13.- Fair warnings.

The Marauders worked hard on changing the dark future, and even if Peter couldn't believe he would become a Death Eater, they didn't care. They spent a lot of time in the library, looking for information, which was easily hidden within the pretense of studying for their exams that were coming close, and at night, when the others were sleeping, they practiced. That became the new routine during the exams period, but they had to stop when they started their testing.

Through the whole week, they were all very nervous; after all they were the OWLs, and everyone was worried about them. The Marauders and the trio were no exception, although they turned out to be easier than expected for Harry, especially with potions. Since Snape wasn't teaching those, the test seemed easier and less tense. They were all waiting anxiously for the DADA exam.

The fact that Professor 'Smith' was kind and understanding, reassured them that he wouldn't be too hard on them. They were right. They had to tell him everything they knew about dementors; something most of them thought was pretty difficult, but the professor had made it easy to understand. When the trio heard about that, they relaxed; they knew all about dementors, especially Harry that even knew how to fight against them. But, when it was their turn to take the test, they were not so glad.

"Hermione Granger!" They heard Snuffles call her (the Marauders had stayed behind to see how they did on their test).

"Good luck, Hermione." Said Ron and Hermione.

"Thanks." She answered before disappearing through the door.

"I don't know why we bother wishing her luck, she doesn't need it." Said Ron. "She knows everything to perfection."

"Yeah, especially about dementors." Assured Harry.

"What I don't understand is why the three of you are taking the test apart from the rest of us."

"We don't know either." Assured the two of them.

"Maybe he's going to make it easier for you." Affirmed Sirius.

"Or more difficult." Added Remus.

Ten minutes later, Professor Smith looked outside and smiled when he saw the children.

"You can all come in, Hermione has finished. Your turn now, Ron."

The seven of them went in, wondering what it all was about. It was impossible to finish the exam they had had to do before in only twenty minutes, some of them had needed several hours to finish it! Once inside, they saw a very annoyed Hermione.

"That wasn't fair, Snuffles! It's not even on OWLs level!" She complained.

"Don't complain about it; other wizards and witches your age are already able to do it." The man answered.

"Not any other wizards and witches! Harry! Harry is the only one who is able to do what you asked."

"What's wrong?" Asked Ron.

"My exam! He wanted me to summon a Patronus!" She answered.

"Ouch, he expects a lot from you, Hermione."

"From us. That's your test too." She said.

"What!?" He cried astounded. "You must be kidding!"

"No, I'm not, Ron. That's your test." Said Snuffles.

"But why don't we have the same exam as the others?"

"Because you know much more about dementors than the others." He answered. "Go ahead."

Ron tried for 15 minutes, and finally, he got a silver cloud that adopted a slight form that you could barely discern as a horse. While he was at it, the Marauders looked at him with admiration.

"Very well done, Ron. You took a bit longer than Hermione, but you did it." Said Snuffles. "Your turn, Harry."

The boy stepped forward calmly and took out his wand. Before he had the chance to say anything, Snuffles stopped him.

"No, Harry, I want you to summon your patronus without your wand."

"Without my wand!?"

"Yes, without your wand. This is a test, it's supposed to be difficult, and it won't be if I ask you to do something you've been able to do since you third year."

"But I've never tried to do it without my wand! I'll never be able to do that."

"You must. Remember the talk we had, and remember we have been practicing with smaller spells."

"But this is not a small spell! With your wand it's nearly a NEWTs spell!"

"And you've been able to do it since your third year." Said Snuffles easily.

"I only learned it because I needed to defend myself!" He protested.

"I don't care, Harry. This is your test, and that's all."

"That's not fair."

"Actually, yes it is. Now summon the patronus. Take your time, we're not in a hurry."

Harry sighed, resigned to his fate. From the moment he had said without wand, he knew he would have to do it, after all, he knew his godfather very well. So, he closed his eyes for a moment, and then he started to concentrate, just as he had learned to do thanks to his godfather. Then he started to think about a happy memory, his happy memory and through his mind he started to chant the patronus incantation. When he was completely sure, he said the incantation out loud.

"Expecto Patronum!" He said, his hand raised.

A golden light started to envelop his arm and it started to gather. Two seconds later, a silvery cloud came out of his hand, concentrating in front of him and forming a visible figure: a stag, a beautiful silver stag.

Everyone in the classroom looked in awe towards the noble animal. No one except for Hermione had ever seen Harry's patronus, and they were astounded at the sight. Even the girl was surprised since she had only seen a reflection of it, and she had been too angry to look at it properly.

"It's even more beautiful than I remembered." Assured Hermione. "Much more."

"It's gorgeous, Harry." Said Lily, while the boys nodded.

Harry smiled tiredly, before collapsing in the nearest chair and the patronus vanished. He was feeling very, very tired. The patronus was a tiring spell with a wand, and doing it without one it had left him completely exhausted.

"Very well done, Harry! You've done it perfectly!" Said Snuffles. "If you're able to summon a patronus without your wand, you'll be able to do any spell you learn. You've finished your tests, you should go to the tower and sleep for a bit."

"Yes, I'll do that, I feel like I could sleep for a year." Assured Harry.

Some time later, the eight were walking towards the tower. Harry was falling asleep on his feet, and the other seven had to keep an eye on him. They weren't surprised that he was asleep as soon as he lay down on his bed. Truth be told, Ron and Hermione were also very tired, but they were able to wait until it was time for bed. Harry didn't wake up to go to dinner and he was lucky next day was Saturday, because it was already mid- morning when he woke up.

"Good morning." He said when he came down into the Common Room.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty." Greeted Sirius when he saw him. "You've been asleep since yesterday, soon it will be time to go to lunch."

"Already? I didn't know it was so late."

"Yes." Smiled Sirius, while he moved one of his rooks while playing against Ron."

"Mmm. bad move." Said Harry. "What time is it?"

"Half past twelve. Why is it a bad move?"

"That's why." Smiled Ron. "Check."

"Damn!" Growled Sirius while Harry and Ron started laughing.

"How are you feeling?" Asked Lily.

"As good as new."

During the rest of the day, they played chess to see if they would manage to win against the redhead, but to no avail. The best of them was Harry, who had played so often against his friend that he had got much better; beside, he knew how the other boy played. Soon, when Harry played, everyone came to see how he was doing.

"Sorry, Harry. Check." Said Ron with a smile.

"I knew it, there's no way to win against you in chess." Sighed Harry.

"But you've got much better. I still remember the first time we played!"

"Don't remind me... that shouldn't even be considered a game."

"Ok, who's next?" Asked Lily.

"I'm next." Assured James. "This time you're not going to beat me."

Harry smiled at those words, but he stood up, giving him his place. They started the game, and soon it was obvious who was going to win: Ron. From the beginning, he led the game and started to take out a lot of James' pieces. But this time, Harry wasn't paying attention; he was restless, like something inside him was telling him something was going wrong, very wrong. He walked closer to the window and looked outside. Without noticing, he touched his scar. Hermione saw the movement and became worried.

"Harry, what's wrong?"

"Something's wrong, Hermione, but I don't know what yet."

"You've gone pale."

"It's nothing."

They both stayed still, looking out of the window. It's like they knew that whatever was bothering them, it would appear down there. All the while, Ron continued to play, not paying attention.

"Ouch!" Suddenly Harry started to feel an insistent pain. His scar was burning.

"Harry!" Cried Hermione, scared.

Ron, James, and the rest of the Marauders looked around when they heard Hermione's cry, only to see Harry grabbing his forehead. While the Marauders didn't understand what was going on, Ron paled.

"James, I give up." Said Ron while standing up and running towards Harry. "Harry, what's going on?"

"Just what you're thinking." He answered.

"But... but He can't be here, right? This place was supposed to be safe, he shouldn't be able to find you here."

"Well, it seems there's no safe place as long as Lord Voldemort stays alive." He answered through clenched teeth.

"What are you going to do?" Asked Hermione.

"Same as last year, but this time, I'm not going to run away."

"But Harry! You can't do that!" Said Ron. "It's too dangerous!"

"You know what, Ron? I don't care." He said calmly. "I'm tired of this game, never again will I run away. This ends now"

And after that, the lad turned around and left, following his senses towards Voldemort. All the while, his friends were looking at him, scared, and with a simple glance, they both knew what they had to do. Two seconds later, they followed their friend, and were at the same time followed by the Marauders. Half away, they saw Snuffles.

"Ron, Hermione, what's wrong?"

"He's here, and Harry has gone after him." Said Ron without even stopping.

"What!? Why didn't you stop him!?" He questioned them, scared.

"Get real, do you think it would have helped?" Asked Hermione. "We tried to tell him, but he didn't even listen to us."

They didn't say anything else, and when they reached the gardens, they saw what they had tried to prevent. Lord Voldemort was standing with his Death Eaters in front of Harry, who was looking at him challenging.

To be continued...