Hence the Name
Lily Evans- infamous prefect and 5th year Gryffindor- pelted across the dewy grass of the main quadrangle, ponytail flailing behind her. As she rushed in the to the gothic main building of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, almost taking flight as she did so, she almost missed the three teenagers lurking next to the store cupboard. Almost, that is.
"Potter! What are you doing?" she demanded, resting her wand on her hip.
The black haired idiot in question whipped round in surprise: an emotion mirrored by his three companions. Three… Black turned to the stumpy Pettigrew, who had suddenly appeared, and clobbered him. Said wizard subsequently disappeared in front of Lily's very confused eyes. What was more befuddling was the fact that the remaining Marauders, Lily's friend Remus in particular, were staring in dismay at a small rat, scurrying around in exactly the spot where Pettigrew had previously stood. Eventually, the cogs turned in Lily's mind and she paled, one word ricocheting in her mind over and over again: Animagus. It made sense, what with Remus' condition. Remembering her duties in the charms corridor (where patrols were required after a large amount of Peeves related casualties), Lily swallowed and, after a swift dismissal, sprinted off.
Two hours later- at six o' clock-, four teenage boys stood stiffly in the corner of the Gryffindor common room, the cheery red drapes a stark contrast to their gloomy moods. Lily spotted them immediately upon stepping through the portrait hole and marched over, her face a porcelain mask. Sparing barely a glance at school heartthrob Sirius Black and the diminutive Peter Pettigrew, she demanded "Are you all Animagus?"
James nodded and so did Remus, although hesitantly. Lily looked at him "I know you're not."
Potter's eyes flashed "What are you insinuating?"
Lily ignored him, pointing her wand at Remus "What if you were to get caught? What if you were to injure on of your friends? Does Dumbledore know?"
The werewolf gulped. The guilt swamping his eyes just about broke Lily's heart but she was relentless "Does he?"
"No."
She nodded. "Well, he will do soon."
It was at that moment that Black snapped. He lunged towards Lily, spitting profanities, and would probably have ripped her head off if it weren't for James and Remus, who grabbed their friend. Even so, Lily did receive a nasty burn from the Black heir's wand.
"Sirius!" admonished Remus, before motioning for Lily to go and following afterwards.
"Lily," Remus began, his voice ripping across the silence that had enveloped the pair "I'm sorry about Sirius." A sigh "He and James and Peter appear to be of the strong opinion that, well…"
Lily couldn't look at the face that produced such a melancholy tone "They'll get expelled."
"Yes, but I think Sirius was more concerned about me when that happens- he and James have money but I… well, let's just say that it'll be hard for me to get a job."
"Shut up!" Lily brought Remus to a stop, staring at him intently "Have you no faith in me at all? Trust me."
Remus did trust Lily, and therefore, half an hour later when the pair descended the gargoyle staircase the werewolf was beaming. He was, however, rather curious "Why," he enquired of the redhead he had just embraced joyously "Would you- the mature and respected Lily Evans- bother to persuade the headmaster to enforce measures to make it easier for me and my friends to do about a dozen illegal things more safely?"
"Well," the girl replied, executing a little pirouette "some rules are stupid and are just there to be broken- so long as you do it safely."
Remus' eyes sparkled "Oh?"
Lily checked that no-one was around. Missing the two invisible figures- for good reason- she continued conspiratorially "Well, you know Glastonbury…"
"The place?"
"Well, yes, but the music festival."
"Oh." Unbeknownst to herself, Lily was receiving some appreciative nods.
"Yep."
"How did your Mum let you go to that?" Remus asked, thinking of the perfectly respectable woman Lily met at the station every summer.
"I may have told her I was visiting Sev."
At this Remus' good nature made an appearance "Did you go with anyone?"
"Yes, I'm not mad you know." Then she winked at her friend "Probably."
"You seem happy." Remus noted; much more buoyant than he'd ever seen Lily Evans, at least.
"I'm relieved." She informed him "Do you have any idea how hard it is to be friends with someone when they don't know that you know that they turn in to a rabid beast once every few months?"
"No."
"Good, because I've had three years of it and I would hate to have diagnosed the wrong person with lycanthropy."
"Th…three years!" spluttered Remus.
Lily nudged him playfully "Come on, Lupin- it's in your name!"
A/N: Because Lily cares about nearly everyone but that doesn't make her soft. Please review.
