V E N I
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Pitch black darkness painted the vast, arched window of the classroom due to the late time. If she tilted her head ever so slightly towards the right - the glowing, white orb in the night sky could be seen through the tinted glass. As if an unknown artist had accidentally dropped an unexpected dot of ivory paint among the ebony, and it did not belong.

James occasionally sighed as he looked out the window and imagined what his friends were doing on the very grounds of Hogwarts. The full moon reflected onto the lens of his glasses, a small, insignificant (but so terribly significant to them) dot to the right of either eye.

To their astonishment and relief, Dumbledore's only punishment for the prank was two weeks' worth of detention. Part of Freya wondered if she would ever see the elderly wizard lose his temper. He always seemed to keep a level minded attitude, but held a certain natural authority in his voice.

The meeting in his office was a rather awkward explanation of muffins, plans, and spells. The man seemed quite surprised and skeptical about the rain from the ceiling. When they explained, he simply stated, "Well thank you for telling me that, Mr. Potter, you have made me realize our Great Hall's exquisite ceiling may need another enchantment or two."

Also surprisingly, not many students were angry over their prank. On the contrary, Mark Lydrenburg, a seventh year Ravenclaw, came up to her earlier that afternoon to compliment the prank. A fourth year Gryffindor even asked to be included next time.

The entire group that had been involved with the prank was assigned different detention locations for the following two weeks, but James and Freya were given an extra day for the muffin incident.

So there the two sat in the midst of different decorative trinkets and checklists as Slughorn surveyed the dishes they now polished.

Just as James used Slughorn's turned back as an advantage to make ridiculous faces with Freya in the freshly polished pot, a loud crash sounded from outside the borrowed, empty classroom.

"What was that?" The teacher questioned himself curiously.

Another loud bang filled the room and he turned to them, as if suddenly remembering their presence, "Merlin's beard! Too loud for thunder, don't you think?"

This time, a muffled scream travelled down the castle's corridors and James's hand maneuvered to his pocketed wand in the blink of an eye. Freya caught his gaze, and the boy took the pot off of his lap and stood from where he had been sitting cross legged on the floor.

"Definitely not thunder," he whispered and nudged his glasses further up the bridge of his nose out of habit.

A peck on the glass of the window that boasted the moon caused Freya to jump. To their relief, all that could be seen was an owl, with a piece of paper clenched inside its beak. Slughorn seemed to realize it was for him, and he unlatched the window slowly before pushing it up only enough to let the owl fly through.

A thud could be heard, though no one in the room knew the location of where the noises were coming from.

"Professor?" Freya asked as the teacher's eyes scanned the note, "Don't you think we should check on whoever screamed?"

"The scream," he repeated without notice, eyes still on the note. Finally, he placed the paper onto the windowsill beside the owl that had brought it. "I need you two to stay in this room. I mean it."

"Stay here?" Freya questioned as if it were a joke, her eyes strolled over to the letter and she pushed away the desire to cross the room and nosily grant the knowledge of the note upon herself.

Professor Slughorn nodded as his robust figure crossed the room with wand in hand, "That is what I said dear, and I meant it. No foolish pranks this time between you two. I will return soon. A spell will be placed over the door."

"What?" James exclaimed as the last preposterous sentence sunk into his mind, but the door clicked shut without any sort of answer from the man.

The pair turned to each other instantly before their gaze shifted at once to the folded piece of paper that was innocently placed on the windowsill beside the owl that had unknowingly delivered news of a large amount of drama. When James's eyes strolled back to his flaxen haired friend, she simply nodded to signify she to wanted to know the content of the note.

As James crossed the room and picked up the paper to skim his eyes across it numerous times with a shocked expression, Freya stood on her tiptoes in her converse in order to see the writing from behind James's shoulder.

Horace — No time to explain. School has been attacked it seems. Chaos on first floor. Calling for backup. Leave Potter and Bradberry in whatever room you are in for detention. Lock and protect spell. Taking them back to their tower is too risky. Please come down to help. — Minerva.

Freya's mouth opened as she scanned the hastily written note with astonishment. It was no doubt to her that the backup the woman mentioned was the Order of the Phoenix, and she numbly wished that since the two were honorary members, they would be permitted to help rather than stuck in some empty room for an unspecified amount of time. James seemed to be thinking the same thing, and as another bang echoed down the corridor, he sighed.

As soon as the deep exhale of breath sounded from the boy, he sat up instantly, and his glasses slid down the brim of his nose in the process. His eyes widened underneath the lens. All the while, the only word that escaped his lips was a loud mutter of, "Padfoot!"

The girl stared back, "What?"

"He's out there," James pointed to the window, "Merlin knows Moony can defend himself, it's a bloody full moon! But Wormtail and Padfoot . . . If the school is really being attacked they need to be warned. No one knows they're out of bed."

Even more worry than before coated over her azure eyes as she nodded in agreement.

"How do you propose we get out of here?" The girl questioned as James unsuccessfully tugged on the doorknob. They were indeed locked in, and although anyone else would have thanked the Professor for his attempts at protecting them, the two friends were filled with a bitter feeling.

"Back up," James replied, and before Freya could even step back, the boy ran straight into the door with all his might, but it still did not budge.

Typically, Freya rolled her eyes, "Great going. Now if you don't mind."

James jumped to his feet with a groan at the impact and backed away from the door just in time.

"Expulso!" The young witch shouted and the door burst off the hinges and fell to the outside corridor's floor with a crash.

The girl immediately dashed across the surface of the oak door and into the hall. "Now, there's a real reason to have detention. What are you waiting for?"

"Well now that the bloody door is on the floor I can't leave you in here!"

"You're mad if you thought I'd stay," Freya spoke in response and waved her hand to get him to follow her into the corridor.

James shook his head in disbelief, "Bradberry, I don't know what the hell is going on with you lately but I'm enjoying it."

The pair continued down the hallway towards the nearest exit of the castle, but as it came in eye distance, Freya's ear caught hold of the sound of footsteps. This was followed by a large bang that did not require good hearing to sense.

"Please tell me you brought the cloak," Freya whispered as their pace quickened and the exit became even nearer. It was only thirty-five steps or so away, and Freya focused only on it.

She took his silence as an ashamed version of answering "no."

Luckily, the two managed to cross the hallway without the aid of a cloak or even the shadows of a diverged hallway. The night swallowed them whole, and Freya's breathing became heavier, as if the night had truly developed them and it's melancholy stomach's hold left her no room to inhale.

"Alright, we tend to stay away from the entrances of the castle, as it could be dangerous. Let's check near the Whomping Willow."

Just as the two begun to pace across the grassy slopes of Hogwarts's grounds, a familiar voice called their name. One that made James's heart ache in alarm. One that neither friend wanted to hear out in a situation like this. One that belonged to Lily Evans.

"James? Freya?" Her voice inquired and the two searched for the face that paired with the vocals.

The bespectacled boy groaned, "Evans what the hell are you doing?"

The girl's voice sounded again, "Wait, I'll be down there in a second. I'm a few floors up."

In no less than a minute, Lily Evans appeared so instantly in front of them that Freya stumbled away. She was revealed underneath her boyfriend's invisibility cloak, which Freya instantly was thankful that James did not have it on him, despite her thoughts earlier. The redhead needed it much more than they had.

"To answer your question," Lily sighed and tossed him the cloak, "I was looking for you two. The school is under attack, you know. Mary is in the hospital wing, along with others. We snuck down because someone said Dumbledore called non staff members to help get the bloody Death Eaters out of the school, and we assumed they were part of the Order. When I realized how packed the place is, and how many people are injured, I grabbed the cloak and came to find you."

"Well that's great and all," James muttered sarcastically before taking the cloak she had handed him no less than two minutes ago and draping it over the two girls' shoulders, "But you two need to go back to the Common Room."

"Excuse me?" Freya scoffed and let the cloak slide off their shoulders and shoved it back into James's hands, "I'm perfectly capable of defending myself."

"I'm not saying you aren't! All I'm saying is that it would be much easier for me to turn into my animagus and go warn Padfoot myself. A bunch of Death Eaters won't attack a bloody deer!"

Although the two witches now saw his logic and even began to agree to the plan, it was far too late. Just as Lily reluctantly mumbled "fine!" a cackle sounded from their right. Before either student realized what was happening, a beam of light shot across the ground. Fast reflexes were key, and the trio ducked instantly and allowed the spell to hit a shrub behind them. The plant wilted before their eyes and it eventually withered into nothing.

James sighed, "Too late."

"Stupefy!" Freya said, her wand emitting the spell just in time, and the Death Eater shot backwards.

"Seriously," the Potter boy spoke, glasses slipping down his nose, "What the hell has gotten into you?"

The three now changed their pace to one of speed, and they made it to the Whomping Willow in no time. Though there was no sign of any of their friends, which was lucky, she supposed. Better than bumping into a werewolf.

"What the actual fuck are you doing here?" Peter exclaimed, shock seeping into his tone as he appeared suddenly beside them in his normal form, "James are you bloody mad? Why would you bring them here?"

The outburst surprised all three of them. It took a lot for the boy to speak towards James with such harshness, as he always looked up to the Marauder with glasses.

"Where's Padfoot?" He questioned, still out of breath from running around the hilly grounds.

"Over there," Peter pointed hurriedly off into the distance with disappointment at his friend, "He's trying to push back Remus alone so he doesn't attack you."

"Oh."

"Now please, for the love of all that is holy, answer my question so I know you aren't bloody insane. Merlin, I always knew you were off, Prongs, but this goes over the damn line. Do you realize Moony would beat the shit out of you if he realized you were incompetent enough to bring his bloody girlfriend out here in this shit? There better be a valid explanation because —"

A spell was shot at them from the distance, and Peter froze.

James raised his wand and shot back, all the while grinning at Peter, "Wormtail has finally snapped! And just in time! Do us a favor, would you? Let your anger out on the people trying to kill us rather than on me."

The short boy glanced between the friends and his eyes fell on the masked Death Eater that had fallen onto the ground due to Freya's stunning charm. The other that had just fired at them had disappeared somewhere, and all he knew to do was let out a deep sigh.

"Just one normal night," he whined and ducked under the tree to grab his wand from the passageway, "One normal night is all I'm asking for. I wouldn't even mind doing homework!"

"You befriended the wrong people then, Peter," Freya mumbled and turned in a circle with her wand pointed forwards. Ready, aimed, awaiting fire.

This time, the eerie quietness that had enveloped the grounds of Hogwarts like an unsteady fog was not peaceful whatsoever.

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AUTHORS NOTE:
ya girl wrote a cliff hanger
qotd: favorite month?
aotd: december