Chapter Text
Chapter three
"I tell you what, I haven't missed divination one bit." Sirius yawns.
"Agreed," James nods, pushing his arms up into the air to stretch out his back out, "Think sitting on those beanbags all year might give me scoliosis."
"Oh be quiet you two, that lesson wasn't even that bad! And I like Professor Bylander. At this point I think you just want to find things to wine about." Peter scolds giving them a disappointed look. Sirius hides his laugh with a cough, glancing at James who supresses a grin. He did agree with Peter, it hadn't been a bad lesson. Sure it had been boring, but James didn't see any glitching spiders and didn't grow about six feet taller than usual. He'd been sweating but that had been due to the stuffy classroom. It was a win and he'd forgotten about this mornings little inconvenience.
"We've got Defence Against the Dark Arts," Sirius tells Peter and James, "Where are you going, you should be turning left, honestly."
Peter yelps and James almost trips as Sirius grabs their arms and pulls them back to his side. James raises his eyebrows, usually Remus is the mother hen. As if called by James' thoughts, Remus appears from a doorway a little bit ahead, grinning and waving happily at them.
"Hey guys! What did you just have?" He makes his way quickly over to them and squeezes between Peter and Sirius to walk in step with them.
"Divination," Sirius makes a face, "I'll forever regret not listening to you when you told us not to take it. What a bore. What did you have?" He cranes his neck to look into the classroom Remus had come from.
Remus chuckles, "You do love to ignore my words of wisdom, don't you padfoot. I had runes."
The boys make their way steadily down the hallway, ducking through a painting used as a shortcut and ignoring the indignant huffs coming from the portraits inhabitant. It's not long before they are nearing the Defence Against the Dark Arts door. Stood outside the classroom is a small, tanned woman with good posture and a scary look.
"Well well, never thought I'd see you four be the first to a lesson." Professor Dilligy raises her eyebrows and opens the door, "Stand in the back corner until I give further instructions, we're doing some practical work today."
The boys simultaneously salute and say, "Aye captain!" Then burst out laughing.
The professor shakes her head to hide her smile and says, "You lot are too in sync, gods help us all. Get along, no funny business today or you'll have to sit out."
"Yes ma'am." James tells her formally and they scurry off into the classroom, laughing at each other. Immediately James notes that all the chairs and tables have been pushed back against walls but there's no caged creature on Professor Dilligy's desk, or explanation on the black board like usual. James sits on a desk in the back corner like instructed, his friends stood beside him.
After around five minutes everyone has arrived, filling almost half the room. Professor Dilligy closes the door behind her and walks to her desk, looking at them all as though she has something great planned.
"Hello everyone! So today, as you can guess, is going to be a bit different." She looks around at everyone, observing the faces, "Today we'll be putting everything you've learnt to test. Using your spells on each other is good and all, but you'll be even better if you can practice on a real dark creature, and I want my students to be the best."
Mutters goes round the crowd, faces looking concerned and scared.
"She wouldn't really let us do something that would put us in danger would she?" Someone asks.
"Oh yes she would," Another replies, "She's crazy!"
Professor Dilligy hears this and laughs. "Believe it or not I know what I'm talking about. So, I am going to enchant some dust into the shape of a werewolf and all of you will have to protect yourselves against it. Or rather them, I will be making multiple."
Even more urgent mutters go round everyone. James exchanges a look with Sirius, Peter and Remus. Werewolves? Remus looks a bit paler than a few minutes before.
"No, the werewolves can't hurt you. They are just big lumps of dust but they can touch you and get you to the ground. And after you've defeated them they'll regenerate by my desk. Be prepared to help each other."
The crowd begins to talk again but this time they all just sound intrigued.
"This is sick." Sirius' eyes sparkle with excitement.
"Sick." Remus mutters, "Real sick."
"Oh come on moony, just try avoid them." Peter says.
"No, I don't want to look like a pussy." Remus shoots back.
James does pity him. He might hate his affliction but he can probably only see the afraid, helpless children who didn't want to be turned in those werewolves, real or fake.
"Transfigure them into something else, so they're easier to take on?" James suggests. Remus just shrugs and stares ahead. Oh dear. Moony isn't often like this and that's how you know he's got a real issue with something. He might know it wasn't designed specifically to spite him but he will be pissed off about it.
"Everyone assume your position!" Professor Dilligy calls, raising her wand above her head. "Remember everything you have learnt previously with me now and rise above this challenge!"
With a sweep of her wand downwards, dust rises into the air and forms the shape of a large pack of hungry wolves. They snarl and growl at the unprepared children and leap almost immediately. Peter and a few others yelp and try hide behind their braver classmates while those like Sirius charge forwards excitedly and begin chanting. Marlene McKinnon and her friend Mary McDonald stand to James' left, taking one between them and it's bursting into a cloud of dust in seconds.
'This is easy,' James thinks, 'Surely we aren't doing this the full hour.'
James soon learns he is very wrong. It is not easy when taking on one by yourself and even with help, the wolves prove difficult to defeat. They seem to get stronger every time they regenerate. James sees Remus a meter or so away transfigure one like James suggested and seeing that it works James decides to do the same. He turns to do so to his next target which he has failed to realise has already set off for him. He lifts his wand but is too late and finds himself being pushed to the ground by a dust wolf. He struggles, trying to push it off and failing miserably.
"Arrghhh, get off!"
He shouts desperately, pushing with all his strength, and suddenly the wolf is flying off of him, landing against the opposite wall and bursting into a cloud of dust. Marlene McKinnon stands behind him, having defeated her own wolf and he hears her gasp,
"Woah, how did you do that?"
"I...I don't know." James admits.
Marlene looks at him strangely. "That was really cool."
"Uhhh, thanks?" James says, standing up, dusting himself off nervously. "I...I'm going to help Peter." He tells her awkwardly, running off to find his friend, feeling weird.
'It's fine it'll just be...puberty.' James tells himself.
'Shut up you melon, your fifteen you've gone through puberty already.' Says another, very condescending voice in his head that sounds a bit like Sirius.
James finds Peter who's backing away from a particularly large and vocal wolf. He looks relieved to see James who gives him a reassuring grin and helps him banish the wolf temporarily. The pair find Sirius and Remus who are also fending for themselves against not one or two, but three wolves. James and Peter jump in to help and push the wolves backwards. Most of the students have formed groups now, the wolves becoming too powerful to be taken on separately. Remus' face betrays none of his earlier misgivings and James wonders what he's thinking as he's no longer transfiguring and just facing the dust wolves head on.
"These wolves are really something aren't they?" Sirius pants, wiping the back of his hand over his forehead, "I want to know how she's made these! We could get the Slytherins pissing themselves over them!"
James laughs, yeah they'd make great pranks. He turns around to make sure no wolves are coming for them and sees Marlene whispering hurriedly to Mary McDonald and Lily Evans, shooting furtive glances in his direction. Shit. James looks quickly away and tries his best not to look worried. It's fine, she's not talking about him. Even if she is, and what? Lily might go out with him if Marlene tells her he was strong enough to throw one of these creatures off of him. She might finally realise what she's missing. His face is smug now and he looks back to see Mary and Lily giggling behind their hands. Perfect, Marlene could keep gossiping if it put him in Lily Evans' good books.
"Happy about something James?" Sirius asks, smirking.
"Just enjoying the class Sirius, it's quite fun if you ask me."
"Don't feed me bullshit Prongs."
"It's not bullshit!"
"Oh, so it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact Evans, McDonald and McKinnon are staring at the back of your head as though doing so will make you acknowledge them?" Sirius lowers his voice and raises his eyebrows at James who mimics his expression.
"Oh, they are, are they? I hadn't noticed."
He turns and grins at them, raising his hand to say hi and turning back to Sirius who is stifling his laugh.
Another 10 minutes later, with five minutes left until the bell, Professor Dilligy shouts,
"ENOUGH!"
She sweeps her wand around and the wolves burst into dust, covering everyone. James looks around. Some kids are perfectly fine whereas others are bedraggled and wild looking. A girl named Lottie Uffington's plait is half fallen out and her robe is ripped and her friend Annie Blackstorne clutches her tie which has been ripped in half. No one seems to be bleeding though, the worst of the injuries being the large bruises already forming on peoples arms from being knocked over and bumping into each other.
"Good work today, though some of you do look worse for ware," She winks at Lottie and Annie, "Your homework is to write up what what techniques and spells you use and alternative options you could of used as well as what worked best for you. Bonus marks to those who can include the name of the incantation I used, no Dylan, I will not be telling you what it is after class either." She finished, glancing pointedly at Dylan Gorste, known for trying to weasel information out of teachers to reduce his workload.
She dismissed the class with a wave of her hand, beginning to levitate desks and chairs back to their original places.
"That was fucking amazing!"
Sirius exclaimed as soon as they entered the hallway.
"She's so cool, and fit. If she was a bit younger-"
"Ew, pads, get your head out the gutter you freak. She's probably as old as Dumbledore! And you wouldn't crack him, now, would you?"
Remus interjected, making a face at his friend. Yeah, James could agree maybe in her younger years Professor Dilligy would have been a pretty sight, but hearing it said out loud made him feel very uncomfortable. But it was Sirius who said it, who had absolutely no shame, so it didn't make James feel too bad as that's just his humour. Still, James shuddered at the image of Professor Dilligy and Sirius snogging in his head. Ew. He felt like he might need to bleach his brain after that.
Back in the common room the four friends had sat down to work and obviously they weren't getting much done. Sirius had gotten bored imediately and got Remus who had pretty much no work left anyway to play exploding snap with him which was very distracting. Peter had given up concentrating seeing as the loud bangs from the cards were becoming more and more frequent. James clutched his head, elbow leaning on the desk, as he slowly got more and more frustrated. He had quidditch practice tomorrow and the day after so his time for homework would be limited and his parents would be fuming if they heard he wasn't doing his homework. Pranks and misbehaviour they could brush off, blaming his adolescence and lack of maturity as a young wizard, but homework? Oh no. They'd demand he resigned his quidditch position and revoke his Hogsmede permission slip. They would not have their son living off benefits in the future. Everything seemed louder than usual and all it took was for Sirius to laugh a little too raucously for him to snatch up his things from the table, throw them in his bag, and tell his friends he was off to the library to concentrate.
"What's rattled your bones today Prongs?"
Sirius asked James' retreating back but he pretended not to hear. Sirius would say he was being dramatic but would probably also be offended if James told him to pack it in and shut the fuck up. Actually, thinking about it, he wouldn't. He would think he was joking and take the piss out of James when he realised he wasn't. James sighed. He loved Sirius to bits but he could be tough work sometimes. He understood he'd never really had a house he could be wild and free and himself in but sometimes he was just rude and annoying, which couldn't be blamed nor accounted for.
In the library James found he got lots of work done. He felt a lot calmer when he began to pack up his parchment and inkpot. He was about to leave when he saw a pale, black haired boy trying to reach a book only just out of his reach.
'Poor thing,'
"Hey there, let me help."
He called over striding up the book case and pulling down the book the boy had been reaching for. He turned around to glare at James who registered his face and instantly felt his stomach drop. Regulus. Oh shit. He hated having things done for him, according to Sirius.
"Stubborn little buggar,"
He had complained to James one night before he had moved in,
"He's clearly struggling and he knows our parents will be out of their minds angry but he won't fucking accept any help!"
James felt his face grow warm as Regulus' eyes stared stonily at his face. He had the same pretty grayish-blue eyes as Sirius, but his nose was softer than Sirius sharp one. His lips formed a thin, annoyed line on his face.
"R-Regulus! I didn't realise- sorry. Here, you looked like you needed a hand."
James stammered. Fuck that was probably the wrong thing to say. He extended the book towards Regulus who rolled his eyes and grabbed the book, as though it pained him very much to do so. When he pulled his hand back to bring the book to his chest, James lurched forwards. Regulus yanked the book again, raising an eyebrow disaprovingly as James yet again wobbled.
"You can let go now Potter, I can't read it if your hand is clamped down on it like an oyster on its pearl."
His voice was cold.
"I'm...I'm trying..."
James said frantically, trying his best to pull away.
"Potter don't fuck with me."
"I'm not fucking with you! I can't let go!"
"Potter let go of my fucking book!"
The two boys began to pull and pull with all their might but nothing worked. James panicked and was suddenly aware of the amount of sweat he was currently producing. Regulus kicked his shins, obviously thinking this was one of his pranks. Maybe he even thought Sirius would pop out from behind a bookcase and start laughing yelling 'Got him good prongs!'
They tugged and tugged. James was unaware of how much noise they were making until Madame Pince came round the corner with a rather fast version of her usual shuffle, face livid.
"What warrants such a racket!"
She whisper shoutrs at the boys who instantly stop fighting. However she spies the book between them quickly and makes a sound a bit like a kettle whistling.
"My book! My poor book! Oh you inconsiderate nasty boys get your greasy hands of that book before you rip it to shreds! How dare you be so careless with such a fragile thing!"
Regulus throws the book out of his hand furiously and gives James a pointed look. James tries to drop it but his hand stays firmly attached to it.
"Funny prank, haha I'm fuming, glad your happy Potter now drop the book before you land us both in detention! The old bat will have us all year if her precious book is broken!"
Regulus hisses at James. His face is red and hot and James feels if this was one of his comic books the artist would have drawn Regulus with smoke pouring out of his ears to show his anger.
"I wish I could! This is not some prank believe it or not! I can't fucking let go!"
James told Regulus in a low voice.
"I said drop it Potter! Put my book down!"
"I can't miss! Look! It's stuck!"
James held his limp hand up to Madame Pince, hoping she would understand. She did not. The woman let out and a shriek and he saw Regulus facepalm in the corner of his eye.
"You depraved boy! Your careless slime ball! You kids and your honeydukes rubbish! My book! You've ruined my book! You cretin! Get off! Get off I say!"
The mad woman snatched up the book attempting to pull it away from James who would've much rather have done that than be rattled around frantically like a dogs bone. She shook and shook and shook but seemed to finally come to terms with the fact that his hand was definitely stuck to the book. She pulled out her wand and said sharply,
"Relashio!"
James felt his hand rip from the book and let out a cry of pain as he pulled it back and clutched it in his chest. Looking at the palm of his hand his skin was ripped and bleeding but not badly, only a layer or two of skin had actually come off. Madame Pince cradled her book murmuring things that sounded a lot like insults that were most probably aimed at James. James and Regulus rushed out of the library and James highly doubted he would be returning for a while, even if it meant enduring Sirius and his high volume levels.
After the two boys had rounded a corner and walked up a flight of stairs in silence Regulus span round and spat,
"What the actual fuck was that."
James, taken aback, lifted his hands in surrender.
"Huh?"
"Don't act dumb, you just completely stuck your hand to that book and didn't mean to? Come on, why? No, how?"
Regulus' voice is a mixture of confusion and frustration. James winces.
"I...don't know?"
He tries weakly. It is the truth, he doesn't know how it happened, or why.
"You don't know."
Regulus folds his arms over his chest and raises an eyebrow just like before, just like Sirius. His unimpressed expression makes James scan his brain for any excuse that will get Regulus off his case. James didn't want any rumours about him going around, or not bad ones at least, Not ones that would reach the ears of Lily Evans.
"I was, uh, messing around with charms. I finished my homework and got bored I...uh....a few didn't work. Maybe it was a side effect of one of them?"
Regulus does not seem at all satisfied or convinced by this answer, so he sighs and says,
"Whatever, I don't care for speaking with you if your going to lie to me Potter. I'd go to the hospital wing if I were you, Madame Pomphrey will have your hand healed in less than a minute."
James nods but Regulus has already turned his back to stalk off to the dungeons where the Slytherin common room lies.