A Present of Friendship

Sundays always seemed rather special to Remus; it was a time of relaxing and resting, of plotting and mischief making, and, of course, of study. However, there was no need for him to study on this particular Sunday, as he'd spent the previous day in bed in the Hospital Wing, recovering from his night's escapades, with nothing but homework to keep him company while his friends had decided to abandon him.

It had hurt – more than he thought it would – and it had tainted the happiness that had meant to make this day particularly special.

So much for a 'happy birthday'.

And so, after spending a painful morning perusing the plants in Greenhouse 2 and carefully ignoring any presents or letters addressed to him from anyone other than his parents, the young wizard found himself wandering the book filled halls of the library, one of his most precious of sanctuaries.

It had been surprisingly easy to slip away from the Marauders that morning, which only intensified the feeling of abandonment and fear inside him, but he refused to think of that now. Instead, he pulled a random book off the shelf next to him and found a secluded table next to a window, hidden from the view of prying eyes.

Looking at the book's title, he found that cruel irony had decided to throw him another blow.

Recognising Supernatural Beasts and How to Avoid Them by Marcus Sewell

Rubbing a hand over his face and holding back a sigh, he put the book down on the desk in front of him and opened it at a random page.

There is not much known about the Glumbumble, other than its resemblance to its well-known cousin, the bee, and the effects of the treacle it produces (a recognized inducer of melancholy and an antidote for hysteria caused by the consumption of Alihotsy leaves). However, it is a lot more difficult to spot, as its coat is grey and it prefers to nest in secluded, dark places, though they have been known to infest beehives, which has a disastrous effect on the honey produced.

Found only in Northern Europe, they can also be mistaken for moths by the untrained eye, as their wings are much larger than their cousin's. The best way to avoid any encounters with such creatures is to stay away from bee farms and secluded areas with an abundance of nettles, as they find this plant particularly tasty.

There was a crude sketch of a bee-like creature with large wings below the text which seemed to magnify the hideousness of its legs and fur, no doubt a ploy to convince the reader that it was dangerous, though Remus couldn't see what dangers it would present apart from feeling a little down and mild indigestion. Wondering if the rest of the book would be like this, he skipped a few pages.

Apart from the Mermaid, the Grindylow is perhaps one of the most famous of aquatic beasts. They have a taste for fish and algae, though there have been cases where their palate has turned to a larger, more warm blooded species of mammal.

Found around the British Isles and Ireland, these horned beasts are…

"What are you doing here?"

Slamming the book shut with a resounding thud, Remus looked up to find a familiar red headed girl stood at the opening of his little alcove, clutching the strap of her satchel as she gazed confusedly at him.

"P-pardon?" he stuttered, failing miserably at trying to hide his shock at her sudden appearance. He supposed his instantaneous reaction with the book was already enough of a give-away, but there was no doubt that his nervous stumbles had cost him any chance at saving himself.

Lily shook her head and smirked to herself. "Never thought I'd see the day when I'd catch a Marauder off guard."

Remus winced and looked back down at the book. He couldn't really help it when he was reading; he became too enraptured in the book to notice anything else. That was what his friends… were for…

He sighed. It seemed the 'forgetting' thing wasn't turning out so well.

"Remus?"

Looking up again, he noticed Lily had moved a step closer, her eyes, softer and with a hint of worry.

"Are you okay?" she asked, taking another step towards him.

The young wizard tried to smile, but it seemed that he was doomed to fail at any task he attempted that day. "It's nothing, really."

One of Lily's eyebrows rose. "It doesn't look like nothing."

Before he could say anything, the witch had dropped her bag on the desk and sat herself in the chair across from him, pulling the book away from him before he had a chance to grasp at it.

"Spill."

Biting his lip, Remus looked down at his hands before glancing out the window. Should he say anything? It wasn't like she would actually care or anything, what with his association with James and Sirius. And yet there was something about the way she looked at him…

"I…" he started, keeping his eyes on the sleeves he had pulled over his hands, "I was in the Hospital Wing yesterday and last night, and… and they didn't… visit."

For a moment, all the anger in Lily's frame vanished, but before he could recognise the emotion that had replaced it, it had returned at full force.

"The Marauders? Your friends? They didn't visit? Not once. Not once… on a Saturday?" As she spoke, her voice slowly escalated in volume, causing Remus to shrink back in his chair a little. He had seen Lily angry a few times, and it was never a pretty sight. "What kind of friends are they?! Leave a friend like that, indeed!"

"Lily…" he tried to warn her, but it was too late.

"Miss Evans!" Hissed a familiar voice, making the both of them jump.

It seemed that Lily's small rant had brought the attention of the librarian, and she was not happy.

"The library is a place of learning and of study," she continued, "If you wish to continue your conversation, would you please do so quietly."

The two students nodded.

"Yes Madam Beak."

"Sorry Madam Beak."

Giving the two of them a quick once over with a suspicious eye, the woman huffed a 'thank you' and made her way back to her desk, leaving the two of them feeling rather embarrassed.

Neither of them dared to say anything for a few moments, afraid that the barest whisper would bring the strict librarian back to their table, but Remus soon realised that that was foolish thinking, and sighed once again.

"Can I have my book back please?" he asked, holding his hand out towards her. Unfortunately, his action had pulled his sleeve up his arm, revealing the bandage that lay beneath.

Lily glanced at it with curiosity, but, instead of saying anything about it, she merely slid the book across the table, taking a glimpse of the title as she did so.

"Was this on the list of reading books for Care of Magical Creatures?"

Pulling his sleeve back over the bandage, he smiled at her, grateful that she had held her curiosity in check. He didn't think he would be up to lying to her right now.

"No. I just thought… Well, I just picked it off the shelf at random actually. Wanted to take my mind off things."

She frowned. "I don't suppose you ignoring most of the packages you got in the mail this morning was another attempt at 'taking your mind off of things', was it?"

Remus smirked. "No. That was more of an 'ignore my friends and see if they get the message' thing."

She nodded slowly, her lips forming a silent 'oh' before frowning again. "But, why would they send you packages?"

The werewolf blushed and ducked his head. "It's… kind of my birthday."

"What?!"

"Miss Evans!"

"Sorry Madam Beak."

Lily stared at him, her jaw tense. "Why didn't you say anything?"

He looked at her and gave her a small smile. "I didn't want to be a bother, really."

She snorted and pulled her bag towards her before sorting through it vigorously.

"If I didn't know any better, I would have thought you were trying not to get noticed," she mumbled as she searched, "which is ridiculous, seeing how you're supposed to be friends with…" Suddenly, she pulled a slightly broken chocolate bar out from under a large copy of Numerology and Grammatica and held it out to him. "It might not be much, but you didn't really give me much warning."

He blinked. "For me?"

"Happy birthday, you moron."

Remus smiled again and accepted the chocolate. "Thank you."

"I should think so."

He laughed. "Just because I play tricks on people sometimes doesn't mean I'm not polite."

Lily smirked. "Seems to be the case with the toe-rag."

"Ah, but James is a pig when it comes to manners, despite all the training his parents put him through. The same goes for Sirius too."

The witch had to cover her mouth to stop herself from laughing too loudly. "You make them sound like untrainable dogs!"

"Are they not?"

This time, neither of them could hold back their laughter.

"If the two of you insist on making so much noise, I am going to have to ask you to leave!" Madam Beak squawked at them, her figure looming over them as her face darkened in anger.

Not wanting to get a detention on their weekend, the two of them quickly packed away their things and left, Remus quickly returning the book to the shelf before joining Lily outside, who had decided to wait for him.

"Sorry," he said, "you probably wanted to study and I got us kicked out."

Lily just shrugged and tied the hooded jacket she was carrying around her waist. "It's alright. I only wanted to do some extra work. I finished all my homework a while ago. And besides, it was worth it."

"Sorry all the same."

With a tilt of her head, she examined him, her eyes becoming slits in her scrutiny. "How is it that those boys are so horrible, and you're…"

Remus shrugged, a smirk tugging at his lips. "I'm a Marauder for a reason, remember. There's more to me than this polite, courteous exterior. Who else do you think comes up with our greatest schemes?"

She giggled again, her smile lighting up her eyes. "You're completely shameless, Remus."

"Why thank you." He gave her a small bow, making her giggles turn into a quiet laugh.

Lily hid her face for a few moments, trying to get her mirth under control with a deep breath before turning back to him. "Do you want to go outside? It's a lovely day, and it is your birthday."

Outside… The others would be outside, and though he was feeling a lot better thanks to Lily's company, he still felt the need to keep his distance from them – even just for a little while.

"Would you mind if I went back to the common room. I…"

Lily smiled at him. "I understand. But I'm not going to leave you alone. This is supposed to be a happy day! I'm not going to let you wallow in self-pity because of those assholes."

Returning her smile, he tucked the chocolate she'd given him into the back pocket of his trousers and motioned towards the main staircase. He would be more than glad for some company.

"And he's a gentleman too!" she exclaimed as she stepped past him. "Will the wonders never cease?"

Feeling another blush creeping into his cheeks, Remus simply nudged her with his elbow as he fell into step with her, ducking his head slightly to hide his shame.

They walked in a companionable silence for a minute, taking care not to step over the trick stair when they reached it, but Remus could tell that Lily wanted to say something, as she kept glancing over at him when she thought he wouldn't notice.

"You know, I won't suddenly break if you ask me a question."

She jumped, clearly surprised at his statement, before her cheeks darkened in embarrassment. "I don't realise I was being so obvious."

"You weren't really," he replied, "I've just had to get used to watching my back. Sirius and James's pranks can be directed at anyone."

"I had wondered about the green hair incident…"

They both laughed again.

This day was turning out a lot better than it began.

"Well, I was just…" Lily wove her fingers through her hair, trying to calm her nerves, "You don't have to answer or anything, but… the bandages… What happened?"

Perhaps he spoke too soon.

"I'd rather not say."

"Fair enough." She huffed, looking down at her feet. "Now I've gone and made everything awkward."

Remus knew she hadn't meant to – how was she to know what the bandages meant? There were barely more than a handful of people in the school who knew what he was, and less than half of them would freely broach the subject; the same few who seemed to have decided that he wasn't worth their time. "It's okay. You were curious, and I doubt anything is worse than an unsatisfied curiosity."

"So true," she replied with a smirk. "Thanks for being so understanding."

"I should be saying that to you."

Shaking her head, she pulled on his sleeve to make him stop. "Remus, I know you get sick a lot, and I'm not going to ask you why – not now at least – but you must get asked a lot of questions, so knowing how understanding you are only makes me think that you are a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for."

"Lily…"

"No! I won't hear any more excuses from you!" She poked him in the chest, but then her tone softened. "You are nothing like what I thought you were. You're a kind-hearted, gentle and peace loving soul, but you keep bringing yourself down for reasons I can't understand. You hide behind this façade those boys created for you, and you never show who you are. Whatever it is you're hiding from, I know you can beat it if you try."

Remus stared at her, shocked at her faith in his abilities, but this was something that no one could fight, no matter how hard they tried. But he always did. Every time. He fought the beast inside him constantly, and it was exhausting; but he would never give up.

Smiling sadly at her, he sighed. "I don't hide from it. I never have. But it's not myself I protect when I hide. I'm protecting everyone else."

Lily blinked in confusion and he could see the question forming on her lips, but he stopped her before she uttered a word.

"I'll tell you what I'm fighting one day, that I promise you, but not now."

She seemed to consider it for a moment, frowning at him, before she gave him a slow nod.

"I'm going to hold you to that."

Remus snickered. "I would be worried if you didn't."

Smiling at each other, they continued up the stairs again, passing several curious portrait members on their way, though they only whispered amongst themselves.

It didn't seem to take nearly as long as it should have to reach the portrait of the Fat Lady, though neither of them really noticed as they gave her the password. It would have been difficult not to notice what came next though.

"Surprise!"

The two students jumped in shock at the sight before them; bunting was hanging from the ceiling, a table had been set up next to the window covered in food and presents, though the primary item was the biggest chocolate cake either of them had ever seen, and the room held at least a dozen other students in it, most of whom were sporting some ridiculous looking wizarding party hats; James, Sirius and Peter were in the centre of the whole thing, huge grins on their faces.

"Happy birthday, Remus!" Sirius cried, walking over to his confused friend and pulling him further into the room.

"Happy birthday!" Peter mimicked, giving him a pat on the back.

James just grinned at him, though it slipped slightly when he noticed Lily.

Remus couldn't help but stare at everything. "You… you did this… for me?"

"Yeah! Of course!" Sirius exclaimed. "We had to do something, right? I mean, you only turn fourteen once."

Peter nodded furiously.

"Yeah…" the shaggy haired Black rubbed the back of his head, "sorry about yesterday, we kind of had to skip out on you to get everything ready."

Remus just shook his head, unable to wipe the smile from his face. "This… this is…"

"It looks like the Marauders aren't the assholes I thought they were."

Turning back round, the werewolf grinned at Lily who was standing, glaring at James with her arms crossed across her chest.

"Thanks for today Lily," he said, "you have no idea how much it meant."

Sending him a soft smile, she nodded. "Just don't forget what I said."

"I won't."

With one last nod and a long glare at the others, Lily left the Gryffindor tower with a flick of her hair, leaving most of the occupants more than a little confused.

"Did she just…"

"What just…"

"What the hell were you doing with my girl?!"

Remus blinked, stepping back when James suddenly appeared less than an inch from his face.

"I just… she… we were…"

"Come on James." Sirius pulled his brother-in-all-but-blood back. "She probably just wanted to wish him a happy birthday, is all."

"Yeah James," Peter said, "It is his birthday after all."

Taking a deep breath, James nodded. "You're right. I'm sorry Rem."

Remus smiled. "It's okay."

"Good." Sirius looked between the two of them. "Great. Can we party now?"

James laughed. "Yes, we can party now."

AN - Hey guys! It's been a long while since I published anything, I know, but University keeps me busy with original work (so... kind of a good thing I guess). However, I recently discovered that my birthday coincides with our favourite werewolf's, and I HAD to write something! So, on this special day, to celebrate, I thought I'd write you guys this! It can be seen as a one shot, but I will definitely continue it if I get enough interest (hint hint, nudge nudge). I hope you all enjoyed!