James Potter And The Morrigan Web (34 page)

“I’m not out having fun!” James hissed. “I’m… look, this is serious business. I can’t tell you about it.”

“Ooo!” Stanton hooted eagerly. “Are you on a new adventure? Cameron says--”

“Cameron says a lot of stuff,” James interrupted, raising both hands. “The answer is no. You can’t come with me, and you need to get back upstairs to your dormitories. It isn’t safe to be out in the halls at night. You might run into…”

Lily cocked her head. “Might run into who? Or what?”

“Never mind,” James deflated slightly. “Just trust me, all right? Not tonight. I can’t risk you getting caught by Peeves or Filch and ruining everything. Tomorrow, sneak around all you want. I don’t care if you get caught then.”

Lily stared speculatively at James for a long moment. Behind her, Shivani Yadev appeared from the spiral staircase, her dark eyes made smoky by a layer of heavy eye shadow. She stopped when she saw James, her brow lowering.

“You asked your
brother
to come along?” she inquired with obvious disdain.

“No,” Lily smiled. “He’s got his own plans. Let’s go.”

The four younger students began to converge on the portrait hole.

“No!” James rasped, jumping to get ahead of them. “I’ll… I’ll tell on you!”

“You
wouldn’t
,” Lily cocked her head, stopping in front of James.

“I would. Look, I don’t care what you do. Just not tonight. All right? Come on, Lil.”

She narrowed her eyes at him in annoyance. Finally, she sighed briskly. “Fine. On one condition.”

“What?”

“I keep the cloak.”

James boggled at her. “
What?!
But Dad--”

“
And
tomorrow you have to tell us what you are up to.”

“Yeah!” Stanton agreed heartily.

James stammered. “But…! Wait, that’s
two
conditions!”

Lily crossed her arms. “Take it or leave it. Besides, a big fourth year like you doesn’t need an invisibility cloak to sneak around at night, does he?”

James exhaled in frustration. “Fine!” Angrily, he shoved the cloak toward his sister. “But I get it back when I need it, understand? This is serious business! Dad said so!”

“And we can’t wait to hear
all
about it,” Lily nodded, accepting the cloak with a small, triumphant smile. “All right, everyone, I guess tonight its back to bed for us.”

“What?” Shivani complained stridently, gesturing toward her immaculately made-up face. “It took me twenty minutes to put all this on!”

“All dressed up and no place to go,” Marcus nodded mournfully. “And all those lonely vampires out there just waiting for you.”

“We’ll try again tomorrow night,” Lily soothed, leading Shivani and Chance back toward the girls’ stairs. “And tomorrow we’ll have
this
!” She held up the invisibility cloak. “Not even Mr. Filch will catch us if we all cram underneath. It’ll be worth the wait.”

Fuming, James watched as Lily retreated up the girls’ dormitory stairs. She was right: he didn’t really need the invisibility cloak to sneak around. Still, it galled him that she had successfully extorted it from him. Clearly, the Potter propensity for shenanigans didn’t stop with the boys. Shaking his head with irritation, James turned toward the portrait hole and slipped out.

Outside the corridor windows, the rain continued to fall in a steady curtain, blotting out the moonlight and reducing the halls to near-total darkness. James felt his way toward the staircase, knowing he could not afford to light his wand for risk of alerting the skulking Scorpius. His only hope was to spy the boy out without being noticed.

Lightning flickered silently beyond the Heracles window, throwing the staircase into stark contrast for one brief second. James crept down to the entrance hall, and then paused, listening as hard as he could through the steady thrum of the rain and the occasional creak of the dark castle and the shifting staircases. He could neither hear nor see any sign of the wandering Scorpius. He looked around impatiently. If only he had the Marauder’s Map! For a moment he considered trying to summon his dad by Floo network and asking him if he would locate Scorpius for him, but that would mean going back to the common room and hoping his father was still awake, not to mention willing to help James on his personal errand of suspicion. More likely, his dad would simply tell him to let Filch handle it and to get himself back into bed. Frustrated and annoyed, James sighed harshly.

A shadow suddenly moved in the archway at the end of the entrance hall. A light appeared, held aloft by a shadowy hand.

“Indeed you are right, my sweet,” a grating old voice muttered. “Someone has been careless. Quite careless indeed.”

James’ heart suddenly pounded in his ears. It was Filch, accompanied by his ancient cat, Mrs. Norris. As quietly as he could, James clambered backwards onto the stairs and hid behind the balustrade. He could see the light from Filch’s lantern growing brighter on the stone floor as the man approached, his boots knocking hollowly. A shadow elongated in the lantern-light, and then was punctuated by the shape of Mrs. Norris herself, her head lowered, the fur on her back standing up in rough hackles. James shrank back against the steps, trying to press into the ever diminishing shadow of the balustrade.

Suddenly, to James’ relief, the cat turned away, darting toward the doors of the Great Hall. James glanced up at them and saw that they were cracked open slightly, showing a narrow band of darkness.

“We can’t have this, can we, my sweet?” Filch growled, following the cat, leaning heavily on an old, gnarled cane. “Not with all those dodgy cabinets lined up like pretty maids in a row, just begging for mischief. The headmaster would not be pleased, would he? No, methinks he would not. Someone’s head will surely roll.”

James shuddered. Something about the black assurance in Filch’s voice implied that his words were not mere idle jest. As Filch heaved the doors closed and locked them, James crab-walked backwards up the steps and around the corner of the lower landing. Another flash of lightning painted the stairs in bright colours from the stained glass window, this time accompanied by a crack of thunder.

Mrs. Norris spun her bullet head toward the stairs, her eyes narrowed, her ears pressed back against her skull. James gasped, pulling his feet back just in time. Beneath the sound of the rain, he fancied he could hear the high purr of the cat’s growl.

“Don’t you fret, my sweet,” Filch sang, his voice unsettlingly cheerful. “It’s a new day, it is. Even your old master has a few tricks up his sleeve now, doesn’t he?” He chuckled to himself, making a sound like gravel in a rusty cauldron. James’ hair stood up at the base of his neck.

Then, for a long, disconcerting minute, Filch was quiet. James could only see a narrow corner of the entrance hall floor from his hiding place. It was still lit with the yellow light of Filch’s lantern, bobbing slightly as the man seemed to prowl around, shuffling and tapping his cane. Every shuffle and tap seemed to grow teasingly closer.

And then, with a long creak and grunt, Filch began to climb the stairs.

There was nowhere else for James to go; the stairs behind him were too high to clamber up before Filch found him. He pressed backwards, felt the steps dig into his back as the lantern light grew brighter before, him, spreading across the floor of the landing. The shadow of Mrs. Norris trotted into view. She was still growling, deep and high in her feline throat.

Suddenly, a curtain of cool fabric dropped over James from behind, momentarily blocking his view, he startled but thankfully didn’t cry out. The fabric was all too familiar, after all, even if he couldn’t explain its sudden appearance. The invisibility cloak fell over his knees as a small figure clambered close behind him, clutching him tightly around the shoulders.

Mrs. Norris appeared on the landing in front of James, freezing in place just as the cloak settled over him. Filch climbed slowly into view behind her, clacking his cane on each stair and wheezing to himself.

“Let’s just take a peek along the second floor corridors, shall we, my dear?” he suggested. “The headmaster will be more pleased if we can bring him the responsible party. Of course, it may well have been a careless house elf. But we can hope, can’t we?”

Again, the subtle, black glee in Filch’s voice chilled James. He hoped his toes were fully covered by the cloak. Behind him, the small figure breathed in his ear in short, shallow bursts, clutching him in a death grip.

Mrs. Norris sniffed the air, seeming to peer right through the invisibility cloak. Then, as Filch reached her on the landing and nudged her impatiently with his cane, she trotted up the stairs, passing close enough to James and his benefactor to nearly brush them with her tail. Filch followed, staying thankfully in the centre of the stairs, his gnarled cane knocking close enough to James’ shoe that it pinched a fold of the invisibility cloak.

James held his breath, as did the small figure behind him. He knew who it was, of course, and his relief at her appearance was only slightly greater than his annoyance at her duplicity. A minute later, as the light of Filch’s lantern and the knock of his boots receded into the second floor corridor, he threw off the cloak and turned on the spot.

“You hopeless little sneak!” he hissed.

“You owe me big for that one, Big Brother,” Lily whispered, her face exceedingly pale in the dimness. She was clearly shaken by their close call, but also obviously exhilarated by it. Her face broke into a wild grin. “That was
crazy
intense, wasn’t it?”

“It’s not funny!” James rasped. “That was seriously too close for comfort. What are you doing here?”

“You mean besides saving your skinny bum?” she answered, still grinning nervously. “Seeing what you’re up to, of course. I followed you out almost as soon as you left.”

“But,” James shook his head in exasperation. “I promised I would tell you tomorrow!”

“I figured you’d just make something up. I followed you to keep you honest.”

James sighed and slumped on the stairs. “So I don’t suppose there’s any way I can send you back to bed now, is there?”

“I doubt it,” she answered cheerfully. “Besides, seems like you need the invisibility cloak after all. Really, I thought you’d be better at this by now. This thing’s made you careless.”

“Sod off,” James muttered, climbing to his feet. “Just stay close and keep up. I’m not telling you anything. Just don’t get us caught, understand?”

Lily giggled manically as she clambered up after James, tossing the cloak over her shoulders but leaving her head out, seeming to float in the air behind him.

“So what happens if we do get caught by Mr. Filch?” she whispered as they descended into the entrance hall. “I hear that he likes to torture late night wanderers with thumb screws and the, er, Iron Maiden. Or something.”

“Those are just First Years’ stories,” James answered curtly. “If you get caught, you get Detention. It’s usually something tedious and disgusting. But it is true that if Filch had his way, it would be loads worse.”

“So what are we doing?” she pressed, following so closely behind him that she bumped him as they turned a corner. “Is it dangerous? Are there bad Slytherins involved? Does Albus know about them? Maybe we should get him to come along as well, eh? I hear their dormitory is right under the lake, with windows that look up into it. Ooh! Can we go look?”

“Lil, shut it, will you?” James hissed back at her. “This isn’t a bloody pleasure cruise! I can’t hear anything with you yammering away at me!”

“What are we listening for?” She breathed, unperturbed. “Are we following somebody? That’s it, isn’t it!”

“Shhh!”

They stopped as they neared the old rotunda. Torches flickered there, filling the round room with orange light. From the corridor, James could see the broken remains of the ancient founders’ statue. Shadows seemed to move on the wall.

“Someone’s in there!” Lily whispered shrilly in James’ ear, clutching his shoulder again.

He shook his head. “It’s just the torchlight flickering. There’s nobody--”

The words caught in his throat as a pair of dark figures darted past the broken statue. The figures were robed from head to toe, hiding their shape and size. A moment later, a push of cool, misty air ruffled the tapestries in the corridor. Unseen, the rotunda door creaked slightly, then clunked shut.

“You were saying?” Lily whispered.

James shook his head. “Stay close, and stay under the cloak,” he instructed. “If there’s trouble, you come straight back and try to raise Dad by Floo. If we’re lucky, he’s watching all of this on the Marauder’s Map anyway.”

Lily nodded. “Hi dad,” she whispered with giddy nervousness.

Together, they crept toward the rotunda. James realized he had his wand in his hand, having instinctively reached for it the moment he saw the mysterious figures. That was probably overkill, of course. It was probably just Scorpius and another student; a Slytherin, perhaps. Still, James couldn’t quite bring himself to pocket his wand again, or even to lower it from the alert, defensive position, held out before him, pointed low.

The rotunda was ruddy orange with torchlight. The broken statue, showing only the feet and lower legs of the founders, cast a dancing shadow high up onto the walls. Across from it, the huge, ancient double doors looked a hundred feet high.

James stopped, suddenly feeling cold to his toes.

“Lil,” he whispered without turning. “You need to go back. You shouldn’t be here.”

I can’t,” Lily answered stubbornly, pressing up against James again, peeking over his shoulder.

“I’m serious,” James insisted, turning to look back at her. “This is no place for you. You’re too young. You barely know which end of your wand points out, much less how to use it. It isn’t safe.”

“I’m serious, too, James!” she whispered, and James saw that his sister’s face had gone very pale. “I can’t go back by myself unless you come with me.”

James understood. She was frightened. With the appearance of the mysterious robed figures, the adventure had turned from a harmless midnight romp into an all-too-real danger. Lily was frightened to retreat back through the huge castle all alone on a stormy night. Remembering what had happened to him on first night, James could not blame her.