The light of the full moon shown on Lily's bedspread. She outstretched her hand, casting shadows in the moonlight. It must've been very late for the moon to be shining in her window.
The boys must be out at the Shrieking Shack tonight, she thought, turning onto her other side. A year ago they trusted her with their biggest secret: they all were animagi who kept Remus company when his lycanthropy overtook him.
Lily had assumed Remus was a werewolf for quite some time, but wasn't completely sure until he admitted everything to her one night when they were on prefect duty. She thought no less of him, though most people would. He was still the same, caring friend she'd always had.
It wasn't until recently that she counted the other three boys as friends. James and Sirius had always just been a nuisance, with Peter following their every move. After the whole ordeal in their fifth year, James hadn't even attempted to speak to Lily until she initiated conversation. They sat next to each other all year in sixth year potions. It was small talk at first. A simple "pass me that vile" or "how was the quidditch match?"
Soon, they began talking more and even spending time together outside of the class. Before she knew it, she was close friends with the four boys. They really weren't so bad. They didn't bully anymore or belittle anyone. They'd grown up.
As Lily lie in bed, her mind drifted back to her previous best friend, Severus Snape. He'd changed as well, but not for the better. He'd chosen dark arts over their friendship. He cast her aside for a tattoo and a vicious new group of mates.
She'd never admit it, but it still hurt. It still clawed at her heart a little bit every day. The fact that he so easily cast her aside. Called her the worst of names in front of everyone.
You'll never fall asleep thinking about sad things, Lily reminded herself. She was having issues falling asleep. Perhaps it was the excitement of the impending Christmas Holiday. She wasn't sure, but she wished more then anything that she could relax enough to sleep.
Think of something nice, she told herself.
She felt herself blush as she thought of what had happened a few night ago.
Lily had stayed up in the common room, studying for an Arithmancy exam. The boringness of the book had gotten the best of her, and she was soon reclining on the couch quickly falling asleep.
It was then she heard the portrait door open. She opened her eyes just a bit, and saw that it was James. He'd been going out at night to work on his quidditch skills for the upcoming match against Slytherin.
Unable to keep her eyes open, she dropped them shut. His footsteps creaked on the floorboards as he came closer. Lily heard him smirk a bit, and then heard the rustle of fabric. He lowered the fabric onto her. It was his quidditch robe.
"Goodnight, Evans," he whispered with a laugh in his voice.
Then he leaned down and kissed her cheek.
Lily tried her hardest not to show any expression. She thought it would be best if she kept pretending to be asleep.
The next morning, she saw him and the three other boys at breakfast. She sat next to James, giving him a small smile. She thought he wasn't going to say anything about the previous night. For a moment, she thought she'd imagined it.
Then he leaned into her ear and whispered, "By the way, I'd like my robe back sometime." He winked.
Lily smiled as she lie in her bed thinking of the memory.
Then something grabbed her shoulders and shook her vigorously. She tried to cry out, but something blocked her mouth. It felt like a hand, but she couldn't see anything there.
"It's me!" Hissed the phantom, who sounded remarkably like Sirius Black. Then, as if a sheet were pulled off of him, he appeared in front of her. "Please don't scream. I need your help. It's James. He's...injured. I wouldn't be coming to get you but it's really bad."
Sirius took his hand off of her mouth and she finally got a chance to look at him. Under his eyes were black rings, and his pale skin glistened with sweat. Perhaps it was the moonlight, but Lily could almost swear that there were tears in his eyes.
Lily thought of her father. He was a doctor, a muggle doctor, but a healer all the same. She'd grown up knowing how to help injured people.
"Just let me grab some things," Lily said. She stepped out of her bed and pulled the crimson and gold sweater that was lying on the floor over her nightgown. Lily stepped into some black shoes and grabbed a small brown hand bag. From her cabinet, she took tissues, tweezers, her wand, bandages, and a small vile of essence of dittany. "What happened to him?" Lily closed the bag, and followed him out the door.
Sirius's pace was very fast. Lily had to sprint to keep up, "Some kid was out after hours. Moony smelt him and went mad trying to go after him. Prongs tried to fight him to keep him inside, but Moony just clawed him all down his body. It was really deep. No bites though, thank Merlin. Prongs turned back into James and...it was awful. I took him to one of the upstairs rooms and locked him in and came for you." Sirius ran faster once they exited out of the portrait.
"Why me?" Lily breathed.
"Because you're smart and your dad's a muggle doctor. I thought you could help."
"Sure," Lily said, but she wasn't sure how much she could do. She'd never even tried to heal someone before. How could she deal with werewolf scratches? Something else was bugging her, "How's you get up to my room in the first place? Boys can't get into the girls corridors."
He held up a wadded up piece of fabric, "Invisibility cloak. It's James's. I'd say we wear it now, but it really only fits one. We should just run for it."
Run they did. They ran so fast that Lily thought he lungs may burst. She only hoped that they were running fast enough. She needed to get to James. She needed to help him. Worry flooded all through her body.
"The passageway is here," Sirius ducked behind a statue and Lily followed. They used their wands to illuminate a trail. Soon, they were outside on the Hogwarts grounds, near the Whomping Willow.
Lily backed away, leery of the tree. Some boy in Ravenclaw had gotten a proper beating from the tree for coming to close a few years ago. He was in the hospital wing for weeks.
Sirius ran off to a thicket of trees, leaving Lily alone and confused. He soon rushed back, holding a large stick. Lily, befuddled, watched as he moved close to the willow, reached out the long stick, and poked something.
The effect was instantaneous. The tree ceased motion, as if frozen in time.
"So that's how you..." She began, but Sirius grabbed her wrist and dragged her along as he ran to a tunnel underneath the Whomping Willow. The tunnel was long and damp and Lily had to hunch over for it was so small. Eventually, they reached a few stairs and Lily heard horrifying noises coming from above. She knew that they belonged to Remus. He was the shrieking in The Shrieking Shack.
"Okay," Sirius whispered, looking at the trap door above him. "I'll distract Remus and get him to go outside for a moment. Once I do, you need to run upstairs and find James. First room on the right. Just undo the chain lock and go in. Bar the door with something." Lily nodded, her heart pounding. She knew how fearsome werewolves were. They were wild animals, ready to attack anything in their way.
She just hoped she wasn't something in the way.
"Here," Sirius slipped off the long black jacket he'd been wear and draped it over her shoulders. "Put this on and it should disguise your scent." He took a deep breath, "Are you ready?"
Lily put her arms the ought the sleeves, "Yes."
"All right," She watched as he hunched over and morphed into a large, black dog. He barked gruffly, as if saying "Go!" And bounded through the trap door. Lily wasted no time and ran up as well, her eyes darting around frantically for the staircase.
Wait. Sirius had said to wait. No time to change course now, Lily found the stairs and ran up them furiously, finding the first door on the right, undoing the lock and barging in.
She saw James on the floor, a pool o blood around him. He's dead. I'm too late.
No, not dead, he gave a quiet moan from his spot on the ground. Newfound hope growing inside, Lily grabbed a chair and pushed it up under the handle, hoping that would bar the door enough.
"Evans?" James's mumbled. "Am I dead?"
"No yet, Potter," She went to his side and crouched down, examining him. She couldn't tell much, but he didn't look good. His white shirt was nearly shredded and cover in crimson blood. The skin she could see was messy and bloated. "Blimey, James..."
His hazel eyes looked up at her, "Why are you here?" He strained to speak.
"Sirius brought me."
"Sirius brought you here? I'm gonna kill him."
"Well, you have to not die first," Lily said. She probably should've disinfected her hands or something, but she hadn't brought anything that would do that. A ruddy healer you are. "You have to take your shirt off."
"What?" James sputtered. "No, I..."
"Merlin, Potter, of all the times for you to finally be modest!" Her tone was meaner than she thought it would be. "Take the damn shirt off."
"Blimey, okay," He tried to reached to get the buttons, but howled in pain instead.
He can't move. It hurts for him to contract his muscles.
"I'll get it," Lily said, slowly reaching down her hands. Her hands touched the warm blood, and she tried not to retract in disgust. No, I need to focus. Your dad isn't scared of blood. Be brave. James moaned in pain as she pealed the fabric off of his wounds. She wasn't sure whether to do it quickly or slowly, so she tried both.
James tried to laugh, but it sounded like a whimper, "Never thought you'd try to undress me, Evans."
Lily scowled at him, "Not the time to make a move on me, Potter. Do it again and I will laugh at you as you bleed to death."
"Merlin's pants, Lily, you'd be a horrible healer."
"Shut up." She finally removed all of the shirts and was able to fully access the wounds. It appeared to be three long scratched down his chest. They were all puffy and red, and still leaking blood. She's have to clean the sounds before applying anything. Lily got out her wand. "This won't hurt," she said. "Aquamenti." Water came out the tip of her wands and splashed onto her chest. James gave a sharp cry of pain, but the blood washed away, giving Lily a relatively clean surface.
"You said..." He panted, "that it would hurt."
"Yeah, well, I lied." Lily splashed water on her own hands, removing the blood. She dug into her bag and took out the dittany. In a swift movement, she bit off the cap and filled up the stopper. "This will sting." With her fingers, she squeezed out the dittany and dropped it slowly over the scars. James squirmed a bit, but did not cry out. As she dropped the brown liquid, his skin began to heal before her eyes and a yellow smoke was emitted. After several careful dropper-fulls, she used up all the dittany and James's scars were no more. Just thin, pink lines across his skin.
He looked tired, and Lily assumed he'd fallen asleep. She used her wand to clean the rest of the blood that had pooled on the floor and soon removed the most of it.
"Feel better?" Lily capped her empty vial and stuck it into her bag. James nodded slowly. "You better. I used up all my dittany on you."
"That's what mates are for," James mumbled, and Lily laughed a bit. The scars on his chest were healing very well. They almost seemed several days old already. "I'm glad we're mates, Evans."
"You're just saying that because I saved your life," She teased.
"No," he placed his hands flat on the floor and pushed himself up. Lily offered a hand for help but he shook his head. "I'm saying that because I prefer us being mates than you hating me."
Lily leaned against an old bed that was in the room, "Well, you deserved it."
"I know," James said, smiling weakly. He sat closely next to her. Lily felt a warmth growing in her stomach. "I was terrible."
"Yes. You were."
He laughed again, but Lily didn't know why. Suddenly, he got very serious. "And I'm sorry about what I did in fifth year. That was...a dick move. Really."
"Thank you," Lily said quietly. "For apologizing, I mean." She shifted a bit, "Where's all this coming from?"
"I don't know," James adjusted his glasses. The frames were badly cracked. "I guess near death experiences change you."
"Your glasses are broken," Lily took out her wand and fixed them without a second thought.
"Thanks," James said, pushing them up the ridge of his nose. "You know, you're the coolest girl I know."
"Flattery gets you no where." He laughed heartily. Lily smiled, "Don't laugh too hard, you'll hurt yourself."
James flicked his hair, an annoying habit of his. She made a point of rolling her eyes. "See, you're not like other girls. You never have been."
"I know. I don't worship you," her voice was heavy with sarcasm. "A novel concept, really."
James smirked, "See, you're snarky and mean to me. I don't know why, but I like that more than giggling and flirting." He nudged her arm, "You're cool, Lily."
"Oh, you didn't call me Evans, you must be serious," her voice was teasing, but she looked at him a saw how serious he was. Suddenly, she became keenly aware of how close they were. And that he was shirtless. "Anyway," she turned away from his intense gaze. "You're pretty cool too, Potter. You know, when you're not ticking me off or treating me like a damsel in distress."
"I think I'm the damsel in distress this time."
They both exploded into laughter, leaning into each other for support. The warmth inside of her started to grow into a burning flame. She wished she could freeze time right here and stay in this moment forever.
Then they heard a fierce howl from the bottom of the stairway and all of the good feeling left her in an instant.
"I'll change into Prongs and-"
"No," Lily whispered. "You're not strong enough yet."
They sat there in silence until the howling stopped. Hoping that Moony wouldn't come upstairs. Hoping that Sirius would keep him at bay.
Finally, it ended. Lily realized that sometime during the howling, she'd grabbed James's hand.
"Sorry, I..." She mumbled, trying to take back her hand. He didn't let go.
James smiled at her, "No, I like it."
Lily couldn't think of anything clever to say so she just smiled.
"This has been an interesting night, hasn't it," James said.
"Yes," Lily nodded. She nudged his arm, "Makes me glad we're mates."
James clenched his jaw a bit, "I don't...really want to be mates, Lily."
"Oh," Lily said quietly, not really knowing what he meant. "Well, erm-"
"No, no," James shook his head quickly. "I didn't mean that. I mean..." He turned to look at her. "I don't want to be just mates."
Lily hadn't fully processed what he was saying. What he meant. She'd never heard him sound so true...so honest. James wasn't acting like the egotistical, charismatic boy he usual was. Lily didn't really know what to do.
She realized he was leaning into her, and she was leaning towards him as well.
Their lips met, and Lily's whole body tingled with some strange new energy. She reached up her hand and gingerly touched the side of his face. James's hand was on her waist.
Lily wasn't sure how long they kissed, but eventually they pulled away from each other.
James smiled, "I've waited seven years to do that."
Lily giggled. A giggle? That was new.
He kissed her again, "I guess we're going to be up here for a while."
Lily squinted at him, "Don't get any funny ideas, Potter."
He laughed, "Oh, never, Evans."
His kiss made the bubbles inside of her overflow.