So he hadn't changed. Arsehole.
She crunched her teeth when she saw the group move from the school ground. Stupid teenage boys, still breaking rules, but just that. Stupid boys.
Not him. He was head boy and he had said, promised, that he wouldn't break any more rules. It was obvious it really meant nothing to him.
Well, she wasn't having it. Not caring that she was still in her nightgown, she slammed the window so loud she thought they would hear her. They didn't. She pulled a face at them, even though they couldn't see her.
She didn't bother with a jumper, rushing through the halls. For a fleeting second, she was scared that Filch or Mrs Norris would find her, but no one stopped her as she left the castle in the same direction as the faithless bastard. The lake was large on her left side, mirroring the full moon in the sky, but they were heading in a different direction.
The cold air came over her with full force as a cold wind hit her right in the face. She shivered, willing herself to ignore it like her chattering teeth.
Looking around, she panicked. It was dark, the forbidden forest in front of her and she couldn't locate them directly. Then she found them, crossing through only a small part of the forbidden forest toward her before stopping and staying right where they were.
Remus wasn't with them, obviously. He was much better than any of them. Peter being there surprised her a little, though. She thought he wasn't brave enough to go into the forbidden forest at night, especially after the Ministry announced precaution at Hogwarts. With Dumbledore as Headmaster, as well as a lot of vulnerable children people feared for, Hogwarts was an obvious target in this war.
Surprisingly, the boys just stood there, staring at their feet or something, not really talking. What were they doing?
No matter, she needed to tell all of them.
"Potter!" She screamed from afar, though she reached him within a few seconds, cursing the fact that she was out of breath. Potter, the idiot, turned around at the sound of her voice and his eyes widened when he saw her.
"Lily," he stammered, running his hand through his hair. Good, she thought, he was nervous. He should be. "Lily," he repeated. "What in Merlin's name are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same question, you know." She crossed her hands in front of her chest, resting her case. "What happened to no rule-breaking because you are head boy?"
Potter went dangerously white, but Black interfered before he could speak. "OK, Evans, you made a show. You can tell James off later. Now go."
Black hardly ever called Potter James. It was always some kind of nickname. Something was going on, she decided. Maybe something bigger than a prank.
"What is happening?" She was cautious with her question, not willing to back down. She was in the right, after all.
Black let out a groan. "Back off, Evans. Now."
"No," she said, lifting her head up. "If Remus," Potter's head snapped around toward the forbidden forest and she frowned, momentarily distracted, before continuing, "Well, if Remus can make himself follow the rules, you should be able to, too."
Black barked a short laugh. "You have no idea what is going on, do you, Evans?" She glared at him before focusing on Potter again. It was OK for Black to break the rules, he hadn't promised her that he wouldn't.
The cold wind was shifting through the trees and blew right into her face, making her shiver again. Potter instantly stretched out a hand toward her before retracting it. She raised her eyebrows at him before shivering even more. It was growing colder by the minute. Goosebumps had risen on her arms and she wrapped them around herself in an attempt to keep the cold away.
A low growl made the hair in the back of her neck stand. It was coming from the edge of the forest, and it grew louder. All three boys had turned their head toward the noise.
Black's gasp broke the silence and slowly the source of the growl stepped out of the forest.
The beast was gigantic, still growling. He was clearly seizing up the prey.
She had frozen up, but her brain was working in overdrive.
Full moon. Full moon. A fifth year Remus, fellow Prefect telling her his deepest secret she had already guessed. His best friends who, though they were all arseholes, always supported him.
A full moon.
The beast (she refused to think of him as Remus) was charging forward. Potter reacted first, pulling out his wand and sending a spell that seemed to momentarily confuse it, but then it was back, racing toward Potter. No spell could stop a werewolf.
"Lily!" Potter was screaming at her, his eyes finding her while racing toward the beast. "Lily! Run!"
She nodded dumbly, staring as Potter ran away from Hogwarts, leaving the werewolf chasing after him.
"Get help!" Black's eyes were wide and frantic. "We can't keep it back for long, get help! Get Dumbledore!"
Dumbledore. He was probably able to contain it, he had to.
She backed away from the forest, racing faster than she ever had, away from the terror in the making.
She ran through the halls, ignoring Mrs Norris who was standing in a deserted classroom, ignoring Peeves who was cackling to himself, just running until she reached Dumbledore's office. The gargoyle looked at her curiously. She could have slapped herself for having no idea what the password was.
"Please," she urged. "This is an emergency!"
The gargoyle shrugged. She huffed at him, irritated.
"Fine, don't know. Chocolate? Something sweet? Er...Butterbeer?"
The gargoyle nodded and proceeded to let her into the office. She thanked Merlin for obviously wanting to let the boys live a little longer.
She burst into the office. Slughorn as well as McGonagall were standing there with Dumbledore, staring at her in shock.
"Miss Evans?" McGonagall raised one eyebrow. "What on earth is the matter?"
She was breathing heavily, but still tried to speak the words. There was no time to lose.
"Remus," she gasped. "The beast – it's attacking. The beast, I don't know how it got out, but it's going to kill – it's going to kill."
Dumbledore had gone white during her speech. He was frowning.
"An attack," he said. "I suspected it would happen sooner or later. Come on. There's no time to lose."
He stretched out his arms, grabbing her and Slughorn. McGonagall reached out and took his shoulder and a second later the cold air of the lake surrounded them, the air colder than it had felt when she had first come out.
"There," she gasped, pointing toward the forest. The beast was nowhere to be seen, but she could see someone running.
Quickly, all four of them rushed toward the place. For a moment, she was worried all three boys had been killed, but then she saw Black's mop of black curls rush in their direction.
"James," he gasped. "He's tearing apart James – Oh God..."
Dumbledore had moved before Black could say anything else, raising his wand. McGonagall immediately copied the motion and suddenly Lily could see the beast tearing away at something, then being torn off the human form and smashing into a tree, falling back unconscious.
For a moment, time froze.
Then Sirius started screaming.
It was a mindless scream, more of a howling. Dumbledore was running toward the thing the beast had bent over while it was still conscious.
It was Potter, only it wasn't Potter.
He was on his side, but that did nothing to hide that his chest had been torn open. All she could do was stare.
She had never seen Sirius look so wild, his hair tousled and his eyes full of disbelief, refusing to believe what was right in front of him. She had never seen Dumbledore look so hopeless, bending over James Potter's bloody, torn and lifeless body, frantically searching for a heartbeat, anything.
"St Mungo's," McGonagall said to Dumbledore in a strong voice. "I'll take him, you take care of them."
Dumbledore's shoulders sagged. "I think it might be too late for that," he whispered, but McGonagall shook her head, grabbing Potter's – James' – arm and vanished with a pop.
The beast didn't move in the whole time Dumbledore moved him. Neither did anyone else.