Chapter 8

Midnight Meeting

James had run as far as he could away from the Heads Dorms.

"Lunatics! That's what they are!" he muttered to himself. "How could we have gotten here? There's no logical explanation for how we got here! Oh yeah, Voldemort. And I'm the one who came up with it! Well, ummm, er, oh! There's got to be something that can disprove this! I'm not in the future! And I… if I'm Harry's dad, and he thinks I'm dead, oh that's just stupid! That means I die really young! I can't die young! I'm James Potter! And what's worse! That redheaded kid said Lily was his mother. If that's true, then she dies young too! No! I'm not going to believe this! It's bad enough I have to die young, but Lily and Sirius!"

He continued walking until he reached the Quidditch Pitch and looked up at the stars that now filled the sky. There was plenty of light because of the full moon. "But, it was a full moon last night!" James said out loud. "Oh, I forgot, we traveled through time! Uh, if it was a normal night in my seventh year, then we'd all be in the Shrieking Shack."

James and his friends Remus, Sirius, and Peter all met in the Shrieking Shack once a month. They did this because that was where Remus went when he went through his transformations. James, Sirius, and Peter all had a secret as well. As you already know, Sirius has the ability to alter himself into a dog. Peter, another one in the group, could transform himself into a rat. James had the ability to turn himself into a stag. He not only used this gift when he was helping to control a werewolf, but when he wanted to be alone.

Now, James the stag, otherwise known as Prongs, walked around on the Quidditch Pitch. He slowly started to run. Prongs loved the feeling of running while in his animal state. He could run so much faster than when he was a human. He loved the feeling of the cool, clean wind on his face. He loved racing over the grass, practically soaring from one end of the pitch to the other. He slowed back down to a walk when he heard something walking toward him. He couldn't see anything or anyone, but he knew someone was there.

He walked toward the sound of approaching footsteps when suddenly they stopped. Prongs stared ahead. He knew someone was there; he could smell him.

Suddenly, the steps began again. Whoever it was had decided to run. He was running toward the three rings at the top of the field. Prongs ran after him. He could hear the footsteps closer now. Then, he stepped on something soft and a boy appeared in front of him on the ground. The boy turned over to face the stag and Prongs realized who it was.

"Dad," Harry said. The stag turned back into James and knelt next to Harry. He was propped up on his elbows, looking up at James.

"How did you know it was me? And I am not your dad!"

"If you're not my dad, then how did I know you were animagus?" Harry responded.

James turned and sat on the ground, elbows on his knees, and head in his hands.

"I can't be in the future! I just can't," James mumbled.

"Do you think it's any easier for me? Because it's not," Harry said.

"Well, how hard could it be for you? You didn't travel years into the future! You didn't find out that you die! That your best friend dies! That the girl you care most about in the world dies! How would you feel, knowing you don't have that long to live?"

"Actually, I have a pretty good idea of how that feels."

"Really? And why is that?" James asked, skeptically.

"If I told you, Hermione would hate me for the rest of my life."

"So, in other words, you don't know," James sneered.

"No, I do know. I know what it's like to feel as if this is your last day on earth. You at least know you will be able to get married and have a son before you die. I don't have that luxury."

"Look, I came out here to be alone. So I'm going to go back up to the—" he stopped. "Someone's out there,"

"How do you know?"

"I can turn into a stag, remember? I can hear the person." James reached into his pocket and pulled out a seemingly blank piece of parchment. James stopped, because he had noticed Harry doing the same thing.

"You have the map?" James whispered.

Harry didn't answer. He only whispered, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." James had his wand out as well and peered over Harry's shoulder. They looked at the Quidditch Pitch and saw two dots labeled Harry Potter and James Potter. To the left of them about thirty feet away were two dots labeled Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange.

"We've got to go!" Harry whispered to James.

James decided to ask questions later and do what Harry said now. They walked as fast as they could toward the castle without making it look like they were running from the two Death Eaters. Unfortunately, it didn't work.

"Stop right there!" a girl called out from behind them, but they didn't listen. They broke into a run only to collapse to the ground as they were hit with trip jinxes.

"Hello, Potters!" Malfoy called. He tied the two up with ropes and the four disappeared from the Hogwarts grounds.