The Marauders - Order of the Phoenix Part Three

The Sneeze

Sirius woke suddenly and in a wee bit of a panic when James sneezed so violently that it shook the entire bed. He was still in his dog form and he leaped to his feet, barking, half sure the house was being pummeled by giants like they'd done in Donegal. James had sat up and he was wincing in pain, the sneeze so strong he'd felt it in his spine.

"What the actual fuck was that, Prongs?" Sirius asked, popping back into human form.

"Sneeze," James wheezed.

"Bleeding hell," Sirius said. "Your lungs must have inverted from that one, I'll bet!"

"Practically," James croaked.

"Oh gods, Prongs, you sound like utter shit."

"Thanks," James said, his voice cracking terribly, throat raw. "I feel like I swallowed sand paper."

Sirius rolled off the bed. "I'll get you tea."

James started to answer him, but Sirius was out the door and James could hear him thundering down the steps. James hugged a pillow to his chest and flumped his face into the folds of the cotton, closing his eyes as he winced at every swallow. He groaned and even that hurt. His lungs felt like fire.

Fire.

He opened his eyes and stared down at the pillow for a long moment, trying to push the scary thought out of his head. It couldn't be -- could it? Could it? He drew a sharp breath and let it back out slowly, watching very carefully for any sign of smoke.

Nothing.

It didn't manifest instantly in mum and dad, either, though, did it?

He pushed the blankets off and, still hugging the pillow, he rolled himself up off the bed, and, finding his knees weak, nearly fell back down onto it again. He caught himself against the footboard and stood at a lopsided angle a moment, catching his breath.

Suddenly, he sneezed again and without meaning to, James felt his body transform with the force of the sneeze so that one moment he was a man, leaning against the bed, and the next he was on his arse on the floor, in stag form, legs sprawled in a painful angle, his antlers caught around the bed so that he couldn't even lift his head up because the prongs were caught on the rungs of the footboard.

He honked indignantly as he struggled and found his chest was tight and sore, even as a stag, and even the honk felt awful in his throat. He would have sworn if he was in human form, but of course deer can't curse, and he sat there waiting for his dizziness to subside as the whole room warbled about with vertigo.

Another sneeze and he was uncontrollably a man again, triple dizzy.

"Oh gods," he moaned, holding his head.

The door was flung open. "What in hell is happening up here?" Sirius was back, tea kettle in hand, hair disheveled.

"Sneezed," James wheezed.

"I heard a sound I thought you fell down!"

"Did," James panted.

"Well Merlin's sweaty balls, why are you out of bed?" Sirius came over and put the kettle down, grabbing James's bicep, helping tug him to his feet.

"Lily?" James asked, not bothering with the full sentence.

"She's at uni," Sirius said. "I told her to go and that I'd stay with you." Sirius reached for James's shoulders, determined to guide him back to the bed. "Lay your arse down, mate."

James turned out of Sirius's grasp and stumbled toward the door, "No - no... Mum?"

"Downstairs, I'll get her for you."