The Marauders' Future

46| What's Genocide?

Sooooo.... previous chapter's question was answered by -stxrology and Melon_Koala (gods, I'M PROUDDDDDD! And a shout out to you too for naming all the stars! I absolutely love them!)!!!!!!!!!!!!!

***

Remember that scary sensation of falling while you're half asleep and you jerk yourself awake? They're called 'Hypnic Jerks' and no one knows why they happen.

But James felt as though he had been falling for hours. And he was sure he wasn't half asleep.

Yes, James had dreams while he was out. He dreamt of a beautiful stag and of people he was sure were his friends and family. Jumping in and out of consciousness, James also dreamt about a cauldron shining in the dark and a beautiful figure - neither a boy nor a girl - stepping out of it.

If he had more dreams, he couldn't remember them.

James opened his eyes.

The room around him was empty, bathed in white - from the blankets to the windows. Soon, the white turned red, then blue, then green, and so on. He blinked a few times. What was happening?

"We had to give you drugs, James," Poppy said but James couldn't see her. He couldn't see anything except for the walls that kept changing colour. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying not to panic. "Relax," she said softly.

James wasn't dead. He was alive. He was going to see Harry again. He was going to see Harry again. He was going to see Harry again.

James opened his eyes, his head feeling clearer than earlier. He looked around the room, figuring out that he was in the hospital wing. A woman he noted as Madam Pomfrey sat on a chair not too far from him. He reached for his glasses, wanting a clearer view. She passed it to him. While her eyes showed concern for James, she managed a smile.

Once James had adjusted to the surroundigs, she spoke, "Do you want me to call your friends?"

James frowned. He knitted his brows and stared at Poppy. She - a very i-can-be-strict-when-it-comes-to-my-patients healer - was allowing James - who was not yet feeling well - to meet his friends. Wow. Nice trick, mademoiselle, but this wasn't going to work on James.

Okay, maybe it kind of did. He desperately wanted to see his friends, his family. James nodded, slightly defeated.

Madam Pomfrey walked out. Not a few seconds had passed when a bundle of students stumbled in. They froze on seeing James sitting on the bed.

"Hey," James smiled, making it as creepy as he could. Oh, you thought he was going to let go of his humour? Noh! Right now, he was 147 pounds of pale skin and fragile bone. Sarcasm was his only defence.

Sirius. Remus. Lupin. Harry. Lily. Hermione. Almost everyone he'd grown close to these past few months - except a few - were there. They gawked at James as though he'd grown a million noses.

"What can you hold without ever touching it?" James asked, annoyed by the annoying silence, making them all jump slightly. "Don't," Sirius warned, his eyes glimmering; like the silence before an oncoming grin. James grinned.

"A conversation," he answered himself.

"How long are you guys going to stand around my bed like a bunch of creepers?" James asked and quickly added, "Don't answer that. It's a rhetorical question."

Sirius smirked and the others sighed in relief while some - Lupin and Harry - laughed, the former being a surprise. "He's back," Remus sighed dramatically.

A smile broke out on each of their faces.

"What's the time?" James asked suddenly, feeling light-headed. The drugs were doing their job too nicely. He was sure he would faint any second now. Harry bit his lips, "It's a quarter past three."

James frowned. He looked at the windows, trying to see past the curtains, to see if there was any life peeking in through the window, but all he saw was a blue outline. Was this because of the drugs?

"Afternoon?" James asked. Sirius shook his head and James gaped at them all. "You should've rested."

It was midnight and the last thing James wanted to do was keep them up all night.

"And yet here we are," they synced as if they had practiced this earlier.

James smiled. Just as he was about to open his mouth, Madam Pomfrey stepped in yelling for them all to get out - except James, of course - so that he could rest and that they should do the same.

James nodded furiously and as the others grumpily walked out with angry frowns on their faces, James couldn't help but laugh. Just as he was about to sleep, Madam Pomfrey came back.

"That was a big stupid risk you took there, James Potter," she scolded, checking on Ron before grabbing the seat beside him.

Only then did James notice the sleeping boy.

James muttered an apology. She sighed, "We had to give you a sedate. To calm you down. Any other person would have died. You would have too, James. The Cauldron's magic does not like to play. What's due is paid, unless we reverse it, of course. And-"

"How am I still alive?" James reached to the question, not wanting to hear more praises of this... 'Cauldron'. Nonetheless, part of him knew the answer. Harry.
                                  
"We would've taken to you to St. Mungo's but it would've taken too long," she paused for a while, her face transmitting guilt. "Professor Snape helped, James. He who brewed a potion; The details, I'd rather them hidden. We had to give it to you. But the drug has its side effects. When you turn thirty, you will suffer from... a few side effects. So, I must warn yo-"

She stopped and blinked, realising something. James raised an eyebrow as if saying, Siriusly, Poppy?

"I'm gonna die before I turn as much as twenty-five," James teased lazily.

She nodded with her eyes wide and smiled a bit. A sad smile. James couldn't help but notice the tears forming in her eyes. "Sleep well, James," said Madam Pomfrey. "And never stop pranking."

So he did. He slept with a smile on his face.

***

In which book/movie did Snape do an unbreakable wow?