A/N: To my shame and horror I made a very huge mistake in chapter 33. They did not have instant messaging in the 1970s!!! Sometimes I forget what time period this piece is supposed to go in. But no worries! I'm going to fix it. Another thing, I'm not sure at what age they could use magic at home and I always thought apparating was like driving so once you passed your test you could just do it. I'm still not sure about other magic...but anyway...it's a fanfic so let's not nit-pick too much or I won't have much of a story left because I made loads of stuff up. xXx
TO: Cecilia Orechio, thanks for pointing that one out. Lily was still confused when she was talking to her Mum but that doesn't mean that she's not receptive of James. And Sirius hints in chapter 33 that James and Lily had been writing to each other constantly throughout the holidays. During this time is probably when Lily is getting familiar with James and when they see each other on the train and he holds her hand; that is when she decides to give him a chance.
TO: Puds, Thank you for reviewing and I'm glad you like my story. I do need to edit my stories for grammatical errors but I'm a weird one because I find it very hard to reread through anything that I have written. I very rarely go back on work too, with the exception of major mistakes and stuff like not uploading a whole chapter as I've already down once!
I guess this can make me a bad writer because everything you read is pretty much what comes out of my head straight away with no concern of how it comes out. Nothing has been rewritten or worked upon extensively. See, I'm even bad at explaining! I do have a friend who reads over most of the stuff before I post though and if he misses it then oh well! I'll promise to pay more attention to when I write.
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James was on his feet in a flash but McGonagall was surprisingly fast and she had one finger hooked on his collar before he could get away. "This is the very last straw POTTER!" She shouted and he found himself thrown down the stairs. The stairs were flat in an instant and skidded all the way down to the bottom and landed with a crash. He even had the bruises to prove it but every last male student in the school now revered him and he basked in a new sort of glory.
Even Sirius had whistled. "What can I say? You beat me to it Prongs. Must admit, I tried every single spell I knew and none of them worked, I didn't even think about running up them."
In all honesty, it hadn't even occurred to James that he should have taken a more cool headed approach of using magic to his advantage. At the time he had seen stairs, difficult stairs yes, but still stairs and the only way to get around them was physical and therefore nothing to do with magic. He didn't tell Sirius that bit of information though.
Many stories began to spread and none of them were at all innocent. James guessed that it was for this reason that his punishment had been extra severe. As well as deducting more minus House points he was sentenced to assist Filch in his caretaker duties for three weeks. The brunt of the hardworking slaving hours were somewhat lessened by Lily. He especially looked forward to every evening because she would bring dinner in a small basket and he would take half an hour away from his laborious tasks so that they could share a meal together. All in all James thought that things were not too bad...
Peter pointed his wand to the bottom of his rounded chin and chanted the spell again and again but still it would not work. Each time he squeezed his eyes shut and then reopened them blinking rapidly and then surveyed the room hoping to see if he could see anything different. But each time there was nothing different, the Room of Requirement was as it was before he had said the spell.
Frustrated he raked a hand through his hair seemingly with a confidence that he did not usually show. In truth he wasn't feeling all that confident but it was a gesture that both James and Remus done often and in Peter's eyes it always made them appear confident.
He pushed the sleeves of his robe up just like the way Remus did when he was approaching a particularly difficult problem or question. Again this was another little gesture that meant little to the others but much to Peter. Getting a better grip of the wand he pointed it at his chin again.
He knew that once he got the spell to work and he could show them how cool it was to be able to see something that others could not they'd all want him to cast the spell on them.
"Grievus Sufferus!" The air beneath his chin stirred but when he opened his eyes there was still nothing.
"What am I doing wrong?" he moaned aloud and kicked the book aside. "It must be a crack spell." He decided. It was just something that was written to trick people. There were many spell books like that and it was his bad luck to find this one to study.
He was glad that none of the other guys were here to witness this.
Peter pointed his wand again, this time at the door. He stood with his feet apart, one in front of the other assuming a classic dueler's stance. He was Peter, the Greatest Dueler in the whole of Hogwarts! No, the Greatest in the World! He brandished his wand and knew that if any opponent ever saw him ready to duel like that they would shy back from the challenge and back off. He was fearsome with his power and no one dares to challenge him! He'd also have lots of pretty girls; prettier than Lily, sweeter than Yoanna and sexier than Rose. She would be his because she knew what a powerful wizard he was.
"Grievus Sufferus!" he said, liking the way the words rolled out of his mouth. Yes, he could easily imagine it being a powerful spell, as powerful as the Forbidden Curses. "Grievus Sufferus!" he pointed his wand at the door, aiming for his imaginary opponent's eyes-
The door began to open and Peter panicked. "Grievus Sufferus!" he squeaked, the words still fresh on his lips. The spell would have been useless in any duel but in his panicked state it was the only thing he could think of.
James fell into the room clutching his eyes. "Argh!"
Peter was shocked. The spell had worked?! "J-James?" He went over to where James was rapidly rubbing his eyes.
"Wormtail! What the hell was that?" James blinked his teary eyes seeing a pale faced Peter. James was passing the Room of Requirement when he had heard noises from the inside. Curious he had lowered his cleaning supplies and decided to investigate. Not in a million worlds had he expected to be hexed.
"A spell." Peter answered stupidly.
"I think I know that! But what spell?" James hated to think that he now had green hair or an extra arm growing off him somewhere. At least he didn't feel abnormal but that didn't mean he hadn't been hexed.
"It was a...a Griever spell."
"A what spell?" James got to his feet. He had a vague memory of Grievers being mention on the train but he couldn't remember anything about them. His vision was returning and there didn't seem to be any permanent damage.
"Don't worry! It doesn't work, I tried it on myself and it didn't work." Peter said quickly.
"Well, just as long as it doesn't work." James retrieved his cleaning tools. Shaking his head. "I thought we'd been through this: the 'don't hex your friends or yourself rule'?" he'd meant it with humor but Peter hung his head low. "I gotta finish this before I turn in tonight." He gave Peter a last look. "Don't worry about it mate, I've recovered now." James gave an experimental jump to prove his point. "And none of my limbs are falling off. I'm fine." With a wave he was off to complete his chores.
James reached the main hall whistling. The first task he tackled was to wipe down the tables and once again he had been forbidden to use magic. He set to work giving the wood a good wipe and was about to start on the polish when something out of the corner caught his eye.
Movement.
James stopped and looked at the end of the table where he thought he'd seen it but there was nothing there. All the same the beginning tendrils of dread began. Just to make sure he went to the end and had a good look around but there was nothing. Maybe he was just tired...
Another, more definite movement banished every last strip of doubt that he was just seeing things. James edged around the long table; his eyes pinned on a stretch of shadow that appeared to be cast by no object. There was nothing around it at all.
It's shape appeared liquid but solid enough although it's substance was no more than inky smoke. In front of he's very eyes it changed, soundlessly shifting from the size of a cat to something that equaled his height. Whatever it was James knew that it was not benign, it radiated a kind of dread that was a lot more substantial than its own body. He could feel the negativity flowing out towards him and the feeling was so strong he was breathing it in where it slowly seeped into his heart.
The featureless shadow slinked away, unaware that James could see it. The inexplicable malice slithered away drawing James along with it. He was not one to scare easily but he felt an involuntary shudder travel down his spine. Still, he left the main hall following it in the need to know where it planned to take its malevolence.
Shadow to shadow it melted in, never did it waver from its path and James followed stepping boldly into the shafts of pallid moonlight that leaked in from windows. It led him all the way to the other side of the castle until it finally oozed under a portrait that James could not pass. It was the portrait that led to Ravenclaw Common Room..
James stood outside for a long time. Waiting for it to come back out but it did not. After an hour had passed he knew that he would not see it again that night and he returned to his own Common Room still deeply troubled.
What was it? What creature could extrude such despair? With his jaw clenched James strode up to his room and straight to Peter's bed. He shook Peter roughly.
"W-what?" Peter sat up rubbing his eyes.
"What does it want?" James demanded."
"Put a sock in it!" Sirius grumbled from his bed. Remus was also sitting up because James had left the door open and a shaft of piercing light from the corridor was falling directly on his bed.
"What's wrong Prongs?" he yawned.
James shook Peter again to wake him up. "What spell did you say it was?"
Peter was awake now. "I- I-" he stuttered.
"Tell me Peter." James gritted his teeth.
"It was a G-Griever spell."
James let go of Peter and sat back. Now he had a name for the shadow. Sirius and Remus were also up and they approached Peter's bed with curious expressions.
"Oh you didn't!" Sirius shook his head. "We told you it was a bad idea. Prongs, what were you doing playing along?"
"I didn't." James wasn't interested in why Peter was trying to cast it any more; the damage was done. He faced Peter. "What are they?" Peter just shook his head.
"Waifs that are attracted to pain, evil, tragedy or suffering. Take your pick, anything bad that's going to happen they'll be there. Normal people can't see them." Remus answered.
Sirius' expression grew dark and unreadable. "How long will the spell last?"
Remus shrugged. "It ranges. A day, a week, a month maybe it won't ever lift."
"I think we've got more problems." James said quietly. "I followed one of these thing to the Ravenclaw Common Room. Someone in that House is going to be in trouble."
A/N: I actually had a nightmare about such a creature and in my dream I was seeing it everywhere! So scary but anyway, just wanted to tell you where the idea had come from!
