Sunday, 24th September 1972

'Oh!' Remus said, suddenly sitting up straight in the hospital bed. 'Did you remember to get the daisies?'

Sirius rolled his eyes and swallowed his mouthful of chocolate. 'Course, we did. James and Pete went out around one, after Moony had settled down.'

'We'll go finish the potion when Pomfrey kicks us out,' James said. He was sprawled across the foot of Remus' bed on his stomach, kicking his legs in the air. 'Hopefully, we'll have time to test it out tonight.'

Remus nodded, settling back against the pillows and wincing. 'That gives us five evenings to practise before the Hunt. I hope it's enough time. It'll be embarrassing if we can't control the armour properly. Especially when so many people have signed up to take part.'

'Can you believe how many people have signed the sheet?' Peter asked from his perch on the windowsill. 'And we only put them up three days ago.'

'I reckon it's all thanks to my incredible poster designs,' Sirius said smugly, attempting to subtly shift closer to Remus on the bed. The closer he was, the more his scent would help ease his pain. And Remus might say he was fine, but Sirius saw his grimace every time he moved.

James laughed. 'Sure, Twinkles. It's nothing to do with the excitement of new Chiefs. It's all because of your drawings of nifflers.'

'They are super cute,' Peter said. 'And infusing them with our personalities was inspired.'

'Yeah, except mine just curls up in the corner and sleeps all day,' Remus said, chuckling.

'Which the girls find adorable,' Sirius said. 'I heard a bunch of them cooing over the napping niffler yesterday.' Personally, he found Remus' niffler adorable too, but he wasn't about to admit that out loud.

They all looked towards the door at the sound of it opening and Madam Pomfrey poked her head in. 'Right you three, time for you to go. Remus needs to rest, and the ward's empty right now.'

They all groaned but moved to obey, knowing if they didn't, she might not let them visit him on the next full moon. And that was the last thing Sirius wanted. Being able to be with him and see with his own eyes that he was okay was not something he was prepared to give up.

'How long until you let him out?' Peter asked, jumping down from the windowsill and grabbing his bag.

'A few more hours, I think.'

'Alright. Well, you know where to find us, Moony,' James said with a wink. 'See you later.'

Sirius squeezed Remus' hand before climbing off the bed. 'Bye, Wolf Boy. Get some more sleep, yeah?'

Remus nodded. 'I will. Thanks for coming.'

'You can keep the rest of that chocolate,' Peter said. 'I know it helps. See you later.'

Once out of the Hospital Wing, Sirius, James and Peter hurried up the Grand Staircase to the black door. As they approached, James pulled the penknife from the side pocket of his bag and flipped it open. He slipped the blade into the crack at the side of the door, moving it down in search of the latch. At the sound of a click, he pushed, and the door swung open revealing the Den, one wall partially decorated with winding vines blooming with flowers.

They all dumped their bags in the corner, James and Peter pulling out their robes first. Brewing without them was a bad idea, even if they didn't expect anything to go wrong. The school robes were enchanted with all kinds of protective spells to prevent serious injury or death from potions gone awry, or their ingredients. Sirius didn't bother getting his out. The potion didn't need all of them working on it, and he planned to continue work on the vines instead.

'So,' James said, pulling the jar of daisies out of his bag. 'You said something last night about "if he lives that long," what did you mean?'

Sirius closed his eyes for a moment. This was not a conversation he wanted to have. Saying it out loud would make it real, and he didn't want it to be real. But he was a Gryffindor, dammit, so he turned back to James and said it as matter-of-factly as he could. 'The average lifespan for a witch or wizard with lycanthropy is ten years after they were bitten. Usually, either the wolf or human commits suicide.'

James looked horrified, but Peter nodded and lowered his eyes to the floor sadly. He'd clearly read the same book as Sirius.

'But he was five, right?' James asked. When Sirius nodded, he continued. 'So he only has three more years? We have to do something!'

'I think we already have,' Peter said. 'Keeping Moony company seems to be making a difference. He's not hurting himself anymore.'

'How long will that last, though?' James said. 'He won't be satisfied with listening to us through a trapdoor forever. Wolves are pack animals, he needs proper companionship.'

'Do you have any suggestions? I already bought him a cat, but he won't take her with him.'

James frowned. 'No, but I'll think of something. If we still don't have a plan when Moony starts getting upset again, I'll bloody well let him bite me and join him every month. I'm fucked if I'm watching my friend slowly kill himself because I'm too much of a coward to help.'

'Let's hope it doesn't come to that,' Sirius said quietly. 'But if it does, I'll be right there with you.'

Sirius locked gazes with James, and a spark of understanding passed between them. They would do anything it took to keep Remus alive. Anything.

'Um, have you finished de-petaling those daisies?' Peter asked. 'It's just, I need to add them, kind of urgently.'

'Yeah, right, sorry. Here.' James passed the petalless daisy heads to Peter and watched as he dotted them across the surface of the potion in an intricate pattern. Sirius returned to his painting, picking up the brush he'd been using last time and removing the stasis charm from his paint.

An hour and a half later, the potion was finished and Sirius had painted another largish section of wall. It was coming along nicely, even if he did say so himself.

'What now?' Sirius asked.

'If you bothered to read the journal, you'd know,' James said, pointedly.

'Why do I need to read it? You've read it, and Remus practically has the thing memorised.'

James sighed. 'We need an outfit that corresponds to each part of the armour. The potion will link each pair together.'

'So, when we wear the outfit and move around, the armour will move too?'

James nodded. 'Exactly. So the first question is, which one of us is going to wear it?'

'I think it should be Pete. He did most of the work for this, he should get to do the fun part too.'

Peter put his hands up in front of him in a defensive pose. 'Hell no! I don't want to do it. I'll mess up and ruin everything.'

'Do you think Remus will want to?' James asked.

Sirius shook his head. 'I doubt it.'

'So, me or you, then?'

'Fight you for it?' Sirius said with a grin. He was just about to pounce on James when he was distracted by a quiet knock on the door.

'Moony!' James yelled, bounding over to the door and yanking it open. Remus stood on the other side, leaning against the wall with a weary expression on his face. 'You look exhausted, mate. Get in here. Pete, pull a chair out for him, would you?'

Peter pulled one of the desk chairs out, spinning it around and Remus sank into it, looking grateful, dropping his bag onto the floor next to him.

'Why does this castle have so many bloody staircases?' he asked, not seeming like he expected an answer. 'What's happening? Is the potion finished?'

'Yep,' Sirius said. 'Just trying to decide who's going to control it.'

'Not me.'

'Yeah, we didn't think you'd want to. James and I were about to fight for it.'

Remus rolled his eyes. 'Really? In here? Next to the potion?'

'That,' James said, pointing his finger at Remus, 'is a very good point. Let's just toss a coin.' He pulled a shiny galleon from his pocket. 'Heads or tails?'

'Heads.'

James flicked the coin into the air and caught it, slapping it down on the back of his other hand before revealing it had landed on…

'Heads,' James said with a groan. 'Guess it's you. I'm doing it next year, though.'

'Deal!' Sirius said, grinning. 'So I need to choose some clothes to link to the armour?'

'Probably best if you pick something you're not too bothered about,' Remus said. 'We're going to have to cut them up.'

'What? Why?'

'Because the armour has more pieces than just a top and trousers and we have to link each piece to the right section of material. We'll repair it again after, but I don't know if I can make them like new.'

'What about the helmet?' Peter asked, picking it up and trying it on.

'I thought of that,' Remus said. 'I figured we could use my kelpie-skin hood?'

'Brilliant!' James said. 'And your gloves will work too.'

'I'll grab them for you. Where are they?' Sirius asked.

'In my trunk.'

Sirius ran up to the dorm and was back at the Den ten minutes later, clutching the hood, gloves and his least-liked muggle outfit; a pair of flared trousers in deep blue and a long-sleeved top with a black-and-white striped pattern. The trousers were a little snug, and the top made him look like a demented zebra. He dumped them on the table next to the cauldron and turned to the others.

'What now?'

While he was gone, James, Remus and Peter had dismantled their borrowed suit of armour and the pieces were scattered around the floor.

Remus picked up the foot coverings and passed them to James, who dropped one into the potion. 'We thought it'd be best to start at the bottom. Pass James your shoes.'

Sirius looked down at his leather boots and back at Remus. 'It won't hurt them, will it?'

Remus rolled his eyes. 'No harm will come to your precious boots, Twinkles. I promise.'

'Alright.' Sirius unlaced them and slipped them off and James dropped the left one into the cauldron with a plop. A moment later the leather boot and the metal foot covering both floated back out and Peter snatched them out of the air, placing them to one side as James dropped the next pair in.

Once the shoes were linked, they moved on to the trousers.

'Alright. So the legs of the armour are made up of three pieces, the calf, the knee and the thigh. Then there's a skirt which we'll link to the top part of your trousers,' Remus explained. 'I think it's best if we cut the trousers while you're wearing them, to make sure the joins are in the right place.'

'You just want to cut my clothes off me, don't you, Wolf Boy? It's alright, you can admit it,' Sirius said, winking at him and grinning when Remus' cheeks flushed a pleasing pink colour.

'If that were the case, I certainly wouldn't be doing it in front of James and Peter. I'd make sure we were alone. Now put the trousers on so I can chop them up.' Remus picked up the trousers and threw them at his face, but Sirius managed to catch them before they hit him.

'And what would you do with me during this alone time?' Sirius asked, waggling his eyebrows.

Remus responded in a flash. 'I'd tie you to your bed,' he said, taking a step closer. The look on his face made Sirius' breath catch in his throat. 'Blindfold you,' he took another step. 'And leave you there while I went to the library and enjoyed the peace and quiet.' He smirked at Sirius before turning away, and Sirius barked out a laugh.

'Bloody hell, Remus. Where did that come from?'

Remus chuckled. 'I may have been preparing some comebacks in advance.'

'Oh, really? Well, in that case, I'll just have to flirt with you more so I get to hear them all, won't I?'

James snorted. 'More? Is that even possible?'

'With Sirius, more is always possible,' Peter said, laughing. 'But let's get on with it, or we'll be here all night.'

Sirius grinned and changed into the trousers and shirt he'd chosen and when he was ready, he stood in front of Remus with his legs a few inches apart, spreading his arms out on either side of him. 'Have at it, Wolf Boy.'

Remus smirked. 'I'm about to use a cutting charm right next to your skin, aren't you even a little worried?'

'Nope,' Sirius said. If Remus thought there was any chance he might cut him, he wouldn't be doing it, so he felt perfectly safe.

'You clearly have a lot of faith in me,' Remus said. 'Let's hope it's not misplaced. I'm going to cut the trousers off just below the knee for the first section.'

He took a deep breath and placed the tip of his wand against the material covering Sirius's left leg, before closing his eyes. Several seconds passed as Sirius waited with bated breath, and then Remus let out a long breath and whispered, 'Diffindo,' drawing his wand across the front of his leg. Sirius stiffened but held still, and the material below the line fell away, dangling against his leg where it was still attached at the back.

Remus opened his eyes and inspected Sirius' leg for injury, before looking up at him and grinning. 'One down, about thirty to go.'

By the time they were done with the trousers, Sirius' leg muscles were aching from staying still for so long, and he had a small scratch above his right knee which Remus would not stop apologising for.

'For the last time, Remus. It was my fault. Your wand tickled, and I moved. Stop beating yourself up about it. It's not even that bad.'

'Alright, I'll shut up,' Remus said, giving Sirius' leg one last regretful glance. 'Let's see if it works shall we?' He pointed his wand at the pieces of Sirius' trousers—which Peter had laid out on the floor in the right shape after soaking them in the potion—and, creasing his eyes in concentration, firmly said, 'Reparo.' The edges of the material fused themselves back together, magic sparkling along the seams for a moment before dispersing and leaving behind an almost perfect pair of trousers.

'You can still see where they were cut,' Remus said, picking them up and handing them to Sirius. 'Sorry. I tried.'

Sirius pulled them on. 'It's fine. These ones are too tight, anyway.' He looked at the pieces of leg armour that were still lying on the floor. 'Nothing's happening.'

'No, we have to activate it first,' James said. 'I've been practicing this bit.' He cleared his throat and pointed his wand at Sirius' legs, making him flinch. Sirius didn't trust James' ability to focus as much as he did Remus'. He twirled his wand through the air in a circle of looping spirals, and said, 'Satus Reflexio.'

Metallic clanging filled the air as the sections of leg armour assembled themselves into two legs, in a perfect reflection of Sirius' current stance. He lifted his left leg, and the armour mirrored his action.

'Cool,' Sirius said, placing his foot back on the floor.

'Looks like it works. Good job, Pete,' James said, slapping him on the back. 'Let's get the rest done.'

They got through the top half of the armour without injuring Sirius any further—although he felt a little silly when all that remained of the clothing was the collar around his neck—and the gloves and hood were simple enough. Finally, Remus cast an extra spell on the hood and helmet to transmit and disguise Sirius' voice.

When every part of the armour was linked to a section of Sirius' clothes, he put on the complete outfit and James activated each piece in turn as the armour built itself into a human shape in the corner.

'Welcome, Nifflers, to the first event of the year. Hogwarts' Annual Super Secret Niffler Hunt!' Sirius said, and a metallic voice boomed out of the empty helmet at the same time.

'Oh, that is brilliant!' James said.

'James is a dunghead,' the armour shouted.

'Oy!' James said, laughing. 'No using the armour to insult me.'

The armour made a weird sounding metallic clunking.

'Laughter doesn't transmit very well, does it?' Remus said. 'Better avoid it, if you can.'

They spent half an hour getting Sirius to walk the armour around the room and pick things up with it, which turned out to be a lot harder than one would expect.

'How are we going to make sure I can see the suit on the day? We'll need to be in the room with it.'

'Fab and Gid did it with a spell, but it's too advanced for any of us and we don't know anyone in the upper years we can trust,' James said. 'I figured we could just use the cloak.'

'Well, actually, um,' Remus said. 'I can cast it.'

James gaped at him. 'What are you talking about? That spell's a level twenty-five. You were a twelve back in January, so there's no way you're a twenty-five already.'

'Yeah, er, Fab and Gid lied about my result. I was actually a twenty in January, but they didn't want to draw attention to me, so they said I was a twelve. I did the test spell on myself last week, I'm a twenty-seven now.'

'Bloody hell,' James said, pushing his glasses back up his nose. 'That opens up so many more possibilities for mischief.'

Peter was staring at Remus with wide eyes. 'How can you be so strong?'

'It's the lycanthropy,' Remus said, shrugging. 'My core's been battling it for years, so it gets a lot of exercise.'

'What does the spell do?' Sirius asked.

'It links the helmet to the hood so you can see and hear what the helmet sees and hears,' James said. 'So we won't need to be anywhere near it.'

'Excellent,' Sirius said. 'We'll need somewhere with a decent amount of space so I can walk around. This room isn't big enough.'

James nodded. 'What about the eating hall in the squib wing? We can move all the tables to the side of the room.'

'That should be perfect,' Sirius said, grinning.

Remus cast the spell to link the two head pieces together, and Sirius tried it out. It was weird as hell being able to see the room from two different angles; the view from the helmet was displayed an inch or two in front of his eyes, but it was translucent, so he could see through it to the space beyond. He wouldn't have to worry about walking into anything, at least. But every time someone spoke, the words echoed half a second later through the hood and that got annoying fast. When James started singing, he'd had enough and tore the hood off to glare at him. Of course, that just made James crack up laughing.

'Come on, mate. It was funny,' James said, swinging an arm around his shoulders. 'Let's call it a day, shall we? Drop our bags off and go down to dinner?'

That sounded like a fantastic idea to Sirius, and his stomach rumbled in agreement. Once James had deactivated the linking charm, Sirius changed back into his normal clothes and they left the Den, dashing up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower. They were crossing the common room towards the boys' dormitory staircase when a high-pitched voice called his name, and he turned to see Marlene walking up behind him, arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed in annoyance.

'Did you perhaps forget something, Black?'

Sirius gulped. How had he forgotten he had a girlfriend? 'Marlene! Hi! You're looking lovely today.'

'I know,' she said. 'I don't need you to tell me that, thanks. But I would like to know why you've ignored my existence all week?'

Her gaze was unwavering, and it unnerved him, so he glanced around the common room to give himself a chance to think. It didn't help. Behind Marlene, her friends were sitting together at a table and all three of them were giving him the evil eye. Seriously—no pun intended—if looks could kill, he'd be dead three times over.

'Could we, er, maybe go somewhere a bit more private for this?' Sirius asked. 'I feel like your friends are on the verge of cursing my toes off or something.'

'They're more likely to attack your hair, but yes, let's go outside.'

As they passed the table containing Marlene's friends, Sirius scowled at them. Attack his hair, would they? If that happened, it would be the last thing they ever did.

'What do you mean, you're spending the evening with Marlene, again?' James asked. 'The Niffler Hunt's tomorrow and you've barely practised at all! Not to mention we have a tonne of stuff to set up tonight.'

'I'll be back in time for that. We can't start until the prefects have finished patrolling, anyway.'

'What happened to Marauders always come before girls? That was your rule, Sirius.'

Sirius groaned. 'Urgh, I know, alright. I know. It's just an hour or two, I promise.'

'Fine. Go. Desert us the night before our first big event,' James said. 'We'll just have to struggle on without you.'

'It's not like I can tell her. What am I supposed to say? Oh, sorry Marlene, I can't spend any time with you this week, I have to spend every spare minute I have hanging out with my friends.'

James opened his mouth to respond, but Remus had had enough. 'James, you know, the longer you keep him from leaving, the later he'll be back.'

Sirius shot him a grin. 'Thank you, Remus. James, I'll be back as soon as possible alright?'

James continued to grumble as Sirius left the room, and Remus rolled his eyes. It was like James had been taking lessons from Sirius on how to be dramatic.

'When Lily eventually realises you're a decent person and decides to give you a chance, are you going to tell her you can't see her because you have Marauder stuff to do?'

'Yes.'

'Liar.'

James flopped onto his bed and sighed. 'Fine. You're right. When Lily finally sees the light, I won't let anything stop me from being with her.'

'Well, stop being a twat to Sirius, then. He's got the hang of controlling the armour, he doesn't need any more practice. And he's right that we can't set anything up until later.'

If he were honest, Remus didn't particularly like how much time Sirius had been spending with Marlene this past week either. But it was a selfish feeling, so he was trying very hard to ignore it.

'I just don't think Marlene is the right person for him,' James said, rolling onto his stomach to look at Remus. 'So he's wasting his time with her.'

'Contrary to what you seem to believe, most people don't find the "right person" at twelve years old.'

'He's nearly thirteen.'

'Yes, that makes all the difference,' Remus said, rolling his eyes again.

The sound of the toilet flushing signalled Peter's return from the bathroom and a few moments later the door opened. 'I wouldn't go in there for a bit if I were you. Having the curry for dinner was a bad idea.'

The breeze from the closing door wafted across Remus where he sat on his bed, and he choked and covered his face with his sleeve. 'Oh, Pete. Gross. Open the window.'

Peter blushed bright red and moved to do as requested, but after he'd pushed the window open he stopped, staring out at the grounds. 'Guys. There's a bunch of people out by the Willow.'

'What?' James asked, jumping up and jogging over to join him. Remus quickly followed.

Sure enough, a group of four people of indeterminate age were surrounding the tree and taking it in turns to run at it.

'What are they doing?' Remus asked, not really expecting an answer. 'Are they all suicidal?'

'We should go down there. See what's going on,' James said. 'If they've noticed the tunnel, we'll have to tell Dumbledore.'

Remus hadn't even considered that possibility. 'Shit. You're right.'

They all grabbed their cloaks before leaving. The weather was getting colder, and none of them fancied freezing as they crossed the grounds. By utilising the slide hidden behind the statue of the dancing child, it only took a couple of minutes to get downstairs and close enough to get a proper look at the people playing with the Whomping Willow. They were all Hufflepuffs, two boys and two girls, and they looked to be around third years.

'Hey, what's going on?' James shouted as they approached.

The kids all looked around, but it was the boy closest to them that answered. 'Didn't you hear? There's a fifteen sickle reward for anyone who can get a piece of bark from the trunk.'

'Oh, bollocks,' James said under his breath, and then louder, 'Doesn't really seem worth getting killed for.'

'Well, I'm not intending to get killed, am I?' the kid said. 'Just 'cause you're not brave enough to try, doesn't mean the rest of us have to stop.'

'Look, I really think you should…' James started, but he was too late. The boy had already taken another run at the tree, along with two other kids, and they watched helplessly as they attempted to dodge through the branches. The two that had joined him quickly backed off again, but the boy that James had spoken too seemed reluctant to give up.

Remus, Peter and the kid's three friends all cried out in horror when a thick branch smacked into him and lifted him off his feet, but no one screamed louder than he did.

'Davey!' one of the girls shouted, looking terrified as the kid was dragged up into the branches out of sight.

'Shit,' James said, shucking off his cloak. 'Remus, get these kids away from here. Pete, go get Pomfrey.'

Peter ran off immediately towards the school, but Remus hesitated. 'What are you going to do?'

'Help. But I could do without an audience.' He gave Remus a meaningful look, and he immediately understood.

'You're going to freeze it? But it only lasts a few seconds.'

James nodded, looking grim. 'Yeah, I know. But this is my fault. I can't just leave him.'

A shrill scream sounded from within the densely packed leaves covering the crown of the tree, adding weight to James' words.

'Wish Sirius was here,' James muttered. 'Could really use his help right now.'

Remus decided not to respond to that. Instead, he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted above the distressed noises coming from the watching kids, 'Right. We need everyone to move away from the tree, please.'

'Who put you in charge?' one kid said.

'I did,' James said, rolling up his sleeves. 'The person that's about to try to rescue your friend. So shut the fuck up and do whatever he tells you.'

Remus took them a few feet away from the Willow, making sure to position them on the opposite side to the knot so they wouldn't be able to see what James was doing. The screams from Davey were weakening, and Remus was worried they were running out of time to save him.

The tree suddenly ceased its thrashing for a few seconds, and Remus caught a glimpse of James' shoes disappearing into the branches. He closed his eyes and prayed to Merlin that he wouldn't die.

James waited for Remus to lead the kids around to the other side of the tree before pointing his wand at a stick and levitating it over to the knot Sirius had poked the night of the full moon. This was a monumentally stupid thing to do, but if it wasn't for him, that Davey kid would never have got himself into such a dire situation, and there just wasn't time to wait for an adult to arrive. Someone had to step up and do what needed to be done.

He took a deep breath and sent a silent message of apology out to his parents. If he died, they'd be devastated, but at least he'd have died a hero.

'Really wish you were here, Sirius,' he muttered, before poking the knot and dashing to the trunk. He hauled himself up into the lowest branches as quickly as he could, acutely aware of the very limited amount of time he had until the tree would start thrashing again, and gazed into the dense foliage for any sign of Davey.

A flash of yellow caught his eye, and he clambered towards it through the branches, feeling them begin to undulate beneath him. He'd climbed many trees during his childhood. It was one of his favourite things to do before his parents bought him his first broom, and he was good at it. But he'd never climbed a sentient tree before, and he found it much more difficult than he'd anticipated.

For starters, the tree moved, obviously. He'd been expecting that. The problem was, the branches were nothing like a normal tree. Instead of growing out from the trunk in a straight-ish line like one would expect, these branches had wriggled and twisted around each other, creating a maze of wood and leaves that was far more difficult to navigate, and got denser the further in he moved.

That was fine; James liked a challenge.

What he didn't like was when the challenge attempted to kill him.

The branch beneath him was writhing in earnest now, and he gripped it tightly with his thighs as he reached for the one above his head. The tree attempted to move the branch out of his reach, but it was knotted around another, preventing it from moving far, and James managed to get his arms around it and haul himself up.

Panting with the exertion, he peered through the leaves and spotted Davey a few feet away. He was wrapped from head to toe in thin branches, and the ones around his head were tightening, making his face turn blue. James was running out of time.

'Hold on, Davey!'

'Nmhf' was all Davey managed in response.

The quickest route to reach him was through a small gap between two thick branches, and James eyed them dubiously. He could go around, it would take longer, but he'd be safer. The extra minutes could cost Davey his life, but if he tried to wriggle through the gap and the tree closed it on him, he'd be crushed. He scanned the length of the two branches, assessing how they were tangled with the foliage surrounding them, and calculating how quickly the tree would get them free enough to move compared to how fast he thought he could squeeze himself through. His decision was made a second later when he glanced back at Davey to see blood trickling from his left eye.

The quick route it was.

Once James made a decision, he never wasted a moment second-guessing himself. Twisting his upper body around as much as he could, he pushed his arms through the gap, hooked them over the upper branch and pulled, sliding his head, shoulders and chest through to the other side. The tree lurched beneath him and, holding his breath, he arched his head back to look for a new handhold to lever himself on.

The closest one was below him, so he arched his back further trying to reach it but only managed to graze it with his fingers. Dammit. He wriggled around trying to turn over, but the gap was barely big enough and out of the corner of his eye he could see the branches had almost freed themselves from the restricting foliage. Any second now they would close up and crush the life out of him.

He wriggled again, maybe a little more desperately this time, and managed to shift around enough to reach down with his right arm and grip the branch. But he was too late. The branches were free and he could feel them constricting around his stomach. He pulled hard and slipped forward an inch, but the braches increased the pressure and he couldn't move.

All the surrounding noise seemed to stop. The leaves no longer rustled, the branches no longer creaked, and the arrhythmic banging that had been ongoing since the tree unfroze died away to nothing.

This is it, James thought, this is how it ends.

'Mister Potter! Can you hear me?'

That was Madam Pomfrey's voice. It wasn't impending death that had silenced the world; someone had frozen the tree!

'Yes!' he shouted. 'And I can see Davey. He's alright, but he won't be for much longer.'

'Can you reach him?'

'Yes. I just need to get my wand and cut through this branch that has me pinned.'

'Be careful. Professor McGonagall has the tree frozen, but you're not safe from falling.'

James laughed with sheer relief. 'I never fall!'

'There's always a first time, Mister Potter.'

James let go of the branch and let himself dangle by the waist while he reached around to his left hip and pulled his wand free from its holster. Best decision ever made buying those things last Christmas.

Pointing it at the uppermost branch that was holding him in place, he slashed it through the air and shouted, 'Diffindo.'

His fear must have been feeding his magic because the cut went straight through the thick wood and the branch fell away. James hadn't been expecting to be so successful with the first cut, and the sudden release of pressure on his legs took him by surprise.

'Fuck,' he cried as he overbalanced and fell towards the tangle of branches below him. His left arm shot out without conscious thought and his hand wrapped around another branch, wrenching his shoulder painfully.

'Shit.' He hung there gasping for a moment before finding some footholds and reaching around to slip his wand back into its holster to free up his other hand.

With both hands back in play, his lower body free and the tree frozen, James made short work of climbing the rest of the way through the tree to Davey's side.

The boy didn't look good. The tree had him wrapped up so tight there must be broken bones, his skin was tinted blue from lack of oxygen and his eyes were bulging out of their sockets, the left one bleeding profusely.

James wasn't sure what to do. If he cut the branches away from him, his shifting bones could cause more damage.

'I'm with Davey,' he shouted. 'But I'm worried about cutting him free. I think he probably has a lot of broken bones.'

There was no response for a moment and then, 'Do you know how to perform a freezing charm, Potter?'

James hesitated. He'd read the theory. He knew the incantation and the wand movement, but he'd never actually performed the spell. 'In theory,' he yelled back, his voice taking on a slightly hysterical edge.

'James, listen to me,' Remus' calm voice drifted up from below. 'You can do this. Think of everything we've achieved in the last twelve months. This is nothing in comparison. One little spell. Easy. Just concentrate, okay. Do you have your wand?'

James pulled it out and gripped it tightly in his sweaty hand. 'Yes.'

'Good. You know the theory. All you need to do is concentrate. Focus on your magic, and picture it wrapping Davey up as tightly as those branches are holding him now.'

James closed his eyes and focused on the mental image, making sure to keep his breathing deep and even. His arm throbbed with power as he let his magic flow towards his wand and build at the tip.

'Remember the wand motion. You know this, James. I know you do,' Remus said.

And James could see it in his mind. The picture was from his textbook. A hand holding a wand, demonstrating the movement slowly on repeat, and leaving a trail of purple sparkles in its wake.

James pointed his wand at Davey, his hand steady, and moved it through the air with confidence. Two sharp flicks up and to the right, then down on a slight slant and a wave to the left. Davey flinched, but James ignored him. 'Immobulus.' he whispered. Then he watched as the purple light shot from his wand and engulfed Davey briefly before dissipating.

'It worked!' he shouted.

'Well done, Mister Potter,' Madam Pomfrey called. 'It should be safe to cut him free now.'

'What do I do once he's free?'

'How close are you to the edge of the tree?'

James glanced around. He could see the sky between the leaves behind Davey, just a few feet away.

'Not far.'

'Good, do you think you can get him to the edge?'

'I think so,' James said. 'I'll have to drag him though.'

'That's fine. He's immobilised, it won't cause him further injury.'

'Will it hurt him?'

'More than likely, but that can't be avoided at this point.'

James winced. 'Sorry about this Davey.' He pointed his wand at the branches wrapped around his shoulders. 'Diffindo.'

It took five full minutes to carefully cut through all the wood pinning Davey in place. James freed his head as a priority, as soon as he was confident enough in his control to be sure he wouldn't cut through something vital, and was relieved to see his eyes return to normal once the pressure was released. The left one was still bleeding, but at least it was no longer in danger of popping out.

Once the boy was free, James moved around behind him and wrapped his arms around his chest, under his arms. It was the most awkward and nerve-wracking thing he'd ever done, but he managed to drag Davey through the tangled mess of branches to the edge of the tree, muttering apologies for hurting him as they went.

'Madam Pomfrey?' he shouted when he reached the edge, poking his head out and searching the ground for her. It was a long way down.

'Mister Potter,' she said, strolling into view from the other side, Remus and Peter beside her. She looked relieved to see him.

'I have Davey. What do you want me to do now?'

She winced. 'You're going to have to throw him off.'

'What?'

'Throw him, Mister Potter, or push him if you prefer. Don't worry, I'll catch him.'

'Right,' James said weakly. He turned back to Davey. 'Sorry about this, mate. But at least you're not dead, huh?'

He climbed back in front of Davey and pushed him closer to the edge. 'Ready?'

'Ready,' Madam Pomfrey confirmed.

James set his jaw and gave Davey one last almighty shove and he rolled out of the tree. His heart in his mouth, James scrambled to look and relief flooded through him when he saw the boy gently floating to the ground on a cushion of Madam Pomfrey's magic. When Davey touched down, she removed the spell and looked back up to James.

'Your turn, Mister Potter.'

'You want me to jump?'

'Yes, as quick as you can, please. Mister Gudgeon needs urgent medical attention.'

'Right, sure. Okay.'

James backed up a little and climbed to his feet, gripping tightly to a nearby branch. He wasn't afraid of heights as a rule. But riding a broomstick, or jumping from a cliff into a pool of water, was a far cry from jumping out of a tree with nothing but solid ground beneath him.

'I can do this,' he muttered. 'Nothing to it. Just got to jump and fall. Easy.'

He took a deep breath and jumped.

'Arresto momentum,' he heard Madam Pomfrey shout.

It felt like the air surrounding him thickened and he was no longer falling but sinking, slowly, through something thick like treacle. The moment his feet touched the ground, he was enveloped in strong arms.

'Thank fuck you're okay,' Remus mumbled into his shoulder before releasing him.

'Are you injured, Potter?'

James looked up to find Madam Pomfrey had conjured a stretcher for Davey and was waiting on his response. 'Just some scratches, I think. Nothing major.'

'Good. Come to the Hospital Wing when you're ready, then. But move away from the tree, now.'

James hadn't realised they were still standing so close to it and allowed Remus to pull him away. A moment later a large tabby cat darted out from the trunk and the tree sprang back to life, creaking in protest at its injuries. The cat slunk over to them, then seemed to melt and stretch, and suddenly Professor McGonagall was standing before them, her expression grim.

'Cool,' James said, his eyes wide.

'Mister Potter. That was incredibly foolish and reckless.'

James looked at his feet. 'Yes, Professor.'

'It was also extremely brave and had you waited for a teacher, Mister Gudgeon would most likely be dead. One hundred points to Gryffindor for pure nerve and outstanding courage.' She offered him a rare smile. 'Don't ever do that to me again, Mister Potter, I don't think my heart could take it.'

'No, Professor,' James said, grinning. 'Professor? How exactly did you turn into a cat?'