Harry Potter and the Secrets Within

Chapter 3 – The Marauders and the Potions Mistress

James threw the Invisibility Cloak over his, Sirius's, Peter's and Remus's heads and made sure they were all hidden before they made to move. They stopped when a disapproving voice sounded behind them.

"Just where do you think you're going?" Lily asked. James threw the cloak off of him and glared at her.

"Evans! Go back to bed!" he hissed. She frowned and walked towards them. She stood tall and straight, but didn't come close to James's height.

"Don't you tell me what to do, Potter!" she snapped.

"Just go!" James snapped back.

"No! I want to know where you're going!" she insisted.

"Fine," James sighed exasperatedly. "We're going to see that boy that dropped out of the sky earlier. We just want some answers. That's all!"

"Oh, that's all? Well in that case, I'm coming with you," she said.

"What?" James asked n disbelief. "You can't – there's no more room."

"Take my place, I'm going back to bed," Peter yawned, appearing out of thin air and going up the stairs James's face got red.

"Peter!" he hissed. But the mousy haired boy ignored him and kept going. James sighed and scowled at the smug looking redhead. His shoulders sagged and he motioned for her to follow him as he went under the cloak. They went to the hospital wing, dodging teachers and Filch on the way.

They slowly and silently entered the wing to find it empty. Or, it looked empty at first, but upon closer inspection they saw that the bed nearest the window was occupied. The black-haired boy was sleeping, curled up in the warmth of the blankets and facing the window. From the light of the moon, they saw a handprint shaped bruise on the back of his neck.

They inched closer slowly, shedding the Invisibility Cloak on the way. Remus leaned close to the bruise and examined it.

"This seems to be healing," he whispered, pulling away. "I wonder how it happened."

"He looks so tired," Lily whispered, observing his face. His lips were parted slightly as he slept. His skin was pale and black bags were under his eyes, indicating he hadn't slept well.

"How old do you reckon he is?" Sirius asked with a frown.

"I don't know, fourteen? Thirteen?" Remus suggested.

"Sixteen, actually," a sleepy voice mumbled. They looked down in surprise and saw that the sleeping boy was awake, even though his eyes weren't open. He stretched and shifted so he was lying on his back before opening his eyes. Harry smirked at the looks on their faces.

"Umm, sorry about waking you," Remus apologized awkwardly.

"It's alright, I wasn't sleeping," Harry said, waving off the apology.

"Well, I'm James Potter, and this is Sirius Black," James said. "But his name doesn't describe how he acts. And that's Remus Lupin and this lovely lady is –,"

"Lily Evans," she interrupted, holding out her hand. He took it hesitantly.

"I'm Harry," he said. They waited. "Umm… Harry…Parker." He bit his upper lip. Lily looked a little perplexed, but didn't say anything. James felt growing suspicion rise in the pit of his stomach.

"So, where do you come from Harry?" Lily asked.

"America, sort of," he said. Lily frowned. A plan formed in Harry's head. "Well I was born here and my parents lived here, but when they died I was sent to America. I got accepted to Hogwarts, but I wasn't allowed to go because the orphanage was for muggles. A friend of mine made a Portkey for me and it went wrong, and that's why I fell out of the sky like that. I almost made it though." He laughed weakly.

"Are you really sixteen?" Sirius asked. Harry struggled to meet the eyes of his dead godfather and nodded in response.

"You don't look sixteen," James said doubtfully.

"I am," Harry insisted.

"You're skin and bones, Harry," Lily said, pushing back the sheet and lifting up his pajama shirt. He blushed brightly and pulled it back down, but everyone already saw. His stomach looked like it was caved in, and every one of his ribs were visible. His skin was unnaturally pale as well. He pulled the blanket back up and crossed his arms over his stomach firmly. The boys pretended not to notice, but Lily frowned deeper.

"I'm really tired, I think I'm going to try to sleep now," he said quietly, not meeting their eyes. They nodded and stood, heading out the door. Harry turned away from them, clearly ashamed. They gave him one last look before they disappeared. Harry took the gem of the necklace in his hand and buried his face in the pillow.


The Marauders didn't see Harry the next day, but they did see him Monday morning at breakfast. He was sitting by himself at the Gryffindor table, stabbing at a small portion of scrambled eggs on his plate. He looked tired still, but it looked like he'd gotten a few good nights of sleep. The approached him and sat down quickly, surrounding him. He looked up confusedly.

"Good morning Harry," James said brightly.

"Happy Monday," Sirius greeted.

"Uh – good morning," Harry said after a slight pause.

"Hi, I'm Peter Pettigrew," Peter introduced himself with a smile. Harry's eye twitched.

"Harry Parker," he said with a strained smile.

"Are you muggle born?" Peter asked, staring at him intently.

"No, why?" Harry asked.

"Because, the name Parker isn't a name I recognize. Who are your parents?" Peter prodded. Harry's eyes darkened.

"Why do you care?" he asked dangerously. James sent Peter a warning glance, but Peter didn't quit.

"Well if you aren't muggle born then you must have wizard parents," he said. Harry stood up, slinging his bag over his shoulder and taking his schedule off of the table.

"See you in class," was all he said, before he left the Great Hall. Lily, who was at the other end of the table, shot them a glare before getting up and following him out. Remus looked at Peter disapprovingly.

"You shouldn't have pried, Peter," he said.

"Oh don't tell me you aren't curious about him, honestly," Peter scoffed.

"Of course we're curious!" James said, "But if he doesn't want to talk about it, you can't interfere into his personal business."

"Fine," Peter huffed. "But that kid makes me nervous."


"Harry, wait up!" Lily called. Harry stopped and looked behind him curiously. The redhead caught up quickly, only a little out of breath.

"Good morning Lily," he greeted with a smile.

"Hi," she said. "You kind of ran out there, did something happen? Was it James? I swear I will make him pay! He's so conceited!" Lily ranted on and on about James while Harry listened.

"Um, listen Lily," he said, cutting her off. "I have double potions first; class starts in about ten minutes. I don't want to be late for my first class, but I probably will be since I font know the way there."

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she said with a blush. "I have potions first too; I'll take you there. Oh and I wanted to apologize for what happened in the Hospital Wing. I'm kind of the bossy girl that doesn't like to take no for an answer." He smiled and nodded his acceptance and followed her down to the dungeons, where they met the Marauders again.

"Hey Harry," Remus greeted.

"Hi Remus," Harry replied. He rubbed the rapidly fading bruise on the back of his neck as Peter gave him a suspicious look. Lily grabbed Harry's hand and dragged him into the dungeon before they could say any more. She pulled him over to an empty table and sat down, indicating for him to do the same. He complied hesitantly, sending a wary glance at James.

James was fuming inwardly.

This new kid falls out of the sky and Lily was all over him. James had been trying to get her attention for years and she had never given him the time of day. This new kid was starting to get on his nerves. Sirius gave James an odd look, but said nothing as they sat in their usual seats near the back. After a few moments, they're teacher entered the classroom and everyone went silent.

Professor Winchcombe was a young pure-blooded witch with pale skin and long blonde hair. Her noise was pointed upward slightly and her eyes were cold. Harry frowned as she walked in, her back straight and her cheeks red as though she'd pinched them for natural color.

"Good morning, class," she said in a high-pitched voice.

"Good morning Professor," the class echoed back. Harry watched her with a raised eyebrow as she flicked her wand and notes began writing themselves on the board. The class immediately started writing, and Harry followed suit. Harry recognized the instructions; Snape had told the class in first year about the potion known by many as The Draught of Living Death.

"Partner up. One cauldron per group," Winchcombe ordered. "Follow the instructions carefully and correctly. It maybe the first day, but the few of you here are obviously competent enough to brew a simple potion."

Lily looked over at Harry and asked, "Do you want to be my partner?"

"Sure," Harry said. He shot a sideways glance at James, whose eye was twitching. "Umm, but maybe I shouldn't."

"Why not?" Lily asked with a hurt expression.

"Oh, I'd like to!" Harry said quickly, "But I'd hate to get on the wrong end of the Marauders…I've heard stories…" Lily looked over at James, who was watching them intently.

"So you don't want to partner with me because you care more about what they think than my feelings?" Lily asked, her face reddening with anger. "You are so selfish! You're just like them – stuck up, conceited, stupid –," she trailed off when she saw the look of growing horror on Harry's face. He looked ready to cry.

"N-No – I was j-just –," he stuttered.

"Stop," Lily said. "I'm sorry. I was getting a little ahead of myself there. You can go get another partner if you want."

"No, I want to work with you," Harry decided. "We should get started."

After almost an hour of stirring, reading, and rereading, they settled back in their seats and looked at their cauldron, which was full of perfect potion. Harry carefully filled up a few vials full and corked them tightly. He sighed contentedly and looked over at Lily.

"I think we did rather well," he said.

"That wasn't as simple as she made it out to be," Lily replied.

"That's because it's a very advanced potion that's almost illegal," Harry said quietly. "Not everyone that drinks this wakes up."

"What?" Lily whispered in shock. "This sounds really dangerous!"

"It is," Harry whispered mostly to himself.

"Bottle your potions," Winchcombe commanded from the front of the room. She strode up and down the isles, glancing down at the different potions with a look of disgust. She stopped at Harry and Lily's table and pursed her lips.

She took a vial in her hand and held it close to her eyes. She sneered down at them, exposing impossibly white teeth.

"Satisfactory. I honestly didn't expect a couple of half blood Gryffindors would get the potion correct on their first attempt," Winchcombe smiled cruelly as the Slytherins laughed. Lily blushed with anger and Harry raised an eyebrow at the smug looking professor.

"Maybe if you weren't so stereotypical then you'd know what to expect," he said, glaring at her. Sirius dropped the vial he was in the process of filling and it shattered. The class stared at him and Winchcombe in awe and apprehension. No one knew what to expect. No one ever stood up to a teacher like that, no matter how unorthodox they were being.

"Detention, Mr. Parker," Winchcombe said simply. "Learn to keep your mouth shut." Harry opened his mouth to retort, but Lily placed her hand on his arm, effectively silencing him. He gave the professor a look that clearly said:

This is not over.


There's chapter 3! No one is reading my story! I'm sad

Tant - Well I guess that makes sense. But this story is going to be different

Kim Kotchanski - It's coming