"Elvendork? Where'd that come from? Saving it for your first child, I assume?" James smirked, lazily glancing behind him at a bedraggled Sirius. The rain had started just as they were nearing Hogwarts. Actually, rain was probably the wrong word. Downpour, torrent, ihurricane/i. Pick one. Both boys were drenched down to their socks, which squished much like an orange in a juicer with each step they took towards the base of the Whomping Willow. They had buried the bike beneath a bush but then decided to use the invisibility cloak instead. Most of the students were on winter break anyway.
"Hey, it was the first thing that came to mind. Now shut up and hit the damn knob. I'm freezing my man bits off out here."
Snickering, James timed his approach and hit the spot on the trunk that froze the trees limbs with the end of his wand. They'd been out of school over a year, but had yet to find a safe place for their monthly night of furry exploits so the shack was still in regular use. Dumbledore had said he was working with someone on a potion that would ease Remus through the full moon but it was still in a testing phase, whatever that meant.
He would never admit it, but James almost wished it would never be ready. As it was, things were getting rapidly out of hand all around them, evident by the near attack they'd just escaped, and he was already starting to miss the blissfully ignorant days of wizarding school. A night spent in animal form, keeping Remus from chewing up any of the locals, would be a huge improvement over the last few weeks. It felt like they'd been preparing for battle. Perhaps they were, though he had a feeling it was more than just a battle. Not even war seemed like a big enough word to describe the near-future they could all sense looming at their backs.
James shuffled through the dark corridor leading into the shack. Grumbling rose up behind him and he shuffled faster to the squish-squash-sqwoosh noise emanating from their shoes and echoing through the small space.
"Stop your bitching, we're almost there," he hissed over a shoulder, only to receive a sound kick to the backside in response.
Once inside the shadowed confines of the shack, they both took their first calm breaths. The alley had been a closer call then either would ever admit, but now, with the already lit fire of the shack to warm their damp hands with, they both began to look visibly relieved.
Remus looked up from his book long enough to frown and raise an eyebrow at their appearance. Marking his page, he closed the book with a slap of his hands and uncurled from the cushioned corner he'd built for himself in their absence.
"You're late," he muttered, in his usual the-full-moon-is-here-and-I'm-a-cranky-bastard way.
"Sorry, dear. Ran into a spot of trouble when we stopped to pick up your maxi pads," Sirius replied with a self-satisfied smile and a jovial punch to Remus's arm.
Remus frowned harder, if that was possible, rubbing his arm before glancing at James with a half-hopeful gleam in his eye. "Dumbledore says they're getting close on the potion. This could be our last visit to this wretched house."
James smiled, because he knew it was how Remus wanted him to respond. "That's good, Moony. That's real good," he added, dropping his eyes to the fire and trying to hide his flash of disappointment.
Sirius yanked off the t-shirt that was clinging to his skin like wallpaper. They'd had the shirts made as a joke, but with the Death Eaters tonight, Sirius was thinking maybe the joke was on them. They'd assumed no one but Order members would recognize the logo for what it was, a tribute to Fawkes and, by extension, Dumbledore. Thinking back on it, Sirius surmised that the Dark Lord's agents probably hadn't spotted them because of that, but had simply come after them because they were known trouble-makers. They had only just joined the ranks of the Order, after all, having gotten a waiver to join immediately instead of after further auror training. The resistance was in need of fresh blood, and the inductees were getting younger and younger by the second. As its youngest, Sirius and James were already irritating older members with their blatant mischief.
"Not that you care, but we almost got caught by a couple of Death Eaters tonight," Sirius said darkly, laying out his wet shirt on the ground near the fire.
"Sirius…" James warned as he too took his shirt off and set it to dry. "Remus has enough to worry about without you giving him hell for something he can't do anything about."
"What the hell are you two on about? I thought you just got slowed up by the rain," Remus growled, stalking closer to his friends with an irritated and somewhat guilty huff of his breath.
"Yeah, well, it was more than just rain. Couple muggles thought they had us pinned in an alley. We thought it was funny," Sirius grinned then at James, who couldn't help but return the look. "Then three of ihis/i men showed up, but we were quick and got them first. Good enough to get away, anyway," he added. Ruffling a hand through his hair, Sirius smiled sincerely and shrugged. "Doesn't really matter. Your wand work is better than ever, James. I'd fight with you at my side any day of the week."
James beamed a proud smile and adjusted his glasses from their slide down his still damp nose. "Right back at ya, mate."
Remus turned his face away from the grinning duo, feeling a wash of shame that he'd not been at their sides even for this small battle. He needed that potion. He was sick of being locked away once a month and he was sick of putting his friends in danger. He wanted to be with them, where they needed him, instead of always feeling like he took more than he gave.
Spotting the look of self-loathing that often crossed Remus's face on the night of the full moon, James elbowed Sirius and silently gestured at the grumpy werewolf. With a like-minded determination, the two teens crossed the room and placed reassuring hands on their friend's shoulders.
"I'm sorry, Remus. James is right. You've got enough of a burden without worrying about us getting ourselves into trouble. Merlin knows, you'll end up locked in a nuthouse if you do," Sirius insisted, patting Remus roughly on the back.
Peter stumbled into the room, surprising the trio and looking twice as haphazard as James and Sirius had upon their arrival. His hair stuck up in a hundred directions, giving even James's wayward head of hair a run for its money. There was a large chunk of his shirt missing, and a wide bruise beginning to form on the patch of pale skin that could be glimpsed through the gaping hole.
"That tree…is…evil," he whimpered, pressing a hand to his stomach to check the extent of the damage.
"Hell, Pettigrew, you should be nicer to it. When was the last time you complimented its attractive branches, eh?" James grinned.
Peter sputtered ineffectually and plopped down on the ground near the fire. The other three didn't bother asking why he was late, as he was usually late and quite often injured by the willow when he did finally make an appearance. Instead, they turned back to the fire and attempted to dry themselves a bit more fully before their relatively quiet time was shattered by growls and possible bloodshed.
With a heavy heart, Remus crossed the room to stare down at the chains at the base of the far wall. Years of getting locked up for one night a month just so he didn't kill anyone had left a mark on his heart that even the most ignorant would recognize. He wished every day that he'd never have another day in those chains.
He was about to get his wish.
A loud thump sounded from the secret entrance, followed quickly by a cry of startled pain and a grumbled, albeit feminine, oath.
Shocked dark eyes met petrified hazel ones in the fire-lit darkness. Sirius whispered frantically to James, having recognized the female voice on the other side of the door.
"Please, in the name of all that is holy, please tell me you didn't tell Lily where we spend our full moons."
"Are you mad?! I told her we were going to give muggle bowling another go! Though, she was suspicious. Can't blame her, after the way you hexed those pins and nearly blew up Rowans at our last go around," James replied in a strangled hiss.
"The damn things wouldn't fall down. It was a conspiracy, I tell you!" Sirius grumbled back, jerking on his still damp shirt in a panic.
"I really don't think now is the time to discuss proper bowling technique! We've got to get her out of here, and fast," Remus reprimanded, glancing worriedly at his pocket watch. She's made clever little remarks before. She knows the signs. She knows what I am. Why would she come here tonight? Why would she openly look for us on the full moon? His thoughts and body froze as he finally registered the time on his watch.
"Should I try and lead her away?" Peter asked quietly. He was already beginning to quiver with nervousness. Confrontation had never been something he was good at handling, and the first sign of trouble set his heart to racing.
"No!" James shouted, immediately heading for the hidden door Lily would soon be entering.
"James."
The word was nearly a sigh, but one full of anxiety and fear. Remus still had his gaze locked on the watch in his hand, and his shoulders were beginning to shake. James turned, hand stilled against the door that would lead him to a foolish redhead who just happened to be in the wrong place, at the very wrongest of times.
"We're out of time."
Remus bent his head, his dark hair unable to hide the sudden absence of color from his cheeks. The shake in his shoulders was quickly becoming a hard twitch and his hands curled into grim fists at his sides. Behind his glasses, James's eyes grew wide and panicked. He lurched as the door came bursting open. He stumbled backwards until he landed square on his backside.
Unaware of the danger she was walking into, Lily came through the door patting at the arm she'd apparently banged against one of the makeshift torches in the passage. Luckily, they weren't very strong flames. As it was, the edges of her shirt were still smoking. She muttered something unintelligible before her eyes fell on James near her feet. Her face was a flutter of changing emotions, from a smile at finding him, to a frown at finding him on the floor, to a dumbfounded stare at the terrified looks she found on all of the faces staring at her.
"What…what's going on? Why are you all looking at me like…" Her voice trailed off as her eyes spotted Remus quaking in the corner like a storm was brewing in the center of his body. James was quickly scrambling to his feet, putting his body between Lily and the werewolf. Her eyes widened as Sirius dropped, his body fluidly transforming into that of a large black dog. The transformation was seamless and almost instantaneous. Sirius moved his shaggy animal body in front of Remus, hackles already raised. Lily dragged her eyes back to Remus and groaned at her stupidity.
She'd known. She had, though she'd stayed quiet about her knowledge to everyone but Remus himself. She'd forgotten the day though, forgotten its meaning in the greater sense of things. Her eyes moved to the beam of moonlight trickling in through a small crack in the ceiling. What a fool you are, Evans. What a silly fool, she thought.
James wrapped one arm around her, with his back to her, and brandished his wand. He couldn't change form and fully protect her. He couldn't actually stop a charging werewolf with out causing said werewolf a great deal of harm either. Indecision and pure horror traced its sharp fingers across his face, pinching his eyebrows together. His heart was a hard lump in his chest, burning with anxiety. Would he have to choose between killing his best friend and saving the love of his life?
Please, if there's a God, if you're listening, please help me. Please don't let this happen.
He sent the thought skyward, praying for the first time in his life, and started pushing Lily backwards towards the door she'd shut upon entering.
Watching a man change into a werewolf was horrifying, but hearing it was worse by far. Bones snapped, cracked, reforming beneath Remus's skin as he fell to his knees with an anguished cry. Once, James had been thankful that the change was quick, but now, with time of the essence, he wished it took longer. It was a fruitless wish, because it was a split second before a tall, gangly beast stood only feet from them. They were separated only by the black dog, and an unhelpful Peter. Changing into his rat form would allow Peter to escape through one of the many cracks in the old house's walls, but it would not help him save his friends.
The door wouldn't open. It had been sticking for months, but being teenage boys, they'd ignored it and simply tugged harder until it finally came free from the wall. James kept tugging at it, with the arm wrapped backwards around Lily's waist. Curse words that not even Sirius had ever heard him utter came barreling from his mouth.
"You can't be serious? Now? Now you don't open?!" he yelled. Lily stiffened behind him, frightened even more by the sound of panic in his voice. James was always calm. James faced down a myriad of everyday problems with a sly smirk and a witty comeback but this was not a rude shopkeeper or stubborn jar.
"You don't need to use magic for everything, Lils," he'd told her, tapping the edges of the jar against her countertop as if he'd been the one to live a muggle childhood instead of her. She'd felt foolish that day, so spoiled by her magic that she couldn't even remember how to open a stuck jar of pickles. Like always though, James had made her forget about her irritation with a joke and charming smile. The brush of his lips against her neck had done wonders as well.
Jerked back to the present by the rumbling howl that bellowed from the werewolf across the room, her hands gripped tightly onto James's bare waist. She saw what she assumed was his t-shirt laying near the fire, but ignored the tingling in her fingertips where they brushed his skin.
Remus broke the shocked silence of the room yet again as he came crashing into Sirius with a fierce growl. The two furred bodies rolled into a vicious cloud of claw and fang. James pulled more frantically at the door. His wand hand was starting to tremble, beating to the internal rhythm of his pounding heart. He had to get Lily to safety. But there was no other exit. That was the main reason why they had come here for so long. It was secluded. It was secure.
It was also quickly becoming a battlefield.
As the tumbling chaos of the fight careened their way, James grimaced and spun to wrap his body around Lily as fully as he could. He felt a rush of air in their passing, and pulled Lily's head into the cocoon of his neck and chest. Once it sounded like they were moving deeper into the house, he released her enough to point his wand at the door and scream, "Alohamora!"
He tried to shove her through the opening, none too gently in his urgency, but she balked, clinging to his arm.
"Come with me! James! Please!"
Her voice was hoarse as if she'd been screaming. Maybe she had. In all the chaos, she couldn't remember. But she wasn't screaming now. She was pleading, and her green eyes, green grass bright even in the dim light of the room, were round saucers of need.
"Evans," he muttered, his face crumbling in response to hers. "Lily, please. Just go. Get out of here. I have to help Sirius and I can't do that if you're within even a hundred miles of this place." Swiveling, he jerked his head from Peter to the opening. "Go with her, Peter. Get her somewhere safe. Take her to Dumbledore!" James's eyes lit up at this idea, full of relief at the idea of her in the safest place imaginable. "He'll understand, and he'll send help."
Peter stood straighter at this. He could do this one thing for James, for the all of them. It wasn't much, but it was better than doing nothing at all.
James stretched the distance between them, and yanked Peter towards the door. Hissing growls and biting noises were heading back towards the room they were in and James was all too aware that time was limited.
Lily still clung desperately to his wand arm though. He could see the worry etched through those emotive eyes of hers and it tore at something inside of him. Temporarily ignoring her well-known dislike for public displays of affection, James reached for her with his free arm. The kiss was brief, but heartfelt and full of emotions that words would never have conveyed properly anyway.
The door slammed shut in her face, forcing a whimper to involuntary escape her mouth. Peter cowered next to her. Afraid she would cry, and he'd be left dragging a tearful teenage girl down a barely lit hallway, Peter shuffled his feet next to her.
"We should go, Lily. They'll be okay. This isn't the first time we haven't gotten him locked up before the change," he said quietly. What was intended to be reassuring only worsened her fears. How many times had James been close to death? How many of those odd gashes and bruises she often found on his skin weren't 'just a mishap on the pitch' like he'd insisted?
Peter cleared his throat and started urging Lily towards the exit. As they crawled out under the willow, she could still hear growls, and the occasional keening cry of a stag echoing down the passageway. She watched the opening in the willow silently close, and clenched the necklace James had given her for her last birthday in an iron grip. It was like standing in the waiting room of a hospital, tearful and mentally pleading for news. It was worse. It was James. It was James and Sirius and Remus. She worried that the man she intended to marry or one of his two closest friends were going to end up as just another casualty of life's cruel hand of fate.
Please God, if you can hear me, please don't let this happen.
Her prayer would go unanswered for hours yet.