James walked into the Great Hall and took a seat next to Sirius and a third year James didn't know. James, himself, was a seventh year Gryfinndor. James looked around for his other friends Remus and Peter to come in to the Great Hall.
Sirius turned to James and whispered, "It's that time of month again, Prongs." James nodded and continued eating his breakfast.
Soon after, Peter walked in looking very tired. Peter was more of a fan of James than a friend. None the less, James appreciated his friendship usually.
Peter clumsily walked towards James and Sirius. He stumbled to a seat across the table and moaned, "G'morning."
"Why are you so tired, Peter?" Sirius said.
"I was up all night studying for the Potions exam today," Peter muttered, "Why weren't you two?"
"We decided not to study for it. We thought we'd just skive off, and take it some other time." James said.
James and Sirius then decided to leave and not face the lecture they were sure to get when Remus got there. They made their way to Transfiguration, which was taught by their favorite teacher, Professor Dumbledore. They also liked Transfiguration very much since they were so good at it. In their fifth year James and Sirius had learned to become Animagus'.
"Tonight should be a lot of fun James," Sirius whispered, "You do still have that cloak and the map, right?" James nodded and they walked into the classroom and chose some seats in the back.
James replied in a hushed voice, "I've got the map and Invisibility Cloak. Does Wormtail know tonight's the night. He's our way to get in." Sirius nodded.
"Okay everyone, quiet down now it's time to start class."
Sirius and James quieted down and started working on transforming their chairs into phoenixes.
After a long, hard class James and Sirius got up and left. They had both successfully transfigured their chairs, but not until near the end of class. James and Sirius both had a free period then so they decided they would go cause some havoc around the school.
On their way up to the third corridor, they had found the perfect victim: Severus Snape. Severus and James were mortal enemies, it seemed to always be that way, and Sirius despised Severus almost as much...
"SNIVELLUS!" Sirius yelled, "Oh Snivellus, over here."
Severus turned sharply, his mouth thin and his face showing a grim look. Severus was a nasty looking person. His jet-black hair was greasy and covered his entire forehead. He never seemed to be happy. Without warning, Snape yelled "PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!"
Severus had made the quick first move, but his aim was off and a jet of light shot down the hall. Taking his chance Sirius and James simultaneously yelled, "Tarentagala!"
Severus was forced to dance, which his classmates, James and Sirius found very amusing. They all broke into laughter, terribly embarrassing and enraging Severus. Severus, without warning, yelled, "Crucio!"
This time James was directly hit. James fell to the ground and started screaming. Severus also fell to the floor from fatigue. Sirius and the students were gasping, they were surprised to see an unforgivable curse used right in front of their eyes. Teachers came bolting in from every direction. The screams of James had echoed throughout the school and soon there was a huge crowd, which likely consisted of the entire school. Lily Evans pushed her way to the front so that she could help James. Lily was James' girlfriend, and soon to be wife.
Headmaster Dippet made his way through the crowd to see the horrible scene. There was Severus, lying on the ground his feet still dancing. Then there was James, lying on the ground still writhing in pain. Dippet tried to get order in the hall, but could not. Dippet thought it'd be best if everyone returned to classes except for James and Severus. Dippet told the teachers, and slowly, but surely, the hall was almost completely empty.
"Run along now Sirius." Dippet said. Before Sirius could say anything, Dippet read his mind and said, "I'll deal with Severus accordingly. You need not worry, now get to class."
Sirius begrudgingly left, only doing so with hopes of Snape being expelled from Hogwarts. After Sirius was long gone Dippet swiftly moved to Snape and started scolding and questioning him.
"What were you thinking?! You know that the Crucio curse is an Unforgivable Curse! Ministry officials and Dementors will be all over Hogwarts coming to get you and throw you in Azkaban!"
Severus and James both shuddered at the thought of Azkaban. Azkaban was the most horrible place in the wizarding world. Convicts went in young and energetic, and came out looking lifeless and old.
Dippet turned to James, "And you! What did you do to aggravate Severus so badly that he would use an unforgivable curse?"
James calmly responded, slightly wincing in the stinging pain left in his back, "I did nothing. He tried to petrify me, but missed. Then me and Sirius performed a simple dancing foot charm on him, and he went berserk and shot the Crucio curse at me."
Dippet turned to Severus and asked, "Is this true?" Severus just sat there, not answering, hoping it all would just go away.
Dippet's voice became much softer and told Snape, "I'm afraid I'll have to expel you Severus. Hogwarts rules clearly state that the performing any illegal magic will result in expulsion."
Snape started laughing. It seemed as though he was either going crazy. Snape said, "You'll get yours when the Dark Lord finishes his transformations! I will personally see to it." Snape smirked and ran down the corridor. Dippet swiftly followed him down the corridor and out of James' site. James decided he should probably go down to the Madam Pompfry.
James limped along the quiet corridors to the Hospital wing. James walked in and found that no one was there. James sat on a bed and lied down. James was about to doze off when he remembered, tonight was the big night of the month! James got up and left since he knew Madam Pompfry would keep him through the night. James wandered the corridors, trying to get to the Great Hall quickly for lunch, so he could talk with Sirius, Remus, and Peter. James was relieved when he saw Sirius and Remus sitting at Gryfinndor table conversing quietly. James then wondered- what happened to Peter? Thinking it'd be best to worry about that later, James went over to the table, and grabbed a plate of chicken next to Sirius. James, Remus, and The Great Hall was filled with the voices of students telling fantastic stories of how Snape had killed someone. Sirius chose that the Great Hall wouldn't be the best place to discuss their escape and headed up to the common room. They whispered the password to the Fat Lady, "Grindelwald". James was relieved to find the common Room deserted. James just hoped that it would stay this way until they had to leave, which would be soon now, since sunset was in half an hour. James, Sirius and Remus went to fetch the Marauder's Map, that they had created in their fifth year, and James' invisibility cloak, which his father had passed down to him. The three boys slipped the cloak over themselves, which used to fit all of them perfectly, but now was a very tight fit. They crept down the corridors occasionally checking to see if anyone was close by on the Marauder's Map. They made their way past the Great Hall and opened the door a crack, and crept outside. They made their way across the grounds to the Whomping Willow. Sirius picked up a stick and tapped the root. The tree relaxed, allowing them to slip into the small hole in the tree trunk leading to the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade. James turned into a Stag, while Sirius turned into a big, black dog, referred to as a grim. The odd looking trio slid down into the hole, moving at a quick pace to beat the moon. They arrived at the Shrieking shack just in time, Lupin's eyes began to turn yellow. His body was covered in thick fur, and he grew twice his normal size.