Sanctuary

Chapter 75

'Will you carry him?' James asked, looking at Feodair. 'Please?'

'Firenze will take him. I'll take you and Peter Pettigrew. Quickly now. There's no time to waste.'

'Pete, help me get him up.'

Between them, James and Peter managed to haul Sirius onto Firenze's back, laying him on his stomach with his arms and legs dangling down either side. Firenze started off immediately, at a much slower speed than James knew he was capable of to avoid jolting Sirius off, and James climbed onto Feodair behind Peter.

They caught up with Firenze and followed behind him, and James kept his eyes on Sirius. Every few seconds, a small plume of white rose from the general area of his face, reassuring him that he was still breathing. If he was going to die from the core drainage, then he'd already be dead, wouldn't he? That first Transfiguration lesson seemed so long ago, and the memory was foggy. What had Professor McGonagall said? If you're lucky, you'll be in a coma until the next full moon? There must be more to it than luck, though. She'd been trying to scare them, so maybe it wasn't as serious as she'd made out? She'd never mentioned a potion that could save you, and James knew from experience that there was one.

'I'm afraid we can't enter the school grounds,' Feodair said, as Firenze came to stop at the edge of the tree line. 'You'll have to take him from here.'

James slid off to the ground and moved to Firenze's side. 'Thanks. You've been a great help.' Peter joined him and together they lifted Sirius back down. 'Gods, he's heavy.'

'What's happened?' Professor McGonagall demanded, appearing out of nowhere right in front of them.

'Shit,' James squeaked, dropping Sirius' arm in fright, but he recovered from the shock quickly. 'We think his core was drained, Professor.'

'Purly!' Professor McGonagall called, and a moment later a house-elf appeared next to her with a pop. 'Take Mister Black to the Hospital Wing and tell Poppy his core's been drained,' she barked without waiting for the elf to ask. Purly nodded, grabbing Sirius' arm and disapparated away again.

'Is he going to be okay?' James asked.

Professor McGonagall's face was grim when she answered. 'I don't know, Mister Potter. How long has he been in this state?'

James looked at Peter. He was better at keeping track of time than James was.

'We found him about five minutes ago,' Peter said. 'But it was maybe another three minutes before that, when we—'

'When you what?'

Peter struggled, opening and closing his mouth, but he said nothing.

'Are you kidding me?' James said. 'We still can't tell anyone about—' His tongue glued itself to the roof of his mouth before he could finish. 'Fuck!'

'Mister Potter! I understand you're upset, but please try to control yourself.'

'Sorry, Professor.'

She nodded at him. 'Now, let's walk to the castle while we talk. This is to do with the Creature Hunt, yes?'

James nodded, falling into step beside her with Peter on her other side.

'I don't know what's involved,' she said as they walked at a brisk pace towards the castle, 'but I know it creates a protected area in the Forest. And I know the Chiefs of Entertainment are unable to use magic during that month. Does it take your magic in some way?'

James put his hand out, palm down, and wiggled it.

'Sort of? Okay.' She was silent for a minute as she thought about it. 'So Mister Black was in the area as it happened, and he wasn't involved in the first part last month?'