Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Which, by the way, had an amazing last book. Amazing.
Please read my author's profile thing. I wrote something about that story, the Marauders and Lily Read Harry Potter Book 3 so if you liked it go read what I wrote about it. Also if you want to read the story, go read my profile! It's at the top!
Sorry if anyone's getting multiple alerts about chapters and then finding out they're not true. I'm editing my story so I have to replace chapters all the time. First I have to add the new chapter, then put it in its place. So, the new chapter 4 would be seen as a completely new chapter until I edited it. Anyway, that's why you're getting false story alerts.
Chapter 34: A Mapping Mystery
James had never been more excited for Valentine's Day. On Wednesday he was already getting nervous. Remus and Sirius watched him bemusedly in History of Magic as he stared dreamily into space. Lily was rather excited as well, barely managing to keep her head straight during classes. Jenna occasionally looked over at Remus and grinned, pointing at the two – James' unseeing eyes watching Lily while she herself looked flustered, having missed the last five lines of notes.
As soon as class let out Lily headed down to N.E.W.T Ancient Runes with a small wave at James. Remus, Jenna, Peter, and Ylan made their way onto the grounds for their N.E.W.T Care of Magical Creatures class. This left James and Sirius on their own to climb all the way up to N.E.W.T Divination.
"This class is the best thing that will ever happen to us!" Sirius had told James earlier the previous summer. "Come on, sixth year! We're going to need some time to sleep!"
The pair began walking slowly up the stone steps of the tower but a timid voice called out Sirius' name. He turned to see Amanda Wilkinson, a fifth year Ravenclaw with brown hair and eyes, looking at him.
"Be back in a second, mate," he said to James. James nodded and leaned against a wall, sighing. Another girl was about to have her heart broken, as Sirius had refused to date ever since Andrea died. He saw the two talking quietly a little way down the hall. To his surprise Amanda did not give the disappointed nod he had expected. Instead a smile broke out over her face as she gave Sirius a light hug and walked briskly towards her classroom.
"What happened?" James asked as Sirius rejoined him on the stairs.
"She asked me out."
"And you said yes?"
"Well, I'm thinking it might be time to move on," Sirius said, slinging his bag over his shoulder and continuing up the tower. "You know, from Andrea. I mean, I'll always love her, I think, but she wouldn't have wanted me to, well, stop my life completely. I'd give anything to have her back though."
James laid a sympathetic hand on his friend's shoulder.
"I know," he said. "But, you're right; she would have wanted you to be happy, no matter what." Sirius smiled.
"Anyway," he said, "can't wait to see what Carlson's cooked up for us today. Some Grim sightings, I'm guessing?"
James grinned.
"Sounds like a good guess to me."
Half an hour later they emerged from the classroom, followed by their coughing classmates.
"Right, sorry about that," James said as Sirius ushered them along.
"This way, this way," he pointed, grinning. The last to leave was Professor Carlson.
"My classroom!" she shrieked, slightly hysterically pointing at the smoke emerging from the door.
"It really wasn't our fault, Professor!" Sirius said erasing the amusement from his face. "Who knew that those smoke bubbles were so easily burstable?"
With a glare Professor Carlson brushed passed him and went after the rest of her class.
"Don't worry!" James called after her. "We'll have it fixed up in no time!" He caught Sirius' eye and grinned. As soon as everyone disappeared beneath the trap door the pair headed back inside. Opening the windows and issuing wind from their wands they quickly cleared the air of any smoke. The classroom looked untouched, except perhaps the smoke bubble that lay in pieces on the floor; whilst the other students had been attempting to make a prediction from the smoke, James and Sirius had passed theirs back and forth in a game of catch.
"Well, now that that's done," said Sirius, "I believe we still have roughly twenty-five minutes of class left." The two grinned at each other once more and simultaneously plopped down on the couches, falling asleep instantaneously.
They emerged from the small attic classroom just in time for lunch. As they entered the Great Hall they saw that Lily was already there. They joined her and began piling their plates with food.
"How was class?" she asked.
"Great," said James, his eyes twinkling. As he stuffed a drumstick in his mouth Lily said,
"Really? Carlson looks furious." She pointed to the Head Table. "Did something happen?"
"Nope," Sirius lied, downing some pumpkin juice.
"Anyway," James quickly changed the subject, "how was Ancient Runes?"
"Oh, it was great. I think. I kind of zoned out for half of it."
"Thinking about me, were you?"
"Maybe…" Lily grinned. Sirius watched the two amusedly.
"All right, all right, you two," he said as Lily gave James a kiss, "that's enough of that. Where is everyone else, anyway?" At that precise moment, Remus, Jenna, Ylan and Peter entered the Great Hall, looking flushed.
"Fun class?" James asked, looking them over. Remus' scarf was slightly lopsided and had tears at the bottom. Jenna's hair was disheveled and Ylan and Peter both only had one arm in their robes. The four groaned and, without elaborating, sat down and began eating.
"Okay…" said Sirius. "So we made the right choice, then, not taking that class, huh?"
"Looks like it," Lily laughed.
"Anyway," James said. "We've got a free period after lunch, don't we?"
"Yes, finally we can catch up on some sleep!" Remus said appreciatively.
"Don't you two still have to finish that Potions essay?" Jenna asked, pointing at James and Sirius who groaned.
"So nice to have you looking out for us, mom," Sirius said.
"Well, if it helps, we'll all be asleep while you're slaving away," said Jenna.
"Shut up," groaned James.
Forty minutes later found him and Sirius sitting on the floor in the common room, trying to finish their essays.
"God, I hate this class," Sirius mumbled, trying to get rid of an ink spill on his paper. "We've already wasted twenty minutes of our free period!"
James glanced out the window. It was an unusually warm February day and some of their fellow sixth years were swimming jovially in the lake.
"I – hate – my – life," Sirius was grumbling, enunciating each word with a scribble.
James looked down at his own essay. He was nearly done, although he had made half of it up. He knew that, although Sirius was complaining, the man had an unusual knack for Potions, probably passed down from his father. James didn't really bother with the class, although he needed good marks if he ever hoped to become an Auror. Lately he had been thinking of a career in Quidditch, however.
"Stir counterclockwise," James read out loud as he wrote, "three times, add a bezoar, and stir clockwise until…" he paused, thinking of a color. "Green," he finished. Sirius glanced at him.
"What the hell kind of potion are you making?" he asked. James shrugged and put away his parchment as he looked outside again. Lily was out there with Ylan. He watched her for a moment until Sirius threw down his quill with a shout of triumph.
"Done!" he said happily. "And we still have thirty-five minutes left." They went upstairs to put away their bags then hurried out into the corridor and towards the front doors. As soon as they felt the sunlight on their skin they began stripping down to reveal the swimming trunks that had been under their robes, waiting to be revealed all day.
Breaking into a run they jumped up and plummeted into the lake with shouts of "CANNONBALL!!" Everyone on the bank was showered with drops of water.
The two Gryffindors' heads soon emerged from the water and James' face broke into a smile as he spotted Lily on the shore. He beckoned her into the lake and she joined him, laughing as they began splashing each other.
Sirius walked onto the shore after a while, drying himself with a vacated towel nearby. He found Ylan and sat down with her but soon her boyfriend Matthew came outside and whisked her away. Sirius was left by himself near the large oak tree. Though there were groups of people all around him, he felt no desire to join any of them. Instead, he took out the Marauder's Map and began looking at it. He wondered whether anyone had gotten up yet and his eyes quickly found Gryffindor Tower. Curiously, he noticed that Remus wasn't in the dormitory, something that he and James must not have noticed in their haste to get outside. Sirius searched the map until he saw the tiny dot labeled "Remus Lupin." It was moving alongside another labeled "JennaMills." Sirius was watching them when they suddenly disappeared off the map. He blinked in confusion.
He was still pondering what had happened when James and Lily came up to him, arms around each other.
"Time to go, Padfoot. Potions," James said. As everyone got dressed again, Sirius took him aside.
"I was just looking at the map and I saw Remus and Jenna just disappear," he said.
"What do you mean?" James asked, rubbing a towel on his head to dry his hair.
"They were walking together on the seventh floor and then their names just vanished."
"Seventh floor? What were they even doing, I thought they were both asleep?" James said as he remembered that he could dry his hair with magic.
"I thought so too. Guess not though." Their conversation was interrupted by Lily and Ylan rejoining them.
"Ready to go?" Ylan asked.
"Yep." James laced his fingers through Lily's as they walked. There were a few straggling sixth years in the common room when they entered to get their bags but Remus and Jenna were still absent.
"Any idea where she went?" Lily was asking Ylan as the boys came back downstairs with Peter, having woken him up. Ylan shook her head and shrugged.
"She'll turn up. Oh, there you guys are. Come on, we're going to be late."
The group trudged out of the portrait. Lily, Ylan, and Peter were walking ahead while James and Sirius fell behind to discuss the mysterious disappearance from the Marauder's Map.
"I still don't get it. Is there something we missed on the map?" James was saying.
"Probably. We should check out the seventh floor before dinner and see," Sirius replied.
"We can't make any changes to the Map though. We'd have to start all over."
"True. But at least we'd know what's there."
They entered the dungeon classroom grimly. Remus and Jenna entered right behind them, not addressing the fact that they had just been missing. Lily beckoned Jenna to her and Ylan's table while the Marauders sat down at theirs.
Professor Slughorn came out of the office that was connected to the classroom.
"Good afternoon, class!" he said cheerfully. "Before we start, I'd like your essays please." With a wave of his wand, everyone's essays floated out of their bags and onto his desk. "Now, today we will be brewing a Calming Draught. The instructions are all in your book. Begin!" There were sounds of shuffling and pages turning as students pulled out their books and began flipping through them, looking for the correct page.
Halfway through the class, as James was cutting up roots, he had a sudden revelation.
"The Room of Requirement!" he whispered excitedly at Sirius, his knife narrowly missing his finger. Remus, who was sitting on his right, was concentrated on turning his potion back to the yellow color it should have been, rather than the putrid green color it had become and so paid no attention to James.
"What?" Sirius barked, exasperatedly pouring his own roots into the bubbling cauldron. James looked around to make sure no one was listening, but he shouldn't have been worried. He could see Lily's brow furrowing slightly as she glanced at her potion. Several rows behind her, Snape seemed to be writing in his book. He then straightened up and stirred the potion counterclockwise, although the directions clearly stated clockwise.
"Idiot," James muttered and turned back to Sirius. "The Room of Requirement. It's on the seventh floor, isn't it? And it's unplottable so it wouldn't show up on the map, remember? I wonder what they're doing in there…" As he spoke, he absentmindedly picked up his chopped roots and threw them in the cauldron. It turned a heinous grayish yellow color and started bubbling furiously. It let off an odor that reminded James slightly of dung. He could see Snape sniggering in the back.
"God, Prongs, how many of those roots did you put in? It said two not ten," Sirius said. He picked up one of his newt's eyes and dropped it in James' cauldron. It stopped bubbling immediately and smelled slightly better. The mixture inside lost a little of the gray and looked more yellow.
"Thanks, Padfoot," James said. Time was almost up and he quickly looked over the next set of instructions. Stir clockwise 5 and ½ times and add a salamander skin. James did as it said, cringing as he added the skin. He was about to go on when Slughorn announced that time was up.
James looked around the room. Next to him, Sirius' potion was forest green, exactly as it was described to look near the end. On his other side Remus had managed to turn his yellow but had no further progress. Next to him, Peter's was a pale green color. Snape, James noticed, wasn't paying attention to Slughorn. He scribbled something out in his book, turned to his cauldron and added something in. Apparently it had the desired affect because his mouth curved into a small smile and he turned back to his book.
Slughorn was walking around the room, hands on his enormous belly.
"Very nice, Mr. Black, very good indeed. Mr. Potter…ah, well, better luck next time. Mr. Lupin, good job; good job, Mr. Pettigrew." He then moved towards Ylan and glanced into her cauldron. He gave her a nod. He did the same with Jenna and finally had come to Lily. He face lit up. "Ah, Ms. Evans, another marvelous concoction! Very good, very good, you could make a living out of this! It's not finished but it is on the right track. Five points to Gryffindor." He beamed as he moved on to Snape. "And what have we here, Mr. Snape?" He peered into the cauldron. "Why, you have a completed Calming Draught here! But, curiously, I see you have not touched your roots." Snape did not say anything. "No matter, you got the job done it seems. Ten points to Slytherin!"
Slughorn moved through the remaining students and then back to the front of the room.
"Very well done today, class," he said. "Your assignment is to study up on how to identify different poisons. It would not hurt to be well prepared for our next class." With a wink, he retreated into his office, just as the bell rang.
The students filed out.
"Finally, Transfiguration," James said happily. At least he knew he wouldn't make a fool of himself in this class.
"So Prongsy," Sirius said, walking slightly ahead of the group with James. "Room of Requirement, you say?"
"Yeah, but I don't know –"
"Hey, Jenna," Ylan said behind them. "Where were you earlier today? During the free period."
"Oh," she said, "I was just in the library finishing my Transfiguration essay."
"You know," James said, falling into step with her. "Sirius and I are quite skilled in that area. We could have helped you. Wouldn't have had to take you the entire period that way."
"Oh, well thanks but I work better on my own really."
James glanced at Sirius. They didn't like secrets being kept from them. And they were going to get to the bottom of this one.