A/N I'm really sorry that this took so long! My computer crashed and then we had state testing and then a whole bunch of other things happened. Anyway. . . here's the next chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter things you're all familiar with.
"There he is."
Sirius pointed to the dark figure walking towards them, and Remus breathed a sigh of relief. He was growing more uneasy with every passing second, and a lot of seconds had passed since they had last seen James. However, when James reached them, he became even more nervous, and he couldn't really pinpoint why. Unless it was the blood dripping down his neck, of course.
"James! What happened?" Sirius asked, wiping a bit of the blood off to make sure it wasn't fake. Reaching up to his ear, James got a perplexed look on his face.
"I don't know," he admitted, touching his ear lightly. "I didn't even notice it until now."
Rob looked at his watch impatiently. "Look, I don't mean to spoil your prank or anything, but we really need to get moving."
"It's not-"
"Whatever," Rob interrupted, "let's go!"
They followed him back to Gryffindor in silence, James still fingering his ear as if trying to find out what had happened. Remus, though, was having a slight problem believing that. He tried to think of any reason James would have to pull a prank like this, but he couldn't think of one. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that James was faking it. Maybe it was the fact that he looked like he didn't feel any pain, despite the fact that his ear was ripped open.
When Sirius fell asleep that night, he had a strange dream. In it, he saw James, his best friend, hugging Lily, then pulling his wand out and pointing it at Dumbledore. Dumbledore's back was turned, and Sirius saw James say something, but didn't hear what it was. The headmaster slowly turned, and James began to change. He grew tall and his skin turned pale, and his eyes got cold and merciless. Dumbledore shook his head sadly and looked at the boy who had once been James, and the boy grew angry. He shouted silently, and there was a flash of green light. When it faded, both the boy and Dumbledore stood unchanged, and the boy's angry look changed to fear. Dumbledore spoke, and Sirius woke with the headmaster's voice in his ears.
"Evil cannot win, Tom."
Tom? Who was Tom? What had that green light been? Wearily, Sirius dismissed the dream as nothing important, rolled over, and fell asleep once again.
In the morning, James was unusually quiet. As Sirius waited for some kind of conversation to start, he remembered his dream. He began to shake it off, then began to think about what was happening here. James was acting oddly, Remus seemed to be extremely tense, and Peter – well, Peter was eating his eggs and talking to the three boys, none of whom were paying any attention. Something was definitely wrong. Just to be sure, Sirius decided to try something.
After breakfast, Sirius jumped up and led the way out of the Great Hall – straight past Lily's group of friends. Out of the corner of his eye, Sirius saw that Remus was paying close attention to James. As they passed by Lily, nothing happened. James didn't even blink. Sirius and Remus exchanged worried glances while Peter continued chatting, oblivious to what was going on.
Classes were especially hard that day. Both Sirius and Remus were trying to pay close attention to the teacher, but their eyes kept drifting back to James, who was taking notes silently, without looking at his friends even once. During History of Magic, Remus and Sirius became especially worried because James took notes during the entire lecture. The two boys whispered to each other, making sure that James couldn't hear what they were saying.
"Something's wrong with him," Sirius muttered darkly. "He's not acting normal. He's not even reacting at all! All he does is sit and work."
"It's like he doesn't feel anything anymore," Remus whispered back, shooting a concerned look at James. "No pain, no emotion, nothing!"
"Do you think something happened last night?" Sirius asked anxiously. "We shouldn't have let him go alone, one of us should've gone with him."
"Don't be stupid," Remus shot back. "Even if we all had gone, I'm willing to bet that we would've ended up exactly like him."
"But what's wrong with him?!" Sirius was really worried, and that made him irritable.
"You think I know?" Remus replied angrily, just as worried and agitated as Sirius. The bell rang, and they both snatched up their bags, exiting without looking at each other. Once they were out in the hallway, Sirius sighed.
"Sorry, I shouldn't lose my temper about this," he told Remus. "It's just bugging the heck out of me that James is all messed up like this."
Remus nodded. "I know, me too. But I don't know what we're supposed to do about it."
"There's nothing we can do for now," Sirius answered resignedly.
The day seemed to drag on forever, Peter still clueless while Remus and Sirius worried. When Remus went to bed, he had no hope for sleep. He figured that he had too much on his mind. However, it seemed that he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
In the morning, Remus awoke to the sounds of people in the Common room talking to each other, not bothering to keep their voices down. He stood and walked down the stairs to see what all the commotion was about. After fighting his way to the bulletin board, he read the new sign there and paled.
"Siri-"As he turned around, Remus came face-to-face with his friend. Sirius read the sign, looking like he was going to be sick.
Classes will be canceled today, due to the attack on Professor Dumbledore last night. You are not to leave your House. Further information will be given by your Head of House.
As if on cue, the portrait door opened, and Professor McGonagall stepped in. All talked instantly ceased as the door creaked open, then resumed quickly.
"What happened?"
"Is Professor Dumbledore okay?"
"Did they catch the attacker?"
McGonagall held up her hands, and the noise slowly stopped. She looked at the crowd of students with a solemn expression on her face. "Professor Dumbledore was not hurt at all. Unfortunately, the culprit has not been captured. Until we find that all is safe, you are to remain here."
She exited, and the noise rose up once again. Sirius and Remus looked at each other and spoke together. "James!"
A/N Ok, a little shorter than usual, but I was trying to get this out before any more time passed. Ok, plz review!!!
TheDudeLordOfFantasy – Not exactly a kidnapping, but close. Sort of. Hope you like the chapter! Thanks again for all your reviews!!!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter things you're all familiar with.
"There he is."
Sirius pointed to the dark figure walking towards them, and Remus breathed a sigh of relief. He was growing more uneasy with every passing second, and a lot of seconds had passed since they had last seen James. However, when James reached them, he became even more nervous, and he couldn't really pinpoint why. Unless it was the blood dripping down his neck, of course.
"James! What happened?" Sirius asked, wiping a bit of the blood off to make sure it wasn't fake. Reaching up to his ear, James got a perplexed look on his face.
"I don't know," he admitted, touching his ear lightly. "I didn't even notice it until now."
Rob looked at his watch impatiently. "Look, I don't mean to spoil your prank or anything, but we really need to get moving."
"It's not-"
"Whatever," Rob interrupted, "let's go!"
They followed him back to Gryffindor in silence, James still fingering his ear as if trying to find out what had happened. Remus, though, was having a slight problem believing that. He tried to think of any reason James would have to pull a prank like this, but he couldn't think of one. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that James was faking it. Maybe it was the fact that he looked like he didn't feel any pain, despite the fact that his ear was ripped open.
When Sirius fell asleep that night, he had a strange dream. In it, he saw James, his best friend, hugging Lily, then pulling his wand out and pointing it at Dumbledore. Dumbledore's back was turned, and Sirius saw James say something, but didn't hear what it was. The headmaster slowly turned, and James began to change. He grew tall and his skin turned pale, and his eyes got cold and merciless. Dumbledore shook his head sadly and looked at the boy who had once been James, and the boy grew angry. He shouted silently, and there was a flash of green light. When it faded, both the boy and Dumbledore stood unchanged, and the boy's angry look changed to fear. Dumbledore spoke, and Sirius woke with the headmaster's voice in his ears.
"Evil cannot win, Tom."
Tom? Who was Tom? What had that green light been? Wearily, Sirius dismissed the dream as nothing important, rolled over, and fell asleep once again.
In the morning, James was unusually quiet. As Sirius waited for some kind of conversation to start, he remembered his dream. He began to shake it off, then began to think about what was happening here. James was acting oddly, Remus seemed to be extremely tense, and Peter – well, Peter was eating his eggs and talking to the three boys, none of whom were paying any attention. Something was definitely wrong. Just to be sure, Sirius decided to try something.
After breakfast, Sirius jumped up and led the way out of the Great Hall – straight past Lily's group of friends. Out of the corner of his eye, Sirius saw that Remus was paying close attention to James. As they passed by Lily, nothing happened. James didn't even blink. Sirius and Remus exchanged worried glances while Peter continued chatting, oblivious to what was going on.
Classes were especially hard that day. Both Sirius and Remus were trying to pay close attention to the teacher, but their eyes kept drifting back to James, who was taking notes silently, without looking at his friends even once. During History of Magic, Remus and Sirius became especially worried because James took notes during the entire lecture. The two boys whispered to each other, making sure that James couldn't hear what they were saying.
"Something's wrong with him," Sirius muttered darkly. "He's not acting normal. He's not even reacting at all! All he does is sit and work."
"It's like he doesn't feel anything anymore," Remus whispered back, shooting a concerned look at James. "No pain, no emotion, nothing!"
"Do you think something happened last night?" Sirius asked anxiously. "We shouldn't have let him go alone, one of us should've gone with him."
"Don't be stupid," Remus shot back. "Even if we all had gone, I'm willing to bet that we would've ended up exactly like him."
"But what's wrong with him?!" Sirius was really worried, and that made him irritable.
"You think I know?" Remus replied angrily, just as worried and agitated as Sirius. The bell rang, and they both snatched up their bags, exiting without looking at each other. Once they were out in the hallway, Sirius sighed.
"Sorry, I shouldn't lose my temper about this," he told Remus. "It's just bugging the heck out of me that James is all messed up like this."
Remus nodded. "I know, me too. But I don't know what we're supposed to do about it."
"There's nothing we can do for now," Sirius answered resignedly.
The day seemed to drag on forever, Peter still clueless while Remus and Sirius worried. When Remus went to bed, he had no hope for sleep. He figured that he had too much on his mind. However, it seemed that he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
In the morning, Remus awoke to the sounds of people in the Common room talking to each other, not bothering to keep their voices down. He stood and walked down the stairs to see what all the commotion was about. After fighting his way to the bulletin board, he read the new sign there and paled.
"Siri-"As he turned around, Remus came face-to-face with his friend. Sirius read the sign, looking like he was going to be sick.
Classes will be canceled today, due to the attack on Professor Dumbledore last night. You are not to leave your House. Further information will be given by your Head of House.
As if on cue, the portrait door opened, and Professor McGonagall stepped in. All talked instantly ceased as the door creaked open, then resumed quickly.
"What happened?"
"Is Professor Dumbledore okay?"
"Did they catch the attacker?"
McGonagall held up her hands, and the noise slowly stopped. She looked at the crowd of students with a solemn expression on her face. "Professor Dumbledore was not hurt at all. Unfortunately, the culprit has not been captured. Until we find that all is safe, you are to remain here."
She exited, and the noise rose up once again. Sirius and Remus looked at each other and spoke together. "James!"
A/N Ok, a little shorter than usual, but I was trying to get this out before any more time passed. Ok, plz review!!!
TheDudeLordOfFantasy – Not exactly a kidnapping, but close. Sort of. Hope you like the chapter! Thanks again for all your reviews!!!