Chapter 27 of Year 4: Time to Pick a Side

Their dormitory was messier than Peter remembered leaving it. It looked like whatever happened to James happened in here. He was uncomfortably aware of how closely Eilidh was watching him, how her stare lingered momentarily on the scratches and bite marks on his hands and forearms, how she looked so concerned at James it was almost motherly yet there was something like contempt in her eyes as well.

There was something very wrong with James tonight. He looked faint, his face was gaunt, he swayed whenever he stood for a prolonged second, and his speech was slightly slurred when he wasn't yelling. When he moved his movements were twitchy, jumpy almost. It was like he was stuck in a strange limbo between consciousness and unconsciousness - the conscious part of him still in an adrenaline-fueled fight or flight response.

Sirius was being too gentle with him. He should be telling him to get his shit together, demanding to know why he hadn't defended himself against Evans. It was entirely un-Sirius-like to kick the clutter off his trunk before slowly easing James down on it then filling the plastic cup he kept on his bedside table only to press it into James's hand.

"Drink." It wasn't an order or even a request. Sirius was gently begging James to drink the water kind of like how he had casually begged him to go to the hospital wing on the other side of the portrait.

"Someone want to tell me what the fuck is going on?" Eilidh asked. Peter could tell that she had intended for her voice to sound stern and angry but it came out sickly instead like she was fighting the urge to vomit.

"He started it," James said, speaking to the air before he emptied the cup in one gulp. Sirius took it out of his hands and refilled it. "I was just walking past and he tripped me."

"There were seven of them," Sirius angrily told Eilidh but he still studied James with the amount of concentration only Sirius could use. Eilidh's mouth opened slightly and the anger he had seen before disappeared.

"James hold out your hands, flat like this." Eilidh held both hands out in front of her, palms down. There was a distinct nurturing warmth that radiated off of her that made Peter want to curl up and fall asleep.

James did as Eilidh showed him. His hands were shaking so furiously it reminded Peter of his neighbour's chihuahua. Eilidh fingered the silky blue ribbon she had tied around her waist and pulled out a phial of turquoise coloured liquid.

"Drink this. It's a Calming Draught. It'll help clear your head." Eilidh handed it over and James took it without protest. Sirius shot her a quizzical look. "Josie doesn't like parties. Especially when she feels she doesn't belong." Sirius nodded but Peter didn't think he really understood.

Instantly, whatever it was that made James so not-James melted away and he just looked tired. His eyelids drooped over his eyes so they were only half open, his squared shoulders slumped, and his shaking hands hung limply over the edge of the trunk like they were too heavy to hold up. Eilidh stepped forward quickly and grabbed James by his shirt collar to pull him up. Peter hadn't realised James had been falling.

"You all right?" Eilidh asked and James nodded blinking rapidly.

"I've never seen anyone react that way to a Calming Draught," Sirius said worriedly instead of suspiciously. Peter had missed the moment when Sirius decided to trust her.

"He was running on adrenaline until now. He'll be fine, just give him a second," Eilidh answered.

"'m fine," James mumbled.

"How 'bout we start with why you and James weren't at the party together?" Eilidh asked, finally releasing James. The nurturing tone to her voice was gone and was replaced by a professionally brisk one. She sounded like a detective and Peter hated detectives. However, he felt compelled to speak.

"We were pulling a prank," Peter answered.

"The niffler?" Eilidh asked though she already knew the answer. Peter and Sirius nodded. Sirius, for once, looked more guilty than him. "Thought as much. Go on."

"My cousin was there," Sirius said, "and Regulus had already yelled at me for not meeting her in Hogsmeade so I decided to go early. James was planning on coming after he got Peter and the niffler situated."

"He didn't want to go through the door. He thought it would be too obvious and the castle's full of secret passages so we split up to find one," Peter explained. He didn't think him actually finding a secret passage was important at the moment so he looked at James now because this was the extent he knew of James's night.

James jumped into the normal, fully-awake-James sitting position and cleared his throat, realizing that they were waiting for him.

"It was just Snape and Avery at first. They were leaning against the wall separated by the adjacent corridor. I didn't say anything, didn't even look at them, I had better things to do. Then Snape tripped me. I pushed him back and basically told him to bugger off. Then Avery pushed me down that corridor…. It's kind of a blur after that. There was too many curses to keep up with and I didn't know half of them. I remember duelling Snape and he hit me with something pretty freaking painful and I lost my wand so I just hit him and that's when…."

"Evans and I came," Sirius finished.

"Yeah," James said. He was staring at the shoe lying on its side between his and Remus's beds. "She screamed I think."

"I think you broke Snively's nose," Sirius growled but he was smiling proudly at James. James's body moved like he was laughing but no sound came with it.

"I think I broke my hand," James said, now examining his right hand; it was definitely fatter than his left and had angry purple and blue splotches forming on the knuckles.

"You forgot to fold your thumb," Eilidh said, gently holding James's swollen hand, turning slightly so she could see the thumb. "Yeah, you smashed it into your hand. You're lucky it's not dislocated but it's definitely broken. You have to fold your thumb."

She showed him what she meant using her own fist. She proceeded by telling him to keep his wrist straight, to hit with his body not just with his fists, to look at who he was hitting, and to not think about the pain. She repeated that last part so it must be important. Peter wondered for the first time what kind of life she led when she wasn't with the four of them. If James or Sirius had any questions they didn't ask so Peter didn't either.

"You should go to the hospital." Peter didn't know how this transition came about but Eilidh had suddenly become nurturing again.

"Nah." James shook his head and scrunched up his nose probably thinking of the nasty potions he'd be forced to take.

"You broke your wand hand, James," Eilidh said, fighting for reason. James merely shrugged. "You'll get to see Remus."

"I'm tired. He's really tired. We all just need to sleep," James said, beginning to crawl into the bed even though it wasn't his.

"Let me wrap it at least. Unless anyone else knows how to med bones?" Once again she asked a question she already knew the answer to but this time she wasn't expecting a response. She removed the silky ribbon from around her waist and wrapped it gently but firmly around the hand James held out for her. Sirius helped her remove his jacket and shoes. James fell asleep the minute his head hit the pillow.

******Drama. Angst. More drama and more angst. I wonder what will come next?

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