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Anyway, next chapter…
1976.
"Sirius played a trick on Snape which nearly killed him, a trick which involved me…"
"Have we ever tried to get to Honeydukes?" whispered Sirius, not paying attention to professor Sprout, who was telling them about some weird herb.
"Yes, a thousand times before. You know, when we found that hidden passage behind the statue of the one-eyed witch?" whispered James back.
"We could go north-east, in the Forbidden Forest" suggested Remus. "We've never been there before."
"I've heard there are werewolves in the Forbidden Forest" whispered Peter a little too loud; professor Sprout gave them a warning look. "What if they get us?"
"Yeah, what if we get caught by a werewolf, right, Remus?" said Sirius. Remus looked back in anger.
"That's not funny!" he whispered. "Peter, there aren't any werewolves. The only werewolf in the Forbidden Forest is – well, you know."
The boy before them turned around and hissed: "Quiet! It might seem unbelievable to you, but some people are actually trying to learn something." It was Severus Snape. To James', Sirius', Remus' and Peter's great despair and irritation, the Griffindors had Herbology together with the Slytherins.
"Shut up yourself!" hissed James back. "What do you think we're doing, planning a tour in the Forbidden Forest? Look at these notes!" He pointed at a parchment full of carefully written notes.
"Oh really?" said Snape. He turned around to them and ´accidentally´ hit Sirius' inkbottle with his elbow. Blue ink spread quickly over the parchment, making not only Sirius' notes unreadable, but also the others'. Sirius jumped up.
"You did that intentionally! You dirty –" Professor Sprout stamped over to them.
"That's it! You're quiet or you're leaving! What is going on here?!" she demanded to know. Sirius and Snape stood almost nose to nose, looking with extreme hate to each other. James was also standing, ready to help Sirius if there was going to be a fight, just like Peter (only Peter was ready to run if they were going to fight).
"Well?" said professor Sprout. "I'm waiting!"
"Professor, he intentionally hit my inkbottle with his elbow, to make the ink flow over my notes" Sirius managed to say.
"You just shouldn't place your inkbottle there. No wonder it fell. I can't help it, professor, it was just an accident" said Snape. Professor Sprout seemed to believe him. Remus got up too.
"Excuse me, professor, but that is not true. We all saw how Snape hit that bottle, and it was standing right here" he pointed. "It couldn't have been an accident."
"Is that true?" professor Sprout asked Sirius sternly. Sirius nodded, still looking furiously at Snape.
"Well then. I´ll take ten points from Slytherin, and Snape, give your notes to Black" said professor Sprout. Snape opened his mouth to protest, but she interrupted him. "I´ll have no protest from you, Mr Snape. You are going to sit right there." She pointed to a place on the other side of the classroom. Deeply humiliated, Snape threw his notes on Sirius' table, took his books and stamped to his new place. Sirius looked disdainfully at the notes, with an expression which said: do I have to use them? Professor Sprout, seeing the look in his eyes, said: "And you're going to use them, or I will take points from Griffindor too." She walked back to her desk, leaving James, Sirius, Remus and Peter with Snape's notes. Sirius crumpled the ink-flooded parchment with his notes. "You know what" he whispered. "Snape is going to pay for this. He has been bothering us long enough now."
~*~
A few days later.
James was playing chess with one of his friends when Sirius came walking into the common room, a grin on his face. His whole expression told James that he was up to no good at all. He came sitting next to James and whispered: "I've got something to tell you."
"Wait a minute, I've almost got this game finished."
He quickly and easily beated his opponent, and then he asked Sirius: "How come you never want to play with me anymore?"
"Do you have any idea how irritating it is to get beaten every time you play chess with someone?" replied his friend. "They should stick a warning on your forehead: don't play chess with me unless you want to lose. Hey, I need to tell you something, something funny."
"What is it?"
"You know Snape´s always hovering around us, trying to hear what we're up to, and probably where Remus goes to every month."
"How can I not know? It's like we've got a stupid, greasy, unwashed shadow. Is that the funny thing you wanted to tell?"
"I'm not finished! Well, I've met Snape in the library, where I was looking something for potions, and he was stalking me again, and then I asked him if he wanted to see something interesting…"
"And then you attacked him and the funny thing is that he's in the hospital wing for at least two months" added James.
"I did thought about that, but no. He was interested, so I took him outside the castle, to the Whomping Willow. You know what the Willow hides. And when we were there I told him all he had to do was touch the knob on the tree with a stick, which was lying there, and then he could go through a tunnel to Hogsmeade." Sirius looked at James like he was telling a fantastic joke.
"So?" replied James, not seeing the fun of the whole story.
"So if everything goes right, we will never be bothered by Snape" said Sirius, looking extremely content with himself. "He'll probably be so scared he'll never dare come close to us again."
"Why would he be scared…" began James, and then it came through. He jumped to his feet, turning the table with the chess set over. "Sirius, are you a complete idiot or do you only pretend to be one?!" he yelled. People in the common room turned around to see what was happening. James paid no attention to them.
"What if he really reaches the house?! We could get expelled if they discover it!" He started making his way to the portrait hole.
"What are you going to do?" Sirius called after him.
"See if I can make things right" James replied angrily. He pushed the portrait open. Unfortunately, two girls were standing on the other side. The Fat Lady swung against them, throwing the pile of books they were carrying on the ground. James caught a flash of red hair and green eyes as he quickly scrambled the books together, threw them on a pile and ran off again. "Sorry!" he called over his shoulder.
"Did you see that?" whispered the other girl in the red-haired girl's ear. "That was James."
"I know that" replied Lily Evans, "How could I miss him? He practically ran into me."
~*~
James ran as fast as he has never ran in his life, cursing Sirius. He had visions of a large wolf with blood on its snout and Snape in little pieces, and Dumbledore telling them they were never welcome at Hogwarts anymore, and his parents telling him the only school he could go to now was Durmstrang. He turned around a corner and almost ran into Professor McGonagall.
"Potter!" she called after him, "what do you think you are doing?"
A curse over this whole evening, James thought. It started so good. They had said goodbye to Remus, and had planned to go deeper into the Forbidden Forest than usual. If only Sirius hadn't got that ridiculous idea…
He reached the entrance hall and ran down the steps. It had just rained, and he almost slipped. Still cursing, he reached the Whomping Willow, who was moving as usual. A long stick was lying in the grass. James picked it up and prod the knob on the tree. It stopped moving at once. He crouched down on all fours, like a dog, and crawled to the opening between the roots of the tree Remus had pointed out. He slid down and ran through the tunnel, his heart pounding, hoping he wasn't too late.
He saw a distant light. Snape had obviously lightened his wand. He sprinted the last few meters and grabbed Snape´s shoulder. Snape turned sharply around.
"Potter!" he snarled. "What are you doing here?"
"I've – come – to – warn you" James panted. "You mustn't go further."
"And why not? Who are you to tell me that?" Snape shook James' hand off his shoulder. "You are afraid I´ll tell Dumbledore about this tunnel to Hogsmeade, aren't you? What a suprise that will be for that old man. The famous James Potter, who turns out to be disobedient to rules. I will certainly enjoy seeing you getting expelled" Snape continued. "And Black too of course. The smartest students of the school, what a pity that will be."
"Snape, listen" said James. "This tunnel doesn't end in Hogsmeade, it ends in the Shrieking Shack. It's dangerous."
"Do you really believe that ghost-story, Potter? Why don't you go back and tell your bedtime-stories to someone who really believes them, Pettigrew for example. Better do it quick, because I doubt you will have time to do so when I come back. And let go of me!" Snape snapped at James. He walked on, with James on his heels.
"Quit following me, Potter!" Snape said. "Ah, finally, a door. Now let's see where this tunnel ends. Oh, I´d love to see Dumbledore´s face when I tell him…" He stopped death. There was someone throwing things around and make a terrible noise on the other side of the door. "Who's that? Or better; what is that?"
"Ghosts" lied James. Snape gave him a disdainful look.
"Honestly, Potter, I don't see why they made you Prefect."
"Okay then, if you keep whining like this" said James angrily. "Keep on walking and see for yourself!" Snape didn't hesitate and stepped forward. He pushed the door open a little, and peeked through the opening. There was nothing.
"See, Potter? Really haunted, this house. Oh, I'm so scared" said Snape sarcastically. He opened the door a little more. "See? Absolutely nothi-"
Something large jumped against the door. James jumped back in a reflex, pulling Snape with him. A large brown wolf tried to attack them, but James slammed the door shut.
"That wasn't a ghost!" said Snape, paler than ever.
"Er – no" answered James, who discovered that your heart can pound so hard it feels like it's going to collapse.
"Then what was it?"
"It was… Well, uh…" stuttered James. "It's a… a werewolf." He wasn't lying, it was indeed a werewolf.
"A werewolf" thought Snape aloud. "Who could it be?" He stared at James, lost in thoughts. "Who could be the werewolf here? Who goes here every month… every month… Lupin." He looked at James, his mouth a menacing smile. "It's Lupin, isn't it? Of course, why didn't I notice it before? Interesting, a werewolf on our school. If Dumbledore hears of this…"
"He knows" interrupted James. He was feeling miserable. In a few days the whole school would probably know about Remus. "Dumbledore was the one who suggested this tunnel to Remus. He was the one who ordered to build the Shrieking Shack."
Snape stared at him. "He knows? He's crazier than I thought."
"C´mon, let's get back to the castle" said James. He started heading back through the tunnel, not waiting for Snape to follow him.
When they got out of the tree, James and Snape saw Professor McGonagall, who said: "I suggest you two come with me to Professor Dumbledore…"