"Come on, Peter, let's go! We're going to be late!" Remus said, tapping his foot impatiently.

James and Sirius were in the middle of a heated match of wizard's chess, and Peter was watching, eating jellybeans addictively. Remus glanced over in time to see Sirius's king crush James's queen. Remus was slightly disturbed on how brutal this game was.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts starts in five minutes!" Remus said, putting his book back into his bag.

James stretched, than got to his feet. He reached behind the chair and retrieved his book bag, than joined Remus by the portrait hole. Peter stuffed the box into his robes, and waited until Sirius had stood before they proceeded to the classroom. They ran down the moving staircases, Remus huffing. Laughing, they joined up with the crowd outside.

"Third years! This way, please!" Professor Beery said, pushing the mass of students through the door and into the classroom.

They stared around in wonder at the classroom. The usual tables had been pushed to the side of the room, and in the very center, there was a large dresser full of cabinets. Every couple of seconds, the dresser would rattle violently (Sirius was eyeing the cabinet with a mischievous look).

Beery shoved through the crowd, than straightened his robes before speaking.

"Today, we will be facing Boggarts. Boggarts are shape-shifters. They will become the form of whatever will scare you most. Now, Boggarts like dank, dark places. I found this one in the dungeons, and I have decided to let you tackle them. You can defeat Boggarts by finding their weakness. To do this, you must think of a way to make whatever that scares you most funny. Laughter is the only way to truly conquer a Boggart. You will need one charm. Repeat after me, please. 'Riddikilus!'"

The class shouted the charm back.

Beery clapped his small hands together, and waved James forwards. The dresser rattled. It sounded like something was trapped inside.

James walked through the crowd, wand already out. He looked extremely cautious.

Beery pointed his wand at the cabinets, and, with a burst of light, it swung open. Remus couldn't imagine what James would be afraid of. Nothing could have readied him for what he saw.

Two bodies appeared on the ground, face down. Remus recognized them as James's parents, but they disappeared as another fear was picked up on.

Another body tumbled out of the dresser, landing with a smack on the ground, clearly dead. It lay, eagle-spread, face turned away from them, but facing James. Its long, red hair was tangled and unkempt.

The class simultaneously moved forward to see who it could possibly be. Remus was first to see. The room went quiet. There was a scream as they recognized the face. Remus felt like the breath had been stolen out of his lungs.

It was Lily. Her delicate features were limp, and Remus had never seen her ever look like this. Remus's eyes flicked up to James.

James had crouched into a ball next to Lily, shaking her shoulders madly. James's voice was filled with panic, and his hazel eyes seemed to have lost their light.

James cried out. "Lily! Lily, please!" He said, his usually confident demeanor shrunken and replaced with hysteria.

Professor Beery was frozen, clutching to the desk.

Remus felt a warm hand on his wrist, and a slight tug. He tore his eyes away from Lily. He felt himself being pulled backwards, and suddenly, he was behind the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors. He looked to see who had needed him.

The real Lily was kneeled on the ground, clearly traumatized. Remus vaguely remembered Lily standing next to him before James had faced the Boggart. He guessed that she had hidden once she had seen her own dead body. Remus realized how frightening that would be.

He dropped to his knees, squatting next to Lily.

Her face was pale, and she had a hand clapped to her stomach. Her green eyes were wild, and they stared up at Remus.

"Was that really me?" She asked, her voice barely fathomable.

Remus gave a short, quick nod.

Lily nodded, pushing a strand of hair that had escaped her bun back. She breathed heavily, but didn't release Remus's arm.

"How can his worst fear be me dying?" Lily said, her words catching.

Remus pondered over this. Was this really James's worst fear? He could only imagine how James would have felt in that moment. It was beyond James's maturity to be terrified of the one he loved dying, but somehow, James had accomplished this.

Lily took a deep breath, and climbed to her feet. Sirius appeared in their vision, and he looked at Remus quickly. Remus nodded.

Lily withdrew her arm from Remus's grasp, and pushed her way to the front. People looked relived when they saw the real Lily alive and well, but looked back at James.

James was still next to the Boggart Lily, his mop of black hair only visible.

The real Lily walked slowly up to James, crouching next to him. Her mouth moved, but they couldn't hear her. She seemed to want only James to hear these words.

James didn't move.

Lily pulled James's face up, forcing him to see her. She clutched the sides of his face, making him focus on her words. She said something to him, and he rose to his feet slowly. He walked numbly towards them, and he looked dazed.

Professor Beery stepped in, seemingly returning to his senses.

"Longbottom- you next." Beery said, one eye on James.

Frank walked forward, looked worried.

Lily's body disappeared, and was replaced with a spinning ball of light. It flashed reds and blues for a moment, before stabilizing to its final form.

A cobra lay in a pile, hissing. It slithered forward towards Frank, making him jump back in surprise.

"Riddikilus!" Frank said, wand extended.

The snake practically spat in anger, but couldn't move. It seemed to have been glued to the floor, and it tried to wiggle free without release. Frank laughed at the struggle, and the snake suddenly disappeared again.

Frank moved out of the way, and Alice took his place.

James remained in a dumbfounded state.

When the class ended, it looked as though he was back to normal.

As they walked out of the classroom, he called out to Lily.

"Evans! I- I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I was being stupid. I'm sorry, . . .Lily." James said.

Lily turned to look at him. She had a strange expression on her face, one that Remus hadn't ever seen before. It wasn't pity, and it wasn't a look of disgust. It was truly a look of kindness.

"Don't worry about it, James. It's okay." Lily said, looking like she wished that she could say more.

She bit her lip, but turned on her heel and walked out.

James reached up to ruffle his hair, and Sirius clapped him on the back. Even Sirius seemed to know not to push it. No one even mentioned the fact that James had used Lily's real name.

As the day passed, Remus noticed that every so often, he would catch James staring at Lily, checking to make sure that she was still there. Lily noticed, but she didn't say a word. It seemed that she was being excessively kind to James. It was sure to be short-lived, but Remus enjoyed the peace while he could.

It occurred to Remus, late at night, that James might not be as childish as he had assumed.

Okay, I am so, so sorry that it took me so long to update! Don't hate me! I also will be gone for spring break for a week, so don't freak out if there isn't a new chapter for a little while. I will try to get something ready, but I can't guarantee. Sorry for the short chapter!

Like this chapter? Leave me a review down below. I love it when you guys do that :P Thanks to everyone who has previously reviewed!

xx,

bandeall