James Potter and the Werewolf

by Sirius1

James Potter returns to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for a fresh year full of homework, mischief, heirs and Quidditch practices. But there is a horrific secret overshadowing one of his very close friends ... what will the general reaction b

7. The Werewolf (7)

Back again, kids. Now, Twilight and Silence (Marvellous person, reviewed nearly all my stories) asked me last time how it was that Hogwarts: A History could have info on the Whomping Willow. My excuse is that H:AH magically updates itself every year. Ho hum. Oh, and er, Leap, the Invisibility Cloak will fit into James' pocket, because I said so, 'cause I'm the author. Heh heh. Also, I know the Spanish word for James is Iago, but what I've put sounds better. This part's … interesting …

When James woke late the next morning, after an uneasy night's sleep, he felt terrible. He looked into the mirror hanging by Sirius' bed. His face was paler than Remus', although his eyes were blue, which was something. He climbed out of bed, dressed slowly, and walked down to the common room. Something was troubling him – he didn't know why exactly he was feeling so ill. He'd certainly had less sleep than this before – the last time Remus had transformed – but the only thing it could possibly be to do with was Lily's dream, that was what had been troubling him the previous night. Then again, why should that affect him? (a/n don't say a thing.)

The common room was fairly full. Peter and Sirius were sitting in a corner, doing their Transfiguration homework, and Remus was reading something.

'Jamesy!' said Sirius, as he spotted James. 'Come to help – my god, what's wrong? You look terrible.'

'Don't feel so good either,' said James, somehow forcing his face into a smile.

'Is this how I look every month?' Remus asked.

'S'every day with you,' Peter replied.

'Thanks,' said Remus sarcastically. 'James? How're you feeling? Do you wanna go to the Hospital Wing?'

'Yeah, I will, but I need something to eat first.' He made to get up, but Sirius stopped him.

'Ah, ah, ah. You're going nowhere, Tiago. Now, what do you want to eat?'

'Use your imagination,' said James. 'Actually – wait a moment – don't use your imagination. Something tasty, please.'

'That narrows it down,' said Sirius, grinning. Reassuring James that he would not use his imagination or his own culinary skills, he bounced out of the common room, with Remus and Peter – both looking positively worried – behind him.

James sat down in the largest armchair by the fireplace. He picked up the book that Remus had been reading – he recognised it as his own Advanced Transfiguration – Remus had evidently been doing a bit more research. He flipped to the Animagi page, and saw one passage underlined.

For the Animagus transformation to be successful, a small part, usually a hair, of the animal the recipient intends to transform into must be procured and added to the potion.

James suddenly thought about that. Which animal did he want to be? A large one, preferably. A lion? No, probably too dangerous. His instincts might cause him to eat Sirius by mistake, and he didn't want that. It might stain his hands. A dog? No, though he could suggest that to one of the others. There had to be some suitable animal. Just a normal wolf? Perhaps… James sat and pondered the possibilities for a few minutes. His thoughts were only interrupted when Lily entered the common room. She looked slightly pale, too, as though she hadn't slept much.

'Lily,' James called. 'Come over here.' Lily turned around, saw James, and approached the table.

'Hi James,' she said. 'How come you haven't – what's wrong? You look awful.'

'That's a popular opinion this morning,' said James, with a wry smile. 'Yeah, I wanted to ask you something. You know the nightmare you had? Last night?' Lily nodded.

'Can you, er, remember what was in it?'

'No, all I remember is a flash of green light.'

'Green light,' James whispered. 'Of course…Avada Kedavra.'

'Abracadabra?' said Lily, bemused.

'No. Avada Kedavra,' said James. 'The killing curse. When it's performed, there's green light.' Lily looked horrified.

'But, then, why was it in my dream?'

'I'd rather not know, somehow,' said James uncomfortably.

'Why did you want to know, anyway?'

'Well, put it this way. Since I joined Hogwarts, I've never been ill, even when I've missed a whole night's sleep. And yet this morning I feel terrible. I'm sure it's to do with your dream.'

'But why? Why should it affect you?' asked Lily. James chuckled.

'I asked myself the same thing. I don't know, but it's odd. I'll ask Madam Pomfrey – I'm going to the Hospital Wing in a sec.'

'What are you waiting for?'

'Room service,' James replied.

Lily was explaining the Summoning Charm to James when Sirius, Remus and Peter returned.

'How're you feeling, Tiago?' Sirius asked.

'Well, Lily's here, and you know all about our infatuation, so good, actually,' James replied. Lily chuckled.

'What an odd sense of humour you have, James. Anyway, must be off. Ciao.' (a/n about this word … don't ask) She leapt off her chair and out of the portrait hole.

'She'll be gorgeous some day, mark my words,' said Sirius, watching Lily as she left 'anyway, your food is here, so eat, and then we can escort you to the Hospital Wing.'

'Do I detect young love?' James asked shrewdly.

'What? Lily and me? Well no, not really. I'm saving myself for, er, someone else.'

'Heather,' said James, laughing

'Precisely.'

Whilst James ate his food, Sirius talked about some of the ingredients for the Animagi potion that they were going to have to get from the Forbidden Forest.

'Now, Silver yew'll be the hardest, 'cause it's so small. And there are others, too. It's gonna take quite a few little excursions to get everything together.'

'Are you going down with Remus tomorrow night?' James asked. 'You could go down to the Forest when Pomfrey leaves. You can borrow the Cloak.'

'Aren't you coming?'

'Depends. I'll see how I feel. I'm not feeling too good just this minute.'

'Never mind, Tiago, me and Peter can have a little look in there.'

'Yes, quite. Anyway, what are you planning to do before then?'

'Not sure. I'll think of someone.'

'Yes, you very often do. Anyway, thanks for the grub, I need to be off to the Hospital Wing.'

'Here y'are, wait for me!'

They made their way up to the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey was in her office, without any patients, which was probably why she seemed happier than usual.

'Take this bed, Potter. My, you do look pale. Any idea what caused it?'

'Nope,' replied James. 'I was hoping you might be able to tell me.'

'Well, I can't this minute. Would you like to sleep for a while?'

'Yeah, okay,' said James, suddenly realising that he was still tired.

'Put these on,' she said, handing him some bed robes. James changed quickly, and soon fell back into a deep sleep.

The first things James saw when he woke up were two sets of eyes. One set were bright green and the others yellowy-blue. He reached out for his glasses, and was able to focus properly.

'Remus. Lily,' he said, recognising the owners of the eyes. 'What brings two fine peoples such as yourselves to a place like this.'

'Can't remember,' said Remus, grinning. 'Oh yeah, you. We were discussing how innocent you look when you're asleep.'

'Are you implying I'm not innocent when I'm awake?' said James, in mock horror.

'Something like that,' said Lily, laughing. 'Anyways, we've visited the house elves for you. Such generous creatures.'

'Where is the person currently known as Sirius?' James asked, taking an apple from Lily.

'He had to pick something up off Turner,' said Lily. 'Why he took your Cloak, I'll never know.'

'Yes, odd that,' said James, with a sidelong glance at Remus, who grinned. They knew what Sirius was up to.

Presently, Sirius returned, and he, Remus and Lily left for the Gryffindor common room. Madam Pomfrey came out of her office to check on James.

'Any idea what's wrong with me yet?' James asked.

'Not really, dear, but if you drink this you should be fine, and you can go back to Gryffindor Tower.'

'Can I? Really?' said James in surprise. 'Excellent.' He drained the potion and suddenly felt a lot better.

'You're sure you don't have any idea what caused it, Potter?'

'No,' James lied, and left the Hospital Wing. He somehow didn't think Madam Pomfrey would believe him.

As James was passing the Great Hall, two people joined him, Ben Coates and Jason Mak. They were talking in an undertone about something.

'All right, James?' Ben asked, coming up to him. 'Oh, Jase, this is James Potter. You know, the one that hates that Slytherin kid.'

'Oh, don't be silly. Sirius and I love Snapey,' said James, grinning.

''Course,' said Ben. 'Anyway, James, first Quidditch practice is on Friday. Come down to the Quidditch pitch at six.'

'Who's our first game against?'

'Us,' replied Jason. 'Ravenclaw versus Gryffindor.' His accent was pure English. Evidently the oriental strain in him went back a few generations.

'Should be fun,' said James. 'Anyway, see you kids later. I'm hungry. Must be off to ze kitchens.'

'Where're the kitchens?' Ben asked, as James turned to leave.

'Trade secret,' said James, as he turned the corner, laughing.

After a short detour to the kitchens, James walked back up to the common room. Now that he was feeling better, he thought he might be able to accompany Sirius and Peter to the Forest. On entering the common room, though, he found that neither them nor Remus were in there. He spotted Heather and Lily doing their Potions homework in the corner, and approached them.

'Lily? Heather? Have either of you seen Sirius, Peter or Remus?'

'Yeah,' replied Heather. 'They're in the library.'

'Are you feeling better, James?' Lily asked.

What're you doing?'

'Stuff about Animagi,' Heather answered, looking down at her parchment. '"What is the main ingredient in the Animagi potion?"'

'Silver yew,' James replied, as he turned to leave. 'Thanks. I'll see you two lovely ladies later. Bye.' He left them poring over their homework and headed for the library. Sure enough, he found Sirius, Peter and Remus looking at books in there.

'Looking up ingredients?' James asked Sirius, whose face was hidden in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi.

'Oh, all right Jamesy?' said Sirius, looking up. 'Feeling better? Yeah, we're just looking for some of these harder ingredients.'

'Good. I should be able to come to the Forest tomorrow.'

'Excellent. Where's the Cloak? We'll need it.'

'In the dorm.'

For the rest of the afternoon, Sirius and James spent time in the common room planning their excursion the next day. They had never actually been inside the Forest before, so both of them were slightly apprehensive, though excited at the same time. Remus was looking paler and paler as the day progressed. James and Sirius tried to comfort him by taking his mind off his coming transformation.

After a short night's sleep, the second dawned early for James. He felt much better, and was sure he'd be able to go to the Forest that night. Sirius and Remus were already up, quietly discussing the properties of Silver yew leaves.

Because of what they were about to do, the day passed very quickly. They spent most of it playing Exploding Snap, though they did manage to get some homework done as well. After dinner, James went up to the dorm, fetched the Cloak, and the four boys sat in the common room, waiting nervously. Sirius, who seemed the calmest, was finishing his Herbology homework in the corner, whereas James, Remus and Peter were sitting in silence by the fire.

Finally, it was time. The four boys walked down to the Entrance Hall, where Madam Pomfrey was already waiting for them. They stepped out into the grounds, and the freezing night air enveloped them. Teeth chattering, they walked down to the Whomping Willow, and Sirius grabbed a stick to poke the trunk. They walked until they reached the Shrieking Shack and said goodbye to Remus. This time, Madam Pomfrey did not shut the door of the Shack, as they were so early.

They walked back up to the castle, and Madam Pomfrey left them. When she had gone, James pulled out the Cloak, wrapped it around himself, Sirius and Peter, and they turned, and stepped back out into the grounds.

It seemed even colder outside now than it had done an hour ago. The dark tops of the trees in the Forbidden Forest were swaying simultaneously. They could hear Remus' faint howls in the background, intermingling with the swishing of the trees ahead of them. The three friends stole across the grounds, occasionally stopping whenever they heard a noise. James could tell that even Sirius, who was usually fearless, was apprehensive about actually entering the forest.

As they passed Hagrid's house, they heard a low growling. It was Fang. Desperately trying to keep Fang from waking Hagrid, Peter sat down and began to stroke him. James made up his mind.

'Peter,' he whispered. 'You stay here with Fang, and make sure Hagrid doesn't wake up. Keep the Cloak.' Peter nodded, and, taking the Cloak from James, he sat down next to Fang.

'C'mon, Sirius,' said James, and both boys, wands bared, approached the edge of the Forest.

It was deadly quiet inside the Forest. They could no longer hear Remus' howls. They could only here the soft rustling of the wind passing over the tops of the trees. Sirius pulled out the piece of parchment on which he had copied a page from Complex Potions.

'Right,' he whispered, shivering slightly. 'We might as well have a look for a Silver yew leaf; get the hardest thing out the way. This is what it looks like, see, it's tiny – the plant sprouts near the roots of a common yew. C'mon. Lumos!' The tip of Sirius' wand lit up. James followed suit.

They kept on walking for about a quarter of an hour without any luck.

'You alright, Jamesy?' Sirius asked, as they entered a clearing.

'Yeah. Which way should we go?' Two paths led off from the clearing, one forking of to the left, one to the right.

'Er, dunno. Let's see – hold on – can you hear that?' James lifted his head. There was a very faint clicking sound, coming from the left hand path. It sounded like somebody using a camera in the distance.

'Yeah. Shall we go this way, then?'

'Okay.' Gripping their wands more tightly, they made their way down the left path. James suddenly realised that his hands were cold and sweaty. They carried on. The clicking sound was becoming louder.

'What is that?' whispered Sirius.

'Don't have a clue,' said James, shivering slightly. 'Let's keep going.' All along the path, they pointed their wands left and right for some sign of a yew tree. After a further ten minutes, the path started to descend slightly.

'We must have come quite a long way,' said Sirius. 'Hey, look at that. What is it?' It was a large tree, in a smaller clearing up ahead.

'Hold on,' said James. 'I need to tie my shoelace. Wait.' But Sirius had already walked on ahead, and was approaching the small clearing. He walked over to the small tree.

'James,' he called triumphantly. 'It is a yew tree, so – bloody hell!! JAMES! HELP!!' James' blood froze. A loud clicking sound was coming from up ahead, and Sirius was screaming. He turned the corner, and a terrible sight met his eyes.

A spider. A seven-foot tall spider. The same spider that Frank had dispelled when he had faced the Boggart. But this was the real thing. It had Sirius in between its giant, black pincers, and was trying to lead him away.

'Oh no you don't!' James shouted at the spider. 'Stupefy!' The stunning spell hit the spider, but without effect. The spider turned, and saw James.

'Expelliarmus!' James shouted, louder this time. The spider stumbled, but still kept Sirius between its pincers. James hesitated.

'Oh, c'mon, anything, a spell, er, Stupefy! Expelliarmus! Accio!' All the spells that James uttered seemed to be making the spider madder and madder. Sirius was still hanging limply between its pincers. He had been knocked out. James was now sick with worry and fear.

'Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus! Drop him, can't you!' he shouted at the spider. It had no effect. The spider turned, and began to leave the clearing. It was still clicking loudly. It was just about to leave the clearing, when suddenly …

'AVADA KEDAVRA!' said a loud, booming voice. There was a blinding flash of green light. James covered his eyes. He fell to the floor, and slowly looked up. The spider had keeled over to one side. It was dead. Sirius was still lying on the floor, unconscious, but alive. James pulled out his wand again.

'Who's there?' he said, for someone very close to him had just saved Sirius' life. He was sure he could hear harsh, ragged breathing, from just in front of him, but it soon subsided. James shook himself mentally, and ran to help Sirius. He checked his watch – hopefully he had enough time. James had no idea how to conjure a stretcher, so he lifted Sirius onto his shoulders and turned, to walk back up to the castle.

James was very apprehensive on his journey back through the forest. There was a wizard in here somewhere, he thought, who could perform Avada Kedavra. The whole scene was still flashing before his eyes. Sirius, being picked up by the spider – James, attempting to curse the spider – and then the voice, the voice from nowhere, and the spider, on the ground – dead. James gave himself another mental shake. It was taking him longer to find the entrance to the Forest, because he was carrying Sirius. Fortunately, after about an hour, he spotted the tallest tower of Hogwarts protruding over the tops of the trees. His spirits lifted slightly, and he kept on going, through the dense forest. More and more of the castle was becoming visible, until finally James heard a distinct howl from up ahead. Remus. He couldn't be far now. Hopefully, Peter would still be waiting at Hagrid's.

James stumbled out of the Forest, almost tripping over a tree root and sending Sirius headfirst into the lake. Luckily, he kept his balance. He could see Peter's outline in front of Hagrid's hut and what could only be Fang at his feet. Panting from the effort of carrying Sirius, James hurried over to Hagrid's hut. Peter was fast asleep. James shook him awake roughly.

'Pete,' he whispered, making sure not to wake Hagrid. However, when a number of loud snores from inside the hut punctuated this remark, James raised his voice slightly.

'Peter, get up!' he whispered again. Peter opened his eyes, disorientated in the dark.

'James?' he said. 'Is that you?'

'Yes, look; we need to get Sirius to the Hospital Wing. He's out cold. Help me carry him.'

'What happened?'

'I'll explain on the way. Have you still got the Cloak?'

'Yeah, it's just here, wait – it's gone,' said Peter, looking down at where he had been sitting.

'Gone?' repeated James breathlessly. 'You idiot! Oh, look, it doesn't matter now. Let's just get Sirius up to the castle.' Peter nodded. 'We'll have to be careful, if we don't have the Cloak.'

The two boys lifted Sirius up between them and walked slowly back to the castle. The first rays of light of the day were slowly creeping up behind them. James checked his watch.

'Hmm, Remus will be human again soon. C'mon, we need to get to the castle before then.' On the way up to the Entrance Hall, James explained to Peter what had happened in the Forest.

'And a voice came out of nowhere?' said Peter, astounded, when James had finished.

'Yep. That person probably took the Cloak.'

'Oh, James, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep.'

'That's not important. Sirius is. Come on.' They had reached the castle. Luckily, they met no one on their way up to the Hospital Wing. When they reached it, they found Madam Pomfrey getting ready to go and get Remus.

'Morning, Potter, Pettigrew, are you co – dear me, what's happened to him?' She was pointing at Sirius.

'Unconscious,' said James, placing Sirius on an empty bed. 'He, er, fell over and hit his head.'

'Yes, I can see,' said Madam Pomfrey, feeling Sirius' forehead. 'Well, I'll look at him when I return. I must go and fetch Lupin from the Shrieking Shack. Are you coming?'

'Yeah, we might as well,' said James. 'I'm not very tired.'

As they walked down to the Whomping Willow with Madam Pomfrey, James was wondering if the person that killed the spider would send him back his Cloak, or whether he'd never get it back – what would his dad say? They reached the Willow, and Peter pressed the knot on the trunk. They walked down the now-familiar path to the Shrieking Shack, and as the door was open, they could see Remus, sitting waiting for them.

'Morning,' he said croakily. His eyes were yellow again.

'Do you want me to conjure you a stretcher, dear?' asked Madam Pomfrey.

'Yes, please,' said Remus, clutching his leg. As Madam Pomfrey conjured him a stretcher, Remus gave James a questioning look. He obviously wanted to know how their trip to the Forest had been. James mouthed 'later'.

'Mobilicorpus. Here you are, dear,' said Madam Pomfrey. Mobilicorpus … James made sure to remember that, in case the need should arise again.

They walked slowly back up to the castle. When they reached the Hospital Wing, they found Sirius still unconscious. Remus raised his eyebrows at James when he saw Sirius, but James looked pointedly at Madam Pomfrey. Remus lay down on the bed next to Sirius, and Madam Pomfrey brought them all a hot drink before going back into her office.

'What happened?' asked Remus, when Madam Pomfrey had shut the door of her office. James looked at Peter.

'You explain,' he said, taking another mouthful of his drink.

'And you've no idea who it could have been?' Remus asked, at the end of the explanation.

'Not a clue,' James replied. 'They would have been covered in the Cloak.' As soon as he had said this, Madam Pomfrey came out of her office holding a goblet of potion. She smiled at them, and gave the potion to Sirius. She walked back to her office. Sirius slowly regained consciousness.

'Wha – where – where am I?' he said dazedly. 'James? James?'

'S'alright, Sirius. The spider's dead.'

'Dead?' repeated Sirius. 'Hey, where am I?'

'Hospital Wing. You were unconscious.' Sirius shook his head slightly, and seemed to focus properly.

'But why? What happened?' James and Remus proceeded to tell him. Sirius was stunned.

'Who'd do that, though, and not tell us who they are?' he asked.

'Your guess is as good as ours,' said Remus.

'Oh yeah, by the way, how was your transformation?'

'Not too bad. Did you actually manage to get anything?'

'No,' replied James. 'We found a yew tree, but then the spider came –' Sirius shuddered.

'I'm going back to the tower, I'm still tired,' said Peter suddenly. 'D'you all want to stay here?' Remus and Sirius nodded, but James didn't.

'I'll come with you, Pete,' he said. 'I'm shattered. What have you been eating?' he added to Sirius.

'Iron bars. Full of carbohydrates,' said Sirius, smiling slightly.

'Right,' said James. 'Anyway, see you later. C'mon Pete.'

They walked in silence back up to the common room. There were only a few early risers around, and James decided he might as well sleep for the whole morning, as it was Sunday. He and Peter walked up to the dormitory, and, feeling too tired to do anything, he collapsed onto his bed. It was then that he suddenly realised that he was sitting on something. He rolled over, and pulled out … his Invisibility Cloak! It had been placed there, and there was a note attached.

James,

Thought you might like this back. Useful item. Oh, and next time you're in the Forest, try and avoid the spiders. Enclosed is something you might find useful.

The note wasn't signed. Fingers shaking slightly, James tipped the envelope upside down. Out fell a small bright leaf. It was a Silver yew.

Does this count as a cliffhanger? No, not really. Tell me in your review who you think sent the note. I'm interested to know what your opinions are, although we haven't strictly met this person yet. Heh heh.

Ciao