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(Hogwarts, fifth year, pre-relation :)
Peter was running as fast as he could through the halls of Hogwarts. He had to hurry, it was a matter of life and death. So he forced his legs to go even faster and took a deep breath. When he arrived in the Gryffindor common room, sweat was running down his forehead, halos formed under his sweater, his face was bright red, and his side was hurting him.
If he had had the time, Peter would have collapsed onto the sofa. But again, he couldn't. Wormtail found the person he was looking for sitting on a couch next to a red-haired girl. The moon which was already high in the sky lit up the two Gryffonfor.
“J-James…!"
The man turned in his direction and looked at him oblivious to the danger.
"Peter? What's the matter with you dude?"
Peter took a deep breath and walked over to James Potter and Lily Evans because it has to be her.
"I…" he looked for a way not to reveal everything to the redhead: "the moon!"
James turned away from them to gaze at the luminous form high in the sky.
"Bollocks !"
Finally realizing the danger, Prongs hopped out of the couch to find himself at his friend's side.
"What is wrong with the moon?" Evans asked them.
"Uh…" James was looking for a way not to arouse the suspicions of his crush. "Well…"
"We… we were planning on making a joke about the Slytherins tonight… before the rise of the full moon, but James forgot… and Sirius has bothered Remus a little too much who got angry… so I came to get James… so that he could sort out, um, the… situation?"
"Exactly!" cried his friend.
"Pfff me who thought you had changed, Potter," said Lily with disappointment in her voice.
"I... I'll listen to whatever you have to say, Lily, I swear, but ..."
" We really have to go…" Peter whispered to him.
"… sorry," said James to Lily before turning his gaze to Peter: "let's go, Pete. ”
James hurriedly left their common room and Peter had to struggle to follow him. He knew his friend would be angry if he missed his only chance with the girl he had been trying to seduce for five years, but he also knew that Prongs would never put a girl before them.
They had come down the stairs and were now in the hallway leading to the thumping ground gardens. Sneaking through the halls had become child's play with the map. James looked worried, speaking with Lily he hadn't noticed the time and he blamed himself for letting his companions down.
"What's the real reason for the emergency?" The bespectacled teen whispered.
"We were waiting as usual outside the house in our animagus forms when we heard Moony trying to sneak out of the house ..." tried to explain Peter.
"He does that all the time," replied James in a rush, « why didn’t you let him out ? »
"Remus refused! He said that if Moony escaped, Sirius couldn't hold him back on his own and could get hurt. But when Moony got agitated, Padfoot asked me to take a look. I went with great courage you know, and there I saw that Moony was determined to make a breach." Peter stopped speaking to take several deep breaths. "I returned to my original spot, detransformed, and warned Pads that Moony was going to escape soon. So, then, Sirius turn back to his human form and he told me to go get you. I didn't want to leave him but then there was a big crackle, Moony came out of the hole he had created and he saw us in our human forms. He was going to jump on us but then Pads created a diversion before Moony could rip the both of us apart and he fled into the forest with Moony on his tracks... As I ran I heard them fighting."
"Shit! What an idiot… argh! Come and get on my back, we'll go faster ”
Once outside the castle grounds, James transformed into a deer and Peter did as he was asked.
The windswept through his hair and he was starting to retch, but Prongs kept going at a brisk pace.
They both noticed the limit of the map that didn't cover the Forbidden Forest and then couldn't show them where Sirius and Remus were. But, luckily, in his animagus form, James had his senses multiplied. He went in one direction and Peter hoped it was the right one.
He was assured it was the right one when he heard the werewolf howl but the howl came from afar. Instead of heading for the scream, James made his way to another side, where the earth was sagging to form a hole. A hole at least three meters deep with roots everywhere, mud, and a well without a dark background.
Peter jumped off Prongs' back just as James turned human again. He watched James lean towards the hole and wanting to see what his friend was seeing, he did the same. There in the hole was a small shape, looking vaguely human with patches of skin here and there and little moans could be heard.
"Hold on! What are you doing? You are not going to jump, aren't you !?"
"Keep your voice low," James whispered quickly, "otherwise Moony will come back."
"B-but you're not going to go?" He whispered softly.
"You want me to leave Pads there? In this hole?" James's voice was incredulous.
"No, but…"
"Stay there, I go down, you receive Pads and I go up. Okay?"
Peter nodded soflty.
"Good. "
James wasted no more time, he jumped into the hole and landed easily. The hole was so dark he could hardly see a thing, so he activated the lumos spell. The sight of horror before him was almost enough to make him regret activating the spell. There on the ground was his best friend, the second half of his soul, bleeding from where a root had pierced his skin.
He knelt down next to his best friend who was half-conscious. Oh, Godric how long had he been in the back of this hole ?!
"Si-Sirius?"
Pads weakly opened his eyes, searching for the noise he thought he was imagining.
"J-jamie…?" The sound of Sirius' voice was broken and painful.
"Hush ... Hush, it's good, you're fine. I'll get you out of here, okay? "
He received a weak nod. He had to put his wand away so he could help Sirius but luckily the moon bathed them in its soft light. It was a difficult ordeal having to remove the root but in the end, he succeeded. He handed Pads to Wormtail who pulled him out of the hole and then it was his turn, the ground beneath his feet was slippery but he finally managed to get out after three tries.
James was dirty coming out of the hole, his hair was even worse than usual, his new glasses tilted over his nose, his clothes were full of dirt, mud, and blood. But he didn't care. Only one person mattered at the moment. Sirius was on his back, breathing weakly and letting out small growls of pain.
Time played against them, either Sirius would fall unconscious or Remus would find them.
Prongs took matters into his own hands, he asked - ordered - Peter to help him put Padfoot on his back, once that was done, Wormtail tied Sirius' arms together to prevent him from falling. James transformed into an animagus and forced - through a spell - Peter to transform into his animagus form. Then he ran faster than he ever did in the direction of the castle. The Gryffindor knew he shouldn't leave Moony alone, but Moony would kill him if he didn't make that choice.
Once in front of the school he transformed back into a human, Sirius had fallen unconscious on the way but the knot made by his arms around James's neck held him upright. Prongs ran down the halls, no matter what could happen if they got caught, he was ready to take the consequences if it meant his best friend would live another day. Along the way they passed Professor McGonagall, she seemed to hesitate between shock and anger but became worried when she saw the state they were. They had to put on a pathetic show: James who was black with mud with his clothes ripped and stained with blood, his arms held the legs of an unconscious Sirius who was slumped against his back with his arms weakly hanging around James's neck.
"Please, professor, » he begged as tears were rolling down on his cheeks, «h-help him, p-please ..." His voice sound as deseperate as he felt.
McGonagall took a deep breathe and then urged them towards the hospital wing and if she noticed the rat following them she didn't mention it.
Everything turned into a blur after that, Sirius was quickly taken care of, and having to part with his best friend had been very hard. While McGonagall went to find Dumbledore, James returned to the Forbidden Forest, he couldn't leave Remus alone in the wild, he left Peter - the human version - in the hospital wing to cover him.
He spent the rest of the night with Moony to control him, it was hard but the more the day arrived and the weaker the werewolf became.
When James came back to Hogwarts for the second time that day, he was exhausted, he was in pain all over and all he wanted was to get back to Sirius. He took the same path again but with Remus on his back this time. Prongs put Moony on one of the hospital wing beds where Pomfrey was already ready to heal the werewolf. The old lady looked tired but she did her best. James' sleeping brain saw the curtain that hid his view of the second bed and wanted to pull it back to see his friend but McGonagall arrived at that point.
The professor had never looked so angry, so much so that she took 80 points away from Gryffindor, and he and Sirius were entitled to hours of detention. After all, the version of the story was that he and Sirius had ventured into the Forbidden Forest and they were attacked by something. Then instead of being sent to her bed, she sent him to the Headmaster.
The old wizard didn't yell at him, he seemed to know more than he let on, and he even offered James lemon candies - he ate about fifteen. Dumbledore explained to him about the injuries Sirius had suffered - broken ribs, multiple contusions, blows to the head, leg, he also has a huge hematoma on his back and a broken arm - and that Madam Pomfrey had said she wanted to wait a week to see if he woke up, by then Sirius would be sent to St-Mungost. It was a hard blow, so hard he couldn't hold back his tears and a few rolled down his cheeks.
James couldn't see Sirius until late in the afternoon, his friend had been bandaged up and he seemed to be sleeping but Pads was never so… still, he was always moving and hated being in the same position for too long. Yet he didn't move, even when Prongs softly touched his cheek.
Remus woke up sometime later, still sensitive because of his transformation and tired, but he easily noticed that something was wrong.
"What is happening? Did I do something wrong? Did I hurt anyone? Where are Sirius and Peter? James! Tell me!"
"P-Peter is in class," did he answer with a detached voice, "Minnie didn't want him to stay with us. Said that at least one of us should go back to class."
Remus seemed to think about what James had just said.
" You said "Peter is in class", where is Sirius?" Remus saw the curtain that hid another bed. "Oh, Merlin! No…"
"It wasn't your fault, Remus."
James was physically and emotionally a wreck, but he tried somehow to help his friend.
"Not my fault? Not my fault?! But I hurt him! Tell me I haven't scratched him, I'm begging you, tell me I haven't scratched or bit him."
"NO!" James sat on the bed and caught Remus's arms to force his friend to look at him. "You haven't transformed him. Moony escaped. He saw Sirius and Peter in their human forms, he and Pads fought and you sent him into what is believed to be a tree saw the black mark on his back, then he tried to escape you but while running he fell into a hole and a root ... touched him."
"He is alright, isn't he...?"
Remus and James were on the verge of tears.
"Pomfrey, s-she's doing her best but if Sirius doesn't want to wake up before the end of the week then…"
Prongs burst into tears. It had been years since he cried, playing her loud, for himself and his friends. But this was Sirius we were talking about, his best friend, his soul mate. Moony hugged him and they both cried.
"What if... what if he doesn't want to wake up, Remus? What if he gives up? What will I become without him?"
The werewolf forced James to look at him.
"Don't forget who you are talking about here, Sirius is the most stubborn, the most persevered, and the most boring person I have ever met. He's gonna make us wait until the last second and then he's gonna wake up, he has to."
"But with his parents…? He always said that he'll never go back there, what if it was his chance to do so?"
"We are his family, he knows that, don't worry. He won't give up on you, even for every gallions in the world as you won't ever let him down. He will wake up. "
Despite his words, Remus was not as confident and in a way he was trying more to comfort himself than James.
The week was interminably long. The three of them went to class and Prongs made a point of jotting down all the lessons even though Sirius wouldn't need them. They forced each other to eat - although Peter didn't have as much trouble for that as they did - and the nights were terrible. Each night they looked at their friend's empty bed. It was excruciating, neither of them tasted like anything, even Remus had stopped pretending to read. And their depression was even affecting the school, all the students had noticed the missing limb. Snivellus had taken the opportunity to laugh at them and James had almost done something he absolutely would not regret, only Remus's hand on his shoulder prevented him to do so. And even Regulus seemed sad not to see his older brother.
It was the worst for James. How was he supposed to move on without Sirius? It was impossible. Even Quidditch no longer gave him that long-awaited freedom. Instead, he spent his days and nights - thanks to the Invisibility Cloak - by his best friend's bedside. He told her everything and anything, from the little joke to what they will do as adults. Lily had tried to talk to him but he didn't care. It was her fault. No, it was his. If he hadn't been distracted, Sirius wouldn't be in this bed. Guilt had filled his heart as it had with Remus and Peter.
With whom He had his first kiss with Pads. The map had finally worked, so caught in the moment, they shared a kiss. Who he slept with most nights because of Sirius' nightmares. It was a thing now for them to share a bed, so much that James had difficulties sleeping in his own bed during the holidays. With whom he made the best jokes, told the best stories, lived his best life.
It was as if a part of him had disappeared.
The days passed and looked the same until the deadline came. Padfoot hadn't woken up.
It was the night before the deadline. James had slipped through the dark hallways with his invisibility cloak and was again at Sirius' bedside. He took his best friend's hand in his and start talking :
"Please wake up, Pads…" tears rolled down his cheeks, "I need you… don't give up on me, please..."
He looked at the unconscious form of his best friend, Sirius's head was blindfolded and his eyes were closed as if he was sleeping with his eyelashes touching his cheeks.
"Remus told me Muggles do this in their books to make princesses wake up, of course, you're not a princess but maybe I can be your knight?" James took a deep breath as he leaned over to Sirius, "Don't hate me for that," he whispered as his mouth came in contact with Sirius'. But nothing happened. There was no magic as Remus told him. The princess has not magically awoke from a magic kiss. Stupid muggle.
Sobs then came out of her throat and tears stung her eyes. He would give up everything to see his best friend's gray eyes open again, for Sirius' arms to miraculously tighten around him, to see his smile again or hear his laughter.
"I love you, Pads ... Come back to me, will you?"
He left two hours later with tear marks on his cheeks and looking more depressed than before.
They were all in class even if it was the deadline’s day, but James wasn't listening, he was scared and worried. He was saved from the classroom by McGonagall's arrival, she asked for all three of them to follow her at the infirmary. They all looked at each other, smiled, and then fled out of the classroom. It wasn't until five hours that the nurses from St-Mungost were supposed to come, so Minni did not call them to let them have the last moment with Sirius. They ran as fast as they could and the professor didn't scold them.
Sirius was indeed awake, more or less sitting, with some pillows supporting him. The young teenager looked like death with dark circles under his eyes and a miserable look on his face.
When they crashed into the room, Sirius looked up at them but no smile distorted his features and there was no recognition in his eyes.
"Siri? Are you okay?"
The other teenager frowned.
"Y-yes, but who are you, exactly?" The question seemed sincere.
James felt like a dementor went through him.
"Don't you remember us?" Peter asked shyly.
The injured youth was about to answer when Professor McGonagall arrived in the room, breathless. She walked over to them and looked at them sternly.
"So you understood why you cannot go and venture into the Forbidden Forest?" They nodded. "Well, at least now you know what could have happened."
"Could have?" they asked at the same time, confused but with hope growing inside them.
Against all odds, a piercing laugh echoed in the air. A laughter that they hadn't heard in a week. The three marauders froze. They turned to see Sirius laughing at the top of his lungs, he was laughing so hard his face was flushed and he seemed to be having trouble breathing with tears of joy rolling down his cheeks.
"You should have seen your faces! Hilarious! Best joke ever! "
James was the first to react and he jumped into bed - paying minimal attention - and hugged his best friend. Sirius squeezed him as best he could. Then it was Peter and Remus' turn to jump into bed.
Professor McGonagall left the room with a small smile on his face.
Once Madam Pomfrey had yelled over them a dozen times, the four boys calmed down. James didn't care and stayed in bed, letting Sirius lean on him. Speaking of which, the injured man had practically fallen asleep on his shoulder.
“Hey, Si?"
"Hmmm?"
"Do you want to hear a very good one?"
"Go ahead," answered Sirius with a sleeping voice.
"We are on detention for the rest of the week with Filch. "
"Urgh, I rather stay unconscious."
"Same," answered James with a smile on his face.
"You can't," said Sirius with a more awake voice," I'm the injured one, so I'm the only one allowed to be unconscious. So you have to go in detention with Filch for both of us."
"Yeah, well I was worried for a week. So I can have the right to be unconscious too. Especially since I'm your favorite human pillow."
"You're just a good pillow, nothing more."
James made a scandalized noise: "I'm your best one !"
"Your judgment is biased because of your own feelings for yourself," replied Sirius.
"Why? Do you oftently go sleep on other people ?" There was a little bit of jealousy in James' voice.
"No, but I'm sure Remus would make a good pillow."
"Maybe. But right now, I'm your best pillow."
"That's because your the only one on the list, pal."
"Touché. But I'm still your favorite."
"Of course you are," Sirius gave a kiss on James's cheek. "But pillows usually don't talk that much," did he say while putting back his head on James's shoulder.
Prongs face went red and his smile grew even bigger. "I missed you," did he finally said.
But Sirius was already sleeping with a tiny smile on his face.
« They do knew that we were there, right ? » Asked Peter to Remus.
« Yep. »