"No!" I whispered, grabbing Sirius's hand and clutched it like a lifeline. "No, no, no... Padfoot, wake up, Padfoot! Sirius- please get up, wake up..."

"James, he isn't...?" Remus asked, knocking me back to my senses. I quickly checked Sirius for any signs of life, hoping desperately that he was indeed alive.

"He's alive," I sighed, wiping my moist eyes. "We've gotta get help."

"Yes, of course," said Professor McGonagall. An Auror whom I recognized as Alastor Moody walked forward, looking slightly disconcerted by Sirius's still form.

"I've got a emergency portkey to St. Mungo's," he declared, handing me a sheet of parchment. "Go. Take care of your friends. If your father taught me anything, it's-"

"Constant vigilance," I replied mechanically. I didn't even have time to thank him as Sirius and I were whisked away. Just my luck, the Healer on duty was none other than my mother.

"Jamie!" she cried, before spotting Sirius and covering her mouth in surprise. "What happened to him?"

"I don't know," I said gravely, the emotionless mask that I'd had after Sirius's death in my timeline creeping back onto my face. "Please, help him."

"I'll do my best," Mum murmured, taking Sirius from me. I held on to him for as long as I could, my arm still extended as his hand slipped out of mine. When he was out of sight, I walked unconsciously to the Floo and flooed to the Gryffindor common room. It wasn't until I saw Regulus's worried and hopeful expression that I lost it. I collapsed into the couch, sobbing, not caring who saw me. Regulus and Lily were at my side instantly.

"What's wrong? Is it Remus?" Lily asked nervously. "Jamie?"

"I-it isn't R-remus," I replied shakily. "This is a-all my fault, I should've- should've- there had o of been s-something I could have done!"

Regulus seemed to be putting two and two together, and his eyes widened. "Something happened to Siri."

He said it in the same emotionless tone I'd used earlier.

"I-I was so scared!" I sobbed. "I thought h-he was d-dead at first! H-he was still a-and pale a-a-and there was so much blood!"

"Siri," Regulus whimpered. I pulled him into a hug, and he started sobbing into my shirt. I felt even more horrible; it was my fault Sirius had been hurt. I shouldn't have left him.

"It isn't your fault, Jamie," Lily soothed, rubbing my back. "How- how bad...?"

"I don't know," I whispered. "I left after Mum took him away. It was- bad..."

"I'm scared, Jamie," Regulus muttered. "What if he dies?"

"He won't," I declared, even though I wasn't sure how true my statement was. "He can't."

"James," Lily said softly, and I looked up to meet her tearful green eyes. "He can."

It was an hour before we had any news on Sirius. Remus had returned to the common room, along with a very confused Peter and a very apologetic Snape.

"I'm really sorry, I should have been more careful- kept an eye on him better... I don't know what I was thinking, I really didn't mean for him to get hurt-"

So apologetic, in fact, that we couldn't get him to shut up until my mum walked through the fireplace.

"Hello, kids," she greeted, a strange expression I couldn't place on her face. "Well, I've got good news and bad news."

"Good news first please," Peter piped in nervously.

"Sirius will live," Mum declared, and Regulus let out a joyful shout.

I beamed, before narrowing my eyes. "What's the bad news?"

"The bad news," Mum sighed, and she bit her lip. "Well, we'll be keeping him in St. Mungo's for a while and..."

"And...?" Regulus coaxed, his mood thoroughly dampened.

"And we know for a fact there will be brain damage-" Mum caught my and Regulus's horrified looks. "It may just be memory loss," she assured us. I leaned back heavily into the couch. "We don't know how much. It could just be the attack."

"Right," I said. "And worst case scenario?"

"Worst case scenario..." Mum frowned pensively, before sighing. "I think you know, Jamie."

I swallowed, closing my eyes tightly. "Yeah. I think I do."

"I don't!" Regulus mumbled, leaning against me. "I'm scared."

"I know, Reg," I replied, putting an arm around him. "So am I..."

"Don't worry," Mum said, futilely trying to comfort us. "We'll do the best we can, I'm sure Sirius will be just fine."

"There's only so much you can do if he isn't sane," I muttered darkly; beside me, Regulus stiffened. "I never should have let him leave in the first place. This is all my fault."

"It's not, Jamie," Regulus declared. "I don't blame you, and I know Siri wouldn't."

"Regulus is right," Remus agreed. "Padfoot wouldn't blame you. Padfoot would either blame Voldemort or, well, let's face it, himself."

"He can't blame himself!" I exclaimed, sitting up suddenly. "That's- that's insane!"

"Well, we all know he might be," Snape pointed out. Lily narrowed her eyes, stomped over, and slapped him across the face. "Ow!"

"If you don't have anything nice to say, maybe you should leave!" Lily growled.

"I was just pointing out the obvious!" Snape defended himself, before grimacing, and turning to Regulus and I. "Er... sorry... that was kind of tactless of me."

I gave a dry, mirthless laugh. "Don't worry. You've apologized enough today."

"Well, I better get going," Mum said miserably, obviously just upset as I was. She turned to the fireplace, and paused, glancing back at us. "Everything will be alright. You'll see. Be strong; for Sirius."

With that, she stepped into the fireplace and disappeared in a flurry of green flames.

"Things are really spiralling out of control, aren't they?" Lily sighed, sitting down beside me. "Maybe we never should have come back..."

"No!" I cried. "No, because then Voldemort would still be winning and Sirius would still be dead. At least this way he's alive. We saved your parents, didn't we? Sirius is going to be fine! He has to be fine!"

"James is right," Regulus agreed. "You've obviously done some good, right? Like Aunt Carol said, it might not even be that bad. Sirius has got to be okay, he's strong!"

"And Voldemort isn't winning," Snape added. "You've stopped a lot of attacks, haven't you?"

"But there've been others!" Lily retorted dejectedly. "Our attempts to change things are backfiring. What if we can't save the future? What if we make it worse?"

"You won't," Peter said determinedly. "And it isn't just you two. You have me and Remus and Sirius and Regulus and Dumbledore and McGonagall and Snape and James's parents. We're all in this together."

"One for all and all for one," Remus smiled. "Look, it's going to be alright."

Lily bit her lip. "I hope you're right."

"Any news?" Snape asked me in an undertone. We were in Potions; it had been two days since Sirius had been taken to St. Mungo's, and we still had no idea if he'd be alright.

"None," I admitted miserably. "This is horrible."

"I know," Snape agreed quietly. "I feel guilty."

I snorted mirthlessly. "You have no idea."

"At least you have no real reason to feel guilty," Snape continued. "I was busy fighting on my own while he was being attacked. I should have been watching his back. I'd bet he was watching mine."

"Knowing Sirius," I nodded. "Don't worry; I don't blame you- you've every right to hate him (and me, for that matter) because of how we treated you."

"It's in the past," Snape replied uncomfortably.

I looked at him for a moment. "I really am sorry for that. I was a git before... well, before what happened. Lily's told me time and time again."

"She would," Snape smirked slightly. "That's just like her."

We sat in companionable silence for a while, working quietly on our potion. My mind started drifting. What if Sirius lost all his memories? What if he couldn't remember me? What if he wasn't sane? I didn't know what I'd do... it would be like losing him all over again. I hated feeling this helpless; the last time I'd felt like this, Sirius had died. I desperately hoped that wasn't some sort of sick premonition, especially considering the universe seemed to hate me.

"Well done, boys!" Slughorn boomed jovially, passing by our table. He examined our potion, which was perfect thanks to Snape's adeptness at the subject. "See, this is how it's done!"

"It was all Severus," I declared.

"Actually, James helped out a lot too," Snape countered. The entire room stared at us; they were obviously dumbfounded to see Severus Snape and James Potter not only getting along, but also giving each other credit for class work.

"Hmm, I was positive you two hated each other," mused Alice, the young Gryffindor girl Frank Longbottom fancied. "And that hatred would be passed down to James's son when James was murdered."

I gave her a weird look, and she gave me a dreamy smile.

"But apparently I was wrong," she declared. "I think that was what I thought, anyways. I can't quite remember."

She then went back to working with her partner, oblivious to the stares.

"Well," coughed Slughorn awkwardly. "Good job, boys. Feel free to leave," he fixed me with a stare and lowered his voice. "I daresay you'd like to try and check on your friend, Mr. Potter?"

"Yeah," I nodded. Slughorn smiled, and beckoned for me to go. I shrugged, and left the room, running to the Gryffindor common room. A thought struck me: what if they wouldn't let me see him?

I nodded to myself, and went upstairs to grab my invisibility cloak, before flooing to St. Mungo's. I walked calmly up to the witch at the front desk. "I'd like to see Sirius Black."

"He's in room 207 in the Reversible Spell Damage Ward," she said dully. "But you can't go up there. They aren't allowing visitors right now. Sorry, kid."

"Oh. Alright," I said, trying to look disappointed, before leaving the room and slipping on my invisibility cloak. I snuck my way up to Sirius's room, all the way on the fourth floor- I was just glad he wasn't in the ward for irreversible spell damage. Luckily, there was no one in there when I opened the door- that'd of been a sight. I caught sight of Sirius's bed at the end of the room, and walked over, pulling up a chair. I sucked in a sharp breath.

Pale and still, save for the rise and fall of his chest, Sirius looked to be asleep. Had it not been for several small cuts on his face, I'd've thought nothing wrong with him. But, looking closer, I could see that he was paler than usual, and his breathing was strange; not like the steady breathing he had when he was asleep.

"Hey, Pads," I said softly. "Guess it isn't much use talking to you if you're unconscious, huh?"

No response, as expected.

"Everyone's missing you," I continued. "Snape feels real bad about what happened. But you don't blame him, do you, Padfoot? Do you blame me? I never should have left you alone..."

More silence. It was unnerving; Sirius was one of the most talkative people I knew.

"I wish you'd wake up," I admitted. "I wish you'd sit up and tell me that I'm being a weak idiot, and that you're absolutely fine."

I sighed.

"But you aren't fine," I added. "You can tell me that all you want, I'll never believe you."

I sat there awkwardly for a few moments, realizing I was pretty much talking to myself.

"I miss you," I murmured. "So does Reggie. Life isn't the same without you. Classes are even more boring and dull. If- when you get back to school, we'll have to do some serious pranking."

I paused, subconsciously waiting for the typically inevitable pun.

"I even miss that stupid joke," I muttered, sighing bitterly. "Please wake up, Sirius..."

Suddenly, I heard a tiny groan. Could he be waking up? My eyes snapped to Sirius's pale face, as his grey eyes fluttered open.

A/N: Cliffhanger! Again! But, at least Padfoot is alive. Now you probably want to know if he remembers anything. :P Okay, so I am a little evil. I'm so glad- 25 chapters! Big thanks to Theta-McBride, Accalia Silvermoon, CuriousGuest, sk8boards4ever, jeremiah123, N. E. Person, and siavault1018 for your reviews! Free cheesecake that you can share with poor Siri (unless, of course, you'd like to eat the cheesecake)! I hope you guys enjoyed, and are less likely to kill me now!

I still do not own Harry Potter.