Chapter 14: Apologies, conflict and …petrified cat?
The two of them got into James's dorms with little trouble as almost everyone was still asleep. It was only a few minutes after 6 in the morning and breakfast didn't start till 7. Inside the dorm James and Triss were surprised to find Dray fully dressed and getting ready to exit the dorms.
"What the hell happened to you?" Dray asked seeing James's body.
"Practice got a bit rough," said James taking his weight off Triss. He limped over to his trunk and opened it up to the armor and gym. Slowly he walked down the stair with Triss and Dray close behind. "I'm going to take a shower and clean these out but I need your help to stitch them up," said James motioning to Triss. He then grabbed a clean pair of boxers and headed over to the shower.
"What are you going to do about his ribs?" asked Dray.
"There is nothing I can do. The potion we take to stop life threatening injuries, and in my case, heal any inflicted wound, messes with his magic to the point where any injury he gets while the potion is in his blood stream can't be healed with any kind of magic," said Triss pulling out the stuff she would need to stitch James's cuts closed.
Dray thought for a second before exiting the trunk. He returned a few minutes later with a potions bottle. "Try this. It's a salve used to numb and heal broken bones. There are no magical ingredients and potions isn't really magic so it should work," he said handing her the bottle.
"You are a genius Dray," said Triss inspecting the bottle. Dray smiled at her and left. Several minutes later James returned clean and dry in fresh boxers. "Sit," said Triss pointing to the bench where all the supplies to stitch him up were.
20 minutes later the three gashes were stitched closed. "Lay down," said Triss.
"Why?" asked James wincing as he accidentally jarred his ribs.
"Dray gave me a salve to help your ribs heal faster," she said forcing James to lie on his back. James groaned as Triss gently messaged the salve into his chest.
"You didn't say it would numb out the pain as well," said James after Triss finished with the salve.
Triss grinned at him capping the potion bottle when James caught sight of her neck. "I'm going to kill that bastard," said James closely inspecting the finger marks on her neck.
"Leave it alone Shadow. It's not worth getting in trouble over," she said rubbing the bruises.
"Let me heal them," said James tilting her head up.
"No, you need to concentrate on healing yourself, not me. I'll be fine," she said gently pushing James's hand away.
"Healing a few bruises won't mess with my energy Triss," said James making another move to heal her.
Triss pushed his hand away again. "Yes, but you would be going against the doctors orders," she said throwing him jeans, a t-shirt, and his robes. "Get dressed, I'm going to take a shower really quick," she said grabbing her own clothes from a wardrobe in the corner by the stairs.
When Triss was ready to leave it was 7:15 and James could sense the awaking students. "Come on, I want to get down to the hall before everyone starts to get up," said James throwing an arm over Triss's shoulder and leading her out of the dorm and threw the common room into the hall.
"Do you promise not to kill Snape?" Triss asked, looking up at James's towering form as they walked toward the great hall. He had grown an inch and a half over the summer and puberty had just started to kick in.
"I won't kill him but he and I are going to have a little talk about how he treats my friends. In fact there he is now, you go on and I'll meet you in the hall," said James as Snape walked around a corner.
Snape didn't even have time to see James before he was dragged into a secret passage. "What is the meaning of this?!?!" Snape demanded.
"Shut up. Don't ever lay a hand on any of my friends ever again unless you want to be in a world of pain. You know damn well that Triss was abused as a child and I came really close to losing her today. If she with drew into her self she wouldn't come out," James said in a deadly low voice as the potions master stared at him in horror.
James didn't even give Snape time to respond before walking out of the passage and into the hall. He dropped his menacing aura and went and sat down between Triss and Ginny.
"You didn't kill him did you?" Triss asked him in a whisper.
"No, I just scared him shitless," said James grinning at her.
Triss rolled her eyes but sighed in relief when Snape walked into the hall unharmed, if a bit shaky. The group started talking about pranks to pull in the near future when Evans walked up to James. "The Headmaster would like to see you Mr. Cage, please follow me," she said turning and starting to walk away.
James stood and followed her to a large Gargoyle on the second floor. "Jolly Rancher," she said. The Gargoyle moved revealing a moving staircase. Evans motion for James to go up before walking away. James stepped onto the moving staircase and let it carry him up.
At the top he was met with a door that lead into a large circular office. He walked into the office and saw that the Headmaster was nowhere to be seen. 'I bet he's going to try that intimidation act,' James thought taking a seat in one of the chairs near the Headmasters desk.
A loud trill caught his attention. Sitting on a wooden perch was a large red and golden phoenix. "Hello there," said James to the phoenix.
'Hello young one. I am Fawkes; I suggest you keep your eyes on the Headmaster. He has been scheming again,' Fawkes thought to him.
'Thank you Fawkes; I am James Cage as you probably know. Can you do me a favor?' James asked.
'Probably, what do you wish of me?' asked Fawkes.
'Anything you here that could concern me I need to know. If the Headmaster has any meetings that as to do with me, or one of my companions, I want to know about it,' thought James.
'I can do that young shifter. Do you have any familiars I can get to give you these messages? It would look rather strange for the Headmaster's Phoenix to go and have a staring contest with a student,' Fawkes thought with a chuckle.
'Yes, I have my owl Sapphire and my snake Jewel. Either would happily deliver a message to me,' James thought back.
'I'll see what I can do. Here comes the Headmaster, you best sit back down,' Fawkes thought to him before ending the connection.
James quickly moved a way from the Phoenix and sat back down in his chair. A moment later Dumbledore came strolling into the office. "Ah, Mr. Cage. Lemon drop?" he asked after sitting at his desk.
"No, thanks," said James.
"Well, on to the reason why you're here. I have gotten a report from a Professor that you were playing overly rough with another student and that one of you was hurt. Is this true?" Dumbledore asked.
"No sir," James lied easily. Almost instantly he felt someone trying to break threw his mental barriers. "That's invasion of privacy," said James when Dumbledore stopped.
Dumbledore gave him a piercing glare but James was unfazed. "No matter, I have all the proof I need from Professor Lockhart. You will be serving detention with him tonight at 7 in his class room," said the professor.
"Actually you have no proof but what ever you say Professor," said James before turning to exit the room.
"I did not dismiss you Mr. Cage," said Dumbledore.
James turned to face the Headmaster. "I dismissed myself sir. I don't need your approval as I have no reason to be here," said James turning back to the door. "By the way, I'm not going to that detention because I know your bluffing," said James before pulling the door shut.
'What was that about?' Triss's voice asked.
'Your dear Grandfather is being a pain in my ass,' James replied.
'Old codger,' Triss thought.
James chuckled. 'My thoughts exactly, anyway I'll meet you in the common room in a few minutes,' James thought before starting his trek to the dungeons think about how grateful he was it was Saturday.
When he got to the common room he was happy to see all of the Hunters present. "Who wants to play a little prank on the Headmaster?" asked James. Most of the group stared at him like he was insane. "Don't look at me like that. He's been a bit of a pain in the ass to day," said James flopping down in the couch next to Triss.
"What happened this morning anyway?" asked Triss.
"He was on about our practice session this morning. He said that Lockhart had seen it and they thought I was being overly rough. It was obvious that he didn't know what the hell he was talking about so I left. He tried to give me a detention but there was no probable cause so I don't have to go," said James simply.
"You being overly rough! You got shredded this morning," said Triss shaking her head at him.
"I still kicked your ass," said James crossing his arms.
"That's it," said Triss, pouncing on him. The two fell out of the chair and on to the floor while trying to pin one another. Triss got the upper hand for a minute when they tumbled to the floor and was able to pin his arms with her legs and straddle him. "Give up?" she asked.
"Nope," said James flipping over and pinning her arms over her head and her legs with his own while sitting on her.
"As much as I enjoy watching students try and kill each other I'm going to have to step in," said a voice from behind them.
"Hello Professor," said James looking up at Snape. Quickly he got off of the struggling Triss and pulled her to her feet.
"Follow me Mr. Cage," said Snape walking out of the common room and into the hall. James followed him until they reached his office. "I wanted to apologize for me behavior this morning. It was uncalled for and extremely rude," said Snape after they had made themselves comfortable.
"Apology accepted. I suggest you don't pull that stunt again. As you probably know Triss and I are bound to each other. Some of what she feels I feel, and it's not the most pleasant sensation to have someone else's emotions running rampant in your mind," said James. He was still trying to figure out why he was compelled to be so open with Snape.
"Alright Mr. Cage. The Headmaster also wished me to speak to you about your behavior problem. Officially you should not talk to Professors in that manor, unofficially, what did you do to piss him off so bad?" asked Snape with a Slytherin grin.
"He said that I was being overly rough with Triss this morning. It was obvious he had no idea what he was talking about. I got shredded this morning," said James fingering the gash on his side.
"Yes, why is that little mark not healed?" asked Snape having seen the gashes with his own eyes.
"Both Triss and I take a potion that prevents any irreparable damage. In Triss's case, she is healed over automatically but the potion doesn't react quite right with my healing powers and therefore doesn't allow them to heal by magical means. Right now I'm using a potion to numb and accelerate the healing of my broken ribs," said James.
"I thought you said that magic didn't work on your wounds?" said Snape getting annoyed and confused.
"Technically potions aren't magic unless you use a magical ingredient. Belladonna, snakeskin and the like are things that muggles could get just as easily as we could. They just don't know what would happen if you mixed it together in a certain order," said James smirking a bit at out witting the potions master.
"And you came up with this theory?" asked Snape.
"Nope, Dray did. He's brilliant when he wants to be, but he's mostly a dumb ass," said James cheerfully.
"Right then. You're dismissed," said Snape motioning to the door.
"Bye sir," said James walking out the door and back to his dorm.
The month and a half until Halloween passed by with little problem. Lockhart was grinding on everyone's nerves however. All he did was talk about himself. James had taken up teaching the Hunters again, not that he minded. Lockhart and Dumbledore had both taken to jumping down James's throat whenever they had the chance, which resulted in several detentions on his part but none of them were that bad as they were with Snape.
He and Triss had started using the trunk full time for practices as one of the professors was normally out by the pitch yearly in the morning, increasing there annoyance. James had stopped taking the potion and was able to heal himself instead of waiting for it to heal naturally.
Potter's class was as boring as ever, for James and Triss at least. They had covered all of that years ago out of boredom. Almost every other class was the same. The best thing was Quidditch practice. Both Triss and Dray had made the team, Triss as a chaser and Dray as a beater. The keeper, a 5th year named Montague, had been made captain and was worse than Flint, if that was possible.
Drills started at 6 in the morning and went on till 8. At night they ran from 6:30 till 10:30 because of a special note from Snape, and that was only on weekdays. On weekends they went from 10 am till 4 pm. Needless to say James, Triss and Dray were completely worn out by the time they returned to their dorms.
It was now the night of Halloween, thankfully Halloween fell on a weekend. "Shadow lets go. I don't want to be late to the feast!" yelled Triss pulling James into the great hall. James didn't really want to go because Quidditch practice had just ended 2 hours ago and he was ready to sleep, sleep and sleep some more.
James was pretty much sleeping as they walked and only really woke up when Triss slammed him into his seat at the Slytherin table. "Okay, okay I'm up," he said stretching his muscles while giving him self a little mental shock to wake his drowsy brain.
"About time," said Triss sitting down next to him. The rest of the Hunters, bar Mel, gathered around them, and started chatting about different things and the prank that they were planning on playing on the headmaster. Not to long after the feast really started and everyone was having an all around good time.
About half way threw the feast Ron Weasley and his lackeys, Dean Thomas and some other kid that had a reputation for setting things on fire or blowing them up approached them. "It's a shame really. A Weasley in Slytherin, a disgrace to the family that is. Fred and George are almost as bad but at least they aren't in the house," said Ron sneering at Ginny as he neared the table.
Ginny stood from her seat and ran out of the hall in tears. "What the Hell is your problem Weasley?!?!" James yelled standing from his own seat. Fred and George were soon to follow.
"Yeah, we were perfectly happy before you showed up," said Fred.
"And if anyone is a disgrace to the family it's you. Family loyalty above all else," George continued.
"If mom ever heard what you just said she would strangle you her self, and that's if Bill and Charlie didn't get to you first," Fred finished.
Ron paled. "Triss and I are going to go find Ginny. You guys can deal with him," said James walking out of the hall with Triss close behind. They had just finished searching the third floor when they ran into Jewel. Have you seen Ginny? asked James.
Yes, she went up to the 4th floor, said Jewel as a loud scream echoed threw the castle.
James took off to the 4th floor and ran down a corridor where Ginny stood looking at the wall in horror. James stopped dead at what he saw. On the wall was 'Enemies of the heir beware,' written in bright red letters that was obviously blood. Below that was Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris, hanging by her tail to a lantern stiff as a board.
"Oh shit!" said a voice from behind him. Triss and Mel stood staring at the message and petrified cat. James took Jewel from around Triss's neck and put her in his robes as he heard approaching footsteps.
"What is going on here?" asked the voice of Filch himself. James turned to look at Filch as the man looked shell shock at his cat. "Mrs. Norris?" Filch asked in a squeaky voice. "WHO KILLED MY CAT?!?!" Filched yelled in the silence. He started to walk towards Ginny with a slightly insane glint in his eye.
James stepped in between them. "I don't know who killed your cat but it defiantly wasn't Gin," said James.
"I'll kill ya!" said Filch grabbing James by his robes and pulling his fist back as if to hit him. Filch's arm was grabbed by an irate looking Snape. Behind him stood Evans, Potter, Lockhart and Dumbledore.
"That little brat killed my cat!" said Filch pointing at James.
"Sir I only just got here. I didn't have time to kill a stupid cat," said James looking at the Headmaster.
"I would have to agree Headmaster. Mr. Cage and Ms. Summers left the hall only a few minutes before the scream," said Snape.
"Who was it that screamed?" asked Dumbledore.
"Ginny," said Mel.
"And where were you during this Ms. Crew during this?" asked Dumbledore.
"I had detention with Professor Lockhart until about 10 minutes ago. I was on my way to the feast when I heard Ginny scream and I bumped into Triss," said Mel.
"Well I want you all to return to your dorms right now," said the Headmaster.
"Mr. Cage, please stop by my office after class tomorrow," said Snape before following the Headmaster to his office with the murderous Filch and his petrified cat.
(Important A/N: School is officially kicking my ass. I'm trying to type during the free time that I have but that has been cut back considerably by my father as I have a C in Spanish. He said that I have to finish the semester with a B or I will have my computer privileges temporarily removed. On another note, I'm in desperate need of ideas for second year. As I've said before most of my planning went into the summer of 2nd year and on. Read & Review.)
Review responses:
Shadow Wolf0987: That's one tally to Snape and Tonks. Hopefully more votes will come in. My Beta readers are leaning towards SS/HG, RL/HG, MC/SS, or MC/RL.
Athenakitty: Yes, Yes, yes and you shall see.
Darak: Probably not THAT tall. Somewhere around 6'6" sounds good to me. You really have to take into account the fact that he is a little more than half elf and all elven people are really tall.
ER: That makes two of us. I couldn't stand the thought of putting Gin anywhere but Slytherin.
ZeonReborn: I know how 11 year olds act. They are pompous and think they know everything. To think I was like that once. : - ) Well, look at how the other younger characters act. They act like teenagers, a little bit anyway. Now take James and Triss. Triss was abused most of her childhood there for I think she would act a little bit more mature than most, Kat for almost the same reason. James saw both of his 'parents' murdered right in front of him plus all of these extra powers he has. Dragon let them go out on their own because he trusts them enough not do something stupid and get hurt. Does that justify my characters? Now, yes I plan to go threw 7th year and on to the final battle and maybe a bit further than that but I will NOT be following their kids threw Hogwarts. I have two other stories I'm working on when I'm not working on this and I plan to focus on them after this is finished, maybe sooner pending on how much free time I will have in the coming months. It's only November and the teachers are already on us about end of the year exams.
Momma-dar: Thank you.
Jenaleyn: Sorry, can't help but let James get banged up a bit. Gin being in Slytherin doesn't cause a whole lot of trouble, except with Ron and Percy.
Wytil: I don't know what things are coming to these days. Everything seems normal to me, Gin in Slytherin and Fred and George wanting in as well. I don't know about Sev seeing the practice though. (Taps fingers rhythmically while thinking.) O'well, Slytherins rule so what are you going to do. (Shrugs shoulders and continues typing chapter 15.)
Gaul1: Thank you.
Bailyy: Thanks.