"Damn it, damn it, damn it! What the hell is taking so long?"
"I know this must be hard, Mr. Black, but you must be patient right now. We are doing everything we can," Professor McGonagall said as she peered over the wall where a few fellow professors had suspended themselves in a search. "And I would ask you to watch your language Mr. Black."
"Well, that's not bloody good enough! He can't just have apparated so why AREN'T YOU FINDING HIM?!"
Sirius' hands balled up into a fist as he clenched his teeth to prevent himself from furthering his rampage. He felt hand place itself on his shoulder and he turned to see Remus holding back his own emotions. Any other time when he was angry, Sirius would have pushed the hand off. He didn't need anyone calming him down. He didn't need anyone to make him feel better. But he hated to admit that the simple gesture was actually helping. He wouldn't tell Remus that but he let the hand stay.
McGonagall sighed. She should have been lecturing the students while they waited to hear news but she knew that there was a time and place for everything. The time for lecturing would be for when Mr. Potter was safe and sound in his own bed.
Suddenly, a head appeared over the wall caused all three of them to jump. "Professor, I think we found something." "What? Where is he?" Sirius raised his head and barked at the teacher he didn't recognize. Was it a teacher?
"Now we don't know for sure, but there's some sort of pit or hole before the edge of the roof. But it seems to be protected by some sort of spell."
McGonagall's eyes fell to the ground as if searching for something. Sirius and Remus looked at her and then at one another. Only the wind made sound for what seemed like forever. "Professor?" Remus said, breaking the silence.
Just then Professor Dumbledore burst through the Tower door with a clearly out of breath Peter close behind. "Minerva, what seems to be the problem? All I could get out of Mr. Pettigrew here was that young Mr. Potter managed to throw himself off the roof?"
Both Sirius and Remus gasped in disgust and stared Peter down, if only to momentarily get their minds off the current matter. Peter, bent over with his hands on his knees, looked up at the boys and panted, "That's…not…what I said…I think…"
McGonagall, now seeming a lot calmer, said, "It seems as though he has fallen into a Night Crevasse, which thank Merlin was so fortunate."
"Fortunate?!" Sirius spat out. "How the blimey…(he muttered to himself the full out swears he intended to scream)…is that fortunate?! Where is he?!"
"I'm afraid there's no time to explain, Mr. Black," Dumbledore said as he pulled out his wand. "But let me assure you that Mr. Potter will be alright. But come now, we have no time to lose. Mr. Potter must be getting pretty worried." Dumbledore raised his wand and white beams shot from the ends and surrounded the Astronomy Tower. "Mr. Pettigrew, if you would be so kind to get Madame Pomfrey here if you please. Mr. Potter may need some assistance. Professor, when you're ready." McGonagall nodded and before anyone could say a word, the two professors were gone.
"Uh!" Sirius stood there with his mouth hanging open. He looked around before running over the edge of the tower. "Remus look! Peter what the hell are you doing? Go!" Poor Peter looked up again before rolling his eyes and running back down the tower stairs.
The two boys stood there as the wind somehow continued to blow by them, chilling their bodies along with their spirits. It was probably only a few minutes that the professors had been gone but it like much, much longer. Finally, with a small pop! the two teachers appeared in front of them holding a very shaken boy in between.
"James!" Sirius ran over, unsure if to hug the boy or beat him.
He chose the latter. "If you EVER do something so STUPID every again, I swear to Merlin, I will KILL YOU!" He punched him again in the arm but stopped dead in his swing as his best friend lifted his head. James' body may have been safe in front of him but the soul of his friend was lost in those eyes. Those enormous eyes looked up at Sirius and showed the fear that had felt himself just moments before.
Finally, life returned behind the eyes and James smiled up at Sirius before bear tackling him in an embrace. Sirius stood there stunned for a moment before wrapping his own arms around James. Remus at this time had run just behind Sirius when he saw his friend was unharmed but had also froze at the sight of his eyes. He now stood there watching his friend's rather odd reaction before seeing James' arm shoot out and drag him into the distorted hug. Again, time had no meaning at that moment, but all that seemed to really matter was that they were all there.
"Professor, what in the—!"
"—Professor, what happened? What happened to James?" Remus quickly interrupted Sirius before his friend's anger and words could get them into trouble…again. The two boys were standing in the Hospital Wing with Dumbledore and McGonagall as they watched James shudder in his sleep in a bed in front of them. Peter had finally rejoined the group and had collapsed himself in the bed next to James as he wheezed to catch his breath.
McGonagall sighed as she looked at the young Potter toss in his sleep. The look the boy had given only moments ago had etched itself in the back of her mind. It was Dumbledore who finally broke the silence.
"Let's take a walk, shall we? We'll let your friend here rest for the night, have Madame Pomfrey look him over, and I'll return you three to your dorm for the night. You all look as if you could use a good night's sleep." Dumbledore looked the boys over and stopped his gaze on Remus at his last statement. Remus broke the stare by looking at the floor but quickly changed his mind when the floor began to move beneath him.
The boys were too tired to protest so (after pushing Peter along with them) they followed Dumbledore out to the hall and waited for him to close the door behind him. "Now," he said with a great gesture. "I believe you have some questions for me?"
"What the hell just happened? Why didn't James fall? Where was he and who in the bloody hell did that to him?" Sirius' mind and body were running purely on anger at that moment; anger he got from seeing the pain in his best friend's eyes.
"You might just want to tell us what you know, from the beginning," Remus said with a sigh as he placed his hand on Sirius' shoulder. Sirius had finally ran out of energy and let Remus lead him like a zombie as they started their way through the dead quiet school towards the Gryffindor Tower.
Dumbledore nodded. "When Hogwarts was first build—"
"—Ummm, Professor, I don't think he meant that beginning."
The old man laughed to himself as he folded his hands behind his back and looked ahead. "Not to worry Mr. Black, my story does in fact have some relevance to it. Now as I was saying, when our school was first constructed our founders placed several hidden details around the castle for precautionary measures. Now, they never expected any great force of evil to attack our school but nonetheless, felt the need to add defenses for the safety of its students."
Remus felt himself grow more lost in the headmaster's words and his hand soon slipped off Sirius' shoulder. He hoped it wasn't a long story.
"Now one of the many defenses added to Hogwarts are what known as Night Crevasse. They are installed along the edges of the roofs every few feet or so. The idea is that Aurors or fighters would hide within these traps without being seen by the enemy and then attack them from an aerial position when they least expect it. But these Night Traps also had another purpose."
Stay awake, stay awake. Sirius was losing the internal fight of what held more importance right then: knowing what happened to James or unconsciousness.
"When a person falls to the pit of a Night Crevasse, they are completely blocked off from any sound or sight from the outside world. This served to catch opposing attackers off guard or a place to store airborne prisons. Now luckily, these traps have not been necessary to this present day but I must say that your friend has been the first real person to experience them. I promise you he should be fine but he did seem rather spooked by the experience the last we saw him so you might want to keep notice of any strange behavior. I hear that it's quite an unpleasant experience. Ah and here we are!"
Dumbledore's last words were the ones to return the boys to the land of the living. The three looked towards the Fat Lady portrait and could almost feel the warm beds that awaited them.
"Peppered Fig!" The Fat Lady nodded and the passage swung open. "Goodnight boys and please do enjoy your Saturday!" Then with a chuckle and a swish of his robes, Dumbledore left them.
It took a minute for Sirius and Remus to roll Peter into the doorway but eventually gave up and left him on the Common Room couch. Sirius felt his mattress get closer and closer but stopped on the staircase to give a hand to Remus as he slipped on a step and collapsed. Finally, the two made it up their room and fell to their beds without another word or sound as they drifted.
