25

James was running. Every muscle in his body was screaming for rest, for a reprieve, but still he pressed on. His lungs burned from a combination of exertion and smoke inhalation as he tore through the Forbidden Forest, not daring to look back. He didn't need to—the footfalls and snarls of the Inferi were so close behind that he knew he held only the slimmest of leads on them. His leg throbbed from where he had smashed it on a tree stump, his eyes were blurred from the blood dripping into them. He concentrated every ounce of his will power on continuing to run, drawing ragged breaths.

His foot caught on a low branch and he was suddenly driven face-first into the ground, dirt and gravel ravaging his face. Before he could even think of pulling himself up, several Inferi landed on top of him, tearing at him, ripping at him. He knew he was about to die, and the only thing he could manage was a choked gasp—'Lily!'

James sat bolt upright in bed, the word that he had spoken aloud echoing around the empty dormitory room. His sheets were soaked in sweat and his heart was pounding inside his chest. He reached to his night side table and grabbed his glasses, placing them on his nose as he tried to slow his breathing. He glanced at his alarm clock to see it was just past five in the morning, which meant it was officially Christmas Eve.

Lovely, he thought.

He had been almost entirely on his own for a week. In the days following the attack near Godric's Hollow, the not entirely unexpected owl had arrived from his parents informing him that they wanted him to remain at Hogwarts for the holiday as they felt it was safest for him. James knew there was no point in arguing, and was left to the abysmal prospect of facing Christmas alone. Remus and Peter had quickly checked with their parents and confirmed that they would be back the day after Christmas, which was something. Sirius had pledged to be back as soon as he could, but had been forced to admit it would depend on his parents as well. Given that his parents were prone to withholding things he wanted as a way of tormenting him, Sirius was not entirely sure how he was going to achieve this. They had spoken once early in the holiday via their two-way mirror, but James had not heard from him since, in spite of his many attempts to contact him.

A quick glance at the Marauders' Map had told James all he had needed to know about who was left in the school very early on. Only two other students had the misfortune of being stuck at the school over the Holidays—Severus Snape (whom James had avoided as much as possible), and a Gryffindor third year named Emmeline Vance. James had tried striking up conversation with her a few times, but she was extremely quiet and shy.

Gathering his clothes, James decided to go for a morning stroll around the castle. He padded down the staircase into the common room—even though there was only one other person he could potentially awaken, he still felt it was only manners to be as quiet as possible. He stepped through the portrait hole and instantly had to clamp his hand over his mouth from yelling as he nearly collided with Albus Dumbledore.

'Good Morning, James,' Dumbledore said cheerfully, a twinkle in his eye. James' mind briefly flashed to another morning stroll they had once taken back in his second year. James had just recovered from an attack on his family by Rochefort and the Death Eaters when he had nearly collided with Dumbledore outside the hospital wing.

'Out for a morning stroll?' James asked with a hint of a smile, which Dumbledore returned.

'Indeed,' Dumbledore replied and James fell into step alongside him as they moved. 'How have you been spending your free time?'

James mulled this over. Truthfully, he had been pouring over the Animagus textbook and practicing along in his dormitory. He couldn't very well tell Dumbledore that he had been working on something illegal, though. 'I thought I'd give homework a try, seeing as I've never done it before,' he cracked.

Dumbledore chuckled. 'Yes, I have heard that your study habits leave something to be desired. Curious, then, that your grades are so strong.'

'I like to think that when push comes to shove, I know what I'm doing,' James said.

'Very apt,' Dumbledore said with a nod. 'You certainly do seem to do well while winging it, if you'll forgive my use of modern parlance,' he said with a smile. 'That skill should serve you well in the Championship, which is already just around the corner,' he mused.

James cleared his throat. 'Any hints on what the prize is?' he asked.

'I believe that Ms. Meadowes has already provided you with several,' Dumbledore said with a chuckle. 'So I shall remain tight lipped on that matter.'

They were entering the entrance hall now. 'Sir…I have a different question,' James said suddenly. Dumbledore stopped to regard him carefully. 'It's something that occurred to us earlier in the year…we're all being taught how to use magic. How to defend ourselves and…well, do you worry that maybe you're preparing the other side for battle as well as ours?'

'You ask difficult questions,' Dumbledore said with a sigh. 'Do you know how Hogwarts first came to pass?'

James wrinkled his brow. 'The four heads put the school together.'

Dumbledore nodded. 'Indeed. Each of the heads had a certain type of student that they wished to admit. Salazar Slytherin, of course, wished to educate pure-blooded wizards who possessed great cunning, as he did. Rowena Ravenclaw desired to educate the brightest and most intelligent students. Godric Gryffindor those with brave deeds to their name, and Helga Hufflepuff was willing to take anyone who wished to learn.'

'How does that relate to my question?' James asked curiously. When Dumbledore raised his eyebrows, he backtracked. 'Not meaning—I'm sorry, that sounded rude—' he began.

'Not at all,' Dumbledore chuckled. 'I do tend to ramble on when making my way to a point, but I promise you, I am getting there. The fact is that if any one of the four founders had set up the school by themselves, a number of people may have been excluded. This would be the antithesis of what the four founders as a whole intended, which was to educate young minds.

'Which brings me to my point,' Dumbledore went on. 'We cannot presume to know what young children will grow to be. We can only be accepting of our students' assets and flaws and hope to guide them in the direction of honesty, compassion and doing what is right. Sadly, this will not always be the case. There will invariably be people who will grow up to do terrible things. But we cannot judge children on things they have yet to do.'

James nodded slowly. 'I think I understand,' he said.

Dumbledore smiled. 'You are a deeply conscientious person, James. And—with one notable exception—you do not make judgments about anyone.'

'Snape,' James muttered.

'Your rivalry with Severus, I am assuming, is based on the different paths you are both taking towards the upcoming conflict, but also about the different paths you are taking to the heart of Lily Evans.'

'Well,' James said uncomfortably. 'Sort of, I guess. It would be easier if he wasn't rushing off to be a Death Eater,' he mumbled.

'The world is not separated into good people and Death Eaters, though,' Dumbledore said softly and James burst out laughing. Dumbledore looked amused. 'You disagree?' he asked.

James shook his head. 'Not at all,' he said. 'It's just that Moony—Remus—told me that exact same thing several years ago.'

Dumbledore chuckled. 'I hope I did it justice,' he said. 'Have I sufficiently answered your questions?'

'I think so,' James said.

'I must be off then. We have a Christmas Feast to prepare, I do hope you will enjoy it. See you this evening,' he said lightly and he walked away, leaving James standing alone in the great hall to contemplate what had just taken place. Dumbledore was gone only a few minutes when a loud bang sounded on the doors. James frowned, looking around to see if anyone else was about. The bang sounded again, more of a thud—as if someone were slapping their hand against it from the outside.

James was just about to head off to find a teacher when the doors opened, and there stood Hagrid. With one arm, he was supporting someone who had clearly trudged through the snow to get to the school. Their robes were covered in snow, and the skin underneath was as pale from the cold as the snow adoring his robes was.

'Sirius!' James cried out, rushing forward to his friend's side as Hagrid released him. He leaned heavily on James' shoulder, his teeth chattering from the cold. 'What the hell are you doing here?' James asked.

'R—r—ran off,' Sirius muttered as Hagrid hauled the doors shut.

'Righ' foolish, that was. You coulda caught your death in cold! I'll go fetch Madam Pomfrey,' Hagrid said and he bounded off up the stairs.

James had taken off his school robes and wrapped them around Sirius' gloved hands, which were freezing. 'What do you mean you ran off?' he said as he pointed he grabbed a torch off the wall and held it out so Sirius could warm by its heat.

'Had a disagreement,' Sirius grimaced. For the first time, James noticed his face—he had several cuts and blemishes on his cheeks, forehead and nose. 'My parents don't like me disagreeing with them.'

James was aghast. 'Did they do this to you?'

Sirius snorted. 'The one on my chin was from my brother,' he said darkly. 'When I tried to hex him back, my father laid into me. We'd been fighting about Voldemort for days, so it was a matter of time, really…'

'What happened next?' James asked.

'We fought,' Sirius grunted. 'Damn leg,' he muttered and James quickly pulled up his pant leg to reveal it was poorly bandaged.

'What the hell did they do to you?' James asked.

'That was a Reductor curse,' Sirius grimaced.

'This is illegal,' James said fiercely.

Sirius chuckled. 'In the Black Family, it's called Tuesday evening,' he said. When James didn't look amused, Sirius sighed. 'Sorry…I'm trying not to dwell on it, mate. If I do, it's just depressing,' he said.

'Well, thank Merlin you're here, at least,' James said. 'Come on, I think I can manage getting you up to see Madam Pomfrey. We'll tell Dumbledore and he can tell the Ministry about your parents—' he began when the front door to the school opened once more. James glanced up and felt his blood boil. Standing there was a witch and a wizard he had seen only once before—there was no mistaking Orion Black, who bore such a striking resemblance to Sirius.

Walburga Black, his wife, looked wild eyed and furious. Orion's face radiated an intense fury. 'There you are,' he said in an angry tone to Sirius, who had launched to his feet once again, his hand rummaging for his robes. 'Don't be a fool, Sirius. Be silent and come now and your punishment will be less severe.'

'He's not going anywhere with you,' James said fiercely.

Orion Black's eyes flashed. 'You, Potter, have already endangered my son's life on one occasion. It would be unwise to do it again.'

James' wand was in his hand. 'Let me tell you something, Black,' he said. 'Threatening my best friend isn't a way into my good books.'

Walburga sneered. 'And what makes you think we'd be afraid of you?' she said.

Sirius barked with laughter. 'He's danced with Rochefort and Voldemort and lived to tell the tale. You really think you're any more frightening than them?'

'I said BE SILENT!' Orion said and he flicked his wand. The spell was so fast it cracked across Sirius' face before he could block it, sending him crashing to the floor. James' counter spell was only a moment behind, the red stunning spell soaring into Orion's midsection and sending him crashing into the wall.

Walburga slashed her wand, a white hot streak of flame hurtling towards James who tucked and rolled to the side. He waved his wand behind him, launching the torch he had brought for Sirius' warmth back at Walburga who rolled out of the way.

Sirius was back on his feet. 'Reducto!' he shouted and the curse caught his mother's arm, spinning her on the spot. Orion roared with fury and cast another spell at Sirius, who dove aside. James cast a second stunning spell, confused as to how Orion had bounced back so quickly from the first one. This time Orion blocked it, and he hurled another curse back at James, whose shield charm barely blocked it in time.

James wasn't so fortunate as to stop a curse that Walburga had sent his way. It struck him in the midsection and all of the air left his body as he crashed to the floor. Sirius roared with rage, but the distraction of seeing James hurt allowed Orion to disarm him. Sirius charged his father but Orion cast another spell, a bolt of light cracking Sirius across the face like a whip again and dropping him to the floor. 'Now,' Orion snarled as James fought to breathe. 'We go back home and debate whether to ever let you come to this castle again.'

The words had barely left his mouth when Orion was suddenly wrenched up into the air by his ankle. He cried out in anger, his wand having dropped from his hand. Walburga quickly joined him and James looked around for their saviour to see Dumbledore coming down the steps, his face white with fury. The rest of the teachers were behind him.

'Release me at once!' Orion bellowed.

'I shall be happy to, Orion, to the proper authorities. Minerva, please get in contact with Bartemius Crouch,' he said and Professor McGonagall hurried off.

'You wouldn't dare—' Walburga began.

Dumbledore's eyes flashed. 'I would have presumed that no parent would ever dare hurt their child, but it appears I have underestimated just how abysmally foolish the two of you are,' he said in a quiet voice.

'He is my son! I'll parent him however I see fit!' Orion snapped.

'He is my student, and I do not permit my students to be harmed,' Dumbledore said, and although the volume of his voice had not increased, it seemed to strike Orion dumb. Hagrid had returned with Madam Pomfrey and their jaws dropped at the scene before them—Sirius and James on the ground, the former bleeding from his face and the latter fighting to breathe, while Sirius' parents hung upside down in the air.

'Poppy, please take James and Sirius to the hospital wing. Hagrid, let these two down and stand guard until the Aurors arrive,' Dumbledore instructed.

'With pleasure,' Hagrid growled as Madam Pomfrey arrived at James' side. She waved her wand and he was mercifully able to breathe once more. She quickly magicked two stretchers into being and with the help of Professors Slughorn and Flitwick, was able to get James and Sirius onto them.

'You alright?' James asked urgently.

Sirius was smiling in an odd way. 'Fine,' he said in a brittle voice. 'Really fine.'

James smiled, but he was worried. Once Madam Pomfrey got them into the hospital wing, she went into her office to get some things. James stood from his bed and sat next to Sirius. 'Sirius…really. Are you alright?'

'I'm fine,' Sirius whispered and tears leaked from his eyes. James reached out and embraced his friend. Sirius buried his face in James' shoulder as James stared blankly at the wall behind him.