The auburn doe raced past the trees, enjoying the freedom it had.
When it was midnight, with the moon full above the forbidden forest, the doe stopped. She moved to the edge of the trees and sighed. Another
night gone. She transformed into her real self, that of Lily Evans. "Why did midnight have to come so fast?" she murmured. Vividly remembering
the past couple hours only made her mourn the loss of tonight even more.
Almost up to the castle, Lily looked around one last time. The forest looked sad now without her. Oh well… Wait! There was a howl and the
sudden pounding of hooves. Turning towards the sound, she saw a majestic stag, a shaggy black dog, and a werewolf. Wait! What?!? A
werewolf? On Hogwarts soil? Lily was beginning to consider not coming into the forest tomorrow. The stag left the group of beasts and trotted
up to the stairs, not seeing Lily. He transformed into…James Potter? Lily was going to freak out now. However, she never got to. The werewolf
sensed a human other than James and started sprinting towards Lily. All she remembered was that she heard running feet and then…blackness.
A couple days later, she found herself to be in the hospital wing. As she stirred, she heard a crash and someone cursing. "Bloody chair!"
someone muttered fiercely. Could that be..? No. But…. Then Lily's thoughts were confirmed when Sirius Black came running in to the hospital
wing. "Is Lily up yet, Prongs?" he asked, "You haven't eaten for several hours!" James, aka Prongs, sadly replied," I don't know. She moved but
hasn't opened her eyes." He sounded terrible. Lily suddenly felt terrible. 'James has been waiting for me to awaken?' she thought. 'But why?' She
tried to move but felt that she couldn't. She tried talking but she might as well try moving again. She then decided to open her eyes. Once open, the scene in front of here was surprising. James was sitting with his head in his hands, with an extremely disturbing expression on it…loss. Sirius
was worried, staring at his 'brother'. Right then, Remus came into the hospital wing with a bouquet of flowers. "Ummmm….either of you noticed
that Lily has her eyes open?"
"Stop trying to make me feel better, Remus. I know that she won't open her eyes again," James whispered, trying to hold back tears. "No, she
really has her eyes open and is looking at you, Prongs!" Sirius directed James to look at Lily. "Oh my god," James nearly fainted," Lily, you're
alright!" Yes, I'm all right, Lily thought, just listening to you acting as if I were dead. However, Lily didn't seem to mind. After a few days in the
hospital wing gave her a new outlook on life, and she had come to realize that, in spite of the past six years, she still came to like James Potter.
And not just a little but quite a lot.
Madame Pomfrey bustled in and shooed everyone out. Sirius and Remus went out for dinner. James almost didn't leave, and did so reluctantly.
He stared at Lily a while at the door with the look still in his face and finally left. "He brought you in, you know." Lily gave a start. "That James
Potter carried you in and said you were attacked by something," Pomfrey said, "I won't ask what you were doing outside on a night such as
Saturday, but you shouldn't do that, dear." Lily was not listening. She was thinking about Potter and how he had saved her. Potter was that stag.
Potter saved me from Remus, who probably had no idea what he was doing, as he was a werewolf. Lily went to sleep confused and happy.
The next day, Lily was free to go from the hospital wing. Ahhhh….sweet bliss! Lily thought. Turning on the staircase and heading towards the
Gryffindor common room, she stopped in front of the Fat Lady. "Password?" the Fat Lady requested. Oh no. The password has changed! Lily
thought frantically. Behind her, footsteps were heard. "Allow me, Lily. Rectus Lilium!" (A/N: Rectus Lilium means to guide the lily)
Lily turned around and stared into hazel eyes. James Potter stood there, mesmerizing her with his brown eyes. He reminded her of the forest in
the late afternoon. She now longed to run now more than ever. "Lily?" James was waving his hand in her face. "Lily Evans?" "Hello! Earth to
Evans!" That snapped her out of her trance. She hated having her surname used by any one other than the teachers. "What?" she questioned.
"Will you join me tonight by the lake?" James asked. Why not? Lily replied, "Why not?" James sighed with relief, "Great, see you tonight!" And
with that he left.
Later that night, she made her way down to the stairs of Hogwarts. James was waiting for her by the lake. She walked over to him. "James?"
James stood and surveyed her, "Good. You look unhurt." Lily said, "I'm sure Remus did not mean anything by it." James nearly choked from pure
shock. "You knew?" he coughed. Lily nodded, "Since third year." Lily's gaze drifted from James and looked over at the forest. "James? Do you
know any Animaguses?" James looked suspiciously at her," No, why?" Lily sighed. "It is that…I am one and I want to go run on the grounds."
James relaxed. "Do you mind?" Lily asked. "No, not at all. In fact, I'll join you in a second," James said. Lily took a deep breath and went into her
doe form. A sudden gasp made her turn around. "Lily! Why..." James was shocked. Then he transformed into his white stag form, watched every
moment by Lily. Lily nuzzled James and they both ran into the forest together.
From then on, they were inseperable.
