!" James exclaimed. "Why are you two fighting? Lily?"

"I really don't see how it's any of your business," she said in a strange, clipped tone that he didn't like one bit.

"Well, yeah, I am your boyfriend, and Sirius just happens to be my best mate," James replied sarcastically. "Oh sure, of course I don't have any right to demand to know why you're fighting, do I?"

"Stay out of this, James," Sirius warned. "This is between me and her."

"Her has a name, you know," Lily said, her hands balling into fists at her sides.

"Yeah, and I'm not planning on using it," he replied, sneering at Lily.

"Grow up, Black! Why don't you just-"

"SHUT UP THE BOTH OF YOU!" James cried loudly, and was surprised to find that Lily and Sirius had both stopped arguing and had turned to look at him expectantly.

"Sirius, maybe you should-"

Sirius scoffed. "I should've known you'd take her side, Prongs. You're bloody whipped by her, is what you are."

"Look, mate, I'm not taking Lily's side! I don't even see why you would think that!"

"So you don't believe me?" Lily whispered, all the hurt she was feeling evident in her green eyes.

James sighed, futilely attempting to smooth down his unruly hair. "I don't know, Lil, I just don't know! You two are making it really hard for me, d'you realize that?"

Lily glared at him. "I can't believe you!" she steamed, before running out of the room.

Sirius just stood there awkwardly, shifting from foot to foot. "Looks like you're in a bit of hot water there, Prongs."

James nodded curtly.

"Hey, I'm sorry," Sirius offered, giving James a tiny smile.

And suddenly they flew into each other's arms. They both breathed a huge sigh of relief when they realized that they still had their best friends, and as they clapped each other on the back, they remembered what it was like to have a friend.

Wow - I updated!! Finally! Well this was a fairly big chapter: first of all something's happened with Kendra, and now Lily's fighting with everyone!

Next chapter will involve Mel waking up, and yet more Remus/Kendra action...

So, till then,

xx

Baby seal