The Marauders Year Five Part 2 #Wattys2017

The Rescue

The Rescue

It would be a lie to say that James Potter did not fantasize about just letting Severus Snape be killed by the werewolf, even as he ran down the moving staircase at full tilt, his breath coming out in great gasps of panic. How much simpler it would be to just turn his face and ignore what was to come! The horrible person that Snape was, spreading rumors and telling secrets and lies and breaking apart James's every dream of being with Lily Evans... always getting in the way... Oh it would be so easy to just let him have it, let nature take it's course...

But it wasn't right.

Nobody deserved to die.

Not even his nemesis.

And so it was up to him - James Potter - to stop this idiotic plan before it got out of hand, before someone got hurt.

Damn it Sirius, he thought as he raced down the last of the moving staircases, headed for the stone stairs that led down to the entrance hall, What do you have to be such an idiot for? This is the stupidest idea you've ever had! Even stupider than the motorbikes, stupider than going after Voldemort in first year, stupider than all of it combined!

Clearly, Sirius hadn't been thinking straight.

Blinded by anger, blinded by passion to protect his Moony...

Isn't it ironic, Sirius, James thought as he raced down the stairs toward the front doors, That the very thing you're doing to try to stop Snape from taking him away from you may be exactly the thing that makes you lose him?

Suddenly there was a croaky voice behind him, "And where do you think yer going at this hour of the bleedin' night?!"

James turned to see Argus Filch, holding a mop and dragging a bucket on wheels along behind him, staring across the entrance hall at him.

"Sorry Filch, but --" James aimed his wand, "Stupefy!" The caretaker had started to run forward and when James's spell struck him he fell to the stones, his mop and bucket tipping over, a wave of dirty soap water splashing over the freshly mopped entrance hall floor. "Bloody hell," James gasped at himself, "We might as well just move our dormitories into McGonagall's office at this rate, we're never getting out of detention again." And he ducked hurriedly out the door onto the moonlit grounds.

The Whomping Willow was still, and he ran as fast as he could, his legs burning with the strain of it as he bulleted down the path toward the great tree, his breath searing his lungs. He could see the tunnel door open, and he ran for it. The tree suddenly reanimated, only seconds after James had passed beneath it's branches and with a great swooping, it grabbed hold of him, one of the branches sweeping about his waist and swinging him off the ground. "WHOAAAAAAAAAAA!" James cried out as it lifted him up off the ground and he clawed at the bark of the branch, trying to unlatch it from him, but the grip was strong and he felt his glasses slide off his face and they disappeared in the darkness. He drew his wand, desperately. "PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" he bellowed, aiming the wand at the tree's trunk as it swept it's him low and the tree froze, the velocity it had been moving at sending James sprawling onto the grass at the base of it's trunk, smashing across the ground, leaving great stains across his chest as he rolled to a sitting position.

"Accio glasses!" he called, and they came. He unfolded the frames and squinted through the dark, trying to see. "Reparo," he said, tapping them and he heard a crack as the lenses fixed themselves and shoved them back onto his face. His ribs hurt - they were bruised - and breathing was a bit more painful than it usually was, but he hadn't the time to worry about that rubbish. He had to stop Snape before he got to that trap door and James was already fallen behind.