Chapter 21
Monday 11 October 1993
Dinner with his family left James feeling refreshed. While he didn't know for sure what was happening to his senses, learning he'd succeeded in a daylight transformation, unintentional as it may have been, was a gust of wind in his sails.
The hypothesis the transformation left him more in tune with his canine side than ever before, for good or ill, was as good as any. Once he wrote Shaman Moon and Alpha Hardfast, he would know for sure. First, though, was detention.
James entered Professor Binns office and found a note waiting for him. Curious, he kept his backpack on and skimmed the note.
"Harrowing experience... meeting with deputy headmaster… have the night off…" James read. 'Hell yeah, time to head back to the common room.' James grimaced after a second's thought. In the common room, he would be surrounded and suffocated by close to forty people. 'Or perhaps the time-honored tradition of avoiding schoolwork by wandering the halls is a better option tonight.' James spun around and walked right on out of the room. As he wandered through the castle he decided to test his sense of smell by following the faintest scent he could for as long as possible. He slowly worked in the general direction of the Hufflepuff common room since he had to get there eventually.
The castle was quieter than earlier in the day. He passed a few older couples out in the corridors, their reactions and scents hinting at their intention for the evening. He hurried by those groups with a blush and continued on.
The sun was just disappearing below the horizon, a large waning crescent barely peeking out in the east, when James reached the corridor to the Hufflepuff common room. In his wandering, James crossed the castle from one end to another as the random stairs and hallways sometimes led to completely wrong parts of the castle. Down stairs that lead up, a short hallway that started in the east wing and ending in the west, and a window that looked out of it across a courtyard at itself. His wandering provided a stark reminder the castle was steeped down to the bedrock in magic.
He walked down the corridor from a rarely traveled direction, his most recent exploration having taken him to a portrait that showed him how to access a secret passage from it to the far end of the hall away from the kitchens and Great Hall. He slowed to a stop when an unforgettable scent hit him. He'd smelled it when he met the dementors, more weakly in the hospital, and anytime Susan was near today. Fear, specifically Susan's fear, and worry, and unease.
He inhaled deeply, hoping he was wrong.
He wasn't. Susan was nearby and she was afraid. Not deathly afraid, or grasped by despair as she had been during the attack, but still scared. Perhaps scared was too strong a word. James inhaled again. He smelled two others with her, Tamsin and Maxive, a fifth and a sixth year female Hufflepuff.
James' hand patted his holstered wand as he continued forward. The hall was too silent. Shouldn't the girls be talking or their steps echoing against the stone? When he got close to the hidden entrance, he found Susan sitting on the barrels, waiting, alone.
She was looking away when he arrived but snapped her head in his direction as he walked up.
"Hey Susan," James said, trying to be nonchalant. "What're you sitting out here for?"
"James, we need to talk." Susan's voice was shaky. James felt a deep sense of foreboding. He never realized what that sentence from a woman could feel like, and he wasn't even dating her. He smelled Tamsin and Maxive behind and before him. They were there but they weren't. 'Are they invisible? I wonder if that's a spell they learned in class or on their own.' James thought as he composed his answer.
"Okay Susan, here or somewhere more private. I feel like someone's watching us." James said trying to gauge just what was happening. Did Susan know about Tamsin and Maxive?
Susan frowned and looked both ways down the hall. After a moment's hesitation, she ran her left hand down her leg as if brushing off a bit of lint. Susan stood and pointed down the hall.
"There is an empty room that way we can use. You go first, I'll tell you when we get there." Susan said, trying to sound in charge and confident, but James smelled through it. She was scared. Was it of him? Why? She'd passed out under the effects of the dementors right?
'But what if she didn't.' That thought brought nothing but worry.
"Okay, Susan," James said, doing as he was told. Once she was behind him he discreetly as possible drew his wand.
'Her aunt might be the top cop, but I can probably still take her. Against two older students though.' His other hand unconsciously grasped his totem. It felt warm to the touch and he made an effort to calm down. So far nothing had happened, getting worked up wouldn't help him now.
"How are you feeling by the way? Hannah was really worried when I showed up to charms without you." James said trying to ease tensions. Susan said nothing, keeping her eyes firmly on James as he walked in front of her.
"Turn here," Susan said when they reached the second side hall. James did as asked and continued down the hall. In the silence following her order, James kept his ears peeled. He heard the steps of the other two following them. They were a short distance behind Susan.
"Stop. In there." Susan said, pointing at an ajar door. James pushed the door open and took a look inside. There was nothing in the room but a layer of dust and some crates stacked in the back right corner. There were no windows. Pale orange light from a sputtering magical torch lit the room.
James took a step back and held the door open. "Ladies first."
Susan hesitated for a second and glanced back over her shoulder. When she looked forward, she stood a little straighter and stepped inside the room. James followed. He shut the door, locked it, and transfigured the hinges so they wouldn't swing the instant he was in the room.
"Bombarda." He heard called behind him and dodged to the left. The spell hit the door instead of him. James continued to the left, turning. He came face to face with a terrified Susan. Her wand drawn but shaking wildly in her hand. Her eyes were wide, locked on James.
That confirmed it was him she was afraid of. Now to find out if it was for the reason he feared to consider. James lowered his wand slowly and slipped it into his waist holster while holding his off hand out in a placating gesture. There was a knocking at the door, but James ignored it.
Susan's eyes darted between the door and James. She fought down the trembling in her hand as she tightened her grip on her wand. "Wh- What did you do?"
"Woah now Susan. We're friends right?" James asked taking a sidestep, moving further away from the door.
The pounding continued.
"What did you do?" Susan demanded, her voice a bit more confident.
"I made sure this would be a private meeting. We don't need Tamsin and Maxive joining us do we?" James replied hoping to shock her. By the way, her arm dropped, he was pretty sure he'd succeeded.
"You want to talk? Okay, we can talk. The two of us. We don't need invisible chaperones ready to do who knows what." James said. He now had both hands out in front of himself doing his best to appear non-threatening. It was the last thing he wanted to do. He wanted to react in kind, but he stayed calm and pushed it down for the moment.
Susan vacillated for a few moments, her wand raising up and down as she thought it over, until she sagged in defeat.
"Okay." She muttered in a small voice. "First give me your word you won't hurt me."
James wanted to refuse, to demand the same from her, or offer some kind of reprisal for trying to ambush him, but he'd fought to keep her safe not too long ago. He'd stood locked in battle for her sake, like he knew he would for any of his family, his pack. What's more, she'd said nothing to contradict him during the interview, though she could have mentioned him talking to the dog.
At the same time, she'd just tried to lure him into a trap. She'd pushed him away when he was offering to help her. He'd given her a place in his world, not even realizing it at the time, and she'd thrown it back at him.
"James, please. I just wanted, needed, to talk. Promise you won't hurt me and I'll tell them to leave." Susan said meekly. The pounding on the door continued. Someone yelled Alohomora outside.
"Okay. I never planned to hurt you. I don't want to hurt you. I promise." James leaned against the closest wall and slid down it.
"Tamsin! Maxive! Can you hear me?" Susan called through the door.
"Susan! Are you okay! Did he do anything?" Maxive, if James remembered the voice right called back through the door.
"I'm fine. James knew you were following us and thought you might try to hurt him."
"How?"
It was quiet for a moment before James heard Tamsin speak. "Susan you said you wanted us to watch your back. We agreed because we like you, and Hufflepuff witches watch out for their own. Are you sure you're fine now? Can you open the door?"
"I'm fine. He gave his word he wouldn't hurt me, but he did something to the door when he locked it. I don't know if I can undo it."
"Susan?"
Susan was silent for a moment, considering the unspoken question. "We'll be fine. This is probably best as a private conversation. You can wait nearby if you are worried so you see us when we come out."
James nodded his agreement and grunted positively.
"James agrees." Susan added.
There was a moment of silence again.
"Okay Susan. We'll be out here waiting for you."
The quiet fell once again. James remained against the wall and Susan near the door for a few minutes. James was focused on keeping his head on straight; Susan was trying to figure out where to start. There was so much she needed to ask.
"I don't know if I ever properly thanked you for trying to save me." Susan said to start. James just grunted noncommittally in reply.
Susan let out a long sigh. "James I don't know where to start, so much happened that afternoon, then we woke up, and it was right into the interrogation and I didn't know what was real and what was a hallucination and.. and.. and…" Susan started sobbing as she fell apart. She dropped to her knees in the middle of the room, collapsing in on herself.
James started to stand but stopped. A part of him wanted to comfort her, but another part was angry she'd tried to lure him into a trap. In the end, he let her cry alone in the middle of the room. After a few minutes, Susan pulled herself together.
"Sorry," Susan said, wiping her eyes. James pulled out a crumpled piece of paper, transfigured it into a handkerchief and tossed it over to Susan. She caught and used it.
"You know it is crazy to watch you do all that silently." She said once she'd cleaned her face.
"It's how I was taught." James replied. "Honestly it is weird that you don't learn it 'til your later years."
Susan shrugged and fell silent. James shifted in his spot as one of his feet started to fall asleep.
"So you were aware the whole time the dementors were attacking I'm guessing?" James asked. Susan nodded.
"Why did you collapse on me. As soon as they showed up, you pretty much fell apart." James said.
"What about you?" Susan asked softly.
"I heard a woman screaming. Then at the very end someone ordering a woman out of the way." James said, closing his eyes and leaning his head back. "The whole time I was holding them off she was screaming. It only changed as I was passing out. At least so far as I remember."
Susan swallowed and opened her mouth a couple of times before she started talking. "I'm a war orphan you know. Like Harry Potter and Neville too, I guess. I lost both my parents. Cedric lost his mom. Tamsin lost her father and grandparents, Hannah lost most of her magical family before she ever knew them. It's common around here."
James stayed quiet. He didn't have anything to add, but he did file away the orphan bit about Neville and Susan. It made sense with how Neville only mentioned his grandmother and Susan's aunt was the only one to show up for her in the hospital.
"The Dementors, they made me remember when it happened. The night my parents died." Susan said, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "Over and over I relived that night up until the point Auntie arrived with help too late."
"At the same time, I was watching you." Susan said as she wiped her eyes. "You tried to save us and failed. I was almost in their grasp when someone started shouting at them. Rocks flew in from the mist. They said they were the one the Dementors wanted."
"Yeah. That happened." James confirmed.
"It was Black wasn't it?" Susan asked in a small voice as she thought about what she thought she heard yelled through the mists. "He was trying to draw them off."
"I think so." James answered. At her frown, he elaborated. "Black was there, it was him, and I think he was trying to save us."
Susan was silent for a bit as she processed the answer to the first and possibly least of her questions. And what a statement that was. The fact an escaped mass murderer chose to try to save them didn't make any sense. How had he even known they were there? Why try to save them? The only thing there before the dementors had been the mangy dog and the bunny-
"Sirius Black wasn't the bunny was he?" Susan asked. James looked at her blank-faced for a moment and burst out in laughter. Susan felt a bit miffed as James recovered slowly, still chuckling when he replied.
"Oh, I needed that. We've been all secrets and ambushes and fear and just, just yuck this whole evening. Thank you for that. Yes Susan, Sirius Black was a bunny and, in returned for us buddying up to the dog that almost killed him, he saved our lives." James shook his head chuckling.
Susan glared, her fear forgotten in the moment of embarrassment. Then it hit her.
"He was the dog. The dog you barked at. You can talk to dogs! Wait!" Susan said. James grimaced as her fear spiked once again.
"I can smell that you know. Your fear. Especially since it was so strong when we met the dementors." James said in defeat. Susan jumped to her feet, backing away. "Yeah, you know. Go ahead and ask the big question of the night. If you were conscious the whole time you already saw it." He pushed himself up and set his wand on the floor.
Susan swallowed loudly in the dim room. James was standing on the side with the magical torch and it cast a shadow from him. He looked tall, strong and ominous where he stood. His wand was on the floor off to the side, and she didn't know if that made her feel better or worse.
"You promised not to hurt me." Susan reminded him, her voice shaking.
"I'm not the kind to break his word once given." James said. sliding a hand onto his totem. He felt tense. Any relief from the laughter gone. This was going to be a big moment. The lesser of his secrets was about to be revealed. He was really glad it was just the two of them in that moment.
"Are you... You are… Are you a werewolf?" Susan asked, sliding a hand to her wand. James smiled at her. No, he bared his teeth.
"Yes!" James nearly shouted. "And you want to know don't you? You want to know when it happened, how, what I'm going to do to you now."
Susan backed up a step as James ranted. "And?"
"And nothing. It all rests on you to be quite honest. You held your tongue about Black. Okay, you weren't sure. He was the dog by the way. He really did save our lives. By reminding me of the Patronus, he bought us enough time for Aberforth to save us." James laughed.
"I just wasn't sure. That's why I wanted to talk to you tonight." Susan argued.
"And you didn't call me out for my other form, for the wolf I am."
"I wanted to talk you! Dammit James, you saved my life. You have the Bones family in your debt. Don't you realize how big that is you bloody Yank!?" Susan yelled.
"No. Nor do I care. Do you want the full honest truth from me Susan, the complete unvarnished reality?" James asked her softly, but his voice filled with power.
"Yes!" Susan replied exasperated.
"I don't want to be here. We came because there exists the slimmest of chances Sirius Black is an innocent man. Yeah, how is that for a show stopper. An innocent man trapped for over a decade in Hell on Earth." James ranted. His totem glowed against his chest but he didn't notice it. "So I'm here with my family so my dad can prove whether or not Black deserves to die by his hand for betrayal or if there is another that needs to suffer. The instant we know the truth we'll be gone from these shores never to return, because, honestly, I hate it here."
Susan took another step back, James had hair growing all across his body and his eyes glowed yellow. James stopped talking, breathing heavily. He saw the glow on his chest and looked at his arms.
"Dammit." He muttered. He tried to relax and reversed the transformation. He backed up to the wall and sank down. "Sorry. Ever since the attack, strange things have been happening."
Susan just shook in the corner she'd backed into. In that moment, James had truly terrified her. James groaned and punched the ground next to him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you like that. I'm sorry." He repeated.
Susan slowly calmed down, bringing her breathing under control. She kept a wary eye on James as he repeated his apologizes over and over.
"Let me out." She said at last causing James to shut up. "Just let me out of here. I'll keep your secret. I won't tell anyone about what you are or about Black or anything. We've talked. Please just let me go."
James picked up his wand and waved it once at the door dispelling his earlier work. "It's open. Keep my secrets and your family's debt is paid." James said. He didn't need it and it seemed to matter to her so why not use it now.
Susan bolted for the door as soon as his wand started waving but stopped short. "So be it. I will keep your secrets in payment of my debt. Thank you." Then she was gone.
James heard her meet Tamsin and Maxive. A second was spent to ensure Susan was alright and the trio was gone.
James remained on the floor. He had a feeling he'd just lost something. He'd saved her life, but it destroyed any friendship they might have had, any chance at something more.
His greatest gift was feeling more like a burden. Today had been too much. The super senses, the wild emotions, the revelations, the talking, were taking their toll on James. All the good feeling from being with his family had been blown away. In their place, his distaste for Britain, his desire to be home, his frustration with the change to his senses, and dealing with now apparently easy transformation roiled together in his mind. The stress reached a boiling point. He took one look at the boxes and blasted them.
He didn't even think of the spell, just pointed and blasted with raw magic. The boxes broke apart and James gathered the planks up in his magic. He left the room and took off running for the greens. There was at least one way to feel better.
XxX
Katie was on her way back to the Gryffindor Tower after an evening flying session with the other Gryffindor Chasers. They hadn't really been practicing, just flying for the joy of it out on the pitch. She'd stayed behind to put away the brooms and sent the others ahead since they had OWLs to deal with.
Katie was just turning the corner from the pitch to the entrance to the castle when someone blew past her. She ducked again as floating wooden planks followed a second behind them. Katie was about to shout out when she finally got a good look at who it was.
'What in the name of Magic is he doing?' She thought. A quick muttered Tempus showed there was still an hour until curfew. Katie stood there looking between the magic numbers and the direction James had gone.
'He can take care of himself. There is no reason for me to follow him.' She thought as she took a step towards him. 'But I can't say I'm not curious what he's doing. He was acting kinda weird all day today.'
Katie took a step toward the door. She took a step after James. 'Argh! Make up your mind Katie. Are you going to follow him or not. You know what screw it, last time I came upon him doing something alone he made history interesting. Well, he changed Binns for the better, but it took away a needed nap time. If nothing else I should make sure he doesn't do something too crazy.'
With her rationalization decided upon, Katie went after James; it took her a few minutes to catch up. She found him standing in a circle of short torches at the bottom of the hill. Across from him stood a series of human silhouettes. The wooden planks from before had disappeared.
Katie crouched on the slope, wondering what he was doing. A moment later, something jumped off the ground, floated unsteadily in front of him, and, a second later, shot forward. There was sharp crack as the objects struck one of the silhouettes and splinters went flying.
'He must have transfigured everything from the planks.' Katie thought.
She watched James until the silhouettes were destroyed by what she assumed to be pebbles he was launching at them. At first, he was silent, but near the end, he began shouting incoherently as he fired his projectiles. He was panting heavily by the time he finished and collapsed to the ground. Katie cast Tempus again. There were less than ten minutes left until curfew. There was no chance they could make it back in time.
'Maybe if I run I can make it back.' Katie thought before taking a look towards James.
'Is he crying?' She asked herself. James' shoulders shook with his head buried in his arms. 'I don't think I want to deal with this. I should go. I wanted to make sure he didn't do something to change the school and he didn't.'
Katie started to stand, hoping to just back away and pretend she never saw anything. She was almost free when she slipped on the grass and slid down the hill.
'What the hell!.' She thought as she slid down the hill and found herself at the bottom, just outside the torch circle. "Uff."
"KATIE!" James shouted as he spun around. He wiped his face with his sleeve, trying to hide the tears on his red-streaked face. "What are you doing here?"
"Hey James." Katie said from where she lay having not moved since she came to a stop. "I was just taking a walk, enjoying the nice night, wondering how I might dodge patrols out to catch students breaking curfew when I maybe might have slipped up at the top of the rise."
"On what?"
"On the grass?" Katie offered with a shrug.
James looked at her, his face going blank. "You slipped on the grass?"
"Yeeaaah." Katie replied weakly. James stared at her for a moment then sighed and patted the ground next to him.
"Well, there is room over here if you want to sit down."
Katie hesitated for a moment, scooted over to where he was. "Thanks."
"Welcome." James grunted as he looked away from her and out towards the shattered wood he destroyed earlier.
Katie kept a wary eye on James as she looked over at what he had done. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Katie broke it. "Sooo…. Do you want to talk about it?"
James snapped his gaze to her, his eyes narrowing. "Talk about what?"
Katie looked at James. "Whatever has you out here this late; curfew hits in a minute, and I've heard you don't really need any more detentions. Plus you nearly knocked me over on your way out of the castle. Figured someone needed to keep an eye on you in case you tamed the giant squid or started a war with the merpeople in the lake this time." She said.
"What? Why would you think that?" James asked.
"Well, you did break decades-old bindings on your history professor and take away my, and many others, favorite nap time." Katie said, smirking. "So what's the problem."
James was silent for a long moment. Katie glanced over at him. He'd leaned back and was looking up at the night's sky.
"James." Katie began, pausing as he shifted to look at her a bit better. "You don't have to tell me. We didn't start off on the best foot and we aren't exactly friends."
"True." James muttered. Katie sighed and continued.
"But you do make a good project partner, and you aren't as bad as I first thought. We might not be friends, but I can tell something is bothering you. You've been off all day. In Defense, in Transfiguration, and when I followed you tonight." James tensed up and started to sit up.
"And I don't hold it against you." Katie said quickly in case he was getting the wrong idea. "I remember when the Dementors searched the train. If it wasn't for Professor Lupin and the others driving them off after they got too close to some of the students, I think some first kisses might have been last kisses too." Katie said with a shiver.
James saw the shiver and cast a warming charm over both of them. It was a mid-October evening in Scotland and the cool breeze coming over the lake wasn't helping matters.
"Thanks. So you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, but... " Katie trailed off.
"If I want to you are here." James said after a minute.
"Yeah." Katie said pulling her knees to her chest. Even with the warming charm, it was still getting cold. "So…"
James put his hand behind his head and kept looking at the sky. After a minute he started to talk. "Last year, Ryan's dad, Ryan is my best friend back home, took us targeting shooting a couple times. We were only allowed to shoot the twenty-twos but it was a lot of fun. Ryan said my bullseyes were beginner's luck but I think he was just jealous." James said with a far-off look on his face.
"Twenty-two?" Katie asked not quite sure what James was talking about.
"Twenty-two caliber rifles. Bolt action, single shot. We must have put fifty rounds each down range that day. It was my first time shooting. Mom wasn't too happy about it. Something about crazy American gun nuts. Dad didn't seem to care one way or the other. He told me so long as I don't talk about it around Mom I could go any time they invited me." James elaborated as he mimed firing the rifle with his hands.
"Oh." Katie said thinking about what she knew from TV and movies. "Is that related to what you were just doing."
"Yeah. I replaced gunpowder and lead with magic and stone, but it was surprisingly relaxing." James said.
Katie looked over at the shattered remains of the targets. 'That was relaxing? It sure didn't look that way.' She thought.
"Did it make you feel better?"
"Yeah." James said, nodding and looking Katie way. "Yeah, it did. Thanks for asking and for following me." James said pointing between the two of them.
"You're welcome, James." Katie said a content feeling setting in her gut. "Do you think we should head up and try to sneak past the patrols?"
James cast Zeiten on his wrist. The version of timekeeping spell he learned back home. 11 Oct 1993/2115/Sunset 1827 Sunrise 0740 appeared in three silver lines along his wrist.
"Nah, Astronomy doesn't start for almost another three hours and I have to attend that with the first years anyway. I will just catch the Slytherins as they come up from the dungeon and walk with them." James said, snorting at the look on her face.
"Seriously, are the house divisions that bad. There are what twenty people in your whole year group?" James asked seriously. Katie waited for him to continue for a moment before realizing he was waiting for her answer.
"Eighteen, there are eighteen of us." She replied.
"Damn, why do you even bother with separate classes? Wouldn't it be easier on everyone if you all just did them together?"
"Tradition?" Katie offered uncertainty. Jame waved his hand dismissively.
"Whatever the reason, you have to know your yearmates pretty well right? Are any of them that bad?"
"I was just surprised you are in a class with first years for astronomy at that. It's such an easy class." Katie said. She burst into giggles at the disgusted look on James' face. "Astronomy isn't that bad."
James just scoffed. "Yes, it is. Give me transfigurations any day of the week. I'd rather write another report on turning owl stands into owls than make another star chart."
"You really like transfigurations don't you?"
"My best wanded subject." James said with abundant pride. "I can't wait to learn animation and the creation of constructs." Katie watched gleam of torchlight in his green eyes. It looked like he was over whatever was bothering him. 'And he never actually talked about it. Boys are weird'
"What's your best subject?" He asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.
"Charms or Astronomy if I'm honest. Why?" Katie asked.
"Well, last time we crossed wands it ended in a draw. So, since we have time to kill, why don't we have another go of it. We can even make it a bit more interesting than last time." James said.
"What do you have in mind?" Katie asked as she stood. The thought of dueling James again did sound appealing to her. A friendly duel of course. One she would win.
"A wager. Loser owes the winner something of their choice." James said a creepy smile working its way onto his face.
Katie thought it over for a moment. That would make the duel more fun. She even knew what she would ask for once she won.
"Okay." She said palming her wand. "What are the rules?"
"My transfigurations against your charms." James said stretching as he spoke. "First to fall to the floor laughing losses."
"Laughing?" Katie asked incredulously. "Why laughing?"
"We are having a fun night, aren't we? Plus it wouldn't be smart if either of us got hurt." James said as he closed the distance to Katie and held out a hand. "So, do you accept."
Katie didn't hesitate for a second. "Don't complain when I win."
AN:
Updated 6 Jan 2019