Disclaimer: Unfortunately, the brilliance that is Harry Potter is not my idea, therefore, no I do not own Harry Potter. This ownership lies with J.K. Rowling.

Long-Awaited Revelations

by xXDragonSlayerXx

Just as he had come close enough to touching her face with his large, callous hands, she had woken up. Her hair was stuck against her drenched, sweaty face. Her breathing came in large rasps as her lungs filled with oxygen. Her entire body was shaking in fear and anxiety. Her bed sheets were wrapped around her, sufficiently binding her body together. She couldn't move. After a few moments of struggling against her bed sheets, she had succeeded in ridding herself of their confines.

She crawled out of bed even as her body screamed in protest. She threw the window open, allowing the cold, twilight air to caress her pale cheeks. The moon's light glistened against her face, effectively illuminating it. Her olive green eyes shimmered with unshed tears. She breathed slowly, in and out, in and out as she thought about her dream. There he was, a death eater, he had been ready to hurt her, to get her, to attack her. She tried to forget about her nightmare, and swiped away at the tears that now ran freely down her cheeks.

She began to look outside the window of her dormitory. That was strange, she thought. She thought she had seen something moving outside, amongst the shadows. It was dark and agile. Suddenly, a deafening howl pierced the silence of the night, leaving Lily Evans shuddering. What was going on, she thought. What could possibly be making that noise at this time of night? Curiosity took the better of her; she felt the urge to go outside, to investigate, and to figure out what it was.

Without a moment's hesitation, she slipped on her robe and made her way across her head girl's dorm. It was a luxurious dorm, and a far cry from that of the seventh year girls. The walls were painted a deep mahogany colour, reflecting on the fact that the head girl was indeed a Gryffindor. Her bed was quite large, and was surrounded by a white curtain that maintained privacy, although from whom she was hiding, she had no idea, only the head girl was allowed inside the dorm anyways. She turned the knob of her door, expecting to hear the inevitable creek that would sound, however, nothing was heard. She sighed in relief, looked like she wouldn't be waking Potter up today.

Speaking of Potter, hadn't he heard her screams? Lily had a tendency to talk and scream in her sleep, causing her to be James's alarm clock. That's odd; usually he would have come to check up on me. Lily huffed in anger, she didn't need pothead to come and check up on her, she was a strong, independent woman, and she didn't need him.

She made her way across the common room slowly; tip toeing as though her life depended on it. As she made her way out of the common room and onto the grand staircase, she heard it again, the piercing cry of some sort of animal, although, this time it seemed a bit further away. What was that noise? Her curiosity seemed to be running a thousand miles per hour. She began to hop down the stairs, and made ungodly amounts of noise, throwing caution to the winds. As soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs, she began looking for a way to get outside. She was always a stickler for the rules, and, therefore, didn't know of any of the secret entrances and exits of the castle. She would have to go through the front entrance if she wanted to get outside.

Making sure she had her wand at the ready, she unlocked the front door and crept through. The howl could be heard again, it was getting closer. However, now that she was outside, she realized that the howl was not the only noise that penetrated the silence; various other noises could be heard too. The bark of something that could only be identified as a dog, the squeaks of another creature, and the calls of another animal could be heard.

Suddenly, another emotion overtook her curiosity, it was fear. What was she getting herself into, it was the dead of night, and there she was, alone, with animals from the forbidden forest. What was she thinking? She pushed the fear to the back of her mind, she was a Gryffindor, and was supposed to be brave. Besides, the adrenaline was still flowing through her body, pumping through her veins.

She ran down the stone steps that led up to the entrance, and left behind the safety of the castle as she followed the cries of the animals. She began to edge closer and closer to the forbidden forest. And after wrestling with herself inwardly, she made her way through it, past the trees, and the illumination of the moonlight. The light disappeared, and she couldn't see anything. She waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, and the sight that met her once she could see both shocked and terrified her, for merely 50 feet away from her was a wolf, and after looking at its behaviour, she realized it was not just a wolf, it was a werewolf.

She let out a horrific shriek, before beginning to edge away from the werewolf, as though not to alert it of her presence, however, her previous outburst had already foiled that plan. The werewolf's head swivelled towards her, meeting her glance. It was then that she knew she was in trouble. She began to run, going as fast as her feet were willing to go. Her breathing came in rapid pants; the physical exertion was something she was not used to. Had she taken the time to turn around, she would have seen that not only was the werewolf chasing her but so was a great black dog, a stag, and a mouse. Just as she turned around to see whether or not the werewolf was still after her, she tripped over a rock. Her feet buckled under her and her body made contact with the ground in an unceremonious thump. This is the end, she thought with a sigh. What a sad way to die. She pulled herself up from the ground despite her throbbing head, and bruised knees. She looked after the animals, realizing the dog, stag and mouse were not chasing her but the werewolf. How odd, she thought to herself. She watched the wrestling animals, temporarily mesmerized. The stag caught her attention. It had dark brown antlers that appeared like tree branches. Its fur, a light brown, appeared soft to the touch. It shifted its gaze to meet hers. And before her eyes, it began to morph. A startled gasp escaped her as the stag turned into none other than James Potter. Before she was able to voice her stream of questions, James cut her off. "Lily? What the hell are you doing here? Go inside! Now! It's not safe here!" With that, James turned back into a stag, and continued trying to subdue the werewolf. Deciding to heed to James's cries, she ran. The danger of the situation quelled her questions. However, the castle was too far from reach. I won't make it, she thought in despair. She continued running until she heard a pained cry. It came from the stag. She turned around to see that James was fatally wounded; the werewolf had swiped its claw across his foot. It was bleeding profusely.

"James," she screamed. The black dog yelped and the mouse squeaked in earnest. The dog jumped as if to scare the werewolf away. It began to chase it away, in the direction of the Shrieking Shack. The mouse followed. "James," she screamed yet again. James immediately turned back into his human form. He began limping towards her, telling her he was fine before he fell to the ground in dead faint. She ran towards him, heart thumping with fear. "No James, you cannot die on me, not now, not ever!" I called him James… I called him James… why? That thought continued to echo in my mind, and I shook my head. I tried to rid myself of the thought, now was not the time to be wondering why. I looped my arm around his waist and pulled him up. With his arm looped around my neck, and mine around his waist, I hauled him back into the castle and deposited him in the infirmary.

Lily had not yet gone to sleep. Her mind was working in overdrive; her thoughts were flitting all over the place.

Who was the dog? It must have been a classmate… if the stag was James, then the other animals must be human too… but who? Her thoughts answered her question. The animals must be Sirius, Peter or Remus; after all, they were James's best friends. Besides, each was a member of the Marauders. It's silly really… their childish antics. But wait, then who was the werewolf, surely one of them was not the werewolf… but there were four animals, not five, meaning one of their members was indeed the wolf. But who? Who else, her mind answered her, who's always in the hospital wing "sick" the day of the full moon? Remus. Oh god… Remus was the werewolf… well; he can't really be blamed for that, can he? She was a Gryffindor till the very end, loyal to the bone, and she would not judge Remus because of what he was. He was the most decent of their group, the most sane, and the one who was the least likely to lose his head in a confrontation.

Well, that's one mystery solved. Now for the other, why did I feel so scared for James? Why did I care so much anyways? Surely I didn't care about him more than one should when they realize a classmate is hurt? Well I definitely don't love him… that is unthinkable… a complete lie. But I cannot pretend like I don't care about him… can I? God, he has grown on me hasn't he? His stupid persistence, his carefree attitude, his pranks, his floppy hair that he runs his hand through when he's nervous… god… it's worse than I'd imagined, isn't it? I, Lily Evans, really have fallen for James Potter. This is absolutely absurd! Hadn't I promised myself I would never fall victim to his traps, and his honey words? Well that promise was kept well, wasn't it?

Lily instantly regretted her brash, impulsive decision. Had I not done that, he wouldn't have gotten hurt. It was my fault. A veil of shame enveloped her. And she was surprised to see the tears shroud her vision. She would have to do something to make it up to him. Nothing too forward, oh no, I can never show him I care but something to show him I'm sorry should be enough. With her new-found resolve, she set out to find some parchment and a quill.

James awoke with a pounding headache; his surroundings were vaguely familiar to him. I'm in the hospital wing aren't I, he thought. Wonder what I did this time to land myself in here… he racked through his brain, as he tried to recollect yesterday's events. After a few moments, everything came crashing down on him with a tumble of emotions, and weighed down on his shoulders like a weight hanging over his head, threatening to crush him.

Before he could ponder his thoughts further, he glanced towards the foot of his bed. A bunch of get well cards alongside a few sweets consisting of chocolate frogs and Bertie Botts beans filled the table. James began to sift through the cards, it was the typical, they were from his quidditch fan girls. At the bottom of the pile was a piece of folded parchment. Curious, he picked the parchment up off the table, and proceeded to read it. It was an apology… from Lily, and a promise that she would keep the Marauder secret. A giddy, lopsided grin crossed his face. Looks like my attempts weren't in vain, he thought. James was right, looks like he was beginning to thaw the ice that surrounded the heart of Lily Evans.

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