Chapter 9 – Confessions

It had been a week since their lovely date, and Lily still was feeling particularly happy about it. She was currently sitting with Christina doing homework in the Gryffindor common room, but she was constantly being drawn back to thinking about how wonderful James was. Christina sighed. "How many more subjects to go after Charms?"

Lily chuckled at her. "Three. Potions, DADA, and Arithmancy— unless you and your new beau are going to do the last subject together sometime tomorrow…"

Christina glared playfully at her. Lee Rogers had finally asked her out officially a couple days ago. "It's not like you don't get all the help you want in Transfiguration with James."

Lily rolled her eyes. "But I actually need help in Transfiguration…well, usually anyway. You, on the other hand, are pretending to not know all that much about Arithmancy. You should just tell him."

Christina sighed adoringly. "But he's just so sweet when he tries to help me out."

Lily laughed. "Well, maybe once you tell him that you understand it and you just pretended not to so you could get closer to him, you two can spend more of your time snogging rather than doing homework."

Christina threw a pillow from the couch at her as she rolled her eyes. "You are so evil. James is a bad influence…"

The two girls stopped giggling with each other when they saw James, Remus, and Peter enter the Gryffindor common room snickering. James immediately plopped down next to Lily while the other two guys sat comfortably on the floor near the coffee table, each of them grabbing out their books, parchment, and a quill. Lily looked over at James curiously. "What's so funny?"

James was still trying to keep himself from snickering. "Well, we were conducting a test so to speak, and well, Sirius is now in the hospital wing in a rather funny predicament."

Remus and Peter began full out laughing at James' words. Christina just looked amused, but Lily was a bit concerned. Over the last week, the Marauders had been disappearing for a couple hours in the evening when James and Sirius weren't at quidditch practice. She remembered what James had said about them possibly entering their 'test' phase for their upcoming prank. "Is he gonna be alright? What did you three do to him?"

James sighed, finding himself able to become more relaxed as he now tried to ease her growing concern, "Well, we can't exactly tell you what happened. It was an unfortunate miscalculation on my part. Let's just say this portion of the prank will work out beautifully if I can figure this last bit out. We wouldn't want such a misfortune to occur during the actual prank's execution."

Remus shook his head. "You shouldn't blame this all on yourself, Prongs. You know I should've been able to predict this would have happened. Well, not exactly what happened of course, but the reason it happened."

Christina remembered Lily telling her about how James and the Marauders were planning on executing a huge prank soon. "What did you not count on? Can you tell us?"

James snickered. "I have to figure out a way for a permanent sticking charm to be executed a bit differently than it was today. That is all I can tell you."

Lily was confused. James could cast any charm pretty well. "What in the world do you mean? You can probably cast that charm just fine."

Remus chuckled. "Well, it's not exactly being cast…umm…conventionally."

Lily and Christina just shrugged at one another as the three Marauders began laughing amongst themselves again. They had all eventually calmed down and were all working on their homework when James whispered over to Lily, "Hey, is it ok if I go out with the Marauders on Wednesday night again? We kind of do this monthly thing."

Lily nodded, although she was a bit curious about these monthly outings of theirs. She thought back on the last few years and realized the Marauders had been going somewhere once a month for a long time. Remus was always gone once a month, but she had heard that was for a family thing. "Sure. Remind me to ask you about something later though, ok?"

James kissed her forehead before turning back to his homework. "Sure thing."

They all were working rather quietly for about an hour or so before the portrait opened once more and Sirius walked in looking altogether pissed off. The Marauders all began to laugh into their hands as he approached them. Sirius was not amused. "Go ahead. Laugh it up! You all know I will get you back for this. We all take turns at being the tester usually."

Remus sobered up the fastest. "Awww… Come on, Padfoot! You know you would have been in hysterics if that had happened to us!"

Peter nodded at Remus' words. "Yeah! Remember what happened to me that one time last year…"

James and Remus began to laugh at Peter's words while Sirius merely rolled his eyes. "That does not even compare to this! Do you have any idea what Madam Pomfrey was telling me as she attempted to fix my…situation?"

James choked as he laughed. "I don't even want to know, Padfoot!"

Sirius finally laid his eyes on James, and held his fingers an inch apart. "Oh, don't even get me started with you! I am this close from thinking you did this on purpose!"

James immediately started laughing, although he was shaking his head in the negative. "No, I didn't! I swear! I'll admit to the time with the green underwear being on purpose, but not this!"

Sirius suddenly turned stoic while Remus and Peter began laughing in hysterics on the floor. Lily and Christina had been trying to block out the Marauders, but they became clearly amused as Sirius began turning bright red in embarrassment. "You did THAT on purpose! I'm going to kill you!"

In an instant, James was on his feet and running from the room, dodging a sea of Gryffindors in his wake. All that could be made out as he ran away was, "Lily, I'll see you for patrol later!"

Sirius immediately was running after him. As Sirius made his way out of the portrait to follow James, he knocked himself into a shocked Lauren. Lauren eyed the remaining group members in front of the fireplace as she made her way inside slightly dazed. "So, what did I miss?"

Remus and Peter were immersed in renewed laughter while Lily and Christina shrugged at her, completely oblivious to what just happened. Remus began to sputter up at Lauren, "The green underwear! It was ON PURPOSE!"

Lauren's eyes widened in understanding, and she immediately began to giggle. She tried to maintain a straight face as she asked in order to clarify, "Really?"

When Remus nodded still laughing and struggling to breathe, Lauren lost it. She was laughing so hard tears were coming from her eyes as she collapsed into one of the armchairs. When the three of them finally began to sober up, Lily couldn't help but be curious. "So, anyone going to share?"

Lauren's eyes were full of mischief. "It was supposedly an accident, but I always wondered if James had done it on purpose."

Remus smiled as he looked over at Lily. "You see, James and Sirius have always tried to embarrass the hell out of each other. It's just been their thing. Well, we were all at James' house sometime during the holidays last year. James had told me that he had come up with an awesome prank, supposedly for his Dad. I thought it was a bit odd, but I was all for helping him with it. We concocted a potion that would make his Dad appear to be only in green underwear for the whole day while he was at home AND no one would be able to tell him about it."

Lily's eyes suddenly widened. "But Sirius drank it?"

Lauren laughed. "Yep! And all of us, including James' parents, Dumbledore, and a couple Aurors couldn't tell him about it!"

Peter joined in, "We were all constantly laughing at him, but every time we would try and say what was wrong with him, all Sirius would hear were the words 'I wish I had some green underwear…' Sirius just had a confused expression on his face whenever he would hear that!"

Lily and Christina began full out laughing. Lily eventually looked back over at Lauren. "When did he finally figure it out?"

Lauren giggled. "After about five hours, Dumbledore was finally able to lift the charm not allowing him to tell Sirius what was wrong. I've never seen Sirius turn so red in the face. It was hysterical."

Remus added, "James, of course, had told Sirius the potion had been meant for his Dad, and I corroborated his story because that's what I had known to be true at the time. Needless to say, James just bested all of us, including Sirius."

The five of them continued laughing amongst one another. Lily shook her head with a smile. She really had no idea she would have ever heard about Sirius Black being that embarrassed. She sighed and turned her attention back to her homework. When she glanced back up, her eyes were sparkling. "So, Potions homework anyone?"

Lily and James had just finished up their patrol that night and had made their way into the Heads' common room. James gently tugged on her hand until she sat down with him on the couch. They were both pretty beat, but he hadn't had her alone all day. Even on patrol that night, there seemed to be a professor or a student around. Lily sighed. "I still can't believe you did that to Sirius, James."

James chuckled a bit. "It's alright. It was worth it. I'm sure he'll get me back at some point now that he knows."

Lily nodded and the two of them just sat in each others' arms for a few minutes, each just enjoying the other's company. James sighed as he twisted a piece of Lily's pretty red hair between his fingers, "Hey, didn't you want to ask me about something earlier?"

Lily's brow furrowed. She didn't want to bring up the Marauders' monthly outings outright because James would probably just pass it off, but maybe she could lead up to talking about that in another way. "Oh yeah, I wanted to ask you about the Map."

James was confused. "Sure, what about it?"

Lily turned in his arms, reached into his robe, and pulled it out. James wasn't surprised she knew he had it on him. She pulled out her wand, tapped it, and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

James watched her as she pealed back the Map to show the Heads' common room. There was only one name sitting there. Lily pointed. "This."

James gulped. He hadn't even thought about that charm when he had been giving her the Map. "Oh yeah. I forgot about that. However, before I fix it, I should really ask the guys about something first."

Lily frowned. "What do you need to ask them about? Does this have anything to do with where you go every month?"

James looked sheepish. He hadn't planned on her figuring everything out so quickly, but he had already mentioned to Sirius that he wanted to tell her everything. Sirius had just shrugged and said he probably should tell her before she found out in a bad way. James was now just worried about what Remus would say. "Umm, can you hold on for one minute?"

Lily was looking at him oddly as he pulled away from her. She knew he was hiding something, but the expression on his face— somewhere between concerned and reluctant, yet relieved— left her with no idea what it could be about. "Sure."

Lily watched as James walked over to his room and closed the door. He was only gone for a few minutes before he came back out. He actually looked rather nervous now. "I just wanted to let the guys know I was going to tell you."

Lily was confused. "Tell me what? How did you talk with the guys in your room anyway?"

James sighed and sat down next to her. "I trust you promise not to say anything, right?"

Lily was eyeing him curiously. "Of course."

James leaned back on the couch and pulled something out of his pocket to show her. "To answer your first question, this is how I can talk to Sirius whenever or wherever I want to."

Lily gently took the mirror from him and examined it. "It's charmed?"

James nodded. "Yep. Remus' work, of course. He made them for Sirius and I, considering the two of us spent an awful lot of time in separate detentions. This way, we could at least talk with each other. All we have to do is say the other's name and the other person will pick it up."

Lily handed him back the mirror. "What does this have to do with your monthly outings though?"

James looked her over unsure how she would react to what he was going to admit. "You know how Remus goes somewhere every month?"

Lily nodded. "Yeah, but isn't that a family thing?"

James shook his head, still apprehensive and hesitant. "Not exactly. Have you noticed during what time of the month Remus always disappears?"

Lily was about to shake her head no when she suddenly stopped as she remembered something about this Wednesday evening when James and the Marauders were all going to disappear. Her eyes got wide. "No way."

James merely glanced over at her sadly when he could tell she suddenly figured it out. "Unfortunately, yes. Remus is a werewolf, and he only disappears around the full moon."

Lily gasped at hearing him say it out loud. "Remus goes through that horrible transformation every month?"

James sighed, and Lily could see that he didn't like it any more than she did. "Yes. Apparently, he was bitten when he was a young boy. His mother and father were away at the time of the attack. Since it happened, his parents have always treated him differently, like he'll never be a real person again or good enough. They always are asking him to do a bunch of expensive and useless stuff that will attempt to 'fix his problem,' even though everyone knows no cure has been found yet. He hates going home now so he spends a lot of time with us during all of the holidays if he can or he just stays here."

Lily sat silently and knew from James' silence that he was letting her get used to the information. "But…but don't the restof you disappear once a month?"

Lily watched James reluctantly nod before she pressed further, "Well, where do you guys go then?"

James surprised her by slowly standing up and backing away from her. When he saw her about to protest, he shushed her, "No, it's ok. I'm just…going to show you why we disappear too."

Lily nodded slightly and watched as he looked around himself, almost looking as if he were checking to see if there was enough room. She was just about to ask him what he was doing when he took a deep breath and suddenly transformed into a great white stag. Lily was startled, but she quickly got over it. Suddenly, everything made sense. She immediately whispered, "Prongs?"

James shifted back into himself and plopped back down on the couch beside her. "Yeah. Sirius, Peter, and I figured out that Remus was a werewolf during the beginning of second year. We immediately decided to try and become animagi to join him when he went through his monthly transformations, seeing as if we were to get bitten as an animal, it would not affect us. We were finally able to do it over the summer before fifth year. Sirius can turn into a large black dog so we call him Padfoot. Once Sirius and I mastered the transformation, we helped Peter. Peter can turn into a rat so we call him Wormtail. We are not registered, and you are now the only other person to know about the animagi transformations." He snickered after a moment, as if remembering something. "Well, besides Lauren."

Lily was still a bit shocked. "Wait, what about Remus? Who else knows about Remus if no one else knows about you three?"

James sighed. "Dumbledore knows, of course, because he was the one who allowed Remus to attend school. The Whomping Willow was planted at the school just before our first year so Remus could come." He pulled out the Map, activated it, and fumbled through the pieces of parchment to show her. "See, there's an underground tunnel at the opening of the Whomping Willow and it leads all the way to…"

Lily interrupted him as she looked at the Map, "…the Shrieking Shack. That's why all those rumors started around Hogsmeade about it being haunted…"

James nodded. "As for others who may know, I'm pretty sure all of the other Professors are aware of Remus' situation, and then there's us, you, Lauren, and unfortunately, Snape."

Lily looked surprised. "Severus knows? How?"

James' eyes narrowed. "He was beginning to get suspicious sometime last year. Then, something happened— something we, as in us Marauders, no longer talk about— and I saved his life. Dumbledore made him swear not to tell anyone about anything."

Lily was confused, but she could tell James didn't really want to talk about it. He seemed rather upset over whatever must have happened. She remembered a huge fight between James and Sirius last year too. However, if it was something she needed to hear, she knew he would tell her eventually. Or, considering his sour face, it might just be better left unsaid. Besides, he was divulging quite a bit already. "I understand."

Lily was quiet for a bit as she leaned back into the couch, mulling everything over. James was watching her out of the corner of his eyes. "Are you alright?"

Lily sighed, but nodded. "Yeah. I now understand why you are so good at Transfiguration. You would have had to master NEWT standard and higher before even attempting to become an animagus."

James chuckled. "Yeah. Those were definitely an interesting three years. Sirius is probably just as good, but I continue to study it more than he does."

Lily watched as he grabbed the Map that was still activated. He waved his wand over the Map in a particular way and sparks flew out of his wand surrounding the Map, making it glisten for a short amount of time. He closed the Map before handing it over to her. "Here, try it again."

Once she took it from him, she felt him lift her up so she was sitting on his lap. She tapped her wand to the parchment and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

When she opened the Map, she could now see the two of them sitting together in the Heads' common room. James sighed. "Now, you know everything about the Marauders. The defect will still be in place for other people. Consider yourself the only honorary Marauder; well, besides Lauren, of course. Lauren found out about everything when Sirius and I were practicing at my house. I will never forget the look on her face when she found Sirius and I both half-transformed. We were still learning at the time."

Lily chuckled, but leaned against him with her head lying in the crook of his neck. "I still think you all are crazy for running around with a werewolf every month. What if he bites you, even as an animal?"

James ran his fingers through her hair, enjoying having her relax against him. That was something they all sometimes worry about. "Well, Sirius and I are big enough animals where that's usually not a concern."

Lily nodded. "How do you get out on the grounds without being seen that late at night? What about Filch and Mrs. Norris running around the castle?"

James grinned. "Oh, I have an invisibility cloak."

Lily pulled away from him so she could look back at him, her eyes widened in surprise. "You actually have one of those? Aren't they extremely rare?"

James chuckled at her response. "Yeah, they are pretty rare… My Dad got it for me as a gift upon coming to Hogwarts. I thought both of my parents had one as well, but it was just my Dad. When Reeny let me know that she had found it, I gave his cloak to one of his Auror friends at the Ministry, Alastor Moody. I didn't need two of them, and I knew he didn't have one yet. They're dead useful for Aurors. You'd have to be a powerful wizard to see through them. I think Dumbledore can, but I've never asked."

Lily just sighed. "You have too many secrets."

James chuckled at her as he pushed a few strands of her hair behind her ear. "Not really…"

Lily couldn't resist smiling back. "Anything else to tell me then?"

James shook his head. "Not today."

Lily leaned down and met his lips with hers. The kiss lasted longer than she had intended, but she didn't really care. When she finally pulled back, she giggled before stating quietly, "I'm glad you don't have much else to share because I'm tired and need to go to sleep."

James let her stand up before getting up himself. He stretched. "Yeah, me too. Night, Lils."

"Night, James."

The next day, Lily noticed that Remus was unsure of whether she would think less of him now that she knew the truth about him. The two of them had been prefects together for the past two years and had been friends, so if she didn't have a problem with him then, now would be no different. She made sure to let him know that. It made her happy to see him so relieved.

Now that Lily knew about Remus' condition, she was surprised to start noticing things about the Marauders that she had never noticed before over the next few days. As the full moon approached, she watched as Remus began to pale considerably and look rather sickly. Also, it became plainly obvious that Remus seemed to eat way more than the rest of the Marauders, but he must have one hell of a metabolism because he never seemed to gain a pound. James and Sirius even encouraged him to eat more than the large amount he ate already so he would actually gain some weight for once. What Lily found to be incredibly sweet was that James, Sirius, and even Peter took it upon themselves to distract others from noticing Remus look ill and weak by being a bit more boisterous themselves. She realized that over the last couple of years she probably had been so busy yelling at James for being obnoxious to have noticed that his behavior had merely been a cover for Remus. Lily hated watching Remus go through the whole process too so she decided that she would try to see if she could come up with a potion that might make him feel better leading up to the full moon. By the time lunch rolled around on Wednesday, Remus had disappeared. James had told her quietly that he and Sirius usually take him to the infirmary early so he could get some rest before the evening, as the transformation takes a lot out of him.

That night, James had left her with the Marauders' Map. She was still apprehensive over the fact that he and the others romped around with a werewolf, but she understood that they were doing it to keep their friend company. She reminded him to be careful, but he just smiled at her before giving her a kiss, telling her that she shouldn't worry, and that he'd see her in the morning.

She was now doing the nightly patrol by herself. Even though James had told her not to worry, she couldn't help glancing back at the Map every once in a while to make sure she could still see four certain persons running through the Forbidden Forest alive and well. Lily sighed. She looked over the Map some more, this time searching for persons within the castle, as she walked through the halls. Most areas were deserted. When she heard footsteps near her, she looked quickly at her location and noticed Severus was approaching her. She frowned. She knew he had been on prefect duty that night, but he should have been back in the Slytherin common room by now. Maybe something had happened. She quickly closed and pocketed the Map before finally seeing him round the corner just ahead of her. She pretended to be surprised. "Severus? What are you doing still out? Did something happen? You should be in your common room by now."

Severus sneered at her. "It is still customary to let the Heads know when something runs amiss during patrol, is it not?"

Lily frowned at his rude words. "Yes. What happened?"

Severus just looked bored. "I found Hufflepuff Amos Diggory with Ravenclaw Serena Wittier at a most inappropriate time during an escapade in the broom closet along the fifth floor corridor. They are now speaking with their Heads of House, and I was told to inform you and the imbecile."

Lily looked affronted. "Don't call him that."

Severus rolled his eyes, and she could tell that they had darkened. "Sticking up for Potter now, are you? I should've known. It's not surprising to see him skiving off Heads' duty."

Lily narrowed her eyes. "He's not skiving. It is normal for each of us to want to spend some time with our friends every once in a while. He's patrolled by himself when I've hung out with Christina."

Severus clearly wasn't amused before answering her smartly, "Right. I'm sure he and his friends are just out for a little stroll in the moonlight."

Lily glared at his tone and obvious insinuation. He wasn't supposed to tell anyone about Remus, but here he was, basically implying that Remus or one of the Marauders was a werewolf. If she hadn't already known, she was sure the comment would have caused her to be curious about what James was doing and she would've confronted him about it. She also was positive Severus would know that. Why would he want her to be at ends with James again? James hadn't hexed him for almost a month, mostly because of her. "What the Marauders do is none of your business. If you were to know anything, I would think you have been told to keep it to yourself."

Severus looked angry. He must have counted on James not telling her anything. "Well, I'm sure he would never have the decency to tell you everything; it would only put him in a bad light…"

Lily frowned. He must have been talking about the incident where he had found out about Remus' condition. James didn't exactly tell her about it, but she could infer whatever had happened he had not been happy about. Severus was just trying to mess with her head, and she was now more than annoyed so her temper flared, "Make your point already, and go back to your common room. You are not supposed to be out and about, and I have to finish my rounds."

Severus scowled at her for not taking him seriously. "You really don't know, do you? You want to hear about your 'oh so great boyfriend' and everyone's golden boy? How about I tell you about the REAL James Potter! Let's talk about a prank that went awry as I was told by Black to go to a certain location to find out about a certain someone's condition only to be placing my own life in peril. Your heroic Potter changed his mind at the last second deciding to quote unquote 'save me.' Dumbledore may have believed he didn't have anything to do with what happened, but I certainly don't; nor would anyone with half a brain. Any prank of the Marauders comes straight from both Black and Potter, particularly one involving me, and you know it."

And with that, Severus left. Lily was shocked to hear about what had happened, but at the same time, it didn't make any sense. James' face when he had been telling her about the incident a few nights before had been angry. Then, there was the huge fight between him and Sirius last year. No, things definitely did not add up the way Severus made them appear to be. The only real solution would be to ask James about it personally.

James walked quickly and quietly through the sixth floor corridor toward the Heads' Dorm. He had just dropped off Sirius and Peter, and now it was time for him to get what little sleep he could before class in the morning. Wait, it already was the morning. He pulled off his invisibility cloak and yawned as he said the password. When he stepped inside, he immediately froze. She was trying to kill him.

Lily was sleeping peacefully as she sat on the couch. However, unlike the last time where she had been fully dressed, she was wearing a dressing gown loosely over her pajamas which looked to be nothing more than a tiny camisole and some incredibly short shorts. Her long legs were on full display. James gulped and shook his head to clear his dirty thoughts. He immediately conjured her a blanket and walked over to her quietly to lay it over her as she slept. He was intrigued as to why she would wait up out here for him when she was aware that he would not be back until the early morning. The last full moon, her falling asleep out here was clearly an accident. This time, it looked to be on purpose.

His brow furrowed as he pulled her book out of her hands to lay it on the coffee table. He didn't think he had done anything to make her mad. Well, he hoped he hadn't done anything to make her mad. He leaned over a bit and gently kissed her forehead when he couldn't resist. While he was pulling away, her hand suddenly reached out and grabbed his forearm. "James?"

He sighed at hearing her sleepy voice. He spoke quietly, "It's me. I didn't mean to wake you. Go back to sleep, Lils."

Lily shook her head as she opened her beautiful green eyes. "No, it's ok. I wanted to talk to you anyway."

James grimaced at hearing the words no man probably ever wants to hear from their other half. "Do you mind if I take a quick shower to wake up a bit first?"

When Lily shook her head, he nodded at her and went over to his room. Only a couple minutes later, he made his way out into the common room in pajama pants and an old quidditch t-shirt. He wasn't surprised to see Lily waiting up for him wide awake; he only wished he was. He leaned over and lifted her up so she could sit on his lap. He rested the two of them against the couch and got comfortable before asking, "So, what's up, Lily?"

Lily frowned. She could tell he was exhausted, and yet he was still sitting out there with her. Although she had seen him pull a bunch of pranks, she seriously couldn't fathom him doing something so mean when he easily put others before himself many a time. "I'm sorry to keep you up."

James shook his head at her worried face and gave her a small smile. She felt his fingers run through her hair. "Don't worry about it. I took a nap yesterday, and I have a free period later today to nap during if I so choose. Now, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Lily sighed. "During patrol tonight, Severus came to see me about an incident during his patrol."

Lily saw him frown at her mentioning Severus. "What happened?"

Lily shook her head. "Indecency in a broom closet. It's not important. Anyway, he started making commentary about you and the Marauders."

She saw James' eyes darken. "And?"

Lily took a deep breath before she brought up what had been mentioned. She turned away from him and rested her back against his chest. "Well, it was obvious he was trying to get me to figure out stuff about Remus. But when I gave him the impression I already knew, he brought up whatever happened to him last year."

James sighed at realizing what she was trying to get at. "And he told you his version of the events."

When Lily nodded, he continued, "Well, seeing as you're sitting on my lap and still talking to me, his version of the events doesn't quite add up, does it?"

Looking back at him slightly, she gave him a small smile as she shook her head. "Not exactly."

James wrapped his arms around her from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder. "I'll tell you what really happened. Just promise me you won't bring it up around the guys. I meant it when I said we don't discuss it anymore. It's better left forgotten."

When he felt Lily nod, he kissed her neck before leaning back again. Lily remained comfortably laying with her back on his chest. "I should start at the beginning of that day for you to really understand. Remus was looking pretty ghastly that day so Sirius and I brought him to the infirmary just before classes even started. I already told you that Snape was getting suspicious about Remus so it wasn't surprising when he started taunting Sirius, Peter, and I about Remus being gone so early. When he finally went away, I remember saying something about wondering what he would do if he ever came face to face with Remus as a werewolf." He frowned. "Looking back, I should have known that Sirius might have taken that comment seriously."

Lily turned in his lap to face him. He looked so sad. "Are you saying you blame yourself for a prank Sirius did?"

James sighed. "Somewhat. Anyway, that night, Peter and I were waiting impatiently in the common room. There were a bunch of people around, and I know you were there. Sirius was late. We usually leave to go outside around 8pm or just before it gets dark. Finally, Sirius walks in leisurely with a smirk on his face. I immediately started scolding him for being late because if we get there too late, Remus would already have undergone the transformation and it could be dangerous for us to approach the Shrieking Shack as humans. It's easier when we are there ready and waiting for the transformation to occur as animagi. That's when he lets slip about the little trick he played on Snape. The thing about Sirius you have to understand is that he's impulsive. He acts first and thinks afterwards. I remember yelling at him and holding him up against the wall before running out of the room to try and stop anything bad from happening. The consequences flying through my mind were horrible, things he should have foreseen. With every thought, I became more and more angry with him. Dumbledore would be in so much trouble for letting Remus into the school, all of us would be blamed if anything ever happened to Snape, we could even be expelled, Remus could go to Azkaban for killing or harming a wizard, people could possibly find out about our unregistered animagi forms, and I could probably list more potential problems."

Lily was in shock. She herself hadn't comprehended the magnitude of the problems that could have come from the incident. "You saved him though."

James nodded at her words, but he still looked upset over everything. "Just barely. I remember running so quickly through the tunnel. Snape had just magically unlocked the trapdoor to the Shrieking Shack by the time I got close enough. Remus, as a werewolf, could clearly be seen. I immediately grabbed Snape by his robes and pushed him in front of me, telling him to run. Remus had already smelled both of us and was now breaking through the trapdoor to get to us. When we got to the Whomping Willow entrance, I pushed Severus out first before getting out myself. Remus scratched my leg up pretty badly, but didn't bite me as I just made it out. Remus couldn't fit through the opening so he could no longer come after us."

Lily was horrified. "I told you being around a werewolf is dangerous! You could have been bitten! You could have died!"

James nodded at her sorrowfully, clearly understanding and agreeing with her concerns. "Yes, but no matter how much I don't like Snape, I would never wish that on him."

Lily was trying to soak everything in. "Severus is right though. Any prank that the Marauders pull off has you and Sirius written all over it. How were you able to get Dumbledore to believe you had nothing to do with it?"

James looked down and away from her. "Well, Snape obviously thought I had something to do with it. He was yelling and cursing at me all the way until we reached the castle. Filch, who had been sent by Dumbledore, took us straight to the Headmaster's Office. Once there, someone who had been in the common room when I had looked just about ready to murder Sirius must have brought the situation to his attention because both Sirius and Peter were already there. I was so angry at Sirius that I could barely even look at him. Dumbledore let Snape tell his story before asking him to leave and to keep quiet about Remus. That left the three of us. Now, do you remember me telling you before we started dating that I couldn't lie to Dumbledore and you didn't believe me?"

Lily remembered the conversation or rather, her getting angry over his bullshit excuse. She looked at him sheepishly. "I remember. Sorry about that. So that's really true then?"

James nodded. "Yeah. I can't tell you why I can't lie to him, but for now, just know that I can't. Anyway, when all of the Marauders are sent to his office for whatever reason, he normally lets Sirius explain, not me. If there is something specific he wants to know, that's when he asks me. He doesn't like to take advantage of it when he doesn't have to. Well, this time, considering the circumstances, he ignored Sirius completely and told me to explain everything, so I did."

Lily sighed. "Was that why you and Sirius were at ends for a while?"

James frowned. "Well, not exactly. Sirius seemed to know that the truth would be told regardless and looked as if he suddenly was realizing the potential consequences of his actions. The reason we didn't talk much after that was because I remained so angry with him for doing what he did and couldn't get over the fact that he had done it to begin with; he wasn't angry with me at all. Once Remus found out what happened the next morning, he also was furious with Sirius. Peter was indifferent to the whole situation because he had no idea this had gone on in the first place; he's not exactly bright at putting stuff together sometimes. The morning after, Sirius, Remus, and I had it out. It wasn't pretty."

Lily relaxed against him and rested her head on his shoulder. "But things worked out ok, right?"

James sighed, as he rubbed her back gently. "I suppose so. I heard the Blacks being rather rude to Sirius about two months later and I backed him up. We gradually started getting along again after that. Regardless of what happened, he'll always be my brother and best friend; not to mention, he lives at my house. Remus eventually got over it after making Sirius promise not to pull something that stupid again. Snape has never gotten over it. When he found out that Sirius had merely gotten Saturday detentions for the whole spring semester and I had gotten away with no punishment, he freaked out. Dumbledore explained some things to him, but he has always blamed me for the whole thing. Dumbledore told me later that Snape was and remains so angry with me because he now owes me a life debt or something like that."

Lily's brow furrowed. "I've heard of those. That's incredibly powerful magic at work."

James nodded with a yawn. "Uh-huh."

They sat in silence for a little bit after that. Lily was thinking about everything James had just told her. It made her happy that he trusted her so easily and so much that he didn't hesitate to tell her anything, especially something like this. He was obviously more selfless than she had ever realized. She soon noticed his breathing had deepened so she carefully pulled away from him and smiled slowly at realizing he had fallen asleep. She gently pulled off his glasses and, using her wand that she had placed on the back of the couch, levitated them to the coffee table. She gently turned over one of his lax hands to see his watch, which read 6:33am. If she were to get up to go to her room, she might wake him up so she waved her wand to set a personal alarm charm for 7:45am and got comfortable again on his lap. She didn't mind sleeping next to him for a little over an hour. In fact, she could easily get used to having his arms around her like this. Not to mention, he smelled really good.