First thing, sorry about the delay for this chapter. I guess you will be able to see why it took me so long to write this but I have to say that because of school commitments and other conflicts this chapter was written in about three to four days.
In response to some reviews, I would just like to express how shocked I was when I saw Bellatrixlover23's review. I don't even have words to describe how flattered/surprised/impressed I am that you took time to do/write that. I don't want to give anything away about the reunion of Ben and Ursula but I will say it is a little bit different in my head but there were some parallels to what I plan on writing/incorporating in the actual scene.
Livestrong617, you know how amazing you are! I don't want to pick favorites because I love everyone's reviews but there is just something special about yours that draw my attention. I'm glad you like how I portray Peter because like you, I hate it when people make Peter this obviously evil character when they are in first year. It is just so unrealistic to me. I too am relieved that James and Ursula broke up. It was nice to write because their dynamic as friends would have made a wonderful couple in a different story, just not this one. But it was fun while it lasted. As for ideas and how I write, lets just say that I consider this chapter to be one of my better examples of how I try to keep in canon with my own personal twist while still being original. I hope you enjoy it.
So this chapter took a little bit of a different turn than I thought. Half of this chapter was not originally planned but these story lines just came to me and I had to write them out. Then the part I did want to write made it too long so I decided to split it up into two chapters.
I apologize (more specifically to cookiewMonstuurrr) that I will only partially be keeping my promise about them all coming together but it will definitely happen next chapter because it is literally one of the scenes I have had written out in my head since before I write the first word for the first chapter.
I hope you all enjoy.
Too Far: Part One
"James, fer teh love o' God, call it a night," Elyse begged practically doubled over on her broom, shaking from exhaustion and the cold. Her body was covered in a layer of perspiration. Sirius had actually collapsed on the ground and was hyperventilating. A little farther away, Ursula was helping guide Moira from the air since the girl was so exhausted she couldn't see straight.
"Prongs, this is madness," Ben wheezed, his hands resting on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. They arrived for practice after the end of classes, missed dinner, and the sun had already gone down.
James, who had been considering calling practice, turned to glare at Ben, his eyes hardening, and said, "For that, ten laps around the pitch."
RJ, the only nickname for Reginald Jackson Hiram King and the rest of the team could agree on, shuddered and took a few tentative steps while his legs shook, "Can we at least take our gear off?"
"Are you going to take your gear off during a game?" James challenged. RJ was silent. James smiled smugly. "That's what I thought. Now come on!" He waved his arm and started running towards the wall of the pitch.
Ursula sighed and was the first to follow after James. The rest of the team followed at their own pace. They made it for about three laps before RJ collapsed on to the side and started vomiting. James doubled back along with the rest of the team.
He knelt down next to RJ, "Can you make it back to the castle?"
RJ's response was to vomit again. James sighed and looked at the rest of the team, who had stopped to make sure their teammate was okay. "Here's what's going to happen. Muse is in charge while I go bring JR back to school. Finish the laps, got that Muse?"
Ursula nodded. James, satisfied with her response, helped RJ to his feet and helped him across the pitch and out of the stadium. After they disappeared, Ursula turned towards the rest of the team. They were all looking at her, all of them looking like they were about to collapse from exhaustion but still strong enough to continue on it they must.
Making up her mind, Ursula addressed them all, "If you want to stop, head back to your dorms without James seeing you. If he asks, we finished them. Are we clear?"
Elyse and Sirius nodded, their shoulders finally sagging from sheer exhaustion. "Are yeh goin' up ter teh castle wit us?" Elyse asked.
Ursula shook her head, "I'm going to finish the laps."
"You're insane," her brother said shaking his head in awe of her madness. "I'm heading back to the castle. Would you care to accompany me, Lady Luck?" Sirius asked Elyse, offering his arm to her. She laughed and looped her arm with his.
"See yeh back in teh room," Elyse said. Waving goodbye as she and Sirius walked off the pitch.
The three remaining players stood there, Moira and Ben looking at Ursula. She tensed under their gaze, mainly due to one of them. Moira, oblivious and innocent as always, didn't seem to pick up on Ursula's silent plea to stay as she bid her goodnight and left the former couple standing alone.
"I won't leave you alone here at night," Ben said softly, his voice barely louder than a whisper. Ursula mentally scolded herself when she felt her heart skip a beat at hearing his voice again after ten months. It was lower than she remembered but just as melodic and enchanting.
Fighting the urge to respond, Ursula simply turned her back to him and started to finish her laps. Soon, his footsteps echoed hers, matching her stride for stride. Annoyed, she pushed herself faster and faster getting more and more frustrated as he was able to match pace with her. This continued for the next seven laps around the stadium.
It was childish, Ursula knew, but she refused to look at Ben as they ran together. Every once in a while she would catch him out of the corner of her eye looking at her. It was infuriating. Every fiber of her being was screaming at her to turn to look at him and see the apologizing and miserable look in his eyes. But her stubbornness made it impossible.
So she did the only thing she knew how to do regarding Ben. She ran.
Back in Gryffindor Tower, Sirius and Elyse were sitting on the sofa in front of the fire. Her feet were resting on top of Sirius's lap while Elyse had her back against the armrest. Sirius was writing a letter in response to one from Andromeda while Elyse flipped through the Marauders Map, just looking at the going ons around the school.
Per usual, Dumbledore's footsteps paced back and forth in his office. Filch was accompanied by Mrs. Norris and judging by the two students who were next to him, it appeared that he caught two students out of bed. Elyse snorted lightly in amusement; Filch could find a student during passing periods and try to pass it off as them out of bed after hours. The footsteps of Remus Lupin and Lily Evans were close together as they made their prefect rounds together, occasionally stopping to catch snogging couples (that was the only explanation for the footsteps being so close together) and making them retreat back to their common rooms.
"You know, I'm not a bloody footrest," Sirius complained as he shoved her feet off of him.
She shrugged and kicked her feet back up, "Yeh's lazier than one."
"Oi, I am not!" Sirius said outraged. He tickled the bottom of her foot causing her to jerk back and almost fall off the sofa. Sirius laughed at her misfortune as she glared at him.
"Yer an arse," She grumbled as she repositioned herself with her feet under her. She looked at Sirius's profile, seeing the scar right behind his ear from some injury over the summer. At that moment, she was shocked by how little she knew of what actually happened that summer. "Sirius, kin I ask yeh something?"
He snorted, "Why the hell not?"
She paused a moment and then softly asked, "Woot happened this summer?"
Sirius visibly tensed up. He rolled his shoulder subconsciously, "We ran away. That's what happened."
"I know; I saw some o' woot happened."
"Then why are you asking?" He asked more harshly than he realized.
Elyse recoiled at the tone, "Yeh seem bothered by it still. I just wanted ter make sure yeh was okay."
"I'm all right, Lucky." He swore, turning to look her right in the eye. His face was hardened and he was clearly not fine. He may have put on a rough exterior but his face could never hide his emotions. It he was cheerful he looked it; it was the same if he was sad, guilty, or mischievous.
With that, he got up and walked to his room, declaring that he soon wouldn't be able to move a muscle if he didn't properly recover from the 'arse beating training Prongs has going' and retreated up the stairs.
Elyse sighed, she had hoped to be able to talk to Sirius but that was out of the question. After a quick look at the map she saw that James was still in the Hospital wings with RJ, Peter was in his dorm, Remus was still making his rounds, and both Ursula and Ben were running around the Quidditch pitch. Elyse found that interesting. This was the first time since Annabelle's funeral that Ben had spent any significant time alone with Ursula. The result was bound to be interesting.
But something on the next page of the map caused her to jump up. Moving in one of the deserted hallways between the Hufflepuff Common room and the library was none other than Claire Dubois, unknowingly accompanied by Snape and Mulciber. Without a second thought, Elyse herself was out of the common room walking as quickly as she could towards Claire. She checked the map a few times to make sure she didn't get caught by a Filch or the prefects. Her pace sped up when she saw that Claire had stopped and was now surrounded by the Slytherins.
When she made it to the corner, she pulled out her wand and tucked the map into the pocket of her robes. Elyse took a deep breath; adrenaline was already coursing through her system as her body anticipated the possible duel to come.
"—weak little girl," Mulciber mocked as he ran his wand tauntingly down her cheek. She wimped and tried to get away but she was trapped between the wall and the intimidating boy.
"P-P-Peter will—will," She stuttered, trying to think of something threatening to say.
The two boys laughed at the failed attempt at the threat. "Will do what?" Mulciber asked through the chuckles, "Stutter at us? Admit it, your little boyfriend may have befriended a group of brave, talented idiots but he is just an idiot."
"Aw, thanks fer teh compliment, though I would've left teh idiot part oot," Elyse commented as she got closer.
"What do you want, O'Brian?" Snape drawled lazily, as if she wasn't a threat to them at all.
Elyse calmly lifted her wand and hexed Mulciber, sending him flying across the hallway. "I want yeh ter leave me friend alone."
"You and who's army? Your magic is mediocre at best," Snape said as he brandished his own wand.
"No, no, no," Elyse spoke like she was speaking to a child, "I've alerted the rest of them and they are on their way."
Snape's upper lip curled in disgust at the mention of her other friends, "Your friends are pathetic swine."
"Did I mention Remus is doing rounds with Lily so she's on her way as well?" Elyse cleverly lied, hoping that her ploy would work long enough for the boys to leave.
Snape's face visibly paled at the threat. Without another word, but with a hate filled glare, he turned and hastily yanked Mulciber up from the ground and they retreated back to their common room.
Elyse quickly went to the shaking Claire's side. "Did they hurt yeh?" She asked as she lay a hand gently on the girl's shoulder.
Claire shook her head, wiping tears from her eyes, "They were about to and I thought they were and then you showed up but I was so scared, I—I," Claire dissolved into silent tears as the terror of what might have happened to her at Mulciber's and Snape's hands sunk in. Elyse wrapped her arm around her shoulder and tried to comfort the girl to the best of her ability.
"It's alright," she promised. "Nothin's gonna happen ter yeh."
"How can you promise that?" Claire asked incredulously, not believing a word out of Elyse's mouth.
"Yer datin' Peter right?" She waited for Claire to nod before continuing, "That means yer one o' us now. Yeh've got all seven o' us lookin' oot fer yeh."
Claire looked at her doubtfully, "Do you really mean that?"
Elyse nodded, "I solemnly swear."
Claire smiled in response but didn't have anything else to say besides, "Thank you."
"It was nothin'," Elyse said nonchalantly. "Now let's git yeh back ter yer common room. Up yeh go," She said as she pulled Claire from the ground. Elyse escorted Claire back to her common room. Once Elyse was sure Claire was safe, she made her way to her own common room, fully intent on letting her friends know what Snape had done to the innocent girl.
Their reactions were expected the next morning when she told them of what had transpired the night before. Peter immediately went over to the Hufflepuff table to make sure his girlfriend was feeling better while the rest bristled indignantly.
"That pathetic excuse for a human," Ursula spat in disgust. "He can't get to us so he goes after someone we care about."
"I'm not saying I care about Claire but I sure as hell care about them going after Peter's girlfriend," Sirius clarified.
James nodded, "Snape needs to get a little taste of his own medicine."
"But how?" Elyse questioned.
They were all silent until Remus surprisingly spoke up, "Have you ever noticed that Snape writes a lot on his potion book. There's no way that is just all notes on who to make better potions."
Ursula nodded appreciatively at the idea, "You think he's made it his diary?"
Sirius and James both snorted in amusement at the idea. "Pansy," Sirius muttered.
"Let's do it!" James said enthusiastically, always looking for an opportunity to humiliate Snape. "We have the cloak, stealing his book should be easier than cherry pie."
"We need to plan more than that," Remus reasoned. "He'll notice if an invisible person grabs his book."
"I might have a solution to that," Peter said as he rejoined them at the table.
They all looked at him, surprised. "What?" Sirius asked incredulously. Peter was usually a hindrance during their plans but now he thought he was the solution?
Peter nodded nervously. "Yesterday when you were all at practice and Remus was doing his Prefect rounds, I worked on my animagus transformation—"
"Don't bloody tell me," James complained angrily. "You got it too?" James was especially bitter that Ursula was already making the change on the fly and now Peter was able to make the change.
Peter nodded in an odd combination of pride and tentativeness. "I can't make it like Ursula can but if I focus hard enough then I can."
Sirius pounded Peter on the back, "Nice going Wormy! Guess you're not as useless as I thought."
"Padfoot!" Elyse admonished.
"What? It's not like he's ever done anything useful before," Sirius retorted.
"Except get us caught," Remus pointed out.
Sirius pointed at Remus victoriously, "See! Moony agrees with me and therefore I am right! Case closed!"
"If you all would stop acting like a bunch of idiots," Ursula interjected, "you might have noticed that Snivellus has just gone off on his own."
All of them perked up and watched keenly as the greasy Slytherin left the Great Hall after breakfast to do whatever someone with no social life did on the weekend. James stood first, "I'll run to the room to get the cloak. Padfoot, Moony, go make sure that he doesn't travel far. Use some of that prefect power you were given to try to control us for its real purpose. Muse and Lucky, make sure Lily is occupied so she doesn't interfere with our plan. Wormtail, go rat-out somewhere."
With that, they all dispersed and went to complete their designated tasks. Elyse and Ursula didn't have to look hard to find Lily. The vibrant red head was sitting out by the lake, letting her toes dip into the cool lake water. The weather was just beginning to get chilly and this would undoubtedly be one of the last times she would be able to enjoy this luxury.
"'Ello, Lily," Elyse greeted as she and Ursula sat on either side of their roommate.
Lily smiled, though it looked a bit forced. "Hello Elyse, Ursula."
"Aw, what's got you down in the dumps? Lilies aren't meant to be sad," Ursula said as she quickly conjured up some brightly colored lilies from a simple dandelion from the grass.
Lily laughed as she accepted the flowers, "It's nothing really." She muttered as she admired her banquet of bright orange, neon yellow, fuchsia pink, and electric blue lilies. "You know Ursula; you really are talented at transfiguration. I envy your skill."
Ursula snorted in an unladylike manner, "Lils, trust me when I say, you shouldn't envy anything about me. You're the brilliant witch of our age – your skills and intelligence are legendary."
"I kin vouch fer 'at," Elyse added. "Now 'at we've boosted yer confidence, mind tellin' os woot's wrong?"
"Have you ever had something that was too good so it was bad?" Lily asked them.
Elyse and Ursula both shook their heads and Lily sighed wistfully, "Then I do envy you; both of you."
"What's this about?" Ursula inquired.
"I feel like a bad person admitting this, but Gabe is driving me up a wall! He's always attentive, always complimenting me, always agreeing with me, and always being so bloody perfect that it's maddening!" Lily burst. "I know I'm complaining about what most people dream about but it's not as wonderful as everyone thinks. But I want someone who challenges me, who isn't afraid to argue with me! Someone who will drive me mad but at the end of the day, he is the most wonderfully infuriating person in the room." Lily sighed and shook her head, "I'm just being foolish."
Elyse and Ursula shared a look over Lily's head, both of them with a knowing look in their eyes. There was one person that fit her definition of a perfect guy and she openly loathed his entire existence. If only she could see what the rest of them could. Elyse wrapped her arms around Lily's shoulder, "Aww, you'll find 'im one day."
Lily rolled her eyes, "Easy for you to say – you've already met your Prince Charming. How long have you been dating Pat?"
"Almost three years now."
"See! Your relationship has survived everything! Going to a boarding school, you being a witch and him being a muggle, you living in a different country for most of the year!" Lily shook her head in amazement. "How is it possible that you have a better relationship with Pat when I can barely sustain one with someone from a different house?"
"A lot o' work," Elyse admitted. "But we've also know each otha' fer years; since we were wee little things."
Lily laughed, "That's adorable! You're going to be one of those couples that end up married for the rest of your lives. It'll be like a fairytale."
There was a flash of pain and sadness in Elyse's eyes before she quickly masked it and nodded, "I'm only sixteen."
Lily shrugged, "There's lots of couples that have graduated and got married already. A fair few already have children. Did you hear Molly Weasley had another baby? Gabe's cousin Tristan Clearwater, a Ravenclaw who graduated three years ago, and his wife just had a baby girl. I think Claire and Sean just eloped over the summer and I've heard that she might be pregnant. With the war going on, people aren't exactly waiting."
"It's kind of odd when you think about it," Ursula mused out loud, "This war is literally pitting families against each other; families that have been around for generations are falling apart. Yet at the same time, new families based on the basic instinct of love, protection, and safety are being brought together. This whole fight is driving everyone together and apart at the same time."
"Love and war have been associated for such a long time together," Lily responded, concentrating on train of thought. "It would be impossible to find one without the other." She swung her legs back and forth, causing ripples to appear beneath all of their feet.
Ursula quickly took off her shoes and socks and let her feet dip into the cool lake water. She sighed in contentment, letting what Lily said sink it. Elyse was about to respond when she shrieked in terror, "RAT!"
The shrillness of the scream caused Ursula to jump and when she felt a little bit of fur crawl across her hand, she lost her balance and barely had time to take a breath before she was submerged in the Black Lake. She faintly heard shouting above the water but decided to just stay underneath the calm water for just a moment. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her wand to quickly cast a bubble head charm. She felt the bubble of air form around her head and felt that it was alright to open her eyes.
The view was absolutely breathtaking. The water seemed alive as different fishes swan past in their schools, the tops of seaweed tickled the bottom of her feet, and in the distance there was the soft and melodic song of the mermaids. There was a sudden movement to her right and she spun around just in time to see the Giant Squid swim away gracefully to a deeper part of the Lake. Ursula, looking down as seeing that she wasn't that far away from the bottom, allowed herself to sink lower until she was resting at the bottom of the lake, watching the sun's rays dance in the water.
A sudden disturbance surprised her slightly. The displaced water rocked the calm surface as two figures jumped into the lake. Ursula swam to the surface and yanked on Remus's leg and poked Sirius in the side before she broke the surface, effectively getting rid of her bubble head charm.
"What the hell?!" Sirius demanded.
Ursula shrugged, "Bubble head charm." She answered as if that explained it all, which it did.
Sirius glared at her and splashed her, "You seriously need to stop doing that."
"I told yeh she was fine," Elyse commented from the surface. Ursula looked up at the crowd that had gathered. Elyse was still sitting in her same position while James was leaning against the tree looking as calm and collected as ever. Peter was missing but Alice had joined them and was sitting next to Lily looking over the edge of the water, both of their faces etched with concern.
"Are you alright, Ursula?" Lily asked in concern.
Ursula nodded once before dipping back down into the lake to get the hair from her face. She didn't know what happened in the few seconds she was underwater but she saw a huge splash as Alice was pulled in by Remus, Elyse by Sirius, and James tightly holding onto Lily as he too jumped into the lake, despite of Lily's protesting screams.
"POTTER!" Lily screeched indignantly as she resurfaced, causing everyone in the vicinity to cover their ears, wincing in pain.
James however seemed completely undeterred by the anger directed at him. He ran his hand through his hair (his hair it seemed, like to defy the laws of common sense as it was soaking wet yet still standing up in a complete mess) and smiled cheekily at Lily, "Aww, come on my Water Lily, have a little fun. How many times have you gone swimming the Black Lake?"
"Never," Lily answered immediately. "It's against school rules to go swimming in the Black Lake."
James smirked deviously, "And doesn't that make it better? Feel the rush, the risk and the excitement, the adrenaline of not getting caught? It's a brilliant feeling isn't it?"
He swam closer to Lily and she looked at him as if she was seeing him for the first time. "You know what I think is brilliant?" Lily asked, for once without malice or insult.
"What?" James asked, thrilled that he wasn't being hexed or cursed or hit or threatened with detention.
"This." She drew her hand back and with a quick push forward, sent a small wave that knocked James over.
When he resurfaced, sputtering and missing his glasses, he glared in a joking manner in Lily's direction. She giggled slightly at the look on his face.
"You're going to pay for that, Evans." He swore seriously though there was a joking grin on his face.
Lily just laughed and quickly started swimming away, gaining distance. "You're going to have to catch me first, Potter." She said over her shoulder with a subtly sly smirk on her face.
James stared at her with an awed and adoring look on his face that he would later deny. "Oh, I will Lily Evans. Even if it's the last thing I do." He muttered to himself before he dove under the water to catch his water flower.
Their free time quickly started to disappear soon after that. All of the teachers started piling on more and more work for the OWL students as the leaves started to change color. The only professor that seemed to take pity on them was Pod. He was still giving lecture after lecture on how to fight and what's the best way to attack. James and Sirius had taken a liking to their new professor and would actually pay attention in that class. It was mainly because the three had come to an agreement that as long as they didn't cause too much trouble in class, then they could always work together whenever the class did practical application days.
It was after one such particular day when Remus was packing up a little bit late. The full moon was later that night and it was already beginning to take a toll on him. He knew this was possibly the last moon that he would spend by himself as Sirius was extremely close to finally getting a full transformation. With Ursula and Peter already to make full transformations, that only left Elyse and James to figure out how to transform themselves into their animagus form before the holidays that were only three months away.
The story behind Peter's first transformation was comical by everyone's standards. When he turned into a rat to try to steal Snape's potion book, he was just as subtle as he was when he was human meaning he was louder than a horde of hippogriffs storming the castle. Snape, who suspected something almost immediately when he saw Remus and Sirius walking towards him, had kicked Peter down the staircase when he noticed the rat trying to climb into his bag. Startled and disoriented, Peter ran blindly out of the castle in a panic. Their plan abandoned for the time being, they raced outside in time to hear Elyse scream in terror as Peter unexpectedly jumped onto her lap and soon ran towards Ursula, causing the already startled girl to fall into the lake.
Looking back, it would have been funnier if they all hadn't received detentions for swimming in the lake. Not helping his impending illness due to the full moon was the full riot act lecture McGonagall gave him for breaking the rules as a Prefect (Remus had explained to her that Lily was forcibly thrown into the water and therefore wasn't at fault; James bought him a chocolate bar in thanks) and for not stopping his friends from breaking said rule.
Remus shook his head fondly at the memory. Had McGonagall and Dumbledore honestly think that he would be able to "control" his friends now that he had a prefect badge? If anything, that seemed to encourage them to create more mischief and mayhem.
He was brought back from his thoughts when his arm started to spasm and caused him to drop his book. He groaned, knowing that he was taking way too long to get out of class and that he needed to get to the hospital wing soon before he collapsed. His legs felt like they were jelly and he tightly gripped a desk and went to pick up the book when a pale had shot out and grabbed it.
Ben handed him the Defense book, awkwardly shuffling his feet as he said, "Here you go."
Those were the most words Ben had spoken to Remus in more than ten months. To think that this time last year, Remus would sit for hours on end and just talk with Ben, about school, Ursula, new prank ideas, the new baby his sister was about to have, or anything that caught their fancy.
"Thanks," Remus replied cautiously, not sure what was going on. That was the most elaborate conversation they had since the funeral and Remus had no idea what to say to the friend who had broken Ursula's heart.
"Um, Remus, could I talk to you?" Ben asked hesitantly.
Remus was about to respond when there came loud shouting from the hallway. Remus, knowing that the rest of his friends had just left moments ago in that direction, quickly grabbed his bad and hurried out of the room.
He found Sirius and James pointing their wands right at Snape's gargantuan, hooked nose.
"—at the clock tower at dusk and you'll find out, Snivellus." James sneered, glaring intensely at the offending Slytherin.
Snape smirked sardonically, "I look forward to it, Potter." With that, he spun on his heels, his cloak trailing after him in an obnoxious, dramatic way.
Sirius's upper lip was curled back in disgust, "Why the hell did you hold me back, Prongs?"
James smirked shrewdly. "Don't worry, Padfoot. When he gets to the clock tower, he'll get what is coming to him."
The pair shared eerily similar smiles as they silently began to plot what they were going to do. Remus, not sure what had just transpired, walked over to Elyse and Ursula. "What just happened?"
It was Peter that responded from not that far off, "Snape shoved past us in the hallway and made some comment about you and Ursula."
Remus cocked an eyebrow up in confusion and surprise as he turned to look at Ursula. She shrugged nonchalantly, though he could see she looked troubled, "He was just saying something about me working my way around this group and someone needing to warn you because you're next."
The other three shared a look as if they were deciding if they should tell Remus what else was said. He sighed and motioned for them to continue. Elyse picked up the story, "He also said something about findin out woot yeh are doin once a month."
Remus paled, recalling James and Sirius planning to meet Snape later that night. They wouldn't…would they?
"James! Sirius! Tell me you aren't about to do what I think you're going to do!" Remus demanded, furious that they would even suggest telling Snape his deepest and darkest secret. He could only imagine what Snape could do with that knowledge…
James rolled his eyes, "It all depends on what you think we're going to do Moony. Just trust us."
"Yeah, I'd love to trust you expect for that fact that I turn into a bloody werewolf in four hours and I'm not exactly thinking like a rational human being!" Remus whisper shouted heatedly.
All of them look concerned at Remus's short rant. His eyes were bloodshot, his skin was looking clammy, and his legs were visibly shaking from the strain of trying to hold up his body.
"Come on, Mate. Let's get you to the hospital wing," Ursula said as she took Remus's arm. James took the other one and they bid farewell to their friends. They had to half drag Remus up the last two flights of stairs after his legs nearly gave out. Although Remus was taller than the both of them, James and Ursula wrapped his arms around their shoulders and supported his weight evenly that way.
"Merlin, Moony, lay off those chocolate frogs."
"Says treacle tart boy," Remus muttered through his feverish haze.
Ursula snickered. No matter what, Remus was still as sarcastic and witty as ever. James pouted but took pity on his ill friend and didn't respond. When they finally got to the hospital wing, Madame Pomfrey quickly had them set Remus down on a bed as she quickly administered some potions that would help ease his transformation later that night and give him a little bit of strength.
"No visitors!" Madame Pomfrey barked at the pair. "We don't know if what he has in contagious."
Ursula barely suppressed an eye roll. James, however, naturally gave into temptation and responded, "I think all three of us know what he has isn't exactly a normal disease."
"That is up for me to decide young man," The matron tartly responded. "Now leave before I get Professor McGonagall up here to report you."
James waved her off, "Been there, yelled at for that. Minnie adores me so it's okay."
"We'll be leaving," Ursula quickly interjected, grabbing James roughly by the arm, and yanked him violently from the room. Once they were out of eyesight, Ursula smacked the back of his head. "Why must you antagonize that poor woman?"
"Poppy? She adores me. I keep her life interesting."
Ursula rolled her eyes and decided that a change of subject was probably the best idea, "So what are you going to do to Snivellus tonight? I know you aren't going to tell him Remus's secret."
James snorted, "Hell no. Sirius and I found this potion. It's not exactly original or complex but it will work for the first stage. It's this potion that looks like water but when the liquid is poured on the victim; it cleans and cleans and cleans until the person is literally sparkling. It only stops when it wears off or the castor stops the spell. Sirius and I worked on modifying it all this week. We were planning on tricking Snape to go up there to rendezvous with Lily or some other bait so we could get him but he basically volunteered for this."
"Not that bad, a bit uncreative, but overall not bad," Ursula deemed.
James shrugged, "We weren't able to finish it because of Quidditch practice Wednesday. Mind helping me finish?"
"Sure what the hell, we don't have school tomorrow anyway."
"Brilliant."
Taking a detour, the pair walked to the alcove that they had practiced their animagus transformations in for the past three years. For fun, Ursula started running down the empty hall and tried morphing into a dog midrun. It was a bit choppy and she almost tripped on her own feet (paws?) at one point but she happily started running around the room as Muse, quickly getting the hang of it. She heard James muttering, annoyed, at the other end of the hallway due to her advanced hearing.
Knowing that James was a bit touchy that he hadn't been able to make his transformation yet, she walked over to him and nuzzled her head against his leg. He laughed slightly and patted her behind the ear, causing her tail to inadvertently wag.
"You know, you make a much better dog than person, Oi!" He shouted indignantly when she nipped at his ankle.
She quickly changed back and gave James a look, "Thanks, Prongs."
"Anytime Muse. Seriously, I like you much better when you can't talk back."
"James?"
"Yes?"
"Either get back to the potion or be prepared for me to bite you."
"Potion it is!"
A little over an hour later, they walked out of the hallway towards the Clock Tower to set the trap. All they had to do was set it on top of the top arch and the next person who walked in would be drenched in the cleaning solution that was also modified to cause extreme itchiness and for horrible acne to appear all over the exposed areas, a little trick they added at the end.
"Let's get back to the Tower. They must be wondering where we are by now."
They were walking past the court yard when they saw a dark figure hurriedly walking in an opposite hallway towards the open grounds. They exchanged a look, a bad feeling settling in their stomachs as they hastily made their way back to the common room. When they walked in, they saw Elyse and Peter working on homework while Sirius was smirking smugly in the armchair.
"Sirius," Ursula asked, a horrified feeling spreading through her entire being. "What have you done?" she asked hesitantly.
They all turned to look at Sirius who was grinning like the cat who got the cream. "About to give Snivellus a right scare, that's what."
James's stomach clenched painfully, "YOU WHAT?" He roared, furious at what he was hearing.
Sirius looked startled at James's reaction. "What, James? I just told Snape so he could a little peak at a werewolf, piss himself, and be on his merry way."
"Sirius…Remus will kill him." Ursula breathed in shock. "He'll maul him to death because you couldn't keep you Goddamn mouth SHUT!" Ursula's shout got louder and louder as the fury built up inside her.
James ran his hand quickly through his hair. He looked out the window, seeing the sun just about set. "We might have time to get Snape out before Remus transforms. Elyse, get McGonagall and Peter find Dumbledore. I'm going to get him out." James turned and was almost out the door when Sirius grabbed his shoulder and turned him around.
"You can't honestly go try to save that Death Eater Wantabe?"
James glared at Sirius and wretched his shoulder free, "I'm not about to make Moony a killer." 'And no matter how much I loathe his existence, Lily cares for him.' a voice in his head said.
With that, he turned around ran out of the common room, praying that he got there in time. Adrenaline pumped through his veins as he sprinted through the castle. Another set of footsteps joined his and he turned to see Ursula running alongside him.
"I'm not about to let you face a werewolf alone," She reasoned.
Knowing her resolve was unshakeable, and though he would never admit it, he hadn't been able to transform yet so he knew he couldn't face a werewolf alone. He can to a skidding turn as he burst out of the castle doors, his feet barely touching the ground as he practically flew towards the Whomping Willow. Once outside, it was painfully obvious that the full moon had just risen and they had seconds, not even minutes, before their friend (in Remus's mind) murdered a fellow classmate because of the foolishness of his friend.
"SNAPE!" James shouted when he saw the figure standing among the now still branches of the tree. "GO AWAY!" He shouted.
Snape turned once before quickly opening a small hatch and sliding into the darkness.
"Shit!" James shouted in anger and fear. This was so horribly wrong. James may have hated Snape but if something happened to him now, James didn't want to have his blood on his hands. Ursula transformed next to him and continued running, trying to catch up to James after stumbling into her dog form. It was then that James realized it wasn't just Snape and himself in danger. Now was the ultimate test to see if an animagus could survive a werewolf bite without being cursed. This was a completely untested theory they had. It was supposed to be tested when there were (originally four) three large animals that would go up against the werewolf.
She could die as well. Hell, James realized that if he didn't get Snape out fast enough, he might not even get out.
Blood rushed through his ear drums as he dove into the hatch to the tunnel that led to the Shrieking Shack. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw a lone figure frozen in absolute terror towards the end.
"Snape," James hissed, knowing what Snape was probably looking at. "Get the hell out of here."
"Werewolf," Snape said in shock. "Lupin's a werewolf."
Knowing what he was about to do was incredibly life threatening and stupid (and very Gryffindor) James ran forward and grabbed Snape's arm. "Get the hell out of here!" He shoved him back towards the hatch. Ursula was now running down the tunnel. James heard a low growl getting closer and closer to him as he practically dragged Snape down the tunnel towards safety.
"Get out!" James shouted shoving Snape forward. The Slytherin still seemed to be in shock combined with repulsion.
Remus – the werewolf – growled loudly and the floor started vibrating as his heavy footsteps raced towards them. Ursula took a running leap and tackled the werewolf, who was only feet away from James's back, giving the two boys some extra time to get to the exit.
Two sets of barks, growls, snapping of jaws, and the occasional whines along with the breaking of walls and thuds of someone being smashed against the wall echoed throughout the long and tunnel. Ursula tried pushing the werewolf back to the Shack but one semi large dog was no match for a powerful werewolf.
Quickly, the two boys reached the end of the tunnel but was too late. The werewolf had over powered Ursula and she went flying down the tunnel. Snape stared in horror at the bloodthirsty wolf bore down at them. The werewolf raised a paw to slice Snape in half but it never got the chance. James shoved Snape back and used himself as a shield. "Snape, go!" James shouted before he was thrown violently to the side.
Snape didn't need to be told twice. He scrambled out of the exit and away from the Whomping Willow. The werewolf looked like it considered going after the fresh pray but James knew what would happen when it got out; there were still students out in some of the open corridors. Remus would become the monster he always thought he was.
Unable to allow that to happen, James coughed through the blinding pain. He looked down, wondering what had happened to his chest, when he saw the four slices reaching across his entire chest down to part of his stomach. His head started spinning and it wasn't just from the hit to the head he had endured.
The werewolf seemed to make up its mind to go after its already injured prey instead of chasing the fresh one. It snarled ferociously in James face. His heart thudded painfully against his chest, realizing that this was it. He was going to die at the tender age of fifteen by his friend's alter ego because of another friend's stupidity.
Hell, he thought he would die in the War if anything! He was going to die in a valiant show down of good versus evil and have the world remember his sacrifice. He had so much more to do, such great things to accomplish! His brilliant mind would go to waste, he would never graduate Hogwarts, he would never pass on the Potter name to his children. In a flash he thought of his parents how utterly devastated they would be having to bury their only child.
Vaguely, he wondered if people would miss him. He wasn't exactly kind to others. Merlin knew half his teachers would privately be relieved he wasn't causing mayhem in their classes anymore. In the back of his mind, he wondered if Lily would miss him. He wondered if Snape would ever tell her of James's sacrifice to save the slimy git who stuck his nose in places it didn't belong.
But it would be worth it, he thought in that moment. Lily may have hated him, but as much as it pained him to admit, she cared for Snape. James could die and she would be able to move on with her life easily but she would be devastated if something happened to Snape. Even if he died, he didn't want her to suffer. And maybe, just maybe, she would find out that he did this all for her and it would be worth it.
With that last thought, he looked up at the wolf whose teeth were only inches from his neck. He felt the blood rushing through his body, the frantic pulse audible to him, and his head was literally pulsating in pain from the hit that had only occurred a few second ago.
Then out of nowhere, just as James accepted his fate, a flash of black and white fur tackled the werewolf to the side. The werewolf howled indignantly as Ursula bit into his shoulder. The werewolf was distracted long enough for James to shakily get to his feet.
If asked to describe the most terrifying moment of his life, this had to be it. James had never seen a werewolf before, only knowing what they looked like through pictures in textbooks. It truly was the thing of nightmares. The beast roared at Ursula, raising one of its paws to throw her. She jumped just in time but that didn't stop the werewolf. It was possibly the worst thing she could have done because as she leaped up, the werewolf was able to clamp its powerful jaw on her back. Ursula's shriek of pain stopped James's heart. The werewolf shook her side to side a few times before launching towards the wall. Her head cracked against the wall and she fell to a heap on the ground.
For a horrifying moment,James thought that she was dead. He stared at her still form praying that she would give him some sort of sign she was alive. His prayers were answered when her tail wagged back and forth twice.
Unfortunately, just as she had assured James she was still alive, she had also alerted the werewolf of the same fact. Knowing that Ursula wouldn't be able to fight against the werewolf again, James didn't think before he said, "Oi! Moony! Over here!"
The werewolf turned and snarled menacingly at James. With only one thought, James closed his eyes and hoped that his harebrained scheme worked.
In what was a combination of sheer adrenaline, fear, some skill, and a fair amount of accidental magic, James felt his body explode outwards. He felt the top of his head hit the ceiling so he bowed his head forwards, just in time to catch the wolf in his intricate arrangement of antlers. Using sheer strength and fighting through the horrific pain building on his head and with every slice of the claw the werewolf was able to land on his back and sides, he slowly pushed the werewolf back into the shack.
Once in a large space, James quickly lifted his head hoping to only throw the werewolf to the side (no matter how evil the beast was, James couldn't help but remember that it was his friend). Not used to his new strength or abilities, he threw the werewolf a little too hard and the beast was knocked out cold on the floor.
James stood still for a moment, waiting for the werewolf to move again but it never did. When unconscious and not trying to kill him, James almost felt sorry for the wolf. It looked so sad and lost and downright heartbreaking. A soft and pitiful whining broke James's thoughts. He turned to look over his shoulder for Ursula but was blinded by the pain that shot through his entire body. If felt like someone poured acid on a gaping wound on his back.
Struggling to concentrate long enough to change back, James finally managed the feat. He staggered to his feet, heavily favoring his left leg since his right had a deep cut going from just under his hip to about his knee. He found Ursula, completely human again, unconscious and struggling to breath. He painfully knelt down next to her and shook her shoulder.
"Ursula, we need to get out of here."
Her eyes fluttered open, revealing her extremely and unevenly dilated eyes. James swore under his breath, recognizing the injury.
"My-my b-b-b-ack, James. My b-back." She sobbed, tightly grabbing his hand as her lifeline.
"We need to get out of here," he said as tears of pain leaked from his own eyes. "Moony could wake up at any second."
"I-I can't move….too much…too much p-p-pain," Ursula stuttered. She was getting whiter and whiter by the minute and James notices not only the blood pool quickly spreading under her, he felt blood flowing freely down his mangled leg.
"We have to get out, Ursula. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, but we have to move," he begged her. Her eyes were starting to glaze over and she was struggling to stay conscious.
"Okay," Ursula whispered with the most strength her voice possessed.
The pair slid towards the wall and both slowly and painfully lifted themselves up. Both were panting from exhaustion and torture. Excruciating pain shot up James's leg that was so horrible that he whimpered and nearly fell over. Ursula hobbled over and using each other and the wall, they painstakingly made their way towards the exit.
"How do we get out?" Ursula asked, half delirious from blood loss, half delirious from pain.
"Hatch," James gasped. Miraculously, the hatch remained open. The only problem was that neither had the strength to climb out. He heard people shouting in the distance and instantly hope was swelled in his heart. They had a way out; they were going to live!
"DOWN HERE!" James shouted up with his last remaining strength. The room started to spin after he finished but he was rewarded by hearing the footsteps approach with much more urgency.
"James? Ursula? Are you two down there?" Professor Dumbledore's voice asked through the hatch.
"Need help. Can't get out. Injured," James was able to say. He knew his sentences weren't making sense but at that moment, grammar wasn't as important as the blood pool appearing under his leg again.
Suddenly, the hatch expanded and it was soon large enough for both Dumbledore and McGonagall to walk in. With a flick of her wand, McGonagall trapped Remus in his room. James nearly crumpled to the ground in relief. They were safe.
Dumbledore conjured up a stretcher for Ursula, who had fallen unconscious. McGonagall walked over to James. If it had been another situation, James would have felt the need to comment of the curlers in her hair and the extremely worried and concerned look on her face but in that moment, James was eternally grateful to see his Head of House.
The edges of his vision were starting to go dark and it looked like McGonagall was walking in slow motion on the wall instead of the floor. His ears were fuzzy and he could just barely hear her say his name as she laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Ello, Minnie. Fancy seeing you here," He muttered before the darkness won and everything went black.