CW: Use of the spell sectumsempra, so blood and pain. Also, the death of minor characters
"So, Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, and Mr. Pettigrew all intended to become Animagus, and I originally agreed to it," Professor McGonagall said, "But I soon realised how dangerous it was, and with them have come to a compromise that I should come down to the Shrieking Shack with you in my own Animagus form. I've spent the last few months doing research and I realise that this could indeed be a safe solution. If it works well with me then maybe, just maybe, I'll allow your friends to accompany you as Animagus."
"Really!?" I cried, looking at her, my eyes bright.
"But you must remember that this is illegal… I could lose my job, so you need to keep it to yourself," she said, "I'm only allowing this as I believe it will be safer with your friends since there will be three of them… and I also thought, if two of them were to become bigger animals, and the other a small one so they could get down to the knot…"
"OK, OK, I'll pass this on," I said. I couldn't believe my luck.
"The next full moon will be on Monday, May the sixth," she said. "I'll meet you at the Shrieking Shack at 5:30pm. See you in class, Mr. Lupin."
"Thank you," I breathed, "thank you, thank you, thank you!"
I left her office smiling widely, and my friends' faces matched mine when I told them the great news.
"So… we may be able to become Animagus after all!" James cried as we walked together through the halls. We passed a bathroom, and Sirius announced he needed to take a dump and walked in. Within a few seconds, I heard him let out a scream, so I rushed into the bathroom to see what was happening, closely followed by James and Peter.
Sirius was crouching by someone who was covered in blood, their eyes closed and breaths shallow. I stepped to the side to get a better look, then recognised him immediately. He was a smaller version of Sirius. Regulus Black.
"We'll take him to Madam Pomfrey," James said quickly. Sirius, who was hysterical on the floor by his brother, refused to move. "Come on, Sirius, he's going to die if we don't."
As soon as Sirius heard the word 'die' he stood up quickly and lifted Regulus. James took his other side, and we walked as fast as we could to the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey took one look at the situation and sent everyone else out to get a bed for Regulus.
"What happened!?" she cried, laying Regulus down and grabbing her wand.
"We don't know," said James. How was he so calm? "We found him like this in the bathroom."
"Oh my gosh… OK, well you four, let me do my work… I'll call you back when we're done," she said, and we practically had to drag Sirius out of the Hospital Wing.
"No!" he cried, tears pouring down his face, "No, no, no, no, no! I'm not just going to stand out here as my brother… as Regulus…"
"Madam Pomfrey is going to heal him, Sirius," said James, placing a hand on Sirius's shoulder "we just need to stay out of the way."
"I can't," he fought against my grip, and I could feel the muscles in his arm tense, "just… stand… out… here…"
"Sirius!" I hissed, "It's going to be OK. If you just be patient and let Madam Pomfrey heal him, it'll all be OK, OK?"
He clearly didn't think so. Sirius just sobbed and sobbed, screaming for Regulus. Students passed us and gave him strange looks, but he didn't seem to care. Finally, finally, Madam Pomfrey emerged from the Hospital Wing to tell us we could all come back in.
Sirius bolted into the room, almost slipped over, and went to Regulus's bedside. He was still lying down, but he was breathing, and his eyes were open.
"Reggie!" Sirius cried. "Reg… can you hear me… open your eyes… what's your name… squeeze my hand…"
"Sirius…" Regulus murmured.
"I couldn't figure out what happened to him," said Madam Pomfrey. "It was similar to the spell Mr. Pettigrew was hit by back in November last year, however, Regulus seemed to have been attacked some thirty seconds before he got here, whereas with Mr. Pettigrew it had been less than ten… if you hadn't found Regulus, he probably would have died."
"So… you think it was the same spell that Sniv - that Snape did to Peter?" James asked.
"Yes," she said. "I couldn't find any research about it… so I had to treat him in the muggle way."
"So, he did invent that spell! The little slimeball, he dares to use it against my brother…" Sirius left the Hospital Wing, drawing his wand. I exchanged a look with James, and we chased after him, Peter following us and looking very confused.
Sirius was running. No, running didn't cut it. That boy was basically shooting through the halls of Hogwarts, and James, a sports freak, could barely keep up with him, let alone Peter and I.
"SNAPE!" Sirius shouted, "BLOODY HELL SNIVELLUS, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!? YOU BETTER COME OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!"
It took some time for Sirius to find Snape in the corridors. James, Peter, and I were a good twenty metres behind him when the attack happened. Sirius was screaming, he grabbed out his wand and Snape seemed to cower.
"What was the spell, Snivellus?" Sirius shouted, pointing his wand at Snape. I yelled out at him to stop as I continued to run towards the scene with the other two, but he just ignored us and bellowed, "SECTUMSEMPRA!"
Snape screamed as the spell worked, deep wounds appeared as the blood squirted out of his chest.
"Fuck you, Black!" Snape screamed as he choked half to death. "You're living up to your… Death Eater expectations a-aren't you?"
Sirius let out a long breath just as James arrived at the scene, followed soon by Peter and me. His face was etched with regret, and he cupped his hands over his mouth.
"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!" the voice echoed through the halls, and I looked up to see the familiar silver beard, purple robes, and sparkling blue eyes, filled with anger. Dumbledore grabbed my three friends and I, and Snape, then spun on the spot. I came back to reality in the Hospital Wing, shocked. I'd thought there was a spell against apparating in Hogwarts! But that was the least of my worries as I watched Madam Pomfrey take Snape to a bed, then Dumbledore led James, Sirius, Peter, and me out into the halls.
"Explain what happened to me," he said, his voice stern yet still annoyingly calm.
"It was me, Professor… I… he attacked Regulus and I… I… I'm sorry," Sirius said, his voice still shaking from anger.
"And did Mr. Snape use the same spell on young Mr. Black that you used on him?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes," said Sirius, "Well I… I'm pretty sure."
"OK… OK…" said Dumbledore, "As soon as Mr. Snape has recovered both of you will meet me in my office to discuss the subject of your punishments."
"OK," said Sirius, hanging his head. We were dismissed and walked in silence back to the common room. We sat in dead silence for a good ten minutes until James finally spoke.
"Sirius, I'm sure it will be fine," he said, "you won't get expelled, I know you won't."
"That's not what I'm worried about, James…" said Sirius, his hair falling in front of his bowed head, and his hands trembling. "Did you hear what Snape said? I'm living up to the Death Eater expectations! I'm evil!"
"Don't let something Snivellus said to you get you down," I said.
"But it's true," Sirius said quietly, leaning back on the armchair and tipping his head back over the edge, "and I could control what I was doing, there's no valid reason… just anger, and oh, god, I'm just going to go to bed, sorry for being a drama queen, but…"
And without another word, Sirius was walking up the steps to the dormitory. I exchanged a look with James, who just shook his head.
"I… I don't get why Sirius would use that spell!" Peter cried. "It's awful… it felt awful to be hit by it…"
"Because he was really angry," I explained, "because Snape hit Regulus with that spell, and Sirius wasn't thinking and wanted revenge."
"I thought Sirius didn't like Regulus?" Peter said, raising his eyebrows.
"They're still brothers," said James. "Come on, let's go talk to him…"
We stood up, but before we could follow Sirius, Marlene McKinnon came rushing over to us.
"James!" she cried, tears in her eyes. "Jordan and Julie Brown! Killed over the Easter break!"
James winced. I knew who they were, brother and sister who were on the Quidditch team. Jordan was in his seventh year, and was a Chaser alongside James, as well as being the team captain. Julie was in her sixth year and had been a beater since her fourth year when Kate died. James had constantly talked about how talented they both were. Marlene hugged him tightly, and he squeezed her right back.
"The team can have a memorial for them tomorrow morning," James said, pulling away from Marlene, "if you could help me spread the word?"
"Yeah, yeah, of course," Marlene said, wiping her eyes before she left.
"We can't get a break, can we?" James sighed. "Alright, come on, let's go see how Sirius is doing."