Enter for the Quidditch League Competition - Daily Prophet Competition - Caerphilly Catapults - Beater 1

Prompt: Anapneo – [dialogue] "I don't want to scare you."

Word count: 596

and the touch of a hand lit the fuse

Sirius woke up with a start, sensing something on top of him.

"I don't want to scare you," the person sitting on top of him said, "but I need your help."

"And you thought the best way to do it was by sitting on top of me when I was sleeping? Never thought it could backfire and I would, I don't know, he's you?!" Sirius yelled the last sentence, throwing the person on the floor.

Sirius knew it was going to be a bad idea to get a flat alongside James, but at the time, it seemed like a good idea. The fact that James decided to spend many nights in his bed because he was lonely, did make him regret his decision a few times.

"Why do you think it would be wise to wake me up like that, James?" Sirius asked, but James didn't answer. "James? Are you for real? You start talking and then nothing; aren't you going to say anything?"

Sirius looked at James, but something wasn't right. The room was too dark, but he could see that James was having some trouble.

"James, mate? What's the problem now?" Sirius asked, before he turned on the lamp and saw James gasping for air on the floor. "James!"

Sirius' mind was blank, not knowing what to do to help James. Andromeda had made certain he knew all the spells needed in case of an emergency, but right now, every one of them was running from his mind.

"James, what-how-what should I do?" Sirius asked, even if James couldn't answer. He'd never seen James like that, and it was making him panic, not knowing how to help him.

"It's going to be okay, don't worry!" Sirius didn't want to make him panic even more than he already was. "Think Sirius, think!"

It was like someone whispered the spell he was looking for, because at that moment, he knew exactly what he needed to do. Taking his wand from the night stand, Sirius sent a prayer to Merlin, hoping his hands didn't shake when he did the wand movement.

"Anapneo," Sirius murmured, before moving his wand over James.

James took a deep breath and finally managed to breathe normally. "Thanks, Pads."

"Can you tell me what the hell just happened? You almost sent me to an early grave!" Sirius was practically yelling, but he didn't care.

"I was going to tell you something, but I decided to take a detour in the kitchen, and I was eating a piece of croissant, but when you pushed me into the floor, the croissant stuck in my throat." James looked at him. "I think you just saved my life."

James smiled and Sirius finally managed to breathe normally again. He stood up, and walked back to his bed.

"What was so important that you had to wake me up in the middle of the night?" Sirius asked, getting under his blankets.

James scratched his neck, in what Sirius knew was his nervous tick. "Remember that I don't want to scare you, but I think you should know something."

Sirius just stared at James, anticipating what he was going to say. Of course, he never imagined what came out of James' mouth.

"I'm dating your brother, and you'll see him during breakfast. Thought I should give you a heads-up," James said, smiling a little, before walking towards the door. "Remember, I love you!"

Sirius saw James running to his room, and he was almost sorry he saved his friend's life. He could always try to kill James during breakfast.