Disclaimer: I fail to own Remus, James, Peter and Sirius.
"We shouldn't be doing this!" hissed Remus as he followed James through the Forbidden Forest. James just shrugged.
"You always say that. Lumos!" His wand light up, allowing them to see in the night time forest.
"And I'm always right, too!" replied Remus, though he still went.
"Moony might be right this time, you know," said Sirius. "Lumos!" His wand lit up as well.
"Oh come on! Not you too, Padfoot!" James said, rolling his eyes in the near-dark. "It'll be fine." He added an "I think", but only in his head.
"Why are we doing this again? And where's Wormtail?" Remus demanded, his eyes darting around the forest. James just kept walking. "Prongs! James!"
James finally stopped. They weren't too far into the forest, but they couldn't see the tree line anymore. "Moony, would you shut up! I told you already! Someone came in here! Someone too young to take care of themself! Someone-"
"A girl, then?" Sirius demanded, breaking in. James gave him an awful glare.
"I don't know! Maybe! But we have to find them!" he said, then turned and continued walking.
"Why do we have to find them? Just why is it so important?" Sirius asked, badgering his friend for answers.
"They seemed hurt, ok? That's all," James snapped, quite fed up with his friends questions. They had asked them and been answered already, though clearly not to their satisfaction.
"Hurt? How? And you still haven't told us why Wormtail's not around," Remus said, stepping over a root.
"They were limping and holding one of their arms... I dunno, they just seemed hurt, alright? And Wormtail chickened out. He didn't wanna come into the forest," James said with clearly forced patience. Sirius snorted.
"He never wants to do anything fun!" he said, almost disgusted. But only almost.
"Yeah," James said, nodding. They walked on in silence for a good while after that. Suddenly, Sirius stopped.
"Hey... I smell something," he stated. Remus looked at him.
"Blood?" he asked, looking a little pale. Sirius nodded, grim.
"I'm gonna track her from here. Keep up, ok?" he told the other two, shifting into a dog. He began to follow the trail, moving quickly. The scent of blood was strong to him. James had been right. Whoever had stumbled into the forest was hurt, and it did not seem to be a minor wound.
James looked at the dog, then at Remus. "I'm gonna be a stag for this. Just keep up as best you can, and yell if We'll hear you," he told him. Shortly after a stag bound after the dog, its pogo-stick strides carrying it over the copious underbrush.
Remus stood for a moment before lighting his wand and plunging after his two friends. He didn't want to get too far behind them in this place. He needn't have worried, though. James, at least, was loud as he ran. Remus could follow him by sound, though after his second fall he wished that he, too, were a proper animagus.
"Damn...werewolves..." he muttered as he scrambled through the underbrush. The bushes tore at his cloak, slowing him down immensely. Eventually he just scrapped the thing, giving up on it. "I can get it later anyhow," he thought, reveling in his newfound ability to not get stuck on the branches around him.
James was leaping through the brush, having as much fun with his form as he always did. There was just something so... freeing about being an animal, especially one as mobile as a stag. James loved the feeling of running through the forest as he was.
Ahead of him, James could hear Sirius as he tracked whoever was in here. James hadn't told his friends, but he was pretty sure it was a girl. From what he had seen, a very hot one. He hoped Sirius wouldn't take all the attention, as he sometimes did.
Sirius, at the head of the rather spread-out group, was having no trouble following the trail. The blood was fresh and they were close. He was sure of it. Indeed, he soon crashed out of the brush and into a clearing, complete with a small water source in it. Sirius realized that he had no idea where in the forest they were, but he didn't let it bother him. He had found the hurt thing.
A girl was crouching awkwardly next to the little pool of water, apparently trying to wash her wounds. Sirius changed back into a human, quiet, and began to walk towards her. The girl didn't seem to hear him at all, so he continued walking in his slow, measured pace.
Sirius almost yelped when James laid a hand on his shoulder. James gave him a flat look, knowing that he had almost screamed. "Oh honestly. Good thing you didn't, though. Might have scared her off," he said, looking at the pale-haired girl next to the water. He realized she was looking back with a start. Her eyes, reflecting the light of the crescent moon, seemed to glow eerily as she stared. Nevertheless, Sirius stepped up.
"Hello. Who are you?" he asked, smiling in the rakish way that only he could pull of so successfully. The girl only looked back though, her eyes growing wider. Had she been a cat, he was sure her tail would have been puffing out. "Hey, don't worry. Were friends!" he said, holding up his hands in what was meant to be a pacifying gesture. The girl didn't move an inch. He saw what appeared to be an arrow in her thigh. It looked painful and seemed to be bleeding badly. Her arm, too, might once have had an arrow in it, but it seemed she had removed it.
"Here, lemme try," James muttered, pushing past him. "Hi, I'm James," he called to her, for she was still about 20 feet away. "Who are you?" he asked, stepping a little closer. The girl seemed to bare her teeth at him, then collapsed backwards. James and Sirius immediately ran towards her.
Her hair appeared to be silver, though it might have been a light blonde in a normal light. She was of a medium height, but incredibly willowy in her build. Her elbows and knees were bony and angular and her fingers were long and thin. Had her upper body been exposed, the boys felt sure her ribs would be visable. Her skin was pale and though her eyes were hidden behind her eyelids, they were probably pale as well. She was beautiful, unquestionably, but it was the kind of beauty that an fox, scarred with only a bit of ear left and made of skin and bones might possess. A "look, but don't touch" brand that appeared only in the wilds.
Sirius whistled. "You knew she was a girl, Prongs," he accused without seeming to care.
"Yeah," James replied, equally apathetic. They were both absorbed in this strange girl.
It was then that Remus appeared, huffing from his trying fight with the forest. He wasn't cold yet, but he was sure he would be soon as he was only wearing boxers. Seeing his friends, he walked over to where they were. Looking over their shoulders, he took in the girl at a glance. Though he appreciated her beauty, he could see she was badly injured and needed to be taken to the infirmary immediately. Madame Milesco could fix her soon enough, but they needed to get the girl there first.
Remus smacked both his friends in the backs of their heads.
"Ow! Moony you bloody git-"James began. Remus cut him off.
"ME a git! You're sitting there staring at her as she dies of blood loss!" he fumed. Sirius and James realized he was right. James muttered something and the girl floated up as if on an invisible stretcher.
"Good. Now we have to hurry back," Remus said. "Sirius, can you follow our path back to the castle?" Sirius nodded, turning into a dog and trotting slowly into the forest. James and Remus followed him, moving as fast as they could.
"So what's up with being half-nude? Fashion statement?" James asked, giving Remus an impish grin. Remus blushed faintly, for he was a bit modest.
"No. My cloak kept getting caught on the brush, so I scrapped it. Hopefully I'll find it before we get back to the castle," he said. "I don't fancy walking in like this." James laughed.
"Yeah, I don't think I would either," he replied, eyes scanning the forest. "Whatcha think is up with that girl?" Remus looked pensive.
"Truthfully, I have no idea. I mean, I guess she could be a veela, but she just doesn't seem like it, you know? Too...something. But she's no veela. Not an elf either, and waaayyy to big for a fae. Maybe she's just a human," he said, shrugging. James shook his head.
"I don't think she's a human," he stated, looking at the girl floating near him. "She seems too wild, too...inhuman," he finished lamely. Remus chuckled.
"Yeah, well, maybe. But look at her dress. No animal made that!" he said, pointing to her silver embroidered white dress.
"Mm," James said, agreeing. "Maybe Madame Milesco will know what she is."
"Maybe," Remus replied.
The rest of the walk was completed in silence.