AN: Sorry for the lack of updating. I've had writers block and then school was becoming increasingly stressful. And it will be for the next two weeks, so I probably won't update for awhile.

Chapter 12: Reaction

The next few days were torture on both Lily and James, not to mention all of their friends.

Lily knew that she had overreacted, but was far too proud to admit it. She spent most of her time thinking, trying to figure out the several problems that she had with James's actions.

James would see Lily in the corridor and it would ruin his day because she was so mad at him. He couldn't stand it. She was just starting to actually be his friend, and now she hated him again.

As for all of their friends, Sirius, Remus, and Peter did their best to steer James and themselves away from Lily so that they wouldn't have to face her wrath and Maddi, Ena, and Elizabeth were trying their best to get Lily to tell them why she was so upset.

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"They're both being stupid," Sirius muttered.

All of the members of L.N.T.L.J. were huddled in the Room of Requirement.

"Well, I don't know what James told her, but it got her into quite a mood. She doesn't want to talk to anyone. She just does her homework and goes to bed," Ena grumbled. "She won't tell us what's wrong."

"Well, maybe James said something stupid," Peter squeaked from the side.

"Or maybe he said something in a stupid way," Sirius whispered to Remus.

Remus was torn up. He felt entirely guilty and at fault for all of the commotion.

"Well, what do you we just lock them in the same room again. Worked last time," Ena told them with a shrug.

"Yes, but this time, there is a much larger chance that Lily will actually hex him until his nose falls off," Maddi said. "And if she doesn't have her wand, beat him until he's unconscious. Or dead."

"I'll talk to her," came a small, frail voice from next to Sirius.

Everyone turned to look at Remus.

He didn't look good. He was pale and nervous looking, like he hadn't been getting much sleep lately.

"She listens to me- as much as Lily listens to anyone I suppose. I need to be the one to talk to her."

Only Peter and Sirius really understood why Remus felt as if it was his responsibility to convince Lily not to blame James.

Sirius, his eyes not sparkling with good humor for once, nodded and spoke quietly and gravely, "I think that would be the best thing, Remus."

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Lily was sitting in her spot in the library, scribbling out her homework furiously. She made a noise of frustration when the quill scraped a hole in her parchment.

Someone sat down across from her and quietly coughed.

She looked up and, seeing who it was, looked back down to her work quickly. Please go away, please go away, please go away, she thought.

"Lily, listen-"

She looked up at him miserably. "Please go away, Remus."

"Do you know what, Lily? No. I'm sick of this. Do you know what it was like, before they helped me? I would be useless for half of the month. I almost lost a finger once. When I was transformed, I gnawed it almost off. James and Sirius, they hated just watching me destroy myself. You know them- loyal to the end, and if they can't help you, it kills them." Remus chuckled bitterly. "So they decided that they had to help me. It took awhile to come up with the idea. Once we did, it took a long time for them to actually transform. Lot's of sleepless nights, trying to figure things out. I was scared for them, the first time that they helped at full moon. I figured Sirius would do something stupid and reckless for a bit of fun and I would end up…" He paused. "I'm not me when I transform." Tears started forming in his eyes. "I wasn't sure that I wouldn't hurt them. But they were brilliant. And I'm- more tranquil with them. I'm not as crazy. They've been doing it for years for me, Lily, and I couldn't be more proud of them. So if you want to be mad at someone be mad at me, damn it. Don't make James suffer because he is the best friend I've ever had." Remus had become more and more angry through his quiet speech. Finally he stomped away from Lily, not even bothering to look at her.

If he had, he would have seen that he had hit a chord in Lily by the troubled look on her face.

She stuffed her books into her bag, not caring that the essay due the next day was being crumpled.

She ran to the Head's Common Room. When she saw him sitting there, he looked into her eyes for a moment before looking down sadly.

"James?" Lily asked nervously.

He looked up, surprised. "What, you're talking to me now?" He asked bitterly.

"Look, James, you have every right to be angry with me." Lily admitted, sitting down next to him. "If you'll let me, I'd like to explain why I got so upset."

James didn't look at her. He kept his eyes trained on the fire. "Alright."

Lily sighed in relief. "Do you remember when I told you about why I always study so hard at school?"

He nodded, his voice barley audible as he told her, "I do."

Lily swallowed. "You might think that I'm being cruel and unfeeling when I tell you this. And I probably am. But, James, I couldn't stand that I let something so obvious as three unregistered animagus's running around school go unseen. It couldn't have been that hard to notice. Every full moon, you three would be absent from the common room. I guess I always assumed that you three were just off planning the next great prank. I never even thought about it. And how did I not figure it out when every single time we had to patrol on a full moon, you'd have something else to do? I just felt like such an idiot for letting you, Sirius, and Peter put yourself in such danger. I'm supposed to be Head Girl. I'm supposed to protect students from danger by enforcing rules. If I missed this, what if I'm missing something as equally big? And I was mad at you," Lily admitted. "You were just beginning to be responsible and I felt like I could actually trust you. And then I found out that you, Head Boy, who is supposed to be a rule-abiding student, is doing something illegal and risky- on school grounds no less!"

James hadn't moved the entire time that she was talking.

Lily held her breath. The tension in the room was evident, and Lily really hoped that James would forgive her for being so silly about everything.

Finally, he turned his hazel eyes up to hers. "Was?"

"Huh?" Lily asked, confused. Of all the responses he could use, she certainly hadn't expected that.

"You said 'was'." Lily's look still portrayed confusion, so James continued. "You said, 'I was mad at you'." James said, turning his body to face her fully. "Does that mean that you aren't anymore?"

Lily nodded, looking straight into his eyes. "You were just being a good friend. I respect you for what you did for him, and I have to say, I don't think that I would be brave enough to do what you did." Her green eyes twinkled. "So tell Sirius, Remus, and Peter that they don't have to run when they see me coming anymore." She stood up. "Well, I'm tired, I think I'll go to bed."

"Good night, Lily," James smiled gently at her retreating back.

Lily hesitated. After a moment, she turned back to look at him with a smile. "Good night, James."