The Marauders: Year Seven Part One

Ask the Stones, Peter

James was breathless from running. He slammed through the door to the Marauder's dormitory, his lungs burning, to find the other three sitting about Peter's bed, playing Wizard Chess, two against one to Moony, and eating chocolate and licorice wands, as though nothing were the matter. James doubled over, clutching his knees, "Need you -" he panted, "Need you down - down in the - the Trophy Room passage - need to - talk." 

The other three looked at him blankly.

"What the bloody hell has Evans done to you?" Sirius asked. He looked at Remus, "You never make me that out of breath," he said accusingly.

Remus ignored the comment. "What's going on?"

"Snape..." gasped James, "Potion...Greyback... Gotta talk... Evans is waiting."

Sirius heard the word Snape and without even a hesitation he leaped up, knocking over the chess board (he was losing anyway and it was as good an excuse as any to not have to resume it later) and hurried to fling on his leather jacket and boots. Peter quickly grabbed his divination stones and shuffled into slippers as Remus tugged on his ratty old jumper and tucked a bar of chocolate into the pocket. Thusly prepared, the Marauders hurried down the steps to the common room, silent as ghosts they were so used to sneaking down that staircase, and across the common room to the portrait hole. They were out and into the corridor without a single sound.

Lily Evans was pacing in the alcove off the Trophy Room Passageway, wringing her hands nervously, when the boys arrived. She hurried to wrap her arms around James and clutch him closely to her for comfort. James squeezed her reassuringly as the other three poured in and they stood in a circle, facing one another.

"What's that greasy twat done now?" Sirius asked point-blank.

Remus and Peter looked nervously between Lily and James.

"We were doing rounds -" James started.

"Actual rounds," Lily supplied, "Not snogging."

"Right," Sirius drawled. "Go on."

"- and we spotted Snape sneaking out the Entrance Hall door," James continued.

Remus's brows stitched in concern.

"So we followed him, of course," Lily said, supplying the next bit of the story.

"And the git doesn't know how to open the door properly, making loads of racket," James injected.

"Of course not, that slimeball," muttered Peter.

"And he was sneaking off across the grounds," Lily continued, "Past Hagrid's hut and right into the woods, just the way we all went back in first year."

"That walk was a good deal shorter than it was back then," James observed. "Seemed to hardly take even ten minutes to reach the edge of the charms." He shook his head, "Luckily, I had the cloak with me, so we were under that and he never saw us."

"And we stayed far enough back he couldn't hear our minds," Lily added.

"He was really distracted anyway," James pointed out.

"Yes, very," Lily agreed.

Remus, Peter, and Sirius's heads were bouncing between the pair of them as they told the story, their eyes following them like a dueling match, bouncing from speaker to speaker as the story unfolded.

"And then he reached the clearing," James said, "And suddenly Fenrir Greyback's there --"

Remus made an involuntary flinching motion and Sirius's arm clapped about him the same as James's was clapped about Lily, pulling his narrow frame closer as the twitchy displeasure of the thought of Greyback worked its way through him.