A/N – First I would like to thank all of my reviewers: -Scp-, IWantAWerewolfToImprintOnMe, flowerypetal, xxxxParvati-Patilxxxx, TheLastCrumpet, Holy Cross Baby, stella luminosa, ICantRemberSodAll, IHeartJamesPotter, storm-brain, Blue-Eyed Chica, and SoManyObsessions.

A Day in the Sun

Chapter Twenty-nine

James had a surprised look on his face as he turned to check over his shoulder. When he saw the blood; he swore. "It's nothing, Lily. Just a scratch."

"That much blood does not come from 'just a scratch'." Lily said softly then added more harshly, "Sit down." She was pointing to a chair.

"Don't worry about me, Lily." James continued on his path to the bathroom.

"James Thomas Potter do NOT make me force you to sit down. I am going to get a good look at your 'scratch' whether you want me to or not." Lily warned.

James looked Lily up and down. She was short, small and pale. And she thought she was going to be able to force him to do something. "I'd like to see you try." He said smugly.

Then he watched in horror as his wife's wand was suddenly out and pointed at him. He heard her whisper something under her breath that he couldn't quite make out and before he could react the spell hit him in the chest. His legs began moving mechanically without his permission and he was heading toward the chair. When he reached it his legs immediately gave out and he was sitting in the chair. Before he could get out he heard Lily's mumbles again as ropes sprang from her wand and he was tied to the chair. "You've got to be kidding me."

"I told you not to make me force you." Lily walked closer to him and used her wand to vanish his shirt revealing a blood soaked bandage. She gently peeled back the bandage until his wound was uncovered. It was bleeding freely and looked as though it had no intention of stopping. She pointed her wand at the area and whispered a spell to clean the gash, but it didn't work. She tried another to no avail.

She stared at the wound for a moment contemplating how how to fix this. She didn't know what she was doing wrong. She glanced up and saw her calendar out of the corner of her eye. Full moon, wounds that don't heal with magic, werewolves. It was all coming together. She gasped as she reached the only possible conclusion. This wound had been inflicted by a werewolf. She couldn't afford to dwell on that fact at the moment. James had lost too much blood already.

James heard Lily's gasp and watched as she ran toward their closet. He saw her pull a bag from the floor and watched as she rummaged through it. He saw her pull out two jars one filled with a green paste and the other a white cream and then she grabbed a large brown bottle. "What are those for?" He asked as she walked forward.

"You'll see." She predicted grimly. When she had taken her place behind him she added, "This is going to sting."

James snorted at her warning. Whatever it was certainly wouldn't work on this wound, but he didn't want to tell her that. He was lost in thought when suddenly his shoulder was on fire, "What the hell is that!" He exclaimed as he jerked the entire chair away from Lily.

"It's Hydrogen Peroxide." She said as she came closer to the chair with the bottle still in her hands.

"Back off! You are not touching me with that stuff again." He said as he scooted his chair back even further.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, James! Ariel doesn't put up this much of a fuss about it." She said in an exasperated tone.

"You've used this medieval torture device on Ariel?" He accused.

"Every muggle child in the country has had this put on their wounds before, James. It cleans out wounds very well.

"Ariel's not a muggle. Why didn't you just use a spell?" James didn't notice the look of worry on Lily's face before she answered.

"I'm not allowed to use magic during the holidays. Listen James, you can bleed to death or you can allow me to fix this." Her tone was exasperated.

"Fine." He said grudgingly allowing his wife to minister to his wounds. He hissed as she poured more of the stuff from the brown bottle on to his wound. Then he saw her slender hand place the bottle on the table and pick up the green jar. He felt her fingers spreading the paste inside of his wound. At first all he could feel was the stinging from the muggle product. He didn't want to tell her that magical potions wouldn't work on this wound. Lily was smart. She would figure out in a heartbeat what had caused this wound that was unable to be healed and then one of the marauders' secrets would be revealed. As he was thinking this he wound began to feel itchy. He reached back absentmindedly to scratch it and his hand was slapped away.

"James, I know it itches, but you have to let the potion work." She admonished.

A potion that worked on werewolf wounds? James had never heard of such a thing. Later he would have to find out where Lily had gotten that potion. It would be as valuable as gold to the marauders. After a few minutes the itching subsided and he watched Lily walk from behind him and into the bathroom. He heard running water and then saw Lily emerge with a bucket of water and a rag.

Lily walked back behind James without saying a word. She was too nervous to begin idle conversation. She dipped the rag into the water and then used it to gently wipe the blood from James' back and from his wound. She wanted to see just how extensive the wound was now that the potion had stopped the bleeding. Once James' wound and back were free from blood she inspected his gash further. She tried to be as gentle as possible as she pulled the wound apart slightly to see how deep it went. She gasped when she saw white at the end of the wound.

"What's wrong?" James asked.

"Your 'just a scratch' goes all the way to the bone." She picked up the bottle of white cream and massaged it into the deepest part of the wound first. Within moments everything the cream had touched was knit together. She continued adding layer by layer until the skin of James' shoulder was completely healed as if there hadn't been a gash in the first place. "Are they anywhere else?"

James hesitated for a moment. If she saw his other wounds she might get suspicious, but he didn't want to have to wait for them to heal on their own if he didn't have to. "Uh, yeah." He said gruffly.

James showed Lily all of the little wounds he'd managed to gather throughout the night and she calmly fixed each and every one. None were as bad as the first and some really were just scratches. Within thirty minutes James was completely healed.

Lily walked to her bag by the closet and placed the peroxide and the two potions back inside. Then she grabbed another potion this one clear and encased in a glass flask. "Drink this." She ordered James.

"What is it?" He asked warily.

"A blood replenishing potion." She answered.

James drank the substance to appease Lily and then asked, "Will you untie me now?"

Lily blushed slightly and began to untie him the muggle way. She had been trying to work up the courage to hear the answer to a question she desperately wanted to ask. When she'd untied the last knot she blurted out, "Were any of those bites?"

James took a deep breath before answering, "So you figured out what caused those wounds?"

"I'm not an idiot. Were you bitten?" She asked again.

"Not tonight." He saw how pale her face had become. He hoped she was alright. "You should be in bed."

Lily ignored the second part of his statement and asked, "By not tonight do you mean you were bitten before or do you mean that you don't want to talk about it tonight."

"Both." He watched all remaining color drain from her face and heard a knock on the door simultaneously.

"I'll get it." Lily said and moved as though to leave the room.

"No, you'll get in bed. When was the last time you slept?"

Lily ignored his comments and walked as quickly as she could from the room using her wand to lock the door behind her. Hoping that it would slow James enough that she could get to the door. She heard the bedroom door being flung open just as her hand was on the knob to the front door. She opened it a crack and peered through. "Sirius!" She exclaimed, "Come in." She opened the door the rest of the way and moved aside so that her husband's friend could come through.

Sirius was surprised to see Lily. "I thought you were on bed rest."

"She is." James voice was hard. "Of course I can't get her to listen to me and stay there."

"Lily, I kind of need to talk to James alone." Sirius said.

"Were you with James tonight, Sirius?" Lily asked.

Sirius missed James frantically shaking his head behind Lily's back and answered, "Yes."

"So you must be hurt as well. James go get my bag. Sirius let me see your," She looked at James, "Scratches." She finished.

"W-What?" Sirius asked with alarm. Had James told Lily the secret?

"Just listen to her, Padfoot. I gave up trying to talk sense into her a while ago." James said as he walked up to his and Lily's room to get his wife's bag.

"I-there's a pretty bad one on my ankle." Sirius finally said in a defeated tone.

"Sit down." Lily ordered and Sirius complied. She then rolled up his pant leg and removed the bandage that had been wrapped around his leg. By then James had shown up with her bag and had handed the brown bottle to her.

"This is going to sting, Padfoot." James told him.

"Prongs, Wormtail is worrying like a mother hen. Moony hasn't woken up yet." Sirius told his friend as Lily worked to clean his wound.

James made his eyes wide and shook his head as Sirius.

"What are you--? This is a bite!" Lily exclaimed. She'd been going to ask what they'd been talking about until she'd removed enough blood from Sirius' wound to see the clear pattern of sharp teeth. "How stupid are you two? Do you realize what you're doing? Running around with werewolves is about the dumbest thing I've ever heard of anyone doing." She seethed at them both even as she gently took care of Sirius. "Did Remus do this?" She asked when the thought occurred to her. She could tell from their faces that it was true. "You idiots! Do you think Remus wanted to give you his lycanopathy? How do you think he's going to feel about having made Sirius a werewolf?"

"Lily, how do you know that Remus is a werewolf?" James asked slowly.

"You didn't tell her?" Sirius asked.

"I wouldn't betray Remus' trust like that." James continued to look at Lily, waiting for an answer.

"I-Severus told me. A while ago." She looked up from Sirius' now healed leg and saw two extremely pissed off men in the room with her.

"Of course, Snivellus. Who else?" James sneered. Would Padfoot's mistake come back to haunt Remus for the rest of his life?

"Don't call him that!" Lily snarled.

"I will call whomever I want whatever I want while I am in my own house." James responded with a snarl of his own.

"Both of you stop fighting this instant." Sirius' quiet voice of reason kept James and Lily from one another's throats but did nothing to erase the tension from the room. "Lily thanks for fixing my leg. What is that stuff? And why does it work on werewolf wounds?"

"Severus," She stressed the word, "Has been working on a cure for lycanopathy. The two potions I used to fix your wounds were accidents he came up with on the way. They weren't his planned outcome, but they're dead useful. Sirius, aren't you afraid?"

"Why would I be afraid?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"Well, you've just been bitten by a werewolf."

"Oh, that. Don't worry your pretty little head about me. It's not the first time Remus had bitten me and it won't be the last." Sirius answered without thinking.

"So are you and James...?" She couldn't even finish the question.

"Sirius, we have to tell her. The woman is going to give herself an ulcer." James pleaded.

"We have to ask Remus and Pete." This reminded Sirius why he was here, "James, Remus hasn't woken up yet. Peter is distraught. Will you help me to calm him down?"

"Yeah, sure. Just let me get Lily back into bed." James answered.

"Like hell! If Remus just got through with his transformation he needs to be looked after by someone. I'll bet he looks worse than either one of you did." Lily maintained.

"She's right, James." Sirius sided with Lily.

"Lily you have to stay here with Ariel. You have to stay here to rest. You look like death." James let out in a rush. He wasn't backing down this time. Remus had gotten through transformations every month since he was five years old without Lily's help; he certainly didn't need it now.

"Sirius would you mind staying here with Ariel?" Lily asked sweetly.

"I'd love to." He decided to throw a wrench into James' plan. After all, Remus could recover much faster if Lily would fix all of his external wounds.

"Great. It's settled then. James and I'll go to Remus and Sirius will stay here with Ariel. I just need to go grab a few things." She ran up the stairs.

"Take it easy!" James voice rang up the hallway after her. He turned and whispered to Sirius. "If she gets harmed in any way by this trip, Padfoot, so help me--"

"I know. I'll be dead and you'll be in Azkaban for my murder. Won't that be wonderful." Sirius joked.

"I mean it. She's supposed to be in bed right now." James' eyes were hard as he looked at his friend.

"I understand, but--" he stopped when he saw Lily coming down the stairs with clothes on and a very large bag slung over her shoulder.

James reached over and took her bag from her. "What do you keep in here? Bricks?"

"No, I don't know what potions I'll need when we get to Remus' house. That's my stash." Lily answered calmly. She was a bouncing ball of energy. She was getting to leave the house. "By the way, I look like death? Just what every woman wants to hear from her husband."

James had the grace to look sheepish. "A very pretty death." He heard Sirius sniggering in the background.

Lily arched her eyebrow, "Are we going to go or not?"

James offered her his arm, "I'll apparate us."

Lily took it and was soon feeling as if she were being forced through a small rubber tube.


"What's she doing here?" A short watery-eyed man asked James the moment he and Lily had made it to Remus' home.

"She's here to help." James said grudgingly. "Lily this is Peter Pettigrew."

"Ah, the fourth infamous marauder. It's nice to meet you." She held out her hand.

Peter warily reached out and shook it. He mumbled, "Enchanted." Then to James in a much stronger voice he said, "Moony hasn't woken up yet. Where's Padfoot?"

"Sirius is in Godric's Hollow. Where is Remus?" James asked.

Peter pointed over his shoulder. "Will you be alright here alone? I think I need to get some fresh air."

"Sure, Pete." James said.

As Peter walked past her Lily reached out her hand to stop him. "Were you hurt, too? Like Sirius and James?"

"No," He said cautiously.

"Lily, Remus is in there." James pointed in the same direction as Peter had.
"Please go tend to him while I talk to Pete."

"Alright." Lily said in a confused tone and then she walked into the other room.

James waited until she was out of hearing distance and then whispered to Peter, "Snape told her about Remus." He watched Peter's eyes widen in horror before he continued, "Sirius and I were thinking about telling her about the rest. What do you think?"

"Is she trustworthy?" Peter's watery eyes were full of suspicion.

"Absolutely." James frowned. Would Pete actually think that he and Sirius would be careless with the marauder's secret.

"Are you sure? She must be pretty good friends with Snape for him to have broken his promise to Dumbledore about not telling anyone about Remus. I'm almost positive that Snape is a death eater."

"I'm positive that Lily won't tell a soul." James vouched for her again ignoring the comment about Snape. One to which he could dispel all doubt.

"If you're certain then it's fine with me." Peter said.

"Okay. Thanks, Pete. I owe you one. She won't shut up until she knows what's going on. Go on out and get some air, okay." James let the words flow from his mouth quickly. He wasn't sure why, but he was excited that the marauders were going to finally let someone else in on their secret. He watched Peter leave the house and then followed Lily's path to the living room where Peter had said that Remus was sleeping.

It took James about a second to realize once he'd entered Remus' living room that neither Peter nor Sirius had considered clothing Remus a priority. He could see Lily working on the deep gashes and bites on his friend's torso and a blanket was draped over the werewolf's legs and pelvis for modesty's sake. "How's it going?"

"Only a few of these were actually inflicted by him. Most are healing pretty well with spells. There are some bite marks from what could only be a dog or another wolf, but that's insane, right? No normal dog would attack a werewolf. And look at this," She pointed to a bruise in the shape of a hoof print. "What could have caused that? And then there are puncture marks that aren't from the dog's teeth. My best guess would be antlers. What do you think James?"

Lily was still working with her full attention on Remus as she waited for an answer. After a few seconds rolled by she looked to where James had been standing only a moment ago. In his place was a beautiful, regal stag. She scrambled up to her feet. Her eyes wide with terror. "Impossible. You're not registered. I mean--" She began to hyperventilate. The deer walked toward her slowly as if it were trying not to scare her. When it got close enough it placed it's nose gently against her hand. "James," she whispered softly, "Is that you?" Lily was astounded when the stag nodded. "I can't believe it." She said in wonderment. The girl and the stag stared at one another for a few moments before Lily heard a rustling on the couch.

"What's going on?" A masculine voice carried across the room with tones of fear leaking out through every word.

"Remus!" Lily said softly. She was finally able to break herself from the James' spell. "Are you feeling alright?"

"No worse than usual." His voice was weak and strained. "What are you doing here?"

"Helping, I hope." She answered sweetly. "Lay down please. I still need to finish healing your wounds."

When James saw Remus' confused look he answered the question Remus wanted so badly to ask. "She knows, Remus. Almost everything."

"How?" He was shocked. They'd been so careful. He knew that James would never tell her about them without asking everyone their thoughts on it first.

"Snape." James said simply.

"Oh, I see." Remus reached his hand around to massage his neck. "I guess I'm surprised he kept it to himself for this long."

"Remus," Lily whispered. "Please don't be mad at him. Please? I'm almost positive I'm the only person he's told. It was just a misguided attempt to protect me."

Remus stared at Lily for a moment before he asked, "Why are you still here?"

Lily was taken aback, "I guess I can leave if you want me to."

"He doesn't want you to leave, Lily. He's wondering when you're going to refuse to let me spend any time with him because of his furry little problem."James was wondering when that would happen as well. Of course he wouldn't listen to her, but he expected it to happen.

"Remus," Lily said softly and reached a hand up to cup his face delicately, "You're a monster."

Remus nodded once and responded, "I know."

James wanted badly to jump in, to protect his friend, but restrained himself barely. His face filled with shame as he realized that he might have had the same reaction if he hadn't gotten to know Remus before he'd gotten to know about Moony.

Lily took a deep breath and began again, "Remus, you are a monster for one night a month. You do horrible things when you don't have control over yourself."

Remus could only trust himself to nod.

"James, in my bag there's a cigar box. Will you bring it here." Lily asked.

"Lily, you're done. We'll leave, but you won't continue to hurt my friend like that." James finally stepped in.

"James, just bring me the box." She orderd, "I'm not leaving until I've said all I have to say." She then turned to Remus again, "Ariel loves you, you know. She thinks you are amazing."

James seeing the talk take a strange new direction reached into Lily's bag and easily found the cigar box she'd been talking about. He reached out to hand it to Lily.

Lily continued her talk with Remus, "Severus has been working on a potion to cure lycanopathy. He's not even close to that, but he has produced some helpful things along the way. One of which is the potion that is in this box. He's named it the wolfsbane potion. It's only been tested on about twenty people. Of those twenty people all of them were able to keep their human mind when they transformed into a werewolf on the full moon. Twenty is not nearly a large enough sample to make generalizations from, but we're hopeful that it will work on all werewolves who want to take it. If you would like to try and it works then we could work something out. And Remus I may not know you well, but anyone who can get Ariel to trust them as easily as you have deserves my everlasting respect and, if you'll accept it, friendship."

Remus allowed hope to flood throughout his system. At the same time he decoded her superfluous words and came down to two main points. She liked him and didn't hold his lycanopathy against him, but the safety of her family would always come first. He guessed he could live with that. "You said I was a monster."

"For one night a month. According to Severus, I'm a monster for one week a month. Which of us is worse, do you suppose?" She winked at him and was rewarded with one of the werewolf's rare smiles.

A/N-I'm disappointed. Not one person has asked me what Lily was making in the last chapter. Shame on all of you. Now please give me a proper review this time. And I took that question. No one else gets to ask it.

I'm not sure if the part with Lily and Remus talking turned out very well. It seemed a lot better in my head. I also HATE Cell Bio with a passion, but that has nothing to do with you or this story. I just felt the need to disclose that in a public forum.