Sigh

Sigh. Back again.

'Oh my God,' said Lily, when James finished reading. 'Oh my God,' she repeated faintly. 'But – but why –?' James shrugged.

'Who knows?' he said grimly. 'Enervate!' (a/n There you go, Kim)

'What – wh – where – how?' said Remus intelligently when he woke up. He spotted the note again and his skin went from its usual pallor to the whiteness of snow. He coughed harshly and lay down on the bed, tears appearing at the corners of his eyes.

'Look, Remus, don't cry –' James didn't really know what to say. He placed his hand consolingly on Remus' shoulder.

'James? What's the Jade Ring?'

'I'll tell you later, Lil',' he said pointedly, looking at Remus. 'Remus? Do you want to go back up to the common room?' Remus nodded his head silently through tears, and James steadied him onto his feet. He looked completely dumbstruck, and James could hardly blame him.

*

'Remus, I'm really sorry –'

'Save it,' said Remus sharply. 'Just – just leave me alone.' He glared at James before running up to the dormitory. He and James had just returned from the hospital wing. They had walked to Gryffindor Tower in silence. James didn't even bother to go after Remus – instead, he walked over to the chair by the fireplace and sat down, exhausted. He was amazed at the number of events that had transpired since Christmas. Poor Remus, he thought, if your parents are dead, at least you know that they can't be harmed any longer. But to be Voldemort's prisoners – James shuddered at the prospect. What he really needed to ask Remus, when the opportunity arose, was what the Jade Ring did. He considered this for a few minutes, when something outside caught his attention. It was a small owl, tapping on the window. James got up, strode over to the window, and flung it open. The small bronze owl entered the room, dropped a small package on one of the armchairs, and flew back out into the light December sky, without any worries for Voldemort or his schemes. James closed the window, and walked back to look at the package. He started when he saw it was addressed to Remus. Should he open it? He thought not, somehow, but his fingers seemed to be thinking for him. Before he even realised what he was doing, he had shed the envelope and was unfolding the letter.

A small, bright object fell out and dropped to the floor. James gasped audibly. It was a handsome silver ring, with a large green stone embedded into it. It shimmered mysteriously, and James could tell two things immediately. Firstly, that it was a magical object, and secondly that it was the Jade Ring. He picked up the note.

Son,

He's found us. We won't be around for a while. We need you to keep the Ring; we can't let the Dark Lord get hold of it. Take care – we'll always love you

Mum and Dad

The letter was blotted in some places – it looked as though Remus' mother or father had cried onto the parchment whilst writing. James felt a tear rise in the corner of his own eye, and he shook it away. He picked up the Jade Ring, tensing. It was very likely to be enchanted to fit anyone's hand. He had just lifted it to his hand, when …

'Don't,' said a soft voice from the corner of the room. Remus was standing there, his face red and tearful.

'Oh Remus, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to –'

'Forget it. I snapped at you unnecessarily – call it your revenge. I knew it would arrive.'

'How?'

'My mum and dad were probably subjected to Veritaserum. They told him it was coming here.'

'Why can't I wear it?'

'Because you can't just wear the Jade Ring. It's too powerful. You can't wear it unless you're an Heir of one of the Hogwarts Four. If you do, it'll burn your fingers off.'

'What?' said James, astounded. 'Your mum is an Heir of one of the Hogwarts Four?'

'Yes; Helga Hufflepuff. That's why I was so amazed to be in Gryffindor. I thought I'd be in Hufflepuff for sure.' James' brain was still taking this in.

'You mean to say,' he said. 'That your mum is directly descended from Hufflepuff?'

'Yep. Voldemort wants it because he's the Heir of Slytherin. That's what she told me, anyway.'

'Then that means that you can wear it,' said James slowly.

'Yes,' said Remus simply. 'Watch.' He took the Ring from James and slowly moved it towards his hand. James gripped Remus' shoulder, whilst Remus closed his eyes, stuck out his finger, and placed the Ring over it.

A bright, dazzling white light shot upwards from the Ring, and disappeared into the air. James looked out of the window and saw it, soaring higher and higher, before finally disappearing. He turned back to Remus, who looked dumbfounded, although he was still wearing the ring.

'What the hell was that?' said James, staring out of the window and then looking at Remus. 'What was it?'

'I don't know,' Remus, looking just as perplexed. 'I've never seen mum put it on before. I don't know what that was.' He looked back at the Ring. The jade stone in the centre was positively glowing, and showed no signs of dimming.

'This is really weird,' said Remus fervently. 'I've never seen it glow like this before.' He glanced back at James. 'Any idea why that might be?'

'No,' said James. 'I don't really know how that thing works. Couldn't you look it up?'

'Possibly,' said Remus, and the conversation dwindled down to silence, as both boys sat lost in thought. Remus took his parents' letter, read it quickly, and burst into tears again. This made James, who was just getting accustomed to the stillness and peace, jump about a foot off his chair. He tried to comfort Remus, but again Remus muttered that he wanted to be alone, and he left, leaving James on his own in the common room. James decided he might as well go down and fill Lily in – she would probably want to know the details. As he crossed the common room, he noticed Voldemort's letter lying on the ground. He felt a sudden course of anger burst through him, and before he knew what he was doing, he had pulled out his wand and shouted 'Incendio!' The paper burst into flames, and James jumped backwards as though he'd just received a large electric shock. He stared at his wand. He'd never even learnt the burning curse, which was what he must just have performed. He had just executed a spell that he didn't even know. He looked at the shards of parchment lying on the floor, and left the common room, his mind spinning with questions.

*

Later that night, Lily, James and Remus sat alone in the hospital wing. James had told Lily about Voldemort, but not about the Jade Ring. This was partly because he didn't know much himself, and partly because he felt Remus didn't want people knowing about it. All three of them were very subdued, and didn't speak much. They had a pack of Exploding Snap, and were playing only half-heartedly. It was obvious that all three's minds were elsewhere. James himself was still wondering how he had managed to incinerate Voldemort's letter without trying. He was just wondering whether it was only anger that would instigate this, when Lily spoke, timidly.

'The rest – everyone else is coming back tomorrow, aren't they?'

'No, in three days,' said James quietly. 'Sirius is back tomorrow.' Lily nodded.

'Lily, I forgot to ask,' said Remus. 'What with my parents, and everything.' He winced. 'How are you? James told me about the pumpkin juice …'

'Oh really, Remus! That's not important! What's important is that you're OK. I'll be all right – Pomfrey says I should be fine by the time term restarts.' Remus grinned.

'You and James, you're both terrible. You don't care one jot about your own problems, you insist on helping other people. You're unnatural.'

'No,' said James. 'We're friends.'

'Oh, don't even get me started on him,' said Lily to Remus, pointing to James. 'You should have been with us yesterday, and when we went to Hogsmeade.'

'Why?'

'Oh well, first I smacked my head off a stone step, and – look, you can see the gash – James fixed it up with some clever first-aid spell. And then I didn't have any money, so he gave me half of his, and then I didn't have a cloak, so he leant me his while he practically caught pneumonia –' She went on in this vein for some time. All the while, James was raising his eyebrows, muttering things like 'Oh, and Lily never exaggerates, by the way.' Remus just was laughing and grinning broadly as Lily went on. It seemed as though she'd been wanting so say it for a while.

' – Not to mention bringing me up here earlier on in the year, when I fell off that broomstick,' Lily finished. 'I mean, come on, James, can't you do anything wrong?' James laughed.

'Is this some clever plot of all of you to try and give me a big head? Because it won't work.' Lily just raised her eyebrows at Remus, and he nodded, grinning. They all went back to their game, with Lily and Remus exchanging knowing glances every so often.

*

James opened his eyes, and looked around. He certainly didn't recognise this place. He glanced around, and noticed the sparkling black surface of water next to him, glinting in the moonlight. He looked around. This wasn't Hogwarts – it couldn't be. He looked around – they were some indistinct silhouettes in the distance, and James made for them. He approached them, but their faces were hidden. There were three of them. Two looked about James' own height, but one was much taller. James felt inside his pocket and pulled out the Jade Ring. He slipped it on, and grabbed the arms of his three companions. All of a sudden, there was a blinding flash of light …

*

James woke up to see the pale face of Sirius Black staring back at him.

'James?' said Sirius hoarsely. 'What's wrong? You were shouting something.' James sat up in bed.

'It's nothing,' he said, having already forgotten the contents of his dream. 'How come you're here so early? I thought you were coming back this afternoon.'

'Change of plans,' said Sirius. Where's Lily?'

'Long story,' said James. 'How was your Christmas?'

'Good,' said Sirius. 'Aunt Agatha made a rare cameo, and everyone was pretty happy. You?'

'Me and Lily had some good fun,' said James grinning. 'And I got a nice new pressie, as well.'

'Define "having good fun".

'Does sneaking illegally into Hogsmeade and spending the day there count?' Sirius looked horrified.

'You found a passage to Hogsmeade without telling me?' he said, whilst James laughed. 'Despicable behaviour. Anyway, what was your great pressie?'

'You'll love it,' said James. 'Accio Jet Force!' Sirius' face went from shock to pure amazement when James' broom flew out of his wardrobe and into his hand.

'You git,' said Sirius simply, staring open-mouthed at the superb broomstick in front of him. 'I'm thinking the Slytherins won't like this …'

'You think?' Sirius laughed.

'You were amazing against Ravenclaw and that was on an old Lightspeed. On a Jet Force 12, you're just – wow –' He was looking at the broom in a way that made James think it looked like he worshipped it. He was about to ask whether he should dedicate a shrine when Remus woke up.

'All right, Siri?' he said, grinning.

'Hi Remus. How come you're back? Did your parents get sick of you and kick you out?'

Never, not in his whole life, had James seen a person's expression change in such a short space of time. Remus immediately stopped grinning, clenched his fists, and took on an expression of pure fury. James was about to say something, but before he or anyone could do anything, Sirius was suddenly lifted off the floor and slammed into the wall.

'You bastard,' he spat, whilst Sirius stared at him from the floor, lost for words, with a nasty cut just above his eye. 'You bastard.' He shot Sirius a look of pure venom and swept out of the room. Sirius just sat staring at where he had been.

'What the hell –?' he said weakly, turning to James, who was himself lost in thought. How had Remus done that to Sirius without a wand?

'I'll explain in a sec,' said James. 'But let me look at that cut first.' Sirius got up, and James saw that he was bleeding just above his eye. He muttered the same words that he had when Lily had cut herself, and, as the cut was only shallow, he was able to heal it completely.

'Thanks, James,' said Sirius, looking into his now unblemished face in the mirror. 'So, what's the matter with Remus?'

'Sit down,' said James. 'You've quite a bit to catch up on.'

*

As Lily had told James and Remus the day before Sirius' return, she was indeed able to leave the hospital wing the day before term started. She seemed her usual cheerful self, but James noticed that there were times when she constantly looked over her shoulder, as though expecting to be attacked any minute. Lily and James had managed to fill Sirius and Remus in on everything that had happened over Christmas. When they explained to Sirius why Lily was in the hospital wing in the first place, he had let out a vehement exclamation.

'Disgusting,' he had muttered. 'Filthy, no-good, bloody –'

Sirius and Remus, however, were not speaking. James couldn't see why, but Sirius flatly refused to apologise, as did Remus. In the end, fed up of only being able to be with one of them at a time, James had snuck back out to Hogsmeade with Lily, and they had stopped for a Butterbeer in the Hog's Head.

'I just can't understand why Sirius doesn't apologise,' said James furiously, clutching a mug of Butterbeer. 'Although I'd like to know what it was Remus did.'

'He's probably afraid to upset his image,' said Lily sardonically.

'Honestly,' said James, in another impression of McGonagall. 'When will that lad learn that friends are more important than images, detentions and food? Well, maybe not food,' he added, whilst Lily laughed uproariously.

'Oi,' said Madam Rosmerta, grinning, from behind the bar. 'Stop that! You'll upset my customers.'

'Rosey,' said James, smiling. 'You wouldn't throw us out. We're all drunk and silly. We'd burn the post office by accident!' Madam Rosmerta laughed, but she wasn't the only one. A figure in a thick, black cloak sitting in a dark corner laughed harshly, and stood up. James stared as the figure passed Madam Rosmerta a handful of silver Sickles, and headed towards the door. However, when he reached the door, he turned, and looked directly at James. James couldn't see his face, but the person muttered something. A small number of sparks flew out of the end of his wand, and he left the bar. James stared as the sparks began to from small letters in front of his face. Within a few seconds, a small message had appeared, floating in mid-air. James gasped, flew out of his chair, and bolted to the door. He left the pub, and looked around for some sign of the hooded figure. But he had gone. Sighing, James returned to the pub, where he found an extremely perplexed-looking Lily. He noticed the glowing remnants of the message fading from view:

James – hope you like the broomstick

*

Let me get this straight,' said Sirius slowly. They were back in the common room, and James had just explained what had happened at the Hog's Head. 'You saw the person who's been helping us and saving our lives and so on and you didn't even find out who it was? Useless, Jamesy, useless.'

'I suppose you could've done better,' said James, grinning.

'Only if the person's parents had been captured by Voldemort,' said a bitter voice from the corner of the room. A few people looked up at the mention of the word "Voldemort". Remus had entered the common room, and was glaring at Sirius.

'Oh, get over it,' said Sirius harshly.

'James, what were you saying?' said Remus, ignoring Sirius.

'I was saying that you two are going to follow me, NOW!' He was remarkably angry with both of them. He could feel anger coursing through him. Suddenly, however, he lost control of what he was doing, and heard himself shout "Imperio!" at Sirius. This got a lot of people's attentions.

'Bloody hell,' said Remus faintly. James jumped back again.

'Oh my God,' he said faintly, and then made up his mind. 'Remus, come with me. Sirius, you too.' Remus hesitated, but Sirius, who was under the Imperius curse, followed without a word. 'We're going to see Dumbledore. Remus, come on!' Remus followed, and the three boys left the common room, now full of people swapping excited words in whispers.

*

'I – I really don't know what happened,' said James to Dumbledore. The three boys were in his office. Remus was looking worriedly at Sirius, who was absent-mindedly stroking Dumbledore's hat stand. 'I was just really angry at – with these two, and I didn't really think. I just heard myself say "Imperio". The same thing happened yesterday, with Remus.'

'Yeah,' said Remus. 'I made him slam into a wall without trying.'

'I feared something worse,' said Dumbledore, motioning to his dark magic sensor. 'However, you, James, are the only one who can lift the curse you placed on Sirius. I am confident that as you can inadvertently perform the spell, you can lift it as well.'

'What's the counter-curse?'

'It's not very complicated. Inimperio.'

'Inimperio!' shouted James, pointing his wand at Sirius. Nothing happened. Sirius carried on talking to the hat stand. 'Stop talking,' said James. Sirius stopped immediately. 'Inimperio!' Nothing. James tried another three times with absolutely no result.

'Right,' he said, gritting his teeth, after his sixth attempt. 'Remus. You need to irritate me. Say those things you were saying about Sirius.'

'What?' said Remus harshly, clocking on. 'That even though I've been his friend for a year he doesn't even care that Voldemort's captured my parents?' Shut up, James thought, I don't want to know about your petty squabbles. Remus kept it up. SHUT UP! James screamed in his head. Suddenly, he felt his hand jerk out in front of him, and heard himself shout "Inimperio!" A dazzling ball of light shot out of the end of his wand and struck Sirius in the chest. He looked around, dazed.

'Ow. Where am I? I remember – floating. It was nice.' He looked around at the arrested looks in front of him.

'You were, Sirius, under the influence of the Imperius curse,' said Dumbledore curtly. Sirius gasped.

'How?' he said, faintly. 'I mean, who?'

'Me,' said James, holding up his wand. 'Yours and Remus' argument managed to get me angry enough to perform an Unforgivable curse.' Sirius stared at James.

'But – how? You can't do dark magic.'

'I don't know. All I knew was that I wanted you to listen to me. Hence, some subconscious part of me conjured up the Imperius curse.' Sirius just gaped at James, when Dumbledore spoke again.

'I think,' he said quietly. 'That you two ought to return to Gryffindor Tower. I must speak with James.' Sirius and Remus nodded. In light of what had just happened, they seemed to have forgotten their argument.

'Now, James,' said Dumbledore, when Sirius and Remus had left. 'You should know that I am not angry with you, but I feel I must tell you something I consider to be of importance.' He sighed, stroked his large Phoenix on the head, and then sat down behind his desk.

'As you said, a twelve-year old wizard performing an Unforgivable curse is unheard of. However, I have witnessed it once before.'

'When?' said James, interested.

'A number of years ago, when I was just a regular teacher, and not the headmaster, I had a brilliant student in my class. He was the cleverest boy in his year by far – not unlike yourself – and went on to become probably the greatest student Hogwarts has ever seen.

'Now, this boy was a Slytherin, but despite this, he was good, kind and courteous. In those days, Slytherins were not quite as – prejudiced against – by the other houses –' James grinned guiltily. ' – However, many disliked this boy. Most disliked him out of jealousy, but others just didn't like being around him. Many feared him, but only once did I see him lash out.

'It was in his second year. He was the same age as you are now. I had a lesson with the Gryffindors and Slytherins, and I arrived to find this student having a heated argument with a Gryffindor. I tried to break the fight up, but then the Gryffindor boy made a remark about this student's mother. Never did I see such fury cross a person's face. It seemed almost inhuman. Before I could do or say anything, he pulled out his wand, and – I never did work out whether it was on purpose or inadvertent – he placed the Gryffindor boy under the Cruciatus curse.' Dumbledore let this statement sink in, as he got up and crossed the room. He opened a cupboard, and pulled out a strange looking basin, carved with runes and symbols James did not recognise. It was filled with a whitish, cloudy substance.

'Well do I remember that event,' he said, looking into the bowl. Leaning closer, James saw the outline of a boy, about his age, apologising profusely to another boy.

'If he meant it on purpose, he covered it up well, for he never so much as insulted that boy again. In fact, as I remember, they became very good friends. Their names were Tom Riddle and Jonathan Davies.' Dumbledore replaced the stone basin and closed the cupboard door. He returned to his desk.

'Tom Riddle, also, was able to perform an Unforgivable curse through strong emotion. In this case – love for his mother, who was, by that time, deceased. Riddle became more and more powerful as he went through school, and, as I have told you, turned out one of the best students this school has seen. However, I always suspected there was more to Riddle than met the eye.'

'How do you mean?'

'In his fifth year, Riddle won an award for special services to this school. It is a long and complicated story, but Riddle supposedly rid the school of the Heir of Slytherin. Can you think who that person might have been?' James thought hard for a moment.

'No, I don't know of anyone who was expel – hang on, was Hagrid at school then?'

'He was, and it was he who was expelled.' James gasped, amazed.

'No wonder he didn't want to tell us. But surely Hagrid couldn't have been the Heir of Slytherin?'

'I said the same thing over and over again to Headmaster Dippet, but he claimed the evidence against Hagrid was conclusive proof. In the end, I persuaded him to let Hagrid stay on as gamekeeper. He agreed, somewhat reluctantly, and Hagrid has been here since. But I have always trusted him, and I recently found out that Tom Riddle did, in fact, frame him.'

'How?'

'Because Riddle resurfaced as someone else, someone different. He left Hogwarts and sunk deeply into the dark arts, as did Davies with him. I knew, when he resurfaced, whom he had once been, and that he was, in fact, the Heir of Slytherin.' James realised that he knew the answer without asking.

'Voldemort,' he said grimly.

'Precisely. I believe that Riddle had some ulterior motive for framing Hagrid, but I could never prove it, and I never discovered that motive. Therefore, Hagrid is still mistrusted by many.'

'Even though he's innocent,' James replied.

'Yes, but as far as anyone else can see, Hagrid must have done it. There is hardly anything to connect Voldemort – the Heir of Slytherin – with Tom Riddle, whom most respected highly.' He lapsed into silence, and they both sat for a few minutes, thinking. James could hardly believe that the only other person who had performed a spell that complex at school had been Voldemort. He shuddered at the realisation of having something in common with him.

'Sir,' he said, after a few minutes. 'Do you think that Riddle doing that spell had anything to do with him being an Heir?'

'Possibly, James, I could not say. Although that might explain why Remus cast a spell inadvertently. And now I have a question for you. Your friend Remus said that his parents were prisoners of Voldemort. Is this true?' James paused, thinking hard. Should he tell Dumbledore about the Jade Ring? If he did, then Remus would definitely have to hand it in, and he wouldn't want that to happen. They hadn't even worked out what it did yet.

'No,' he said quickly. 'He was just trying to annoy me.'

*

When James returned to the common room, it was fairly full. When he entered, however, the room went deathly quiet. James stared.

'What?' he said, as everyone had turned to look at him. Sirius, Remus and Lily weren't around. 'Oh right,' he said, clocking on. 'You people think I'm evil. That's understandable.' A few people gaped at him. 'Yes, well, you'd better watch out. I'm pure evil, and I can do Avada Kedavra.' At this, a number of horrified-looking first years sidled out of the doors. James couldn't help it – he burst out laughing.

He found Remus, Lily and Sirius in the boys' dorm.

'So much for staying in your own dorm, eh, Lil'?' he said cheerfully as he entered. 'What's going on?' he said to Remus and Sirius. 'No fighting?'

'Bad news,' said Remus gravely, holding up a newspaper clipping. James took it, and read the article.

Three dead in Death Eater attack

Yesterday, Death Eaters killed three wizards in a vicious attack. Their identities are undetermined, but the facts stand as follows: the three men had been drinking in a pub with another friend. It seems that this friend, whom Enforcers are now searching for, was a traitor. He led his friends – all three of them Aurors – into a trap, where they were outnumbered and killed. Their bodies were discovered a little way off from the pub. Hanging above them was a curious figure – an apparition of a skull with a snake protruding from its mouth. This skull has appeared in a number of other places where dead people have been found. It is thought to be the sign of the terrible You-Know-Who. Enforcers are being deployed to more parts of the country to try and stop this maniac before the situation gets out of hand.

James stopped reading, and he suddenly felt it again. He felt the anger coursing through him. He tried to stop it; he tried to think of happy thoughts, but before he could do anything, the excerpt from the paper had burst into flames in front of them. James realised with a jolt that his wand was still in his pocket.

'What the bloody hell –?' said Lily faintly.

'Not again,' said Remus, with an arrested look.

'How did you do that?' said Sirius, looking half-amazed and half-impressed. 'You didn't even use a wand.'

'It's getting stronger,' said James. 'The angrier I am, the more difficult magic I can perform. It's good, but not good at the same time.'

'How?' asked Lily.

'Well, it would be useful if I was up against a Death Eater, or something, but I have hardly any control over what I do. I mean; I put the Imperius curse on Sirius – not something I would have wanted to do.'

'You put the Imperius curse on Sirius?! At twelve years old? Bloody hell.'

'Right,' said James. 'It's not good. At least not until I can control it.'

*

The rest of the school returned the next day. James, Sirius and Remus (who had resolved their argument) wasted no time in filling Peter in on everything that had happened over Christmas. He seemed somewhat unable to take all of it in.

'So, let me summarise,' he said, when they had finished telling him everything. 'James, you can do advanced magic without a wand through strong emotion – and you flirt an uncommon amount with Lily.' James grinned. 'Remus – you can do emotion magic as well, and your parents have been captured by Voldemort who's after that ring which only you can wear because you're a descendent of Hufflepuff –'

'I don't know that for sure. There may be other Heirs at the school who can wear it.'

'How could you find out?' Sirius asked.

'Good question. I suppose we could ask Dumbledore.'

'Anyway,' Peter said. 'Voldemort wants it, but we're not sure why because we don't know what it does.'

'Lily and I had a look in the library, but we couldn't find anything,' said James simply, as the other three raised their eyebrows. 'Yes,' he added monotonously, 'we we're snogging behind the bookcases. Will you ever drop it?' he said exasperatedly.

'We're only joking,' said Sirius. 'You and Lily are about the most unlikely couple I can think of (a/n Dramatic irony rules all!). Well, maybe Snapey and Professor McGonagall …'

'Shut up, you sick, sick person,' said Peter. 'So, been quite an eventful holiday really, hasn't it?'

'You could say that,' said James. 'And I'm the only one who's been around to appreciate it all.'

'What about Lily?'

'She was unconscious for quite a while. And she doesn't really know about the Jade Ring.'

'Lucky you,' said Peter.

'Quite,' said James. 'Well, good to get back to doing something. I didn't get any ingredients over the holiday – too busy. Pete? Did you get that Phitring hair?

'Yep,' said Peter. 'Upstairs.'

'Good. I think that when you next transformation rolls around, Remus, we can have another little excursion. We still need some unicorn hair.'

'As long as it isn't blue, that's fine,' said Sirius.

*

Term restarted, and Hogwarts returned to its usual busy self. James had wasted no time in showing the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team his new Jet Force, and training sessions restarted with new confidence. Ben decided to try and keep James' broom a secret, so the Slytherins got a nasty shock when Gryffindor played them. In their lessons, the tasks were becoming steadily more complicated. James and Sirius had hardly any trouble at all, but Remus and Peter began to find some of the more difficult Transfiguration work a little beyond their capabilities.

'All right,' said Remus furiously one lesson. 'When, in my whole life, will I need to change a mug into a hamster? When?'

'That's not the point, Lupin,' said Professor McGonagall amusedly from behind him. She suddenly turned at a large explosion from behind her.

'Oops,' said Sirius. 'A little too much power. Sorry, Professor,' he added to McGonagall, whose eyebrows had been singed.

'Ten points from Gryffindor, Black, for – for – just for being you.'

'Do I get twenty points for Gryffindor for being me as well?' Sirius asked hopefully.

'No,' said Professor McGonagall, looking at James, who had a large contingent of hamsters around his desk, and was trying to shepherd them into the cages provided. 'Potter gets twenty points for being himself.' James, who hadn't been listening, looked up.

'What? Oh, thanks, Professor.' Sirius coughed loudly, but sounded like he was covering the word "Favouritism", because McGonagall glared at him.

The first week back passed without great incident. In potions, Sirius successfully managed to create an Invisibility Draught, even though he'd been told to make a Swelling solution. Turner looked mildly worried when things began falling off shelves off their own accord, but Sirius' laughs gave him away, and earned him a detention. Lily and James also managed to get themselves detention in History of Magic. Both of them had set off a Filibuster firework, and they had spent ten minutes bouncing off the wall in a shower of sparks.

The weekend came, and James decided to go down and visit Hagrid. He went alone, because there was something he wanted to discuss.

'Mornin', James,' said Hagrid cheerfully, when James entered. Fang went beserk and began barking loudly, licking James' hand. James, however, removed his cloak and looked Hagrid straight in the eye through his glasses.

'You were framed,' he said bluntly.

'Yeh what? Oh no, don' tell me yeh've found out.'

'I don't know the whole story,' said James, quietly. 'And I don't particularly want to. I just know that you were framed.

'I was? Who by?' James started. He at least expected Hagrid to know.

'You – you don't know?' said James.

'Well, I knew I was framed – I didn' set nothing loose – but I don't know who was behind it.'

'I don't know either, Hagrid,' James lied. 'But I don't know the whole story.'

'I might tell yeh, some day,' said Hagrid, smiling. 'I'm glad ter hear yeh trust me.'

'Hagrid, you are not the Heir of Slytherin. Unless you have a very cunning disguise on.'

'Yeah,' said Hagrid. 'They never caught whoever did it.' James bit his lip. 'Yer a good person, James, you know tha', don' yeh?' James smiled.

'Thanks, Hagrid. What makes you say that?'

'Oh, you aren' th' only one who comes down here alone,' replied Hagrid. 'Lily comes down all the time.'

'Does she now? I expect you find interesting things to talk about.'

'Yeah. You.'

'Ah, well, Lily's obviously in love with me. She can't stop talking about me.' Hagrid grinned.

'Maybe not yet,' he muttered, but James hadn't heard, because Fang had started barking again. Lily was outside.

'Hi Hagrid, oh, hi James,' she said warmly. 'James, Sirius was looking for you. Said he'd invented a new form of explosive, or something.' James laughed.

'Sounds like Sirius,' he said, whilst Hagrid raised his eyebrows. 'I'll see you later, Hagrid. You were innocent, you know.'

'Thanks, James,' said Hagrid. 'Bye.'

'See you later, James,' said Lily, and James left the hut. He was walking back up to the castle, when something glittering near the lake caught his eye. He walked over, and gasped when he saw the Jade Ring lying in the grass. Why would Remus take it off, he wondered. He picked it up, and was suddenly hit with an urge to put it on. But he couldn't – what had Remus said? "If someone who isn't an Heir wears the Ring, it'll burn his or her fingers off." But James had to. Some part of him told him that he had to. He tensed, and slowly slipped the Ring over his finger. A dazzling white light shot up from the Ring and disappeared into the sky. James averted his eyes, and looked down at his hand. The Ring was on it, and his hand wasn't burnt.

Hmm. Heir of Gryffindor, perhaps? Yes, you've guessed it. That means Harry is an Heir of Gryffindor as well. We are sharp today, aren't we? I was thinking that when I finish this L/J canon I might write a Harry fic. Book 7 should be out by then. Ooh, I've been having some good ideas for year 3. In fact, some ickle hints have been given in this and the last chapter (If anyone can spot them, I'll be impressed), as to what it consists of. And I might even incorporate some romance (No! Not L/J! Well, actually, it is L/J). The usual crew of reviewers, plus a few friends:

Starlight {x2} (Your name deserves to be first, Kim. You're right, I am a clever chap), gumdrop (The Jade Ring is important in the future – you'll see), Dark Eyes (What an original pseudonym. Cheers), crystal drake (Ok? I'm flattered …), silver angel~ (I screwed up the uploading of part 2. I put in BU2 instead of W2), Ana:) (Read chapter 10 to find out), *Magic* (Last but not least – thanks).

I'm very upset and sad that I didn't get a review from my most loyal reviewer *sniffs*, you know who you are, TS. Oh well. Also, thanks to anyone who's reviewed BU since I started Werewolf. At the end I'll write a nice reviews section with reviews from BU and W.

Ciao