Dorea had been the first in the room and had caught the final words that Harry spoke and she became fraught with worry, not wanting Harry to get himself in any further trouble.
"Harry please don't" she called weakly.
Harry ignored her and continued his interrogation.
"It was Snape" Rudolphus gasped. "He used a curse that he invented" he added frantically.
"What curse?" Harry demanded. "I don't know, but he said it won't stop bleeding until it's countered" he choked out.
Harry felt his rage boil over; so the bastards had tried to kill him.
The end of his wand began to singe the skin between Rudolphus's eyes and he hissed in pain.
Dumbledore made an attempt to step forward but he was stopped by the firm grip of Charlus who drew his wand as he pulled the headmaster back.
"You will not intervene" he hissed. "Your lack of inaction has caused this and it is now a family matter, do not make me curse you" he threatened.
"Harry" Dorea called again. "Please stop, he told you what you wanted to know, please, do it for me" she pleaded. Harry looked towards the woman and swallowed deeply, he didn't want to upset her anymore than she was.
"You are very lucky that my mother is here" he whispered to Rudolphus as he turned back to face him.
He pulled the boy closer so they were almost nose to nose before he spoke again.
"But if you even look at my brother in a way I don't like again, I will fucking flay you alive, got it?" he questioned the boy.
Rudolphus swallowed deeply and whimpered before nodding his understanding.
"Good" Harry growled and let the boy fall to the ground where he shook uncontrollably.
He then made his way around the Slytherin table, the occupants avoiding him as he did so and roused Snape, dragging the boy to his feet and leading him towards the door. "You may want to get the other LeStrange some help" he suggested to Dumbledore. "Still think he can be redeemed after firing that curse?" he added irritably.
Dumbledore recognised the curse immediately and managed to counter it in time for it to not cause too many problems. A few days in the hospital wing and a few Blood Replenishing Potions would be sufficient.
'Definitely more to him than meets the eye' Bellatrix mused, completely in shock by what she had seen.
(BREAK)
The next few days were particularly trying for Harry, his family and friends as they waited for James to regain consciousness.
Snape had grudgingly applied the counter curse and had had his wand confiscated, only to allowed to have it for his lessons and had been given detention every night for the rest of the year.
Harry himself had received a months worth of detention but he did not care. All he cared about was that James was safe, nothing else mattered to him right now.
It seemed that everyone in Gryffindor had been to visit the boy and all seemed to be handling Harry's outburst better than he had anticipated, most claiming that had he not done what he did then James probably would have died.
They understood that he had been emotional and probably would not have acted in the way he did under normal circumstances, still seeing him as the ever-polite boy he had always been to them all.
It was on the third day that James finally woke and looked at all of those gathered with a frown. "I didn't miss Christmas did I?" he asked worriedly.
"James, it's only November" Dorea explained.
"So we're still on then?" he questioned looking towards the rest of the Marauder's.
"On for what exactly Mr. Potter?" McGonagall asked suspiciously.
"Nothing Professor, are you sure he's not delirious?" Sirius asked the matron.
Harry breathed a sigh of relief and simply fell asleep in the chair he was sat in and had refused to leave for the past few days.
The rest of November passed without any further incident; it seemed as though the Slytherin's that had been causing problems had been suitably cowed, for now.
It took a few weeks for James to be fit enough to leave the hospital wing due to how much damage had been done to him courtesy of the curse and everyone agreed that even though Harry had acted rather rashly, he had done the right thing.
But thankfully things had turned out well in the end and Harry had completed his assigned detentions with Filch. The man had attempted to have Harry clean out the bathrooms without the use of magic, even resorting to confiscating his wand to ensure that it was done. Harry however simply used his spare wand to complete the task and spent the rest of the time reading and adding new spells to his already impressive arsenal.
As November gave way to December the weather outside the castle seemed to have changed overnight, from blustery winds and sporadic rainfall to near blizzard conditions that would see the braver of the students spending their time having snowball fights and the more discernible avoiding the treacherous conditions as much as possible. Professor Merrythought, a man well known for his love of the outdoors, had even postponed outside lessons due to the poor weather and instead opted to have the class study inside where he would bring along a selection of much more delicate creatures for them to study.
All in all things had settled into a peaceful routine for the occupants of the castle and many were looking forward to spending time with their families in the upcoming holidays that would be starting the very next day.
Harry was among those that craved time away from the castle, something he had never expected to desire, but the time at Hogwarts leading up to the festive period had been stressful and difficult for the most part and he was certainly in need of a break away where he could spend time with the other Potters and not have to be on guard continuously.
Before that could happen however, there was one last thing that needed to be done before the Marauder's could leave and that was the prank they had been planning since arriving at the castle.
The tedious leg work had been done as they had tirelessly planned and put all of the finishing touches on to the details and all they could do now was wait, and hope that it was once again taken in the spirit that it was intended; it was only a bit of fun after all.
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