The Marauders; A Generation

*Authors Note; Thanks for all the reviews guys, I thought I'd just start off by saying a few words in response to some of you who had questions. Firstly though, I just wanted to inform you all, that the inspiration for my fic came from another fic, called; 'I am Lord Voldemort', by Nemesis. That fic follows through the life of Tom Riddle, based on the facts that we are given through each of the books written by J.K.Rowling. I wanted to write a piece that went through the Marauders days at Hogwarts, and to stay true to the clues and facts Rowling has given us, therefore, I can't change a lot of the history, I can only write it. My fic will end up (a long way away!) as things are now in the world of Harry Potter. As for the 'rabid Narcissa/Sirius' fan (Expelliarmus - hehe), you'll just have to wait and see! Oh yes, I almost forgot; 'Knackered' is pronounced the way that you (Ari Powwel) said it, not the way your friend did! It's; nack-ered. One last thing, Snape will of course be entering this fic, but I've always thought of him as being in a younger year to the Marauders, so you'll have to wait for second year!

The Marauders; A Generation

Chapter 3

"Did you hear-"

"Fighting-"

"Blew up the table-"

"Malfoy's dad?"

The corridors were filled with heavy whispers as the next day rolled around; everyone was talking about what had ensued between Mr. Malfoy and Professor Dumbledore, when he had entered his office - apparently, there hadn't been a lot of talking. The rumour was that Lucius' father, Ambrose Malfoy, had stormed into Dumbledore's office last evening after having been summoned by owl for his son's misbehaviour. Angered by the accusation on his son's behalf, he'd exchange a few quick, and very strong words with Dumbledore before raising his voice, ending up trying to hex the older man. Dumbledore had been too quick, and had disarmed him before any harm could be done. Mr. Malfoy was currently being held at the Ministry of Magic for questioning.

"Lucius," a deep voice called him. Lucius Malfoy turned around with narrowed eyes, expecting to hear yet another jib about his family. He was wrong though; it was the fifth year Slytherin prefect, Arvan. Lucius had a deep respect for him.

"Hello Arvan," he replied cordially. The older boy placed a hand on Lucius' shoulder, towering over him by at least a foot. He nodded his head, gesturing for him to follow. Lucius hesitated for only a second, before following him. Arvan poked his head into each classroom as they went by, trying to find an empty one. It wasn't a long search though, as most classes had already cleared out; the lunch bell had just rung.

When they entered the empty Charms classroom, Arvan closed the door behind him, and turned to Lucius with a curiously evil smile.

"Is it true what I've heard, about your father?" Arvan asked him once they'd settled out of earshot of any passersby. Lucius looked back at him suspiciously.

"What have you heard?" Lucius asked him. Arvan looked surprised at his insolence; he was used to people just telling him what he wanted to know, no questions asked. He said jump, they asked how high.

"That he tried to hex Dumbledore, and is now being held at the Ministry?" Arvan said bluntly, narrowing his eyes, waiting to see if the boy would lie to him or not. Lucius sighed irritably.

"Yes, that's true, now they think he's committed some huge crime, but that crazy old fool of a headmaster we've got bloody deserved it. He's a mudblood-lover! I wish he'd managed to hex him," he said, his usual superior smirk curling into an ugly, hateful expression. Arvan's handsome face broke into a smile, evil as it may be, Lucius felt honoured. Arvan circled around him slowly, as if trying to assess him ... trying to see what or who he really was. He looked thoughtful, and full of contemplation.

"I like the way you think Lucius, you have become quite an important asset to Slytherin house, god knows we could use more people like you, you think and act the way that Salazar himself would have been proud of," Arvan commented, regarding the younger boy. Lucius swelled with egotistical pride. He'd always strived to be the best at everything he was challenged. He looked up to his father with the utmost admiration and respect, but to be connected to Salazar Slytherin himself ... he was on the way to achieving his goal; to truly please his father.

"The reputation of Slytherin is something that I take extremely importantly. As I do his views. I believe that this school should be rid of all the filth that plagues it, and it should start with that stupid fool Dumbledore!" he finished off his comment in a raised voice, his emotions shining through his calm exterior. Arvan smiled satisfactorily.

"There is a project, that I was hoping you and I could work on together Lucius. It is something that our fathers have discussed, and something they thought would be better coming from me ... but ... it will require a bit of work on both our behalves ... although I don't think that should be a problem, seeing how it's all for a worthy cause ..." Arvan trailed off to see if Lucius was interested enough. He was.

"What is it? I'm sure you can count me in," Lucius replied immediately. Arvan graced him with another one of his rare smiles.

"Good, very good ... because it involves that mudblood, Lily Evans."

~********************************************************~

"Hey Lil'," Narcissa hurried up the corridor so she could walk next to her best friend.

"Hey Ciss, how was Potions?" Lily inquired.

"The normal I guess, although ... Professor Lestrange has been acting ... I don't know, strange towards me ... she was almost ... nice to me!" Narcissa said incredulously. Lily mock gasped.

"No way, she would NEVER do that! Could it be because you're so bloody smart?" Lily said, smiling. Narcissa rolled her eyes.

"I don't stand out next to the other Ravenclaw's, so how could that be it?" she asked, still pondering. Lily shrugged. She was just about to change the topic when the Gryffindor first year boys joined them.

"Hey Lil', Narcissa," they chorused.

"Going to-"

"Hi Lily."

The group stared in shock. Lucius Malfoy was standing in front of them, smiling. Lily looked at him in confusion, and then looked at her friends for reassurance. They were all too shocked to react. Was he being ... friendly?

"Can we help you with something Malfoy? Or do you just like annoying people," Sirius bit out angrily. Lucius looked hurt for only a moment, before his façade came back on.

"Is it a crime to be nice? I was just saying hi. Next time, I guess I won't bother," and with that, he took off down the corridor. The group was still standing there, looking at each other strangely.

"Um ... what the hell?" Narcissa said, finally breaking the silence. James looked back at the direction in which Lucius had left, eyes narrowed in concentration.

"I don't know what that was about ...and I think that if we think about it anymore, we're going to confuse ourselves, so let's just go to the Great Hall and eat," he said, his eyebrows raised. The rest of them agreed with him and they headed off. Amongst, Lily glanced back behind her, still thinking about what had happened. Why had Lucius said hello to her? Why was he being nice?

~***********************************************************~

"It is important, when you attempt any form of Transfiguration, to make sure you are in the right mind-set. Goodness knows many have tried, and failed miserably," said Professor McGonagall during their Transfiguration lesson two weeks later in the afternoon with the Slytherin's. Lily was sitting in a middle desk, next to Chelsea, but she kept looking back behind her, and to the left, sneaking peeks at the blond Slytherin boy who was acting so mysteriously strange. On one of these occasions, he caught her. Lily could only stare in shock, too paralyzed to move. He smiled back at her and she turned away quickly.

"Ms. Evans, could you kindly answer my queston?" Lily quickly turned to the front of the classroom, her face flushing at having missed it.

"Animagi," came another voice from the back of the class. Professor McGonagall looked up along with the rest of the class to see who had spoken. It was Lucius.

"That is correct Mr. Malfoy, although I was asking Ms. Evans. Don't answer for anyone else again," she said sternly. Lucius shrugged and the lesson continued. When the bell rang, the two houses jumped up quickly and packed up their things. Lily waited on to apologize for her behaviour, and was therefore, last to leave. After she had spoken to her Professor, she walked out of the door only to find him standing there, waiting for her.

"Lily," Lucius said smoothly. Lily looked at him wearily.

"What do you want?" she asked, eyes full of suspicion. Lucius sighed melodramatically.

"Look Lily, I really think we started off on the wrong foot ... I want to apologize for the way that I've been treating you since we started at Hogwarts ... it's just hard to not act like that when you're around the other Slytherin's ... if they saw me being nice to you, I would be alienated, and I don't want that to happen for the whole of my schooling days ... you understand, don't you?" he said, looking into her eyes searchingly. Lily was astounded. She'd never heard so many words ... so many words like these, come out of Malfoy's mouth before.

"I, um ... what are you playing at Malfoy?" she asked, trying to hold up her guard. Lucius placed a hand on her arm.

"Lily, I don't want to fight with you, I want us to be friends, ..." he said simply. Lily went into even more shock.

"F-friends?" she stammered. She didn't know what to think! What was going on? She should tell him where to go, tell him to buzz off ... instead she found herself saying ...

"Well, I guess that would be okay ... but ... how is this going to work Lucius? All my friends hate you, and all your friends hate me ..." she said, it really sounded like a lost cause. She didn't know what she was getting herself into!

"Then we'll just keep it secret. We'll keep up our normal appearances, so that nobody suspects ..." he trailed off, trying to read her expression. Lily had to really think about this. She'd come into the Wizarding world with no clue about anything, and immediately she'd been prejudiced against because she came from a non-magical background. And then, here was the boy who had made her life miserable from the moment she'd arrived, asking for her hand in friendship. After a few more moments of contemplation, she nodded.

"Okay, I guess that's ... yeah, look, I need to think about this for a while ... well, I'd better get going ... have to put my books back ... I'll see you later Lucius," she said, giving him a small smile. Lucius smiled back.

"Goodbye Lily," and he watched her walk off. As soon as she was gone, he heard a single sound of applause come from around the corner. It was Arvan.

"What a magnificent performance Lucius, the Dark Lord will be pleased with you ... he'll be very pleased indeed."

~********************************************************************~

That evening at supper, there were two extra chairs placed at the teachers table, and the students looked on in curiosity at who would be joining them. When the teachers arrived, Dumbledore sat down in his usual seat at the center of the table. On his left, sat a thirty-something year old woman with long wavy brown hair, and a confident demeanor. She wore long purple satin robes, and her smile was warm. On his right, sat a man of about the same age, with light-brown hair, and large spectacles framing his face. He was dressed in a tweed jacket and seemed to be quite intelligent. Dumbledore stood and called for quiet.

"Good evening to you all. I would like to introduce to you, some of my close friends, who have come down to visit from the Ministry. May I present to you, ex-head boy and girl of Hogwarts, Mundungus Fletcher, and Arabella Figg!"

The hall erupted into a volcano of applause, as everyone except only a few, seemed to know exactly who these people were.

"What's going on?" Lily asked Sirius, who was seated on her right.

"Those two were head boy and girl a couple of years ago ... okay, quite a few years ago, but they were the greatest team Hogwarts ever saw. They were here when my parents went to school," he told her. Lily looked up at the pair who were sitting down after their hearty welcome.

"How come they're here?" she asked him. Sirius shrugged.

"Well, the first game of Quidditch this year is tomorrow, so maybe that's it ... or maybe they've come down for the Halloween feast next week," he said, and started eating his food. Lily gasped, was it Halloween already? She hadn't realized she'd been at Hogwarts so long already! The time had really flown by. The conversation grew, and laughter was heard as their meal went on, and then it was almost time to go back to the dorms.

"Ms. Evans, if I could have a word?" Lily whirled around in surprise. Without her even noticing, Professor Dumbledore and the two visitors had made their way up to the Gryffindor table and were standing right behind her.

"Of course," she said and got up. She'd already finished eating. Lily said goodbye to her housemates before following the three adults out of the Great Hall. Once they'd reached the Entrance Hall, Dumbledore stopped them all.

"Mundungus, Arabella, I would like you to meet Lily Evans, one of our top students in the first year," he said, his face crinkling into one of his famous smiles. Lily blushed.

"I'm sure I'm not-"

"My girl, you are indeed one of our top students. I would like you to meet my good friends, as I have selected you to accompany them on occasion for their stay here at Hogwarts," he said. Lily was extremely surprised.

"Me?" was all she could say.

"Yes, I consider you very capable of the job, and you have all the needed characteristics of leadership," he told her, eyes twinkling.

"It's very nice to meet you dear, congratulations on becoming a Gryffindor," the woman named Arabella said.

"Too right, that was our house, but we haven't been back at Hogwarts for a long time, too much work at the Ministry you see!" Mundungus said jovially. Lily smiled at both of them.

"Thank you very much, I'm glad I'm a Gryffindor, I've settled in really well there," she told them.

"Well, it looks like everything is good here, you'd better get off to bed Ms. Evans, otherwise Argus will have my head! If you could meet us here tomorrow at 10am, that would be appreciated. I'd like you to accompany Arabella and Mundungus to the Quidditch game. They want to sit in the Gryffindor stands as well," Dumbledore said. Lily nodded and said goodnight before heading off.

She climbed up the stairs of the Entrance Hall, and was about to start on the passageways and corridors towards her tower when she was accosted by three menacing Slytherin's.

"Well well well. It looks like we've finally got the mudblood to ourselves. I think it's time to get rid of such unworthy blood, don't you Igor?" It was Darmon Macnair again. And this time, he had Karkaroff and Avery with him, no Malfoy. Lily hesitated. She wasn't in a very good position, and from the way the boys were pointing their wands at her, she didn't think she'd make it out alive. She shook herself and raised her head defiantly.

"It's obvious to me, that my blood is worth ten times of yours, especially since it takes the three of you Slytherin's, to corner me, one 'lowly' female Gryffindor, before you're brave enough to fight," she shot out at them scathingly. The look on Darmon's face turned extremely ugly.

"You think that won't stop us hurting you? You're filth, you don't deserve to be in this school, in fact, what am I waiting for?" and he pointed out his wand at her. Lily scrambled for a wand and was just about to fling herself out of the way when someone put their hand over the arm that Darmon was pointing out at her.

"Stop." It was Lucius. Lily watched in absolute wonderment as Lucius forced the three of them to back off.

"What's gotten into you Malfoy? Are you a mudblood lover too?" Darmon spat out. Lucius stalked up to him and looked him dead in the face. Without even saying a word, his gaze caused Darmon to shrink back in fear.

"See you back in the common room then," he said, before the three boys took off.

"Are you okay?" Lucius asked when he'd turned back around. Lily nodded.

"Thanks for stepping in, but I think this is going to clue them in on us being friends now you know ..." she trailed off. Lucius nodded.

"It's okay, I can handle it," was all he said.

"I'd better be off, I've got to meet up with Dumbledore, Arabella and Mundungus tomorrow to take them to the Quidditch game," Lily told him. Lucius' eyes instantly became alert.

"You're accompanying them? How come? Why not one of the prefects?" he asked. Lily looked at him suspiciously.

"I don't know, but why is it such an issue?" she asked. Lucius immediately settled back into his previous expression and shrugged.

"It's not, I was just wondering," he said. Lily regarded him cautiously for a moment before saying good night and heading off to her dormitory. When she was gone, Lucius immediately made his way up to the Owlery and found his Perugian Falcon - a birthday present from his mother. He pulled out a piece of parchment from his pocket, as well as a quill and some ink and wrote;

Father,

The plan with Arvan has begun smoothly. All things are going well and I think that I have earnt some valued trust with the subject. It will be a while longer before I can get her to reveal more of the important secrets, but I'm positive that the situation is under control.

Lucius

~*******************************************************************~

The next day was a Saturday, and Lily rose fairly early so she could get herself ready to meet Dumbledore's esteemed friends to accompany them to the Quidditch match. She was quite excited, as she'd never actually seen a Quidditch match before, and was very much looking forward to it. Today was Gryffindor versus Slytherin, and no doubt in anyone's mind, would be a dirty game. She made her way down to breakfast, meeting Narcissa along the way, who had asked if she could come along that day as well, and they gobbled down some food as quickly as possible before heading out into the Entrance Hall.

"Ah, Lily! And Narcissa, so glad you could join us," Dumbledore greeted them kindly.

"Is that okay? It's just that, Lily's never been to a Quidditch match before ... and I wanted to be there with her!" Narcissa said.

"Oh course my dear, come along, come along," and he made the introductions between Narcissa and the other adults as they headed towards the Quidditch pitch.

"And you're in Ravenclaw? Well I'm extremely glad to see some of that interhouse friendship going on, lord knows it's been needed for a long time!" Arabella exclaimed when she found out Narcissa was a Ravenclaw.

"I just don't see why there has to be so much seperation between the houses really, when Bella and I were at Hogwarts, we were even friends with some of the Slytherin's! Preposterous as that may sound ..." Mundungus said, winking at the girls. They smiled back.

They arrived at the Quidditch pitch about five minutes before the game was scheduled to begin, and made their way up to the Gryffindor stand. The occupants consisted of first to seventh years, and all of them clapped in appreciation when Arabella and Mundungus entered. The sixth year prefects, Frank Longbottom and Algie Fermont greeted them warmly, and they sat down in the front row together.

At the end of the front row of the Gryffindor stands, was Richard Wood, the fifth-year prefect, who apparently did the commentating for each Quidditch game. He'd already magically magnified his voice so that the whole stadium could hear it, and was currently introducing the players of each team as they flew onto the pitch.

"AND FOR SLYTHERIN! WE HAVE, CAPTAIN AND CHASER LESTRANGE, CHASERS FLINT AND CROUCH, KEEPER PARKINSON, BEATERS ROSIER AND WILKES AAAAAND ... SEEKER WARRINGTON!" he cried, and a loud cheer erupted from the Slytherin stands, whilst the Ravenclaw's, Hufflepuff's and Gryffindor's booed. Arabella and Mundungus looked at each other, rolling their eyes. Next, he introduced the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

"HERE COME GRYFFINDOR! WITH CAPTAIN AND SEEKER JOHNSON, CHASERS THOMAS, JEFFRIES, AND MONTAN, BEATERS OFFREN AND WOOD AAAAAND ... KEEPER SPINNET!" he cried again, and the cheer that went up for the Gryffindor team was much louder then the others, as it consisted of the other three houses. The whole of Gryffindor house was on their feet, cheering, stamping, clapping and catcalling as their players zoomed in.

Both teams formed a circle, with the seekers hovering above, as the young flying teacher, Madam Hooch, stepped out on the pitch to unleash the Quaffle, Bludgers and Snitch. She told the captains to shake hands, and they did so reluctantly, Arvan ripping his hand back as soon as he could, no doubt, because Rowan Johnson was a halfblood.

Madam Hooch released the Snitch and let it zoom up towards the seekers, giving them both a good look at it, before zooming off, and disappearing. She let the bludgers loose and they ripped through the air, higher and higher, and finally, she threw the Quaffle up and blew her whistle. The game was on.

"AND MONTAN HAS THE QUAFFLE, PASS TO JEFFIRES, NO! IT'S BACK TO MONTAN ... TOO BAD FOR PARKINSON, THOMAS HAS POSSESSION, AND HE SCORES!" the stadium erupted in fanatics. From across the stands, the Slytherin's could be seen booing and making rude gestures at the Gryffindors, but on Lily's side, it was an uproar of red and gold, with scarves and other paraphernalia flying around in the air as Richard announced the score to be 'TEN-ZERO, GRYFFINDOR'.

James and his friends had just settled into the row behind them as the Quaffle was passed back into play.

"Professor Lestrange made us miss the start of the game as part of our detention," he explained to Lily, rolling his eyes. She smiled back, and then turned back to watch the game as it started up again.

"AND WE'RE BACK IN PLAY AGAIN, LESTRANGE HAS TAKEN THE QUAFFLE, OOH HE'S GETTING A BIT NASTY-WHAT'S THIS? WHAT ARE THE SLYTHERIN BEATERS DOING? THOMAS HAS TAKEN BACK POSSESSION OF THE QUAFFLE-FOUL! FOUL PLAY ON THE PITCH! PENALTY SHOT TO GRYFFINDOR!"

The crowd watched in horror as the Slytherin beaters flanked each side of Jaden Thomas, one of the Gryffindor chasers, locking him in-between them, and then speed down towards the ground. Just as they were a two feet from the hard surface, Evan Rosier and Caleb Wilkes unlocked themselves, and pulled out of the dive in a spectacular version of the 'Wronski Feint', leaving Jaden to crash head first into the ground.

Chaos and pandemonium erupted from every which way as the teachers; including Professor Dumbledore hurried down to the pitch to assess the damage. It appeared that Jaden was unconscious. Dumbledore conjured up a floating stretcher and told one of the Professors to accompany him up to the Hospital Wing. He cast a dark look at the Slytherin team who were still up in the air, unconcerned and patting the Beater pair on the back. Dumbledore called Madam Hooch over and could be seen having a few quiet, but grave words with her. She looked up at him in surprise, but nodded in agreement. As the Professors made their way back up to the stands, Madam Hooch called the team to gather around her and told them what she had discussed with Dumbledore.

Professor Dumbledore re-entered the Gryffindor stands and went over to Richard Wood, talking to him quietly. Richard nodded and cleared his throat preparing to speak again. When Dumbledore came back over to his seat, he shook his head at his companions.

"Dirty game it is, Quidditch," was all he said as they waited for Richard to speak.

"THE BEHAVIOUR OF THE FOUL SLYTHERIN TEAM, HAS RESULTED IN THE GRYFFINDOR CHASERS BEING GRANTED FIVE PENALTY SHOTS, AND THE SLYTHERIN TEAM ARE ON CAUTION. IF THIS HAPPENS AGAIN, THEY WILL BE FORCED TO FORFEIT THE GAME," he said.

The Slytherin stands were chaos in themselves as they screamed and shouted in protest. Dumbledore put up his hand and gave them a dark look, quieting them down immediately. Now, only a low murmur could be heard amongst their scowls.

Back on the pitch, the Slytherin team all had venomous expressions on their faces as they resumed play, having just heard these conditions from Madam Hooch. Their Keeper, Aurora Parkinson, reluctantly flew away from the rings, and hovered next to Arvan, who looked like he was ready to kill someone.

With Jaden out of the picture, Elijah Jeffries was their next best scorer. Madam Hooch tossed the Quaffle up to him and he began taken his penalty shots. By the time he'd hit the Quaffle for the fifth time, the score was fifty-zero, Gryffindor, and the Gryffindor stands were cheering them on once again.

When the game started back up again, it became faster, and much, much dirtier. Arvan had obviously instructed his teammates to win by any means possible, except that everything they were doing was borderline foul play. Arvan had gained possession of the Quaffle and was zooming down the pitch towards the Gryffindor posts. Every time one of the Gryffindor team members got in the way, he smashed past them in a powerful rage until he was close enough to the goal. Just as he was about to shoot, Rosier aimed a bludger at Jonah Spinnet, the Keeper, hitting him square in the chest, and knocking him out cold. Again, there was horror for the Gryffindors as they watched Jonah's body fall limply to the ground with a thud. Lestrange had scored. It was now fifty-ten, Gryffindor.

"What? How can they allow that? That was completely unfair!" Lily cried. Arabella turned to her.

"I'm afraid those are the rules of Quidditch dear. That's what the bludgers are for. It was different from before, those Beaters personally injured that poor boy, and so, they were penalized," she explained. Lily just looked on in complete anger. How could this be legal? Before she had anytime to ponder, Richard Wood was screaming in angry excitement at the action that was currently taking place on the pitch.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE SLYTHERIN SEEKER HAS SEEN THE SNITCH, COME ON JOHNSON, DON'T LET HIM GET IT, LET'S HAVE A GRYFFINDOR VICTORY!" he was just about to cry out more insults at the Slytherin's when he turned around and caught the look that Professor McGonagall was giving him.

"WARRINGTON SPEEDS TOWARDS THE TINY GOLD BALL AND IT'S A TIGHT RACE TOWARDS THE FINISH LINE ... NO! HE'S GOT THE SNITCH. SLYTHERIN WIN ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY, TO FIFTY," he said the last bit dejectedly before magically normalizing his now hoarse voice and shaking his head in misery.

"Oh well, you can't win them all," Mundungus said as the Gryffindor's filed out of the stands, occasionally shooting poisoned looks over their shoulders at the Slytherin's who were cheering fanatically. The Slytherin Quidditch team was being carried out on the backs of their fellow house members.

"Mundungus, Arabella, if you'd accompany me to my office, I think it's time that we started to discuss the subject of why I really called you to Hogwarts. Thank you for your help Ms.Evans, I shall call on you should we need you again, have a nice afternoon." And with that, Dumbledore, Mundungus and Arabella walked off.

"I'm just sick to death of those cocky Slytherin's! They're a bunch of absolute CHEATERS!" Lily turned around to see James, Sirius and the rest of her friends walking up to her, as Sirius called the Slytherin's every foul word he could think of. They all started walking back to Gryffindor tower together.

"Do you think we should go and see Jaden?" Lily asked them. James shook his head.

"After injuries like that, they only allow family members and team members in to see them. We might be able to go tomorrow if he's still there," he said. Lily nodded.

"Okay, and don't worry Sirius, we'll get them back," she told him positively. But nothing anyone said could make him feel better, and James wasn't much better; he walked on, a look of sadness on his face, as if he'd just lost his best friend. When they reached the portrait hole, Peter said the password and they walked in one by one. Remus and James were the last to go in, and just as they were walking in, Remus tripped over an uneven part of the corridor. He caught himself, supporting his weight on his strong arms before he could hit the ground and cause any real damage. The others hadn't noticed as they had already walked into the common room, but James ran to help him up. As he did this, he caught sight of something that was situated just beneath Remus' collarbone, something that could most of the time, be hidden by the collar of his shirt, but was not now, as his fall had caused his top button to rip off, revealing the top part of his chest. James gasped. This time he could not ignore it. A deep red slash, even deeper and even angrier then the one he'd seen on Remus arm before could be seen marring his flesh just below his bone. Remus looked down, and then up again at James' face, and ripped his arm away, now standing, and at full height. His eyes were wild, and for a moment, James was scared.

"What's going on?" James whispered. Remus' breath started becoming ragged, and he kept clenching, and unclenching his fists, staring at James in bewilderment. Suddenly, his eyes flashed an eerie red, and James stumbled back, gasping.

"Oh my god, wh-what, what are you?" he whispered again, his voice trembling. Remus closed his eyes, breathing heavily. He looked back up at James one more time, before pushing past him roughly, and running up to his dorm.