Lone Child

Chapter 29: Of Waking and Werewolves

  For several minutes James cried into Triss's hair.  Several people looked on with pity.  Gin, Dray, Fred, George, Mel, Kat, and Night all stood next to each other with sullen looks.  None dared to go near James in this state, they didn't know what he would do. 

  James just cradled his friend.  He didn't know what he was going to do.  First his mother abandoned him, his adoptive parents were murdered, his father cared more for a girl he'd hardly known than for his own flesh and blood and now he was about to loose his best and closest friend.  A small voice in the back of his mind drew his attention.  'James? It's so dark.  I'm scared,' the voice said.  James knew it had to belong to Triss. 

  'Triss, where are you?' James asked frantically. 

  'I don't know.  It's so dark.  Please help me,' she begged. 

  'I will,' said James.  He knew where she was and how to get her back now.  "Accio Dementor!" James yelled pointing his wand in the direction the Dementor had run.  Seconds later a great dark figure could be seen flying through the air towards him.  James laid Triss carefully on the ground and turned towards the Dementor.  ~By my right as an Elf I demand you return my Elf bonded's soul,~ James hissed.  

  ~An Elf? Yes, you smell of the royal bloodline,~ the Dementor hissed.  Slowly it knelt and picked Triss up from the ground.  Surrounding people watched as the Dementor glowed a faint red, pulsed once and then lay Triss back on the ground. 

  It returned to where James stood.  ~May luck be with you my Prince,~ the Dementor hissed.  It bowed low and floated away, surrounding students and teachers parting as it swept through. 

  James had picked Triss from the ground again in a flash.  He didn't notice everyone staring at him in shock.  He didn't even spare a look as he raced off to the hospital wing and Poppy's care. 

~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~

  James kicked the door of the hospital wing open and set Triss down in the nearest bed.  Poppy rushed in shortly after.  "Oh! The poor dear! James I need you to get these wet clothes off of her, and put her in something warm," said Poppy gathering several potions from her stores. 

  James waved his hand and Triss's wet Quidditch uniform was replaced by one of his own long t-shirts.  James waved his hand again and her hair was also dry.  Poppy returned with several potions bottles and started easing them down Triss's throat one by one.  When she had finished she turned her attention to James. 

  "Oh look at you! Get out of those wet clothes right now before you catch cold!" she yelled.    James waved his hand and he was dressed in long PJ bottoms and a plain black cotton shirt.  "Here, drink this," she said handing him a potion bottle. 

  "I can't Poppy.  I'm under the influence of a rather strong shielding potion and my stores are completely dead.  I'm defenseless as a muggle at the moment," said James. 

  "Well you better get straight into that bed young man!" said Poppy. 

  James laughed to himself and crawled into the small hospital bed with Triss.  "Poppy, if you could?" he asked gesturing to the small size of the bed.  Poppy rolled her eyes and enlarged the bed.  "Thank you," he said. 

  James pulled Triss into his chest and wrapped his arm around her.  The storm outside was still raging and he didn't want Triss to wake and be more afraid than she probably already was.  Very slowly James drifted into a deep slumber. 

~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&

  When James woke much later he felt horrible.  He knew he was sick, but he didn't care.  He looked down at the thing that had woken him up.  Triss had latched onto the front of his shirt and was shaking with tears rolling down her cheeks.  "Triss?" asked James nudging her a bit.

  Triss eyes flew open and looked panicked for a second before focusing on James's eyes.  She didn't hesitate to launch her self on him, crying harder than ever.  "Hey, it's alright Tigress, shhh," said James rubbing her back lightly. 

   "It was so cold.  I was scared, and He was there, he was going to hurt me again," Triss sobbed.  James didn't need to ask who he was. 

  "Hey, it's alright, I promised I'd never let him near you again, and I haven't.  I'm not about to break that promise now," said James. 

  "Well, you cut it damn close this time Shadow," said Triss making an effort to calm herself down.  Slowly but surly her breathing evened out but she was still awake.  "What happened after I fell Shadow?" Triss asked. 

  "I cast a suspending charm to slow you down, and everyone started dropping like flies.  I used a bit of lightning and got rid of most of the Dementors.  I never saw the one going towards you.  It kissed you.  I thought you were gone for sure but I remembered the Elven code of bonds.  The Dementor had to return your soul," said James. 

  "Looks like I owe you one again Shadow," said Triss laying her head on his chest. 

  James started to respond but was cut off by an annoyingly familiar voice.  "I do believe I owe we as well Mr. Cage, for my granddaughter's life and that of my students," said Dumbledore. 

  "Get out!" said Triss not even looking at the old man. 

  "Tri-"

  "I said get out! I don't have the energy nor patience to deal with you at the moment.  And, personally, you, trying to convince me to return to my sad excuse for a father, is not what I need at the moment!" yelled Triss. 

  Dumbledore started to say something but was stopped by a PJ clad Poppy.  "Albus! I told you to leave them alone! Get out of my hospital wing and stop disturbing me patents!" Poppy yelled.  The old man looked shocked but left the wing. 

  "Thanks Poppy," said James. 

  "No trouble at all James.  That man infuriates me! Doesn't listen when I tell him to leave my resting patents alone.  Speaking of that, how do you feel dear?" Poppy asked motioning to Triss. 

  "So far so good, a little cold and shaken but alive," said Triss. 

  "How about you James? You look a little flushed," said Poppy. 

  "Well enough, not much can be done even if I am sick," said James.  

  "Why?" asked Triss. 

  "I used a potion to stop any flying potion parts from killing me," said James.  Triss knew he was talking about the crystals, but she didn't comment. 

  "Oh, before I forget, a certain snake came looking for you.  No doubt she'll be back in the morning," said Poppy. 

  "Okay, I starting to wonder what happened to Jewel.  She's hardly around anymore," said James. 

  "Nothing to worry about I'm sure," said Poppy.  James nodded.  Soon enough Poppy returned to her room and James curled up with Triss again. 

  "You sure your alright?" asked James pulling Triss to him. 

  "Yeah, I'm sure.  Who one the game?" Triss asked. 

  "Good question," said James.  He'd totally forgotten about the game.  Unless Cedric had caught the snitch while he was busy with the Dementors then the game had been postponed.  "I'll ask the twins what happened after we left when I see them next," said James.

  "Why not ask now?" asked a voice from the shadows. 

  "Fred? What the hell are you doing here?" James asked as the twins stepped out of the shadows. 

  "What? To busy to let us know you're okay? Everyone's been worried sick about you guys, especially after Dumbledore got booted out.  Kat has been having kittens, everyone totally tripped when you summoned that Dementor back to you and started hissing at it.  What was with that anyway?" asked Fred 

  "Parseltongue is a universal language of the undead.  Vampires and Dementors are one of the few that can speak it.  The Dementor had given Triss the kiss and I made him give her soul back," said James shrugging. 

  "Well, don't do that again because word in the tower is that you're the next Voldemort," said George.  Fred nodded. 

  "They think you're his lost great-grandson or something like that," said Fred. 

  James couldn't help it, he laughed.  "Me? Ha! Ol' Voldy probably wants nothing more than to disembowel me.  Related to him? That's a laugh," said James chuckling.

  "I think he's cracked," said George. 

  "The stress must have gotten to him," said Fred. 

  "For once I agree," said Triss looking at James with a raised eyebrow. 

  "You guys suck.  Take away all my fun," said James sulkily.  Triss stuck her tongue out at him.  James grinned and flipped, effectively pinning Triss.  Triss squeaked and James tickled her sides.  Triss tried to wiggle out from underneath him but was unsuccessful as he tickled her mercilessly. 

  "Hey look Fred, dinner and a show," said George grabbing a chocolate frog from a nearby table, eyes focused on Triss and James. 

  James flipped again, putting Triss on top of him.  "Perv," said Triss from her spot.  George laughed. 

  "Okay, is there any other reason you're here?" asked James.  He was starting to get very uncomfortable. 

  "No, we'll leave you to your activities," said Fred winking.  James threw a pillow at them but missed.  James could hear their laughing as they ran out the door and down the hall. 

  Triss rolled off James and back onto the bed.  "I don't know about you but I'm dead tired," she said yawning.  James nodded and Triss curled up next to him, dropping into a deep sleep almost immediately. 

~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~

  The next morning James and Triss were woken by yelling from the hallway.  "I'll be right beck," said James groggily standing up.  Running a hand through his hair James walked out the main door, not even bothering to put a shirt on.  "Some people are trying to sleep," said James. 

  A red-faced Cornelius Fudge turned to face James, along with Dumbledore, Potter, and Snape.  Fudge paled.  "Salutations minister.  I'd hoped I wouldn't have to deal with you at 7 in the morning," said James looking at his watch. 

  "Mr. Cage," said Fudge pathetically. 

  "You know I could have sworn I told you to keep your soul suckers out of the school.  You obviously didn't listen Fudge, so I leave you with a few choices.  Choice 1, you remove the Dementors from the school grounds.  Choice 2, you let me give them their orders, going with the fact that I could communicate with them better than you.  Choice 3, you post them further from the school, nearer to Hogsmead, and then you have to deal with the people there," said James. 

  Fudge thought for a second.  After a minute or two he made his decision.  "Choice 3," said the minister. 

  "See that it is taken care of now." The minister looked relieved.  "Now, if no one minds I've got a warm bed with a pretty girl waiting for me," said James disappearing back into the hospital wing.  All surrounding people looked shocked.  No one had ever seen someone control the minister like James just had with out getting sent to Azkaban for black mail. 

~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&

  "Where the hell happened to you two?" was the general question James and Triss got when they dragged themselves down to lunch.  Neither really wanted to leave the hospital wing but Poppy had insisted that they go rejoin the school.  James and Triss wasted no time in planting themselves in the middle of their rather large group of friends. 

  Upon seeing the two Kat, Gin and Mel squeaked and launched themselves on Triss, asking multiple questions.  While the girls were distracted Fred, George and Dray all started whispering to James.  "The Minister is here, up at the high table.  He's been causing trouble all morning," said Fred. 

  "Kinda pathetic, running around a school trying to cause a ruckus," said George. 

  "Anyone interested in pulling something on him?" Dray asked. 

  James subtly glanced at the Minister.  "Watch and learn," said James, waving his hand slightly.  A large rain cloud formed over the minister and started raining.  The Minister jumped up and sputtered as rain poured into his eyes.  Suddenly, in addition to the rain, the Minister started changing colors.  James counted 7 different colors before it started over again. 

  "How did you do that?" asked Fred as the hall broke into laughter. 

  "I didn't.  Look at the leg of the table closest to the Minister," said James. 

  The boys did as they were told and spotted a very self-satisfied looking Jewel.  "Did I ever tell you your snake kicks ass?" asked Dray. 

  "No, but I'll make sure to tell here you think so," said James. 

~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&

  The rest of the month went off with out a hitch.  The Hufflepuff vs. Slytherin game was replayed, and Slytherin, of course, won.  The Minister didn't cause any more trouble and followed James's wishes to have the Dementors sent further from the school.  However, with the ending of school came the end of the year exams. 

  James, being the nice person he was, was tutoring Neville on potions and transfiguration.  Kat was tutoring him in charms, her best subject.  After a rather disastrous potions tutorial James was ready to give up on the clumsy boy.  "I swear, the kid needs a backbone, it would help him greatly," said Kat as she and James walked down an empty corridor. 

  "Yeah, but there isn't much that can be done," said James.  "Come on, it's almost time for dinner then we have our stuff to do tonight.  I really think I got the cure this time," said James. 

  "Alright," said Kat taking a deep breath and following James into a secret corridor.  10 minutes later they were walking into the Great hall, heading for the Slytherin table.  James sat and took a glance at the head table.  To his surprise Evans, Potter, Lupin and Snape weren't there.  Lupin was no surprise as it was a full moon, but Potter, Evans, and Snape could be a problem.

  "Hey Mel, where is Night?" James asked, a heavy weight growing in the pit of his stomach. 

  "I don't know.  Why?" asked Mel. 

  "I think we have a problem," said James.  This was confirmed by Snape running into the hall like the devil himself was after him.  Snape ran up to Dumbledore and started whispering furiously in his ear.  A grave look crossed Dumbledore's face and he stood up. 

  "Prefects, please lead your students to your house dormitories.  Do not leave until one of the professors calls for you," said Dumbledore. 

  "Shit," whispered James.  'Guys, duck into the passage by the hall doors.  We have big problems,' James thought.  Each member of the crew nodded discreetly at him. 

  5 minutes later the group was gathered in a small anti-chamber near the doors of the school.  "What's going on Shadow?" asked Triss. 

  "Something happened.  I'm not sure what but it's bad and I think it had something to do with Remus or Sirius, if not both," said James. 

  "What do you want us to do?" asked Mel.

  "All of us that are Animagi are going to go down to the shack.  The rest of you are going to hang out here until I call for you," said James.  Fred, George, and Gin all made to protest but were silenced by a look from James.  "The rest of you, if I say pull out, you pull out," said James.  Dray, Kat, Triss and Mel nodded.  "Let's go."

  With a wave of James's hand the 5 of them were completely invisible.  Within minutes they had reached the entrance to the Shrieking shack.  'One at a time,' said James pushing the trap door open.  Silently James crept into the room.  The scene before him almost made him blow his cover. 

  Huddled together in a corner were Holly and Sara.  Across from them were Potter and Evans, both bound and gagged on he floor.  Next to them was Sirius, also bound and gagged, and bleeding from a cut on his forehead.  On the far side of Sirius was Lupin, he looked green, and was shivering.  James only had to look at him to tell he hadn't taken his Wolf's bane potion. 

  However, it was the final figure that spooked James the most.  Standing, swathed in black robes and an eye patch was none other than Peter Pettigrew.  It took James a minute to register that Pettigrew was talking.  "First your dear werewolf friend will go after the brats, then he will rip each of you limb from limb. . ." James had had enough, and he blew his cover. 

  "Over my dead body Pettigrew," said James making himself visible.  Pettigrew turned and looked at James in surprise.  Then recognition crossed his eye. 

  "You! Escaped the fire did you, you little brat!  Well, I'll finish you off for good this time!" yelled Pettigrew. 

  "Tell me you not still sore about your eye Peter.  Damn, you can hold a grudge," said James.  Pettigrew turned red.  James smirked, his plan was working.  Distract Pettigrew while Mel, Triss, Dray and Kat focused on getting the others out. 

  "You brat! You shouldn't even be alive-"

  James cut him off.  "I can't help it your boss was so incompetent.  It's his fault.  Now, why don't you be a good little rat and knock yourself out so I can get one of the Dementors to take you to Fudge," said James. 

  Pettigrew just smirked.  James heard a growl to the left and was the now werewolf Lupin lunge for Holly and Sara.  "No!" James yelled jumping on the Werewolf.  Lupin immediately turned on James and bit into his arm.  James heard an evil chuckle come from Pettigrew, but was cut off by a fierce growl.  James caught sight of Tigress crouched ready to attack Pettigrew. 

  The other 3 were busy untying the other people in the room.  In his moment of distraction James was thrown from Lupin's back.  He heard Evans scream as he was thrown into a far wall.  Lupin made to go after Sara and Holly again, but James would have none of it.  He jumped on Lupin again, and pinned the large wolf to the ground.  "RUN!" James yelled to the others.  Dray wasted no time in pushing people down the trap door. 

  The werewolf, seeing his meal running away, started to fight James viciously.  James just held tighter, not once thinking about changing into another form.  James was able to hold the much stronger wolf for about a minute before if threw him again, through a wall.  James barley saw it take off down the trap door. 

  Seconds later James was after it.  By the time James caught up with it, it was running across the grounds, and had almost caught Sirius, who was lagging a bit behind.  James waved his hand at it and it stopped dead.  James slid to the ground next to it and forced its mouth open, and poured a small vile of red liquid down its throat.  The wolf started shivering and slowly it shifted back into human form. 

  "Kat!" yelled James, taking the bind off of the ex-werewolf.  A hawk landed on the ground next to him and shifted into Kat.  "Take him up to the school," said James, laying spread eagle on he ground. 

  Kat nodded without a word and wrapped her cloak around the barley-clothed man.  James didn't even notice her leave.  James took a deep breath and heaved himself off the ground, about 10 feet from where he was, was the rest of the jolly group.  Evans and Potter were staring at him in amazement, but the rest didn't seem to surprised.  James caught Triss's eye, and chuckled when she pointed down.  Triss was now using Pettigrew as a chair, abet an ugly chair, but still a chair. 

  Triss stood up and walked over to James.  She was the only one who seemed to notice how badly James was hurt.  James smiled thankfully at her and used her as a crutch as he made his way over to Evans and Potter.  "You guys alright?" James asked, his eyes falling and the two little girls huddled between their parents.  

  "We're fine, but I believe we owe you a big thanks," said Potter, surprisingly. 

  "No need," said James. 

  "Shadow, we have another problem," said Triss, throwing a look to her right.  James groaned as his eyes fell on a rather large group of Auror with Fudge leading.  The first person Fudge seemed to spot was Sirius, but James stepped in front of him.

  "Fudge if you so much as even look at Sirius the wrong way I will break your wand and shove it up your ass.  However, I do have a present in the form of Peter Pettigrew," said James.  Fudge's eyes widened as they fell on the stupefied form of Pettigrew. 

  "It seems that we all owe Mr. Black an apology," said Fudge, still staring at Pettigrew.  One of the Aurors stepped forward and offered a hand to help Sirius from the ground, but Sirius brushed it off and pushed himself up. 

  "Okay, Sirius is to get an official pardon, Pettigrew is going to jail.  Now that we're all clear on that I bid you all goodnight," said James dropping to the ground in a dead faint. 

(A/n: *Gasps!* Can it be? Chapter 29 is finally up! I know, I was surprised too.  I meant to have this chapter up last weekend, but I suddenly got very busy.  Spring break starts Friday, so I hope to catch up with myself and rebuild my chapter stores.  Did I ever tell you I hate school? Out of the blue I get THREE projects, all do within a week, on the same day.  Damn evil teachers.  Hopefully I'm not going to get smacked with anything else during my break.  We're the last ones in the county.  What's the point of having spring break a month before school lets out? O'well, we get out earlier for summer than everyone else.  You know, our last week of school consist of one day.  The people here are nucking futs.  It must be the heat.)

Review responses:

Gaul1: *grins evilly* Thank you.  I like my cliffhangers, especially when I'm the one doing it. 

Iced Flame: MWHAHAHA-*coughchough*-HAHAHAHA! 

Mr. Happy Java Man: Faerie people? That's new.  Well, if you send your faerie people I'll have to send my evil fluffy pink bunnies!  As for the whole 'finding out thing' you shall have to wait and see. 

Elessar: Thank you.

Wytil: Everything is starting to calm down a bit now, thankfully, so the updates should go back to normal schedule.  I hope.

Athenakitty: Yes, and you'll see. 

SS2 Megami-sama: Okay . . . never say never, I may kill Triss off just to spite one of you, ya never know.

Cataclysmic: Is that good or bad?

Romm: Displeased? Formal aren't we? I'm not going to kill Triss off, so no worries, I like her too much.

Abby: Thank you. 

Lunawolf: *Grins evilly* I like my cliffhangers.  Now I see why other authors like them so much.  I'm trying to pick up with the updates but we shall see what happens with school schedule. 

Ibozun: Thank you.  I normally don't do cliffhangers, but I couldn't help myself.  As you can see above, she was really kissed but once again, James used his powers to his advantage. 

Blue Phoenix2: Yes, students do still start school when their 11.  James is a bit taller than the rest because of his elven heritage.  As for the language, I know I talked like that at that age, still do. 

Kata Malfoy: Thanks.  Of course Triss will be okay, James would rip me limb from limb if she wasn't. 

Lily of Tortall: I know . . .

Dracos-girl8706: Thank you.  I'm honored.  I try to limit James's power as much as possible, notice he gets hurt just like normal people? I'm sorry but I couldn't resist a cliffhanger.  As for Snape, James was ticked off at first but he got over it, he knew Snape wouldn't be able to claim him because of who he was.  Yes, Kat know that she is James's adopted sister, but they already kind of acted like that before the events with her family.  I actually did read a few of your stories, I never finished them, can't remember why, I think it was cause my laptop crashed and I never found the link again, o'well.

 Howling wolf1: Thanks.  You know people don't die from the Dementor's kiss.  They just live soulless, and my personal belief is that they turn into Dementors themselves. 

Crazy-lil-nae-nae: Thanks.

MetsFan5: I could care less what statistics say.  My best friend was 6'1" at 11.  Plus, what part of James is ELVEN don't you get?

Sasinak: Beans? I like beans! Especially baked beans!             

Musicstarlover: Me, break James's heart? Hell no! I'm not suicidal, he'd kill me, or join Voldemort and try to over throw Max, Pierce and I.  Not the best thing for humanity, especially if they figure out how to do Pierce's little lightning thing.  *Shivers*  (See Bio)

Star eyed unicorn: That was the point.  You say I'm evil like it's a bad thing.  Currently I've no intention of killing off Triss, she's too important, and James would kill me.

Knot2be: Thank you.  I would only stop this story if my life depended on it.

Prongsblacks: That, my dear reviewer, was a cliffhanger.  Somehow I find I like leaving people on edge.  I may have to do that more often. ^_^

Beea20: Thanks.

Purpleanimefreek08: Congratulations, you have officially submitted my longest review yet! Umm…. Well, to start with the questions, Evans is the deputy headmistress.  Her name is still Evans because she didn't want to go through the confusion of them calling her and Potter 'Professor Potter'.  Umm…. Yeah, if there were other questions I missed them, I'm running on only food as of right now, and I really need sleep.  This is the first time in over 48 hours that I've gotten a good couple hours of sleep.  School is being a bitch.  They just pile on the projects, don't bother to ask how many other projects we have….  Well, I'm off to right my Language Arts paper.  Wish me luck!