Author's Note: Argh! I thought I was never going to be able to post this chapter here! My computer's all screwed up in my room so I'm using my mum's in the bonus room. I was able to salvage this chapter from some of the websites I posted this fic on so I'm happy :D! This chapter is much shorter than the other chapters so please bare with it. I'll post chapter 12 later on today so just wait for it, kay? J.K. Rowling is the greatest... with her imagination... one could probably rule the world :P! Thanks for all the reviews !
Chapter 11: Joys of Christmas
After the first match, James along with Remus, Sirius, and Peter became the most popular people around Hogwarts. They lot of them really enjoyed the attention that they were given by many students. James especially received the most praise for his phenomenal Quidditch skills. Not only did their fellow students give them attention, but also the Hogwarts faculty praised them wherever they went.
For James' last minute, awesome, and spectacular performance, Professor McGonagall and several other professors agreed create a plaque for him. The plaque was quickly placed on display right next to a set of awards that had the name "Tom Riddle" written upon it. The plaque stated:
"Riddle was much more than you'd ever be!" Flich screeched.
After Flich's long speech, James was still put to detention despite all the requests from teachers not to give it to him. The poor boy had to work on hands and knees for the rest of the month instead of hanging around with his friends during break.
With much excitement, November passed along like the breeze bringing the icy cold days of December and Christmas. During the first week of the month, Professor McGonagall went around making a list of the people who were to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas time.
The four of them apparently had to persuaded their parents to stay over Christmas at Hogwarts, obviously, Sirius didn't have to persuade or talk to anyone about staying over Christmas since his mother had already made clear that he would be staying. James had created an extensive list of reasons why he should stay over Christmas and sent it to his family.
"Did you think chocolate was more appropriate?" James asked that morning as they walked across the grounds to their usual hang out spot. "I mean, do you think my parents would buy it?"
"Buy it? You gave nearly gave one hundred reasons why you should stay!" exclaimed Sirius punching James lightly on the shoulder.
"There were actually seventy-six reasons." Stated Remus plainly, flipping through the book Hogwarts a History. "Your always so sarcastic, Sirius."
"Seventy-six! One hundred! What's the difference?!" Sirius shouted, rubbing his forehead in annoyance.
"There's actually a difference of twenty—" both James and Peter had clasped their hands around Remus' mouth nearly suffocating him. James laughed aloud nervously, "I think that's enough for now, Remus…"
Sirius sighed in an attempt to calm himself down; James could tell that he was trying his best not to be like his rampaging mother. "I'm going to be different!" was the phrase he had said not too long ago and James could already see how different Sirius was compared to his family.
The four of them quickly sat on the frosty grass near the large oak tree that they, for some reason, found a great attachment to. They all remained under the shade of this tree, each of them sitting in their own different way and style. James was lying lazily on the frostbitten ground surveying the sky above him. Remus was leaning against the large tree, as usual, reading his book and jotting down a few notes on a piece of old parchment. Sirius sat upright, his arms hugging his left knee to his chest, and his head resting on his arms. Finally, there was Peter, trying to 'fit in' with his group; the poor boy was trying to sit like Sirius, but for some reason ended up in some sort of awkward position that made him topple over.
"Yeh all right, Peter?" James asked, lifting his head up attentively, like an animal that had heard a noise from the bushes and looked up to see what it was.
"He's fine." Sirius scoffed, merely shifting his eyes from James to Peter. "Speak of which, Peter, did you ask your folks if you could stay over Christmas?"
Peter nodded mutely as he stood up.
"Get a reply yet?"
The yellow-haired boy merely shook his head; Sirius found this rather annoying, but refrained from speaking his mind.
"How about you, Remus?" James asked hopeful.
"I think so," said Remus shutting his book, "I mean, I'll be here for Christmas, but I won't be here a few days before then."
James scratched his head in confusion; Peter and Sirius gave similar reactions to Remus' comment.
"You know, erm, family issues."
"Eh, sound reasonable enough." James forced a smile, "As long as you're gonna be here for Christmas. We were planning on having a little look at that place Peter found a month ago."
The following morning, both James and Peter got their replies from their families. James was excited to read that his family was allowing him to stay with his best friend, and laughed at the fact that his parents were surprised to find a long scroll of reasons he wanted to stay. Peter opened his letter with great trepidation and let out a squeak of excitement when he read the first few words on the page.
Sirius smiled widely at the lot of them. At least Peter and James were staying for sure. Even so, they were disappointed that Remus was going to go away for a few days. Not only were they worried about that, but also Remus seemed to grow paler and hairier just like what had happened during Halloween. The other three had become very concerned, but Remus reassured his friends that that he was just fine.
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The day the students left for their families had come, and they all left joyfully, leaving Sirius, James, and Peter as the only Gryffindors at Hogwarts. Remus had mysteriously disappeared, and they all wondered whether their friend had left without saying goodbye. If that was the case, they decided not to dwell on it nor get angry with him when he got back.Christmas eve was only a three short days away, and the three of them couldn't wait till their good bookworm friend, Remus, came back to join them. He had promised them that he would be there to celebrate Christmas with them, and they were going to take his word for it.
"So where to?" Sirius asked James teasingly.
"What do you mean 'where to'?" James retorted, eyeing his handsome-looking friend. "Since when have I been made to decide?"
"You're the leader of our group." Said Sirius confidently. "Right, Peter?"
The yellow-headed, chubby-cheeked boy nodded vigorously and said, "We chose you!"
"It was a unanimous vote." Sirius laughed pushing his bangs out of his eyes.
James couldn't believe this. He, out of the four of them, was chosen to be a leader for their group? He frowned at the thought of it, but Sirius kept bugging him about it; he had no choice but to take on the job. James, the leader of the—
"What are we called then?" James asked, hopeful that they had already thought of one. He never thought of himself as a very good at making up titles.
"That's your job." Peter chuckled, nodding as he did so.
James smirked, he had apparently thought of a great counter idea. "Since I'm the leader," he said in a low voice, a sly grin appearing on his thin face, "…I assign the job of finding a name for our group to Sirius Black!"
Sirius' jaw dropped open, and Peter clapped happily.
"Assign the job to Remus!" Sirius exclaimed ruffling his hair in agitation. "He's great at this kind of stuff."
James laughed in agreement. Remus really was good at this kind of stuff, but the thought of it made them miss him even more. Without their book-loving friend, their group felt small and unimportant; everyone in their little group had a strong impact on the group itself. Without one of them, the group wouldn't feel right.
Later that day, supper was set for them at one table in the middle of the Great Hall. The table consisted of the Hogwarts' faculty, two Ravenclaws, five Hufflepuffs, one Slytherin, and three Gryffindors. Obviously, the last Slytherin was none other than the infamous Severus Snape, and James, Sirius, and Peter sat as far away from him as possible.
After James had caught that snitch and won the first match for Gryffindor, Severus became all the more angrier and meaner toward them. On random occasions, a professor would walk toward them asking if they had hexed anyone or jinxed a particular item, and it was quite apparent that it was Severus who had told their professors such false rumors.
After their meal was over, the three of them were excused from the table and they hurriedly walked out of the Great Hall in order to avoid the suspicious eyes Snape had laid upon them as they stood up. As the three of them walked through the double doors and into the stone walled corridor, Sirius gave a quick glare at him then walked out.
The corridor was rather drafty; their winter cloaks that they wore didn't seem to help keep them warm for they had shivered constantly all the way to the common room. Unlike the corridors of Hogwarts, the Gryffindor common was, as always, very warm and cozy. The fireplace was always alit with a large fire, burning brightly to keep the room very comfortable.
One could possibly have slumped onto one of the soft red chairs and fallen asleep in an instant. James was quite tired, but he wasn't in the mood to fall asleep just yet. The other two also felt the same ways since they all avoided getting near any of the chairs and went in a hurry toward the dormitories.
When they got there, they all slumped onto their bed without changing their clothes. It was very different without their whole group there. The room felt half empty and many times, the lot of them found themselves staring blankly at the empty bed Remus would have been sitting on. He'd be sitting there reading another large book, thought James as he looked carefully at the empty bed, telling us how lazy we are. "When's Remus coming back?" James asked, looking up at the ceiling out of mere boredom.
"He'll be back before Christmas, mate." Answered Sirius, groping for his pillow, which had fallen onto the floor. He was obviously too lazy to look down at where it had landed, "We should do something till then. Keep us occupied."
"Like what?" Peter whined, biting his short nails, "We can't check out the place I found without Remus along with us…"
Peter was right; they would hurt their friend's feelings if they went along without him. Remus seemed pretty excited about Peter finding the place, and he also seemed very thrilled to explore it as well. If they couldn't do that, they'd just have to find something else to occupy them. There was a long pause; everyone had begun to think of ideas of what they could possibly do.
James thought for a moment, then a sly and sinister grin spread across his confident face. Whatever he was thinking of had to be something good, dangerous, or something to that effect because it was every so often that a grin such as that had laid upon his face.
Sirius and Peter caught sight of James' suspicious grin and they tensed at the sight of it. There was something about that grin that made the two of them feel very nervous.
"He's got that look on his face…" Sirius murmured to Peter. Peter gulped loudly and frowned.
"It's been bothering me for months now," said James, his face had grown strangely serious, "We should check it out."
"What yeh talking about, mate?"
"The Whomping Willow. Let's visit it tonight."
Both Sirius and Peter gave him blank stares in return. It was pure foolishness to visit such a place like that! What if they were to get hit by one of its long and think branches? For sure they'd break a few hundred limbs if that happened!
"What's the point it going there?" Sirius asked, pulling his pillow against his head, "Zoom in and out trying not to get hit by branches?"
"Haven't you realized it…?" James said, with such wonder and awe in his voice.
"Realized that fact that the tree is really big, tall, and scary?" answered Peter, pretty sure that his answer was incorrect.
James shrugged; he could tell that he had a bit of explaining to do amongst his friends.
"The Whomping Willow was planted just this year, right?" he began, as he sat up to look at his friends, "Why would Professor Dumbledore plant something like that on Hogwarts grounds when there are first years that could easily get smashed by it?"
"Hey, don't ask me!" Sirius stammered, "For his entertainment, perhaps?"
James frowned, he could tell Peter and Sirius weren't taking him seriously.
"Dumbledore is not that kind of person, Sirius." James shrugged and turned to Peter, "I have a question for you, Peter. Would you go up to the Whomping Willow if I told you to?"
Peter's eyes widened with fright and despair then shook his head violently. James smirked; apparently Peter's reaction was exactly that he was looking for.
"Exactly! See, Sirius, the Whomping Willow wasn't planted there so Dumbledore could enjoy seeing kids in the hospital wing. It was planted there to keep people away!" he exclaimed his face full of excitement.
Sirius blinked then stared at the floor in wonder. What James had said made perfect sense…
"Whatever is in the Whomping Willow is either dangerous or precious, either way, Dumbledore doesn't want us to see it." Sirius stated thinking about it some more.
"The only thing we need to find out is why the Great Professor Dumbledore wants to keep people away from it…"
::TILL NEXT CHAPTER::
Next Chapter: More Werewolves?
Don't be fooled by the title of the next chapte because it's not what you think. That's all I'm going to say about the matter!
Hugs are sweet. Kisses are nice. Smooches are for marriage. Flowers are pretty. Cards are funny. Books are cool. Reading is better. Writing is much much better. But over all reviews are the best. Reviews are what you can do! So DO IT! :cackles: Muwhahaahahahahahaahaaahaahahah!!!!!!!!!!!