Author notes: Just warning you, this gets really creepy in the end. Enjoy! and please review!
The Ties That Bind
Chapter Seven: Halloween
October, 1971
"So ... remind me again, why ... are we running like mad men ... down this hall?" Sirius asked James as they skidded around a corner, their cloaks billowing around them as they ran past people.
"The Dueling Club...remember?"
"Oh, right!" Sirius dodged a few people, knocking some over including Peter.
"What's the big rush?" Peter yelled after them.
"Dueling Club!" was all Sirius yelled before he and James disappeared around another bend.
"You should do it, Peter," Remus said, helping his friend to his feet. "You're good in Charms and I think it'll help you improve."
"You think so?" Peter looked at Remus, arching an eyebrow.
"I do." Remus smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.
"Are you alright, Remus?" Peter asked, looking at his friend worriedly. The past day or so Remus had begun to grow paler and quieter, keeping to himself.
"I'm fine," Remus brushed it off. "Now go on to the club. I'll see you back at the common room."
"Okay," Peter said hesitantly but ran down the hall, disappearing into the crowd.
Remus turned, heading back to the common room, where he collapsed in a chair by the window. Pulling out his DADA book and a few others he had borrowed from the library on dragons, he began reading, taking notes every now and then. He had seen James and Sirius goofing off with their friends and he hadn't seen Erica lately. Not wanting a bad grade on the project, he had begun researching, hoping he wouldn't get stuck with everything. Especially not at this time. The full moon was in two days, the day they had to present, and he was feeling horrible. Luckily, Peter didn't suspect anything unusual when Remus made the excuse he had to go see his mother last month. Now it would have to be the sick excuse, or Peter might think it strange that he had to see his mother again. He'd have to be careful.
He sighed, closing his eyes momentarily. Once the wave of sickness had passed, he began working again. An hour later or so, a snobbish voice broke through his thoughts.
"I am not getting a bad grade on this, Lupin, so you'd better tell me what you've found," the voice said. Remus looked up to see Erica standing there, her arms crossed over her chest, glaring down at him.
"Why don't you do your own research and find out some things yourself."
"Because," she looked at him like he was stupid, "it's a group project."
"Exactly. That means, we all research, and then we combine what we have and put it into the paper and presentation."
"No, that means people like you do all the work and we get the credit."
"If you weren't listening, Professor Moody said we'd be graded on our own personal contribution. So yes, you do have to do work, Erica."
She rolled her eyes. "Do it all yourself." She walked off and Remus just shrugged.
"Your grade."
Leon smiled as he walked with Amelia, his older sister. "So tell me again, little brother, how much trouble have you been in lately?" she teased.
He laughed. "Oh come on, not that much Amelia. Between the three of us, we've only managed to get five detentions."
Amelia rolled her eyes, laughing. "You and those friends of yours are always cooking up something."
"Them more than me. But I help a little."
She smiled. "Well, have fun. That's important, but don't break rules."
"Yes Prefect sister," he teased and she went to ruffle his hair.
He dodged it, grinning. "Too slow. Your Quidditch reflexes need honing."
"Oh you just wait; I'll show your brother up on the field in our first match."
"We'll see."
She smiled as they rounded a corner. "Yes we will. Well, I have to run to class. You take care of yourself."
"Always." Leon smiled, waving at his sister as she went down the corridor. Leon turned, heading another way.
As he walked, he headed into a more deserted corridor, going to the common room. He heard the pad of feet and saw none other than Evan Rosier and Tom Avery walking towards him. They stopped in the passage and Leon stopped as well.
"Get out of my way," Leon said coolly, pointing his wand at them.
"We were just walking, Bones. We can do what we want," Evan retorted.
"You forget I'm a far better wizard than you two will ever be."
Tom looked unsure of what to do, his hand in the pocket of his robe as if for his wand, but he didn't move otherwise.
"You sound like Potter, Bones. You one of his loyal followers too?" Evan sneered.
"Shove it, Rosier. You're just Slytherin trash, get out of my way."
Evan's gaze narrowed. "What did you say?"
"You heard me." Leon looked back with just as much venom. "After what your family has done to mine, you're all just trash."
"You'll pay for that," Evan hissed and moved to say a spell but Leon was too quick, knocking him back off his feet and had his wand pointed at Evan's neck.
Tom looked nervous, pulling out his wand. "Get away from him," he said shakily.
Leon ignored Tom, grabbing Evan's wand and standing, pointing both wands at him. "Petrificus Totalus," he said and instantly Evan was in a full body- bind, making him stiff. He pointed his wand at Tom, whose eyes went wide and he just ran. "Nice friends you got," he smirked, looking down at Evan, who glared back up at him. "Have fun getting out of that."
He walked away, dropping Evan's wand on Evan's chest.
"Practices will begin next Thursday evening," Professor Moody continued, standing in front of the group of duelists for the Dueling Club. "Since many of you are only in your first and second years, we won't be holding a Dueling Tournament this year. But we will next year. Then, only third years and above will be able to participate. Since it wouldn't be fair to those of you that haven't learned that many spells."
Sirius and James stood in the back, having just made it in time for the meeting. James noticed Peter standing a little ways a way and wondered why such a failure would even attempt at dueling. He snickered softly and when Sirius glanced at him, James whispered, "Pettigrew thinks he has what it takes to duel."
Sirius just smirked, looking back at Moody. He nudged James, nodding towards Snape, who stood with his little group of Slytherins up near the front. "He shouldn't be allowed to duel, all he'll use is dark magic," Sirius muttered.
James' gaze narrowed at that. If there was one thing he hated above all else, it was dark magic. "Then we'll just have to teach him a lesson."
"As always."
As they walked out later, James saw Lily and nudged Sirius. They walked over and James stood in front of Lily, smirking. "So, Evans, you think you can duel with the best of us?"
"I hardly think you're the best, James," she retorted. Jaina snickered behind her and James looked at her.
"What, you think you're better than me?"
Jaina just grinned. "I never said that. But now that you mention it...."
"Look at that James, you just might have met your match," Sirius teased.
James ignored him, looking at Jaina. "We'll just have to see who's at the top of this club in the end. Let's go, Sirius."
Sirius laughed and followed James. "James, are you serious?"
James smirked over at him. "No first year will be the top of this club, not with seventh years in it."
Sirius pretended to look shocked. "Who are you and what have you done with my best friend? James...being modest?"
James laughed and punched Sirius lightly in the arm. "It's just fact."
"Is James giving up?"
James rolled his eyes, laughing. "Of course not. I'll be the top in a few years once I've learned enough to beat the seventh years."
"And here I thought you were getting sick. Good to have the old big-headed James back."
"Oh thanks," James said sarcastically, smirking.
Sirius grinned. "Anytime."
Meanwhile, Lily was exasperated with James. "Who does he think he is? Acting all high and mighty like he's the best in the school."
Jaina smiled. "He's a boy, Lily. Boys do that."
"Why?"
Jaina laughed. "Like I know."
"You have a brother."
"Yes, but he's not a boy."
Lily arched an eyebrow, looking over at Jaina. "Oh really...then what is he?"
Jaina shrugged, laughing. "My brother."
"You don't make any sense."
"Do I ever?"
"You have a point." Lily grinned at Jaina.
"I always do," Jaina grinned back. "Come on; let's go work on that project for DADA."
"Alright." The two best friends headed back to the common room.
The day before the project was due for DADA, Remus finally had enough of it and walked over to where James and Sirius were in the common room. They were currently playing a game of Wizard's Chess. Frankly, Remus didn't see how they were passing their classes. No one ever saw them do homework and they always goofed off in class.
"Did you two do anything for our project?" Remus asked.
James played his move. "Checkmate, Sirius."
Sirius sighed. "That's the third time. I'll never win." He fell onto his back in defeat.
James laughed. "Nope. Want to play again?"
"So I can lose again?" Sirius sat up and grinned. "Sure, why not. Maybe I'll get lucky."
"Doubtful."
Remus cleared his throat, seeing they were obviously ignoring him. "I don't know about you two, but I want a decent grade on this." He felt horrible and knew he looked it. But this was his grade. And that meant a lot to him.
James finally looked up at him. "We already did it." Then he went back to his move against Sirius.
"You haven't done anything; all I see you two do is goof off," Remus pointed out.
"Just because you haven't seen us do it, doesn't mean we haven't." James didn't look at him as he waited for Sirius to move. "I know this is some pathetic attempt to get close to us, as I know you want to be friends with us, but it won't work. So go off and do whatever you were doing, we don't care."
"This is one time where I'll agree with him," Erica said, coming up beside Remus. "We need to get this done, so stop acting childish and get to work."
Sirius arched an eyebrow, looking at Erica. "If you haven't noticed, we're still kids. So I can act childish if I want." He rolled his eyes, going back to the game.
"Come on, Lupin, we need to get this done," Erica said, turning away. "If they fail, it's their fault."
But Remus didn't go with her. He looked at James and Sirius. "What you two get on your part of the presentation affects all of us. I personally don't want a bad grade just because you were too lazy to do anything."
"Stop worrying, Lupin, we did our part. Go read a book or something," James said and he and Sirius continued their game.
Remus sighed, seeing they were going to get anywhere with this and walked over to where Erica was sitting. "So you finally decided to do some work?" he asked as he sat down.
"I got books," she said simply.
"At least you did something. But I already have books."
"And I wrote stuff down for them." She handed him sheets of parchment which he looked over.
Surprise surprise, she does work, Remus mused, smirking slightly. "Alright, so the Hungarian Horntail and the Norwegian Ridgeback, those are the two we were assigned so let's see...you've got good information, but you're missing stuff too."
"Give over, Lupin, if you're just going to pick at what I have then what was the point of me doing it? It's a group project. That means you do stuff too."
Remus just looked at her coolly. "Wonder where I've heard that before."
Erica ignored him and continued. "So are we going to do this or what?"
"Why the sudden change?"
"None of your business," Erica snapped. Blame my dad for putting pressure on me. If I don't get a top grade on this project, I'm in big trouble.
Remus ignored that and looked over a book. He read over it, checking her paper with the information.
Hungarian Horntail:
Supposedly the most dangerous of all dragon breeds, the Hungarian Horntail has black scales and is lizard-like in appearance. It has yellow eyes, bronze horns, and similarly colored spikes that protrude from its long tail. The Horntail has one of the longest fire-breathing ranges (up to five feet). Its eggs are cement-colored and particularly hard-shelled; the young club their way out using their tails, whose spikes are well developed at birth. The Hungarian Horntail feeds on goats, sheep and, whenever possible, humans.
"Okay, so it looks like you have most of this," he said, looking at her papers. "Since it looks like we're the ones that are going to have to do this all, why don't you take the Horntail and I'll take the Ridgeback."
"Since when do you tell me what to do?"
Remus just looked at her. "Fine, what do you want to do?"
"The Horntail."
"Then why were you arguing?"
"Because I wanted to." She stood, grabbing her books and walked off.
Remus rolled his eyes. "Girls." He began working.
Peter sat hunched over books, scribbling on a piece of parchment. He had been in the library for hours and was getting exhausted. Leon spotted him and walked over, sliding into a seat across from him. I wonder where Remus is? He said he'd help...but I haven't seen him all day. I hope he's alright.
"Need any help?" Leon asked.
Peter looked up at him and smiled gratefully. "A lot, if you wouldn't mind."
"So where's the rest of your group?"
Peter shrugged. "They didn't tell me anything. All I know is what dragons I'm doing."
Leon nodded his head back at a group of students. "Isn't that them?"
"Yeah." Peter looked over.
"Go talk to them. They're Hufflepuffs, they can't be that stubborn."
Peter had to laugh lightly. "You'd be surprised."
"You're a Gryffindor, go be brave and talk them."
"It's not that easy."
"Sure it is, come on." Leon stood and pulled Peter to his feet.
"I can do it," Peter shrugged of Leon's arm. He looked at Leon. Maybe Leon would know. Hopefully. "Do you know where Remus is?"
"I don't know. Want me to check on that?"
"If you could."
"Sure." Leon smiled, patting Peter on the back and then walked away.
Peter turned his attention back to the three Hufflepuffs and walked over, taking a seat. Here goes nothing. They just looked at him. "Look, it's a group project, so that means we have to work together on it."
"We already did," one of them said.
"I did too." Peter sat down the parchment that he had written on the Welsh Green and the Chinese Fireball.
The brown-haired boy took the parchment, looking it over. His black-haired companion leaned over, looking at it. "Looks good to me, David," the black- haired boy said.
"It does, Dean," David said.
The blond haired girl smiled a little at Peter. "It's good you did something."
Peter took a little offense to that. "Look, I'm not the sort of person to have everyone else do everything for me. I'm capable of doing it myself too," he said coolly.
David looked at him. "No need to get snappy. You did the parchment on the dragons; we'll do the picture and the other essay."
"Fair enough?" Dean asked.
Peter looked at them. "Yes." We're still not doing what Moody wanted though...
"Then you can go along and do whatever it was you were doing," David said. "We've got the rest."
Peter stood. "Alright." He didn't really like being shoved to the side like someone useless, but at least they had spoken to him and they'd get the project done. He left, gathering his things and leaving the library.
October 31, 1971
The day of the full moon and the day that they had to present their project, Remus was in no shape to do anything. Making the excuse that he was sick when Erica spoke to him earlier, Remus managed to get to the hospital wing, collapsing onto one of the beds.
Madam Pomfrey looked at him sympathetically, helping him to sit up and drink some water. There was little else she could do.
Meanwhile, in DADA, they sat in their groups. James dropped two scrolls down on the table, taking his seat. Erica looked at them.
"What's that?" she asked.
James just gave her a cool look. "What do you think it is? Our project."
"I'm surprised you did anything," she retorted.
"Where's Lupin?" Sirius asked, looking around.
"Probably not going to show," James smirked.
"So the know-it-all can't even show his face?" Sirius snickered. "More pathetic than I thought."
Erica glared at them both. "Get a life, both of you. He did plenty of work."
James had to grin at this. "Well, would you look at that, Sirius. Baddock is defending Lupin. Isn't it cute?"
"Oh yeah," Sirius smirked.
The clearing of a throat made everyone quiet, looking towards the front of the room where Moody stood. "I believe I assigned a group project."
Erica slipped back into her seat, silently wondering if Lupin was going to show up. He couldn't be that sick...right? She shot a cold glare at James and Sirius, and then looked back at Moody.
"So, I'd like someone to inform me, why none of you worked together?" Professor Moody crossed his arms, looking at them sternly. Lily raised her hand and Moody nodded to her. "Miss Evans?"
"Sir, we did work together."
"Did you now. Then would you please tell me what a group project is?"
"Where everyone contributes and works together." Lily looked a little nervous but held her chin high. She knew what she was talking about and wasn't afraid to show it.
"Then would you care to explain why everyone seems to have missed the point of that?"
"Sir?" Lily looked confused.
"It's simple." Moody looked around at the students. "You were all assigned the project, yet certain individuals seem to think they are above the rest, working alone."
"Sir?" James raised his hand and Moody looked at him. "Some people wouldn't let us work with them."
"I know who worked and who did not, Mr. Potter. I assure you, the people that did not work together won't be getting as good a grade. Maybe that will teach you all a lesson in group participation. Now, as for the presentations, I just want you all to hand in your work. You may leave when you've done so."
Lily looked smug. At least my group knew what they were doing. She smirked over at James and Sirius, who were playing with something fuzzy. Boys. They looked like they were plotting something and she just rolled her eyes, looking back to Professor Moody.
The class stood, filing up to his front desk, placing their scrolls on his desk. Then they left the classroom. James shoved the fuzzy creature, a puffskein, into his pocket as he walked up and set his scrolls down. He glanced around for Leon, but saw him talking to Peter. He felt a little twinge but brushed it aside and looked at Sirius. "Let's go." He grinned and they headed to the door.
"Mr. Potter."
James froze in his steps and turned to see Professor Moody looking at him. Damn, I got caught... "Yes, sir?"
"I would expect more of you, with your family's reputation. Don't disappoint them with a bad grade."
"Yes, sir."
Professor Moody began sorting through the scrolls and James took that as his exit line. He and Sirius left, walking quickly down the corridor.
"Whew, thought there for a second he saw the puffskein," James said as they walked. "Now where's Snape.." He grinned wickedly, pulling out the small fuzzy creature and petting it. It purred loudly in his hands.
Sirius' stomach growled and he grinned. "First, let's get food."
"Where?" James looked at him confused.
"Right here." Sirius began walking. "My Uncle Alphard told me about this a few years back, when he wrote me a letter that my parents didn't know about. It's pretty wicked, if you ask me." Sirius grinned and stopped in front of a large painting full of fruit.
"He's the one that your family disowned, right?" James looked thoughtful. I think my dad mentioned something about a pear...and the kitchens.
"Right." Sirius reached up and tickled the pear. They stood back as the painting swung a little over to the side and they slipped in, finding themselves in the kitchen of Hogwarts.
"Smashing!" James exclaimed, grinning.
A large number of house elves ran up to them. "Sirs! In the kitchen! We is happy to serve you."
"Good, I'm starving," Sirius said, a huge grin on his face. "Everything you have."
"Yes sir, of course sir!" one of the house elves nodded and the elves scurried off, returning with plates of food which they sat on the short tables. Sirius and James slid onto bench and began eating.
"A good place for midnight snacks," James said as he took a chicken wing.
"Its food, I'm happy," Sirius said with a mouthful of potatoes.
"So what are our plans for tonight? It is Halloween after all."
"Let's go check out the Forbidden Forest," Sirius said, grinning mischievously.
"But its Forbidden," James mocked Lily in a high-pitched voice.
"Exactly, my friend."
"Perfect. It'll be wizard."
They stood, nodding to the house elves. "Thanks," Sirius said, smiling.
"Anytime, sirs!" they said, scrambling to clean up the food and get ready for the Halloween feast that night. Sirius grabbed a pumpkin cake on his way out, munching on it as they climbed out of the portrait, heading back to the common room.
Just before the feast, James had parted from Sirius to go talk to Professor Flitwick about the homework. Having just left Flitwick's, James now headed down a deserted corridor, where the only light was from torches that lined the walls. A slight breeze swept through the corridor, making James' cloak billow slightly.
He got a prickly feeling on the back of his neck and looked around. It felt like someone was watching him, but that was silly.
Run! Get Harry out of here! a whispered voice swept down the corridor and James froze, staring. Immediately his wand was out.
"Who's there?" he called. He thought he heard a cry. A baby? But there are no babies here... The cry disappeared and James swallowed, his heart beating a little faster. He walked swiftly, pocketing his wand. This was beginning to creep him out.
He kept glancing around as he walked and nearly fainted in relief when he reached a brighter lit corridor full of students heading to the feast. He took a few deep breaths and spotted Sirius.
"Mate, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost," Sirius said as he matched James' stride towards the Great Hall.
"Something like that. Anyways –" and James and Sirius began to whisper about that night.
Leon walked through the crowd with his older brother, Edgar, who was a fifth-year Gryffindor. "So you'll help me with Charms?" Leon asked as they walked.
"Sure," Edgar said, smiling. Edgar was the top of his class and one of the top duelists in the area. There had been mini tournaments when they were younger and Edgar had always been the best.
"Thanks."
"What about your friends? James and Sirius?"
"They're always planning their next prank and having fun. I don't think they'd want to do school work."
Edgar laughed. "You prank too."
"Yeah," Leon shrugged, grinning. "But I do work too."
"Well you can always count on me," Edgar said, slinging his arm around his brother. "I'll be there for you."
"Thanks." Leon smiled and they entered the Great Hall, heading to the table.
The feast commenced and as everyone headed back to their common room, stuffed with good food and sweets, two first-years slipped away from the crowd.
"Come on," James whispered to Sirius as they hid beneath the invisibility cloak. Sneaking down a corridor, they stepped out into the cool night air. The full moon was out, bright and shining over everything.
Once they reached the edge of the forest, James took off the cloak, pocketing it and they began walking around the edge of the trees. James glanced down, feeling something fuzzy in his pocket and pulled out the puffskein. "Hey there, little guy, forgot about you." He smiled, petting it and then placing it back in his pocket. "Much safer in there."
"Oy! James! Come look at this!" Sirius whispered loudly, motioning James deeper into the woods. Sirius was prodding some sort of black object with the toe of his shoe. It looked sticky and slimy.
"Disgusting. What is it?"
Sirius shrugged. "I don't know." He wiped his shoe on the grass and they continued to explore.
"Where do you reckon Lupin is?" James asked as they walked.
"Why do you care about him?" Sirius asked.
James shrugged. "He just hasn't been around all day. I was hoping to play a prank on him."
Sirius laughed. "Who knows, I don't care."
Suddenly a bone-chilling cry swept through the air and James and Sirius froze. "What was that?" James hissed.
"I don't know." Sirius gulped, looking around. When it was silent again, they began their trek along the edge of the forest. A little ways ahead, they spotted the lights of Hogsmeade, and the darkened building of the abandoned shack.
"That was put there just this year, wasn't it?" James asked.
"Yeah, I think so."
Then they heard the cry again and it took all of their resolve not to run for it. "That came from that shack!" James whispered. They stared at the shack, wondering what exactly was in there.
Then something rustled in the bushes by them and that was it. They ran as fast as they could, not stopping until they had reached the safety of the castle and the corridor outside their common room.
"What...what was that?" James whispered, gasping for breath.
Sirius had his hands on his knees as he caught his breath. "I don't know, but...it didn't sound very nice."
"You think it was a werewolf?" James asked as he stood up, fixing his glasses.
Sirius shrugged. "Maybe. Dumbledore said there were werewolves in the forest."
"So much for Gryffindor bravery," James smirked.
"We'll just say that the cry came from shack."
"Then that's our story. We'll just say we went to the shack," James said, grinning. "No one has to know what really happened."
"Brilliant," Sirius grinned.
James yawned and they both laughed. "Okay, enough excitement for tonight. My bed is calling my name."
"Mine too."
They headed back into the common room, but not before telling anyone who would listen about their tale of bravery.
"So the shack's really haunted?" a boy whispered.
James nodded. "We heard it ourselves."
"And don't forget that big thing we saw inside," Sirius pointed out.
"Wow! You're really brave!"
"Of course," Sirius smirked.
This continued on for another few hours as they told their tale. By the end of the week, it would be everywhere and everyone would know of that night's adventure.
The Ties That Bind
Chapter Seven: Halloween
October, 1971
"So ... remind me again, why ... are we running like mad men ... down this hall?" Sirius asked James as they skidded around a corner, their cloaks billowing around them as they ran past people.
"The Dueling Club...remember?"
"Oh, right!" Sirius dodged a few people, knocking some over including Peter.
"What's the big rush?" Peter yelled after them.
"Dueling Club!" was all Sirius yelled before he and James disappeared around another bend.
"You should do it, Peter," Remus said, helping his friend to his feet. "You're good in Charms and I think it'll help you improve."
"You think so?" Peter looked at Remus, arching an eyebrow.
"I do." Remus smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.
"Are you alright, Remus?" Peter asked, looking at his friend worriedly. The past day or so Remus had begun to grow paler and quieter, keeping to himself.
"I'm fine," Remus brushed it off. "Now go on to the club. I'll see you back at the common room."
"Okay," Peter said hesitantly but ran down the hall, disappearing into the crowd.
Remus turned, heading back to the common room, where he collapsed in a chair by the window. Pulling out his DADA book and a few others he had borrowed from the library on dragons, he began reading, taking notes every now and then. He had seen James and Sirius goofing off with their friends and he hadn't seen Erica lately. Not wanting a bad grade on the project, he had begun researching, hoping he wouldn't get stuck with everything. Especially not at this time. The full moon was in two days, the day they had to present, and he was feeling horrible. Luckily, Peter didn't suspect anything unusual when Remus made the excuse he had to go see his mother last month. Now it would have to be the sick excuse, or Peter might think it strange that he had to see his mother again. He'd have to be careful.
He sighed, closing his eyes momentarily. Once the wave of sickness had passed, he began working again. An hour later or so, a snobbish voice broke through his thoughts.
"I am not getting a bad grade on this, Lupin, so you'd better tell me what you've found," the voice said. Remus looked up to see Erica standing there, her arms crossed over her chest, glaring down at him.
"Why don't you do your own research and find out some things yourself."
"Because," she looked at him like he was stupid, "it's a group project."
"Exactly. That means, we all research, and then we combine what we have and put it into the paper and presentation."
"No, that means people like you do all the work and we get the credit."
"If you weren't listening, Professor Moody said we'd be graded on our own personal contribution. So yes, you do have to do work, Erica."
She rolled her eyes. "Do it all yourself." She walked off and Remus just shrugged.
"Your grade."
Leon smiled as he walked with Amelia, his older sister. "So tell me again, little brother, how much trouble have you been in lately?" she teased.
He laughed. "Oh come on, not that much Amelia. Between the three of us, we've only managed to get five detentions."
Amelia rolled her eyes, laughing. "You and those friends of yours are always cooking up something."
"Them more than me. But I help a little."
She smiled. "Well, have fun. That's important, but don't break rules."
"Yes Prefect sister," he teased and she went to ruffle his hair.
He dodged it, grinning. "Too slow. Your Quidditch reflexes need honing."
"Oh you just wait; I'll show your brother up on the field in our first match."
"We'll see."
She smiled as they rounded a corner. "Yes we will. Well, I have to run to class. You take care of yourself."
"Always." Leon smiled, waving at his sister as she went down the corridor. Leon turned, heading another way.
As he walked, he headed into a more deserted corridor, going to the common room. He heard the pad of feet and saw none other than Evan Rosier and Tom Avery walking towards him. They stopped in the passage and Leon stopped as well.
"Get out of my way," Leon said coolly, pointing his wand at them.
"We were just walking, Bones. We can do what we want," Evan retorted.
"You forget I'm a far better wizard than you two will ever be."
Tom looked unsure of what to do, his hand in the pocket of his robe as if for his wand, but he didn't move otherwise.
"You sound like Potter, Bones. You one of his loyal followers too?" Evan sneered.
"Shove it, Rosier. You're just Slytherin trash, get out of my way."
Evan's gaze narrowed. "What did you say?"
"You heard me." Leon looked back with just as much venom. "After what your family has done to mine, you're all just trash."
"You'll pay for that," Evan hissed and moved to say a spell but Leon was too quick, knocking him back off his feet and had his wand pointed at Evan's neck.
Tom looked nervous, pulling out his wand. "Get away from him," he said shakily.
Leon ignored Tom, grabbing Evan's wand and standing, pointing both wands at him. "Petrificus Totalus," he said and instantly Evan was in a full body- bind, making him stiff. He pointed his wand at Tom, whose eyes went wide and he just ran. "Nice friends you got," he smirked, looking down at Evan, who glared back up at him. "Have fun getting out of that."
He walked away, dropping Evan's wand on Evan's chest.
"Practices will begin next Thursday evening," Professor Moody continued, standing in front of the group of duelists for the Dueling Club. "Since many of you are only in your first and second years, we won't be holding a Dueling Tournament this year. But we will next year. Then, only third years and above will be able to participate. Since it wouldn't be fair to those of you that haven't learned that many spells."
Sirius and James stood in the back, having just made it in time for the meeting. James noticed Peter standing a little ways a way and wondered why such a failure would even attempt at dueling. He snickered softly and when Sirius glanced at him, James whispered, "Pettigrew thinks he has what it takes to duel."
Sirius just smirked, looking back at Moody. He nudged James, nodding towards Snape, who stood with his little group of Slytherins up near the front. "He shouldn't be allowed to duel, all he'll use is dark magic," Sirius muttered.
James' gaze narrowed at that. If there was one thing he hated above all else, it was dark magic. "Then we'll just have to teach him a lesson."
"As always."
As they walked out later, James saw Lily and nudged Sirius. They walked over and James stood in front of Lily, smirking. "So, Evans, you think you can duel with the best of us?"
"I hardly think you're the best, James," she retorted. Jaina snickered behind her and James looked at her.
"What, you think you're better than me?"
Jaina just grinned. "I never said that. But now that you mention it...."
"Look at that James, you just might have met your match," Sirius teased.
James ignored him, looking at Jaina. "We'll just have to see who's at the top of this club in the end. Let's go, Sirius."
Sirius laughed and followed James. "James, are you serious?"
James smirked over at him. "No first year will be the top of this club, not with seventh years in it."
Sirius pretended to look shocked. "Who are you and what have you done with my best friend? James...being modest?"
James laughed and punched Sirius lightly in the arm. "It's just fact."
"Is James giving up?"
James rolled his eyes, laughing. "Of course not. I'll be the top in a few years once I've learned enough to beat the seventh years."
"And here I thought you were getting sick. Good to have the old big-headed James back."
"Oh thanks," James said sarcastically, smirking.
Sirius grinned. "Anytime."
Meanwhile, Lily was exasperated with James. "Who does he think he is? Acting all high and mighty like he's the best in the school."
Jaina smiled. "He's a boy, Lily. Boys do that."
"Why?"
Jaina laughed. "Like I know."
"You have a brother."
"Yes, but he's not a boy."
Lily arched an eyebrow, looking over at Jaina. "Oh really...then what is he?"
Jaina shrugged, laughing. "My brother."
"You don't make any sense."
"Do I ever?"
"You have a point." Lily grinned at Jaina.
"I always do," Jaina grinned back. "Come on; let's go work on that project for DADA."
"Alright." The two best friends headed back to the common room.
The day before the project was due for DADA, Remus finally had enough of it and walked over to where James and Sirius were in the common room. They were currently playing a game of Wizard's Chess. Frankly, Remus didn't see how they were passing their classes. No one ever saw them do homework and they always goofed off in class.
"Did you two do anything for our project?" Remus asked.
James played his move. "Checkmate, Sirius."
Sirius sighed. "That's the third time. I'll never win." He fell onto his back in defeat.
James laughed. "Nope. Want to play again?"
"So I can lose again?" Sirius sat up and grinned. "Sure, why not. Maybe I'll get lucky."
"Doubtful."
Remus cleared his throat, seeing they were obviously ignoring him. "I don't know about you two, but I want a decent grade on this." He felt horrible and knew he looked it. But this was his grade. And that meant a lot to him.
James finally looked up at him. "We already did it." Then he went back to his move against Sirius.
"You haven't done anything; all I see you two do is goof off," Remus pointed out.
"Just because you haven't seen us do it, doesn't mean we haven't." James didn't look at him as he waited for Sirius to move. "I know this is some pathetic attempt to get close to us, as I know you want to be friends with us, but it won't work. So go off and do whatever you were doing, we don't care."
"This is one time where I'll agree with him," Erica said, coming up beside Remus. "We need to get this done, so stop acting childish and get to work."
Sirius arched an eyebrow, looking at Erica. "If you haven't noticed, we're still kids. So I can act childish if I want." He rolled his eyes, going back to the game.
"Come on, Lupin, we need to get this done," Erica said, turning away. "If they fail, it's their fault."
But Remus didn't go with her. He looked at James and Sirius. "What you two get on your part of the presentation affects all of us. I personally don't want a bad grade just because you were too lazy to do anything."
"Stop worrying, Lupin, we did our part. Go read a book or something," James said and he and Sirius continued their game.
Remus sighed, seeing they were going to get anywhere with this and walked over to where Erica was sitting. "So you finally decided to do some work?" he asked as he sat down.
"I got books," she said simply.
"At least you did something. But I already have books."
"And I wrote stuff down for them." She handed him sheets of parchment which he looked over.
Surprise surprise, she does work, Remus mused, smirking slightly. "Alright, so the Hungarian Horntail and the Norwegian Ridgeback, those are the two we were assigned so let's see...you've got good information, but you're missing stuff too."
"Give over, Lupin, if you're just going to pick at what I have then what was the point of me doing it? It's a group project. That means you do stuff too."
Remus just looked at her coolly. "Wonder where I've heard that before."
Erica ignored him and continued. "So are we going to do this or what?"
"Why the sudden change?"
"None of your business," Erica snapped. Blame my dad for putting pressure on me. If I don't get a top grade on this project, I'm in big trouble.
Remus ignored that and looked over a book. He read over it, checking her paper with the information.
Hungarian Horntail:
Supposedly the most dangerous of all dragon breeds, the Hungarian Horntail has black scales and is lizard-like in appearance. It has yellow eyes, bronze horns, and similarly colored spikes that protrude from its long tail. The Horntail has one of the longest fire-breathing ranges (up to five feet). Its eggs are cement-colored and particularly hard-shelled; the young club their way out using their tails, whose spikes are well developed at birth. The Hungarian Horntail feeds on goats, sheep and, whenever possible, humans.
"Okay, so it looks like you have most of this," he said, looking at her papers. "Since it looks like we're the ones that are going to have to do this all, why don't you take the Horntail and I'll take the Ridgeback."
"Since when do you tell me what to do?"
Remus just looked at her. "Fine, what do you want to do?"
"The Horntail."
"Then why were you arguing?"
"Because I wanted to." She stood, grabbing her books and walked off.
Remus rolled his eyes. "Girls." He began working.
Peter sat hunched over books, scribbling on a piece of parchment. He had been in the library for hours and was getting exhausted. Leon spotted him and walked over, sliding into a seat across from him. I wonder where Remus is? He said he'd help...but I haven't seen him all day. I hope he's alright.
"Need any help?" Leon asked.
Peter looked up at him and smiled gratefully. "A lot, if you wouldn't mind."
"So where's the rest of your group?"
Peter shrugged. "They didn't tell me anything. All I know is what dragons I'm doing."
Leon nodded his head back at a group of students. "Isn't that them?"
"Yeah." Peter looked over.
"Go talk to them. They're Hufflepuffs, they can't be that stubborn."
Peter had to laugh lightly. "You'd be surprised."
"You're a Gryffindor, go be brave and talk them."
"It's not that easy."
"Sure it is, come on." Leon stood and pulled Peter to his feet.
"I can do it," Peter shrugged of Leon's arm. He looked at Leon. Maybe Leon would know. Hopefully. "Do you know where Remus is?"
"I don't know. Want me to check on that?"
"If you could."
"Sure." Leon smiled, patting Peter on the back and then walked away.
Peter turned his attention back to the three Hufflepuffs and walked over, taking a seat. Here goes nothing. They just looked at him. "Look, it's a group project, so that means we have to work together on it."
"We already did," one of them said.
"I did too." Peter sat down the parchment that he had written on the Welsh Green and the Chinese Fireball.
The brown-haired boy took the parchment, looking it over. His black-haired companion leaned over, looking at it. "Looks good to me, David," the black- haired boy said.
"It does, Dean," David said.
The blond haired girl smiled a little at Peter. "It's good you did something."
Peter took a little offense to that. "Look, I'm not the sort of person to have everyone else do everything for me. I'm capable of doing it myself too," he said coolly.
David looked at him. "No need to get snappy. You did the parchment on the dragons; we'll do the picture and the other essay."
"Fair enough?" Dean asked.
Peter looked at them. "Yes." We're still not doing what Moody wanted though...
"Then you can go along and do whatever it was you were doing," David said. "We've got the rest."
Peter stood. "Alright." He didn't really like being shoved to the side like someone useless, but at least they had spoken to him and they'd get the project done. He left, gathering his things and leaving the library.
October 31, 1971
The day of the full moon and the day that they had to present their project, Remus was in no shape to do anything. Making the excuse that he was sick when Erica spoke to him earlier, Remus managed to get to the hospital wing, collapsing onto one of the beds.
Madam Pomfrey looked at him sympathetically, helping him to sit up and drink some water. There was little else she could do.
Meanwhile, in DADA, they sat in their groups. James dropped two scrolls down on the table, taking his seat. Erica looked at them.
"What's that?" she asked.
James just gave her a cool look. "What do you think it is? Our project."
"I'm surprised you did anything," she retorted.
"Where's Lupin?" Sirius asked, looking around.
"Probably not going to show," James smirked.
"So the know-it-all can't even show his face?" Sirius snickered. "More pathetic than I thought."
Erica glared at them both. "Get a life, both of you. He did plenty of work."
James had to grin at this. "Well, would you look at that, Sirius. Baddock is defending Lupin. Isn't it cute?"
"Oh yeah," Sirius smirked.
The clearing of a throat made everyone quiet, looking towards the front of the room where Moody stood. "I believe I assigned a group project."
Erica slipped back into her seat, silently wondering if Lupin was going to show up. He couldn't be that sick...right? She shot a cold glare at James and Sirius, and then looked back at Moody.
"So, I'd like someone to inform me, why none of you worked together?" Professor Moody crossed his arms, looking at them sternly. Lily raised her hand and Moody nodded to her. "Miss Evans?"
"Sir, we did work together."
"Did you now. Then would you please tell me what a group project is?"
"Where everyone contributes and works together." Lily looked a little nervous but held her chin high. She knew what she was talking about and wasn't afraid to show it.
"Then would you care to explain why everyone seems to have missed the point of that?"
"Sir?" Lily looked confused.
"It's simple." Moody looked around at the students. "You were all assigned the project, yet certain individuals seem to think they are above the rest, working alone."
"Sir?" James raised his hand and Moody looked at him. "Some people wouldn't let us work with them."
"I know who worked and who did not, Mr. Potter. I assure you, the people that did not work together won't be getting as good a grade. Maybe that will teach you all a lesson in group participation. Now, as for the presentations, I just want you all to hand in your work. You may leave when you've done so."
Lily looked smug. At least my group knew what they were doing. She smirked over at James and Sirius, who were playing with something fuzzy. Boys. They looked like they were plotting something and she just rolled her eyes, looking back to Professor Moody.
The class stood, filing up to his front desk, placing their scrolls on his desk. Then they left the classroom. James shoved the fuzzy creature, a puffskein, into his pocket as he walked up and set his scrolls down. He glanced around for Leon, but saw him talking to Peter. He felt a little twinge but brushed it aside and looked at Sirius. "Let's go." He grinned and they headed to the door.
"Mr. Potter."
James froze in his steps and turned to see Professor Moody looking at him. Damn, I got caught... "Yes, sir?"
"I would expect more of you, with your family's reputation. Don't disappoint them with a bad grade."
"Yes, sir."
Professor Moody began sorting through the scrolls and James took that as his exit line. He and Sirius left, walking quickly down the corridor.
"Whew, thought there for a second he saw the puffskein," James said as they walked. "Now where's Snape.." He grinned wickedly, pulling out the small fuzzy creature and petting it. It purred loudly in his hands.
Sirius' stomach growled and he grinned. "First, let's get food."
"Where?" James looked at him confused.
"Right here." Sirius began walking. "My Uncle Alphard told me about this a few years back, when he wrote me a letter that my parents didn't know about. It's pretty wicked, if you ask me." Sirius grinned and stopped in front of a large painting full of fruit.
"He's the one that your family disowned, right?" James looked thoughtful. I think my dad mentioned something about a pear...and the kitchens.
"Right." Sirius reached up and tickled the pear. They stood back as the painting swung a little over to the side and they slipped in, finding themselves in the kitchen of Hogwarts.
"Smashing!" James exclaimed, grinning.
A large number of house elves ran up to them. "Sirs! In the kitchen! We is happy to serve you."
"Good, I'm starving," Sirius said, a huge grin on his face. "Everything you have."
"Yes sir, of course sir!" one of the house elves nodded and the elves scurried off, returning with plates of food which they sat on the short tables. Sirius and James slid onto bench and began eating.
"A good place for midnight snacks," James said as he took a chicken wing.
"Its food, I'm happy," Sirius said with a mouthful of potatoes.
"So what are our plans for tonight? It is Halloween after all."
"Let's go check out the Forbidden Forest," Sirius said, grinning mischievously.
"But its Forbidden," James mocked Lily in a high-pitched voice.
"Exactly, my friend."
"Perfect. It'll be wizard."
They stood, nodding to the house elves. "Thanks," Sirius said, smiling.
"Anytime, sirs!" they said, scrambling to clean up the food and get ready for the Halloween feast that night. Sirius grabbed a pumpkin cake on his way out, munching on it as they climbed out of the portrait, heading back to the common room.
Just before the feast, James had parted from Sirius to go talk to Professor Flitwick about the homework. Having just left Flitwick's, James now headed down a deserted corridor, where the only light was from torches that lined the walls. A slight breeze swept through the corridor, making James' cloak billow slightly.
He got a prickly feeling on the back of his neck and looked around. It felt like someone was watching him, but that was silly.
Run! Get Harry out of here! a whispered voice swept down the corridor and James froze, staring. Immediately his wand was out.
"Who's there?" he called. He thought he heard a cry. A baby? But there are no babies here... The cry disappeared and James swallowed, his heart beating a little faster. He walked swiftly, pocketing his wand. This was beginning to creep him out.
He kept glancing around as he walked and nearly fainted in relief when he reached a brighter lit corridor full of students heading to the feast. He took a few deep breaths and spotted Sirius.
"Mate, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost," Sirius said as he matched James' stride towards the Great Hall.
"Something like that. Anyways –" and James and Sirius began to whisper about that night.
Leon walked through the crowd with his older brother, Edgar, who was a fifth-year Gryffindor. "So you'll help me with Charms?" Leon asked as they walked.
"Sure," Edgar said, smiling. Edgar was the top of his class and one of the top duelists in the area. There had been mini tournaments when they were younger and Edgar had always been the best.
"Thanks."
"What about your friends? James and Sirius?"
"They're always planning their next prank and having fun. I don't think they'd want to do school work."
Edgar laughed. "You prank too."
"Yeah," Leon shrugged, grinning. "But I do work too."
"Well you can always count on me," Edgar said, slinging his arm around his brother. "I'll be there for you."
"Thanks." Leon smiled and they entered the Great Hall, heading to the table.
The feast commenced and as everyone headed back to their common room, stuffed with good food and sweets, two first-years slipped away from the crowd.
"Come on," James whispered to Sirius as they hid beneath the invisibility cloak. Sneaking down a corridor, they stepped out into the cool night air. The full moon was out, bright and shining over everything.
Once they reached the edge of the forest, James took off the cloak, pocketing it and they began walking around the edge of the trees. James glanced down, feeling something fuzzy in his pocket and pulled out the puffskein. "Hey there, little guy, forgot about you." He smiled, petting it and then placing it back in his pocket. "Much safer in there."
"Oy! James! Come look at this!" Sirius whispered loudly, motioning James deeper into the woods. Sirius was prodding some sort of black object with the toe of his shoe. It looked sticky and slimy.
"Disgusting. What is it?"
Sirius shrugged. "I don't know." He wiped his shoe on the grass and they continued to explore.
"Where do you reckon Lupin is?" James asked as they walked.
"Why do you care about him?" Sirius asked.
James shrugged. "He just hasn't been around all day. I was hoping to play a prank on him."
Sirius laughed. "Who knows, I don't care."
Suddenly a bone-chilling cry swept through the air and James and Sirius froze. "What was that?" James hissed.
"I don't know." Sirius gulped, looking around. When it was silent again, they began their trek along the edge of the forest. A little ways ahead, they spotted the lights of Hogsmeade, and the darkened building of the abandoned shack.
"That was put there just this year, wasn't it?" James asked.
"Yeah, I think so."
Then they heard the cry again and it took all of their resolve not to run for it. "That came from that shack!" James whispered. They stared at the shack, wondering what exactly was in there.
Then something rustled in the bushes by them and that was it. They ran as fast as they could, not stopping until they had reached the safety of the castle and the corridor outside their common room.
"What...what was that?" James whispered, gasping for breath.
Sirius had his hands on his knees as he caught his breath. "I don't know, but...it didn't sound very nice."
"You think it was a werewolf?" James asked as he stood up, fixing his glasses.
Sirius shrugged. "Maybe. Dumbledore said there were werewolves in the forest."
"So much for Gryffindor bravery," James smirked.
"We'll just say that the cry came from shack."
"Then that's our story. We'll just say we went to the shack," James said, grinning. "No one has to know what really happened."
"Brilliant," Sirius grinned.
James yawned and they both laughed. "Okay, enough excitement for tonight. My bed is calling my name."
"Mine too."
They headed back into the common room, but not before telling anyone who would listen about their tale of bravery.
"So the shack's really haunted?" a boy whispered.
James nodded. "We heard it ourselves."
"And don't forget that big thing we saw inside," Sirius pointed out.
"Wow! You're really brave!"
"Of course," Sirius smirked.
This continued on for another few hours as they told their tale. By the end of the week, it would be everywhere and everyone would know of that night's adventure.