minnow // sirius black

sixteen

16 :  Hogwarts

James carried me onto the train, laying me down in the furthest compartment that he could find. As soon as I was laying down, I started coughing, so he sat me up.

"Stand at the door," James told Sirius. "Make sure that Lily, Peter and Remus aren't obviously sick."

Sirius obeyed, his eyes betraying how utterly useless I knew he felt. Arlo had told Dad that until I was out of the groggy state, my immune system couldn't handle an overload of foreign bacteria. So James was the only one allowed near me until I could speak on my own. Arlo said that the potion had stripped my immune system, and was currently forcing it to rebuild itself with the proper antibodies and good bacteria. It was a rough cycle because that is a lot to put a body through - especially an already weak one.

It would not affect James as much as it did me.

James' immune system was nearly identical to mine, so the bacteria he had naturally was the most similar to what I was supposed to have. Due to that, James was the only one allowed to take me to Madam Pomfrey to take the potion, and the only one allowed to take me back to the dorms, and Lily was no longer allowed to sleep in the same room with me, so they moved her into the 7th year dorm.

Lily had told us this, when she was cleared to come into the compartment, not feeling feverish, nor having a runny nose or a cough.

"What the hell, Sirius?" She had exclaimed as he pressed the back of his hand against her forehead.

"You feel healthy? No cold, no cough?"

"I'm not sick," She said, her voice clearly as confused as possible. "Why?"

"You're good."

She had shoved past him, rolling her eyes. She immediately tried to come and hug me, but James shook his head. She made a face that was clearly offended, and annoyed.

"No hugs allowed," I said, my words still slurred, but clear enough to be worked out. "James is my bacteria guard. He's my temporary immune system."

"Her immune system is basically non-existent. But of course, she's Jemina, so she just had to come to a place with nothing but bacteria and sickness," James said, clearly beyond annoyed. "She's not allowed to be too close to other people until she's clearheaded."

"But she's near you?"

"My immune system is the closest to hers as possible, any bacteria she gets from me she should already have in her body. There is very little foreign antibodies and bacteria in me. They gave her a potion that stripped her immune system to nothing, and is currently rebuilding it."

"Is that why they moved me to the 7th year dorm?"

"I'm quarantined!" I exclaimed, a bit playfully.

Nobody seemed amused.

"Probably," James said, ignoring me. "Arlo said that after she takes the potion - which will be at night so she can sleep through this - she can't be exposed to new bacteria."

"So why is Sirius being sickness patrol? She seems to be clearing up," Lily asked, her eyebrows raised.

"If I even get the flu," I said as I shifted the way I was sitting, without help. "It can kill me."

"And you're coming to Hogwarts?"

"Mum and Dad should have told Dumbledore she couldn't come, that she needed to be home schooled," James grumbled. "But she is Jemina, she cares more about school than her health."

"James," I said, furrowing my eyebrows and trying not to get upset. "I didn't know until this morning, neither did Mum or Dad. Arlo wouldn't have let me get into the car if he thought I was in serious danger. I'm not a bloody idiot, I won't put myself in a situation where I could get sick."

"I don't believe you that you didn't know," James said, not looking at me. "You've been acting weird all summer."

"Maybe because I nearly died," I snipped. "That takes a toll on a person's mental stability."

James ignored me, and I scoffed. I suppressed the urge to leave, as I couldn't go to another compartment and risk getting sick.

Remus was passed to come through, and Lily had to inform him of the situation, as James refused to talk, and I was too angry. With all of the stress I was already under, my emotions were incredibly heightened. When I was angry, I was very angry. When I was even a little sad, I was sobbing.

And right now, had my wand not been in the thin pocket at the bottom of the left leg of my pants, I likely would've hexed him.

I didn't know that my immune system was shot, I had no idea that coming back to Hogwarts was as dangerous as it was. Had they found the abnormality a few days ago, I would've told Mum and Dad that I wasn't going back to Hogwarts.

I cherished the little bit of life I had left, and I desperately wanted to spend as much as I possibly could happy.

Not so pissed off at my brother, that even when my wand was out of reach, the bottom of his pant leg lit on fire.

It was a tiny, tiny fire. It was about the size of a candle flame, but it was there, and it was on his pants. Nobody noticed until the smoke started rising. Lily shrieked.

"James! Your pants!"

James freaked out, and Sirius turned around, rushing to his side as he freaked out. Sirius grabbed the jacket that I had brought, but not worn, and tossed it on the fire, trying to suffocate it.

I was frozen in my spot, my arms crossed over my chest, and my left leg under my right. My wand was still in its place, out of my reach. My mouth was ajar, and my eyes were wide open. Any grogginess that lingered was gone.

I was beyond shocked. I was incredibly confused, but I was mostly surprised. How..?

Once the fire was out, everyone turned to look at me. James grabbed my arms, unfolding them.

He looked at the bottom of my pant leg, and furrowed when he saw my wand still secured. "Did you put it back?"

"She didn't move, mate," Remus said, his eyes just as wide and startled as mine. "She didn't move at all."

"Then how did my pants catch on fire?"

"What's this about fire?"

Sneeze.

James and Sirius shouted, at the same time, "get out!".

I barely caught a glimpse of mousy brownish ginger hair.

Peter.

He sneezed, in the compartment.

I was unfrozen, and I was stuffing my face into the crook of my left elbow.

He'd walked in right as James was crossing his arms in front of me, and Sirius was wafting the smoke towards the window, his back to the door. He'd walked in while everyone was preoccupied.

And he sneezed.

I caught a glimpse of Peter as Sirius shooed him out, making sure not to touch him. I caught a glimpse of him as Sirius explained that since he was sick, he wasn't allowed near me.

He looked incredibly ill. His eyes were droopy and red, his nose was running and red. He breathed through his mouth, and as soon as he started to walk away, he coughed loudly. I silently hoped that I hadn't inhaled any of whatever he had.

That cold, or whatever it was, would certainly put me six feet under.