Title: Light
Author: Amelia Bedelia
Chapter Twenty: Marauder in Training
AUTHORS NOTE: I would REALLY like to point out to everyone that I updated in LESS than a month – AND, for a super special bonus, I almost have chapter 21 finished as well, so expect that really soon! It starts having more action…
ALSO want to point out – I got 800 reviews! And on my twentieth chapter. It's amazing – simply wonderful. :-P
Alright, no more news here – read!
Chapter Twenty: Marauder in Training
"We'll go back to the basics," Sirius said to James, setting down a wooden box onto an empty desk and pulling out his wand. "Levitation, four-point spell, disarming, and so on," he listed. "Then we'll add on a few of the more challenging ones, including invisibility, vanishing, and hex deflection."
Sirius picked up a list and walked over to James' spot on the desk and showed the long list to him, written in loopy writing. "Lily had some other sort of obligation tonight, but she was able to give me some good charms we could work on. Summoning, banishing, cushioning, defending, patronus – the usual."
"Right," James muttered, running a hand through his hair, shuddering. "Obligation?" James repeated, gaining the use of his voice again.
Sirius nodded, folding the paper and slipping it into his pocket. "Tutoring or something of the like," he said, waving his hand around, shrugging. "She said she was sorry she couldn't be here, mate."
James stood on weak legs, nodding. "I'm sure."
"Wand at the ready," Sirius directed him, holding out his own wand. "I want you to levitate this into the air at approximately three feet above my hand and then back down."
James said softly, "Wingardium Leviosa." Slowly, Sirius' wand lifted, moving slightly higher than three feet, and dropped back to Sirius' hand.
"Be sure to control the descent," Sirius said. "Imagine trying to levitate something that could break and you drop it like that. Nasty mess, that'd be," he muttered, scratching his head, and pointing to the large box on the table. "Five feet," he said, stepping away.
Again, James pointed his wand and the box rose.
"Good," Sirius encouraged, nodding. "Nice and steady, nice and – James!"
A loud crash echoed throughout the room as the wooden box crashed to the floor, shattering to pieces and scattering its contents.
Sirius checked the door to the classroom. "I'm glad I thought to soundproof the place."
James merely stood, staring solemn faced at the wooden shards, inches from piercing his leg.
"Well," Sirius muttered, "I guess we could skip ahead to repairing objects…" He looked up at James. "Or, you know… we could always talk about why you're completely out of it today. No offense," he said, "but levitation charms really aren't that hard. I was hoping to start with the easy to help boost your confidence level, but I'm not so sure that's working."
James laughed feebly at Sirius' attempt to cheer him up. "Let's just say it's been a rough year," he said.
"As in…"
James shrugged. "You know, Voldemort being after me, after Breanna's parents, the usual, I guess…" he muttered, conveniently leaving out his conversation with Lily two nights before.
Sirius nodded. "It's all happening at once," he agreed, looking at his friend helplessly. "You don't really have a choice. Your gift was, pretty much, forced upon you. You just have to live with it."
James raised a hand, pointing a finger. "It doesn't help that earlier this week I worked myself into a rage and used wandless magic."
Sirius crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow at him. "No, it really doesn't, but you'll be fine by tomorrow, Thursday at the latest." He reached out a comforting hand, shaking his shoulder slightly. "You'll be fine. We're all rooting for you. Obviously," he added, rolling his eyes at the previous statement.
James smiled graciously, thinking about Lily. "I know," he whispered. And then, as if waking from a deep slumber, James shook himself and looked up, alert and awake, grinning broadly.
Sirius took a step back, amazed. "Feeling better?"
James crouched down low, concentrating intently. He made a motion, muttering something under his breath. Next thing he knew, Sirius was floating several feet in the air, rather close to the ceiling.
"Prongs," he shouted warningly, "you might be feeling better right now, but you did have that panic attack a few days ago, and you might not be, physically, up to par with your strength quite yet, and I really would wish you didn't try it out on me, especially when I happen to be ten feet into the air, no wand, and no cushions beneath me!" Sirius began to roll around in the air, partially upside down. He waved his arms around as he floated around, attempting to appear angry at his friend. "My handsome looks are at stake, James!"
James burst out laughing, but maintaining a strong grip on Sirius. "I think, for that comment alone, I should drop you."
Sirius stopped moving, completely upside down by this point. He found the ceiling and placed his feet on the solid surface, feeling slightly comfortable at reaching stable "ground."
"You wouldn't," Sirius whispered, astounded.
James laughed loudly. He swished his wand a few more times, and Sirius flew through the air, landing on the ground lightly.
Sirius took a deep, leaning against the wall. "You nearly rammed my head into the ceiling on that last summersault I just did."
James smiled, ready to take on whatever spell Sirius gave him. "Live with it."
! Later !
"You should have seen him," Sirius said in a loud whisper to the group. "Three patronus' in a row, followed by seven body binds, two protean charms, and unplotting himself on a map." Sirius sat back, allowing himself to be swallowed up in the couch cushions, in awe of James' success. "I didn't even know you could be unplottable. I thought it was only for objects, but apparently not…"
Bella nodded, grinning at James, who was leaning forward onto his knees. "That's amazing," she said, resting against Sirius.
"And then," Sirius added, "I turned around to read something off of the list and when I turned back, he wasn't there." Sirius raised his head, looking at Remus with a proud look on his face. "That little bugger used an invisibility spell on me, and proceeded to cast a jelly-legs jinx."
Peter snickered, covering his mouth with his hand.
"I have always wanted to do that to Sirius," Breanna said, almost wistfully. "There are those that don't freak out when they get the jelly-legs jinx, but then there are some who make a big deal out of it, which adds to the hilarity."
The group looked accusingly at Sirius.
"What?" he exclaimed, holding up his hands defensively. "I can't help that I have a boisterous personality."
Bella rolled her eyes and jabbed him in the stomach. "Sirius, what have I told you about acting like you're smart in front of everyone?"
Sirius rolled his eyes innocently. "Not to do it…?"
Bella nodded, smiling up at him. "Bingo."
The portrait swung open and James looked up, his attention now elsewhere. "Excuse me," he said to the five, and stood, politely.
Approaching the red-head, James stepped into her direct path towards the Girls Dormitories.
"Hello, Lily," he said bravely, his heart beating rapidly.
Lily kept her eyes averted and hugged her books closer to her chest. "Hi," she said quietly.
James shifted from foot to foot awkwardly, swallowing. "I was hoping I'd be able to talk to you for a little bit."
Lily shook her head, no, and ran past him, up to her room.
!Lily!
Lily slammed the door closed and leaned against it, breathing heavily. She closed her eyes, allowing herself to slide to the floor in defeat.
I can't, she said, making excuses for herself. He'd understand that I can't.
So why didn't you tell him when he asked to talk?
Lily squeezed her eyes tightly together, wishing she could stop thinking for just one minute.
She picked up her bag and tossed it weakly across the room towards the bottom of her bed, landing upside down. Lily groaned slightly, but ignored the bag, choosing to lie on her back on the floor, staring at the ceiling.
You broke his heart, that voice in her head echoed. He came back to you just now.
Lily nodded. And I shot him down again.
Now you're getting the picture.
Lily curled her hand up in a fist and pounded on the hard floor. Pain shot through her arm, but she was glad it was there. She was glad she was being punished for her selfishness.
------------Sirius------------
"Here's the deal," Sirius said quietly, leaning in the second James had disappeared into his room. "Saturday, James leaves for Carisbrooke Castle. Now, I plan on leaving as well, right after he does."
Remus rolled his eyes and slapped his leg, getting the others' attention. "Sirius, I already told you it wouldn't work."
"Now, now, Moony, hear me out! It's not that bad of an idea!"
Peter's face had drained, leaving the white of his skin. "You're doing what?"
Sirius laughed at Peter's look. "Don't wet yourself, buddy. Plus," he added, "if we even go, we won't make ourselves obvious."
Bella spoke up. "I don't think James would be trying to make it obvious either, Sirius."
"You guys aren't seriously thinking about following James, are you?" Peter asked, worried.
Sirius draped an arm around Bella, laughing. "No, Pete. We're not going anywhere."
The group looked sharply towards Sirius, aghast. "Really?" Peter squeaked.
"Really," Sirius repeated, smiling kindly.
Peter nodded, looking away. "Well then. I think I'll be slipping off to bed…"
Sirius nodded without a word, and watched the boy run upstairs.
"As I was saying," Sirius said quietly, "James is leaving Saturday, and I know he doesn't want us to come, but it wouldn't hurt having us there to help out when he needs it. He's not Dumbledore, you know."
Breanna looked confused. "Sirius, you just told Peter that we weren't going."
Sirius waved his hand in the air, as if trying to hurry her up. "I knew Peter would have a cow if he knew we were actually going, but thought it'd be better to leave him out of this one thing."
Bella frowned. "So you're actually serious about this?"
He nodded. "'Serious' isn't my name for nothing."
Remus looked at Breanna, raising an eyebrow. "He has a bit of a point." He looked intently into her eyes, hoping for an answer from her.
"Don't look at me," she said. "He's your psycho friend!"
Sirius nodded eagerly. "Come on, Moony. Do you honestly want to leave James there without any help whatsoever? What would happen if he never comes back? Would you want that stuck on your conscience? That we could have done something, but we didn't?"
Remus sighed, giving up. "I think we all knew that we would eventually have to do this."
Bella nodded, agreeing. "So I'm with psycho, here," she said, pointing to Sirius.
Breanna nodded without a hitch. "Me too."
The three looked over to Remus expectantly.
"Yeah," he nodded. "I'm in."
.-..-..-..-..-..-. Peter .-..-..-..-..-..-.
Master.
What happened, Pettigrew? a harsh voice sounded through Peter's mind, making him shake in fear.
They are thinking of following Potter.
There was a small pause. They who?
Black, Lupin, Figg, and Roysen.
Another pause, and then a small crackle of laughter. Roysen? the voice repeated. As in their daughter?
Peter nodded, and then remembered he couldn't see him. Yes, Master.
Another laugh. By all means, bring them! Be sure Roysen goes.
Peter frowned. But Master, I thought you didn't want them.
Roysen is a completely different story. Be sure she comes.
Yes, Master.
Peter released his fingers from his arm and took a shuddering breath.
"Pete?"
Peter blinked several times, attempting to figure out whose voice had just spoken. "Yes?" he said softly.
"Are you alright?"
It was James. Peter opened the drapes around his bed and smiled at James, lying on his bed, still in his school uniform. "I'm perfectly fine."
+ Bella +
"This shouldn't take too long," Bella said, flipping open one of the many books lying out on the table. James pulled up a chair nearby the Gryffindor common room fireplace, and dragged it to the table, taking a seat.
"By the looks of how many books I'm seeing, I really don't think so."
Bella ignored the comment, flipping through the pages of the dusty, old book. "These books contain information that will help you figure out what to expect."
James raised an eyebrow.
"For example," Bella said, pointing to a picture, "Carisbrooke Castle sits on top of a hill."
James looked at her in amusement, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest defiantly. "I'm waiting to figure out how this can help me at all."
Bella shot him a glare. "Because it's on a hill, there is a higher chance that Voldemort and his 'crew' will be able to spot you quickly before you see them."
James shrugged. "But that's a bit obvious, isn't it?"
Bella crossed her legs. "James, if I didn't tell you where it was located, I would have bet three galleons you would have attempted to enter from the bottom."
James blinked. "Maybe."
"Another thing," Bella added, hiding a laugh, "is the castle's roofs are open without a roof – at least, the majority are, as most castles were in the time period. If they aren't open, they'll have a roof, but without a great angle of depression. Therefore, you would be able to walk on the roofs without much problem."
James smiled slightly. "And the reason you're telling me this is so I know where to land?"
"Precisely."
"Any more useful information?" he asked, slightly intrigued at her interpretations of the castle.
"Have you ever heard of King Charles I?"
James shook his head no. Bella continued.
"King Charles I was the first of all royalty to be known as a wizard. He was also one of many captured in 1647 and held prisoner. He attempted to break out twice, and was finally executed in the end. He now haunts Carisbrooke Castle."
James nodded, wide-eyed.
"Along with this King, a few others taken hostage could have been wizards or witches, including his daughter, Princess Elizabeth. She passed away after catching a cold. Do not," she said sharply, pointing a finger into his chest, "under any circumstance trust ghosts you meet in that castle. We have no way of knowing whether or not Voldemort corrupted their minds. For all we know, Voldemort could have been the first speaking organisms those ghosts have seen in the past several hundred years."
James smiled inwardly at the fact that Bella had just called Voldemort an organism. He's not human enough to be called a human.
"Got it," James said, nodding obediently.
"Those ghosts could be used for observing all rooms in the castle and reporting back to Voldemort on your every move."
James nodded again, growing tired. "Don't trust anyone I meet. Got it."
.-..-..-..-..-..-. Peter .-..-..-..-..-..-.
"Rookwood?"
"No," the dark figure replied sarcastically, "I'm Flitwick."
Peter blinked.
"Of course it's me, prat."
"Right," Peter said, standing in front of Rookwood's chair. He shuddered. Peter hated the dungeons. He would have thought that being part of Lord Voldemort's circle would get you comfortable with dark surroundings. "The Dark Lord asked for me to speak to you before Saturday."
Rookwood threw a pink teacup to Peter, nearly smashing on the floor from Peter's clumsy hands. "Your portkey," he said plainly. "Noon on Saturday."
Pettigrew nodded and pocketed it, creating a large bulge in his right robe pocket. "Do we have assignments for this weekend, yet?"
Rookwood shrugged, in no hurry to find out. "Top secret," he said. "He doesn't want any chances of it being spilled whatsoever." He shrugged. "It's probably another scheme to become stronger or more powerful or something."
Peter nodded absentmindedly. "Of course."
After a quick debate with himself, Rookwod leaned close to Peter and said, "I heard from Mulciber that some threat of the Dark Lord's is coming in Saturday."
Peter bit his tongue and nodded. "Of course," he said.
Rookwood sat back in his chair, smiling almost wistfully. "I hope I get to kill him."
"What? Why would he want to kill him – how do you know?"
"Come on, Pettigrew. Don't be so daft," Rookwood said harshly. "Why else would Voldemort have someone powerful come to us?"
He was silent.
"I've been working on the Unforgivable Curses and I've been really good on the Killing Curse."
"Great," Peter said quietly.
"If I could just kill whoever that's coming in, I'd be able to prove myself to the Dark Lord and earn a spot at his right hand side."
Peter nodded.
"Don't you speak at all?" Rookwood shouted loudly. "You've hardly said a word since you've been here."
"I've got to go," Peter said quickly, walking away.
Remus
"It's great," Remus said, highly enthusiastic. His attitude today was uncommon to most days when his lack of sleep usually took over his personality. "I told Professor Kettleburn I wanted to make up a lab I missed from last week and he just handed over the keys and said he was visiting his sister in Germany tonight!" Remus laughed, shaking his head. "New teachers – you'd think they would have heard from Hogwarts residents by now not to give keys to a Marauder…"
James laughed, glad to have Remus in such a high mood. "So what is it you're teaching me? So far I've had spells, charms, and logic lessons."
Remus threw James a strange look. "Logic lessons?"
James shrugged, smiling. "Sounds weird, but it honestly helped more than you'd think."
"I'm sure it did," Remus said, holding back a laugh. "However, I feel my, uh – 'lessons' are more useful." They approached a large shed and Remus stuck a large key into the lock and turned. "His secret stash," he said, grinning broadly, swinging the door wide open.
Immediately, James heard a mix of several different sounds all at once. He winced in pain as a loud screech echoed in his ear. But looking around, James saw nothing but a large cage door straight ahead, followed by darkness.
"What the hell is this?" he asked, rather confused.
Remus nodded and closed the door behind them, pointing to a panel. There were several hundred numbers listed with abbreviations off to the side. "It's basically his storage closet, you could say…"
James stared, wide-eyed at Remus as he stroked his chin, looking at all the buttons. "Storage for what?"
"The animals."
If it was at all possible, James' eyes had just opened farther. "And you're going to sic one of them on me?"
Remus laughed. "Don't think of it that way – its training. Be ready for anything that comes at you."
James shuddered. "Will you tell me what it is you're getting out?"
"Nope."
An exchange of glares and grins lasted for several minutes. Finally, Remus turned back to the panel, squinting slightly. "I will pick an animal at random. You must defeat, befriend, or send the animal back into the cage. However, the rules in here are different than outside."
James shot him a look of fear. "Meaning…?"
"Meaning you can use more than just your wand." He cleared his throat, smiling. "You could say those logic lessons might come in rather handy, here."
A quick stomp shook the room, and James looked around, but soon realized the doors weren't open yet. "Let's get this over with. This place kind-of creeps me out…"
Remus punched three buttons in.
237 CRP
748 DMG
566 ERU
Hastily, he climbed a ladder beside the panel, leading to an empty loft. Grinning, Remus dangled his legs over the edge. "One animal will show up. You return them to their cage. The next comes. And so on."
James nodded slightly, holding his wand above his head. He felt the entire shed shake again, including his insides. With fear across his face, James watched as the gate rose.
He laughed, losing his dueling stance and putting away his wand.
"Name!" Remus shouted from above.
"Crup," James answered, amused. "And, to the Muggles, a Crup is also known as a Jack Russell terrier look-alike."
There was a squeaky bark at James' feet. He looked down, and the Crup began to bear his teeth, his forked tail unmoving.
"What do Crup's like, James?" Remus asked, sensing a bit of a problem. "Think – this is the logic part."
"They like wizards and hate Muggles – I am a wizard!" he shouted, dodging the swipe the small Crup took at his leg.
"And what do wizards have that Muggles do not?" Remus asked, speaking as if James were a four-year-old.
Finally it clicked. James pulled out his wand and held it in front of the animal. Immediately, the Crup barked playfully, wagging his tails around.
"Good boy," James said, smiling, satisfied. He pulled a balled up piece of paper from his pocket and quickly folded it into an airplane. "Wanna play fetch?" he said, throwing the airplane into the darkness. Barking, the dog chased after the paper, straight into the cage.
"About time," Remus said loudly, smirking at his friend. "And if you have any more problems such as you had with a Crup, I have the power to abort everything and send them back to their cage with a second." He pointed to something beside him that James could not see, resembling, what James thought, was a large button.
There was a creak, and James turned around, finding the cage had already risen to their level, and the door open.
"What the…"
He felt a swipe into his back and turned around, alarmed, pointing his wand.
There was nothing there.
"Dammit," James swore, reminding himself to hurt Remus after he finished.
"Name!" Remus shouted, clearly unaffected by this invisible beast's presence in the room.
"Demiguise," James muttered, rather upset. "Bastard…"
He backed into a corner and held his wand up to his temple, muttering, "Occaeco."
Remus gazed down, impressed with James' quick thinking. He would've thought that James would try to send multiple spells at the Demiguise before turning invisible himself.
He watched closely, waiting for James' next move.
A spout of water sprayed across the floor from the corner opposite of where Remus had previously seen James. He looked anxiously for the Demiguise to be covered in water, but saw, rather disappointed, that James' plan had failed.
Remus had rested his head on his hands, watching the scene below him with unwavering eyes, and a pair of footprints appeared on the floor.
Immediately, a jet of light shot from the corner, hitting, Remus assumed, the Demiguise square in the chest. He saw a small splash in the water, and realized the beast was lying on his back. Slowly, his shape came in, revealing a silver-haired animal with arms as long as the three-foot body.
"Amazing," Remus said, in awe of the creature's elegant fur.
"This," James pointed out, returning to his original form, "is the fur used to make Invisibility Cloaks. If it were not for a Demiguise, the Marauders would not exist."
Remus applauded James, laughing. "Bravo," he called, as James put the animal back into his cage, waking him just as the cage closed.
"I'd step back for this one."
James rolled his eyes, and stepped back as Remus had told him. "I think I can handle it," he replied cockily.
Remus swallowed, his hand hovering over a large button beside him.
"Come on," James whispered, crouching low with his wand out. "Let's go…"
A large gray beast appeared, standing on all fours. He threw around his head, showing off the large horn on his nose.
James swallowed. He had never, in his entire life, seen anything this large, merely ten feet away from him.
Thinking quickly, James reeled through every spell he had ever learned, settling on a shrinking spell.
"Reducio," he said. But to James' surprise, the spell bounced off of this animal's monstrous coat of thick skin, rebounding inches from his own face.
James soon realized how bad of an idea this really was. The large animal immediately turned its head, lowering and looking directly at James, the point of his horn headed straight for his heart.
"Remus, what the hell is this thing?" James half shouted, half squealed.
"I'm pushing the button," Remus said quickly, eager to get rid of the animal.
"Don't you dare touch that button!" James shouted, confidently.
The large, gray animal looked directly into James' eyes. He blinked once and began to charge.
James vaguely heard Remus' voice shouting at him to run, but he didn't move. Not quite yet. It's all about the timing…"
At the last possible second, he hopped to the side, narrowly missing the beast and skidding across the floor. He closed his eyes and concentrated with all his might. Please work…
He opened his eyes again. The beast was staring at him, either curious or confused; James wasn't quite sure which.
Of course, James, himself, probably would have been just as confused as the beast, considering a man had just been replaced by a stag.
It's alright, he thought, walking slowly in a circle, but not approaching the beast. I'm another animal – don't hurt me…
"You're one lucky stag."
James looked up at Remus and reared onto his back legs, playfully. He cantered around the room, sensing the fact that the animal was beginning to trust him. He stopped at the beast's cage and waited patiently for him to step inside. Soon afterwards, the gate dropped, and the animal cage disappeared.
The second the beast was out of sight, James transformed into his normal self and glared up at Remus.
"I take it you didn't know what that was…?"
James rolled his eyes. "You guessed correctly."
"Erumpent," Remus said, climbing leisurely down the ladder. "And you should be glad you weren't hit with that horn of his."
James raised an eyebrow.
"Causing things to explode," he explained. "Whatever the horn stabs, it just – explodes. The end. Game over."
"Thanks a lot, Remus – I can tell how much you care for me."
He flashed a wolfish grin, and punched three more buttons. "And now you're gonna tell how much more I care for you."
-----------------------------------James-----------------------------------
"Finally," a first year passing in the hallway sighed. "I finished my last final." The boy prodded his friend, grinning. "Only one more week and we're home for the summer! I can't wait to see my snake again…"
James blinked slowly, keeping the food in his stomach down. And one more day to live…
"Don't."
James looked over at Sirius, puzzled. "Don't what?"
"I can totally tell what you're thinking, and it's not good."
James smiled at his friend. "Alright."
"Plus," Sirius added as they began to climb several sets of stairs, "thinking isn't good for you. It usually hurts. This is from experience," he added, hoping to cheer James up.
"I'm sure it does," James said, smiling slightly as they entered the Gryffindor common room.
"Oy!" Remus shouted as the pair walked inside, waving a piece of paper in the air. "For you, Prongs."
James sighed and picked up the paper.
Meet me in the library for homework help.
Breanna
"What – do we even have any homework left?"
"Summer stuff," Sirius muttered, shrugging.
"But who starts homework for the summer before school's even out?" James nearly shouted.
"Lily does," Sirius said quickly, glad that he had found a solution to this question.
James looked down at his feet. "Yeah," he muttered.
"Breanna doesn't want to actually do homework, James," Remus interrupted, sending a sharp glare at Sirius. "She just put it in the note for any other prat that might have found it."
James groaned. "Is this another one of those damn lessons?"
Sirius pressed his hand against his chest, looking appalled. "You mean you don't enjoy those damn lessons?"
Remus snickered. "I think I pretty much ruined the entire fun aspect of the lessons yesterday."
Sirius held a hand in front of Remus, signaling for him to stop speaking. "It doesn't matter. I am hurt by your ungratefulness, James."
James rolled his eyes.
"Alright," Remus cut in, "the other stuff we tried to help you with might not be useful at all, but you really need to talk to Breanna. Trust me."
James dropped his book bag onto Sirius' foot with a thud and a screech. "Last lesson," he said, looking directly at Remus.
"That's all I'm asking for," Remus replied. "You'll thank us later, anyway," he added, grinning.
James attempted not to smile, but failed. "Yeah," he agreed, wincing as Sirius toppled over the back of the large, red couch. "Get him some ice," James said to Remus, and darted from the room.
It didn't take James long to get to the library. Many of the crowds had dispersed, eager to relax outside in the warm drizzle of rain, or play games with friends in their houses.
He pushed open the doors to the library, and was welcomed by a silence. Traveling table to table, James was unable to locate Breanna. He began walking up and down the aisles of books, searching for her. Just as James was about to give up, he saw her studious face through a pair of books.
Hastily, James walked to the end of the row, and into the next. "Breanna, this better be good, otherwise I'm - "
He stopped.
She's here.
"Hi, Lily," he said, attempting to keep his cool. He forced a smile onto his face and walked up to the table she and Breanna were sharing. "What have you been up to all week?"
She shrugged, staring at the closed book in her lap. "Finals," she said simply, and then stood. "I'll see you all later."
James watched with unease as she walked away from him for the third time that week.
"Sit," Breanna commanded, pointing to the chair beside her.
He obeyed without comment.
Breanna placed a small, rusty, cutout photograph of Carisbrooke Castle in front of James.
She tapped it three times with her wand and a voice spoke from the picture.
"Programming: enter opening password."
James looked at Breanna raising an eyebrow curiously. She urged him on, nodding.
He thought for several seconds, pressured into finding a password. Getting an idea from the night before, James leaned in close to the picture, and spoke clearly.
"Erumpente oHe."
"Password programmed," the voice spoke. "Programming: enter closing password."
James sat in silence again, mulling the second password over. Another magical creature would be too obvious…
"Hurry up," Breanna hissed under her breath.
"Password programmed," the voice said.
"Damn." Breanna sighed, glaring at James as if it were his fault. "Look at what you did."
James laughed. "Hey – at least no one could guess a password such as 'hurry up'," James grinned.
"True…"
James gestured to the picture. "What is it?" he asked.
Breanna handed him her wand to use. "Say the first password."
James tapped the paper and said clearly, "Erumpent."
Quickly, the rusty picture unfolded, as if it were a present and spread out before James, revealing a good sized map.
"You're kidding…"
"Carisbrooke Castle," Breanna said, rather proudly. "And special features," she said, demonstrating how the map worked. People inside the castle are located across the map. I programmed every bit of information about secret passages, hidden tunnels, and places on every floor that I could find in old books. It's as close as all of the books say, but there could be a few things not in books, so don't always believe the map.
James nodded, still in awe. How on earth did she manage to make a map this detailed in a week, when it took me and three other guys over a year and a half to create a map of a place we're already living in?
"The best part," she said, "is the fact that you can, in a way, 'zoom in', I guess." Holding out her index finger, she tapped on the front entrance. "The gatehouse," she said. "As you can see, there are about four people at the gate, guarding it, I'd assume." She pressed her thumb to the paper and it zoomed out, revealing the entire map again. "Over here," she said, pointing to open land labeled the bowling green, "I believe is where all Death Eaters are meeting." She zoomed into the large grassy area within the castle and a name in deep red stood out to them.
"Voldemort," he whispered, staring at the paper. It was too strange to see how real everything was. Voldemort was real. He's on the paper. He has no idea who was watching him at this very moment.
"I made his name red," Breanna said softly, "so that he was easier to locate at a quick glance."
James nodded, understanding completely. "Of course."
"But," she said, "I have one more thing to show you." Again, she pressed her thumb to the map and it pulled out. She touched her finger towards a building sitting on the outskirts of the bowling green. "This part is called the keep," she said.
James looked closely, his heart skipping a beat. He read the names in blue.
"Charles Roysen, Cecilia Roysen, Gabriella Starnmen. Wait a minute – Gabriella…?"
Breanna nodded. "She was the other Unspeakable that went missing, remember?"
"Ah…"
"Yeah, I feel pretty bad forgetting about her as well…"
James smiled slightly. He poked around the map, interested at the names he saw. "Malfoy, he's the one that graduated our second year, right? And Avery and Dolohov…" He shook his head, blinking several times. "We went to school with them. Them."
Breanna nodded.
"Is that it?" he muttered, setting the map back onto the table. His mood had turned sour once again.
She handed him a slip of paper. "Don't lose it."
"Because…?"
"They're your directions."
"Oh. Right."
"But I could always take them back if you feel like wandering aimlessly for hours."
James shook his head and snatched the paper from her. "I'll take them."
"It'll be about four to five hours," Breanna said. "You can do a straight shot south and travel over water, or follow a road."
He smirked, standing.
"I can swim."
------------Sirius------------
"James – over here."
Sirius groaned as James looked stupidly around the library.
"Prat!" he shouted, hitting his forehead. James heard him.
"What – why are you whispering? You never whisper in libraries."
"I didn't want any attention directed here," he said, pushing James out of the library. "I really wanted to talk to you quickly."
James raised an eyebrow, rather curious. He was shoved roughly into the same empty classroom they had occupied earlier that week during James' "lessons."
"What's up?" James asked.
Sirius handed over a book to James carefully, swallowing. "I snuck into the restricted section last night."
Curiously, James read the cover, and his jaw dropped immediately. "Sirius, I can't."
His friend's face was completely serious. "It has the three unforgivable curses," he said slowly.
James shook his head, pushing the book back into Sirius' arms.
"James, I know you want to be the ideal 'good guy', but you're stepping into territory where these people play against the rules." He sighed, knowing he was losing the battle. "Would you at least read about them? So you're not caught off guard…?"
James shook his head again, grateful for Sirius' intentions. "I'm not stooping to their level."
Sirius smiled, looking down at his feet. "You know, I'm a bit relieved to hear you say that." He gave his friend a slap on the back, and they exited the classroom.
!Lily!
Lily woke up from her restless sleep, dread filling her body.
It's Saturday.
"Lily, get up."
The redhead rolled over, surprised to find Sirius sitting beside her bed.
"I don't suppose the fact that you're not allowed to be in the girls dormitories stopped you from climbing the railings on the stairs again, did it?"
"Actually, I just used the window, this time."
Lily laughed and looked quickly to the window, finding it wide open and letting a gentle breeze inside. She pulled the covers up to her shoulders after closing her eyes again. She rested in her warm bed for a few minutes more.
"Lily, I have to talk to you."
She opened one eye. "Why does it have to be now?"
"Because you've been avoiding everyone the rest of the week."
Lily didn't speak, realizing her mistake. "Alright. What?"
"We want you to go to Carisbrooke Castle with us."
"You what?"
Lily sat straight up in bed, eyes wide and fully awake now. "James said he didn't want us to go."
Sirius shrugged, leaning forward. "Well… James doesn't know we're coming. We just want to be there in case something happens."
"You mean we're just going to follow James?"
"Excluding Peter," he said. "Pete's a bit freaked out that we could be in a building with Voldemort. I don't think he can handle it."
Lily blinked several times, looking away. "Bella – is she going?"
Sirius nodded.
"And Breanna?"
"But of course. Her parents are taken prisoner in that castle, you know."
"What about Remus?" she asked as her last hope. "He would never approve of this!"
Sirius smiled, finding her trapped. "He agreed to join us last week."
"Last week? Sirius, why didn't you tell me about this earlier, then? I was… around…"
"But none of the expected spots," he said quietly, referring to being on James' side constantly.
"Things change," she said quickly, looking down at her blanket.
"He needs you, Lily. Can't you see that? Nothing would be better than James side-by-side with you against Voldemort."
Lily shook her head quickly and swiped at her eyes. "You four go ahead. I'm not."
She threw herself back under her comfortable blankets, attempting to keep her sobs silent.
After several minutes of silence, Lily heard the chair scraping back to its original location and several footsteps.
The window slammed shut.
.-..-..-..-..-..-. Peter .-..-..-..-..-..-.
He checked three times for the teacup before leaving his dormitory, claiming he was hungry for more food.
"Ready?"
Peter jumped, looking to his side. "Rookwood," he muttered. "It's only you."
"Who else would be speaking to you?"
Peter remained silent.
"Where you going? The bathrooms?"
"I guess," Pettigrew replied, shrugging. "Just somewhere without a lot of people."
Rookwood threw back his head and laughed. "Buddy, you're in for a shock."
The small boy looked quickly at his companion, nervous. As they entered a bathroom nearest the Slytherin common room, Peter gasped at the number of people occupying the boys' room.
"Sixteen," Rookwood said, proudly. "There are five Slytherins and two Ravenclaws from seventh year, three Slytherins, one Ravenclaw, and one Gryffindor from our year, and two Slytherins, and one Hufflepuff from fifth year, and one Slytherin from fourth year." He smirked again. "Not including girls."
Peter nodded, smiling to the group.
"Eleven Fifty-Nine!" a particularly tall boy shouted to the group. Everyone pulled out their object. Peter looked around jealously. Several used a nice shoe, piece of parchment, or a small quill. Not me, he thought miserably, I get a teacup. A pink one. Great.
"Nine, eight, seven," the tall boy shouted, "six, five, four…"
Three, two one.
The group vanished.
-----------------------------------James-----------------------------------
"This is it," James whispered, climbing to Astronomy tower, broom in hand. "I'm leaving."
Bella immediately stepped forward, throwing her arms around his neck, sobbing.
"Relax, Bella," Sirius said, smiling forcefully. "He'll be back later."
"I will," James said affirmatively.
"See you in a while," Breanna said, smiling and stealing him from Bella's grasp. Remus shot her a glare, sticking out his hand.
"Until tomorrow," Remus said, putting the emphasis on tomorrow. He shook his hand firmly, winking quickly. "Good luck."
James nodded, and finally turned to his best friend. Without a word, Sirius merely smirked.
And with one last hopeful glance towards the room without Lily, James hopped onto his broom, and flew into the open air.
------------Sirius------------
"So…?"
"So what?" Sirius asked, looking sharply at Remus.
Breanna bit her lip, hiding a smile. "Can we go yet?" She laughed, covering her mouth. "I can't wait to see my parents' reaction when they realize their little girl broke several laws to save them."
Bella laughed as well, wiping away the tears streaming down her face.
"Now," Sirius cut in, taking charge, "we can't let James see us unless he's in danger, remember? As far as he knows, he'll be back by tomorrow with us waiting for him and no one will be suspicious in the slightest."
Remus raised a hand slightly, frowning. "How are we going to know when he's in danger?"
"We'll each have a designated spot to watch for," Sirius said, looking at each person in the room. "Breanna knows the premises best, so she can distribute spots after we arrive. From then on out, when we see James leave without a problem, we'll contact each other some way or another," he said, shrugging. "Sparks from your wand, flying to their location, whichever."
Bella retrieved their brooms from behind a large chair. "What about Lily?"
Breanna nodded, looking up at Sirius. "Yeah, is she coming? You talked to her, right?"
Sirius ignored their words, stony faced. He swung his leg over the broom. "She's not coming."
-----------------------------------James-----------------------------------
James hovered behind a large tree for a few minutes, attempting to breathe slowly and gain his confidence. "Hurry up," he said to the map after checking it for the tenth time, sure of people's locations. Quietly, James pocketed the small picture of the castle in his pocket.
Peeking out from behind the tree, James looked into the grounds of the castle, finding masses of Death Eaters covering the, now dark, ground. He looked straight ahead from his spot, dropping his jaw in awe at the height of the keep. So that's where the prisoners are being held…
James flew low, close to the wall, nearly the entire length until he arrived on the north side, close to the keep, grateful for the darkness that hid him in the shadows.
No unexpected visitors, he thought to himself. In and out without a hitch.
Quickly, James flew vertically up the wall of the keep, and immediately in through the opening on the top, skidding to a quick stop.
I'm in, he thought, leaning against the wall and closing his eyes, relieved. Cracking a smile, James stood on his feet. That wasn't so hard…
But after a glance around the room, James lost his confidence once again.
Where they hell are they?
He pulled out his map, tapping and whispering, "Erumpent," revealing the elaborate design he had grown to love.
Tapping with his forefinger several times, James zoomed in as close as possible.
I'm standing right on top of them! he thought, panicked. He paced back and forth, watching the dot labeled James Potter moving around.
James narrowed his eyes, stopping where he was. Hold it…
The blue dot, labeled Gabriella Starnmen began to fade out. James heard a loud shriek from below him.
He quickly jumped, looking down at his feet. James took several steps back, and dropped to the ground, hoping to find trap door. Biting his lip, James, looked dropped the map to his side, but not without a second glance. That wasn't there last time…
James quickly snatched the map up again, and looked closely. When did those other dots show up…? He squinted, attempting to read the names.
"It's him!"
James looked up, fear flooding his face.
"Quick!" The large man in black shouted to his partner from inside the passage in the wall. "Get him!"
James swallowed.
AUTHORS NOTE: That's right. Chapter 20, within a few weeks. Seriously, guys, 25 pages in a few weeks is amazing…
REVIEW SECTION:
Wudnulike2know: I know, Lily's psycho… But trust me when I say things change in the next chapter! And thank you for reviewing!
Me: Hope this was soon enough :D I know I tried to get it done quickly! Thanks for reviewing!
Alex C. Potter: A lot of good guesses about Lily! You're close, I'd say… :D Thank you for reviewing!
Cylobaby: Wow, more than the original Harry Potter stories? I'm amazed! Haha! And I'm glad you're obsessed with my story:grins: Thank you, so much, for reviewing!
Jennifer Cole: Exactly like father like son! I see many similarities :D Thanks for reviewing!
Elise: Aw, that's so nice – one of the few worth re-reading! You totally just made my day! Thank you for reviewing!
Lilah Lee: Bam, you remembered? Haha! That's great that you remembered this story after so long:)Thanks for reviewing!
Laura: You'll just have to wait and see, young lady… :D Thank you for reviewing!
Starblaze: Wow, that was a long review :) I'm glad you came back to the story! I guess I forgive you… haha! Thanks for reviewing!
Lady Juliet: I'm glad that you liked the story :D And thank you for reviewing!
Manda: Dumbledork… haha! Alright, then :D Thanks for reviewing – hope you enjoy the rest of the story!
Maraudergirl4: Sorry :) Thank you for reviewing!
LumsieWumsie: Dude – you're my 800th reviewer! Yay, you! Haha! Thanks for reviewing!
NEXT CHAPTER: FINALLY, we make it to Carisbrooke Castle! But I don't think I can really say what else happens at this castle, otherwise that would be giving some stuff away, wouldn't it :)
Thank you everyone SO much, and I'm thinking the next chapter will be out VERY soon, most likely before the 6th book itself comes out! Hopefully, this will be able to hold everyone over until then...
Yours truly,
Amelia Bedelia
