They were hiding something, James knew it. He watched with narrowed eyes as Remus and Sirius snuck away from the castle and across the grounds from the dormitory window. His two friends had been sneaking around for a while now, and James wanted to know what they were up to. Without him! He frowned as the two boys rounded the turret opposite Gryffindor tower. He was determined to get to the bottom of this.
Not bothering with his invisibility cloak, James conjured a rope and fastened it tightly to one of the massive and heavy four-poster beds and prepared to complete a climb he had done many times before he had gotten his cloak. This would be much faster than sneaking through the castle – he'd have a much better chance of finding out what Sirius and Remus were up to at this hour of the night.
His feet touched the ground and he took a moment to look around before deciding it would be faster and less risky to travel the grounds as a stag rather than a student out after hours. The transformation was brief and simple to him now after two years' practice and soon he was trotting purposefully across the grounds, following the path he had seen his best friends take earlier.
As he rounded the castle, he heard the sound of Sirius laughing and Remus reprimanding him quietly from behind Greenhouse Three. He approached more slowly, doing his best to not make any noise. He figured it might be best to revert into human form, as James made far less noise than Prongs. Unfortunately, he lost his footing in the transition from four legs to two and snapped a twig under his foot as he attempted to keep upright.
'Shh,' he heard Remus shush Sirius quietly. 'Someone's coming!'
'I'll say,' Sirius whispered back with a hearty chuckle.
'Shut up!' Remus whispered hoarsely as James rounded the corner to find them both sitting on the grass facing the greenhouse.
'Prongs!' Sirius grinned easily. 'What brings you out and about at this hour?'
'I came down here to ask you the same question,' James said dejectedly. 'Why are you two sneaking off in the middle of the night without me?'
'Sirius asked me for help with understanding some of our Herbology homework,' Remus told him smoothly. 'After a while trying to bash information into Sirius' head, I figured it might be best to just show him what I was trying to explain.'
James looked to Sirius who grinned sheepishly. He eyed Sirius' sweater on the ground and the way Remus' shirt collar was askew. 'Uh huh,' he pointed to the sweater. 'Why are you stripping then?'
'What, it's warm out,' Sirius shrugged. 'And all these plants just get me so hot and bothered, you know?'
James snorted. 'Whatever, Padfoot.' He narrowed his eyes. 'Don't go sneaking around without me again. You might get into trouble, and that'd be unfair.'
Remus rolled his eyes. 'Of course, James, we'll be sure to go get you next time we decide to do our homework. There's ample room for misbehaving and trouble there.'
'Well, now we're all out and about together, you want to get up to some mischief?' James asked, grinning expectantly at his best friend.
He saw a flash of annoyance cross Sirius' face before he shook his head. 'Nah, I actually do need to finish this homework. I put it off too long. I'm not out in the middle of the night looking at plants because I like them, Prongs.'
'Suit yourselves,' James shrugged and turned away. 'I'll try and save you some sweets from the kitchens for when you're finished.'
'Cheers mate,' Sirius called after him. 'Now, where were we, Moony?'
'We were looking at the difference between the leaves of the Mandrake and the leaves of the Snapping Lotus.'
As James made his way back up the rope and into the dormitory, he thought, not unreasonably, that Sirius and Remus had not been truthful with him when he had found them. It seemed extremely unlikely that Sirius would put this much effort into any sort of homework… although, as James thought about it, it was likely that Remus would force him into doing some more hands-on research just to make sure he actually learned something for once. That was a very Remus thing to do.
James shrugged and went to grab his invisibility cloak. Maybe Sirius and Remus were being uncooperative, but he knew the house elves in the kitchen were always happy to do whatever he asked.
