CHAPTER V

As soon as the classes had ended that day, James and Sirius decided to set off towards the library, intending to start with figuring the riddle out as soon as possible. 

“See you later!” Remus and Peter hollered after them as they split in the corridor, the two heading towards the Gryffindor Common Room. 

They almost disappeared from view in the sea of students pouring from the doors of nearby classrooms or walking by in little groups, chattering loudly. A few paces away, a group of what looks like third year Slytherins was comparing their exam results, laughing when one of them brandished completely empty parchment. 

By the entrance to the Charms classroom on the left, a group of still a little wide-eyed first years appeared to be exchanging Chocolate Frog cards, exclaiming whenever the person in the picture did something even remotely extraordinary.

“Look!” exclaimed one of them. “The witch just scratched behind her ear!” 

“I saw it too!” 

James shook his head with a small smile and moved to catch up with Sirius. 

They’d barely opened the door to the Library when James heard a familiar voice.

“James, Sirius!” Frank Longbottom beamed at them, waving his hand in the air. Madam Pince, the Librarian, sent him a meaningful look from her table by the door, but didn't comment. James and Sirius nodded at her in quiet greeting and she mirrored them, slightly lowering her head.

“Did you see how she frowned less?” James whispered to Sirius with a satisfied smile as they walked towards Frank. “She definitely likes us.” 

Sirius rolled his eyes. 

“Keep dreaming, mate,” he said under his breath. “She doesn’t like anyone.”  

“Hey,” Sirius greeted quietly when they made their way towards Frank, who gave them another wide smile as he set aside his quill. Some of the ink seemed to splosh onto his parchment, but he didn't seem to mind and James noted similar drops were already all over the right side of the paper, closer to the ink bottle.  

“I wanted to do it yesterday but there was no time,” he told them, eyes shining with eagerness. “I wanted to congratulate you guys on being chosen as the Champions!” 

His voice climbed a little too loud in his excitement, earning him another look from Madam Pince, which turned his smile a bit sheepish as he glanced at her. 

“Sorry, I’m just really excited,” he apologised in a considerably lower voice, though his eyes still continued to shine brightly. “I mean, I was convinced it would be you two ever since I saw you throw your names in, but it still feels a bit unreal. I can’t believe our school is really hosting the Tournament.” 

“You and me both,” James said with a tilt to his lips, matching the volume of his voice. The fact that the Tournament was being revived was something James never would have expected, even now he felt like he’d wake up and it would turn out it was all a dream. 

“We appreciate the confidence,” Sirius added and Frank smiled as he waved his hands around.

“Well of course. Anyway, I assume you’re here to work on something connected to the Tournament?” 

“That’s right,” James confirmed and Frank nods his head

“Good luck then! I need to get back to this horrible essay to Care of Magical Creatures, it’s supposed to be three scrolls and I’m still stuck on the first.”

“Three scrolls? What is it on?”

Frank grimaced. “The dietary restrictions of Fire slugs.”

Professor Silvanus Kettleburn was famous among the students not only for losing half his limbs throughout his years as the teacher of the Care of Magical Creatures, but also for wanting his students to know every creature in his curriculum in tremendous detail. 

Sirius winced in sympathy. “Good luck to you as well then.” 

“Thanks,” Frank said, then gave a weak chuckle as he sent a long, suffering look towards the scrolls haphazardly set on his table.  “I’ll need it.” 

Sirius and James left Frank behind and moved to claim a table further in the library, one where they wouldn’t be as easily disturbed by any newcomers as they would have been in the front. Not to mention James had no intention to spend the next few hours under the Librarians’ watchful eye. They had a lot to discuss. 

“Alright.” Sirius shrugged off his robes and set them gracefully over the back of the chair next to him, then moved to sit down opposite of James. “Let’s see what it’s all about.” 

Slightly leaning to the side, James managed to pull the scroll out of his bag and handed it to Sirius, who slid the ribbon off the end of the parchment.

As he unrolled it, James dragged his chair a little closer so they could lean over the table to look at it together.

‘where majestic oaks turn to dust,

where leaves never fall

but ground will always shake,

long beyond the castle wall

their everything you’ll need to take, 

where majestic oaks turn to dust,

will they ever trust?’

“So,” Sirius started after they stared at it for a few moments, eyes flitting between the different verses, “we know it’s somewhere in the Forbidden Forest.” 

He tapped lightly on the fourth line with his finger, ‘ long beyond the castle wall ’ ties to that, if we ignore that castle doesn’t really have any outer wall. And all the words about trees make sense only there, since it’s the only proper forest around.” 

“The first two lines are obviously tied to the Forbidden Forest again, specifying the location,” James added, then glanced up from the scroll at Sirius.

Sirius gave a nod as leaned closer to the scroll, pointing at the next verse and James followed the motion. “Then here, the part about the ground shaking, it has to be connected to some kind of a beast or creature, right? 

“Right,” James agreed, his mind already swirling with the possibilities.

Exchanging theories and ideas with Sirius had always been easy, the way their brains worked on the same wavelength positively exhilarating.

“Something that shakes the ground when it moves, or maybe something that lives or moves under it and causes tremors…”

Sirius made a thoughtful expression, his brows slightly furrowed. “Since it talks about the ground always shaking, I’d guess it’s safe to assume it happens when the creature just regularly moves. That could at least rule out Centaurs and other hoofed creatures. ”

A herd of centaurs could certainly make the ground tremble if they ran, but it would depend on the number and as Sirius hinted, they’d need to pick up some speed first.  

James tilted his head, then nodded.

“Yeah, and I don’t remember any of them being connected to oaks either. And since the riddle mentions the oaks twice, repeating the same verse, it has to be something that’s tied to them.”

Sirius hummed in agreement, grey eyes moving across the verses of the riddle again.

“The part about taking must be connected to the Task itself,” he said after a moment. “ ‘Their everything you’ll need to take’ ...looks we’ll need to take something they treasure more than anything.” 

“Yeah. And of course, we won’t know what to take unless we figure out who to take it from.” 

James bit into his bottom lip as he read over the verses again. 

“The last part is, at least, pretty straightforward…” he mumbled as he slid his finger under the last verse of the riddle, as if underlining it. “They’re known for being distrustful towards strangers.” 

“So just most of the beings in the Forbidden forest,” Sirius remarked drily and James gave a chuckle.

“Exactly.” 

Sirius shook his head slightly, a quiet sigh escaping past his lips as his eyes moved across the books around them. “We’d better get to it then.” 

“I feel like my head’s about to explode,” James groaned, “They really had to choose the only thing that’s not written down anywhere, didn’t they?” 

He didn’t bother with being quiet, because except for them, the library was already empty, save for the librarian, who from time to time walked by and reminded them to be quiet, though the expression on her face had more than suggested she knew it was essentially useless. 

Most of the students had left a while ago, though exactly how long it has been, James had no idea. The world outside one of the long, pointed windows on the side looked as dark as it had for the last few hours, and though there was a large clock above the entrance door, James had no intentions of walking there. After all, there was no point. 

As they had done the last four times, they’d leave only when the Madam throws them out to close the section for the night, then continue in the Common Room, spreading their books on the floor by the fireplace.

James was dimly aware the real closing hours of the Library had been some time ago, yet for some reason Madam Pince only ever told them to leave when she was about to lock up the place for the night. 

Sirius hummed from where he was sitting crossed legged on a chair, a large tome balanced on his lap. He had once told James his mother would have a fit if she ever saw him sitting like that, and James remembered Sirius looked quite pleased by the mere idea. 

“It wouldn’t be in the Tournament if it was easy.” 

“I know,” James said, barely avoiding a whine. “I don’t want it to be easy, but right now I’m kind of ready to hex anyone who came up with the damned riddle.”

Sirius’ lip twitched minutely upwards.

“You and me both,” he quipped, his eyes darting up to meet James’ before he turned back to the book.

James suppressed a sigh as he let his head fall into his hands, though he was mindful of accidentally smashing his face into his glasses. The book that lies under his elbows continued to mock him with its endless pages, none of them revealing anything new or useful. 

With a huff of breath, James let his eyes fall shut for a moment as he moved his hands up, dragging them though his hair and tugging at the strands in frustration.

When he opened his eyes again, he was surprised to find Sirius’ eyes already intently on him, lingering on his hair even after James let his hands fall back down.

The grey of Sirius’ eyes seemed even darker, and James tried to suppress the warm shiver that ran through his body, as it dkx anytime he was the target of Sirius’ undivided attention.

He knew he probably shouldn’t have liked it as much as he did, but he couldn’t help it, couldn’t help wanting Sirius’ attention on him, always. Just as much as he couldn’t help giving all his focus to Sirius, drawn to him as if by a Summoning charm, unable to stop even if he wanted. 

Sirius blinked and looked away, gaze falling back to the book in his lap and James cleared his throat, feeling it had suddenly gone dry. He dragged his hands through his hair one last time before he pushed off his elbows, and returned back to the book, the paper rustling as he turned another page.

When he glances up a moment later, Sirius’ expression is back to calm and collected, betraying none of the intensity from before as his eyes glide across the pages. 

“You know what I bet could have the answer?” he asked after a few minutes and James, who had just been about to turn the page again, stilled his hand and looked up. 

From the slow smirk on Sirius’ face, and the spark of mischief shining in his eyes, James has no doubt he was about to come up with some dragonshit.

He tilted his head with an anticipating twitch to his own lips.  

“What could have the answer?” 

Sirius leaned a bit further into his chair, the smirk widening. 

“Dumbledore’s diary.” 

James snickered, the answer catching him off guard. Sirius’ smirk grew, turning into a genuine smile. 

“Unexpected” James said, through another chuckle, “but you’ve got a point.”

“I’m glad you agree he has one.”

“Well, obviously he has one.” 

“Think we’d get into too much trouble if we tried to…borrow it?” 

“Oh, definitely. Probably not worth detentions for the next two years.” 

“Right,” Sirius grimaced a little, pushing a stray strand of hair from his eyes. “To be honest, I’m not entirely sure I really want to know what’s going inside his head…could end up being quite a traumatic experience.” 

James shuddered at the image. 

“That too.” 

Sirius shot him a wicked grin, then returned back to his reading.

James mirrored him after a second, forcefully blinking multiple times in a row to force himself  awake. He closed the book before him with a resolute clap and set it aside, the candle nearby on the table flickering and swaying slightly in the sudden wind. 

His fingers grazed along the different spines of the books piled up on the stool next to him that he had dragged there earlier today, eyes sliding across the titles branded on the differently coloured tomes. 

Secrets and Mythical Origins of Magical Creatures and Beings by Nicholas Kirklow.

The Guidebook to Wondrous and Dangerous Creatures by August Goldenbrown.

The Extraordinary Magicals and how to avoid them by Alexandra Tyllis.

Beware the Creatures and beings of Forests and Hills …

James discarded looking at the rest and took out the second book from the top, The Guidebook to Wondrous and Dangerous Creatures, deciding the name sounded promising enough, and opened it. 

The classes, at least, offered a nice reprieve from the endless library research. 

Defence Against the Dark Arts had them revising counter-jinxes and jinxes, with Professor Evergreen splitting them up into random pairs to try and counter each other's attacks.  

The wooden tables had been pushed to the sides of the room to create a sizable free space in the middle, where they stood in two long lines facing each other. Professor Evergreen explained to them she would call out in fifteen minute intervals for them to change pairs.

“It’s good to change your opponents once in a while,” she stated, her calm, ice blue eyes measuring the students before her. “Makes sure you’ve not grown too comfortable.”

The first opponent James faced was Avery. A quick glance to the side as he readied his wand told him Sirius was facing off with Snape, which was unfair. James would have loved to watch Sirius absolutely destroy him. 

“Eyes here, Potter,” Avery warned, almost spitting his name. “I’m about to wipe the floor with you.” 

James tilted his head back with a smirk. “I doubt you can even try.” 

With a sound similar to snarl, Avery tugged his wand out from his robes, and the fight started. 

Soon, the room was filled with the shouts of jinxes, spells flying in all directions. 

Avery pulled his hand back, ready to attack again. The look in his eyes and white-knuckled grip around his wand was desperate, since James had already jinxed him twice while he had barely managed to break through his shields. 

 He readied a Protego, then lifted his eyebrows when Avery sputtered in anger as his spell got deflected.

“What?” James asked. “Surprised you’re losing again?”

It felt good to finally have something to hold over him, after all the snide glances and remarks he and his little group had been throwing around. Of course, now without the rest of their Slytherin gang backing him up, Avery only seethed, his threats empty. 

Something registered at the right corner of his eye and James sidestepped, the stray hex that was thrown his way crashing into the wall behind him, leaving a large crack in the stone. 

“You’re going to regret that, Snivellus,” Sirius promised him in a worryingly level voice. 

James felt his lips twitch up at the protectiveness in his voice, his chest filling with a sense of vindication as Sirius broke through Snape’s defence and had him meet the ground, face first.

Under Professor  Evergreen’s orders, the line on the left had moved, and James came face to face with Bogdan. He had left his fur coat behind and was dressed in the dark blood robes of Durmstrang, his face as blank as ever. James could remember only one time he had seen him smile and that was when Theo had been chosen as one of the champions, so he didn’t take the stony expression personally. Bogdan was simply Bogdan. 

“Ready?” James asked him as he readied his wand and Bogdan gave a firm nod. 

“Yes.” 

As all Durmstrang students James had seen so far, he was good at combat magic, and the combinations of jinxes he was coming up with kept him on his toes.

When Bogdan had left his side unguarded as he cast another spell, James took the opportunity and stunned him after which Bogdan conceded, and the pairs shuffled again. 

“Evans!” James called out in greeting as she came to take Bogdan’s place. “Happy to see me?”

“Not particularly,” she said drily,  then twisted her wand into a sharp arch. “ Locomotor Wibbly! ”

James countered the spell with ease, then grinned when Lily pursued her lips. 

“Won’t be that easy, Evans. Impedimenta! ” 

With a flick of her wand, she narrowly deflected the jinx towards the stone arch above her. 

James waved his wand, “ Flipendo! ”

Evans’ eyes widened,  and she moved to make a hasty shield, but it wasn't enough. 

With a loud noise, the jinx slammed into the protego charm, shattering it and hitting her to the stomach.

Lily stumbled a few steps back at the sudden force, then folded, her legs giving up as she fell forward on the ground, barely catching herself with the palms of her hands. Normally, the hex would have sent her flying backwards, but the defence she set up wasn’t the worst, only hurried, so it still managed to absorb most of the impact.

Her face twisted with anger as she lifted her head, fingers digging into the stone ground and eyes glaring at him from beneath the sudden mess of red hair. 

“This isn't a duel,” she gritted out, fuming,“the professor said we should practise .” 

“And we’re not?” 

“We’re supposed to be taking turns.” 

James couldn’t stop the scoff that escaped him and Lily’s eyes narrowed even further, burning with sudden intensity.
“This is not a joke, Potter!”

James knew it wasn’t, that was the whole point. Yet Evans was looking at him like he was the one acting unreasonable.

“Then why are you acting like it is?” 

The burning fire in her green eyes flickered. 

“What?”

“You’re the one acting like it’s a joke,” James told her. “You think a Dark wizard is going to wait for his turn? How can you expect to learn anything if you’re not going to take it seriously?” 

“Is that…what you were doing?” she asked slowly, almost hesitant. 

James didn’t grace her question with an answer, he thought everything he’d said was pretty self-explanatory. 

Instead he glanced to the side, noting Peter had finally managed to disarm someone, his mouth hanging open in surprise. Not far from him, Sirius was defending with laid-back focus against Lucinda Talkalot. James saw the moment his eyes narrowed slightly as he saw an opening, his hand moving as he sent a jinx of his own, stinging her to the side.

At the end of the room he even glimpsed Remus, who was just trying to get out of the jelly-legs jinx that Yasen had sent at him. 

“Sorry!” he heard the Durmstrang student call as Remus seemed to lose his battle with the jinx and fell.

He turned back to Evans, who was still on the ground, and not moving, except for the way her eyes were flitting across his face . 

“Well?” he asked, the corner of his lip lifted into an amused smile. “Are you going to just lay there for the rest of the lesson?”

Evans blinked, then shook whatever it was off as she pushed herself up. 

“Of course not,” she said resolutely. “Let’s start again.”

In Herbology, Professor Sprout had gone on about different kinds of soils and their properties for half an hour before she finally said she wanted them to replant a batch of new mandrakes. James had never been more excited to put on the pair of fluffy earmuffs and he was sure the sentiment was echoed around the greenhouse, if the way everyone hurried to them was any indication. 

“Make sure the soil is even,” Professor Sprout reminded them as she walked by the long tables filled with pots and screaming mandrakes. “I had two fourth years faint today because they forgot.”

James was about to replant his third mandrake, the soil in the new pot already prepared and properly loosened when he stopped, a sudden chuckle escaping past his lips.

“Guys, guys , you need to see this.” 

Sirius and Peter turned while Remus squinted his eyes, his expression full of suspicion. “See what ?” he said sceptically, even as he leaned in closer.   

James grinned. With a quick motion, he grabbed the screaming mandrake and thrust it forward, arm outstretched.

Peter scrambled backwards with a screech, almost falling over his own legs, but James ignored it and pointed with his free hand straight at the mandrake’s face, still grinning widely.

“It looks exactly like Slughorn, doesn’t it?” 

“What are you…” Sirius started, then stopped, his eyes widening. “Merlin’s beard. You’re right.” 

“Right?!” 

“It’s totally him! He even has the same exact nose!” 

“I know!” 

Remus looked between the two of them with a disbelieving expression.“Are you two serious?”

“No, just me.” Sirius smirked lopsidedly, using the old pun. Remus sent him an unimpressed look, that James must admit was kind of deserved. But what was Sirius supposed to do? The opportunity was right there.  

“Remus, Moony, just look at him,” James extended his hand again, pushing the mandrake closer to Remus’ face, who recoiled back.

“I can’t believe I’m even entertaining this…” he trailed off and James chuckled at the bewildered expression on his face.

“You totally see it now, don’t you?” 

Remus glanced at him, then back at the mandrake. 

 “...Maybe.”  

 “Ha! I called it! Wormtail, you see it too right?” .

“I wish I could unsee it!”  

“Come on Petey, don’t be shy, don’t you want to give Slughorn a big kiss?” James dangled the mandrake in front of him, leaning it even closer. 

“No! Get him away from me!” Peter shrieked as he jumped away, and Sirius and Remus erupted into loud laughter.

“Come on,” James got out in between his own laughs. “Don’t leave him waiting!”

“Eww! Noo, get him away!” 

Potions were their next lesson of the day, which revealed to be quite unfortunate. Sirius spent the whole time snickering into his cauldron whenever Slughorn looked their way and James wasn’t much better, as forcing down his chuckles made the situation even funnier.

Snape kept sending them snide glances and at one point he wrinkled his nose in distaste so obviously, that Slughorn came to ask him if his potion had started to smell.

When James heard it, his eyes automatically met Sirius’ and he had to bite into the skin of his finger as he turned away, shoulders shaking. 

They made it out, but barely, and Remus berated them for putting the idea into his head, because now all he could see was Slughorn as a mandrake. 

James had to admit that he had no idea how their potion passed the test at the end of the lesson, but he was not about to complain. 

“Excellent! Everyone, observe the intensity of the fire, extraordinary, truly!” Professor Flitwick called out, gesturing broadly with his hands.

Sirius’ lips pulled into a smirk as he twirled his wand. He glanced James’ way and winked, before he lazily moved to the back of the line.

James scoffed and rolled his eyes at him, though the edge of his lips gave an involuntarily twitch. With a quick step he turned to face the target, casting the spell before Flitwick could even call on him. 

A large stream of fire flew out from his wand and James watched with a certain level of satisfaction that comes with casting every good spell as the flames found their target, hitting the dummy straight in the chest.

Some of the students took an instinctual step back as the intense fire illuminated the room in red and oranges, through the fire was too far to be of any danger to any of them. 

“Another excellent casting! Well done, Mr. Potter, as always.” 

With a flick of his wand, the flames vanished, leaving only a slightly-charred wooden figure behind, though some parts of it were still slowly smouldering. 

James strode back to Sirius, lifting his brow as he met Sirius’ gaze and held it, the smirk on his face confident, teasing. He watched as Sirius bit into his lip, before he glanced away, then back, away again.

In front of them, Remus gave what sounded as a suffering sigh. James glanced at him but Remus only swatted his hand in the air, pushing the silent question away.

“Mr. Pettigrew,” Flitwick called from his high position on a stack of books to Peter, who jerked at the sound of his name, his head snapping to the teacher from staring at the flames on the practice dummy.

Flitwick beaconed him closer with a few quick motions of his wand, and Peter flushed, looking like he only just realised no one was in front of him now and he was up next. 

“Please step in closer and cast the spell. Remember the spell is a powerful one and needs clear intent and determination behind it. And enunciate the words properly! ”

Peter’s hand twitched around his wand, his grip unsteady as he stepped forward. His eyes kept glancing around the room almost as if looking for a way out. 

 “Well?” Professor Flitwick prompted. 

Peter nodded, hand moving in a small, flicking motion. 

“ Incendio! ”

The wand sputtered out a few red sparks, but otherwise showed no attempt to give anything even resembling fire. A couple muffled giggles carried around the classroom, while some, like Marlene McKinnon standing in the spot behind him, grimaced with pity. 

“Of course Pettigrew couldn’t cast it properly,” James heard Avery very badly whisper to Mulciber, obviously not really caring who heard since his high voice easily carried through the room. “His casting got stuck somewhere in third year and never recovered.”

Peter coloured, his shoulders hunching even further. James sent a glare towards Avery’s mop of dark hair, wishing suddenly they would have Defense against the Dark Arts again and he could use Avery to polish the floor.

“Quiet down,” reprimanded Professor Flitwick, then waited until the classroom had quieted down before turning back to the front.

“Don’t stop trying, Mr. Pettigrew, I’m sure you’ll get it again in time. Now, Miss McKinnon.” He gestured to her and Marlene moved up, brandishing her wand from her pocket.

“Good try, Pete,”  Remus said when Peter finally joined them, and reached out to pat him on the shoulder. 

“I could have done it,” Peter said, lips pursed. “I’m sure if I had one more try it would definitely work.” 

“Your wish might come true,” James told him. “Flitwick could have us do another round.”

The colour seemed to leave Peter’s face at the words, his eyes flitting to the Professor.

“You think so?” he asked, voice slightly wavering. Any of his previous conviction seemed to be gone in an instant. James shrugged. 

“ Incendio! ” Marlene called out and a bolt of fire erupted from the tip of her wand, flying straight to the wooden figure where it shattered on impact, engulfing it in bright red flames.

She turned, exchanging a pleased smile with Lily Evans before she moved behind Peter back to the end of the line. 

“How come everyone’s so good at it?” Peter whispered, voice dejected. “We haven’t revised the spell in over a year.” 

Sirius glanced at him as they moved another step ahead in the line, and Evans stepped forward to  cast. “Do you forget a spell just because it’s not revised?” 

“Well, yeah?” Peter gave them a sheepish smile. “Charms are not really my thing. Not everyone can be as naturally gifted as you and Prongs, you know.” 

He glanced towards the wooden dummy, his shoulders sagging as he once again saw the bright flames surrounding it.  

“It might just be you, mate,” Sirius told him. “You need to practise.” 

Peter gave a sigh, but didn’t protest.

There was a loud thud, then a pained curse. 

James’ eyes flew open and he rapidly blinked into the darkness around him, disoriented and confused. Oh right, he realised a heartbeat later, I fell asleep . 

Something that sounded like a muffled sob pulled him back to reality and James startled up, looking around, squinting his eyes to see. 

“Damn it…” Remus whispered, his voice pained, muffled. 

Wasting no time, James grabbed his glasses and slid off the bed, bare feet skidding across the floor. 

“Moony?” he whisper-called, one foot moving in front of the other. The bed was empty, so James rounded it, his eyes widening when he found Remus on the floor, his back propped against the wooden frame of his bed. 

Upon noticing him, Remus opened his mouth, then quickly shut it again, his face twisting into a painful grimace. With a sudden shudder, he curled onto himself, hugging his arm around his knees even tighter. 

James almost stumbled over one of the books on the ground as he hurried over to him, then crouched down to his level.  

Remus made a tiny, pitiful noise in the back of his throat. James reached out, gripping his shoulder. 

“Talk to me, mate, is it the pains again?” 

He was keeping his voice low, to not wake the others, but internally he was panicking a little. Remus’ face was paler than usual, his forehead shining with sweat even in the darkness of the room. With a wheezing breath, Remus nodded, brown hair falling into his face and obscuring it even further. 

James made a sympathetic noise. “Want me to get you a numbing potion?” 

“No,” he panted out quietly, closing his eyes. “Already took one.” 

He waved a weak hand towards the table without lifting up his head and James’ eyes followed it, finally catching the empty vial on his bedside table.It was lying on its side, as if Remus had no strength to set it down properly afterwards, or as if it had stumbled sideways, a few stray droplets of the dark liquid staining the cloth beneath. 

“It’s already…starting to work,” Remus got out slowly, keeping his voice low as well, and James turned back to him, squeezing at his shoulder.

“Okay.” 

They stayed like that for a few moments, before Remus finally looked up at him, his breathing evening out a little. The expression on his face was tired and weary, and the way his hair was sticking to his sweaty skin made the colour of the strands look much darker than the familiar light brown. 

“You should go back to sleep,” he said weakly. “I’ll be fine.” 

“Yeah, no.” 

“James-”

“Don’t even try it.”

 Remus gave a sigh. His head was hanging low again, obscuring the look on his face. 

“I just don’t…” he trailed off and James frowned. The silence around them suddenly felt too loud, pressing painfully against his ears. 

“You don’t what? ” James tried, but Remus only shook his head, shoulders hunched.  

“Nothing.”

James fought the urge to sigh or maybe bash his head against a wall. Getting Remus to talk really was like trying to cast with a broken wand. 

Remus stayed quiet, face downturned. 

James shifted his weight a little from left to right, ignoring the sudden pain that flared up in his left leg, muscles screaming in protest. Maybe the last lap around the Quidditch field yesterday really wasn't such a good idea. 

“You’ve stained your favourite tablecloth by the way.”

“Wasn’t really, my, eh ” — Remus grimaced as another wave of pain ran through him, and James’ eyebrows furrowed closer together, the grip around Remus’ shoulder tightening — “my primary concern.” 

“Maybe not now , but I guarantee you, tomorrow’s Remus is gonna be pissed .” 

Remus gave a quiet scoff, but James noticed the way his lips pulled into a weak smile.

He stayed with him until the potion fully kicked in, then moved to clean up the vial as Remus slid into bed, already half-way asleep. 

Their bedside tables served as a little cabinet, mostly intended for books or little trinkets. The bottom of it was crammed with bottles of ink, though they were much more organised than James’ own haphazard piles of ink and quills over by his own bed, neatly lined into two rows. Above them, on the shelf sat four vials, identical to the one already in James’ hand, all of them similarly empty. 

“That was your last one?” James asked with a frown, then looked up when he received no answer and had to fight a smile. 

Remus was already burrowed under the covers, eyes closed and breaths steady.

The room was quiet again, save for the occasional rustling as Sirius turned in his bed. Peter was blissfully silent, because of course he wasn’t snoring when James was not trying to fall asleep. He glanced towards his bed with an accusing look, but the drapes were drawn and the room was too dark to see inside. James hoped Peter still felt it, because this was just unfair. 

He turned towards his own bed, then hesitated for a moment, tugging at his hair. 

The potion lasts for an hour at most and if it’ll wear off while Remus’ still in pain he’ll need to take another. As far as he’s aware, that happens only rarely, but if it does and there'll be no potion to take the edge off…

James bit his lip, then shook his head. Who is he kidding? Night adventure it was. 

“Who in Merlin’s name is—” Madam Pomfrey’s bewildered expression dissolved as she fully opened the door. “Ah, Mr. Potter.” 

She sent him a long look. “Aren’t you supposed to be in bed already?”

“Yes, Madam Pomfrey.”

Madam Pomfrey gave a sigh when he didn't budge, her face turning resigned.

“I assume Mr. Lupin’s…migraines are acting up again, and you’re here for his potions?” 

“That’s right,” James said, fighting to keep his face as unassuming as possible. Migraines , that was putting it lightly. But of course, no one else was supposed to know about Remus’ secret. 

“I keep telling that boy to restock them properly,” she chided under her breath, then added louder. “Wait here.”

With that she disappeared back into the infirmary, emerging a few moments later. 

“I’ll only give you these two,” she said as she handed James the vials. “I have two more ready, but this is to force Mr. Lupin to actually come here and talk to me. Merlin knows I’d almost never see him otherwise.”

“I’ll tell him, thank you.” 

“And,” she added, frowning a little, “tell him that he should take care of his potions on his own, not ask his friends to do it for him.”

James had to fight a wry smile. “Remus would never ask for that, he’s too stubborn.” 

“Either way, hurry back to your dorm now. Unless you want me to take off your House points?”

“No!” James beamed, already turning to run down the hallway. “Good night Madam!”  

It was a little too loud, but totally worth it for the surprised but reluctantly amused expression on her face.

With two new potions safely tucked in the pockets of the robe he had the mind to haphazardly throw over his pyjamas, James made his way back from the Hospital wing to the Common Room. He had slowed down from his run a few corridors away from the infirmary, carefully sneaking down the halls. The last thing he wanted with the First Task coming up was a detention. 

It was strange to be sneaking around alone,  if he was being completely honest. And something about it did make him the slightest bit uneasy.

If it was anything bigger than only going down to Pomfrey’s, he’d have woken Sirius up and ask him if he wanted to come, but this had been only a quick errand, hardly anything interesting. Besides, Sirius had been dead on his feet ever since Quidditch practice, not to mention they’ve had to spend hours in the Library afterwards on the riddle. He’d feel terrible for waking him up.

He  was passing through the second-floor corridor, just about to round a corner, when he jerked to a sudden stop. 

Someone was standing there.  

James bit back a curse, heart beating wildly in his chest.

He’d been listening, carefully making his way to make sure no one caught him. Yet, the person who was standing there was absolutely silent, unmoving.

They were facing away from him, looking at the other end of the hall. Something about the figure though, seemed strikingly familiar. 

James squinted his eyes in the dark, pushing at the rim of his glasses. 

“Pete?” he called out, forgoing his previous sneaking.

It had to be him, James was sure of it, but Peter didn’t turn and instead continued to stand, eerily still. 

His brows furrowed as he took a step closer. 

“Peter?” James tried again. His voice carried loudly around the corridor, and few of the pictures on the wall mumbled about disturbing them from sleep. 

Yet, Peter didn’t move. It almost looked like he didn’t hear him at all, but the hallway was empty and the castle quiet. 

James felt a shiver run up his spine.

He took a step, then another until he was just behind him. He reached out to tap him on the shoulder, fingers barely grazing the messily thrown robes on his shoulder –

Peter gave a sudden jerk and twisted around.

“What?!” he called out, mouth falling open. He was blinking fast, his eyes still a bit unfocused, as if he had been staring at one spot for far too long. “I  - what are you doing here?”

“ Me? ” James startled, reeling from the sudden change. “ You were the one standing all weird in the hallway!” 

“I…was?” 

He looked around, almost as if seeing where he was for the first time.

“Yeah, it was really creepy, mate. Why were you even standing here? There’s nothing down that hall anyway, just Moaning Myrtles’ bathroom.” 

“I’m not sure -” 

“Mr. Potter? Mr. Pettigrew?” A sharp voice sounded from behind him and almost made James jump up for the second time that night. 

“Pro-Professor McGonagall?” Peter squeaked in surprise and James turned, meeting her unimpressed face with a suppressed sigh. There was no way they were getting out of the detention now. 

Professor McGonagall was holding her wand out, the tip lighted with a Lumos charm, bathing them all in pale white light. 

Her strict eyes pinned into them. “What are you two doing out of bed?” 

Peter hesitated. “...I was sleepwalking.”

“I’m sure,” Professor McGongall said drily. “And Mr. Potter as well, I assume.”

James thought about telling her the real reason he had been out of bed, but he was sure it would get him detention either way, and he didn’t feel like detailing what was going on to her. Not when he could still vividly remember the hurt and shame swirling in Remus’ eyes.    

“No, professor,” Peter blanched, bringing James out of his thoughts. “I really have no idea how -”  

She sighed. “Should I expect Mr. Black is also hiding around here somewhere?”

“Sirius?” James asked, startled at the sudden change in subject. “No, Professor.”

“I hardly see one of you without the other, Potter.”

“Yes, Professor.”

McGongall looked at him for a long moment, then nodded. 

“Alright. Follow me, I’ll walk you back to the Gryffindor tower.” 

She turned on her heel and began to march away with long, but quick steps. Peter moved to follow her but James held out his hand and stopped him in his tracks. 

“Did you really sleepwalk?” he asked in a hushed voice. Peter’s bewildered expression turned into a sheepish smile as he ducked his head, scratching at the back of his neck. 

“Yeah,” he admitted quietly. “I really don’t know how I got here.” 

James frowned. They were on the second floor now, that was almost as far from their common room as it could be. It was a miracle that Peter hadn't run into someone else earlier, or that he had managed to get so far without walking into a wall. Or falling down the stairs. But then again, James wasn't sure how that whole sleep-walking thing worked.  

“Mr. Potter, Mr. Pettigrew,” came McGonagall's firm voice from further down the hall and James glanced her way, finding the light of her wand had stopped moving. 

“If you don’t want another detention on top of the one you’re going to get, I suggest you follow me, and quickly.”

“Yes, Professor,” they said in unison, exchanging a glance before they moved to catch up  to her. 

“If it’s between helping out in the Forest or polishing the Trophy room, I’m taking the trophies,” James leaned over to whisper to Peter as they were making their way to the fifth floor. 

“Not fair,” Peter whined. “You know I get scared in the Forest.” 

“You’re literally running through it every month.”

“It’s still scary to be there alone!”

Professor McGonagall turned her head at the raised voice, giving them a highly unimpressed look which made Peter shrink into himself and James grin. 

That about fills the ‘disappointed looks’ quota for today, James thought with an inward chuckle as she turned back. 

“Oh and Mr. Potter,” she said as they made it to the picture of Fat Lady and James stopped with one leg over the edge of the entrance, turning his head back.

“Yes Professor?”

“Do stay behind after tomorrow's class, Mr. Black too. I have something important to discuss with you.” 

James nodded, and they bid her goodnight before climbing through the portrait, ignoring Fat Lady’s complaints about waking her up again. 

“You missed breakfast,” Remus told them with a slight frown when they finally made it to the Transfiguration classroom.

As the day of the first task kept coming closer, James and Sirius had taken to spending most of their time before the first class in the library, surrounded by the ever-growing piles of books. James had even tried his best at translating text entirely in Latin, though the handwriting of the record turned out to be so illegible that trying to guess the right letters started to give him a headache. 

With the Task only three days away, they were both acutely aware of the growing pressure, especially since they knew they’d have one night less to prepare because of the Full Moon. 

“We have Quidditch right after Potions again, and then I have detention. Had to start early,” James explained sourly as they slid into their usual seat behind Remus and Peter, still inwardly mad at himself that he had gotten caught. 

“Pomfrey says you should come and see her today by the way,” he added and Remus straightened in his seat.  

“Oh, alright. I was meaning to do that.” 

The door opened with a loud thud and Professor McGonagalls’ pointy hat appeared in the doorway. 

“Everyone to your seats,” she ordered as she moved forward, her heels clicking against the stone floor. “We don’t have much time today so clean up your ears and listen carefully.” 

With that Professor McGonagall started the lesson, revising the basics of non-verbal spells again before she asked them to soundlessly conjure bird feathers from their wands. A few stray bird feathers eventually appeared across some of the tables, though many were far cry from the pristine, golden feather McGonagall had conjured to show them as the example.

As per her yesterday’s request, James and Sirius walked to her table after the lesson had ended, the classroom slowly emptying out. 

“Mr. Black, Mr. Potter,” she said as she stood up and walked around the table to face them properly, her left hand going up to right the silver mantle of her cloak. “The reason I asked you to come see me is quite delicate. The workload for sixth year students is admittedly large and with the Tournament beginning it will only get harder.”

“Headmaster Dumbledore came to see me on the matter of your involvement in Quidditch as champions. While the other pairs are able to channel all their focus towards their education and the Tournament, yours is divided three ways - “

“You can’t be serious, Professor,” James interrupted incredulously. “He wants to cancel Quidditch? Now? ” 

“Not to cancel it,” she responded calmly, interlocking her fingers. “But he’d expressed the possibility of you two to step away from the team for the rest of the school year, so that you’d be able to focus on other things more properly.” 

“What?” James breathed out, stunned. She wanted them to…to leave the team? 

“He can’t do that,” Sirius protested, eyes narrowed. “The next match is only a month away!” 

“He’d had that idea from the start,” Professor McGonagall interrupted camly. “To be fair, I should have reached out to you sooner, but I must admit I was also quite looking forward to our team gaining the Quidditch Cup this year as well.”

James swallowed down the previous argument already forming in his lips, mouth falling shut. 

Professor McGonagall looked James in the eyes, her lips slightly curling up. “Not to mention it would be both cruel and incredibly unwise to strip the team of its captain. I have no doubt that more than half the team would simply decline to compete if that was the case.”

James averted his eyes at the sudden praise, taken completely off guard, while McGongall turned to Sirius.

“And of course, Mr. Black’s absence would be strongly felt as well, especially since I hear you’ve been playing better than ever at your new position.” 

“Then what is the problem?” Sirius asked, the surprised look previously on his face fading back behind his collected expression. 

“I stand by that,” she continued. “And seeing your vehement refusal to temporarily step down from your positions in the team it’s clear you agree with me. So I will simply tell the Headmaster I offered you to step down and you refused.” 

She glanced at them from under the brim of her hat. “That should be satisfactory enough.”

“Thank you, Professor,” 

“Yes,” James joined, feeling a large weight finally fall off his shoulders. “Thank you.” 

“However, if you find out it’s really too much, tell me. I’m here, should you need anything,” 

“Anything that doesn’t break the rules of our school, of course,” she amended and James and Sirius exchanged grins.

“Too late, Professor.” Sirius informed her, and she shook her head and dismissed them, though James could have sworn he saw a glint of amusement in her eyes. 

James had been about half-way between falling asleep and finishing his History essay about the first goblin uprising, when Sirius startled him so bad he almost knocked over his bottle of ink.

“James!” Sirius exclaimed loudly, something almost manic in his eyes. “I found it!” 

Instantly, James felt wide awake.
“You did?!”

Sirius grinned, and turned slightly to hand him a large book bound in dark purple leather over his shoulder. He was sitting on the ground of the Common room, his back leaning against the couch James had been lounging on for the last two hours.

James had long given up trying to persuade Sirius to sit up on the couches properly and instead employed other measures, like making sure to always leave some part of his body in Sirius’ reach.

It had become a habit now, to leave his leg outstretched by the side of the couch just so that Sirius could lean against the length of it with his back. Sometimes Sirius would casually prop his arm over James’ shin as he angled a book in his hands to read it more comfortably, letting his neck rest from always having to look down. James reveled in it. 

James’ eyes widened as they fell on the large drawing on the left side of the tome.

“ Giants? ” he asked with disbelief, lifting his eyes up from the illustration. “We’re going to be facing off against giants?” 

Sirius nodded and turned completely, his knees digging into the pillow under him as he leaned over the upper edge of the book, pointing towards the wall of text on the right.

“See here? It mentions a certain tribe of Giants that lives near oaks…”

“That’s insane. You really found it!”

Sirius beamed at the words while James read the passage as quickly as he was able, eyes jumping between the words with lightning fast speed. 

'….are known for living by the abnormally large oaks in the northern part of the Forbidden Forest. They live in sizable groups, so called ‘kets’, each containing multiple families and their relatives. My studies on them had to be cut short, as they are extremely distrusting of strangers and prefer to keep to their own doings. 

From what I gathered by observing them, the Giants are as bad at speech as their other exemplars from different parts of the world and mostly communicate in grunts, lone words and gestures. 

Their fascination with the oaks seems to be the only reason they’re not travelling like their western brothers, as they put oaks onto the graves of their dead and crush oaks into dust when a new giant is born. They also rarely venture too far from their home camps.

They are known gatherers and have a penchant  for collecting valuable things, having a special liking to shiny rocks. Sapphires in particular seem to be considered extremely valuable…'

The section about them ended there, and the book instead dissolved into dealing with other types of Giants. James quickly scanned it, then lifted his eyes up from the book.

“I really thought the part about ‘crushing oaks to dust’ in the riddle was a metaphor,” he said, grimacing a little, “but looks like it’s not? How do they even do that?”

“I’m not sure we want to know.” 

“Fair,” he nodded. “This last part here, ‘have a penchant  for collecting valuable things, having a special liking to shiny rocks. Sapphires in particular...' Do you think that could relate to what we need to take to pass the Trial?”

“Could be,” Sirius said, biting into his lip in thought. “The passage is too short to be sure, but it’s the only lead we have. Though I doubt getting it will be easy, whatever it is.” 

“Yeah. Still it’s good to know what we’ll be up against.” James nodded, sending Sirius another smile. “We could go through some useful spells tomorrow, make sure we’re prepared.” 

“Sure, can’t hurt,” Sirius agreed, then yawned as he moved up to his feet, gathering the books lying all around him. “Now let’s go to sleep already, it’s past midnight and we have a werewolf to babysit tomorrow.”