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Call of the Wild

James had only an instant to act, and what he did he could only explain later as completely instinctual. As the werewolf took off from the ground and soared through the air, it headed straight at where Lily was perched on the end of the wall.

James grabbed her with only a split second to spare, using his momentum to take them clear of the wall and flowerbed, and they landed, rather solidly, on the grass, entwined, and rolled to a stop.

The werewolf continued its flight through the air, scattering Sirius and Peter noisily to both sides. James cursed under his breath. There was a chance they may have been overlooked by the wolf, but not now they'd succeeded in making so much noise.

The beast shook its shaggy mane, as though trying to dislodge the impact of hitting the concrete after it's fast trajectory course. Cautiously it sniffed the air to both sides, first to Peter's, then Sirius'. James had no idea where they were anymore, the coin idea had been discarded the first second that the werewolf had howled. He prayed that they were getting as far away from it as possible.

He extricated himself quickly from Lily. They had to get her to safety, her forehead was scraped and bleeding, James couldn't remember that happening, but it had all the same. She didn't look in any fit state to even stand up though. He hefted her into his arms, his skinny frame bracing against her weight, and turned to find the werewolf again. If there was a chance he could get her actually into Hogwarts then he could come back to help the others.

It was nowhere to be seen. The worst-case scenarios flicked through James' head; maybe it was in Hogwarts? Maybe it had gone after Peter or Sirius and was right now doing something unmentionable. He felt the blood drain from his face at the mere thought.

James hurried, stumbling as fast as he could whilst holding Lily in his arms. She opened her eyes briefly, but quickly shut them again as it appeared she was just floating in midair. He placed her gently just inside the door, making sure her head didn't hit the stone painfully. She moaned slightly before lying still. He eyed her worriedly.

"I'll be back," he whispered, somewhat apologetically, but wasn't sure whether she heard him.

He exited the doors and found a smear of blood across the grey stone. Please not Peter or Sirius.

James glanced around the immediate vicinity trying to pinpoint where the werewolf had gone; he had to find out whether Sirius or Peter had been taken with it. Nothing met his gaze, but on the edges of his hearing he could sense a commotion coming from his left. It was very distant, or very muffled, he was uncertain, but a lot of noise none-the-less.

A tingling started inexplicably in his fingertips. James glanced down to see the rounded crescents of his fingernails becoming visible in the moonlight. The potion was wearing off.

He found himself on the edge of a clearing, peering through the dense tree trunks he spotted the werewolf clawing at the bark of a tree on the opposite side of the clearing. After a few moments of watching, James could distinguish stones being thrown out of the trees braches at the werewolf, only succeeding in making it angrier. That had to be Peter; Sirius would be somewhere about, maybe in another tree, formulating some sort of plan. He wouldn't have deserted Peter.

A small part wondered where Remus was in all this, hoping he was safe and out of harm's way. They would have to talk to him tomorrow. If they ever made it to tomorrow.

James could see his entire hand now, as well as his feet. His arms and legs were fast appearing too.

"Hello, mate," murmured a voice close to his right.

James jumped, albeit imperceptibly. "Sirius. We need to get Peter out of there."

"I know," agreed his friend. "Easier said than done though. "I can't remember a thing about werewolves."

"We were only taught about them last year," reminded James.

"Exactly, ages ago."

The werewolf growled in rage, and clawed higher up the tree. James thought quickly. "Ok, we have two options. We distract the werewolf and run like hell-"

"Which would probably get us killed," interjected Sirius.

James nodded, although his friend couldn't see. "Or we wait for the rest of us to appear and I use my wand."

"You've had your wand all this time and haven't used it?!" exclaimed Sirius in complete disbelief.

"You can't use an invisible wand," defended James.

"In theory," Sirius corrected. "In practise?"

"I haven't tried," admitted his friend digging in his pocket for the comforting mahogany wand. He pointed the wand at the werewolf cautiously. "Diffindo Corpal!" he cried. The jinx hit the werewolf across its shoulders, splitting the flesh open into a wide gash. The wolf whimpered in pain, spinning to face the new threat. When it caught scent of James and Sirius' odours, the haunches went up and it growled menacingly, apparently unperturbed by the pain of its back.

"Stun it, you idiot," hissed Sirius.

"Impedimenta!"

The wolf slowed but didn't stop. "Peter, quick!" yelled Sirius, his hair slowly appearing in the darkness. It was eerie seeing only his arms, most of his legs, and his hair, reflected James absently.

The three boys took off together across the grass, Peter lagged behind though. It seemed he had a limp. The two dark-haired boys dropped back and chivvied him along, always keeping a watchful eye on the entrance to the Forbidden Forest.

Finally they arrived, flushed and panting, on the stone tiles directly outside the entrance hall. The better part of their bodies were now visible, for which James was thankful. He didn't feel as stupid talking to thin air now.

"Oh! I forgot the girl!" he exclaimed suddenly. Peter still had his hands on his knees and was panting, Sirius looked up sharply though.

"What did you do with her?"

James pushed the double doors open. "I put her just here…" he trailed off. The last person they wanted to see was standing over the unconscious form of Lily Evans.

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I promise that's the last cliff-hanger for a while, I just couldn't resist this one!

Child-of-scorpio – here is the next chapter! I will try and update as quickly as possible to avoid the what-happened-to-the-rest-of-this-story syndrome. Hope you enjoy it! :)

ItsLilyFlower2U – thank you, your review was much appreciated! I hope you liked this chapter as well.

Madame-knight – yes, this story's flowing rather easier than some of my others at the moment, so I might as well take advantage of it :)