This is an AU story, set in the Marauders era. There are OCs and I do not necessarily follow the current canon storyline. Constructive criticism is welcome, but please do not flame me just because I don't follow what you think a relationship should be. This is my take on Rowling's world, and therefore it is my concept of her idea.
As always, all characters and settings related to the already published Harry Potter universe belong to J.K. Rowling. Celeste, Catherine, and Raven belong to me.
(Oh, and sorry for the crappy French. I use an online translator that really isn't all that great.)
"You're out of your bloody mind, Lily," James said, half laughing. "You'll never get Celeste to go to the Yule Ball."
"I will if you can convince Remus he needs to ask her," Lily said tartly. "You know Celeste will do just about anything for him."
"Yes," Sirius said. "That's the problem."
"Siri, will you just trust me on this?" Lily asked exasperatedly. "You know very well I wouldn't do anything to hurt either of them."
James sighed. "I'll do my best," he promised.
"Thanks," Lily said. She headed off to finish her Potions essay.
"You're completely nutters if you think you can convince our anti-social bookworm to ask a girl out," Sirius said dubiously as he moved over next to his friend. "Let alone get him to take her to the Yule Ball. You know he hates things like this almost as much as she does."
"I'll manage," James said. "I've already got an idea."
"Oh?" Sirius asked, filling his one word with all of his skepticism.
"Yeah," James said. "Just watch, Padfoot." Sirius snorted and sat back in his chair. James walked over and sat down beside Remus. The young werewolf was reading one of the books needed for their next Charms lesson. "Hey, Moony."
"Hi James," Remus said, looking up from the book. His mouse brown hair fell into his eyes and he pushed it back with one hand. "Something wrong?"
"Well, I just had a lovely chat with Lily," James began.
"Not another lover's spat, I hope," Remus said with some amusement. James and Lily had the most on-again-off-again relationship of any couple at Hogwarts.
"No, no, we're still getting along," James assured him. "Actually, we were talking about someone else." He allowed a bit of hesitation to creep into his voice. "I'm not sure I should be bothering you, but it's about Celeste."
Remus' gaze sharpened and his soft brown eyes hardened and began to flicker gold. "What about Celeste?" he asked.
"You know how cruel the others in her year can be," James said, dropping his voice to just above a whisper. "Apparently they're making her life miserable about the Yule Ball."
The eyes turned even brighter gold. "What kind of trouble?" Remus asked, a low growl coming out in his voice.
"Oh, the usual snarky comments," James said. "Making nasty remarks about the fact that Celeste doesn't seem to have any friends, though what they call us is beyond me. I heard from Lily that it's gone a bit farther than that now, though Celeste hasn't said anything to us about it. You know Celeste's favorite dress?"
"That pale lavender one she wears on the weekends?" Remus asked. James nodded. "Well, what about it?"
"Lily told me she found Celeste in tears in the girls' bathroom earlier today," James said. "Her roommates took her dress and wrote something really nasty on it. Lily didn't tell me what it was, but Celeste can't get it off her dress. Lily and Celeste tried every cleaning charm and potion they could come up with, but nothing worked. So that dress is completely ruined, and Celeste is on the verge of going completely mental."
"What does Lily want me to do about it?" Remus asked.
"She doesn't know," James told him. "And frankly, Moony, neither do I. Lily made the suggestion that if Celeste had an obvious boyfriend, the nasty stuff might stop."
Remus glared at him. "You are a ruddy bastard, Potter," he said. "You do know that, right?"
"What?" James asked innocently.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Remus said. "You're baiting me into asking Celeste to the Yule Ball."
"I am not," James protested. "I'm just trying to let you know what's going on with Celeste. You're her closest friend, other than Lily."
"All right, Prongs," Remus said. "Since you're claiming you're not the one trying to scam me, you can go tell that manipulative little red headed scut you're dating that I will ask Celeste to the Yule Ball in my own time." He returned to his book. James and Sirius sauntered off.
"That was bloody brilliant," Sirius whispered with a grin.
"I know Remus," James said. "He's very protective of Celeste, and he hates it when she gets bullied. Also, this close to the full moon, when his control over his temper is a bit light, he's much easier to convince of things."
"He was right, you know," Sirius said. "You are a bastard."
"Mr. Prongs cordially thanks Mr. Padfoot for his rather astute commentary," James said with a little bow.
"Mr. Padfoot cheerfully tells Mr. Prongs to stuff his gratitude up his ass," Sirius replied. Both boys laughed as they dropped into chairs by Lily.
"What is it now?" she asked irritably. "I'd like to get this essay for Professor Slughorn done before it's due."
"He's going to ask her," James said. "I, uh, irritated him enough to get him to agree to do it."
"Oh dear," Lily said. "What did you tell him?"
"The truth," James said. "I told him everything you told me, about what Celeste has been going through."
"Ruddy little bitches are still giving her hell," Lily said, surprising the guys with her vehemence. "They tried to steal her Potions essay earlier. I caught them before they could get out of the portrait hole, though. They were trying to get her in trouble. Not that Professor Slughorn would really give her hell about it. He adores her almost as much as he adores me."
"What is their problem?" Sirius growled.
"They're jealous," Lily said simply. She sighed at the boys' clueless expressions. "Celeste is beautiful, talented, and highly intelligent. She's a bit shy, but her best friends happen to be considered some of the coolest people at Hogwarts. All of her professors adore her, and she's doing very well in her classes for the most part. In their eyes, she's completely pathetic because she doesn't take advantage of any of this to get her own way. She's not completely innocent, James, but she's damn close."
"Here she comes," Sirius whispered as Celeste came through the portrait hole. She was crying hysterically, her hair loose from its usual plait. Another fourth year girl, one of Celeste's tormentors, helpfully stuck her foot out. Celeste crashed to the ground, slamming her arm into a table on the way down.
"Detention, Miss Parkinson," Remus snapped, getting to his feet. "For your assault on a fellow student." James, Lily, Sirius, and Peter all hurried over to Celeste's side.
"Celeste, what's wrong?" Lily asked concernedly. She knew the timid young lady had been in the library. Celeste couldn't speak, she was sobbing so hard.
"Peter, would you please go get Professor McGonagall?" Remus asked, in his role as a prefect.
"Right," Peter said. He sprinted out of the room, heading for Professor McGonagall's office. A few minutes later, the rather severe head of Gryffindor House entered the room.
"What is going on here?" McGonagall demanded.
"Oh, Celeste tripped over her own hem and suddenly I'm in trouble," Terrilee Parkinson whined.
"Terrilee tripped Celeste when she came through the portrait hole," Remus said, trying to act as if the sight of one of his dearest friends lying on the ground in hysterics wasn't making him angry enough for his wolfish nature to come to the surface. "However, Celeste was already in distress when she came in."
"It's probably those utterly wretched classmates of hers," Lily said savagely. "You should see what they did to her favorite dress, Professor."
"Miss Winters, are you all right?" Professor McGonagall asked concernedly. "Miss Parkinson, you will report to my office tomorrow morning to get your detention."
"Yes, Professor," Terrilee said sulkily. She started up towards her dormitory.
"Professor, I don't think Terrilee should go up to the room until we sort things out," Lily said quickly. "Especially considering she and the others can't be trusted to leave Celeste's stuff alone."
"Miss Evans, I realize you're concerned for your friend, but without proof, I can't do much," Professor McGonagall said.
"Accio," Lily called, waving her wand. A moment later, the once-pristine lavender silk dress came flying out of the fourth year girls' dormitory. Lily shook it out, and everyone saw the damage done. "We tried all day to get the ink off the dress. We've tried laundering it, cleaning charms, cleaning potions, reversal charms, and even a bleaching spell. Nothing worked. This dress is completely ruined, and Terrilee, Monica, Esther, and Regina all admitted to having done it."
Terrilee shrugged. "It was just a stupid prank," she protested. "It's not like it's her only dress, after all."
"You knew it was her favorite dress when you ruined it," Lily snapped. "You picked this one deliberately to cause the most damage."
"Miss Evans, that is enough," Professor McGonagall said sharply. She shook her head. "Such behavior from Gryffindors. I'd expect this from a group of Slytherins, but not young ladies from my own House. Miss Parkinson, you and your co-conspirators will be serving detention with me for the next week."
"Yes professor," Terrilee said sulkily.
"Also, Miss Parkinson, you and your friends are banned from the Yule Ball," Professor McGonagall continued. She turned to Lily. "Miss Evans, please take Miss Winters to the hospital wing. I don't like the look of her arm, and perhaps Madame Pomfrey can give her a calming potion so we can find out what's going on."
"Professor," Remus began hesitantly. "Given their history of cruelty towards Celeste, I don't think we should leave her things in the fourth year dormitory. The other girls could destroy her stuff in retribution."
"I agree," Professor McGonagall said. She turned to another fifth year. "Miss Bell, do you mind if I move Miss Winters into your dormitory?"
"Not a problem, professor," Nora Bell said. "I know Lily won't mind, and Saidie and Coral and I have been trying to keep an eye on Celeste too. She's a really sweet girl, and we all hate what the other fourth years have been doing to her. But since we're not in the same dormitory or classes, we can't do a whole lot."
"Good." Professor McGonagall waved her wand. There was a faint thud from the fifth years' dormitory. "All of her things have now been transferred into your dormitory, along with another bed."
"I'll let the others know when they come back," Nora promised.
"Good," Professor McGonagall said. "Lupin, I'll leave the rest of this lot to you. If you see the girls before Miss Parkinson does, make sure you tell them to report to me after breakfast tomorrow morning."
"Yes, Professor," Remus said. Professor McGonagall left, and Terrilee slunk up to her dormitory room.
Lily half-carried the hysterical Celeste up to the hospital wing. "Madame Pomfrey?" Lily called.
The woman who took care of all of Hogwarts' injured students came bustling out of her office. "What is it, Miss Evans? Good heavens!" She immediately took charge of the situation. She helped Celeste settle onto one of the beds in the dormitory. She handed Celeste a clean handkerchief to wipe her eyes. She inspected the injured arm before bringing out a pot of salve and some bandages. She slathered the salve onto the injury. "Poor dear," she said sympathetically, wrapping Celeste's arm with a clean linen bandage. "What happened?"
"Terrilee s'est déclenché m'et j'ai frappé mon bras sur une table. Les autres ont volé mon essai et encre alors versée partout un livre que je lisais. Madame Pince m'a interdit de la bibliothèque pour quelque chose que je n'ai pas égalisée fais! Je n'obtiendrai maintenant jamais mon essai pour l'histoire de la magie fini," Celeste wailed, reverting to her native French to tell the story. (Terrilee tripped me and I hit my arm on a table. The others stole my essay and then poured ink all over a book I was reading. Madame Pince has banned me from the library for something I didn't even do! Now I'll never get my essay for History of Magic finished.)
"Oh dear," Madame Pomfrey said. She spoke French very fluently, having spent some time abroad when she was younger.
Lily also spoke French, partially due to learning it in school before coming to Hogwarts, and partially because Celeste had helped her remember all that she'd forgotten as well as teaching her more. She frowned, as Celeste often spoke too fast for her to understand when she was upset. "Did she just say that someone ruined an essay?" she asked Mme. Pomfrey. "And that someone got her kicked out of the library?"
"Yes," Mme. Pomfrey said. She handed Celeste a small cup. "Ici, enfant. Buvez ceci. Il vous aidera à calmer en bas d'assez pour nous dire l'histoire entière." (Here, child. Drink this. It'll help you calm down enough to tell us the whole story.)
Celeste drank the calming potion. After a few minutes, she was able to think and speak clearly. Professor McGonagall walked in at that point. "How is she, Poppy?" she asked Mme. Pomfrey.
"She's got a nasty bruise," Mme. Pomfrey said. "All the way to the bone. She's lucky she didn't break it. I've put a healing salve on it and wrapped it up. She should be fine in a day or two."
"Miss Winters, can you tell me what happened?" Professor McGonagall asked gently. Lily sat down in a chair next to the bed and took Celeste's hand.
Celeste took a deep breath. "I was in the library," she said, reverting to English. "I was doing my essay for Professor Binns. I got up to return one book and get another. I did not know Monica and the others were there. It took me a few minutes to find the book I needed. When I got back, Mme. Pince was standing by the table I was working at. She was very angry. An entire bottle of ink had been dumped over a library book. She started yelling at me, telling me I was a stupid, careless, pathetic child. I heard Monica and the others snickering. When I tried to tell her I hadn't done it, she got really upset. She told me to get out of the library and to never come back. She wouldn't even let me take my schoolbooks and my papers with me. She said – she said that if I was too stupid to take care of a library book, there was no way I could take care of my schoolbooks." She looked ready to dissolve into tears again.
"I will speak with Mme. Pince," Professor McGonagall assured her. "You shouldn't be penalized for what the others did to you."
"Thank you, professor," Celeste said, wiping her face with the handkerchief Madame Pomfrey had given her.
"Also, I've taken the liberty of having you moved into the dormitory with the fifth year girls," Professor McGonagall continued. "Miss Evans, do you think you and your roommates can take care of Miss Winters?"
"Of course," Lily said. "I know all of us have been really upset by what's been going on, but not being in the same room we couldn't do much."
"Good," Professor McGonagall said. "Miss Winters, I suggest, when Mme. Pomfrey releases you that you go straight up to your new room and get some sleep. I'll discuss things with Mme. Pince, and notify your other teachers that you're not to be held responsible for the work you weren't able to finish tonight."
"Thank you, Professor," Celeste said again. Professor McGonagall patted her shoulder before hurrying out of the room. Mme. Pomfrey released Celeste a few minutes later, handing her a small draught of a sleeping potion.
"Make sure she takes that before she goes to bed," Mme. Pomfrey told Lily. "It'll help her sleep without nightmares tonight." Lily nodded, and walked Celeste back to Gryffindor Tower. She waited until Celeste fell asleep before she rejoined the others.
"How is she?" Remus asked anxiously. The others all shared his anxiety, their concern plain on their faces.
"She'll be all right," Lily said. "It's a nasty bone bruise. Mme. Pomfrey put on the Bruise-B-Gone salve and wrapped it."
"What got her so upset to begin with?" Peter asked. Lily told them what Celeste had revealed. "That's just cruel."
"Yeah," James said. "I mean, we've pulled stunts like this before too. But nothing that could get a student banned from the library."
"No, you just jinxed someone's head to make it nearly three times bigger than it normally is," Lily said acidly.
"Hey," James protested. "We've been good lately."
"Yeah, lately," Lily said. She shook her head. "That doesn't matter right now. What matters is Celeste is going to be in a lot of trouble when she gets to her classes tomorrow. I mean, the girls aren't going to let this rest."
"Well, what can we do?" Sirius asked. "We're not in her year, after all."
"I don't know," Lily said. A sudden thought crossed her mind. "I wonder though."
"What?" James asked.
"This is all going to depend on whether or not Celeste is willing to sit her O.W.L.s this year," Lily said slowly. "Also, it will depend on whether or not I can talk Professor McGonagall around into getting her to discuss this with the other professors."
"What do you mean?" Sirius asked.
"Celeste's really a brilliant girl," Lily said. "I'm wondering if maybe I can get her pushed up a year for next term. If I can, then maybe we can get her in the same classes with us."
"That's a great idea, Lily," Remus said. "But will McGonagall and the others go for it?"
"I haven't the faintest idea," Lily admitted. "I'll have word with her after Transfiguration tomorrow."
"It's getting late," Sirius said with a yawn. "Let's get to bed."
The next day, Celeste was terrorized all through her classes by her fellow fourth years and their very angry boyfriends. By the time her day was half over, she decided to retreat to the hospital wing. Pleading a sick headache to Professor Slughorn, Celeste ran from the dungeon.
Mme. Pomfrey wasn't too surprised to see her when she came in. "I was beginning to wonder if you were going to show up during or after your classes, Celeste," she said. "Here. Why don't you have a bit of a rest?" She ushered Celeste into one of the beds. "You look ready to collapse."
"They are horrible," Celeste said in an anguished voice. "I am so tired of them."
"Here," Mme. Pomfrey said, handing her a small dose of the same sleeping potion from the night before. "This will help you rest for a couple hours while I have a word with the headmaster about this."
"Thank you, Mme. Pomfrey," Celeste murmured. She drank the sleeping draught and was soon dozing. Mme. Pomfrey tucked her in and then headed up to the headmaster's office. She took care to lock the door into the hospital wing, just in case.
Mme. Pomfrey wasn't the only one discussing Celeste with Professor Dumbledore. Lily, in the company of Professors Slughorn and McGonagall, were already in his office. Mme. Pomfrey joined them, and added her report to what Dumbledore already knew. "Miss Evans," Dumbledore said finally, after everyone else had wound down. "You've been very quiet through all of this. Do you have any suggestions?"
"I do," Lily began hesitantly. "But I'm not so sure now that Celeste could manage. I mean, she really doesn't handle stressful situations well."
"Oh?" Dumbledore asked.
"Well, the boys and I were discussing this last night," Lily said. "And I came up with the idea to see if I could get permission for Celeste to sit her O.W.L.s this year. She's good enough, she could probably pass them. And then that would put her on an equal footing with the rest of us."
"But she won't be of age when she graduates if we allow that, Albus," Professor McGonagall said.
"It still might be the best thing for her," Mme. Pomfrey said. "Otherwise the poor thing will be in my hospital wing every day because of nerves."
"I think Miss Evans has a point, Minerva," Slughorn said. "And I believe that not only will Miss Winters pass her Potions O.W.L., but I fully expect she'll be able to enter my N.E.W.T. class next year."
"Well, I must admit she is very good in Transfiguration," Professor McGonagall admitted. "And I know Fillius was saying that she's a dab hand at Charms."
"I'll have a word with Professor Vector and Professor Sprout," Dumbledore said. "I'll also send an owl to the Ministry to see if we can't get a waiver for the underage use of magic should she be allowed to take her O.W.L.s this year." He turned his sparkling blue eyes onto Lily. "Miss Evans, please don't mention this to Miss Winters just yet. I want to be sure the rest of her professors are agreeable to this first."
"Yes sir," Lily said. She happily escaped his office to catch up with the others. She reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Rhododendron."
"Is she going to be all right?" the Fat Lady asked anxiously, assuming that Lily would know why Celeste hadn't yet returned.
"She'll be fine," Lily assured her. The portrait hole swung open and Lily went into the common room.
There was a great deal of angry muttering as she walked in. "What's going on?" she asked Nora.
"Some of the fourth and fifth year boys jumped Remus today," Nora whispered. "James and Sirius are livid, Peter's anxious, and Remus looks like a ruddy raccoon. He also won't go to the hospital wing. He says it's nothing and that he's fine."
"Where is he?" Lily asked. Nora pointed, and Lily headed over to the small cluster of her friends.
"Lily! Where'd you run off to after Transfiguration?" James asked brightly, his dark eyes shifting over towards Remus.
"Professor Dumbledore wanted a word with me about the trouble here in Gryffindor Tower last night," Lily said. She came up to where she could actually see the young werewolf. "Oh, Remus. What happened?"
"I had a spot of trouble today," Remus said mildly. "Nothing to worry about." His eyes were slightly unfocused, and he was pale and shaking. "Where's Celeste?"
"Hospital wing," Lily said. "She's on the verge of complete nervous collapse. Mme. Pomfrey is treating her for a headache, but she's really upset." A flash of brilliance gave Lily an idea of how to get Remus to the hospital wing. "You think, after you've cleaned up a bit, that you could go sit with her? I was thinking about it, but I think, since you are a prefect, that you should go."
Remus gave her an unsteady look. "Sure. I'll just go change into some clean clothes," he said, gesturing to his blood-spattered robes. He wandered up the stairs to the boys' dormitory.
"How bad do the others look?" she asked anxiously.
"He didn't fight back," Sirius growled. "He knew if he did, there was a chance, since the full moon's tomorrow night, that he wouldn't be able to stop."
"Why?" Lily asked.
"It's Terrilee and her crowd again," Peter said. "The boys who jumped Remus were supposed to be their dates for the Yule Ball."
"Did anyone tell Professor McGonagall?" Lily demanded.
"None of us have had a chance yet," James said. "We've been keeping an eye on him." He stood up. "I'll go get her."
"She's still up talking to Professor Dumbledore," Lily said. "The headmaster is really concerned about everything that's going on with Celeste as well."
Remus came back down. "Sirius, you want to come with me?" he asked. He was shaking, and his eyes seemed more vacant than before. "I don't seem to be all that steady."
"Yeah," Sirius said, shooting James and the others a worried look. "Come on, Moony. Let's go visit Celeste." He offered his arm to the smaller boy. Remus leaned heavily on it as they headed out of the portrait.
"I give them a few minutes before Sirius is carrying Remus," Lily said worriedly. "He looks terrible."
"I'm going to McGonagall's office," James said. "I'll wait for her to get back."
"All right," Lily said. James vanished out the portrait hole as well.
Lily's prediction came true. Sirius ended up carrying Remus into the hospital wing. "Madame Pomfrey!" he shouted, almost hysterical with worry.
Mme. Pomfrey came bustling out of her office. "Mr. Black, must you make such a racket?" she asked. Her eyes widened as she saw the battered boy in Sirius' arms. "What happened?"
"He got jumped by a bunch of 4th and 5th year boys," Sirius said, laying Remus down on a bed. "He wouldn't fight back. He said it's a bad time, that things could have gotten out of hand. We think he's been hurt really bad."
"Remus?" Celeste was awake. She dragged herself out of the bed and over to his side. "Siri, what happened?"
"He got beat up by the dates of your former roommates," Sirius growled.
"C'est tout mon défaut. Je ne devrais avoir jamais dit rien au sujet de ce qui continuait," Celeste said in an anguished voice. (This is all my fault. I shouldn't have ever said anything about what was going on.)
"Don't be silly, dear," Mme. Pomfrey said. "Things would be worse if you hadn't spoken up."
"Don't beat yourself up about this, Celeste," Sirius said. "I think that lot was just looking for an excuse to get Remus. After all, he is a prefect. He's made a lot of enemies just because of that."
Remus opened his eyes, his dazed expression seriously worrying all three of them. "Celeste?" he mumbled.
Mme. Pomfrey moved a chair over for her, and Celeste sat down beside him. "Where are you hurt, Remus?" Celeste asked.
"My stomach hurts," he muttered. "Head hurts. Back hurts too."
"Mr. Black, if you'll step aside, I can get to work on him," Mme. Pomfrey said.
Celeste looked up and was about to say something, but all of a sudden her face went blank. "Siri, where's James?"
"He's supposed to be talking to McGonagall," Sirius said. "Why?"
Mme. Pomfrey hurried off to get a potion from a cabinet. "James is in trouble," Celeste said sharply.
"Where is he?" Sirius asked, having seen Celeste's unique gift work before.
"I'm not sure," she said, frowning. "I know he's in trouble, but he's not in a part of the castle I know."
"Siri, Celeste, go help James," Remus pleaded as he tried to sharpen his gaze.
Celeste grabbed her wand with one hand and Sirius with her other. "Come on," she said. The two of them raced out of the hospital wing.
James knew he was in deep trouble. Alone, with his wand now on the opposite side of the corridor, he was dead meat. "You and your little friends should have stayed out of it," Samuel Parkinson said nastily. He was a fifth year Slytherin boy that happened to be Terrilee's older brother. "My sister's really unhappy now because of you."
"She shouldn't have been bullying Celeste," James snapped. "It's her own fault." He ducked as Samuel swung at him only to get hit from the side by Colin Harris, a fifth year from Gryffindor. Normally the Gryffindors would be united against the two Slytherin boys in their midst as Samuel's friend Marcus Fairhaven added a kick to the knee to the fray. But the three boys were all angry with Celeste and the others for getting their dates banned from the Yule Ball.
"You're dead, Potter," Samuel said, drawing back his fist.
"Petrificus Totalus," a feminine voice with a light French accent called. Parkinson fell to the ground as Celeste and Sirius ran into the corridor.
"Expelliarmus," Sirius yelled and Marcus' wand was knocked from his hand. Celeste quickly immobilized the rest of James' attackers.
"Thanks," James gasped, holding one hand to his stomach and one hand to his leg. "That would not have been much fun."
"Mr. Black, Mr. Potter, what is going on here?" Professor McGonagall had finally appeared.
"Please, professor, it is not their fault," Celeste said, leaning up against the wall. "These boys attacked Remus earlier, and now they wished to do to James what they did to Remus."
"What?" Professor McGonagall asked, looking startled.
"Remus got beaten up earlier because you banned this lot's girlfriends from the Yule Ball," Sirius said. "I took him down to the hospital wing. We were talking to him, and we realized James hadn't caught up with us. He was going to check to see if you were in your office, and then come join us. He was taking too long, so we came to see if we could find him."
"I got jumped before I could get out of the corridor," James said, standing up. His glasses were broken and his wand was still down at the other end of the corridor.
Celeste summoned them to her hand. "Reparo," she muttered. The glasses fixed themselves. She handed them back to him.
"Thanks," James said. "Remus is in bad shape, professor. He didn't want to lose his temper, so he let them beat him up."
"What did you use on these boys, Mr. Black?" Professor McGonagall asked suspiciously.
"He simply disarmed them," Celeste said. "I am the one who cast the curse. I used Full Body Bind. I felt it was the best way to immobilize them without hurting them."
"Mr. Parkinson, Mr. Fairhaven, fifty points from Slytherin for each of you for your attacks on my students," Professor McGonagall said. "And fifty points from Gryffindor for you, Mr. Harris, for your part in these attacks." She pursed her lips. "Fifty points to Gryffindor for your quick thinking, Miss Winters, and fifty points to Gryffindor for you, Mr. Black, for your restraint in not using the nastiest hexes possible on them."
"Thanks, professor," Sirius said wryly.
"Mr. Potter, are you going to be all right?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"I'm fine, professor," James said. "I'm really worried about Remus though."
"He collapsed on our way to the hospital wing," Sirius added.
"I'll have a word with Mme. Pomfrey then," Professor McGonagall said. She cast the counter jinx on the prone boys. "All of you, my office immediately. Mr. Black, Mr. Potter, please take Miss Winters back to Gryffindor Tower."
"Yes ma'am," James said. He leaned lightly on Sirius as the three students headed back to their common room. Celeste scooped up James' wand as they passed and handed it to him. He tucked it into his pocket.