Balanced

James wondered if the four of them had been forgotten about; none of the Ministry workers gave them a second glance when they poked their heads around the door, presumably looking for colleagues.

They were sitting in what was probably a staff room, as the sofas were ugly and uncomfortable; and there were a few wooden chairs. The walls were plain and the whole room seemed to have been made as boring as possible. The Ministry had some very nice waiting rooms, but obviously four Hogwarts boys weren't considered worthy of them.

When they'd arrived they'd been shown into the room and told to wait there until someone came to sort them out.

That had been a long time ago, and the only human contact they'd had was when a witch brought them in some boring and tasteless food. Sirius had piled up his robes and was sitting in his trunk, proclaiming it to be far more comfortable than the sofas, while James was flying around in circles, several feet above the floor. He knew he would probably get dizzy, sooner or later, and fall off, but he didn't really care. Peter was still playing Exploding Snap and Remus was staring oddly at the wall; when asked what he was doing, he replied: 'thinking'. The others left him to it. In James' opinion thinking was often both boring and pointless.

'Right, boys,' said a voice from the door that was far too cheery. It was a short, fat witch with frizzy blonde hair. 'We've got in touch with Hogwarts and we're sorting out a Portkey to take you there. It will be some time because of all the security, but we think you'll be there by tonight.'

'That's a bit pathetic isn't it?' said James. He was far too bored to be bothered with being polite.

'Excuse me?' the witch looked taken aback. Apparently she didn't deal with Slytherins often. James had heard both his parents be far ruder in similar situations. After all, there was usually no point in being nice to idiots, and anyone who worked in the Ministry qualified as an idiot.

'We've been here for hours and we're still stuck here, and the Ministry can't get its act together enough to sort out a Portkey before tonight. The security isn't that tough.'

'We're er... working as quickly as we can,' said the witch, disappearing through the door before James could reply.

'Well, that was nice, wasn't it?' said Sirius sarcastically. 'I'd have thought you'd be nicer than to pick on people who don't deserve it.'

'I'm so bored though,' moaned James. 'What else is there to do?'

'And I suppose you think the rest of us aren't?' asked Remus. 'We've got no more to do than you have and we haven't stooped to picking on Ministry representatives yet.'

'And I suppose none of you lot ever get sarcastic or irritable?' he asked, annoyed. 'But just because I'm in Slytherin you have to notice it.'

'Oh, grow up a bit,' Peter told him. 'You should know by now that we don't let that bother us. The only thing we let bother us is when you act like a spoiled brat.' James opened his mouth to retort when Peter's Exploding Snap exploded. All four jumped, then laughed at Peter's singed hair and eyebrows, and the look on his face. It broke the tension that had been building up.

'You know,' said Sirius. 'I dread to think what you were like when you lived with your parents, Jamesy, my friend, you must have been even worse than you are now.'

'Worse than I am now?' said James, with a laugh. 'You have no idea. I was rather spoiled, with the tendency to be rude. Got it all off my parents though, so you can't blame me. You'd have hated me, apart from all the sneaking around the house and playing tricks that I did.'

It was half way through the welcoming feast before the four boys arrived with the Portkey. They headed to their respective tables and grabbed some food, ignoring the whispers about their sudden arrival.

'Where on earth were you?' Marian asked when James sat down, and the others in the year glanced at him, looking slightly interested.

'Train left without us,' he replied. 'Nothing major ... there were a few Death Eaters at the station, somebody killed. Did Dumbledore say who? We didn't see.'

'Oh, just some Gryffindor and his parents,' replied Severus. 'And a Muggle. The Gryffindors are rather freaked out about it.'

'That's a little cold, Sev, even for you,' said James, with a raised eyebrow. Severus shrugged, leaving the others to wonder why he was suddenly being more open about his opinion of Muggles and Gryffindors.

The term started fairly normally, although the murders had shaken everyone up, especially the Gryffindors. McGonagall called James 'heartless' and gave him detention when he charmed a fourth year Gryffindor so every time he tried to talk, pink bubbles that squealed when they were popped exploded from his mouth. James assumed that he wouldn't have been considered "heartless", just "annoying", if the bubble-talker hadn't been good friends with the kid who died.

Callaway told him that he would be joining in the Slytherin Quidditch practice if he wanted to be considered for playing in future matches. He also told James not to get his hopes up, as Siegan wasn't a bad Chaser, and James was a stupid immature little pea-brain, with no self-restraint.

Things with Marian were weird, but not entirely bad. She had decided that he was worth more than one Hogsmeade trip, so had come as close to insisting he went with her on the next one as she could without actually asking him herself. James had to do that, which annoyed him. If she wanted to go with him, why did she have to hint? What was so wrong about asking him herself? Apparently they were an official couple now, which James didn't mind too much. It meant he got a girlfriend before any of the other three.

Kissing was a completely new experience for both of them. It was kind of weird, but kind of nice too. James couldn't help feeling very worried that one of the teachers would catch them. That would be too embarrassing.

*

James was sulking. He was cramped and annoyed, as Sirius' undying enthusiasm was enough to get at anyone. All four of them were under the Invisibility Cloak, so they were cramped far too closely together for James' taste, and, because he was fairly tall (although shorter than Sirius), he had to duck uncomfortably.

Sirius was leading them to some obscure secret passage he assured them would lead to Hogsmeade, and, as Filch supposedly knew about it, they had to keep hidden under the cloak, at least until they got in and it closed up. James was seriously beginning to regret promising to go to Hogsmeade with them. Sirius had used Marian to guilt trip him into it.

'Panoplato,' whispered Sirius, and nothing happened. James opened his mouth to ask what was wrong when Sirius dragged them all through the wall, which seemed not to be there, as they got through easily. It was completely dark and very smelly and the walls felt close. James pulled the cloak off and stuffed it in his bag.

'Lumos!' muttered Peter, and James blinked rapidly. The four were crushed into the entrance of what appeared to be a very long tunnel. It was narrow, too and, as far as he could tell, downhill.

'Come on!' whispered Sirius, lighting his own wand and heading down the tunnel as quickly as he could. Peter sprinted after him, leaving the other two in the darkness. James supposed he could light his wand, but he preferred the dark.

'Come on, Remus!' he said, reaching out and grabbing his friend's shoulder, before finding his wrist and dragging him along.

'Get off, James!' said Remus, irritably, but James ignored him as they followed the light they could see from Sirius' and Peter's wands ahead of them. 'At least light your own wand!' Remus yelped, tripping on something. It was some time before they found the end; James was beginning to get tired after running the whole way and Remus ran ahead, he didn't even seem out of breath, and got out of the tunnel and into the light. Sirius and Peter were already up there.

James slipped the Invisibility Cloak on and crept up.

'Where's James?' asked Sirius, to Remus, who wasn't even out of breath, unlike both Sirius and Peter.

'I don't know,' said Remus. 'He was there right up till the end.' Sirius muttered a curse.

'The only person who could get lost in a straight tunnel with only one way out is James, isn't it?' he said; much to James' annoyance, the other two nodded in agreement. He disarmed Sirius and his friend fell backwards with shock. 'Coward,' Sirius muttered, pulling a face, as James pulled the cloak off and tossed Sirius' wand back to him.

'How come you're not tired after all that running?' he asked Remus. 'It's not like you had a rest half way through, is it?'

'A wolf can run incredibly far for a long time,' replied Remus. 'And I haven't been completely human for a long time now.' He grinned, baring his teeth more than necessary.

'D'you think it's the same for Animagi?' wondered Sirius.

'Ask McGonagall,' suggested Remus, shrugging.

They'd emerged on a grassy bank slightly hidden by some bushes. Hogsmeade appeared virtually empty. James thought most people were probably in the pub or something. Or at home being boring. He brushed off his clothes, the tunnel had got them covered in dust, even though he'd only run through it. They weren't his school uniform: he had on trousers and a shirt with a green cloak; it was very similar to the sort of thing he'd used to wear when his parents were still alive. He could easily pass for a wizard, rather than a Muggle, but they were so much more practical than some types of robe. The other three were outfitted similarly, so they looked as though they weren't at Hogwarts.

It was actually surprising how few people recognized them; the only person who did was Rosmerta, and she promised not to tell. Even the man in Zonko's didn't, and James knew he'd seen them before. The few hours they spent there were a lot of fun, and James showed them the way down to the kitchens when they got back so they could have lunch. The House Elves were most pleased to see them and gave them as much food as they could eat.

*

'Sorry I'm late, Professor,' said Sirius; the class had been waiting five minutes for his arrival. 'I had to shake hands with the Queen, you see.' The joke was lost on the half the class who were pure, and didn't know anything about the Muggle Queen.

'Ten points from Gryffindor, Black,' McGonagall told him impatiently, 'get to your seat.' Sirius sat next to James, a grin on his face. Severus gave James a worried look, in case he decided to try and lose points and beat Sirius. 'The whole class may have to stay late after the lesson has finished to catch up on what we should have been doing in these past few minutes,' added McGonagall and several students turned to glare at Sirius. 'Today we're going to be talking about Animagi.' It was all James could do not to sit up straight and listen; he glanced at the other three, all of whom had their eyes on McGonagall.

'Can anyone tell me anything about Animagi and the transformation involved?' she asked and then glared at the rather pitiful show of hands. 'Mr Black, you look rather enthusiastic,' Sirius appeared practically asleep already. 'Care to tell me what you know?'

'If anything,' muttered Severus Snape and Sirius shot him an evil look.

'Well,' he said, slowly. 'According to my beloved classmate, Severus here, I know nothing, so I'd better not answer.' McGonagall glared at both Sirius and Severus, probably considering which to punish. 'Potter!' she snapped, turning to him. 'What do you know?'

'Er... my uncle was one,' said James brightly, guessing this was exactly the opposite of what she wanted.

'Was he, Potter? Surely you must know something else then?'

'A bit, yes. You can only turn into one animal but you don't need a wand for it and you get to keep your human thoughts and stuff. You have to register.'

'I didn't notice anyone by the name of Potter on the list of registered Animagi,' said McGonagall. James cursed himself; he had had an uncle who could turn into a bald eagle, but he had been unregistered.

'He wasn't called Potter, I don't remember his name actually,' said James, truthfully. 'But he lived in Russia,' he added, this was a lie, 'so I expect he was registered there.' McGonagall looked skeptical, but she let it pass.

'Professor,' said Sirius.

'What is it Black? You may not use the bathroom and if you're ill then I don't care: you're not going to the Hospital Wing.'

'Professor! I am offended! When have I ever tried to get out of lessons!?' said Sirius, in a shocked voice. 'I was actually going to ask how you find out what animal suits you?' Sirius knew the answer to this, but James suspected he was hoping McGonagall could come up with something else to help them.

'It's very difficult to find out,' she replied. 'It is possible to become an animal that's not the right one, but it makes the transformation even harder. You just have to find out the right animal for yourself, it has to suit you.'

'But surely there's some way that's easier?' he questioned. 'I mean, that way sounds really long winded.'

'It can be difficult,' she told him. 'I am a cat, as you know; it took me six months to find out what my animal would be. The longest time recorded is ten years, just for the unfortunate wizard to find out what animal he was supposed to be. There might be another way, but I don't know it and if there is then it's probably Dark magic.'

Sirius passed a note to Peter, which James read over his shoulder:

Ask if it changes you as a person, you know, like Moony not getting tired. Only don't say that. If I ask she'll get even more suspicious. She's knows me well enough to realise that I'd probably try, given half a chance.

Peter rolled his eyes, but raised his hand.

'Professor,' he began. 'Does is change anything about you as a human? You know, if you're a cheetah you can run faster or something.'

'To some extent, yes it does,' she replied. 'You will often retain certain qualities which are superior in the animal, such as sense of smell or hearing. You won't have that quality as strong as the animal would while you're a human, but it's enough to be noticeable.

'Now, I want all of you to listen to me: do not be tempted to try this. We are going to discuss it all in more detail but I want none of you to even contemplate it until you've at least left school. It's incredibly difficult, illegal and you don't need to. It's not in your text-books but Professor Dumbledore feels it should be taught to you.'

They discussed the method over the rest of the lesson, although James, Sirius, Remus and Peter had already read it all.

'Do you really have an Uncle who was one?' asked Remus when they left the classroom.

'I did, I dunno if he's still alive or anything.'

'He wasn't registered, was he?' said Peter, and James shook his head.

''Course not, we Potters aren't that sort of family,' he said, with a slight grin. 'I don't think McGonagall swallowed my story completely. What are the odds she's owling the Minister of Magic in Russia now?'

'You are a really big twit, you know that, James?' said Sirius. 'You should keep your big mouth shut occasionally.' James shrugged. 'You should be a howler monkey or something.'

'Oh shut up, you're louder than I am.'

'I think maybe we should finish this, James,' Marian suddenly sprung on him when he went over to talk to her one morning and hint that he wanted a snog. 'We can still be friends.' James was surprised: he had no idea why she'd suddenly decided this.

'Er... OK... if you want, I suppose. I'm going to the library,' James disappeared out of the room and headed to the library as quickly as possible trying to avoid thinking about it. It wasn't as though he was upset, just surprised. What had he done?

Unfortunately, Remus, Sirius and Peter were elsewhere. He searched all the likely places and couldn't find them anywhere. Going down to the Great Hall he noticed Remus outside the girls' toilets.

'Remus! What are you doing here?' Remus urgently signalled that he be quiet and gestured for him to come over.

'Sirius and Peter are charming the toilets so every time they're flushed the water explodes like a fountain. Be quiet, they won't be long.' The two emerged shortly after and all four headed outside the castle as quickly as possible.

'Why didn't you tell me what you were up to?' demanded James; he actually felt quite hurt not to have been included.

'Well you were off with Marian,' said Sirius, unpleasantly. Sirius had never particularly liked Marian: she was a Slytherin, after all. After teasing James lost its fun, he had become more obviously jealous, although whether it was because James had a girlfriend and he didn't, or because James had always been going off to see her, it was unclear. 'Did you have fun?'

'No,' replied James, shortly. 'It's over.'

'Oh,' said Sirius, uncaringly. 'It can't be that bad, surely, you're always saying you were perfectly happy as friends.'

'Yeah... but I... I don't know. I don't care that much, it's just a surprise.' James was still wondering what he had done wrong that had made Marian dump him like that, but he wasn't about to tell the others.

'Don't worry,' said Remus. 'You'll get over it.' James poked his tongue out.

'There's nothing to get over,' he told them. 'Now, what are you lot going to say when McGonagall finds the girls' toilets are exploding?'

'Well,' said Sirius, slowly, 'the original plan was: "it was James" but now you're back with us again we'll have to come up with something else.'

'How about... "it was Snape"?' suggested Peter.

James snorted. 'Because McGonagall's really going to believe that. She'll know perfectly well that something at this level of maturity is bound to be us. Even if it wasn't me this time.'

'But you wouldn't want to miss out on detention with us, would you?' said Sirius, with a grin.

Fortunately James had Marian as an alibi, so avoided detention and didn't have to miss Quidditch practice. James had Quidditch practice every day that week as the match was on Saturday; Callaway had decided to give him the chance to play in the match against Ravenclaw although if he dared miss either the match or the practices for any reason other than death, then he'd be off the team forever.

He woke on Saturday morning and considered staying in bed all day. Quidditch looked too stressful for him; he was too lazy. In the end he got up and forced down a plate of rather disgusting breakfast. James had found the best way to deal with nerves was to forget about what was making him nervous, so, until he actually had to get changed, to anyone who wished him good luck in the game (or bad luck in the case of everyone not in Slytherin) he merely replied: 'What game?'

In the changing rooms Callaway talked to the team: 'Now, we won the last match, we beat Gryffindor; but they're idiots and I'd expect nothing less. Ravenclaw have got a good team this year.' James observed that it looked like it nearly killed Callaway to admit such a thing. 'We can win, but don't resort to cheating until all is lost, or until the ref isn't looking. If you don't win then I'll kill the lot of you. I can afford it; I have reserve players.'

'Inspiring speech, really puts you at ease,' James muttered under his breath to the other Chaser, Susannah Rickwaite, a fourth year.

'Get used to it,' she told him. 'It's similar every match and we're all still alive.'

'Comforting,' muttered James, drily. The team headed out on to the pitch, the Ravenclaws were already waiting, as was Madam Hooch.

'And here come the Slytherins!' Lander was still commentator, although he didn't have any Hufflepuffs to favour this time.

Madam Hooch signalled they mount their brooms. She released the Bludgers and the Snitch, then tossed the Quaffle in the air and blew her whistle.

At once, James kicked off. Callaway shot through everyone else and grabbed the Quaffle, then started to fly down the pitch. James and Rickwaite zoomed after him to back him up, but he didn't really need it as he flew to the goal posts and threw the Quaffle straight through.

'And Ravenclaw Chaser, Pall, gets the Quaffle!' yelled Lander as the game continued. James shot towards Pall, narrowly missing Judas Wilkes, and snatched the Quaffle. Callaway and Rickwaite were there almost instantly but he sped up the pitch and threw the Quaffle through the hoop as hard as he could.

'A good shot, coming from James Potter, making the score twenty-zero to Slytherin!' said Lander.

'Don't get cocky, Potter,' Callaway yelled at him warningly. The game continued and the three Chasers worked together well; the Ravenclaw team clearly hadn't expected this, as in the match against Gryffindor it had been Siegan playing, and he definitely wasn't as good as James.

The score was one-hundred-and-thirty to forty when the Ravenclaw Seeker caught the Snitch (although James had almost managed to smash into him and stop him from getting it) and although they lost James had never enjoyed a game more. It was his first at Hogwarts, but he'd played plenty of times before.

'You'll do, Potter,' Callaway told him, in the changing rooms, 'but no more messing around. Well done team!' he added, sarcastically. 'You were crap! Learn to play Quidditch or you're off. Got it?' James quickly changed and went out to find Remus and the others.

'We won! We won!' Remus loudly reminded him, he then ducked the hex James sent at him.

'I scored more goals myself than your whole team did,' he said, poking his tongue out. 'I'm not the crap Seeker, am I? It just happens to be that ours is.'

'Well done, Jamesy,' said Sirius, with a grin. 'Not bad, for a Slytherin. I am so bloody glad I got you that detention last term and didn't have to play us.' James grinned; he wasn't going to fight over that again, besides, it was a compliment really.

*

James scowled. Verdied scowled too, although not at James, he was scowling at the Daily Prophet. James was scowling at Verdied and the bucket of water he was trying to clean the floor with; it was quite difficult to do both simultaneously, so James had to scowl at them individually.

'You know, Potter, why did you have to mess up right before Hogsmeade?' asked Verdied. 'If you weren't such an idiot we'd both be there now. It wasn't like I didn't have anything to do there.'

'You could just forget detention and we could both be there in twenty minutes,' said James, hopefully. Verdied raised an eyebrow. James got back to scrubbing. 'It was only a Dungbomb, and he called Peter a Mudblood.'

'Potter, the school does have set punishments, you know: detention for a Dungbomb and forty points off the offender's house for the use of the word 'Mudblood'; nothing you say or do will change this this. Get scrubbing.' James continued scrubbing the floor; it was amazingly difficult to have a civil conversation with Verdied. A few minutes later he looked up again.

'Who makes up the punishments and the rules?'

'Mr Filch,' said Verdied, 'unless he suggests a beating and won't compromise, then the teachers ignore him and decide it for themselves. You will get into serious trouble if you try and bribe him to change this, by the way. The punishment for attempted bribery of such an esteemed member of staff is a month of detentions.' Verdied didn't particularly like Filch, you could just hear the sarcasm. 'Now get on with it, Potter.'

'Yes, almighty God,' said James, sarcastically. 'I will worship you forever.' He twitched slightly, waiting to be cursed.

'I could get used to that,' said Verdied, with a smirk. 'Now get on with it.'

James finished his detention and was glad to see he could still get a couple of hours in Hogsmeade. He headed down to the village. It was actually quite nice to be away from the other three for a bit, although he would probably meet them there; it was much quieter.

It was a nice day, not a cloud in the sky. He did feel a bit alone though; he wasn't sure he was supposed to come down by himself like this and it made him feel nervous. He couldn't think why, though, doing something he probably wasn't supposed to do didn't usually make him nervous.

He reached the edge of the school grounds when Brauhum suddenly appeared; he looked relieved to see James.

'Potter!' he gasped. 'Go up to the school and get Dumbledore! Run! He's there! An attack! We need help! Run! I'm going back!' James gaped, but turned and sprinted up the grounds as fast as his legs could carry him. He dashed to the staff room, as he had no idea where Dumbledore's office was. Filch was in there, cleaning.

'Where's Dumbledore!?' demanded James, gasping for breath. 'There's been an attack at Hogsmeade! I need to find him!' Filch gave James an odd look and barked: 'Follow me!' He ran into the secret passage that James had found in first year, and James followed quickly. He muttered the password to the gargoyle and upwards-moving stairs appeared.

Dumbledore was sitting at his desk and reading, entirely unaware of what was happening in Hogsmeade, when James and Filch got up there; he looked surprised at the interruption.

'Professor!' gasped James, out of breath. 'An attack! I was going to Hogsmeade and I saw Brauhum, and he said I had to get you, and he went back to help.' Dumbledore almost jumped to his feet.

'Argus: go to the Entrance Hall and stop anyone from leaving. I have to go to Hogsmeade. James, go to the Great Hall and stay there. Hogwarts is safe, don't worry.' All three left Dumbledore's office. James headed in the direction of the Great Hall, but he soon stopped.

Should he go to Hogsmeade? He could get there through the passage if he wanted. He might get hurt. But someone else might be hurt. Sirius? Or Remus? Or Peter? Or anyone? He could help them, couldn't he?

He headed to the passage, growing more unsure by the minute. Surely Dumbledore knew best? And the Ministry would be there. He might get in the way, or get killed or hurt himself.

He stood in the middle of the corridor, completely torn; he had no idea whether to go or not. He ran towards the entrance to the passage anyway and opened it. More doubts came: was he sure this was the right thing to do? James took a deep breath, lit his wand, and peered down the tunnel.

'Who's there?' squeaked a voice.

'Remus!' called James. 'Is that you?'

'James!' The relief in his voice was obvious. His face was white and his breathing shallow. He let himself collapse onto the floor as the entrance to the tunnel closed.

'Where are the others!?' asked James urgently.

'I don't know,' moaned Remus, 'we got separated! There was a big attack ... loads and loads of Death Eaters! I don't know how I managed to escape.'

'Are you all right?'

'I think so ... just scared. It was so sudden ... they all just appeared ... no one knew what to do.'

'Dumbledore went down there, and Filch is guarding the Entrance Hall. Are you sure you're not hurt?' Remus nodded, then shook his head and then nodded. James couldn't help feeling concerned. 'Are you sure?'

'Yeah, honestly, I'm fine.'

'Dumbledore told me to go to the Great Hall, but I didn't, because I had to see if you lot were coming.'

'You weren't thinking of going down there were you, James? You can't! It'd be suicide!' The terror in his voice reappeared; James had seen a few attacks, but never been in one, he just couldn't imagine what it had been like.

'I won't! We can wait here, do you think the others might come back this way?' If they come back at all, a nasty little voice suggested.

'They might, but I don't know, they disappeared and I don't think they were anywhere near the entrance, there were Death Eaters in between, they were everywhere!'

'We could hide just outside the Entrance Hall and then we could see people coming back,' suggested James, helping Remus to his feet. From Remus' voice it sounded unlikely that Remus and Peter would find their way back through the tunnel.

They couldn't have waited any more than an hour but it seemed like an eternity. An occasional student would run through the doors, looking terrified and Filch would send them to the Great Hall. The majority of the students arrived in one group, accompanied by McGonagall, Brauhum and a few other teachers. All looked scared, even the bunch of older Slytherins who had previously been so confident and cocky that it wouldn't affect them. James and Remus joined that group and slipped into the Great Hall.

Most of the students were sitting at the tables quietly, although a few were talking; the House Elves had sent some drinks up too, as well as large quantities of chocolate. James glanced around for Peter and Sirius, but he could see neither. Where were they? Nothing could have happened to them, right? Too many students were missing. Most were people James had never spoken to, but now they weren't there, the gaps they usually filled were obvious. There was the pretty, blonde Hufflepuff, three years older, who Peter had had a brief crush on; the fourth year Ravenclaw, who had more than once been a victim of a Dungbomb; the girl in their Transfiguration class who was always chewing her hair and dropping her things everywhere.

More potent were the gaps created by Sirius and Peter.

James had no idea who out of these students he would never see again, and who was just in the Hospital Wing, slightly injured. He closed his eyes, and took several deep breaths. Sirius and Peter were in the Hospital Wing, they were going to be all right, they were just a bit injured, nothing more.

He and Remus headed to the Ravenclaw table and sat together. They didn't talk, just sat, with Remus taking the occasional sip of his drink or bite of his chocolate. The teachers sent the Prefects to go and fetch the younger students who were still in their common rooms.

When Dumbledore entered there was absolute silence; every student turned to look at him with worry and fear. The look on his face was sad, which gave no one much confidence. He made his way slowly up to the front of the Great Hall and surveyed the students.

'I'm sorry to announce this, but the news from battles isn't always good. You should know... not everyone has survived unharmed.' The last sentence sent a chill down James' spine. 'Those injured are currently in the Hospital Wing and the relatives and friends of the dead shall be informed. The attack today was the worst we have seen so far; it was unexpected and unmotivated. The Death Eaters, as they call themselves, are more numerous than we expected. Hogwarts is the safest place you can be and you all need to remember that.'

'Professor!' it was a Hufflepuff third year. 'Who is it?' Many students glanced uneasily at the Hufflepuff - none of them really wanted to know.

'He calls himself Voldemort,' said Dumbledore carefully. An excited, yet somehow terrified whispering filled the Great Hall. James glanced at Remus; they had known the name previously, but it sounded strange, it finally being revealed to them. 'Not many people know this,' added Dumbledore. 'I'm going to ask you all to wait in here under the supervision of Professors McGonagall and Sprout and the Prefects, while myself and the other Professors check the school.' Dumbledore started to leave and directed the teachers to follow him.

At once, some small groups of students got to their feet and rushed after him, clamoring to know where their friends were. James and Remus were among them. The sense of anxiety was almost overwhelming.

'I must ask you to return to your tables,' said Dumbledore. 'I have things that must be seen to and we do not yet know what has happened to everyone. You will find out about your friends soon, I promise.' And with that, he left, closely followed by most of the staff. Neither McGonagall, nor Sprout, looked willing to share information regarding those missing, and the small crowd soon disappeared, leaving only Remus and James.

Whispers circulated the hall, who had seen what? What had happened? James couldn't listen, he wanted just to wake up out of a dream.

'Er... James,' a girl had approached the two of them quietly. James glanced up. She looked pale and very shaken up, and he recognised her.

'Amy... isn't it? Gryffindor?' She nodded. 'Are you OK?' She nodded again.

'I hope your friends are OK. I'm sure they will be.'

'Thanks,' James smiled vaguely at her, wondering why she'd noticed.

'Er... Sprout's busy talking to some Gryffindors, do you want me to distract McGonagall so you two can sneak out? I don't know if it's safe and maybe you shouldn't go because you might get caught.' She seemed worried at having suggested it herself.

'Would you mind doing that?' asked James, amazed that she would offer.

'I'll do it, if you're sure,' she said. James glanced at Remus who nodded to show he agreed.

'Thanks, Amy.' She smiled slightly and walked over to McGonagall. James watched as she started talking to McGonagall and marvelled at her innocence. Had it been he or the other three trying to talk to her she would instantly have suspected something. The two made their way back to the door and slipped out quietly. Filch was in the Entrance Hall but, fortunately, he was at the other end, guarding the front door, so they were able to sneak past.

The school was dark, darker that it normally was, and far more foreboding. Every shadow became a Death Eater, the squeaking of a rat became the screams of pain of the victims and every corner was cursed. The slightest noise made them jump and the movement of the paintings was horrifying to see from the corner of James' eye. Somehow the route to the Hospital Wing seemed twice as long as normal. James wasn't even sure he wanted to know what he would find.

Fortunately the door was unlocked and the two entered the light with relief. The beds were all sectioned off, with between one and three beds in each section. Madam Pomfrey could be heard seeing to a patient at one end. The two boys carefully peered between cracks in the screens before Remus found the right area. They slipped in and Peter jumped.

He was sitting up on his bed; his left arm was out of his pajamas and covered in bandages, but apart from that, he seemed OK, if a little shaken. Sirius was lying in his bed with his eyes closed and Peter motioned for them to be quiet, gesturing that Madam Pomfrey was outside.

'What happened?' whispered James.

'It was all so sudden,' hissed Peter. 'They just appeared out of nowhere. We were all scared and we all ran in different directions. I don't know where Remus went, but I found Sirius again. We tried to hide, but one of them found us. We got hit by a curse, it stripped all the skin away from my arm,' Remus and James both winced slightly, and Peter nodded. 'Not nice. It was really painful; it felt like it was burning. We're lucky it missed us, we saw this one Death Eater do it to a whole person.' The horror was still there in Peter's voice, and he broke off. Remus handed him a drink of water that was on the table in there.

'And Sirius?' asked James, quietly, in a voice that was slightly more high-pitched than normal.

'Is trying to get some sleep,' hissed a furious whisper from the bed. 'At least have the courtesy, when visiting the sick, to let them rest.'

'Sirius!' said James, gaping; and he span around and hugged him suddenly. Sirius looked very surprised.

'Who, me?' he asked, with a slightly pained grin.

'No, the other Sirius standing behind you,' replied James, sarcastically.

'I'd turn my head to humour you, you horrible Slytherin, but I got hit by another couple of curses and am in pain.'

'He's also been faking unconsciousness for a while,' muttered Peter. 'I was really worried.' Sirius grinned again.

'I'm fine, just badly scratched. We were hiding again, half-killed after our flesh was burned off. This one guy was going to kill this old bloke so I hexed him, but he figured out where I was, so I nearly got killed, but then I think an Auror got him.'

'You hexed a Death Eater!?' said James, amazed, forgetting to whisper.

'What's going on in there?' snapped Madam Pomfrey, who was, unfortunately, just passing. She pulled back the screen and looked at James and Remus in amazement. 'What are you two doing here?' she turned to Peter. 'Why are you out of bed?' Grumbling, Peter slipped back into his bed. She turned to Sirius, pulled back his covers and started checking him over, ignoring James and Remus. James and Remus turned to Peter, who asked how Remus had got back.

Dumbledore entered soon after to talk to Madam Pomfrey. He gave James and Remus a stern look.

'I may not have directly stated that you two should remain in the Great Hall. I am certain, however, that you knew that would be the case. I do understand your concern, but I ask you to consider what would have happened if there had been Dark wizards around Hogwarts, or if you'd been caught by some of the traps and security devices we'd prepared. I think all four of you need to be a bit more careful: I hate to sound so terribly old, but most of the things I tell you are for a reason. I'll take the two of you back to your dormitories now.'

James glanced guiltily at Remus: maybe Dumbledore was right, what he and the other three did wasn't always that smart - hexing Death Eaters for example; but it would always seem right at the time. He and Remus would have spent the whole night worrying if they hadn't gone to the Hospital Wing. Everything had worked out so far, hadn't it?