Hogwarts' Original Pranksters' Fantastic First Year

Hogwarts Original Pranksters' Fantastic First Year

Chapter 7: Jinxed Jewels

"Dear Mum, Dad, and Petunia,

"I hope you spent a happy Hallowe'en, and that Petunia didn't try and make Mrs. Richard's cat eat pumpkin like she did last year. The banquet was absolutely perfect here. Chips were just as good as Mum's, and that greedy Peter helped himself four times to pudding! He looked a bit green the day after, but he went to see Madam Pomfrey and she fixed his stomach. I warned him though, but no way he'd listen! Sirius didn't listen either. He only thinks with his stomach. That's what Remus told him the other day, and I do reckon it's kind of true. Sirius's face when he heard that was so funny that it had us laughing for a good five minutes, James, Remus and I.

"Did it snowed at home too? Here, there's so much snow that Hagrid has to defrost the brooms everyday, we couldn't have flying lessons otherwise. Boys only talk about Quidditch these days. There's going to be a match soon, I think it's Slytherin vs. Ravenclaw. I can't wait to see how Lucius Malfoy gets by on a broom. I hope he's really bad, everybody says that it's thanks to his dad's influence and money that he's Seeker on the Slytherin team, I wouldn't be surprised. I usually never cheat, you know that, but whenever I see that guy I feel like casting some awful spell on him!

"James explained Quidditch rules to me, I'll explain them to you in my next letter because it's rather complicated. Lisa told me she'd love to join the Gryffindor team -- she could, since almost all our players are seventh-years, and next year they'll be gone if they all pass their N.E.W.Ts -- Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests, promising, eh? -- and leave school. Besides, Lisa's really good on a broom -- she came third in the other day's race at flying lesson, after James and Sirius who are the best on a broom in the whole class. Mind you, I'm not that bad myself, but I think it's really uncomfortable, I don't like sitting on a broom at all. I get pins and needles in my legs and arms -- besides, I'm telling you, my bottom hurts a lot after an hour's fly ...

"I'm going now, I've got a Potions class in a quarter of an hour, and I'd like to revise my Shimmering Solution -- Professor Walsh said she'd ask us about it one of these days, and I fear it's going to be today.

"With much love,

Your Lily."

The letter was long, but Lily decided it was perfect, though she wanted to write even more. But Nina was still small, and she couldn't carry too big an envelope. Lily took the seal she bought with her writing parchment, heated up the wax a second with her wand and applied the seal; then her letter was finished.

Lily thought this seal was rather nice, and sealing her letters was much more fun and original than just wrapping the scroll with string. Her parents wrote that they loved receiving owl post letters; as for Petunia, she didn't write at all; Lily couldn't help but feel both a bit sad and vexed about it, even if she'd expected it a little. The lack of Petunia's letters only confirmed her loathing of everything linked to magic. However, Lily had resisted the strong desire to send her sister "letter bombs", as James and Sirius suggested to her sometimes -- she didn't want Petunia to dislike her more than she already did.

The windows of the Gryffindor common room were lighting up gradually; dawn began to break. Lily liked that moment of the day, when the sun was just visible under the heavy clouds darkening the winter sky. Most part of the students were in the Great Hall for breakfast, and there was hardly anyone else in the common room, apart from Lisa Dodger reading a book she'd borrowed from the library, a small group of sixth-years sitting by the fireplace, and Martin Riley who was finishing his History of Magic essay that they were to hand in a few hours later ... Lily rolled her eyes. Boys, honestly. They start at the last minute and they're surprised at getting bad marks for their botched up work.

She tied the little roll of parchment to Nina's foot and came near the window; Nina flew away into the cold air, and Lily's gaze followed her until she couldn't be seen anymore. After a few seconds of landscape-gazing, Lily eventually felt cold and pulled the window-pane shut -- she heard James's voice behind her at that moment, saying, 'Er ... Lily? We might need your help ...'

Lily turned around to find herself face to face with James, Sirius, Remus and Peter, all looking at her with a sort of hope in their eyes.

'Well, isn't it John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr ...'

'Uh?' said Peter and James, while Sirius and Remus smiled knowingly. Lily shrugged, 'Whatever. You need my help? Is it about Snape again?'

'Oh no,' James said quickly, 'it's just, er --'

'We'd need your vast knowledge about gems,' cut Remus, seeing that James hesitated. 'Maybe you could help us.'

There was a short silence, during which Lily stared at each one in turn, eaten up with curiosity. What was that new event that had made gems suddenly become so interesting to these guys? Last time she had ventured a discussion on this subject, Sirius had said something stupid and James had started chuckling. Whatever this event was, it had to be very important to have them take the risk to be interested in something so school-ish -- she decided to help them, out of sheer curiosity. It could turn out somewhat interesting, after all.

'Fair enough, I'll help you. What's up?'

She was slightly amazed to see the sudden expression of relief on James's face, and I must say, quite flattered.

* * *

Lily and the boys climbed up to the latter's dormitory and locked the door; Lily felt oddly happy to be back in that friendly sort of untidiness, to sit on James's bed among the awkwardly arranged blankets, looking in front of her at Sirius's bed much more untidy, with what suspiciously looked like a red sock showing below his own blanket. Peter had carefully shut the curtains of his four-poster, probably thinking that Lily didn't know he kept his teddy bear hidden under his pillow, and Remus sat on the ground after taking his pillow from his bed, which looked sort of empty now with only the bolster and the red counterpane.

'Well,' James began, 'yesterday we found a weird thing -- a sort of hidden place in the post of one of the beds.'

'Show me,' Lily said distrustfully. Sirius pointed to the tiny door dug inside the post that they had carefully left open. Lily frowned slightly -- that part, at least, seemed true.

'And it wasn't empty,' James went on. 'There was something inside. A sort of bag -- a tiny bag.'

This time, Lily was all ears. It really seemed more and more interesting. Remus showed her a small bag made in an unknown weird skin, between brown and gray; she opened it and took out an agate.

An agate, all black stripped with white, small but very nice -- though Lily could feel something slightly strange in this gem, did not know why. She turned it over and over in her palm, trying to remember the properties of agates and the superstitions that went round about them. They weren't famous for being cursed -- most of the cursed jewels were ones of high value, like sapphires or rubies; Lily kept thinking, but she didn't see any acknowledged curse attached to some agate. However --

'It's an agate,' she said, frowning with concentration. 'Black stripped with white -- according to what I know, it's a talisman, supposed to bring power and victory over enemies.'

'Speaking gem language, Lily?' Sirius asked sarcastically, sounding slightly impressed. Lily shot him a lopsided look, 'Nope, but I love precious stones and their history. Well, now in order to see if it's got some magical power, we have to plunge it in boiling water. If the agate makes the water cool down, it's magical.'

'True recipes book, our Lily.'

'Shut up, James.'

'Ok. Don't you know some famous agates in history of magic? Spell-casters, jinxed ones, or whatever that could help us? Not that I believe ours is famous or anything, I'd just like to know what disasters agates may have caused in history. Besides, I do think it wasn't there for nothing -- after all, it was really well hidden.'

'Hmm ... I don't really know, for the moment I haven't got any idea. We ought to go to the library to be sure.'

'We can go after class -- may I remind you we're going to be late for Potions class?' remarked Remus as he looked down at his watch. Peter looked a bit pale at the thought of formidable Professor Walsh as James leapt on his feet, 'You know what? We could sneak into the kitchens after class and ask the house-elves for a bowl of boiling water -- so we could try Lily's thing. Then we'll go to the library and do a bit of research.'

'Ok,' Sirius said. Remus and Peter nodded while Lily frowned, 'The what?'

'What, the -- oh, you mean the house-elves? You'll love them, they're those odd little creatures that take care of cleaning, and food, and everything --'

Lily looked puzzled; James went on, 'We've got one at home, her name's Fidget -- at least we call her that because she won't stop wriggle about and run everywhere.'

'We've got one, too!' exclaimed Peter. Then he added with a sheepish sort of pout, 'Well, we almost lost it when I was little, I gave it a glove I didn't use anymore. My dad intervened in time, fortunately.'

James nodded solemnly. Lily had no clue what they were talking about. She finally shook her head and got up saying, 'Never mind. Are we off?'

James stuffed the little skin-made bag containing the agate in his pocket, steadying it with a little Strong-Glue Spell. No risk it'd be stolen now.

* * *

After a Potions class that seemed to last an eternity, they rushed outside and climbed up a few steps, dragging Lily along a corridor she didn't know. There were pictures full of colours on the walls, brightly lit up with torches hanging at head level, and showing various dishes, each one more appetising than the previous one -- Lily's stomach gave a loud grunt as she gazed along all this food, reminding her she hadn't eaten anything since early in the morning.

James stopped dead suddenly, and signed to the others to do so as well; after a second of complete silence, the five prowlers could hear a loud, heavy footstep -- coming in their direction!

'In there, quick!' hissed Sirius as he opened the nearest door with an Alohomora Charm. The four others hurried after him into the empty classroom. The footsteps were coming closer.

'Glass-Wall?' Remus whispered. They all nodded, and a few seconds later they were able to look through the door quite safely and see what was happening in the corridor.

They could try, at least -- for they saw nothing, apart from the big picture on the opposite wall, showing a huge stuffed turkey, juicy-looking and golden, lying on a shocking-green salad leaf. The footsteps sounded closer and closer, then came to a stop -- right in front of the door of their empty classroom.

And yet, they kept seeing nobody.

Then, after a second that seemed to last much more to them, the footsteps resounded again and died away in the maze of corridors.

Quite taken aback, the five friends looked at each other, unable to explain that. Then Lily shook her head and sighed in a whisper, 'Curioser and curioser.'

'Uh?' James said.

They reversed the Glass-Wall Charm and walked carefully out of the classroom. Remus looked both thoughtful and concerned.

'What d'you reckon it was?'

'It couldn't have been a ghost, nor Peeves,' James said firmly. 'Besides, these footsteps sounded familiar ... Sirius? Got an idea?'

Sirius, who usually had always an idea about everything, shook his head sheepishly, 'Er ... no. Not a shred, sorry. I'm stumped here.'

'Please,' Peter squealed, 'can I tickle the pear?'

Lily hesitated between bursting out laughing and worrying about Peter's sanity.

'Yeah Peter, do it,' said James still thinking. Peter stepped forward with an obvious enthusiasm to a picture showing an enormous silver dish overflowing with fruit, and tickled a big green pear with his finger. To Lily's surprise, the pear began giggling and squirming, then the picture swung open like the one with the fat lady at the entrance of their common room.

What Lily discovered behind the weird door, however, had nothing to do with their little round, cosy common room. It was huge -- Lily was suddenly reminded of the dizzy feeling she'd experienced the first time she'd walked into the Entrance Hall -- with four long tables set exactly at the same place as those of the Four Houses back in the Great Hall, which was situated right above; these tables were covered with dishes even more appetising than those from the pictures in the corridor, and Lily felt her empty stomach give an even more vigorous protest than the minute before.

'I'm starving,' Peter mumbled as if on cue. Sirius cast him a quizzical look, 'Don't worry, we won't be that long. You two-pawed stomach.'

'You're one to talk,' Remus muttered with a smile.

'Now what?' Lily asked. But already a weird, small creature dressed with a draped cloth bearing the arms of Hogwarts rushed towards, crying in a shrilling voice, 'Wish anything, misters and miss?'

Lily stared wide-eyed. The creature stood up as far as her waist; it was weirdly vaguely brown-coloured, with big, cauliflower leaf-like ears, and a long nose quivering up hopefully towards the five friends.

'We'd like a bowl of boiling water,' James said.

'Please,' Remus added with a slightly reproachful glance at his friend. The elf bowed quickly and ran to the big red bricked fireplace that occupied a whole part of the wall on the left. Lily glanced questioningly at James; he answered, 'It's the third time we've come down to the kitchens, they've begun to know us.'

'And you didn't even share it with me?' whispered Lily scandalised.

'First time we came across it was a sheer stroke of luck, and the second time we'd hidden in here to avoid Walsh coming down that corridor.'

'You should at least have taken something to eat,' Lily insisted, less vexed though. Remus shrugged, 'We'd have been asked where we'd got the food. Besides we're not discreet enough to afford regular trips to the kitchens -- we'd get spotted by Walsh or Adams.'

'True enough.'

The cauliflower-leaf-eared house-elf was back, holding in a big cloth a bowl full of boiling, smoking water; James took it and thanked the elf, who blushed to the tip of his pointed nose and hurried back to his culinary duties. Sirius, who had been gone for few seconds was back too, with a half-eaten piece of cheese tart. James shot him an amused look while Peter stared down at the piece of tart enviously. Sirius glanced at him, then down at the piece of tart, then back at Peter, and eventually handed it to him resignedly. Peter's look of boundless gratitude consoled him partly for the loss of his piece of tart, but only partly.

James took the little bag out of his pocket after De-Gluing it.

'So, we just have to thrust the agate in there?' he asked Lily. Lily nodded with a frown, 'According to what I know, if we plunge it in there, the water'll cool down.'

'All right.'

And James dropped the agate into the water, looking out for splashes.

Nothing happened at the first second; then the steam flew away and the five friends leaned over the bowl. The water was not boiling or smoking anymore, and was now as calm as an oil slick.

'I think that solves the question of whether this jewel is magical or not,' Remus whispered. Sirius plunged at once his hand into the water ignoring Peter's strangled cry and James's jump; he took out the dripping agate and wiped it on his robes.

'What?' he said, raising an eyebrow. 'The water's cold now, isn't it? What could be the risk?'

'You should've made sure that it was really cold,' Remus answered, frowning slightly. 'It was very careless to plunge your hand in there so quickly -- just imagine if it had been only an illusion -- what if the water had been still boiling?'

Sirius shrugged.

'Oh well, I should've waited a bit, right. You're not going to make a fuss about it ... Do we go up now?'

Remus shook his head with a sigh.

They walked toward the door; before she went again through the hole of the picture, Lily couldn't help a look of deep regret to the sumptuous dishes covering the tables. James followed her gaze and began to laugh, 'Are you that hungry? Don't worry, all that you see there will be sent up through the ceiling in a second's time.'

'Through the ceiling?' Peter gasped, stopping licking his fingers one by one just in case of finding some cheese lingering on them.

'I thought you'd understood,' Remus said as he pushed the door shut. 'These four tables communicate with those from the Great Hall, didn't you know?'

Peter looked vexed.

They walked in the Great Hall as they served the entrées -- several Gryffindors looked at them curiously.

'Where've you been?' asked Fergus Finnigan as the five took the remaining seats.

'Just taking a stroll,' Sirius answered evasively as he pulled his chair. Vega shot him a lopsided look, 'What kind of mischief have you made this time?'

'What makes you think we've made any mischief, Vega?' Remus asked, granting her with his most innocent grin. Vega, not taken in, rolled her eyes and helped herself to potato salad. James and Sirius laughed under their breath.

* * *

After lunch, they had still half-an-hour left before their next class. The librarian, Madam Pince, looked surprised and suspicious to see five students who usually were far from showing such an enthusiasm run into her domain.

'Don't you run in the library!' she cried in a rather grating voice as the five hurried past her desk. Remus slowed down and said on a sheepish but polite tone, 'Sorry, Madam. We won't do it again.'

'And how,' Sirius whispered to him when he caught up with them. 'I'd be amazed if any of us were ever caught running to the library again!'

'What are we looking for?' Peter asked after regaining his breath. Lily frowned at the ceiling for a few seconds.

'Er ... wait a minute, will you?'

She went to the librarian -- who suspiciously watched her come -- and granted her most innocent and "teacher's pet" smile to her, 'Excuse me, Madam Pince, Professor Ricochet asked us to do a research about cursed gems and agates' magical history in particular -- could you help us, please?'

Madam Pince studied her face for a moment, during which the four boys waited anxiously; Remus whispered for himself, 'Maybe I should've gone instead.'

'Of course,' James said in a low sort of hissing which fairly surprised him. 'After all, you are by far Hogwarts' best liar ever, aren't you?'

Remus stole a glance at him, but didn't say anything. However James could see his jaw tighten and his face go pale, as though what James had said had hurt him. Then what about us? thought James, in response to the guilty feeling that started gripping him around his stomach, wouldn't we be hurt if he actually lied to us? Because James was beginning to think that Remus was hiding something from them, something important, and he found himself wondering whether this had anything to do with his friend's mysterious illness.

Madam Pince had finished sizing Lily up with her little suspicious eyes; she seemed to look honest enough to the librarian because the latter walked from behind her desk and took the red-haired girl with her as she said in a more amiable voice, 'Well, you have this shelves on the left: you can find titles such as History and Signification of Magical Gems, Bewitching or Bewitched Jewels, and many others as well -- if you need anything, I'll be at my desk.'

'That's hardly believable,' Sirius muttered. 'All she has to do and is smile and hop! It's in the bag ...'

'Never underestimate a girl's power of seduction,' smiled Remus, whose sudden paleness appeared to have vanished.

Lily came back to them and said with a mocking grin, 'Shall we proceed, gentlemen?'

'Oy you,' said Sirius on a vexed tone, 'you're not the best liar of the whole school just because she believed you, so shut your pie hole!'

Lily stuck out her tongue and Sirius answered with pulling a horrible face. James snorted with laughter on the quiet.

A while later, the five of them were sitting at a table in the farthest corner of the library, each one leafing through a book; whenever they had finished one, they put it down on the ground where two piles stood out -- books to keep later and useless ones. The five of them had an open book lying before them, a couple of scrolls of parchment and a quill to take some notes; the silence reigning over the library was only interrupted by some murmurs apart from the grating of quills on parchment.

'That's what I was saying,' Lily whispered after a moment. 'Agate is a sort of talisman. Look at this. Here in England, it's said to keep lightening and Dark Forces away.'

'Not quite trivial, isn't it?' Sirius said ironically as he put down his own book -- Magical Stones in Europe -- on the table. 'It's written down here that agates kept the Devil's Eye at bay around Mediterranean Sea -- but not Dark Forces in general.'

'According to mine,' James said, 'Persians used agates to make themselves invincible.'

He pushed his glasses up his nose with his finger and added with a shrug, 'But it's not saying whether the trick actually worked at all.'

'That one doesn't even mention agates,' sighed Peter as he dropped his book on the "Useless" stack.

'What about yours, Remus?' Lily asked, rubbing her eyes.

Remus raised his head from Magical Gems, from Middle Age to Renaissance -- he looked a bit odd, 'Er ... there's actually a paragraph about agates. They did have weird habits, back in Middle Age.

'What does it say, Remus?' Lily insisted.

'According to it, if one dipped a piece of cloth impregnated with pulverised-agate powder in -- yikes -- wolf's fat ...'

Remus shuddered slightly, and Peter paled a little. Remus blinked and went on reading, 'Oh well, apparently if one wore this piece of cloth as a belt, it cut --'

His light-brown eyebrows shot up as a distinct pink colour appeared on his rather lean cheeks. James asked, puzzled, 'What? What does that was supposed to cut?'

'Gimme that,' Lily said as she took the book from Remus's hands. She looked for the paragraph, and started giggling when she read what had made Remus look so weird.

'Hm, hmm ... "appeared to constitute a belt that permitted the wearer to be protected from -- from flesh's spurs -- and -- guarantee chastity!" I didn't know that power of agates, Remus ...'

James and Sirius started to laugh at Remus's expression; he snapped the book shut, pinker than ever, 'Definitely nothing interesting in there.'

Lily gave a chortle. Then she said, looking disappointed, 'We're going too fast, you know -- we should take the most interesting books and read them once we've got time enough. We haven't right now.'

'All right,' James said. 'We can take this one -- History and Signification of Magical Gems, and yours, Lily. It looks complete enough,' he added, seeing the thickness of the book Lily was holding.

Lily got up, sliding her book under her arm. She and James went to sign the library register and Madam Pince wrote the date of return on the last page of each book.

In History of Magic class, while Remus and Lily took notes mechanically, James and Sirius leafed through Lily's The Dark Arts and How to Protect Yourself, just in case they found something linked to agates, but with no result so far. Unfortunately -- this seldom happened, but happened all the same -- Professor Binns spotted them as he looked up from the rolls of parchment lying on his desk -- the essays the students had just handed in -- and gave a detention to the both of them for not listening. Sirius spent the rest of the hour cursing Binns so heavily that Peter stared at him frightfully; Remus kept his comments to himself, but couldn't help a few reproachful glances.

They fixed an appointment in the Gryffindor common room for James and Sirius to meet them after their detention; Binns told them to clean dust off the farthest shelves of the library. Without using magic -- only a duster. Sirius was more or less used to it, but James wasn't; he was quick to learn however, and his duster ran faster as the hour passed.

Sirius took a few books off a shelf to clean it; he started when the book he'd just removed unveiled a pair of bright eyes, which he recognised after a second.

'Remus? Blimey, you almost scared me -- what're you doing here?'

The blue gray eyes blinked once or twice; it seemed that Remus had been just as startled as Sirius. Then he answered in the same low voice, with a smile Sirius could guess in his eyes, 'Eh, I'm in a library here, aren't I? I want to borrow a book.'

'Which kind?'

'One I didn't remembered until just now and that could be helpful to us.'

'But -- about what? Your shelf is Divination, I've just cleaned it ... it has nothing to do with our agate, has it?'

'Maybe, maybe not. How're you two getting on with the dust?'

'We'll live, but it's no picnic in the park. Here, look at this --'

Sirius blew the dust off the book he'd just removed; the clear eyes disappeared out of sight at once as he heard a loud sneeze. Sirius started to laugh, 'Sorry, Rem'! I didn't know you were allergic to dust -- funny thing for a bookworm like you ...'

'Very funny indeed, smarty guy,' Remus sniffed as he blew his nose. 'Go back to your dust, will you -- I'll see you later!'

'Bye, mate!'

And Remus vanished for good, blowing again in his tissue. Sirius put the books back in place with a chuckle.

'What's up?' said James emerging from a shelf, his duster in his hand and traces of dust all around his nose.

'Remus. He was here a second ago -- to borrow a book, it seems.'

'Logical enough, in a library. Have you finished soon?'

'Almost. I'm starting to get fed up with it. And yet it used to be fun at home, especially when Vega was cleaning dust off along with me -- you should've seen her, she looked so funny with that huge duster of hers...'

And Sirius gave a mocking, amused sort of grin, but his eyes were twinkling. James turned back to his shelf, smiling as well as he pictured the tableau. He never had to do cleaning back at home, since every piece of furniture was enchanted into not letting dust linger; besides, the house-elves were there to do all the housework. However, only being able to imagine instead of being able to remember something like that somehow bothered him a little; he couldn't help but envy slightly Sirius and his simple, banal but happy memories. And yet, the Potters came from a very old -- and rich -- wizarding family; James shouldn't have had anything to be envious of, should he?

* * *

After their detention, Sirius and James rushed up the stairs to their common room, almost bumping into Martin Riley complaining to Fergus Finnigan about botching up his History of Magic essay; they found Lily and Peter there, bent over their Transfiguration homework -- Peter looked puzzled as Lily tried her best to explain it to him. She looked up when she heard the two boys coming.

'Oh, James? Could you help Peter, he's got a problem -- he can't manage to turn his goose feather into an eagle's ...'

James gave him a couple of tips, some good advice and Peter, by dint of concentration, managed to obtain a passable eagle feather without setting it in fire. He put his things back in his bag smiling cheerfully and got up to follow the three others up the spiral staircase leading to the boys' dormitory.

They had just shut the door of their dormitory when Remus showed up, red and breathless from rushing up the stairway.

'Wait,' he breathed, after blocking the door with his left hand, 'wait a sec --!'

'Calm down, Remus,' Lily said kindly. 'Come in, we were waiting for you.'

Remus stumbled inside; he was pale despite the blood in his cheeks forming two cherry-sized and -coloured spots, and he leaned against the post of his bed as soon as he could. Lily looked at him worriedly, 'Remus? Are you all right?'

'I'm fine,' Remus uttered as he nodded. Before adding with a faint smile, 'I've been running non-stop from the library up to here. Fair step. Blasted staircase.'

Lily nodded, but frowned skeptically.

'So then, Remus,' Sirius asked. 'What was that Divination thing of yours?'

'Oh, yes --'

Remus opened his bag and took out a book, which looked as if nobody had opened it for a very long time.

'Lecanoncy, or the Art of Divination through Gems ... I don't know why I didn't think of that while we were reading at the library. There must be something interesting to us in there.'

He handed the book to Lily and wiped the sweat off his forehead. His face was white. Lily glanced at him rather worriedly again, then opened the book and began leafing through it.

'Ah ha!' she cried when she finally found the index she had been searching for a while. James and Peter came closer, looking intrigued; Sirius just stood where he was, without a single move, with an odd expression on his face. His gaze didn't leave Remus.

'There is something about agates in there -- pages 11, 46, from 50 to 54 -- well done, Remus! How did you know?'

As Remus didn't say a word back, she looked up from the index and hiccuped with surprise, 'Exactly what's wrong with you?'

Remus took a deep breath and said hoarsely, 'I ... actually I'm not feeling quite well, I guess ...'

Lily threw the book in James's hands and she crossed the room in two strides to lay a plump little hand on her friend's forehead; she lowered it quickly, this time looking very concerned.

'Remus, you have a high temperature ... I'm taking you to the hospital wing -- and don't dare say a word to that! I knock you out and I drag you down to there if I have to.'

James took a step closer and asked, with his voice sounding more worried than reproachful, 'Why didn't you go earlier, eh, you pig-headed fool? My word, you're even more stubborn than Sirius here.'

'As much as I hate to admit it, he's right, pal,' Sirius said, taking his own cloak and pulling it around Remus's shoulders. 'Here, take that -- maybe you'll be less cold. On the double now. Madam Pomfrey'll be delighted to see you, I guess.'

Remus let them take him along without a word this time. Shivering, blemish-faced but his cheeks flushing scarlet, he didn't look quite in the state to protest anyway.

Madam Pomfrey went wide-eyed when she saw the five of them turn up together at the hospital wing; then, with a frown that would have made Professor McGonagall proud, she took Remus along and shut the door right in front of the other four. She all but gave them a ticking-off for not bringing him earlier. James, Lily, Sirius and Peter found themselves standing in the cold corridor, in front of a closed door; a rather absurd but rather persistent anxiety twisting their guts.

'What can possibly be wrong with him?' Lily whispered as she stared at the closed door as though she wanted to peer through it.

'I don't know, but it does not look good,' Sirius said, looking grave. 'Though only an hour ago he looked fine, back at the library.'

It was at that moment James understood, as he saw Sirius's slight paleness and clenched teeth, that Sirius did worry about Remus at least as much as him, even if he didn't show it.

'That's true,' Peter chirped. 'At least it looked less terrible last month -- he only looked tired.'

'Last month?'

'Yeah, last time he went back home -- it was ... er ... yes, maybe a week before Hallowe'en. Twenty-third, or twenty-four perhaps ... I don't know. Anyway, it's got nothing to do with now, is it? It was his mum who was ill back then.'

James looked thoughtful.

'C'mon,' said Lily with a last glance at the infirmary door, 'Madam Pomfrey's taking care of him; he's safe now, isn't he? We'll only have to copy out lessons for him, so that he won't miss anything big.'

'Yep,' Sirius said. 'We're starting tonight then -- we've got Astronomy at nine with Sinistra, remember?'

'We're going to get an essay again,' Peter muttered. 'We won't see anything in the telescope, it's full moon tonight.'

'Oh, true -- what was it, last time?' Sirius asked, before adding with a big grin, 'Yeah, Canis Major constellation and all its stars.'

'I bet she set it to us only to please you,' Lily joked as they reached the fat lady's portrait. 'Pumpkin Juice,' she told the picture.

The Fat Lady asked before opening, 'How's little Remus? He didn't look well when you went out ...'

'He's at the hospital wing,' James answered.

What's it got to do with you?

thought Sirius, who since the new Sir Cadogan thing sort of held a grudge against picture characters. He rather liked the Fat Lady however, but it didn't stop him from thinking she was a little too curious sometimes. The picture swung open to let them in without adding a word though.

'For the Astronomy essay, what do we tell Sinistra?' James said as he settled in an armchair of their common room.

'That Remus is sick and that he'll do the essay another day,' Lily retorted with a shrug.

'Remus is sick?'

It was a fluty little voice that had spoken behind Lily's armchair. Zoey Zig took a shy step between James's and Lily's armchairs; the Astronomy book she was holding in her arms looked almost two sides too big for her.

'What's up with him?' she asked, looking both surprised and a bit worried -- and rather daunted to find herself standing in front of Gryffindor's most famous first-years.

'Bad touch of flu, it seems,' answered Sirius, staring at her straight in the eye. 'He's at the hospital wing.'

'It's not serious, is it?'

The big hazel eyes leaped from one to another.

'No,' Lily reassured her. 'He'll probably get out quickly, I think -- three or four days, maybe a week -- but it's nice of you worrying about him. I'll tell him.'

'Oh, you don't have to,' Zoey flushed pink. 'Thanks anyway.'

And she walked away, still grasping her Astronomy book.

'Seems that she fancies dear Remus,' Sirius laughed. 'Sly fox. Too bad she's so shy -- she's overdoing it, it becomes boring.'

'Oh no, really?' said Peter, looking genuinely surprised. 'I think she's rather cute ...'

Sirius and James looked at each other, then burst out laughing.

'What?' said Peter, disconcerted. 'What've I said this time?'

* * *

Professor Sinistra did assign them an essay; the moon was too bright for them to see the nocturnal sky clearly.

As he filled his roll of parchment about the importance of the Milky Way in the Universe, James couldn't help wondering -- again! -- about Remus. Each month, and almost at the same time, he managed to disappear. The two first times, he went home saying that his mother was ill but came back looking ghastly; and this time he felt so sick he had given up and accepted to go to the hospital wing. James was starting to feel really concerned about his friend's health this time.

His repeated absences actually became really worrying. Ok, the two previous times he said he was going to see his mum. Which brought James back to his previous wondering about this excuse -- if it was an excuse -- in brief, he was going round in circles.

This time

, he decided as he put down his quill, having finished both his essay and his musings, I'll ask him as soon as he gets out -- and looking him in the eye. I'll tell him that enough is enough!

Lily asked for the Lecanoncy book to read it in her bed that night; the three boys gave it to her, and she went out holding it and her Legendary Gems. James only reminded her not to spend all night and to remember to sleep a bit -- something Remus would have said, Lily thought with a little twinge of sadness when she came to her dormitory.

She was the last of her dorm to go to bed; Lisa Dodger and Fleur Delaney were in bed, chatting in a low voice, and the Scott twins were already sleeping. Fleur turned to Lily with an avid expression on her face as she shut the door of the dorm.

'Where were you? Still with the boys, eh?'

Lily shrugged and took her nightgown from under her pillow without an answer. But Fleur wasn't going to leave it at that.

'Remus was still missing tonight, was he? What's with him? It's the second time he skips an Astronomy essay! I wouldn't've believed that of him, such a polite, serious boy --'

'Remus is serious!' Lily snapped, annoyed. 'If he didn't go to class tonight that's because he had such a fever earlier he could hardly stand up. I don't even know if Madam Pomfrey will let us see him in the hospital wing tomorrow for the homework, he was so sick.'

'Was he?' Lisa asked. 'Oh, poor thing ...'

Lisa looked down for a few seconds -- but quickly looked up again, 'What're your books about?'

'Can't be interesting to you, it's not the set books,' Lily said on a voice they didn't get the slight irony. 'I've got troubles to fall asleep these days. It helps killing time.'

'Read as much as you want to, but be discreet,' muttered Fleur, sounding vexed as she blew out her perfumed candle she put onto her bed-table every night. 'I, for one, am sleepy.'

'Good night, Fleur,' said Lisa as she curled up in her bed again. Then, just before shutting her curtains, she smiled at the nearest bed, 'Sweet dreams, Lily.'

'Thanks Lisa, same to you,' Lily answered, smiling back at her; she put out her bed-lamp and shut the curtains of her four-poster in turn. Then she took the books and her wand, and -- "Lumos!" -- began leafing through the two thick volumes.

With her head propped on the pillow she had set up for the circumstance, her dark flame-coloured locks pulled up behind her head in a ponytail, curled up in her sheets, Lily felt good. Even if the heat stuck her little curls against her wet forehead with sweat -- these four-posters were just perfect for keeping human warmth inside -- she loved the particular savour of an instant like that. Just like she used to, as a little girl, hid beneath the blankets with a torch to be able to read on the book she hadn't finished without Petunia grousing to their parents. It was an agreeable impression, feeling hidden, concealed from all the dangers of the outside even if they were only imaginary, such as the monster Petunia once had her believe was lurking under her bed ... However, after some of the events of the day, Lily didn't really feel like those dangers were imaginary anymore ...

Now, Lily! A little concentration. Back to agates ...

Lily went back to the index of both books and marked the interesting pages with little bits of parchment she had torn out of one of her rolls; then, taking Legendary Gems, she began reading, leafing quickly through "useless" paragraphs, writing down interesting stuff on a roll of parchment she had carefully hid under her pillow.

"In Iran, dreaming of an agate meant respect and wealth ..."

"Black agate kept quarrels away and favoured friendships ..."

"Red-streaked agate was and still is quite precious an amulet for defence against the Dark Arts ..."

After an hour of obstinate research, Lily had still found nothing conclusive; if she hadn't been so stubborn, she'd have felt disheartened. She gave a sigh and rubbed her forehead, where the beginnings of a headache were spreading. Putting down her book aside her on the bed and turning off the light of her wand -- "Nox" -- she drew back the canopies and went to open the window.

It was cold; the snow was likely to freeze. Night was so clear that Lily couldn't see many stars, but she was sort of used to it, as a Londoner -- the city street-lamp lights often concealed starlight, much more subtle. The landscape was beautiful; seeing full moon cast its so peculiar, dim sort of sparkle on the blue trees and frozen grass had a calming effect on nerves. Lily's slight headache vanished gradually as her gaze ran along the top of the trees, the peak of the mountains outlined in the night sky, always staring again at the moon high up in the sky, so white it seemed icy. She found herself smiling at the pale disk; she liked the moon and its dark sort of light that blended colours and softened forms. It could seem corny, or sickly romantic, but Lily didn't care at all -- as long as she was alone. If there had been somebody else awake near her, maybe she wouldn't have been smiling like that, dreamily and fondly -- a smile a witness would've thought ridiculous for sure. Romanticism wasn't a big success now, unfortunately.

Lily was finally cold enough to shut the window; she felt better, her ideas looked a bit clearer. She went back in her bed, curling up again in her still-warm blankets; instead of taking again Legendary Gems where she'd left it, she opened Lecanoncy, or the Art of Divination through Gems and started taking notes. Much later, as she yawned her head off, James's advice came back to her. She looked at her watch: it was one o'clock in the morning. She struggled for a few seconds with the little voice in the back of her mind that kept telling her it was time to switch lights off and sleep; she eventually gave up and put down the two books and her wand on her bed-table. As for the scrolls of parchment she'd used to take notes, she made a movement as though to put them on the little table too, near her wand and books, but decided at the last second to stuff them back under her pillow after rolling them carefully.

Wise move.

The morning after, the scrolls were still safe under her pillow, her wand laid untouched near Legendary Gems that hadn't moved either -- but Lecanoncy, or the Art of Divination through Gems had vanished.

*~*~*