Grey Eyes (A Harry Potter Fanfiction)

39. In the Thick of Things

I let out a short breath of exasperation. “Basically, Cecilia and I switched bodies because of this really old spell James cast on us yesterday and then just now Lucius Malfoy popped out of bloody nowhere, Stunned James, jinxed me, and then literally Portkeyed him and Cecilia, who is in my body, out to only Merlin knows where and because I’m a buggin’ idiot I didn’t tell anyone about how he’s out to get me!” I spit out all in one breath. “Basically, she’s screwed and we need to get her back, alright?”

James and Lily just gape at me, their jaws dropped.

“Wait…” Lily starts, “so why exactly is Lucius Malfoy out to get yo—”

“WE’RE WASTING TIME!” I interrupt loudly.

I feel myself start to hyperventilate from panic and I take a deep breath and swallow before continuing in a frankly sad attempt at a steady voice, “Right, you two, the point is that Cecilia’s in trouble and it’s my fault. I seriously don’t have time to explain everything to you.” I turn to James. “Prongs, do you have any idea how to fix us? This isn’t a joke anymore.”

James furrows his brows, his Stunned head clearly slowing his thinking processes. “What, fix what?”

“Fix me and Cecilia!” I have to take another deep breath to calm my nerves. “Right, I know you only had a day to even try to figure out a possible counter-curse, but right now Cecilia is in trouble and, for all we know, she could be surrounded by—”

Death Eaters.

I stop myself before I can finish my sentence, suddenly unsure how far I want to drag my best mate into this mess. But isn’t hiding things what got me into this situation in the first place? There’s something going in the Wizarding World that is bigger and more dangerous than any of us can imagine. Death Eaters. The bloody Dark Lord. I think we’re already all a part of this mess whether we want to be or not.

“Dark wizards,” I decidedly finish. “She’s among some very Dark wizards right now and the first priority is to figure out a way to switch back bodies. Do you have a counterjinx or even some amount of progress?”

But instead of giving me another quizzical look, James blinks and answers, “Yeah, I do actually.”

“Wait, you do?”

James pushes himself to his feet and brushes off his shirt. “Yeah, I’ve got a counterjinx,” he replies matter-of-factly. “Last night, I was flipping through the spellbook again and a piece of parchment fell out of the back cover with a list of counter-spells. I mean, it’s probably a load of bull, but it could work.”

“AND YOU DIDN’T THINK TO TELL US THIS LAST NIGHT?!” I exclaim incredulously, clutching my head.

He just shrugs, which actually kind of makes me want to Stun him again. “Well, you and Cecilia seemed to be having a row about Sonata anyway. I thought maybe if you guys spent a few days in each others’ shoes, you could make up! Or even make out—I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” He laughs and ducks from a punch I swing at him. “Anyway, it’s back in the Common Room.”

“Perfect,” I breathe out, a lot more relieved than angry. “No time to lose then. Let’s go, Prongs!”

“Ye-up, on it!”

James and I break out into a run back towards Hogwarts Grounds, but a few steps out, we nearly crash headlong into Remus, Sonata, and Peter.

“Whoa, Moony!” I blurt out when I faceplant right into his chest.

“Ow! Who the—?” Remus grips me by the shoulders to steady me and then peers at my face. “Cecilia? What’s wrong?”

“Moony, it’s me,” I remind him, slightly annoyed.

“Oh, right. Padfoot.” He quickly lets go of my shoulders. “What’s wrong?” he continues, still looking concerned. “Why are you, Prongs, and Lily all grouped together like this? Where’s Cecilia?”

“She’s gone,” I blurt out hastily. “I don’t have time to explain.”

He stares at me in shock. “Wait, Sirius, what do you mean gone?”

“Sirius?” Sonata repeats, pointing at me in confusion.

“And Cecilia?” Peter looks around, equally confused.

BLOODY HELL, I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS.

I grab James’ arm and start pushing him back towards the castle again. “Lily, can you explain everything to this lot?” I yell over my shoulder as I sprint after him. “Just give them your inaccurate abridged version, alright, thanks!”

“Sirius, I don’t even know what’s going on!” she shrieks from behind me.

“THANKS!”