Chapter 14

Now I've effed up every little goddamn thing

Just give me one fine day of plain sailing weather,

And I can eff up anything, anything.

It was a wonderful life when we were together,

And now I've effed up every little every little goddamn thing

Plain Sailing Weather, Frank Turner

The rest of the day was amusing, to see the least. Snape, Avery, Mulciber and their groups' hair had all turned horrendous shades of green and brown, like sludge and puke. Some people had managed to turn their hair back, or had gotten a teacher to do it for them. Flitwick had had people lining up to get their hair changed back, which he did happily, while sporting neon yellow hair. He didn't seem in a rush to change his own back, which James couldn't help but smile at. James kept his hair bright pink; it made him laugh every time he caught sight of his reflection.

One of James's least favourite things about the full moon was the waiting. Since they obviously couldn't have any teachers suspicious, and since Madame Pomfrey always accompanied Remus to the Whomping Willow before the moon was out, the other three Marauders always had to wait a few hours before they could slip out and join Remus in the Shrieking Shack.

James was a worrier on the best of days, and the full moon was always tricky for all involved, Remus especially. He often drove Sirius and Peter half-mad with his pacing.

"We should change our hair back," James said. "Just in case it changes our animal fur."

"D'you think it would?" Sirius asked, examining his long orange hair.

"Not really," James replied. "But just in case. I mean, if someone caught sight of a bright pink stag wandering the grounds of Hogwarts, it'd raise suspicion."

Sirius snorted at that, obviously imagining the what sort of trouble that would cause. "Alright then, we'll change back."

After that, they fell silent. James picked up his pacing again.

"Mate, you can't still be worried about our hair?" Sirius asked a moment later. "We're back to normal."

But there was a new problem that was occupying his mind. "Do you think Prongs will be effected?" he asked Sirius and Peter in the dorm room, an hour after Remus had left.

"By your injury?" Sirius asked. James nodded in confirmation. "I'm not sure," Sirius said. "I mean, the Healers said that your leg would be worst when you're thinking about the attack, or the war, or whatever. When you're Prongs, your main focus is always Moony, so maybe not?"

"Try transform now," Peter suggested.

"What if someone walked in?" James said.

"We could just pretend it's for a prank, on you, or something," Sirius said.

"Then you might get detention, and we can't afford to get detention tonight."

"Then we won't know until tonight. Transform with us but if it gets too bad, you can come back to the dorm. Peter and I can handle him."

James frowned. "I don't love the idea of leaving you two with Moony on your own." He paused. "But I don't suppose I have a choice, really." He collapsed back onto his bed. "I just... I hate the feeling of being useless. Moony needs Prongs, and I don't want to just sit up in the dorm while you two run around with a werewolf. I'd spend the whole night worrying."

"I'm going to go for a walk," Sirius announced a moment later.

James sat up. "No getting into trouble," he warned.

Sirius shot him a look. "I'm not that thick. I'm just going to clear my head."

"Alright. We'll see you in an hour?" James asked.

"At the latest," Sirius replied, before leaving the dorm and closing the door behind him.

An hour had not yet passed, but James was starting to get antsy. He was always like this in the few hours leading up to the full moon, sure that something would go wrong. He knew that Sirius knew how important this was, but Sirius had said an hour 'at the latest' and it was coming up to an hour.

"Should I go look for him?" James asked Peter, who was doing homework on his own bed.

Peter frowned in thought. "On one hand, yes, because we've got to leave soon. But on the other, if he's on his way back now, and sees that you've gone looking for him, he might get annoyed and think you don't trust him." At James's fallen face, he hastily continued. "I'm not saying he will, but it's just a possibility."

"I'll give it five more minutes, just in case. If he's not back after that, I'll have to go get him, or we'll be late."

Peter nodded, satisfied, so James glanced at his watch and flopped back on his bed. The next five minutes were agonisingly slow. Every time James looked at his watch it seemed like only seconds had passed, though James would've swore minutes had. At every creak, James shot up, sure that Sirius was about to walk through the door, only to collapse back on his bed when Sirius didn't appear.

After the five minutes had passed, James opened his trunk and pulled out the map. "I solemnly swear that I am up to good," he said, impatiently watching the map reveal itself. He scanned it, eyes searching for 'Sirius Black'. When James found him, his chest constricted. "Oh Merlin," he said, bolting off the bed, pulling on his shoes and practically sprinting out of the dorm, through the Common Room and out into the corridor.

James ran through corridors and jumped down stairs, ignoring the looks of the students who were making their way to the Common Room. James knew that it was almost time for curfew, so he kept an eye on the map to make sure that he didn't run into any teachers who might turn him around and send him back to his dorm.

He skidded around the corner, and sure enough, there was Sirius talking to Snape. They hadn't noticed him yet, which James was grateful for. He wanted to see where the conversation was going before he stuck his nose in. For all he knew, Sirius might walk away without casting any spells.

"Look Snivellus, I'm not in the mood for detention tonight, how about we leave this for another day?" Sirius said casually, although his body language said otherwise.

"Can't afford to get detention on a full moon?" Snape asked. "I wonder why that is."

Sirius stiffened even more, but didn't react. "Look, is there something you actually want? Or are you just here to make vague threats."

"Not up for a fight?" Snape asked, as if surprised. "Oh that's right, I forgot. Any misdemeanours mean a letter to Potter's parents."

Sirius smiled. "Yes they do."

James couldn't help but grin. What Snape had thought was an insult was actually a reminder to Sirius that he had people who cared about him.

"I don't get how they don't see how much of an arrogant, idiotic imbecile you are. Or maybe that's what they specialise in. They did, after all, raise Potter."

James felt like that was a weak insult at best, but he could also see the way that Sirius bristled. Sirius was loyal to fault. Whatever the Slytherins threw at the Marauders, Sirius was always the one who took it the worst when something was said about Remus, Peter or James.

Personally, James had built up a tolerance. When he was in fourth year, any word against his friends would've resulted in a duel and then a detention for James, but he had learned since then. His parents were getting too old to be getting letters from Professor McGonagall about his behaviour. Besides, it was much more satisfying to see the fallen faces of the Slytherins when their latest 'brilliant' insult didn't provoke so much as a facial expression.

Sirius, on the other hand, hadn't managed to control his temper. He often needed to be reminded by one of the others not to react. James sometimes worried what would happen if one of the Marauders was insulted to Sirius's face when he was on his own; when there was no one around him to calm him down. Whenever this worry reared its head, James told himself to have more faith in Sirius.

And so far, Sirius was doing a marvellous job. He hadn't immediately pulled out his wand, but James knew that Snape had noticed the change in Sirius's posture. Snape knew he had struck a nerve. James debated jumping in now, before Snape had a chance to do any real damage. It was getting awfully close to time to leave, so James decided to pretend he had only just arrived and pull Sirius away as soon as possible.

"Sirius! There you are!" James said, strolling out as casually as he could manage. "It's almost curfew, I was looking for you."

"I was just talking to our friend Snivellus," Sirius said, without taking his eyes off of Snape.

"Oh?" James asked, putting on an air of interest, despite the fact that his inner monologue was telling him that they needed to get out of there as soon as possible. Peter was probably starting to worry, curfew was soon and teachers would start patrolling, and James really didn't want himself or Sirius getting a detention.

"Yeah, he was just insulting your parents actually. And you too, incidentally," Sirius said, with an edge to his voice."

"That's nice," James replied, with a forced sweetness to his voice, "but we really have to go. I don't want to be caught out of bed after hours."

"Then why don't you leave and Black and I can finish up our conversation?" Snape suggested. "I was about to ask him what he did to finally get kicked out."

"Maybe another time," James said, tugging on Sirius's arm.

They started walking away when Snape called after them. "I'll have to ask Reg so, next time we go to Hogsmeade together. Last time, he went with Mulciber, Nott, Avery and myself and we had such a good time.

James felt Sirius stiffen beside him. "Keep walking," James muttered, not turning back to look at Snape and forcing himself to keep looking straight ahead. James kept moving, and once he felt they were a safe distance away, he started talking, still looking dead ahead.

"I'm proud of you Sirius, for not rising to the bait." Sirius didn't say anything. "I know you think I should trust you more to handle yourself, but it's not you I don't trust. It's them." James glanced over at Sirius, only to see that he wasn't there. James felt his stomach bottom out. "Oh Merlin," he cursed, before sprinting back.

As he neared the spot where Snape and Sirius had been arguing, he could hear Sirius's raised voice. "Well if you're so sure of yourself, why don't you pay him a visit, hmm? The Whomping Willow has a special off switch."

James tore around the corner, only to see Snape's hastily retreating back Sirius standing there, panting. "What the hell is an off switch?" he said, putting as much anger in his voice as he could.

"It's a muggle device," Sirius muttered, not looking James in the eye.

James's heart thudded in his chest. "So you just told him about the Whomping Willow? Do you have any idea what you've just done."

Sirius curled his lip. "He had it coming. What he was saying about you and Reg-"

"I don't care about what he said." James was distantly aware that he was shouting, but the roaring of blood in his ears made it hard to tell. "What if he dies?"

"I told you- he deserves it."

"And if he dies," James said. "Who do you think will have killed him?"

Sirius froze. "Remus," he whispered.

James was heaving now. "For someone so smart, you can be really thick sometime."

"Oh Merlin," Sirius's voice came out in a whisper. "I didn't think-"

"No, of course you didn't. And I was just saying how proud I was of you for not rising to it and then you go and do this."

Sirius stared down at his hands.

"I've got to go," James said, turning his back.