𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗥 𝗢𝗙 𝗔𝗭𝗞𝗔𝗕𝗔𝗡 [𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚍]

Chapter Thirty Six: The Whomping Willow

‾‾‾‾‾‾‾ ･⋆✵⋆･ ‾‾‾‾‾‾‾

The window sill of the Marauders' dorm room was cold against Sirius' thigh as he sat there and watched the Whomping Willow intently, it's usually aggressive branches swaying innocently to a silent breeze against the pink tinged sky.

It was that small sliver of time between twilight and dusk when nobody was sure whether they should just stay in their common rooms or go down to dinner already but definitely stayed off the grounds if they knew what was good for them. The grounds were still dark enough to hide a few unfriendly things. 

And it was exactly the above reasons that made this a very good time for Remus to sneak into the Shrieking Shack with Madam Pomfrey.

Madam Pomfrey's white apron was easy to spot- but only if one knew where to look- as she hurried across the grounds while supporting Remus, who's limbs were already getting awkward and slowing them down.

Madam Pomfrey stopped a little ways off the Whomping Willow. It's branches started to move faster and swing wildly when it sensed company.

The Hogwarts school nurse took out her wand and caused a fallen branch to levitate to the knot at the Willow's roots, successfully freezing the tree temporarily. She tucked her wand back in the pocket of her apron and threw Remus' arm over her shoulder before they slipped into the tunnel. 

Roughly ten minutes later, Madam Pomfrey emerged out of the tunnel alone and walked back to the castle purposefully, adjusting her robes along the way.

"Pomfrey's out." Sirius, who hadn't taken his eyes off the situation down below the whole time, reported.

"Now we wait for everyone to go to dinner." said James from where he was lying on his bed, releasing a snitch and grabbing it out of the air for the hundredth time now.

Peter, meanwhile, sat on the floor and chewed on his nails silently. James and Sirius were both nervous but Peter looked absolutely mortified. And sitting still with nothing to do wasn't doing him any good.

The voices coming from the common room died down eventually and the three boys slipped under James's Invisibility Cloak, checked to see if the common room was completely empty, carefully slipped through the portrait hole and left for the corridors.

"Who's that?" said the Fat Lady, when her portrait swang open and apparently nobody came out. "Is that you Peeves? I'll call Filch again."

Sirius and James snickered at that. It happens every time they use the Invisibility Cloak to leave the tower but seeing the Fat Lady riled up like that never got old.

The corridors were mercifully empty of people and they got to the huge oaken doors with only running into The Grey Lady, Ravenclaw's resident house ghost, who was too lost in her own thoughts to pay much attention to her surroundings.

Once out of the huge oaken doors, Sirius looked up at the perfectly circular moon and the bright speckle of stars that surrounded it and kept thinking how sad it was that Remus never got to really appreciate the beauty of a full moon.

Fallen leaves crunched under their shoes as they hurried across the grounds but no one was out to hear them. Nonetheless, they didn't want to test their luck too much and quickened their footsteps to get to Remus, preying no one noticed they were not at the dinner table.

They quickly made their way across the vast grounds of Hogwarts and stood in front of the tree. The Willow's branches started swaying savagely when the boys approached it.

So much for being invisible, Sirius silently scoffed.

"Okay, Wormy. You know what to do." whispered James even though there was no one around to hear him.