Shakespeare ❆ Sirius Black [1]

Chapter Seventy Eight

James hadn't bothered with picking up the Marauders' Map or the invisibility cloak from where he had hidden them at the beginning of the night. And maybe that was best; Sirius, Peter and Nadia would need it when the moon set to get back into the castle. But now he stumbled around the halls, thinking of all that could go wrong in this moment. He could be found by one of the teachers or Filch. And should they get wind of a student roaming around the halls past curfew, there wasn't much he could do to hide from them considering the trail of red drops he left as he walked.

And that wasn't even all he was worried about. He worried whether Peter got to the owlery and managed to send the note, as well as whether she would even come and help if she got it. He could only hope so because the pain caused by the large gash on his chest was becoming all he could feel. No longer did he notice the sensation of the cold October wind sneaking through the halls.

He also worried about Nadia and Sirius who stayed behind to take care of Remus. James wasn't sure what exactly caused it, but in his werewolf form something had rattled Remus and he got completely out of control. And to James' misfortune, he was the closest to the werewolf when it happened.

He stumbled into one of the abandoned classrooms, trying to be as quiet as possible when closing the door and making his way to sit in one of the nearest chairs. Sitting down and relaxing for a moment made James feel just a bit better, but the pain was still there.

He felt his eyes begin to close as he waited, but continued to struggle to keep awake. Luckily, he didn't have to wait for too long, because soon the door of the abandoned classroom opened and he looked up to see the red head enter the room still in her pyjamas.

"Potter what the hell is this? What are you thinking dragging me out-"Lily whisper yelled as soon as she entered the room, quickly closing the door before she turned to glare at him. Her glare quickly shifted into a wide eyed look full of concern. "James? Merlin, what happened?" She rushed over to him, kneeling down in front of his sitting form as her eyes began to scan over all the blood which had by now drenched his shirt.

"I can't tell you, I just need your help, please." James whispered pleadingly. He knew Lily would have questions, anyone would. But James knew he couldn't go to the Hospital Wing, at least not tonight. It would raise too much questions and suspicions and risk the teachers discovering their secret. He couldn't take that chance.

"Okay, okay..." Lily muttered in worry, her mind running a mile a minute as she tried to think of the best way to heal him. Nadia surely would have been the better person to do this, but Lily knew Nadia was busy with handling the situation which got James into this state in the first place. She could only hope everyone else was alright.

"We need to take this off so I can see how bad it really is." Lily said hesitantly as she took hold of the hem of James' shirt. He nodded his head in understanding and did his best to help her make the process easier, often hissing as the movements caused him more pain. "I'm so sorry." Lily said with a pained expression every time he made his pain visible, but she knew there was no other way.