The Marauder Chronicles

Part Three: A Lunar Escape

"Not all mistakes lead to ruin."

Friday night, September of 1976. The first full moon of the school year had finally arrived. Plans for the night were still in the works, but it was going to be a fun one. It never occurred to the four of them that they could get caught and then expelled. It wasn't that they were stupid, quite the contrary. Sub-consciencelessly they must have thought that they would sail through all of their problems. Sirius and James were very smooth in getting themselves out of deep trouble, something they were in often, so quickly getting out of it got easier each time. No one knew about their secret, and no one was going to know.

Every month, when the full moon would appear, the three of them transformed into Anamagi and roamed the school grounds. But that was last year. Tonight they were going to go beyond Hogwarts and expand to the village. They knew that it was a risk to let Lupin get that close to people, but James and Sirius were confidant that with their size everything would be fine.

The hardest part of these evenings was getting three guys under one invisibility cloak out of the school without being seen. There were seven tunnels out of Hogwarts, but none of them originated in Gryffindor tower. Sirius was six feet tall, and well built, James was slightly taller but without the great stature, and Peter was short, squat, and highly uncoordinated; a very bad combination under one magical article of clothing.

The three of them had been learning to become anamagi for a long time and finally figured it out last year. They had about nine outings in their fifth year, and they hadn't been seen. This year, with their luck, they wouldn't even be missed.

"Ow! Peter, that was my foot, you idiot!"

"Sorry, I can't move with you two so close to me."
"Shhhhh! Do you two want to wake the entire castle?" James asked.

"Ouch, Peter!"

"Shut-up, Sirius!" It was a miracle that no one heard them, "Who has the map?"

"I thought you had it." Sirius said.

"No, I said 'Got the map?' and you said you did."

"No you didn't, you said 'Got the map' like you had the map, so I said 'yes'"

"Oh this is classic. Now what are we going to do?" James asked.

"We know where everything is, so what's the big deal?" Peter asked.

"Yeah, but we have no idea where Filch, Mrs. Norris, or Peeves is. They could be right around the corner, or down that hall, and we could be spotted, then busted. Do you want to go to prison?" Sirius asked.

"Or maybe they can hear you, Sirius. The point of the cloak is to be invisible. It's pointless if you two are going to narrate our journey to the passage for anyone to hear. Now can it!"

And so they maintained partial silence to the passage nearest to the tower. When they finally got to the silver armor, the entrance to the passage out of the castle, James pulled out his wand, said "Madigrium" and the armor shifted to the right to reveal a tall narrow entrance. James checked over his left, then his right to make sure there was no one in the corridor watching them.

"Right, Peter you go first." With a quick movement, Peter was out from underneath the cloak and into the passage way. Sirius went next, and James followed, closing the passage way behind him.

"Alright, the hard part's over. Now, this isn't exactly sound proof in hear, but we don't have to be under the cloak, so Peter won't trip every three steps."

"I don't mean to trip, James. I lack body coordination, you know that."

"I have an idea. Why doesn't Peter transform in the dormitory, and one of us takes him out?" Sirius's idea seemed so obvious that they all felt stupid for not thinking about it before. For the moment they all just looked at each other.

"We can talk about this later, let's just go. Remus is waiting." And the three of them continued on through the low, narrow and winding passage way. When the got to the end of the passage, Peter transformed and made his way out to look to make sure that the coast was clear.

"So what do you think?" Sirius asked James while Peter was out.

"About what?"

"This, about this. Do you think we'll get away with this?"

"What are you talking about? We always get away with it. Why are you worrying, it's not like you, and it doesn't suit you either." James replied.

"I don't know. I have a really bad feeling about this."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember when we were eight and we went over to Benjamin Farrel's house?" Sirius asked James.

"How could I forget?" He asked in an ominous tone.

"Yeah, I had this feeling right before that. You almost caught fire, James."

"Yeah, the key word is almost, nothing happened, we got away, barely, but we got away. Nothing bad is going to happen. It's all in your head." But he looked at Sirius for a while. He seemed a bit uneasy, which he did admit was strange. "Look, if you don't go, I don't go."

Sirius looked at him, clearly thinking of what to do. He rarely felt like this. Usually he was very confident about doing anything, but something funny was lurking around in his stomach.

"The coast is clear. Ready?" Peter said upon his return. "What's wrong?" he asked. The two of them remained silent for a while, then Sirius spoke: "Nothing. Let's go."

Sirius, Peter, and James all wished one thing: that they could see themselves transform. It must have been awesome to watch; going from human to beast in a second. But they couldn't transform in the castle. Sure, they all told each other that they were not afraid, but secretly each of them feared McGonnagal or Dumbledore would come in and see it all happen.

At the full moon they ceased to be Sirius, James, and Peter, but became Padfoot, Prongs, and Wormtail: the Marauders of Hogwarts. They couldn't talk, so they used various signals: head nods, stomping, and other savage forms of communication.

"Okay Peter, you first." Peter closed his eyes, and instantly a silver wave seemed to pass over his head and traveled down to his feet. He became a small brown rat who was a bit pudgy around the middle. He looked up at the two of them and squeaked.

"Sirius, you go next. I have to put the cloak in the willow. Cover me and make sure Moony can't get to me."

"Always," and then Sirius winked, and a silver wave passed over him as well. He became a massive black dog. He still looked like Sirius: tall, muscular, and had a hansom face; as dogs go, that is.

"Alright, lets go." James put on the cloak and followed the two out of the castle wall. They could still be seen; the moonlight blanketed the entire grounds, so they had to look like they didn't know where they were going, in case some curious third year was looking out the window with a glass of water. "Pick up the pace a bit," James said and Sirius began to run, James ran too, but after he picked up a struggling Peter. "You really need to think about a diet, Peter, this isn't healthy."

When the willow was before them, James bent down and let Wormtail out of his hands so that he could press the knot on the tree to make the branches stop swaying dangerously. Then he and Padfoot went to the entrance of the willow and looked around to make sure things were safe. Moony couldn't hurt animals, only humans; they had to be sure that he was not in the small hollow of the tree when James came in.

James took off the invisibility cloak and set it down on a wood lump. Then he moved towards the entrance of the willow where there was plenty of head room and snapped his fingers together. A silver wave was visible passing over his entire body and then he transformed into a tall, young, muscular, buck with tall prongs atop a noble head. Prongs was the biggest of them all. Stags usually were never that large, but James made some magical adjustments to serve him better.

Being careful not to plant his antlers in the ceiling of the tree, Prongs looked down at Padfoot with his enormous shiny eyes and signaled for him to let Moony know that they were ready.

Padfoot scratched the large stone that coved the entrance to the passage way, and moments later Moony the werewolf emerged. They were ready.

Prongs led the way with Moony behind him and Padfoot directly behind him. Wormtail was squeaking around the three of them; even though he couldn't speak, it was clear what he was saying: "You guys, don't go so fast, I have little legs, I'm tired." They made their way towards the Forbidden forest, so as not to be seen. What a strange sight they were; the four of them walking in a group. Four creatures that would never get along in the wild.

They had to move through the forest and walk along the outer perimeter towards Hogsmeade in order not to be seen; that was key. Usually the four of them would scour the school and put it all in the map. It took them two years to gather all of the information for the map. They were pretty sure that they had recorded every detail of the school. It took many journeys around the school; and covert operations inside at late hours of the night before they had become anamagi.

They loved spying on people; it was always fun. Quite often, an important magical figure would be in Hogsmeade, on business or pleasure, and he would ordinarily have very interesting information with him. If that was the case, Wormtail was the one that got to have the most fun. He would go into the building where the official would stay, and listen for a while. Padfoot would often wander the streets as a friendly stray and do the same; listen, watch, and report back to Prongs who was keeping a lookout for anything strange, and making sure that Moony stayed where he was supposed to.

Tonight they had it under good authority, that the Minister of Magic himself was going to be having some drinks in the Hog's Head this evening, supposedly on business in the area. This was a great opportunity to learn some new gossip that the Minister would accidentally spill to a pretty girl; The Minister was a widower.

When the four of them reached the rise on the edge of the forest, Prongs nodded his head to Padfoot and Wormtail to begin the mission. Padfoot walked slowly so Wormtail could walk underneath him; giving him protection form hungry owls. As the two of them got closer to the Pub, voices and laughter could be heard, as well as interesting conversations which were no doubt unfolding; waiting to be heard. Wormtail scurried into the hole he had made near the door and went inside the warm pub. He began scanning the many faces for a salt and peppered gray haired man in his early 50s, probably sitting at the bar. Wormtail couldn't see anything from the ground, so he would have to move up onto the display case behind the bar. He looked around the room once more, then not spotting the Minister, he went to the wall, crawled inside, and climbed up the interior.
"Minister, what will you have?" asked the bar tender. Ah, the Minister had just arrived. Wormtail peeked through the hole in the wall and saw the him sitting at the bar.

"I think I will have the usual, Ryan." Then he took a very small book from his pocket and began to read it. Wormtail tried to see the cover of the book, but he had rat vision.

"Here you are Minister. A scotch on the rocks."

"Thank you." He let out a sigh, took a sip of his drink, then continued reading his small black book. And right on cue, his favorite waitress, Tabitha, came to say hello. He smiled as she came near to him. She asked him about the usual, how's the Ministry, the children, bla bla bla. This boring gibber jabber went on for several minutes.

"What are you reading, sir"

"Just scheduling, me dear." This was as about as interesting as watching paint dry, Wormtail thought. He turned around and headed for the hole, back down the interior of the wall, across the floor and almost reached the exterior wall when he heard "The Dark Lord is gathering more support as each day goes on, Tabitha. It's a scary place out there. Watch yourself." Wormtail stopped dead in his tracks, turned around, and headed behind the bar so that he could better hear the Minister.

"The Bones'. He killed the Bones'." He put down his glass and there was brief silence between the two of them, then-

"You mean Dustin and-"

"No, their parents." There was a reservation in his voice, like he didn't want to say anymore. "They were a very prominent family; very powerful wizards. They have been some of the most powerful in the history of Magic."

"Why? Why did he kill them?" Tabitha asked.

"We don't know. They were killed in their home. Some very old and valuable possessions were stolen. Dustin has no idea what they were, only that they were heavily guarded and protected. We know that a book was stolen, but we have no idea of what the content was." He took another sip. "I really should go. I have a busy day tomorrow, I need my rest. Good-bye my dear." He got up from his stool and headed for the front door.

"Good-bye Minister, I hope everything goes fine." Then Tabitha went back to serving her customers. It sounded like Hagrid was in the pub. He was singing jovially in the back of the room with other drunken guests.

Excited, Wormtail turned and ran towards the hole. He had great information to pass on to his three friends. Something very valuable had been stolen: a book. But why would the Dark Lord want a book? Once outside, he started searching for Padfoot.

Padfoot was a little distracted at the moment. There were approximately five boisterous girls around him. Pretty girls, in their early twenties, no doubt having a fun night out. And he happened to find them, and was enjoying their presence.

"He's so cute!" they all kept saying. He wagged his tail, and was really friendly with them. He was starting to attract a crowd, probably because he started to do tricks for the girls. Wormtail had no trouble spotting him, but he would not be welcomed in that crowd, so he made his way toward the hill.

Once at the top, he saw Prongs shaking his head at the sight of Padfoot. Wormtail squeaked to let him know that he was back. Prongs turned to face him, and nodded. Then he started towards him, when he did something very strange. He stopped suddenly; and even though its hard to determine facial expressions when in animal form, he could see that Prongs was panicked. He jerked his head around, and ran in circles looking for something. Wormtail realized it too: Moony was missing. He ran up onto a rock to get a better view: Padfoot was still entertaining the young girls. A couple was holding hands as the were entering the Three Broomsticks, and Hagrid was taking the back door out of the Hogshead pub, and Moony was just a few feet from him. Wormtail squeaked loudly to get Prongs's attention, and he ran over to the rock to see the scene unfolding. Moony was crouched low ready to jump out at Hagrid.

With speed, Prongs ran down the hill, Wormtail in tow, panic surging through his entire body.

"Oh, hum diddy dum said he, hmmmm…" Hagrid sang loudly as he walked towards the forest. Moony could see him. He jumped out twenty feet from him and got low.

"So I ask'd the man, and 'e said…Oh dear," Hagrid said when he spotted Moony. Even though he was drunk, he could recognize the fact that a werewolf was twenty feet from him, ready to attack. As always when he went out and traveled through the forest, Hagrid brought his cross-bow with him. Slowly, he took it out of his back jacket pocket. With his hands still behind his back he loaded a single arrow with a silver tip. At the same time he backed away slowly. He did not want to kill him, but if he came towards the village…

Prongs ran rapidly down the hill, watching Hagrid load the crossbow behind his back. If only he could run faster. Wormtail broke off and ran towards the gaggle of girls surrounding Padfoot. They screamed as he entered the circle and then they scattered. Padfoot looked at him, then ran as though he knew what was happening.

"There's a nice ware'welf, 'm not gunna hert yeh." Just then Moony took to running. Hagrid pulled out his crossbow and pointed it directly at him. He was hoping to scare him off, but he wasn't going for it. He would have to shoot. It sounded as though something was coming from the right; more wolves, maybe. He had to shoot it, he was getting to close.

"Sorry," Hagrid said sadly as he pulled the trigger, just as Prongs came charging at Moony, head bowed as if to strike him. Moony saw him and ran the other direction to get out of his way. But Hagird's arrow did not change course with it's intended target.

The arrow struck hard and fast in Prongs's left shoulder. The pain was excruciating. Still under the influence of momentum and unable to maintain balance, he crashed nose first onto the loose ground and slid ten feet before coming to a stop. Moony couldn't move out of shock. Padfoot came around the pub's corner and ran to Prongs who was bleeding badly onto the ground. He's breathing was labored, and his eyes were beginning to sag. Padfoot turned to see Hagrid in tears coming close to them. He couldn't come near them, he had to stop him.

Ignoring Moony, Padfoot began barking viciously at Hagrid who backed away not saying a word. Moony started to get close to Hagrid again, but this time Padfoot was there to stop him, and he ran after him. Moony seemed to understand, and he turned to look and Prongs still lying on the ground, blood made the loose dirt mud. The three of them went over to him and looked into his big eyes, which he was fighting to keep open. But he had to get up so Padfoot began to bark at him.

It was so painful; he had never been in such pain before. He laid there, breathing heavily for several minutes before moving a single muscle.

Hagrid still stood there, alone, watching, and crying. "I didn' mean tu hert 'em" he sobbed into his coat.

Prongs tried to move his right foot in front of him so that he could try to get up, but that required using his left to balance it. Padfoot got in front of Prongs and began whining at him.

Then very slowly, he moved his hind legs underneath him so he could raise his back, then put the weight on his right front. Padfoot saw what he was trying to do, but he couldn't help him so he just watched.

Once his feet were underneath him, Prongs raised himself, then closed his eyes, and got up, putting his weight on his right.

Hagrid was still sobbing uncontrollably.

It hurt Prongs to stand more than it did to lie down even though he was not standing on his left leg. The arrow was still in his shoulder, blood still dripping down his long leg. Padfoot and Moony began walking back towards Hogwarts, which far off, and they looked back at Prongs who had not moved. Padfoot barked at him. Prongs took a step forward and stumbled. This was going to be a tormenting experience.

He limped all the way back to Hogwarts, fell twice and having to rise again was a difficult challenge. The three of them could easily see the pain in his eyes. Padfoot signaled to Wormtail to push the knot on the willow. Once the branches stopped flailing, Moony ran into the tree and down the passageway. The others followed him, and Padfoot closed the passage. He transformed immediately, and Wormtail followed.

"It's safe now, James. Just try and concentrate." Sirius said with a note of fear in his voice.

It was a bit delayed, but James did transform just before falling into Peter's open arms.

"He shot me, I can't believe he shot me." His voice was a bit higher than usual, and tears were rolling down his face from the pain. Dirt covered one side of his face and the arrow was still stuck in his upper arm. His left hand was blood stained and getting swollen. Peter and Sirius moved him to the inside of the tree and placed him carefully against the wall. James leaned his head back, and closed his eyes; his right hand clutching his left forearm.

"James, I am so sorry. This is all my fault," Sirius said horrified. He did not know what to do, but he couldn't stand the sight of his best friend in so much agony.

"It's not your fault," James replied, "it's not your fault," he repeated softly, and quietly but with much effort.

"I should not have left you with Peter," Sirius said beginning to break down, but he had to do something. "You need to see Madam Pomfrey, James."

"No, I can't. She'll ask what happened."

"That's really bad, you could lose it. You have to see her. Don't be stubborn!" Sirius said in a raised voice.

"Do you know what will happen to us, Sirius? We'll be expelled, sent to prison maybe. No, I can't see her. You have to help me." He started to shiver because the pain was so afflicting. He felt as though he could pass out in any moment. He didn't dare look down at it, for he feared it would make him sick.

"What are we going to do?" Peter asked with a shocked expression

"One of you has to pull the arrow out," James said. No one said anything for a moment. James looked at their faces. If he didn't feel as though dying would be better, their expressions would have caused him to laugh. Sirius shook his head. The sight of blood always made him nauseous. "Fine. Peter, you have to pull it out." James' jaw was beginning to quaver, his teeth began to chatter. Peter bent down next to him and placed his hand on the arrow. "Okay, just pull hard and fast," James said weakly as he shut his eyes tightly.

"Hard and fast," Peter repeated, "hard and fast." Tears were starting to form in his eyes as well. He kept hold of the arrow but did not pull. "I can't, James, I just can't. I'm sorry." He got up and stepped backwards.

"Look, I know you don't want to do it, but I can't very well walk around with an arrow sticking out of my arm, so someone pull it out." But they just stood there, looking down at him. They didn't dare move.

"Fine, I'll do it myself!" and then he looked down to his left shoulder. It must have been deep down because he couldn't even see the coating of the arrow itself, just the rod. He touched his black cloak and could feel the wetness the blood made. He was glad he couldn't see the blood in the darkness. But it was too dark. "Peter, I need light."

Peter took his wand out of his pocket, "Lumos," he said, and a bright light filled the small hollow of the tree.

"Right, now I just have to pull." He looked at them and tried to smile, but decided that would require too much energy. Sirius looked terrible, Peter afraid, and he could only imagine how he looked. What Snape would give to see all of this, he thought. James took his right hand, placed it on the arrow, and tightened his grip. "On three," he said to himself, "One…two…" He closed his eyes and groaned, "I can't do it, I just can't. Please, one of you be brave, please, just pull. I won't hate you for it, I promise. Don't make me pull it out myself." His vision was starting to blur, and he was getting cold even though he was still sweating.

"I'll do it. It was my fault. I just don't want to hurt you." Sirius got down on his knees and placed his hands on the arrow. "God, this is really going to be painful, James. I am so sorry."

"It can't be worse than it going in, can it?" He gave Sirius a week grin. Sirius just stared back at him, then gave Peter a horrified expression.

"On three, James." But Sirius knew that when you knew something was coming, you tense up for it in preparation. That would only cause the muscles to tighten and cause him more pain. "Ready. One…two" and he pulled hard an fast just as James requested. Sirius heard a ripping sound and hoped it was his cloak, but he didn't think so.

James let out a giant yell of pain. Sirius knew that someone would hear him. Peter acted quickly and went over to James and placed his hands over his mouth to try to muffle the sound. Arrow still in his hand, Sirius went over to him, bent down and tried to talk to him.

"The worst is over. Calm down," he tried to sound soothing, but apparently James was not in the mood. He fought to free his head from Peter's tight grip. His face was red, and tears were still falling from his eyes.

"The worst is over? Why don't you try having that yanked from you. What happened to three?" He looked really upset, but Sirius figured he had the right to, so he didn't respond.

Minutes passed before anyone said anything. James was beginning to lose color in his face and his eyes were starting to droop; his breathing became less labored.

James was starting to relax. He was still breathing heavily as he put his head back against the wall and closed his bloodshot eyes. Peter took his arms away from him and sat down beside him.

"We have to see it now," Sirius said with resignation. "You know we have to assess the damage; see how bad it is." James raised his head and looked at Sirius. "We have to."

James nodded.

Sirius dropped the arrow and leaned his hand against the tree wall above James's head. He looked down at the black cloak, which was clearly soaking with blood. Sirius slumped down onto the cold floor and started to think of what to do next.

"So how do we get this off?" he asked pointing to the cloak sleeve.

"Just tear it. There's no point in trying to keep it," he looked at Sirius and tried to grin slightly. He knew that the sight of blood was too much for him. "If you're going to be sick, just look the other way, alright?"

"Absolutely," he said with a smile. Then, very carefully, he placed his hands on the material of the cloak sleeve and tore along the seams, from the bottom, up to the shoulder. Then he had to look away.

"Damn, that can't be good," James said as he looked down to see that his white button up shirt sleeve was a deep crimson. Peter started to shake his head, and Sirius was still facing the other way, but he was not vomiting, at least not yet.

"Now you have to tear the shirt, Sirius. C'mon, you can do this. I know you can," he tried to sound calm and collected, but he did not want to see what was under his shirt anymore than Sirius did.

He turned to face James again. Sirius's cheeks had a greenish hue and perspiration was slowly emerging on his forehead. He nodded, and inched foreword so he could do the ripping. He placed his fingers on the bottom of the sleeve, which felt like a clammy, warm, wetness, and pulled the sleeve apart, ripping it up all the way to the top. As he got closer, he shut his eyes and turned away.

"We're in trouble," Peter stated as he looked upon the exposed wound. James looked at it too. It was really bad. Worse than he imagined. There was a hole surrounded by torn muscle, soaked in ever dripping warm blood. His whole arm was beginning to swell. None of them were experienced in any kind of medical care, muggle or magical, but they knew that something had to be done.

Sirius was still not looking at it. "Describe it to me, please," he requested. "I won't be able to look at it."

"Well, it's not that bad," James lied. "The arrow left a hole, kind of like a very large slit in the muscle. Pulling it out no doubt caused more damage. And it's still bleeding pretty bad. I'm going to need to cover it with bandages or something, 'til it heals."

"How do we get those?" Peter asked.

Sirius turned around and looked at it. He covered his mouth with his hand and his eyes widened considerably. Then he quickly looked at Peter.

"We have to steal some from the Hospital Wing," he told Peter. "Transform back into a rat. I will take you to the infirmary so you can crawl under the door. Then search to make sure no one is awake, and let me in. We'll take everything that we'll need." Then he stood up, wiped the blood that was on his fingers onto the walls. "We'll need the cloak."

"Take it," James said, "just hurry."

Sirius and Wormtail ran back into the castle, up stairs, through halls, down corridors, without even looking for a single ghost, or certain cat. Once they reached the Hospital Wing, Sirius placed Wormtail on the ground before the crack at the bottom of the door.

"First check to make sure no one is walking about or awake," he whispered. Wormtail slipped through the crevice, and scurried along side the wall. It was very quite. There was a fifth year asleep in one of the beds but the others were empty. Wormtail ran to Madam Pomfrey's living quarters, squeezed under the door, and found her fast asleep. With that, he slipped back out, ran to the entrance door, transformed back into Peter, and opened the door to find Sirius biting his nails.

He took three steps inside, looked around, and proceeded to the medical cabinet. He set out to open it, but it creaked. Sirius took out his wand and preformed the silencing charm, then opened the cabinet.

In it was everything they needed: gauzes, cotton, bandages, tape, swabs, and disinfectants. Peter and Sirius stuffed there pockets with some of everything, closed the door, and wiped the cabinet free of their finger prints. Then they tiptoed out of the room. Peter transformed, Sirius covered himself in the cloak, and stuck Wormtail in his pocket. He checked his left side then his right to be sure that no one was there, and ran to the Whomping Willow.

Once back inside, they found James leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. He had his cloak covering the wound to try to stop the bleeding. He did not open his eyes when Peter and Sirius entered.

"James, we've got everything," Sirius said as he went to his side, placing all of the stolen medical supplies carefully in an organized fashion. Peter did the same. James pulled his head up and looked down at it all. What a procedure, he thought.

"Now you have put it on," he said to them weakly. He was starting to tire and he knew he had lost a lot of blood. "Just do what you think is best, and then we'll go up to the dormitories and call it a night."

"I still say you need to see-" Sirius started, but James knew what he was going to say and interrupted him.

"I told you before, we cannot risk that. We shouldn't even be out roaming around. And you know that Hagrid's going to tell Dumbledore that he shot me. Dumbledore's not stupid. He will piece it all together. And wonderful wizarding family or not, the least that would happen to us would be expulsion. We would have to live as muggles. Think about our families, Sirius. They would be disgraced." He continued to stare into his eyes; he would not change his mind. The nurse would never know. "We promised that no one would know about us, remember Sirius? No one." He looked down at the huge supply of bandages, "So, lets get started."

* * * * *James and Sirius were among the top minds in the school. They excelled in academics, magic, and Quidditch, but they knew nothing of dressing a wound. They did the very best that they could, however, you had to give them that. Peter and Sirius placed a gauze directly over the gash and wrapped bandages around it, securing it with plenty of tape. Then they put together a sling so that James wouldn't have to hold it up himself. All in all, it was a pretty bad job, but it was the best they could come by.

Once again, Peter transformed and was placed in the pocket of Sirius's cloak. Sirius covered he and James under the invisibility cloak, took all the extra supplies, and made their way to the castle. James kept stumbling, so Sirius nearly carried him up to the dormitories. Luckily, the Fat Lady was there. They gave her the password and entered the empty Common Room. Peter was let out of Sirius's pocket and he helped Sirius with James up to their dorm. Naturally everyone was asleep, as it was two in the morning. They placed James carefully on his bed, made sure that he was going to be okay, laid him on his right side, and closed the curtains around his bed.

Sirius worried as he lay awake and stared at the ceiling. Peter had gone to sleep, for Sirius could hear him snoring loudly, but James was not making a sound. What would happen if anyone found out? They never accounted for something like this to happen. How could he have been so shallow? Why wasn't he there with James, helping him? It was all his fault, he knew it was. If only he had been there. He finally nodded off into a deep sleep thinking about what had happened and playing it over and over again in his mind.

James, on the other had, was wide awake. No matter what position he got into he could not get comfortable or ignore the soreness in his arm. He laid there for an hour, moving on his back, and on his side but nothing could make him fall asleep. So he sat up. He put on his glasses and looked at the clock: it was three a.m. Then he looked down at his arm. To his shock the bandages were red; the blood was soaking through. He got up and went to his trunk. Quietly he opened it and took out the Marauder's map, and another black cloak. He closed the trunk slowly, as not to wake everyone, and placed the map on top. Then he picked up his wand and tapped the map. "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good," he whispered. Instantly ink spread across the map like a spiders web and formed connecting lines that made a map of the school. James leaned forward and looked very closely at it. All of the teachers were in their beds, Peeves was bouncing around the dungeon, Filch was also in the dungeon, no doubt yelling at Peeves, and his cat was pacing the Charms corridor.

He needed to go somewhere that was completely private, where no one would go to no matter what. And then it hit him: Myrtles' bathroom. No one ever went there. Lily once told him that Myrtle wailed like a baby when anyone would go in there, so it was not worth it to use that bathroom. It was the perfect location and even better; the path there was clear.

"Mischief managed," he whispered as he tapped the map again. All the lines and dots disappeared. He put the map back in his trunk and took out his father's invisibility cloak. He put it on, went over to his bed, reached underneath it and took all of the stolen medical supplies which Sirius hid in a bag. James only took some; just the stuff that would fit in his pockets. Then he tiptoed out of the dormitory, down the stairs, and out of the Common Room to make his way for Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

He had no problems getting there. Like the map had shown, no one was patrolling this area. He pushed the bathroom door open and walked inside.

It was chilling inside. Total and complete silence echoed from the moonlight bathed walls and floor. He closed the door and walked to the far side of the bathroom behind the sinks in the middle of the room. Here there was enough light to see, but he couldn't be seen if anyone were to come in through the door. He took off the cloak, placed it on the floor, then he emptied his pockets. Maybe now that he was a bit calmer he could dress it better than Peter and Sirius. He leaned against the wall and then slid down to the cold floor. He took off his black cloak and placed it next to him while moving the supplies closer. He did not make much noise, but it was apparently enough for Myrtle to hear.

"What are you doing here?" she asked in a snotty tone. "You're not a girl."

"Thanks for noticing," James replied. He removed the sling and started to unwrap the bandages; they were soaking with blood. He let them hang from his arm then he took his wand and whispered, "Accio, towels" and paper towels rushed over to him. He caught them, placed them on the floor, finished removing the bandages, and laid them on the paper towels.

"Oooohh, that looks bad!" Myrtle said with a nasty smile on her face. She moved closer to him to get a better look. "What happened to you?" James couldn't figure it out. Wasn't she supposed to be in her toilet crying? Why was she here asking questions?

"Nothing really," he told her.

"You can share my toilet if you die," she said excitedly.

"Thanks, but I don't think I'm-" but he never finished his sentence. He heard a noise that made his heart race. Someone opened the door. Someone was in the bathroom. He stopped talking and held his breath hoping they would leave. He crossed his fingers and closed his eyes praying that they would leave. Myrtle left James and went to go see for herself who was in the bathroom.

"What do you want?" Myrtle asked in her usual, irritated tone.

"Is he in here?" James knew that voice anywhere and would love to hear it anytime but now. She did not wait for Myrtle to answer. Instead she came around the sinks and looked strait at him. Her eyes grew ten times, and her mouth fell open, which she covered with her hand. She hurried over to him and kneeled down in front of him, still staring at the horrendous site.

"What happened?" she asked, worry falling from her lips.

Lily had amazing magical capabilities which were far beyond anyone he knew. As he looked at her he hoped that she couldn't read minds.

"Lily, why are you here?" This was bad. He always had a problem lying to her. He always wanted to tell her everything, but he couldn't tell her what really happened. He started racking his brain for plausible stories, but none of them could result in this. Maybe if he just asked her questions she would forget about it. "How did you know I was here?" something he was wondering.

"I don't know, I just woke up and knew I had to come down here. James, what happened to you?" she was very upset and concerned.

"I-" what, think, say something. Anything, he had to tell her something. He couldn't think of anything to say. He looked at her, she was still beautiful in her pajamas. Her long red hair shone in the white moonlight and her eyes glowed. He wanted to tell her. But he knew her well; she would certainly not approve. She never broke any rules so she would never approve of his roaming around at night as an illegal animagus. He couldn't lie to her though, she would know.

"I can't tell you," he said honestly.

"Why not?" she asked in earnest.

"I just can't. I promised I wouldn't. Please understand." He gazed into her bright green eyes and smiled at her. She stared back at him with a frustrated look.

"Promised who? Sirius?"

"Yes. But he didn't do this, neither did Remus or Peter. Okay? I want to tell you, but I can't." She seemed to understand. She sighed and looked at him with some disappointment, but she didn't ask again.

"This is really bad, you know that?" She looked at the bandages on the floor. "You can't just cover a cut that deep. You need to have it looked at."

"No. Madam Pomfrey will do what you did."

"What?"

"Ask questions. It will heal on its own."

"You need stitches to seal it back up, otherwise it might take months to heal properly, and in that time it could get a bacterial infection and you could lose your arm."

"So what do you suggest?" Clearly she knew more about this than Peter or Sirius did.

"I'll need to clean it and then sew it back up and maybe-"

"What!?" this was going to far. He was not going to have a needle go through his skin. He was planning on fixing it himself, he didn't want someone else touching him. He started to move away from her against the wall. "No way. I don't want you to touch me…now" he said panicking.

"Stop acting like a baby," she replied sternly, "I am trying to help you." And she started moving after him.

James kept shaking his head and moving along the wall. Lily kept telling him to stop. Finally James stood up very quickly only to realize that he knocked his head hard on the windowsill.

"Damn," he whispered, as he placed his right hand on his throbbing head and slid back down on the floor. "You're going to kill me. You know that?" he kept rubbing the top of his head as he watched her lean down and pick up his wand. She went over to get a paper towel, came back and waved the wand over it while mumbling some words. Instantly the towel transformed into a cold ice pack which she placed on his head.

"Now just relax," she commanded him. Then she took his hand and placed it on top of his head to hold the pack in place.

"Why is everyone so concerned about my relaxation?" he asked sarcastically. She didn't respond. She began rummaging through the various supplies and waving his wand here and there. She transfiguring useless things into a bowl, a sponge, and for some reason she transfigured a cotton ball into shiny string; it almost looked liquid. She seemed to have an idea of what she was doing.

"What are you going to do?" he asked her.

"First I have to clean and flush out the wound, then-"

"Wait a minute," he knew from experience that it would always cause him pain whenever his mother would put the tiniest amount of soap on a small cut. She had always told him that he had a low pain tolerance, and he knew he did, but one does not admit that to the girl one loves. "I don't want to sound rude, but how do you know what to do?"

"My father is a doctor."

"But he's not here. Does it carry on in the genome or something?"
"No," she sounded like she was getting a little irritated, "but he always talked about his patients and what he did with them. I listen to my parents when they tell me something. Anyway, I know the muggle ways seem, well, barbaric to you, but they do work. I know a spell that might help you out if you'll just trust me and let me help you." She said all of this while looking into his eyes, anticipating that he would have a cute remark to fight her with. But he didn't say anything. She was trying to help him. The situation could be worse; actually as he was thinking about it, there was a very positive way to view this. The girl of his dreams was inches away from him, and she was going to fix him up so that he wasn't wishing he was dead.

"I need to clean this, as I was saying before, otherwise it could get infected. Then I need to stitch it up. No," she saw the panic on his face, "I am not going to use a needle. I read in a book that I can guide this string," she pointed to the once cotton ball, now clear string, "in and out to sew it up with a wand. If done to perfection, which I won't be able to do because I have never done this before, it should close seamlessly. We'll just have to see how it turns out."

"Sounds…good," he told her, "I'm sorry that I was short with you, I get a bit-"

"Cranky?," she asked with a smile. She got up and took her bowl to the sink and filled it with water.

"Yeah, sorry." He smiled back at her. She came over to him, put the sponge into the bowl, and placed a little soap on it.

"This is warm water. I admit that it will probably sting, but it will feel a lot better when everything is finished. I promise."

"I trust you," he said, and she placed it on the wound. It did sting, a lot. He was trying very hard not to wince; he didn't want to seem like a pansy around her. As she was cleaning it, she started talking.

"So, you won't tell me what happened?" She smiled guiltily and looked up at him.

James shook his head.

"How is it that no matter what you do, you manage to find trouble?"

"What do you mean?" he asked skeptically.

"I remember a time at the end our second year, you and Sirius locked some Slytherins inside the train compartment with dung bombs and you wouldn't let them out."

James beamed. "Yeah, those were the times," he said, "Just so you know, I don't actually go looking for trouble. I just like to have some fun."

She finished cleaning and put the red sponge back into the bowl. Then she picked up a towel and dried it thoroughly. She picked up the string and his wand and started to place it on the now clean cut.

"That fun is going to get you expelled one day. You know that?" She put one end of the string on the top edge of the open wound and laid the rest to the side. She started moving the wand in a zigzag pattern above it and magically the string inserted itself in and out of the edges of the wound. James only felt pressure, not pain.

"They're not going to expel me," he said with a chuckle.

"Oh yeah? What makes you so sure?"

"My father is an Auruor, a good one. He's put Mansonia, and Kazink in Azkaban. They're not going to expel me."

"Your dad caught them?"

"Yep," he said proudly.

"Why didn't you tell me that before?"

"You never asked." She gave him a funny look, then returned her attention back to the mending.

"There. Finished." It did look a lot better. I was still quite sore, but nothing like it was ten minutes ago. "It isn't perfect, there is still a small line to show that it was there. When done correctly it would show no signs of an injury."

"It looks great. It feels better, too," and that it did. "Your father would be proud."

She smiled at him. "Now, the material of the string will dissolve magically when it has completely healed, that way we won't have to remove it. I will still have to put a wrap around it to stop the blood from getting every where, but it really shouldn't bleed very much anymore." She picked up some bandages and wrapped them securely around his arm, not to tight and not loose, just perfect. As she was doing so, she leaned closer to him.

"How's the head?"

"Well, I hit the windowsill fairly hard." He took off the ice pack and put it on the floor.

"I know what to do," she said with a grin, "My mother did it to us when we bumped our heads." She got real close to him and looked strait into his eyes.

"What?"

"This," she put her hands through his hair on both sides of his head, closed her eyes, and gently kissed him on the forehead.

His heart was beating very fast. He didn't know what to do about that, he just knew he liked it and didn't want to say anything that would mess the whole thing up.

She leaned back and looked at him. "Better?" she whispered.

"Yes," he weakly whispered back. To his disappointment she got up and started to pick up the mess. She put the spare materials in a pile, then put them in his cloak pocket. She transfigured all of her medical equipment into small cotton balls and threw them away.

"You're not going to leave now, are you?"

"Not if you don't want me to," she replied kindly.

"I don't."

"Alright, but it's very late. We really shouldn't be in here, you know? It's against the rules to be out at night." She walked toward him and sat down in front of him, leaning her back against his chest.

Now his heart felt like it was going to beat out of control. He couldn't believe this. Sirius would be dying if he could see this. What to do now? He really wanted to put his arms around her, that's what he wanted to do. He slowly moved his right arm from his side, and put it around her waist, but she took his hand and held it in her's face up. That was odd, why did she do that?

She moved her head back so that it was touching his, and looked down at his palm.

"You have a short life line," she said lightly.

"What?"

"You heard me," she said with a light laugh. "You have a short life line."

"What are you saying, I'm going to croak right here and now?" She looked up at him and smiled, then turned and continued to stare at his hand.

"No, I'm just saying. I actually don't think that your life line has anything to do with how long your going to live. I don't believe in that nonsense."

He moved his hand and held hers and turned it face up.

"Your's is just as long as mine," he said. It was, just the same.

"Which means its longer," she replied knowledgeably.

"What? How did you come up with that?"

"Your hand is bigger than mine."

"So?"

"So, if your line is the same size as mine, and my hand is smaller, then that means that according to the laws of proportion, my line is longer."

James couldn't help but laugh a little. "You're crazy," he said quietly and kissed her head. "It seems that you'll only live a little longer. Sirius has a really long line, despite Trelawny predicting his death every day."

"I've never asked you before, but how long have you known him?"

"I don't have a memory without him. He has been my best friend since before I can remember. We lived on the same street, our mothers are friends, and we seemed to have the same interests. At least that's what they say. What kind of interests do toddlers have?" It was true, he didn't have a single memory without Sirius being in it. Christmas's, birthdays, average days, nothing without him.

"I don't remember ever seeing one of you alone. I was shocked to find you here by yourself," she said. "You're lucky that you have such a good friend, not many people have someone that close to them."

"I know. I love him like a brother." She smiled up at him as he said this.

"I wish, that I had somebody I could tell everything to. Someone that understood me, could read my expressions and give me advice when I needed it."

"I thought you had a sister."

"I do," she said with almost and unsure tone in her voice. She took his hand back and placed it around her waist. "She's four years older than me. I'm afraid she doesn't like me very much."

"Lily, everyone likes you. She must love you, she's your sister."

"She hates me. Always has, always will. It will never change."

"How do you know that she hates you?" He really couldn't understand how anyone could hate her. In all of the years he knew her, she had never said an unkind word of anyone.

"Let me see if I can quote her on that. 'You're such a freak. If I never see or hear from you again, my dreams would come true. I don't want you to play any role in my life.' She has never liked me, never," she said sadly.

"Why not?" he asked sympathetically.

"Jealous, I think. She's the oldest, so naturally she should be the one who gets most of the praise, glory, and attention. But when I was born her world came tumbling down. My parents thought I was some kind of prodigy because I could do magic. They talked about me to their friends, relatives, and co-workers with the deepest admiration and pride. Petunia was simply normal, by muggle standards. She got fair grades in school, had plenty of friends, but I out shined her. I was always the top of my class, teacher's pet, followed all of the rules, never got into trouble, and everyone was my friend." When she finished she took a deep breath, smiled to herself, turned to face James, and then looked away.

"I'm sorry. Sometimes even when surrounded by people who like you, you can still feel alone."

"Yeah. I wished and prayed that one day she would accept me, just accept me. It would be too much to ask for her to like me…But it really doesn't matter, I guess."

"You don't need her," he said in efforts to make her feel better. "If she is someone that judges you solely on the basis of how your parents talked about you, or that you can levitate a spoon, or something, then you are better off without her. Besides, I can't think of a single person at this school who doesn't like you. As a matter of fact, even all the Slytherins are fond of you, and that is saying something. All of those people are, well…pernicious, lets say. I think even Snape, in all his greasiness and evil, smiles his creepy smile every time you come in the room."

She laughed at his description of Snape, and turned to look at him. This time he slowly moved his left arm carefully, because it was still sore, around her waist. She didn't seem to mind.

"Why do you hate him so much, anyway?" she asked curiously.

"Well, in our second year, Sirius, Remus, and I were just walking down the corridor minding our own business, when around the corner we found Snape and Douglas picking on Peter. Now mind you, Peter was pretty short and squirrelly and couldn't really defend himself, while Snape was just the opposite. We never really liked Snape in the first place, but that put the icing on the cake. So we went to Peter's aid, insulted Snape's mother, and got Peter out of a jam. Snape's been just the same ever since."

"I had no idea he did that, he was always nice to me."

"Well, everyone's nice to you, aren't they?" he asked truthfully. Everyone was nice to her, there was no reason not to be.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked defensively, and turned to face him with challenge on her face.

"Because in all the years I have known you, you have never said a foul word of anyone. People know that. You're amazing Lily. If there was a day that I felt horrible for one reason or another, just having you walk into the room made everything fine again. There's an aura about you that's like a very mysterious and mystical magic that no one has discovered, or could possibly explain." He looked into her eyes endlessly and she stared back with a deep longing. He had been waiting to say that for a very long time, and now he finally had.

"You're so beautiful. You're the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, and I-"

"Shut up," she whispered.

"What?" and then it happened, slowly but surely. She took her left hand and put it around his face and leaned in closer to him, and he did the same. It was a very soft and gentle kiss at first. Both of their eyes were closed, and they lost all senses around them. Then they both fell into it. Everything else began to haze, the only thing they felt was each other. Magic surrounded them from all directions. Nothing could disturb or distract them. Certainly not Moaning Myrtle who was crying loudly in her stall, not the howling of werewolves outside, nor did the opening of the bathroom door which let Filch's cat enter.

She sauntered into the room and stared at the two of them kissing. She let out a loud "Meow," when Lily pulled away from James and saw the cat.

"We have problems," he said in an all-to-calm way.

"We need to go," Lily said in a panic.

"Can't, it's too late," he reached over and grabbed his invisibility cloak, and began to unfold it.

"What is that?"

"Shhh, just come in closer to me. Move your legs in tight so I have to cover us completely." When she complied, he put the cloak over the two of them, just as Filch came in.

"What is it, my sweet?" he asked in his creepy drawling voice. He walked in with a lantern held above his head, and a bag of cleaning solutions and potions which he put on the floor, almost touching Lily's foot.

Lily's heart was beating rapidly, and she was breathing loudly, which James noted and he quietly took his hand that was around her waist and put it over her mouth.

Filch kept walking around the bathroom. He checked every stall and looked in every corner.

"What are you doing in here?" Myrtle asked.

"Looking for students out of bed," he replied sinisterly.

"There's no one in here but me. No one ever comes in here to see me. I am always alone!" and she began wailing very loudly. Filch rolled his eyes and started for the door.

"C'mon my sweet. There's no one in here," he said as he walked to the door, his cat in tow. With lantern in hand, he pushed open the door, let the cat out first, then he followed her out.

James waited a while 'til he was sure that they were far from hearing range. Then he took off the cloak and put it on the floor.

"I never knew you had an invisibility cloak," she said with a pleasant smile.

"Family heirloom. We should go."

Lily got up first then gave James a help up. He picked his supplies and cloak and put them inside his black one.

"That was close," he said.

"Yes it was," she said as she leaned forward and kissed him. She put her arms around his shoulders and looked up into his blue eyes with a broad smile. He put his arms around her waist and smiled back.

Neither one of them could ever remember being so happy. James had wanted this moment to happen for so long, and so had she; only she didn't make it obvious to the entire school like he had. Once again they were lost in the emotions of each other, not hearing or seeing anything around them.

The bathroom door opened again. They heard that, and broke away to see that Filch was standing in front of them. He had forgotten his bag of cleaning potions.

"Well, well, well. What have we here?"

* * * * *

"Never have I been more disappointed in two Gryffindor students as I am at this very instant." Filch, being the most wonderful caretaker in existence, went and woke McGonnagal to tell her that two of her students were caught kissing in the girls bathroom at three o'clock in the morning. She was furious. James and Lily found themselves standing before her in her office, which conveniently enough was in her class room. Her desk, which she was standing behind, was located on a platform which was raised above the rest of the class. James and Lily were down at the bottom, as if being condemned for a capital offence.

"You both know the rules of this school. Students are not allowed to be out of their dormitories at night. And kissing in the girls bathroom! I am ashamed. You cannot behave in such a barbaric manner just because you are the Quidditch captain," she said sternly as she looked at James, "or house prefect," she said as she glared at Lily. "Rules are rules and you broke them deliberately." She was very upset about this. For a brief moment she just stared at the two of them. James was trying to look as though he felt guilty, but inside himself little voices were shouting for joy, and orchestras were playing triumphant music inside his mind. He kissed the woman he loved, nothing could bring him down.

Lily, on the other hand, had never in her life been in trouble; she was not taking it easily. Her head was hanging low and she was fighting a tear which was bursting to drip down her beautiful face. James saw her in the corner of his eye and wanted more than anything to hold and comfort her, but couldn't. McGonnagal was not finished.

"Miss Evans, I am very disappointed in you. You are one of the best students in this school. You have never disobeyed anyone, or crossed a line. You are a role model to all students in this school. People look to you for advice and an example of how to be great students at Hogwarts." She looked at Lily hardheartedly, who looked as though she could burst into tears at any moment.

"And you, Mr. Potter, in all my years of teaching I have never encountered a student who gets in more trouble. Do the rules not apply to you? Frankly I am surprised that Mr. Black is not involved in this. People in this school look up to you as well, Potter. You are very bright, I don't know why you can't learn common sense and stay out of trouble." He had heard this speech dozens of times, and really didn't need to hear it again. He kept thinking of how he could have lived in that moment with Lily forever, not caring about anything else but her.

"You will both receive detentions for you're actions. And since you are so fond of the bathroom, I suggest you clean them, all of them, tomorrow evening."

He was expecting this, but it could have been worse. In his third year, he and Sirius had snuck into the Slytherin dormitories by following a student in while wearing the cloak, and placed bombs inside the toilets, so that when someone would flush, it would back fire instead. The plan was ingenious and hilarious, but unfortunately they had been charged with the crime. Someone snitched on them, they never found out who, but they were forced to clean the bathroom, with out magic. It was the worst detention ever. This was easy by comparison.

"In addition, twenty points will be taken from Gryffindor," she continued.

"What! That's an outrage! We weren't hurting anyone. No one was in danger!" he almost yelled. McGonnagal was on her edge.

"Twenty points each." James dropped his mouth. He looked over at Lily who was in total shock. She had always gained points, never lost them.

"Professor, that's not fair. There is no reason to take forty points away. Kissing is not a crime!"

"Congratulations, Mr. Potter, you have just lost another ten points," she said nonchalantly. "And while we're on the subject, what were you doing in a girls bathroom, hmmm? Or was that just a rendezvous point?" He kept silent. He was certainly not going to tell her the truth. He knew that McGonnagal was secretly pleased about them finally getting together, she was just not going to let down her disciplinary facade for anyone.

"I don't know what your problem is with authority, Potter, but you need to work on your smart mouth," she said in a cool tone and continued to stare down at him with her eyes above her spectacles.

"I'm sorry, Professor," James said. She just turned around to get her robe, and then James mouthed at her back, "No I'm not!" just before she faced them again. He caught Lily grin in the corner of his eye.

"Since you two cannot behave like sixth years, I will escort you to Gryffindor tower."

Walking behind her back to the tower, Lily was bold enough to break the silence with a question: "Will you be writing to our parents, Professor?"

"Absolutely, Miss Evans." Lily put both of her hands over her eyes. She was dreading that the most. Her perfect record, smashed.

"Password?" the Fat Lady asked.

"Nevermore," McGonnagal answered. She signaled for Lily and James to enter, then she followed them in. "Up to your dormitories," she commanded them as she pointed to the stairs.

They both made their way silently up the stairs, aware that McGonnagal was watching them. When they reached the entrance to the sixth year dormitories, they looked at each other, opened their separate doors, and went in. After closing the door softly behind him, James waited with bated breath and listened closely to hear the portrait door close. It took a while, though. McGonnagal was probably waiting for the two of them to run out of each door and fall into each other's arms. But to her disappointment they didn't, so she left. As soon as the portrait closed, James opened the door to find that Lily had done the same. He went up to her, put her hands in his, pulled her to him and kissed her.

"Goodnight, Lily," he said, "Thanks for making this night the greatest night of my life."

"You're very welcome," she said. And taking her hands out of his, and placing them on his face, she kissed him once more before saying goodnight. Then she turned, opened the door, went inside and watched him as she closed it slowly.

James let out a huge sigh, smiled a great smile to himself, turned to his door, opened it and went inside. When he left it he was a miserable single man. Now he was the happiest man on earth with greatest girl in the world.

Everyone was asleep. He was thinking about waking Sirius to tell him the news, but thought it could wait 'til morning. All he wanted to do was dream of her. He went over to his four-poster, removed the stolen medical supplies and his invisibility cloak and put them in his trunk. Then, after taking off his round glasses, he crashed into bed, turned on his stomach, and smiling into his pillow, fell into a deep sleep.