About a month after Easter (the weekend of the ball) all of the seventh years were cramming in last minute studies for their upcoming NEWTS. Everywhere you looked, there were students reading and copying notes furiously, even opening textbooks to study.

Lily, James, Alice and Frank were meeting up in the Head's common room to study for their NEWTS. They were the only ones who were taking the same ones as each other. Most of the Marauders had stuck together in their classes, but only two of them cared immensely what they got on the tests. Finally, Lily and Alice (who had instigated this most recent study session) decided it was time for a break.

Alice and Frank quickly left their friends' room, knowing that they would probably want some time alone. As Lily watched her best friend leave, she turned quietly to James, who was adjusting something, something that he was hiding from her. Lily sneaked up behind him, peering over his shoulder, trying to glimpse this "top secret" item. James, however, seemed to feel her looking and quickly tucked the mystery item under his robes. While Lily's curiosity was raging, she recognized that he didn't want her to know what he was doing just yet.

Lily wandered back into her bedroom, her mind going back to the walk Remus and her had taken after the ball.

There was a quiet knock on her bedroom door. Lily knew it was one of two people. It was either James or Remus. Lily was fairly certain it would be Remus at her door at this point, seeing as James had fallen asleep quicker than usual, and she'd had to levitate him to bed that night.

"Hey. You'll want to grab your cloak, Lils. We're going out to the lake tonight." Remus whispered when Lily opened her door, almost ready to leave. When she had her cloak on, the pair headed out, knowing they wouldn't get in trouble. There were no adults patrolling the grounds for another hour.

"Did you have fun tonight, Remus?" Lily knew why they were out here, but she tried to at least start the conversation light. Remind him that he was still the same person to her. When Lily fully realized the prejudices against her, Remus and Alice were the only ones who knew how much she hurt. Remus always started out the heavy, consoling conversations with a gentle reminder that they were the same people they always had been.

"Yeah, I enjoyed my dance with you the most though. But that isn't why we came out here. I promised you I'd explain myself. We've only got an hour. It took almost three when I explained everything to Padfoot and Prongs. But then again, they interrupt more than you do.

"I was bitten as a young child. I'm just now beginning to realize how guilty my biter really was. When I first started transforming, I felt bad for the wolf that had bitten me. I didn't realize his ambition was to bite as many children as possible. After I was bitten, my family had to move every couple of years. We could never stay in one place for very long. We never thought I'd be able to come to Hogwarts, but when Dumbledore became headmaster, he allowed me to come. But he had to plant a vicious tree so that I could transform away from the school.

"The Whomping Willow was placed there for me. There is a tunnel under it that leads to the Shrieking Shack. The place isn't haunted. The villagers hear me. Not an exceptionally loud ghost.

"Hogwarts was the first place I ever had any friends. For the first year and a half, every student in the school believed my mother was sick every month. Nobody made the connection as to why until our second year, when we had to write an essay on werewolves. That's when James and Sirius figured it out. I didn't want to lose anyone. That's why I told no one."

When Remus finished, Lily stood there, shocked. Then she reached over and gave him another protective hug. The two of them stayed like that until Remus felt Lily shiver. For a May evening, it was very chilly, even with a light cloak on. He gently lead her back up to the castle, barely reaching the common room before teachers were due to begin patrolling. Remus slipped into James's room and grabbed the cloak and map, knowing it was the only way to get back without being seen.

"Even Moony is staying out after curfew." James sat up grinning. "Get out of here before Lily gives you detention."