Cursed
By HazelMist
Summary: The gang tries to cope with the fact that their friend's been framed or is a possible suspect in Professor Tomorrow's death and that there is a murderer among them. Lily talks to Mary. Diane sends Sirius, Remus and James on another dangerous mission. James loses a battle with an inanimate object, and Peter finds the invisibility cloak and the map in the bathroom, sparking some scandalous theories.
Chapter 36: In the Dark
Diane waited for what felt like hours, anxiously watching the staircase to the Dormitories. Her eyes continued to move between the staircase and the portrait. The boys had to be well on their way, for she had heard or rather had felt them pass by and a while ago. (Something had decided to pull her hair, something who could have only been Sirius.)
Finally after what seemed like an eternity she saw Lily appear on the staircase, holding onto the railing as she slowly descended. Diane leapt to her feet rushing over to her best friend.
"Did you talk to Mary?"
Lily nodded.
"What did she say?" Diane asked wringing her hands.
Lily sighed, they seemed to be doing that a lot lately.
"Let's sit down somewhere." She said to Diane.
They went over to a sheltered table off in the corner. It was their table. Diane could remember many a time when the three of them had sat at the table working through their homework, talking about Potter, their classes, the Maruaders, Potter, Hogsmeade, quidditch, Potter (Lily was a little obsessed), the Slytherins and just life in general. There were no bad guys in those happy days, they had been regular teenagers. Their greatest fears were Professor Tomorrow failing them or Lily and James killing each other. Life had been so simple. Why did it have to change?
Lily seemed to read her mind.
"Everything's different now." She whispered sadly. She reached up and wiped away a single tear.
"I wish none of this had happened." Diane said aloud. "If only we could-"
"We can't look back." Lily interrupted. "We just have to destroy him. It's the only way." Her green eyes flashed, and Diane saw a mixture of courage, anger and determination in those emerald pools. But an instant later they were replaced by grief and Lily looked weary and fatigued.
Diane nodded silently knowing she was right. She inhaled, and approached the difficult question.
"So... what did Mary tell you?"
Lily ran her hands over the table top where long ago she had written her name along with Diane and Mary. It was hopeless and now she had to let Diane know as well.
"Well, she's innocent."
"That's it?" Diane waited for her to tell her something they didn't already know. She needed something that would bring them to the answers.
"She heard someone when she came in but she thought it was her imagination. Then someone locked her in the office and unlocked it, letting her out."
"Who was it!"
Lily didn't answer right away but continued to look for her name on the table top.
That's when Diane knew. Her heart sank.
"No one was there and then she found the wand and saw the body-" Lily started but Diane interrupted.
"She doesn't know anymore then we do."
Lily's silence was the only answer she got. Diane buried her head into her hands. They had met another dead end, their hopes were dashed once again.
They needed answers, their hours were being used up like precious grains of sand in an hour glass and one day there would be no more sand left.
The three Marauders crept through the dark chilly corridors. The air grew colder and their surroundings less visible in the growing darkness as they opened the tapestry and descended. When they came to the bottom of the staircase, perhaps the same staircase Mary had taken earlier that day, they were in the dungeons.
James shivered. Even after all these years the dungeons were still a creepy place, especially at night. It didn't help matters that there was a murderer on the loose.
None of them spoke, including Sirius. Though they loved sneaking around the castle at night, pranking, and even enjoyed getting caught; they didn't have any intention of making themselves the murderer's next victim.
James glanced around wondering if perhaps the murderer was still lurking out of sight, watching them from the shadows. Was this how his parents spent their every waking moment? Were they always waiting for someone, glancing over their shoulder, wondering if they were going to die today or tomorrow? Was that what it was like?
There was no escaping him. Once he decided to kill you, that was the end. No one survived after their name appeared on the hit list. It might be the day after, or perhaps years later, but they always died...eventually.
Diane's parents were evidence of this. And soon so would his parents. James swallowed hard trying not to think about it.
"James!" Sirius hissed.
James looked up and found that they had reached the classroom and entered the Professor's office. Remus and Sirius had shed the cloak and were already searching through the hundreds of shelves of potions.
"Help us you dolt!"
James didn't need to be told twice. He joined them in their frantic search.
Fifteen minutes had passed and none of them had gotten very far. Sirius's attention span was stretched to the limit. He seemed to have forgotten that they didn't have all night.
"Hey check this one out. "Draught of Night: Causes Hallucinations of worst fears and nightmares for a full 24 hours." Can you imagine Snape?"
He stopped for a moment then he grinned and said in a voice like Snape's.
"NO! DON'T MAKE ME WASH MY HAIR! PLEASE I'LL DO ANYTHING! JUST DON'T TOUCH ME WITH THE SHAMPOO!" He dropped into the Professor's chair in a dramatic faint.
Remus and James snickered, though they continued searching through the bottles and vials of various colored liquids.
"Or how about this one! "Upeealot: Urinate frequently without warning for two days straight." This one is even better! "Flies of Venus: Flies flock to this liquid to mate." No these are perfect for Snivellus- "Running nose, squeaking voice, feminine habits, here's a itching all over-"
Remus interrupted him.
"Cut it out Sirius. We can look at these another time, let's just find the Truth Potion before the murderer finds us."
That shut him up.
James savored the silence, clearing his mind without any distractions. He looked at the Potions again and nudged Remus.
"I think there's a pattern here."
Remus agreed. "I noticed it too."
The two of them went over the pattern, recognizing how they were sorted alphabetically in certain areas and according to strength, use, and difficulty in others. They figured out exactly where the truth potion would be using their pattern.
James bent down scanning the bottles on the shelf. The order wasn't quite as they had hoped. It was difficult sorting out the strengths and then the uses... it was still going to take them three or four shelves, at least a half hour.
"Truth Potion, truth potion, veratisum."
Suddenly a bottle leapt off the shelf and fell right into his waiting hands. James stared at the bottle, completely bewildered as to how he had gotten it.
Remus slapped his forehead.
"We're so stupid." He exclaimed wanting to kick himself for his own stupidity.
"Speak for yourself." Sirius growled.
Remus ignored him though and turned to James.
"All we had to do was say the name of the potion we wanted." He said. Then he turned to the shelves and called for the Upeealot. It fell right into his hands.
"That was simple." James said tucking the bottle into his pocket.
Sirius picked up the invisibility cloak and swung it around their shoulders. They left the classroom, feeling very good about themselves.
"Mission accomplished: The Maurauders get the potion and save the day AGAIN." Sirius said smirking as they entered the staircase behind the tapestry. He gave Remus a high five.
But James's thoughts were not on victories. He touched the tiny vile in his pocket thoughtfully. The classroom and office had been unlocked, no one had attacked them, and they had been able to call forth the potions they needed in less then an instant. It had been simple, too simple.
The clock struck twelve. Mary could still hear it reverberating in her mind long after the sound had died away. The day was technically over, but the night had only just begun. Would this nightmare ever end? She stared out the open window at the moonlit grounds below waiting anxiously for the night to end.
Taylor's plump cat jumped up onto the windowsill beside her. She meowed pitifully, begging Mary to pet her. Mary pulled the heavy cat into her lap and gave into its pathetic plea.
"At least someone still loves me." She grumbled to the cat. Then she laughed bitterly and returned her gaze to the open window.
The moon was only half full. She thought of Remus, and wondered what he was doing at that very moment. Did they find the potion yet? Were they still searching?
In the room behind her Taylor was sitting on her bed desperately trying to remember how to do a Cheering Charm. Every once in a while Mary would hear something break, or Taylor swearing and trying to find the counter curse for whatever she had done to herself. Jenn on the other hand had become quiet, and was now lying on her side staring blankly at her untouched stack of History of Magic notes.
We're such a happy bunch. Mary thought miserably. Here it was their Final year, in two weeks they would be out of school and in the real world, and they couldn't be unhappier.
"Except for you of course." She told the cat who was now purring so loudly that she remembered that it was there.
Suddenly the door banged open and an excited Diane flew in with Lily on her heels.
"We've got it!" Diane gasped. She held the vial of clear liquid up triumphantly.
"Wonderful!" Taylor exclaimed dumping her books off the bed in her excitement. Mary wasn't sure if she was happy because they had the potion or was just happy to see Lily the Charms expert. Taylor's hair was now a brilliant shade of blue that made her look remarkably like a smurf. It did not go good with her hazel eyes at all.
Jenn sat up on the edge of her bed and gave Diane and Lily a shaky smile.
"Thank James, Sirius and Remus for me. I hope it wasn't too much trouble for them."
"Trouble? Jenn, they probably enjoyed every minute of it." Diane said with a grin.
Jenn laughed nervously as she took the vial Diane handed to her. Slowly she uncapped the bottle, a tiny trail of smoke rose from the liquid as it was exposed to the air.
The cat in Mary's lap sat up with one ear twitching. Mary didn't restrain her in time and she leapt off her lap and wandered over to where the other four girls were gathered.
Lily rubbed her sweaty palms together and turned to Jenn. She had been unusually quiet and anxious since the start of the day. Now she looked down at Jenn who looked equally nervous. Her hands were shaking so bad that she didn't dare lift the vial to her mouth. Lily met her eyes and they laughed nervously.
"Are you ready?" Lily asked worriedly.
"Yes, I'm just a little nervous." Jenn said gesturing with one of her trembling hands.
"Just take a deep breath and relax." Lily said, wishing the same would work for herself. Why was she so nervous all of a sudden? This was it! That feeling in the pit of her stomach was supposed to go away.
Mary couldn't watch. It had been her job to bring back the potion and she had failed.
You let them down, you failed them A voice screamed in her head. Mary turned her eyes away from her friends and focused on the cat. She was too ashamed of herself to look at them. Mary fought back tears, watching as the chubby cat threaded through their legs and stopped in front of Jenn. The cat tried to jump into her lap but Diane shooed her away. The cat which usually stalked off, instead came right back and continued to watch Jenn with interest.
That cat's acting so weird. She thought. Then abruptly her amusement turned to horror. The cat was still staring at Jenn, still trying to get into her lap. The Potion.
"Oh my god." Mary breathed jumping off of the windowsill.
"I'm ready." She heard Jenn whisper.
She took another deep breath and exhaled. Then she brought the glass to her lips with trembling hands.
"NO!"
Mary purposely slammed into Jenn and knocked the glass from her lips and out of her hand. The potion smashed to the floor and the clear liquid bled through the rug. The glass sparkled in the moonlight as a cloud moved revealing it's eerie light. All five of them stood there breathing heavily staring down at the broken glass at their feet. Then the cat appeared and began licking up the potion, bringing them back to the real world.
"What the hell Mary? What the hell were you thinking!" Taylor screamed.
Jenn pushed Mary off of her and stepped away. She said nothing to Mary, but they were shocked by the sight of tears streaming down her cheeks. She sat down on Taylor's bed in the corner, burying her face into her hands.
"Mary -" Lily began weakly but she was at a loss for words.
"I don't know you anymore. You're not the Mary McKinnon I used to know." Diane whispered backing away from her.
"Why?" Lily asked.
"You did this to her. It was you wasn't it Mary?" Taylor didn't wait for an answer instead she screamed and flung herself at Mary pinning her against the wall.
"It wasn't me!" Mary shouted eyes blazing as she struggled to push Taylor off of her.
"Stop it!" Lily yelled. She pulled out her wand.
Mary and Taylor ignored her and continued wrestling with each other.
"You betrayed us!"
"I'm not a - traitor. I AM NOT A MURDERER!"
With a burst of strength, Mary flung Taylor of off her. Taylor hit the opposite wall, hard, and was thrown to the floor. The silence was only broken by Jenn's sobbing. Then Diane let out a blood curdling scream.
Lily followed Diane's gaze and gasped, clamping one hand over her mouth.
Taylor shrieked and threw herself at the motionless fluffy bundle that had been her companion for the past seven years.
But no matter what she did, the cat was never going to wake.
It was dead.
Lily looked up at Mary. She was staring at the cat, but she didn't look surprised at all. There was something that she had missed but she couldn't put her finger on it. Lily's mind was churning, her thoughts were moving at such a rapid pace. The cat was dead, the cat had been...
"It's not her." Jenn whimpered.
Lily turned around to find Jenn hunched over on the floor. She was clutching her stomach and had gone a nasty shade of green.
"It's not Mary." She croaked.
No one else heard her they were too busy trying to kill Mary. Taylor had her wand out, the dead cat forgotten on the floor. And Diane too was reluctantly stepping toward the unsuspecting Mary who was still staring at the cat as if in a trance.
"No Diane, Taylor." Lily shook her head.
Diane lowered her wand.
Taylor though still had her wand raised.
"You filthy traitor." She hissed. "I don't know what you put in it but now I'm going to-"
"It was Rat's Poison!" Mary exclaimed suddenly.
Taylor lunged, ready to strike but Lily grabbed the back of her robes.
"Don't!" She shouted.
"Let go of me she killed my cat! She was going to kill Jenn!" Taylor fought against Lily but Lily held on and Diane came to help without knowing why.
"No you don't understand! Taylor stop it!" Lily begged. But Taylor was enraged and managed to slip free from their grasp.
"Now I'm going to-"
But Jenn stepped in front of Mary. "She saved my life." She whispered.
Then she fell to her knees, once again hunched over.
"She - s-a-ved my life." Jenn gasped. She was having difficulty breathing and was shaking uncontrollably.
Taylor lowered her wand and stared at Jenn in shock.
"You've been brainwashed."
Mary sank down beside Jenn.
"No she hasn't." Lily whispered laying a restraining hand on Taylor's shoulder.
"How did you know Mary?" She then asked turning to look at Mary with a mixture of respect and surprise.
"What? You've all gone mad." Taylor interrupted.
"Did you drink any of it?" Mary asked Jenn worriedly.
Jenn didn't say anything she just let out a soft whimper and promptly threw up all over Mary's robes.
"Damn! She drank some of it!" Mary hissed.
The color drained from Lily's face, but being the one who always kept her head, she quickly took control.
"Diane get Madam Pomfrey." She ordered.
Diane left in a flash. She still didn't know what was going on, but Jenn was in trouble.
"Taylor listen to me very carefully. Find James, Sirius and Remus and tell them to meet us at the hospital wing. But make sure that they bring this with them." Lily took out a slip of paper scribbling down something on it, then handing it back to Taylor.
"Then go get Professor Dumbledore." Taylor looked as if she'd been confounded, but she knew enough to listen to Lily.
Mary was already levitating Jenn toward the door.
"You better do this." Mary said knowing Lily was far better at Charms and was not accused of murdering a Potions Professor.
Lily cast her own levitating charm on Jenn and Mary removed and broke the link that connected her to Jenn. Solemnly she followed Lily and Jenn's motionless body out the door and down the steps.
She had been here before. Just one month earlier, she had been the one that had almost been murdered and Jenn had been the mistaken accused murderer. But no one had been hurt, and it hadn't been Jenn's fault. They had forgiven her. Mary swallowed hard hoping that one day the truth about her would be discovered and she would be forgiven too.
"James! JAMES!"
James opened his eyes expecting to find Lily. But instead it was the very last of the girls that he expected to find who was hovering over him.
"Taylor?" He asked groggily.
He could hear the other two waking up as well.
"Yes it's Taylor, now get up!" She said urgently practically tossing him from the bed.
"What's the rush?"
"The bloody sun hasn't even come up!"
"Will you three just shut up!" Taylor shouted.
They were instantly quiet.
"Something horrible happened to Jenn." She whispered.
"She didn't try to kill Lily again I'll-"
Taylor shook her head at James.
"No someone tried to kill her, I think."
The boys began bombarding her with questions but Taylor ignored them knowing she had to get to Professor Dumbledore.
"James." She said turning to him since he was after all Lily's boy friend and Lily had given him the message. "Lily told me to give this to you. Meet us at the hospital wing but bring this with you."
James took the paper from her.
"What?" He asked her.
But Taylor shrugged and ran from the room.
"Ooooooo, James got a love note!" Sirius catcalled.
James unfolded the paper knowing that this was anything but a love note. It was in fact her handwriting. He immediately recognized the hastily written scrawl. When he finished reading it he had to go back and read it again because he couldn't believe what it said.
"What does it say?" Sirius asked on a more serious note.
James ignored him, hastily grabbing his clothes and throwing them on. Remus and Sirius scrambled to follow his lead, just barely catching up to him as he left through the Fat Lady's portrait.
"What is it?" Remus panted.
"Jenn's been poisoned." James replied gravely.
Remus and Sirius stopped in their tracks, watching as he walked away in shock. Jenn was poisoned?
"Hey wait up!" Sirius called after him. Sirius and Remus could barely keep up with him as he took the steps two at a time, and then started running as soon as they reached the dungeons.
Remus and Sirius hurried after him. James was on a mission. But the chase ended when they reached the Potions Classroom.
"What are we doing here?" Remus asked softly as Sirius and him slowed down and followed James into the late Professor's office.
It had only been a few hours ago when the three of them had stood here and searched for the Truth Potion. Now they were back, but why?
James was busy examining the note that Lily and Taylor had given to him. It was obvious why they were here, it became crystal clear as James called out a potion, catching it in his hand.
"Rat's poison?" Sirius asked his eyes going wide as he recognized the potion containing the antidote for the potentially deadly poison. They had all done a huge project on it back in their fourth year.
"How did she get that?" Remus asked confused.
James grimaced, purposely avoiding his friend's question. He wheeled around and headed back in the direction of the infirmary.
"But how could that happen? Did someone poison her drink?"
"Did she eat the wrong thing?"
"How was she poisoned?"
"How do you think she was?" James snapped glaring at them.
"Think!"
Remus and Sirius turned to each other racking their brains for the solution. The answer dawned on their faces, and suddenly both of them knew.
"The truth potion." Remus breathed.
James nodded.
"But that would mean..." Sirius trailed off unable to finish what he started.
"...that it was our fault." Remus finished for him with a look of horror on his face.
"Precisely." James whispered.
"James!" Lily ran toward him throwing her arms around his neck. James held onto her, leaning down and whispering in her ear.
"We got it."
Lily pulled away from him as he took away one of his arms and held up the potion in front of her face.
"Thank you." She whispered taking it from him. She kissed him on the cheek and ran into the Hospital Wing where Madam Pomfrey and the others were waiting.
"Here it is." Lily announced. Madam Pomfrey grabbed the potion from her and bustled off to a bed in the back, pulling the curtains around it.
"Should we go in?" Remus asked hesitantly.
"I don't think that would be a good idea." A familiar voice replied.
Remus looked up and found her leaning against the wall opposite them. Her brown hair hung loosely from a low ponytail and her dark eyes watched him sadly.
"Mary." He breathed.
"Let's go." James hissed to Sirius seeing where this was going.
"Why-OW-you're strangling me!" James grabbed the protesting Sirius by the back of his robes, dragging him into the Hospital Wing. The protest faded away as the door shut behind them.
He stepped toward her, hesitating for only a moment before he crossed the corridor to where she was standing.
"Remus." She was trembling, trying so hard to restrain herself from running toward him. But she waited until he was only inches from her, and their shoes were practically touching.
He laid his hands on her shoulders, lifting one hand to touch her cheek.
"Aren't you afraid that I might bite you or hex you with my wand?" She asked sarcastically.
Remus saw the bitterness behind the dark eyes that he had grown to know so well. He saw the grief and the pain that it had caused. He looked beyond the bitterness, the grief and pain and found the truth laid out in front of him deep within her eyes.
"No I'm not afraid of you." He said softly.
"You should be." She whispered, but her sarcasm and bitterness was melting away at his gentle loving touch.
"Why should I?" He asked.
"Because they say I'm, I'm, I'm a..."
He bent down and gently kissed her lips. She looked up at him speechless and stunned with tears sparkling in her eyes.
"I don't give a damn about what they say Mary. I know the truth."
"You believe me?" She asked biting down on her lip to stop the tears from falling.
"I love you, of course I believe you."
Mary burst into tears, stepping into his loving embrace.
"I love you." She choked out between tears. "I love you Remus."
A/N: I don't like this chapter that's why it took me so long to update. But in the end I had to keep it the way it was. Try to ignore the glaring errors, maybe I'll rewrite it some day. 37 is still in the works and I'm leaving for 2 weeks on vacation, so it might be a while, but I'm going to finish this hopefully within the next 2 months.
Chikichiki: I hate grammar! I can't tell you who framed her, but I'm sure you can make a good guess. I think I would die too if I was in Mary or Jenn's situation.
Truffletruffle01: Oh good, haha, yeah I should give out points to whoever can come up with the most creative, best way to kill Peter Pettigrew.
OTHCharmedHPFreak: You have no idea how close I came to killing Peter in the next chapter, it would've been awesome, but I had to delete it of course, because it kind of disregards the HP series entirely…
TajM: Yep, daydreaming can give you a ton of ideas. I'm sure you have great ideas. It's almost complete, at least in my mind. I don't see more than 5 chapters left but that could change. Sorry, not much L/J action in this chapter but I'm rewriting 37 to include some hopefully. I didn't even think of putting something Lily related in his trunk, I wish I had!
LMDGlUVR4Eva: You're right about the invisibility cloak. But I never said that Peter didn't kill her, but then again I never said that she did. Hehe. To be honest I haven't decided yet, it's not that important since Peter's a sneaky back stabbing rat no matter what happens.
J.E.A.R.K.Potter: That's what I figured too and it could be taken literally too in a certain case. Still don't like Jenn? Well you don't see too much more of her.
Sweet Sarcasm: Ah yes, Mary's hurting. Sorry no L/J action, I'm rewriting 37 though to hopefully include some. I have a few possible scenes in mind. HBP was awesome! But now we have to wait another 2 years for the next one.
Harry and Ginny 4eva: I hate Peter too but unfortunately I can't kill him off as much as I desperately want too.
Wudnulike2know: I helped my younger sister empty her locker at school and the results were very similar to the scene with James and his trunk. I will never ever go near my sister's room or her locker ever again.
Daisy Pixie: I know I hate waiting! I'm a hypocrite since I go off on a month long hiatus and then proceed to nag the authors whose stories I'm reading when they don't update the following day. HBP was awesome! Totally worth the wait, but now we have to wait yet another 2 WHOLE YEARS at least before book 7. Darn.
Killer storm: Sorry I honestly didn't mean to take this long in updating!
HiddenTiger13: I don't know how I got from there to here. It completely changed that's why I thought of breaking it up into two, but I didn't. Sorry this took so long!
Animerocksjapanrocks: Thanks rach, I'm glad you like it!
HarryluvsMoaningMyrtle: Don't apologize, I should be the one apologizing. Sorry it took so long for me to update!
Hikari Sakurai fan: Thanks! The ending? Erm, it's kind of done, sort of, not really, but I'm working on it, trust me.
Prongs76: They think it's Mary because they don't know that Peter's a traitor, but we do of course, so we're pretty biased. Yes, the 6th book is out and the chapters are not up yet, I lied apparently. Not intentionally of course, I just got side tracked. A sequel? I can't answer that yet, but right now I think the answer is no, then again I found my old notebook and I had an idea for one written in it so who knows. It depends on how I end this one.
Hpluvas: That's an awesome April Fools joke. Maybe I'll try that next year. I mean, of course not. This chapter wasn't long, but I'm hoping the next one will be. And yes I like a good mystery because I could never read them or write them. I always peeked at the ending when reading and when writing, dragged out the story so long that everyone forgot what the mystery was in the first place. I did not peek when reading HBP though, I was so proud of myself. Don't hate me!
WhiteCamellia: I'm glad you found it too, I love reviews! Define soon. Sorry this took a while and I got a bit side tracked, I hope you're still reading!
Amelia Bedelia: I could write an answer to your review right here but it would give away too much of the story. But I love your reviews. You notice things that I thought I made rather obvious, but no one else picked up on. So I'm going to keep them in the dark so that doesn't spill out. Thanks for all your help by the way. I'm taking your advice! Ah we have to have a good cry and eat chocolate after our baby's are finished. .:tears up:.