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"Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet."
-Roger Miller

Chapter 34: For Love and Friendship

February became known as the month with no end to the seventh year students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Besides the feeling that they would soon be leaving a place they called home for the previous six years, tensions in many relationships began falling to the extremes. Everyone knew what horrors were just beyond the borders of Hogwarts and the students starting judging whether their friends were loyal enough to be trusted or trusted enough to be loyal. No student wanted to be friends with people who could easily be swayed by the dark side and in effect, many blood sisters and brothers started to be seen in the halls. These clicks between groups of friends were a way for people to be sure that their friends would always remain loyal to them. Whether it is a tattoo, bracelet, or pendant, it was sign and agreement that no matter what happened they would always be friends and remain loyal to each other.

The staff of Hogwarts at first viewed this behavior in a negative light, since it was similar to the recognition Voldemort used for his death eaters. Over time, however, they mutually decided that these bonds between friends were nothing more than a fight against the dark side on a smaller scale. It did not matter that these groups caused them to separate themselves from other doing the same thing, because the bottom line showed them all to be on the same side of the fight. Most of the staff knew that the small clicks may not be friends now, but when the going got tough, they would bind together for strength; for they all had the same enemy and that would be enough to keep the groups allied together.

Yet one group of friends, which the staff and students expected to be the first to join in this behavior, decided not to mark themselves. The Marauders voiced that they did not need to prove to each others that they were loyal. The issue of their friendship was not a topic in any of their discussions, they just knew inside their hearts that they could always count on each other. Even Sirius, who still had a bit of a grudge on James for spending too much time with Lily, knew his best friend would gladly give his life for any of the three. However, he also knew that now the number of people he would die and kill for was raised to four. Sharing his best friend was not easy, but he would just have to grow up and except the fact that James did not belong to him. With this thought in his mind, it did not surprise Sirius to see James and Lily walking outside on an abnormally warm day in the middle of February. He smiled at first, but then forced himself to look away. Whether he was jealous or angry he was not sure, but he had to get his mind off the things running through his head.

"I'll be back later," Sirius said to Remus and Peter, who were on their beds finishing their last bit on homework due the next day.

"Don't get into too much trouble," Remus said, as Sirius walked out the door to find an alternative way to get rid of his anger than his usual aggressive fighting with one of his friends.

"I still can't believe it's this warm at this time in the year," Lily said, looking around to find many people enjoining the rare warm weather event.

James watched as his girlfriend glowed in the sunlight and warm weather. Lily always voiced her opinion of hatred toward the cold weather, for to her it only brought the school moral to an unnecessary low. In fact, there was never a winter season that past by without Lily telling the faculty at least twice that the students would be more productive if they had off during the winter instead of during the summer. Of course, when teachers would ask Lily how the student body would respond to being kept in a classroom when the sun was shinning, Lily would keep silent. She herself being a summer girl did not want to work during those hot summer days, for if school was in session, Lily would have to choose between the two most important things in her life, knowledge and sunshine.

"Good thing it's a Sunday, because this weather is just a fluke thing."

Lily gave James a look of shock and denial, but then came back to her senses, smiled, and said, "You're right. It really is strange, even a bit creepy in a way. There has got to be something behind this weather. It isn't normal."

"Do you always have to overanalyze everything?"

"Yup," Lily said, smiling and then started running to the edge of the forbidden forest. As Lily was running she could hear James' footsteps following her to her unknown destination. Although Lily was not the athletic type, she loved the feeling of the wind blowing in her hair and the summer-like sunshine reflecting on her skin. She was a summer girl; there was no doubt about that, and this rare weather event made her feel like her true self.

Lily paused at the entrance of the forbidden forest and gazed past where the light stopped penetrating the dense foliage. A small light could be seen from deep inside the foliage and even though it called to her as a small child calls to their mother, she knew better then to wander in the woods. The dangers in the Forbidden Forest were far beyond anyone's wildest dreams and even a skilled witch like Lily could not fight all the demons inside. Finally coming out of her thoughts, she heard James' footsteps stop next to her.

"It's about time you got here," she said with a smile.

"You got a head start," James said, running his hand through his hair. Had he realized he was doing this action he would have stopped, it was a nervous habit he was trying to break, but at this highly stressful situation he could not help but twitch.

James knew this moment was the perfect time to tell Lily how he felt about her. Today was a moratorium of the winter season, and since he knew of Lily's love for the summer, he felt it would give him luck if Lily was in a good mood. And on this day, Lily seemed to be the happiest she had been in a long time. Her smile reached her eyes as she laughed at his slow running speed, the sun danced in her auburn hair, and her eyes, those gorgeous green eyes, twinkled through him in the sunlight. If he could pick a heaven, it was be this, to simply be in Lily's presence for the rest of his life. It was at that moment that he knew he loved her. He may have been unsure of it before, but it was now as clear as glass to him.

"Lily I-"

But as he started to speak he suddenly stopped. All of a sudden her hair turned back to its normal color and her eyes lost a bit of their luster. He started to panic. James wondered if this was a sign from the heavens above to not tell Lily his feelings. Was he moving too fast? They had only been dating her a short while and already he was in love with her? His passion for her was either true love or short-lived lust.

"You what?" Lily asked, her voice a little shaken from James' sudden loss of glow in his face.

As James gazed at her, not knowing what to say, a small drop of water splashed on her cheek and ran down her face until it fell from her chin. Lily, as shocked as James at the event, put her hand to her cheek and looked up to the sky. It seemed that just as quickly as the sun had come; it was now gone and covered by gray clouds ready to spill their tears to the world. Lily laughed a bit at the idea, but James found her amusement slightly annoying, he had the perfect opportunity to tell her what he was feeling and his coward self could not speak the words before the rain started.

In light of this he spoke, "We should go inside."

"Why?" Lily asked, as the rain started to come down at a faster rate. "Is little Jamesy afraid of a little water?"

"No. I just figured you didn't want to be stuck out in the rain."

Lily just laughed at his comment, reached for the collar of his shirt, and pushed her lips to his. James was a first caught by surprise, but quickly recovered and kissed her back. Maybe the fact that the weather was behaving oddly or it could just have been that Lily was having one the best days of her life, but to James Lily seemed to be a little escalated in her sex drive. Not that James and Lily had ever had sex and it was not as if he did not want to, but it seemed that in all his other relationships their bond was solely based on sexual attraction. Yet with Lily, it was different. It was like they were on a completely different level, a more comfortable one that did not always mean pushing everything to the limit. With this in mind, he finally realized what had happened in the last few moments. While he and Lily were ferociously kissing, he had unconsciously backed her against a tree. Neither of them were fazed by this, but suddenly James pulled back once Lily had started unbuttoning his shirt.

"Lily," James said, surprising her in the process.

"What?" Lily asked, feeling a little uneasy by his sudden jerk away from her.

"Look I-a…I…a…I have to tell you something," He said walking slightly away from her and sitting on a large rock.

Lily a bit concerned at this, a walked slowly toward her boyfriend. She had only seem him this distraught a few times, those times being during the worst moments of his life; his parents death and his big fight with Sirius. So in the least, she was afraid something else had happened to him.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked as she sat down next to him and took him hand in hers.

"It's nothing bad; it's just something I should really let out before I never say it to you."

James paused and Lily simply listened to him intently.

"I love you Lily-"

"Well I love you too-"

"No," James said, holding up his hands to halt her speech, "Just let me say what I have to say."

"Okay," Lily said, a little afraid that her boyfriend had either completely lost her mind or he was pulling her leg with another stunt.

"I really hope this doesn't come out weird," James said looking down at his hands and watching his fingers battle against each other. He then took a breath in and looked at Lily, all wet from the rain, and, even as he spoke, he wondered whether he should ever say such things that were on his mind.

"I love you Lily, like really love you. I have said I love you to many people over my life; my parents, friends, other girlfriends, but what I feel when I am with you is completely different from what I have ever felt before. I can't explain it. When I am with you I am always happy, even if I had just been told that I was going to die in a few hours, as long as I was with you, it would make the news so much easier to hear. When I'm not with you I think about being with you. I'm not sure what to make of it. But, the whole reason I am telling you this is because I want you to know that I truly care about you and that you're not just another pretty face in my life. I mean…if something happened to you…"

"James," Lily said, interrupting his long monologue, "I don't know what to say."

"Dam it," James said putting his hands to his face so that the next words he spoke were a little muffled, "I've said too much haven't I."

"No James," Lily said, getting up to stand in front of her boyfriend and pulled down his hands, "I will be honest with you; some of the stuff was a little creepy, but-"

"Great!" James said, looking toward the ground.

"But, listen to me James, but…I think it is completely normal," she said, forcing James' chin up with her hand. She then took her hand and put back a piece of hair that has gotten in front of his eyes and said, "Because, ashamed as I am to admit it, I pretty much feel the same. James, I don't know what we have, but whatever it is, it is something different. I can't explain it either."

With those words James smiled to his eyes, took Lily into his arms, and kissed her with a passion that had never been there before. They stood there engulfed in each other, the rain pouring down on their backs, but neither noticed any distractions for to them, it was only the two of them and that was all the mattered.

Remus stood by himself in the common room. Most people were either doing homework or were showering from being drenched in the rain, so he was for the most part alone. He watched the rain fall with his head against the cool window and although he appeared calm and collected, inside a battle was happening. The full moon was approaching and within the week of his transformation, he would also feel weaker physically and mentally. He stood, subconsciously counting the drops as they hit the window, wondering his place in the world. It was true that he had friends, but he often wondered whether it was worth the risk of their safety and if he was even worth real friends. One day, probably sometime within the next year, werewolves would be an enemy to aurors and others fighting against Voldemort. Werewolves were already being used as agents against common man to create monsters and future armies for the Dark Lord. This is the reason why Remus had been bitten, for it was around that time that attacks started becoming more commonplace. He was supposed to be a monster, but that is not what he wanted to be. He had a greater battle inside him then anyone of his friends; he not only had to choice which side he would fight against, but he had to choice the side that would give him the most freedom and sadly that side was most likely the dark side. But he would never do such a thing; his conscience would never let him.

A scent of blood reached his nose and his wolf instincts told him that someone was coming. As if on clockwork, Cora walked into the room holding the side of her stomach with her face scrunched with pain.

"Are you alright?" Remus asked, coming out of his useless feelings of self pity and jumping at the aid of another human being.

Cora was a little shocked by his words, but kept walking briskly toward her dormitories, "I'm fine."

Cora Tetherwood. Remus only knew her because of the fact that she was one of Lily's best friends. She was not an unattractive girl, to be true Remus found her quite beautiful, but next to Lily's old fashion beauty and Kyra's reckless beauty, she was no match for either. Yet, what attracted him most to her was that she was a mystery to him. He wanted to find out more about her, simply because he knew nothing of her. She mostly kept to herself, except when Kyra or Lily were around. She was smart and beautiful, but he knew she did not know these things, for it seems that those who are the belle of the ball, often do not know they hold such power. It was her and other mysteries that kept Remus alive day after day. The puzzle and the thrill of it made him feel needed and Cora's constant stench of blood was just other reason why he was attracted to her, she was an exotic soul and sometimes it is the people who are the most different who are the most excepting of things not in the norm. It was someone like Cora who might be able to see past the menacing werewolf and see the true Remus.

(A/N: I know, I have been a very bad writer and I know this chapter sucks, but I can't help it. I wrote half of it like 7 months ago and the rest I finished tonight. I hope the grammar is right, I didn't really read it over. And I know this chapter is really bad, but I have to get back in to my plan of action. I am probably going to get them out of school in 2 or 3 chapters so I can start the real story out of school. I feel like I should continue with maybe an update every month or every 2 or 3 weeks if I can find the time.

Please don't flame me too bad…I am just getting back in the swing of things!

If you are still reading this from when I first started posting, you are truly and true reader and I love you for that!

-Blacksnowfalls06