Chapter Thirty-two
There's No Mistaking the Facts Now

I woke up to smoke. But the odd thing about this smoke was that it wasn't suffocating me.

"Let me see that burn of yours," I heard a woman say.

"S'not that bad," a man replied.

"I don't care what you think. I said let me see it."

I opened my eyes and jumped. I was completely engulfed in flames.

"Why the hell am I on fire?" I asked Gary in a squeaky voice. He raised an eyebrow at me and smiled slightly. I looked him over and sucked in a breath.

"What the hell happened to you?''' He probably had a third degree burn (at the best!) on his hands, torso, arms, and face. Not to mention what was left of his hair was barely hanging on his head and his clothes were charcoaled.

"Told you she'd take it well," James said from the door.

I shakily reached my hand out to Gary so I could heal him, but stopped when I saw I was still on fire. I thought of water, and out of nowhere water drenched me to the bone, extinguishing the fire immediately. I spit the water out of my mouth and ignored James' and Gary's laughter.

"You've got to learn how to control that," James said.

"Oh shut-up," I muttered. I held out my hand to Gary, and he took it without asking any questions. But just before I started to heal him, Madam Ashton reappeared in the room carrying a goblet.

"Here's the potion. Drink it now," she said, handing him the glass. He drained it and his burns started to fade almost instantly. In no time his skin was back to its normal, dark, healthy glow.

"All better now," she said. "Let me check on Nike, then you two may leave."

"Umm…Napier?" James said hesitantly.

"Yeah, I know. I'm bald," Gary replied, laughing softly.

"I'll fix that," I said, jumping away from the Healer and her outstretched hands.

I put my other hand on his head and pictured his black hair just the way it was; short, curly, and soft. It appeared, looking good as new, and it only took me one minute to untangle my fingers from his curls.

James chuckled softly but kept his smart-elic comments to himself, thank Merlin.

"What happened out there?" Madam Ashton asked, trying not to look awed at what I had done.

"She was on fire—" James laughed even louder. "Literately," Gary said, smirking. He, too, I'd found out, had our sense of humor. If James and Sirius gave him half a chance, they'd all get along really well! Actually…maybe I didn't want that…

"Why did you set yourself on fire?" she asked me.

"I don't remember," I lied. She bought it.

"Well, you're unscathed except for two puncture wounds on your neck, but they don't seem to be bothering you or bleeding, and he's as good as new, so you two can leave."

"Puncture wounds?" I asked hesitantly. I ran to a mirror and peeled soaking fabric away from my neck. Sure enough, there were two large, identical round circles right where I'm sure that huge snake had bit me. The bites were weird, though. They weren't oozing or even puffy or red. They didn't look remotely nasty. They had already faded to shiny, pink scars. I became dizzy and staggered backwards, placing a hand on the marks. They were burning hot and clammy.

Madam Ashton gave me a strange look. "Yes. From the looks of the two puncture wounds, you've had them for years." She frowned. "I think we need to check for a concussion."

"Nope! Honestly, I'm fine! I just…I just went brain-dead for a second. I remember exactly how I got them now."

I could tell she didn't exactly believe me, but she let it slide and dismissed us.

"Who won the match?" I asked when we were in the corridors. James and Gary exchanged glances.

"We lost," James finally said.

"What?"

"I heard Napier yell something about you and when I looked back, I forgot to grab the Snitch because you'd just burst into flames. Napier's Seeker got it before he realized what'd happened," James said, upset.

"I tried to call it off, that and I tried to erase that goal off your record, but mine and Slytherin's Head of House protested against it and the Headmaster agreed with them. I really am sorry," Gary said.

I put my head against the wall, trying to get it together.

"Nike?" James asked after a minute of silence from me. "It wasn't your fault."

"You okay?" Gary asked, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder.

I took a deep breath and then stepped away from the wall before I beat my head against it.

"Yeah," I said. I was taken aback by the emotion radiating off of him. Normally he was so unreadable. I just wanted to stand there and gawk at this side of him, but, of course, I smirked and said,

"Don't get to cocky with that one goal, 'cause it ain't happenin' again."

"Wouldn't think of it," he smirked. "See ya around Keep."

"I'd better, Napier." He smiled (which was another thing I hadn't seen him do in public), and then nodded at James.

"Potter."

"Napier," James replied politely. Once Gary was gone, James raised a curious eyebrow at me.

"What?" The look he was giving me was confusing me.

"What's goin' on between you and Napier?" he asked, like it was the number one thing he needed to know. "I mean, I thought your kiss on New Year's was nothing, but now…now I'm not so sure…"

"You're a freak," I told him, rolling my eyes. I thought he'd have asked this months ago. He was just a bit slow sometimes. Sad that Weasley had beat him to it, huh?

"Yeah, that's already been established," James said airily. "So spill it."

"Isn't this 'girl talk'?" I questioned him, smirking.

"Yeah, well now that I have my Lily-flower and she has me, I feel bad for the rest of my fellow Marauders being alone, in a sense."

"So now you're going to play matchmaker? Isn't that...oh, I dunno, more of a Sirius job?"

"That's corny, Nik."

"No, I didn't mean serious, I meant Sirius."

"Like I said..."

"Whatever. You're playing matchmaker?"

"For us Marauders, yes. Oh! And Tonks, but you know her and Remus are practically a package deal."

"And Sirius?"

"Well, we all realized that you and him ain't happenin', so…I don't know. But he's doing pretty well on his own picking up girls, so I might leave it up to him."

"I worry about you James."

"Fine. I guess you won't tell me about your relationship with Napier—"

"'Cause there isn't one—"

"Yeah, whatever. So let's move on to a different subject."

"Like…?"

"What happened out there?" Here he showed genuine concern, not his just moments ago mischievousness.

"Promise not to tell the others yet?"

"Promise," he agreed wholeheartedly. I nodded and then told him about the weird vision-thing.

"So you're a Parselmouth?" he asked.

"I'm a what?" I wasn't sure if he'd just insulted me or not.

"A Parseltongue. They can talk to snakes. It's usually a Slytherin Heir trait."

"Heir?" I questioned.

"There are four Heirs to each House, which means they are the direct descendents of the four founders. For example, there's a ghost here that was the second and last Heir to Ravenclaw. Her mother was the one of the founders of the school, the founder of Ravenclaw, but she died before she had any kids, so she was the last Heir to that House."

"Oh."

James tapped his fingers against his leg, a thoughtful expression on his face. "And the snake bit you, you said?"

"Yeah." I pulled the fabric away to show him.

He came over and laid his fingers on it, and pulled back with a hiss. "It's burning hot, Nik. Look." He held up his fingers that had touched the marks, and they were bright red.

"Damn. This is so confusing."

He nodded. "You said a girl was there, speaking in Parseltongue?"

"Yeah. Something like that. I think," I muttered incoherently.

"Then you said you saw the girl again, and then a huge snake?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"What if the snake is her, or she's the snake?" James' eyes met mine. "And the snake you described…that's no good Nik."

"Why?"

"Because that snake…her name was Nagini. Voldemort's snake."

"Then that could be…" I trailed off, understanding. James nodded.

"That could be a sure sign that Voldemort is back."

A/N: Yup, so, one chappy at a time now, just because there's TWO chapters left! Yes, TWO chapters left before book one is done! Are you guys as excited/sad as I am? Why am I sad? Well, I dunno…it's just been really exciting because this was my first FanFic ever, and now it's damn close to finally being complete! And of course I'm excited, because now…now the journey begins!

Anyways, my thank-you's:

pikachucat: Why thank you! Hope this one suits you just fine, too!

Eclipse Sundown: Yeah, yeah, whatever. I'm workin' on it. I've gotta bring out SOME suspense, ya know? :)

Alrighty! So, with all of this being said…R&R guys! Thanks!

Nike