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Here we go...

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

True love begins when nothing is looked for in return.

Chapter Eleven: Under the Beech Tree

As O.W.L.s drew nearer, the Gryffindor fifth-years spent more and more time inside, though the weather was only getting nicer.

"It's not fair," James moaned as all nine of the fifth-years sat around a table in the Common Room. "It's a perfect day and we're stuck in here.

"Well, we'll be free after our O.W.L.s! Then, we can spend as much time outside as we want." Alice said optimistically.

"I suppose," James said, looking sadly at his Defense Against the Dark Arts book. "I don't know how you two are managing," he went on, looking across the table at Remus and Lily. "You're taking more subjects than any of us."

The two of them did look exhausted. Remus looked downright ill, but that was due, in part, to the full moon approaching.

"I'm just surprised you and Sirius are actually studying," another fifth-year named Mary MacDonald said, batting her long eyelashes at James. "You're not usually the type to let homework affect you."

Waverly Rivers, Mary's best friend, nodded in agreement while eying Sirius. James flashed his charming smile before glancing at Lily, who pretended not to notice.

James cleared his throat. "I think it's time for a break," he said, standing up, stretching and rumpling his hair.

Mary and Waverly quickly jumped to their feet, goggling at his finely-toned muscles. Sirius, Remus, Peter, Alice and Vanessa stood as well.

"Come on, Lily-flower," Sirius said, reaching out a hand to help her up and earning Lily some jealous glares from Mary and Waverly, who would give anything to have Sirius call them that.

"You all go ahead." Lily said, waving his hand away. Her nose was in a book and dark circles were forming under her bright green eyes. "I really need to study for Healing."

"Come on, Lily," Remus said, a hint of amusement in his voice. "Surely you've read far enough to know that a person can only work for so long before having a break; to not take one is unhealthy."

Lily's eyes widened for a moment. "No, I didn't know that! See, I have to keep studying! I'm not nearly as far as I should be! You go on." She was turning pages furiously, clearly not getting the joke.

"Well, you heard her," Waverly said, grabbing Sirius by the arm. "She doesn't want to come, let's go."

Vanessa, however, knelt beside her friend. "Lily, honey," she said quietly as Alice pried the book from Lily's hands as gently as she could. "You really do need a break. You deserve one. You've been working harder than any of us."

Lily looked doubtful. James made as if to say something, but Remus held up a hand to stop him. Vanessa gave him a grateful look and continued, "Come on, we won't be long. I'll come back early with you if you want."

Lily sighed in a defeated sort of way. "Oh, alright," She said, standing and stretching as well. "Where are we going?"

"Well," James said thoughtfully. "There's the lake, Hagrid's – though I doubt we'd all fit there – the Quidditch pitch, the kitchens -"

"I vote kitchens!" Sirius said quickly. "I'm starving."

"Me too! I'm hungry," Alice agreed with a smile.

"I'm in," Remus added.

"Me too!"

"Me three!"

"Let's go!"

So the nine of them climbed out of the portrait hole, strolled through the deserted corridors, took a shortcut behind a tapestry, tickled the pear and entered the kitchens. They were immediately surrounded by house elves trying to help them. They asked for sandwiches and pumpkin juice, which were both given to them right away. They thanked the elves and headed out onto the grounds to enjoy their lunch.

They flopped down under a shady beech tree by the lake and basked in the warmth of the day.

"The weather is absolutely lovely!" Lily said happily, green eyes sparkling. "Thanks for making me come!"

"Anytime, Lils," Vanessa said, opening the brown paper sack the elves had given her. "Oh, yum, turkey! My favorite!"

They opened their lunches to find they all had been given their favorite kind of sandwich. Sirius had been given more than the rest of them, seeing as he ate like a starving dog. They ate and talked happily about everything except the upcoming exams. Lily kept an eye on Remus and Vanessa, who were getting on very well. Mary and Waverly were flirting shamelessly with James and Sirius, and even eying Remus now and then. Indeed, while Sirius was ruggedly handsome, and James was athletic and angular, there was something about Remus that was hard to ignore. His honey-brown eyes were always warm and welcoming; he was rugged, like Sirius, but he had the werewolf in him to thank for that. He had a laugh and a smile that could melt any girl's heart if she took the time to get past the strong and silent exterior. But Remus paid the other girls no attention, his eyes were only for Vanessa. Sirius, of course, flirted shamelessly back, as did James, though he continually tried to bring Lily into the conversation. Alice was staring dreamily at Frank Longbottom, who was lounging across the lake with some other Gryffindor sixth-years. Peter sat, mostly watching the others and laughing along when someone told a joke and looking as though he was thrilled just to be included.

After a blissful hour of laughing by the lake, Remus yawned and stood up. "We'd best head back in," he said. "It's getting late."

Lily jumped up and pulled Alice with her; the others sadly followed suit, not wanting the fun to end.

- - - - - - -

A tradition was formed for the nine Gryffindor fifth-years. On the weekends, they would study all day, then get a late lunch from the house elves and eat it under their favorite beech tree by the lake.

"We should do this for exams every year," Alice said happily one afternoon as they lay on their backs trying to find pictures in the clouds.

"Definitely," they all agreed.

Despite her constant studying, Lily became more and more stressed as O.W.L.s loomed nearer. She was taking the most subjects than anyone else in her year – more than even Remus – and could be seen every night on the floor in the Common Room surrounded by books, notes, spare parchment and quills. There were bruise-like circles under her green eyes that only grew worse as she stayed up studying every night until she fell asleep where she sat.

"I'm getting worried about Lily," Vanessa told Remus one night as he helped her with History of Magic. "She's going to make herself sick. She hasn't eaten dinner for days and hardly touches breakfast or lunch because there's always something she has to study. She gets two hours of sleep a night, if that. Her body can't handle this."

Remus, mustering all of his courage, reached out and took her hand. He gave it a comforting squeeze and was rewarded with a small smile.

"I wish I knew what to do," he said worriedly, looking over at Lily, who seemed to be wasting away before their eyes. "But she won't let anyone near enough to talk sense into her."

"Not even Alice," Vanessa added sadly.

Just then, James came through the portrait hole with a paper sack in his hand. Without a thought for his personal safety, he marched across the Common Room straight to where Lily sat.

"Lily, darling?" he said cautiously, stepping over and around her books and papers and plopping down beside her.

"What do you want?" she asked harshly; she would have glared at him – or hexed him, even – but she did not want to take her eyes off her Divination textbook.

"I want you to listen to me, just for a moment." He put a finger under her chin and lifted her head so she was looking at him. He slowly took the book out of her hands and replaced it with the paper sack. "I brought you something to eat. Starving yourself won't do you any good."

Lily rolled her tired eyes, but opened the bag.

"Grilled chicken salad," he told her as she pulled a covered bowl from the sack. "With Italian dressing."

"My favorite," Lily said, raising her eyebrows. "How did you know?"

"Come on, love. You know I've practically stalked you for the last five years. It'd be pretty pathetic if I didn't know something as basic as your favorite food." He laughed at the look on Lily's face. She looked torn between disgust and amusement. As stressed as she was, she laughed a little with him.

"That's better," he said, thrilled that he had been able to make her laugh.

"You know," She told him as she started eating. "I'm beginning to think you, Remus and Sirius were right for dropping Divination last year. It's getting more and more ridiculous by the day."

"Well, I, for one, didn't need it," he said, an adoring smile on his face. "As long as you're in my future, nothing else matters."

Lily blushed a little, something James had not been able to make her do in a long time. His smile grew wider than ever – she was beautiful.

"And what makes you so sure I'm going to be in your future?" she challenged.

"Because I'm not ever giving up on you," he said simply.

"You're lucky I'm so tired." Lily said, putting down the empty salad bowl. "On a normal day, I would punch you for saying something like that."

James laughed. "That brings me to the other thing I want you to do."

"There's something else? I've already had to listen to you and you're asking me to do more?" Lily said with as much sarcasm as she could come up with at her level of exhaustion.

James smiled and pulled a small vial from his pocket. It was filled with a clear liquid. "This is a Peaceful Potion," he explained. "I had Slughorn make it for you, since my Potions never turn out right.... I want you to drink this and go to bed. You're wearing yourself out."

"Why did you not just put it in my drink?" Lily asked. "Surely that would be easier than to convince me to take it."

"I thought about it. But I'd rather sit here and argue than slip it into your drink and never have you trust me again."

"Well, your arguing is in vain. I have to keep studying. O.W.L.s are next week for Merlin's sake!" she said, so stressed that she was on the verge of tears.

"Lily, love, listen to me." James said, putting his hands on her shoulders. "You are the smartest witch I have ever met. I'm not trying to flatter you. You truly are. You're going to do amazing on the exams. I know it without a doubt. Please, love, I won't force you to take this, but I really think you should."

Lily sighed in defeat and held her hand out for the vial. James grinned at her and handed it over.

"I'll clean up your stuff, so don't worry about it," he told her gently, helping her to her feet. He led her to the bottom of the stairs. "Just drink it right before you get in bed. Goodnight." He kissed her on the temple, hoping that the Peaceful Potion would make her forget he did so, and she headed up to her dormitory. A few steps up, though, she stopped.

"James?" she said quietly, and the use of his first name startled him.

"Yes, love?"

"Thank you."

"Anytime, darling."

James went over to where he and Lily had been sitting. He threw her trash away and neatly put her books and notes back into her bag. When everything was put away, he went to join Remus and Vanessa, who looked at him, awestruck.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Vanessa squealed, standing up and throwing her arms around him. "I don't know how you did it, but thank you!"

James laughed a little and patted her back. "Honestly, I don't know how I did it either," he told her. She let him go and sat back down, looking as though a burden had been lifted. "I guess I'll go to bed too." he said. He waved goodnight and made his way up the staircase to the boys' dormitory.

"Maybe," Remus said, looking thoughtful, "maybe after all these years she's finally warming up to him."

"You know," Vanessa said, watching James disappear up the stairs, "if you had told me that yesterday, I would have said that I certainly hoped she wasn't. I'd always thought that the only reason James was so nice to her all the time was because she was the only girl to ever turn him down. I thought she was just a challenge to him, a game. But after what he just did, I mean, Peaceful Potions will make you forget what happened to you directly before you take it. Healers usually use them on trauma patients, so Lily won't remember that he helped her at all. He did that without any chance of reward. Maybe he actually does care about her."

"I kind of thought she was a game too up until this year, but then Lily and I became better friends and I started paying more attention to the way James treated her. He doesn't act like she's some trophy that he wants for show, like I originally thought. He acts like she's...." Remus could not think of a good comparison.

"He acts like she's a princess, and that she deserves to be treated like one," Vanessa finished, a smile on her face.

Remus looked at Vanessa's smile, at her kind, loving, trusting face, and made a decision.

"Speaking of Lily," he began. "I was talking to her the other day and there's something I wanted to tell you."

"What is it, Remus?" he smiled when she said his name.

"Well, I just, I don't know how you're going to take it. Most people don't take it very well."

Vanessa smiled knowingly. "I think I know what you're going to say," she said, trying to make it easier for him.

"Oh, you do?" he said, an amused look on his handsome face. "Let's hear it, then."

She glanced around the Common Room before lowering her voice to a whisper. "You're a werewolf."

"Am I that obvious?" Remus asked in disbelief.

Vanessa laughed. "No, not really. Actually, back in third year, I heard you tell your friends that you were going to the library to look up summoning spells. It was something I was also interested in, so I followed you. I figured you'd know your way around the library better than I would. We ended up in the section on magical creatures and I saw you picking up werewolf books. Then I noticed that you were always gone at full moon and, after that, everything just sort of fell into place." She was blushing a good deal by the end of her story. "I'm sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have been nosy, I just -"

She stopped talking when Remus laughed. "It's perfectly alright," he said, smiling. "But doesn't it bother you?"

"Well, at first, yes, it did a bit," she said, staring at her hands in her lap. "But then I started getting to know you and you were so nice. Then there was James, Sirius and Peter. I thought they had to know, yet they still loved you like you were their brother, so much that you could never have said a word to me and they would have been enough for me to know that you were more than just a monster."

"Remind me to thank them, then," Remus said, smiling widely. "I really hoped it wouldn't bother you, but it does bother so many people I couldn't be sure. Then Lily told me just to tell you, so here I am."

"Lily's a good friend," Vanessa said, smiling back. "She always seems to know what's best for other people, even if she doesn't know what's best for herself. I'm glad you wanted to tell me, though. It means a lot that you trust me with a secret like that."

"I think you've proven yourself trustworthy, knowing for all these years and never telling."

"It wasn't my secret to tell, and don't worry. It's still safe with me. It always will be."

________________________

Did you like it? I wanted to show a snippet of Remus and Vanessa's budding relationship, I hope you like them! Please let me know!

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Love Always,

Kayla

He's the kind of guy that knows he can't make the clouds disappear, but he shows everyone that the sun is shining behind them.