Chapter Fourteen

Lily couldn't believe she had just said those words. Let's go and break some rules? Well, everyone was in the need for some fun. Lily rounded up Sirius, Morgan, and Louise and took them to James and Remus. They couldn't find Peter. They all sat in the Heads dorm waiting for Lily to go on.

"Therefore, I think we should do something fun!" She clapped her hands together. She had just finished explaining that everyone was too uptight these days and that they should do something entertaining.
They all started at Lily. James laughed and shook his head.

"What?" She asked, bouncing her knees.

"He thinks you're mental." Sirius said.

Lily rolled her eyes. "So... who's in?"

"Usually, I would agree with Sirius but you're my friends so I'm in." Louise grinned.

"I'm in." Morgan declared.

Lily jumped up with excitement. The two girls joined her, with their arms on their hips, waiting for the boys to answer.

"Fine." Remus said, getting up slowly and joining them.

"I'm all for it." Sirius grinned. He didn't seem to mind that the girls had gone 'mental'.

"Come on, James! I know it's totally out of character for me but you can't deny that we need some fun." Lily insisted.

"Yeah, I don't mind, it's just that..." Well, tonight was full moon and James didn't want to risk Remus being out at night. They would just have to make sure they were back before the moon came out. "Don't worry; let's do it!"

The six of them decided to go into Hogsmede, seeing as it was another two weeks until the next trip. James told the girls about the one-eyed witch passage that led to Honey Jukes. When the girls asked how they found it, Sirius simply replied, "Knowledge, exploration and good looks." He tapped his temple with his finger. They sent Morgan first to make sure no one was around. Ten she would report back. Once the coast was clear, James would take one person at a time into the passage. First he took Sirius, then Remus, then Morgan, then Louise and last of all, Lily. He threw the cloak over her and took her hand, leading her to the passage. James climbed in after Lily and sealed the entrance.
The six friends lit their wands and travelled through the cold, stony tunnel. After Lily counted about three-hundred steps, they started going uphill and Lily, leading the pack, banged her head on something hard.

She rubbed her head and Sirius laughed. "Whoops, I must've forgotten to mention the trap door."

James shoved Sirius to the side and opened the trap door an inch. No one was there. He took one person at a time again. Once they navigated through the near empty sweet store, they were in the Main Street and James tucked the cloak away.

They all grinned at each other. "Where shall we go?"

They decided to go to the Three Broomsticks and have a nice, warm mug of butterbeer. James sat next to Lily and slipped an arm around her waist. Morgan sat next to Sirius and Louise sat next to Remus. James jumped up quickly and said, "I'm going to order some drinks. Who's coming?"

"I'll come!"

"Me too."

"Coming!"

Sirius, Morgan and Lily jumped up, leaving Remus and Louise still sitting. They blushed and began fiddling. The others grinned at each other and continued to the counter. James ordered six butterbeer's and pay for them all. Madam Rosmerta didn't seem to think it was weird that sic students were out of school, especially when it was not a Hogsmede weekend. This made Lily wonder. How many times had the Marauders sneaked out without Dumbledore knowing?
The Double Trio they liked to call themselves, spent an hour in the Three Broomsticks drinking butterbeer's and listening to entertaining story by Sirius, mostly of James. Like when he made a list of tings not to do because they annoyed Lily. She just smiled, not commenting.

Later they all went to Zonko's, which was the highlight of the night for the boys but which turned out to be very boring for the girls. So they left the boys and went to one of the dress shops down the road. As soon as they walked in, Morgan gasped and ran straight for a rack of dazzling green dresses.

"Lily! You have to buy this!" She squealed.

"Where would I wear it?" Lily asked.

"Oh... Yeah..." Morgan said, putting it back.

"Wait!" Lily just remembered. "James and I are organising a Halloween ball!"

"Genius!" Louise said, throwing her hands up in the air.

Lily went to grab some money out of her bag and realised it wasn't there. She gasped. "Crap, I left my bag with James!"

Lily left the shop and ran down the main street back to Zonko's. She didn't know why she was so excited. Nothing ever happened at Hogwarts so what better way to lighten up her last year?
Lily skidded to a halt and pushed the door open to Zonko's but there was no one there. The girls gave her questioning looks. Lily shrugged her shoulders and stopped to think. What other shop would they go to? Maybe they went back to Honey Jukes.

"Honey Jukes?" She suggested to the others.

"Yep."

So they started speed walking towards Honey Jukes, Lily half a pace in front. It was probably about five o'clock now and it was starting to get darker. The sun could just be seen over the horizon and if they didn't get back to Hogwarts quickly, somebody would realise they were missing from dinner.
When they arrived at Honey Jukes and found that nobody was there, Lily was even more confused. Surely they would tell her if they were leaving? Lily couldn't think of any other places they would be. Half of the owners had closed up their shops and were turning in for the night.

A chilly breeze tickled Lily's back. She had no idea where the boys were and she was all alone with just Louise and Morgan. They seemed to be panicking just as much as Lily. Lily turned and headed for the Three Broomsticks, her friends following closely. Maybe Madam Rosmerta would know where they were. But she didn't. She apologized and told the girls she had to close the shop for the night.
The sun was gone. Lily turned to the girls to form a plan.

"What do we do now?" Lily breathed.

"I have no idea." Louise answered.

Lily looked around, hoping the boys would jump out and say, "Surprise!" But there was no one around, nothing besides darkness. The wind howled and Lily shivered. She felt completely cut off from the world. She felt three-thousand miles away from Hogwarts.

"Maybe they c-couldn't find us a-and went back t-to Hogwarts, thinking we had gone b-back already." Lily's teeth chattered as she spoke.

"Well, maybe. Okay, how about this; we go back to Hogwarts, see if the boys are there, if they aren't then... then..." Morgan trailed off.

"Yeah, but if they aren't there..." Louise said.

"We don't have a better plan so let's just go." Lily said. They walked back to Honey Jukes, huddling close together. Lily pushed the door but it didn't open. She pushed it again. It would budge.

Lily swore under her breathe. "Alohomora!" Still, the door didn't open. "How are we supposed to get in now?"

"Break in?" Morgan suggested. No one was too thrilled with that idea.

Louise let out a strangled sob and slid down to the ground. Morgan and Lily sat down too and put their arms around her.

"It's okay, we'll be alright." Lily said soothingly.

There was a loud cry from somewhere in the distance. It rebounded off every window and made Lily shudder. She didn't know where the cry came from but it was definitely human. She pulled the girls up and headed towards the sound. Her heart was pounding in her chest. There was another loud shout and the girls stopped before looking at each other and continuing. They walked to the end of the main street where it turned into a small forest.

Lily slapped her head. "Of course! The other side of this forest is the Shrieking Shack... that's probably what the sound is from."

"Yes, but that didn't sound like whatever lives there. Besides, it sounded closer." Morgan said.

"That's true. Well, I don't know about you guys but I would like to see what's happening." Lily said.

The other two didn't protest. The girls headed into the forest nervously. It wasn't as thick as the Forbidden Forest, packed with dangerous creatures, it was just all trees. The girls only had to walk fifty meters until they were out the other side.
They emerged from the forest and looked up the hill that held the Shrieking Shack. Louise screamed. Lily had to stop herself from screaming too. Halfway up the hill stood James and Sirius staring transfixed, horrified, at Remus. Well, it wasn't Remus. It was half Remus and half werewolf. He was hunched over, howling. Lily could see his feet expanding and his head transforming. Suddenly, he was a fully grown, vicious werewolf, readying to attack.

"James!" Lily cried.

James' head shot up. "Lily! What are you – RUN!" The werewolf had spun around when Lily called out. Now he was heading straight for them.

Before their eyes, James and Sirius transformed; James into a stag and Sirius into a large shaggy dog. Lily was too stunned to move. Her head was going to explode. Sirius and James were Animagus? Morgan and Louise were trying to pull Lily away but she wouldn't move. She was too busy watching what was unfolding in front of her.
The black dog – Sirius – had gotten a hold of the werewolf with its teeth and dragged it to the ground. Then the stag – James – had locked it down with its massive antlers. The werewolf struggled to escape James' grasp. It kicked and scratched but James didn't let up. The werewolf, sensing defeat, went limp under James. James got up slowly and released the werewolf. The three animals all sat back panting. The werewolf seemed to have forgotten that three fresh humans were standing a hundred meters away. Lily watches as the dog and the stag escorted the werewolf towards the Shrieking Shack. As soon as they disappeared into the shadows, Lily sunk to the ground.

"What just happened?" She mumbled.

"I have no idea." Morgan said, sitting next to her.

"Remus – he's a – he's a –," Louise stammered.

"A werewolf," Lily whispered.

"Someone has to have noticed we are gone! It's way past dinner now. Lily, can you do one of those Patronus things?" Morgan asked.

"Yes." She said, standing up. She hadn't ever done one before but she knew the basics. She could only keep it around for a little so she kept the message short. "We are near the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmede. Need help." Her Patronus whooshed off to Professor Dumbledore. Before it left, she got a glimpse pf it. It was larger. It had changed into a doe. What did that mean? Lily thought. She didn't even know it could change. It was an owl before.
The girls huddled together and waited, and waited.