Disclaimer: Honestly…if you think I'm JKRowling then I suggest paying a visit to the nice people in white suits.
Hello everybody! I wish you all a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I hope you had pleasant holydays. However some hadn't. One of my best friends has had an accident with a car and her uncle lost a leg and she had a few nasty bruises and a broken back…thing so she had to stay in the hospital for two weeks. She was released yesterday and I wish her a quick recovery (although chances are she won't even read this but what the heck). This chapter is dedicated for her and also those whose Christmas hadn't been forgiving to them.
Btw: did you see the new title? Wooohooo! I can't wait for the book to come. Then again, JK should take her time with it since I don't want the series to end.
Chapter sixteen: A meeting
"What's with them?" James asked curiously looking at a yelling match between a furious fifth year and a frightened sixth year.
"He's studying for OWLs I think." Lily answered.
James looked like a brick smacked him in the head "Already?"
"Yes, James, some of us like to be prepared for the exams and not just pick up a book on the last day and take a glimpse on the notes."
"We're first years!" James said gob smacked "What do you want me to do? Practice levitation charms?" he said as if it were a very silly idea.
"Well, yes. What if you levitate the wrong thing? Or what if the angle is wrong?" Lily countered back.
"Remus, help will you?" James pleaded.
Remus, who was silently watching the fight, turned is head and looking confused "What?"
"Tell her first year exams aren't important and that any idiot would pass them."
"Oh," Remus said understanding "Lily, James just has this gift of magic. He just does them without learning. It's just the way he is."
"But it isn't fair." Lily sighed "I spend nights trying to learn for the exams while he sleeps peacefully."
"Relax Lily, if it makes you better; know that I have a little trouble with the Alohamora spell."
"That's second year curriculum!" Lily said exasperated.
"Well, yeah, but I do have trouble." James defended.
"At least Remus understands me!" Lily smiled at him "want to study tonight? At say… ten o'clock? I don't think there will be many students in the common room at that time."
"Tonight?" Remus asked "At ten?"
James chucked seeing his face. He didn't agree with the idea of loosing Remus but his face at that moment was priceless.
"Yeah." Lily confirmed "Why? Do you have anything planed?"
"Well, tonight, I have er…something else to do."
"Like what?" James playfully asked.
"Don't you remember James?" Remus looked dangerously at James. "I have to help you with that problem."
Uh oh
"What problem?" Lily asked
If James knew Remus, he would probably say something very bad "I…um…need him to fight…with me." James cut in.
"Why?" Lily asked.
"I need to train…I've lost my hand in dueling." James nodded trying to convince himself
Excitement appeared on Lily's eyes "Oh. Can I watch?"
"No, it's very rough. Nothing to see." Remus helped.
"Alright then." Lily said closing the subject.
Unknown to Lily, the two boys did plan to fight, just not each other. That night the truth about McGonagall would be found out for the better or worse. After the events the day before, Sirius and Peter became invisible. They hadn't shown up at dinner and last night nobody in the common room had seen them. James and Remus went to sleep later than two after James had perfected the Bat-Bogey hex. When they woke up, Sirius's and Peter's beds were still empty. However they had shown up at the classes missing only the lunch break. James hoped they hadn't chickened out but if they had, he would still go through with his plan.
"James?" Lily's gentle calling interrupted his thoughts. He turned his head towards her and met her eyes. He could see Remus scowling behind him fighting an urge to hit him. With a smile he looked at Lily again. For the first time he noticed the weird color of her eyes. They weren't just green. They looked like two valuable emeralds. There was so much depth in them that James lost himself for a second.
A frown appeared on James's face. What was he thinking? Since when did he look into Lily's eyes? An image of a small and crippled old man hiding in a corner and a redheaded woman yelling at him came into his mind. Those thoughts weren't good at all.
James shook his head trying to clear his mind of everything. For what he knew he was still very much liking Corinne although he knew his chances were going down fast.
"James what's wrong?" Lily asked cupping her cheeks. For a second, James thought he saw a blush. Grinning awkwardly, he ruffled his hair and winked at her "Nothing's wrong."
Behind Lily, a small snort was heard but neither paid any attention to it.
"Well then," Lily crosses her arms, the blush no longer visible "Can you answer my question?"
"Right. Er…I agree!" James said immediately thinking this was the right answer.
Lily smiled at him "Yeah, I also think Filch bought his way into Hogwarts but I don't think Dumbledore accepted bribery. Hm…I'll get back to you on that." She said rising up "I have to go to the bathroom. See you later." She waved.
"Yeah." James said frowning. "What happened?" was the question plaguing his thoughts.
"How'd you do that?" Remus asked when Lily had gone. "More important, why did you do that?"
"What are you talking about?" James asked feeling heat rise to his face "I just guessed." He answered Remus's first question.
"Course you did." Remus shook his head "Did you talk to them?"
James felt grateful for the change of subject "No, I don't reckon anybody else has either. He didn't even prank Snape today or anybody else."
"Maybe they went to prevent the Slytherins of us and now they're ashamed."
"Ashamed?" James chuckled "Them? If anything Black would make it a victory on himself and parade it with Pettigrew on his tail."
"Well then, I suppose we'll see them in about two hours. Where was it?"
"Second floor by the girl's bathroom." James absently said looking at the girl's staircase.
"If they don't come are we going to eat your mother's gloves?" Remus seriously asked.
"I guess so." James nodded.
"I do hope Black comes with an army of hippogriffs so we could fight of all the dragons." Remus continued.
"Yeah." James said still looking at the staircase.
"Great, then I'm off to kill Dumbledore then." Remus said rising from the couch to stretch his legs. "Wish me luck."
"Good luck." James waved unbothered. "Wait, what?" he turned at a laughing Remus. "I was saying to go up in our dorm and practice a little bit."
For some reason James doubted Remus had said that but he wasn't going to bring it up. With a last look at the girl's staircase, he followed Remus up their dorm.
"Expelliarmus." Bellowed James sending the spell towards Remus.
Remus however ducked it "PetrificusTotalus!" he countered.
They had fought like that for an hour. Lily had once come up to check on them but after nearly being levitated, she stayed put in the common room.
"Rictusempra!" James said.
The spell hit Remus right on the stomach throwing him backwards. Remus fell on Pettigrew's chest, spreading his stuff everywhere.
"Ouch, James," Remus said laughing "I'm not a death eater you know." He laughed again "Help me up." He laughed "And end this curse" he managed to say before erupting again into laughs.
Smiling, James waved his wand muttering "Finite Incantatem" stopping Remus's hysterics. He held out a hand which Remus took and helped him up. Remus playfully punched James.
"Isn't that cute Pete?" a voice said from the doorway.
The duo turned to face Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. Both boys had nasty smirks on their faces causing James to growl.
"It's called friendship Black, look into it." James threw.
Sirius sighed "Don't tell me what to do Potter" he said taking out his wand to prove his point.
"Are you going to hex us then?" James grinned also preparing his wand.
Sirius shrugged "If you insist…" he didn't complete the sentence. However, he muttered something and a yellow light erupted from his wand. The spell hit James, who began to cluck like a chicken.
Annoyed, James also sent, clucking, a red spell towards Peter since he knew he wouldn't be able to hit Sirius. Peter didn't have any reaction at first but when he tried to intimidate James by coming towards him, he tripped falling on his face.
"That's your best?" Sirius grinned. "Pity! You aren't going to be much help then." He said then uninterestingly ended his own spell.
"So you are going then?" James said relieved that he could talk again.
"Course. I don't want to miss a chance to fight. My reflexes are a bit slow."
"Shouldn't we be going then?" Remus urged.
"Where have you been all day?" James asked ignoring Remus.
A small smile appeared on Sirius's face as he looked at James. He ran his hand through his hair in a similar way James did. "Listen to your friend. We're going to be late!"
James sneered. Some habits die hard and even though Sirius was a changed man, Black blood still ran through him.
"This isn't over you know." James warned.
"Course it isn't!" Sirius shrugged and went downstairs.
"Come on James." Remus sighed following their steps.
Grunting, James left as well.
The common room was fairly empty. A few seventh years were still busy studying and didn't even notice the foursome. There weren't any Prefects so they would go unnoticed. Sitting peacefully on a couch next to the fireplace was Lily frowning over some paper she probably had to give tomorrow. James realized he hadn't had time to do his own homework yet and the thought of coming back into the common room to do it was for the first time relieving. Lily hadn't noticed them so they sneaked quietly out.
"And where do you think you're going?" The fat lady in the portrait asked.
"We're hungry so we thought we should go to the kitchen. Is there a problem?" Sirius said giving her a charming smile.
"Hmph, if I hear that you've been up to mischief I'll personally report to Dumbledore." The fat woman warned.
"Us?" Sirius asked innocently.
"Go on then, honestly!" the lady huffed crossing her arms.
"It only takes a bit of charm!" Sirius showed off when the portrait was way behind them.
Even James noticed the hint of sarcasm in Sirius's tone and couldn't help but laugh.
When they got to the second floor they sighed in relief. No Slytherin was there and they didn't bump into any professor or ghost. The second floor seemed lonely enough; the only thing weird in it was the big pool of water coming from the girl's bathroom. The boys sniggered seeing this and started looking for a place to hide.
"Come on Pettigrew you really think you alone will fit into that wardrobe?" James protested when Peter showed them a tiny wardrobe stationed in the corner of the corridor.
"If you're the master of hideouts in this castle then please enlighten us!" Sirius growled as yet, another portrait failed to move and open a passage.
"It seems simple enough!" James said showing a lot of confidence and ruffled his hair.
"Could you stop doing that stupid thing Potter? I know you like to pet yourself but do that when you're in your room. Alone!" Sirius snapped.
Desolated, James put his hand down but put a huge grin instead. "Why don't we hide in the girl's bathroom? It seems wide enough. And if McGonagall decides to powder her nose we'll hide in the stalls."
All three gaped at the easiness of the solution. Never one to quit, Sirius protested. "And what if the meeting is there? What if they check the bathroom before beginning?"
"Then we make our entrance known earlier. Besides, I don't think any Slytherin would want to go there. It's beneath them." James stuck his nose in the air as sniffed in the direction of the bathroom to mimic them.
"Watch it Potter, I may be a Gryffindor but I'm still a Slytherin by blood." Sirius growled.
"Too true." James whispered then in a louder tone "I'll go hide there. Everybody is welcome to join me." He waved and walked off.
Remus was the first to follow then Peter left as well. Alone, Sirius stuck his nose in the air in a similar manner James had done earlier and sniffed. "I can't believe this." He growled as he entered the bathroom and closed the door behind him.
"Nice of you to join us." James tone dripped with sarcasm. He was sitting on top of a sink, Remus was leaning on a wall behind him and Peter just looked out of place.
The place stank foully so Sirius couldn't help but comment "I'll never look at girls in the same way ever."
"Relax Black, someone left a dungbomb here and it seems recent." James scrunched his nose.
"Then maybe you should get out of here." A girly voice said.
Sirius whirled around, fear gripping him "Who's there?"
The ghost of a young girl, not very old, floated towards them betting her eyelashes. Her hair was deep black and together with a pair of thick glasses on her nose and her many freckles, she didn't look very pleasant "You don't know me do you?" she whined as transparent tears started flowing down.
"Myrtle?" Peter asked and quickly a deep shade of red covered his face.
"Oh, Pete" James mocked "you should have said you barged in on your girl's territory."
"She's not my girl!" Pettigrew snapped and looked at the confused gaze of the ghost. "She's my aunt."
"Perfect." Remus drawled. "A family reunion."
"You died thirty years ago" Peter whispered looking with awe at the ghost "when the chamber…"
"I hate to break this to you Peter but we have company." Sirius suddenly interrupted. By mutual agreement, Sirius was by the door listening to something unordinary. "Lucius just arrived followed by his gang. I couldn't recognize all the voices but the usual Lestranges, Malfoy and Mulciber are here."
"What do we do now?" Remus asked the question in everybody's mind.
"What's going on?" Myrtle asked.
"No time now." Peter shushed her "Can you please be quiet?"
With a frown, Myrtle wailed in a low voice and plunged herself in the toilet splashing the four boys.
"Hide!" James ordered as the four boys hid in the stalls. James closed his door as the bathroom door was opened and Rebastan Lestrange's head appeared.
"Come out!" he roared as he pointed his wand around himself.
Dread sneaked into James as Lestrange's footsteps were coming closer.
"Shh" a voice whispered behind him. James turned to face Myrtle. Not a pretty sight, mind you, but at the moment James could kiss her. She winked at him and passed through him. The feeling of a bucket of water thrown at him was nothing compared to the relief he felt. "What are you doing in my bathroom?" she asked in a sing song voice the Slytherins.
"And you must be Myrtle." Lucius Malfoy asked in his elegant stile.
With a start, James realized that the whole group was meeting there.
Meanwhile, crowded in one stall, Sirius and Peter were shoving each other. They made the terrible mistake of hiding near the dungbomb. The smell was unbearable but they had no other choice.
"Yes, but I'm not surprised you don't know me, everyone is making fun of poor Myrtle." She whined.
"Your auntie has serious issues you know that?" Sirius murmured.
"Leave her alone, she's had a tough life." Peter defended.
Sirius snorted "I bet"
In anybody would have said to him before he went to Hogwarts that in less then one year he would be hiding in a girl's bathroom waiting for a sign to attack a group of seventh years helped by two people that would love to kill him if they knew the truth, Remus would have died of laughter. However at the moment, he wasn't in the mood for laughing. He sincerely didn't know how he ended with the strange bunch of people. James was a boy of action, a boy with heavy secrets and a perilous future. He didn't like it, but he was prepared to face it in a manner Remus would never be able to do. Sirius was a Black. Not much to be added. Though with the begging of a change of heart and a hint of rebellion in him, the boy was a nutcase and needed to be treated accordingly. His Black blood would always flow in him however much he would change. Peter was a follower. Black's pet. The boys were inseparable and though recently they were beginning to have quarrels, Black and Pettigrew shared the same pitch black future.
"Scram girl, we have business to attend to." Mulciber sneered.
Remus only hoped he would be left out of it.
"A little more, a little more…" James silently pleaded.
He was looking through the keyhole at the argument. He saw robed Slytherins making way towards Myrtle in an intimidating way. James didn't know if spells against ghosts existed but then again, he wasn't specialized in Dark Arts. He hoped that the closest would make a few more steps so he could send the signal. He had to do it right however since a bad move would expose him.
At last, the shape made one more step and with a muttered "Diffindo!" the signal was sent.
Sirius and Peter were holding their noses when a scream of rage was heard and next thing they knew, a body was slammed at their door. Surprisingly prepared, Sirius held his hand on Peter's hand to keep him from saying anything.
"Those were my best robes!" Rodulphus Lestrange roared.
"Then why are you attacking me?" a jumpy voice asked.
"Because you were behind me!" he snapped.
A light bulb lighted in Sirius's head and he stuck his want in the keyhole and motioned for Peter to do the same. They both mutually agreed on the same spell and sent it in different directions.
"Rabastan be helpful for once and stop your brother from making a fool of himself once again." Lucius drawled.
"Stay out of this Malfoy!" Rodulphus retorted "I don't want your slimy nose messing my business."
"Rodulphus, I do believe you are talking to one of the Malfoy heirs. Shut your mouth or I'll shut it for you. Besides, you aren't doing anything useful with it." He added with the casual sneer.
Remus couldn't believe it. They didn't need to fight them. They were already fighting each other. With a bit of luck, they would murder themselves and the whole matter would be closed. He would go back to sleep and continue his studies peacefully as his mother had pleaded with him at the beginning of the year.
"Phasmeracio!" A grumpy voice muttered and Myrtle finished her role with a hurting wail.
"He's here!" James acknowledged.
He knew it. He knew it by heart. Since he first heard it, he replayed the tone, the words, the feeling within them in his mind trying to figure out whose was it.
"Why are you fighting?" the grumpy voice asked.
"Forgive me," Lucius said "but Lestrange is no good to us! I suggest we eliminate him. His brother too!"
"This is not what we came here for, my master's plan must be complete and he has chosen you to fulfill it."
"Then Lucius must be out of it, I suspect he's one of Dumbledore's men." Rodulphus said.
"I will have no more interruptions!" the voice roared "Crucio!" he casted and two howls of pain were heard.
James's heart was beating faster by the second. He could send a stunner through the keyhole at the death eater now and then Black and Pettigrew could take care of the rest. Something however stopped him. He was interested in hearing about that plan.
"The Dark Lord wants information about how the kid is doing."
An unknown voice responded "Nothing unusual. The plan is going successfully. He's made contact to the subject and he's slowly earning trust. We assume that it will be done in two years." He finished gently.
"TWO YEARS?" the man boomed "WHY DOES IT TAKE SO LONG?"
"Forgive him," a girl's voice pleaded "but the target is too closed in so it will take a while!"
"Fine!" the man spat "if however the plan fails, your heads will roll!" he finished and steps started going away.
"Now, James!" James whispered to himself "Do it now!" with Gryffindor courage, James pushed the bathroom door and sent the first spell he could think of "Diffindo!"
The spell hit the man's leg but the man instead of turning towards James he ordered "Take care of him." and left.
At the precise moment the man left the bathroom, another door opened and Sirius and Peter jumped out and sent two stunners of which one was deflected and the other hit the target.
James quickly did a count and found five Slytherins left. Rodulphus was lying unconscious on the floor hit by Sirius's stunner. Lucius was looking shocked at him from the floor as he seemed to be recovering from the curse. The rest of them had their wands drawn but were looking frightened at the three boys.
James took a glance at where he knew Remus was still hiding. He didn't expect Remus to fight in the first place but he couldn't help but feel a tinge of disappointment. Sirius and Peter were back to back ready to strike back and himself… he just relied on his instincts.
"Stupefy!" Rabastan was the first to recover and furiously sent it towards Sirius. Sirius quickly ducked along with Peter and the spell hit the unknown Slytherin male.
"Two down, four to go!" Sirius counted as he as silently as possible sent a leg-locker jinx at Rabastan.
"Rictusempra!" James casted on the female Slytherin. She fell on the floor laughing pleading for the curse to stop.
"Incarcerous!" Lucius lazily sent it at Sirius hitting him on the back. Ropes binded him and he fell on the floor.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Peter sent at the girl finishing her off.
"Well, well," Mulciber grinned showing yellow teeth and gripped Peter by the neck. "It seems you have lost your main fighter haven't you?" he nodded towards the struggling Sirius.
"I can't say I'm surprised!" Lucius added with a smirk "this one," he looked towards James "was rotten from the beginning but these two had serious potential. What a…pity, to lose them!"
"Petrificus Totalus!" James tried but Lucius stopped it yawning dramatically.
"Your parents were so much better than you Potter; my parents had serious trouble before they went out on retirement." Lucius said.
Peter kicked Mulciber between the legs, making him release his hold and Peter came tumbling down. He quickly tried to recover and stunned Mulciber.
"Stupefy!" Lucius lazily muttered and Peter remained still. "Pathetic!" he turned towards James "Only one left I see, oh, we're going to have fun with you!" Lucius smirked.
What he meant to say, James didn't find out because in the next second Rabastan shrieked as two bats were coming out of his nostrils. He jumped around but unknown to him, Sirius had a leg-locker jinx on him so he crashed at the floor. James took advantage of the moment and sent a successful stunner at Lucius. Remus came out grinning from the stall and finished Rabastan with his own stunner.
"Perfect timing mate!" James grinned.
"Sorry about that," Remus apologized "I thought the element of surprise would go well at the finish."
"Apology accepted!" James agreed and both of them turned towards Sirius who was looking mockingly at them and the unconscious Peter.
"Diffindo!" James said and the ropes split open.
"What do we do with Pettigrew?" Remus asked looking at all the bodies.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" James levitated Peter.
"Good thinking Potter!" Black said casting worried looks on Rodulphus "I think our stunners are wearing out. We might be in a little bit of trouble tomorrow but what's done is done. Did you see him?"
James shook his head "His back was turned to me. Now I know for sure that I know him. He was afraid to face me! Let's go!" he urged and the three kids left the bathroom.
The thoughts in James's mind were in no order or logic. The words said that night kept repeating themselves over and over. "The plan is going successfully. He's made contact to the subject and he's slowly earning trust." Whose trust were they talking about? Was it him they were after? Did the assault begin already? If he listened to them, it began a long time ago. James realized more then ever now that he didn't have, or couldn't have any friend. He looked at Remus who was walking peacefully a few steps behind the group. His stunt in the bathroom, while showing tactic, showed also fear of attacking Slytherins face to face. Remus's secret became more interesting to James now more than ever.
Sirius was also having similar thoughts. He knew his family had doubts about him, for good reasons too but sending a spy? A possible friend of his? He couldn't imagine Peter doing it but then again, Peter never had courage that seemed to flow in Sirius. Potter was out of the question but Remus was also interesting. What connection could there be to the reserved and quiet Lupin and the Death Eaters?
Remus saw first how James's head turned to glance at him then how Sirius openly glared at him. He was a coward and he knew it. They knew he had been afraid to face them, but they didn't know his life! If he was caught doing anything good or bad, the attention he would receive would do much damage. He couldn't believe James would be a spy for the Death Eaters. He knew him too well. Sirius on the other hand was sneaky and dark. He already showed interest in his secrets. Maybe he already knew and was trying to recruit Remus to the bad guys? Well, good luck with that, he thought, nobody could ever make him use his curse for evil. What if he was trying to ally himself with James to make a way to show he was finding himself out then blackmail him. Remus made a mental shudder and promised himself to keep quiet.
They hurried to the common room so they didn't speak to each other on the way. All of them were nervous and excited. They narrowly passed Flitwick and said the password to the Fat Lady. Grumpily, she let them in and they exhaled relieved.
"Why am I floating?" Peter squeaked as he recovered.
"Now he wakes up!" Sirius rolled his eyes as James ended his levitation making Peter to fall abruptly on the floor.
"You think this is over?" Remus asked hopefully.
"No," James shook his head "I fear it's just the beginning."
"Right! I'm sleepy and I can't think right now, we'll talk in the morning!" Sirius offered.
"Sounds good to me!" Peter agreed.
"Let's go then," Remus accepted and turned to James who had a lost look on his face "James?"
"You go ahead," James said at the three boys "I forgot something here!"
The boys nodded and went upstairs. When they disappeared out of sight, James turned around and picked a blanket from a couch. He then went to the sofa near the fireplace and put the blanked over the sleeping form of Lily. He had seen her when he came in the common room but he couldn't make a fool out of himself to the other three. If he woke her up, she'd ask questions and he wasn't in the mood for that. He realized he still hadn't done those papers but they could wait. He was too tired at the moment.
With a last look at Lily and a murmured "Good night!" to her, he went upstairs.