Chapter 179: Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right (2)

James Potter shifted uncomfortably on his bed. He got up and began pacing the bedroom, trying to distract himself from the unsettling feeling that had grown even stronger since that afternoon. Returning to Hogwarts after the Easter break had proven to be quite stressful. First, the fourth-years were buried under a mountain of assignments and lessons to revise for the upcoming end-of-year exams. Second, Sirius had been in a remarkably foul mood, refusing to share why. And finally, Marvolo Wood was obsessing over their last Quidditch match, less than a month away, pushing the team to practice four times a week. Truthfully, the only reason they didn't practice more often was that other teams also needed the Quidditch pitch. While James shared his captain's enthusiasm for finally winning the Quidditch Cup, the pressure was beginning to take its toll on the players.

The young wizard was especially worried about Catherine, but to his surprise, she seemed to be in good spirits. Apparently, she and Lily had had a lot of fun over the holidays, as they had been spending more time together than usual, often whispering and giggling. Curious about this new development, James asked Remus, but he seemed just as clueless.

After some consideration, the boy decided that Lily's recent (and, in his opinion, quite fortunate) breakup with McMahon meant that Catherine spending more time with her could actually be beneficial for his future courting plans regarding his red-haired classmate. This was exactly what he was thinking about during lunch when the grey ceiling of the Great Hall was suddenly split by a flash of lightning. Peter, who was sitting next to him, jumped, knocking over his glass of orange juice. Exchanging a few meaningful glances across the table, the group of Gryffindors quickly abandoned their half-eaten lunches and dashed toward the Astronomy Tower.

James wasn't entirely sure if they managed to hold their Animagus forms longer this time compared to their last attempt, but it definitely wasn't enough. They snapped back to being humans, feeling as if they'd been hurled into the Floo Network and spat out violently. To make matters worse, Professor Sinistra caught them on their way back. Normally, Catherine was an exceptional liar, but even she couldn't explain why they were all drenched, coming from a restricted area, with Remus and Sirius practically carrying Peter, who was looking a bit green and shaking.

In the end, they "confessed" to duelling and claimed that they thought the top of the highest tower during a storm would be a more dramatic setting—and that it would make them look "wicked." The story was flimsy at best, but since the truth was even more implausible and Professor Sinistra had no idea what they were really up to, she decided to deduct 20 points from Gryffindor and assign them all detention after her class on Tuesday.

'That probably means I'll get three, maybe four hours of sleep at best.' – James sighed, collapsing onto the floor in the middle of the room. Oddly enough, it was the most comfortable spot at the moment.

"On the floor already? At least wait for the party to start before you hit the deck." – Sirius laughed as he entered.

"I'm not in the mood for any parties." – James groaned, not bothering to get up – "This is the only position where it doesn't feel like my insides are on fire."

"Yeah, it's a real bummer." – Sirius admitted – "I don't understand what we're doing wrong."

"I don't know, but I'm going to lose it if I have to feel like this all summer." – the other wizard huffed – "We followed the book, and the potion obviously works since we were able to transform. We must be missing something important in this final step, though."

"I'm starting to think Flame's losing her edge with all the lack of sleep." – Sirius muttered, pulling the map out of his school bag – "I tried every variation of a Mapping Spell I could find to make the names appear, but it was useless. Do you think she could be wrong about this?"

"Why are you asking me?" – James said, the map being the last thing on his mind at the moment – "Just go to her and work on it together. You two are usually a good team, and it'd be faster if you both worked on it."

"I'm not sure she'd agree." – the other boy replied, trying to sound casual – "I'm not exactly her favourite person right now."

"And whose fault is that?" – James mocked him, slowly dragging himself into a sitting position on the round carpet – "Honestly, mate, you need to figure out what you want. This madness with Marianne has gone on for way too long. You didn't even like her before—what gives? Just because of that stupid kiss between Flame and Moony?"

"It's not just because of the kiss!" – Sirius snapped, sitting on his bed and covering his face with his hands – "I just… got tired of waiting, James. I got tired of hoping she'd see me differently—that she'd want me by her side as more than a friend."

"But, Sirius," – James sighed, exasperated – "you never told her any of that! And honestly, I don't know how someone as brilliant as her can be so dumb at the same time, but she really doesn't think you have those feelings for her."

"Come on, Prongs!" – Sirius laughed bitterly – "I've been showing her how much I like her since the first day we met on the Hogwarts Express. She's just trying to spare my feelings by clinging to this idea of us as just friends. And I respect that—it's probably for the best. Why would she want to be involved with someone like me? Look at my family! She might very well be in danger if we were together. Plus, as thrilling as it is to think about her under the shower, it's much more satisfying to have an actual girl in my arms who really likes me and wants me as her boyfriend."

"Well… congrats, I guess." – James said, trying to suppress the mental image of Sirius in the shower thinking about Catherine – "But I don't think it's fair to Marianne to just use her as a replacement so you can have a girlfriend."

"She's not a replacement!" – Sirius protested, agitated – "I do like her. We have a lot of things in common."

"Things in common? You mean hallways and empty broom cupboards?" – the other wizard scoffed, earning an angry glare from his friend.

"Think whatever you want!" – Sirius snapped, his voice rising – "I'd rather share my bed with a real person than cling to a fantasy of someone I can never even kiss."

"Wait—hold on a second!" – James's brows shot up in surprise – "Did you… you and her? Seriously? When?"

"After the second Quidditch match, but that's hardly the point." – Sirius said, trying to sound casual but failing to hide a hint of defensiveness – "I just wanted to say that I like Marianne, and I don't intend to give up on what we have just to chase Flame, who will never see me as anything more than a friend or best case scenario – a brother."

"Whatever you say, mate." – James sighed, feeling a bit overwhelmed – "But, honestly, I can't believe you'd have sex with someone and not tell me!"

"You're not jealous, are you?" – Sirius grinned mischievously – "You'll always be my number one, Prongs!"

"Sod off!" – the other wizard hissed, jumping to his feet—which felt strange, as he still couldn't quite tell if he still had hooves or not. He lost his balance, and was about to fall when Sirius lunged forward, catching him just in time.

"I hope we're not interrupting anything." – Catherine's mocking voice came from the door as she and Remus stood at the entrance to the bedroom.

"Very funny, Flame!" – James snapped angrily – "It would be a miracle if we can even hold onto our brooms in this state. Do you have any idea how sick I feel?"

"Please, do tell me about it." – the girl rolled her eyes, taking a seat on Remus's bed.

"Isn't Peter with you two?" – Sirius asked, squeezing James's shoulder a little too hard, making him hiss in pain but eventually let Catherine's snarky comment slide.

"Madame Pomfrey decided to keep him for overnight." – the young witch explained – "Lucky for us, she doesn't usually ask too many questions. I'm not sure she bought the story that it was all due to a bad jinx during a duel."

"She still seemed pretty confident she could help him feel better." – Remus added, trying to sound optimistic – "Maybe the rest of you could get the same treatment for your symptoms?"

"Yeah, nothing suspicious about that, Moony." – Sirius chuckled – "It's uncomfortable, but we can push through it. The last thing we need is more teachers taking an interest in our extracurricular activities."

"I agree with Sirius." – Catherine said, frowning – "We've already attracted too much attention. Today's incident with Sinistra should be avoided at all costs."

"Well, now there's something you don't see every day!" – Sirius laughed – "You agreeing with me? I should get today's date tattooed to remember it forever!"

"Are you seriously joking about this?" – Catherine yelled, her eyes flashing with anger.

Her friend immediately stopped laughing, confusion crossing his face. "What's wrong with the joke?" – he asked, but then his expression darkened as he pieced it together – "Wait… is this about the Autumn incident? This is different, Flame. I'm not planning on branding anything on my skin."

"Can we talk about something else?" – James asked, looking a bit pale – "I feel sick enough without thinking about this."

"Oh, poor thing!" – Catherine sneered – "Imagine how Autumn feels. As far as I know, they still can't find a way to heal the scar."

"Philippa Finch from Hufflepuff told me that, according to Thorne, the branding was caused by a peculiar curse—probably locked by the caster." – Remus mumbled quietly - "It means they'd need to find the person who cursed Autumn to have any chance of healing the scar properly. Unfortunately, she's either in shock or her memories were altered. They have no clue where to start looking for the culprit."

Sirius scoffed in disgust. "It's not that hard. The Slytherin Common Room is probably filled with Dark Arts enthusiasts. I'd bet some of them even hide their cloaks and hoods under their beds. Personally, I'd start by checking my family first."

"I doubt any of them are actual Death Eater." – Catherine shrugged – "Why would that guy want a bunch of half-trained idiots? Most of them barely know which end of the wand to hold. Look at that moron Caelum Parkinson—he almost poisoned himself with what he called a Strength Potion. Spent a week in the Hospital Wing. And I thought his sister was bad."

"Regardless, we should do something to protect our classmates." – James exclaimed suddenly, his tone decisive – "This time it was Autumn. Next time it could be Lily, Mary, Scarlett, or even you, Flame."

 "I'm not overly worried about myself." – Catherine responded with a smirk.

"This is serious!" – Sirius snapped angrily – "Malfoy's not here to protect you anymore. Considering how much the Slytherins hate you, I'm honestly amazed they haven't tried something worse already."

"I never needed Malfoy to protect me!" – the young witch shot back, her eyes suddenly glowing green. She extended her hand toward the empty fireplace, sending a torrent of fire roaring into it – "As you can see, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself!"

The three boys stared in awe at the dying flames, an uncomfortable silence settling over the room.

"Well, at least now we know she actually likes us." – Sirius chuckled, breaking the tension - "Otherwise, we'd all be toast by now." 

"This is incredible!" – James chimed in – "See? 'Flame' turned out to be the perfect nickname after all!"

"Stop making fun of me!" – the girl pouted, though she couldn't help but feel relieved that her power was being accepted rather than feared – "This is nothing. A fully trained Elementalist can do far more impressive things than just conjure some flickers."

"Dumbledore must be amazing!" – James exclaimed, his eyes wide with excitement – "No wonder he's the greatest wizard of our time. It must be intimidating to train with someone so powerful."

"Not really." – Catherine responded contemplatively – "He's always been patient with me, and he treats me with a lot of respect. I've never felt threatened by him, despite his power. I can't say the same for Thorne, though."

"He used Elemental magic on you?" – Sirius asked in disbelief – "That's unacceptable! You should report him! Or better yet, show him what you can do with fire!"

"It's not that simple." – the witch sighed – "I don't know exactly how powerful Thorne is, but he seems to be at least a Griffin-type. He also has a rare talent for controlling light and darkness. If I fought him now, I'd lose for sure, and Merlin knows what he'd do to me. It was terrifying enough when he bound me with air during detention just because he didn't like something I said."

"Bloody bastard!" – Sirius erupted, his face flushing with anger – "I always thought that guy seemed like some kind of perv. I bet he drools over young girls…" 

"I sincerely doubt it." – Remus intervened, ignoring his friend's mocking laugh – "For one, Professor Thorne has never shown any inappropriate behaviour toward any student, and he's certainly had opportunities. I overheard some seventh-years sending him love notes. Whether we like him or not, it's unfair to spread nasty rumours."

"Moony's right. He's a jackass, but he's most likely not abusing his position as a teacher in that way." – Catherine admitted, then added with a sly smile – "Especially since he's already shagging McGonagall."

"Way to not spread rumours." – Remus sighed in defeat.

"It's not a rumour!" – the girl defended herself – "I saw them making out and heading to her room."

"This feels wrong on so many levels!" – James said, torn between amusement and disgust.

"Well, let's hope that if they ever break up, McGonagall turns him into a giant frog or something." – Sirius laughed, clearly pleased with himself.

"A frog? That's too good for him." – Catherine smirked – "I'd suggest a Knarl—paranoid, unpredictable, and attacks for no reason. Fits him perfectly."

Sirius's grin widened. "Merlin's beard, Flame, remind me never to get on your bad side."

"You already are!" - she replied smoothly, biting her lip to keep from laughing at the overly dramatic sadness etched on Sirius's face.