I'm back!
Sorry again for the long update! How're things with you? Good? Good!
Anyway...on with the showicles!
James stared into the fire that lit the head common room, giving the room a soft glow and casting shadows across the walls; he watched as the flames danced around one another, mesmerised by its beauty.
"Fires are pretty cool, aren't they." He wondered aloud, Sirius and Peter look up at James giving him a strange look, as though he had grown multiple heads.
"It's official, Prongs has lost it." Peter remarked, shaking his head, James just smiled goofily and shrugged.
"That's where you're wrong Wormtail, Prongs lost it years ago when a certain Lilyflower entered his life, he's just become all soft in the head because of his new 'relationship' with aforementioned Lilyflower." Sirius stated, standing up, slightly pleased with himself for using such a big word. James grinned up at his best friend, oblivious to the fact that he was being made fun of.
"What was that about Lily?" Sirius shook his head chuckling, while Peter laughed.
"Unbelievable." Sirius walked over and threw himself next to James. "You, Mr Potter, have fallen hard. Look at you; you're grinning like an idiot." James continued smiling, his eyes shining.
"I can't help it, Lily's just so beau-"
"Beautiful, smart, talented, kind…yeah you've already said." Sirius cut across him, rolling his eyes at Peter. James glared at Sirius.
"Fuck you Padfoot, you're just jealous." James stuck his tongue out at both boys. Sirius just laughed. James glared back into the fire, sulking.
"Ahh Prongs, come on we have a beast to babysit and we can't have you sulking and not paying attention." Sirius slapped him on the back and pulled him up. James snapped back to reality. Crap! He thought, how had he managed to forget about the full moon?
Lily, that's how.
Damn she was distracting. James internally grinned at the thought of Lily.
Evans. Stood before him in her school uniform (which James' imagination had manage to alter): her bare legs extending from beneath her short skirt, her small waist and her perfect petite behind, barely covered by her skirt. Her tight white shirt, her breasts straining against the material, longing to be free…
"Prongs, you're dribbling." James sprung back to the present. Sirius and Peter were stood in front of him laughing their heads off at James' expression. James glared at them.
"Whatever, come on, like you said…we have a date with a werewolf."
"James?" Lily called as she entered the common room. She had just finished her patrols and wanted nothing more than to crawl into a nice hot bath and then bed. "James, are you here?" No reply. He must be visiting Remus. She thought.
Remus had been taken to the hospital after collapsing in Transfiguration that morning, he had been looking frail for a while now, Lily guessed the pressures of seventh year had finally wore him down.
She kicked off her shoes as she entered her dormitory and went straight into the bathroom to start her bath. As it slowly began to fill, Lily watched out of the window that overlooked the Whomping Willow and Forbidden Forest.
Lily watched as two animals ran across the grass to the infamous tree, which suddenly froze. Lily gasped in surprise, how had they done that? She continued to watch as the dog and stag disappeared into the base of the tree. Lily summoned a chair and sat facing the window, determined to see the animals make an appearance again; after all, since when did a stag and a dog get on?
"Lily? What are you doing, get out of here now!" Lily whirled round to face the voice. There on the floor was James, clutching his stomach. Lily gasped, gobsmacked.
"James? James are you okay?" She threw herself down next to him, gently removing his hands to study his wound.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He whispered, grunting as she moved his hands. "Just a little cut, nothing to worry about. You need to get out of here, quickly." Lily looked at her boyfriend, his face scrunched up in pain, refusing to acknowledge it.
"Why? I'm not leaving you like this." Lily pulled out her wand. She began to heal his wound, but stopped when James screamed out in pain.
"Lily, stop please, it's no use. The magic, it makes it worse." Lily looked at the wound, it had indeed worsened, she felt guilt submerge her.
"James, I'm so sorry. Please let me help you."
"No, you have to go. I'm fine honestly just get out of he-" but he was cut off by a howl that ripped through the trees.
"What was that?" she whispered, suddenly feeling the cool drop in temperature. James looked at her, concern and fear in his eyes.
"Lily please. Get out of here." Lily met his gaze, tears threatening to overtake her body.
"No. I'm not leaving you here."
"Merlin, you're stubborn." Lily laughed, biting her lip, scared of the creature beyond the clearing. "Please go before it comes back."
But it was too late, the beast emerged from the shadows. Stood on its hind legs, towering over them.
Lily screamed and fell to the ground, her body paralysed with fear as the werewolf approached.
Lily woke with a start; sweat dripping down her forehead, panting heavily.
James!
Lily rushed from her dormitory, pulling on her shoes and grabbing her wand, and out of the common room. She sprinted along the deserted corridor and across the grounds, not stopping until she reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
Fear froze Lily to the spot, come on! You can do this, you're a Gryffindor, brave, courageous! Come on! Casting the nightmare from her thoughts, she forced herself to enter the dark and foreboding forest.
Wrapping her cloak around her for warmth, Lily hiked through the trees ignoring the noises emerging from the shadows. As she walked, Lily used all her effort to keep the thought of the beast, and the image of James, on the floor at bay. Lily carried on her trek, focussing on every step and attempting to stop her imagination from wandering, until she came to a clearing. Lily stopped. This was the clearing from her dream; the only thing missing was James. She breathed a sigh of relief, her James was safe.
Looking around, she took in her surroundings. The clearing was almost a perfect circle, as though nothing would dare grow on the ground. The longer she stood still, the more she noticed the cold seeping through her clothes. She shivered, not entirely sure whether it was from the cold or from fear. Either way, she wanted to get back to the castle.
Lily turned to leave, when she heard a howl. She froze, her legs shaking soon unable to support her body. Lily knew exactly what made that noise.
Werewolf.
She screamed, her legs giving way beneath her. In the distance, heavy footfalls echoed through the forest. Lily attempted to pull herself up, but only to be betrayed be her weak legs.
"James!" she cried into the night, knowing it was pointless; James was safe and warm in the castle, stood by his sick friend. Lily curled into a ball, comforted by the thought of James, feeling safe by his presence in her thoughts. Lily would've given anything to see that boy right then. But instead, she was alone in the Forbidden Forest preparing to stare upon the face of death. Lily shook her head and looked up. She was not going to give up so easily; she stood at the same time as the beast emerged from the shadows of the forest.
Lily gasped, she'd read every book there was about magical creatures (aside from the ones in the restricted section, of course) and werewolves were mentioned by their thousands. She had practically memorised drawings and descriptions, but nothing could've prepared her for the sight in front of her. A screamed bubbled up inside of her, but she refused to let it surface. Maybe, the werewolf could sense her fear, but she wasn't going to parade it for the entire world to see. She was no coward.
The werewolf paced forward; Lily matched each step of his forwards with two steps back. The plan was to slowly reach the shadows and hide, then send for help.
Just as Lily reached the shadows, the werewolf stopped and crouched into a ball, whimpering. Lily frowned, was that usual behaviour of a werewolf? Cautiously, she stepped forward; he didn't seem to look like he would hurt her. He seemed more scared that she was. She continued forward, her mind telling her to go back, escape to the castle but she ignored it and kept going. Lily Evans, get back right now. Do not go another step further.
Lily continued to close the gap between her and the wolf. Only a few feet were left when it suddenly rose up on its hind legs, towering over the vulnerable head girl. Lily screamed, not caring about being slow and quiet, she needed to get back to the castle.
Suddenly, a huge stag jumped between them, knocking Lily to the floor. She gasped; the stag was magnificent, great antlers protruded from his head, which pointed towards the wolf as though preparing to attack. Lily stared at the stag, confused by its protective behaviour towards her. She loved deer, ever since she had gone camping with her family and found one exploring their campsite. She had always found them so interesting and beautiful, and this stag was by far the most beautiful thing she had seen.
Lily was so absorbed in her thoughts, she hadn't noticed the fight that had broken out between the werewolf and the beautiful stag; somewhere along the line, a massive shaggy black dog had joined in, trying to calm the wolf down too, well at least that was what Lily assumed they were doing.
The battle raged on, the dog seemed to continually throw itself at the wolf and constantly being knocked back. While the stag, jumped around it attempting to distract it and make it's next move. Lily watched, mesmerised as the animals seemed to dance around each other, she found it hauntingly beautiful.
Lily couldn't watch any more, she was frightened to her core and really wanted to get back to the warmth of her common room. As she gathered up her thoughts, she went to get up as the stag was slashed along the back. It screeched in agony and collapsed to the floor; the wolf ran to the forest, the dog hot on its heels. Lily was horror struck by the site of the defenceless stag on the floor.
Blood flowed from the deep wound, puddling around the animal- sickeningly vibrant against the dark green grass. Lily rushed to its side, doing everything she could to calm him down. She set to work attempting to clean the wound, hoping that the healing spells she knew would work on animals and would be enough; as she concentrated she began to notice the stag start to shrink ever so slightly. Confused, Lily sat up and continued to watch.
The stag continued to change, its antlers shrinking, its torso lengthening, until it transformed into a human.
"James?" she whispered, shocked.
"Hey" he smiled weakly up at his girlfriend, who was torn between confusion, anger, relief and adoration. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
Ohhhh so The Marauders' secret is out? How's Lily going to react?
That was all very dramatic, but a bit of drama is quite good sometimes.
Until the next update, ta-ra!