As impossible as the plan seemed, the three of us talked it through and stuck to it. After Fudge had entered the cabin – and we'd left – we had to hurry forward, drag Buckbeak to the Forbidden Forest, then move somewhere quieter to wait for Sirius to be taken to Flitwick's office. I wasn't entirely sure what we were supposed to do in the hours between that, but I didn't complain. So long as we managed to get Sirius out alive and in one piece.

"Look!" Hermione eventually breathed. "Here comes Fudge!" Harry and I shifted closer, peering over her shoulder to watch Dumbledore, Fudge and the executioner marching down the path.

"And look, we're leaving," I said, nodding toward Hagrid's cabin, where the back door had just opened and the other versions of ourselves and Ron stumbled into view, hesitating long enough for Harry to cover us in the Invisibility Cloak. I groaned. "How are we supposed to know when they've – we've left again?" Hermione just waved me away again.

But the moment the words had left my lips, the four of us shimmered back into sight again and I went rigid, staring at us with my jaw hanging. "Arty?" Harry's cautious voice came. "What's wrong?" I didn't answer him, staring at ourselves in shock.

I don't remember us ever losing the Cloak. In fact, I know we didn't lose it. But I could still see us as we walked slowly up the path, skirting around Dumbledore and the others. Ron was still having trouble controlling Scabbers, Hermione looked ready to be sick, Harry was struggling to keep us all hidden under the Cloak and I was getting more and more agitated.

"Oh, this isn't good," I gulped, blinking rapidly and still, I could still see through the Cloak.

"What?" Hermione frowned. "Arty, what's wrong?"

"I – I can see through the Cloak."

Harry and Hermione stared, exchanging a strange look. "You can what?" Behind them, Dumbledore was talking to Hagrid in a polite, clipped tone, and the group suddenly moved inside.

"I can see through the Cloak," I repeated, stepping around the two of them. "Now come on, we don't have much time."

"Arty," Harry started slowly. I waved at him to follow me as the Hippogriff lifted its head, watching me step into the pumpkin patch cautiously. Flicking my gaze to Hagrid's cabin quickly, I locked my eyes on Buckbeak's and bowed down low. Instantly, he bowed his head in return and tried to shuffle closer to me without standing up. Pursing his lips, Harry moved to stand beside me and imitated me. Again, Buckbeak bowed back, glancing between the two of us expectantly.

I stepped closer and ran a soothing hand down his neck as Harry hurriedly untied the chain from the post and pulled on it in an attempt to coax Buckbeak to his feet. The Hippogriff snapped his beak playfully, climbing to his feet. But raised voices from Hagrid's cabin made him turn and suddenly he was straining to get at Hagrid. "Arty!" Harry hissed insistently and I wrapped my hands around the chain he held, adding all of my weight. But Buckbeak just dug his heels in and pulled back.

"Here!" Hermione breathed from behind me, and my nose wrinkled when I realised she was waving a dead ferret in the air. Buckbeak squawked, eyeing Hermione cautiously then trotting forward to snatch the ferret from her gratefully. Harry and I stumbled back, catching ourselves before we hit the floor and leading Buckbeak to the edge of the Forest, with Hermione waving more ferrets at the Hippogriff as bait.

We'd barely made it out of sight when Dumbledore's voice travelled through the air toward us. "Come on," Hermione urged, clutching the last dead ferret reluctantly. "We need to keep moving."

"This way," I instructed, pointing the way. "We should have a clear view of the Whomping Willow from over there."

Leading Buckbeak from there was easy. Harry kept a tight hold on his chain, but the Hippogriff walked quietly and calmly beside him and Hermione. I hung back as far as I dared, forcing myself to breath evenly. Shivers kept racing across my skin and I stumbled a couple of times, catching myself against a tree trunk before either of the others could see. My panic rising, I had a horrible feeling that something terrible was about to happen, just as I knew there was no way to stop it and that sooner or later, Harry would be able to tell what was going on.

"Here," Hermione breathed, throwing herself on the ground in exhaustion and pointing across toward the Whomping Willow stood tall against the red glow of the sunset. "This'll do." Harry tied Buckbeak's chain around the trunk of a tree and lowered himself down opposite Hermione. Cautiously, I followed his example with pursed lips.

For a long time, the three of us were silent, watching the sun set in the distance, each absorbed by our own thoughts. I tried my best not to dwell too much on Sirius, or Lupin, or the way I could feel something building in the back of my mind. But, as predicated, eventually Harry realised something was wrong. I could see him shuffling out of the corner of my eye, debating with himself whether or not he should say anything.

Eventually, he sighed heavily. "You alright, Arty?" he asked slowly, leaning forward. "You look a little pale."

I glanced sideways at him, wondering whether or not to tell him the truth. But the small frown over his eyes and the way he seemed to expect more problems made me hesitate. "What happens if we can't help him?" I sighed eventually. "What if all of this is for nothing?"

He grimaced pitifully and my stomach twisted. "You have to think positively, Arty," he mumbled back. "We can do this. Think of everything else we've managed!"

"I guess. You know, before this year, I'd never given my parents much thought," I told him, and he shuffled awkwardly, staring intently at his feet. "I always thought that Mia and Luke were enough, and I'm not saying that they weren't, but . . . oh, I don't know. Mia just won't understand, how could she? It's not the same as talking to Lupin, or even Sirius."

"I get it," Harry nodded slowly. "So . . . you and Sirius are good?"

I blinked, pausing for a moment and scanning his expression. "I guess," I said again, the corner of my mouth twitching into a small smile. "He's not what I expected."

He snorted, smiling slightly. "Isn't that a good thing, considering we thought he was a mass murderer?"

"Obviously," I sighed with an exasperated roll of my eyes. "But . . . I've known him for all of a couple of hours, and the thought that he's about to be-" I cut off, my teeth grinding together again and another shiver ran down my spine, this time accompanied by a small shot of pain. "We've been beaten by Snape, Harry," I added with a dark snarl. "Snape!"

"We weren't beaten," he frowned. "And the Dementors won't take Sirius's soul. We're going to get him out of this, Arty."

"Hey, look!" Hermione suddenly gasped, scrambling to her feet and pointing toward the Whomping Willow again. At the base of the tree, I could see figures struggling to step back out into the night air below the clouds currently shielding a pearly, full moon.

"This is still freaking me out," I muttered, shaking my head. Harry and Hermione mumbled their agreement beside me, but the three of us stood on the spot and waited, watching the figures on the other side of the forest move around. I watched myself talk with Hermione and Sirius, and just like I'd felt back then, my chest constricted.

Then the past Hermione gave a shrill scream, and the three of us flinched. Shivering violently, I spun around. "I can't watch all that again," I muttered, refusing to watch the pain reappear in my Uncle's eyes. I could barely watch the first time around, I wasn't willingly to do it again.

"Erm Arty," Harry started nervously. "We need to move."

"No, Harry, we can't interfere!" Hermione insisted breathlessly. "We can't be seen!"

"That's not what I meant," he rushed. "We have a problem."

"Just one?" I gulped, but suddenly he had my arm held tightly and he was dragging me back to Buckbeak.

"Arty, Lupin is about to change into a hungry werewolf, and he's going to run right at us!" he said urgently. "We need to get out of here!" For a moment, the thought of being eaten alive by my own Uncle made me go rigid in fear.

"Head back to Hagrid's!" Hermione suggested. "If we rescued Buckbeak, I'll bet my life that he's out celebrating at the Hog's Head tonight!"

"Betting your life might not be the most sensible thing to do right now," I gulped, shaking myself roughly and helping Harry to untie Buckbeak's chains. As though he sensed our urgency, Buckbeak didn't fight against us this time. The moment Harry had the chain in his hands, we broke into a run, rushing as fast as possible through the trees.

The problem came when we realised that Lupin was following us. I couldn't bring myself to turn and check, but I could hear the werewolf's heavy panting and it's paws thudding after us, following either our scent or the noise we were making trying to break through all the branches on the floor. Buckbeak didn't help matters, squawking loudly every time Harry slowed to catch his breath.

"He's too close!" Hermione gasped, stumbling slightly as she ran.

Setting my jaw, I snatched my wand out of my back pocket and wheeling around, aiming for the ground. "Artemis!" Harry and Hermione yelled, but I waited anxiously until I could hear Lupin drawing in and the moment I caught sight of a large, furious creature shifting through the trees, I forced my voice to shout.

"Expulso!"

The ground exploded beneath the werewolf's paws and a whine made me flinch forward through the dirt flying through the air, but Harry and Hermione suddenly had one of my arms each. "Enough explosions," Harry frowned. "We need to go, now."

"But Lupin-"

"He'll be fine," Hermione assured me. "You didn't hit him, he'll just be a bit dazed, I promise. Now let's go!"

I didn't like it, but I turned and followed the others through the forest and this time, I couldn't hear the sound of Lupin's paws racing after us, though when his howl cut through our ragged breathing, I found myself sighing and rolling my eyes in relief. Still, I ran as fast as I possibly could, catching Hermione several times when she stumbled over a broken branch.

The moment we broke out of the forest I felt exposed. Pushing myself even faster, we rushed through the pumpkin patch and skidded to a halt outside Hagrid's cabin. Breathing raggedly with a painful stitch in my side, I peered through the window to make sure that no one was inside, then shouldered the door open.

Immediately, Fang was barking loudly and bounding around us excitedly, his tail banging on the table. "Shush, Fang!" Hermione pleaded, pushing him back gently and rubbing his behind the ears while Harry hauled Buckbeak through the door. The Hippogriff squawked at Fang indignantly, but lay down and curled up by the fire calmly.

"What now?" I gasped. Slumping into the armchair beside Buckbeak, my skin tingled and my head swam so fast the room tilted as if I were at sea.

"Now, we have to wait," Hermione replied, frowning at her watch. "In about an hour, we'll be waking up in the hospital wing. It won't be safe to move much before then."

"My father and uncle are out there trying to kill each other, and I have to sit here and wait?" I snarled through gritted teeth, my fists clenching when a spasm of pain rushed down my spine.

"Hey, relax," Harry insisted, taking my shoulders and forcing me to look at him. "We know Sirius gets out of this okay, and Lupin will be fine by tomorrow morning. All we have to do to help them is make sure we get Sirius out of Flitwick's office before anyone realises we're gone." He stared at me for a moment, like he was making sure I wasn't going to do anything stupid, then dropped his hands from my shoulders. "Stay here. I'll go and make sure everything's okay." Shooting Hermione a meaningful look, he turned and let himself back out of the cabin.

There were a few minutes silence, where Hermione caught her breath and I tried my best to push the pain away and ignore it. Unfortunately, it showed. "You need the hospital wing," Hermione told me sternly.

"Not got the time," I pointed out, my teeth still grinding together.

"But Artemis-"

"But nothing, Hermione!" I snapped with a flinch. Her face fell. "We travelled back in time! Until we meet our present selves at midnight, I'm stuck. Now please, stop lecturing me and let me concentrate." She took a breath and opened her mouth, probably to ask what I was concentrating on, but before she could say a word, a blinding light bombarded the window and the two of us turned away from it in surprise. For a moment, I felt my heart leap in panic and my eyes flashed a bright gold. But the light was white, not gold. Forcing myself to turn, I clambered to my feet with a wince and glanced out of the window.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked me.

"I don't know," I admitted. "I can't see anything and Harry . . . god, I can't see him."

"What-" she started with a gasp, but I'd already yanked the door open and bolted outside, racing toward the edge of the forest as fast as I could. Ignoring Hermione's calls from the door of Hagrid's cabin, I skidded around the trees and jolted to a halt when I caught sight of the source of the light. It was a Patronus in the form of a tall, proud stag stood on the pebbles in front of me. I just about had time to take a breath before an arm suddenly wrapped around my waist and yanked me back toward the trees.

"Ow!" I complained loudly as I was dragged to the floor behind a bush with a dull thudded. The landing sent shockwaves of pain through my body and my blood started to boil, not from anger but in agony as though it was trying to melt me from the inside out. Without a thought, I gasped and choked at the same time, and I only just made out Harry's face falling in front of me.

"We have an hour," he muttered at me. "You think you can make it?"

I nodded with a frown, the corner of my lips tugging. Between his reaction and Hermione's, his was much more helpful. "What about you?"

"Doing a lot better than you are," he dismissed, taking my arms gently and helping me back to my feet. "Come on. We'd better get going. There's Snape finding us across the lake." He pointed, and I had to strain to see properly without the light of the Patronus. But Harry was right. Snape was conjuring three stretchers for the other me, Harry and Sirius. "In about half an hour, Sirius will be in Flitwick's office. That means we then have an hour to fly Buckbeak to the window, break him out, and get back to the hospital wing."

"Right," I said, flexing each of my muscles cautiously. The pain was subsiding again, but the lingering feeling it left behind was almost as bad. I wasn't entirely sure I could hold it off for another hour, but what other choice did I have? The part that scared me the most was that I didn't know what was coming. Normally, I got a fever, or I got sick. The worst I'd had was a strange throat infection that made it hard to breathe. Now though, I knew this was worse. Much, much worse.

"What about the Patronus?" I asked, waving my hand slowly toward the spot the stag had disappeared from. "That's what saved us, I guess?" Harry nodded mutely, and I felt my eyebrows raising. "Harry . . . did you cast that?"

"I've never managed a full-bodied one before," he admitted.

"Really?" I blinked. "You . . . wow, that's impressive!"

"Well, I've done it before, right?" he shrugged with a small smirk.

"I guess so," I chuckled.

"Harry! Arty!" The two of us turned as Hermione skidded to a halt not far ahead of us, her face pale and her eyes wide. "Come on! We need to get going!" Gulping hard and forcing my body to respond, I took a deep breath and started forward, scowling at Harry when he hovered close to my side to make sure I didn't fall.

Hermione had pulled Buckbeak back out of Hagrid's cabin, and the three of us bowed to him again. When he bowed back, Harry helped Hermione climb onto the Hippogriff's back before turning to me. Still scowling, I took his hand and let him help me up behind her, ignoring the lingering pain on my spine. The moment I was settled, Harry leapt up behind me, his chest pressed against my back. For a moment, the pain seemed to subside. Then I took a breath and my lungs roared in protest.

Taking the reins, Hermione spurred Buckbeak forward and the Hippogriff broke into a run in seconds. With a loud squawk, he spread his wings and dragged himself into the air with an amazing grace. I found myself tightening my legs around his body to keep me still, sucking the cold, night air in through my teeth. Harry's arms wrapped carefully around my waist and the relief lasted all of a second. But the Hippogriff was soaring toward the castle and it wasn't long before we were there, hovering outside Flitwick's window. It was a couple of seconds before I saw Black.

He was slumped in the corner of the room, his head hung like he was in a depression. Harry's arms tightened briefly, before they slipped from my waist and he hammered on the window. Black jumped, lifting his head and widening his eyes. Hesitating only a moment, he leapt to his feet and hurried over.

"The window's locked," Hermione gulped, pulling at it.

I winced loudly as my stomach clenched. Harry faltered. I didn't miss the look he gave Black. "Hermione, you're a witch," I said through my teeth.

"Oh, right," she mumbled distractedly. Fire seemed to roar in my lungs, and suddenly my ribs murdered. It was getting harder and harder to breathe. Hermione had taken out her wand and was muttering things under her breath, but still the window wouldn't budge. "It won't open!"

"Try harder!" Harry insisted, glancing at me awkwardly.

"I am!" Hermione snapped angrily.

"Apparently not," Harry scowled.

"Oh for love of god!" I groaned loudly, yanking Buckbeak's reins back. The Hippogriff gave an indignant squawk and beat his wings back once. My hand stretched out and grabbed the window frame. The moment my skin touched it, there was a crackling like a sparkler on Bonfire Night. Moving my hand just in time, the frame gave a bang.

Something near my ribs cracked painfully and I let out a small yelp of pain.

"Arty," Black started, hesitating in the frame. Mouth clamped shut tight, I smacked Harry's thigh until he got the message. Mumbling about how stupid I could be, he shifted closer to me and turned to Black.

"Come on," he urged, taking Black's hand and helping him up behind him. I groaned quietly, blinking tears out of my eyes as I tried to breathe. It wasn't working. It was like I'd suddenly lost the ability to take in air. "Arty?" His arms were back around my waist.

"I'm fine," I snarled through my teeth, pressing against Buckbeak's side. He soared into the air with a beat of his wings, heading straight for the top of the castle. But every beat of the creature's wing sent uncomfortable vibrations through my upper body and I was positive something else was coming. Gritting my teeth, I focused everything I had on getting through the pain. It dulled slightly, enough for me to breathe at least. I figured I had about ten minutes, probably less, before I lost my hold. As though Buckbeak could sense this, he swooped toward the highest Tower with such speed, it felt like my skin was being pulled off my face. The second the Hippogriff touched the stone, Harry and Hermione slipped off his back.

"Artemis," Black croaked with a wince, jumping off Buckbeak's back and helping me down carefully. His eyes shone worriedly, his hand tightening and loosening in mine like he was scared of breaking me.

"I'm fine," I repeated with a determined nod. Harry shifted in the background, eyes narrowed slightly. "But you need to go." Black ignored me completely, wiping a thumb gently beneath my eyes. When he held it out for me to see, it was covered in blood. My heart leapt in panic, but I cursed under my breath and shook my head.

"Arty," he started again.

"You need to-"

"I'm not leaving you like this," he frowned, shaking his head in disgust. Harry and Hermione hovered in the background uncertainly.

"There's nothing you can do," I countered desperately. I'd just risked everything to get him, and I wasn't going to stand here and let him get caught again. I refused to watch him get locked up for something he didn't do. And right now, I was prepared to do anything to stop that happening.

"She's right," Harry gulped, edging closer like he could tell I was getting carried away. Black glanced back at him, shifting on the spot. Harry's face set and Black snorted quietly, his mouth twitching into a smirk.

"Please," I pleaded, staggering closer to Harry and Hermione and pulling myself from my father's grasp. "They'll just lock you up again!" Black turned to me, his expression torn. "Dad, please." He blinked in surprise, stunned into an uneasy silence. I guess he didn't expect me to call him Dad.

"Write," he instructed sternly, stepping forward and taking my shoulders firmly. I smiled half-heartedly, nodding. "If you ever need me-"

"I'll be fine," I promised with a weak smile. "Honest."

"I won't let anything happen," Harry promised him.

"Me neither," Hermione piped up. "Or Ron. I mean, he'd be here, but he's kind of unconscious."

Black grimaced. "Err, apologise for me, ey?" he asked.

I snorted. "Sure," I nodded.

His eyes bore into mine for a moment, then he glanced between Harry and Hermione. "You'll see me again," he promised the three of us. "Probably when you least expect it."

"Oh, you do surprise me," I sighed sarcastically, ignoring the threatening twinge in my side. Harry, however, didn't.

"Err, Sirius?" he said uncertainly. Black looked at him expectantly, but he just jerked his head toward me. Black's face straightened and he pulled me into a gentle hug quickly. Cheeks flushing slightly, I hugged him back tightly.

"Remus will be there as soon as he can," he promised me as he pulled back. "He'll know what's going on."

I knew I couldn't wait that long, but I nodded all the same. "I know, I'll be okay."

This didn't seem to reassure him much. "Artemis, I know I'm not a brilliant example, but promise me you won't do anything rash. These changes... they won't go away overnight."

"Dad, it's been nearly a year," I pointed out sourly. "I'm getting used to it." He winced, but took a deep breath and nodded. His eyes drifted to Harry and Hermione again and gave them a grateful smile.

"Watch out for her," he instructed, his eyes lingering on Harry a second too long. The two of them nodded furiously. Black smirked slightly at Harry, hauling himself back onto Buckbeak's back. Harry stepped forward, pulling me away gently. Black snorted. "You remind me a lot of James you know. He'd have been proud of you, especially on the Quidditch pitch." Harry didn't say anything, but Black smiled back at him. "Thank you for this, all of you. It was incredibly risky."

"Oh, apparently we live for that sort of thing," Hermione muttered disapprovingly.

Black chuckled. "I'll be seeing you," he promised, with a sparkle in his eyes that worried me slightly. Pulling Buckbeak's reins and urging the Hippogriff forward. With a squawk, Buckbeak spread his wings and took off, soaring into the sky. I watched, teeth gnawing on my bottom lip.

Eventually, when Black and Buckbeak had become a black dot in the distance, Harry took a deep breath. "We need to go," he instructed. "How long?" His eyes locked on mine.

I sighed heavily. "Err, about six or seven minutes," I shrugged, re-focusing my attention to blocking the latest change.

Hermione gulped, glancing at her watch. "We have ten minutes before Dumbledore locks the door," she said. "We can't go into the hospital wing any earlier than that, or we'll run into ourselves." Harry's jaw locked in irritation.

"Let's just move," I started, suddenly business like. "I'll hold it off for as long as I can, but we can't stand here for much longer. We need to move." The two looked like they wanted to argue, but gave me a single nod. Harry's hand tightened in mine again and he led me forward. I felt my cheeks flush as Hermione glanced at me, her eyebrows raised and a small smile playing at her lips. I scowled.

The halls of Hogwarts were blissfully empty. For a long time, we managed to get away with a quick walk. Until, of course, we had to stop and hide. And, as I should have known, Snape was the culprit of our misfortune.

"And the Kiss will be performed immediately?" he was asking Fudge. Hermione's hand clamped over my mouth from behind the door, sending me a stern scowl. We'd slipped into an empty classroom while the two men passed, but Snape's attitude toward my father was enough to make my blood boil. It didn't take me long to realise it wasn't the anger that made me feel like that. In fact, my lungs were on fire again and my ribs seemed far too feeble.

"Well, err, yes, yes I think so," Fudge said uncertainly. "But there are, err, a few things to take into account." There was a silence for a second, in which I made to slap Hermione's hand away and take a sharp, shallow breath. Harry glanced at me worriedly as my teeth sank into my bottom lip.

"I can't hold it much longer," I whispered softly, shaking my head as pained tears sprang into my eyes. Hermione whimpered, shuffling on the spot.

"Take into account?" Snape was questioning coldly.

"Well, err, yes," Fudge gulped. "It, erm, would seem his daughter has grown quite attached."

"And?" Snape snarled through his teeth, fuming.

Fudge hesitated. "There are, erm, people that, err, are worried about what, err, young Miss Williams will make of this. If she were to, err, cause problems..." Harry's eyes widened in front of me, and if I wasn't in so much pain, the thought of the Ministry being scared of me might have been funny.

"Are you telling me, that the Ministry will not allow justice to be served, because they are scared of a little girl?" Snape seethed, his words painfully slow.

"Erm," Fudge gulped. "Perhaps we should see Black, make sure things are moving along." Snape didn't say anything, but I could faintly hear their footsteps echo down the hallway.

"Harry, we have to run," Hermione muttered.

"What?" he hissed. "Hermione, have you looked at Artemis in the last minute?"

"Oh, of course I have!" she snapped back. "But if we aren't in the hospital wing in less than a minute-"

"I don't care!" Harry scowled. "Arty can't-"

"Oh just move!" I snapped, pulling him away from the door roughly and yanking it open. Peering outside quickly, I started into the corridor and broke into a run.

"Arty!" Hermione hissed desperately, but Harry was already sprinting after me. I skidded around the corner, down the stairs and along another few corridors before sliding to a halt before I could turn for the hospital wing.

I couldn't breathe. My lungs were on fire and it felt like someone was pressing into one of my ribs, the pressure increasing with every passing second. I was positive it would snap soon. And snap right into my lungs.

"Arty," Harry gulped, taking my arms and leaning me back against the wall. I didn't even notice how close he was stood, or that he was shaking just as much as me, but through fear rather than pain.

"Oh, please say something," Hermione breathed next to me. But I couldn't. Instead, I shook my head and leant to glance around the corner. I'd have felt relieved if I wasn't numb from the waist down as I caught sight of Dumbledore leaving the hospital wing, the doors closing behind him. Wrapping an arm around my waist carefully, Harry leant me against him and hauled me around the corner. Dumbledore stopped short at the sight of us, his eyes widening.

"In," he insisted, pushing the door open again. "I can't come in yet, but I'll be back after Fudge and Snape have realised Sirius is missing. I assume you were successful?"

"Yeah, he took Buckbeak," Hermione answered. Dumbledore smiled half-heartedly, then hurried us inside and shut the doors behind us.

Harry and I took all of one step before I screamed out in pain, legs giving way beneath me.

"Arty!" Harry exclaimed.

"Madam Pomfrey, quick!" Hermione squealed, shaking and running a hand through her hair. Suddenly, something seemed to pop inside me and I couldn't breathe. My vision was becoming hazy and I was in a panic, a natural reaction to the inability to take in air.

"Potter, you'll need to bring her here," I heard Madam Pomfrey say in a shaky voice.

"I-I can't," he stuttered back. "S-She's-"

"You can't make it worse, Potter," she assured him. Apparently, that did nothing to comfort him. But I didn't hear much else. Unable to breathe, I suddenly went light-headed and before long, darkness fell over me again and I was out of it.