The Marauders: Year 1

After their classes the next day, James and Sirius brought their book bags straight to the Hospital Wing and sat down next to Remus. The two exchanged pained looks when they realized that he wasn't looking any better. Then James just shook his head sadly and opened his book bag on the table next to the bed.

"Hey Remus," James said. "I'm gonna copy these Herbology notes for you now. You didn't miss much... puffapods and a little bit about the Venomous Tentacula." James chuckled a bit, "Although, when we went over to examine the tentacula, Frank got a bit too close and it walloped him something good. The rest of the class had a good laugh at that."

Sirius chimed in, "I'll copy my Transfiguration and Charms notes for you." He let out a bit of an exasperated sigh, "I'll even leave the quidditch figures out, but I really think they add something to the overall look of the notes." He looked up at James who shook his head and went back to copying. "Anyway, let's see, today in transfiguration we learned more about Switching Spells. Trixie McGonagall and Mary Ollivander both got detention for talking. They lost a lot of points too, so Gryffindor might be in second place now. Then in Charms," he stopped and laughed for a minute, causing James to look over from his scrolls with a puzzled expression on his face. "On the way out, Lily and James were fighting again and she said 'oh sod off, James Potter' and hit him with a very strong Cheering Charm. The idiot was laughing so hard he could barely walk." James stopped looking puzzled and glared at his friend. "And that, my dear friend Remus, is why we are so late. I had to wait for that idiot over there to get his head together."

James and Sirius then quieted down and recopied their notes from their classes, stacking the parchments neatly on the small end table next to Remus's bed. "Well, they're right there for when you wake up," Sirius said quietly, just as Madame Pomfrey popped her head in between the curtains.

"Hello boys," she said cheerfully. "Back to visit again, then?"

The boys nodded, both happy with her expression. It was far better than the pained and panicked one of yesterday.

"Madame Pomfrey," Sirius asked her as she turned to leave. "How's Peter? No one will tell us anything."

Madame Pomfrey winced and shook her head, "I'm sorry boys; I really don't know much about his current condition. He was still alive when he left from here... perhaps if you asked Professor Dumbledore." Then she turned and left.

James and Sirius both looked out the window, it was snowing lightly again. Sirius didn't know what James was thinking of, but he was remembering the day Remus had snapped in the library and they'd had a massive snowball fight.

"Remember the Snow Beast?" James asked quietly.

Sirius smiled slightly and nodded. He hesitated a second and then said, "Let's try to find Dumbledore."

They gathered their stuff and said their good-bye's to a still silent Remus and headed out into the castle. James started off down the corridor with Sirius at his side. He reached a door and knocked.

"Come in," squeaked a high pitched voice they both recognized as Professor Flitwick.

James opened the door, but remained standing in the hallway. Sirius peered in around him and realized they'd gone to the Teacher's Lounge. Professor Nackle was chatting with Professor McGonagall about the Quidditch Cup standings and Professor Sinistra, the newest professor at Hogwarts, was looking over lesson plans in an overstuffed chair. Professor Flitwick was sitting at a round table a few feet from the door and, while he looked surprised to see James Potter and Sirius Black at the door, he smiled and gestured that they enter.

"Sir, we were hoping you could tell us how to find Professor Dumbledore," Sirius said quietly. The two boys had noticed that with their entrance all conversations had stopped and the instructors were all watching them.

"Oh," Professor Flitwick said, in his high pitched voice, "I'm actually not sure where the Headmaster is right now. Nicholas? Minerva?" He looked over to his colleagues.

"I believe I saw the Headmaster taking a walk by the Quidditch pitch," Professor McGonagall said and then turned back to Professor Nackle with a comment about Ravenclaw's seeker.

"Thank you, ma'am," Sirius said as he and James rushed to exit the room. "Quidditch pitch then?"

"Definitely," James said. The two went up to Gryffindor tower to drop off their book bags and grabbed their scarves and cloaks. Then they turned back around, found their way to the Entrance Hall and walked outside of the castle towards the Quidditch pitch.

They didn't have to look long before they noticed a very old wizard sitting in the Gryffindor area of the Quidditch stadium.

~~*~~

"Mr. Potter and Mr. Black," Dumbledore addressed them without turning around. "Nice day for a walk, is it not?"

"Actually, sir, we were looking for you," Sirius said. "We were hoping you could tell us how Peter is doing."

The old headmaster sighed and gestured to the seats beside him. James and Sirius lowered themselves carefully into them.

"The wounds in Peter's neck were quite severe. I'm sure you both notice the effect of a single sting on your friend Mr. Lupin's hand." He looked over his half moon glasses to see if the boys understood. They nodded. "Mr. Pettigrew suffered a far more brutal attack. The wounds have not yet managed to heal and are quite infected. We cannot even begin to allow him to heal, as he is still bleeding. I'm not sure if either of you are familiar with Muggle blood transfusions... but there is a very similar wizarding technique being used on your friend at the moment. Until it succeeds and the wounds heal enough to stop bleeding, he will be in danger. Provided that the wounds manage to heal before Mr. Pettigrew bleeds too much, the hospital will then need to perform a far more advanced wizarding transfusion to replace all his blood, which is, at the moment, tainted with the venom of the acromantula, thus causing problems with all his organs. Should all these steps be successful, Mr. Pettigrew will eventually be fine. Should they not..."

Neither James nor Sirius knew how to respond to this. The complete and total truth had been the last thing they'd expected. James shook himself out of his reverie first.

"Thank you, sir," he said quietly. Professor Dumbledore turned to look him in the eye, as though sizing him up.

"I'm sorry, to be the one to bear this bad news to you... but I have found that most students can handle more than the majority of professors here allow themselves to believe they can."

Sirius nodded slowly, "Thank you, sir. For telling us the truth and having the confidence that we could handle it." He paused for a second. "I don't suppose there'd be any way... I mean..."

He trailed off, but Dumbledore looked at him, silently urging him to go on. "Yes, Sirius?"

"Do you suppose this weekend we could visit Peter? We've been visiting Remus and well..." he turned his head away and shoved his hands in his pockets. "I just don't want Peter to think we've forgotten about him," he finished quietly.

Dumbledore appeared to contemplate this for a second and then turned to the boy, "Actually, I believe that would be a fantastic idea. Friendship and love can do wonders always. They can even impossible odds." He stared out at the Quidditch pitch. "Yes, I'll have a portkey set up for the two of you to use and I'll notify Mr. and Mrs. Pettigrew by owl that two of Peter's friends will be visiting him on Saturday." The three stared out at the Quidditch pitch together for a few more moments until Dumbledore rose. "Sadly, I have some unavoidable work to attend to. The two of you can come up to my office on Saturday in the morning. The password is 'sugar quill'. Good evening, Mr. Black, Mr. Potter." Then he set off across the pitch, back towards the castle.

A few moments later Sirius and James got up and walked silently back to the castle. Dumbledore's words were reverberating through Sirius's brain. Friendship and love can do wonders always. They can even impossible odds. He never forgot those words.

~~*~~

Early Saturday morning, James and Sirius rushed to the gargoyle that marked the entrance to Professor Dumbledore's living quarters.

"Sugar quill," James said and the gargoyle jumped to life. Sirius and he both jumped onto the spiraling steps and rode silently to the top.

Suddenly, James let out a nervous laugh, "Have you got 10 galleons on you?" He looked at Sirius.

"I think I might. Why?"

"Good. So do I. We both owe Peter 10 galleons. We can give it to him at the hospital."

"What on Earth for?" Sirius asked, raising his hand to knock on Dumbledore's door.

"Hogwarts Express. He bet 10 galleons against each of us that you and I would wind up here for the first time together."

A look of comprehension crossed Sirius's face and he let out a small chuckle. "Right you are, Jamesy boy. Right you are. 'Easiest ten galleons I'll ever make', wasn't that what he said?"

James nodded. Sirius knocked on the door and it opened for them. "Come in, gentlemen," a voice resonated from inside. They entered and saw the headmaster sitting at his desk. He held out to them a beat up copy of an old Transfiguration book.

"Your portkey, it's set to go off in about two minutes. It will return here in two hours, be sure to mind the time. The Pettigrew's are expecting you. I'm sure you both know how these work, if you'll just take it and place a finger or so," Dumbledore let go of the book as James reached forward and took it. "It will return you here, to my office, in two hours. If I'm not here at the time, I'd like you both to report to Professor McGonagall and inform her you have safely returned."

The boys nodded. A second later they felt that familiar hooked sensation in their stomachs as the castle dissolved and a sterile waiting room began to appear before their eyes. James and Sirius were knocked to the ground upon arrival.

A strong hand grabbed James and helped him up. He looked up and saw Peter's eyes looking right back at him. This must be Mr. Pettigrew, he thought.

"Sirius Black?" The man asked him.

"No, sir. James Potter. That's Sirius," he gestured next to him, where a small woman was helping Sirius to his feet.

"Sorry. I'm Peter's dad, Mr. Pettigrew. My wife," he held out his arm to the small woman, who came over and stood next to him. "Mrs. Pettigrew."

"We're so sorry about Peter, sir. We tried to help him..." Sirius's voice choked off.

"Well, let's not talk about him as if he's dead, alright then? He's still got a fighting chance," his father said quietly. Then more to himself he muttered, "Never knew this world would be so dangerous..."

He wife overheard him and commented, "Well that's just fine then. Peter may be coming back to our world for good anyway, you heard what those... what are they called, dear? Medium wizards? Medicine?"

"Mediwizard," James offered meekly.

"Yes, mediwizards, thank you dear," she continued. "Said. With the rate he's going through blood..."

"What do you mean, ma'am?" Sirius asked politely. Both his and James's eyes had widened at the comment of Peter going back to their world.

"He's going through so much blood that the wizards are worried about their supplies. So they've contacted a... Muggle, do you call it?, group to help match Peter's blood type. They're worried that all the non-magical blood, as they keep calling it, will affect his ability to perform magic. As it is, they're switching back and forth, one pint from their stores and one pint from Muggles."

James and Sirius shared a horrified glance. Peter would definitely not be happy to wake up and find himself a Squib.

"Anyway boys, your professor said you only had a brief amount of time here. You'll want to go in and visit, I suppose." She sat down next to a machine that produced coffee and her husband took the seat next to her, gesturing towards his son's room.

James and Sirius walked into the room. It was dark, the curtains were drawn, and there were several machines beeping at one. They got closer to the bed.

Sirius took one look at Peter and leaned over to the garbage pail next to his bed, emptying the contents of his breakfast into it.

"Bloody hell," James said very quietly. He'd gone very pale and looked like he may need the pail next; however, he just swallowed hard and walked next to the bed.

Peter's neck was bandaged but the blood loss was still seeping through along with green and yellow ooze. The smell was nearly unbearable, like a mixture of rotten eggs and too much vanilla topped off by manure.

Sirius regained his composure and walked over to the other side of Peter's bed. Over the bandage they could see Peter's head, which was a sick shade of yellow itself. The two boys let their eyes roam and followed the tubes to their various machines.

James's eyes paused at the bag of blood hanging from the rack. "Do you suppose it's Muggle or magical?" he commented softly.

Sirius looked at it closer. "Magical, it's got a St. Mungo's stamp on it."

James turned his attention to Peter. "Hey Pete. Remember those easiest ten galleon's you'll ever make? Well, here they are." He scrounged in his pocket and pulled out ten small pieces of gold. "Sirius owes you ten too. I'll leave a note with it so your parents can read it to you if you wake up while we're not here. The two of us wound up in Dumbledore's office for the first time together. You were spot on."

"Right Pete," Sirius said quietly. Then he turned around towards the door. "I can't do this, James. I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay, Seer. I'll meet you outside in a minute," James said, writing down the explanation on a piece of nearby paper. "I'll just tell him about Remus, and I'll meet you out there." Before the words were even out of his mouth, James heard the door click and knew his friend had left.

"Remus'll be okay. I don't know if you even know that he got hurt. But if you can hear me and you're worrying... don't. He'll be fine. We get to spend plenty of time with him, he's still at Hogwarts. They even think he'll be awake by the end of the week. And you'll be back at Hogwarts soon too, Pete." He sat quietly for a moment. "I'd better go check on Sirius. We'll come back when we can." Then he stood up and crossed to the door on the other side of the room.

Outside Sirius was sitting with his head in his hands. "It's alright, Seer."

"Oh," he jumped a bit. "You're back. Right then... I've an idea. Come with me, will you? We've got a lot of time until the portkey kicks back in."

"Where are Mr. and Mrs. Pettigrew?" James asked, standing up with Sirius.

"Cafeteria. Said they needed a bit of food." Sirius started off down the corridor. And stopped at the nurses station. "Excuse me, miss," he addressed the pretty, young nurse sitting behind the desk. "My friend and I were hoping that you could test our blood to see if we'd be a match for Peter Pettigrew. They've resorted to giving him Muggle blood and we'd like to try and help, even if it's just a little bit."

James's face lit up, "Brilliant, Sirius."

"First floor, they'll direct you down there," the nurse told them and they headed off. After a few more stops at various stations, they were both sitting on a table with their sleeves rolled up and their arms exposed.

"I really don't like needles," James was muttering under his breath. "This seemed so much easier when it was an idea, then before I was sitting on a table waiting to have a piece of metal shoved in my arm so they can tell me I probably don't match him anyway..."

James continued to ramble while Sirius just grinned. A second later another nurse walked in with two needles and James fell silent. She smiled brightly at them, "Who's first?"

"Me," Sirius said, offering up his arm. Ten seconds later it was done and she turned to James who'd gone very white.

"Are you sure you want to do this, young man?" she asked.

"You don't have to James. You're probably right, you probably don't match," Sirius said, thinking that maybe he'd volunteered James for a bit too much this time.

"Oh shut up, Sirius," James retorted and held out his arm. "Stick me." Ten seconds later she was done, had gathered her supplies, promised them a response shortly and left the room. Sirius was sure that as she left he heard James mutter 'vampire' under his breath.

"Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" Sirius asked cheekily.

"If I wasn't lightheaded and worried I was going to pass out, I'd deck you now."

"Lightheaded? She barely took any blood!"

"It's the principal of the thing. My blood should be in my body, not in a test tube."

The two continued bickering until the nurse returned, at one point James even insisting that she was a vampire and didn't she look like one too. The moment she reentered the room, both of them fell silent. She looked at them both and smiled that bright smile again, "You're both a match! Can you believe that luck?"

"Well, hop up on different beds, you'll need to lie down. Sorry, but we do this the same way as the Muggles. They've got the best techniques. It'll only take about ten minutes." Sirius jumped off the bed he was sitting on with James and lied down on the one next to him. James, once again a very pale shade of white, sprawled across the one he was already sitting on. James heard Sirius striking up a conversation with the nurse and decided that he was just going to close his eyes tightly until it was all over. He heard the nurse's footsteps as she crossed the room and felt her tie the tourniquet on his upper arm and then felt the sting on the needle going into his vein. Then he heard her footsteps retreat from the room altogether.

"So James, when we get..."

James cut him off, "Not a word, Black. If it were anyone but Peter and if his magical abilities weren't at stake... just not a word."

The two remained in silence for the ten minutes until the nurse returned and removed the needles from both their arms. James sat up wincing and put a considerable amount of pressure on his arm. Sirius jumped up from his bed, stilling grinning.

"Uh uh," the nurse said, returning with a tray of cookies. "Eat these first and drink this pumpkin juice. Then you may go. When I get back here, this tray better be empty!"

"Yes ma'am," Sirius said and mock saluted her, grabbing a cookie. She giggled and left the room. James reached gingerly for a cookie while glaring at Sirius. They finished their cookies and James glanced at his watch.

"Woah," he said and pulled the portkey out of the pocket in his robe. "It's about to go. Grab it now, Sirius."

A second later the two of them found themselves on the floor of the headmaster's office, Dumbledore grinning down at them.