Chapter 3: Cutting it Close
James walked up the stairs into the Gryffindor common room hoping Sirius was almost done with the haircut; praying Diggory's scalp wasn't bleeding all over the carpet.
"WHAT KIND OF HAIRCUT WAS THAT!" Amos shouted loud enough that James heard it through the Fat Lady portrait.
"Oh my," said the courtesan portrait on the Heads' Quarters wall.
"Kinkily Pops," James said miserably, dreading what he would see. The door swung open.
"YOU DRAGGED ME FROM DINNER TO CUT 7 STRANDS OF MY HAIR?" Amos exclaimed at the end of his temper, and was on the floor for some reason.
"Oh hush child, stop crying!" Sirius scolded.
"You people are crazy!" Amos looked from Sirius to Peter to Remus and then James as he strolled in with his hands shoved down his pockets.
"So, how did it go Diggory?" James smiled humorously.
"Well, Potter, Black seems to think that a haircut means cutting 7 strands and then shoving me off the chair!" Amos said.
"Hey, now Diggory, I though Hufflepuff's were suppose to be kind and reasonable?" James said and he walked over to the boys.
"Whatever, this is ridiculous," Diggory got up and walked towards the door.
"Not so fast, Diggory," Sirius pulled out his wand and Amos turned around.
"What's going on!" Amos drew his wand instinctively.
"I'm so sorry Amos, but it has to be done," Remus said taking out his wand.
"What has to be done? Hey, put that away!" Diggory commanded shakily.
"Diggory, if you don't struggle it will be easier for all of us," James said softly.
"Potter! What are you going to do to me! Stop it! Get away! Let me out!" Diggory shouted.
The Marauders created a circle around Amos who was turning around and around like a trapped mouse. James felt ashamed to be doing this for the motives he had, but he wanted to know Lily more and not just like her because she was pretty and feisty.
"Slumbera Totalus," they all announced at once, sounding regretful rather than triumphant, and the three beams hit Diggory, and he fell to the ground where Remus had strategically placed a mound of pillows.
"How long will that put him out for?" James asked and he tucked the Invisibility Cloak over the lightly snoring Diggory.
"It stays on until we all take it off. We all have to be present in order for the charm to counter," Remus emphasized.
"Where're the hairs?" James turned to Sirius who handed him a tiny bottle of blond strands and James shuddered.
"What're we going to do with the body?" Remus asked as Sirius picked up Diggory into his arms.
"Put it in Prong's bed. He won't be using it anyway for the week because he'll be Diggory, and Diggory is not Head Boy!" Sirius said bluntly.
" No, but he should be," a female voice stated flatly, "What is going on here!" Lily demanded from the door. The boys gasped.
Lily looked around the room. At Remus' feet, there was a pile of pillows, Sirius' arms were hooked and James' swept his hand through his hair in what seemed to be nervousness.
"What's the last thing you heard?" Remus asked while struggling against his nerves.
" 'Diggory is not Head Boy.' Why?" she mimicked Sirius. The boys sighed in relief.
"Aren't you on duty or something, Evans? Go find students who're up to no good," Sirius shooed her away.
"I am on duty and I have found students who are up to no good, thank you Mr. Black! I can do my job perfectly well!" Lily snapped and then eyed him suspiciously, "What are you doing?"
"I'm teaching James how to catch you when you fall, Evans. Now go away or you'll ruin everything. Girls aren't suppose to know what boys do for them!" Sirius still had Diggory in his arms under the Invisibility Cloak.
Lily planted her hands on her hips. Sirius Black and James Potter were naturals at everything relating to girls and it seemed rather doubtful that James needed tutoring from Sirius. Lily was sure that they were all up to something, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She also hated the way she was being shooed out of the room. This was the Heads' Quarters anyway and if anyone should be leaving, it should be Sirius and Remus. However, Lily did have a soft spot for Remus. He was the most responsible out of all the Marauders and he was the kindest. James and Sirius were always pranking people and it was one of the things that set her off. She hated it when they picked on hopeless cases like Snivellus Snape. It was of them cruel to make other people feel horrible so they could feel superior.
"Lily, please. This is really important," Remus pleaded.
Lily rolled her eyes and waved her hand at the boys. If they were up to mischief, they would pay for it later. She decided to pay a visit to the Headmaster and see if she could sneak some extra courses into her schedule.
Back in the room, Sirius dropped Amos on the floor with a loud thud and he wiped the sweat off his brow. James collapsed on the couch and exhaled all the air he had kept in him from the time Lily opened her mouth.
"That was close," James breathed.
"She knows we're up to something, so we'd better be careful how we go about this," Remus said as he walked over to the desk to pull out a sheet of parchment and a quill, "I'm going to write James' note that will get him sent home to his parents for a week."
"Make it two," James said more to himself than to Remus as he thought about Lily and her hard head.
"Two? Two weeks? Sirius, cut off seven more strands of Diggory's hair, will you?" Remus started writing as Sirius pulled of the Invisibility Cloak and snipped off more strands than he should have.
"What are you doing?" James asked while he looked over the side of the couch to where Sirius was.
"Personally, Prongs, I think you're going to need more than two weeks," Sirius said as he stuffed the strands into the little bottle and handed them to James.
James took the bottle with a smile. Sirius always knew James the best. While tucking the bottle into his shirt pocket, Remus had finished the letter and they needed to send it to Dumbledore. He folded it and the boys all walked up to the Mail Room where James tied the note to his owl, Neptune, and opened the window. The owl did not have to travel that far since Dumbledore's office was at the other end of the school.
"I hope this works," James breathed.
Dumbledore was sitting in his office carefully listening to the reasons that Ms. Evans wanted extra courses.
"…then, I could possibly become and Auror-"
Tap, tap, tap.
Dumbledore and Lily looked at the window behind the Headmaster's big chair and saw a Post owl waiting outside.
"Shall I get it?" Lily offered.
"Please," the Headmaster said.
Lily crossed the tiles and opened the window to untie the letter from the owl. It nudged her cheek with its beak lovingly and Lily stroked its feathers. She looked down at the address and discovered that it was from the Potters. Lily prayed that they wanted their son back for the year.
"Ms. Evans?" Dumbledore called from the desk.
"Oh, yes. Sorry, it's just that this owl is so amiable I can't quite understand why it is the Potters' Post owl," Lily said without thinking.
"Ms. Evans, the Potters are a wonderful family. They are amiable as well as their Post owl and I'd like you to remember that if you ever meet them," Dumbledore said gravely.
"I'm sorry, sir, it's just that James-" Lily started.
"Ms. Evans," Dumbledore said in a warning voice, "What exactly do you have against the boy that make you hate him so?"
"I don't hate him, Headmaster," Lily said as she brought the letter over to his desk.
Dumbledore unfolded the parchment and looked down at the paper, eyes slightly widening in disbelief and astonishment.
Dear Albus,
This letter is of great urgency. James' parents have been in a car accident while visiting the Muggle World. They request his presence immediately.. If you would please send James home for two weeks along with his schoolwork, it would be much appreciated. Please do not inconvenience yourself by bringing him personally. He is capable of using the Floo Powder system. I will be expecting him tomorrow.
-Adelaide Potter
Dumbledore knew James' grandmother personally since they use to go to school together and he sensed that James' was much needed at home, and Dumbledore's instincts were never wrong.
"Professor Dumbledore?" Lily asked in a concerned manner, "What's the matter? What happened? What does it say?"
"Ms. Evans, if you would please tell Mr. Potter that he is to start packing immediately and will be leaving for home by Floo tomorrow morning, I would gladly appreciate it," Dumbledore said slowly, trying to recover from the surprise. The Potters may be on the verge of death and they were the only ones who were alive to defeat Voldemort. He swallowed deeply. Hopefully, Colin and Marian would be all right.
"Professor, what's the matter? Why does James have to leave? It's only the beginning of the school year!" Lily persisted.
"Ms. Evans, Mr. Potter's mother and father have experienced a car accident in the Muggle World," Dumbledore said softly.
Lily gasped sharply. A car accident was enough to kill someone if hit hard enough. If the Potters died, she was sure that James would never be the same—not that she liked him as he was, but he would be depressed on an everyday bases. She never wanted anyone to experience the pain and torment of losing their parents due to an accident. She knew the pain too well, it was still raw even after three months. With unknown sympathy, she went up the stairs into the Heads' Quarters and opened the door slowly. Remus and Sirius were no longer in the room and James lay on the couch, asleep. It had gotten dark outside and the moonlight streamed through the tall glass window between the Head Boy and Girl's rooms. The fireplace had been lit and forgotten, so the embers glowed like fireflies trapped between rocks.
"James?" Lily whispered as she approached his sleeping figure.
His chest rose and fell rhythmically and Lily kneeled next to the couch. For a while, she just watched him. Looking upon his face bathed in moonlight, she felt content. In sleep, he was angelic and was without a care in the world. She preferred him this way as opposed to his childish, arrogant and stubborn self when he was awake. Unconsciously, yet with tender care, she brought up her fingertips to brush away the bangs from his eyes that had fallen from his messy black hair. She smiled and wondered why he liked to mess it up all the time by running his hands through it constantly. It would never tame, neither would his spirit.
Her touch woke him slightly. He shifted positions and she stood up abruptly. When he felt someone move directly in front of him, his first instinct was to go for his wand. He grasped it, opened his eyes, and almost fainted after what he saw. Lily Evan was standing over him, with a smile on her face. It was a sad smile, but essentially, it was a smile. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming and sat up.
"Lily?" he whispered as if she would vanish if he spoke any louder.
" G'mornin', sleepyhead, can I sit?" Lily pointed to the vacant spot next to James and he shifted over to give her more room.
"What are you doing?" James asked, obviously awestruck she wasn't bantering with him or physically abusing him, or giving him dirty looks or…
"You need to pack tonight," Lily started slow and softly, "It's your parents."
"What about them?" James started panicking.
He was more than a son to his parents. They were like his best friends and nothing could ever get between them. They had basically adopted Sirius the summer that his parents had thrown him out when Sirius accused his father of raping his little sister. Marian and Colin treated Sirius as their own son and James loved them even more for that. They had taught James to fly as well as any professional Quidditch player, James' father had taught him how to fist fight in case magic failed, James' mother taught him manners (though he forgot them sometimes), and over all he turned out a real good kid because of them. He owed them his life, and if they were in danger, it was his duty to save them.
"They visited the Muggle World," Lily began.
"Damn it! I told them never to go there!" James ran his hands through his hair completely unaware what had actually happened to them.
"What do you mean you told them not to go there?" Lily asked. She was a muggle and didn't understand what was so bad about her world besides people getting hit by cars.
"They're Aurors, Lily," James sighed, "They were probably looking for traces of Voldemort in the Muggle World. It's their job."
"That's dangerous! I mean, my parents-" Lily exclaimed beside herself, she didn't even know who the Potters were. She didn't want to reveal her parents' death to James since she never really saw him as a friend. Anyway, he didn't seem to hear her unfinished sentenced and continued.
"Yeah, they're the best in the Ministry. That's what you get for being the best: a pat on the back and your life dangling at the end of a string," James muttered bitterly.
"Oh, James. Don't look at it that way. Your parents are heroes! They're risking their lives to save the Magical World," Lily tried to say comfortingly.
"I don't know what I'm going to do," James ran his hands through his hair once more.
"James you need to go. Dumbledore's sending you out tomorrow by Floo. I'll take care of sending your homework to you," Lily whispered kindly.
James was on the verge of tearing up until he heard Lily say that Dumbledore was sending James home. Of course! It was all part of the plan! James didn't realize that Remus would be sending a letter endangering his family, he thought Remus was sending an excuse like "Marian has a horrible cold and needs James home since the family is away" or something. Though, Remus hadn't actually told him what the letter had said. His parents raised his half in a Muggle atmosphere and half in a magic one, so it wouldn't be awkward if James needed to get groceries for his mum and such.
"Could you excuse me Lily? I need a moment," James said softly. Lily thought that James was going to cry and understood that boys don't like to cry in front of girls, so she nodded, rubbed his back comfortingly and went to her room. He cherished her kindness, even if it was misplaced sympathy.
James made his way towards the Gryffindor Dormitories in his Head Boy cloak to make it look like he was patrolling the hallway, but he wanted to see Remus to congratulate him on the convincing note and tell the boys that he was going to change into Diggory tonight.
"Pastel pasta," James said to the sleeping Fat Lady.
She snored on.
"Oi! Pastel pasta!!" James said more loudly.
The Fat Lady grunted in her sleep and opened the portrait without opening her eyes.
James ran into the Boys' Dormitory and shook Remus and Sirius who both groaned in annoyance since they had just fallen asleep.
"That letter was bloody brilliant!" James exclaimed happily, "I didn't know that you'd put my parents in a car accident!"
Remus, as if drunk, looked up at James through the haze of sleepiness, grunted and scratched his head. He vaguely remembered that he sent the letter about James' mother having the flu and James needing to be home until she was fully recovered. But sleep was so close, and Remus started to sway slightly. He closed his heavy eyelids and dropped back onto his pillow with a thump without saying a word to James.
James laughed at Remus' exhaustion and found that Sirius was dead asleep, too. He figured that now would be the perfect time to take the Potion since Sirius had already put Diggory in James' bed and James was already in the Gryffindor Boys' Dormitory. All he would have to do is write a letter saying he left early because he felt it was urgent and stick it in the Heads' Quarters Common Room where Lily would find it, then he would drink the potion and fall asleep on Diggory's bed. James breathed heavily. This was it.