Chapter 7
Confessions
That dream still haunts me even two days later.
Sunlight streams in through the curtains on my window, waking me up. The aroma of bacon is starting to sift its way through my door.
I kick off my covers and run downstairs to find a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon placed at my seat.
Something is going on. Dad only makes this a few times a year.
"SQUAWK"
It all clicks.
That's the Hogwarts owl. Which means... my Hogwarts letter is here!
I abandon my plate and take the letter from the owl. Carefully, I tear the official seal.
Dear Miss Evans,
I am pleased to inform you that, upon careful consideration, you have been chosen as Head Girl.
As you may know, you and the Head Boy will be in charge of assigning rounds, holding Prefect meetings, tutoring, and scheduling Hogsmeade visitst
Please be in the front compartment of the train on the first of September.
Sincerely,
Professor McGonagall
I drop the envelope on the counter. The Head Girl badge clinks against the countertop.
"Congratulations, dear" Mum squeals, looking over my shoulder. Dad claps me on the back.
Dad leaves for work and Mum goes outside to see him off
"Oh, good job, you've been named the biggest freak in the school. What an honour. Your boyfriend must be so proud," Petunia sneers as soon mum leaves the room.
I whirl around to face my sister. "You're just jealous."
She scoffs. "I am not! Why would I be jealous of my freak sister?"
"You cannot stand the fact that I'm a witch, that I can do magic, and the fact that I have had not one, but two boyfriends who are twice the man than Vernon is."
"I love Vernon for him. And the fact that he loves me despite bring related to a freak," Petunia shoots back.
"Oh thay's rich," I laugh. "May I remind you that six years ago, you cried and even wrote to Professor Dumbledore to let you in, so you could be a 'freak'?" I am livid by this point. "And yes," I add. "My boyfriend is proud of me."
"No one mourns the wicked," she says and then storms off.
I sit down and finish my now cold breakfast. Leave it to Petunia to ruin a perfectly good morning.
July 23
Red,
Would you like to go out on the twenty-sixth? I'll picup you up.
-Remus
"Lily," mum calls. Would you sort through all of your stuffyup in the attic and see if you can find photos and different things from yours and your sister's childhood. Petunia wants to have some of those things on display at her wedding."
I hastily write a quick "yes" in respond to Remus and trudge up to the attic.
I turn on the light an sit down in front of a box labeled "Lily and Petunia". I pull out a couple of photographs of Petunia and I hugging by the swings at the playground.
In the picture, I looked no older than three years old. It was late fall because the trees in the back were starting to bare.
I set those aside, and pull out a few more photographs. In a few of them, we're at the circus, my face painted like a tiger, her's like a clown. In the others, Petunia was dressed up like a princess and I a witch, about to trick or treat.
How ironic, I think to myself.
Next in the box, I find handmade cards to each other.
I'll love you forever, Tuney. Love, Lily, one read.
Lily, you are the best sister ever. Love, Petunia, another said.
Setting those down, I nearly laugh at what I had pulled out.
In my hands, are two dolls. The one in my right hand was the a red-haired, green-eyed, stuffed doll that Petunia had gotten me for my fifth birthday. I had loved it so much, that I had gotten the one that I now held in my left hand for her eighth birthday. It had brown hair, and dark brown eyes. We had treasured those dolls.
A few tears hit Petunia's doll. Things were so much easier before I met Severus and found out I was a witch.
Remus arrives at my front porch on the twenty-sixth promptly at noon. Unfortunately, some of my extended family had arrived an hour earlier.
"Lily, is that your boyfriend," Uncle Patrick shouts through the house.
"Yes," I yell back. "Actually, we're about to head out, but we will stop by later." I pull Remus along with me and shut the door behind us.
Remus shoots me a questioning look as he leads me toward the lake.
"You'll get to meet my family at the wedding. They'll scare you off if you meet them too soon," I tease.
"...But I'm not even invited to the wedding," Remus sputters.
"Mum said I could bring you to be with me. Lauren and Sirius will be there as well."
"I'd love to." At that, he makes me side-Apparate him and we leave.
A moment later, we arrive in an alley in another town.
I follow Remus into a bookstore. He heads to the coffee shop inside of it.
After we get our drinks, we find a secluded spot to sit.
"So how is everyone," I ask.
"Good," Remus replies. "James apolgoised for his behaviour last week."
"Good. He was acting like a baby."
Remus nods his head in agreement. "Actually, Peter, Sirius, and I went over to his place yesterday. Cara was already there, but they were fighting about something. We ha just made it to his room when we heard her break up with him."
She broke up with him? "Hmm," I say, trying not to look surprised.
"And after she left, he was musing something about getting on better terms with you," he reports, studying my reaction.
I look at him. "What do you think about it?"
"I would love it if the pair of you could at least be civil to each other again."
We stay quiet for a bit.
After a while, I finish my coffee and set it down on the table with a deep sigh.
"Is everything ok," Remus asks, placing his hand over mine.
No, I think. "Listen, can I ask you something?"
Remus releases his hand and looks at me with pure interest. "Sure."
"Before last term ended, Severus mentioned something that has stuck with me," I say, a bit uneasy.
"What was it?"
"He said something about how your mum isn't actually sick. Remus, is that true?"
He hangs his head shamefully. "Yes, it's true."
"Remus, do you swear to tell me the truth," I question.
"I promise."
"Are you a werewolf?" The questions sounds quite silly when I actually ask it in a whispered voice.
"What would lead you to believe that I am," he challenges, deflecting the question quickly.
"Well,"I say, organising my thoughts. "For starters, you disappear every full moon, and not to take care of your mum." I reach out and trace a faint scar on his forearm. "Not to mention the scars you have all over your face and arms." I withdraw my hand. "I just don't know how James, Peter, and Sirius figure in to all of this."
Remus scratches his head and looks at me. "Listen, the disappearances, lies, scratches, and the other three can all be explained when they're present too. We'll make a lunch out of it." He checks his watch. "I need to get you back. It's getting late."
We walk back to the alley and Apparate back home.
"Did I tell you that I was chosen as Head Girl," I mention.
"Lily, that's fantastic." Remus congratulates, kissing me.
I watch him leave and then dodge my family. I escape to my room.
"Why did I have to find out from my boyfriend that my best friend is dating Remus Lupin," a voice demands.
Lauren turns around in my desk chair. "Well?"
"Sorry, I haven't had time to even write to you or Alice."
"It figures," Alice pipes up from behind me.
"So," I start, sitting down on my bed. "I suppose that you want to know everything that has happened..."
"Lily, your boyfriend seems lovely. When can we meet him," aunt Clara asks me two days later.
"Before the wedding ceremony," I reply, thinking about Remus' letter I had received five minutes earlier.
Lily,
Please meet me, James, Peter and Sirius on the second at Leaky at noon.
-Remus
What is so hard to explain? So what if he is a werewolf? That doesn't change who he is and what he means to me.
July 29,
Lily,
I don't blame you if you have reverted to thinking that I am an arrogant toe-rag. If I were you, I'd do the same. I'm sorry for everything.
As you may have heard via Remus, Cara and I broke up. It took me awhile, but I realised she was a mistake.
I honestly have not the slightest idea why I just told you that. There's something about you that makes me do things I normally wouldn't.
Oh, congratulations on being chosen as Head Girl. You'll be brilliant.
See you around,
James Potter
The four boys are at a table already when I arrive at the Leaky Cauldron. As I sit down between Peter and Sirius, no one says anything.
"It amazes me how brilliant you are, Lily," Remus begins.
I open my mouth to say something, but he keeps going.
"Severus was correct in what he told yo. And everything you told me was correct."
I open my mouth to say something but Sirius silences me.
"I was very young when I got the bite. Unfortunately, there is no cure currently. Every full moon, I turn into this full-fledge monster. I thought that it was impossible to attend Hogwarts in my condition."
"But..." I begin.
"Sshh," James warns.
Remus continues. "Then, Dumbledore became Headmaster. He told my parents and I that as long as we took certain precautions, I could attend. He planted a place for me to go - the Whomping Willow was planted for me. It is on top of a tunnel that leads to the Shrieking Shack. Each full moon while at Hogwarts, I sneak out and transform."
I sit there, listening, and still trying to figure out the other three's role in this.
"My transformations are terribly painful. Since I was confined in this space with no one to bite, I'd take it out on my self, biting and scratching."
So that's what the villagers hear.
"Aside from being a werewolf, I have great friends - the three others that are here with us. See, by second year, they could hardly fail to notice my monthly disappearances. I made up lies, most commonly, that my mother was ill. I was terrified they would be afraid of me or not want to be my friend if they knew the truth."
"But when we figured it out, we weren't scared or feeling the need to desert him," Peter happily announces.
"We even became Animagi in fifth year," Sirius says proudly.
"What," I exclaim, shocked.
"It took us nearly three bloody years, though. It's tricky to do these transformations," James says.
"Which is why the Ministry keeps a close eye on it," I state. "Are you lot even registered Animagi?"
The three boys look at me and give me a sheepish grin.
"They keep me company as animals. Werewolves are dangerous to humans only."
"But how did you sneak out without Filch catching you?"
"James has an invisibility cloak," Peter says.
I look at James with my eyes wide.
"It's a family heirloom," he says casually.
"Anyway," Remus continues, "with them around, I become less dangerous. My body is that of a werewolf, but my mind is like I am normally. With all of us able to transform, we have explored so many areas of the grounds that probably no one else has seen."
"And thus, the Marauder's Map was born," James explains, pulling out a pack of parchment and his wand. He points his wand and taps the parchment. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
The once blank parchment now has ink on it.
Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs
Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers
Are proud to present
THE MARAUDER'S MAP
"It tells us where everyone is at any time of day at Hogwarts."
"I understand Moony, but what are the others."
"I transform into a rat, thus making me Wormtail," Peter offers.
"I'm Padfoot. I transform into a black dog," Sirius says after him.
"Which leaves..." I start.
"Me," James finishes. "I'm Prongs. My Animagus is a stag."
Oh my.
"Remus," I say, looking directly at him. "This doesn't change who you are."
He smiles. "Thank you, Lily. Just please don't tell anyone what we just trusted you with."
"Not even Lauren," Sirius warns.
I nod my head. "What does this mean for us," I ask Remus.
He sighs. "I've truly enjoyed being with you. But even with these three to help me, I don't want to risk hurting you in any way."
I nod my head, not feeling anything but relief that the truth is finally out.
James follows me home to make sure I'm safe this time, instead of Remus.
"That's awfully brave of you, what you do for Remus," I say.
"Thanks. But I couldn't let a mate suffer could I?"
I look at him and grin. "James Potter, we could be mates."
A/N: i own nothing.
I am so worry for not updating. I've been so busy recently and I just couldn't write this chapter for the longest time. But please read/review!
Updates will hopefully be more steady when school begins in two(!) days.
Thanks much!
Love,
Olivia
