Descent

"Just lay him down on the bed there." Pomfrey said, trying to gather what she needed. Sirius moved to set Harry carefully down on the bed, visibly more relaxed now that they were away from the crowds leering over "The Boy Who Just May Not Live". Grabbing a chair, Sirius pulled up right next to Harry's bed, his hands smoothing down the boys hair and trying not to touch any of the obviously broken limbs.

Remus took a seat next to Sirius while Dumbledore stood near the end of the bed, and as Pomfrey came back over, all were tense. "He was bleeding profusely when I arrived, but I managed to stop it quickly. He didn't lose too much blood and that's easily fixed, but any head injury is a concern. Mr. Weasley told me he fell from a second floor window, which is quite a fall. I'm frankly surprised Mr. Potter is still breathing. He's broken an uncountable amount of bones, mostly in his legs. He's going to need a long recovery if I can get him to wake up."

"Any internal damage, Poppy?" Dumbledore asked quietly after a moment of silence. Remus and Sirius were just staring at Harry, unable to speak.

Nodding, Pomfrey began setting Harry's bones one by one, a long process. "My diagnostic came up with a few broken ribs which were closed to puncturing his lungs, but I think if I'm careful in setting them, he should be fine." She then prepared his potions using magical sort of IVS that transferred them straight into his bloodstream.

"His body is in shock right now, and we won't know the extent of his injuries until he wakes up. His reflexes are relatively normal, but it's impossible to know the extent of possible brain damage until he's entirely responsive." After wiping her hands on her apron, she pulled the curtains around Harry's bed and his guardians. "I would wake him myself, but it would be better for him to do so on his own. Please retrieve me when he does."

As she disappeared, taking Dumbledore with her, Sirius slumped against the back of his chair. Remus reached over and grabbed his arm, squeezing it gently. Swallowing, Sirius closed his eyes for a moment, his jaw quivering as it set itself against any sort of emotion creeping up his throat.

"Madame Pomfrey is being as honest as she always is, Sirius. If she says that Harry has a good chance, then she means it. He's been in scrapes before and he's come out of it fine. He'll come out of this one too." Exhaling, Remus watched Sirius. "What are you thinking?"

Sirius shifted in his seat, his face set in a seemingly permanent state of shock. "I want to know how this happened." He whispered. "Harry's foolish and he's reckless but I have a hard time believing he would throw himself out of a window. Suicidal is a trait I'd put towards myself more at this moment then him."

"That isn't funny." Remus snapped then, catching Sirius off guard. "And Harry didn't throw himself out of the window. He was either pushed or it was an accident." Remus was quiet for a moment, thinking. "In these sorts of situations, I find it's easiest to turn to Ron and Hermione."

"Ron was with him." Sirius said slowly, looking towards the door now, as if the boy would suddenly materialize. "Regardless of how it happened, It's ridiculous that I am constantly told he's safe here and then he falls off of brooms and out of windows. You're going to have to start following him around."

"I can't be everywhere." Remus replied, though he knew this was a definite possibility, following Harry around for the rest of the term. "I suppose I should take the map back so I can keep tabs on him."

"The smartest use for it since it was made, I'm sure." Sirius said with a small, humorless smile. As he opened his mouth to suggest something else, there was a knock to the doorframe. Looking up, his eyes darkened slightly.

Remus stood up, giving a small smile. "Hello, Ron. Why don't you come in? I think we may need to have a bit of talk."

Ron hesitantly took a few steps towards Harry's bed, looking past the curtain at his best friend laying there. Once he saw his condition, his face paled further. "Is he okay? I-I mean-" He looked at Sirius, who looked to be growing impatient already. "Is he going to be okay?"

"Why don't you take a seat?" Remus asked, pushing his chair towards Ron. "We'd like to know what happened. Harry has some fairly seriously injuries and it would help Madame Pomfrey heal him if she knew how he obtained them."

Shaking his head, Ron took a step away from the chair. "I-well-" Visibly nervous, his hands twitched in his sleeves. "We were fighting. Harry and I. Arguing and he said something to me and I wasn't thinking. It was an accident."

Sirius slowly stood up from his chair then, looking from Harry to Ron in what seemed to be growing realization. "What did you do?" He asked, his voice a lot louder then he intended.

"It was an accident!" Ron repeated, his eyes widening in fear. Remus put a hand on Sirius's shoulder, who shrugged it off. "I swear that I-I didn't mean to. We were arguing, like I said, and I pulled my wand out, to get him to listen to me. Sparks shot out, and he…he fell…"

Remus grabbed Sirius's arm as he took a step forward and Sirius didn't stop him this time. "You pushed him out the window. A second story window! Ron, he could have been killed. Do you understand? You could have KILLED him." He was shouting now, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Stop it." Remus whispered quietly, pulling Sirius back a bit. "There's nothing Ron can do about it now."

"Right!" Ron gasped out, nodding now. "Professor Lupin is right. Plus, I'm not entirely at fault here. Harry provoked me!

Remus's eyes widened then as Sirius lunged towards Ron. Grabbing both of his arms, he yanked Sirius back. "Stop it! Padfoot, you're acting like a child. And you-" He looked at Ron then, wondering for a split second whether or not he should have just let Sirius wring his neck. "I think it's better you leave and go catch Hermione up on what's going on. We'll let you know if he improves."

Ron couldn't get away fast enough and he was out of the door in seconds. Sirius seemed to contemplate going after him, but instead turned towards Harry with a frustrated sigh. "Stupid! Stupid kid. Waving his wand around like a fist. You'd think after six years of training, he'd learn something." Sitting down next to Harry again, he stared at him hard, willing him to wake up. "He better hope Harry comes out of this."

"He will." Remus's voice was tired and resigned as he sat next to Sirius, clutching his shoulder now tightly. "Sirius, he's going to be fine. I know you're scared." The last few words came out hushed for only Sirius to hear. "But you know as well as I do that Ron isn't entirely at fault. It was an accident. Think of all the stupid things we did as kids."

Sirius's face softened and sobered and he placed both of his hands on Harry's bed, his fingers tightening around the covers. "His life has been all about one accident after another. And I'm not here." Tightening his jaw as he did before, he leaned down to press his forehead to the fists now resting on the bed. "Everyone's there to catch him but me."

"You're there." Remus whispered insistently. "You may have not always been able to be physically there, but you have him in your mind more than anyone else does. You're there for him."

Shaking his head, Sirius sat up. "All I hear is how I could be a better godfather. A better father in general. All I hear is that I should have never been in the first place. Look at him, Remus. They're right. What am I doing?"

"Your best." Remus's voice was fierce and insistent. "Stop listening to Molly Weasley, Sirius. She doesn't know what's better for Harry more than anyone else and certainly not you. James and Lily wanted you as his godfather for a reason and you know why. From the moment he was born, you were whom Harry trusted the most and that connection is still there. You're the first he comes to, the first he confides in. But you can't always be there."

"I want to be." Sirius took one of Harry's hands in both of his then, his eyes inspecting it as if he could discover what was wrong with him there. "I want to prove her wrong. And Moody, Snape, and Dumbledore. Prove to them that I'm cut out for this, that Harry is a good kid and that I'm doing right by him. And how can I do that when every time I look away, he ends up here?"

"Harry is a reckless kid, Sirius, that has little to do with you and more to do with him." Remus laughed quietly then. "In this case, however, we've got to give him a break. Like you said, he didn't throw himself from the window and Ron didn't necessarily push him either. He fell. It was an accident and what you can do now is take care of him when he wakes up."

Sirius pulled Harry's covers further over the boy. "If he wakes up. One of these days he won't."

Remus didn't know what to say to that, which left them in a heavy silence. "I'm going to go see if I can't get the house elves to bring us some food, okay? Let me know if he wakes up." Remus reached forward to squeeze Sirius's wrist again before standing and moving from the room.

Sirius turned back to look at Harry after Remus left, his shoulders straightening to the back of his chair. "What have you gotten yourself into, Kiddo? Look at you. What happened to that little boy who I used to catch when he fell off the couch? When did you upgrade from couches to windows and brooms?"

Standing up, Sirius moved to pour himself a glass of water. Suddenly, he wasn't sure food was such a good idea for right then. He couldn't control the waves of nerves in his stomach. "I have the right mind to keep you home from now on, you know. We'll just have to get Remus to quit his job and teach you from Grimmauld Place."

He sat down again then, clutching his glass tightly. "But I can't do that. I know you love it here. Why, I'm not sure at this point. But I can't make you unhappy." Reaching up, he fluffed Harry's pillow, trying to distract himself. "I just wish your happiness didn't mean what seems to be a death wish."

A cough came from Harry's throat then, and he shifted slightly. "Resent that. No death wish." He was struggling to open is eyes now as Sirius startled in his chair.

"How long have you been awake?" Sirius reached forward to keep Harry from moving too much. "Don't hurt yourself, Harry, how do you feel?"

Harry's eyes finally opened and he warily blinked against the bright lights of the hospital wing. "Not long." His eyes finally settled on Sirius then, seeing relief and worry staring back at him. "M'fine, Sirius."

"You fell from a window, Kid, you're not fine." Standing up now, he moved to alert Pomfrey before immediately returning to his seat. "You broke nearly every bone in your body. No more standing near open windows for you."

Harry laughed weakly at that, watching Madame Pomfrey bustle over to check on him. "Glad to seee you are alert and talking, Mr. Potter. What kind of pain are you feeling?"

"About a seven." Harry replied with a wince. "I can't move anything." Sirius looked alarmed at this, but Pomfrey hardly blinked in response.

"That's normal." Pomfrey moved to add more pain relief potions to his floating IV. "As your bones heal, it can be very painful and these potions will help curve that. The Pepper-Up and Blood Replenishing potions I'm adding now will strengthen your system so that it can fight off the pain on it's own."

"How long will he be in this much pain?" Sirius's voice was worried as he now helped Harry take a drink from the glass he had poured.

Adding another thick quilt to Harry's already towering blankets, Pomfrey replied, "A few days. I want to keep him here the rest of the week or until he can walk. Most of the damage is in his legs, as Mr. Potter smartly used them in his landing." Sirius opened his mouth to speak, but the medi-witch cut him off. "And yes, you may stay with him, but do try to keep his troublesome friends out of my hospital wing. You and Professor Lupin are one thing. The entire Gryffindor Tower is another."

Once Madame Pomfrey walked away, Sirius smoothed a hand down the blankets, tucking them around his godson. "I really don't think it will be a problem to keep your friends out of here. It's not as if I want them in here to begin with." He shook his head, looking frustrated as he pressed a hand to Harry's forehead.

"It was an accident." Harry said quietly, relaxing against the covers. Absolutely every inch of his body was sore and he didn't want to move for fear it would get worse. "It wasn't Ron's fault, it just happened."

Sirius ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, well, a lot of things seem to just happen to you. I feel like every time I hear from you, or come up to this school, it's because something else happened. I want to believe that you're safe here and that I can rest easy at home knowing you're well looked after…but it's difficult." He looked at the door where Remus had left, worry in his eyes. "Remus is going to keep a better eye on you from now on.

Harry let out a sigh of frustration, closing his eyes. "I do not need to be babysat."

"Apparently you do!" Sirius exclaimed, making Harry wince. He lowered his voice then, his face softening. "I'm sorry, I just… I love you, Kiddo. More than anything in the world and it absolutely kills me to see you in so much pain. I live in this constant worry and fear that something is going to happen to you, and for good reason. You're not only a klutz, but you have quite the track record."

Opening his eyes, Harry watched his godfather for a moment, realizing that he really was just trying to help. "I promise, I'll be more careful. And I'll write to you more, floo more, so you don't have to worry so much." He looked to Remus then, who had walked through the door. "And I'll surrender the map and listen to you more, I promise."

Remus looked relieved then, glad he didn't have to fight with Harry about any of it. "See, Sirius? He's learning things from this." He squeezed his best friend's shoulder, giving him a knowing smile. "Glad to see you're awake, Harry. We just need you to understand how important you are to us. You're our family and we don't want anything to happen to you."

Sirius nodded, smoothing a hand through Harry's hair. "We love you, Kiddo." He said quietly. "You're all we have. So, if I start sending you ten owls a day and dropping by more often than usual, you'll know it's because I care." He half teased, making Harry laugh weakly.

"I need to start talking to you more, I know." Harry said quietly. "I'm tired, but… tomorrow, I'll start filling you in on what Dumbledore has told me, okay?" He looked at Remus then. "That goes for you two. I know he wants it to be between just us, but it's too hard to keep things from you guys."

Sirius looked significantly relieved then. "Good, thank you." He ran a hand down his face. "I know it's between the two of you, but if we're going to be beside you while you face what's coming, we all need to be informed. And you know I've always wanted you to be in the loop of things from the beginning. I hate when people keep things from you."

"I know." Harry said quietly, smiling now. "And that's why it's only fair. I can't do this alone, and I can't do this with just Ron and Hermione helping me. I need you guys." He closed his eyes then, feeling the exhaustion taking over. "I'm so tired, though." It was obvious he meant from more than just the accident.

Sirius smoothed Harry's hair back from his forehead, worrying his lip. "I know." He whispered, looking at Remus. Remus clutched Sirius's shoulder and they both watched as Harry drifted off to sleep. They knew that when the time came, they wouldn't be able to fight to the end with Harry, but they would certainly try to get as close as they could.