Eternally Bound
James Potter would never know where all his strength and energy had come from that night, but all that mattered to him was that he somehow made his way up to the seventh floor Gryffindor common room carrying Lily Evans in his arms.
James faced a harsh dilemma after Lily collapsed in his arms against the wall. Lily was a prefect. She wasn’t supposed to drink, let alone get drunk. If he brought her to the Hospital Wing, then there would be the risk of the teachers finding out that she was drinking. There was no doubt that they would have her prefect status removed. Lily would be the pinnacle of criticizing gossip for a very long time, not to mention her reputation would be ruined for the remainder of her stay at Hogwarts and maybe more.
What was he supposed to do with her, then?
He couldn’t just leave her in a random washroom or empty classroom. If he left her in the common room, the Gryffindors coming down for breakfast in the morning would notice her passed out and would inevitably spread endless rumors. Also, the embarrassment of waking up with a large hangover in front of the eyes of the other Gryffindors would be almost intolerable.
The thought of carrying Lily up to her own dormitory came to James’s mind, but he remembered that the stairs going up to the girls’ dormitories were enchanted. They would automatically send him flying back into the common room. Besides, even if he could go up the stairs, he had no idea which dormitory was Lily’s.
In the end, James had only one plan, and if certain people didn’t cooperate with him, he’d force them to.
James hurried into the common room (first making sure no one was present) and rushed up to his dormitory. James reached for the knob of the door awkwardly (while making sure he wouldn’t drop Lily) and turned it to see Sirius and Peter facing him with wide eyes.
“Shit, Prongs!” exclaimed Sirius immediately, but James ignored him as he gently placed Lily on top of his bed.
“You ruined the prank! We saw it all! We saw you run in, and Snivelly run out unharmed! What the frick is the matter with you?!” asked Sirius angrily.
James continued to ignore Sirius as he pulled his blankets on top of Lily and placed a garbage can beside the bed.
“And now you bring Evans in here?! What the hell?!” shouted Sirius yet again, but James did not reply.
“At least answer- ” started Sirius, but James cut him off.
“Get out and go down to the common room, both of you.”
Peter glanced at Sirius expectantly with nervous anticipation.
“What the hell makes you think I’m going to do that?” questioned Sirius with a tone that sounded as if he wanted a fight.
“Do it,” said James coldly as he glared at Sirius dangerously.
Peter’s eyes shot frantically to James and back to Sirius before Sirius replied, “Make me.”
James swiftly moved toward Sirius and grasped him by the shirt before throwing him out onto the stairs of the boys’ dormitories. Sirius landed awkwardly with a hard thud on the marble stairs. Peter yelped with fright.
“Peter, get the hell out of the dormitory!” hollered James, and Peter obediently scurried out of the dorm toward the common room.
Sirius shot his head up immediately with anger shaking through his entire body at his best friend. He jumped to his feet hastily and drew his wand as he pointed it at James and yelled a spell furiously. A hot, white slapping pain came across James’s face, and he had to grasp onto the side of the wall to prevent himself from falling. James shot a jinx after Sirius but missed as Sirius ran down into the common room.
James gave chase as he dashed down the stairs after him. When he got to the bottom of the stairs, he knew exactly what Sirius was planning and shouted, “Protego!”
Sure enough, Sirius’s hex was deflected.
“Incarcerous!” shouted Sirius directly at James, but (for some odd reason) James managed to move out of the way of the ropes that Sirius had sent after him.
“Stupefy!” cried James in retaliation, and a red bolt of light shot across the room to hit Sirius awkwardly in the side of the shoulder.
Noticing Sirius lose his senses momentarily from the spell, James instinctively yelled, “Expelliarmus!”
Sirius’s wand flew across to the other side of the room out of reach. James raced over to Sirius and grasped him tightly by the shirt collar and bashed him hard against the common room wall.
“Do you know what you have done, Black? Do you?!” interrogated James, incensed with rage as he shook Sirius slightly.
Sirius did not answer, for at that moment, he was partly afraid of James.
“You’ve ruined Remus! Snape is going to tell the world about his lycanthropy, and it was all thanks to you!”
“He wouldn’t have told the world, if you didn’t get in the way,” retorted Sirius with irritation replacing his fear.
“How can you even say that?! Severus has nothing to do with this! Nothing! You almost killed him, Black! He almost became a werewolf at the least, all because of you! That’s a burden no one should have, and you know that perfectly well.”
James’s grip on Sirius’s shirt collar tightened, and Peter stared nervously at the two from a distance.
“Don’t take your anger about Audrey out on somebody else,” spat James, and he shoved Sirius against the wall before stomping briskly passed Peter and out into the halls through the portrait hole.
James had no idea that he was capable of running up and down so many flights of stairs in one day. He trudged his way down the seventh floor hallway angrily until suddenly his heated frustration turned into something James inevitably knew would come eventually; exhaustion. His head became extremely light, and the thought of fainting came to mind. His steps became awkward, and he felt cold all over due to the fact that he was still soaked from the rain.
Panting heavily, James turned a corner to have his feet trip over each other, and he clumsily collapsed on the ground face first. For a moment, he thought he would never get up and decided it was best to let his eyes darken and let the world around him fall into silence.
I can’t. I’ve got to find Snape for Remus’s sake. For Remus.
Valiantly, he heaved himself up from the hard floor by clutching a nearby marble pillar for support. Every inch of his body was battered and bruised, and even breathing started to become somewhat of a difficult task. James leaned his head and back gently against the stone pillar as he closed his eyes and took in a few deep breaths.
For a while, the only thing James could hear was his unsteady breathing and rapid beating heart. Suddenly though, he heard a soft humming sound. At first, he thought it was his mind distorting the silence of the hallway, but then the sound began to get closer and more distinct followed by what appeared to be footsteps.
With quite some effort, James lifted open his eyes to see a familiar wise old man with half moon spectacles making his way toward James.
“Good evening, Mr. Potter,” greeted Albus Dumbledore cheerfully. “Do you also find that night is the best time to get one’s thinking cleared up?”
James shifted uneasily against the pillar before replying croakily, “Always do my homework then.”
Dumbledore chuckled and stopped in front of James.
“You are aware, Mr. Potter, that you are out past curfew?”
James shook his head slightly. “I had no idea.”
Dumbledore replied with a smile as he examined James carefully. “You’ve been through quite a night, I suppose?”
“Yeah, you could say that,” said James as he exhaled unsteadily.
If anyone could help me find Snape, it would be Dumbledore.
“Sir,” began James, “I was just wondering if you knew where Severus Snape is? I have an urgent matter to discuss with him.”
“Ah, yes, Severus. I have already talked to Mr. Snape about a certain matter that I do believe concerns you, correct?”
Dumbledore winked at James’s wide-eyed expression.
“But how- “
“I came out of my office to do my late night thinking as I fondly do. I was humming about the halls when I saw Severus run in soaked to the bone and hysterical. He immediately ran up to me in quite a hurry. He was exasperated, poor boy.”
Poor? More like stupid. thought James to himself as he continued to listen intently to his Headmaster’s explanation.
“Then, he commenced to tell me various words at lightening pace. It sounded a lot like gibberish, except I managed to make out a few words such as: werewolf, Lupin, Potter, prefect, and I do believe ‘git’? Was that it?”
“Err…”
“Anyways, that is not of great importance. I immediately brought Mr. Snape up to my office and explained to him that Remus Lupin is indeed a werewolf, and that I have known of it for quite some time. I explained the reason why the Whomping Willow is present at Hogwarts and also about the Shrieking Shack.”
James stared at Dumbledore with disbelief.
How could the Headmaster tell Severus everything?
As if reading James’s mind Dumbledore continued, “It was crucial to fill in Severus of everything in order for him to swear secrecy. If one does not truly understand all circumstances in a certain matter, then it is impossible to keep a secret on that particular matter. I explained to him that with this important information comes confidentiality.”
James was speechless at Dumbledore’s astonishing talent of knowing exactly what was always happening.
“I highly doubt that that was the important matter you had to discuss with Severus Snape though, right?”
“Remus Lupin a werewolf? I have no idea what you are talking about,” answered James jokingly, and he let out a chuckle that turned into a hard cough.
“I think it best that you go up to the Hospital Wing now, Mr. Potter. I wouldn’t want one of Professor McGonagall’s best Transfiguration students to die on my watch.”
James nodded.
“Would you like an escort, dear boy?” asked Dumbledore kindly as he saw James not very capable at the moment of heaving himself up to the Hospital Wing.
“No, it’s really- “
“Honestly, do not feel ashamed to lean on an old man such as myself. To be truthful with you, it makes me feel many years younger.”
After a slight hesitation, James reluctantly slung an arm around Dumbledore’s shoulder and was surprised to feel that Dumbledore was indeed strong for his age and appearance.
“Shall we?” questioned Dumbledore, and with a nod from James, the two made their way slowly up to the Hospital Wing.
James awoke with his eyes closed. His body ached, and his back burned even with the slightest movement. Every single muscle in James’s body felt drained of all energy.
When he and Dumbledore finally reached the Hospital Wing, it was extremely late at night. Madam Pomfrey had come out and began to go into a frenzy about James’s condition. She immediately tended to the major cut on his back from Remus and then to the little scrapes on his arms, legs, and face. By the time Madam Pomfrey was done and James was in bed, it didn’t take any time at all for him to hit the pillow and fall fast asleep from exhaustion.
The last thing that came to James’s mind before falling into a heavy sleep was the fact that saving Severus Snape’s life came with a life debt. They were (whether the two liked it or not) eternally bound.
James listened intently to the silence of the Hospital Wing. The windows were open to cool the warm room, and he could vaguely hear the cream coloured curtains waving in the breeze.
Then, he heard something; a small rustle. A rustle created from a skirt.
James slowly lifted his eye lids to see someone hastily get up from a stool that was next to his bed and glance into his deep hazel eyes with concern plastered all over their face.
“I haven’t talked to you in ages,” said James with a slight smile coming across his face.
Audrey hugged him with tears almost brimming at her eyes.
“Ow, take it easy there,” stated James with a wince of pain, and Audrey immediately pulled back and apologized several times at lightening speed.
“God, you make me worry, James Potter,” sighed Audrey as she sat back down on a wooden stool beside his bed.
“When did you find out?” inquired James as Audrey surveyed him.
“This morning. Professor Dumbledore informed me privately that something had happened to you. He told me discreetly while I was eating breakfast in the Great Hall.”
“What time is it?”
“Five o’clock.”
“In the morning?”
“In the evening.”
“Oh…”
He didn’t expect to be asleep for that long.
James sat up slightly and grasped his round-rimmed glasses off the oak bed side table. His back cracked rather awkwardly in the process.
“How’d this happen?” questioned Audrey cautiously, clearly still examining his condition.
“It’s kind of…” began James, but Audrey finished the sentence for him.
“Complicated?”
“Yeah.”
“You alright?” asked Audrey with a tone of worry in her voice.
“Other than the fact that it hurts to breathe, then yeah, I’m fine.”
Audrey smiled and glanced at the floor as the two were pulled into silence. Audrey fidgeted with her fingers, and James pushed his thick hair back.
“Listen, Audrey- “
“James, it’s alright. You had a right to act that way. I was being a coward by not telling anyone about leaving.”
“Your intentions were good, Audrey, and that is what matters. Besides, I’ve been a real jerk by avoiding talking to you.”
“Thanks, James,” she said, and he replied with a smile.
“How is Sirius?” inquired Audrey hopefully.
The thought of Sirius, and how he had endangered Remus’s secret frustrated James, but he hid it from Audrey. “He’s keeping himself occupied.”
“Does he hate me?”
“You’d have to ask him yourself.”
Audrey sighed.
“Don’t be afraid to talk to him. That’s what he needs more than anything right now,” advised James.
“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll talk to him,” stated Audrey, and she glanced down at her watch around her left wrist. “I’ve really got to go. I promised to meet some friends for dinner in the Great Hall.”
“I’ll see you around, then?”
She turned to him with a grin. “For sure.”
Audrey got up from her chair and grasped her book bag. As she clutched the handle of the Hospital Wing door, James called after her, “Audrey! About not telling you- “
She shook her head with a bright grin. “It’s alright, James. I know however you got hurt last night was by doing the right thing.”
“Thanks, Audrey.”
“For what?”
“For always understanding.”
A/N: For all readers and reviewers who are trying to contact me through e-mail might be unsuccessful because my current e-mail folder is a total mess. (If I didn't reply to your e-mails, I'm sorry!) If you need to contact me, please PM me through the forums. Thanks, and sorry for the inconvenience!