Author's Note: Happy Holidays & Enjoy!
Chapter 30 – OWLs
James Potter stretched out on the grass closing his eyes as he felt the warm sun kiss his skin and lazy breeze ruffle his hair. His sleeves were rolled up and cloak left back in the dormitory. It was a picturesque spring day on the Hogwarts grounds. If he continued to lay there with his eyes closed he could forget about OWLs and responsibility. Such a perfect day should not be wasted with revising yet that was exactly what he and his friends were supposed to be doing.
He heard an outbreak of female laughter and he pushed himself up by his elbows eager to see which girls were the source. He was disappointed to see a cluster of girls that were neither Gryffindors nor in his year. As he was friendly with most of the student body he waved at the girls anyway.
James glanced quickly at his friends to see if they'd noticed, but Sirius was immersed in his work with the same intensity as Remus. Peter was off serving detention for his potion exploding in class. James suspected one of the Slytherins had sabotaged it, but unable to prove it the blame lay on Peter. James took a deep breath before he laid back down. He usually didn't mind the ribbing he got from his friends about his interest in Lily Evans, but sometimes the truth of his failure stung just a bit. He and Lily were talking more, but he didn't feel any closer to his goal to charm her. Their conversations were civil and impersonal as if they were only speaking because their parents were forcing them to spend time together.
James closed his eyes again as he heard Remus ask, "What answer did you get for question three, Padfoot?"
"What?" Sirius didn't even look up from the pages he was scrutinizing.
"Charms Homework? Question three?" Remus repeated.
"Oh, right…Have it here somewhere." Sirius began sifting through his pile and then finally tossed one page carelessly over to Remus.
Remus glanced over the page with a furrowed brow. "You've finished the whole assignment already?"
Sirius shrugged.
"All those expensive tutors were bound to pay off eventually," James interjected lightly sitting back up once more.
Sirius laughed and Remus cracked a smile. "My dear mother would be so proud."
"It didn't even look like you were paying attention in class," Remus grumbled.
"I could teach you my ways, Moony, but I warn it is not for the faint of heart-"
James snorted. "And not at all to do with a natural photographic memory…"
"Honed out of a necessity," Sirius added, his tone suddenly bitter. The Blacks high standards for excellence included a vast knowledge of information – from household charms to family trees to Ministry laws. Failure to recall often meant more memorization and other forms of discipline.
Sirius started picking at the grass ignoring the look that passed between James and Remus. James realized a bit too late that he shouldn't have brought up the Black family. He knew Sirius hadn't yet gotten the required permission from his parents to stay at his house over the summer. He also suspected it was worrying his best friend more than he let on. Only a close friend would notice Sirius's apprehension every morning when the owls flew into the Great Hall with the day's mail.
In all honesty, James wasn't sure how his parents would react if Sirius was specifically forbidden from staying with them. So, in a half serious half joking way, he proclaimed that if worse came to worse they'd sneak him out of the castle with the Invisibility Cloak and have him take refuge in the Shrieking Shack. And really it wasn't a terrible idea…
"Here," Remus stated after a few minutes of studying the page, handing back Sirius's assignment.
Sirius waved it away. "You can copy the rest of the answers. I don't care."
"I can manage on my own," Remus replied holding the page out once more.
"Suit yourself," Sirius said. He placed the assignment underneath what he had been working on.
"Don't go offering the same to Wormtail when he shows up," Remus warned. Peter was the laziest out of the group and if he could copy a person's homework, he would.
"I would never!" Sirius replied with mock outrage. Then changing his voice to one that was rather stern and high pitched, he added, "Not only would I be cheating Peter, I would be cheating myself."
James laughed. "Professor Mendel?" he asked, naming their Defense Against the Dark Art teacher from second year. A tall stern woman that had considered the transgression of sharing homework answers on par with cheating on an OWLs examination. She had fallen pregnant at the end of the school term and had not returned the year after. According to rumors she now lived off her older husband's riches.
"Yes, her. She had the least sense of humor out of all our Defense Professors so far."
Remus and Sirius returned to their homework, but James continued to look around. A few younger students were roughhousing at the edge of the lake. It was only a matter of time before one of them fell in. Feeling a bit mischievous himself and curious why Sirius was acting so studious, James flicked his wand and suddenly all of Sirius's papers were floating in the air.
"Hey!" Sirius undid James's charm with a flick of his wrist, the papers falling back neatly in front of him.
However, Sirius wasn't quick enough to hide what he was working on. "I knew it wasn't homework. It's the map you're working on."
"Ten points to Gryffindor," Sirius responded dryly. "You could have just asked me."
"Where's the fun in that?" James ran a hand through his already messy hair. "I'd much rather work on the Map than study."
"I'm going over the spells so we don't lose what we learned with charming the dormitory. I also think that we should add at least one more room to the Map before we leave for the summer. What do you say?"
"I'm in," James responded cheerfully. Without Quidditch practice, he was more restless than usual. "What room should we do?"
"The Prefect's bathroom?" Sirius said hopefully, looking slyly over at Remus.
"Absolutely not!" Remus stated.
"I knew you were going to say that," Sirius said laughing. "We will add it eventually."
"The library?" James suggested.
"That's a large area with a lot of students in and out," Remus mused, apparently taking the idea seriously. He knew better than to try to talk them out of working on the map.
Sirius nodded. "I think we should aim for a smaller space. Like a classroom or a Professor's office. We should wait for the more populated areas when we've practiced more."
"The Arithmancy classroom? It's a difficult elective so the classes are small."
"And Professor Little's office is all the way down the hall," James said. Many other Professors had their offices attached to classrooms which would make the task much more difficult.
"So when do you want to do this?" Sirius asked his eyes alight with a promise of mischief.
Remus sighed. "I have Prefect patrols tomorrow night. I suppose I can do the night after."
"Excellent," Sirius responded. "And since you're being so agreeable, Prongs and I will be the studious of students for the afternoon."
"Will we?" James failed to hide his grin.
"Yes, we will. Now open up that Potion's book, Potter, we've got studying to do!"
James pulled down the shades of the Arithmancy classroom. The last thing they needed was a curious prefect to go investigate why there was candlelight coming from one of the classrooms late at night.
Remus lit several candles in the center of the room while Sirius laid out the notes and unfolded the thicker parchment they were using for the actual map. The only room on the map was their dormitory showing the two dots of their roommates getting ready for bed. They were rather lucky that their dormmates never tattled on their nightly excursions.
Peter was on lookout duty. He hated doing it, but even he admitted he'd be of little help with the spell work. For safety, Peter transformed into a rat, roaming the nearby halls. Several triggers were set up that he could jump on to warn them of trouble.
It had been Remus's idea to make a key of the map, so that a length of measurement on the map would correlate to its real distance.
"Ready when you are, Prongs. Start counting at the front of the classroom to the right of the door," Sirius instructed.
Remus had already marked a dot on the parchment were the door would be. James walked around the trapezoid shaped room, counting off the steps it took to walk the length of each side. Once the correct length was marked, Remus drew in the windows and one large closet in their approximate location. Remus passed the Map over. Sirius flipped through his notes one last time before brandishing his wand.
James watched as Sirius tapped his wand on the sheet, and spoke several incantations, threading his wand through the air above the map. They waited with bated breath, and it looked as if was working. The lines suddenly turned thicker and darker…and then disappeared.
Sirius let out a curse.
"Should I redraw it?" Remus asked. He still had the footstep counts on another sheet.
"I don't know," Sirius admitted. This hadn't happened with the dormitory. He tapped the papers again as if willing the lines to appear. "Want to give it a go, Moony?"
Remus took out his own wand, read over the incantations, and was ready to try out the spell when there was a sudden noise in the hallway and all three boys froze.
"That didn't sound like one of our triggers," Remus said.
"I'll check it out," volunteered James. He grabbed his wand leaving the cloak with his friends. No reason they all get caught if it was Prefects or Professors out there.
James opened the door cautiously and stepped into the barren hallway. James tiptoed down the hallway and around the corner he saw-
"Potter!"
"Black?"
Sirius's younger brother, Regulus, had his wand lit, looking rather spooked.
"Did you see that? A rat came charging right at me!"
Trying his best to hide his amusement. "A rat, did you say?"
"It's gone now." Regulus shifted the bag on his shoulder as he inspected the hallway suspiciously. "My brother around?"
"No," James lied.
Regulus appeared now to be studying the empty space around James as if he expected Sirius to jump out from underneath the Invisibility Cloak at any moment.
Something convinced the younger boy they were alone because Regulus gave James an appraising look. It was always a bit disconcerting to interact with Sirius's brother – the similarities and differences between them intertwining to the point that James wasn't sure the sort of person Regulus really was. "So he plans to spend the summer with you?"
"That's right," James said. With or without the permission of your parents, he thought to himself. Then he added, "Are your parents going to let him?"
"I haven't really talked about it with them," the younger Black admitted. He looked straight at James, and then countered with his own question. "What's he going to do if they don't?"
"Weren't you there when Sirius ran away? You know he's never going to return after that."
"He might if he has no where else to go."
"He'll always have somewhere to go."
Regulus frowned. "It will make things worse."
"Worse than the danger he'd be in if he returned? I saw the curse your mother used."
"Not if he asked for forgiveness, admitted his mistakes, and embraced our way of life."
"He's not going to do. You know he's never going to do that."
"I've warned Sirius already. He thinks he's winning. He thinks they'll leave him alone… that they've given up on him but—"
Before Regulus could finish the sentence, they were interrupted. Sirius rounded the corner, his wand up. "What are you doing here, Regulus? Get out of here!"
"I've no desire to hang around two blood traitors," Regulus retorted, sweeping past haughtily.
"Peter told us he ran into Regulus, almost literally." Sirius stared angrily at the spot his brother had occupied. "What were you two talking about?"
"Quidditch…nothing important," James explained. "Any progress?"
Sirius grinned. "I think we've got it to work. Come on!"
James followed Sirius back into the classroom and they crowded around the desk Remus sat with the paper that was finally starting to resemble the map in their minds.
"Remus and I both repeated the incantation several times, and then the lines reappeared-"
"Like magic!" Peter exclaimed his round cheeks pink in excitement.
"And look it's labeled just like the dormitory, and we are being tracked as well." James looked down to see the 'Arithmancy Classroom' label and their four dots huddled in the middle of the room.
"The magic we are using on the map must be communicating with the innate magic of the castle," Remus said. "That's why I think it doesn't appear instantly. It takes time for the interaction."
"Let's try to add the classroom next door," Sirius said excitedly already standing up starting to gather everything.
"Isn't that an unused room?" questioned Peter.
"We want to map the entire castle, don't we? It will be one less room to do next year."
No one could argue with that. James tried to match his best friend's enthusiasm, but Regulus's caution was weighing on him. What would he have said had they not been interrupted by Sirius? And did it matter? James didn't believe he was making a mistake in offering his friend refuge. He doubted anything Regulus would have said would have changed his mind. Still James knew the Blacks' had influence and he'd rather be prepared for the possibility of them using it than be caught unaware.
It was crunch time. OWLs were fast approaching. It was now the first week of June and the last week before sitting the examinations that would decide their studies for the next two years. The Professors had stopped giving them homework and classes were now focused solely on revision topics.
After breakfast in the Great Hall one morning, all fifth years were instructed to stay behind and McGonagall handed out their OWL Schedule. The theory sections of their examinations would be in the morning with the practical sections in the afternoon. McGonagall went over the anti-cheating spells and warned them firmly to avoid any mind-altering substances. Sirius, James, and Remus had declined all offering of draughts and liquid drops that was supposed to enhance one's intelligence. Peter ended up buying a small glass vial that was supposed to help with memory, but it ended up exploding into a puff of foul-smelling smoke right before he was going to add it to his pumpkin juice and he didn't purchase anything else after.
The moment the boys had the schedule, they huddled around a lunar calendar to see if the next full moon would fall on any of the examination days. Remus was relieved to discover that all the exams would be over before then. Their last exam did fall three days before the next full moon, and while Remus might be more tired and irritable, it was an easier problem to manage than having to come up with an excuse to reschedule because of a furry little problem.
On their last day of Defense Against the Dark Arts, Professor Keenan surprised them by taking them out onto the grounds where he'd constructed an obstacle course. In order to successfully navigate through the course, one had to use spells likely to be needed for the practical side of their exam. Timing each of them individually, Keenan handed Remus and Sirius each a giant chocolate bar from Honeydukes as a prize for finishing the course the fastest.
The first week of OWLs was upon them before they even knew it. There was frantic feeling in the air as fifth years tried to cram in every and any extra bit of information. It was common to see random objects levitating or zooming through the air as students practiced their magic during every free moment.
The girls and boys of Gryffindor had fallen into a habit of meeting up in the common room most evenings to discuss their previous OWLs. It was a time to complain about unfair questions and compare the spells they'd been asked to display during their practical. And a perfect opportunity Sirius noticed for James to try his hand again at wooing Miss Lily Evans. While Lily did her best to thwart James's attempts to talk to her alone, her friends only encouraged James.
The second week of OWLs was less hectic. The boys would sit through three exams: Care of Magical Creatures, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Transfiguration. And while these were all very important subjects, Sirius wasn't concerned as two out of three of these subjects were his best subjects. He didn't expect any of the tests to give him any trouble.
On the day of the Defense Against the Dark Arts Exam, there was a last-minute change in schedule. One of the test administrators needed to leave early, so they had their practical in the morning and the written in the afternoon. Feeling already confident that he'd easily passed the first part, Sirius took his assigned seat in the Great Hall.
The tests were handed out; most of the questions were very standard with only a few meant to be tricky. Sirius grinned as he read question 10 – give five signs that identify a werewolf. Sirius looked four seats up to where James sat, his friend's head was bent, focused fully on the examination.
"Keep your eyes on your own paper," Flitwick announced in his squeaky voice. Sirius quickly returned to his own test as he didn't want to be reprimanded for cheating when that hadn't been his intention to begin with. Sirius finished the questions with time to spare, and he lazily looked through the booklet, rechecking his answers. Professor Flitwick warned them when five minutes were up, and upon the teacher turning his back, James looked back to grin at him. Sirius tilted his chair back and gave him a thumbs up sign.
As time was called, Sirius gathered up his exam questions paper and tucked it into his bag. He glanced back at Remus, who was yawning and stretching out his limbs. James waited for them all to join him at his desk. They all quickly agreed that going out onto the grounds for some fresh air was exactly what they needed.
"Did you like question ten, Moony?" asked Sirius as they emerged into the Entrance Hall.
"Loved it," said Remus briskly. "Give five signs that identify the werewolf. Excellent question."
'D'you think you managed to get all the signs?' said James in tones of mock concern.
"Think I did," said Remus seriously, as they joined the crowd thronging around the front doors eager to get out into the sunlit grounds. "One: he's sitting on my chair. Two: he's wearing my clothes. Three: his name's Remus Lupin."
They all burst into laughter except for Peter.
"I got the snout shape, the pupils of the eyes, and the tufted tail," Peter said anxiously, "but I couldn't think what else –"
"How thick are you, Wormtail?" said James impatiently. "You run round with a werewolf once a month –"
"Keep your voice down," implored Remus. Sirius glanced around them, but none of the chattering students were paying attention.
"That was the hardest exam for me so far," Peter admitted. "I didn't have time to finish all the questions."
Sirius shrugged. "Well, I thought that paper was a piece of cake. I'll be surprised if I don't get 'Outstanding' on it at least."
"Me too," James agreed. James plunged his hand into his pocket and out came a struggling Golden Snitch.
"Where'd you get that?"
Now that Quidditch was over the Snitch should be locked up in the Gryffindor Quidditch Storage Closet. In fact, just last week James and a few other members of the team had gone to tidy it up.
"Nicked it," James said casually.
Sirius watched as James played with the Snitch for several minutes, showing off his excellent reflexes. Only Wormtail continued to watch in awe as the boys continued across the lawn finally stopping under their usual beech tree near the edge of the lake. The boys flopped down on the ground.
A group of girls stayed close by – taking off their shoes and socks so they could cool off their feet. As usual James was keeping a close eye on a particular redhead. Sirius switched from looking at the laughing girls to the other students milling about. He was starting to feel restless as no one was doing anything interesting. Remus was engrossed in a book, and James was still playing with the Snitch.
Sirius tried his best to ignore Peter, but after Peter let out another cheer, he'd had enough.
"Put that away, will you? Before Wormtail wets himself with excitement."
James grinned while Peter turned pink.
"If it bothers you," James replied as he stuffed the Snitch back into his pocket.
"I'm bored," said Sirius. "Wish it was full moon." An adventure this evening would be just what he needed to get rid of his excess energy.
"You might," said Remus darkly from behind his book. He was starting to look peaky from the approaching full moon. "We've still got Transfiguration, if you're bored you could test me. Here..."
Remus held out his book, but Sirius snorted. "I don't need to look at that rubbish, I know it all." He could have added that Remus didn't either. Remus tended to over-study, continuing to refresh the material that he already solidly knew.
"This'll liven you up, Padfoot," said James quietly. "Look who it is ..."
Sirius turned his head to spot Snape not very far from them near a group of bushes. For a second, he waited, expecting Remus to say something. Instead Remus was keeping his gaze steadily on the book. Well Sirius certainly wasn't going to miss having a go at Snape if Remus wasn't going to tell them not to.
"Excellent," Sirius stated, keeping his voice low. "Snivellus."
At this point Sirius still expected Remus to tell them to sit down, but as Snape drew closer to them, the werewolf stayed silent. Sirius stood up and James as well, his wand twirling his hand. It was best to be prepared for things to get physical with Snape.
"All right, Snivellus?" said James loudly.
Snape dropped his bag, and plunged his hand inside his robes. The Slytherin was not quick enough because James shouted, "Expelliarmus!".
Snape's wand flew twelve feet into the air and fell with a little thud in the grass behind him. Sirius let out a bark of laughter.
He pointed his wand at Snape. "Impedimenta!" The boy was knocked off his feet at the same moment he attempted to dive towards his own wand. It was only now that Sirius noticed a crowd forming around them. Many of them had edged closer to get a better look while others watched on with apprehension.
Even though Snape lay on the ground wandless, they advanced on him with their wands raised.
"How'd the exam go, Snivelly?" said James.
"I was watching him, his nose was touching the parchment," said Sirius viciously. "There'll be great grease marks all over it, they won't be able to read a word."
This statement was met with laugher by many in the crowd.
Snape was trying to get up, but the jinx was still operating on him; he was struggling, as though bound by invisible ropes.
"You – wait," he panted, staring up at James with an expression of purest loathing, "you – wait!"
"Wait for what?" said Sirius coolly. "What're you going to do, Snivelly, wipe your nose on us?"
Snape let out a stream of mixed swear words and hexes, but with his wand ten feet away nothing happened.
"Wash out your mouth," said James coldly. "Scourgify!"
Pink soap bubbles streamed from Snape's mouth at once; the froth was covering his lips, making him gag, choking him –
"Leave him ALONE!"
James and Sirius looked round, neither having noticed that one of the girls from the lake edge had approached them. Spotting Lily Evans, James's free had immediately jumped to his hair.
"All right, Evans?" James asked.
"Leave him alone," Lily repeated, eying James with every sign of great dislike. Sirius noted Lily was ignoring his role in the whole matter. "What's he done to you?"
"Well," said James, appearing to deliberate the point, "it's more the face that he exists, if you know what I mean…"
Sirius, Peter, and many of the surrounding students laughed at the joke. Remus, still pretending to be engaged in his book, stayed quiet.
"You think you're funny," Lily said coldly. "But you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him alone."
"I will if you go out with me, Evans," said James quickly. Sirius cringed inwardly. James was never going to win Lily over if this was his best attempt at courtship. "Go on…go out with me and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again."
None of them noticed that the Impedient Jinx was wearing off or that Snape was getting closer and closer to his fallen wand.
"I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid," said Lily.
"Bad luck, Prongs," said Sirius briskly. He'd never side with Lily, but he couldn't blame her for not being swept off her feet. It was only then he saw Snape-
"OI!"
But it was too late; Snape had directed his wand straight at James; there was a flash of light and a gash appeared on the side of James's face, spattering his robes with blood. James whirled about: a second flash of light later, Snape was hanging upside-down in the air, his robes falling over his head to reveal skinny, pallid legs and a pair of greying underpants.
Many people in the small crowd cheered; Sirius joined in when James and Peter roared with laughter.
Lily, whose furious expression had twitched for an instant as though she was going to smile, said, "Let him down!"
"Certainly," James agreed having already brushed off Lily's slight about dating the Giant Squid rather than him.
Snape fell into a crumpled heap on the ground. He tried to untangle himself and had again almost reached for his wand, when Sirius said, "Petrificus Totalus!"
Snape keeled over again rigid as a board.
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Lily shouted having finally taken out her own wand. James and Sirius eyed it warily. She was a talented witch, and neither wanted to engage her in a duel.
"Ah, Evans, don't make me hex you," said James earnestly.
"Take the curse off him, then!"
James sighed deeply, then turned to Snape and muttered the counter-curse."
"There you go," James said, as Snape struggled to his feet. "You're lucky Evans was here, Snivellus-"
"I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!"
Sirius stared, flabbergasted that Snape would use such a derogatory term against the girl that was supposedly his friend.
"Fine," Lily said coolly. "I won't bother in the future. And I'd wash your pants if I were you, Snivellus!"
James was livid. "Apologize to Evans!" James roared at Snape, his wand pointed threateningly at him.
"I don't want you to make him apologize," Lily shouted, rounding on James. "You're as bad as he is."
"What?" yelped James. "I'd NEVER call you a – you-know-what!"
"Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you've just got off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can – I'm surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK."
She turned on her heel and hurried away.
"Evans!" James shouted after her breaking the silence. "Hey, EVANS!"
But she didn't look back.
"What is it with her?" said James, trying and failing to look as though this was a throwaway question of no real importance to him.
And Sirius knew he was probably the only one who could explain this to James without getting hexed himself said, "Reading between the lines, I'd say she thinks you're a bit conceited, mate."
"Right," said James, who looked furious now, "right –"
There was another flash of light, and Snape was once again hanging upside-down in the air.
"Who wants to see me take off Snivelly's pants?"
"That's enough, Potter."
A voice, low and threatening, cut across the crowd. As students parted, Mulciber stepped forward flanked by his usual Slytherin gang. While the Slytherins did not draw their wands, the atmosphere immediately grew colder and there was a nervous energy from the now silent crowd.
James still keeping his wand trained on a struggling upside-down Snape, turned to the newcomers. If he was troubled by their sudden presence, he did not show it. "Is it?"
"Unless you'd rather I alert the staff? Don't think McGonagall will be impressed by this cowardly four on one attack."
"We'll go," Remus interjected quickly. He started gathering his bag, handing Peter his, and then when James made no move to leave the situation, Remus threw Sirius a desperate look. He quickly understood that Remus expected him to deescalate the situation. Even though it went against his very nature, Sirius admitted it was best for them to leave. So offhandedly he said, "James, no one wants to see Snivelly without his pants anyway."
James grudgingly undid the spell. Besides a few that were eager for a fight to break out, the crowd looked mostly relieved to see a quick end to the standoff. Sirius retrieved Snape's wand as their rival had landed on his back with a loud thump. Not the least bit trusting that Snape wouldn't hex them behind their backs, Sirius tossed the wand to Avery.
Remus led their retreat back to the castle, the murmuring of the crowd growing softer and softer.
"Remus, would you slow down already," James called glancing at Peter, who had the shortest legs and was barely keeping up with the fast pace. Peter's face was red and sweaty with exertion, and as the boys stopped, he bent his knees to catch his breath.
Remus immediately rounded on them. "Mulciber! Muliciber of all people had to call you out!"
"I wasn't really going to-" James began, looking alarmed by Remus suddenly shouting at him.
"I don't want to hear it," Remus yelled and though his words weren't directed at Peter, he was the only one to visibly cringe and step back.
"James, you're still bleeding!" Sirius only just noticing the lines of blood streaking down his friend's cheek and the white color of his shirt now stained red from the blood.
Remus began rummaging through his bag and then offered James a red & gold handkerchief.
"Thanks," James said curtly. He pressed the cloth tightly against the gash, wincing slightly. Applying pressure to the wound did little to help, instead it appeared to increase the blood flow and the cloth was quickly drenched in blood.
"It might be dark magic," Peter wondered worriedly.
Remus looked at James as if he was considering if allowing his friend to bleed to death as valid punishment for his earlier behavior. Finally, Remus stated tiredly, "Let's get you to the Hospital Wing."
"No," James said firmly. "Madam Pomfrey will report this…and there's no reason for the Professors to be involved."
"So, you'd rather bleed to death?" countered Remus.
"Professor Keenan," Sirius suggested. "Let's have him take a look at the cut. Dark Magic is his area of expertise."
"Won't he have to report it as well?"
"It's less likely," Sirius said.
By the time the boys arrived at Keenan's office, James was starting to look pale. If Keenan was shocked by their sudden presence, he took it calmly and professionally. He sat James down in a chair and began working on way to heal the wound. After a good thirty minutes, the wound was finally clotting. Kennan attached a bandage and instructed James to see Pomfrey about dittany to prevent any scarring. Sirius knew they had some dittany back in the dorm, so they could luckily skip that visit.
"Are you boys going to explain to me what happened?" Keenan asked mildly as he snapped shut the briefcase that contained the medical supplies.
There was a long minute of silence.
"I see," Keenan said. "I will still have to report the injury."
"Do you have to, sir?" Sirius asked. "You know about it. Isn't that enough?"
"Are you protecting someone?" Keenan continued peering at them closely. "Were you perhaps experimenting with magic that you shouldn't be using?"
"No!" chorused James and Sirius together indignantly. Both rather annoyed to be accused of using Dark Magic.
"It's not uncommon for bright witches and wizards to get carried away-"
"None of us did this," Sirius repeated.
Professor Keenan did not hide his disappointment though he did not inquire further. Instead he asked them all how the Defense Against the Arts Owl had gone. He let them leave when it was obvious none of them were in the mood for further conversation.
Out in the hall Remus ignored James and Sirius. "Peter, I'm going to the library to study. Are you coming?"
Without saying it out loud it was obvious Remus was not inviting him and James along. Peter looked slightly conflicted, but he ended up trailing after Remus. Sirius didn't blame him; extra revision would only be beneficial.
James touched the bandage on his cheek gingerly. "What a mess! Moony's angry at us…and Evans, she-" James stopped unable to continue the sentence. Instead he let out a frustrated groan.
"Remus will come around," Sirius said. "And Evans-"
"Don't you dare say there's plenty of gnomes in the garden!"
"Evans was far angrier at Snape than you."
"I don't know about that," James replied. He looked down at his bloodied robes. "I need to change."
"Yes, before you frighten the first years," Sirius agreed in a halfhearted gesture to lighten the mood.
It wasn't until they headed off in the direction of the dorm that Sirius had time to think over their actions. He knew they'd disappointed Remus again, and though it wasn't easy to admit, the altercation had gotten out of hand. Still it had been Snape and not them that had drawn blood. While it remained unspoken, they were both somewhat ashamed at their behavior. And if Remus could accomplish that perhaps appointing him as prefect had been one of Headmaster's best decisions.
Author's Note: And finally, we have the SWM scene! Hope it lived up to your expectations. Leaving a review would be appreciated.
Anything directly quoted from Snape's Worst Memory chapter in Order for the Phoenix is not my own work. I left a lot of the scene exactly as written. Next chapter we will see some more of the repercussions of the event – especially for Snape. There's probably three more chapters left in the story, depending on how it's broken up and if I add anything while editing.