Magic That Shines Green

Chapter Ten: Midnight Talks

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

OC: Annabelle Jacobs.

Beta read by my awesome beta, Clo Salvatore and Almost Genius.

October, 18th,Tuesday

~Also, I'm not positive that Avery's last name is Nott...

And James ACTUALLY asking Annabelle out will be next chapter. Sorry for those of you who wanted him to ask, but being James, it has to be all fancy right? He can't just go up and ask her out casually, it has to be with a bang. Literally.

-l-Peter-l-

I walked in, near Midnight because we had had Astronomy, which lasted for a long time.

I was just dressing in my favorite, light blue pajamas with yellow rubber ducks, when I walked out of the bathroom, toothbrush in my mouth and an odd sight met my eyes. Remus, in his dark red and black plaid, James in his emerald green and Sirius in his dark ocean blue with stars, sat on my bed.

I continued blushing my teeth, giving them odd glances out of the corner of my eye. They were all watching, gazes fixated on me.

I went back in the bathroom, and spit, and watched them once again out of the corner of my eye.

They were still watching me.

I closed the bathroom door and spit again. I didn't like them staring at me like that. Plus the bruise on my shin really hurt. I pulled up my pajama bottoms to reveal the dark purple bruise I'd received for my 'cheek' which was just me defending my friends, the friends who were currently sitting on my bed.

I heard James' voice behind the door. " Do you think he noticed us staring?"

Remus' sarcastic reply floated past Sirius, who was in the middle, sitting between them. " No, why ever would you think that? You were only staring at him like you did Lily, take out the affectionate look in your eyes."

" What are you implying Moony?" James challenged.

I could practically hear Remus roll his eyes. " Nothing Prongsie."

" Don't. Call. Me. Prongsie," James snapped through gritted teeth. " Moons," he added.

" Prongsie," Remus replied.

" Moons!"

From between them, Sirius decided to announce his existence. " PADFOOT!"

I opened the door just as they both turned to Sirius at the same time and shouted, " Paddy!"

I rolled my eyes as they froze in the light of the bathroom. I flipped the light off, and walked over, in the dark, until James decided to nearly take my eye out when he lit his wand.

I stopped in front of them. " Why are you on my bed?"

Their laughter vanished in a snap. And within two seconds, six eyes looked at me solemnly. Remus' golden flecked orbs held concern, Sirius' grey, a stormy grey as usual, but the emotion held in them was a mix of worry and protectiveness. James' hazel, a mix of green, blue and brown, they had uncertainty, defensiveness...and though I had never seen it in his eyes, was that...fear? I'd certainly never seen James afraid of anything. Much less, me.

And that scared me. If he was afraid, I most certainly was terrified. Even more so than I had ever been of the Slytherins, harsh as they were, James...he was loyal, strong willed, and a leader. If he was scared...I was trembling in anticipation of even knowing what he was afraid of.

Sirius turned to Remus, who licked his lips fearfully, and then swallowed. He turned to James, but James was looking back at him. He hesitated, and then tried to speak, but nothing came out.

He tried again. " How did you sprain your leg?" He closed his eyes after that, and I could tell that wasn't his original thought out question, from all the times we'd made a plan and it didn't go as he'd carefully planned.

" I fell down the stairs," I lied easily, since I had told them the other day the same thing.

He shook his head, and I tensed in fear. " I know you didn't fall down the stairs, what really happened?"

I took a step backwards. " I fell down the stairs," I repeated.

Remus' gaze narrowed. " I know you're lying. Tell the truth."

I swallowed nervously. My hands were shaking. " M-Mu-," I cut myself off. " Someone cursed me."

I closed my eyes, expecting an explosion.

" Who cursed you?" Sirius asked, the flash of his animagus in his eyes. The same protectiveness a dog would show his master.

" I don't know, I er...I didn't catch their face," I replied.

Sirius' grey eyes squinted, as though trying to detect a lie.

" Mulciber? Avery? Snape? Dolohov?" James reeled off, listing off some of the Slytherins.

I flinched at the name, and all three pairs of eyes widened.

" Avery?" Remus asked.

" Nott?" James and Sirius questioned at the same time.

I nodded fearfully.

" I want to see the sprain, because I know for a fact, it's not a sprain. It's a bruise," Remus said.

I hesitated, but then showed them the bruise.

James and Sirius' quizzical gazes lingered on the bruise, and they made no comment.

However, Remus had plenty to say on the matter. " That's not from a curse Peter. That's from someone kicking you. He turned, looking for my wand. Then he snatched up the wand from my bedside table, and grabbing Sirius' wand, he preformed a spell with Sirius'.

Over the years, we'd started to just use the wand that was closest to us. At first, the wands resisted the use of more than one person, but by Second Year, they had bent their allegiance to every one of us. Despite working for their true masters the best, we found that it was sometimes easier to use one another's wands. Like James' was best for Transfiguration, mine with Charms, Remus and Sirius' were strong at Defense Against the Dark Arts.

After casting a few spells, Remus turned to us, and showed us something. Glowing brightly above my wand, was a light, nearly translucent picture of my arm, covered in cuts and bleeding. I'd healed it just yesterday, and cleaned off the blood afterwards. I thanked Merlin that they couldn't see what Avery had written on my arm, while Mulciber pinned me to the wall. Or at least in the image.

Remus' eyes glared at the image, and then he turned to me. " What did he write on your arm?" I half cursed his intelligence, still unable to tell if I was grateful or horrified.

I sighed, and held my arm out, pulling up my sleeve, while hiding my bruise now that they seemed quite finished looking at my purple-bruise on my leg.

Remus muttered, " Lumos," under his breath, and looked at the light scars. " Mudblood," he hissed.

Yes, despite being a half-blood just like Remus, they had taken it upon themselves to write 'Dirty Blood,' on my arm. It meant Mudblood, but they didn't write that. Only 'Dirty Blood'.

Sirius and James stood up next to him, looking at the scars .They were faint, barely visible, but it was still there, carved into my flesh.

-l-Remus-l-

Yes, I'd known since yesterday that he'd probably been bullied, but torture never crossed my mind. Maybe a few punches, and shoves, but Peter was strong and usually hold his own, take a punch or two. And I'd thought that maybe we'd prank them a good couple times and we'd be fine.

Carving the words 'Dirty Blood' into someone's arm is a completely different matter entirely.

I looked at Peter, who was looking at us, eyes flickering from Sirius, to James, and voiding my eyes completely, he stared straight ahead into space as though he couldn't see us anymore.

" Peter, I know this must have been more than just Avery Nott," I said quietly. " Who else was there?" Despite how he looked, Peter was still a Marauder, and he could easily handle Avery. Peter knew this, and I could tell he wasn't willing to give up answers easily. He was giving us the minimal in his short answers.

He hesitated to say anything, but a sharp look into Sirius' grey eyes changed any chance of him lying. " Mulciber," he whispered to his feet rather than us.

I gritted my teeth angrily, and glanced at Sirius, who though he didn't look shocked, he certainly wasn't happy I read from the twitch in his jaw.

" What did they do?" I asked Peter, attempting to hold his gaze. His blue eyes continued to flicker around the room.

Seeing that I was in no way going to relent, he sighed heavily. " They," he chewed his lip as though he was trying to see how he would explain this to us. So instead of using words that continued to fail him, he lifted up his other sleeve, his right arm had a red mark on it, and a cut's scar at the wrist.

I studied the scar, and realized it was a clean cut, knife from the looks of it. And the red mark...it looked suspiciously like a burn mark in my own opinion, and I wasn't usually wrong.

" Is that a...burn?" James asked, speaking up for the first time since he learned that Peter was getting bullied. Well, other than the suggestion I gave, which from what I had gathered from the look in his eyes, he hadn't believed what I said was true. At least until now that is.

Peter nodded, now refusing to meet any one of our gazes. Sirius looked like he might throw Avery and Mulciber out the window. James on the other hand looked like he would like nothing more than to curse them into obliviation.

I raised an eyebrow, and after a long glance, Peter answered my question. " They liked to...burn me with their wands, or boiling hot water."

Sirius flinched badly, and drew back, his eyes wide. I watched closely, the fear in his eyes was real. And it wasn't just because of Peter's burns. In his grey eyes, I could see he was fighting with himself whether or not to do something. Decision made, he ran, and I whirled, in a half-mind to stop him.

James almost went after him, but stopped at the door when I heard Sirius pounding down the stairs. James turned to me, his hazel eyes now fearful and concerned. I hesitated, debating on going after him. James would probably get punched if he dared to try. I looked at Peter, who was staring after him in a silent confusion.

" I think," I said finally, " that his parents must be truly horrible."

James' face dawned with realization of what I was talking about. Peter was silent, his eyes half blank, and the other half was a whirl of emotions.

" They burned you?" I asked him.

Peter looked like he might run too. Instead, he nodded.

" Any other marks?" I asked.

" One," he said with a voice laced with fear and anger. He pushed his sleeve past his forearm, and right about the inner elbow where his arm bent, was a dark red mark.

I blinked. Is that what I think it is? I didn't really want to voice my opinions, but finally I mustered up my Gryffindor courage to speak once again. " Is that a whip mark?"

Peter glanced at me quickly, and then looked away as though still fearful of meeting my eyes. Then he shook his head. " Mulciber likes to torture. His belt..." he trailed off and motioned to the mark.

" We'll stop them Peter, but I have to get Sirius first, there are...horrors in his past that some people don't have. True horrors, that he made me swear to never tell," I said, taking a step back. " Get some sleep, we'll talk to you in the morning."

Peter crawled into bed, and I turned to James. " You coming with me?"

He turned his gaze from Peter to me. " What? You mean get Sirius?"

I nodded. " We have to go get him."

" Not we, but you Remus," he motioned to the door. " I can't go after Sirius, he broke my glasses last time I even dared to approach him, and that was back in Third Year, when you told me he'd changed. That he wouldn't hit me. Yeah, he didn't hit me, he broke my glasses, but if they hadn't been there he'd have broken my nose."

I shook my head. " I'll repair your nose if he breaks it. I want you to hear what he has to say."

He sighed and followed, hesitantly, and didn't speak at once. And when he did, I would have never predicted what came out of his mouth. Not in a million years would I think James Potter would say that.

" You were right Remus."

I nearly turned around to face him, but remembered that we were on stairs and he'd probably trip over me, and I kept walking. " I was right?" I asked. James Potter was not the type to admit he was wrong, and when he did, his apology was never full out in words. Usually it was " Yeah yeah, you were right," or a " Whatever." Never a full out apology.

He nodded as though agreeing with himself. " I should have believed you. I didn't think-I never thought that they would ever go after Peter. And you were right, I never thought of him as a true Marauder. But I think he really is one of us. Whenever I thought of the Marauders, I never really included him. But I think he really is one of us."

I smiled. " He deserves it. Whatever you do, don't push him for answers. Peter might not be ready to talk. Sirius on the other hand, he's got a weird way of dealing with this kind of thing." I frowned, it wasn't like Sirius to just take off when one of his friends was in danger. Even normally, Sirius never ran away from anything, unless it was a teacher after we pulled a prank.

I ran up the stairs to the Astronomy Tower, and ran to the rails when he wasn't there, sitting, his head on the rails, and sitting, his legs swinging over the hundred foot drop to the ground. I quickly realized he hadn't committed suicide, he simply wasn't here.

I sighed. My mind reeled, where on earth would he go?

Somewhere away from any Blacks. Away from anyone in his family. Anything that doesn't have to do with them. Somewhere that holds a new memory, a good memory, I thought, my eyes taking in the view of the grounds.

Then my gaze landed on the Whomping Willow.

I grabbed James' arm, and looked at him. " I know where he is!"

And then I was running, James barely two steps behind me, and I flew through the Castle doors, not caring if anyone saw us. James, being a Quidditch player, easily kept up with my full on sprint.

I paused, panting, out of reach from the Willow, trying to decide how we would get in without Peter. In fact, how had Sirius even gotten in?

James stopped behind me. " Why would he go there? The Shrieking Shack?" he asked.

I knew he didn't know everything I knew about Sirius. They were like brothers sure, but there were some things brothers didn't share. Sirius was extremely sensitive about sharing his feelings. He related to me slightly, and that allowed him to tell me what had happened. But he never told James, because, I think in his opinion, it would make James think less of him. And Sirius was very...prideful of how he felt. Not the type to care what his family thought, around James. But deep down, I knew that he cared, maybe not anymore since he'd been disowned, but before, with the fights...He would blow them off like they were nothing.

But then there were other times when it really, truly got to him. It got under his skin, and he would snap irritably at anyone but me.

I finally voiced my opinion. " Because, it is like...a home. Not to you or me, but to him. Because, there...only the four of us go there. And in there, we are all there together, and somewhat safe. It's his idea of our home. The Marauders are his friends since his blood family won't be. We're his family now. And this is our home. Hogwarts and the Shrieking Shack."

James peered toward the Willow, and then stepped back as a branch narrowly missed us.

I flattened myself to the ground, and James followed suit.

" How did he get in?" he asked.

" How are we going to get in?" I demanded to know, not much caring how Padfoot got in.

" He probably transformed," I heard James mutter, more to himself than to me. Then the next instant, his ears grew into flappy brown furred ears, his snout grew into a black, velvety nose, his arms and legs shrank away into, thin, stick-lick legs. For a second, the deer looked stunned, forelegs and hind legs all close together, and then he moved his limbs, carefully out of his awkward position.

Then he carefully tried to approach the tree, but the tree lashed out, bringing a branch very close to breaking Prongs' nose. He jumped back, nearly tripping over his hind legs, one foreleg raised and shock evident in his still-hazel eyes.

I called him back. " Prongs!"

He turned, and in the moment his head turned, focus on me rather than the tree, the tree took the chance and swung at him. My eyes widened, and I shouted at him to duck.

Instead, he turned tail and ran, looking much like a submissive dog. He changed back into his usual form, eyes still wide in terror.

" You do realize you're a near-full trained wizard?" I pointed out rather harshly.

He gave me a sideways glare and huffed, pulling out his wand.

He transformed a rock near the tree's roots into a small bird, not a flock luckily, and guided it to the knot and as soon as the tree froze, we rushed forward and he stowed his wand in his pocket, while the bird flew off.

We ran down the tunnel, James yelping when he didn't pay attention to the ceiling and ran his skull into a rock, causing a bump on his head, though I doubted that was the least of his worries.

I however kept my head ducked, and opened the door to the shack, which had a good number of scratches on it from all the Full Moons I had gone through before my friends managed their transformations.

Now the room looked the same, not dusty from the last Full Moon, with the usual torn blankets for when I woke up, and it still had the wooden floor. Luckily I had yet to destroy that.

Now though, it was occupied by Sirius, who was sitting on the floor, looking around.

" Sirius?" I asked, poking my head in.

He looked up, and I knew he was close to growling at me, much like a dog. " What do you want?" he snapped, clearly not pleased with my appearance. I knew he was never happy when I first showed after a fight. Why should a run be any different? I sighed, within five minutes, he would talk and be calm enough for James to hopefully hear some of his story.

" Don't be like that," I half commanded, though it was more of a request.

He shot me a infuriated glare, but didn't snap back.

" Why did you run Padfoot?" I asked, using his nickname as I knew full well that he calmed down faster.

He merely growled.

At that, I motioned that James could now enter.

He did, tentatively, and I realize he'd transformed, for now, he had his brown hooves, and he had to bow his head as he entered.

Sirius stiffened his posture, but didn't snarl at James to leave.

Instead he turned to me. " What's he doing here?"

" He's here by my request, and he won't speak at all," I promised, glaring at James, or rather, Prongs, to let him know I'd just made him a deal, and that he better not make a sound.

" Fine," Sirius snapped, disagreeable as always.

" Don't be like that Pads, why did you run?" I asked.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw James change back now that he was sure he wouldn't be attacked.

" My parents," he said simply. He always started out disagreeable, stiff, snappy...the usual He was rather...resistant about talking about his parents and in this case, Peter getting bullied.

" Is it because Peter got bullied?" I asked. Now came the guessing game. It was a silent truce. I would guess correctly, and then he would tell me everything. All I had to do was get it right, and usually I knew it off the top of my head, so it was easy, but now...I had no idea what had set him off.

He shook his head, refusing to speak.

" Was it because he's a Marauder and you didn't protect him?" I guessed next.

He shook his head.

" Does it have anything to do with what happened to Peter?"

He nodded slowly, his eyes narrowed as they gazed off into nowhere.

" Is it the marks?" I said, knowing I was onto something.

His gaze shifted momentarily, to me, and he nodded slowly, eyes narrowed as though daring me to get it right. Possibly wanting me to get it right, but I ignored the gaze, pretending I didn't see it.

It's hard when he's boring holes into your skull.

" So your parents and Peter's burn marks?" I asked making sure I had the information.

He nodded, not as slowly this time.

" Did your parents burn you?" James spoke up, in a deathly quiet whisper.

Sirius' grey eyes widened and he turned his head slowly to face James, who held his gaze, not looking away. I knew it wasn't because James had broken the 'deal' and spoken. James was right.

Sirius hesitated, and nodded very slowly, as though expecting James to explode.

James didn't explode. He knew enough to keep his cool, though his hazel eyes widened slightly.

I knew, now that I knew what the problem was, Sirius would talk.

I relaxed. " Why did they burn you?" I started with the why question. I always broke it down. Who, his parents. What, he was burned. When, probably childhood, after First Year, and before he was too old to fight back. First summer and second summer probably, I decided. Where, probably his house, when no one else was around but Regulus. How, well...that's why I was asking.

" Because I was sorted into Gryffindor, they blamed me at the time, my father would get out his belt he used on Kreacher, the house elf when he was bad. He would beat me, tell me that I should have been in Slytherin. Tell me the shame I brought on the family. It was stupid. I never fought back, not that I could anyway," Sirius said disdainfully. " Then, he would bring Regulus, tell him that would happen if he got sorted into Gyrffindor. He made Regulus put salt on the wounds, only the ones that broke the skin."

Sirius looked like he would rather like to hit someone. Glancing at James, I saw that his eyes were wide, with fear and disgust. He was angry too, trembling from it, but he was holding it back.

" What did they burn you with?" I asked, knowing the beatings must only be half of it.

Sirius snarled much like a dog. " My dear old mother, she used to use her wand, anytime we got in fights. That was only until First Year when I knew how to throw sparks as well. Then she resorted to the old fashioned way," he growled.

I knew he would continue, though he had paused.

" She would heat a pot of boiling water, for tea," he corrected when I opened my mouth.

" And she would pour the tea, one for her and another for my father. Any water that was left, she used to burn me." Sirius rolled up his own left sleeve, and showed me a series of burns ranging from small, to ones that had clearly been healed. " I used to have more, but I healed them. She did that until Third Year, when I threatened to burn down the house. She tried one more time after that, and I used a Blasting curse, and I got a yelling from my father of course, but he didn't dare beat me. Not while my mother was around of course. Otherwise he would have, considering how mad he was. But he didn't dare when I had my wand, and the pot of hot water levitated."

" Does he still beat you?" I asked, clapped a hand over my mouth at his glower and hastened to correct myself. " I mean, did he still back in Sixth Year's summer? Before you left?"

He took in a deep breath. " No."

" Are you okay to go back now?" I asked, getting up, walking over to him and holding out my hand.

He took it, nodding, and I helped pull him up.

I looked over at James, who sat, stock still, his eyes still wide. Sirius threw his head back and laughed at James, who blinked, came back to reality, and looked at his best mate, who he must've thought had completely lost it.

I laughed too, and Sirius helped James up, then shoved him back down.

" Knock it off," I said, wedging myself between them and helping James up.

" He usually doesn't laugh after he talks," I added to James quiet enough so Sirius wouldn't hear. " But I think he's happier now, that you know some stuff."

" Is he always like that?" James wondered for my ears only.

I sighed and nodded. " Unfortunately." Then I turned to him, only just realizing he still had yet to ask Annabelle out. " When are you planning on asking Annabelle out?"

He smirked in response. " I have a plan."