The Misadventures of Padfoot and Prongs

When Madam Pomfrey caught sight of the bloodied boy in front of her, her eyes bulged and she quickly gestured them inside.

"Move him to the bed over there," she said, and rushed over to her medicine closet. She threw the door open and grabbed some supplies, bringing them over to the table beside the bed. "What happened to him?" Madam Pomfrey was very businesslike about it, not at all the scolding staff member, her only focus being to save Sirius.

"W-we snuck out of the castle and were attacked," said Peter, turning very pale at the sight of the steadily bleeding wound.

With a single wave of her wand, Pomfrey siphoned off the blood surrounding the puncture. After inspection, she discerned that no major internal organs were ruptured. As long as she stopped the bleeding and patched him up, he should be fine.

Madam Pomfrey's voice was so low when she muttered the incantation that James and Peter were barely able to hear what she said next. It sounded almost like as song as she said it thrice, brandishing her wand each time. The wound stopped bleeding, then knit back together, and then healed most of the visible injury. She reached for a small bottle on the bedside table where she'd dumped her supplies and unscrewed the top. She used the dropper to place the liquid where the wound had been. With a quick glance at the label, James saw that it was dittany.

"Will he be okay?" asked James, nervously looking at his unconscious friend.

"If he gets plenty of rest and stays here for a few days, he should be fine. Now off to bed, you two," said Madam Pomfrey, "It's too late to bring Professor McGonagall here now, but you can be sure she'll be hearing of this first thing tomorrow morning."

James and Peter headed back to the seventh floor to where their common room was, neither of them speaking. When they entered, they walked up the steps to their dormitory and James collapsed onto his four-poster, too exhausted to move, but too worried to sleep.

He somehow found the will to grab a couple hours of precious rest. Still, he awoke before anyone else, and while those who were now awake were getting ready, he was making his way down to the Hospital Wing.

To James' pleasent suprise, Remus was resting soundly in the bed next to Sirius'. Unfortunately, McGonagall was there too.

"Mr. Potter," the sterness in her voice made him jump in his spot. "Mind explaining to me why Mr. Black, Mr. Pettigrew and you were out of the castle last night?"

James bit his lip and briefly glanced to Remus, "W-we just wanted to explore the Forbidden Forest, Professor-"

"The Forbidden Forest is forbidden for a reason, Mr. Potter," if it was possible for McGonagall's blood to rush completely to her face, it was happening right now. "Three weeks detention for each of you, starting after Christmas break."

"Yes ma'am," James said, bowing his head in defeat. After all, three weeks detention was nothing compared to the trouble they could all get into for being unregistered Animagi and letting a werewolf roam around school grounds.

"And 50 points from Gryffindor," she tried to hold her voice wavered slightly, trying not to yell.
"Each!"

"But, Professor!" James snapped his head up to meet her eyes.

"No, buts Potter, you should have thought of that when you decided to sneak out!" she scolded. "I expect to see the three of you after the Holidays," McGonagall said before she stormed out of the Hospital Wing.

James watched her for a moment before turning to see a smirking Sirius. "So I'm guessing you are feeling better, eh Padfoot?"

"Better than you," Sirius said, "You have bags under your eyes. Been worried about me, mate?"

James just chuckled and shook his head. He moved to a chair in between his two friends, pushing it against the bedside table, and turned to a sleeping Remus. James considered waking him up, but decided that he needed as much sleep as possible and turned back to Sirius.

"A bit," replied James. "You didn't see yourself all bloodied and on the verge of death."

Sirius shrugged, "Well, have you told Lyra about it?"

"Why would I tell Lyra what happened?" James leaned a bit closer to Sirius and lowered his voice. "Do you want Remus and our secret revealed?"

"No," Sirius thought for a second, "Just tell her the same story you told McGonagall."

Suddenly, the doors to the WIng burst open and Lyra came running in. Her eyes scanned the area, before settling on Sirius. Seeing him awake and smiling caused her racing heart to settle as Lyra made her way, slowly this time, to Sirius' bed.

"Hey," she said, settling down on his bed. Lyra reached out to grab his hand, but one look to a smirking James, she acted against that. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," Sirius said as he grabbed her retracted hand. "Now that you're here." Lyra blushed, but didn't really reply. "How did you know I was here anyways?"

"Oh, I met McGonagall in the hall and asked her if we can use her room or an empty class room to practice in," Lyra said. "That's when she told me what happened and that if you feel up to it, we'll study in here. How's your head?"

"Fine?" Lyra slapped Sirius upside the head. "Ouch! What was that for?"

"What the hell were you thinking, going into the forest?!" she whispered sharply in order to not bring out the nurse. James began laughing, but stopped promptly when he, too, was smacked. "You both are morons! There is a reason why that forest is forbidden!" Lyra then noticed Remus, now awake and softly chuckling on the other side of James. She gasped lightly as there was a fresh cut upon his cheek. "What happened, Remus? Don't tell me these two gits convinced you to go out as well."

Remus looked startled for a moment, but quickly recovered. "Oh, no, I was luckily absent. I've been feeling really ill lately, so I stayed overnight." Lyra cocked her head to the side.

"But your cheek, it's cut. How did you get that?"

"Night terrors," Remus tried to rid any signs of lying from his face and body language. "I get them every so often, and sometimes I hurt myself."

"Oh," said Lyra, not looking entirely convinced, but still sympathetic to her friend. "Well, I hope you feel better soon." She turned her attention to Sirius. "Do you know when you'll be discharged?"

"Knowing Madam Pomfrey, I'll be here for a week. I'll try to get out sooner, but you know her, always trying to keep us here," said Sirius.

Lyra nodded, "Well I suppose I should let you and Remus get your rest. Come on, James, breakfast is ready in the Great Hall. I'll come back later to study, if you are feeling up to it, Sirius."

James smiled, glad that his friend wasn't mad at him anymore. "See you, mates."

Sirius and Remus both said their goodbyes, and the pair left the Hospital Wing.

"So what really happened?" asked Remus once he made sure the coast was clear. "I didn't- it- it wasn't me who-"

"Oh, Merlin, no Remus," said Sirius. "We went out into the Forbidden Forest and met a graphorn. It stabbed me, and you chased it off while James and Peter got me back here. Next time we wont go so deep into the forest, or be prepared to face things like graphorns."

Remus sighed and shook his head, "Maybe you three shouldn't come out with me any more."

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Moony, we've been over this a thousand times! Nothing you say or do will ever stop us from helping you out every month. Besides, we have fun! So shut your trap about it already!"

"Alright, alright," said Remus with a roll of his eyes. "Just be careful next time. I don't want to hear that one of my best mates have died because they snuck out of the castle and met a werewolf."

Lyra and James made their way into the Great Hall, about to go to the Gryffindor table when a male voice called Lyra's name.

"Lyra! Come on, love, over here!" came the voice of Octavian. He pointed toward an empty space beside him at the Ravenclaw table, a broad grin on his handsome face.

"I'll catch up with you later, James," said Lyra, looking over at her boyfriend. James wanted to ask about how things were going with Octavian, but didn't want Lyra to think Sirius had mentioned anything, so he decided against it.

"Bye, Lyra," he said, heading over to the Gryffindor table. He spotted Peter sitting by himself, so he joined him. Sliding into the seat next to him, James started shoveling scrambled eggs onto his plate.

"How're you doing, Wormtail?" asked James before he bit off a piece of bacon. "I was gone before you got up."

"A bit sore, actually, what with all the running. Don't think I've ran that fast or far in my life," said Peter.

"Yeah, that was murder," said James. "I really thought he was done for."

"Well thank Merlin we got 'im to Madam Pomfrey in time."

"Mmm," James agreed, nodding his head as he took a swig of pumpkin juice from his goblet. "Have you seen McGonagall yet?"

"No, why?"

"We've all got detentions for three weeks, and 50 House points were taken for each of us," said James.

"What?!" Peter turned red out of a combination of shame and outrage.

"I can't say I'm that surprised-" James' sentence was cut short by a loud slap which echoed off the high ceiling. Every head in the Great Hall turned to the Ravenclaw table where Lyra stood fuming, her hands clenched in anger while Octavian sat still in his seat, shocked, a scarlet hand print becoming more visible on his cheek with every passing second.

No one said a word. Lyra stormed out of the Hall, Octavian quick on her heels, calling her name. Once the solid wooden doors closed, their incomprehensible argument was inaudible.

As if a switch had been flipped, every student in the Great Hall started talking, all trying to guess at what had just happened between the seemingly happy couple.

"Potter," a stern feminine voice said from behind James, who cringed slightly.

"Hey, Lily," he spoke as calmly as he could. "Would you like to join us for breakfast?"

She narrowed her eyes, "Actually, I was wanting to talk to you, in private."

James cringed again, her demeanor telling him that he was indeed in trouble with the redhead once again. Lily turned and headed out of the Great Hall and James stood and followed. Walking out, he noticed that Lyra had just stormed off and Octavian was now walking back in, and he had to suppress the urge to hex the Ravenclaw right then and there for whatever he may have done to James' friend.

James just clenched his fist and continued to follow Lily out into the courtyard.

Finally she stopped, turned to him, and spoke up, "150 points, James?! 150 points! Do you care if we win the house cup?" she didn't wait for him to answer. "And Sirius! He's supposed to be your best friend, and then look what happened! He nearly died, James! What do you have to say for yourself?!"

"I-"

"No! I don't want to hear your excuses," Lily interrupted. "If I see you heading for the portrait hole, or if you are anywhere near the portrait hole after curfew, I'm throwing you in detention quicker than you can say Hogwarts!"

James bowed his head in shame for the second time that day. He felt worse for upsetting Lily than he did for upsetting McGonagall. After a few seconds, when he realized that she hadn't moved, he spoke up, "I'm so sorry, Lily. You really don't know how I felt when I saw my best mate practically dead in my arms. I-" he paused, ruffling his hair, and not sure of where to go from there.

Lily relaxed her stance, and to James' surprise, she wrapped her arms around his torso.

"Just be careful," she murmured into his robes. "You may irritate me, but I kinda like having you around."

James' heart warmed a bit and he hugged her back, "I'll be careful, Lils, for you. But I'll have you know that Danger is my middle name, so it'll be a little hard. Maybe if you give me a kiss to persuade me otherwise."

Lily pulled away and lightly smacked James' chest, "Merlin, Potter, do you have to be such a git?"

"You can't blame a guy for trying, right?" James said as he ruffled his hair and smirked at the girl.

Lily sighed, "We need to get to class. Let's go."

James smiled and began to walk when he realized something. "Merlin! I forgot my bag! Lily, I'll meet you in Transfiguration, tell McGonagall that I'll be there soon."

He turned toward the staircase when Lily called him back. James looked back only to see her so close.

"Go directly to your dorm and then class," she said before placing a small kiss on his cheek. "And don't get yourself in trouble."

James' smile didn't seem to falter for the rest of that day.