Lily and James remained frozen on the fringe of the fir trees that surrounded them, too afraid to move in case whatever had growled could sense them. After a few moments of silence, Lily finally plucked up the courage to speak.

"W-what do you think it was?" She asked.

"This is a popular place for muggles too right?" James asked his eyes troubled.

"Why? You think it could be something from the wizarding world?"

James hesitated; it might not have been what he thought it was, and he didn't want to mention Remus when it might have had nothing to do with him at all.

"Well...have you ever heard anything like that in the muggle world before?" He asked. Lily shook her head, her heart accelerating fast.

"We should get out of here," She whispered and began backing away from the trees.

"I..." James began. What if it was Remus? He couldn't just leave him wondering round the forest fully transformed. He could have been with someone; after all they were bound to have sent someone out to find him and Lily.

"You...what?" Lily asked, shocked that he was even hesitating, "You're not going to go looking for it are you?"

"I...Lily," James said, stepping forwards and grabbing her shoulders, "Forget about this stuff, don't start packing it up, just get as far away from the noise as possible and shoot a flare into the air with your wand; the spell's called lumos maxima. The teachers will come and find you."
"What?" Lily asked outraged, "Why didn't we do that before?"
"Because it's only for emergencies!"
"Getting lost is an emergency!"
"Not one like this!"

Lily stopped and stared at him, suddenly aware of the vice-like grip James had on her shoulders. She could see the panic in his eyes, hear his heavy breathing; he knew what that thing was.

"James, you're scaring me," Lily whispered and James' face softened. He didn't want to scare her, he didn't want to send her into panic, let her know anything was wrong; he wanted to protect her.

"What is it?" Lily asked her voice softer than ever, "Tell me what it is."

"I...I don't know what it is," James said just as quietly.

"But you have an idea," Lily said; it wasn't a question.

"Maybe," James answered, his eyes lowered, "I just can't tell you."
"Why?"
"I promised."
"James our lives could be-!"
"I know!" James interrupted, "But it would be more than just our lives destroyed if I say anything." Lily didn't even try to pretend that she understood why he was doing it, but she could tell by the look in his eyes that he was torn by his decision and she didn't want to do any more damage by asking further questions. Instead Lily nodded and pushed away from him.

"I'm not going to run James," She said, trying to hide her fear, "I'm not going to just let you go gallivanting off into the depths of a forest in the middle of the night after a monster!"
"Lily, please, let's not do this," James said pleadingly, "You don't know what you're in for-"
"Neither do you!"
"Well...I think I do..."
"James what if you get into trouble? You're going to need someone to protect you!"
"I know but...Lily did you just say that you want to protect me?" James grinned.

"Well...I don't want to live the rest of my life thinking that your mauling could have been prevented if I stayed with you," Lily said stubbornly, "Anyway...it's quite dark and I don't want to go off alone..."

"So...you'd be sad if I died?" James asked completely ignoring her second reason.

"Of course I would be!" Lily blushed, "I'm not heartless."
"Would you cry for me Lily?"
"I...yes." Lily said reluctantly.
"Would you say something at my funeral?"
"There's not going to be a funeral!"
"But would you?"
"James this is ridiculous!"
"But would-?"
"Yes! Yes ok? I would. Yes!" Lily yelled looking flustered, "And before you ask, yes it would be something nice and I'd make it sound like you were the most wonderful person in the world even if you are a pig headed, big mouthed, idiotic-" but she was cut short by the howl so loud that it sent more than a dozen nesting birds into a frantic flight. Lily threw her hands over her mouth and backed away before she shot a glance at James who, in this moment in time, had turned completely white, his eyes wide in terror.

"Lily..." He said quietly, "I most definitely know what that thing is."

***

Ellie ran as fast as she could, dodging as many low branches and tree roots as possible. What in the name of Merlin had happened back there? It was all such a blur. So she finally gets to kiss Remus after all that time, and as soon as she does, he turns into a werewolf!?

That's it! I'm officially cursed! I'm going to become a crazy, frizzy haired lady, who collects cats of all shapes, colours and sizes out of sheer loneliness!

Suddenly Ellie felt a tree root curl around her foot and she fell flat on the carpet of leaves and twigs beneath her.

"Ow!" She yelled, feeling her bottom lip burst, releasing a heavy flow of blood. Quickly, she raised a cupped hand to her mouth, trying to stop it from dribbling all over her chin.

"Urgh!" She groaned, spitting the blood from her mouth and dusting herself off. Suddenly there was a loud, ear splitting, howl and Ellie's eyes widened. Werewolves...what had she learnt about werewolves again? She knew that Remus wouldn't be able to recognise her if she was unfortunate to see him again tonight, but she couldn't remember anything else. What had the professor said about blood? Ellie knew there was a limit to the scent but she couldn't remember the exact figure, all she knew was that she had to get away from here and fast if she wanted to be alive tomorrow morning. She hurriedly carried on her way, hastily wiping the blood from her lip on the sleeve of her robes as she did.

How the hell am I supposed to know where to shoot this flare?

Ellie had no idea how close Remus was; how was she supposed to tell when it was safe to do it?

Oh no my wand!

Ellie gasped and fumbled her robes; she had dropped her wand when she tripped over that root! How was she supposed to get help without her wand? Gingerly, she turned her body to face the direction she had come from, unsure whether to return without knowing exactly where Remus was. It was dangerous she knew that; werewolves were fast and vicious. Remus could pounce on her at any time; he could be anywhere by now and if she went back he could catch up, or even worse, catch her. No matter how stupid or dangerous it felt to go back, Ellie knew she had to; Remus needed help and without it he could kill her...but then again he could kill her before she even had a chance to get it. Shaking the dreaded thought from her mind, Ellie turned back and ran into the unknown. She fell to the ground at the familiar curling tree roots, grabbing handfuls of dry leaves and twigs frantically in the hope of unveiling her wand.

"Oh come on; please don't run away from me now!" She pleaded to her invisible wand but it would not reveal itself to her. Suddenly Ellie felt something heavy ram into her and she rolled violently, slamming into a tree. She tried to scramble to her feet but she was hit again, this time with the feeling of three razor sharp knives diving deep into her side. Ellie screamed and wrapped her arms around her. Panting heavily she lay still for a while, curled up tight, hoping that whatever it was would think that she was useless, dead, but she knew exactly what, or who it was. Her body shook to hear the sound of gruff and heavy growling circling her like a beast circles its prey. Ellie whimpered when she felt its breath against the back of her neck, hot through her hair. A heavy paw batted at her fragile body again and she let her body take its natural course, trying to play dead as convincingly as possible. Unfortunately Ellie's body was far too delicate and her arm snapped beneath her. She screamed out in pain, completely destroying the illusion and the beast howled. That was it; she was done for. She whimpered as she heard the heavy footsteps bound towards her but, suddenly, there was a blinding flash of light and the beast yelped in pain.

"Ellie?" She heard, "Ellie are you alright? Ellie! Ellie!" but she could not answer for her vision was blurred and her hearing was muffled. Instead she peeled her hand from her side and looked down at her palm, glistening crimson and thickly covered. Finally, Ellie's world went black.

***

"I just don't get it!" Lily yelled to James as they ran through the trees hurriedly, "Why would there be a...a werewolf in the muggle world? No-one's ever been reported missing or...or dead in these forests, why would it decide to turn up now?"

"I don't know," James lied. In truth, James was just as confused as she was. Remus had his medication, why didn't he take it?

"Do you think there's a pack of them?" Lily panicked, "James what if there's a pack-?"
"There won't be," James said without thinking.

"How do you know?"

"I...It's just a feeling."
"A feeling?" Lily asked dumbfounded, "And a feeling's good enough is it?"

"Lily, just trust me on this one," James said, removing his wand from his robes, never pausing to stop. Upon seeing this, Lily clutched her own wand tighter; she didn't like seeing cocky James Potter so frantic; it unnerved her.

Suddenly there was an ear-splitting scream and they both stopped running.

"Oh no..." James whispered and Lily darted forward.

"LILY!" James yelled, suddenly pelting after her. He grabbed her hand and pulled her back, slightly winded as she rammed into his chest.

"That's Ellie!" Lily yelled a look of sheer panic and terror in her eyes, "That's Ellie! I know that's Ellie! The werewolf has Ellie!"

"Lily you can't just go running after her!" James yelled, "The werewolf could kill you if you act like an idiot; you have to be tactful!"
"Tactful! Tactful? Me an idiot? My best friend could be dead by now because you've held me back! Who are you calling-?"
"And you could be dead by now if I hadn't!" Suddenly there was a loud crash and a young tree shook frantically with the impact of whatever had hit it followed by another loud scream.

"Over there!" Lily said in a strangled whisper, "She's over there!" Following instinct, James pushed Lily back and ran in the direction of the scream, darting past the young tree and in front of a small figure quivering and slightly mangled in the shadows.

"Incendio!" James bellowed creating a wall of fire between himself and the oncoming werewolf. Remus ran forward but panicked at the last minute, scorching his paws and releasing a loud yelp.

"Sorry Remus," James muttered under his breath and watched as his transfigured friend disappeared into the safety of the trees.

"Lumos maxima!" James yelled, shooting a flare into the sky; all that was left to do now was wait.

"Ellie?" James heard Lily screech, "Ellie are you alright? Ellie! Ellie!" James swallowed hard; Remus couldn't have killed her...could he?

"Ellie! Oh god, look at your hand! No put your hand back, it will slow the bleeding! Ellie?" Lily panicked as her friend suddenly went limp, "James she's fainted!" James rushed over and knelt at Ellie's side, lifting her wrist to view her bloodied hand.

"Oh Merlin that's not good..." James whispered.

"Ferula!" Lily yelled and a ribbon of bandages spurted from the tip of her wand.

"What was she doing alone in the forest?" Lily shrieked, lifting Ellie's top a little so as to wrap the bandages around her side, "How can the teachers be so stupid? James, can you lift her up?"

"They didn't leave her alone..." James said quietly, taking hold of Ellie from under the arms and hoisting her up.

"What? James she was alone in the forest with a werewolf!" Lily said, hurriedly wrapping the bandage around Ellie's waist, "If she wasn't alone then where's the other..." but Lily stopped, suddenly understanding.

"Who was it?" Lily asked shocked, "Who was she with?"

"I...Remus..." he said quietly and Lily gasped as James lowered Ellie to the floor.

Now she understood.

"Do the teachers know?" Lily asked.

"Of course they know!"
"Then why did they send him out into the forest, in the full moon, with another student, looking for us?"
"He had medication; he shouldn't have turned into a werewolf."
"Well then why did he?"
"I don't know!"

Lily bit her lip and wiped the blood from Ellie's hand with her robe.

"Lily...you won't tell anyone will you?" James as anxiously.
"I...of course not," Lily said quietly.

"I need you to convince Ellie to do the same," James said timidly, "I know she doesn't know Remus as well as you do but if this gets out-"
"She won't tell," Lily said and James blinked.

"How do you know?"
"Because she li...she's not like that," Lily said, saving what could have been too much information. James didn't question further, instead his focus was beyond the wall of flames to where Remus had disappeared.

"Why did you tell me in the end?" Lily asked, stroking the hair from Ellie's face and James turned to look at her.

"Ellie obviously saw him transform," James explained, "I don't really know her that well. She'd be more likely to listen to you when it came to keeping her quiet about it."

"How long have you known?" Lily asked.

"Years..."James said quietly, "We might have been twelve."
"And you kept his secret right until the very end," Lily smiled. That was one of the many things she liked about James Potter; he was loyal, he'd die for his friends. He was sweet and funny and caring...he was hot too...

Shut up Lily, this is not the time...

"I hope he's ok..." James said quietly, his eyes glued to the spot where he had last seen his dangerous friend.

"He will be..." Lily said wistfully, still eyeing James when he was not looking.

Eventually, Professor McGonagall and Madame Pomfrey arrived at the scene, levitating an injured and unconscious Ellie back to camp. Remus was left to roam the forest, the professors creating a tamed circle of fire so as Remus could not roam any further until he transformed back into his human shape. James, however, still worried about his friend, glancing over his shoulder in the hope of seeing him one last time just for reassurance before he went back to camp, whilst a somewhat newly infatuated Lily Evans could not keep her eyes off of him and wished just for a moment that she was back in the tent with his shirtless double...the torch still on of course.

Authors note: Ahh we are nearing the end! I hope you like this chapter  Good luck to all those finding out their GCSE results tomorrow like me:S and those who still have to wait to find out theirs! Oh and as always...PLEASE REVIEW! Xxx