ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ ᴛʜᴇ ꜰᴏᴜʀᴛʜ ᴡᴀʟʟ | ᴍᴀʀᴀᴜᴅᴇʀꜱ ᴇʀᴀ

viii. the Black Brothers

"Careful, careful," said James as he, Peter, and Callie entered the shack, taking off the Invisibility cloak on them.

After taking a rest in the Chamber of Secrets, the five of them decided to go back to the shack since the basilisk was starting to smell quite awful. James even joked that Sirius might have another vomiting episode. Sirius countered that with a glare that made the four laugh.

"It's not funny. It's disgusting," he said.

They helped each other stand up and walked towards the exit, using the broom to fly out. Callie rode with James because he bragged that he was an expert with brooms since he's a quidditch player, earning an eye roll from Callie. Moaning Myrtle noticed them and teased their dirty looks but they were so tired to fight with the ghost.

James, Remus, and Sirius used the cloak first, going into the medical wing to grab some things to clean their bruises and not too deep wounds. They could have gone to Madam Pomfrey themselves and asked her to heal them. If she questioned, they could tell a lie. But James said they couldn't heal themselves like that when Callie couldn't.

Her heart warmed that she almost cried but Callie held the tears tight and only let a few go.

When they got in her room, Remus and Sirius were already applying healing cream on their wounds and bruises. The three rushed to them. Remus gave each and one of them the same cream.

When Callie applied a good amount on her wound on her upper arm, she felt its cool crippling like mint in her mouth. It was so relaxing. She continued applying them on the rest of her bruises.

The five of them looked extremely awful. Not only that but they don't smell very good too. There is dirt on their faces and clothes that had few rips.

"We better keep these away from Lily or we'll have another round of interrogation," Sirius joked that erupt a chorus of laughs in the room.

"What do we do next?" Peter asked, applying the cream on his cheek where he can feel a sting.

"We should rest for now," said Callie. "You all look beaten up."

"Says the one whose face is full of cream," chimed Sirius earning a playful deadpan look from the girl.

"Eat a lot, sleep a lot. Because tomorrow, we will start destroying the Horcruxes."

°°°

The Marauders took Callie's orders by heart. Maybe they took it too deep in their hearts. They ate a lot. The Gryffindors never saw them eat that much lunch that day. Witnessing the death of a basilisk and the smell of the chamber did not hinder their hunger. All their energies were taken away by fighting that humongous monster!

Their bruises had faded before they went back to the castle however some of their wounds looked like bruises still. And that didn't go unnoticed, especially by Lily who liked to rest her head on James' arms. She saw that bruise she never knew he had.

She questioned James about it and the other Marauders as they have few bruises too. But Remus was too smart to be able to come up with a very convincing lie that they got past Lily's lecture.

And that night, they slept too early. Most of the time, the four of them will be the last to get to bed. But that night, they were the first to go up to their dorm. With muffled good nights, they dove to their beds and immediately fell asleep.

Their sleep was undisturbed and long. They didn't wake up until it was ten in the morning - which was something unusual, especially for Remus. He would always wake up before everyone else, but no. He woke up late just like the rest of his friends.