Secret Discovery

Disclaimer- Not I, but JKR

Lily was sitting alone in the Gryffindor Common Room. It wasn't too dark even though she'd doused the fire, but she'd sat in a chair that wasn't swathed in moonlight. Secrecy mattered- it was like fighting fire with fire. The only way to find out what these guys are up to is to beat them at their own game!

James had cancelled their date tonight last minute, and then snuck off with Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew. Lily understood that he needed time with his friends, but she had seen the maniacal gleam in the boys' eyes before they disappeared.

Cree-ee-ee-ek! The noise pulled Lily out of a stupor. Looking up, she waited with bated breath as a figure crept through the portrait hole.

"All clear! Are you sure you don't need my help, mates?" Lily recognized the voice as belonging to Peter Pettigrew. His words were loud, reverberating through the empty room.

"Shut it! Wormtail, don't wake up everything in the castle!" She started slightly at the sound of James' voice. "We'll get Moony to hospital. Go back to the room so you can make excuses for us to Longbottom!"

"Use excuse forty-seven. We haven't done that one since third year," a third voice, Sirius, chimed in. "Now get going!"

With another cre-ee-ee-ek, Peter shut the portrait hole. He was just starting off in the direction of the boys' stairs when Lily relit the fire.

Peter gasped as Lily stood up in all her glory. With the fire blazing behind her, she herself looked like she was on fire. Her red hair glowed, set off more by the darkness of her black pajamas. Gazing at the Head Girl with terror, Peter thought he might get sick.

"What's excuse number forty-seven, Peter?" she asked in a tone reminiscent of Professor McGonagall.

"O-owls contr-tr-tracting dr-dr-dr-dragon pox," Peter whispered. He was barely able to spit that out because he knew he was in trouble. Lily only called him "Peter" when she was MAD- normally, it was, "Pete."

Gotcha! Lily knew she had him on the run and could barely hide a triumphant grin.

"Why were you out all night, Peter? It obviously had nothing to do with dragon pox." Her tone sounded harsh, even to her.

Out of the four boys, Peter Pettigrew was the worst at thinking on his feet. Not knowing what to say, Peter looked down and inspected his shoes. A small pair of feet almost hidden by black pants came into his view, causing the poor boy to look back up. Lily, who was his height, was standing almost nose-to-nose with him.

"Where do you lot keep disappearing to, Pettigrew?" Lily hissed menacingly. Peter grimaced because getting Last-Named by Lily Evans was the kiss of death. "Answer me! Or it'll be a detention and one hundred-fifty points from Gryffindor!"

She took a step forward, forcing Peter back. Break, you twit! Break! Lily was screaming at him in her mind. I want to know what James is up too! She took another stride and threatened again.

"Detentions every Saturday night for the rest of the year!" She'd backed Peter up against the wall. Getting desperate, she resorted to the one bit of leverage that she had on Peter.

"And I'll tell Marlene that about those pictures you took of her last summer when she was sunbathing… in the nude."

That did it. Words spilled out of Peter's mouth like water going over the falls.

"!" Peter was actually panting like he'd run a marathon. Still breathless, he continued, "There! Now I've told you everything! Swear you won't tell McKinnon!"

Lily fell backwards, thumped into a chair, and let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. This was not what she expected.

"Werewolf?" Peter nodded.

"Animagi?"

"I'm a rat, Sirius is a Grim, and James is a stag," he rushed to explain. Looking worried, he implored, "You're not really going to tell her, are you? She'll kill me!"

Completely dazed, she seemed to look through her friend. "What? Oh, no, of course not." Actually looking at Peter's face, she asked, "When?"

"When he was a little kid," Peter replied. "We found out Second Year."

"Not him. You lot. When did you become Animagi?" Lily looked slightly impressed.

"It took us a while, so not until Fifth Year."

"That's brilliant!" she exclaimed. "He can't turn you if you're animals! Whose idea was it?"

Peter plopped himself onto a footstool and gave her a suspicious look, "…James. You're not, you know, mad?"

Laughing, Lily answered, "No! I've had my suspicions about Remy, but I never wanted to ask him. He's so private! But wow. Animagi!"

Quickly, Peter interrupted with a squeak, "No one else knows! You can't tell!"

"No worries, Pete!" Lily said cheerfully.

Still not convinced, Peter warily asked, "I just confessed to illegal activity… Why aren't you screaming for McGonagall?"

She shot him a dirty look. "I have never screamed for McGonagall!" She continued in a happy tone. "Illegality aside, I'm glad you're doing something to help Remus. Being a werewolf can't be easy. Secret's safe with me!"

Temperamental redheads! Peter thought.

Cree-ee-ee-ek! The pair jumped up as the portrait hole opened up. A winded James and Sirius stumbled through. As they bent over to catch their breath, Lily sprinted across the Common Room and caught James in a full tackle.

"Waaahh!!" James let out.

Lily straddled James' chest. James looked flabbergasted, but Lily just smiled and exclaimed, "You're under arrest, Animagus!"

"Pete, you dirty rat!" Sirius groaned. "Now we're dead!"

James squirmed half-heartedly to get away. Smirking up at his girlfriend, James cockily questioned, "When did you become an exhibitionist, love?"

"Come off it, you two. You gonna squeal on us, Evans?" Sirius demanded.

Rolling off her boyfriend, Lily's melodious laugh filled the air.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Sirius. Boys will be boys, right? See you at breakfast!" With that, Lily gave a wink and bounced off to the girls' dormitory.

The boys watched her, awestruck. Lily Evans, Miss By-The-Book herself, was turning a blind eye!

James finally sat up. Looking at his friends, he asked, "What d'you reckon?"

"She won't tell. She promised!" cheeped Peter.

Sirius gave Pete a death stare. "Care to share how she found out in the first place, Wormtail?"

"She's Head Girl!" Peter gave a cry of dismay. "And she blackmailed me!"

Sirius gave a bark of laughter. "You didn't burn those pictures of Marly, did you?"

Peter burned bright red. "It seemed a shame to."

James put an arm around both Sirius and Peter. Leading them to the boys' stairs with a huge smirk, James suggested "I'm sure we can find a good use for those pictures."

A/N- Reviews would be welcome if you're of a mind to.