36
James almost felt as if he was back in his nightmares, running from the Inferi after they had attacked Hogsmeade. His legs felt like dead wood, his lungs were on fire within his chest, begging for relief as the five of them continued pounding down the corridors of the school. By sheer luck, they had not run into any students ahead of them, because James was sure that would have spelled their doom. Had they decided to risk looking at the map, James was certain that they would have seen approximately thirty Slytherins in hot pursuit, with Snape apparently calling their shots.
Snape, James thought angrily. So much for Lily's hope that he would work against the Slytherins.
'Can't…keep…going…' Peter was wheezing from in front of him.
'You've…got…to!' Remus gasped.
Caradoc pointed. 'Staircase!' he said. It was not just one staircase, however—but James recognized it as a staircase leading to the room of moving staircases. If they played this right, they might be able to put some actual distance between them and the Slytherins.
Peter hit the staircase first and nearly slipped—his exhaustion was showing as he staggered and stumbled his way to the top, often needing Remus to prod him from behind. James, Sirius and Caradoc stopped at the base of the staircase and fired several volleys of hexes at their pursuers. They were so many that James couldn't pick out individual faces—he would have given anything for one clear shot at Snape.
'Come on, you three!' Remus called. They sprinted up the staircase as the wall where they had been standing was peppered with hexes and curses fired by the Slytherins. They reached the top of the staircase and stood on a ledge leading into a minor abyss, series' of staircases down below them. A moment later, a descending staircase moved into place. 'Go!' Remus said and they all clambered on.
James and Sirius spun and pointed their wands at the entrance they had just emerged from. A Slytherin in his third year made it to the top first, but was unable to withstand the barrage of spells James and Sirius promptly lambasted him with. Two more Slytherins emerged and began returning fire as they shoved their fallen comrade back down the staircase. The force of their spells caused James and Sirius to duck.
'What now? We're sitting ducks on this thing!' Sirius said.
Caradoc glanced over the side. 'Follow my lead!' he said.
He promptly jumped over the side of the railing, causing James' jaw to drop, Sirius' eyes to goggle out of his head, and Peter to moan miserably. Remus merely looked nonplussed. 'After you, Peter,' he said. When Peter looked at him in horror, Remus sighed. 'You leave me no choice.' With that he bodily picked up Peter, who shouted in protest, and hurled him over the side of the railing. 'Come on, you two!' he shouted and he jumped next.
James pressed himself to the railing and looked down. The three of them had landed on a staircase below them, but it was quickly moving away. 'Jump, or you won't make it!' Caradoc shouted. The next moment he was forced to duck as the Slytherins took aim at him. 'Blasted, stinking little—' James heard him shout.
'Ready for this?' Sirius asked.
'Let's do it!' James called and they both vaulted over the side of the railing, plummeting through the air towards the staircase below. Sirius was hollering as they fell—James picked out the words 'Wendy, I can fly!' and then they were crashing onto the staircase, their blow softened as Remus had evidently cast a Winguardium Leviosa charm, which he quickly cut short as James started to bob back into the air.
'Duck,' Sirius said fiercely and James did so as more hexes flew their way. James risked a glance up—there were now six Slytherins crammed onto the small ledge, and the staircase that James and Sirius had vacated was completing a slow loop back to them.
Remus bit his lip. 'They'll be on us in a moment,' he said. 'We need to move fast. Where are we going to?'
'We can't go that way,' Peter said pointing to the door. 'That leads to Gryffindor tower.'
James pointed at another hallway down below that. 'What about down there? Start back down at the base of the school and work our way back up?'
'I like it,' Sirius declared.
Caradoc pointed. 'Here, take this staircase!' he shouted. The five of them scrambled to the bottom of the staircase just as it met the top of another. They quickly crossed over and promptly ducked as more hexes flew their way. James looked up to see that the Slytherins had jumped onto the first set of stairs. James pointed his wand and cast a stunning spell which caught one of them in the forearms. Sirius fired an Impediment jinx which struck one in the chest. Peter then surprised everyone by hurling a disarming spell at a fifth year, catching him unawares in the back of the head.
'Nice job,' Caradoc said kindly. 'Ready to jump again?'
Everyone nodded grimly as a staircase swung underneath them. Caradoc went first, landing nimbly ten feet below. He turned, waving his wand as Remus and Peter dropped next. Caradoc's wand work caused them to land lightly on their feet. James vaulted over next and looked back up. Sirius was about to join when James saw the Slytherins gain a clear line of sight on him.
'Sirius, watch OUT!' James yelled.
Sirius didn't ask questions, immediately ducking back down as his staircase was pelted with jinxes. This ended up being costly in more ways than one, as Sirius' staircase swung far away from where he could have jumped to them.
'Not good!' Caradoc said as he fired a jinx at one of the Slytherins, a seventh year who deflected it deftly and fired one back.
Remus cast a shield charm, repelling it back. 'What do we do?' he asked.
'Get out of here!' Sirius' voice drifted back to them as he went for a spin around the room. 'I'll catch up! I'll be fine!'
'He'll be killed,' Peter moaned.
James grit his teeth. 'You three stay here. Stay on the loop, I'll be back in a moment. Caradoc, give me a boost,' he said.
Caradoc raised his eyebrows. 'You'll be a sitting duck,' he said.
'Try and make me a moving duck if you can,' James quipped.
'Winguardium Leviosa,' Caradoc declared and James launched up into the air. A staircase swung in front of him and he caught it, clambering up. He was still across the room from Sirius, who was pressed down flat against his staircase as a group of five Slytherins on a nearby one tried to hit him. James cast a quick succession of spells at their backs—he felt a swell of triumph as he struck two of them, but the other three turned and returned fire. James ran to the top of his staircase and hurled himself off, another staircase about a foot higher swinging in front of him. James caught it with one arm and hung their precariously as he swung through the air.
'It's Potter!' shouted a Slytherin James recognized as Flint from the hallway they had first come from.
'Oi, Flint!' Caradoc shouted and a massive hex emitted from the end of his wand, rocketing across the chamber. Flint and the Slytherins cried out in fear and leapt back into the hallway was it crashed harmlessly into the stone walls. James took advantage of the momentary distraction and dropped onto another staircase swinging underneath him. He was now only two staircases away from Sirius, but he was now swinging directly underneath the hallway where the Slytherins were.
'Go get him!' he heard Flint's voice and three terrified first years suddenly plummeted over the side down to where James was, landing in a heap.
'Stupefy!' James yelled, catching one in the chest. Before he could turn to the other two, they were both struck with stunning spells and a massive force crashed onto James' back, sending him crashing to the ground. Winded, he spun to look at his new attacker only to see Sirius there. He had leapt from his staircase onto James.
'Alright, James?' he said with a gasp of a laugh.
'Heads up, you two!' Caradoc shouted from across the room. They looked up to see that Caradoc, Remus and Peter were keeping a steady stream of curses aimed at the hallway entrance where Flint and the Slytherins were trying to get through. James looked around, aware that there were still two Slytherins on one of the staircases around them.
No sooner had he had the thought then they leapt off the staircase swinging overtop of them onto their staircase.
'Get them!' the first one, a burly sixth year shouted. The second, a fifth year, immediately fired a hex at James. James barely got his shield charm up in time, but the force of the spell sent him skittering backwards down the staircase, nearly causing him to plummet off the end of it into the abyss. Sirius took up the defense, spinning and deflecting spells back at the two Slytherins as they fiercely tried to hit him. James clambered back to his feet.
'Sirius, duck!' James shouted, and Sirius instantly obeyed. James fired two stunning spells, one of which missed by an inch and the second was deflected right back at him by the sixth year. James knew a moment of fear, but his Quidditch instincts came to his rescue. He bent backwards at the knee, pulling into an absurd limbo position wherein his back almost struck the concrete. He watched the spell soar over his face by millimeters, and then he willed himself back up into a standing position. 'STUPEFY!' he yelled and the fifth year—so surprised that the spell had missed—was caught flat in the face, causing him to stagger backwards.
Now it was James and Sirius against the sixth year. James spared a glance back—the others had successfully prohibited the remaining Slytherins from entering the room. James now turned his full attention to the sixth year and they brought on the attack. He and Sirius alternated between stunners, disarming spells, impediment jinxes, jelly legs jinxes, everything they knew was being hurled at the Slytherin. They were slowly forcing him backwards up the staircase, and the sixth year seemed to realize it. He cast a shield charm and lunged forward at them, the combination of the spell and his sudden movement forcing James and Sirius to split apart. James knew a moment of confusion and then he was struck across the face by the sixth-year's fist. He saw stars as he fell down the staircase, barely maintaining his grip on his wand as his feet fell over the edge. He grabbed one of the rungs of the side rails just in time, hanging precariously over the side even though his vision was swimming.
'BASTARD!' Sirius roared and he suddenly bull rushed the sixth year, tackling him onto the stairs. Both of their wands clattered down the staircase towards James as Sirius and the Slytherin disappeared in a flurry of feet, fists and hair. James shook the cobwebs from his head and hauled his right leg onto the bottom step. His forearms were crying out in protest but he grit his teeth and roared with the exertion of his energy as he hauled himself back onto the staircase. He climbed the next two steps, stopping to grab the two fallen wands.
'Sirius, get off!' James hollered.
Sirius glanced up at James in time to be booted in the midsection, sending him crashing into the railing and very nearly sending him careening over the side. The Slytherin climbed to his feet, and in that one instant, his eyes found the three wands in James' hands and he realized he had just cast aside his human shield.
'Expelliarmus!' James said triumphantly and the triple spelled painted the Slytherin in a splendid multi-color, knocking him back to the ground. One of the wands in James' hands evaporated, and he tossed the remaining one to Sirius who faced the sixth year as he regained his feet.
'Well fought,' Sirius said, and then he slammed his fist across the sixth year's chin, staggering him once again. 'Let's go!' Sirius called as the Slytherin turned back to them in fury. Sirius quickly descended the staircase, grabbing James' arm and leaping through the air, dragging James along with him. They landed in a heap on another staircase that was swinging quickly back towards the other side of the room. James caught sight of the Slytherin six year shouting obscenities at them before he cracked out of the game.
Sirius laughed. 'Well done,' he said. 'How's your head?'
'Fine—how's your hand?' James laughed back.
Sirius grunted—his hand was bleeding. 'Worth it,' he said with a grin as their staircase swung alongside the one that Caradoc, Peter and Remus were on. 'Let's get out of here. I don't care where we go, so long as we don't see another staircase any time soon,' he gasped.
'I heard that,' James muttered as they all clambered into the lowest hallway possible and began putting distance between themselves and the room of moving staircases.