Moony, Padfoot, Wormtail, and Prongs

Moony, Padfoot, Wormtail, and Prongs

Chapter Four:

Lightning Strikes

Sirius paced his dorm. Every once and awhile he'd stop, glare into the impossibly thick goop that was once potion, and continue to pace again. Remus stirred the potion slowly. The murky grey had already turned to a more muddy shade of green. It was thinning, too, but slowly. It smelled of dead rats.

"How long is this going to take, Moony?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know," Remus answered honestly. "You'll have to be patient and wait."

"Why wait? I always have to wait," Sirius whined.

Remus grinned. "The best things come late."

Sirius tilted his head, confused. "Huh?"

"I think it was a proverb I heard once when I was younger," Remus answered.

Sirius nodded slowly. "It's...very...annoying," he decided.

Remus laughed. "You were never the patient one."

Sirius opened his mouth to retort when Peter - who had been sent out in search of James - rushed in. "I don't know where James is, but it's dinner time, and he's bound to be there!"

Sirius and Remus exchanged knowing glances. How well they knew Peter and his love of food. The blonde ran back downstairs, presumably to the Great Hall for dinner.

Sirius turned his gaze from Remus to the potion. "That's not even close to thinking about being done."

"Considering the fact that potions can't think, I'd say you're correct," Remus said. All the same, he carefully poured a couple drops of the potion into a tube.

"You just said it wasn't done," Sirius pointed out.

"No, I agreed with you that potions couldn't think," Remus disagreed. "Now, hurry. Or else, he may get there before us."

Remus sprinted down the stairs. Sirius followed slowly, completely and utterly confused. Remus didn't bother to explain. Explaining something to Sirius would be almost as pointless as trying to explain something to Peter.

* * * * *

Although tall, Remus was unnoticed amongst the Slytherins. He liked to say that they never noticed him because an evil aura wasn't radiating from him. However, he knew that he wasn't noticed because he was quiet. He had always been quiet.

He swooped down over Lucius' seat, relieved that neither he nor his henchmen were anywhere to be seen. He cautiously uncorked the tube and poured a drop into the goblet of pumpkin juice. Normally, this would've been reckless, but Lucius always sat in the same seat at the Slytherin table. He sat at the head of the table because he believed himself to be the king of his house. It was that simple.

Remus lingered over the goblet for a moment, watching the people around him like a hawk would search for a predator. Very quickly, the droplet from the potion settled in to the pumpkin juice. The juice turned an acid green before returning to its honey brown colour. Remus left the table as quickly and quietly as he had come.

As soon as he was seated, Remus was bombarded with questions.

"Did you deliver the package?" Sirius asked eagerly.

Remus sighed. The weary expression on his face made him look almost helpless. The blood coloured gashes across his cheek from November's full moon cycle seemed fresher than when he had first returned to the infirmary. The bags under his eyes were black with the memory of several sleepless nights. Sirius decided to answer his own question.

"Yes. Good. He's drinking the juice now."

Remus turned and watched as Lucius Malfoy made an extravagant gesture and sat down. He picked up his goblet and took a large sip from it. His face turned pale white, and he coughed, but there was no evidence of the potion's success. Remus turned slowly back around to see Sirius giving him a questioning gaze. Peter was too busy shovelling meat into his mouth to notice any change.

"Wait," Remus told Sirius once more, only to receive an agitated glare.

Peter, feeling as he were missing something, looked up. "What did I miss?" he asked.

Remus grinned painfully. "You'll see in the morning."

* * * * *

It was nearly eleven o'clock when Sirius decided that he wasn't going to be able to sleep. Peter had fallen asleep nearly two hours ago, and Remus had retired immediately after dinner. Remus, he could understand. He never got any sleep in his werewolf stages, and it added up. Peter always went to bed early, and for reasons Sirius could not fathom.

He slowly rose from the cushiony red armchair that he had been sitting in. There were so many options for his entertainment. There was always pranking, but at the moment he couldn't think of anything original. Suddenly, a place came to mind. Somewhere he hadn't been since last term. He nodded to himself and headed toward the portrait of the Fat Lady.

Instead of opening the portrait and leaving the tower, Sirius paused to look at the banners to his left and right. Both were scarlet and gold, and carried the symbol of the lion. Sirius turned to his right and moved the banner.

Beneath, there appeared to be a normal wall. The dim light coming from the Common Room beyond would not reveal the secrets of this wall. Sirius pulled out his wand and placed it gently on one of the bricks.

"Lumos Maxima!" he said.

As the light from the wand snuck into every corner of the room, Sirius could see that the blinding light had been enough to cause a reaction. It was funny how Sirius could accomplish Lumos Maxima, but not a simple Lumos. It was most likely that he was better at one than the other because Lumos Maxima had more use to him.

As he squinted at the wall he could now make out several scribbles and flourishes. Largest and grandest, he would note, was his own scribble of a signature. He took his wand and traced his signature while muttering the password. As he finished tracing the 'k' at the end of his last name, he stepped back.

The bricks began to rearrange themselves in the same manner that those of Diagon Alley and Slytherin House would. Once in the state of an arch, Sirius walked in and the bricks resealed the gap behind him. He was in a dusty room. He waved his wand - which was still shining with the brightness of the sun, or so he thought - and said the password to their generation of Marauders. Peter had thought of the password. It was rather Peter-like.

Slowly, colour faded into the room. Sirius frowned, noticing that the transformation stage had been altered. He made a note to himself to fix the problem when he left. He retrieved a thick book from an old oak table and sat down on his favourite chair.

It had bothered him that James hadn't shown up when he looked in the Marauder's Map. The only place he could be was outside of the castle. Occasionally, the Book of the Marauders would open a window so one could view the other Marauders. The only person who had opened that window, however, had been Lily. It had been two years ago.

* * * * *

In their fifth year, Lily Evans had especially hated James Potter. Their friendship had broken in their third year, and their relationship had gotten steadily worse. Lily had lowered herself to the position of sticking up for Severus Snape to enunciate that fact. James did everything to try and get Lily to notice him. The only person that Lily would still correspond with at that time was Remus; all four boys knew that the only reason for that was because she pitied him. The Potions class with Lucius Malfoy had not been helpful.

Sirius could remember that day very clearly. It was about midterm, and the potion was...well, he couldn't remember the name of the potion. All he remembered was it was one of the few that he had completed successfully. He had been partnered up with Michael Karbadino, who happened to be one of the quieter, trustworthier Slytherins. Peter was with Remus, and James was partnered with Lucius.

James had known that Lily was watching him carefully, searching for signs that he was going to infect Lucius with boils or something else. With that in mind, he had been very cautious to complete his potion correctly. He had also been very watchful towards Lucius to make sure he wasn't going to poison him. James must've missed the 'extra pinch of doxy powder', as Peter called it. Or he must've missed the fact that half the Slytherins in the class were cackling at him. Or that Lucius was putting very few of the actual ingredients in his potion.

Near the end of class, Professor Crow had called upon James and Lucius to demonstrate. James had taken the tube of Lucius' potion and drank it with more trust then he would've Sirius'. It had been only moments later when James had fallen.

James described the transformation as "agony beyond words and expressions". Watching as your best friend was publicly humiliated in such a way was just as bad. Sirius wouldn't forget the howls of laughter as James' hair began to grow rapidly and take on a reddish tint. Behind all the hair it had been difficult to see the change. James had refused to move, and Sirius had to peel him off the cold stone floor. The first face James had seen was Lily's.

Sirius had rushed James down to the hospital wing. As soon as Madame Parsay had seen him, she had put him in one of the hospital cots and shooed Sirius out, claiming that "the Gendrea Potion is one not to be messed with, and whoever had done this to him should be expelled".

That was how Sirius had known the name of the potion. When he had returned to his class to pick up his things, Lily Evans had been waiting there for him.

She asked if James was going to be all right. Sirius could tell not only by the tone of her voice, but also by the dull glimmer in her green eyes that she was genuinely concerned. Sirius had told that he was sure Madame Parsay could change him back to normal. With that, Lily had begun to tell him about the cruel trick Lucius had played.

"The Gendrea Potion was one of the first potions to be made illegal," she had explained. "It was discovered by an Italian wizard by the name of Mario Glemankias. The drinker of the potion is transformed into the opposite gender, as you saw. But what makes the potion worse is the fact that not only is the person transformed into the opposite gender, but transformed in the likeness of a select person. In James' case, it appears to be me. The Gendrea Potion is kind of like a cross-gender Polyjuice Potion."

With that last comment, Lily was ushered away by some of her friends. Sirius kept walking, pondering her speech.

Later that evening, Sirius had come to the very room where he now sat. The only difference had been that Lily sat in the seat most commonly occupied by James. She had heard Sirius come in, but had made no comment. Lily was holding the book that Sirius held now.

Sirius had come to stand behind her, and it didn't take him long to recognize the bruised face that she was looking at.

"Around dinner time, James went to the Quidditch pitch and began to fly," she had told him. "When he heard the thunder storm approaching, he didn't come in. He just kept flying. He must've not wished to be humiliated every time he passed a Slytherin in the hall. It began to rain. James kept flying. He kept flying...until...until he couldn't fly anymore."

Lily turned around to face Sirius. Subtle tears were rolling down her cheeks. It shocked Sirius to see these tears being shed for James. He wiped one of the tears away.

"Would you like to go see him?" he had asked her.

She shook her head. "I already know what happened. He flew too high...and...and...l-li-li-lighting got him."

Sirius listened to her voice quavering as she spoke. She had made him promise never to tell James of what she had told him that day. He had promised. To this day, James didn't know of Lily's inquires or concern.

* * * * *

Suddenly, Sirius snapped back to reality. What if...no, it wasn't possible. But then, James wasn't always the rational one. A boom of thunder shook the little room and Sirius snapped the book shut in front of him. It was possible; it was even likely. The bloody idiot.

Sirius quickly changed the transformation of the room and locked it shut. He dashed up to the dorm he shared with his best friends. They were still sleeping.

He went to Remus first and shook him. "Remus, wake up!"

Remus muttered something foul under his breath and rolled over. Sirius, stubborn, as always, didn't give up.

"Remus, I mean it, wake up! This is not a joke."

"Everything's a joke to you," Remus muttered sleepily. "Go to sleep, Sirius."

"No, Remus, I'm really, really serious this time."

Remus opened his eyes halfway. "What do you want?"

"I know where James is."

That woke Remus up completely. "Wake up Peter," Remus commanded, "and I'll find James' invisibility cloak."

Sirius nodded and went to Peter. He was a bit easier to wake up.

"Wake up, Peter."

"Go to sleep, Sirius."

"Get up and I might give you a Chocolate Frog."

Peter sat up straight and saw Remus rummaging through James' trunk. "What's going on?"

"Sirius knows where James is," Remus answered quickly.

* * * * *

The rain was pounding down heavily and soaking Remus to the bone. The chilling December wind didn't help much either. Peter scampered through the grass, trying to avoid the mud that Sirius was kicking back toward him. Sirius sniffed the air consistently, but smelled nothing out of the ordinary.

"Where are we going, Padfoot?" Remus asked.

Sirius didn't reply. He merely looked towards the sky and squinted, as if searching for something. He barked, and he kept his deep brown eyes darting about above him. There came no reply, only the persistant thudding of the rain.

Sirius was silent for a moment. Remus and Peter could barely see him in the black of the night. A white flash of lightning illuminated the Quidditch Pitch. Sirius caught a glimpse of a mound near the opposite end of the pitch. He ran.

Peter and Remus stayed where they were, watching Sirius dash away from them. The whole time, Peter was thinking how this must've been some horribly planned prank. He turned and began to scamper towards the castle, but he didn't get far.

James! Sirius hollered through the thought wave that the Animagi shared. Peter stopped abruptly.

James! It's James! Help me, Peter and Remus! We need to get him to the infirmary! Sirius barked, but to Remus, that's all it was. A bark.

It took Sirius a moment to remember that Remus couldn't understand him. He transformed back to human form.

"Remus, it's James! He's hurt, and I need your help!"

Remus, finally comprehending, ran. Peter was back to human form, too. When the two reached Sirius, it was all Remus could do to mutter "Holy Merlin."

Sure enough, there was James, crumpled up on the ground. He left arm was a bit bloody, and his right ankle hung at an odd position, but there was nothing that Madame Parsay couldn't mend. Luckily, James was unconscious, and couldn't feel the pain.

"I think he fell off," Sirius announced.

"James has never fallen off before," Peter said.

"Not that we know of," Sirius corrected. "And besides, there'd be more damage if he was struck."

Remus nodded. "Stand back, you two. We're not going to be able to carry him in."

Sirius and Peter obeyed, and Remus conjured a stretcher for James to be on. Remus began to lead them up towards the castle when he began to moan.

"Oh no," he muttered.

Sirius quickly turned to where Remus was looking. He was looking where the moon ought to be. It was then that Sirius realized that the rain was beginning to fall softer.

"You didn't...you've never forgotten before...."

Remus looked at Sirius, guilt in his eyes.

"Oh, blast it. Run!" Sirius pointed to the Whomping Willow.

Remus threw James' invisibility cloak at Peter and dashed towards the tree. Sirius quickly took over the job of getting James inside, and at a much quicker pace than Remus had. Peter had taken the hint and returned to his Animagi form.

As he ushered the stretcher with James on it inside the castle, Sirius took one last look at the Whomping Willow before he closed the doors. A threatening howl echoed across the darkness.

"We definetly need to talk to Professor Dumbledore about him."

* * * * *

As Madame Parsay settle the still unconscious James Potter into one of the hospital cots, she heard the creaking of the large double doors and the sound of cautious footsteps. She stepped out from the curtains and looked over the girl that stood there.

The girl was tall, and her silvery blonde curls lay a mess on her shoulders. Her eyes were devious, but disturbed. She was a Slytherin.

"How can I help you, sweetie?" Madame Parsay asked.

"Madame Parsay," the girl said, grimacing at the sound of her own voice, "somebody's done something awful to me."

Madame Parsay pulled the girl over to a cot, and they sat down. The girl told the nurse everything she knew. The nurse was enraged.

And Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black - who had recognized the girl - listened at the door. Sirius was grinning. He turned to Peter.

"Mission accomplished."

* * * * *

"Morning, James!" Sirius said, grinning as he plopped down on the chair next to his friend's hospital cot.

James groaned and rolled over on to his side so he wouldn't have to look at Sirius. He supposed that guilt was one point of this, and lack of sleep was the other. But there was no way that James was going to be rid of Sirius that easily.

Sirius stood up and walked to the other side of James' cot and sat down there. "How're you feeling?"

"I have a headache," James said, not taking the effort to roll over again so he wouldn't have to face Sirius.

"Here," Sirius held out a squirming sweet to his friend. "Have a chocolate frog. Nothing does a better job to make you feel better than chocolate."

James reluctantly took the frog. "Where did the sweets come from?"

Sirius looked across the bed to where he had been sitting before. On the bedside table was a mountain of sweets and pastries. "Oh, I suppose you must have admirers. It probably comes from being the Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and the Seeker, too, not to mention that you're one of Gryffindor's five prefects in our year, and Head Boy of Gryffindor...."

James held up a hand in his defence. "Alright, enough! I can't help it if I'm more talented then you are."

Sirius scowled at James. He then turned his attention to nibbling on the end of a very suspicious looking, green Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean.

James pointed at the sweet in Sirius' hand. "That's pear-flavoured, isn't it?"

"Nah," said Sirius, popping the bean into his mouth and chewing slowly. "Grass. The little brown dots give that away. And the darker green colour."

James smirked. "Somehow, I'm not surprised. You always seem to pull out the disgusting ones."

"You make it sound like you think I do it on accident."

James rolled his eyes and ate the last bit of his chocolate frog. "May I have one that tastes like a Muggle bean?"

Sirius fished through the beans for a moment until he found one that was a deep crimson colour. He handed it to James, who inspected it carefully.

"Appears safe enough," James concluded, pulling himself into a sitting position. "I dub thee 'Cinnamon'."

James popped the bean into his mouth. He turned three different shades of green before spitting the bean out of his mouth. "Blast it! Sirius, that's blood-flavoured! I said I wanted one that tastes like a Muggle bean."

"Muggles don't have blood-flavoured beans?" Sirius asked innocently.

James rolled his eyes and decided to change the subject. "How long have I been in here?"

"About three days," Sirius answered. "You broke your leg when you fell off that broom. You were lucky to be unconscious. Madame Parsay's bone-healing tends to be painful."

James chuckled. Nobody would know how painful Madame Parsay's bone-healing was better than Sirius, who had broken various bones several times while at Hogwarts. "When am I leaving?"

"Bright and early tomorrow morning, unless you, too, develop interesting symptoms," Madame Parsay snapped as she waltzed in to where James and Sirius had been talking.

James turned to Sirius, confused. Sirius mouthed something along the lines of "I'll-tell-you-later".

"Mister Black, your time is more than up!" Madame Parsay continued, shooing Sirius out of the hospital wing.

Sirius left the hospital wing, still grinning, and bringing the box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans with him.

* * * * *

Madame Parsay woke James before the sun the next morning. She thrust the large pile of sweets into his arms and marched him out of the infirmary. He did not complain.

James headed up towards Gryffindor Tower. When he reached his dorm, he was pleased to note that everyone was asleep. Everyone, that was except Remus, who must've been in one of his full moon cycles. He dumped his sweets on to his bunk just as he spotted a piece of paper on his pillow.

He picked up the piece of paper carefully, figuring that it was from Sirius and likely to explode at any moment. James unfolded it and looked at the scribble on it. It read, barely legibly:

Marauder's Wall

5:00 AM

Meet me?