A Furry Little Problem

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The story of how Lily Evans found out about Remus Lupin's furry little problem; told in six parts.

Part One: March 1976 [or] The One Where She Spreads a Rumour (Sort Of)

Lily Evans had always hated doing her rounds at night. She always remarked to her three best friends, Mary, Marlene, and Dorcas, that she loved it when the castle was quiet. But that had always been said with a caveat attached to it, because Lily did love it when the castle was quiet; however only if it was during the daytime. Unfortunately for her, nighttime rounds around the castle were a necessity when you were a Prefect, and besides, Lily was far too proud to ever admit that she was scared of something as irrational as the dark.

As she passed an eerie looking pair of silver suits of armour, she could've sworn that one of them turned their head toward her; a suspicion that she was too scared to confirm as she scurried into the next corridor.

She should be used to seeing things that were out of the ordinary in the castle. She should be used to talking portraits, moving statues, and ghosts floating around the place. But she wasn't. She had spent most of her life as a Muggle after all, and despite having spent five years at Hogwarts, there were some things that were a little hard to get used to; like the fact that Wizardkind apparently had no idea that there was such a thing as pencils and electric lights. Although, Lily suspected that Wizardkind continued to use quills and lanterns because of its' aesthetic value rather than its' functionality.

"Alright Evans?" an all too familiar voice chimed as she forced her breathing pattern to return to normal. "Fancy seeing you out here at this time of night."

Despite the low light that was being cast by both their wands, James Potter's trademark smirk was obvious. Lily wanted nothing more than to wipe the sodding thing off his ugly face.

"I've got rounds tonight, what're you doing here?" she knew the answer before she even asked the question, and the smirk on Potter's face grew even wider as a hundred reasons for his being out after curfew flew through Lily's mind. Potter and his gang were a group of juvenile delinquents, and it didn't really surprise her that he was out gallivanting after curfew.

"If I told you, I'd have to murder you right here and now." There was an unmistakable hint of mirth in his voice as he shoved a ratty old piece of parchment into his pocket. Lily opened her mouth to ask him what it was, but she was interrupted as a deep howl echoed from outside. She had never once believed the rumours that werewolves roamed the grounds of Hogwarts, but as another howl pierced through the castle walls, she found herself reevaluating her stark beliefs.

"Did you hear that?" she asked.

"Hear what?" he joked, a smile playing at the corners of his lips.

As if to prove Lily's point, another howl echoed through the castle; this time it sounded more frantic. "That! That howl."

"You're not scared are you?" Lily vigorously shook her head, much to Potter's amusement.

"Don't be ridiculous," Lily insisted, her voice shaky at the end as another furious howl caused a shiver to go down her spine. "But...you don't think there's werewolves out there do you?"

Potter paused, his demeanour shifting slightly as he took a deep breath in. She didn't know why he was acting so odd, she'd only voiced a rumour that had been circling around the castle for as long as she had been at Hogwarts; and perhaps even longer. Hell, even Henry Bones - a somewhat dimwitted sixth-year Hufflepuff - had adamantly claimed that he'd come across one on the grounds. Although, given the fact that he had lied about snogging Marlene last New Years Eve', Lily seriously doubted the fidelity of his words.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, surely you've heard the rumours? Haven't you?" Potter shook his head, his face uncharacteristically sombre. Although why, she didn't know. "Last year, Henry Bones said he saw a werewolf near the Whomping Willow."

Potter scoffed, leaning his shoulder against the wall, much to the dismay of the adjacent portrait. All the sombreness on his face gone as he shook his head.

"You don't actually believe him do you?" he said skeptically, his eyebrow cocked behind his signature rectangular glasses. "Honestly Evans, I thought you were better than that! Henry Bones is a smarmy lying little git. He said he snogged Hilda Smitherson three weeks ago, even though she's got a boyfriend. He's a twat."

Lily had never held much affection for Henry, but she felt stung for him at the harshness of Potter's words, even if they were true.

"Well he's not the only one who says so, Severus thinks there's one out there too. He said he saw one two weeks ago." Lily could recall that day perfectly. Severus had been in such a foul mood the day before, and when he'd seen her the morning after in front of the Great Hall, he'd pulled her away into the courtyard and given a short, and somewhat inconsistent tale of his evening. An evening that had included Sirius Black, James Potter, the Whomping Willow, and a supposed werewolf.

Lily hadn't thought anything of the evening, and had even gone so far as to tell Severus that she thought Potter was a hero (which at the time she had thought), but if the howls that she'd heard tonight were genuine, then perhaps she ought to ask Severus for a more detailed account of that evening.

Potter flinched at the mention of Severus, and Lily could've even sworn that his hands balled into fists had he not quickly shoved them deep into the pockets of his dark brown field jacket. "As if Snivellus would know any better than Bones. What is it with you and him anyway? Why're you still mates with him? He's a bigger twat than Henry Bones, and honestly Evans, that's saying something."

Anger bubbled underneath Lily's skin and she held her tongue back as the insults rolled through her head. She was in no mood to argue with Potter tonight, and if she didn't watch herself, her temper would get the better of her and they'd end up waking up half the castle with another one of their screaming matches. There was just something about Potter that brought out the absolute worst in her.

An awkward silence enveloped the both of them as they stubbornly avoided the other's gaze. Lily refused to start a fight in the middle of the night, and apparently Potter was in the same boat as her, although she suspected for different reasons. After another couple of seconds in their silent stalemate, Lily sighed pulled her cloak closer to her chest.

"Goodnight Potter," she said as she shuffled past him and down the corridor, towards the staircases that would lead her back to the Common Room. Before she got too far, Lily realised that Potter had never told her why he was out after curfew. "Hang on a minute Potter, you never told me why you're out after curfew!"

"Goodnight Evans!," Potter yelled back, mirth laced through his voice. She should've suspected that sort of response from him. "Oh, and by the way, there aren't any werewolves on the grounds. I mean, you don't really think that Dumbledore would let that happen do you?"

Lily nodded at him and couldn't ignore the sound logic behind his words. Of course Dumbledore wouldn't let a werewolf run rampant around the castle, even the thought of that happening with his knowledge was laughable really. Despite that however, Dumbledore was old and he was sure to miss the odd peculiarity or two around the school.

As Lily jumped onto one of the shifting staircases, thankfully one that would take her straight to Gryffindor tower, she looked down and noticed Potter heading down towards the Entrance Hall, the silvery material cradled in his arms and the old piece of parchment peeking out of his pocket. She didn't dare theorise what he could possibly be up to, and wasn't even the least bit surprised when two more figures joined him, one plump and one just a little shorter than Potter, seemingly out of thin air.

Unable to let their blatant rulebreaking go under the radar, and admittedly a bit miffed about Potter's implied insult directed at Severus, Lily leaned over the banister, her hands gripping the stone tight as the staircase swung ever more to her left.

"Hey! You three!" Potter, Black, and Peter's heads whipped up towards her, and Lily cleared her throat. "Just letting you know you've all got detention for breaking curfew!" She yelled unapologetically, as Lily hopped off the stairs, the three boy's disgruntled mutterings and groans echoed through the deathly silent castle, followed by an eerie howl.

As she crossed the threshold of the Fat Lady's portrait into the common room a few minutes later, a curious thought crossed Lily's mind: why wasn't Remus with his friends tonight?

Author's Note

I've always wanted to do a James/Lily multi-chap story, and my laptop is home to many a story plan about what that would potentially look like - all of which have been abandoned due to a serious lack of free time and know-how on how to write a multi-chap story.

So instead of trying to do an epic 20+ chapter story, I've decided to do small novellas and compilations of stories centred on one main plot/storyline. And this is the first of these short story compilations/novellas.

I've got 3 of the 6 chapters written up, and will post them up on Thursday afternoon (AEST) every week.

I hope you like it, and I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas about it!

Until next week, Andy xo