James returned to the Gryffindor common room that evening from the hospital wing, where he was greeted with the odd, "hey," from his friends, who were sitting on the floor doing homework.
"How much did I miss?!" he asked looking at the long rolls of parchment already filled with ink from each boy; the sad thing was they didn't look even close to complete.
"Transfiguration," Lupin said, not even looking up from his parchment.
James sat down in a cozy, scarlet armchair and watched them write for a while. He was getting bored very quickly.
"I'm going to go for a walk." James said to the boys after watching them write for a full eight minutes.
James got up out of his armchair and left the common room.
First, he figured he'd check to see if Slughorn was in his office, but no such luck. James would have to ask after class tomorrow.
Next, he went up to the Astronomy Tower. He stood, looking up at the stars, not remembering the names of a single one.
"Why did I come here? It's a waste of time for someone like me." He said, slumping onto a marble bench at the top of the tower.
He put his hands to his sides, but felt something very peculiar in his left one.
He lifted his hand to reveal a beautiful heart-shaped locked that looked very antique and valuable.
James thought to himself.
I'd better take it, just so that it doesn't get into worse hands.
And with that, he pocketed the locket and then decided he'd walk by the lake.
Just as he had reached his favourite tree, he put his hand back in his pocket to take another look at beautiful locket he'd managed to stumble across.
But, he couldn't find it.
He tried the other pocket. Nope, the others? Nothing but a tissue and some old scraps of parchment.
Where is it? He asked himself. It was here a little while ago!
James looked up, expecting to see some sign in the stars to the whereabouts of the mysterious locket, but instead, only found darkness.
James cursed under his breath. He started to run back to the common room, hoping for his life that he wouldn't get caught. The locket would just have to wait.
Finally, James made it back to the Gryffindor common room. He climbed up the spiral staircase to his dormitory and quietly climbed into his cozy four-poster bed.
He checked his watch.
"11.10." He said to himself.
He looked around, everyone was asleep. He pulled the covers over his head and was asleep within seconds.
James woke up the next morning to Sirius poking his cheek with his wand, Lupin plugging and unplugging his nose and Peter, jumping up and down for no apparent reason. James sighed at Pettigrew's failed attempt to try and fit in with the others.
"Get dressed, Prongs. Remus wants his pumpkin juice again." Said Sirius as James' eyes fluttered open.
"Where were you last night, James?" asked Lupin.
"I told you, I was going for a walk."
"Did you meet up with Lily or something? You were going for a while."
"No, I just needed some fresh air and time to think," replied James, thinking back to the locket and if he would ever find it again.
He pulled off his sheets only to remember he hadn't changed when he had gotten back, so he stayed in his robes and the four boys went down to breakfast together.
They arrived in the Great Hall to find bright sun beams shining through the ceiling and the usual bustle of chatter coming from the students.
Lupin poured himself a glass of pumpkin juice and sat down where he could have a great view of Annaleeya Smithsfield. Her dark blonde, shoulder-length hair looked particularly shiny this morning as it reflected the ceiling's rays of sunlight.
She turned around and smiled at Lupin, who weakly smiled back, turning a light shade of pink in the process.
"She smiled at me." Lupin said hazily to Wormtail, but he received no response.
Lupin looked over to him to find Peter drooling at the sign of Barbacia. It was odd, because whenever Lupin looked at her, he'd be more likely to vomit, rather than drool.
A little ways down the table, Sirius was watching James, who, instead of ogling Lily as per usual, he was fidgeting around his pockets.
He gasped, "Aha!" said James as he triumphantly pulled out a beautiful, gold locket from his left pocket.
"I knew I had it!" he said with a smug smile.
Sirius gazed at it, "Whose is it?" he asked.
"I dunno." replied James, "I'm going to go try to find out."
"Hey, did you ever have a chance to ask Slughorn for a tutor?"
James sighed, "I can never find him anywhere! I'm going to talk to him after class, though."
The boys left the Great Hall about ten minutes later so they could wash up for Transfiguration, which, to the delight of Remus, would also involve Hufflepuff.
Lupin stared at Annaleeya's hair all through class. He liked sitting behind her because he could stare at her and no one would notice...except James, Sirius and Peter.
Before he knew it, class was over, so he decided he'd talk to her.
"So, um, Annaleeya…How are you?" he stuttered to her.
"Not that good. I actually feel really sick. I must have eaten some bad…" but she didn't even get to finish her sentence before vomiting all over Remus' robes.
"Oh, Ms. Smithsfield Are you alright, dear?" asked Minerva, scurrying over to her.
"Remus, I'm so sorry!" Annaleeya looked as though she was about to cry.
"Annaleeya, I'll take you to the hospital wing and Potter, you can explain to your next teacher that your friend will be late for class because he needs to get himself cleaned up." she said to James.
Remus took off to his Gryffindor Room almost immediately because the smell of vomit was starting to make him gag.
He reached his dormitory and threw all his clothes into his hamper, in search of new ones in the drawer.
"This is going to screw up my entire wardrobe," he said, grabbing his Friday boxers even though it was still on Thursday.
He quietly changed and instead of going down to the dungeons for Potions, he headed to the hospital wing, where Annaleeya was crying on a bed.
He walked over to her and she looked up.
"I know you never want me to go near you ever again, I understand."
"No, no, no!" said Lupin, "I wanted to make sure you're okay."
Annaleeya smiled at him, "you're sweet."
"I try my best." replied Remus.
Meanwhile, James had told Slughorn that Lupin would be late and that he felt he needed tutoring.
"It will really help me, I believe." James pleaded.
Slughorn agreed to talk to him about it after class.
So now, James was sitting in Potions Class, his least favourite subject, with Slytherin, his least favourite house.
But, after what felt like an eternity, class was over, so he went back up to Slughorn's desk to discuss his situation.
"Well James, reviewing your marks, I'd say getting you a tutor would be a great idea. So, I'm going to put you with one of the best student's in my class."
James smiled brightly.
"Severus, come here, you will be Mr. Potter's new tutor. I'm sure you two will work quite well together." Slughorn said and left the classroom to the two boys, both glaring at each other.