James
I walked into the common room. Cynthia was using charades to try to get Fred to understand something. It had been about a month since Cynthia went mute and none of us had picked up on or cared to learn any BSL. Sometimes, if she really needed to talk, she’d whisper, but she hardly ever did due to the pain it caused her.
Vicky and Teddy were standing, talking about something. I walked over to them and hugged Vicky from behind. I rested my chin on her shoulder, “Hey, bitch.”
She tensed, which is not what I was expecting. She moved my hands away shakily and turned to face me.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing. Sorry.” she muttered.
“Are you sure?” I glanced uncertainly at Teddy before looking back down at her, “You look like—”
I was interrupted by Alice storming into the common room, visibly pissed, “That fucking Goyle! Fucking little piece of shit got us both detention for the week. And then he decides to fucking—” she groaned, “I fucking hate my life.”
We locked eyes for a moment before she walked up the stairs.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“I’m taking your swords.” she muttered.
I felt myself go pale, “Fucking shit!” I cried, running after her, only a few steps behind her. She burst into my dormitory and threw open my trunk. I grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back. Vicky vaulted over both of us and grabbed the swords from my trunk. She tossed them to Teddy. I stood up, grabbed the swords from him, and started running.
I didn’t look back. I didn’t stop. I didn’t care what I had to do to ensure that Alice would hurt herself. I kept running until I could run no further. I slowed to a stop, panting for breath.
I glanced behind me and saw nothing. I sighed a sigh of relief and looked around. I needed a place to hide the swords. Suddenly, as if by magic, a door appeared. Now that I think of it, this was Hogwarts, so it definitely was magic. I opened the door and walked inside.
Inside, the room was littered with random objects. There was stuff everywhere. A lot of it looked as if it had been damaged by fire, but some of it was still intact, including some old rusted swords with which I hid my own. I wandered through the aisles in awe, before I heard the sound of the door opening and closing behind me. I froze, unsure of what to do.
“What are you doing here, Potter? Hiding your weapons from your dear sweet girlfriend? Let the bitch cut herself if she wants, I say.” The person (likely a male based on their voice, but who am I to make such assumptions?) said.
I scoffed, “Who are you and what do you want? And why do you hate Alice?”
“That’s none of your business.” They spat. They reached into their pocket and pulled out something. From my point of view, I couldn’t see what it was.
“But since she’s not here, I suppose you can take her punishment. Unless you tell me where she is.” They rounded the corner and I finally got a good look at what they were holding; a Webley Revolver.
I laughed. I know, I should’ve been scared. And believe me, anywhere else I would’ve been, but this was Hogwarts. “You idiot! Non-magical objects don’t work here.”
I expected them to be embarrassed. I expected them to walk away. Hell, they could’ve pulled out their wand and I wouldn’t have been surprised! I didn’t expect them to cock the gun, “Bold of you to assume this isn’t magic.” they said.
I paled. Now I was starting to get scared. I stood there, frozen. I watched as they stepped closer, “W-what?”
“It’s enchanted, dumbass.”
“Enchanted how?” I asked, hoping with the entirety of my soul that it wasn’t an accuracy spell.
“Infinite ammunition. But that doesn’t matter right now. I’ll give you three seconds to tell me where Alice is.” They told me, “One.”
Too many thoughts started running through my head. Who is this guy? Why do they want to hurt Alice? Where the hell am I and can I be found? That last one took me by surprise. I’m not the type of guy to think logically. But this was different.
“Two.”
I vaguely remembered my dad telling me and Teddy about a secret room in Hogwarts when we were like five years old. He said it didn’t show up on the Marauders’ map. I figured that Alice had looked for me on the map, only to find that I wasn’t there. I prayed that her parents had told her about the room and that she and Teddy were on their way.
“Three.” The word pulled me out of my thoughts. I scrambled over to where I’d put my swords, but I was a second too late. The bullet shot through the side of my knee. The adrenaline kept me standing for a bit. But as soon as I took another step, I collapsed on the ground with a cry of pain.
“Stay still, dammit.” They muttered, raising the pistol once more.
“Expelliarmus!” Alice called from the door. She and Teddy rushed in. They rounded on the offender, who ducked into a large wooden cabinet and shut the door. When Alice opened the door again, they were gone, “Shit, where’d he go?”
“You can’t just assume they’re a guy, Alice.” I said, my words slightly slurred.
Teddy and Alice looked over at me, concerned, “You alright, mate?” Teddy asked.
“Never better. But that might just be the adrenaline talking.” I repositioned myself, moving my leg in the process. Big mistake. I winced in pain and Teddy and Alice saw the blood smeared on the floor, “Yeah, definitely the adrenaline.” I said through gritted teeth.
The next thing I knew, they were at my side. Alice rolled up the leg of my trousers and grimaced. I looked down at my bloodied, wounded knee. “Damn. That bullet went straight through,” I said, though it was kind of hard to tell with the room spinning.
“Bullet? You were shot?” Teddy exclaimed.
“Not my finest moment, I’ll admit, but—”
“How is that even possible? Muggle objects don’t work at Hogwarts!”
“Yeah, the asshole enchanted it.” I explained. “What are you doing?” I asked Alice, who was frantically looking around.
“Trying to find something to use as a bandage, dumbass.” She said. She finally found some tattered old cloaks. She ripped one into a thin strip and tied it tightly around my knee, “Can you stand?”
“With or without crumbling to the ground in tears and losing so much blood that I act insanely drunk and start confessing random shit I did when I was like six?”
“Without, preferably.” She said, slightly taken aback at my specificity.
“Oh, then there’s no chance.”
“Okay.” Despite her attempts to sound calm, I could tell she was panicking, “So then we’ll carry you, and—”
“All the way to the Hospital Wing?” Teddy asked skeptically, “I’ve got a better idea. You know Robin?”
“My cousin? Yeah, I know her.” I said.
“Dumb question, sorry. Basically, since they pushed back apparation lessons to seventh year for some reason, I convinced her to teach me. I’ve only ever done it with myself, and never this far, but-”
“Whatever.” Alice interrupted, “I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?” Teddy opened his mouth to speak, but Alice shook her head, “Don’t answer that. It’s our only option.”
Maybe I blacked out, or maybe it worked, but a few seconds later, we were in the Hospital Wing, startling Madam Pomfrey. “What on earth happened?” she asked, seeing the bloodstained cloth around my knee.
“He was shot.” Alice said.
“What?” Pomfrey exclaimed.
“With a gun.” I added.
“What?” She shouted, “How is that even—”
“The gun was enchanted.” we said in unison.
“I…I see.” she said, calming herself down, “Have a seat on the bed, I can’t work on the floor.” she hurried away to gather her shit.
We glanced at each other, “I can’t stand.” I whispered, “And I’m way too proud to allow you to carry me.”
Teddy nodded, “Right. Well, desperate times call for desperate measures.” he said, drawing his wand.
“What are you—”
“Levicorpus.”
I’ve flown before. Hell, I’ve flown upside down before. I mean, I played quidditch for two years. This wasn’t anything new. Except…it was. I had no control over my body. Not to mention the fact that
I’d lost a lot of blood, and the little that remained was rushing to my head. So when I was laid on the bed, I was already close to passing out. But then Pomfrey came out holding a needle and thread, and I can’t remember what happened next.