Disclaimer: The ideas are mine, the characters are not.
Three short knocks on the door. A couple of seconds. Two more knocks. That was the code. Lily had arrived.
As soon as Remus opened the door, she jumped in his arms. They hadn't seen each other in many weeks. Ever since Dumbledore had given Remus an undercover task, the opportunities for them to see each other were few and far between. And that new anti-werewolf legislation passed by the ministry wasn't helping either.
Remus was always on the move. He sent Lily messages whenever he could. Dover, Newcastle, Inverness… He'd been all over the country for the past couple of months. But the messages were brief, and he could never say anything of substance, for fear of interception. But now Greyback's pack was passing by the village of Godric's Hollow and he couldn't pass the chance to see Lily. Even if it was only briefly.
She pulled him to the couch and they sat next to each other. She remarked on how pale and thin he was, and her notice she didn't look so great herself. The war was breaking them both. He told her about his assignment, about the places he'd seen, and the people he'd met. Then she told him about the order. About everything that had happened when he was away.
"Are you going to tell James or Sirius that you're in town?" she asked at some point. The three of them had had an argument several weeks ago, and they were all to proud to apologize first, or so it seemed…
"No," Remus answered firmly.
"I wish you all would let go of these arguments."
"I am not the one with a big mouth. James thinks he can say whatever comes to his mind—"
"I know, I don't think he was right to say those things to you…"
"You didn't tell them I was here, did you Lily?"
"No," she said, reaching out to hold Remus' right arm, "of course, I didn't," she assured him.
They looked each other in the eye.
He regretted the accusation tone in his voice earlier. Remus did not really need to ask Lily that question. He knew he could trust her.
"I'm sorry," he said, and his voice was almost a whisper.
Lily stroke his arm with her right hand. It was okay.
They had always been close. Well, no… not always. Their friendship had started in a most unusual way. They were colleagues for years at Hogwarts, but it took a long time for them to do more than exchange a few words… But then Lily found out his secret. She discovered he was werewolf.
She was supposed to be at a potions lecture, in the dungeons, but Lily stayed behind, in the common room when everyone else had left, and she watched as Remus got back to the boy's dormitory, although he did not notice she was there. James and Sirius had been on detention for the past couple of nights, and when they were not around there was nothing for Remus to do but to scratch himself and howl at the walls of the Shrieking Shack. He would throw the furniture on the walls, and when there was nothing that wasn't already broken around him, he would charge against the windows and doors himself, with the power of a dozen wild wolves. Then in the morning it was all over, and he could go back to being himself again.
Lily already had her suspicions by then… Remus didn't know the girls could walk into the boy's dormitory until he saw the redhead standing at his door. He was in bed, half sitting, half laying down, and he didn't have a shirt on. He pulled a sheet to cover his chest but she had already seen the cuts and bruises on his body. She confronted him. Told him what she knew. And eventually, he broke down and confessed to the truth.
But Lily's reaction was nothing like he would have anticipated. He looked away from the girl, but he didn't hear the sound of her footsteps walking away. Instead, she came closer, sat on the corner of the bed and used her wand to clean up his wounds. Then they talked to each other for a very long time, and that's how they became friends.
Later, Lily would tell Remus that she got the idea he might be a werewolf from someone else. That ghastly Slytherin boy she used to hang around with all the time. Severus Snape. But she didn't tell Snape the truth. Instead, she did what she could to dissuade him from that idea, and pretend the whole thing was utterly absurd. Remus didn't know that, but it was the first time Lily had kept something from her childhood friend. It was a big deal. Severus was everything she had.
As for Remus, he didn't tell the marauders about Lily either. For once, she didn't like the other boys very much. And then, he enjoyed having a friend that was only his. From his very first year at the school, all he had was the other Marauders. Lily had never had anyone but Snape. In a sense, they were both very lonely when they found each other. Remus was older – it had taken a while for Dumbledore to convince people at the Ministry of Magic that he could attend the School – and he appreciated having someone to talk to other than the boys. Lily appreciated finally having someone who was also a Gryffindor, someone who did not spend so much time around those sketchy characters in Slytherin. The ones who fantasized about serving the Dark Lord. They needed each other, and they fit well together.
Every month Lily helped Remus to recover after the full moon. They often studied together at the library, and helped each other with the school work. Even after they graduated, they saw each other all the time, and now that Remus was on the run, Lily was the only one he kept in touch with. The only thing tethering him to the world.
"To be honest, me and James are not exactly on our best moment either," she said, awakening him from his musings.
"What did he do this time?" Remus asked, and there was a noticeable note of anger in his voice.
Lily didn't answer. She shrugged and bit her lower lips. There was nothing new to tell, she thought… James was James.
It was Remus' turn to hold her hand and give it a little squeeze. She did not have to say anything. He knew Prongs exceedingly well. James was one of his best friends in the world, but he did have a big mouth, a large ego, and an unfortunate fondness for distasteful practical jokes. Remus was happy two of his best friends had gotten married, but sometimes he wondered if that had been the right thing. They were so different from one another... Everybody seemed to be rushing to get married because of the war… James seemed bored by a normal married life… Moreover, most of the time, Lily seemed so sad…
"I brought you this," Lily said, handling over a small pot as an excuse to change the subject.
Remus was pleased to discover it was a pot of chicken soup. He was starving.
"Mum taught us her recipe last winter," Lily continued, "I am getting good at it. I am better than Tuney I think."
"Have you been in touch with her?"
"Not really. She doesn't really… She doesn't understand magic. She's not ready yet."
She was being kind. From what Lily had told him, Remus had an entirely different mental image of her older sister. And there was absolutely nothing good about her. But Lily was trying. It was her only sister after all.
"This is wonderful," Remus said finally. "Thank you."
"How long are you staying this time?"
"Only another day or two," he said, "Greyback is heading North and Dumbledore wants me to go with him. Everyone else thinks I am a part of the pack now, but I don't think Greyback trusts me yet."
"Do you think he ever will?"
"I don't know. I am doing everything I can. Greyback is… evil… Most of the others are victims. They were turned when they were children. Some of them were cast away by their families. Greyback takes them in. He tells them they don't need to hide who they are. He teaches them to cherish the full moon. They turn in the middle of crowded streets and they take down everything that's on the way," Remus paused for a moment, "Sometimes I wonder if Dumbledore knows what he's asking of me."
"Do you really have to go? We could talk to Dumbledore…"
"He needs someone to watch Greyback… It's better if it's me."
"But it's not fair."
Remus dismissed her.
"I'm a werewolf. What's fair about that?"
Lily sighed
"I wish you didn't have to go."
"Even if I didn't have to follow the pack, I couldn't stay. Ever since the ministry passed that new anti-werewolf article, it's not safe to remain in the same place for more than a few days. Not for people like me, anyway. I have to keep moving. It's the only way to stop the ministry from tracking me."
"You could stay with us. We could hide you."
"No. It's too dangerous."
"I don't care about the danger."
"But I do." Remus said, and he looked at Lily straight in the eye.
"I really miss you Remus," she said.
Remus pulled her in for an embrace. Then she laid down on the couch placing her head on his lap.
"I miss you too, Lily…"
Remus was still holding her hand. They remained like that for a long time, neither of them uttering a word. They were scared. It was not that long ago that they heard about what happened to the Mckinnons. Marlene was about their age. And now she was time they stepped out of the house, every time they went on a mission for the Order, there was a chance they would not come back. Every day could be their last. And even if it wasn't, even it they somehow managed to survived this, what kind people would they be when it was over. After all they had seen… After all they had done. The thought about those things for a long time, about what was possible and impossible. What was true, and what was unimaginable. And when all of those thoughts were gone, only one thing was left.
How grateful they were for the here and now, and for the chance they had to spend a few more hours together.
A/N: I wrote this as an assinement for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments). It's late, and I didn't have a beta to check this fic, but I had not published any Harry Potter fics in a while, and I am glad to be back. Please review and let me know what you think