James's POV

I was sitting in the commons room one night in third year. I was joking around with Moony, Padfoot and Wormtail. It was the day before the full moon. Evans was in the corner pretending to be studying, but I knew she was listening to us. I happened to notice that she was also holding her book upside down. The others had not noticed this, but I wasn't about to point it out.

"So it's about that time of month eh, Moony?" Padfoot said, smiling evilly.

"Almost. So oare you planning on helping me with my furry little problem?" He replied, his grin widening.

"You know, It will be exactly one year since we changed tomorrow night." Wormy chimed in.

"We can celebrate our anniversary with a bang!" Moony said, enthusiastically.

None of them seemed to notice that I was unusually silent. I was panicking. Evans had been listening the whole time, and I knew she was about to figure it out. She was smart enough that If I made one wrong move, she would know. She would be even more suspicious if I intervened.

I hastily tried to change the subject. "So I'm pumped for the quidditch match against Slytherin."

"You know," said Wormtail, "The moon is especially bright tonight."

I heard a gasp from across the room. She had figured it out. My friends watched, horrorstruck, as Lilly ran out of the room. A look of panic on my face, I turned to them.

"I got this." I ran out of the commons after her.

Thank god I had the map with me. I pulled it out and frantically looked for her. I found her in an empty classroom down the next hallway. Typical Evans.

I stopped right outside the classroom. I didn't hear anything, but I just knew she was in there.

I walked in. She was leaning on a wall, deep in thought. The moonlight washed through the windows and sparkled in her re hair. How ironic, I thought to my self.

She turned and looked at me.

"He's a Werewolf." She stated blankly. Wait to be abrupt.

"I knew you'd figure it out soon enough." I said, sinking down next to her.

"Does Dumbledore know?" she asked me.

I hesitated. I didn't know how much to tell her. I knew she would see straight through my lies. I made an executive decision.

"He knows some things, but there are some things he doesn't know." I said cautiously. She turned and looked at me. I could see the pain in her green eyes. She was trying hard not to cry, and it was killing me.

"Tell me every thing." She said. And that's exactly what I did.

"Moony was bitten as a child. His parents didn't think he would be able to attend Hogwarts. He was literally locked in a cage every month. Dumbledore saw no reason for him not to go. He knew about all of the secret passageways throughout the school."

I was surprised how easily it spilled from my mouth. As soon as I started talking, everything seemed so right. It actually made me wonder why I hadn't told her earlier.

"There is one passage out of the grounds that leads to the shrieking shack." I continued, "Dumbledore had the Whomping Willow planted at one end so that nobody would find the shack. Every full moon he would go down to the shack to transform."

Lilly interrupted my story. "You talk about the secret passage as if there's more than one. How do you know about them?"

I sighed. She never missed a trick.

"We made this last year." I said, spreading out the blank parchment.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good." The map transformed. The ink appeared on he paper. She just sat there, taking it in. Her eyes seemed to turn to the size of dinner plates when she realized what it was.

"You made this?" She asked incredulously.

"Yeah. We used it to avoid being caught, sneaking around at night. We also used-" but she cut me off.

"The Invisibility Cloak" she finished.

It was my turn to be shocked. "How did you-" but she interrupted me again. She's good at doing that.

"I always knew you had a secret. You four are the only ones who are never caught by Filch. I saw it last year on the Hogwarts Express."

"Okay then." I said, staring at the cloak in my hands. She stroked its soft fabric. She held it over her hand and smiled as her hand vanished. I was now more relaxed. I knew that she could keep our secret.

"I'm not done with my story." I stated. She looked up and watched me, ready to listen.

"Well, we found out in our first year, or rather I did and Sirius caught on. We ended up filling Wormy in later that year. So after seeing how badly he tore himself up when we suffered through it alone, we decided to help him. We made the map and…" I hesitated. She urged me on though.

I sighed. "We decided to become illegal animagi."

I tore my eyes off of my hands and forced my self to look in to her eyes. I was honestly expecting her to be horrified, but when I looked up, she had a peaceful expression on her face.

"So you use the map and the cloak to run around the grounds with him every month." She concluded. I nodded.

"I have some questions though." She continued. "I know that the nicknames you call each other relate to your animagi. I understand Moony, but what are the others?" I smiled.

"Well, Peter is a rat, so he can sneak past the tree to open the passage, and Sirius is a dog."

"And you?" Evans asked me.

"I'm a Stag."

I could see her eyes grow wide, but I didn't question it. I was still amazed that she hadn't run from the room screaming.

"So," she said, changing the subject, "Where did you get the Cloak from?"

"My Dad gave it to me. And his Dad gave it to him, and so on."

"But where did it come from?" She asked me.

I smiled. "Ever read the Deathly Hallows Evans?" She gasped, but she grinned and asked me something I wouldn't have expected in a million years.

"Can you show me?"