From Ashes

FROM ASHES
by shiiki

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CHAPTER THREE

Consequence

December, 1975. Seven days to Christmas …

Lily had been a prefect long enough to know, instinctively, from the echoes that reverberated in the corridors, that yet another fight had broken out. Little did she expect to find a fist-fight between two most unlikely culprits.

James Potter and Sirius Black were engaged in a serious brawl, rolling around on the floor, each tackling the other with all their might. Their angered pummelling was only punctuated by loud and furious insults, none of which were fit for civilised ears.

‘What on earth is going on here?’ yelled Lily over the din they were creating, once she’d got over the shock of finding Potter and Black – best mates Potter and Black, mind you – in a punching match.

No answer save more punches and breathless expletives.

‘OK, that’s it. Stop it, both of you!’ Lily grabbed Black’s shoulder and tried as hard as she could to wrench him away from Potter. Black simply shoved her aside and the two continued to wrestle. Lily gritted her teeth in frustration.

Students generally weren’t allowed to use a wand in the corridors, but Lily decided that this counted as an exception. Two carefully aimed full Body-Binds worked wonders: both boys’ arms snapped to their sides and they fell rigidly apart from each other. Both looked very beat up; Black’s nose was bleeding and he had bruises all over his cheeks, and Potter had a black eye and various bumps on his face and arms.

‘I’m sorry about that, but it really was a last resort,’ said Lily. ‘I’m going to do the counter-curse now, and I trust you won’t start fighting right away – or I’ll just have to do it again.’ Having delivered her warning, she performed the counter-curse and handed Black a handkerchief to stem his bleeding nose. He took it wordlessly and applied it to the bloody organ.

‘Now. Would one of you please explain what that was all about?’

‘It’s none of your business,’ said Black gruffly, staring determinedly at the floor. Potter looked pained, but he kept his mouth shut in a drawn line.

‘Fighting in the corridors is against the rules, I might remind you. I’ll have to take points and report this…unless you have a good reason.’ She arched her eyebrows at Potter, who was usually so quick to come up with a defence of himself whenever she caught him baiting Severus Snape. He avoided her gaze, however, and remained mute.

‘Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance, then,’ said Lily huffily. ‘I’m sorry to do it, but ten points from Gryffindor. And I’ll have to report this to Professor McGonagall.’

Still, both boys remained silent. Lily felt highly discomforted.

‘Er – you’d better go to the hospital wing too,’ she said, eyeing the black and purple marks on their faces, as well as her handkerchief in Black’s hand, which was now drenched in blood. Her comment seemed to hit a sore spot with the boys; Black’s countenance darkened, while Potter turned red and gave a violent shake of his head.

‘Been there,’ he said flatly, as if that explained anything.

‘Suit yourself,’ shrugged Lily. But she frowned at Black’s bloody nose. That she could fix, at least. ‘Let me do something about that nose, at least, Black.’

Black glowered, but didn’t flinch when she tapped him lightly with her wand and said, ‘Episkey.’ He nodded by way of acknowledgement and silently handed her handkerchief back to her. Grimacing slightly at its sodden state, Lily held it between her fingers and cleaned it with a quick ‘Scourgify’, though she mentally noted that she was going to have it well scrubbed and disinfected before she ever used it again.

Lily looked back up at both boys, lost for words. She couldn’t remember an encounter with this pair that didn’t result in her stalking off, livid. A minute passed, in which the silence was as loud as an Augurey’s screech. Finally, unable to stand it, Lily warned them not to start up again once her back was turned and left them, praying they wouldn’t indeed continue their fight.

She should have felt thankful that no further noises showed any indication of it. But Lily felt only apprehension and unease.

~ * ~

There was an aberrant silence in the boys’ dormitory.

Sirius stared moodily at the bedpost, not daring to meet the other boys’ eyes.

James, his face wrinkled in an anxious frown, was fiddling with his wand.

Peter gaped openly at his friends, not knowing what to say, but clearly uncomfortable with the atmosphere.

Remus was packing very methodically. He had already stacked all his books neatly at the bottom of his trunk. Now, he was painstakingly folding every article of clothing he owned.

Fifteen minutes passed.

He finished packing his clothes.

‘Damn it!’ exploded Sirius. ‘I’m sorry! I’m sorry, all right? You don’t have to go anywhere. Stop packing!’

Remus slammed the lid of his trunk down.

‘I highly doubt that decision should or will be left up to you, Sirius Black,’ he said evenly. He stood and made to lift his trunk.

‘Remus,’ squeaked Peter uncertainly, ‘they haven’t even held a trial.’

Remus hesitated – in an instant, Sirius knocked him backwards onto his bed.

‘You’re not going anywhere, Remus. I don’t care what the entire bloody board of governors say. They can’t expel you!’

‘You’re really dense, aren’t you, Black?’ James finally spoke up. ‘You think this is all a game still? Some prank that we can do detention for? Damn it, these are real consequences – this is what some stupid words out of your mouth caused!’

Sirius narrowed his eyes. For a moment, both boys glared at each other.

‘I’ll bloody set it right, then,’ snarled Sirius.

The dormitory door slammed as Sirius stormed out, leaving three motionless boys staring – one in confusion, another in a mixture of anger and anxiety, and the last with an impassive expression.

~ * ~

Four days to Christmas …

‘The confession of Sirius Orion Black being upheld, this court finds Remus John Lupin not guilty of the charges brought upon him. The school governors hereby leave the punishment of Sirius Orion Black in the hands of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Headmaster. This hearing is adjourned.’

The look in Orion Black’s eye as the Head of the Hogwarts School Governors concluded the expulsion hearing clearly suggested that whatever punishment dealt by Dumbledore would be tenfold in his hands. James noticed the look, and shivered involuntarily – Sirius wasn’t going to have a good time of it at home. Then he remembered that it was Sirius’s fault that they were here in the first place and he scowled.

‘Does my evidence count for nothing?’ hissed Severus Snape, a few seats to James’s right. ‘The werewolf and his friends tried to kill me –’

‘Enough, Severus, please,’ said Dumbledore quietly. ‘And I should like to remind you that you are sworn to secrecy on this matter.’

James and Sirius both jumped to their feet as Remus approached. He glanced at them – and walked straight past, heading for his parents, whose relief showed plainly on their faces.

‘Remus, stop,’ said Sirius. Remus turned to regard him with his calm, unblinking gaze. ‘I’m sorry.’ James had never heard Sirius sound so sincere.

‘It’s a big thing to forgive,’ said Remus levelly.

‘I know. I understand.’ Sirius hung his head.

‘I don’t know, Sirius.’

Mrs Lupin placed an arm around her son. Mr Lupin thanked Dumbledore, and they left without a single backward glance from Remus.

‘He isn’t going to forgive me, is he?’ said Sirius morosely. James considered him seriously, torn between anger at his best friend’s actions, and sympathy for the turmoil that he was going through now.

‘I don’t blame him, you know,’ he finally said fairly.

Sirius grimaced. ‘I know. This is all my fault.’

‘Sirius.’ The stern voice of his father accosted him. Sirius held his head up and met Orion Black’s eyes bravely.

‘We’re going home. Now.’

James watched as Sirius swallowed hard and followed his father out of the courtroom.

~ * ~

Peter Pettigrew boarded the Hogwarts Express alone. Lily pondered over this for a few moments as she watched him from the platform. It wasn’t because Potter, Black and Remus were staying at Hogwarts over Christmas; quite the contrary, in fact. They seemed to have left earlier. But why?

‘Don’t you think something odd’s going on?’ she asked, as she followed Alice and Dorcas onto the train.

‘With Remus?’ said Dorcas.

‘Well, Black and Potter too. They’re all three missing.’

They entered an empty compartment and Alice slammed the door shut before throwing herself moodily into a seat.

‘Something’s definitely wrong with Remus,’ she said dejectedly.

‘We know you’re worried, Alice,’ said Dorcas soothingly.

‘Of course I am! First he’s in the hospital wing sick again, only this time the only thing he says to me is, ‘Go away, Alice,’ and then after that he disappears – never mind that we were supposed to go to Hogsmeade together on Saturday – and I haven’t had word from him since …’ she trailed off, looking anxious.

‘It could be a family emergency,’ suggested Dorcas.

‘Doesn’t he at least trust me enough to tell me, then? And why wouldn’t he speak to me when he was in the hospital wing?’

‘Anyway, why would Potter and Black be gone too, then?’ said Lily. ‘I mean, it could be all unrelated, but I highly doubt they all have family emergencies.’

‘It could be something else with James and Sirius …’ considered Dorcas. Lily shook her head firmly.

‘Remus was in the hospital wing three days back, wasn’t he?’

‘Yeah …’

‘And Potter and Black were fighting in the corridors as if it were one of them against Snape that day –’

‘You don’t say!’ ejaculated Dorcas.

‘Potter mentioned that they’d just come from the hospital wing; that was about all I could get out of them … so the three of them were in the hospital wing together, and after that they all disappear at the same time … it’s definitely related,’ concluded Lily.

‘But how?’ said Alice.

None of them had an answer.

~ * ~

James stared at the ceiling of his bedroom and brooded.

It seemed like all he had done this past week was think. Besides rushing down a dark tunnel at the end of which lay a werewolf to save his nemesis. And beating up his idiotic best friend the next day. And attending a trial in order to save said werewolf who was also a very close friend.

OK, so he had done a lot more than just think. But there had been a lot of reflecting among all that too.

It was hard to get his thoughts straight.

Remus wasn’t a murderer. Remus was safe; the case had been dismissed.

Snape wasn’t dead, and he was sworn to secrecy about Remus – a promise that would no doubt irk him as much as the fact that James had been the one to save his life.

Sirius was an idiot. If he’d only kept his mouth shut in the first place, they’d be going along their merry way, without all this trouble. Remus wouldn’t have been in any danger of expulsion and the silver bullet, and Snape wouldn’t be any wiser about his condition.

Yes, there was no question about it. Sirius was an idiot.

But Sirius was also his best friend. And he had done his best to fix what he’d broken. If it hadn’t for his testimony at the trial … James didn’t even want to think about what would have happened to Remus had Sirius’s confession not absolved him.

James made up his mind as his eyes bore a hole through his ceiling. He couldn’t keep blaming Sirius. When they went back to school, he’d let Peter know, he’d make it up to Remus, and forgive Sirius.

The Marauders would all get through this. He would see to it.

~ * ~

Lily, Dorcas and Alice tired of discussing what could possibly have happened to the boys after three hours of brainstorming turned up thousands of scenarios, ranging from the mild (a bad prank gone wrong that had befuddled their brains) to the absurd (Potter was deadly jealous because Remus had chosen Black as an accomplice to murder Severus Snape). The wildest suggestion came from Dorcas, that Remus and Black were secretly in love and Potter had just found out.

‘That’s not funny, Dorcas,’ said Alice. ‘My boyfriend is certainly not gay!’

‘Neither is Black,’ put in Lily, after her initial horror at the images that such an idea conjured up. ‘He must have dated half the girls in the school already – remember in third year, when they had a new girl hanging off each of them each week?’

‘It was just a joke, Alice. All right – let’s stop wondering about this. We’ll likely find out soon enough. Shall we play Exploding Snap?’

Lily agreed immediately, and they coaxed Alice, who was still worried about Remus, to forget about it and join them. The rest of the journey was pleasantly spent trying to avoid the Queen of Hearts, which exploded six times in a row on Lily in the first five minutes.

It was six in the evening when the Hogwarts Express rolled into King’s Cross Station. Platform nine and three-quarters soon became a bustle of activity as students poured out of the train. The barrier separating the magical platform from the Muggle world turned into a bottleneck, with students queuing up to get through. The three Gryffindor girls watched each other soberly for a moment, suddenly remembering that the last time they had said farewell on this platform, one of their number had never returned.

‘Take care of yourself, Lily,’ said Dorcas.

‘Stay safe,’ agreed Alice, shaking Lily’s hand vigorously, as though to emphasise her point. Then they were gone, running through the barrier to greet their parents on the other side.

As Lily waited her turn to pass the barrier, she shook off the anxiety that had fallen over her while saying goodbye to her friends. She was home for Christmas. With her family – Mum, Dad, and Petunia. A smile automatically brightened her face and her steps felt light as she crossed the barrier to the Muggle world.

They were there, waving cheerfully to her as she appeared. Her father, grinning broadly; her mother, holding her arms out … Lily ran straight into them, into the warm embrace.

‘Lily!’ Her mother stroked her hair fondly.

‘I’ve missed you, Mum.’

‘What’ve you done to your hair!’ asked her father, staring as the singed ends of her ponytail. Lily fingered the ends of her hair ruefully.

‘We were playing Exploding Snap on the train,’ she explained. ‘I lost quite badly.’ Her father laughed and ruffled her hair.

‘Exploding Snap … that sounds dangerous, now –’

‘It’s just cards, Dad. It’s nothing to worry about.’

Petunia shook her head in disbelief. Lily turned to her sister, grinning.

‘I could teach you to play, Pet –’

Petunia shuddered. ‘Don’t even think about it, Lily.’ She changed the subject. ‘Where’s that crazy admirer of yours, then?’

‘Ah yes,’ chipped in her father. ‘What happened to the infamous James Potter? What new anecdotes have you to share with us, Lily?’

‘Oh, honestly, Dad …’

Her father wagged a finger at her. ‘I doubt any of us is likely to forget how he asked you out right on the platform, even if it was two years back.’

‘He had awful hair,’ sniffed Petunia. ‘Don’t they have combs at Hogwarts?’

‘Evidently not in the boys’ dormitory,’ said Lily. ‘Look – let’s start home, shall we? I’ll tell you more about my term on the way.’

As she walked comfortably by her parents and sister, and later piled into the old family car, the mystery of Potter, Black, and Remus’s absence pricked shortly at her mind again. But it was easy to push it away, lost in conversation about her schoolwork, and discussion about Petunia’s college studies. Her curiosity would no doubt surface again soon, but now, here, with her family all around her, it wasn’t the place for it.