'What's wrong little girl? Miss your mommy and daddy?'
Cruel laughter erupted from the circle of Death Eaters.
'Let me tell you a story. There once was once a Mudblood witch and a Mudblood loving wizard, they got married, had a child, and lived happily until I killed them. The End.'
The malicious laughter grew louder and louder, roaring in her ears. The scarlet eyes seemed to burn into her head, until finally it felt as if it would split open.
"NOO!"
Jamie sat up in her bed, beads of sweat dripping down her forehead. She was breathing heavily.
Jamie looked around her dormitory, shivering. Each bed was empty, and it took her a second to remember why.
It was a Hogsmeade weekend, and every student was sure to be down in the wizarding village for Valentine's Day weekend.
She shakily got out of bed and rubbed her scar, pulling on a pair of jeans and her quidditch hoodie. She now had the number 7 written on her back and the name 'Potter' printed above it. After splashing cold water on her face and applying just a little bit of make up, she looked herself over in the mirror. She looked pale and sickly, but tried to pinch her cheeks in order to get some color in them.
She frowned and left the dormitory, leaping down the stairs two at a time. Jamie ran across the deserted common room to the boys' dormitory, and burst into the fifth year's dorm. Also empty.
Her eyebrows furrowed. 'Where's Sirius?'
And then she realized that Sirius must have left to go visit Moony without her. He must already be down in the hospital wing.
Not wasting another minute, she left the common room and took off down the corridor. By the time she arrived in front of the hospital wing door, she was gasping for air and clutched a stitch in her side. She took a moment to compose herself, then quietly pushed open the door and made her way to the last bed on the left, where she found Remus laying in bed and Sirius sitting on the edge of it.
They were both laughing when they saw Jamie approach.
"What's up? I was gonna wake you, but you still looked so tired," was Sirius' greeting.
"Yeah, it's fine. How are you feeling Rem?" She crossed her arms and sat down next to Sirius.
"Eh. Fine, better than usual. Just tired. How far did we go last night?" Remus sat up further, wincing slightly at his sore muscles.
"Dunno…pretty far though. I remember you checked the map and we had gone farther than the edge," Sirius said, turning to Jamie.
"Are you all right?" he added after seeing her pale face.
She forced a smile.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Like you said, just tired from last night, that's all. Promise," she laughed a little.
"Liar," Sirius said in return, but didn't push the subject.
Remus glanced at her anxiously, but Jamie just rolled her eyes and repeated that she was okay, and that she had only slept poorly.
"Well, here, Remus and I were just reading this."
Sirius handed her a letter he had received only this morning.
Jamie's breath caught in her throat as she reached out to take the letter. Finally.
Dear Sirius,
I'm sorry for taking so long to write you back, things have been rather hectic out here. I'm so glad you're safe at Hogwarts, there's no place I'd rather see you except home with your dad and me. I hope you're feeling well and haven't gotten into anymore trouble at school.
Strange that you should mention the Lupins, because I just happened to run into Mrs. Lupin while in Diagon Alley last week.
Sirius made an indignant noise. "Pssh, sure, she just 'happened to run into'. Haha, what a sense of humor my mom has."
"Wonder what they talked about?" Remus pondered, thinking of what a contrast his mother must be to Sirius'.
"Will you shut up and let me read?" Jamie asked, yet smiling at the thought of Sirius' and Remus' mothers meeting.
We had lots to talk about since we had last seen each other. That woman hasn't changed a bit. And you can tell Remus that she is doing well, despite her worries about her son and the war that is bound to break out soon.
Anyway, she brought me a photograph of her husband's days in Hogwarts. It made me laugh, and so I thought I should include it and send it to you. You should show Remus, it's sure to entertain him as well. Say hello to Jamie for me and give her a hug for me, the poor girl.
Sorry I can't write more, but I'm sure you have a lot on your mind and even more to do. Don't get caught breaking any more rules.
Love,
Mum
Sirius immediately handed Jamie the photograph Mrs. Black had included in the letter.
She gasped.
Sirius', Remus', Jamie's father and one other mousy blonde haired boy were sitting in front of the same tree down by the lake that they had taken a picture under just last year.
The blonde boy laughed as James jumped on top of Sirius and wrestled him to the ground, Remus shaking his head but smiling nonetheless.
"Wow," was the only word Jamie could find, and then, "You two look exactly like your fathers."
"You look like your dad somewhat, if you wore glasses, probably even more so," Remus added.
"Who's the other boy in the picture?" Sirius asked.
"I don't know. He's the same one in the pictures at my mum and dad's wedding though," Jamie said.
"Yeah, so we figure he must be Wormtail, right?" Sirius said, shifting on the bed in order to get a better look at the picture.
"Mmm," Jamie agreed.
"Anyway, Remus, you think you're feeling up for a little adventure tonight?" Sirius asked, a devilish grin on his face.
Remus smiled. "Most definitely."
"Great, I figure it shouldn't be too diff -- "
Jamie quickly cut herself off as Madam Pomfrey bustled into the room and ordered Jamie and Sirius out, saying that Remus needed his rest.
The two friends bade Remus good bye, and hurried out of the hospital wing, off to discuss what it is they could possibly discover that night.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPH
"I think I've got fleas," Sirius whispered, vigorously scratching behind his ear.
"Don't look at me," Remus whispered back as he huddled closer to Jamie when he noticed his foot showed underneath the invisibility cloak.
"Stop moving around, I can't see," Jamie said.
The three stood still as Jamie adjusted the light of her wand over the Marauder's Map. She noted that Snape was in his office, Dumbledore was pacing his study, and Peeves was about three floors above them.
"We're good, let's go."
The trio continued down the dark corridors, making sure to make as little noise as possible. Jamie was just thinking that Sirius' and Remus' recent growth spurts would cause problems with the cloak's ability to cover all of them when they reached the library.
Once inside, they pulled off Jamie's cloak and peered around the black rows of shelves.
"Lumos," three voices ignited each of their own wands.
The shelves and stacks of books were cast into stark relief, their shadows stretching far across the hardwood floors. Dust filtered towards the ground in the wand light.
"All right…I suppose we start in the Restricted Section. I don't think students' private school records would be public," Remus said logically.
"Right…let's go then."
The three crossed the threshold of the restricted section and split up into different directions, pacing up and down the shelves.
"This is impossible," Sirius said after fifteen minutes of running his hands over dusty covers.
"I know, but we have to keep on looking," Jamie said from three rows of shelves ahead of him.
"Guys. It looks like a reference section," Remus called from the far end of the library.
Sirius and Jamie hurried down the narrow aisle towards Remus' voice and discovered him huddled near the bottom of a shelf, his hair covered in a light layer of dust.
He held up a black leather bound book with the Hogwarts crest engraved on the cover, and the year 1620 printed above it in gold lettering. It was eerily similar to the copy of the book that Jamie had seen on Snape's desk.
"Holy shit Remus, you're amazing," Jamie squealed.
"Why thank you, m'dear," he said, smiling.
Jamie dropped to her knees and began running her finger across the spines of books, rubbing away years of grime to reveal their titles. The books were all in chronological order, and Jamie half crawled, half ran down the row of shelves until she reached the 1970's.
Slightly out of breath and Remus and Sirius huddled over her shoulder, Jamie pulled out the copy of 1975.
"Looks like Snape hasn't returned his yet," Remus pointed out as he noted the empty space for the copy of 1978.
Jamie flipped the huge book open excitedly and began looking through the pages, filled with miniscule script.
"God, I can barely read this."
There was a listing of teachers, students and which houses they belonged in, divided by year, the detentions they received, the grades they earned, graduation dates, and even pictures of each student.
"Amazing," Remus breathed.
Jamie quickly flipped to the Gryffindor fifth year's of 1975 and found Black, listed first alphabetically.
"Ha, wow. Again, you look so much alike…," Jamie commented as the picture of Sirius Black the first grinned handsomely up at them.
"Daaaaamn, look at this: 'Detentions served to date, 187,'" Sirius read aloud.
Jamie laughed and continued scanning the names down the list.
"Look at this hottie," Sirius pointed out a picture of a pretty girl with red hair and striking green eyes.
" 'Evans, Lily, Head Girl, Detentions served to date, 1, Top Student of Year with Remus Lupin'," Remus read.
Jamie gazed at the identical pair of eyes staring back at her, laughing as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.
"Wonder what she served that detention for?" Sirius grinned.
Jamie had to tear her gaze away from her dead mother, and continued down the list and skipped to Lupin.
" 'Lupin, Remus, 'Detentions served to date, 103,' Top Student of Year with Lily Evans'," Jamie read.
"Hmm…not as much of a trouble maker as his friends?" Sirius asked jokingly as the photograph of Remus Lupin the first gave them a small smile.
"Or maybe he was just smarter and knew how to not get caught," Remus said. Sirius smacked him on the back of the head.
" 'Potter, James, Detentions served to date, 188'," Jamie mused, "Hmm…one more than your dad, Sirius."
"Interesting…probably served it with Evans when they got caught snogging down some corridor at night."
"Shut up Black."
"Guys. Look – " Remus suddenly pointed out the picture right above James'.
It was the blonde haired boy in the photograph that Sirius' mother had sent.
There was a shocked silence as the three stared at the picture of the pudgy boy that looked at them with his watery blue eyes.
" 'Pettigrew, Peter'…"
No one said anything for a couple of seconds, then –
CRASH.
Someone had entered the library and knocked over a lamp.
Jamie slammed the book shut and clutched it to her chest as Sirius threw the invisibility cloak over all three of them.
They hugged the wall as they quietly moved past a cursing Filch and out of the library, Mrs. Norris' lamp like yellow eyes following their invisible silhouettes.
Once outside the library, they broke into a run, not caring if three pairs of feet showed underneath the cloak.
They reached the common room out of breath, and slammed the portrait shut behind them, much to the Fat Lady's disdain.
Jamie pulled off the invisibility cloak with a shaky hand and spoke into the dead silence.
"Peter Pettigrew. Peter Pettigrew is Wormtail."