Lily's eyes widened in shock. "Oh," she managed in a tiny voice. "I see. Well, thanks for the warning." Tears swam in her eyes as the woman clucked sympathetically and went back into her shop. Lily's tear-filled eyes found the snowy street, and narrowed as they fell upon fresh paw prints. She followed the tracks to the end of the street, her eyes narrowing even further as they spotted the delicately cloven hoof prints of a stag, and a little further on, what looked like tiny rodent tracks. A pair of human footprints exactly the size and shape of Remus's snowboots finished off the clues.

Hot, salty tears slipped down her cheeks into the snow. "Talking about meeting a girl up there?" she whispered to herself. With a choked wail of despair, Lily fled back down the street, neither knowing nor caring where she was going. She felt her feel slip out from under her, and with a cry, she landed face first on the ground in front of the Hog's Head pub. A noise that was half scream, half sob tore from her throat as she lay there on the frozen ground.

"Who the devil?" asked a gruff voice as the door to the Hog's Head opened. "Wand out, yeh bloody fool, it might be one of them!"

Lily raised her head from the snow and stared at a booted foot, next to which stood a rather solid stick of wood, and groaned.

Alastor Mad-Eye Moody blinked in surprise as Lily's tearstained face came into view. "What the devil are yeh doing down there?" His whirling magical eye took in her red-rimmed eyes and disheveled appearance, and his good eye widened slightly. He extended a hand down to Lily and pulled her to her feet with a small grunt of exertion. "What happened to yeh, lass? No, never mind that," he corrected himself as Lily merely stared vacantly at him. "Let's get yeh inside first, shall we?" With a gentleness unexpected from such a fierce-looking wizard, he led Lily into the empty pub. "Yeh can put that wand away, Dung," he growled, "it's one of ours." He glared around the room. "Dung? Ehh, snuck away again, did yeh?" He rolled his eyes and muttered, "Bloomin' coward."

Lily collapsed into a chair and buried her face in her arms.

Moody sighed and pulled an handkerchief from the pocket of his robes. He handed it to Lily, who wiped her streaming eyes and sniffled a watery 'thank you'. Pulling up a chair next to her, Moody put an arm around Lily's shoulders. "Now, lass, suppose yeh tell old Moody what happened, eh? Did someone attack yeh?"

Lily shook her head before dissolving into fresh sobs. "They- they s-said they were g-going to the b-b-bookstore," she hiccupped.

"They?" Moody asked, raising his eyebrows. "I take it yeh mean Potter and Black and the other two?"

Lily nodded and sniffled. "I went to the bookstore to f-find them, but the shopkeeper said th-they went up to the Shrieking Shack."

Moody frowned, not understanding. "But don't they go up there all the time? I mean," he lowered his voice slightly, "what with Remus's, er, 'condition' and all, maybe they forgot something up there, eh?"

"She said they were meeting a girl!" Lily wailed, collapsing forward onto the table again. Her entire body shook with the force of her sobs.

Moody's eyes widened slightly in understanding. "Ohhh, I see." He drew Lily's head to his shoulder and patted her back gently. "There, there, lassie, I'm sure it isn't what yeh think. There's probably another explanation for all this, no need to fret about it."

Lily disentangled herself from Moody's comforting arms and stood, one hand wrapped tightly around her waist, clutching her wand, the other propped up against her chin. "I just don't know what to do any more, Mad-Eye!" She stamped her foot in exasperation. "And this isn't the first time this month I've caught them sneaking off somewhere! The last time, it was a jewelry store, and they denied ever going there! The time before that, James came to my house with something that looked like lipstick on his cheek! Lipstick, Mad-Eye! And the time before that-"

"Now, now, calm down, Lily," Moody said. "I'm sure there's been a mistake-"

Lily laughed hysterically, a high, wild laugh Moody had never heard from her before. "A mistake? A mistake?! Oh, yes, there's been a mistake, Mad-Eye, a mistake that kissed my boyfriend! A mistake that he's even now sneaking off to- to- to snog!" She threw her wand onto the table and began pacing like an angry cat.

Before Moody could say another word, the door flew open with a crash. Two dark-cloaked figures entered the tiny pub, wands drawn. "Expelliarmus!" Moody's wand flew out of his hand to clatter onto the floor. The closer of the two stuffed a dark hood over Lily's head and gave Moody a wink. The other swooped down and snatched up her discarded wand from the table, and handed Moody a piece of folded-up parchment, on which was written Do Not Follow Us, Read This Letter Right Away…Please. The pair hustled a shrieking, screaming Lily out the door. Moody bolted out of his chair to follow, but it was too late. The three had already Disapparated.

Moody sat down heavily and unfolded the piece of parchment. As he read, his eyes widened and a grin slowly spread across his face. By the end of the letter, his eyes were sparkling with mirth. "Good luck, boys," he chuckled, "I hope she forgives you for this."