AN: Prize chappie due to long wait!! My reader mgirl13 came up with the title of this chapter, just so y'all know. She's kinda like my unofficial beta reader. That mostly begs me to send her my chapters. Sorry for the rest of you - but I don't know you personally. Typical email convo:
me: I just finished another chapter! You want to read it?
mgirl13: le duh!
me: what's the magic word?
mgirl13: please?
me: hmm... okay, fine. (attaches chapter to email)
So sometimes I ask her to help with chappie titles and the like. She also came up with the idea for the name of "The Troll Under the Bridge," (yet to be posted) and helped brainstorm some ideas for it. She's my only friend who's as crazy about FanFiction as me, so she's very helpful. Thanks mgirl13!!
And now, after that ridiculously long AN, on to the story. It's getting much more exciting.
Chapter 18: Muggleborns and Dots
James' POV:
The days past, and Padfoot and I said nothing of our suspicions to anybody. We kept watch on Lily's dot on the map, doing shifts every night.
But nothing happened.
Lily never wandered off, except to use the bathroom.
I began to wonder if Padfoot had really heard right. Was Regulus really going to do anything? But then I would remember Lily's cold, limp body that one night, and went back to observing her dot.
Sirius' POV:
It was my turn to watch her – Lily's – dot.
We had just had an extensive Quidditch match, and Prongs and I were exhausted. Unfortunately, I had first watch.
My eyelids began to droop, and I poked myself. I couldn't let myself fall asleep.
But as my head nodded, I thought, "What's the likelihood that Regulus does it tonight? Very small… very, very small…"
I drifted off to sleep with that thought.
James' POV:
I woke up at 2:00 AM with a start. Padfoot was supposed to wake me up two hours ago!
I looked over at his bunk and saw a slumped, but awake form. I sighed in relief.
"Padfoot, mate, I'll take a turn watching the map if you-"
It was then that I heard the snore.
Padfoot was asleep.
I was over at his bed in a moment, snatching the map out of his hands.
"Prongs-?" He asked, sleepily
"Padfoot, you idiot! You fell asleep!" I whispered, enraged.
"M'sure she's fine, Prongs, go back to sleep."
"No, Padfoot, she's not, look!"
"An empty bunk… So what?"
"It's Lily's bunk, Padfoot!"
"She's probly just in the bathroom…" He yawned sleepily.
"No, Padfoot, she's not! She's not even on the map at all! And look, there's another muggleborn on third floor!"
He seemed to finally realize what I was saying.
"You mean-?"
"Yes, Regulus is gathering up the muggleborns, and- wait! Look at this!"
"What?"
"The dot, it…" I paused, not sure how to say it.
"Yes?"
"Look!"
The dot representing the muggleborn had walked into a room and… disappeared! It was as if they had left Hogwarts, which was, of course, impossible to do without using one of the secret passages the Marauders had discovered.
"How can they be disappearing?" asked Padfoot.
"I dunno, but we have to get down there! Hurry!"
We started rushing down to 3rd floor, when Padfoot stopped abruptly. "Let's get Dumbledore. It'll be easier to stop Regulus that way."
I agreed. "Let's go, then."
We rushed towards the twin gargoyles that guarded Dumbledore's study.
"We have to see Professor Dumbledore! It's an emergency!"
AN: "Professor Dumbledore! Magical emergency!"
"Oh no! What is it?"
"Ron's been trapped in an alternate dimension!"
"Oh, not again!" – Potter Puppet Pals
"Password?" the gargoyles asked in a nasal voice.
"Look, it's an emergency, please let us in!" Padfoot said.
"An emergency, you say?"
We turned around to find a portrait of a knight looking at us.
"Yes, sir, er…" I halted, at a loss for the knight's name.
"Galahan."
"Yes, Sir Galahan, it's an emergency!"
"I shall be right back. Off to get Dumbledore and help these poor lads!"
Sirius and I exchanged a look. There were some odd paintings at Hogwarts.
Faster than we could have imagined, however, there was Dumbledore running alongside Sir Galahan, albeit he wasn't in a picture.
"Yes, Potter, Black, what is it? Not a prank, I hope."
"No, Dumbledore, it's… well…" I stopped, thinking that he might not believe the whole "Regulus Black is killing all the muggleborns" story.
AN: James didn't say "Regulus Black is killing all the muggleborns" to Dumbledore. Just so you know.
Padfoot jumped in, "It's my brother, Professor. He joined up with You-Know-Who over the summer, and I overheard him talking one night to someone I didn't know."
He proceeded to tell the whole story, and it sounded a lot more credible than it would have been if I had told it.
"So you believe that Regulus is currently killing some muggleborns in an unplottable room?"
"Yes, Professor."
"Why didn't you say so in the first place? Where is this unplottable room?"
"3rd floor, Profess-"
But Dumbledore was already gone.
AN: Sirius is such an idiot... And I told you that it wouln't be long until Lily was in trouble. On a lighter note: Off to save Lily! Yayness! (Next chappie will be a Lily POV and there will be plenty of OCs that are in the story for about two chapters, some just 'cause I won't need them anymore, and some... well... you'll see.)