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 83: You Can't Be Here
Friday Night. Gryffindor Dorms.
"They really get excited over nothing," James commented while watching his housemates going crazy in their celebration.
"Of course they are. Gryffindor finally has a chance to win the House Cup," Peter said with excitement.
Remus sat down beside him. "You almost broke a record this afternoon. You know... for the fastest Seeker to catch the Snitch. You were only thirty seconds too slow."
"I don't want to sound ungrateful, but..." Sirius started. "I kinda wish you had let the game run a bit longer. I barely had any chances to show off."
A young girl appeared behind him. "Is that all you care about, Sirius? To show off?"
"Marleen, where did you—I mean, no! I also want the team to win the House Cup. I just wish I could have played for a bit longer," Sirius said.
"James did his job properly. If, as you say, he avoids catching the Snitch to make the game last longer, that would give the opponents a chance to beat us," Marlene McKinnon responded.
"She's right, you know?" Frank Longbottom finished drinking his drink. "Man! This is good. Where did they get this?"
"I thought it was a great game," Lily said as she and Alice approached.
Lily sat down on the other side of James and handed him a glass of Butterbeer. "Here, the hero of the day should have some."
James took it. "Thanks, and it's just a game."
"Well, even leaving Quidditch aside, James has become quite famous this year. People are talking about you a lot," Alice commented.
"How so?" James asked with disinterest before taking a sip. "I don't recall doing some—"
"You mean other than almost blowing up the school?" Frank asked.
"That seems like an exaggeration... it was only a small part of the castle," James corrected.
"The students were just happy to skip classes thanks to the explosion," Alice said.
Lily leaned closer. "Did Severus really cause that? What kind of potion were you brewing in there?"
"Yeah, that bastard almost got us all killed. I can't believe that he and his two buddies didn't get expelled," Sirius huffed.
"If they expelled Snape, they would have had no choice but to also expel James, since it was his secret illegal lab that they destroyed," Remus added.
"To answer your question, yes," James glanced at Lily. "Snape and the other two used some type of fire charm while inside the lab. This caused a violent reaction with some components that were being brewed. As for the potion I was working on... it was a complex one."
"Oh..." Lily looked a bit sad to hear it from him, even though she already knew the whole story from others. "I'm sorry he did that..."
"You're not responsible for his actions. Snape is old enough to make his decisions and understand the consequences," James told her.
"He's old enough to decide to be a jerk, that's for sure," Sirius scoffed.
"Come on," Marlene held Sirius's arm and gave him a harsh look.
"What?... Fine, I won't say anything." Sirius couldn't understand how Lily could still care for that boy.
"Anyway, we should celebrate while we can," Remus suggested. "Who knows what will happen in the future?"
James flinched at the comment. His friend Remus had no idea how true his words were at that moment.
<><><><><><><><><>
Saturday morning, no classes and no commitments for the time being.
It was the perfect opportunity for him to secure another lab.
Although perhaps 'looking' wasn't the correct word, since James had already decided on its location.
Other than the Headmaster, there was probably no one who knew this place as well as he did.
There were few rooms that could accommodate his needs, and right now, he couldn't take any more risks. So in the end, there was only one place he could use.
He made his way to the girls' bathroom on the second floor, and after making sure that no students were around and no living portraits were nearby, he walked inside.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!"
It only took a couple of seconds before he was found out by the only inhabitant of this room.
The ghost of Moaning Myrtle flew out of one of the stalls and hovered over him with an accusatory glare.
"This is a bathroom, isn't it? What do you think I'm doing?" James asked the translucent girl.
"This is a girls' bathroom! No boys are allowed!" she shouted while pointing at him.
"That seems very judgmental," James ignored the ghost and walked past her toward the end of the stalls. "But then again...this is the seventies."
"Hey! I'm serious. You need to get out of here," the ghost insisted.
"No girls use this bathroom. No one would care if I came here for a bit," James responded.
"I care!" Myrtle told him.
"I meant no one alive...and I don't have time for this nonsense," James turned around with his wand in hand.
"What are y—"
"Petrificus Totalus!" The Full Body-Bind Curse hit the ghost directly on her chest. The moment it did, she became quiet all of a sudden and stopped moving.
Her ghostly form hovered in place, frozen.
There are only a handful of spells capable of affecting ghostly forms. Luckily for James, this was one of them, and it was a very simple one.
'That won't hold her for long. But that's fine... if this works, I'll create a different entrance for later so I don't have to deal with her again.' James thought as he approached the group of sinks at the end of the bathroom.
In front of him was a faucet with a snake symbol engraved on its side.
"Let's hope I can do this... the alternative would be a bit messy."
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