The Light

Chapter 13- The Midnight Secret

"Magic is a fickle thing, Miss Granger."

That sentence was hardly the most welcoming thing for Sirius to wake up to. His mind was a blur, fuzzed and bleary, and he couldn't comprehend anything in the moment; the world spun, his vision had black spots invading it and he had no idea why the whiteness of his surroundings was that sterile.

In all honesty, Sirius didn't really focus on anything being said. He was still very much in the grasp of sleep, and he longed for it to take him once more. Consciousness was a state he could do without.

He heard an indignant huff. There was silence, then:

"There was something else I wished to speak to you about, something the boggart said." He recognised it as Dumbledore's voice. Why was Dumbledore here? "About you 'thinking you can change the world.'"

Confusion clouded his mind, and he instantly felt alert. Who felt they could change the world? No one replied for a while. He tried to level out his breathing, tried to play the part of a sleeping boy; it wasn't difficult- he'd done it plenty of times before. All you had to do was clear your mind, measure your breaths, monitor your face. Sleeping was such an easy escape to replicate.

"Professor, what are you trying to say?"

The air in Sirius' throat stopped half-way down to his lungs. He recognised the voice. It was Hermione's.

"I just ask for you to remember what I told you the last time we spoke. Regarding time, and how-"

"Dangerous things happen to those who meddle with it." Sirius couldn't help the frown that took over his face. He knew his muscles had frozen, and that it would probably give him away if one of them were to glance over. And yet he couldn't bring himself to relax. "I know, sir. I haven't forgotten."

Time? What did time have anything to do with... well, anything? And how could you meddle with it? It happened suddenly, a sickening feeling flowering in his stomach, growing, sprouting unease as it made its way up his body. The revelation hit him, and he felt winded by the blow, but it was inevitable; Hermione was hiding something.

Really, Sirius didn't know why that surprised him. The girl was practically a walking mystery, a bundle of nerve and bone and secrets. She fell from the Gryffindor Common Room ceiling for crying out loud! And yet, they all felt something for her- he felt something for her. But he couldn't think of it as a betrayal. It was not a betrayal. They'd only just met her, she was obviously suffering from the aftereffects of something, so it was natural for her to not want to tell them every little minor detail about her life, just yet, if ever. Sirius swallowed. He just hoped Hermione would tell them eventually. He felt they had a right to know. What that right was, however, was an entirely different question.

It wasn't a betrayal. Betrayal required a bond in the first place, if it was to be broken.

But you have a bond, a snide voice commented slyly. You have a bond with her. You all do. And yet you don't know why. Don't you think that's strange? You've only just met her and you'd lay down your life for her.

Sirius didn't want to think about this. It was something he hadn't allowed himself to mull over, lest it raise more awkward questions that he couldn't have the answer to, and that would just make him miserable. And he didn't enjoy being miserable when the situation didn't warrant it.

A door shut, and it jolted him out of his thoughts long enough for him to realise that it was just him and Hermione. Sirius wasn't sure how he felt about this.

He didn't even know where he was. Judging by the clean scent and thin duvet, he was in the Hospital Wing again. But why?

It came hurtling back to him; the lesson, the boggart, the harsh spitting truths, the complete and utter shut-down of his body.