A/N…This is a collection of back-stories taken from Harry Potter and the Warrior's Path. I suggest that you read that first or you will be lost. The only thing that I own are the Stormchasers, Harry and cannon characters belong to all those other folks.
I am happy to announce that Harry Potter and The Warriors Path
has been nominated for the Harry Potter Awards. The Link to the place where
voting for this story is :
http-colon-backslash-backslash-www-dot-fanfiction-dot-net-backslash-topic-backslash-64689-backslash-21890795-backslash-1-backslash-
Thanks so much to all my loyal readers, couldn't have done it without you. Voting deadline is 1JUN2010.
Charles Potter enjoyed the trip into Heathrow. He could of course travel the magical route, but the US Navy frowned on not knowing where their people were at given moment of the day. Going from Norfolk, Virginia to London, England in not much more than a couple of blinks of the eye was hard to explain. Besides, he liked flying of any kind.
He had been making this trip at least once a year since 1960 to visit his family. James Potter, Sr. had come to terms with his son's life choices and had been known to boast of his eldest's stellar military career to anyone that would listen. Charles and Ed both had survived several tours in country in Vietnam with the Navy Seals as their unit had come to be called. Now they were teaching the next up and coming groups of Seals.
Charles was very close to his younger brother James. In fact, James was the only one of Charles' family that knew the elder brother was a wizard. Charles had not told his parents because they would expect him to return to the British wizarding world and he was not going to do that. So in order to preserve peace, he simply did not tell them. He had to rescue James from a bad fall when the boy was five years old at the park with magic but his little brother thought that being trusted with such a large secret was awesome. Surprisingly the child was very good at keeping secrets as to the best of Charles' knowledge, James had not told anyone other than Remus and Sirius with Charles' permission, that his older brother really was a wizard. Charles had not met Remus before but he would this summer.
Once James turned eleven and started Hogwarts, Charles timed his visits for the summer vacation. James had just finished his fifth year at Hogwarts and Charles was looking forward to seeing him. James had written that Sirius Black would be staying with him this summer. Charles knew from previous visits that Sirius had a hard row to hoe at home and didn't blame the boy for staying with the Potters.
James also was very excited about something; he just hadn't said what it was. Charles knew it was more than the fact that the boy's best friend would be staying the entire summer. There was no telling what those two had been up to at school. James and Sirius were pure hell on wheels, both very intelligent but with far too much energy. Charles had always thought that both of them could do with military school to help channel that energy but the wizarding world had no such type of school.
Even though the British wizarding world was fighting a war against the darkest wizard since Grindelwald, the Ministry of Magic had no formal battle training to speak of for their young folk, only the Aurors got that. Charles had tried on several occasions to convince his family to move to America to escape the rising violence in Britain, but his father would have none of it. Therefore, Charles spent his summer leave training his little brother and friends everything that he could. They learned at an astonishing rate and did not turn their noses up at muggle techniques either. In addition, they thought that the sun rose and set on Charles Potter.
He would spend a few days in London visiting with his parents, then he and the boys would go to the cabin in the Highlands that Uncle Charlus had left him when the man had past several years back. There he could train them without any interference and it gave his parents a break from the high jinks that the young wizards were sure to be getting up to at home. His mother always seemed to be overwhelmed by her youngest, so she loved it when the two brothers left to spend time "bonding" as she called it. In addition, this year Remus would join them at the cabin for two weeks. Charles wondered how the boys had talked the Lupins into that. That set of parents had never let their son visit before but maybe since all the boys were at least fifteen years old; perhaps they felt that it was finally time to cut the apron strings.
Charles de-planed at the British Airways terminal and proceeded to the apparition point in the concealed supply room. He popped into the park area near his parents' home and walked the half block. James and Sirius were sitting on top front step waiting. When they saw Charles, they both pelted down the stairs, three steps at a time, and then rushed down the sidewalk to skid to a stop in front of Charles.
"Charles, you are here!" James almost shouted as he bent to pick up the sea bag that Charles had set down. Sirius grinned up at the elder Potter, reaching out to shake hands.
"Yes youngling, I am here. What have you two been up to that has you are hiding out here? Mother isn't after you is she? Oh I know Star is!" Charles said this with an easy smile. The senior Potter house elf was about the only one that could contain the whirlwinds that were James and Sirius.
James laughed. "We are not hiding. Mother had to go to Hogwarts; no, we are not in trouble there either. It is about the scholarship thing that Uncle Charlus set up. Dad went with her. So we have you all to ourselves, come on we want to hear everything that you have been doing this year. You know all the hush, hush military stuff you didn't put in the letters. The stuff that scares Mother!" The two teens escorted Charles up the steps and into the entry of the townhouse.
Star was waiting with her toga made from a fine linen towel with the Potter crest on the shoulder.
"Master Charles, yous is being early! Mistress will be sad. Come ins and has you some tea. Master James you is not to be bouncing like a ball. Lets Master Charles rest. Flying in them Muggle machines is not good."
The little female elf herded the young men to the parlor where a lavish British tea was laid out.
"Master Siri, leave some for others. Yous is not to be being a piggy!"
Sirius snatched his hand back from the plate with the finger sandwiches, while Charles and James laughed at him. The three friends enjoyed their afternoon tea, sharing tales of the last year, the ones that were not fit for their mother's ears anyway.
Five Days Later…
Charles, James, and Sirius were waiting in Kings Cross Station. They had picked that as the meeting point with the Lupins. The Lupins, like the elder Potters, believed that Charles was a squib but had been persuaded by their only son to allow this outing. Therefore, both sets of parents thought that muggle transportation would be the only way that the group would travel.
All of the boys had sworn to be on their best behavior and Remus' parents had unwillingly allowed it. Mr. Lupin had insisted that Remus take an emergency portkey with him. He hoped that everything would go well, but it was best to be prepared. His son did not have any other friends and did not ask for things like this very often. Therefore, he couldn't find it in his heart to deny the boy his request. The child asked for so little.
Charles enjoyed James and Sirius' wide-eyed wonder of the Muggles and their vehicles that were speeding past the entrance to the train station while they were waiting. The elder Potter noticed that the one thing that would stop Sirius in mid sentence was when a motorcycle sped past. Black would watch it with longing in his eyes, standing stock-still.
'Well it won't be long before he is old enough to drive one. Maybe by next summer I can teach them all to ride one.' Charles thought with a smile.
"Remus!" James shouted and Charles turned to see a middle-aged couple walking up with a tall, sandy haired young man between them. Sirius and James rushed up to greet their friend.
Charles stepped forward to introduce himself. Just as he reached the group, his "radar" made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He stopped and quickly searched the platform for the danger that had set off his reaction. There was an apex predator here somewhere. But where? Nothing seemed to be out of place.
He quickly stepped closer to the Lupins and for the first time looked their son directly in the face. Amber eyes met blue black and Charles knew. He looked at James and realized that his little brother might know what his friend was. Moreover, expected his older brother to accept Lupin. Charles took a steadying breath.
"Good Morning, Mrs. and Mr. Lupin. I am Charles Potter. Thank you so much for allowing Remus to accompany us. I am sure that he will assist me in controlling these two." Charles turned on his best smile and the Lupins relaxed slightly.
"Mr. Potter, it is a pleasure. Thank you for inviting Remus to come. I know he has been looking forward to it all summer. I have given him a portkey if he needs to return home before you are ready to. I am sure you won't mind."
Mr. Lupin liked the man on sight, something that didn't happen very often. That is why he told him about the portkey.
"Remus, now you remember your manners son. We want you to have a good time with your friends and to be careful. Don't let these two scamps get you into trouble." Mr. Lupin ruffled Sirius' hair, smiling at him.
"I am sure that he will be the least of my worries. Ok, boys grab your gear and let's get on that train."
Charles picked up his bag and started the boys moving towards the train that they were going to take to Scotland. Remus hugged his mother and father, snatched his own bag, and hurried after his friends.
"Do you think we are doing the right thing dear? I mean letting Remmie go like this?" Mrs. Lupin asked her husband as they watched the group go into the station. The three boys were laughing and giggling, mock punching each other's arm, looking much like three puppies playing.
"Darling, I really do. I don't know why, but I trust that man. Much more than I would his father. He…I don't know. There is just something about him that tells me that Remus will be just fine. Now come, let's return home." Mr. Lupin gently took his wife's arm, the two of them stepped into an ally, and they spun on the spot, disappearing from sight.
Charles sat fairly quietly during the train trip as the three younger men talked and joked, not leaving much room for him to say anything except for a comment now and then. He watched the three interact, looking for any hesitation or trepidation on James or Sirius' part. Did they really know what Remus was? Nevertheless, how could they not, attending school with the boy from September through June for five years?
James and Sirius were the same around Remus as they had been when it was just the two of them. Therefore, if they did know, they accepted their friend's "problem". Was this the secret that James had been hiding for the last few months? Charles was going to get to the bottom of this soon. The full moon had just been last weekend, so they had a three-week window before they had to worry about anything.
The cabin in the mountains…
Charles led the way up the path to the cabin. When his Uncle Charlus had left it to him, it had looked like a typical thatched roof Scottish country cottage. Charles had worked, with James helping him, over the course of several summers turning it into a wonderful retreat. The thatch had been replaced with slate, modern plumbing and a front porch facing southwest had been added. The wards around the place were impressive when he inherited it. He had added more so that now unless he invited you in, you would never even see it from the valley, never mind be able to approach it.
Charles unlocked the door, magically and using a muggle lock. The boys would be in the second bedroom that was complete with bunks. They went in to unpack. Charles unloaded several shrunken packages that contained food, and other supplies for their stay. He got a fire going in the hearth since at this altitude; it was cool in the evenings, even in summer. Then he sat in the overstuffed chair and waited for the boys.
There was much giggling going on in the beginning but Charles could only hear snatches of conversation. It seemed that Sirius was teasing James about someone named Lily. Before it could escalate into something serious, Charles called the boys out for the tea he had sat out on the scrubbed kitchen table.
"Siri, I swear if you don't stop, I am going to pound you!" James came into the living area, his face looking like a thundercloud. "You stop it!"
"Ok, what the hell is going on? I don't think I have ever heard you two fighting. Care to explain why I am hearing it now?"
Charles did not raise his voice but then he didn't need to. His deep bass had a way of cutting through conversation when he wanted it to. If thunder had a voice, his is what it would sound like.
The three froze! They had momentarily forgotten that there was another person here. An adult person at that, even it was cool Charles. The looks of chagrin on all three faces were comical. Charles wondered how much they would tell him.
"Umm, well, Sirius has been teasing me…" James started but was at a loss as how to finish it.
"Sirius has been teasing James about this girl that he has fancied since they first met on the train first year. But she thinks he is an arrogant toe rag", Remus quickly put in.
'Ah!' thought Charles. 'Here is the peacemaker of the bunch.'
"But he is an arrogant toe rag!" Sirius piped up smiling at his best friend.
"I am not. It just that she…well she never seems to see me in the best light." James finished up.
"Well, maybe you just need to work on not being an arrogant toe rag where she can see you." Charles said this with a grin. He knew full well how big his little brother's ego was.
How could it not be? The late baby of a very wealthy pure blood family and best friends with the eldest of another pureblood well to do family, never mind excellent at anything he turned his hand too. The boy had a good heart, it was just sometimes he let pride in self and his family rule his mouth.
"Who is the paragon of beauty that has slain your heart?"
"She is Lily Evans. She is the most brilliant witch in our year, never mind she is beautiful. She has dark red hair, long and shining with the most startling green eyes that you have ever seen." James was getting a dreamy look on his face.
"Boy, you have got it bad. So why are you being an arrogant toe rag around her?" Charles was curious about this.
"Well, you see she is muggle born. That is not why she calls me an arrogant toe rag. I would never hold that against her! But she already knew a wizard from her neighborhood that started school with all of us. He is this greasy haired git. He hangs out with all the other Slytherins and you know how they are! Well, he and she were friends from before. Snape, that is his name, well he didn't seem to like Sirius and me that first day on the train. It has been kind of open warfare between us and him ever since." James did have the grace to look a bit guilty about this.
"Oh, so I see. It is the three of you against this Slytherin, Snape. I can kind of see why he doesn't like you."
Charles could not help but put the disappointment in his voice that he was feeling. He had worried about James and Sirius being the pranksters, now it seemed they were bullies too!
"Well, when you say it like that, it does seem that way. But he gives as goods as he gets, always hexing us when our backs are turned. But anyway, we uh, we had a disagreement after our O.W.L.S. this past June. Hexes were exchanged, Snape ended up hanging upside down. Evans tried to get me to leave him alone, but then that bastard called her a mudblood. I thought she was his friend. They aren't speaking now, the git actually waited outside the common room door the last Saturday, trying to get her to talk to him. I don't think she is friends with him anymore." James was looking worried now. He had noticed the look on his big brother's face.
"Now let me tell you one thing James Harrison Potter. If I ever hear that you have been going three, alright two," Charles notice the look on Remus' face, "on one again, I will personally whip your ass! You should be ashamed of yourself. If you were some half squib, not able to stand up for yourself, I might, MIGHT be able to understand you two ganging up another student. BUT NONE OF THE THREE of you are that! You are very capable of taking on any other student BY YOURSELF! There is enough strife and fighting going on in the world without you making it worse!"
"But Snevillus is all into the Dark Arts! I bet he is already a Death Eater!" Sirius put in trying to defend their actions.
"I don't care if he calls Voldemort his uncle! It does not give you the right to be just as bad as the Death Eaters are!" Now that hit the young men in the face like a wet kneazle.
"We aren't as bad as the Death Eaters!" James was almost on the point of tears. He couldn't bear the thought that his beloved brother thought that about him.
"When you pick on someone weaker than yourself, weaker either because of the fact that they are outnumbered or because they are not up to your abilities, then that make you just as bad as the Death Eaters.
You are at the age that it is time to decide what life you are going to choose. Are you going to be someone who your children, your family can look up to for doing what is right and defending those who can't defend themselves? Or on the other hand, are you going to choose the path where you walk over anything or anyone who stands in your way to get what you want? Will you take the path that leads to darkness? Because once you start down that path to darkness, finding your way back to the light is extremely difficult, if not impossible for most men to do. There are enough real enemies in this life without you three going out and making another one. And one I might add that is a powerful one." Charles was glaring at all three boys.
"What do you mean a powerful one? He is just this slimy Slytherin git!" Sirius was getting angrier by the minute. Snape powerful? Oh, come on he thought. Charles just didn't understand!
"Siri, you just stop and think for once in your life. You have a fine brain, use if for something besides getting in to trouble! This boy, Snape, from what I hear he has been holding his own against at least two of you for FIVE years! How many other wizards to you think could do that? Well, how many? No answer, I didn't think so. I hope for that boy's sake that someone will help him find the right path because if not, Voldemort will gain a powerful Death Eater. Moreover, in my opinion, it will have a lot to do with how YOU have treated him. I think that all three of you need to think very hard on how you have been treating Snape and how you will treat him in the future. It may be too late to change his course, but maybe not." Charles looked at all three hard, even Sirius was chastened.
"I want all three of you to take a really good look at how you treat others. Just because you can beat someone in a duel, doesn't mean you need to start one just because you are bored or whatever." At this, Sirius and James looked extremely guilty, because that is exactly why they had started on Severus after the O.W.L.'s. "Save all that crap for the ones that truly deserve it. I haven't been teaching you James to be a bully. I want that to stop right now! Do all of you understand me?"
Charles glared at the three young men before him. James seemed to be truly sorry, Remus looked upset, but Sirius had a rebellious look on his face. The young Black was one who resented authority. Charles knew it was because of how the boy's parents had treated him all of his life but Sirius had to change his ways or there would be hell to pay.
The elder Potter took a moment to calm down. Hopefully some of what he had said would sink in, maybe not all of it but maybe some of it. He sure hoped so.
"Now, let's leave that be for a bit. I want to know what it is you have been dying to tell me since I got here."
Charles sat patiently waiting. Not a sound came from any of the three. All of them were sitting looking at their shoes.
"Ok, I'll start." He turned to Remus. "How long have you been a werewolf son?"
It was worth the looks on all three faces that suddenly shot up from perusing their shoes. Remus immediately glared at James.
"I thought we were going to tell him together." Remus' eyes were hardening to the dark amber of a wolf.
"I didn't say anything Moony! Honest!" James was quick to assure his friend.
Remus turned to Sirius.
"Not me either. I didn't breathe a word. You know I wouldn't do that!" Sirius was scooting back in his chair away from Remus.
"Remus, calm down. They didn't say a word. However, you see, one apex predator always knows another. Don't you feel it?" Charles touched his spirit animal and saw the hairs on Remus' arm raise.
"You're an animagus?" Remus looked wide-eyed at Charles.
"Yes, I am. So how long have you been a were son?"
"Since I was five years old. There are only a few who know, Dumbledore and Madame Pomfrey at school. Professor McGonagall too. In addition, these two idiots plus our friend Peter Pettigrew. Dumbledore allowed me to come to Hogwarts when my parents didn't think that I would be able to. He made arrangements for me to be safe on the full moon. But my disappearing once a month, it was too big of a mystery for these two." Remus was once again looking at his best friends without glaring at them.
"So we figured it out. Would you believe when we told him we knew, he thought that we were going to shun him? I mean come on, he is our friend!" Sirius said as he lightly punched Remus on the shoulder.
"I decided that Remus should not be alone when he changed but we couldn't be there with him as humans. So in second year, we started researching ways to help Remus during his transformation. And this year we finally did it!" James said with pride in his voice.
'Oh my god!" thought Charles.
"Are you telling me that you two figured out how to become animagus by yourself? Without any help from a professor?" Charles could not believe it. So many things could, hell should have gone wrong.
"Yes we did!" James and Sirius chorused together, so very proud of themselves.
"How did you know that is what they had done?" Remus asked quietly.
"Well, I know there is research going on here and in the states on ways to help werewolves at least keep some of their sanity when they are transformed but it is strictly research. Therefore, the only way these two morons could be with you when you transformed was to be animals. Moreover, I imagine that they are pretty big ones. Come on let's go outside. I have to see this."
Charles got up and strode out the front door with the three close on his heels.
"Ok, Mr. Smarty-pants. Show me what you got." Charles stood with his arms crossed across his chest and glared at the two young men.
"I'll go first." James smiled at his brother and melted into a very large stag. The large soft brown eyes twinkled with delight. It snorted and play stomped at Sirius who turned to run.
Then he melted into a large shaggy black Irish wolfhound. Charles was startled at how much Siri looked like a Grim, the wizarding harbinger of death.
"Well, you have to give them credit. They don't do anything half way do they?"
Charles was calming down further from his earlier anger. These two idiots had so much potential and he would try his best to see that they lived up to it. He would work on the bullying as much as he could. There would be no more holding back on the hexes during dueling practice. It was time that they knew how that really felt.
Remus said as he looked at his friends play chasing one another around the clearing, "No they don't. I didn't know they were trying to do it. I would have stopped them. If James hadn't been so damned good at Transfiguration, they more than likely would have ended up as slimy puddles. They even were able to help our friend Peter to transform into a rat. I just wished they would use their powers for only good. So Charles, what is your form?"
Charles smiled that wicked Potter smile and his shape becoming larger as his form grew, stretching to something large and furry. Remus had never seen a Grizzly Bear before but he knew that the bear standing in front of him would have no trouble with a werewolf. This creature would not only be able to contain the beast, this creature could destroy the beast. This was truly an apex predator.
"Wicked!" said the young werewolf smiling openly for the first time since Charles had met him.
Over the next two weeks, Charles worked on training the boys in every combat technique he could cram into the time they had together. He also did not pull any punches. For the first time James and Sirius were on the losing end of sparring matches. Charles hoped that it would curb their bullying of anybody but especially this Slytherin Snape. That young man sounded like a person who would make a deadly enemy. Their vacation in the mountains came to a close much too soon for all of them.
On the last night, as the four of them sat around the table after their supper, Charles once again brought up the bullying of Snape.
"Now I want all of you to promise me that you will work on the bullying. I am serious, not you idiot. I don't want to hear another even hint that any of you are doing that sort of thing. You have a responsibility to do what is right, that is why I have spent my time teaching you, so that you can make the right choices."
Charles looked especially hard at Sirius. The oldest Black had a mulish look on his face.
"Siri, I am not kidding. Quit ragging that boy Snape. It is going to blow up in your face before too long. All of you are old enough to know better. I think you are underestimating him, so leave him alone."
James and Remus nodded but Sirius pointedly ignored Charles' comments about Severus. Charles shook his head. He hoped that Siri would make the right choice when the time came; hopefully the time spent with them here in the mountain would sink into that hard head. Charles could only hope!
Fall of the Marauders' Sixth year…
Sirius and Peter came into the Gryffindor common room snickering together. James had been studying and watched his two friends come across the common room to sit at the table with him. They had plans to meet at the Shrieking Shack after curfew. There was to be a full moon tonight.
"I am almost afraid to ask", James closing his book, "what have you two been up to?"
"Well, we just left the library, Peter had to return that book that was overdue and guess who we saw in there?" Sirius had that light of devilment in his eyes.
"Who?" James thought he knew who Sirius was baiting him with but would play along anyway.
"Evans and Snape is still trying to make up to her!" Sirius said with a laugh in his voice. "But she isn't giving him the time of day. She stalked off and left him standing there like an idiot. Of course, when he saw us, he went off by himself and pretended to read his book. However, I knew he was listening to us talk. I am so tired of him skulking around and trying to figure out what we are doing when we…"
"Padfoot watch it!" James cautioned him. Sometimes Siri's mouth engaged before his brain kicked in gear.
Softer now, "Well I know he is dying to know what we are doing, so I said to Wormtail, I said 'You know how to get into that willow, you just push that dark knot at the bottom, and it will quit moving. That is how we get in!' I know he heard me because he stopped pretending that he was reading. Like he is brave enough to check and see what we are doing down there. He is a coward; he would never try it out! Hey where are you going?"
James had jumped up and sprinted across the common room, bolting out the portrait hole. Sirius looked at Wormtail.
"What did I say?"
James ran as hard as he could, pelting down the stairs, pushing past other students. He left a wake of confusion behind him. All he could think about was what Charles had said this summer. About how Snape really was brave and not to underestimate him. In addition, for them not to push him. Sirius just had to push Snape. James burst out the front doors of the castle, glancing up at the sky.
"Oh bloody hell!" James paled but didn't stop running when he saw that the moon was already up. He ran faster!
Just as he rounded the bend in the path to the Whomping Willow, he saw Snape duck into the dark hole at the base of the trunk. James pushed as hard as he could, but his breath was coming in painful gasps. He wasn't sure he was going to be able catch the Slytherin before he got to the trap door at the end of the tunnel but he KNEW he had to!
He dove into the tunnel and sprinted to the far end. Snape was still far ahead.
"Snape! Wait, Please Wait!" James called because he saw the dark boy reach for the latch on the old wooden trap door. "Don't open that! STOP!"
Snape froze and turned to see who was shouting at him. Potter was running hell bent for leather up the tunnel. He smirked at the Gryffindor and released the latch only to have the trapdoor wrenched out of his hand.
He looked up into the face of Hell. A werewolf was peering under the edge of the door, snarling and trying to get a better purchase with clawed paws to lift the door completely up. James made a flying leap and grabbed the latch handle.
"Come on! Grab it and pull! We have to get it closed and latched! It will take both of us!" James shouted at Severus to unfreeze the terrified boy. Snape grabbed the latch along with James and both boys put their entire weight to pulling the door closed. As soon as it shut completely, James shot the heavy slide bolt and twisted it to secure the lock.
"Come on. Him being able to smell you is going to drive him mad. We have to get the hell out of here!"
James pulled Snape down the tunnel, not quite as quickly as he had come through it the first time but very quickly indeed. Severus had almost been petrified with terror but the snarls and claws tearing at the trap door gave him the needed incentive to hurry along the tunnel.
James helped Snape to stand once they were out of the tunnel, but the Slytherin angrily pulled away from the Gryffindor.
"Get your hands off of me Potter!" snarled the infuriated teen.
"Are you alright? Snape are you alright?" James didn't care that the young man before him was furious; James was worried that he had been bitten. That would be the end for Remus, never mind Snape.
"Am I alright? That was a…a…werewolf!" Snape was still mad but now just how close he had come to being savaged sank in. He started shaking.
"Come on; let's get you back up to the castle. You don't want to be out here tonight." James led the dark teen, not touching him, but leading him back to the castle. They met Dumbledore coming out the front door.
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Snape, what is the meaning of this?" Dumbledore had lost the twinkle in his blue eyes. He had seen James run out of the castle but not Severus. He also knew that tonight was not a night to be on the grounds.
"Were..wolf" was all that Severus could say.
"Mr. Potter, was he bitten?"
"No sir, I got there in time."
"Come with me." And Dumbledore led the two boys up the stairs to his office. Neither said anything until they were inside of the headmaster's office.
The headmaster sat both boys down in the chairs by the fire and poured them cups of hot chocolate. James gulped his down almost in one go. Severus was shaking so bad he could hardly hold his cup.
"Now tell me what happened." Dumbledore looked at James over his half moon spectacles.
"Well, Sirius and Peter were talking in the library. Actually, they were having a go at Snape. Sirius did not think that Snape would be brave enough to actually try to get into the Whomping Willow. However, my brother had said this summer that Snape was actually very brave and that Sirius should not push him. Sirius didn't listen and so Snape went to see if you could get into the willow. The two idiots came into the common room talking about it and I ran to try to stop Snape."
"Why?" Snape asked looking at his archenemy (he thought).
"Why what?" James looked across at the other teen in bewilderment.
"Why did you try to stop me?" Snape spat this out.
"Why did I try to stop you? You are kidding right. No, I can see that you aren't. There are many reasons. First I wouldn't wish a werewolf savaging on my worst enemy, well maybe Voldemort, but certainly not you!"
Snape looked at James with complete incredulity all over his face.
"Really, nobody deserves that! Another reason is, if Remus had savaged you, it would have destroyed him, to know that he had harmed you. Right before the ministry really destroyed him. I couldn't let that happen to one of my best friends. Never mind, Evans would have killed me if she ever found out that I let that happen to you. You two may not be talking, but you were friends a long time. And she is scary when she is mad!" James saw that Snape tried not to agree with him on that but failed.
"The last reason is my brother would kill me if I let this happen. What he thinks is important to me and he got on us this summer for being bullies." James blushed but continued. "I don't want to disappoint him. Simple as that." James finished quietly.
"Mr. Snape I have to ask that you give me your solemn oath that you will not tell anyone about what happened tonight." Dumbledore looked at the young Slytherin, extremely hard at him.
"What is going to happen to Black? He tried to kill me!" Severus had recovered enough to be furious now.
"No, Snape he really didn't think that you would go and try to get in the willow. Honestly, he is such an idiot sometimes. Charles told him to never under estimate you and he did. He wouldn't try to really kill you", James said this hoping it was true. Sometimes Sirius was hard to figure out, but James really thought that Sirius had not meant to get Snape hurt.
"Mr. Snape, I will speak to Mr. Black myself but as no one can know this secret, I am afraid that there will be no 'known' punishment. Mr. Potter thank you so much for your quick action tonight. You saved more than one life. Now Mr. Snape, can I have your oath?" Dumbledore waited patiently.
Severus glared at Dumbledore. It was happening again! His precious Gryffindors were going to get off with no punishment. If he had pulled this stunt, he would have been expelled. He was sure of that!
However, Severus knew that Dumbledore could simply Obilivate the knowledge out of his head. Instead, he was offering to trust the young man with some very important information. That was a first. The fact that Dumbledore would trust Severus Snape was filed away for future use.
"Very well, I will tell no one about Lupin being a werewolf until", and Severus smirked at this last bit, "we graduate from school. I give my wizard's oath".
Dumbledore knew that with the way things were going with the ministry, Lupin would have to register once he was of age, so that stipulation was not a problem.
"Thank you Mr. Snape. Now do you need to go to Madame Pomfrey? Not even a calming draft?" Dumbledore looked over his half moon speckles at the young man before him.
Severus shook his head, still angry that Black had tried to kill him. No matter what Potter said, Severus believed in his heart that Black had tried to kill him tonight.
"Very well, return to your common room. It is almost curfew." Dumbledore held the door open for Severus to step into the stairwell. The dark teen stopped on the threshold.
"Thanks." He muttered over his shoulder at James.
"You are welcome." James quietly said. He was surprised that Snape had bothered to thank him.
Dumbledore shut the door quietly behind Snape and returned to his chair beside James.
"Thank you very much for your quick thinking tonight James. You have saved two lives tonight and I am in debt do you. So Charles has been helping you with growing up has he? Well, you could pick a much worse person for your mentor. How has he been doing?"
With that opening, Dumbledore had a very nice conversation with James until the young man had calmed down from his excitement of the evening.
"Now, I want you to tell Mr. Black and Mr. Pettigrew that they are to see me first thing after breakfast. I want you to return to your dorm now and I will check on Mr. Lupin myself. Do not discuss this with them tonight; let them think on what they have done. Because for whatever reason that they did it, one of their classmates could have died tonight. I am going to make sure that they never forget that." Dumbledore rose and gestured towards the office door. James knew he was being dismissed.
"One thing sir, I will understand if you can't answer. Do you think that Snape will join the Death Eaters?" James looked up at his headmaster.
"James, I hope not but only time will tell. Now you go on to bed and feel free to torment Mr. Black along with Mr. Pettigrew with as bad a punishment as you can think that I would give them. I feel they deserve a bit of torture for tonight's work. But no one else, do you understand?"
"Yes sir I do. Thank you."
James shut the office door behind and hurried down the spiral staircase, plotting what he was going to tell Sirius and Peter that Dumbledore was going to do to them.