Haunted

Fifth year

James was sitting in his dormitory, staring out of the window at the full moon. Remus would be changing now, for the second time without his friends by his side. It was not that they did not want to be there with him anymore; Remus had ordered them away, telling them that he needed to be alone again, for once their Hogwarts years were over, he had to prepare to be able to go through his torture by himself. His friends, Remus had said, couldn't be with him forever. A distant scream rose from the Shrieking Shack. Remus had transformed.

James straightened as he caught sight of a boy with black hair cut to hang at the shoulders, heading for the Whomping Willow. Sirius must have followed Remus, when they had all promised not to. And without consulting James, too?

James slid quickly off the windowsill, running downstairs as fast as he could. He sprinted through the Common Room, through the portrait, and raced through the dark, empty Hogwarts corridors until, finally, he felt the cool night air erupt around him and the moonlight shine down on him. Not even a second later, James crashed into a still, laughing figure. He pushed himself up from where he had fallen, staring at the person now grinning back at him.

"Sirius?"

"James, you'll never guess what just happened!" said Sirius gleefully.

"But I saw you going to follow Remus!" said James. "I was up in Gryffindor tower, and I saw you!"

"Me?" said Sirius in surprise. "That was Snape! How in the hell did you mix me up with Snivelly?"

"Well, you both have, er, long, dark hair," mumbled James. "Sorry."

"S'all right," said Sirius. "Well, anyway, I was standing out here, since I was worried for Remus. Respecting his wishes and all that; stayed away from the Willow."

James hardly listened to him. "What was Snape doing, going to the Whomping Willow?"

"And Snape appeared," continued Sirius. "He demanded to know what was going on, said he saw Remus going through an entrance in the tree and I told him how to get inside!"

James looked up sharply. "What did you say?"

"I told him how to get inside!" said Sirius. "Genius, right?"

"Are you INSANE?" hissed James. "He's going to bloody get himself killed!"

"He's not going to die, and besides, you–"

"What were you THINKING?"

James stared at his best friend for a moment, unable to believe his utter stupidity. Then he sprinted down to the Whomping Willow, pressed the knot that allowed him through, and ran through the familiar darkness. Was Severus dead already? Or worse, had he been infected? Either way, it was inevitable that he would lose either his life or his humanity. James hurried on, trying to be as quiet as possible.

And there, with a sigh of relief, he saw Snape stumbling through the blackness, that close to the Shrieking Shack. The screams of pain tore through the air, and James could see that Snape was terrified, although stubbornly persistent, creeping carefully ahead.

"Sniv- Snape!" hissed James. "Snape!"

Snape started, wheeling around. His face was completely drained of what little colour was usually present there, his black eyes wide in fear. When he saw James, however, his eyes narrowed.

"Come to protect your little secret, Potter?" he spat.

"What secret?" snapped James. "That the spirits haunting the Shrieking Shack are not going to be pleased when they find you–"

"The Shrieking Shack's not haunted, Potter!" Snape's hands curled into defiant fists. "And it never has been! You see, I know your secret!"

"WHAT secret?" repeated James angrily.

"That Lupin's a werewolf!"

"Then you'll know if you go any further, you'll either die or become a werewolf yourself!" hissed James urgently. "Come here, Sniv– Snape. Oi! Get BACK HERE!"

Snape had made a break for it, running blindly forwards, but James was fitter, faster, and stronger. He dashed forwards, grabbed Snape's arm and yanked him away from the direction of the Shrieking Shack.

"You listen here," he snarled. "I don't particularly like you – hell, I hate you. But I'm not having you go and kill yourself right in front of me."

"You and your friends survive, and you've been going in there with him for years!" countered Snape.

"We're Animagi, all right? Unregistered ones," explained James. "He can't infect us while we're animals. We help him through his torture."

"Animagi?" Snape's eyes gleamed. "You're going to be in heaps of trouble when I –"

"Dumbledore knows," lied James.

Dumbledore knew, of course, that Remus was a werewolf, but of his three best friends being Animagi he was unaware. But James wasn't about to tell Snape that.

"He what?" demanded Snape.

James tightened his grip around Snape's arm and began pulling him back through the tunnel. Snape tried to resist, but James was too strong for him, and, eventually, both appeared through the entrance in the Whomping Willow, James furious at Snape and at Sirius, and Snape overjoyed at having found out the Marauders' darkest secret.

"I'm telling someone, mark my words," said Snape, as James dragged him up to the castle. "And Dumbledore will be sacked and you'll all be expelled!"

"Shut up, Snape," said James firmly.

"I'm going to tell Lily," he said.

James spun around, glaring at him. "I just saved your life, Snape. You know that? If it weren't for me, you'd be ripped to shreds or a werewolf by now! The least you could do is be grateful!"

"Grateful?" snorted Snape. "After years of you, Potter, I should be grateful? I'm going to tell Lily and there's nothing you can do about it. And when she realises that Lupin's actually a dangerous, unbalanced werewolf and that you three are all unregistered Animagi, she'll be–"

"She'll never like you," snarled James. "You, with your slimy black hair, wanting to become You-Know-Who's little assistant. You know, when you cursed her friend, that Henrietta girl, I heard she cried for an hour."

Snape recoiled. "I didn't mean–"

"She might not like me, either," said James, "but at least I don't worship the wizard who's hunting down Muggle-borns like her. If You-Know-Who ever wants her dead, are you going to be the one to deliver the curse that–"

"ENOUGH!" screamed Snape. "SECTUM–"

"DENSAUGEO!" shouted James, pulling out his wand in a motion so fast that caused his hex to collide with Snape's curse; both spells were reflected away, hitting the ground around them.

"Lily will neverlove you," said James.

"Just," spat Snape, "as she will never love you."