Chapter 4: Hogsmeade
I walked with James into the entrance of Hogsmeade. Looking up at him, I noticed he's been staring at me happily the entire time.
"So where shall we eat for lunch?" He asked.
"Uh…" I really didn't know where to go. The only place for lunch in Hogsmeade was Madam Pudifoot's and I've always thought that place was rubbish.
"I have an idea… Misty?" James called out. I looked at him in confusion. Suddenly, I heard a pop! And a small house elf appeared in front of us.
"Master called me?" The little house elf asked in a high-pitched voice.
"Misty, how many times? I told you, call me James." He said with a small smile. "I need to you to do something for me." He kneeled down next to her and whispered something in her ear. "Okay?" He asked, once he got back up.
"Yes, Ma-James." She squeaked happily before leaving with another pop!
"What was that about?" I questioned as I took his hand back in my own.
"Oh, you'll see." He said, his eyes lighting up. "I want to show you something." He said, much more seriously. He led me out of Hogsmeade, and near the Shrieking Shack
"James….?" I asked, my eyes widening. "What are we doing here? This place is dangerous and old."
"Lily…this is what I wanted to tell you…" James started. "Come." He brought me to the other side of the castle, near the Whoomping Willow. He levitated a branch and pushed a button on the tree. He motioned me to come over.
"James…You can't be serious…" I was absolutely frightened. What was this? He had this look on his face I'd never seen before. He took my face in his hands. My breathing quickened.
"Lily, would I ever try to hurt you?" He asked. "Trust me." he whispered as his face drew closer to mine. I gulped and slid down the tunnel that he pointed to. He followed close after.
"James, where are we?" I asked, clambering up. I'd never seen this place before. Were we still near the castle? He continued walking into the seeming darkness. We climbed a few flights of stairs before we saw any real light. It came from a window on the top floor. He brought me over to it and I gasped at what I saw. It was Hogsmeade. From right where we were standing before he brought me to the Whoomping Willow. My breathing quickened as I realized where we were. "James…This…This…This is the Shrieking Shack?" I asked, shocked.
"Yes." He said.
"How did you find out about this..?" I asked. I knew this is where Remus went for his transformations, because the Shrieking Shack was said to be haunted and it was said that you could hear wolves howling from there. I put two and two together and realized this was where Remus went.
"James…" I started slowly. "Were you going to tell me Remus is a werewolf?" I asked. He let out a breath.
"How'd you figure it out?" He asked me with a sigh.
"Same way you three did. When I became friends with him, back in the beginning of the year, I noticed his disappearance every month around the full moon. He always looked cut up and bruised every time he came back, too. Then, one day, when I was out with Snape, I heard wolf howling coming from the Shrieking Shack. In the beginning, it was only a theory. But later on, I knew he really was a werewolf because of his boggart form, a full moon. When I did research in the library, it did say that people who didn't want to be a werewolf, were usually fearful of the time they have to transform." I finished. James just looked at me in awe. He kept opening and closing his mouth.
"Well, you are the smartest witch in our year. I'm just surprised you figured it out faster than we did. It took us a year of being best friends with Remus before we figured it out. And you weren't even as close to him as we were!" He exclaimed.
"Well, I do own a calendar." I told him, rolling my eyes.
"And to answer your question from before, I wasn't going to tell you that, it's not my secret to tell. But now that you do know about Remus' condition, it'll be easier to explain."
"So what were you going to tell me?" I asked, now curious again. He took a deep breath.
"Have you ever heard Sirius call me 'Prongs'? Or call Peter 'Wormtail'? Or me call Sirius 'Padfoot'?" He asked. I do remember them all calling each other those ridiculous nicknames. Mary and I thought they were just queer and had some insignificant reference.
"Yes, I actually have." When I said that, I also realized Peter, Sirius, and James disappear along with Remus on those nights. "Wait, don't tell me you three actually go with Remus during his transformations! It's incredibly dangerous to people! That's why they planted the Whoomping Willow! So it protects this entrance to the Shrieking Shack! So Remus is away from students when he transforms…But anyway-" I was cut off by James.
"Yes, we knew it was dangerous, for people." He emphasized. "So when Sirius, Peter, and I found out in our second year, we decided to look into…" He took another breath. "Animagus Transformation." He whispered. I gasped. "The three of us, by the next year, were successful Animagi. Illegal, of course." I stared at him. My mouth was wide open. Was he really that talented? I never knew. Of course I knew he always did better at Transfiguration than me, the only person, actually.
"Wow. Can I uh...see?" I said curiously. I've never seen an animagus transformation! What was his form? He grinned and changed right in front of my eyes into a large stag. He changed back. "That was amazing." I earnestly told him. Then I remembered something. "Expecto Patronum." I said, and a silvery-white doe emerged from my wand. I looked at James and his eyes widened in realization.
"Expecto Patronum." He said, too. Another silvery-white figure was formed, and this one was a stag. The stag nuzzled the doe's head. After a few moments of watching, we put our wands down and the stag and doe disappeared. It was weird how we had similar patronus forms. James smiled really wide, took my hand, and led me out of the Shrieking Shack and we took a path from there to Hogsmeade. "Misty" He called out, and the little elf appeared with a pop! "Is our lunch ready?" James asked.
"Yes, I shall bring it now." She said and disapparated. She reappeared, this time holding a picnic basket. "Here, Master and Miss."
"Thanks, Misty." James said, as he took the picnic basket. She disapparated once more with a pop! and we were alone. "Well, shall we dine?" James asked, as he opened the picnic basket. Inside were two sandwiches, two bottles of water and some dessert. He took out the sandwiches and the water first, and gave me one of each and took some for himself. I took a couple of bites out of my sandwich and drank some water.
"I can't believe this year's almost over." I said sadly. This year went by so fast, it was unbelievable.
"Yeah. I'm relieved the O.W.L's are over. They were a pain." He admitted as he finished up the last of his sandwich and started on his cake. I finished my own sandwich and started on my cake when I thought of something I wanted to ask him for a while.
"Why did you attack Snape, that day we finished our O.W.L's? It didn't seem like it was entirely for a laugh." I told him. I wondered, was there a reason behind it? Was there a possibility that he didn't attack Snape for a simple laugh? I made a mistake about his character, so it was possible I made another. His eyebrows furrowed.
"In the halls the day before, I was walking with Moony, Wormtail, and Padfoot. Snape was in the corner with Avery, Bellatrix, Mucliber, and Malfoy. The corridor was completely empty except for the 9 of us, so Avery dared to say something to me. He asked, 'James, are you having any luck with the red-headed… you-know-what'" He paused and crinkled his nose. "And the others started laughing. I told him to shut up and threatened to hex him. Moony and Padfoot held me back before I could do anything though. Then Snape stepped forward. I knew you two were pretty close friends so I didn't say anything to him. I was going to turn around to leave when he said, 'What Potter, you can't get a little…you-know-what…" He paused again. "To fall for you? How weak.' I went kinda crazy and broke from Moony and Padfoot's grips and pointed my wand at him. I told him that he would regret that he called you that and I left. I told myself that night that I would do something to make sure you knew what he called you. I didn't want to tell you outright because I knew you wouldn't believe me. With Moony, Padfoot, and Wormtail's help, I set up a plan for that day, making sure you were near the lake, within earshot of everything. I was happy when my plan worked, but then I saw your face, you were crying…I really couldn't stand that and I tried making Snape apologize, but he didn't. So I left, leaving him hanging by an ankle." He finished, looking at the grass. Everything made sense now. He didn't make fun of Snape for the fun of it that time, no, he had a reason. I finished the rest of my cake and James started to make it disappear.
"Come, let's walk around for a little bit more, and then we can find Mary and Sirius and head back to the castle." I suggested as I stood up. He cautiously put his arm around my shoulders and seemed to relax a little when I didn't say anything. I put an arm on his waist, to make him feel a little better. As we walked through Hogsmeade, I could feel people staring. I looked up anxiously at James. He was so confident, walking through while people are gawking. The wind was ruffling his hair a little and the sun was hitting his hazel eyes perfectly. I saw Snape with Bellatrix, Lucius, Avery and Mucliber. His black eyes stared into mine. They seemed so empty and cold. I sighed and told myself to look away. We had wandered along a path and found ourselves in the abandoned area of Hogsmeade. The building around us looked like they hadn't been inhabited in decades. The windows were broken, and the signs on the shops were dull and falling.
"Why don't we turn around?" He suggested. I nodded and we walked back in the direction we came from. We were almost back near the crowded part of Hogsmeade when Lucius started walking towards us. He was followed closely by Avery, Mucliber, Bellatrix, and then Snape. When James saw Snape, he tightened his grip on my shoulders.
"It's okay." I whispered, not sure myself. However, we kept walking, trying to ignore Lucius and the other four and their advances. We didn't stop until Lucius was a meter away from us. He stopped too, and crossed his arms across his chest and stared at us. James arm moved down to my waist and he pulled me closer.
"What do you want, Lucius?" James asked forcefully. A smirk formed on his face as the other four stood directly behind him.
"You have offended us. That will not pass by without punishment." It sounded scarily like they were in some kind of cult, but then I remembered, they were. I shuddered and I put down the arm that was around James. I used it to reach into my robes for my wand, and saw that James was doing the same. Of course, this did not go unnoticed by Lucius and the rest of them, because their wands were pointed at us as soon as we were able to get our wands pointed at them.
"Wow guys, real brave. Five against two." James sneered as they formed a circle around us and James and I moved so we were back to back.
A/N: Hi guys, sorry for such a late update. I didn't give up on the story. I went on unexpected vacation this past week and didn't get to write. And, I've wanted to write this chapter for a while. Next chapter is coming up soon. Please read and review!
Love, Sam Storsky
