Chapter 2: Traitor

James was really uncomfortable sitting on the cold hard floor of the cave. His back was sore from the difficult climb to the cave; besides, he had not wanted to come at all. And the emptiness of the room and the silence everyone was engulfing him in made the whirlwind of thoughts in his head almost suffocating. Thousands of different what if-s rushed through his mind. The torn-up body of Snape, his own torn-up body, Remus expelled, Remus in Azkaban, Sirius in Azkaban, Sirius dead, Remus dead…And, besides, his legs were still prickling from where they had been hurt two nights ago. And everyone who said that Snape was skinny and therefore not heavy should better not say it in front of him.

James snorted loudly with agitation, and two pairs of inquiring eyes shot towards him.

"I'm going back down," he said, trying not to notice the silent pleading in Remus' look and the disappointment in Peter's.

"No you're not," Peter said defiantly.

"But it seems that you've got nothing to say," James accused the whole room in general, though everyone knew who it was meant for. Yet, he kept his place and slumped back down into the corner, and closed his eyes when he noticed Sirius move. He didn't want to meet Sirius' sad and hollow look. He was definitely not going to forgive him so easily for what he had done.

It wasn't just a prank gone wrong, whatever the others told him. They had had a few of those in their past history at Hogwarts, yet none of them had included such treachery, such betraying of secrets, such unbelievable gambling with others' lives. He knew he couldn't ever manage to pull up enough hate to send somebody to their death, and he had always believed that his friends were like him in that respect. But now, just out of nowhere, without any reason at all, Sirius had gone off and done something like that.

It wasn't all Sirius' fault, he had to admit. James rested his chin on his knees and heaved a heavy sigh that made Remus by his side shiver a little.

Of course he couldn't blame it all on Sirius. Wasn't Sirius out to avenge him? Didn't he do it just because Snape had led the group of Slytherins who had tied him up before that Quidditch game? And didn't he actually ask Sirius to help him get back on Snape?

Yes, he was the one to blame. It was all his doing. He should be the one everyone was angry with at the moment. A small voice in his head reminded him that he was the only angry one there, but he drowned it into the ever-swirling flood of horrors in his brain, and sighed again.

"Promise me you'll still remember my birthdays!" he shouted suddenly, and started to shake Remus' shoulder forcefully. "Promise me!"

Only when Remus jumped away from him did he look up and, seeing the puzzled faces of the others, realise what he was doing. The desperation in his eyes extinguished a bit as he hunched into the corner again.

"I think I…" he muttered through his hands, "I think I lost it for a moment…" He swallowed heavily and tried to breathe levelly, forcing away the panic that had started in him when he realised he had almost become a murderer. Remus' startled face next to him begun to calm down, as well, but in James' mind it turned fiercer, became that of the werewolf. He again tried to flood it away, thinking instead of the day they found out the Secret.

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"Now what?" James asked his friends as he threw himself into his favourite armchair. They had just been caught out of their common-room after the curfew.

"Now we prank the Gryffindors," came the obvious answer from Sirius who, losing no time, flung himself on top of James. "Hey, that's my armchair!"

"No, it's mine," James answered, his voice muffled by the hair of his best friend.

"What about some homework then?" Peter asked timidly, glancing towards Remus for support.

"We've done everything already," James answered, doing his best to push Sirius off him. "Get off, I can't breathe!"

"We have to read chapter 27 in DADA…" Peter insisted again.

"When have we ever needed to read the chapters in advance," Remus laughed suddenly, making all the three people look at him in amazement. Sirius even fell down from the armchair, but that could have been due to the fact that James threw him out.

His view of Remus clean of any of Sirius' hair, James looked at him in wonder. That was definitely the first time ever he had heard the teachers' pet say that they didn't need to do their homework. And probably, his mind assured him, it would be the last time as well. Therefore, coming to the logical assumption, he grabbed the chance.

"You're right, Remus," he said, drawing the attention of his three friends to himself. "Better let's go and explore the castle, again. I mean, we have to work out the password to open that secret passage behind that ugly statue of the witch…"

"I'd rather we stayed inside," Remus quickly stopped him.

"But you just said…" Sirius whined theatrically, when suddenly the Portrait Hole opened and a very strict-looking McGonagall climbed in with a lot of difficulty.

"Ah, Remus, you're awake," he greeted the whole group with a small nod. "Remus, please follow me. It's your mother, she's sick…" The Head of House looked apologetically at Peter, James, and Sirius, and escorted an uncomfortable-looking Remus out of the Common Room.

"Again?" James asked in amazement as the portrait hole swung closed.

"Yeah, I think we should send her some flowers!" Peter advised.

"I think we should send Remus some flowers," Sirius added, dropping down into the armchair that James had left just moments ago. "Anyway, it's no use going out to study the passage without Remus."

"Let's go and get one over the Gryffindor prefects, then," James suggested.

"Or let's go and get our books and read chapter 27…" Peter interjected.

"You're turning into Remus, you know?" Sirius asked from where he was stretched out in the armchair.

"And you're turning into a pancake!" James shouted merrily to Sirius, before jumping down on top of him to get back for what he had done earlier.

"Ouch, you shouldn't eat so many pancakes, James," Sirius told him, clutching his ribcage on which James had landed.

"It's not my fault they make them so good here at Hogwarts!"

"It's not their fault that you're gluttonous!"

"Hey, that's a Remus-word to use!" James argued back.

"I can use whatever words I please!" Sirius answered.

Somewhere in the course of the argument, they didn't even notice when exactly, Peter had left the Common Room, brought his book, come back, and started reading chapter 27.

"It wasn't I who hit your head against that table!" Sirius was claiming.

"Really, what were your hands doing then pressing both of my ears and forcing me to lean forward?"

"But that bump looks great on you! Especially with the moon shining on it!"

"It was you who charmed the curtains of my bed open so that I couldn't sleep all night with the moon shining in my face?" James almost screeched.

"And what if it was? I had your best interests in my mind! I was thinking that maybe one of those pretty girls would come sleepwalking to our room and if the curtains were closed they wouldn't see how charming you are when you're asleep!"

"I wasn't asleep!"

"But I could charm you asleep, too," Sirius suggested quickly, bursting into a laugh and jumping off the chair.

"Anyway, it's a good idea! Let's do it to the prefects!" James laughed as well, following Sirius down to the floor. "It's full moon, so they'll be up all night!"

"Remus!" Peter said suddenly

James looked quickly down to the portrait hole, but there was no one there. "You're going crazy? He went to see his mum, he'll be gone all night," he told Peter, a bit of disappointment in his voice.

"No… I mean… When did he go last time? A month ago, wasn't it?" Peter asked them, looking up from his book.

"So what? There are some ailments that strike repeatedly, my mum told me about some and, you know, she's a Healer," James said.

"But… Look at this!" Peter exclaimed, pointing out of the window to the moon that shone brightly over the tops of the Forbidden Forest.

"Yeah, the moon…" Sirius stretched. "We should go and charm the prefects' curtains open…"

"No!" Peter was looking from one of them to the other in amazement. "And they say that you're the smart ones!"

"Erm… Sirius, did you hear what I just heard?" James asked in amusement.

"Yeah, I think so," Sirius answered, and as if on a cue they turned to Peter again.

"Did you just call us stupid?"

"I suggest you do your homework!" Peter said, throwing his book at them. "Chapter 27, The Werewolves," he told them and sunk back in his chair to look at their reactions.

James gave the small textbook he was holding in his arms a questioning look. Then he turned to Sirius who was staring out of the window as if some girl had slapped him in his face unexpectedly. Sirius' mouth was open and his cheeks were burning red; James was sure he didn't look as flabbergasted as his friend. When he turned to Peter, though, his face was greeted with a small chuckle.

"So, what do we do now?" Peter asked, turning from James to Sirius and back again.

"I don't know…" James said slowly. "And don't you dare say that we're supposed to be the smart ones…"

Sirius was still watching the Forbidden Forest with round eyes, the silvery moon shining down on his face. Finally he blinked his eyes and closed his mouth, only to open it again and comment, "So the werewolves really do exist…"

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A/N: If you didn't like it the only way I can improve it is if you tell me what's wrong with it!