James and Lily: It Took A While

Chapter 64/8

Chapter Eight

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I caught up to him not long before the end of the passage. There was a steep incline leading up to a shadowed hole, which I couldn't see anything outside of it that would tell me our location.

"Come on, Evans."

"What?"

"This is our way out. Stop gazing at it and trying to figure stuff out."

I rolled my eyes, then watched as Potter grabbed a long stick from the ground beneath the hole and stuck it up through the gap. He jabbed at something I couldn't see, then put the stick back where he had found it. With me watching confusedly, he hunched over and clasped his hands together.

"Climb up."

"Okay..." I decided to just go with it. And I had a hunch about just where this was going to come out...

I stepped on his hand and pulled myself up through the hole. Then I reached down and pulled him up after me. Finally I had a chance to look around and figure out where I was: under the Whomping Willow. My hunch was correct.

"But... How is it not attacking us right now?" Indeed, the Willow was standing straight up, frozen. Normally, the Whomping Willow would be freaking out, and, well, whomping us.

"There's a special root you can poke to temporarily paralyze it. That's what I jabbed with the stick."

I nodded my head, thinking. "So why is this here?"

"It's where Remus really goes when it's the full moon. Madam Pomfrey takes him down here before the moon is out, and he stays there until he's back to normal."

"So that must mean that all the rumors about the Shrieking Shack being haunted... Are based on Remus?"

He nodded. "Yep."

"Wow."

He simply nodded. It was nearing dark now, we'd been at Hogsmeade so long, and getting away from Snape and through the passageway had taken a good chunk of our day away.

"Oh crud. Filch is going to KILL us. It's almost seven," he said, checking his golden watch that none but wizards could understand.

"Oh NO! We have to hurry! I can't be late, I have a few Head Girl duties I need to attend to and-"

"Evans. Relax-it's going to be fine. Remus probably handled them all."

I glanced at him deploringly. "You may not care, Potter, but I certainly do. Now can we go before the Willow starts mauling us or something?" Without waiting for an answer, I set off at a quick pace towards the castle. I needed to drop my stuff off in my dorm, eat, and make sure everyone had left the library before my curfew, which was at 9:30. I had roughly two hours, which would normally be enough time, but I wanted to find Remus and talk to him about his werewolf abilities.

I entered the castle without waiting for Potter to join me and bolted up the marble staircase. I brushed past Elle, who didn't seem like she'd done ANY homework today, and dropped my new quill and other buys off on my four-poster. Then I flew back down the stairs and into the Great Hall.

I didn't realize how hungry I was until I dug into my favorite steak-and-kidney pie. I was just finishing up when Potter entered.

"Leaving so soon?" He inquired, raising his eyebrows.

"I've been here nearly ten minutes. You're only just arriving!" I reminded him.

He rolled his eyes and walked on, locating Sirius, who was at the end of the table, nearest to the Professors. From what I could tell, Sirius was attempting to turn Professor Sprout's patched up hat purple. Potter grinned wickedly and immediately started to help. I turned back just as I was leaving the Hall, and saw they had succeeded, but not quite in the way they had intended; Professor Sprout's HAIR was purple! And she still hadn't noticed, but was looking rather confused at all the giggles that were being directed toward her.