Hey guys! Okay, so I'm on Christmas break now, so you can be expecting faster updates because I don't have anything to do except read 'Heart of Darkness' for English, and lets face it, I'm not going to do that until the last week of vacation (: Oh, and because I've had people ask, I'm 16. Enjoy the story!
Disclaimer: I think everyone gets that I don't own Harry Potter. Although I wouldn't mind owning James, or Sirius, or Remus…*drifts off in to a daze*
Previously:
"You, Lily Evans, are a mystery." Lily grinned up at him, and was about to say something, but her lips were suddenly busy. She wrapped her arms around James neck and pulled herself closer to him. James put one of his hands in her hair, and held her tightly to him. They broke apart and grinned at each other, looking at each other's eyes.
"A good mystery I hope," she said cheekily.
"The best," he whispered, before leaning down to kiss her once more.
They left the Potter mansion a few days letter, albeit, regretfully. Lily didn't want to go. She loved it at the Potter house. It felt like home to her, and she felt somewhat more at home there than she did at her own house. Emily and Daniel were sad to see Lily go as well.
"But I only just met you!" Emily sighed, pulling Lily into a hug. They were going to leave for Hogwarts a few days early to catch up on everything, unpack, and do their holiday homework. Sirius was leaving his flying motorcycle at the Potters' house, as he wouldn't be allowed to take it Hogwarts, which greatly upset him. He was having a tearful goodbye with the motorcycle, probably by snogging Hestia on it, while Lily said goodbye to the Potters.
"Thank you so much for having me over," Lily said, hugging Emily.
"Oh shut up. Come over whenever you want," Emily said, letting go of Lily and wiping her eyes, "I'm just so happy that James found someone so perfect." Lily flushed and smiled at Emily.
"It was really nice meeting you Lily, I'm sure we'll see each other soon or else James isn't going to be coming home," Daniel joked. Lily grinned at him and hugged him. He put his arms around Lily and hugged her back, blinking back tears. He was emotional, so what?
"Thanks dad," James said from where he was standing, arms crossed, behind Lily.
"Love you too son." Daniel said, holding his arms out to James. James, after glaring at his parents playfully, walked into his fathers arms, "Look after yourself, and Lily," Daniel said, wiping his eyes subtly.
"Dad, are you crying?" James asked, and Daniel coughed out a laugh. James turned to his mother, who had tears streaming down her face as she watched James.
"You're so grown up," she cried, pulling James into a hug. James chuckled, hugging his mother tightly, "Be careful," she said, pulling away and brushing her hand through her sons' hair.
"You too. Don't do anything stupid on a raid or anything. I don't want to lose you guys," James said, looking at his parents seriously. Emily and Daniel smiled at James, and Emily cupped his cheek with her hand. Lily suddenly felt like she was intruding.
"You think we'd leave our favorite child?" Daniel said, gesturing to Lily, breaking the silence. James chuckled huskily, and Lily knew he had been close to tears. Lily grinned up at Daniel, "James, you are responsible for her."
"I can take care of myself," Lily grinned, and James turned to her, rolling his eyes, "I can!" she protested. James grinned and put his arm around her shoulders, kissing the top of her head.
"Of course you can"
Lily harrumphed, and looked around, "Where's your boyfriend?" James messed his hair up.
"Probably having a moment with his motorcycle," he shrugged, and Lily grinned.
"Where's Hestia?"
"Probably having a moment with the motorcycle with Sirius," James said awkwardly, and Lily laughed. So they had been thinking the same thing. She saw Daniel look up awkwardly, and Emily laugh, putting her arm around his waist. Sirius and Hestia approached, rather pink in the face, and Lily coughed, covering up a laugh.
"Did you say goodbye to the bike?" James asked nonchalantly, but Lily could hear the strain to restrain laughter in his voice.
"Yes pretty thoroughly," Sirius winked, and Hestia blushed, "Bye darling!" Sirius yelled, hugging Emily. Emily giggled and hugged Sirius back, "till we meet again," Sirius added, kissing Emily's hand. He turned to Daniel and grinned, "Bye Papa Potter!" Daniel rolled his eyes and laughed as Sirius hugged him as well.
"Take care Sirius," Daniel said, clapping his second son on the back.
"And Behave," Emily added sternly.
"Who moi? When do I not behave?" he said cheekily. Sirius hated goodbyes, so he usually added humour to make them easier.
"Yes Sirius, you're the epitome of sensibility," Hestia said, rolling her eyes as everyone else laughed, "Thanks for having me over," she smiled at Emily and Daniel, who grinned at her.
"Anytime," Daniel said, "Come by for Easter!" he added, and they nodded. Lily knew she would be coming back, even if James weren't.
"Bye!" Lily yelled over her shoulder as they made their way to the gate of the Potter mansion.
"Love you!" James yelled as they exited the mansion, hearing a faint 'love you too' from his parents, "Shall we?" he asked, holding his hand out to Lily. She sighed and grabbed his hand.
"I hate apparating," she mumbled, grabbing her trunk in her other hand. James chuckled and squeezed her hand.
"See you in a bit," he said to Sirius and Hestia, before turning on the spot. After the incredibly uncomfortable sensation of being sucked into a wormhole from your bellybutton, they felt their feet hit the street in Hogsmeade. Lily looked around and shuddered, instantly remembering what had happened the last time she was there. Hestia and Sirius appeared next to them, and together the four of them made their way back to the castle. Lily looked up at the familiar building and felt a jolt in her stomach. It was her last term there.
"I can't believe we're going to be leaving in one term," she mumbled, and she saw James nod sadly next to her. They walked up to the Heads dorm together, as Hestia and Sirius went to Gryffindor Tower, promising to catch up later. James stood in front of the portrait and muttered the password. They walked into the familiar dorm and Lily grinned.
"Welcome home Lils," James grinned, and Lily laughed. She grabbed James and led him to the sofa, leaving their trunks by the entrance. She pushed a bewildered James onto the sofa and sat in his lap.
"Now I'm home," she sighed in contentment, and James grinned, ignoring how his heart had jolted, and started twisting his fingers through Lily's hair, "So is it safe to assume that you will not be coming back tomorrow night?" she asked. James looked down at her, confused, "It's full moon," she said, rolling her eyes, and James' eyes widened in realization.
"If Moony's not here then I'll stay," he said, and Lily nodded, "What do you want to do today?" James asked, looking down at Lily.
"Want to go outside?" she asked, and James nodded happily.
"Go wear layers," he said, pushing Lily off him, and Lily giggled. Once they were properly layered, they walked through the castle, hand in hand, towards the entrance hall, "Let's go to the tree by the lake," he said, and Lily nodded
"The infamous Marauders' tree?" she asked, and he grinned. That tree had been known as property of the Marauders since they had begun their first year. They walked out into the school grounds, hand in hand.
"Shindig, that word always makes me laugh," Lily giggled, adding another word to their list of funny words, which they had somehow ended up discussing, and James laughed.
"Shindig," he chuckled, shaking his head. Lily enjoyed the way it sounded coming out in James' sultry voice, "I like schmeckle."
"Doesn't schmeckle refer to a guys…friend?" she squeaked, and James laughed.
"You mean his penis?"
"Shh!" Lily squealed, slapping James in the arm.
"Lily Evans, are you so immature that you cant stand to hear vulgar language?" James asked in a mocking shocked tone, and Lily rolled her eyes.
"I can hear vulgar language. I can say it too"
"Right," James snorted, and Lily turned to look at him.
"Penis," she said, and James grasped at his chest dramatically, causing Lily to roll her eyes, the corners of her mouth twitching.
"We should play the penis game," he said happily, and Lily looked at him warily, "No! I don't mean sex!" James squeaked, and Lily giggled, "its this game where you have to yell the word 'penis' increasingly loudly each time," he said, and Lily narrowed her eyes at him. James sighed, "See I'll start. Penis," he whispered, and Lily laughed, "Now you say it louder than I did."
"Penis," Lily said in a louder whisper, and James snickered.
"Penis"
"Penis"
After a few minutes…
"PENIS," James yelled loudly. They were sitting down at the tree, and Lily was clutching her stomach, laughing.
"PENIS!" Lily yelled louder. James was lying on the floor, laughing.
"PENIS!" James screamed, causing birds in the trees in the Forbidden Forest to fly away.
"Okay, okay you win!" Lily choked out, wiping her eyes, which were watering.
"Lily Clare, are you giving up?" James asked, grinning cheekily at her. Lily turned to narrow her eyes at him, before taking a deep breath.
"PEEENIIISSS!" she screamed, and James jumped at the sheer volume of it.
"Careful Evans I think the ice on the black lake cracked," he muttered, and Lily grinned at him.
"I'm going to take that as surrender," she shrugged, and James laughed.
"You, my dear, are diabolical"
"I know," she said happily. They sat in silence for a few minutes, savoring in each other's company, when James suddenly had a white, mushy substance in his face. He spluttered and wiped the snow off his face, to see Lily grinning at him.
"It's on Evans." Lily shrieked and stood up, running away from James, who was gathering snow in his hands. He got up, grinning, and ran after Lily. He threw the snow at her, using his Quidditch aim, hitting her right in the middle of the back. Lily shrieked and reached down, throwing some snow back at James, hitting him in the face, once again. Lily laughed loudly as James had to remove his glasses in order to wipe his face. He picked up another mound of snow and threw it as hard as he could at Lily, who ducked.
Hagrid had chosen that moment to walk out of the Forbidden Forest, and was pelted in the face by a snowball, "Wha' the bloody hell was tha'!" he screamed, rubbing at his face. Lily broke down in peals of laughter and Hagrid's expression warmed when he saw her, "O' it's yeh Lily."
"Actually, James threw the snowball," she grinned, and Hagrids' gaze turned up to look down at James.
"Potter!" Hagrid yelled, "It's on!" Hagrid leaned down to pick up a snowball, which was three times the size of James' due to the size of his hands, and threw it at James, who fell over backwards due to the force at which the snowball had been thrown.
James looked up at Hagrid, wiping his face once again. He grabbed a fistful of snow and through it at Hagrid, hitting him in the head, and grinned. Hagrid picked up another massive snowball and threw it, hitting Sirius, who had just made his way out of the castle, causing him to fall over. Hestia was looking at her boyfriend, lying on the floor, and laughing. Sirius narrowed his eyes at Hagrid, who grinned cheekily.
"Hagrid! That's uncalled for!" Sirius yelled, springing up onto his feet. After a few minutes of intense snowball throwing, Hagrid against the rest of them, Hagrid waved his dustbin-sized hand and walked into his house.
"I have work t'do yeh mangy lot," he yelled, before shutting the door behind him. Lily laughed and then fell over as a snowball hit her in the leg.
"Sirius Black!" she yelled, standing up. Sirius grinned at her cheekily, but then received snow in the face from his girlfriend, who had smushed a whole hand of snow into his face.
"Gotcha!" she said quietly, kissing Sirius on the cheek, before running away from him. The four of them ended up having a full on snowball fight, every man for himself, which lasted for hours and hours. It resulted in Hestia giving up, not wanting her hair to get messed up, and Sirius walking inside with Hestia.
"Whipped," James coughed, and Lily smashed snow in his face, before giggling and running off, "Evans!" he yelled, gathering more snow in his hands and running after her. Finally, James had Lily backed up against the tree, holding a snowball in his raised hand, "surrender!" he commanded.
"Not likely, just do it," Lily said, closing her eyes. She waited for the snow to hit her, but instead, felt James' soft lips on hers. She smiled and felt James' lips curve up too, "if this is what you meant by surrender," Lily chuckled, and James grinned down at her.
"Nah, this is your punishment," he said, backing her up against the tree, "I hate layers," he whined, pulling her scarf off her neck. Lily gasped as the cold air hit her neck, feeling as if icy daggers were now wrapped around instead of her comfortable scarf. James leaned down to kiss Lily gently on her neck, and she shuddered, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"It's so cold," she whined, and buried her face, nose numb with the cold, into James shoulder. James nodded and wrapped her scarf around her neck again.
"We'll continue this inside," he said happily, and Lily rolled her eyes. He grabbed her hand and dragged her inside the castle, "Oh wait," he said, stopping her. Lily raised her eyebrows at him curiously, and James smirked before turning around to face the empty courtyard.
"PENIS!"
At dinner that night, James and Lily walked into the Great Hall to see an oval table instead of the four house tables. Dumbledore smiled up at them as they entered.
"Come, take a seat!" he said cheerfully, gesturing to the seats around the table where there were about 11 seats, "There are so few of us at Hogwarts it seemed inappropriate to use the large house tables." James shrugged and dragged Lily towards the table. They sat down and were soon joined by Hestia and Sirius, who looked at the table curiously as well, before shrugging and sitting down next to their friends. There were only six students who were there at that time, the other five chairs occupied by teachers; Dumbledore, McGonagall, Flitwick, Slughorn and Professor Merrythought, the DADA teacher. When two Slytherins walked in, Lily groaned. It was Severus and Avery. Avery took the seat next to her, with a nasty grin to James, and Severus sat at the one next to Slughorn. Lily noticed James tense as Avery took the seat next to her, and she felt her chair move over towards James.
"Tuck in!" Dumbledore said cheerfully, seemingly unaware of James's reaction to Avery, and took a large bite out of a chicken leg. Sirius barked at laugh before devouring his own food. McGonagall looked at Sirius as if he was disgusting, and Sirius, noticing her looking at him, winked at her. Lily chuckled as a faint blush crept on McGonagalls cheeks before she turned back to Dumbledore, engaging him in conversation. Avery had shifted his chair closer to Lily, which didn't go unnoticed by James, Sirius and Severus. Severus turned to glare at Avery who winked at him, and Severus felt his stomach boil.
A little ways through the meal, Remus walked into the Great Hall. Sirius and James yelled happily and ran over to hug their friend, who rolled his eyes and patted his friends on the back. Dumbledore conjured up a chair in between Lily and Avery, and Lily gave him a thankful look, which he acknowledged with a wink. Remus sat down next to Lily and grinned at her.
"Hi Lily!" he said happily.
"Hi Remus!" she said, leaning over to wrap her arms around Remus happily. Remus hugged her back in a brotherly fashion before turning to glare at Avery; Remus didn't like him as much as James because of what Avery had said about Lily. It made him uncomfortable to see Avery so close to Lily, whom he loved like a little sister. James was a lot more relaxed now that Remus was sitting in between Avery and Lily, and started to laugh and joke around with Sirius, who was messing with Slughorn. Sirius pointed his wand at Slughorns noodles, and they turned into worms, causing Slughorn to shriek and jump back from his food. Dumbledore, she noticed, was enjoying watching Sirius torture Slughorn, and was chuckling along with James.
"Oh Horace they're only worms," McGonagall said, biting back a laugh at Slughorns bewildered expression. Slughorn relaxed and pointed his wand at his food, causing them to turn back into noodles, and, much to Lily's disgust, continued to eat them. Sirius blew a kiss to McGonagall, and Lily had to bite back a laugh as McGonagall blushed a shade of pink Lily wasn't aware she was capable of. Once dinner was over, Lily's abdominal muscles were in pain from all the laughing. James grabbed her hand, excusing them from the table, and led her from the Great Hall, Sirius, Hestia and Remus following suite. Dumbledore watched his Head Boy and Girl walk away and felt a pang at what he knew would come in the later years.
The five of them chatted in the Gryffindor Common room for a little while, as there was no one else there, other than few third years that had decided to skip on dinner. When it was late, about one in the morning, Lily and James left to return to their dormitory.
"That was fun," Lily said happily, and James smiled down at her.
"You know what else is fun?" he asked, and Lily looked up at him with a sly grin on her face. James grabbed her hand firmly and started to walk faster. They crossed by the Head's dorm, much to Lily's surprise, and James led them to a nearby broom cupboard, opening the door, "After you m'lady," he said, gesturing to the broom cupboard.
"A broom cupboard. Really James?" James grinned at her and Lily sighed, making her way into the broom cupboard. She spent most of their patrols hunting out people who were snogging in broom cupboards, and now she was committing the crime herself.
"Oh nobody's going to catch us. There's barely anyone in the castle," he said, and Lily sighed, nodding, "Besides, where's your sense of adventure," he said, standing in front of her, closing the door behind him.
The cupboard was small, and Lily found herself pressed up against James even when she was as far away from him as she could possibly be. James grinned down at her, enjoying the lack of space, and Lily rolled her eyes, before putting her hand at the back of his neck and pulling him down to her.
Lily woke up the next morning, finding herself on the sofa. James' arms were wrapped around her and she felt her heart beat quicken. She looked down quickly checking to make sure that they were both fully clothed, and breathed a sigh of relief. The events of the previous night came flooding back to her and Lily felt her cheeks heat up. They had spent over an hour in the broom cupboard, and had made their way back, only to continue in their common room. James wasn't wearing a shirt, and she smiled, knowing it was her doing. She tried to unwrap James' arms from around her, but he groaned in his sleep, wrapping his arms around her tighter. Lily sighed. There was no way she was getting free until James woke up, and even then she probably wouldn't be free. She stretched her arms up over her head, working out the knots in her back which came along with sleeping on a couch, and suddenly felt James lips pressed against her.
"Morning," she chuckled once they had separated. James smiled, his eyes still closed.
"Morning to you too"
"James can you please let go?" she asked, and James, predictably, shook his head.
"What will you give me in return?" he asked cheekily, and Lily rolled her eyes.
"What do you want?"
"How about another adventure to the broom cupboard," he said, opening his eyes to look down at Lily's blushing face.
"Fine," she sighed, and James grinned, before releasing her.
"Don't pretend you didn't enjoy it Evans"
"When did I say that?" she grinned, before sauntering off to the bathroom to shower and get dressed. She summoned her clothes from her room, not bothering to walk all the way up to get them, and shut the door behind her. James walked into the bathroom to get his glasses, which he had left in there the previous night. Before leaving the bathroom, he wrote 'I love you Lils' on the mirror, and then closed the door behind him. Lily smiled at the note when she got out of the shower, and then felt her stomach flip, realizing James had been standing in there while she had been naked. She pulled on her clothes, dark jeans and a jumper, before tying up her wet hair and walking out of the bathroom.
"Hey," James said, sitting on the sofa reading a book. Lily walked over to look at the book he was reading, and realized it was the book on how to charm witches that Sirius had given him.
"Nice," she said, before flopping down next to him, and James grinned at her before closing the book, putting it down on the coffee table.
"Jealous Lilykins?"
"Since when do you call me Lilykins?" James shrugged and Lily rolled her eyes.
"You do know I hate you hair tied up," James said, reaching behind her.
"No but it's all wet!" she whined, putting her hands on her bun, "if you let it down my clothes will get all wet!" James grinned and pointed his wand at her hair, drying it instantly.
"Some witch you are," he chuckled, pulling the hair tie out of her hair. Lily blushed. She hadn't thought of that. She felt so stupid. James leaned forward and kissed her on her blushing cheek before standing up, holding his hand out to her, "Breakfast?"
"Food!" Lily squealed, and James laughed.
"C'mon Padfoot," he said sarcastically, and Lily grinned up at him. When they got down to the Great Hall, it was to see the oval table once more. Sirius, Hestia and Remus were already seated. When they entered the Great Hall, Sirius grinned up at them.
"Prongsie! Lily-flower!" he yelled, and Lily laughed, sitting down next to Remus, with James on her other side, not wanting Avery to sit next to her again. Breakfast was uneventful as they couldn't talk, since the teachers were there, but after breakfast, Hestia grabbed Lily's arm.
"You boys can go bond today, we're going to hang out," Hestia said, nose in the air, dragging Lily out of the Great Hall, much to the amusement of all the teachers.
"Lily! Don't leave me with them!" Remus yelled after them, ignoring the protests from both James and Sirius.
"Sorry Remus!" they heard Lily yell, and Remus chuckled, turning back to his food. Severus was looking in the direction Lily had vanished, wondering what would happen if he yelled after her. Black would curse him, no doubt. Avery would look at him weirdly. Potter would look anywhere but at him. And the teachers would react weirdly. It was settled then, he wasn't going to yell after her. Severus looked down at his food miserably, suddenly losing his ravenous appetite.
"So what are us Marauders going to do today?" Sirius asked happily, draping his arms around both James and Remus's shoulders.
"We should probably do our work," Remus suggested, looking at Sirius with narrowed eyes.
"Where's the fun in that?" Sirius scoffed and Remus rolled his eyes.
"I say we do something Marauderish," Sirius declared.
"Marauderish?" James smirked
"Yes Marauderish"
"Alright Pads what do you want to do?" James sighed, sitting down at the base of their favorite tree.
"Let's irritate Snivellus," Sirius said happily, and James sighed.
"What did you have in mind?" Remus asked curiously.
"I was thinking, shampoo bottles chasing after him yelling 'wash your hair you greasy slimeball'" James and Remus snorted.
"Not a bad idea Pads," James said, smiling at Sirius. At least it was a harmless prank.
"Yay! Let's go then."
Back up in the Heads dorm, Hestia and Lily were getting their work done whilst gossiping. It was both enjoyable and productive.
"So what did you and James do after you left last night?" Hestia asked, smiling at Lily.
"Well, we went to a broom cupboard," Lily blushed, and she heard Hestia squeal.
"A broom cupboard? Really? How was it?" she asked, leaning forward, and Lily blushed harder.
"I like broom cupboards," Lily muttered, and Hestia laughed. Just then, the door swung open and Alice walked in, Frank by her side.
"Alice!" Hestia and Lily squealed, launching themselves at Alice.
"Hi Frank!" Lily said happily, hugging Frank, who hugged her back happily.
"How was Franks house?" Hestia asked, looking at Alice.
"It was great," Alice said, smiling up at Frank, who grinned down at her with a wink.
"I'll go now. I have to do work. See you later," he said, leaning down to kiss Alice, before walking out of the dorm. Lily, noticing Alice's blush, raised her eyebrows.
"What happened?"
"We had sex," Alice blurted out, and then clapped her hand over her mouth.
"You had WHAT?" Hestia yelled, and Lily rolled her eyes.
"Sex Hestia," Lily said, grinning at Alice, who blushed.
"And?" Hestia said, adding way too many syllables to the word.
"It was nice?" Alice squeaked, and Lily laughed, "but his mum is terrible!" she whined, flopping down onto the sofa.
"I didn't know you were allowed to sleep with his mum!" Hestia said and Alice threw a cushion at her while Lily laughed, "Details woman!" Hestia squealed, sitting down next to Alice, while Lily sat on the floor.
That's how the three Marauders and Frank found the girls three hours later. Alice squealed and ran to hug James, Sirius and Remus.
"How was your break?" Remus asked politely.
"It was satisfactory," Hestia said from by the couch, her and Lily breaking down in a fit of giggles, while Alice and Frank blushed.
"Am I missing something?" Remus asked confusedly, looking at James and Sirius who shrugged, feeling just as clueless.
"Nothing's up don't worry about it," Hestia said, causing the two of them to break down into another fit of giggles. Alice turned to narrow her eyes at her friends, trying not to laugh, before reaching out to grab Franks hand, and dragging him from the room.
"Gosh, way to engorge the problem," Hestia snorted, but Lily shook her head.
"That sucked Hest," she said, and then, realizing what she'd said, the two burst into laughter once more.
"It's hard okay!"
"Oh come now"
"Keep your pants on!"
"Don't push it"
The girls' innuendos went on for another twenty minutes, while the three Marauders watched them, amused, catching onto the sex puns, "Why are you making innuendos?" Sirius asked, sitting down behind Hestia and wrapping his arms around her.
"Frank and Alice had sex?" Remus squeaked, catching on faster than his other two friends.
"They WHAT?" James asked, sitting down next to Lily and wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
"Had sex James. Sex," Hestia said, adding a few more syllables on the word sex, and James turned pink.
"I heard you the first time"
"I know," Hestia winked, and James blushed again. They sat around for a while, talking, when McGonagall walked into the room.
"Mr. Lupin you need to come with me, your aunt is sick," she said, and Lily looked over at Remus, knowing completely well that his aunt was not sick. Remus got up and followed McGonagall out, with a smile to everyone. She looked out the window to see it was dark, and shuddered, knowing how much pain Remus would be in, in a matter of minutes.
"I hope she gets better!" Hestia yelled after him, still clueless. Lily saw Sirius and James look at each other, before they stood up simultaneously.
"We're going to go now," Sirius said, walking out of the dormitory. Lily frowned up at James.
"Why?"
"We get worried?" James said, before following his Sirius out.
"That was odd," muttered Hestia, "I think I'm going to go to bed now," Hestia said, stretching.
"You mean you're going to go tease Alice?"
"Obviously," Hestia winked, and Lily laughed, "See you in the morning Lils!" Lily sighed as the door closed behind Hestia, suddenly feeling alone. She noticed a piece of parchment on the floor where James had been sitting and leaned over to pick it up.
"Prongs mate let's go!" Sirius muttered, standing up.
"I must've left the map in the dorm," James muttered as he searched his pockets.
"No worries we have the cloak. How are we going to get in without Wormtail?"
"No worries lads I'm here," Peter said, walking in quickly and dumping his trunk on the floor, "I got back when I realized what day it was today."
"Wormy you are a life saver!" Sirius grinned, patting his friend on the back, "Shall we?" The three of them walked out of the castle, James and Sirius under the invisibility cloak following the rat, and made their way to the Whomping Willow.
"Wow," Lily muttered as she looked through the map. It was amazing. She hadn't thought the Marauders were that talented. She opened the map up fully, looking for James and Sirius in their dorm, but they weren't there, "That's odd," she muttered, searching the map for their names. When she was about to give up, she noticed James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew heading towards the Whomping Willow. She felt her stomach sink as she realized they were going to follow Remus, "I have to do something!" she muttered to no one in particular, and jumped up, running through the corridors of the castle, map in hand. She reached the Whomping Willow and saw James and Sirius appear, James hiding something shimmery in his pocket.
"Wormy hurry up!" Sirius whined, looking around nervously. Lily was hiding behind a wall of the castle. Who was he talking to? Suddenly the branches of the tree stopped moving, and Lily looked down to see a rat, "Nice going Wormy!" Sirius said, and Lily felt her stomach drop.
"No," she muttered to herself as the rat ran down the passage. Wormtail. Were their nicknames literal?
"Let's go Prongs!" Sirius said, and Lily watched transfixed, as Sirius disappeared, and in his place stood a large black dog. She watched as it barked, before entering the tunnel, and felt her stomach drop again. Sirius was an Animagus. Illegal at that too; she had looked through the records. Peter must have been one as well. She turned to look at James with pain in her eyes. James shook his head and suddenly, in his place, Lily saw a stag. She felt her anger flare up.
How could she have been so stupid? Why would you nickname someone by their patronus? Why were they so stupid? Didn't they realize the dangers and risks of being an illegal Animagus? What was the point of being one anyway? She felt her stomach drop as she remembered what was on the other side of the tunnel. Remus. They had turned into illegal Animagi, and ran around with a werewolf once a month? IDIOTS.
She stood there for a long while, and then panicked as she heard a noise, a howling, coming from the tunnel. The dog came out first, followed by the rat, and then the stag. And to Lily's fright, then came the werewolf. She had never seen a werewolf up close before. It was tall and skinny, with beady eyes and a long snout. It was also standing on two legs, with long nails and large feet. The werewolf was sniffing around, Lily noticing how long its teeth were, and it's eyes seemed to narrow in, in the direction Lily was standing. She felt her heart speed up as she heard the howl escape the werewolf's mouth. It started to run in her direction, but was blocked by the stag, which was herding it towards the forbidden forest. The dog started barking and running around the wolf, which diverted its attention to the dog. The dog, Lily couldn't refer to it as Sirius, ran towards the forbidden forest, and with a howl, the wolf followed after it. Lily faintly saw the rat scurrying out of sight, and turned to see the stag, looking around cautiously, as if wondering what had diverted the wolfs attention.
The stag made its way to where Lily was standing, and she saw it jump as it saw her. She looked into its eyes and saw James through the stags' small eyes. The stag took a step towards her and she shook her head at it, taking a step back. There was a loud whine from the forest, and the stag, which had been taking a cautious step towards her, snapped its head in that direction, before cantering off in that direction.
Lily, without thinking, followed the stag, wanting to know if Sirius was okay. She ran into the forest after the stag, and then came to a stop when she found herself in pitch-blackness. She panicked. She loved Remus as a brother, but she didn't fancy meeting him as a werewolf. She turned around to run out in the other direction, but jumped as a twig snapped behind her. She turned to see the stag standing there, with a large slash on its face. Prongs. She looked at it tearfully, not knowing what to say. She still loved James, and it was because of this love that she was so angry with him.
She took a step towards it and touched the gash gently, pulling out her wand and healing it. The stag lowered its head and started to herd her out of the forest, and she felt a chuckle escape her. It was definitely James. Once she was out of the forest, the stag continued to herd her.
"Alright James enough," she said, turning around, "I'll talk to you later," she said in a cold voice, and she saw the panic in the stag's, James's, eyes. Without another word, she turned around and ran into the castle, getting away from James as fast as she could. She ran all the way up to her dorm, ignoring the portraits yelling at her about what time it was and to stop making so much noise. She had to yell the password at the portrait several times before it woke up and groggily opened up for her. She ran inside and fell onto the armchair, before bursting into tears.
She pulled out the map, wiping her eyes, and looked at the forbidden forest. James Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin were making their way back to the Whomping Willow, James in the rear. She watched as Remus Lupin disappeared down the tunnel, followed by the other three.
She watched until they came out, and when they entered the castle, she realized Remus must have transformed back. She watched as they dropped him off at the hospital wing, and as James, Sirius and Peter walked out. She felt her stomach squeeze as she realized she was going to have to face James soon. She felt her tears well up again as she thought of what she was going to have to say to him. She saw Peter leave the other two, and as James and Sirius stood in the hallway for a long time, talking, she assumed. She saw Sirius walk up the stairs, and James started to run towards their dormitory. When he was outside the portrait, she placed the map down on the table and wiped her eyes.
James pushed the portrait hole open cautiously, and caught sight of Lily sitting in the armchair. She felt her stomach pang as she saw fresh cuts on his arms. Despite herself, she walked over and healed the cuts, not looking at James' face, before turning around and walking towards her staircase, but was stopped by James' hand around her wrist.
"Lils"
"No James," she said, turning around and looking up at him, to see the hurt in his eyes, "No," she turned around but James grabbed her again, turning her around.
"Lily," he said, but she shook her head.
"No! Leave me alone!" she yelled, pulling her arm out of James' grasp, "I cant do this," she said quietly, her tears escaping her eyes. She saw James shake his head from side to side quickly, tears escaping his own eyes.
"Lily, please don't do this," he pleaded, walking over to her, his voice choked. It broke her heart to see him cry, and all she wanted to do was wrap her arms around him, but she restrained herself.
"You lied to me! You've been running around with a bloody werewolf! I love Remus, and I hate what's happening to him, but I'm sorry, werewolves are dangerous! And becoming an illegal Animagus? Do you even know the consequences of that? How could you be so stupid?" She yelled at him, getting all of it off her chest. James looked down at the floor dejectedly
"Lily we were helping a friend," he said quietly, and Lily shook her head.
"Helping a friend is sitting by his bedside and helping drink his potions! Helping a friend is not risking Azkaban!" she screamed, her voice jumping octaves, and she saw James flinch at her words.
"So you're angry because I'm an Animagus?"
"No," she said, and James' head snapped up, surprised, "I'm angry because you lied to me. I'm angry because you didn't trust me enough to tell me that you were off with Remus, and instead told me some stupid lie about Sirius being a baby. What if something had happened? What if they found the body of a stag, a dog and a rat, and then I couldn't find you?" she screamed, tears falling down her face rapidly at the thought. She couldn't bear the idea of James hurt, let alone dead. She couldn't imagine a world without James.
"Lils," James said quietly, taking a step towards her, and taking her hand.
"No Potter!" she screamed, and James felt his heart drop as she called him Potter.
"Potter?" he said in a quiet, pained voice.
"Yes Potter! Just stay out of my way," she said, pulling her hand out of James'.
"Lily, please don't do this!" James pleaded in a husky voice, his throat constricted. He couldn't believe this was happening. It couldn't be happening.
"It's Evans," she said coldly, and James felt a few tears escape his eyes, but he didn't bother to wipe them away. James grabbed her around the waist and kissed her, fighting for her. He could not lose her. He just couldn't. Lily instinctually put her arms around his neck, but then, remembering the circumstances, she dropped her arms, and stopped kissing her back, feeling her heart break in her chest. James continued to kiss her, and reached down for her hands, placing them around his neck.
"Lils, Lily please, kiss me back," he said. Lily didn't react, except for a sob escaped her. James, giving up on kissing her, bent down to kiss her jaw, her neck, her shoulder, but it was no use. A waterfall was falling down Lily's face, and she reached up to wipe the tears away, "Lily, please!" James yelled, sobbing.
Lily looked down at the floor, closing her eyes to draw the courage to do this. She was slowly breaking her own heart. James, realizing what she was going to do, put his hand over her mouth, and a finger under her chin, and drew her chin so he could look in those eyes again. He saw his own pain reflected in her eyes, and Lily watched as realization flooded James' eyes.
"It's over James."