A/N: HEY EVERYONE! A very short but relaxed chapter for you all! It was originally going to be part of the next one Fauxitaserum but I decided to give it it's own chapter in the end. Please do review and offer feedback otherwise I'm writing blindly. PRETTY PLEASE! But otherwise I'm quite happy seeing those lil counters fly up! THANK YOU ALL!
Special thanks to cherrywolf7 (accepts chocolate and offers you ice-cream) and to Just Another Harry Potter Fan. I love you both!
A PERSISTANT WART
The tired pair traipsed back to the Gryffindor Common room where they parted with a brief but sweet kiss.
After, James entered his room and collapsed onto his bed, at least that was what he did but the instant he hit the thick duvet a bulk of it jumped and screeched as if it were alive!
"Aahhh!" He shouted jumped back to his feet but stumbled. At the same time he fired a Stunner but missed horribly. The spell ricocheted from the ceiling and narrowly missed Sirius who'd awoken from the commotion. By now the other two sleeping boys were up grabbing their wands in confusion and adding to the shouts.
The 'bulk' turned out to be Nutmeg who'd burrowed into James' duvet for the night and now she was atop the pillow with claws extended and fur raised, emitting a ferocious hiss.
"Prongs!" Sirius jumped off his bed and grabbed James in a rough hug but he quickly decided that his friend wasn't worthy of such affection. "You stupid ass of a donkey!" He yelled and gave him a solid punch to the gut. "I can't believe you ran off like that! Without telling me!"
James doubled over onto the floor. "Nothing like coming back." He managed to moan.
"Don't be such a wimp." Sirius rolled his eyes and yanked his friend up by the arm.
"I'll remember this." James promised and edged himself to sit on the bed still clutching his midriff. Nutmeg was still hissing much to Sirius' irritation.
"Shut up hiss face!" The cat responded by hissing louder at him.
Remus laughed glad to see James alive and well. "Was the trip fun?"
"A blast." James responded knowingly. "She's back."
"All's well then." Remus grinned wider.
Peter, who had finally come to and gotten over his confusion, joined in. "Oh my GOD! When them two told me about Lestrange we thought for sure that he was tipping You-Know-Who off! I thought you were gonna die!"
"Thank you Wormtail, for your vote of confidence!" James exclaimed.
Sirius flopped back onto his messy bed. "Yeah Wormy, should know by now that James is like a persistent wart; doesn't go away no matter what you do."
"And you would know all about this special type of wart because?" Remus said slyly.
"Ra-de-ha-ha!" Sirius threw back sarcastically.
James laughed but he knew that there were more pressing matters at hand. "Hey! So what's this about Lestrange?"
Remus and Sirius exchanged a look. "We think he was squealing on you." Remus began and recounted everything to James who in return told them as much as he could about the kidnap, Tether and Dumbledore.
"You shitting me?" Sirius exclaimed after. "The Minister caught you out?" James nodded. "Oh man, you must be blessed by some unknown piece of fortune to get out of that in one piece. If that'd been me I would have been deep fried and served."
"I only got out of it because of Dumbledore."
"As always, that old man always pulls though." Sirius said appreciatively.
"So hasn't Lestrange turned up yet?"
"Nope."
"What if he grasses on you when he does then? Putting him in a cupboard could get you expelled."
Siirus shrugged. "I'll confund him of something. He can't go squeal if he can't get there or find a teacher can he? And he'll have to explain why he was out of bed at that time anyway, so he can't really say anything without getting himself in trouble."
"What if he never comes back?"
"Then we celebrate. It's not as if the school has lost anything important; he's a death eater."
Remus disagreed and looked reproachful. "We've got no proof. If anything he'll be a spy and not a Death eater. He's not of age yet."
"Same difference. He's a death eater in the making then; an ass, just like that other person we spoke to that night. I haven't forgotten about my dear little brother I hope you know." Sirius said darkly.
Knowing that this was more serious to his friend than he was letting on James decided to offer Regulus the benefit of the doubt. "He might not be."
"Oh come on! He might as well have 'death eater' tattooed to his head! I'm not exactly a doting brother or son, so I'm not blind to the fact that my Mother would be glad to send her favorite son into the arms of some evil wizard. He's certainly stupid enough to do it anyway-"
"The Mongrel is upset." Someone randomly said.
James looked around confused at where this fifth voice had come from. "Guys?" he said with alarm that the others didn't seem to share.
"Yeah, you know Tatty is now a talking owl? Meet Nutmeg the talking cat." Remus pointed to the cat.
"Yea, the bloody cat that I'm gonna turn into a mop for the houselves." Sirius growled. If possible the cat gave him a non-impressed withering look.
"And the bat!" Chewy chimed and flew around the room once.
"So they are…protectors?" James asked unable to hide his uncertainty even though he'd already witnessed Tatty's magic first hand.
Remus nodded. "'Fraid so. My transfigured bat, your owl and your girlfriend's cat."
Sirius sniggered. "Amazing isn't it? One of the brightest students of Hogwarts and that's what he came up with to save his best mate!"
James sighed dramatically. "What is this world coming to?" It was rhetorical, really.
