*** The Marauder Chronicles is a fan fiction. It isn't to be sold, reproduced, or taken as true. The main characters and most locations belong to J.K. Rowling, as do all publishing rights. No copyright infringement is intended.***

Part Three: A Lunar Escape

"Not all mistakes lead to ruin."

Friday night, September of 1976. The first full moon of the school year had finally arrived. Plans for the night were still in the works, but it was going to be a fun one. It never occurred to the four of them that they could get caught then expelled. It wasn't that they were stupid, quite the contrary. Sub-consciencelessly they must have thought that they would sail through all of their problems. Sirius and James were very smooth in getting themselves out of deep trouble, something they were in often, so quickly getting out of it got easier each time. No one knew about their secret and no one was going to know.

Every month, when the full moon rose, the three of them transformed into Anamagi and roamed the school grounds. But that was last year. Tonight they were going to go beyond Hogwarts and expand to the village. They it was a risk to let Lupin get that close to people, but James and Sirius were confidant that with their size, everything would be fine.

The hardest part of these evenings was getting three guys under one invisibility cloak out of the school without being seen. There were seven tunnels out of Hogwarts, but none of them originated in Gryffindor tower. Sirius was six feet tall and well built; James was slightly taller but without the great stature; Peter was short, squat, and highly uncoordinated; a very bad combination under one magical article of clothing.

The three of them had been learning to become Anamagi for a long time and finally accomplished it the previous year. They had about nine outings in their fifth year and they hadn't been seen. This year, with their luck, they wouldn't even be missed.

"Ow! Peter, that was my foot, you idiot!"

"Sorry, I can't move with you two so close to me."
"Shhhhh! Do you two want to wake the entire castle?" James asked.

"Ouch, Peter!"

"Shut-up, Sirius!" It was a miracle that no one heard them "Who has the map?"

"I thought you had it." Sirius said.

"No, I said, 'Got the map?' and you said you did."

"No you didn't, you said, 'Got the map' like you had the map, so I said 'yes'"

"Oh this is classic. Now what are we going to do?" James asked.

"We know where everything is, what's the big deal?" Peter asked.

"Yeah, but we have no idea where Filch, Mrs. Norris, or Peeves is. They could be right around the corner, or down that hall, and we could be spotted then busted. Do you want to go to prison?" Sirius asked.

"Or maybe they can hear you, Sirius. The point of the cloak is to be invisible. It's pointless if you two are going to narrate our journey to the passage for anyone to hear. Now can it!"

Sirius hesitated, but couldn't help himself. "We're now turning left..."

"SHHHH!" James and Peter told him.

And so they maintained partial silence to the passage nearest to the tower. When they finally reached the silver armor, the entrance to the passage out of the castle, James drew out his wand, whispered, "Madigrium" and the armor shifted to the right to reveal a tall, narrow entrance. James checked over his left, then his right to make sure there was no one in the corridor watching them.

"Right. Peter you go first." With a quick movement, Peter was out from underneath the cloak and into the passageway. Sirius went next and James followed, closing the passageway behind him.

"All right, the hard part's over. Now, this isn't exactly sound proof in hear, but we don't have to be under the cloak, so Peter won't trip every three steps."

"I don't mean to trip, James. I lack body coordination, you know that."

"I have an idea. Why doesn't Peter transform in the dormitory and one of us takes him out?" Sirius's idea seemed so obvious that they all felt stupid for not thinking about it before. For the moment they stared at each other.

"We can talk about this later, let's just go. Remus is waiting." And they continued on through the low, narrow, and winding passageway. When they reached the passage's end, Peter transformed and made his way out to look to make sure that the coast was clear.

"So what do you think?" Sirius asked James while Peter was out.

"About what?"

"This, about this? Do you think we'll get away with it?"

"What are you talking about? We always get away with it. Why are you worrying; it's not like you and it doesn't suit you either." James replied.

"I don't know. I have a really bad feeling about it tonight."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember when we were eight and we went over to Benjamin Farrel's house?" Sirius asked James.

"How could I forget?" He asked in an ominous tone.

"Yeah, I had this feeling right before that. You almost caught fire, James."

"Yeah, the key word is 'almost.' Nothing happened, we got away, barely, but we got away. Nothing bad is going to happen tonight. It's all in your head." But he watched Sirius for a while. He seemed a bit uneasy, which James admitted to himself was strange. "Look, if you don't go, I don't go."

Sirius glanced at James, contemplating his decision. He rarely felt like this. Usually he was very confident about doing anything, but something funny was lurking around in his stomach.

"The coast is clear. Ready?" Peter said upon his return. "What's wrong?" he asked. The two of them remained silent for a while, then Sirius spoke: "Nothing. Let's go."

Sirius, Peter, and James wished one thing: that they could see themselves transform. It must have been awesome to watch; going from human to beast in a second. But they couldn't transform in the castle. Sure, they all told each other that they were not afraid, but secretly each of them feared that McGonagall or Dumbledore would come upon them and witness the incriminating action.

At the full moon they ceased to be Sirius, James, and Peter, but became Padfoot, Prongs, and Wormtail: the Marauders of Hogwarts. They couldn't talk, so they used various signals; head nods, stomping, and other savage forms of communication.

"Okay Peter, you first." Peter closed his eyes and instantly a silver wave seemed to pass over his head and traveled down to his feet. He became a small, brown, yet pudgy rat. He looked up at the two of them and squeaked.

"Sirius, you go next. I have to put the cloak in the Willow. Cover me and make sure Moony can't get to me."

"Always." Sirius winked and, like Peter, a silver wave passed over him. He became a massive black dog with tall pointed ears, a handsome head, and honey brown eyes. Even in Anamagi form, he still appeared as Sirius.

"All right, lets go." James put on the cloak and followed the two out of the castle wall. Moonlight made them visible should a curious third year peak out his head while fetching a glass of water. It was therefore crucial for the three to make it to the Willow as fast as possible. "Pick up the pace a bit," James urged Sirius. Padfoot began a rhythmic Loup and James scooped up Wormtail, who was already showing signs of fatigue. "You really need to think about a diet, Peter. This isn't healthy."

When the Willow was before them, James released Wormtail so he could push the knot on the tree to temporarily halt the dangerous and possibly lethal branches from lashing them. Then James and Padfoot jogged to entrance of the Willow and scanned the area. Moony couldn't hurt animals, only humans; they had to be sure he wasn't in the small hollow of the tree when James entered.

James removed the invisibility cloak and rest it on a wood lump. Then he moved toward the entrance of the Willow, where there was plenty of head room, and snapped his fingers. A visible silver wave passed over his entire body. In a few seconds, James Potter was replaced by a tall, young, muscular, buck with tall prongs atop a noble head. Prongs was the most impressive of them all. Stags usually notoriously large, but James made some magical adjustments to serve him better and in this case, bigger.

Being careful not to plant his antlers in the ceiling of the tree, Prongs peered down at Padfoot with his enormous shiny eyes signaling for him to inform Moony of their readiness.

Padfoot scratched the large stone which hid the entrance to the passageway. Moments later Moony, the werewolf, emerged. They were ready.

Prongs, closely followed by Moony and Padfoot. Wormtail was squeaking around them frantically. Though words were not issuing from his mouth, his complaints were clearly registered. Ignoring Wormtail, they made their way towards the Forbidden forest, making it more difficult for them to be spotted.

They remain in the forest and keep to the outer perimeter toward Hogsmeade in order remain hidden. Usually they would scour the school and add it to the map. It took two years to gather all of the information for the map. They were pretty sure that they had recorded every detail of the school. It took many journeys around the castle and covert operations inside at late hours of the night before becoming Anamagi.

Quite often an important magical figure would stay in Hogsmeade, on business or pleasure, and would ordinarily carry interesting information with him. If that was the case, Wormtail was the one who spy. He would enter the building where the official would stay and listen for a while. Padfoot would often wander the streets as a friendly stray and do the same; listen, watch, and report back to Prongs who kept a lookout for anything strange while monitoring Moony.

Tonight they had it under good authority that the Minister of Magic himself was going to be having some drinks in the Hog's Head this evening, supposedly on business in the area. It was a great opportunity to learn some new gossip that the Minister would accidentally spill to a pretty girl; The Minister was a widower.

When the four of them reached the rise on the edge of the forest, Prongs nodded his head to Padfoot and Wormtail to begin the mission. Padfoot walked slowly so Wormtail could walk underneath him; giving him protection from hungry owls. As the two neared the Pub the heard muffled voices and laughter. Wormtail scurried through the hole he had made near the door and entered the warm pub. He began scanning the many faces for a salt and peppered gray-haired man in his early fifties, probably sitting at the bar. Wormtail couldn't see anything from the ground, so he had to move up the display case behind the bar. He looked around the room once more, then not spotting the Minister, he went to the wall, crawled inside, and climbed up the interior.
"Minister, what will you have?" asked the bar tender. Ah, the Minister had just arrived. Wormtail peeked through the hole in the wall and saw the him sitting at the bar.

"I think I'll have the usual, Ryan." Then he drew a small book from his pocket and began to read. Wormtail tried to see the cover of the book, but he had rat vision.

"Here you are Minister. A scotch on the rocks."

"Thank you." He let out a sigh, took a sip of his drink, then continued reading his small black book. And right on cue, his favorite waitress, Tabitha, came to say hello. He smiled as she came nearer. She asked him about the usual; how's the Ministry, the children, etc. The boring gibber jabber went on for several minutes.

"What are you reading, sir"

"Just scheduling, my dear." Nothing interesting. He whirled around and headed for the hole, back down the interior of the wall, across the floor, and almost reached the exterior wall when he heard, "You-know-who is gathering more support as each day goes on, Tabitha. It's a scary place out there. Watch yourself." Wormtail stopped dead in his tracks, turned around, and headed behind the bar so that he could better hear the Minister.

"The Bones'. He killed the Bones'." He put down his glass and there was brief silence between the two of them, then--

"You mean Dustin and--"

"No, their parents." There was a reservation in his voice, like he didn't want to say anymore. "They were a very prominent family; very powerful wizards. They have been some of the most powerful in the history of Magic."

"Why? Why did he kill them?" Tabitha asked.

"We don't know. They were killed in their home. Some very old and valuable possessions were stolen. Dustin has no idea what they were, only that they were heavily guarded and protected. We know that a book was stolen, but we have no idea of what the content was." He took another sip. "I really should go. I have a busy day tomorrow, I need my rest. Good-bye my dear." Wormtail heard the scraping of the stool, and the footsteps falling on the floor.

"Good-bye Minister. I hope everything goes well." Then Tabitha resumed serving her customers. It sounded like Hagrid was in the pub. He was singing jovially in the back of the room with other drunken guests.

Excited, Wormtail turned and ran towards the hole. He had great information to pass on to his three friends. Something very valuable had been stolen: a book. But why would You-know-who want a book? Once outside he started searching for Padfoot.

But Padfoot was slightly distracted at the moment. There were approximately five boisterous girls around him; pretty girls, in their early twenties, no doubt having a fun night out. And he happened to find them and was enjoying their presence.

"He's so cute!" they chorused. He wagged his tail and was really friendly with them. He was beginning to attract a crowd, probably because he started to do tricks for the girls. Wormtail had no trouble spotting him, but he would not be welcomed. He made his way toward the hill.

Once there he found Prongs shaking his head at the sight of Padfoot. Wormtail squeaked to let him know he was back from the mission. Prongs faced him and nodded. Then walked to him, when he did something very strange. He stopped suddenly; even though it's hard to determine facial expressions when in animal form, he could see that Prongs was panicked. He jerked his head around and ran in circles as if searching for something. Then Wormtail realized it too: Moony was missing. Wormtail ran up onto a rock to get a better view: Padfoot was still entertaining the young girls-- a couple was holding hands as the were entering the Three Broomsticks-- Hagrid was taking the back door out of the Hogshead pub -- Moony was just a few feet from him. Wormtail squeaked loudly to get Prongs's attention. He ran over to see. Moony was crouched low ready to jump out at Hagrid.

With a magnificent spurt of speed, Prongs galloped down the hill, Wormtail scampering behind him.

"Oh, hum diddy dum said he, hmmmm…" Hagrid sang loudly as he walked towards the forest. Moony had him in his sight, shiny drool dripping from his jaws. He jumped out twenty feet from Hagrid and stayed low.

"So I ask'd the man, and 'e said…Oh dear," Hagrid muttered when he spotted Moony. Even though he was drunk, he could recognize the fact that a werewolf was twenty feet from him, ready to attack. As always when risked traveling through the forest at night, Hagrid brought his crossbow. Slowly, he removed it from his back jacket pocket. With his hands still behind, he loaded a silver tipped arrow. At the same time he slowly backed away. He didn't want to kill him, but if he came toward the village…

Prongs sprint down the hill, watching Hagrid load the crossbow behind his back. If only he could run faster! Wormtail broke off and scuttled toward the gaggle of girls surrounding Padfoot. They screamed as he entered the circle then they scattered. Padfoot turned to him, then ran as though he knew what was happening.

"There's a nice ware'welf, I'm not gunna hert yeh." Then Moony took to running. Hagrid whipped out his crossbow and aimed it directly at him. Hagrid was hoping to scare him off, but he didn't appear to go for it. He would have to shoot. Scarier still, it sounded as though something was coming from the right; more wolves, maybe. He had to shoot it, he was getting too close.

"Sorry," Hagrid said sadly as he pulled the trigger, just as Prongs came charging at Moony, head bowed as if to strike him. Moony saw him at the last moment and ran the other direction to get out of his way. But Hagird's arrow did not change course with its intended target.

The arrow struck hard and fast in Prongs's left shoulder. The pain was excruciating. Still under the influence of momentum and unable to maintain balance, he crashed nose first onto the loose ground, slid ten feet before coming to a stop. Moony couldn't move out of shock. Padfoot came around the pub's corner and ran to Prongs. He's breathing was labored, his eyes were beginning to sag, and the shiny blood poured from the wound. Padfoot turned to Hagrid who began approaching them. He couldn't come near them, Padfoot had to stop him.

Ignoring Moony, Padfoot began viciously barking at Hagrid who backed away and remained silent. Moony started after Hagrid again, but this time Padfoot was There to stop him. Moony seemed to understand. He turned to Prongs, still lying on the ground, the pool of blood made the loose dirt mud. The three walked over to him and stared into his big eyes, which he was fighting to stay open. But he had to get up. Padfoot began barking.

But Prongs remained stationary, laboring under the pain.

Hagrid still stood there, alone, watching, and crying. "I didn' mean tu hert 'em" he sobbed into his coat.

Prongs tried to move his right foot in front of him so he could try standing, but that required using his left to balance it. Padfoot moved to the front of Prongs and whined.

Then very slowly he moved his hind legs underneath him enabling him to raise his back. Then he put the weight on his right front. Padfoot saw what he was trying to do, but he couldn't help. He was forced to watch.

Once his feet were underneath him, Prongs raised himself, shut his eyes, and stood, putting his weight on his right.

Hagrid was still sobbing uncontrollably.

It hurt Prongs to stand more than it did to lie down even though he was not standing on his left leg. The arrow still plunged deep into his shoulder, blood dripping down his long leg. Padfoot and Moony began walking towards Hogwarts; they looked back at Prongs who remained stock still. Padfoot barked at him. Prongs took a step forward and stumbled. This was going to be a tormenting experience.

He limped all the way back to Hogwarts and fell twice. The three could easily see the pain in Prong's eyes. Padfoot signaled to Wormtail to push the knot on the Willow. Once the branches stopped flailing, Moony ran into the tree and down the passageway. The others followed him. Padfoot closed the passage. He transformed immediately and Wormtail followed.

"It's safe now, James. Just try and concentrate." Sirius said with a note of fear in his voice.

It was a bit delayed, but James transformed before collapsing into Peter's open arms.

"He shot me. I can't believe he shot me." His voice was higher than usual and tears were rolling down his dirty face from the pain. His left hand was blood stained and getting swollen. Peter and Sirius moved him to the inside of the tree and placed him carefully against the wall. James leaned his head back and closed his eyes; his right hand clutching his left forearm.

"James, I am so sorry. This is all my fault," Sirius said horrified.

"It's not your fault," James replied silently. "It's not your fault," he repeated softly, effort.

"I shouldn't have left you with Peter," Sirius with a trembling voice. "You need to see Madam Pomfrey, James."

"No, I can't. She'll ask what happened."

"That's really bad, you could lose your arm. You have to see her. Don't be stubborn!" Sirius said in a raised voice.

"Do you know what will happen to us, Sirius? We'll be expelled, sent to prison maybe. No, I can't see her. You have to help me." He started to shiver because the pain was so afflicting. He felt as though he could pass out at any moment. He didn't dare look down at it, for he feared it would sicken him.

"What are we going to do?" Peter asked with a shocked expression

"One of you has to pull the arrow out," James said. No one said anything for a moment. James looked at their faces. If he didn't feel as though dying would be better, their expressions would have caused laughter. Sirius shook his head. The sight of blood always made him nauseous. "Fine. Peter, you have to pull it out." James's jaw was beginning to quaver, his teeth began to chatter. Peter bent down next to him and placed his hand on the arrow. "Okay, just pull hard and fast," James said weakly, shutting his eyes tightly.

"Hard and fast," Peter repeated, "hard and fast." Tears were starting to form in his eyes as well. He kept hold of the arrow but did not pull. "I can't, James. I just can't. I'm sorry." He got up and stepped backwards.

"Look, I know you don't want to do it, but I can't very well walk around with an arrow sticking out of my arm. Someone pull it out." But they just stood there looking down at him. They didn't dare move.

"Fine, I'll do it myself!" and then he looked down to his left shoulder. It must have been deep down because he couldn't even see the coating of the arrow itself, only the rod. He touched his black cloak and could feel the wetness the blood made. He was glad he couldn't see the blood in the darkness. But it was too dark. "Peter, I need light."

Peter took his wand out of his pocket, "Lumos," he said and a bright light filled the small hollow of the tree.

"Right. Now I just have to pull." He looked at them and tried to smile, but decided that would require too much energy. Sirius looked terrible, Peter afraid, and he could only imagine how he looked. What Snape would give to see this, he thought. James took his right hand, placed it on the arrow, and tightened his grip. "On three," he said to himself, "One…two…" He closed his eyes and groaned, "I can't do it, I just can't. Please, one of you be brave, please, just pull. I won't hate you for it, I promise. Don't make me pull it out myself." His vision was starting to blur and he felt himself growing cold even though he was sweating.

"I'll do it. It was my fault. I just don't want to hurt you." Sirius bent down on his knees and placed his hands on the arrow. "God, this is really going to be painful, James. I am so sorry."

"It can't be worse than it going in, can it?" He gave Sirius a week grin. Sirius just stared back at him, then gave Peter a horrified expression.

"On three, James." But Sirius knew that when you expected something, you tense up for it in preparation. That would only cause the muscles to tighten and cause him more pain. "Ready. One…two" and he pulled hard an fast just as James requested. Sirius heard a ripping sound and hoped it was James's robes, but he didn't think so.

James let out a giant yell of pain. Sirius feared someone would hear him. Peter acted quickly and placed his hands over James's mouth trying to muffle the sound. Arrow still in his hand, Sirius went over to him, bent down and tried to talk to him.

"The worst is over. Calm down," he tried to sound soothing, but apparently James was not in the mood. He fought to free his head from Peter's tight grip. His face was red, tears were falling from his eyes.

"The worst is over! Why don't you try having that yanked from you. What happened to three?" he asked angrily.

Minutes passed before anyone spoke. James started to lose color from his face and his eyes began to droop; his breathing became less labored.

James was relaxing. He was still breathing heavily as laid his head back against the wall and closed his bloodshot eyes. Peter took his arms away from him and sat down beside him.

"We have to see it now," Sirius said with resignation. "You know we have to assess the damage, see how bad it is." James raised his head and looked at Sirius. "We have to."

James nodded.

Sirius dropped the arrow and leaned his hand against the tree wall above James's head. He looked down at the black cloak, which was clearly soaking with blood. Sirius slumped down onto the cold floor and contemplated his next step.

"So how do we get this off?" he asked pointing to the cloak sleeve.

"Just tear it. There's no point in trying to salvage it," he looked at Sirius and tried to grin slightly. He knew that the sight of blood was too much for him. "If you're going to be sick, just look the other way, all right?"

"Absolutely," he said with a smile. Then, very carefully, he placed his hands on the material of the cloak sleeve and tore along the seams, from the bottom, up to the shoulder. Then he was forced to look away.

"Damn, that can't be good," James said as he viewed his white, button up shirt sleeve now a deep crimson. Peter shook his head, Sirius still faced the other way, but wasn't vomiting... at least not yet.

"Now you have to tear the shirt, Sirius. C'mon, you can do this. I know you can," he tried to sound calm and collected, but he didn't want to see what was under his shirt anymore than Sirius did.

Sirius faced James again. Sirius's cheeks had a greenish hue and perspiration was emerging on his forehead. He nodded and inched forward so he could commence with the ripping. He placed his fingers on the bottom of the sleeve, which felt clammy, warm, and wet. He pulled the sleeve apart, ripping it all the way to the top. As he got closer, he shut his eyes.

"We're in trouble," Peter stated as he looked upon the exposed wound. James looked at it too. It was really bad, worse than he imagined. There was a hole surrounded by torn muscle, soaked in ever dripping warm blood. His whole arm was beginning to swell. None of them were experienced in any kind of medical care, Muggle or magical, but they knew that something had to be done.

Sirius chose not to see it. "Describe it to me, please," he requested. "I can't face it."

"Well, it's not that bad," James lied. "The arrow left a hole, kind of like a very large slit in the muscle. Pulling it out no doubt caused more damage. And it's still bleeding pretty bad. I'm going to need to cover it with bandages or something, 'til it heals."

"How do we get those?" Peter asked.

Sirius turned around and looked at it. He covered his mouth with his hand and his eyes widened considerably. Then he quickly looked at Peter.

"We have to steal some from the Hospital Wing," he told Peter. "Transform back into a rat. I'll take you to the infirmary so you can crawl under the door. Then search to make sure no one is awake and let me in. We'll take everything we'll need." Then he stood up and wiped the blood that was on his fingers onto the walls. "We'll need the cloak."

"Take it," James said, "just hurry."

Sirius and Wormtail ran back into the castle, up stairs, through halls, and down corridors without looking for a single ghost or a certain cat. Once they reached the Hospital Wing, Sirius placed Wormtail on the ground before the crack at the bottom of the door.

"First check to make sure no one is walking about or awake," he whispered. Wormtail slipped through the crevice and scurried alongside the wall. It was very quite. There was a fifth year asleep in one of the beds, but the others were empty. Wormtail ran to Madam Pomfrey's living quarters, squeezed under the door, and found her fast asleep. With that, he slipped back out, ran to the entrance door, transformed back into Peter, and opened the door to find Sirius biting his nails.

He took three steps inside, looked around, and proceeded to the medical cabinet. He set out to open it, but it creaked. Sirius took out his wand and preformed the silencing charm, then opened the cabinet.

In it was everything they needed: gauzes, cotton, bandages, tape, swabs, and disinfectants. Peter and Sirius stuffed there pockets with some of everything, closed the door, and wiped the cabinet free of their finger prints. Then they tiptoed out of the room. Peter transformed, Sirius covered himself in the cloak, and stuck Wormtail in his pocket. He checked his left side then his right to be sure that no one was there, and ran to the Whomping Willow.

Once back inside, they found James leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. He had his cloak covering the wound to try to stop the bleeding. He did not open his eyes when Peter and Sirius entered.

"James, we've got everything," Sirius said as he went to his side, placing all of the stolen medical supplies carefully in an organized fashion. Peter did the same. James pulled his head up and looked down at it all.

"Now you have put it on," he said to them weakly. He was starting to tire and he knew he had lost a lot of blood. "Just do what you think is best, and then we'll go up to the dormitories and call it a night."

"I still say you need to see-- " Sirius started, but James knew what he was going to say and interrupted him.

"I told you before, we cannot risk it. We shouldn't even be out roaming around. And you know Hagrid's going to tell Dumbledore that he shot me. Dumbledore's not stupid. He'll piece it together. And wonderful wizarding family or not, the least that would happen to us would be expulsion. We would have to live as Muggles. Think about our families, Sirius. They would be disgraced." He continued to stare into his eyes; he would not change his mind. The nurse would never know. "We promised that no one would know about us, remember Sirius? No one." He looked down at the huge supply of bandages. "So, lets get started."

* * * * *

James and Sirius were among the top minds in the school. They excelled in academics, magic, and Quidditch, but they knew nothing of dressing a wound. They did the very best that they could; a pitiful amateur's job. Peter and Sirius placed a gauze directly over the gash and wrapped bandages around it, securing it with plenty of tape. Then they put together a sling so James wouldn't have to hold it up himself. All in all, it was a pretty bad job, but it was the best they could come by.

Once again, Peter transformed and was placed in the pocket of Sirius's cloak. Sirius covered he and James under the invisibility cloak, took all the extra supplies, and made their way to the castle. James kept stumbling so Sirius nearly carried him up to the dormitories. Luckily the Fat Lady wasn't visiting another portrait. They gave her the password and entered the empty Common Room. Peter was let out of Sirius's pocket and he helped Sirius with James up to their dorm. Naturally everyone was asleep as it was two in the morning. They placed James carefully in his bed, made sure he was going to be okay, laid him on his right side, and closed the curtains around his bed.

Sirius found himself worrying as he stared at his ceiling. He could hear Peter snoring, but James was not making a sound. What would happen if anyone found out? They never accounted for something like this to happen. How could he have been so shallow? Why wasn't he there with James, helping him? It was all his fault, he knew it was. If only he had been there. He finally nodded off into a deep sleep thinking about what had happened and playing it over and over again in his mind.

James, on the other had, was wide awake. No matter what position he got into he could not get comfortable or ignore the soreness in his arm. He lay there for an hour, moving on his back and his side, but nothing mad him asleep. So he sat up. He put on his glasses and looked at the clock; it was three a.m. Then he looked down at his arm. To his shock the bandages were red; the blood was soaking through. He got up and went to his trunk. Silently, he opened it and removed the Marauder's Map and another black cloak. He closed the trunk slowly, as not to wake everyone, and placed the map on top. He picked up his wand and tapped the map. "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good," he whispered. Instantly, ink spread across the map like a spiders web and formed connecting lines that made a map of the school. James leaned forward to examine it more closely. All the teachers were in their beds, Peeves was bouncing around the dungeon, Filch was also in the dungeon, no doubt yelling at Peeves, and his cat was pacing the Charms corridor.

He needed to go somewhere that was completely private, where no one would go to no matter what. And then it hit him: Myrtle's bathroom. No one ever went there. Lily once told him that Myrtle wailed like a baby when anyone would enter, so it wasn't worth it to use that bathroom. It was the perfect location and even better; the path there was clear.

"Mischief managed," he whispered as he tapped the map again. The map vanished. He replaced it in his trunk and took out his father's invisibility cloak. He put it on, went over to his bed, reached underneath it, and took all of the stolen medical supplies which Sirius hid in a bag. James only took some; just the stuff that would fit in his pockets. Then he tiptoed out of the dormitory, down the stairs, and out of the common room to make his way for Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

He had no problems getting there. Like the map had shown, no one was patrolling this area. He pushed the bathroom door open and walked inside.

His skin erupted with goose pimples when he entered. Total and complete silence echoed from the moonlit bathed walls and floor. He shut the door and walked to the far side of the bathroom behind the sinks in the middle of the room. Here there was enough light to see, but he couldn't be seen if anyone were to come in through the door. He took off the cloak, placed it on the floor, then he emptied his pockets. Maybe now that he was a bit calmer he could dress it better than Peter and Sirius. He leaned against the wall and then slid down to the cold floor. He took off his black cloak and placed it next to him while moving the supplies closer. He did not make much noise, but apparently enough for Myrtle to hear.

"What are you doing here?" she asked in a snotty tone. "You're not a girl."

"Thanks for noticing," James replied. He removed the sling and started to unwrap the bandages; they were soaking with blood. He let them hang from his arm then he took his wand and whispered, "Accio, towels" and paper towels rushed over to him. He caught them, placed them on the floor, finished removing the bandages, and laid them on the paper towels.

"Oooohh, that looks bad!" Myrtle said with a nasty smile on her face. She moved closer to him to get a better look. "What happened to you?" James couldn't figure it out. Wasn't she supposed to be in her toilet crying? Why was she here asking questions?

"Nothing really," he told her.

"You can share my toilet if you die," she said excitedly.

"Thanks, but I don't think I'm-- " but he never finished his sentence. He heard a noise that made his heart race. Someone opened the door. Someone was in the bathroom. He stopped talking and held his breath hoping they would leave. He crossed his fingers and closed his eyes praying that they would go. Myrtle left James and went to go see who was in the bathroom.

"What do you want?" Myrtle asked in her usual, irritated way.

"Is he in here?" James knew that voice anywhere and would love to hear it anytime but now. She didn't wait for Myrtle to answer. Instead she came around the sinks and looked straight at him. Her eyes grew ten times and her mouth fell open, which she covered with her hand. She hurried over to him and kneeled down in front of him, still staring at the horrendous site.

"What happened?" she asked, worry falling from her lips.

Lily had amazing magical capabilities which were far beyond anyone he knew. As he looked at her he hoped that she couldn't read minds.

"Lily, why are you here?" This is bad. He always had a problem lying to her. He always wanted to tell her everything, but he couldn't tell her what really happened. He racked his brain for plausible stories, but none of them could result in this. Maybe if he just asked her questions she would forget about it. "How did you know I was here?" Something he was wondering.

"I don't know, I just woke up and knew I had to come down here. James, what happened to you?" she sounded concerned. James tried to hide his flattery.

"I--" what, think, say something. Anything, he had to tell her something. But nothing intelligent came to mind. He looked back at her; she was still beautiful in her pajamas. Her long red hair shone in the white moonlight and her eyes glowed. He wanted to tell her the truth. But he knew her well; she would certainly not approve. She never broke any rules so she would never approve of his roaming around at night as an illegal Animagus. He couldn't lie to her though, she would know.

"I can't tell you," he said honestly.

"Why not?" she asked in earnest.

"I just can't. I promised I wouldn't. Please understand." He gazed into her bright green eyes and smiled at her. She stared back at him with a frustrated look.

"Promised who? Sirius?"

"Yes. But he didn't do this, neither did Remus or Peter. Okay? I want to tell you, but I can't." She seemed to understand. She sighed and looked at him with some disappointment, but she didn't ask again.

"This is really bad, you know that?" She looked at the bandages on the floor. "You can't just cover a cut that deep. You need to have it looked at."

"No. Madam Pomfrey will do what you did."

"What?"

"Ask questions. It will heal on its own."

"You need stitches to seal it back up, otherwise it might take months to heal properly, and in that time it could get a bacterial infection and you could lose your arm."

"So what do you suggest?" Clearly she knew more about this than Peter or Sirius did.

"I'll need to clean it and then sew it back up and maybe-"

"What!?" This was going to far. He wasn't going to have a needle go through his skin. He was planning on fixing it himself, he didn't want someone else touching him. He started to inch away from her against the wall. "No way. I don't want you to touch me…now" he said panicking.

"Stop acting like a baby," she replied sternly. "I am trying to help you." And she started after him.

James kept shaking his head and moving along the wall. Lily kept telling him to stop. Finally James stood up very quickly only to realize that he knocked his head hard on the windowsill.

"Damn," he whispered, as he placed his right hand on his throbbing head and slid back down on the floor. "You're going to kill me. You know that?" he continued rubbing the top of his head as he watched her lean down and pick up his wand. She went over to get a paper towel, came back and waved the wand over it while mumbling some words. Instantly the towel transformed into a cold ice pack which she placed on his head.

"Now just relax," she commanded him. Then she took his hand and placed it on top of his head to hold the pack in place.

"Why is everyone so concerned about my relaxation?" he asked sarcastically. She didn't respond. She began rummaging through the various supplies and waving his wand here and there. She transfigured useless things into a bowl, a sponge, and for some reason she transfigured a cotton ball into shiny string; it almost looked liquid. She seemed to have an idea of what she was doing.

"What are you going to do?" he asked her.

"First I have to clean and flush out the wound, then-"

"Wait a minute..." He knew from experience that it would always cause him pain whenever his mother would put the tiniest amount of soap on a small cut. She had always told him that he had a low pain tolerance, and he knew he did, but one does not admit that to the girl one loves. "I don't want to sound rude, but how do you know what to do?"

"My father is a doctor."

"But he's not here. Does it carry on in the genome or something?"
"No," she sounded like she was getting a little irritated, "but he always talked about his patients and what he did with them. I listen to my parents when they tell me something. Anyway, I know the Muggle ways seem, well, barbaric to you, but they do work. I know a spell that might help if you'll just trust me and let me help you." She said all of this while looking into his eyes, anticipating that he would have a cute remark to fight her with. But he didn't say anything; she was trying to help him. The situation could be worse; actually as he was thinking about it, there was a very positive way to view this. The girl of his dreams was inches away from him, and she was going to fix him up so that he wasn't wishing he was dead.

"I need to clean this, as I was saying before, otherwise it could get infected. Then I need to stitch it up. No," she saw the panic on his face, "I am not going to use a needle. I read in a book that I can guide this string," she pointed to the once cotton ball, now clear string, "in and out to sew it up with a wand. If done to perfection, which I won't be able to do because I have never done this before, it should close seamlessly. We'll just have to see how it turns out."

"Sounds…good," he told her, "I'm sorry that I was short with you, I get a bit-"

"Cranky?," she asked with a smile. She got up and took her bowl to the sink and filled it with water.

"Yeah, sorry." He smiled back at her. She came over to him, put the sponge into the bowl, and placed a little soap on it.

"This is warm water. I admit that it will probably sting, but it will feel a lot better when everything is finished, I promise."

"I trust you," he said and she placed it on the wound. It did sting, a lot. He was trying very hard not to wince; he didn't want to seem like a pansy around her. As she was cleaning it, she began to talk.

"So, you won't tell me what happened?" She smiled guiltily and looked up at him.

James shook his head.

"How is it that no matter what you do, you manage to find trouble?"

"What do you mean?" he asked skeptically.

"I remember a time at the end our second year, you and Sirius locked some Slytherins inside the train compartment with dung bombs and you wouldn't let them out."

James beamed. "Yeah, those were the times," he said. "Just so you know, I don't actually go looking for trouble. I just like to have some fun."

She finished cleaning and put the red sponge back into the bowl. Then she picked up a towel and dried it thoroughly. She grabbed the string and his wand and started to place it on the now clean cut.

"That fun is going to get you expelled one day." She put one end of the string on the top edge of the open wound and laid the rest to the side. She started moving the wand in a zigzag pattern above it and magically the string inserted itself in and out of the edges of the wound. James only felt pressure, not pain.

"They're not going to expel me," he said with a chuckle.

"Oh yeah? What makes you so sure?"

"My father is an Auror, a good one. He's put Mansonia, and Kazink in Azkaban. They're not going to expel me."

"Your dad caught them?"

"Yep," he said proudly.

"Why didn't you tell me that before?"

"You never asked." She gave him a funny look, then returned her attention back to the mending.

"There. Finished." It did look a lot better. I was still quite sore, but nothing like it was ten minutes ago. "It isn't perfect, there is still a small line to show that it was there. When done correctly it would show no signs of an injury."

"It looks great. It feels better, too," and that it did. "Your father would be proud."

She smiled at him. "Now, the material of the string will dissolve magically when it has completely healed, that way we won't have to remove it. I will still have to put a wrap around it to stop the blood from getting every where, but it really shouldn't bleed very much anymore." She picked up some bandages and wrapped them securely around his arm, not to tight and not loose, just perfect. As she was doing so, she leaned closer to him.

"How's the head?"

"Well, I hit the windowsill fairly hard." He took off the ice pack and put it on the floor.

"I know what to do," she said with a grin. "My mother did it to us when we bumped our heads." She got real close to him and looked straight into his eyes.

"What?" he asked somewhat nervously

"This," she put her hands through his hair on both sides of his head, closed her eyes, and gently kissed him on the forehead.

His heart beat rapidly. He didn't know what to do about it, he just knew he liked it and didn't want to say anything that would mess up the entire situation.

She leaned back and looked at him. "Better?" she whispered.

"Yes," he weakly whispered back. To his disappointment she got up and started to pick up the mess. She put the spare materials in a pile, then placed them in his cloak pocket. She transfigured all of her medical equipment into small cotton balls and threw them away.

"You're not going to leave now, are you?" he asked, hoping he didn't sound anxious or desperate.

"Not if you don't want me to," she replied kindly.

"I do." He shook his head and squinted. "I mean I don't."

"All right, but it's very late. We really shouldn't be in here, you know? It's against the rules to be out at night." She walked toward him and sat down in front of him, leaning her back against his chest.

Now his heart felt like it might just explode out of his chest and soar across the room. He couldn't believe how lucky he got. Sirius would be dying if he could see this. But what to do now? He really wanted to put his arms around her, that's what he wanted to do. 'Course the actual action was slightly more difficult. He slowly moved his right arm from his side and fixed it around her waist, but she took his hand and held it in her's face up. That was odd, why did she do that?

She moved her head back so that it was touching his, and looked down at his palm.

"You have a short life line," she said lightly.

"What?"

"You heard me," she said with a light laugh. "You have a short life line."

"What are you saying, I'm going to croak right here and now?" She looked up at him and smiled, then turned and continued to stare at his hand.

"No, I'm just saying. I actually don't think that your life line has anything to do with how long your going to live. I don't believe in that nonsense."

He moved his hand and held hers and turned it face up.

"Your's is just as long as mine," he said truthfully.

"Which means it's longer," she replied knowledgeably.

"What? How did you come up with that?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Your hand is bigger than mine."

"So?"

"So, if your line is the same size as mine, and my hand is smaller, then that means that according to the laws of proportion, my line is longer."

James couldn't help but laugh a little. "You're crazy," he said quietly and kissed her head. "It seems that you'll only live a little longer. Sirius has a really long line, despite Trelawny predicting his death every day."

"I've never asked you before, but how long have you known him?"

"I don't have a memory without him. He has been my best friend since before I can remember. We lived on the same street, our mothers are friends, and we seemed to have the same interests. At least that's what they say. What kind of interests do toddlers have?" It was true, he didn't have a single memory without Sirius being in it. Christmas's, birthdays, average days, nothing without him.

"I don't remember ever seeing one of you alone. I was shocked to find you here by yourself," she said. "You're lucky that you have such a good friend, not many people have someone that close to them."

"I know. I love him like a brother." She smiled up at him as he said this.

"I wish, that I had somebody I could tell everything to. Someone that understood me, could read my expressions and give me advice when I needed it."

"I thought you had a sister."

"I do," she said with almost and unsure tone in her voice. She took his hand back and placed it around her waist. "She's four years older than me. I'm afraid she doesn't like me very much."

"Lily, everyone likes you. She must love you, she's your sister."

Lily's face went momentarily red after his comment, but he didn't notice in the dark.

"She hates me. Always has, always will. It will never change."

"How do you know that she hates you?"

"Let me see if I can quote her on that. 'You're such a freak. If I never see or hear from you again, my dreams would come true. I don't want you to play any role in my life.' She has never liked me, never," she said sadly.

"Why not?" he asked.

"She's just a cold heartless..." She cut herself off, turned to see his face, and shrugged instead.

"Sorry," he said quietly. "She doesn't sound very nice."

"Oh she's not," she said. "You're very right about that."

"You don't need her," he said. "You're fine standing alone without a sister. You're strong, and kind," looking away from her and to the floor. He was hoping flattery would earn him some brownie points. "I mean even that sorry, good-for-nothing, grease ball, Snape, is decent around you. And he's a prat to everyone living."

She laughed at his description of Snape and turned to look at him. This time he slowly moved his left arm carefully, because it was still sore, around her waist. She didn't seem to mind.

"Why do you hate him so much, anyway?" she asked curiously.

"Well, in our second year, Sirius, Remus, and I were just walking down the corridor minding our own business," he said with half a smile, "when around the corner we found Snape and Douglas picking on Peter. Now mind you, Peter was pretty short and squirrelly and couldn't really defend himself, while Snape was just the opposite. We never really liked Snape in the first place, but that put the icing on the cake. So we went to Peter's aid, insulted Snape's mother, and got Peter out of a jam. Snape's been just the same ever since."

"I had no idea he did that, he was always somewhat decent to me."

"Well, everyone's nice to you, aren't they?" he said truthfully.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked defensively, and turned around with challenge on her face.

"Because in all the years I've known you, you've never said a foul word of anyone. You're amazing Lily. If there was a day that I felt horrible for one reason or another, just having you walk into the room made everything fine again. There's an aura about you that's like a very mysterious and mystical magic that no one has discovered, or could possibly explain." He looked into her eyes endlessly and she stared back with a deep longing. He had been waiting to say that for a very long time, and now he finally had.

"You're so beautiful. You're the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, and I-"

"Shut up," she whispered.

"What?" and then it happened, slowly but surely. She took her left hand and put it around his face and leaned in closer to him, and he did the same. It was a very soft and gentle kiss at first. Both their eyes were closed and they lost all sense around them. Then they fell into it. Everything else began to haze, the only thing they felt was each other. Magic surrounded them from all directions. Nothing could disturb or distract them. Certainly not Moaning Myrtle who was crying loudly in her stall, not the howling of werewolves outside, nor the opening of the bathroom door which allowed the entrance of Filch's cat.

She sauntered into the room and stared at the two of them kissing. She let out a loud "Meow," when Lily pulled away from James and fathomed the cat.

"We have problems," he said in an all-to-calm way.

"We need to go," Lily said in a panic.

"Can't, it's too late." He reached over and grabbed his invisibility cloak and began to unfold it.

"What is that?" she asked with a pointed finger.

"Shhh, just come in closer to me. Move your legs in tight so I can cover us completely." When she complied, he threw the cloak over the two of them, just as Filch entered.

"What is it, my sweet?" he asked in his creepy, drawling voice. He walked in with a lantern held above his head and a bag of cleaning solutions and potions, which he set on the floor. It was inches from Lily's feet.

Lily's heart was beating rapidly and her breathing was loud and shallow. James quietly took his hand from around her waist and covered her mouth.

Filch was now scanning the bathroom. He checked every stall and looked in every corner.

"What are you doing in here?" Myrtle asked rudely.

"Looking for students out of bed," he replied sinisterly.

"There's no one in here but me. No one ever comes in here to see me. I am always alone!" and she began wailing very loudly. Filch rolled his eyes and started for the door.

"C'mon my sweet. There's no one in here," he said as started for the exit, his cat in tow. With lantern in hand, he pushed the door, let the cat out first, then followed her out.

James waited a while 'til he was sure that they were far from hearing range. Then he removed the cloak and lay it on the floor.

"I never knew you had an invisibility cloak," she said with a pleasant smile.

"Family heirloom. We should go."

Lily got up first then gave James a help up. He picked his supplies and cloak and put them inside his black one.

"That was close," he said.

"Yes it was," she said as she leaned forward and kissed him. She put her arms around his shoulders and looked up into his blue eyes with a broad smile. He put his arms around her waist and smiled back.

Neither one of them could ever remember being so happy. James had wished for this moment for so long. And like before, they were lost in the emotions of each other, not hearing or seeing anything around them.

The bathroom door opened again. They broke away to see Filch standing before them. He had forgotten his bag of cleaning potions.

"Well, well, well. What have we here?"

******

"Never have I been more disappointed in two Gryffindor students as I am at this very instant." Filch, being the most wonderful caretaker in existence, woke McGonagall to inform her that two of her students were caught kissing in the girls bathroom at 3 o'clock in the morning. She was furious. James and Lily found themselves standing before her in her office, which conveniently enough was in her classroom. Her desk, which she was standing behind, was located on a raised platform. James and Lily were down at the bottom, as if being condemned for a capital offence.

"You both know the rules of this school. Students are not allowed to be out of their dormitories at night. And kissing in the girls bathroom! I am ashamed. You cannot behave in such a barbaric manner just because you are the Quidditch captain," she said sternly as she looked at James, "or house prefect," she said as she glared at Lily. "Rules are rules and you broke them deliberately." For a brief moment she simply stared at the two of them. James was trying to look as though he felt guilty, but inside himself little voices were shouting for joy, and orchestras were playing triumphant music inside his mind. He kissed the woman he loved, nothing could bring him down.

Lily, on the other hand, had never in her life been in trouble; she was not taking it easily. Her head was hanging low and she was fighting a tear which was bursting to drip down her beautiful face. James saw her in the corner of his eye and wanted more than anything to hold and comfort her, but couldn't. McGonagall wasn't finished.

"Miss Evans, I am very disappointed in you. You are one of the best students in this school. You have never disobeyed anyone or crossed a line. You are a role model to all students below you. People look to you for advice and an example of how to be great students at Hogwarts." She looked at Lily hardheartedly, who looked as though she could burst into tears at any moment.

"And you, Mr. Potter, in all my years of teaching I have never encountered a student who gets in more trouble. Do the rules not apply to you? Frankly I am surprised that Mr. Black is not involved in this. People in this school look up to you as well, Potter. You are very bright, I don't know why you can't learn common sense and stay out of trouble." He had heard this speech dozens of times and really didn't need to hear it again. He kept thinking of how he could have lived in that moment with Lily forever, not caring about anything else but her.

"You will both receive detentions for you're actions. And since you are so fond of the bathroom, I suggest you clean them, all of them, tomorrow evening."

He was expecting this, but it could have been worse. In his third year, he and Sirius had snuck into the Slytherin dormitories by following a student in while wearing the cloak, and placed bombs inside the toilets. When as Slytherin would flush, it would back fire instead. The plan was ingenious and hilarious, but unfortunately they had been charged with the crime. Someone snitched on them, they never found out who, but they were forced to clean the bathroom without magic. It was the worst detention ever. This was easy by comparison.

"In addition, 20 points will be taken from Gryffindor," she continued.

"What! That's an outrage! We weren't hurting anyone. No one was in danger!" he almost yelled.

"20 points each." James dropped his mouth. He looked over at Lily who was in total shock. She had always gained points, never lost them.

"Professor, that's not fair. There is no reason to take 40 points away. Kissing is not a crime!"

"Congratulations, Mr. Potter, you have just lost another ten points," she said nonchalantly. "And while we're on the subject, what were you doing in a girls bathroom, hmmm? Or was that just a rendezvous point?" He kept silent. He was certainly not going to tell her the truth. He knew McGonagall was secretly pleased about them finally getting together, she was just not going to let down her disciplinary facade for anyone.

"I don't know what your problem is with authority, Potter, but you need to work on your smart mouth," she said in a cool tone and continued to stare down at him with her eyes above her spectacles.

"I'm sorry, Professor," James said. She just turned around to get her robe, and then James mouthed at her back, "No I'm not!" just before she faced them again. He caught Lily grin in the corner of his eye.

"Since you two cannot behave like sixth years, I will escort you to Gryffindor tower."

Walking behind her back to the tower, Lily was bold enough to break the silence with a question: "Will you be writing to our parents, Professor?"

"Absolutely, Miss Evans." Lily put both of her hands over her eyes. She was dreading that the most. Her perfect record, smashed.

"Password?" the Fat Lady asked.

"Nevermore," McGonagall answered. She signaled for Lily and James to enter, then she followed them in. "Up to your dormitories," she commanded them as she pointed to the stairs.

They both made their way silently up the stairs, aware that McGonagall was watching them. When they reached the entrance to the sixth year dormitories, they looked at each other, opened their separate doors, and went in. After closing the door softly behind him, James waited with bated breath and listened closely to hear the portrait door close. It took a while, though. McGonagall was probably waiting for the two of them to run out of each door and fall into each other's arms. But to her disappointment they didn't, so she left. As soon as the portrait closed, James opened the door to find that Lily had done the same. He went up to her, put her hands in his, pulled her to him and kissed her.

"Goodnight, Lily," he said, "Thanks for making this night the greatest night of my life."

"You're very welcome," she said. And taking her hands out of his, and placing them on his face, she kissed him once more before saying goodnight. Then she turned, opened the door, went inside and watched him as she closed it slowly.

James let out a huge sigh, smiled a great smile to himself, turned to his door, opened it, and went inside. When he left it he was a miserable, single man. Now he was the happiest man on earth with greatest girl in the world.

Everyone was asleep. He was thinking about waking Sirius to tell him the news, but thought it could wait 'til morning. All he wanted to do was dream of her. He went over to his four-poster, removed the stolen medical supplies and his invisibility cloak and put them in his trunk. Then, after taking off his round glasses, he crashed into bed, turned on his stomach, and smiling into his pillow, fell into a deep sleep.