"If I had known all that had to happen for you to talk to me was a near death experience, I would have arranged for it to happen sooner," Sirius informed his sister and she narrowed her eyes on the boy.

"Don't make me change my mind," Del warned and he rolled his eyes as she swung her legs off the bed.

"You're on bed rest," he reminded her, "As in staying in bed and resting."

"I'm fine," she replied as she moved to stand up but stumbled. Sirius was quick to steady her and help her back onto the bed. He opened his mouth to say something but she glared at him, "Shut up."

He put his hands up in faux surrender as he sat back down in the seat next to her bed, "I didn't say anything."

"But you were going to." She had been stuck in the infirmary for almost three days now. Every moment that he wasn't in school or it wasn't past curfew, Sirius spent with his sister. And with him, came his friends. Except for James, who had been avoiding the infirmary for the past three days. It didn't take a genius to figure out why.

"Oh," Sirius said suddenly before reaching into his back pocket. He pulled out a stick that Del soon identified as her wand. She took it in confusion before remembering what had happened. James and Del had swapped wands. "He asked me to give it to you."

"He could have given it back to me himself," she pointed out. Even though she had wanted nothing more than for the boy to leave her alone since the first day back at Hogwarts, she couldn't help but feel slightly offended that the boy hadn't even come to see her. Not that he had a reason too but Remus and Peter had come in with Sirius so one would think he would have tagged along but he hadn't. And she wasn't sure why it bothered her.

"He's been busy," Sirius explained simply. "All of the Head Boys and Girls have been asked to do a lot more and since they're down one, it's even more work."

"Hmm," she replied. She knew it was partially true but at the same time, it wasn't. All the other Head Boys and Girls had come in to see her and ask how she was doing, even if it was a quick in and out. She shook her head, dispelling any more thoughts of James Potter from her mind. "Don't you have a class to get to?"

He grimaced at the reminder, "I was hoping you wouldn't remember."

"I didn't," she countered before pointing at the door where Peter and Remus stood waiting for him. She knew James was there as well but he was hiding. "James's wand is in my bag, if you would pass it to me."

"And now you're suddenly incapable of doing anything," he rolled his eyes as he lugged her bag onto her bed, "What do you keep in here, rocks?"

"Close," she shrugged as she sifted through it. "Explosives." His eyes widened slightly and she grew amused as she handed him his friend's wand, "For legal reasons, that was a joke."

Sirius shook his head before taking the wand, "I'll see you at lunch then."

"Or not!" she shouted at his retreating figure and he shot her a look. As soon as she knew he was gone, she reached under her pillow and grabbed the letter she had been dreading to read.

It had arrived as Sirius arrived. He insisted that she open it but she said it could wait. And it could, technically speaking. It was best that she read it when he wasn't around.

She opened the letter cautiously, lifting the Black family seal up before pulling the letter from the envelope.

Delphinus Walburga Black,

How dare you do such a thing to your cousins? They are family and you are to treat them as such. I thought your father and I were abundantly clear that you should behave yourself but obviously we were not.

And what's this I hear about you hanging around the Potter kid? I do believe we came to an agreement that you were not to spend any time with him. We will be discussing this further at Christmas.

Walburga Black

Del crumbled up the piece of paper before throwing it across the room. It burst into flames mid air and shriveled up, falling to the floor. She fell back on her temporary bed with a huff.

How had her mother even found out about James? Not that there was truthfully anything to find out about. Del was fully aware that her mother had a way of knowing all but she thought it was clear they weren't really associated with each other. Although, now that she thought about it, it probably didn't help that she had been patrolling with him alone the night her cousins appeared.

"Del!" someone shouted from the door, pulling her from her thoughts. In walked Angela, followed by Cynthia and Axel. "I would have come earlier but Sirius was always in here," she explained, "How are you?"

Del narrowed her eyes at the girl, "What are you doing here?"

"We just wanted to see how you were doing."

She scoffed at this, "Well, I'm fine and you can go now."

"Del-"

"I thought I was clear with where we stood," she reminded the girl. "That doesn't change because I almost died. Honestly, it just made it more clear that I made the right choice."

"I'm not-"

"Go," she requested, "I'm supposed to be resting. Take your friends with you."

Angela frowned before walking toward the door, she glanced back at the girl before leaving.

A moment after the door closed, it opened again. "Merlin's beard!" she exclaimed with a huff, "What does it take for a girl to get some peace and quiet around here?" She looked over to find her younger brother standing there. She sat up immediately, her sore body screaming for her to stop, "What do you want?"

"Are you okay?" he asked, walking over to the girl.

She scowled at the boy, "What do you think?"

"I'm sorry," he apologized and it took everything in her power not to slap him, "I didn't know she was going to do that. It was supposed to be you and Snape. You weren't-"

"You didn't know?" she hissed, grimacing as she moved too fast, "How could you have not known?" Del shook her head, "I told you Bellatrix was crazy. How could you let her in here? She could have hurt so many people!"

"She said she was just going to talk to you," he pointed out. "That she was going to convince you to join us."

"Come on, Regulus!" she exclaimed. "You can't possibly be this dense."

"She told me she wasn't going to hurt anyone."

"And you believed her?"

He huffed, "Look, if you would just-"

"No," she cut him off. "I think I've been perfectly clear on where I stand in all of this. If you pull something like that again, I won't think twice about telling Dumbledore."

He paled significantly, which said a lot because he was already quite pale, "You wouldn't."

"Don't make it so I have to," she countered as she adjusted her position on her bed. "You should go," she suggested, "Sirius will be here soon."

"Del, I-"

"I don't want to hear it." Madam Pomfrey exited her office a moment later. "Goodbye, Regulus." He frowned but turned around and left anyway.

The rest of the day went by as normal. Sirius showed up with Remus and Peter for lunch. They went back to class and Sirius returned on his own. Pomfrey had to kick him out because he refused to leave when curfew came around. Falling asleep proved difficult but eventually she managed.

"What are we supposed to do?" James had asked and Del glanced over at the boy only for a moment as they dodged the spells.

"Try not to get killed," she suggested and she could just see him roll his eyes.

Only this time when the wand flew from her hand, she was so preoccupied with trying not to get hit by her cousins oncoming spells that she hadn't noticed James was in trouble. She hadn't pushed him out of the way and the spell hit him instead.

"James!" she shouted but there was no response. He laid on the floor unmoving and she scrambled to grab her wand. "Prot-"

Del jolted awake upon hearing a clattering noise. She pulled her wand out from under her pillow quickly and pointed it in front of her. "Lumos," she muttered as she held her wand out to reveal James Potter slipping out of what appeared to be an invisibility cloak.

"Bloody hell, Potter," she huffed before extinguishing the light and placing her wand back in its place. "What the hell are you doing here?"

He sat down in the chair next to her bed quietly, "I came to talk to you."

"In the middle of the night?" she gaped. "What happened to the whole you aren't supposed to be wandering the corridors alone speel?"

"This is the only time I could come," he explained, "Sirius is here every other time." He made a valid point but it didn't make her any less confused.

"What did you need to talk to me about?" she asked.

He ran a hand through his hair, "I wanted to apologize."

She raised an eyebrow, "For?"

"For what happened," he replied simply, looking down at the bed she was in and she seemed to realize what this was about.

"This wasn't your fault," she replied simply.

"If I had been paying attention-"

"Then Malfoy's spell would have hit you," she countered. "There was no good way for it to end. And besides, I'm fine. It doesn't matter anymore."

"You shouldn't have done that."

"My brother would have killed me if I let his best friend die," she pointed out.

"And my best friend would have killed me if I let his sister die."

"It seems we've found ourselves at a bit of a crossroads," she concluded with a huff. "How about this?" she began. "You stay away from me, I stay away from you. This way, no one has to die. At least not at the hands of Sirius Black."

He narrowed his eyes slightly, "Alright, fine." She was honestly surprised, and felt a twinge of hurt, at how quickly he had agreed to it, "Besides, your brother seemed very adamant about me not being around you anymore so I'm sure there's a valid reason for that."

Del grew confused at this, "Sirius told you to stay away from me?"

"No," he shook his head, "Regulus did." He shifted in his seat slightly, "Speaking of Regulus..."

"Did you tell Sirius?" she asked immediately.

"No, I wasn't sure how," he answered honestly. "I didn't tell anyone."

Del placed her face in her hands and shook her head, "Merlin, he's such an idiot."

"He's a Death Eater, Black," James pointed out, a slight frown on his face. "I'd say that's a little bit worse than being an idiot."

"I'll tell Sirius," she informed the boy. "Once I'm out of here."

"Do they know when that is?" he inquired.

She shrugged, "Soon, hopefully." She pushed herself into a more comfortable position, "Madam Pomfrey said I'll probably have to do physical therapy because of how weak I've become but I'll be out of here before that starts."

They remained quiet for a moment when James' stomach made a noise. Del turned to him in amusement, "Hungry?"

"Apparently."

"Here," Del said, picking up a candy bar from the side table and handing it to him, "Your friend keeps bringing them every time he comes in with Sirius."

"Ah, yes," James nodded, taking the candy bar, "He has an affinity for chocolate."

"Probably has something to do with the whole werewolf thing, I assume," she announced passively and his head snapped up at this.

"How did you..." he began, shaking his head, "How did you find out?"

"It wasn't exactly hard," she pointed out, "I figured it out second year."

"You did?" he gaped.

"Why?" she inquired. "When did you figure it out?" He remained silent and she couldn't help but grin, "You didn't figure it out did you? He had to tell you."

"In my defense, we were thirteen," he replied, crossing his arms over his chest with a pout.

"And how old were you when you all decided to become Animagi?" she asked. "Illegally, might I add."

"How do you figure these things out?"

"It doesn't take a genius," she replied. "So, how old?"

"Fifteen."

"How long had you been trying?"

"I'm not going to answer that."

"Why not?"

"Because you're just going to make some insult."

"I'm actually impressed that you all managed to do it so young," she pointed out. "Takes a lot of patience and a lot of talent."

"Is that a compliment?" he mused.

"Take it as you wish," she suggested. "You should head back to your house before Madam Pomfrey comes to check on me."

"Right," he agreed, standing up and grabbing the invisibility cloak off the chair. "I'll see you later then?"

"Or not," she suggested as he made his way to the door.

"Or not," he agreed with a nod before opening the door and vanishing underneath his cloak.