Chapter Four
The Willow Tree
A week washing bedpans by hand. That was Lily's punishment for missing three of her classes that day. That didn't include the hour's lecture from Professor McGonagall. She would have felt terrible about it if she regretted it, which she didn't. She never thought that breaking the rules would be so much fun. If she were to be honest with herself it wasn't just breaking the rules, it was breaking them with James.
He was the reason she was up so late. She couldn't sleep, and so she strolled the girl's dormitory, a red, and gold circular room high up in a tower. She looked through one of the glass windows down at the grounds. It was dark, the grounds painted lighter by the moon. It only gave enough light to see by. She could see the gleaming lake, the high grass, the Whomping Willow tree with its thick knobby branches. She cringed thinking of the Hufflepuff boy last year that broke ten bones getting to near it. Now it was forbidden to go near it, which in her opinion it should have been in the first place.
Lily leaned on the window, her arms wrapped around her torso thinking back into that vacant classroom with James. He was a good kisser. Fantastic in fact. If she weren't worried about her grades slipping, or the amount of scrubbing of bedpans she would have to do she would go back there with him in the morning.
Her daydreaming ceased once she saw a shadow moving on the grounds. Not only one shadow, but two. They crept along the grounds fast towards the Whomping Willow. She gasped audibly, and held a hand over her mouth listening carefully for any signs that she woke her room mates, but none of them so much as stirred. She reached back to her nightstand for her Head Girl badge not taking her eyes off of the shadows. They were getting closer, and closer.
There was no chance that she could run down there fast enough to stop them, but she had to try. They would be hit, and the least that could happen to them was to be maimed. The worst was to be killed. She couldn't allow that to happen.
Lily pulled on her robe. She struggled getting her arms through quickly, she tied it haphazardly running out of the dormitory with the softest steps she could manage, and tried not to slam the door behind her. She felt her pocket for her badge. It was there, no one could stop her now.
She made her way through the darkened hallways, past the suits of amour, down numerous corridors, and stairs. She was heaving for breath by the time she was outside. The cold air nipped at her face while she ran. Her bare feet pounded against the soft ground. She thought of some poor, but stupid second-years that would try something like this, and she ran faster, her legs aching.
The tree loomed closer, and closer, and she stared wildly around for the students. She held her knees gasping. No one was there. She was alone. That couldn't be possible she saw them! She did! She stared into the forest, but it was too dark, and none of the students were that stupid. Horror stories had gone on for years about that forest, no one would go in there. So where did they go?
Straightening herself she tried to think logically. Where could they have possibly gone? She couldn't have imagined it. Could she?
"Lily," a familiar gasp sounded behind her.
She wheeled around, and saw three figures moving towards her. The moonlight caught their faces, and she saw James, Sirius, and Peter. They looked like children with their hand caught in the cookie jar, but that wasn't right, because for James it would have cause him to smile. No, this was something much more serious.
"I saw two people out here!"
James stared at her incredulously. "Really? Where would they have gone?"
"I - I don't know! But they were here!" She ran her fingers through her hair realizing she had it up in a ponytail, and only caught a few strands that fell brushing against her warm cheeks. She wasn't going mad. She saw them!
"Lily, I think you need to go to bed."
She glared at him. "What are you doing out here if you didn't see them?"
He paused his eyes guarded, and she folded her arms over her chest triumphantly. "Go to bed," he repeated lamely.
"Oh, no, see I think I might stay out here for a while. You know, to see if those two don't come back. I'll stay here all night if I have to. That is unless you want to tell me something?" She raised a brow.
James shifted feet. He had never been more uncomfortable in his life, nor had he ever had as much trouble coming up with a lie as he did then. It would have been easy to say that they were out for a walk, but that would explain going near the Whomping Willow, or why Reamus wasn't with them when he always was. No, they were caught, and it was time to tell the truth, but the worst part was that it wasn't his truth to tell.
Sirius looked at him warily while Peter looked on for instructions. He breathed the night air clearing his senses. He was sure that there was no way out now.
"Sirius, Peter, can you give us some privacy?"
"Wha - " Peter started.
"No problem," Sirius interrupted dragging Peter by the scruff with him to the lake. It wasn't a hard thing to do since Peter was a head shorter than him, though his weight made up for the difference. It never seem to hinder Sirius as he kept his stride mechanically.
James waited until they were out of ear-shot, not that it mattered. Although Peter was not the brightest of his kind, Sirius knew what he had to discuss. He seemed understanding enough, so there was the chance that Reamus wouldn't go crazy on him. A small chance, but a chance he would take.
"What's going on," Lily questioned though it was more like a demand.
"It's a secret."
She narrowed her eyes at him. The darkness hid the green making them look black. "And I'm not allowed to know it, is that it?"
"Yes."
"That's nice - that's real nice!"
"Calm down, Lily, I'll tell you."
"For what reason," she hissed. "Because you don't know another way out?"
"That's it exactly. This isn't my secret to tell!"
"It's yours enough if you're out here."
He exhaled slowly. He needed to stay calm if he expected her to. "You're... Partially right."
She tapped her foot like an impatient child. "Well? What is it?"
"You have to promise," he said low, "you have to swear you won't tell anyone."
"I promise."
"Give it more thought than that, this is big."
"Tell me, James." It sounded like a threat, and that scared him. There was no doubt in his mind that she could draw out her wand quicker than he could to defend himself. It would be horrid if it came to that, not only because it was her, but because this was too nice of a night to contemplate a one-sided fight with your girlfriend. They should be walking the grounds, or watching the stars, anything but fighting about this.
"Reamus is... A... Werewolf." He spoke so quietly that he wondered if she caught it, or if it was lost somewhere in the air between them. It didn't, for her face changed expressions flawlessly. Horrified, calculating, understanding, and then confusion. There were more questions. Reamus was going to have to wait for his friends.
Lily untangled her crossed arms burying her hands in the pockets of her robe. It all made sense. Every night of the full moon... She refused to accept it, to think something so horrible of someone so kind, but Severus was right. Reamus Lupin was a werewolf. Now that James' admitted it she had to come to acceptance. It wasn't that bad. That must be the reason the Whomping Willow was there. He hid in there, but it must be someplace far, because she couldn't hear any sign of life in there. The other person with him had to be one of the professors. That only left one question.
"What are you three doing out here?"
The guilt was written all over his face. It made her sick.
"You've got to be kidding me?! Are you seriously thinking of going in there?! No! You can't be that thick!"
He hushed her, "quiet, Lily, someone'll hear."
"What if he bites you?"
"We bite back."
"You know what happens when a werewolf..." She glared. "'Bite back'? You've been in there before?" Her stomach churned, and she glimpsed around her for a nearby place to be sick in peace, but she wasn't about to go near the Whomping Willow.
"That's impossible, you'd be..."
"We're animagus. All three of us. Peter transforms into a rat. He'll touch the knob on the tree to freeze it so we can get in. Sirius changes into a black dog, and I into a stag, so we're big enough to control him. He's... Tame when we're with him."
"Animagus," she gasped. "You're too young. It's illegal."
James rolled his eyes. "Honestly, does it surprise you?"
She huffed, "no, it doesn't." She kept one hopeful thought, but she knew it would be shot down. "Does the Headmaster know?"
"He knows about Reamus -"
"I meant you!"
"No."
Yes, there went that hope. It crashed into her, and she felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. "You're crazy, all of you!"
James clearly tried to keep the corners of his mouth from turning up. "Yeah... Well... It's us, isn't it?"
"That's very advanced. How -"
"It took us a good three years to get it right. Had to help Peter out a lot."
"That's still... Wow..."
James laughed, but quickly turned serious. He took a few steps closer to her, careful as if afraid to scare her away coming close enough to touch her. "Lily..."
"James?"
"You promise not to tell?"
This time she was the one to roll her eyes. "Of course I won't tell."
He grinned. "You're amazing."
"You're stupid."
"You're smart."
"You're arrogant."
"You're beautiful."
"You're handsome."
"I know," and he kissed her roughly holding her shoulders bringing her closer to him.
She gripped his elbows pulling herself on the tips of her toes. She loved kissing him. She could stay like that with him until her legs gave way beneath her. However, before she could collapse there was a loud coughing near them, and they broke apart.
Sirius, and Peter stood there now. Peter was scarlet, and made it a point to look away. Sirius gleamed straight at them.
"She knows," James told him.
"Figured as much. Welcome to the club, Lily."
"Thanks... Sirius." She glimpsed back at the Willow tree, and turned to James. "I'm very tired. You know, I think I might be too tired to comprehend this correctly... I don't think I'm seeing any of this really. I never saw you all out here. So goodnight." She waved after she broke out of James' grasp, and made her way up to the castle. She was tired.
