If Remus had known it was going to be this cold then maybe, just maybe, he would not have agreed to James’ suggestion that they all go outside to play a friendly game of catch. Considering the amount of Firewhiskey he had consumed the night before it seemed that James was simply not the kind of person to suffer from a hangover. He had bounded across the room and shaken Peter - who had slept on long after the other Marauders had woken “ awake. James had nearly knocked Sirius’ bowl of cereal out of his hands (a bowl of cereal that Remus had persuaded Sirius to eat, trying to convince him that it would be a much healthier breakfast than the Chocolate Frog he had intended to have) as he woke Peter up, telling him that if he didn’t get a bloody move on then they’d go and play without him. So it was that Remus Lupin was now high on his broomstick, a good few miles away from the Potters’ house, his eyes searching the skyline for the outline of his friends.
“Moony, I’m over here!” James’ voice could just about be heard and Remus turned to see his friend hurtling towards him, Quaffle in hand. A friendly game of catch had quickly turned into an aggressive game of Quidditch; James and Remus on one side, and Sirius and Peter on the other. Sirius was close behind James, and just a little bit above him, in an attempt to intercept the Quaffle when James threw it to Remus. Peter seemed to be miles behind and as they grew nearer, Remus could hear Sirius yelling at Peter to get his bloody arse in gear.
James threw the Quaffle and, rather miraculously, Remus somehow managed to catch it, stretching up and wobbling precariously on his broom. Yet the moment he had it in his hands Remus wanted nothing more than to rid himself of the ball. He hesitated, hearing that a short way behind him James and Sirius were approaching fast.
“Move, Moony, for god’s sake!” James yelled and suddenly Remus sprung into action. Bending low over his broom Remus flew as fast as he could, all the while juggling the Quaffle in his arms, looking back to see when James would overtake. Remus lurched forward as he felt another broomstick slam into the back of his and, glancing over his shoulder, he saw that Sirius was almost upon him. They were reaching the line of trees that they had decided would act as one end of the pitch; James had charmed one of the branches to grow and twist round in the form a goalpost.
But before Remus could aim, Sirius once again knocked violently into his back, causing his broom to lurch and the Quaffle to slip out of his hands. Sirius caught it with a confident smile before twisting his broomstick round to race back up to the other end of the field. James had caught up to where Remus was now hovering and, short of breath, he managed to say, “Don’t worry, you did alright. Besides, he’ll have to pass it to Peter at some point, and then we’ll take our chance. We decided on at least three passes before goal, remember?”
Remus did remember, and now he followed James as he flew up the field, rapidly closing the distance between themselves and Sirius and Peter. Sirius seemed reluctant to pass and yet he had no choice. James was far too close behind him now and they were too near to the goal. Reluctantly, he called Peter’s name and threw and, to the astonishment of all the other Marauders, Peter caught the Quaffle and held it tightly in his arms, unwilling to let go. But Sirius was shouting again and both Remus and James were closing in, and Remus saw Peter, after mumbling something under his breath, throw the Quaffle towards the goal. It went in and Sirius cheered - but this cheer soon disappeared as the Quaffle continued to zip through the air and out of sight.
“You cheat, Wormtail!” James yelled before flying off in the direction of the Quaffle, his attention fixed on its movement. Peter shrugged and tried to laugh it off but Sirius was already flying off after James and, after a moment hovering beside him, Remus said, “Come on, let’s go find it.”
I
t had snowed during the night and the countryside that seemed to flit by below them was blanketed in white. Remus flew high to avoid being seen as he struggled to keep the moving shape of Sirius in sight. Peter was moving more slowly, unable to keep up - although whether this was truly a mater of speed, or one of fear, Remus couldn’t tell. They passed over farms with fields full of shivering sheep, their black faces standing out against the white of their fleeces and of the snow. We must be miles away from the Potters house now, Remus thought to himself, glancing back briefly to make sure that Peter was still following.
Suddenly, a long way in front of them, the shape of Sirius pulled up and began to fly downwards. Remus followed, indicating that Peter should do the same, and as they drew closer to the ground, Remus saw that Sirius had alighted just outside a churchyard and was now running towards James, who was, it appeared, lying motionless on the floor.
From the moment Remus’ feet touched the ground he was running, following the imprints of Sirius’ feet in the snow through the churchyard.
“Remus, help me!” Sirius shouted as Remus skidded to his knees where James was sitting, shivering and wet, in the snow, his nose pouring with blood.
“What happened? Did you see what happened?” Remus asked as his fingers tenderly began to explore James’ face to ascertain the extent of the hurt. James winced and pounded his fists into the snow.
“He nearly caught it - the Quaffle - when it suddenly…the charm must have worn off, and it flung back and hit him right on the nose. Then I see him slip off his broom and start to fall…I think he’s alright apart from that…”
“Well, when you have a broken nose, I’ll remember to be as sympathetic as you,” James said, before howling in pain. His glasses were bent; the glass of one of the lenses had shattered completely, and now only a few fragments remained. Remus pulled out his wand and said, “Just hold still, Prongs, and I’ll fix this.” James stopped writhing and, carefully aiming his wand at James’ nose, Remus said “Episkey”, and James’ nose was healed.
James felt his nose gingerly and grinned. It was obvious that it didn’t hurt anymore. Yet his smile seemed to disappear as he looked down at the snow, the snow, which seemed to be covered with his blood. After staring fixedly down at the ground for a moment, James attempted to stand. Sirius helped him to his feet and for the first time, James saw where it was he had fallen.
“Bit of a depressing place this, isn’t it?” James said, taking his handkerchief and wiping away the rest of the blood from his face. Sirius looked around at headstones that seemed to burst out from the snowy ground and shivered.
“What do you think, Moony? Probably best if James sits for a bit, right?” Remus noted the concern in Sirius’ voice and he nodded. “Let’s go inside the church. It will be a little bit warmer there.”
The church seemed abandoned; the doors were locked tight to the cold outside. But with a quick whisper of "Alohomora", the three of them were inside, dusting the powdery snow from their clothes. Peter had yet to appear, and Remus hadn’t had the time to check whether or not he had followed him as he had descended to help James. No doubt he was around here somewhere; sulking because his attempt to cheat hadn’t worked, or afraid that James had been seriously hurt. No matter, Remus thought as he, Sirius and James shuffled their way through the echoing church; James would be alright.
Yet as Remus turned to look at James, who had slumped down by Sirius in one of the pews, he was shocked to see that his friend was pale and shivering, his eyes fixed on the large, stained-glass window above the altar. Remus turned to look and saw what it was that seemed to be upsetting him; interwoven into the familiar biblical scenes, Remus could clearly make out the image of a golden Griffin, set against a backdrop of bright, scarlet glass. Odd, thought Remus, as a shiver ran through him. He didn't see why it should affect James so badly.
Remus turned to Sirius, who was pointing out the gargoyles that lined the stonework above. Every single one of them was, or looked extremely like, a Griffin. It was then that Remus noticed the colours of the cushions in the pew in which they were sat; red and gold, the same red and gold they had all come to associate with their own house.
“What’s going on?” James stammered, his teeth chattering as he once again nervously sought the handkerchief he had stuffed into his pocket. “Where are we?” Sirius moved first, rushing over to what appeared to be a copy of the Bible, lying closed on the altar.
“Do you really think you should be doing that?” Remus asked as he watched Sirius violently turn to the inside cover. Sirius’ face fell and, as he walked back towards them with the book held open so they could see the words there, Remus felt a strange chill come over him: ‘Property of the parish of Godric’s Hollow.’
Without you, I'm nothing by Clare Mansfield
Chapter Notes: It is New Year's Day. What better way to celebrate than with a friendly game of Quidditch?