The Prank
Part II
Title: Some Act of Glorious Heroism
Word Count: 2,020
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama
Summary: (Missing Moment as outlined in Prisoner of Azkaban) But your father, who’d heard what Sirius had done…
Written for the Beware the Ides of March challenge at fandomfusion
"I told you to shut up about my dad!” Harry yelled. “I know the truth, all right? You wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for my dad!”
“I would hate for you to run away with a false idea of your father, Potter,” Snape said, a terrible grin twisting his face. “Have you been imagining some act of glorious heroism? Then let me correct you-”
-Order of the Phoenix
***
It wasn’t as though James wasn’t used to serving detention by now, but to be cooped up in the Potion’s dungeon on full moon night was unbearable. They were supposed to be accompanying Remus.
What kind of friends were they if they couldn’t help lessen the misery of full moon? It was never a good idea to leave Moony alone for very long; even Madam Pomfrey was no match for healing the cursed wounds of a werewolf.
‘Clink!’- Slughorn’s quill dipped into the glass inkpot on his desk again. He scratched a mark across the student parchment in his hands, let the scroll snap back into a roll, and then placed it on the left corner of his desk with the completed others. He paused before pulling a fresh assignment and peered up at James with pale eyes. His bushy mustache twitched-left, right-in indecision. James knew Sluggy didn’t trust him, which seemed ironic since it was Sluggy’s own house which had a reputation for harboring the untrustworthy.
Slughorn scraped his winged armchair back from his desk, ambled toward the door, and after aiming a browbeating glance back at James, slipped out of the Potions classroom. James listened closely to the sound of the old walrus’s footsteps fading away down the hall…
His stomach did a barrel roll over the sudden liberty. It was time to get a handle on the situation: He pulled out his two-way mirror for a conference with Sirius.
“Padfoot.”
No answer.
“Padfoot, you hairy dog, pick up your mirror.”
Black fabric swirled on glass, the creases of someone’s fingers appeared, and-
A pair of grey eyes and a waggish grin entered the frame. “A little more respect, please,” said Sirius.
James grinned back before slipping into a frown. “This rots. Double detention on full moon night thanks to Snivelly.”
“Couldn’t agree with you more.”
“M’a bit worried about Moony, are you?” asked James and the warm gold of his hazel eyes expanded around the inclusions of green.
Sirius nodded agreement. “Hope he doesn’t go too rough on himself before we arrive.”
James caught sight of a high ceiling over Sirius’s head. “Where are you? You in detention yet?” he asked.
“Nope, I’m in the Entrance Hall,” said Sirius. “Just about to head up to the Hospital Wing. Pomfers had to escort Moony to the Willow first. You?”
Flashing a grimace, James held up a hand stained yellow from shelling snails. “Sluggy put me straight to work, podgy git.”
A grin flitted across Sirius’s face, prodding the lines of his cheeks upwards. “That color looks good on you, Prongs.” James permitted the ribbing. “But if you’re calling me,” continued Sirius, “why aren’t you using magic?” His brows plunged quizzically.
Well spotted, Padfoot. The boys had learned long ago that it paid to have one of your mates' wands stashed in your sock for detentions. The wand, of course, could only be used if left unsupervised-and Slughorn rarely trusted him enough for that.
“Moony said he’d already loaned his to you.”
“Mm, he did.” Sirius’s head bobbed in affirmation.
“Tosser,” James muttered perfunctorily before rambling on, “And I didn’t see Peter at dinner. Bad luck there, cuz Sluggy hauled me off right after that. Barely had time to finish eating.”
“Five galleons says he’s-“
But whatever Sirius had been about to wager, James didn’t find out. Instead, Sirius’s shaggy head whipped around as if he’d been discovered using the mirror. James’s view flashed back to the dark interior of Sirius’s robe pocket. Peeling his ears, James heard Sirius using polite tones... A teacher, perhaps?
Moments and another kaleidoscopic swirl of fabric later, Sirius’s pale skin and shaggy fringe reappeared. He lowered his voice to a murmur: “Pomfrey. Heading back upstairs. She must’ve just escorted Moony to the Willow. I told her I’d be right up.”
James nodded resignedly. If they hurried and finished their detentions, with any luck they might be able to join Remus before he’d excessively bitten and scratched himself. That was the real reason they’d become Animagi after all.
“I’d better go,” sighed Sirius.
James was about to return the farewell and stow his mirror when Padfoot’s head whipped around once again; a torch in the background flickered as though caught in a sudden breeze.
“What the Snidget?” Sirius hissed. The corner of his eye narrowed in a crease.
“Huh?” questioned James. Was Pomfrey back?
Before James had received an answer, his view obscured. Bugger! The mirrors were utterly faint when not being spoken into directly and James hated trying to listen from the muffled station of a pocket. Yet he felt compelled to hear what had prompted such a tone from Sirius. He held his mirror to his ear hoping to catch snatches of whatever was going on.
“-doing outside, Snivellus?”
Snivellus? James’s face wrinkled in loathing. Outside? But hadn’t Pomfrey and Moony just…
“I warned you-greasy little Pogrebin!”
A wedge of light hit the mirror as Sirius’s hand dove into his pocket. Skin whisked past glass and a wooden rod flashed by in a jumble… Whatever hex Sirius was about to cast on the lurking menace, James hoped he’d make it a good one.
But the wand plunged back in, and before the pocket went dim again, James caught sight of a taut white knuckle at the edge of the frame.
Pomfrey’s voice pealed… “detention”… “dueling!”
The clap of footsteps in the near corridor suddenly competed in James’s ear with the din of the eavesdropping.
"HmmHmmHmmm…" Jovial humming joined the sound of feet… Slughorn!
James lurched, nearly dropping the mirror just as Slughorn rounded the doorframe, clad in a purple dressing gown and gold-tasseled cap, a goblet of wine in one hand, a book and a box of chocolates in the other. Fortunately, Sluggy’s eye had been trained on the precious meniscus of the nearly-full goblet, giving James enough time to slide the illicit mirror behind the pile of snails where its wooden frame blended in; he flopped a few on top for good measure.
The sudden motion caught Slughorn’s eye, however, and the old professor cast him a suspicious glare. James willed a look of innocence onto his face, nonchalantly plucked up a fresh snail, and crushed it under his palm. Bile-colored juices squished out. He began peeling away the mosaic bits of shell.
Slughorn settled himself back into his armchair, sprung open the box of confections, and resumed his marking.
This was worse than Azkaban, James decided.
What had transpired up in the Entrance Hall? There had almost been a duel, it seemed. So what about Snape? Was he in detention now too? James hoped Pomfrey had doled it out, though he certainly didn’t wish it upon Sirius to have to spend the night with that slimy duck.
And more importantly, what had Snape been doing outside? Could he have seen Moony with the nurse? This incessant lurking was getting too close for comfort…
James glanced at his grandfather’s old planispheric watch: His eyelids slid closed and he metered out a sigh-a whole nother hour to go. He needed an excuse to get away from the Slug so he could talk to Sirius again-a trip to the bathroom, perhaps? But he’d already gone earlier… Did he dare claim he was sick and needed to see the nurse?
Slughorn’s podgy hand rummaged among the fluted paper wrappers of the confection box. James chanced a glance at the front desk: Slughorn was prodding chocolates around to access the bottom layer, where he picked out a fresh one, took a bite, and frowned. James faced forward again before Slughorn caught him spying.
A moment later, Slughorn cleared his throat and fixed James with a protuberant gooseberry stare. “I shall be right back. Please do not test my patience with any funny business while I’m away, Mr. Potter.” He blinked his watery eyes.
James gave a solemn nod.
Thank goodness Sluggy had exacting standards in confections. James didn’t even wait for the fading of footsteps this time to snatch up the mirror.
“Sirius!”
James’s own hazel-eyed reflection stared back. A sense of urgency welled in his chest.
“Sirius!” he called again.
Moving lips appeared. Sirius’s lips. “Shhhh… Pomfrey will have my head!”
The familiar sight of Sirius assuaged James. Finally, he’d get some answers! Padfoot would have things under control. Padfoot always had things under control.
“What just happened with Snivellus?” James frowned.
Sirius heaved a bitter sigh. White skin stretched across the straight line of his jawbone as he spoke. “The little scab came in from outside right after Pomfrey took Moony to the Willow.”
“Blimey, that’s what I thought. So he saw?” Resentment welled up inside James. He had, indeed, heard correctly then.
Sirius nodded in the affirmative.
“So what happened then? He get detention?”
Sirius answered the second question first, a deep smolder in his eye as he shook his head ‘no’.
James swore. “That git got off? We’re in here and he’s-?” But his sense of outrage was cut short by more pressing questions, namely those which Sirius hadn’t answered. “Think he’s figured it out?”
Sirius nodded again. “I think he did, James,” he replied heavily. "He said something about the full moon." James’s chest wrung like a dishtowel.
“Where is he now then? Hopefully not back in Slytherin?”
Snape simply loved the Dark Arts. And he hated the four of them. Nothing would give him more pleasure than to divulge a secret like this…
To the whole school.
“Wish I could get in there,” railed James. “S’just down the hall. I’d go wallop him myself.” They had to protect Moony’s secret… but how? Or was it too late aready?
Sirius offered up a wry smirk of encouragement. “I don’t think he’s back in Slytherin just yet. And there’s hope on the walloping…”
“What do you mean?” asked James, puzzled but uplifted. See, Sirius has it under control.
“Well, he asked me, ‘Where does the hole under the Willow go?’”
This didn’t sound good at all…
James’s brows twisted and his pulse quickened. “What did you tell him?”
Sirius’s face flickered into a smirk. “I told him to go find a long stick, prod the knot on the trunk ‘n’ see for himself.”
How could that…? James’s eyes strobed open.
“You did-what?” he asked, very slowly, his mouth suddenly going dry.
“I told him to prod the knot,” Sirius reiterated coolly, but there was fire at the back of his eyes.
On any given day, James could interpret the subtlest wave of Sirius’s hand, the slightest arch of a brow, a fraction of a gesture; they were in synch on every decision. Yet for once, he felt like he was spectacularly missing the point: Why on earth would Sirius send Snape down the tunnel?
“Why-would you-?” James began.
“Oh come on, James, don’t get all sanctimonious on me now. It’s bloody Snivellus we’re talking about. Serves him right for-”
James's face was pale and drawn, he could feel it. And he could muster no other expression.
Sirius changed tack. “Besides, as soon as he hears one howl out of Moony, he’ll drop a load in his pants and start racing back to the Willow. Now that I think about it-” Sirius tilted his chin upward musingly and cracked a smirk, “-I’m a little sad I won’t be there to see that.”
James swallowed the lump in his throat and looked away.
Sirius chuckled nervously as he glanced back into the glass and caught James’s unyielding expression. “C’mon, if he’s really so bloody clever as to have figured it out, why would he go looking for a werewolf?”
“Because he’s obsessed with the bloody Dark Arts?!” James’s voice began to rise.
James saw a wisp of doubt flash through Sirius’s laboradorite grey eyes just before Sirius threw a glance over his shoulder. “Fuck! Pomfrey…”
‘I’ve set out a hundred more sterile vials for you to fill,’ James heard Pomfrey intone in a fuzz of words that floated into his brain. ‘Please do not spill a drop.’
Then the sights and sounds of the mirror snuffed out.
-*-*-*-
Return to Part I / Go to Part III