Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 192: Back To Business
"People are staring at me a lot more than usual." James threw the comment right after sitting down at his table.
"Are you surprised? By now, everyone in the school has found out what happened yesterday at Hogsmeade," Sirius told him.
"They may not know all the details, but the fact that you killed some dark witch is still well known," Remus added.
"What surprised me was that they let you go so quickly," Peter said. "We were very worried, you know?"
"I suppose the Headmaster's presence helped in getting you out of there, right?" Remus asked.
James had not spoken a lot about what happened at the Ministry, just that he was asked a few questions and then allowed to go.
And to be fair, not much else had happened, other than making a copy of the memories covering the duel between him and the witch.
They didn't even notify his parents, something he was very grateful for. Although he was sure that his father would find out soon enough. The man worked at the Ministry, and rumors get around very fast.
"Yes, the Headmaster helped me there." James still thought that the old wizard had only gotten involved to satisfy his curiosity. It had helped him, so he had no reason to complain.
"At least today we have no classes," Sirius said with enthusiasm.
"You shouldn't be happy about it. We have missed a lot of classes this year, and for the next two weeks, we have to do all the final exams," Lily scolded him.
"What are you worried about? You always get outstanding grades," Sirius responded.
"We have no classes today?" James must have missed the memo.
"Well no… a student died," Remus reminded him.
"Again," Peter added.
"Right… Lestrange." James had almost forgotten about it. Now Lord Lestrange had lost both his sons, making the man more desperate and dangerous.
' I will have to take care of him before he resorts to doing something drastic', James thought.
A man who had nothing left to lose was at his most dangerous moment.
"Wait, what about those other seniors who came along?" James asked.
"St. Mungo's, I believe," Sirius told him. "As far as I know, they all survived the whole thing, which is kinda crazy lucky if you ask me."
"If only they would use this to learn from their mistakes." Remus had not forgotten that those boys were only there to attack James.
"Severus seems to have distanced himself from them," Lily commented while staring at the Slytherin table.
Snape, who usually sat down on the left side, close to Malfoy, was now on the opposite part of the table, as if he wanted to be as far away as possible from that group.
"Of course." Sirius huffed. "After what he saw… I doubt he has any more ideas of attacking us."
"Or any other Slytherin," Peter added, looking at Lucius Malfoy himself, who still appeared shaken even after a night of rest.
"I would be surprised if any Slytherin wants to bother James again," Remus said.
"No, even those guys are not that stupid." Sirius shook his head before turning to his friends. "So, what are we doing today?"
"I would like to relax at the castle… if that's okay," Peter suggested.
"That doesn't sound bad. I want to work on my… ehm… project." Remus was talking about his map but didn't want to say it out loud in front of others. This was a secret only for the Marauders.
"How is that going?" James asked in a low tone, so the rest would not hear him.
"Almost done." Remus smiled. "But there are a couple of key parts missing. I would like you to take a look, in case I missed something."
James nodded. "Yes, I can do that. But only for a bit. Since we have no classes, there are a few things I want to get done today."
"Again? You are not going to rest even for a day?" Sirius and the others knew that when James spoke about getting things done, he was referring to something related to potions and his laboratory at the Chamber.
"We are near the end of the year. So yes, there are a few important things I need to get done." That was all he had to say for them to understand.
He had to complete the Wolfsbane potions for Remus, so he wouldn't have to suffer the effects of the transformation.
Even more so, since they were near the end of the school year, he would have to prepare several batches for him to use during the summer.
Normally, these had to be taken shortly after being prepared, but James had some special methods to preserve them, so that was one less issue.
After spending half of the day with his friends and helping Remus with his
map, James left the Gryffindor Common Room around one p.m. and made his way to his laboratory.
It was when he was near his secret entrance that he noticed a familiar presence nearby.
"Mmm… you have been waiting for me the whole time?" James said.
"I've only been here for thirty minutes." Bella removed the invisibility charm she had placed over herself.
"You could have stayed inside." James opened the entrance.
"I… haven't been here since the day the defenses became active. I wasn't sure if I was going to be attacked if I went there by myself. And this time there would be no Nyxaris to help me," Bella responded.
"The defenses only activated because—"
"I know… I made a mistake." Bella looked down.
"They won't activate for my fiancé if she goes by herself. " James still said while offering his hand to her.
Bella frowned but still took his hand. "You have been hiding a lot of things from everyone, haven't you?"
"Oh yes… I have many secrets." James grinned. "But you still know more than most."
Bella looked away as to hide her smile. "Okay, I won't ask you about it, but…"
"But?" James turned to look at her.
"No more dates with redheads." She pointed her finger at him and pretended to be mad, even though she already knew why James took Lily to Hogsmeade.
"Date? That was not a d—"
"Next time just take me. Okay?" Bella pointed her finger at him.
"Oh?… sure." James found her behavior kinda amusing. "Let's go inside. I need to check on my project."
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