Disclaimer: I am not Joanne K Rowling and I don't have any rights to anything recognizable. I'm borrowing.
.o.O.o.
Chapter 9
James was out of his chair and in the main entrance seconds. He stumbled as another explosion made the house shudder and the floor-boards buck under his feet. He scrambled up the stairs and stumbled to the master bedroom. He flung open the door and ducked only just in time to avoid being hit by the spell Remus sent flying towards him.
Remus whirled to face the window and it exploded as the jet of red light collided with the glass. Turning quickly once more, Remus sent another jet of light at the bed which blasted apart, sending feathers and wire springs everywhere.
James ducked back out into the hall to avoid getting hit by flying debris as Remus proceeded to demolish the room.
"Calm down!" James yelled over the blasts.
"I will not calm down!" Boom! "Everyone always expects me to be so calm and perfect," Boom! "and quiet because I'm a decent person! The expect me to take all the shit," Boom! "this world sends my way and to not complain! And if I do?" Boom! "They all give me that goddamn," Boom! "pity look, feign concern," Boom! "and tell me how goddamn sorry they are and how they wish there was something they could do for me. And you know what? As soon as I ask them for work or a simple favour, all of a sudden I'm a no good," Boom! "stupid," Boom! "ugly," Boom! "out of control," Boom! "lesser than them," Boom! "disfigured," Boom! "half-breed!" Boom! "All they see is a BLOODY WEREWOLF!" BOOM!
There was a moment of silence, and Remus whispered softly, "Why does everything bad happen to me?"
Cautiously looking through the doorway, James saw Remus slump to the floor, hands in his lap, and his wand falling to the floor beside him.
James made his way across the floor and tentatively sat beside his friend resting a hand on his shoulder.
"We'll help you figure this out. We'll come up with a way for you to walk again without the cane. I promise."
"What did I ever do to deserve friends like you?"
"You got landed with a shitty lot in life."
Remus smiled bitterly. "I won't argue with that."
"Do you want to go destroy more stuff? I think you finished with this room." James said, looking around at the demolished furnishings.
"I don't really think we should. I didn't mean to destroy the room, I just … lost control."
"Come on. It'll be fun." James tempted, "I bet there are some really ugly paintings and things around here. It would really be a favour to Padfoot and Wormy for us to incinerate them."
"Fine. But all the damage is your fault."
"We could also just blame it on your furry little problem."
"No. It's your fault."
"Fine." James jumped up and helped Remus to his feet. "Come on. This gonna be fun! I think I remember some particularly horrid objects up in the attic. Can you make it up there, or should I bring it all down?"
"I'll make it up there if it kills me."
"Okay, but don't die. Pads'd kill me and I'm rather enjoying life at the moment."
.o.O.o.
The boys spent the rest of the day incinerating, demolishing and exploding various items lying about the shrieking shack. Finally around mid-afternoon, a sliver dog loped into the attic. Sirius's patronus came to a halt in front of the two boys.
"I left you alone for as long as I could, but the professors are so panicked that they're about to call in the Ministry. You need to get back to the school now. Pete and I'll keep everyone busy and away from the Willow with the welcome back surprise, but you need to hurry. Peter will leave the Map just inside the tunnel entrance, but you're better off being seen walking, so I'm keeping the cloak. If a teacher stops you, just say that you needed exercise."
The patronus disappeared after it had delivered its message.
"I guess we should go." Remus said after a while.
"Ya." James agreed. "You gonna be okay Moony?"
"Ya. Thanks Prongs."
"Not at all."
The two boys made their way back to the castle, going as fast as they could. James had to cast another spell too relieve his dizziness and the new headache that was forming. God, concussions were really annoying.
When they reached the tree and retrieved the Map, James motioned for Remus to rest while he checked the Map for professors. After quickly scanning the grounds, he saw that everyone was inside the castle. James couldn't help chuckling at the thought of the chaos going on inside.
James was the one who had come up with the idea for this particular prank. They had used a spell that they had created specifically for this prank, using principles from the Bubble Head charm and the Silencing Charm, they had created a spell that absorbed all noise and trapped it in a bubble.
Grinning, James crawled out of the tunnel and hit the tree knot and pulled Remus out and onto the grass. Remus ignored James's proffered hand, and pushed himself up to standing, leaning heavily on the crutches.
"Suit yourself." James muttered and the two boys began the slow trek back up to the castle.
"So…"
"So?" James asked.
"How many people got hurt, do you think?"
"Too many. No one should have gotten hurt."
"It's sort of our fault"
"What is?"
"The fight, people getting hurt," Remus paused for a moment before saying quietly, "People getting killed."
"No, Remus. It was the Death Eaters fault."
"But–"
"Remus. We didn't make the Death Eaters show up, we didn't make them shoot spells at people. We didn't kill anyone."
Remus mumbled something unintelligible.
"What was that?"
"I did."
"You did what?" James asked confused.
"Killed someone. I'm a murder."
"What are you talking about?"
"When we were trying to get to the train. Someone grabbed my wrist, and I was desperate and scared and I wanted to get them off me, so I said the first spell that popped into my head. I used an Unforgivable. I killed him."
"Remus, you can't start feeling guilty about this. It was a battle. People died. Whatever spells you may have cast, it was done in self-defence. You are not a murder."
"Yes I am. The man who grabbed me wasn't wearing a mask. He wasn't a Death Eater."
"That doesn't mean that he wasn't on the Death Eaters side. Why else would he have tried to stop a student from getting on the train?"
"But–"
"Remus, stop. You aren't a murder. You never will be a murder. That man would have killed you without a second thought, so stop feeling guilty."
"Okay, fine."
"Good." James said, relieved that Remus had given up so easily. "Do you need help up the stairs?" They had reached the castle.
"No. I'll manage if it–"
"Kills you, yes I know. Come on then." James started up the stairs and into the Entrance Hall, and Remus made his up slowly but determinedly.
Let's go, James said, or tried to. Instead a bubble began forming between his lips, capturing the sound. As soon as James stopped talking, the bubble floated free and drifted slowly to the ceiling. James and Remus looked up, grinning at the number of bubbles that had already accumulated. This was brilliant.
James motioned for Remus to wait, and quickly darted outside, selected two sharp-ish twigs and returned to Remus. He gave one of the twigs to Remus who looked at the stick, then at him, then back at the stick.
James looked at Remus condescendingly, and then said, Pop the bubbles with the stick to release the sound. That way we can still talk. As soon as the bubble came free, James jabbed it with his stick.
"Pop the bubbles with the stick to release the sound. That way we can still talk." It was odd to hear his own voice when he wasn't talking.
Remus grinned, talked and popped the bubble, releasing the words, "I forgot that this was what we had planned. Smart of you to think about the sticks though."
James grinned, spoke, and popped the bubble, "We had better get up to the Hospital Wing before Sirius and Peter get into more trouble."
"Lead the way!" Remus's bubble said.
Still grinning, the two boys made their way up to the Hospital Wing, laughing soundlessly at the chaos around them. The teachers, it seemed, had yet to figure out that the spell prevented you from casting anything except for a non-verbal spell.
Halfway up to the Hospital Wing, James turned around and, via bubble, asked again, "Do you need help?"
"No." was the reply.
James shrugged and continued up the stairs. He had only gone a few steps before Remus's voice stopped him.
"I changed my mind. I'm not strong enough to do this yet."
Smiling slightly, and very relieved that Remus had given in, James turned around and went back to the bottom of the steps. He placed himself on Remus's injured side, then slung his friend's arm around his shoulder, and placed his other arm around Remus's waist.
Together, the two boys made slow, but steady progress up the stairs and into the Hospital Wing.
James knocked on the door, not wanting to let go of Remus in order to open it himself.
The door was opened by Lily, who took one look at the two of them, then spoke. As soon as the bubble floated free, Remus leaned over and popped it.
"Where the hell have you two–… Oh my god, what happened? What did you do to him, Potter?"
James glared, then 'said', "For your information, Evans, I did nothing. Remus needed exercise, he was getting depressed stuck in bed all the time. I took him for a walk, and the stairs back up were too difficult, so I helped him."
"Why would you take him walking of all things Potter? And why did you take him out of the Wing? How did you take him out of the Wing?"
"I'm not even going to answer that."
"Fine. But do you even realize the risk you were taking? He might have fallen and further injured that leg."
"Look Evans, are you going to let us in or not?"
Lily scowled at Potter, but stood aside and let them pass through the doors into the Hospital Wing.
She tried to say, Do you need help getting Remus to his bed? but the words just got trapped in another infuriating bubble. Lily glared at the thing as it drifted upwards until Potter poked it with a twig he was carrying, releasing her question into the air.
"I think I can manage." Potter's replying bubble said sarcastically.
Lily glared again. When Potter and Remus were halfway to the screen, Lily saw a bubble float up from them. Neither popped it.
Curious as to what the message inside might be, Lily pointed her wand at it and said Accio. Nothing happened. Frustrated, Lily thought the spell as hard as she could and was surprised when the bubble zoomed towards her and attached itself lightly to the tip of her wand.
Grinning, Lily trapped it under glass sitting on a nearby table. She had only just placed the glass over it, when a loud pop! resounded through the castle.
Lily covered her ears as all the words that had been said in the past hour were released at once. The resulting cacophony shook the castle and rattled the windows, threatening to deafen every person residing in the castle.
And then it was over, as suddenly as it had begun. Lily uncovered her ears and glanced at the glass she had used to trap the bubble she had summoned. Lily blinked and peered more closely at the glass. She smiled slightly at the sight of the bubble, still intact and gently bobbing against the top of its prison.
Lily looked up to see Marlene approaching the two boys. "Have you thought any more about…" she asked, trailing off when she saw Lily watching.
Potter glanced over his shoulder and scowled at Lily. He turned back to Marlene, saying "Not yet."
"Okay." Marlene said, looking a little bit disappointed.
Though a bit more about what? Lily wondered.
"Oh, here." Marlene put Remus's other arm around her shoulders and helped Potter to bring Remus to his bed.
The rest of the day passed quickly and in organized chaos. After Marlene helped get Remus into the bed, she went and fetched Miss Poppy, Madame Grafton's trainee. Miss Poppy then yelled at the two of them for leaving and then went and contacted the other teachers who had been searching for the boys. They arrived and lectured the boys as well.
Lily then spent hours with the two nurses and the other student volunteers, casting spell after spell, fixing bones and bruises, re-growing skin, and in general, returning Hogwarts students to their full health.
The one bonus that day, though, was Remus. His spirits were high and he was joking and laughing with Black, Potter, and Peter for hours until Potter was ordered to return to his bed, and Black and Peter were shooed out of the Hospital Wing.
Finally, Mme Grafton told Lily to leave the Wing, and go to dinner, which Lily gratefully did. As she gathered her things, she carefully slid the glass to the edge of the table and onto a book, then made her way to the nearest bathroom. It was empty. Lily set her bag on the floor, then released the bubble and popped it with the tip of one of her quills.
"Bloody Evans. Lecturing me about risks. Who does she think she is, my mother? Lily Evans wouldn't know if something was risky if it was You-Know-Who, himself! She's never taken a risk in her life, and she never bloody will!"
Lily sat in silence for a few moments as Potter's last syllable faded into nothingness. A single tear rolled down her cheek, which she dashed away angrily. Why the hell should Potter's opinion matter to her? She didn't know why, but thinking that Potter didn't care anymore hurt. It shouldn't … but it did.
.o.O.o.
A/N: If you have a second to type an adjective (such as cute, awful, decent, entertaining, etc.) into the review box and click the Post Review button to submit it, I would be eternally grateful!
Timmins
