DINNER:
The four Marauders sat eating dinner with Lily discussing the grades they think they had achieved on their Potions tests.
"Well, if anyone asked me, I'd probably say I got an A for sure, maybe an E if I was lucky." Boasted James as if it meant hardly anything to him. He rumpled his hair again. "How about you, Padfoot?"
Sirius grinned.
"HA! Probably nothing passing. Did you SEE my draught of peace? More like the Draught of Pieces. It was way too thick and certain people were distracting me with their own potion problems." Sirius shot a nasty look at Peter who gulped.
"I think I must have gotten a T." he mumbled through a mouthful of meatloaf. "I have to be the worst potioneer ever." Peter had managed to melt his cauldron which burned holes in several people's shoes.
"Well, you can't have been as bad as me." Said Remus calmly. "I added the asphodel before the beetle eyes. The whole potion was useless and I had to clear up." Lily sat frowning slightly.
"All right, Evans." Said James impatiently. "If you're going to look like that all night you might as well tell us what you got. It was undoubtedly better than any of us so just say it." Lily bit her knuckle for a moment as though biting back a thought, but then it spilled out anyway.
"It's not that…I wish you wouldn't go out tonight." She said grudgingly. James laughed.
"Evans, it's not really an option."
She glared at them.
Relax! We've got it all worked out. We're going under the Invisibility cloak and through the one eyed witch on the third floor. That's another way to get into the Shrieking Shack. Then we'll be back before morning."
Lily still looked uneasy.
"I'm sorry." She said. "But something doesn't feel right. I mean…Filch wouldn't seal off something he knows people use, would he? And I heard it from some Slytherins and they're always looking for reasons to terrorize Gryffindors. And now Severus is suspicious you're a …." she broke off. Just…just…be careful all right? I would hate for you all to get into trouble."
"We'll be fine, Evans. We've got the map and we're Animagi. It takes more than a pair of eyes to see who we really are." Sirius looked at his watch.
"And it looks like we'd better get going if we want to get any homework done. 'Night, Evans." He said and the four of them left their places and headed for the dormitory.
That night in the dormitory, while James and Sirius were pouring over their essays on vampires, Remus paced nervously. He looked worse than he had all day. The coming moon was driving him insane. It was getting more and more difficult to focus on anything, and his head was aching.
Lily was again sitting intently on an armchair, occasionally casting fleeting looks around the common room. She couldn't possibly have been reading. Sirius kept glancing at his watch and sighing as if with boredom.
At quarter to eleven, James got up and packed his books into his bag, and returned with his Invisibility Cloak in hand. A wide grin spread over Sirius' face and he said,
"Everyone ready?"
Remus stopped pacing, and nodded. Pettigrew woke up from a nap on the sofa with a start and mumbled something about dancing tomatoes when Sirius dragged him to his feet.
Lily gave them a "Don't come crying to me" look as they slipped the Invisibility Cloak around all four of them and headed through the portrait hole.
"All right," hissed James as they hurried down Gryffindor corridor. "I think all we have to do is to go down to the third floor and get through that passage of that ugly one eyed witch." Then he paused. "What do we have to say again?"
"Dissendium." Muttered Lupin. He had begun to tremble slightly.
The four made their way down without any trouble and found themselves on the third floor landing.
"Ok, come on!" whispered Sirius and they all stepped behind the one eyed witch. "Ready? Everyone in one piece?" He didn't wait for a reply.
"Dissendium!" he hissed and the hump of the hag slid open. The entry was small, but big enough for one at a time. Sirius went first, then Lupin, then Peter, then James. They slid down a slimy tunnel that was pitch black. It was all they could do to keep from shouting out loud with fright or pain. It was very bumpy.
Finally they flew out of the shoot, into the snow. They had not managed to end up in the Shrieking shack. They were right outside it. Shivering, they made their way through to the ancient house. But something was wrong.
The moon had not yet risen to its full height in the black sky, but Lupin was shaking horribly, his face pale. He seemed incapable of speech.
James thought he had seen a light just beyond the small shrubs, but the light had disappeared. This made him slightly nervous because no matter what people said, he and his friends were the only people who ever came back here….ever. Something didn't feel right.
Then he saw a figure step out from behind a bush. And another….and another….and-
"REDUCTO!" came four voices from behind the house. James was thrown back and from the sounds of distress on either side of him, his friends had met the same fate.
All four of them struggled to get a hold on their wands. Sirius got there first and cried,
"STUPEFY!" But there was no cry of pain from this which told him that his spell had struck blank air.
About nine lights were coming at them. By the time, Sirius, James, Peter, and Remus had gotten to their feet, the faces of their attackers became plain.
At the head were Severus Snape and Lucious Malfoy. Snape, his greasy hair hanging lank around his pale face. Malfoy's blonde hair slicked back, his beady eyes glinting. But whereas Malfoy looked simply superior, Snape looked positively murderous.
On Malfoy's right was a girl with thick black curls that fell raggedly down her back. She had heavy eyelids and deep sunken eyes like black pits. There was no mercy in Bellatrix Black's eyes. She was Sirius' cousin, and wanted him gone more than anything.
To Snape's left was a burly boy with thick eyebrows and bushy hair. He looked surly and perhaps a bit weaker than his friends. Sirius recognized him as Mulciber, and next to him, Macnair.
All around them, the Slytherins seemed to be. Another boy named Yaxley and another called Antonin Dolohov. To the left of Pettigrew were stumpy, surly looking twins that James knew immediately as Amycus and Alecto Carrow.
This was very bad. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Sirius croaked,
"Snivellus, out for a midnight stroll with your body guards?" Snape was easily the thinnest one there. And now his sallow face was twisted with an unpleasant smile.
"Why yes, Black. Perhaps I am. I was just thinking of looking around. We never thought we'd meet you here." The Slytherins laughed nastily.
"The hell you didn't." snarled Sirius. "I take it you blocked off the passage out onto the grounds? How did you manage that?"
"A solidity spell, though obviously you caught on." Said Snape looking angry. "We wanted to get you all caught and expelled, but that's behind us. I like this better."
"Let us pass, Snivellus." Growled James from behind Sirius. "For your own good."
Snape's smile became more pronounced. "No, I don't think we intend to. Actually, we were looking forward to a duel of sorts. Wands only, no contact." Peter had begun to whimper as the Slytherins closed in around them.
"Nine against four…very brave." Said Remus quietly. "But then, I didn't expect you to be able to handle four teenagers all on your own." James whipped around to look at his friend. Remus' eyes were flashing.
"Shut up, Lupin." Snarled Snape. "The only reason you can even count yourself with Potter is because no one else would deal with you." Lupin's face remained impassive.
"I say we finish them." Purred Bellatrix. "They don't look like they know how to play."
"I agree, Bella." Said Malfoy striding forward, his wand out. "I want Potter."
"NO." snapped Snape. "Potter is mine." Then he looked around at his friends. "Bella, Dolohov; take Pettigrew." And he pointed to Peter. "Yaxley, Malfoy, take Lupin. Macnair, Mulciber, Carrows; you can have Black. He'll be difficult to take down."
Snape strutted forward, his wand out.
Then the duel began. James was shooting spell after spell at Snape and the Carrows. None seemed to hit them, but then Malfoy stumbled away from Lupin with a black eye and a bleeding lip.
"Nice one, Remus!" cried Sirius sending another jinx into the gloom ahead.
Peter managed to stun Mulciber and now he lay, a huge lump on the snowy ground.
All in all, it was going rather well. They might have even been all right if it hadn't been for the moon.
The full moon came out from behind a puffy cloud casting an eerie white glow on the snow. Everything seemed to freeze. Then Lupin's arms started to shake. His body was morphing right before their eyes. Claws the size of sabers were shooting out of his hands, and fur sprouted everywhere on his thin frame. Malfoy's eyes were wide with shock. He couldn't seem to move. Sirius was shouting for Snape and his gang to run, but they couldn't seem to.
The werewolf shot towards Snape with a vicious snarl. Sirius transformed into a huge black dog and threw himself in front of Snape, snapping his jaws at the werewolf. Then, in a flash of teeth and claws, Sirius and Lupin were on the ground ripping at every inch of each other they could reach. Sirius gave a yelp as the werewolf's teeth closed on his back leg. With a horrible swiping noise, Sirius sliced through the werewolf's left flank and hot blood hit the ground. By this time, there was no reasoning. This was not Remus, but a stranger, vicious and uncontrollable.
Much as it pained Sirius to do it, he snapped his jaws and ripped into the werewolf's chest pinning it to the ground. Peter was whimpering again and he backed himself against the Shrieking Shack. James was just watching, and standing in front of the Slytherins. Turning to Snape, James grabbed him by the throat.
"You already knew, Snivellus…but you tell anyone what you saw….and I will kill you. Do you understand? You won't even be able to see the light of day if I ever hear that you told." He hissed. Snape looked too frightened to answer, but ran off through the snow with his cronies on his heels.
By this time, both the werewolf and Sirius were exhausted. Blood covered the snow, and both were panting heavily. Sirius' fur was matted in places where the werewolf had struck him, and pieces of skin hung bleeding off the werewolf's sides.
But they had been there longer than Sirius had thought. The moon was setting, and the werewolf changed. The fur was melting away and their friend fell to the ground, his clothes ragged and bleeding. Sirius changed back into himself and ran to Remus. The boy was unconscious. Cuts covered most of his body, and his breathing was labored.
"Come on, James! Help me!" cried Sirius as he hauled Lupin to his feet. James supported Remus' right side, Sirius, his left.
"We have to get him to Madam Pomfrey."
"How are we going to do that without letting her know where we've been?" asked Peter nervously.
"We'll say we found him like this out the tower window. She never asks too many questions." Said Sirius. "Come on. We need to get back preferably before Filch does his rounds."
Somehow, the four managed to get back to the castle and to the hospital wing on the top floor where they met Madam Pomfrey in a plaid dressing gown. They told their story and she bade them go to their dormitory immediately. As they left, they heard her mumble something about "not right" and "poor dear."
Exhausted, James, Peter, and Sirius climbed the stairs to Gryffindor Tower where they met the Fat Lady sleeping peacefully.
"Peebling Nifflers." Said James, and the Fat Lady woke with a start.
"Out a bit late tonight, aren't we?" she murmured, clearly not entirely awake. Nonetheless, she swung open revealing the darkened common room. Only one lamp was lit and under it in a purple bathrobe was-
"Lily" gasped James. "Go to bed already." Lily just looked at him with a scowl that would have done Professor McGonagall justice.
"Where have you been?" she asked in a dangerous voice. "It's nearly four in the morning."
"It's a long story, Evans." Said James rubbing his eyes. "We'll tell you tomorrow."
"Or you could tell me now seeing as I'm supposed to be your friend."
"It's nothing big. We just met up with some Slytherins is all and-"
"I KNEW IT!" shrieked Lily, making everyone jump. "Oh I knew it. Are you all right?"
"Yes, Evans. We're fine." Sighed Sirius. Lily's green eyes surveyed Sirius.
"You're bleeding."
"Not badly."
"It LOOKS bad."
"Well, it's not, now for God's sake will you go to bed? We'll explain everything in the morning."
And the three left Lily sitting alone in the dark common room.
The next morning at breakfast, Remus was not back. Breakfast was slightly more gloomy than usual, and Lily was not speaking to any of them.
The Slytherins were even more sullen than usual. No one had tried to trip James or Sirius or Peter all morning. Perhaps they were still in shock. But now a nasty whisper was spreading all over the school, and Lucious Malfoy was shooting the Gryffindor table suspicious glances every chance he got.
The three remaining Marauders proceeded to Charms.
Mr. Prongs wishes to know if Evans will ever speak to us again.
Mr. Wormtail and Mr. Padfoot have no answer to this question.
Mr. Prongs wants an answer.
Mr. Padfoot advises Mr. Prongs to speak to Evans himself instead of bothering his friends.
Mr. Prongs would like to ask what Mr. Padfoot's problem is.
Mr. Padfoot is not in a good mood and would very much like to pound that little prick Malfoy into a pulp.
Mr. Wormtail agrees that Mr. Malfoy is a prick.
As does Mr. Prongs.
Mr. Padfoot wants to know when Mr. Moony will be back.
Mr. Wormtail has no answer to this either.
Mr. Padfoot is inquiring whether Mr. Wormtail knows anything at all.
Mr. Wormtail does not wish to respond.
Mr. Prongs wants to know what will happen if the Slytherins decide to tell others about what happened.
Mr. Padfoot suggests hexing them into oblivion.
Mr. Prongs agrees with this and would also like to congratulate Mr. Padfoot on his idea.
Mr. Padfoot would like to express his thanks to Mr. Prongs and he is very welcome to Mr. Padfoot's endless store of ideas.
Mr. Wormtail would like to express that he is bored.
Mr. Padfoot would like to express that that's nice.
Mr. Wormtail would like to explain to Mr. Padfoot that there is no need to be edgy.
Mr. Padfoot is only too happy to tell Mr. Wormtail that he is at liberty to be as edgy as he bloody well pleases!