Author's Note:

QLFC Season 11 Round 5

Team: Wigtown Wanderers

Position: Chaser 2

Word Count: 2222, excluding the A/N

Prompt: Hanging Gardens Of Babylon

Optional Prompts: Cautious, awe, Aparecium

WARNING: Mentions of curses, tombs, injuries, getting lost

I sat on a bench, tired of having my friends dragging me all around Iraq. Peter sat next to me, giving up on running after James and Sirius.

We had graduated from Hogwarts a few months ago, and because James was worried about proposing to Lily, I suggested taking a break from Britain. For the rest of us, it was a break from the war. We went to Hillah, Babil Province in Iraq, a country Peter had been to as a child.

"They're already coming back…" Peter grumbled.

"They don't take breaks, do they? It's as if they took the Invigoration Draught…" I added, watching the two run towards them.

"Mate, get up and come with us!" Sirius exclaimed, suddenly standing next to me.

"Where will we go this time?" I asked.

"There's a huge souvenir shop nearby. It might even have something you like, Moony," James said.

"Are you—" Peter began, but before he could finish, James was pulling him to a random street.

We walked on a sandy path. At first we passed some vegetable markets and groups of people chatting in Arabic, but after a few turns left and right, we found ourselves in a lane lined with old houses.

"Padfoot, do you have any idea where we are?" I asked, concerned.

"No.." he replied, looking at his surroundings, "Peter, since you've been here before, do you know where we are?"

"The last time I came here I was eight, Padfoot!" Peter exclaimed, worry written on his face, "Maybe we could try apparating back to a place we know?"

"That wouldn't work, because we've only been here for two days and none of us remember any place in Iraq well enough," James said, running his hand through his hair.

Sirius sighed as they continued walking wearily. We took a few more turns, but I gave up on finding a way back, so I stopped walking.

"We'll get even more lost if we continue," I said.

They stopped walking, or rather, wandering.

"Wait a second," James ordered, "Where's Padfoot?"

I turned around, searching for him with James while Peter called out his name. Where was he? Knowing him, he wandered off somewhere… could they get any more lost? But soon I spotted him coming back from wherever he was.

"Padfoot, where were you?! And what happened to your arm?!" I yelled.

"My arm is fine," Sirius replied, even though the bruise looked nasty. He quickly healed it using his wand.

"That looked bad. Where'd you get hit?" James asked.

"Don't know," Sirius answered, "One second it was there and another it wasn't."

Sirius was so reckless… he really needed someone to add the word 'cautious' in his vocabulary.

"...Well, where were you?" I asked again, getting the feeling he was avoiding my question.

"I was just exploring, Moony! I felt something magically alluring over there," he said, pointing to an area near a vacuous lake.

"We should take a look!" James exclaimed, not watching me as I shook my head.

James was absolutely crazy… I obviously disagreed. We should steer clear of that place, even if it wasn't dangerous. Their curiosity was disastrous.

"For all we know it could be a dark, cursed place, Padfoot! What were you thinking?!" I exclaimed.

"Well, for all we know, it could be an awesome place!" he replied.

James chimed in agreement. "Come on, Moony. We have nothing else to do."

I agreed, albeit reluctantly, to join them in uncovering the alluring place Padfoot told us about. They were uncontrollably reckless, but maybe their curiosity could lead to something good.

After a few minutes of walking, Sirius stopped at what seemed like a random area. "It's here."

"There's nothing here," James remarked.

There was truly nothing there. It was just a plain lowland with no one in sight and no buildings anywhere.

"None of you feel it?" he asked, raising one eyebrow in confusion.

"Honestly Padfoot, I don't know what you're talking about," Peter replied, just as confused as I was.

Whatever Sirius was feeling was hidden and unseen. I tried to recall a spell that revealed anything hidden. Luckily, I managed to remember it.

"Aparecium!" I said, pointing my wand at the air.

A huge building appeared. It was one remarkable feat of engineering with a series of tiered gardens containing various trees, shrubs, blossoming flowers, vines, and burbling waterfalls. It resembled a huge green garden constructed of mud bricks with high walls held by pillars.

"Wow, this is so cool…" Peter whispered.

"It's awesome!" James said, "How come no one found this before?"

"It was most likely hidden from the muggles with magic. I'm glad we're the first to find it!" Padfoot exclaimed cheerfully.

"But how could it be hidden from muggles if it was created by them?" I asked, knowing no one had the answer.

"You know this place?" Sirius asked.

"This place is one of the seven wonders of the world," I explained, "It's called the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. This place is believed to be mythical or destroyed centuries ago, depending on who you ask. There are a lot more theories about this place."

"I can't believe muggles made this," James said in disbelief.

"If not for the other wonders, I wouldn't believe it either," I said in agreement.

"Why don't we try going on top?" James suggested curiously.

This was precisely the thing I didn't want. Just because his curiosity led to one amazing discovery didn't mean it could lead to another. On top of that, it was created by muggles yet hidden from them, which seemed extremely suspicious to me. I had a feeling it was cursed.

"Good idea, Prongs!" Sirius said, starting to look for a staircase or a way to get up. Peter did the same.

"What if it's cursed?" I asked uneasily.

"Moony, it's created by muggles! You said it yourself. It can't be cursed," James said, apparently forgetting it was hidden from them with magic.

"But it was hidden by magic. It could be cursed after it was made," I replied, but he and Sirius rolled their eyes.

"Moony, stop overthinking. We'll be fine," Sirius assured me, but the feeling didn't leave as I helped them look for a way up.

After a while, Peter told us he found a staircase. We followed him and climbed it.

"You three better be cautious," I warned, but they explored like little children, heedless of my warning.

I forgot about my theory as I explored the vast greenery with them though. There were so many unique plants and beautiful flowers. I felt like I was on a mountain. It was very different compared to Iraq's desert-like lowlands.

I wondered how the plants were still in good condition, let alone alive, or how there was still the ripe fruit Peter was eating. This place was magical.

I plucked a fruit and ate it, cherishing its soft texture and sweet juiciness. I was about to pluck another one when something, or maybe someone, fell.

I turned around to see James running away from me and Sirius, with Peter nowhere to be found. I knew there was something bad about this place…

"Peter!" I shouted as I followed James, Sirius right behind me.

"Peter's down there," James said, pointing to an almost invisible square door in the grass next to a tree.

"Peter, are you okay?" I asked loudly.

"Kind of," Peter replied, a hint of fear and pain in his voice. "I think I broke my left arm and my leg."

"How did he fall?" Padfoot asked.

"No idea. This door is probably fragile, so maybe it opened when Peter stood on it," James said, opening the door.

"I told you to be more careful…" I said as I cautiously stepped closer to the opening.

It was dim but not too dark, so I could see that it was indeed deep enough to break a bone or two. It wasn't the first time their reckless curiosity was troublesome. Couldn't they just be cautious?

Sirius cut a long, durable-looking vine and gave it to James who transfigured it into a long ladder. He got down, and I assumed he was going to fix Peter's bones, but Sirius went down after him.

"Padfoot, why did you get down?" I asked.

"To explore." Instead of Sirius replying, James did.

Didn't their desire to explore lead to Peter's broken bones? Did they need more consequences than that? I sighed but I came down anyway, just to make sure they wouldn't die.

Peter was already back on his feet once I arrived. Seems like they were waiting for me to explore this large, dim room.

"You guys better be more cautious or I'll get Lily —" I began, but James interrupted me.

"You're no fun," James replied, "But fine. Only if you explore with us, though."

I rolled my eyes. "Lumos Duo."

We wandered in the room, looking at the objects around us. There were elegant paintings hung on the walls. Some were of The Hanging Gardens of Babylon from different points of views and others were of royals. There were also vintage vases and sculptures, as well as some furniture.

"Look over there! There's a big vent," Peter said, pointing to a corner in the room.

We walked towards it, and I got uneasy again.

"It's much bigger the closer we are. It's the perfect size," James remarked. They obviously planned to enter.

Peter and Sirius transformed into a rat and a dog respectively. James and I, on the other hand, didn't. Instead, we crawled in after Sirius and Peter.

I was the last to step out of the 'vent'. I entered the room and tried to close the door, but it didn't budge so I pushed it and the door slammed shut loudly.

"REMUS!" Sirius and James shouted, "Get away from there!"

Peter pointed at something above me, and when I looked, I saw a huge sculpture falling from a shelf at the top of the door. James grabbed my arm, pulling me away at the perfect moment.

"You okay?" he asked me, just as the sculpture hit the floor and broke with a loud crack.

"Yeah," I replied, still looking at it. "Thanks."

"No problem… though you should be more cautious next time," James said jokingly.

"That's my line, Prongs," I replied.

"Why would anyone put an entire sculpture above the door?" Peter asked.

"They were stupid," Sirius replied, already exploring.

We walked after him, leaving the sculpture pieces scattered around the entrance rather carelessly. The room was similar to the last. There was one difference.

There was a tomb at the far end of the room…

"Why is there a t-tomb here?" Peter asked fearfully. Sirius shrugged, but even he stopped where he was.

"James! That's a tomb you're approaching!" I yelled, but James recklessly wiped a part of the tomb with his sleeve, which sent him flying across the room.

"James!" I yelled as Sirius ran to help him.

After a while, we managed to cure him for the most part, and all but James agreed to leave this place behind. It wasn't a coincidence that all of us were injured or almost injured here.

"This place is really cursed," Sirius said, shaking his head. "Why do you want to stay?"

"There's words on the tomb in Latin," James said.

"It doesn't matter!" I exclaimed, "Aren't these consequences enough for you to change your mind?"

"Well… we'll be cautious, but maybe those words are the reason this place is cursed. If we take the curse off, then Muggles can visit this place and our visit here will actually have some point," Sirius said.

They managed to convince me to join them, yet again. We approached the tomb cautiously. Sirius was able to read the Latin words carved on a small wooden plank stuck to it.

"It says 'Queen Amytis, beloved wife of King Nebuchadnezzar II and aunt of Amytis. May our queen rest in peace," he read slowly and clearly.

Queen Amytis… so the theory about King Nebuchadnezzar building the Hanging Gardens because his Median wife, Queen Amytis, missed her homeland wasn't just a theory.

"There's more words," James remarked.

"It looks like Dark Magic incantations," Peter added.

"Those that can see it and enter, death will come after, may this place be hidden forever by every soul murdered from the filth that destroyed my home and bound me to this lowland and its king," Sirius read.

She was one vengeful queen… but this was too much.

"We should destroy the tomb," Sirius suggested.

"Why?" Peter asked, "Shouldn't we reverse the curse?"

"We should destroy where it came from," James said, "Would burning it solve the problem?"

"As long as the fire doesn't spread, it should work," I said as I set the tomb on fire.

"Aqua Eructo," Sirius said, an intense jet of water flowing from his wand onto the flames. Now all that remained were ashes.

I cleaned the ashes and put my wand back in my pocket. "Now this place can be seen by everyone."

We soon left one of the seven wonders of the world, hoping that someday travelers and visitors would look at the place with awe like we did, especially because they had no curses from the vengeful dead people to worry about.