The Marauders: Year Six Part 2 #Wattys2017

To The Tower Room

To the Tower Room

CRACK!

"YESSSSS! YES YES YES YES. My gods - I am fucking brilliant! That was fucking brilliant!" Sirius crowed, stumbling up to his feet from the crouching position he'd been in as they disapparated, his hands releasing Lily's and James's arms as he twirled to his feet with a spin in his step, his grin taking up his whole face. His arms held open wide as he stood, his mouth curved in a great smile. "Did you see it, James? Did you? Just like your boggart! HOW WAS THAT FOR SAVING YOU, 'EY? Best bloody rescue in the history of rescues! PRONGS, DID YOU SEE IT? THE DAISY CHAIN AND THE DUCKS???" And Sirius looked down upon his best mate, his face aglow with the rush of the escape, expecting a high five and a good one Sirius, but instead, he felt his stomach drop out from within him - as though he'd been roughly gutted with a lance.

Lily had fallen to her knees beside James and she'd dropped her wand at her knee on the stone floor and had rolled James onto his back and her head was pressed to his chest, listening for his heartbeat. His eyes were closed.

Sirius stared, frozen in his place, even as Lily Evans drew her wand and started to try to magically repair the damages done to James Potter. The wind knocked from him, Sirius's jaw trembled. "What --?"

"Voldemort. The cruciatus," Lily replied, tears threatening her own eyes as she assessed James. "And I reckon a good deal of other horrible curses as well."

Sirius dropped onto his knees behind James and stared down at him as Lily performed an episky that cracked James's nose back into place. "He's alright, though, yeah? You can mend him?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know near enough healing spells," she mumbled, "We have to get him back to London, to St. Mungo's." She looked up at Sirius with wide eyes.

Sirius swallowed nervously.

What was unspoken between them was the knowledge that it was a miracle that none of them had been splinched in that disapparation (not that they could've very well told if James had been, the state he was in), given that Sirius hadn't yet passed his test (or even successfully managed to disapparate prior to that moment). Even if it was possible to disapparate across the thousands and thousands of miles from Durmstrang to London (which it was not), Sirius would risk hurting James far worse than he already was to even try it.

They had to get back to the Morris Mini.

Realizing that, Lily looked around, wondering where they were, only to find they were back in the library at Durmstrang Institute, among the dusty books.

"I thought of going back to Remus," Sirius explained when he saw her looked around.

Lily said, "We need to get Rey and Maryrose and get James out of here as quickly as possible."

Sirius nodded.

James groaned from the floor before them and Sirius looked down at him as James's eyelids struggled to open. His brown eyes barely focused from beneath the long, thick lashes, the skin around them was darkened by purplish-black bruising. He seemed to search the air before him in confusion for several long moments.

"Prongs," Sirius said thickly.

James's eyes tried to focus on Sirius.

"Prongs, it's me. It's Padfoot." Sirius inched himself closer to James, on his knees, his hands folded in his lap, clutching his wand in one fist.

James's eyes filled with tears. "No," he moaned, "No, no, no..." and he started to cry in a strange, broken manner that rasped in his throat and made his chest heave painfully beneath his bruised ribs. "No, Sirius, no... please..."