Chapter 16 �“ Confrontations
“How is he?” asked Sirius.
Madame Pomfrey beamed. “He woke up for an hour today, and he was asking for you three. Of course, he couldn’t see you because you were in class, but all the same-”
“WHAT?” burst out all three boys at once, causing the young woman to jump.
“Who cares about classes? Our friend is coming out of a coma; I think that’s a little more important, don’t you?” Peter demanded angrily. Sirius and Remus looked at him admiringly.
“Mr. Pettigrew, your lessons are extremely important, and-”
“So is James!” Sirius yelled.
Madame Pomfrey sighed, and Remus felt a little sorry for her, she was new at this thing.
“What did he say when he woke up?” Remus asked, and Madame Pomfrey returned to normal.
“He was disorientated at first, but I told him what I knew of the night, and that he’d been in a coma. He is in a lot of pain, so if he starts to complain in his sleep, you needn't worry; he won’t remember it the next time he wakes up!”
Sirius scowled at her, and sat down next to James’s bed, folding his arms, and Madame Pomfrey returned to her office.
This time, they were only there for a few minutes when James blearily opened his eyes. This time, the boys were a lot more cautious.
“James, are you alright?” Sirius asked quietly.
James looked confused at first, then happy. “Hey Sirius, hey you guys. It’s great to see you.”
The boys grinned. “So, you know what’s going on?” Remus inquired.
“Sort of… how did I fa-” James started, but then his eyes grew round and he stared at Remus.
Remus looked uncomfortable. “What is it James?” he asked nervously.
“Remus, it was that night, the full moon. You weren’t there, and I just sort of… figured it out.” James said, sorrowfully.
Remus looked absolutely crestfallen. “Oh, well, James it’s alright, I knew one of you would figure it out in the end. I just, sort of, enjoyed having you all as friends.”
“What do you mean Remus?” James asked gently.
“Look, I hate to interrupt, but would one of you, if it’s not too much trouble that is, mind telling us WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?” Sirius demanded.
“Are you going to tell them?” James asked Remus, watching him closely.
Remus took a deep breath, and James noticed his right hand shaking violently. “Look, I may as well just say it outright; I have lycanthropy.”
Sirius and Peter just sat there blankly, speechless. Finally Peter spoke up. “What’s lycanthropy?” he asked.
“He’s a werewolf Peter,” Sirius explained.
Peter started, and looked carefully at Remus. “What’s it like?” he asked curiously.
“Peter!” James exclaimed. He turned to Remus. “What were you saying before about how you “enjoyed having us as friends”? You don’t seriously think we’ll hold it against you do you?”
“Well… Yes, I did actually,” Remus admitted, hardly daring to hope that James could be serious.
Sirius snorted. “Why would we do a stupid thing like that?” he asked.
“Yeah, you’re still Remus, only once a month you turn into a bloodthirsty killer,” Peter said casually.
“When I was younger, every time anyone ever found out, they would turn against me and never want to talk to me. Mothers wouldn’t let their kids anywhere near me, and I’ve spent my whole life swearing that when I came here no one would ever find out.”
Remus looked so unbearably sad, that James felt like badly hurting anyone who would be so prejudiced as to hurt his friend that way.
“It’s like, no one even thinks of how hard it is for me!” Remus burst out. “Always being discriminated against, having to lie all the time, the painful transformation, always being afraid of something going wrong, having to live with the memory of what it feels like to want to kill anything and everything and being stuck inside that stupid shack for the night-”
“What shack?” interrupted James.
“The ‘shrieking shack,’ that’s supposed to be haunted. That’s where I have to go every full moon, and I can tell you, it’s no picnic being cooped up in the ripping everything to shreds. It’s enough to make you claustrophobic,” Remus told them bitterly.
“You shouldn’t have to be stuck in there like that!” James protested.
“I know, but there’s nothing we can do about that; it’s the only way I can stay here,” Remus sighed.
“But, couldn’t something help?” James wondered.
“Werewolves can’t harm animals,” Sirius mused.
“What’s your point?” James asked.
“What if we became animals?” Sirius asked slowly.
“What, you mean like animagus’s?” Remus laughed wryly.
“No, he might have something there…’ James argued. ‘What if we became animagus’s?”
“How on Earth would we do that?” Peter demanded. “Number one: It’s illegal for kids as young as us to become them. Number two: It’s supposed to be incredibly hard!”
“Peter, since when have we cared about rules?” asked James. “Besides that, me and Sirius are the smartest kids in the grade, we’ll manage, and we can help you with it!”
“Wait, you guys are serious about this, aren’t you?” Remus asked, not sure whether to laugh or not.
“Of course we are! Why wouldn’t we be?” Sirius laughed.
“I can’t believe you three would go through all that for me!” Remus exclaimed.
“Remus, you’re our best friend!” Peter told him incredulously.
Remus looked lost for words.
*
“So, you’re feeling better?” Jada asked James.
“Yes, though sometimes, it gets too much,” James choked, in a purposely over the top attempt to look weak and fragile.
Jada, Thaliana and Roxanna all let out snorts, while Calista clasped onto his hand, as if to comfort him.
The girls weren’t happy to have visited James at the same time as each other, but both Calista and the other three both refused to leave.
“So, where’s Lily?” James asked casually. Calista looked up angrily, but Jada simply glared at her.
“She’s out with Robert somewhere,” she told him.
“What, snogging in a cupboard somewhere?” Calista suggested spitefully.
Thaliana matched her look, and Jada was given the impression of seeing double.
“Well, yes probably, haven’t you heard Callie, they’re going out,” she told her triumphantly.
Calista looked enraged at the thought that she was no longer causing Lily misery by her going out with James.
“Well, that just goes to show how truly desperate Evans is,” Calista smirked.
Jada had to restrain Thaliana, while Roxanna sent James, who had nodded in agreement, a death glare.
“Come on, you two, we’re going,” Jada huffed, shooting James an infuriated glance.
Lily looked up as Remus came running towards her.
“Lily, he’s getting out today!” Remus told her excitedly.
Lily jumped up, and looked at her friends. “Um, look we’ve got to go,” she said apologetically to her friends.
“Wait, where are you going?” Jada asked her.
“I’ll tell you after,” Lily told the girls, following Remus out of the room.
“Wait, Lily!” called out Thaliana, but she was already gone.
*
“It sounds to me as if Mr. Potter has been given a potion called Amaltha,” Professor Slughorn explained brightly.
“It’s a fairly simple love potion, and not very consistent. Am I right in guessing that James sometimes seems more in “love” with Calista at certain times than others?”
“Yes,” Remus agreed.
Professor Slughorn nodded, deep in thought.
“Well, it’s good you came to me with your suspicions so soon, as this potion has very dangerous side effects; if not made correctly, the consumer can seem faraway, and their sense of balance is badly thrown out of proportion, and their ability to concentrate often disappears completely. In most cases, takers of this potion will collapse if they have been taking the potion for a long period of time.”
Lily and Remus looked at each other, both of them certain that this was the potion he had been given.
“That must be why he fell off his broom,” Lily realized out loud.
“Yes, that and…” Remus caught himself just in time, and Lily failed to notice he had spoken.
Slughorn frowned. “Well, I would like you to bring James to me now, and waste no time; we wouldn’t want any serious accidents to happen.”
Lily snorted. “It’s a little late for that,” she muttered.
“Yes, yes, very good,” Slughorn murmured distractedly.
Lily and Remus headed back to the Common Room in silence, glancing at each other nervously.
Lily felt like a lot of responsibility had been placed on her, what had seemed like a small hunch had turned into a scary reality, and the fact that James had almost died by such an incredibly stupid thing that Calista had done filled her with anger stronger than she had ever felt.
When they entered the Common Room, they found to their relief that James was already out of the Hospital Wing and talking brightly with Sirius and Peter.
Wordlessly, Lily and Remus walked briskly up to him, grabbed an arm each and began to lead him out of the room.
This was met immediately with a chorus of outraged cries, and not only from James.
“Professor Slughorn wants to see you, James, and no one else can come,” Remus said, directing the last part to Sirius and Peter.
“But…” Sirius started, and then he made a noise that quite resembled a growl.
“Sorry,” Remus said hurriedly, and then they were gone.
“What is it with everyone these days?” Sirius cried, throwing his hands up. “James zones out on us altogether, Remus and Lily go off together every few hours to do who knows what in the library, and now the crazy troop nicks off without us to see the craziest Professor in the school!”
Peter just laughed.
*
“Here, drink this, my boy,” Slughorn urged, holding a flask towards James.
James was starting to look distressed. “But why, what’s the matter?” he demanded, not taking his eyes off the potion.
“Don’t worry James, it’s alright,” Lily consoled him.
James bit his lip, and then drank the whole potion quickly. As soon as the last drop had been consumed, a strange look came over James face, and he looked from Remus to Lily as if he had just realized they were there.
“But… Calista…” he murmured, trying to piece together exactly what had happened.
“She made me take that foul stuff every chance she got!” he exclaimed. “Sometimes I’d just let her, and other times we’d get into a huge fight, it was all so strange, it’s like my head was messed with!”
Lily noticed Professor Slughorn looking very sympathetic, and it suddenly occurred to her how truly confused and outraged James must feel.
“I can assure you, Professor Dumbledore will be hearing about this,” Slughorn promised. “In the meantime I’d suggest you stay far away from Miss Kilten, lest she attempts to force-feed you some more of that potion.”
James nodded, still frowning, then he looked towards Lily, a pained look on his face.
“You… and Robert…?” he trailed off, his bitter disappointment clear in his voice.
Lily simply nodded, and he turned away abruptly, to examine his hands.
*
The three of them walked down the corridors in silence, glancing at each other awkwardly. Remus occasionally opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it.
James and Lily glanced at each other, and both stopped walking. Remus noticed this and kept walking; he knew that this was between James and Lily.
“You used to like me, didn’t you?” Lily blurted out. I can’t believe I just said that, Lily thought in amazement.
James looked taken aback. “Yeah, I did,” he admitted.
“I used to like you as well,” Lily informed him.
“Why did you stop?” James asked woefully.
Lily shrugged. “Why did you?” she shot back.
“I didn’t,’ James reminded her, turning red.
Lily felt uncomfortable. ‘Oh… well, I guess I just, sort of, gave up on you. I thought you were in love with Calista.”
“And you love Robert now, huh?”
“Yes, I do.” Lily was surprised that this conversation wasn’t embarrassing at all.
James kicked the wall angrily. “It isn’t fair!” he spat out.
“What?” Lily asked nervously, hoping James wasn’t going to start accusing her.
“Well, I still like you, and if it weren’t for Kilten, we might be going out.”
Lily noted that James used Calista’s last name to refer to her, and knew he was very angry.
Lily began to walk again, unsure of how to respond to James’s statement.
“Lily?” James ventured.
“Hmm?”
“Let me know when you don’t like Robert anymore, alright?” James smiled at her, hope shining in his hazel eyes.
Lily raised an eyebrow, and smiled back at him.
*
At breakfast the next morning, Calista looked unhappier than Lily had ever seen her before, and all of her friends were avoiding contact with her.
Lily found herself feeling a little sorry for her, when a bright red letter was delivered to her; far before the post was due to arrive.
“Oh no,” Jada whispered, hiding her head, and Thaliana looked delighted.
“What’s the matter?” Lily asked, watching Calista’s face drain of colour, as she opened the letter.
“CALISTA KILTEN! HOW DARE YOU GIVE A LOVE POTION TO JAMES POTTER? I ABSOLUTELY CAN’T BELIEVE YOU! YOU ARE LUCKY I DON’T BRING YOU STRAIGHT HOME YOUNG LADY; I WARNED YOU AFTER YOU ATTACKED THAT LILY GIRL LAST YEAR, BUT NO! YOU HAD TO GO AND CAUSE MORE TROUBLE! YOUR YOUNGER SISTER IS STARTING NEXT YEAR, AND WHAT SORT OF AN EXAMPLE IS THIS TO SET FOR HER? WE’VE NEVER HAD ANY TROUBLE LIKE THIS FROM THALIANA! THAT BOY WAS ALMOST KILLED IN AN ACCIDENT BECAUSE OF YOUR SELFISHNESS, YOU HAD BETTER SHAPE UP YOUNG LADY, AND I. MEAN. NOW!”
Calista sat still for a moment, before bursting into hysterical tears, and running from the room, her face in her hands.
“What on Earth was all that about?” Lily cried.
“That was a howler, you get sent one, and it screams out the message for the world to hear,” Roxanna said calmly.
“Wow, that’s not like Mum,” Thaliana remarked. “She must be really mad; she hardly ever yells at us.”
It wasn’t long before the Great Hall’s usual chatter resumed, and everyone forgot about the howler.
Robert leaned over to Lily. ‘I’m glad everything worked out perfectly,” he whispered affectionately, and Lily forced a smile.
The only thing was; things hadn’t turned out perfectly. Not for James, or Calista.
Soooo people, how did you like the chapter! Let me know in a review if you please, that would be ever so lovely. Quite so. OK, the review challenge. Rather. What has been your favourite chapter until now?
This challenge will appear once every now and then, just to see how often peoples opinions will change as the story progresses!
