Lily and Remus were walking down the Hogwarts Express, they were meant to be doing their prefect patrols but it had just descended into a slow walk down the train whilst they chatted. They had been friends since first year but had become closer this year because they patrolled together, Lily had even had a slight crush on him back in fourth year before she decided that she preferred him as a friend. They had talked about their exams and had just finished a conversation about the Quidditch World Cup in August, Lily had found out that Remus and the other marauders were all going to be there. Lily wasn't as annoyed as she thought she would've been. She had been able to view Potter in a more civil light now that he stayed far away from her. Remus had given her a sideways glance when he mentioned James.
"What?" Lily asked when she caught this. Remus shrugged, his hands in the pockets of his faded jeans.
"I dunno I was just expecting you to get angry or something. We all know you hate James."
Lily sighed. "I don't hate him. I just..." she flapped her hands, "don't like him." Remus raised an amused eyebrow at this, making her feel compelled to justify herself. "I don't like how he's always so arrogant, picking on random people just for the hell of it. I don't like how he thinks he's God's gift to women just because he's good at Quidditch," she stopped and crossed her arms, "I don't like how he embarrasses me in front of everyone by always asking me out just for a laugh, making the idea of someone going out with me into such a joke."
Remus' eyebrows had risen half in surprise and half in amusement at this point, she was on a roll now and wasn't going to stop.
"And then he made me into some sort of perfect prefect, rule following she-devil by making a big deal out of it when I told teachers on him." She threw her hands up exasperatedly at this, "I mean, I told the teachers because people were at risk with some of his stupid pranks, and then he'd make me angry so I just carried on writing him up." Lily leaned against the wall opposite Remus "and I don't like how he always picked on Severus. I know that a lot of the time Sev provoked it. But still. Potter didn't have to be such a prick back to him." Lily had run out of gusto now and her and Remus carried on their patrol.
"There's a lot you don't know about James, Lily. He's not all bad." Remus said quietly.
Lily laughed mirthlessly. "You're probably right Remus I'm just going off the Potter that I've seen almost every day for the last 5 years and that's what he has to show for it. He might very well be perfectly lovely when he's with you lot but I think people need to be integral. Not constantly changing faces around different people." Lily's voice had turned hard, Remus sensed that she wasn't just talking about James now.
"I'm sorry." He said gently. Lily turned to him.
"For what?"
"For Snape and how things ended with you two, there's nothing worse than losing someone you thought you could trust." Lily looked at him, he'd said that with such conviction. It made her wonder what friends he might have lost.
She looked out the window. "I'm sorry too..." they both trailed off into a thoughtful silence. Lily breaking it after a few moments. The train was now coming into London. "Look, we're almost there we should tell people to start getting ready to get off." Remus nodded and the two Gryffindor prefects started warning the students. The Hogwarts express steadily made its way through London to Kings Cross marking the end of another school year.
James Potter was lying on a leather couch in the Family's country home. He was wearing a pair of comfortable muggle shorts and a hooded sweatshirt zipped up halfway, revealing a tanned chest. He was barefoot and had his gangly legs draped over the armrest whilst he threw an old quaffle into the air and caught it again. He was listening to the Beatles on a muggle record player that he and Sirius had found in London last year and the marauders had bewitched it to work on magic and in magical places. James loved this record but he was listening to it for the 7th time. He'd been out of Hogwarts for two days and was already bored stiff. He had been so bored he had done all of the work that had been set at the end of the year to help them transition to NEWT level subjects.
Sirius wouldn't be here for another week because his parents always insisted they parade him around at pure blood functions in an attempt to make it seem like the heir to the Black family name was still respectable despite the apparent 'mistake' that he'd been sorted into the wrong house. This usually consisted of Sirius being forced into ornate robes at wand point and told to smile and nod to all the heads of the families as he stood for hours whilst the Blacks mingled. A sour taste always entered James' mouth when he thought of Sirius' family. He didn't know the whole story about his best friends upbringing but he had seen and heard enough to know that they had always been tough on Sirius, attempting to mould him into the perfect Black heir, even resorting to physical and emotional punishments like locking him into a cupboard and withholding food from him or strapping him with a cane. Meanwhile they had babied Sirius' younger brother Regulus. Sirius loved his brother but, although he'd never admit it, he was jealous of how much love his parents had lavished on Regulus when he'd been treated so harshly, he was jealous that Regulus found being the perfect Black so easy but was also angry at his family's bigoted ideals and frustrated that Regulus went along with everything his parents said so willingly. As Sirius had gotten older his parents just treated him worse and in the year that he had been at Hogwarts before Regulus had come his parents had turned his brother against him, constantly telling the brothers how much of a disappointment Sirius was and how proud they were of Regulus. Sirius spent most of the school holidays with James. After his parents had finished putting Sirius on show they didn't really care where he went. James had tried to be there for Sirius but couldn't pretend that he knew what he was going through. His own parents had only ever loved and nurtured James, stopping him when he went too far and picking him up when he fell. They loved Sirius as a surrogate son.
But it wasn't the same.
James was counting the days until Sirius arrived. The Potters and Sirius were going to be in Italy for a week before and after the Quidditch World Cup and James could barely contain his excitement for the match. He'd been trying to relax this summer, going out for runs and leisurely flights on his broom but something that a certain cousin of his had said had wormed its way to the front of his mind and he couldn't stop thinking about it. Was he really as bad as Alice had said he was? He'd always gotten on well with Alice and they'd been close friends since they were babies, she had never been that angry with him in all the time he'd known her. James was loathe to admit it but he felt like everything she had said had been valid, there had been many things he regretted about his latest year at Hogwarts, particularly the latest incident involving a certain red head. James internally groaned as he thought about Lily Evans, he had started really noticing her towards the end of 4th year and then she'd come back in 5th year and James couldn't stop noticing her.
She was gorgeous, and clever, and brave. She was funny too, she had never said anything funny to James personally, but he'd heard stories from Alice and overheard snippets of conversation with her friends. James and Remus sat behind her and Marlene in charms and while Moony had focussed on his charms notes, James had focussed on Evans. Charms was her best class and she could perform them effortlessly, so for the whole year James had been privy to a very entertaining commentary from Lily to Marlene on why professor Flitwick should be minister for magic. Lily's reasons had ranged from "the difference in height and voice pitch between him and the average witch or wizard means when people are speaking they have to concentrate more on understanding what he says and whereabouts he is (his height places him below most people's eyeline), which means they need to actually listen to him. Listening to people could change the future of wizarding politics!" To "I mean his first name is Filius Marlene! That alone makes him a worthy candidate for minister for magic. You can't help but trust a Filius." Her dry commentary had forced James to disguise an outburst of laughter as a violent coughing fit on more than one occasion. James had a serious crush on her and had made it his mission for the year to secure a date with her. They had had a few disagreements in the past when the marauders had done some dramatic pranks on Snape but apart from that James thought he had a pretty good chance. He was popular, clever and had scored over a hundred goals for Gryffindor, and that was just this year! James had kept thinking that until he had first tried to ask her out two weeks into their first term. He face palmed as he vividly remembered the moment.
"Go on James!" Whispered Sirius, "ask her now, she's only with Alice." James looked down the Gryffindor table at Lily Evans. She was eating a treacle tart, dinner was drawing to a close and many other students and teachers had already left. Dumbledore was the only professor remaining at the staff table, merrily humming as he ate the last spoonfuls of his ice cream, but Lily was still laughing with his cousin. He took a deep breath as he made to leave.
"OK! OK! I'm going" he hissed at Sirius.
His heart was pounding, why was he nervous? He'd asked girls on dates before. Not this girl though, a voice in the back of his head whispered. Without thinking about it he ran a nervous hand through his hair, it was something he'd always done. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted a group of Ravenclaw girls giggling and smiling at him as he did so. He stopped short. Did girls like it when he did that? He wondered. He turned and shot a grin at them, they giggled more and blushed when he did so. James was shocked, since when had that happened? Maybe it was the new glasses? Did girls like guys with glasses? A small bubble of pride welled up inside him. Girls thought he was attractive! That was always a plus. He had never cared much for his appearance before but maybe now he would if that was the reaction he got. Remus rolled his eyes and shoved James off the bench.
"You're asking out Lily remember? Not some random Ravenclaws."
James snapped out of his musings. Lily, right, the gorgeous red head. He made his way towards her, strutting slightly as he passed the giggling Ravenclaws. His heart started pounding again as he caught sight of Lily, she was facing away from him. Ok, it'll be fine, just play it cool, he didn't want to seem desperate, be cool, be cool. He swung a leg over the bench opposite her.
"Alright there Evans?" He said casually, attempting to ignore his sweaty palms. She turned to face him.
"I'm fine thanks Potter," she replied raising an eyebrow at their use of last names. James never called her by her last name, why did he just do that? James' breath caught as they locked eyes. Had her eyes always been that green? She was slightly more tanned than at the end of last year and had an adorable splash of freckles across her nose. His body seemed to forget what it was doing and he ended up sitting down before he was fully on the bench, resulting in him almost toppling off backwards. His leg flew up and he clutched at the table as he tried to regain his balance. He ended up kicking the table hard, upsetting Lily's drink which fell over. Straight into Lily's lap, covering her in pumpkin juice.
"Potter!" She shouted "what the hell was that for!"
James' eyes widened and his cheeks burned.
"Crap, I'm so sorry!" James gasped, reaching over the table, napkin in hand. However in his rush to help he ended up slamming his elbow into the butter dish, splattering Alice who was sat scowling next to Evans. James kept mumbling out nonsensical apologies as he dabbed at Lily's lap. His brain had seemed to stop working as well, as none of his words seemed to make sense. He was focused on the mess he was trying to clean up over the table so was startled when Lily shrieked and slapped his hands away.
"POTTER!" James' eyes snapped up to her startlingly green ones, her face was burning as well. "GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME!" James' mouth dropped open as he realised exactly what he had just done. His face heated up even more and he scrambled backwards. He accidentally placed a hand in the gravy as he returned to his seat.
"Evans I'm so sorry." He managed to stutter out. Lily stood up and left the table.
"I can't believe you!" James was lost for words, he couldn't believe what had just happened. He had just accidentally groped Lily Evans. Lily Evans! He looked around, grateful the Ravenclaw girls had already left and saw the marauders, he was oblivious to the headmaster chuckling as he watched James' predicament unfold. Sirius and Peter were clutching at each other as tears streamed down their faces from laughing so hard at what had just occurred. Even Remus was wiping tears away. James locked eyes with him helplessly.
"Ask her then James!" He called. Lily was almost at the door. James stumbled to his feet.
"Evans!" He shouted, so much for not sounding desperate. Lily stopped and seemed to take a deep breath before turning a flushed face towards him, he ran a gravy soaked hand through his hair. "Go out with me." It ended up as sounding like more of a statement than a question and James mentally slapped himself. This was so not going to plan.
"No." She replied shortly before sweeping out of the great hall. Leaving a mortified, dejected James and three marauders and a professor in hysterics. Sirius was howling by now.
"I didn't think you'd actually ask after all that mate!" Shouted a mirthful Remus in between snorts of laughter. James clapped a hand over his eyes groaning, grimacing when he realised it was covered in gravy. He hurriedly made his way to the dorm leaving his dorm mates snorting with laughter. James needed to revise his plan for getting Evans to go out with him. Next time it would be bigger and better. Next time she wouldn't say no.
James shuddered as he remembered his embarrassment that night. That was the first time she had rejected him and most definitely not the last. It had been soon after that that the marauders had mastered the animagus transformation. And James would admit that doing so had inflated their egos. But of course it would have! Becoming an animagus was a seriously complicated piece of magic and they had accomplished it at 15! But that didn't mean that he thought he was better than everyone else. However for the rest of that year he had been getting more attention from the Hogwarts female population and he wasn't afraid to admit that he had had flings with several girls that year, sometimes they had practically thrown themselves at him. What teenage boy would refuse that? None of them had been serious, it was just a bit of fun. A free hook up with a pretty girl with no strings attached. It was common knowledge that he only seriously pursued one girl. Lily Evans. Sure a few of the girls he had pulled got angry with him when the next day he would dramatically ask Evans to date him and even Evans would get mad but then another girl would drag him into a broom closet and it wouldn't matter anymore. He wasn't as bad as Padfoot when it came to girls though. James only ever snogged them, Sirius would... well let's just say Sirius would definitely go farther than that. And Evans had dated other guys that year too! She had gone out with Owen McCartney another 5th year Gryffindor for 2 months or so, well until James had threatened him so much he broke up with her. Marlene slapped him at quidditch practice for that one, it hadn't seemed so bad at the time.
James sat up straight, frowning, on reflection he realised how much he would've hated it if his position with Lily had been reversed. He angrily threw the quaffle into the armchair across from him. He groaned in frustration, he had been such a prat this year. Alice was completely and utterly right. Outside, thunder rumbled and lightning flashed, it had been raining all day today, the first summer storm of many James suspected. He had been stuck inside, another reason for his restlessness and extra time spent thinking. He stomped into the kitchen to make some tea. He didn't realise he was frowning until he heard the voice of his mother from the doorway.
"Why the long face Jimbo?" She questioned brightly.
James smiled in spite of himself at the nickname. He had been at Alice's house when he was less than a year old and his mother had been trying out nicknames for him, she had said that one when Alice was in the room. Alice had been learning to talk and couldn't pronounce James' name properly. She heard Euphemia Potter call her son that and immediately started calling James Jimbo- a name she could pronounce. It had stuck ever since. Very few people called James that. His mum called him that and Alice would call him that. His dad called him that when he was making fun of him and Alice's parents occasionally called him that as well. James turned and smiled at his mother. Her once raven hair was pulled back in a bun, it was now mainly silver with streaks of black running through it and her light brown eyes twinkled as she looked at James. Euphemia was a fairly old witch, but James didn't think she acted like it. She could always see the bright side in any situation and she had a ruthless rebellious streak. She had been one of the ministry's top aurors before she took time off when James was born. Her parents hadn't wanted her to become an auror because they didn't think it was "suitable for a lady". They had refused to pay for her to enter training and constantly tried to dissuade her but Euphemia had told them essentially to bugger off and had gotten into the training programme on a scholarship for acing her NEWTS. She rose through the male dominated ranks swiftly and became head auror within 10 years. She had taken on part time work once James had started going to Hogwarts, and although she was past retirement age she still went in every so often or would be called in on a particularly tricky case. James crossed the kitchen without saying anything and wrapped his mum in a warm hug. She was surprised but hugged him back tightly. James could feel a low laugh from her reverberate through his chest.
"What was that for?" She asked, smiling. James was dismayed to realise how frail she seemed, he often forgot her age and although he knew she was still strong and could take him in a duel, her body was starting to betray her, the laugh lines around her mouth and eyes were deeper than he remembered and new lines had appeared.
"I missed you mum." James said honestly as he looked at her. She stood up on tiptoe to press a gentle kiss to his cheek.
"I missed you too Jimbo. Now why don't you make us a brew and we can discuss what's got you brooding?" James laughed at her bluntness and grudgingly set about making a pot of steaming tea for them both. She always knew when something was bothering him.
A short while later James and Euphemia were sat at a small table in the grand kitchen of The Potter House, both armed with a cup of tea. They were sat in silence as James' mother patiently waited for him to collect his thoughts. James ran a hand through his hair, sighing before starting to talk.
"I haven't been so clever this year mum." Euphemia sat patiently, sipping her tea, gazing at him intently as she listened. "I've been rather prattish I'm afraid." He told her how he had began to notice Lily Evans and his attempts to ask her out had all failed miserably. "I just can't seem to stop myself acting like a right fool whenever she's around. I always try to impress her, and that usually ends up with me picking a fight with someone or saying the stupidest things to her." James took a fortifying sip of his tea and looked at his mum expectantly, she was quiet and motioned for him to continue. James went on to tell her how the person he usually picked a fight with was Snape. He told her about some of the more callous pranks they had pulled on him. He ducked his head and blushed as he retold them. His mum frowned in disapproval at some of his tales but still didn't say anything. He described how more people in his year, mainly Slytherins had been doing more dark magic and being more aggressive to muggleborns. He told her of the incident at the lake where Lily had blown up at him and her insistence that he was an arrogant toe rag, he also mentioned what Snape had said. He got angry just thinking about it, how dare Snape say that to his supposed best friend Evans? Finally, he told her about what Alice had shouted at him. He trailed off soon after this and glanced at Euphemia uncertainly. She was gazing at him thoughtfully as he ran a hand through his hair.
"Am I arrogant mum?" He asked quietly, not daring to look at her, instead he looked into the dregs of his tea, one hand cupping the still-warm mug, the other tugging on his hair. Euphemia gently reached across and pulled his hand out of his hair, holding it in both of her own. Her lips turned upwards at the sight of his extra messy hair.
"I think there's something you're not telling me Jimbo. There's something else about this year that's bothering you isn't there." James sighed again, his face started to heat up.
"I went out with a few girls this year. Well not really going out with them... more like... I dunno like a fling..." he trailed off, eyes fixed on his tea.
"Was this while you were still asking out this Lily Evans?" James cringed and mumbled an affirmative. "Listen to me James." James was now astutely studying the table. He didn't want to look at his mum for fear of what he would see. "Look at me sweetheart." James finally looked up. His mothers eyes were kind as she took him in. "From what I gather you're ashamed of how you treated those girls. Yes?"
James nodded before saying, "it's just... you always taught me when I was younger to treat others how I'd like to be treated, and I feel like I've forgotten that over these last couple of years. I mean, I know I wouldn't like it if I had started going out with a girl and then the next day she was pretending it had never happened and was flirting with some other guy. So I don't know why I thought it was ok."
"You're young James, you make mistakes. And that's ok. The important thing is that you learn from them. And sometimes your emotions can get carried away when you're with people of the opposite sex, I mean merlin knows when I was younger-"
James slapped his hands over his ears and screwed up his eyes. "Mum! Please! I don't need to know what you got up to with dad when you were younger." Mrs Potter was grinning mischievously now, her eyes twinkling.
"Oh, I wasn't even talking about your father James. Now that's a whole different story-" James slammed his head on the table before she could carry on, his face was burning in mortification.
"Spare me!" He cried hiding his face in his hands. Euphemia was outright laughing at his discomfort, she had to clutch on to the table for support. James was grinning at her mirth, he liked to see his mum laughing even if it was at his expense. It was a few moments before she had collected herself enough to resume their conversation. She wiped some tears from her eyes still chuckling.
"Tell me more about this Snape figure." She said, refilling her and James' tea cups. "You haven't gotten on with him since first year, why have you been tussling with him more this year?" His expression darkened as he answered her question.
"Right back at the beginning of the year I saw him and some of his stupid Slytherin friends bullying a muggleborn first year. He cast a body bind at them whilst his friends kept casting stinging hexes at this defenceless 11 year old! I saw them and I just lost it. I stunned the two others but Snivellus was too fast, he levitated his friends and ran and from then on he's just infuriated me constantly." Euphemia frowned at his nickname for Snape.
"You shouldn't call him that James. What were we just talking about." She scolded. James threw his hands up exasperatedly.
"I know but how are you meant to treat someone how you want to be treated. When they treat you badly, and when, quite frankly they don't bloody deserve to be treated nicely!"
"Well Lily Evans seems to treat him well and he treats her well in return doesn't he?"
"Well of course he's going to be nice to her. She's his best friend and probably the best thing he's got going for him. But then he went and ruined that by calling her a you know what." Euphemia was frowning again. James felt he needed to carry on. "You're an auror mum. You hunt down death eaters and put them in Azkaban. Am I supposed to be nice to people who openly discriminate against muggleborns and declare their support for Voldemort?" Euphemia sighed and ran a weary hand over her face.
"You're too young to have to deal with death eaters Jimbo... you shouldn't be having to think about these things." James gripped his mother's hand.
"It's too late for that mum. There are bad things starting at Hogwarts and I have to know how to deal with them in the right way. I need to know how to deal with them like a Potter," he squeezed her fingers, "how to deal with them as you would mum." James intently locked eyes with his mum. His darker hazel eyes on her lighter ones. Her eyes seemed suspiciously bright.
"You're a good boy James. You always stand up for what's right. You have a good gut. You should count on your intuition. If you're in a situation where even the tiniest part of you is uneasy then just take a second to think it through, be integral. Don't make rash decisions you might regret. When it comes to how you should act towards students who do things like bully the younger years. You should try and get a teacher involved, maybe send one of your friends off to get them whilst you help the younger student. Only use your wand if it's absolutely necessary because as far as I know magic in the corridors is still against the rules. Although I do know how little you seem to care about the rules." She smiled a bit at that. James grinned ruefully.
"I learnt from the best mum. I still remember that time when i was 10 and you and dad were having a practice duel outside and I would always watch you. And you finally let me have a go using dad's wand." Euphemia grinned nostalgically before snorting out a laugh. She remembered that too, all James had managed to do was shoot a few multi coloured sparks but Monty had pretended to be blown away by it and had dramatically flung himself over a fence when James shot gold sparks at him. His back hadn't been right for weeks afterwards.
"Your father is an excellent duellist. He always says it's because of all the times he duelled people for making fun of his name." James laughed as well.
"See it's not my fault I'm a trouble maker!" He protested, "it's hereditary!" They grinned matching grins at each other.
"Well I suppose me and Monty have no one to blame but ourselves for how you turned out." James clutched his heart in mock offence. His mum reached for his hand again, James obliged her, squeezing gently. "It's getting late." She said, looking at the clock above the kitchen fireplace. "To answer your question Jimbo. No i don't think you're arrogant. I think you have the capacity to be though. You're naturally confident and always have been. You just need to think things through more and maybe that's something you can work on this year. Don't worry yourself over it, take the things that Alice and that Lily girl have been saying on board and learn from them." James nodded thoughtfully at this and Euphemia kissed him on the cheek as she rose and began to leave the kitchen. She stopped in the doorway and smiled knowingly at him. "And as for how you go about trying to get a date with this girl. Why don't you start by getting to know her. Let her see the other side of you, you know the one where you don't act like a bumbling idiot."
"Mum!" James said affronted. But she was on a roll now.
"Maybe if you spend enough time with her you'll be able to string some coherent sentences together."
"Hey!" Euphemia laughed at him again. She then raised a suggestive eyebrow at him.
"Or you could ask your father. He was a natural charmer."
"Mother!" James shouted reaching for something he could throw at her to make her be quiet.
"Oh the things he could make me do." Euphemia finished, smirking at her son.
"Aaaah!" James shouted. "Enough! I'm scarred for life!" Euphemia was laughing uproariously and she shot him a wink before whisking away, the banana James threw at her missed her by inches and James was left slumped at the table seriously considering whether the risks of obliviating himself were worth it if he could forget the last part of their conversation. He did feel better though and he downed a last gulp of tea before heading out of the kitchen in search of a good book.
10.30pm found James in the study talking to his dad. Fleamont Potter looked very much like his son. He had messy hair that had once been black but was now entirely grey. He had the same lanky build as James and their faces were similar. However the sharp angles of James' face- his pronounced cheekbones and sharp jaw had been inherited from Euphemia's side of the family. James had found a good novel and had gone into the study to read it but he had just ended up talking Quidditch instead.
"I reckon I've got a pretty good chance at captain this year now Wood's left." He was telling his father. "I think it could be me or Sirius and to be honest, if either of us got it we'd just end up being co-captains anyway." Fleamont, or Monty as his wife and most of their friends referred to him as had just opened his mouth to reply, when a massive fork of lightning split the sky outside the window, making both men jump.
"Bloody hell." Muttered Monty as he crossed the room to the window. "It's absolutely dismal out there isn't it." James could only agree, it had been one of the worst storms he could remember. Suddenly, over the thunder, a very different sound could be heard. It was the chiming of the doorbell. James raised a curious eyebrow and left to see who it could be. He gripped his wand in his pocket as he quickly made his way towards the door. Who would be knocking on the door on a miserable night at this time? Monty was a short distance behind James as they made their way to the porch. James tapped on the front door with his wand at the same place where a peephole would be on a muggle door and a small section became transparent, enabling him to see who was on their front step but not be seen while he did so. His face paled as he saw who it was and he flung the door open to reveal his best friend Sirius Black. He was stood in the doorway with his school trunk on the floor next to him and his broomstick in his hand. He was wearing black and silver dress robes that were decorated with the insignia of the Black family, they seemed very ornate but it was his face that caught James' attention. He was white as a ghost, blood was dripping on to his fancy robes from a split lip and multiple cuts on his face. He was covered in bruises and had dark bags under his eyes, his face was thinner than it had been a few days ago and his free arm was clutching at his stomach.
"Sirius?" James managed to gasp. Sirius' eyes snapped up to meet his gaze. His steel eyes were swimming with emotion and rain dripped down his long eyelashes. He was a mix of feelings- pain, anger and... fear?
"I'm sorry Prongs." Sirius wheezed, his weak voice alarmed James. "I just... couldn't take it anymore... I can't go back... I can't...please... help me..." James' heart was pounding now, he had never seen Sirius like this before. He took a step towards him and it was then that James Potter's best friend of 6 years collapsed unconscious. James managed to catch him before he hit the ground, he was pulled down to his knees with Sirius' weight and as he repositioned his arm that was under Sirius' stomach he was terrified to see that the sleeve of his jumper was drenched in blood.
Monty immediately burst into action as he saw the blood. He muttered a quick spell and Sirius' unconscious body was levitated.
"James, take him into the kitchen, take off those stupid robes and assess the damage. Get some warm water and a cloth to wash any wounds and keep an eye on his pulse and breathing. I'm going to apparate to town and see if Amedeo Chang can come have a look at him." Amedeo Chang was a healer at St Mungo's and a friend of Mr Potter's. James was staring at Sirius' prone body in shock. "James!" Monty said snapping a finger in front of James' nose. "Focus!" James shook his head to clear it of the shock that was descending in his brain.
"Sirius is counting on you my boy. We need to help him." Monty's voice had softened as James began to regain feeling. James nodded and stood up.
"Got it. Be back as soon as you can." He briskly walked into the kitchen and laid Sirius down on top of a table cloth on the kitchen table. He walked to the floo and put in a pinch of powder before sticking his head in and asking his mum who was in bed to come down as it was an emergency. Euphemia arrived as James had finished pouring warm water into a bowl, and she wordlessly set about administering to Sirius, and speaking concise instructions to James. The bleeding seemed worse from Sirius' abdomen so that's where they decided to start. The robes he was wearing were stiff and fastened at the back, but they couldn't afford to turn him over in case they disturbed the injuries. Euphemia tried to slice down the middle of the robes with a careful diffindo, however, only a thin layer of the robes was cut. Euphemia frowned, it was like the spell only went halfway through.
"Oh, bloody hell." James muttered, frowning. Euphemia looked at him questioningly. "These bloody robes are lined with bloody silver. Sirius told me about these but I thought he was joking." Euphemia was shocked.
"They can't be." She scoffed, "they would weigh too much. It'd be like wearing a suit of armour." James met her eyes, a dark expression on his face.
"Why'd you think they make Sirius wear them? They do it because it's a punishment." Euphemia's face darkened also, a disgusted expression crossed her face.
"Those bastards." She muttered. She then accioed a kitchen knife from across the room and caught it deftly, whilst James watched in disbelief. She held the knife in one hand and her wand in the other "incendio maxima," she incanted. A white hot flame appeared at the tip of her wand and she held the kitchen knife to the heat.
"Mum? What are you doing?" James spluttered, "is that safe?"
"We're getting these damn robes off him James." She snapped, her eyes blazing in fury. She proceeded to gently lift the neck of Sirius' robes and slide the knife under them, ensuring the searing implement didn't touch his bloodied skin. She swiftly and cleanly sliced the robes in half, the knife cutting through the thin silver like butter. She sliced from the neck of the robes, down the torso and through the heavy belt that rested above Sirius' hips. Her and James both gasped at the sight that greeted them as their eyes traveled down the teenager's body. Sirius' muscled chest was dotted with bruises, the whole right side of his ribs was a purple mess, he had various thin cuts lancing across his torso and several bloodied bruises that looked suspiciously like they had been caused by a cane. As James studied Sirius he let out a choked gasp as his eyes fell on his best mate's waist where the belt had rested. The inside of the large black belt was inlaid with bloody silver spikes about a half inch long. The oozing wounds wrapped around Sirius and were the source of the blood on James sleeve. He immediately slid one arm behind Sirius's back and another behind his thighs and raised his body off the table. His voice was hard as he looked at his mum whose eyes were filled with tears.
"Get rid of that belt mum." She obliged and James gently set him down. "I think healer Chang will be here soon, so we should clean him up and stop the bleeding as best we can." Euphemia nodded, her face shifting into a professional mask.
"I'll start at his face and work down, you start at his waist and work up. Stick with a cloth, we don't know what kind of spells may have been used and don't want to make it any worse." James nodded and with a quick wave of Mrs Potter's wand a duplicated cloth and bowl of water was next to James. They silently began tending to Sirius who was mercifully still out cold. Euphemia's shoulders were tense and James was clenching his jaw, but both Potters worked with gentle hands, each cursing Sirius' twisted parents as they washed off blood that had been spilt by his own family.
They had just finished cleaning up the cuts on Sirius' front and had lightly bandaged him and were about to try and turn him over so they could investigate the damage to his back when Mr Potter arrived, with Amedeo Chang in tow. Healer Chang was in his twenties, with smoothed back black hair and a kind, oriental complexion. He went straight to Sirius' side after a hasty greeting to Euphemia and James, he placed the leather bag he had brought with him on the floor and started examining the young Black. The Potters waited anxiously for healer Chang to finish muttering spells and mumbling to himself. He eventually turned to Euphemia and James.
"There should be no lasting damage." He said firmly, "I will be able to patch him up and then he'll require a few days of bed rest and good meals. I will order some potions for healing and pain control and get them to you promptly." Chang then hesitated before adding, "that's all I can say about his physical condition. His mental state is a different matter entirely. This looks like serious abuse. I don't know if you'll be able to claim anything legally and I shall leave that to Mr Black to consider." He then turned to James and Euphemia, "you did a wonderful job cleaning him up, but if I might ask you to step outside whilst I tend to him." James nodded slightly and gently tugged his mother out into the hallway. He sat in the dining room, with his elbows resting on his knees and his face in his hands as he waited for Chang to heal his best mate, mentally berating himself for not making more of an effort to check on Sirius while he was with his psychotic family.
James wasn't going to sleep until he knew Sirius would be ok.