Three Animagi and a Werewolf

Chapter 11: Fifth Years

Back to School

At last the holidays were nearly over. Looking back, James wondered why he had been so looking forward to them in the first place. Now, he longed to go back to Hogwarts, somehow feeling that the solution to all the mystery could be found there. It was the morning of the 30th of August, and James looked across the sunlit room to the camp bed standing against the opposite wall. As though feeling his friend's eyes on him, Sirius Black turned over and, blinking in the bright light, opened his eyes and stretched.

"Morning, James," he yawned. "How long have you been awake?"

James turned his head to look at the clock on his cabinet.

"About an hour," he said.

"Crikey," Sirius exclaimed. "And you're not up yet?"

"Didn't feel like getting up," James answered. "I've been thinking."

"You're not on about Professor Trelawney and her so-called prediction again, are you?"

James picked up a sheaf of parchment from the bedside cabinet. It was a letter written in a very neat hand.

"Moony says there's definitely something going on, but he won't tell us in a letter. And he hasn't been able to find out much about Gryffindor or his descendants. You'd think there'd be a book somewhere on someone as famous as that."

Sirius shrugged his shoulders lazily.

"I really wouldn't worry about it," he said for the umpteenth time, "I still think the batty butterfly was making it all up."

James still looked doubtful. There was a knock on the door, and his mother looked in.

"Good morning, you two," she said brightly. "Ready for your breakfast?"

"You bet!" Sirius replied enthusiastically, jumping out of bed.

Bridget Potter withdrew to let them get washed and dressed and went into the kitchen. She opened the window wide to let some air in and set about making tea and sandwiches. There was a fluttering noise behind her, and she turned to see a large barn owl sitting on the draining board. It had a folded parchment tied to its left leg. Anxious that the neighbours might see it, Bridget hurried to relieve the bird of its burden and let it take flight, praying that no one would notice an owl flying through the middle of London in broad daylight.

She unfolded the parchment, and as she did so a newspaper cutting floated out onto the floor. She picked it up. Her heart beat faster. She felt the blood drain from her face and turned her attention to the letter.

James heard the kettle whistle and wondered why his mother didn't take it off the heat. He hurried into the kitchen, grabbed a tea towel and moved the boiling water quickly, turning off the gas. Turning round, he found his mother sitting on a kitchen chair holding a piece of parchment and staring at it. Her face was as white as a sheet.

"Mum!" he exclaimed. "What's the matter?"

There was a silence interrupted only by the sound of water running in the bathroom, where Sirius was having a shower.

"Sit down," James's mother said at last, getting up to close the kitchen door.

She came back and sat down on the chair next to his.

"This letter," she began, "Is from Professor Dumbledore."

James's mind raced. He thought immediately of Remus, and that he himself had let slip his friend's nickname before the holidays. Surely Dumbledore hadn't found out about the Marauders? But then he realised his mother was holding something else in her other hand - a newspaper cutting. Bridget Potter went on, holding up the cutting,

"He sent me this, and he seems to think that you should see it too. I suppose he is right that there are certain things that, at your age, I can no longer protect you from."

James took the cutting from his mother's hand and examined it. There was a moving picture of a man being led away by wizards dressed in solemn black robes. The headline read "Wizard arrested for Muggle torturing".

James read the article. It was about a wizard called Vindictus Lothian, an employee of the Ministry of Magic, who had been caught in the act of torturing a young Muggle woman and child with a curse James had never even heard of - a 'Cruciatus' curse, the Daily Prophet called it - apparently just for sport. They were now to be taken to St. Mungo's, where it was hoped they could be healed.

James looked up at his mother.

"That's ... terrible," was all he could find to say.

Bridget nodded tightly.

"Did ... did you know the woman?" James guessed.

This time, his mother shook her head.

"No, not her. But I do know the man in that picture."

James looked back at the photograph. The wizard that was being arrested looked to be in his late forties. He seemed quite tall, with a handsome face and untidy black hair.

Bridget rose from her seat and crossed the room to look out of the window. When she finally turned her head to look at James again, he noticed that her eyes were red, her brow lined with care - she looked somehow much older than usual.

"That man," she said in little more than a whisper, "Is the man I married when I was too young to know what I really wanted, or to see him for what he was. My father warned me of him, but I thought I knew better than he did, for all his years of experience. I ran away with Vindictus Lothian, and I married him. I was young, and I was a fool.

I soon discovered my mistake. His friends were a bad set, already plotting certain acts against people with what they called 'bad blood', and he was no better. When I found I was pregnant, I knew there was only one thing I could do to keep you safe from him and his friends. I waited until he had gone out, and then I packed my bags and left. I didn't know where to go or what to do, but I knew I had to get away before he ever found out that you were on the way. If he had known ... You wouldn't have stood a chance. He and his friends would soon have 'converted' you to their side, and I couldn't allow that to happen.

I ended up here quite by chance, frightened and penniless. If it hadn't been for Mrs. Hammersmith's kindness, you and I would both have died one cold and rainy night, somewhere on a street corner in London. But she took pity on me, and she helped me get through the first few years on my own. I changed my name and left everything I ever had behind to start a new life where you would be safe. But I have known for some time now that a dark wizard has been gaining influence here and abroad, and I have long suspected who he is, and that Vindictus still supports him. And now we have evidence."

James was still staring at the picture in his hand. At last he asked timidly,

"Then ... this man is my father?"

"Yes," Bridget answered sadly. "I'm afraid he is. And I'm afraid that there will be worse news to come before this is ended. There is something evil going on, and I am pretty sure that the person behind it will not stop at a little torturing. There are far worse things he can do."

James debated for a long moment before he asked the next question, the one that really intrigued him.

"Who is behind it all?"

Bridget studied him anxiously.

"He was at school with Vindictus - your father - and your father looked up to him. His friends called him Lord Voldemort. But I don't think that's his real name. Your father used a different name for him once when he thought they were alone. I'm afraid I can't remember it, though."

Platform 9 ¾

Lily stroked her long red hair back over her shoulder and took a deep breath. She was standing in front of the barrier that divided platforms 9 and 10 at King's Cross station. With a nervous look around her, she made sure there were no Muggle porters watching, then she walked straight up to the barrier - and right through it.

She came out on platform 9 ¾, where the big red steam engine of the Hogwarts Express was already waiting. The platform was crowded with students and parents. Lily sighed. Her own parents had not been able to come today. There was some special performance going on at her sister Petunia's school, and though her parents would rather have come to see her off, Lily had told them to go with Petunia, who was always so unbearably jealous of her anyway. She looked around and spotted several familiar faces.

Near the front of the train, just climbing up into a compartment was a surly, greasy-haired boy with a look about him that seemed to say everyone else was not good enough to breathe the same air as he did. He caught Lily's eye as he turned to say goodbye to his parents, and she quickly looked the other way.

A few compartments on from this youngster - Severus Snape of Slytherin house, as Lily knew - she spotted Frank Longbottom, who smiled her way and waved. Lily smiled back. Frank was not only a bright boy, but he was also good-natured and friendly at all times, which made him very popular. With him was his best friend, Damian Diggle from Hufflepuff.

A little way to her left, Lily spotted another fifth-year: a thin, weary-faced boy with scattered streaks of silver in his light brown hair. Recognising Remus Lupin, she immediately pushed her trolley in the opposite direction, towards the rear of the train, staring down at her feet and hoping he would not notice her. If he did, she would have to stop and say hello, and then his friends would turn up, and among them would be ... Suddenly she came up against an obstacle. Looking up, she realised that she had collided with another trolley that was being pushed by just the person she had wanted to avoid.

James Potter smiled, but it struck Lily that he looked rather different from the last time she had seen him. His face looked drawn, his hair - if possible - was untidier than usual and the eyes behind his glasses looked tired. Lily felt her cheeks flush, mumbled a hasty "Sorry" and pushed on, forcing herself not to look back. She fancied she could feel James's eyes on her back, but she went on, no longer seeing the other students around her.

"Lily! Lily, over here!"

She turned her head and realised that she had just walked straight past her friend, Aurora Borealis from Ravenclaw.

"Rory!" she cried, hugging the other girl.

Aurora hugged her back.

"A sickle for your thoughts," she joked.

Lily stared at her rather vacantly.

"Oh, come on," Aurora laughed, her eyes twinkling. "Don't think I didn't notice you staring at James again."

Lily went beetroot.

"I wasn't staring at him!" she protested indignantly.

Aurora just grinned and tossed her head of auburn hair.

"Come on," she said, "Let's get on the train, shall we?"

Complications

James waited until after the welcome feast, when he and the others sat together in a quiet corner of the common room, before he told Remus and Peter what he had already told Sirius yesterday: what his mother had said about his father and his friends. When he had finished, Remus nodded his head slowly.

"I've been hearing a lot of things through the summer as well," he said. "Seems there have been a lot of strange goings-on at the Ministry. I asked my dad about it. He wouldn't tell me anything at first, but in the end he admitted they've been hushing a lot up for a couple of years now.

Apparently it all began when a couple of Ministry officials started getting ideas that they were somehow better than others, because they were what they call 'pure-blood'. It all started with reasonably harmless pettiness, but it's been growing steadily worse, and spreading to higher places. There are actually several ministers now who think that anyone who's not pure-blood shouldn't be allowed to hold certain positions, and won't employ Muggle-borns or half-bloods.

This Muggle torturing reported in the Daily Prophet wasn't the first, either. It looks like the right-thinking magic community has rather a problem on its hands."

"But h-how did all this get started?" Peter asked.

"Goodness knows," said Sirius, finally convinced that there was more to Professor Trelawney's prediction than just her battiness. "But the general opinion seems to be that there's just one moving force behind it all. One wizard who's been making pure-blood wizards think they're superior to anyone else and do more than just look down their noses at them."

Slowly, Peter nodded. He said,

"Like I told you all, my sister Polly got married this summer, and ... well, she and her husband, Leonard Lestrange, seem to be of that opinion too. But why do people listen to that sort of talk?"

"Oh, people will believe anything, if it makes them feel better," Remus said. "Look at Severus Snape, or any of the other Slytherins. They all think they're better than the rest of us anyway. If someone came along and played up to their arrogance, and suggested they should kick us all out and take over the school, I don't doubt they'd be on his side at once."

"Then maybe we should just kick all the Slytherins out instead," Sirius suggested.

"I only used that as an example, Sirius," Remus replied. "There won't be only Slytherins who support whoever's behind this. The question is, who is 'He', and how do we stop him?"

They all instinctively looked to James, who had said nothing for the past minutes, but sat thoughtfully in the corner.

"I don't know that we can," he said at last. "What I've heard and what you were saying, Moony, makes me more sure than ever that Professor Trelawney was right. There is an evil drawing closer every minute, we have enough evidence of that now. All we know about this Dark Lord is that my mother says they used to call him Lord Voldemort. But it doesn't seem likely that that's his real name. She said he was a friend of my father's when he was at school here. The Sorting Hat implied something of that sort when it was on my head four years ago."

"Well, there must be a book or register somewhere that lists all the students Hogwarts has ever had," said Remus. "Now that we know your father's name, it shouldn't be too difficult to find out what year he was here, and from there all we have to do is discover who his friends were. I'll go and check the library now, if you like."

"Thanks, Moony," James said, "But I'd rather go myself, if you don't mind. I need a bit of space to think."

He left the common room with a heavy heart. The portrait of the fat lady swung back into place. But shortly after, the gap in the wall opened again, and another figure climbed through the hole.

James wandered aimlessly back and forth between the bookshelves in the library. He was supposed to be looking for something that would help him find out more about the Dark Lord, but his thoughts weighed too heavily on his mind. He couldn't think straight, and in any case he had no idea where to begin searching for the kind of book he wanted. He could ask the librarian, but he didn't want to let any more people know what he was up to than was absolutely necessary.

With a sigh, James sank down onto a seat and, resting his elbows on the desk, he shut his eyes and hid his face in his hands, tugging with his fingers at his already untidy hair. He didn't hear quiet footsteps approach, or notice anyone looking down at him. It wasn't until he heard the creaking of the seat opposite his that he looked up. His eyes widened.

Opposite him sat none other than Lily Evans. Her long red hair was tied back in a ponytail and her green eyes were watching him thoughtfully. James's frown deepened. He hardly knew how to talk to her. There had been a time when they had been almost friendly, when she had smiled when she saw him, and he had smiled back. But today at the station, she had seemed far from pleased to see him, and had hurried away. She had barely looked at him or spoken to him for ages, even before the holidays.

Actually, they hadn't exchanged a single word since the day of the Ravenclaw vs. Gryffindor Quidditch match last year. While that match had seemed to make most of the other girls at the school regard him with some kind of awe bordering on hero worship, it appeared to have made Lily colder towards him, though James couldn't think why. But now Lily spoke.

"Hello," she said awkwardly.

Her voice was soft. James gave a meek smile in answer.

"Were you ... looking for something in particular?" she asked.

"Nothing you can help me with," he replied a little too sharply.

"Well, you'll hardly know that until you've tried me," said Lily quietly.

"I don't need your help," James snapped. "Just some peace and quiet."

Lily scowled.

"Oh, right," she said haughtily. "Sorry I spoke. I'll just go away again then. I just thought you looked upset about something, but if you're going to be like that, don't let me bother you."

She got up and stalked out. James sat for a moment, not thinking at all. It wasn't until he heard the door slam shut that he realised how unkind he had been. After all, she had only tried to be friendly. He got to his feet and went after her, but by the time James reached the door, Lily was gone.

Defence Against the Dark Arts

The first lesson the next day was Defence Against the Dark Arts with the Ravenclaws. Lily took a seat in the back row with Aurora. She had been telling her friend about her meeting with James in the library.

"Oh, come on, Lily," Aurora whispered while they unpacked their books, "You said yourself he seemed upset. I'm sure he didn't mean to snap at you like that."

Lily gave a tired frown. She had barely slept a wink last night, and it showed in her face.

"He's been behaving so differently lately. I can't think why ..."

"No, Lily," Aurora objected honestly, "He's not behaved differently at all, if you'd noticed. You're the one who's been different. It all started with the Quidditch match last year. Before that, you were all for him, always flashing your eyes at him ..."

"I wasn't!" Lily protested.

She quickly held her hand in front of her mouth. Professor Darkhardt had just entered the classroom and glanced her way. Aurora wisely waited until he looked in the other direction before she answered.

"You were, you probably just don't know it was that obvious. But don't think I didn't notice you looking across at him at every opportunity. Then he goes and rescues Mary off her broom - which is no more than any other boy would have done in his place, by the way - the whole school goes nuts about him and you somehow blame him for having become the school hero over night.

All the other girls, who've never looked at him before in their lives, suddenly swarm around him like flies - one of the Hufflepuffs actually pestered him until he signed her copy of 'Quidditch Through the Ages' - and you wait until you think everyone's fast asleep before you sneak off to the hospital wing."

Lily blushed.

"How do you know about that?" she whispered.

Aurora smiled slyly and touched her temple with her right forefinger. Lily sighed.

"I don't even know if he likes me or not."

"I could find out for you," her friend offered.

Lily looked horrified.

"You mean you'd actually, well ... read his mind?"

Aurora shrugged.

"If that's the only way I can get you to see what's good for you."

Lily shook her red head vehemently.

"I won't have you poking around in his mind."

"I wouldn't poke. He'd never even know I was there. But okay, if you'd rather not, then you'll just have to do it the old-fashioned way. Give him another chance, Lily."

"Miss Borealis, Miss Evans!" Professor Darkhardt interrupted them. "I have no doubt whatever you two are discussing must be highly fascinating. Perhaps you would like to let us all benefit from your intriguing conversation."

The two girls fell silent and looked uncomfortable. The professor looked from one to the other of them.

"No?" he said at last. "Well, then perhaps you'd like to turn your attention back to the subject at hand. Mr. Black just mentioned the luring charm the Dark Wizard of Hamlyn performed with his pipe. Can either of you tell us any more about that?"

Aurora fingered the pages of her book. Lily looked across at her friend miserably. It was all very well for her to talk like that. She didn't feel as Lily did about James ...

James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were the last to leave the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. James was still brooding, and his friends were growing rather worried about him.

"Oh, do brighten up, Prongs," Sirius whispered. "We'll find out what we need to know soon enough. Meanwhile, we ought to be having some fun. I didn't buy that special offer packet of fifty dungbombs and the exploding wands for nothing, you know. And we've got tonight to look forward to. It's a full moon, remember. Also, I've thought of something we could add to our map."

James brightened up a little. Sirius was always full of ideas for anything that was against the rules.

"What's that? A Peeves-repelling charm?"

"Not quite," Sirius grinned. "Just a bit of fun, really. I thought we could magic it so that, if a teacher tries to read it ... ouch!"

A sharp nudge in the ribs from Remus interrupted him. Sirius looked round, and discovered that Professor Darkhardt had caught up with them. He eyed them all with a cold stare for a moment, then he turned to Remus.

"Lupin, could I have a word?"

Remus looked around anxiously at his friends, then he nodded.

Lily and Aurora turned down a corridor to the left of the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.

"I can't believe our luck," Aurora was saying cheerfully. "We were talking all through the first part of the lesson, and Darkhardt didn't even give us detention. I knew he couldn't be as evil as a lot of people seem to think."

Lily didn't answer. Aurora turned her head to look at her. Her brow was furrowed and she was biting her lip, not looking where she was going. Suddenly Lily collided with someone coming the other way.

"Oh, sorry," she muttered, looking up and recognising Severus Snape.

He looked down at them both coldly and lifted a hand to slick back his thin black hair. His stare seemed to fix Lily, who felt an involuntary tremble.

"Get out of my way," he hissed.

"Hey," Aurora protested, reaching out a hand to hold him back. "She said 'sorry', there's no need to be so downright unfriendly."

Severus looked down at her with a raised eyebrow.

"A word of advice," he said with his typical superior air. "I suggest you show more discretion when choosing your friends. Times are coming when it would be wise for decent witches not to be seen in the company of ..."

He studied Lily with a sideways glance, seemingly looking for a suitable word.

"People like her," he said finally, making it sound like he was referring to something slimy and disgusting.

"And what is wrong with people like me?" Lily demanded, recovering some of her spirit.

Severus Snape just sneered.

"Get out of my way, mudblood," he whispered menacingly.

"You take that back!" Aurora cried, reaching for her wand.

Severus Snape reached for his at the same time.

Professor Darkhardt sat down behind his desk and fingered the scar on his left cheek, gazing thoughtfully up at Remus. Finally, he leaned forward and motioned to the boy to sit down. Remus did so, feeling rather nervous. As always when a teacher asked to speak to him, he feared that his nightly escapades with his friends had been discovered, and that he would be expelled. But Professor Darkhardt's next words caught him by surprise.

"I have been wondering," the grizzled old man said in his gruff voice, "What you plan to do with yourself after you finish school."

"I ... haven't really thought about it all that much," Remus said truthfully. "I mean, I still have a few years to go."

"Do you think you might like teaching?" the professor asked.

"I suppose I might," Remus said. "But I ... I don't really think anyone would employ me as a teacher."

The professor looked thoughtful.

"You are a very bright student," he said at last, and Remus was surprised by this open praise. "And I think you have a real knack for Defence Against the Dark Arts, which may yet come in useful, the way things are going."

"Err, thank you, sir," Remus muttered.

Professor Darkhardt smiled for the first time since Remus had known him. It was a crooked smile. The left corner of his mouth twitched up briefly to meet his scar, which gave him rather a lop-sided appearance.

"I have another student at the moment who is not so good at this subject," he went on. "A student whose skills could no doubt be greatly improved with a little assistance. Would you be prepared to help?"

"I'd love to," Remus found himself saying.

"Good lad," said the professor approvingly. "Wait here."

And with that, he left Remus all alone in the room.

Solutions

While Severus and Aurora were drawing their wands, Lily, forgetting for a moment that she was a witch and reverting instead to the much earlier instincts of her Muggle childhood, suddenly swung her right arm and sent her bag crashing into the Slytherin's side. Severus Snape stumbled, but he just had enough time to mutter a hex under his breath in the process.

Aurora screamed and covered her face with both hands, dropping her wand. Lily, turning around to see what had happened, was caught unawares by a disarming spell which hit her in the back and sent her flying forwards. She landed on the floor with a heavy thump. Quickly struggling to sit up, out of the corner of her eye she could see Severus Snape, still sneering, raise his wand again to hex her too. She knew she could never get her wand out of her bag in time to stop him, and dreaded to think what he was going to do. But no hex came.

"Expelliarmus!" a voice behind her called.

Severus's wand flew from his hand. For a moment he just stood there, looking dazed. Lily turned her head and her heart gave a leap. A few paces away stood James Potter, wand in hand, glaring at the taller Slytherin boy.

"Potter!" Severus hissed between gritted teeth.

"Hello," James said with icy politeness.

Severus Snape looked about to pick up his wand, but then another voice spoke.

"Don't!" called Sirius Black, stepping out from behind the wall. "You've picked a bad time to annoy us, slimeball. We're really not in the mood."

He gave a nod, and Peter Pettigrew appeared. Slowly and rather timidly, the boy approached Severus Snape and picked his wand up off the floor. He then slipped it into Severus's pocket.

"And that's where it stays," Sirius warned him. "Or else you'll be crawling to the hospital wing on all fours, and don't think anyone will help you."

Severus Snape looked like he was about to answer back, but faced with three young wizards and two witches who were against him, he thought better of it. Instead, he merely snorted and strode past them, allowing his cloak to billow out behind him in what he seemed to think was an impressive manner.

James and Sirius watched him out of sight before turning their attention to the girls. James helped Lily to her feet, while Sirius went to see what was wrong with Aurora, who was still covering her face.

"What's the matter?" he asked, putting his wand away.

"My ... my eyes," Aurora mumbled.

"Let me see."

Aurora struggled, but at last Sirius managed to draw her hands away from her face. He drew a deep breath, and James, Lily and Peter hurried over as Aurora covered her face again.

"It was a disorientation curse," Sirius explained. "Her eyes keep moving in all directions, they won't stop. I'll take her to Madam Pomfrey," he added practically.

He took Aurora by the arm.

"Come on," he said reassuringly, "You'll be okay."

"I'll come with you," Lily said, but Sirius shook his head.

"She'll be fine, I'll look after her. See you later."

He gave Peter a wink and a nod, then he led Aurora away towards the hospital wing.

Remus nervously tapped the arm of the chair for a while. Then he began to study his surroundings. The Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher's office was quite small and smelt musty, but it was full of fascinating devices. On the window ledge stood something that looked like a small spinning top, whirring steadily - a sneakoscope, he guessed. On the shelves stood rows upon rows of books about the Dark Arts, Dark wizards in history, curses and counter-curses.

Gaining a little confidence, Remus left his seat and took a look around. He peered out of the window, and even dared to touch the back of the teacher's chair. Actually, he found he quite liked this room. He could feel quite comfortable here himself. There was a knock on the door, and Remus hardly felt nervous at all.

"Come in," he called out, curiously fingering the sneakoscope.

The door was pushed slowly open, and someone stepped timidly into the office. Remus turned, and surprise registered at once in his face. He studied the small girl who stood in front of him, her curly brown hair swept back and plaited, her clear blue eyes fixed on the floor.

"Hello," she mumbled.

"Hello," said Remus. "You're Heather Woodcock, aren't you?"

The young girl stared at him.

"Y-you remember my name?"

Remus nodded matter-of-factly. Heather's face brightened and her cheeks flushed a pretty shade of pink.

"So," Remus went on, smiling. "You need help with Defence Against the Dark Arts, do you?"

She nodded eagerly.

"I think I must be pretty hopeless at it. Professor Darkhardt held me back after our last lesson and I thought he was going to be really cross with me, but instead he was quite friendly, and he said he knew of someone who was very good at the subject, and that he was sure you'd help me. I'm ... ever so grateful to you for taking the time," she finished slightly short of breath.

"You're welcome," Remus replied.

Heather beamed at him.

"Err ... I ... err ... Excuse me," Peter stammered when Sirius had left them. "I must get back to the dormitory. I want to finish a letter to my sister. See you later, James."

He smiled at them both and disappeared in the wrong direction, if he had really been going to the dormitory. Lily watched him leave, then she turned shyly to James.

"Thanks for what you did just then," she began. "If you hadn't showed up when you did ..."

"Don't mention it," James said awkwardly.

Lily smiled.

"It was very good of Sirius to help Aurora like that. I must admit I always thought he was just a bit of a ... well ..."

"Yes?"

"A rogue," Lily concluded apologetically.

"In that case, so am I."

James shrugged his shoulders in a manner that secretly amused Lily very much, because it was the same way she had often seen Sirius shrug his shoulders. She stood back and seemed to consider him.

"Perhaps you are," Lily said lightly.

James held the gaze of her bright green eyes for a while, then he looked away.

"Look, about yesterday," he said. "I realise I was rather rude, and I'm sorry."

"It's all right," she assured him, surprised at how little she cared about what had happened yesterday anymore. "You've more than made up for it today. Besides, you were obviously upset. I shouldn't have butted in."

James shook his head.

"I still shouldn't have talked to you like that. Forgive me?"

Lily flashed a brilliant smile at him. He looked into her eyes again, and suddenly a memory came back to him. A dream. Himself on a broomstick. He had raced after a broom he had taken to be Mary Crimple's, and then he had seen a pair of bright green eyes. He knew whose eyes they were now. But with that knowledge came an inexplicable fear, and he remembered another part of the same dream. A woman's voice screaming his name.

"James," Lily said. "Are you all right?"

James started. His face had paled while remembering the dream, and he now looked once again worried. He looked down, and found that Lily's green eyes were searching his face anxiously. He smiled.

"Sorry," he said, "I was just thinking about something."

"You know, yesterday's offer still stands," Lily said gently. "If there's anything I can do ..."

James hesitated on the brink of telling her he didn't feel like he could confide in her. Then he realised that would be a lie.

"Not now," he said instead, checking his watch. "We both have to get to the Charms classroom. I'll tell you later, okay? Meet me in the courtyard after lesson? Say at five?"

Lily hesitated only a moment before she nodded.

"Really," Madam Pomfrey complained. "It is time the teachers did something to stop all the hexing and jinxing that goes on outside lessons. Mr. Filch's ban on magic in the corridors doesn't seem to have helped either. Poor girl," she muttered, scraping an unappetising gooey grey paste onto a bandage and placing it over Aurora's closed eyes.

Aurora flinched at the touch of the cold goo. Madam Pomfrey fastened the bandage and led Aurora to a bed.

"There, dear," she said. "You just lie here for a while. The bandage will have to stay on until tomorrow morning, I'm afraid, but you'll be as right as rain again then. Call me if you need anything."

With that, she bustled away to her office at the end of the ward. Sirius approached the bed.

"How do I look?" Aurora asked in an attempt to make light of her problem.

Sirius grinned, although he knew she couldn't see it.

"It suits you," he said.

Aurora smiled.

"What was that stuff she put on my eyes?"

"Trust me," Sirius whispered. "You don't want to know. It looked revolting. Like ... jellyfied rat."

"Eurgh." Aurora pulled a face. "You're right, I didn't want to know."

Sirius laughed.

"Listen," he said, "I must get back downstairs for lessons. I'll look in again later, okay?"

"Okay."

Aurora leaned back on her pillow and listened to his brisk footsteps leaving the room.