It's been quite a different December this year since I'm working in China. Sadly, I'm going to celebrate Christmas alone this year. But it won't be long until I'm back home! Happy holidays and enjoy this chapter!
Words like icicles.
The last week had been rougher than usual for the Marauders. The dance was just a week away. Winter had arrived at Hogwarts as well. A small layer of snow had covered the grounds. All the windows were covered with ice ferns. On the sad side, their friend was in the hospital ward due to his condition.
Winter moons were tougher than the ones in the spring or summer. Reason one was the fact that winter nights were longer. The second reason was the temperature. Waking up outside in the cold with torn clothes was rather uncomfortable. 'Good thing we managed to drag him in last night. He would have hypothermia if not' recalled James as he scaled the stairs. The Marauders were thankful that the full moon had fallen on a Friday. This gave their friend two whole days to recover. The trio entered the hospital wing. A scent of clean linen mixed with tea tingled their noses. Only two beds appeared to be occupied in the ward. One of them had their friend in it while a seventh year Ravenclaw prefect laid in the other. The latter was asleep.
"Hey, how are you Remus?" inquired the male as he approached the bed with his friend. He felt a sting in his chest when he saw the state his friend was in. Remus had a bandage around his left ankle and left wrist. 'Must have happened when he fell on the ice last night' concluded the black-haired guy. He remembered that the other male had slipped on a large frozen puddle. It had been a quite nasty fall, so the sprains were not very surprising.
"Could have been better. But at least I only got some sprains. Madam Pomfrey says I'll be out tomorrow morning" replied the auburn-haired guy. His face did not have much colour in it. The spark in his green eyes was gone. Full moon nights usually drained a portion of his strength. Especially when those nights occurred in the winter months. "Oh…we brought something for you" muttered the Black. He pulled out a small bar of chocolate he had bought at Honeydukes. A small grin formed on the other guy's face. "Thanks" whispered the werewolf. He hid it inside the book next to him. "A-are you still going to the dance?" stuttered the smallest guy there. He felt a bit anxious since none of the girls he had asked had said yes. Especially since several of his classmates were already taken.
"I think I have to. I already signed up for it. Guess I just have to find someone who wants to dance with me. Maybe I should ask a girl who likes dogs" joked the male. His friends snorted in laughter. "That reminds me James. Were not you going to ask for some special eye drops?" inquired the male. "Yeah, I was. Thanks for reminding me" replied James. Madam Pomfrey had just gotten her hands on some special eye drops from Greece. Said eye drops gave you normal vision for 24 hours. The only downside was that you got dry, bloodshot eyes for the following 24 hours. A test run was highly recommended to make sure the dosage was right. Even though the formula was the same, the time it needed to work varied due to prescriptions. The guy had decided to give it a go since he wanted to look good at the ball. Not wearing glasses during duels would give him an advantage too.
"Here's your medicine Lupin. I'm afraid you have to take it on an empty stomach" told madam Pomfrey as she approached the bed. She handed him a small glass with some plum-coloured liquid. Remus accepted it with a dreadful facial expression. "Uhm…I have a question madam Pomfrey. Do you have any of those Greek eye drops? Those that can give people normal vision for 24 hours? I would like to do a test run if possible" inquired the guy. The woman bit her lower lip for a moment as she straightened up a little. "You are in luck Potter. I was preparing five doses earlier today. Only one dosage has been used. What kind of prescription do you have on your glasses?" asked the nurse. The inky-haired male told her what prescription he had. "All right then. Just let me get the drops" told the woman.
"Good thing you're almost alone here. At least we don't get yelled at for taking up space. I still remember the Slytherins moaning in the other beds" muttered the other black-haired guy. Last fall, the full moon had found place prior to a Quidditch match. Slytherin had faced Ravenclaw during that match. The sad thing was that a nasty rainstorm arrived just an hour after the game had started. A number of players from both teams had either crashed or felt down. The worst cases was the Ravenclaw chaser that had crashed into the Gryffindor tribune. The outcome of this collision had been a broken nose, a sprained knee plus a gash.
"It was a little weird that the Slytherins moaned so much. Didn't they win the match?" inquired the Pettigrew. "Yeah, but they apparently are winners in the moaning competitions too. At least according to Regulus" replied the taller male. The older woman then appeared with a pipette plus a small glass with ice blue liquid. "Here you go Potter. I want you to sit down over there. I will drop the solution into your eyes. You have to sit with your eyes closed for five minutes. I'm going rinse them with cold water afterwards to get rid of the residue. Any questions?" told madam Pomfrey. The guy shook his head. He followed the female over to a chair that was opposite to the other occupied bed. His friends remained seated near their fellow Marauder.
"Look at the ceiling now Potter. Keep your eyes open. This can sting if it hits your skin" warned the nurse. He removed his glasses and looked up at the ceiling. Two fingers on each hand held the eye lids apart just in case. 'Don't blink!' thought the Potter as the older woman positioned the pipette over his eyes. He could then see a drop of the liquid falling into his right eye. The solution almost felt like ice water. Eye number two went a little easier. "There we go. Close your eyes tightly. I'll be back in five minutes" ordered madam Pomfrey. "OK" said the male. He closed his eyes tightly. Everything went black, which meant he had to rely on his ears.
"Have you signed up for the event Moony?" inquired James. "Yes. I thought perhaps it would be nice to practice at my duel skills" told Remus. His voice sounded a bit livelier than earlier. "Have you found yourself a date? You better hurry, or you'll end up with missus Norris" laughed Sirius. "I haven't found a date yet. However, I think I'll ask some of the girls in our year or the sixth year once my wounds have healed up. Not sure if anyone wants to date me when I look like this. I look like I've been pulled through a hedge" stated the male. His voice was a bit more on the serious side.
The other guy felt a small sting in his heart. His friend was by no means ugly when he did not have scars in his face or at his arms. Sure, the werewolf did not possess the charms that the Black had. Nor was he as popular as some of the other students. Lupin did however have a heart that was made of solid gold. His sensibility just added to this. Maybe that's why he had been chosen as a prefect. "I'm sure you'll find a date. I know there are plenty of girls who would go with you" assured the male.
"You think so?" answered the auburn-haired guy. His voice on the neutral side this time. He knew what this voice meant. It was the voice he used when his voice was ready to analyze the reply. 'I better choose my words carefully. He's already in recovery from last night' remembered the inky-haired guy. Silence filled the room as he tried to think out a decent reply for the question. "I am positive. How many times have Padfoot been slapped in the face for acting cocky? Let alone all the attempts I've tried to ask out Lily" recalled the guy. He hoped his voice was at least semi-confident. There was no reply from his friend. This made the teenager quite nervous. "Uhm…did I say something wrong?" muttered James as he leaned towards Peter. "Not at all. Madam Pomfrey just got back with something that looks like medicine" whispered the male.
"All right Potter. Open up your eyes slowly" ordered the woman. He opened his eyes as slowly as he could without blinking. Both of his hazel eyes felt chilly when the air made contact with them. "Just keep your eyes open as I rinse out the solution. It will be uncomfortable, but it won't hurt" assured madam Pomfrey. He felt lukewarm water trickle down both of his eyes. 'The things I'm going through for not wearing glasses' contemplated the male as the liquid cleaned his eyes.
"There we go. You should be able to see clearly now" told the female after what felt like ages. His vision was unclear, so he blinked a couple of times. Everything in front of him became clear. The teen was able to see the label on the medicine bottle despite the small print. "This is…odd" muttered the Gryffindor as he looked around. It was the first time in a couple years that he could see so well. "You better enjoy it while it lasts Prongs" told his male friend. "I'm afraid you have to leave now. I have to give Lupin some medicine that may give him nausea" informed the nurse. "Oh, I almost forgot! I got some clothes for Moony. Here you are" said the Black as he handed the older woman a small bundle. "Get well Moony" whispered the guy as he stood up from his chair. His friend gave him a quick smile before they left him.
"How does it feel to not wear glasses?" inquired Peter as they headed for the Gryffindor tower. "It's not too bad actually. I could get used to this" laughed the male. He had only worn glasses for the last three years. During their fourth year summer break, his parents noticed that he was holding his comic books closer. They had taken him to an optician, who diagnosed him with myopia. James had not liked it at first since it was a bit of a bother. As he grew up, he got more used to it.
"Maybe you should ask out Lily for the dance. She can't say yes to you when you have your puppy eyes on show" suggested Sirius. The guy felt his heart skip a beat. He had forgotten about the dance. 'MERLIN! Lily may already be taken! I better ask her when we get back to the tower!' decided the stag animagus. He walked up the stairs with his friends while trying to formulate a proper way to ask her out. 'At least I know what WON'T work. Maybe I should do a bit of the opposite of that' pondered the male.
He had already asked her out in a number of ways. The Potter had asked her out front of her friends plus testing numerous pick-up lines. 'All right. Perhaps I should just keep it simple. Ask her in private or when there are few people around' decided the guy. That should hopefully make her a bit more comfortable. Hazel eyes looked around in the common room to see who was there. He let out a small sigh in disappointment when he only saw a couple of girls in their seventh year who were writing a rapport on something.
"Hey, do you know where Lily is?" inquired the teenager. "She said she was going to Hogsmeade to celebrate her friend's birthday. They're probably coming back after dinner though" told the one closest to him. The black-haired guy looked at the calendar over the fireplace. His eyes widened in slight shock. How could he have forgotten that this weekend was Hogsmeade weekend? "All right. Thanks" muttered the male before he went back up to the boy's dorm room.
'What should I do next? Crashing her friend's birthday party is a foolproof way of her turning me down. Lily should probably be back this evening due to our curfew. But that's at least five hours away. I need to fill up my time with something' thought the teen. He looked down at his calendar to see if there were any essays or school work. 'I can work on are my charm spells plus the defense against the dark arts essay. Both of them are due next Thursday. I'll start with the essay. That will take a bit longer than the charms' decided the guy. He picked up his books, and started on his essay.
"How was your birthday?" inquired the young woman. "It was SUPER! Now I'm off age in the muggle world as well!" exclaimed the brunette with a grin. Lily felt happy that her half-blood friend had enjoyed her day. They had started with some gift exchange in the common room. Next, the girls went to the Three Broomsticks to continue the celebration. "I can't wait for the dance next week though. I'm thinking asking out the Hufflepuff Quidditch captain. He's so cute" confessed the female with a small smile. 'Oh. I almost forgot about that!' thought the female as they approached the big castle. "Are you going to ask out anyone Lily?" asked her friend. "I don't know really. I need to hurry since we're getting closer. I've already turned down a couple of people though" admitted the redhead. She had been asked out by Peter plus one of her classmates during astronomy. The girl had said no since neither of them were her type.
"Do you have anyone in mind? I am happy to help if it's someone from my house" offered the Ravenclaw. "Are there Ravenclaw guys available?" inquired the Gryffindor. She knew a couple of the prefects plus some seventh year students. A couple of them were quite smart while others were a bit snobby. "Let me see. Roger is going with one of his classmates, Robin is going home for his mother's 50th birthday. Edmund asked one of my friends out. The only ones left are Max and Henry" informed her friend. The female knew both of those guys. They were in her charms classes. The former was a bit too shy for her liking, so she decided to go for Henry. "Hey! It's snowing!" shouted a voice from behind. She looked up and saw white snowflakes were falling down from the gray sky above her.
'It's so pretty' thought Lily as she entered the castle. A huge bonus about living at Hogwarts was the distinctive seasons. The seasons in her hometown were a bit dreary. Particularly the autumn since it always rained. However, the summers back home were a bit warmer than the ones here. "See you later Lily!" said the birthday child as she went towards the Ravenclaw tower. "See you later too" told the girl as she waved her good bye. She went towards the Gryffindor tower while she tried to remember the password. 'I'm pretty sure it was expelliarmus' thought the redhead as she approached the painting of the fat lady. "Password?" inquired the woman in the painting. "Expell-". She was interrupted by the painting swinging up from the other side.
'Looks like luck is at my side today' thought the female as she entered the tower. A couple of third year students walked straight pass her. The common room was empty save for a black-haired guy. "Hey there Lily" muttered the male. She felt her eyes widen in surprise. It was JAMES! "Hey James. Are you feeling all right?" inquired the girl. He had ink spots on his right cheek. There were dark circles under his eyes as well. 'When did he….hold a minute. He's not wearing his glasses' realized Lily. She glanced at his eyes. The lack of glasses made it even clearer that he was Those clear hazel-brown eyes were quite dull. "I dunno. I could not sleep much last night. I've been working with my defense against the dark arts essay too" muttered James. He stretched his body a bit before he walked a little closer to her.
"I…have a question for you Lily" told the guy. She noticed that his cheeks were a bit flushed. "Yes?" said the female. "Do you want to go to the dance with me? Next weekend?" inquired the Potter.
Aaaand we got a cliffhanger! I have to admit that I'm a little rusty with suspension. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter though since it has a bit Marauder bonding in it. Please write me a review, there haven't been many of those lately.