Little Riddle | James Potter

Three

A panther ran loose on the Hogwarts grounds as it clashed on a vicious fight with a werewolf. And the sight was certainly one to behold. Alexis, already fully transformed into her animagus form, tried to keep Remus beneath her but to no avail. The werewolf kept pushing and scratching, desperately trying to free himself from beneath her weight. She had become so overwhelmed by the mere shock of it all that she managed to numb herself out as she battled the ferocious beast. There was a fog of disbelief clouding her mind, making her wonder if this was truly even happening. Of course, the many scratches and bruises would serve as proof later on.

She could see James and Sirius regain some of their strength from the corner of her eye, which filled her with relief considering her one-on-one tactics with the werewolf weren't having a successful outcome. Desperately trying to come up with a plan, she bit down on Remus and tried to pull him into the forest and as far from the Hufflepuffs as she could. James quickly caught up with her plan and rushed to her aid, he then began using his antlers to push the werewolf further inside the woods.

The fight continued for what felt like long arduous hours until finally, all energy seemed to drain out of the beast, causing it to tumble around dizzily until it eventually fell over unconscious, and in the blink of an eye, a teenage boy took the spot the werewolf had been occupying. Soon after, the stag and the panther that had been silently surveying the boy returned to their human form, standing with pure astonishment as they tried to process the situation. Alexis was unnerved, utterly unnerved, the reality of what had just happened beginning to sink in. She could feel the panic making its way up her throat, choking her, causing her eyes to well up and her breathing to become uneven.

She could've died. She could've seriously injured Remus. She could've killed him. She could've accidentally killed any of the other boys. She was a panther, for God's sake, and although she was quite small compared to a regular-sized panther, that didn't make her attacking technique any less deadly. After successful controlling her breathing, her senses began to return and the images became clearer. And there he was, the protagonist of the night, looking worse than she'd ever seen him. Just the sight of Remus filled Alexis with dread and guilt.

And then her gaze landed on James, and it reminded her that a stag could not take a beating quite like a panther and a werewolf could. His temple was bleeding, and so were his arms, and his neck, and probably many other body parts that weren't in her line of view. He was standing, though, which was a positive sign. He too was looking at his surroundings in a lost trance, scrutinizing Remus' slumped figure in disbelief. This had been a first for him. He'd fought werewolf Remus before, but never like this, never for hours and never so brutally. As if on cue, James and Alexis locked gazes, expressing the fear and overwhelming emotion they felt with just a look in their eyes.

"It's alright. It's all over now." He murmured solemnly, pulling her closer and into his arms in a protective manner. His voice was soothing, its raspiness luring her into a state of complete peace. So calming, it was the last thing she heard before she fell unconscious.

The hospital wing had an incredibly peculiar smell that was easy to distinguish, that odd mixture of herbs and potions. She didn't even need to open her eyes to know where she was, the mere smell gave it away. Her body felt sore yet there was no agonizing pain, which was a good start after having spent the night battling a werewolf. She opened her eyes ever so slowly, expecting to see the white ceiling and feel the bright lights burning her eyes, but instead, she was met with a pair of hazel eyes that startled her at first.

"I told you-you were going to scare her," Sirius' hoarse voice told James from somewhere in the room. Alexis didn't bother looking for him, her eyes remained glued to James' face, which hadn't moved in the slightest. His eyebrows furrowed as he continued to inspect her face from his close proximity, and that's when she became overly conscious about how small the distance between their faces was, which was something she didn’t feel particularly comfortable with.

"Do I look that bad?" She commented playfully, bringing her hands to her face to hide the heat creeping up her cheeks.

He gave her his most charming smile, one she had never noticed nor cared for before, but that was hard to ignore now given the circumstances. "Hideous," he joked, earning himself a light shove from the girl. He cackled as he made his way back to what she assumed was his assigned bed.

She now took the time to assess the situation surrounding her. The five of them were the only ones present in the room, with the matron herself being nowhere in sight. The injuries on her body, which mostly consisted of bruises and cuts, were to be expected and did not look all that alarming. James and Sirius shared the same level of injuries, not quite as lucky as Alexis but nothing critical either. Sirius had gotten a long cut above his right eyebrow which, in her opinion, gloriously added to his bad boy persona. James looked beat up and could easily claim he’d gotten into a brutal fistfight, but even Alexis had to admit there was something so alluring about the way his injuries suited his egotistical mannerisms, turning him into the bad boy novels warned young girls about. Peter was the most unharmed of the lot, which was to be expected. If he was in the hospital wing it was most likely because of exhaustion rather than actual injuries. And then there was Remus, his appearance looking more sickly than how he did back in the forest. The aftermath of the full moon plus the beating he took resulted in what was possibly the worst Remus Lupin had ever looked.

Remus and Alexis locked gazes, a distraught look in their eyes, before erupting into a blabbering mess that consisted mainly of “I'm sorry” and “I could've killed you.” Their words got lost as they spoke over each other, but the overall message was delivered and the sentiment understood: that had been a night to forget.

"Alright, we get it, you're both sorry," Sirius waved his hand dismissively before placing a finger over his lips, "now can you just - shhh."

"There is an elephant in the room we need to discuss," James stated with an oddly serious tone.

"Peter is not that fat," whispered Sirius.

"--A panther, Alexis Riddle?! A bloody panther?!" James ignored Sirius' comment and focused his undivided attention on Alexis instead.

"I felt so pathetic when I saw you turn into your animagus," muttered Sirius. "I used to feel proud of my black dog. Used to being the key words."

"Yeah, it's pretty pathetic."

"Shut up, Peter, you're a rat."

"I'm flattered by the compliments, really," she replied unfazed, sitting up straighter and throwing her legs over the side of the bed, "but I'd rather be on my way out than staying here, smelling like herbs and shit."

"Madam Pomfrey hasn't told us to leave," said James, looking at her with a confused frown between his eyebrows.

"Oh," she stood up and began to make her way out, waving goodbye to the four boys, "have fun waiting for her, then."

They followed her with their gaze until she was eventually out of view. It was Sirius who spoke up first, saying, "it really does smell like herbs in here." With a sigh, James threw the covers to the side and ran after the defiant girl with the other three Marauders following in tow.

"So," Sirius began after they had regrouped, walking through the deserted corridors while most students ate their lunch at the Great Hall, "anyone up for that duel - say - tomorrow?"

"I didn't know you wanted to be back in the hospital wing so quickly," Alexis teased, earning herself a slight push from the lad.

"Please, Riddle, you have to let go of the past and begin coming to terms with the fact that I'm going to beat you this time around," he lazily draped his arm around her shoulders as they walked side by side.

She then felt another arm being draped around her, which unsurprisingly enough belonged to James. She was now being squeezed in between the two significantly taller boys. "I haven't forgiven you for disarming me in like 5 seconds back then, eh," James smirked, "I almost lost my street credibility."

"Oh, bummer," she feigned a pout right before escaping their grasp and walking ahead of them.

"You never had any street credibility, James," Remus commented matter-of-factly.

"How would you know, Mr I Always Stutter When Talking To My Crush," James retaliated before comically portraying an impression of Remus, "H-hey, Cat-Catherine, I was wondering if you could-if you could-maybe-pass me the salt?"

Remus smacked the back of James' head with an adorably ashamed expression in his face. "You're both right," Sirius added, "I've never seen Remus form a coherent sentence whenever he's speaking to Catherine, and James' parents' names are Fleamont and Euphemia. That tells you everything you need to know about his street credibility," he animatedly explained to Alexis, his hands buried in his pockets and his infamous smug grin decorating his lips.

She shook her head with an amused smile playing on her lips. The boys' constant bickering followed her to the Great Hall until they eventually parted ways, they went on to sit with their fellow Gryffindors, their arrival receiving a lot of attention, while she took a seat at the very end of the Slytherin table, as far from her brother's pestering followers as she could. Her gaze remained glued on the boys, observing their light-hearted demeanour and playful ways with amusement.

You see, Alexis Riddle had never been a particularly friendly person. Hidden in her brother's shadow, people rarely attempted to reach out to her, and she never felt the need to reach out either. Her condition made friendships and such appear valueless and weak, but there was something about the Marauders, something that looked promising.