Chapter 3

It took ages for Annabeth to find another drachma. She knew she had one — she always stashed some coins for an emergency — but where had she buried them? She couldn't recall, damned her! Those where the moments she wanted to be a witch. She was sure there was a spell that you could use to summon things. A formula, a flick of the wand and voila, the drachma would land in her outstretched hand. But no, she was a demigod and a daughter of Athena at that. Cool magic wasn't really embedded in her DNA from her godly side. Well, now she sounded more like a daughter of Ares, but she didn't have the time or the patience to mind her language. She needed to contact Chiron as fast as she possibly could. He'd know what to do. She couldn't afford to waste another Drachma just to try and contact Harry's dad or professor Dumbledore. What if they weren't alone and couldn't answer her? It would've all come down to nothing.

"Oh, finally!" She sighed with relief. She had found a spare Drachma, after much Bukovskian poetry. She needed to refill her stash. A daughter of Athena couldn't afford to be unprepared in a crisis. Ever.

She prayed the rainbow would come quickly. She tossed the coin into the basin and called for Chiron at Camp.

An image of camp Half Blood, a sunny sky and strawberry fields, greeted her. The centaur was teaching archery, one of his favourite subjects. Annabeth was sorry to interrupt him, but she had to. She hoped he wouldn't mind; that he would understand the seriousness of the situation, that it was an emergency, maybe a life or death circumstance.

"Chiron!" She shouted, hoping to be noticed among the chaos that were classes at Camp.

The activities director at her true home raised his head and greeted her with a smile; a smile that was short lived. It died as soon as he met her gaze.

"Hello Annabeth. Is something wrong?" He asked worriedly. These were hard times for the demigods, harder than the usual harshness they had to face thanks to their godly heritage.

"Can we talk in private, please?" She asked, her voice much higher pitched than her usual. Come on, get a hold of yourself, she scolded. You're a daughter of Athena, not a silly Aphrodite's child all dressed in pink.

The centaur appointed Lee Fletcher, the head of the Apollo's cabin, to continue the lesson for him and headed toward the Big House with a quick stride.

"What's the problem, Annabeth? Have you been attacked by monsters?" He asked her, once he was out of earshot.

"No, no, that's not about me. I am fine," she answered, anxious to share her burden with someone who could help her.

"You look like you've seen a gohst…"

"Well, I've seen an attempted murder," she interrupted him.

He paled. "Give me the details," he ordered.

She told him about her call to Harry and about the scene she had whitnessed; about her suspicions, about her fear, about the need to contact somebody they could trust at Hogwarts.

"I'll get a hold of Dumbledore. You stay put till I call you back. Don't do anything before you ear from me again. I think Albus will want to see you and, if that's the case, we'll organize for you to go to Scotland safely."

It would be pure hagony, but Annabeth trusted Chiron; she knew he had taken her very seriously and would do exactly as he had said.

James Potter looked young and healthy and handsome and he liked it. Despite all that had happened to him since his school days, his ego was still the same; he was quite the show off and loved being the center of the attention. He didn't even make an effort to age himself a bit with a sip of some potions or a bit of transfiguration here and there — you'd have expected some out of the ordinary transfiguration but no, he just didn't care. Few knew his secret and the mission that came with his blessing; those who didn't, well, they had stopped asking. The man would just brag about his astounding looks and his more than awesome genetics — the Daily Prophet had speculated he had figured out the secrets of alchemy after having worked for years with Nicholas Flamel; something nobody had ever denied — it was too good of a cover storynot to use it. Needless to say, his Hogwarts colleagues all amicably hated him for that; Snape was, perhaps, the less 'amicable' of them all and the most vocal in his less than flattering comments; but the head of Gryffindor house understood now that it wasn't really his ethernal youth that bothered his former classmate. They had to learn to work together from early on in the war against Voldemort. They didn't have a choice in the matter. Dumbledore had decreed it and that was that. You don't go against Albus Dumbledore when he gives you an order in times of great danger and when there's a leak in his organization and everyone suspects everybody. Their first mission together, along with Remus, was to go to Hogwarts during Summer and send professor Binns to the other side. Remus was to take the post of history of magic professor, but the board of governors wouldn't approve of a new teacher unless Binns would become unable to perform his duties. This was stupid really, every single student complained about history of magic. But, as it usually is when politics is involved, it was a matter of money rather than a genuine interest in the school teaching staff. Nobody was interested in the quality of the students learning experience; the truth was that since Binns was a gohst he didn't have to be paid. What need did a ghost have for money? He wouldn't even notice if his Gryngot's vault got filled every month.

There was another problem — as if the whole thing wasn't complicated enough; Binns was a gohst and he was never 'out of order'; he never missed a class — to the hutter dismay of all students; he never got sick — again to the utmost appalment of all the students. How could you get him out of the way? It's not like you can fire a gohst or chase it out of the school.

No, there was only a solution. A call upon Ades and a prayer that he would be willing enough to take the poor relentless professor down his already overcrowded realm.

And so the three of them had gone in that much hated classroom, one fine stifling night in July, dressed up like idiots and brandishing tools and instruments that were ridiculous, with Albus' blessing and his usual maddening twinkle in his eyes and his departing comment of 'have fun'.

James was in it because this would give Remus a much needed job; Snape had done it because… well, because, in his position, he couldn't really argue with the man who was his superior and hwo had accepted him when he had realized he was on the wrong side of the fence.

For James, life had changed when he was nearing the end of his fifth year and it wasn't like he had lost nothing. The first price he had paid was his best friend, Sirius Black. Granted, Sirius could have apologized and James would have gladly welcomed him in his life, but that hadn't happened. It wasn't like James had dumped Sirius either. His life had taken a turn and Sirius had felt betrayed, left out, unwanted. It wasn't true, of course; but the both of them had a massive row on the Hogwarts express after James had spent a summer at camp Half Blood. Harsh words had been said, compartments doors had been slammed and the two friends weren't joined at their hip anymore.

It had been an horrible discussion, where James had, for the first time, needed to defend himself from an attack coming from a friend. He felt he had done nothing wrong; and, for once, that was true.

James had missed England, missed it very much. The first weeks at camp had been hard and sad. He had felt miserable and he had cried; he was taught by freaking children who were younger than him! He had been bullied by the kids of the Ares cabin — even if he had retaliated and could very well defend himself — if he had his wand, that is. They made fun of him, because he wasn't like them. Chiron and Artemis had chastised him for what he and his friends had done to Snape after their OWLS. He had to learn ancient Greek and needed to be proficient at archery. Archery came fairly easily to him; the concept wasn't totally alien, with several spells you need to aim at your target; on the oher hand, ancient Greek was frankly appalling. He took ancient runes at school, but that didn't help him. He had spent weeks taking a taste of his own medicine and it had wounded him deeply. The kids of the Ermes cabin had been nice enough, several of them were pranksters like him and they had fun taking revenge on the Ares cabin. He got along nicely with the Athena's children — he was smart, after all. But this was different than Hogwarts. He was alone in a strange land; a guest who, more often than not, felt isolated, left alone, vulnerable and inferior; he wasn't a demigod, that was a fact. Maybe they were right… he didn't belong and wasn't that good with a sword anyway. Chiron said it didn't matter; that he didn't even have to hold a sword in his hands, that it wasn't part of his study program, but it was one taunt they liked to tease him with.

Even his wand, that he had been taking for granted, had become a precarious asset. It was true that he had showed off when he had arrived at Camp, trying to impress the demigods with his magic and that such a behaviour had cost him quite a number of wand thefts. His cabin mates, children of Ermes, the most skilled pickpockets you'll ever meet, had stolen it from him at multiple occasions. He was becoming paranoid; but something good at come out of that. He had understood a wand didn't make you invincible. This had become his main motivation to approach wandles magic. He had been pranked and umiliated; nothing like what he and his friends had done to Snape; but for James, accustomed as he was to being the popular kid who used to win it all, it had stung and it had hurt. Defeated at archery by an eleven year old Apollo kid who had been at Camp since he was five? Been here, done that; being disarmed by an Athena's daughter, aged twelve, in the space of three seconds? Check the box; getting hurt and having to perform spells on himself and brew potions on his own because he couldn't drink nectar or eat ambrosia? That too, had been part of the whole pacage.

Things had changed soon enough — although to James it had seemed centuries; after the first month, he had started individual classes with Chiron and with mr. D. Nobody knew what he was learning, but the mere fact a god was teaching him made things much more enjoyable and his life far easier.

He had dispelled of a number of monsters efficiently and on his own and this had gained him a great amount of respect.

Meanwhile, his parents had come to visit him during some week-ends and he had the chance to visit the wizarding community of the United States; since he wasn't officially a camper he was granted freedom provided that he didn't miss his classes.

Something had been nugging at the back of his mind, though. Sirius hadn't been answering his letters — which on its own wasn't that surprising — his parents could be monitoring his mail. What distressed James was that his best friend never answered him when he called with the two way mirror.

He had to lie to him, before the end of school and this had been painful. James was a bad liar to start with and he felt horrible not telling the truth to his best friend; but James hadn't been forced to accept his mission. He had said yes of his own free will and tehre was nobody to blame but himself if he had done a mess of things.

He had told Sirius, Remus and Peter that he would spend his Summer visiting family relatives in America and that he would be back at the end of August, just in time to catch the Hogwarts Express. He had reassured Sirius that if he needed anything, he could send him an owl and that if he needed a place to stay, he could count on his parents who would happily welcome him in their home.

He had seen Sirius betrayed and angry expression but hadn't really given much thought to it; he felt the same, afraid he had taken on more than he could handle, afraid he had damned himself to a Summer of trials, tribulations and no fun.

After two months away from England, King's Cross felt like home. He had been sad to leave camp, to his own surprise. He had made friends and his last weeks had been really enjoyable there. He had come to term with the fact that yes, he had done the right thing in accepting the mission and that refusing would have been selfish and not worthy of a Potter. Potters are always at the forefront when it's a matter of saving the world and James was no exception.

The first friend he saw once he had crossed the barrier was Remus, with whom he had remained in contact during the Summer. He was so happy to meet with im again! But that happiness didn't last for long.

"Listen," his friend said hastily, surreptitiously scanning the crowd. "There's something you need to know before you meet with the others. Sirius has called me on the mirror this Summer. He's pissed at you; he hates your guts, mate." James was about to open his mouth to say something in protest but his friend continued: "We don't have much time, the ttrain is about to leave and once we are on board he'll make a scene, you can bet your position as chaser on it. I know it's not your fault; you told me you called him and he never picked up. I know you went away for family reasons and it's not your fault if his parents suck. It's not your obligation to go and save him. Don't start justifying yourself with me. I am warning you, though. I know better than anybody else what he can do when he loses his shit."

James knew what Remus was talking about. You could draw a line between how things were before the Snape accident and after, between Remus and Sirius.

"But I am the only one who can help him, I don't blame him if he's pissed at me. I just went away…"

"There's his cousin Andromeda, the one who is getting married to that Hufflepuff, Tonks; I could have helped him, too, you know. You've got a life, James. I did understand that there's something you're not telling us but honestly I'm not here to lecture you. I've had my share of secrets over the years. I just wanted to warn you. I know this will hurt you. If you've got a fatal flaw, then that'd be the blind eye you turn when it comes to your friends."

James smiled at Remus. He knew him too well. Heroes had a fatal flaw, maybe he had one, too.

His smile faded as soon as Sirius had entered the compartment they had decided to occupy for the journey. He was furious, James could see it in his eyes. They were eyes of a mad dog with rage. He radiated anger and James was frightened of him, for the first time in his life.

"Oh, look at who's back," Sirius snarled. "It's nice of you to finally show your ugly face. I thought for a second you'd enrol at Ilvermorny." Sirius sounded so mean. He sounded the same as Regulus, his younger brother, when they had rows in the corridors.

"Well, hello to you mate, nice to see you again," James replied, dripping with sarcasm. He feared his resolution to keep a cool attitude would soon crumble.

"I wasn't the one who fled the coop, you know. That's someone else's job, apparently."

"I have left England, Sirius. For two months. To see some family overseas. What did I flee away from, you think?"

"Well, we had plans! I was counting on you, you fucking son of a bitch! And you betrayed me!"

"Plans? I knew nothing of your plans, Black." They were screaming at each other now. Sirius was becoming more menacing with each word that was said and he had his wand aimed at James who had his own still in his pocket. He had learnt to dodge during his eventful Summer.

"Oh, I am 'Black', now am I?"

"No, you are a git, a jerk and a kid. I sent you letters, which you didn't answer. If you couldn't read them, well, I called you. Did you flash the mirror down the toilet or what? No? Then you could've picked up, you know."

"I thought you were better. I thought we were friends, but you care more about yourself than about your friends. Maybe Evans is right, you're just an arrogant, spoiled, arrogant toerag who doesn't give a d—"

Thump.

James shouldn't have lost it, but his pride had gotten the better of him. He had withdrawn his wand at the speed of light — he had learnt to become quick during his Summer — and Sirius hadn't seen the curse coming. He had been paralysed by James' spell and had lost his balance, hitting the ground quite noisily.

"You're saying I am a bad friend, aren't you?" James screamed. He was too fiery to sound menacing by lowering his voice. He had too much anger to unleash to keep a collected demeanour. "Do you remember that I told you to go to my parents if you needed help or did your mother obliviate you?"

"Go to hell, Potter. You left me in that damned house and you…"

"What did you expect me to do? Drive a flying car up to your bedroom window at Grimmauld Place and whisk you out? I am not your knight in shining armour. I am not here to save your ass, 'cause I already did that last year, remember? I saved all our sorry asses! And whose fault was it? I can't fix your life if it sucks! I can't fix your family if they are rotten! I told you to come to my parents if you needed it; you didn't. I called you and you never answered me. It's not my responsibility to turn your life around. Why didn't you go to your cousin, Andromeda? Does she hate you as well? Or, what about that uncle of yours? Abelard?"

"It's Alpard, you twat. And I am sure if it was Evans you would have come back and:"

"SHUT UP!" James screamed so loudly that the whole carriage eard him.

With a flick of his wand, he lifted his trunk. For a moment, he was tempted to dump it on Sirius' head.

"Where are you going?" Peter asked, frightened by what he had just witnessed. Poor Peter, James thought. He's right in the middle of this.

"I'll go drive the train, if it so pleases me," he answered drily.

With such words, he stomped out and slammed the door so hard that it shattered. He tried a 'reparo' but was too nervous and the door came off its hinges.

"Oh, sod off then!" He muttered angrily.

"I know you lied to me! I always read you like an open book." He heard Sirius' pained words running after him, but he didn't stop to answer. He had lied, that was true. But he couldn't have told him the truth. And Remus had understood him. He had understood he hadn't betrayed them. He had understood that there was something going on in his life that James didn't or couldn't talk about; and he had been fine with it. Why couldn't Sirius do the same?

"Troubles are brewing in paradise, Potter?" A voice drawled behind him. He turned like a whip and aimed his wand at the offender.

"I'm already pissed beyond imagination, Snape. You'd better clear the air before I turn you into a toad. I don't see a crowd of princesses lining up to kiss you to undue the charm."

With that, he went along the train, hoping to catch Remus in his prefect patrol.

A few weeks later, James had tried to apologize. he had confessed that no, he hadn't been truthful, but that something big he wasn't allowed to talk about was happening in his life. He had asked Sirius to forgive his end of year lie and to accept that he had some secrets. Sirius, however, had told him that if he didn't trust him there was no sense in remaining friends. He had turned his back and walked away, cutting off anything else James might have liked to say.

At present, they were barely on civil terms. Sirius had tried to make up once they were out of school, but he had gone too far the day he had broken James' wand out of spite near Christmas in sixth year.

That had been the first time James had wept tears of a pain that came from deep within him. It had been the first time he had experienced a true loss. His wand had been stolen from him at Camp, but nobody had dared to even scratch it. He had gotten a new one, of course. A majestic beautiful pear wand with a core of dragon heartstring: powerful, warm, very flamboyant, capable of astounding magic. It felt even better than his mohagany old faithful companion, but it had taken him weeks to get over his grief.

The two of them went their separate ways after Hogwarts was over. James had won a scholarship after his graduation and he had moved to Africa with Lily — whom he had started dating by the end of his sixth year — to deepen his studies in transfiguration and alchemy at Uagadou. Sirius had become a curse breaker for Gryngot and was always somewhere around the world up hidden treasures. They hadn't met for years, even if the wizarding community was a small one.

When James had come back to England, the war was raging. He had to fight alongside his fellow order members — that was the reason they had decided to come back — and he had to try his best to keep his wife and son safe.

After Lily's death, Sirius had tried his chance once more. James had accepted his apology and they had tried to be friends again. It didn't work, though. Too much had been said and done. The spell had been broken forever years ago, on a compartment on the Hogwarts Express. But tat wasn't the whole truth: the spell had been shattered even before that fateful journey, as Dumbledore had sagely pointed out to James during a gloomy afternoon when the young wizard was brooding. It was true, of course. Things had never been the same after February of his fifth year — after February's full moon that is; after the 'Shack incident', as it was referred to among the marauders. James had simply been too caught up in his own life to notice the change in their dynamics. Yes, he hadn't talked to Sirius for a month, but he was still his best mate. They had soon gone back to be the best of friends as if nothing had happened. The same could not be said for Remus Lupin, who still remained frosty toward Sirius and hwo always withdrew and was on the defensive when Sirius was around.

No, beautiful spells don't last forever. Even a patronus is estinguished after a while, and the same had happened to the marauders; an unforeseable end had caught up with them, bringing with it a lot of drama and suffering.

James and Sirius' reunion had lasted the space of a minute. He was grieving his belowed wife and had a son to take care of. And son who now was lying, unmoving, on a bed in the Hogwarts hospital wing.

End notes

Well, here's a peek at James' story. I am not planning on bashing Sirius, by the way. His reaction is not a plot device either. I don't really need him out of the picture for the story to move along. I really believe he would have acted in a similar way to what I've depicted if things had played out the way they have in this story. I kind of feel for him, but at the same time a reconciliation seems impossible.