James and Lily: It Took A While

2+5=Chapter Number

Chapter Seven
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"Duck!" Potter yanked me to the ground. I landed on my knees, hard. We crawled around the edge of the Shrieking Shack, doing our best to stay quiet. Finally we looped around the house to the boarded up front door, where the threesome were trying to break through the boards.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY YOU IDIOTS!" Snape shrieked. "DIFFINDO!" The wood flew everywhere. Potter dragged me back around the side of the house.

"What do we do?" He whispered.

I thought. It was two-on-two, if you counted Avery and Mulciber as one person combined. Maybe 1.25 of a person. But Snape could read our minds.

"I'll take Snape. You get Avery and Mulciber. Just try to stun them so we can run away." I stood up and was about to put myself into view when he dragged me back a second time.

"I have a better idea."

⍟

When Snape, Avery, and Mulciber rounded the side of the Shack, they found nothing but some disrupted dead grass. I tried not to laugh. They would be SO confused. I stifled another giggle. I had also discovered James's secret.

He had an Invisibility Cloak.

"Come on," he whispered. "Let's try and get back to the path without them hearing us."

Together, we walked across the yard. We were about ten feet from the path when Snape finished rounding the house.

"POTTER! I know you have an Invisibility Cloak! Show yourself!" Snape yelled, as if that was going to work. And it kind of did.

Avery and Mulciber had managed to get in front of us. They were blocking the path. Involuntarily, I gasped.

"They're somewhere over here!" Avery yelled to Snape. He began to walk around, his arms flailing about. Mulciber remained in front of the path. I looked at Potter. "Come on, if we go around we can climb over the stone rail and get onto the path. I could cast a Disillusionment Charm. That should work."

Potter grimaced. He looked as if he was resolving to do something. He jerked his head towards the Shrieking Shack. Confused, I followed him. Just as we were crossing the threshold, (I was very much freaking out by then. Wasn't this place supposed to be haunted?!) Snape seemed to come to his senses. "Accio cloak!"

I seized the cloak, as did Potter, but it didn't move. Thank goodness. Holding in my sigh of relief, I followed Potter into the house. He led me through a dark hallway and into an even darker sitting room. Then he shut the door and locked it before taking the cloak off both of us and lighting his wand. I lit mine too.

"Let's get going." He crossed the room to an already open trap door in the floor.

But I was looking around. "Why isn't it dusty in here? Isn't this place deserted? Except for whatever's haunting it, of course."

"Um... I'll tell you on our way back to the castle. Just please, come on, Evans. Before they come back."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine." As quietly as I could, I walked over to the trap door and descended behind Potter. When we got to the bottom of the stairs leading down from the trap door, I sealed the trap door shut. Then I looked around. We were in a dark stone passageway that stretched in one direction as far as I could see. "Does this lead to Hogwarts?" I asked.

"Yup." Potter said. "Let's go."

"Hang on. I want some answers." I jogged up to where he was, about fifteen feet ahead of me. "How did you know this was here? Does Snape know about it? Do the PROFESSORS know about it? Is the Shrieking Shack really haunted?" I fired at him.