A Touch of Black

chapter 10 - What Do We Do Now...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I sit. Waiting. Just waiting, that's all I can do. I sit hoping, and waiting that he'll wake up. It's been three days since Sirius was brought to the hospital wing.

Three days of waiting. I don't go to classes anymore, I sit here holding his hand...and hoping.

He doesn't move, or talk, he just sleeps. Madam Pomfrey doesn't know what to do, she's tried everything she can think of, but nothing seems to work. You would think him dead, for his breathing was so shallow that his chest barely moved at all. I never left his side, not to eat, not to sleep, the only times I ever left were if I needed to use the lavatory. James and Peter would bring me things to eat, and would stay with me for a while, but they didn't stay too long. I never saw Remus though, he didn't come to visit Sirius. I knew something was wrong with him, but I wouldn't dare leave Sirius in order to find out.

Lily dropped in too, she tried to get me to do things. She wanted me to go to class, come eat in the Great Hall, she wanted me to do something other than sit here and wait. But I couldn't leave him, I wouldn't leave him, what if he woke up! What if he woke up and I wasn't there?

The first three days that passed, Sirius showed no signs of recovering. His wounds still bled, and Madam Pomfrey feared that even with her magic, the wounds would be prone to infection. They were healing slowly. Upon further inspection by Maddam Pomfrey, the night Sirius was brought in, we learned that all along his body were deep scratches, and in some places there were even markings that resembled bite marks. Neither of us could come to an explanation as to why Sirius was like this, and then when we questioned the boys, they got weird expressions on their faces and mumbled things you weren't able to make out.

Horrible possibilities kept playing through my head. What if he didn't remember me, what if he never woke up, what if he died! I couldn't lose my best friend, I couldn't lose Sirius. Would he ever get better? Would his wounds scar him, would he be alright after his injuries healed. All of these thoughts were flying through my head continuously.

At one point, Madam Pomfrey became so desperate that she brought in some muggle machine. It supposedly showed the beating of his heart, she said it wall called a heart rate monitor. When she had hooked Sirius up to the machine, a line appeared on the screen and it would jump every time Sirius' heart beat. Sirius' heart beat was slow, but it was there, and it caused the machine to make a slow steady beeping noise.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was dreaming of us. He was okay, nothing had happened to him. We were talking quietly and wandering the castle after dark, using the Marauders Map and James' invisibility cloak. We were laughing and having a good time. Nothing was going wrong.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Miss Hawke" I drowsily opened my eyes and saw familiar blue eyes peering back at me at me. I quickly sat up, "Yes Professor Dumbledore?" He sighed as he took in my appearance, knotted hair, dark circles under my eyes, rumpled uniform. "Miss Hawke, I know that you're very worried about Mr. Black, but you must attend your lessons today."

I looked at him in shock, I had been dismissed from lessons ever since Sirius was admitted into the hospital, and now he was telling me I had to go? It wasn't fair, how could they expect me to just leave my sick friend for an entire day? "Please Professor, please let me stay." I silently shook his head, before making his way out of the room.

I sighed, standing up I quickly kissed Sirius on the forehead before making my way to the common room to get ready. Lily looked absolutely shocked when I entered, but didn't say anything when she saw the expression on my face. I quickly got changed, and skipped breakfast, heading straight for my first class.

The day dragged on slowly, I couldn't concentrate on my lessons. In transfiguration I accidentally turned my quill into a snake and not a umbrella like we were supposed to. In potions, my potion caught on fire, and started to produce a funny smelling cloud. And in muggle studies, the professor had to call my name five times to gain my attention, before she finally gave up.

Finally the day ended and I was free to go back to see Sirius. As soon as the lesson ended I gathered all of my books and ran back to the hospital wing. I quickly through open the doors and made my way over to his bed. I set my books down on the floor, before sitting back in my usual spot. I grabbed his hand in mine and squeezed it, it felt slightly colder than usual. But before I could come up with a reason for it, the other Marauders and Lily walked in. I was surprised to see that Remus was with them as well, I smiled warmly at him and he smiled back a little. He still looked upset for some reason.

They all stood around the bed and we talked for a while. The steady beeping of Sirius' heart could still be heard in the background. Suddenly it happened.

All of a sudden the monitor went wild. The beeping became faster, and the line was jumping quickly too, to quickly. It kept speeding up, getting faster and faster before it unexpectedly...stopped. I stared blankly at the monitor. The line was flat, and the beeping was now just a steady noise.

No.

He cannot be dead! Sirius can't die, he's my best friend, I love him! I jumped out of my chair and started to shake him. It's wrong, the machine is wrong! I could hear Lily sobbing behind me and James trying to comfort her, his voice also shaking. I heard Peter let out a little whimper, and Remus sat down heavily in the chair, looking completely devastated.

I looked down at Sirius, his skin was pale and cold. Dead.

Suddenly his body started to shake violently. I snapped my hand away, and watched helplessly as he moved. All of a sudden his body stopped shaking and it was silent again...until I heard a quiet groan.

Sirius slowly opened his eyes and looked at us all.

I don't know what came over me but I put my hands on both sides of his face... and kissed him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

***Author's note   SOOOO?!?! how was it? did I fool you? did you freak out? I was really sad when I wrote the part about him dying cuz Sirius is my favorite Harry Potter character :'(   Did you like it? did you like the ending? were you expecting it? did you see it coming?! It's Dedicated to Kylie0799 because of her persistent nagging Lol! don't worry I didn't mind! Thank her for the early-ish upload!! :D    Thanks to everyone that voted and commented for the last chapter! it means SOOO much to me!! and I LOVE all of you for it <3 So PLEASE vote AND comment for this chapter!! :D it would make me VERY happy! :D

Sooooo yup comment, vote, fan?? :D