Tonight was just like any other full moon, the boys had started at the shrieking shack and had gone off to explore the nearby forbidden forest, and they were coming back to the school grounds and had stopped for a drink at the lake. Three of the group were crowded around the water but the forth was staring at the distant castle. Or more specifically the flash of red that was the tell tale sign of Lily Evans being in the area. As per usual when the object of his affection was near his attention could be found on nothing but her so when another member of the tightly knit group, looked up and sniffed the air James didn't register the danger about to unfold. As the werewolf sped off towards the castle with James in hot pursuit, his only thought was "no, not her".

Her breath was coming in shallow gasps, her hand was shaking and her brow was damp. She knew the end was near and as she stood, frozen with terror one face flashed before her eyes. The windswept hair, the kind hazel eyes and the soft lips that she would never get to kiss. "I love you James Potter" rushed out in a breathy whisper. She knew that tonight her life was going to be cut short and her only regret was not telling James how she really felt. She could hear the paws that would bring her death thundering towards her, and also another sound louder, more abrupt than those of the werewolves paws, a sound like that of a stampede. She tried to keep her eyes shut, not wanting to see her friend as the monster that was going to kill her but she had to know what was coming after Remus. A stag. A beautiful stag was desperately trying to catch up with the wolf in front of him, his coat gleaming with sweat and crisscrossed with scars. The stag finally overtook the werewolf and placed himself in front of her, she tried to push him away, she didn't want to see the beautiful creature get hurt, protecting her, but he would not be moved, he stood his ground and just as the werewolf was upon them he charged, his head down, using his antlers to fend off the salivating beast. Lily stood in awe as she watched the stag push Remus further away from her and further towards the forbidden forest. When she could no longer see them she tuned and sped towards the safety of the castle and her dorm room to wait for the sounds of the boys minus one of their group that she knew would be coming in just a few hours.

She was not disappointed when what seemed like only minutes later she heard the boys stumble through the portrait. She rushed down the stairs to the common room to see peter and Sirius dragging a nearly unconscious and incoherent James across the room. They looked up when they heard lily's gasp, but to her it was as if it were only her and James, she rushed to him, but froze when she saw the huge bloody gash running from his left shoulder to his right hip. She immediately turned to the other boys "why are you bringing him here, he needs to go to the hospital wing"!

"What and let Madam Pomphrey ask why we out at all lily? You have to help him Lily, we didn't know who else to go to" She knew Sirus was right so she did what she did best, she jumpoed into action. She directed the boys on where to put James, not for the first time that year thankful for the private dorm they shared as head students. When she was happy with where they had put him she set upon them "now, get me hot water, clean rags, a sweet hot drink, something like hot chocolate and something plain to eat, also I need some salt and don't be slow about it!"

The boys knew not to argue with her and hurried to do her bidding. Once they were alone lily turned to James once more and had to bite down on her knuckles to withhold her tears. His eyes were dim, and his skin was deathly pale. She leaned closer to try and catch what he was mumbling but as far as she could tell it was just gibberish speech driven by the pain he was sure to be in. As soon as Sirius and peter were back she set to work, asking them questions as she worked "where is Remus?'' "Does he need help to?" "Are either of you hurt?" But all of her questions were met with silence; she looked up to be met with the worried stares of the boys behind her. She cleaned the wound, and did all of the healing and pain relieving spells she knew. She sat back with a sigh, rubbing her hand across her forehead. "Is he going to be ok?" "Yes Peter he's going to be just fine, can even remove the scar once it gets lighter, all he needs to do is eat and sleep". At this comment she could feel both boys relax completely. "Thank you Lily" all three of them were startled to hear James speak. They turned to look at the boy sprawled on the couch only to find he had once again drifted off to sleep.

The next morning found lily anxious about facing the marauders, she knew that all of them would be in the great hall talking about the night before, they would want to know why she was out that night, they would want to know why she had known Remus may have needed help, and they would want to know why she had cried over James' sleeping form the night before. What was she supposed to say to them? Hey I know remus is a werewolf, in fact I've know since fourth year, oh and I went outside because I'm in love with James Potter and I heard him leave the dorm and went to the window to see where he went, I watched you all meet up outside the whomping willow and couldn't stop myself from going there to.

Yeah, that would go down well. Oh well it's not like I haven't skipped breakfast before, and it's not like I won't do it again. At least James and Remus were the only ones in her first class, and as it was potions people knew to leave her well alone. It was her best class, not because she particularly enjoyed it but because she worked the hardest at it. No one knew why she worked so hard in that class, and who was she to tell them that it was to prove to her ex-best friend Severus that even though she may be just a lowly mudblood to him, she was still the best in the school at a class dominated by slytherines. She had gotten her head girl status for a reason, she was top of the year and one of the brightest witches Hogwarts had ever seen. Potions was much the same as usual, the slytherines glaring at her constantly and Slughorn gleaming with pride as she turned out yet another perfect potion, only one thing, well two really were missing, James and Remus.