— CHAPTER FIFTEEN —

The New Lily

Come Monday morning, just about everyone in second year had heard about Lily's dramatic transformation. Everyone gaped when they came into the Great Hall that morning for breakfast. She wasn't wearing the leather jacket Remus had seen her in over the weekend, but she still managed to capture the punk look. She'd ditched the Gryffindor tie and the grey sweater vest so that she was only wearing the white button-up. She'd worn the red tartan skirt again, but this time with a studded belt. Her robes were unbuttoned as if she'd lazily thrown it on. It seemed that her military boots had permanently replaced the schoolgirl penny loafers.

And her hair! Remus watched Marlene and Mary coo over Lily's new look, getting permission to run their fingers through her new shag. Strangely, it reminded Remus of what Sirius and Peter were like when James got a new broomstick.

Unfortunately, Peter and Ruby were still confined to the Hospital Wing, so it was just Remus, Sirius, and James that morning. Remus couldn't say he was incredibly close to Peter or anything, but it was nice to have someone else around since James and Sirius were always together, doing what best friends did.

James goggled as they walked in. "Holy shite, is that Evans? Look at her hair. It's as black as yours, mate!" he said, grabbing Sirius.

"The same length too," noticed Remus.

"Careful boys, you're drooling," said Sirius as the Marauders sat down a little way away from her and the other second-year Gryffindor girls.

"Come on, mate, you have to admit," said James, transfixed, "she looks cool ."

Sirius made a face. "For the love of Godric, stop."

Lily caught them looking and arched an eyebrow. Instantly, all three of them looked away.

"But where did she get all those clothes?" marvelled James. "The make-up. It's so Muggle-like. You can't get stuff like that at Hogsmeade."

Sirius, who Remus knew was interested in Muggle things, also looked grudgingly intrigued. That—against everything Remus stood for—was charmingly endearing.

Sirius caught him smiling. "What are you laughing about, prat?"

"Nothing."

Even the teachers were thunder-struck by the change, not just in Lily's appearance, but her attitude. Sprout frowned when Lily put her boots up on her desk during a lesson on Fanged Frangipanis. McGonagall cocked a sharp eyebrow but said nothing when Lily refused to answer her question about how to transfigure beetles into buttons. Flitwick looked affronted when Lily lazily claimed she hadn't done the essay on Tracking Charms. In Potions, Slughorn told her to go change into the proper school attire.

"Why do I have to change?" demanded Lily, sharper than Remus had ever heard her talk to a teacher. She sat alone in Potions since Severus was ill, yet she no longer looked lonely. "Half the boys don't wear their ties either. Or the right pants. Potter," she said, pointing at James without looking, to his utter surprise, "is always wearing his Quidditch things and nobody says anything."

Slughorn, who was quite enamoured with Lily, looked very flustered. "Well, I never—!" And that was the end of the matter.

Remus decided to approach her after class, ignoring Sirius and James's teasing. He was determined to talk to her this time.

"Lily!"

She turned around. "Oh, Remus."

Trying not to let this deter him, he said, "You look so different! I-It looks nice, Lily."

"Thanks," she said.

Before the silence could go on for any longer, Remus decided to jump straight into what he'd wanted to talk about. "Lily," he said, conspiratorially quiet, "I found another one of those holes in the ground. You know the ones at the Wandering Willows and the one at the wastebasket. And, I had another thing to say about the wastebasket—"

She interrupted him. "Look. Some third years invited me to a thing at lunch, and your friends ," she said, the word sounding like a swear word, "are waiting for you." She gestured to Sirius and James.

It cut deep. "Lily—"

"See you, Remus," she said, sounding insincere.

He'd gone to bed in a bad mood, and so wasn't too pleased when he awoke to the two most annoying boys in the world hitting him with pillows, wrestling him and chortling with laughter.

"What's wrong with you lot?" he said wearily. "Seriously, maybe that flu's infected your brain."

"Such a mean little birthday boy, isn't he, James?" Sirius said, grinning.

"Birthda—oh yeah! It's my birthday," said Remus, sitting up straight in his bed.

The other two boys gaped at one another.

"Don't tell us you forget your own bloody birthday," said James, attacking Remus with his own pillow. "I thought you were supposed to be clever!"

"I'm thirteen now," Remus marvelled to himself.

Sirius gasped. "Why, I never," he said, his mouth open in a faux-shocked expression. "Our little Lupin is thirteen now. Can you believe it? How fast do they grow, am I right, James?"

"Shut up," said Remus, finally joining in on the laughter. "Leave me alone!"

"All right, but presents first," said James.

He had gotten Remus a stylish red sweater that he could wear on the weekends. He also handed Remus a tin of cookies, apparently courtesy of Peter's mum.

"He sends his birthday wishes," James said. "He told me yesterday."

"You visit Pete?"

"Well, duh. Where do you think I was yesterday?"

Admittedly, Remus had not been in the common room or their dorm yesterday. He had been at a Whispering lesson with Jewel, where he'd successfully managed to Whisper a Grindylow into doing flips for him.

Shite. James visited Peter? Remus had always thought that Peter was on the same level as him, a sort-of throwaway friend that James and Sirius kept around for pity or pride. He really hadn't expected James to care enough to visit the sick boy in the Hospital Wing. This made him feel like a shoddy friend indeed. He hadn't visited Peter, or Ruby for that matter.

Reach out.

He glanced warily at Sirius, ready for another interrogation, a barrage of questions about where Remus had been yesterday, who he'd been with.

Instead, he said: "I'm sorry, Lupin. I couldn't get you a present. Normally I ask my parents to send me stuff but, well, you know I haven't talked to them in ages. And I couldn't get anything over Christmas 'cause we had to stay here so—"

"Hey, it's fine. It's the thought that counts," said Remus, grinning in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. Maybe Sirius had finally given up on the whole detective thing. This idea warmed Remus's insides; his birthday was already looking up. He tried to lighten the mood by adding: "Maybe you can try not to be annoying for a day. That can be your gift to me."

Sirius tried to scowl, but his eyes were smiling. He leapt off the bed, "All right, I'm done being a pansy for today. Let's grab breakfast, lads, or else I'll eat those cookies Peter gave you."

Later that day they had Defence. The lesson was already going poorly; it was clear that Jewel was going to be his nasty version today, having already taken several points from Gryffindor because Sirius had been late to class. Lily had already talked back a couple of times, refusing to spit out the enchanted gum she was chewing. Jewel was in a bad mood, barely bothering to explain the defensive and practical uses of the Fire-Making Spell.

"You," he said, pointing to Remus, "What's the incantation?"

It was always unusual and hurtful when Jewel, whenever he got into his nasty moments, pretended as if they didn't share at least some form of rapport outside of class. Today they even had a scheduled Whispering lesson! And the full moon wasn't for another few weeks! Jewel really didn't have an excuse for his foul mood. Nevertheless, Remus answered.

"Incendi —oh! Ruby!"

For Ruby had come bounding into the classroom through the open door, squeaking as she did so. Everybody watched as Ruby jumped across the cobblestone floor and into Remus's lap. Remus murmured to her softly. She looked a little better than yesterday; Madam Pomfrey had cleaned up her fur and she clearly had enough strength to come all the way to his Defence classroom. However, she was still sick, Remus could see. She sniffled. Her eyes were teary.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"The Quickers," gasped Ruby. "At Hogwawts. Came to wawn you."

Remus tried to recall what the Quickers were. "The—?"

"Now," said Jewel coldly, "what is this ?"

Remus realised that Jewel, despite being a Whisperer, could not understand Ruby's words, since she didn't trust or know him. "I'm sorry, sir," he began. "If I could just take her back to the Hospital Wing, she's very sick—"

"No, no, keep her here for a bit," said Jewel, a smile on his face that was equal parts unpleasant and untrustworthy. "I need a volunteer. Come here ."

Remus felt his eyes widen instinctively as he recognised that Jewel had just Whispered. Ruby's head jerked up, suddenly stiff as if she were a rabbit in the wild that had sensed nearby prey. Ruby bounded over to Jewel, and Remus wanted to scream.

"I am about to perform the Fire-Making Spell on this rabbit," said Jewel, as matter-of-factly as one might talk about the weather.

"Sir!" Remus couldn't help himself. He couldn't believe it! Jewel, who supported treating creatures fairly, who wished he were an animal himself, who hated human cruelty.

"Leave her alone," snapped Sirius.

"You can't do that," added James.

Jewel scowled, waving his hand dismissively. "Don't worry, children, you can help the creature out. As long as you can cast the Flame-Freezing Charm on it, then everything should be fine. Anyone know the incantation?"

The Flame-Freezing Charm … The Flame-Freezing Charm … what was the incantation again? Remus thought as hard as he could, but he was too stressed about Ruby's fate, too preoccupied with images of burning fur that he couldn't find the answer.

"No one?" said Jewel idly, his wand dangerously close to Ruby's body. Remus felt like screaming.

"Flammare Frigidus," cast Lily suddenly, her wand pointed at Ruby. A blue glow washed over her then vanished. Remus looked to Lily thankfully; it was the first magic he'd seen her perform in ages. The first time she'd spoken willingly in class for months. She didn't look Remus's way, but she almost looked irritated at herself that she'd intervened.

Jewel almost looked disappointed. "Incendio!"

Remus made a strangled noise and winced. He couldn't bear to look.

"Look, she's okay," said Sirius to Remus. It was true. Lily's spell had worked. Ruby was perfectly fine, the flames licking her harmlessly.

"All right," Jewel said, sounding bored. "The lesson's ending soon. You can pack up now."

Remus grabbed Ruby instantly, cradling, cooing, making sure she was okay. Jewel didn't bother glancing his way. As he darted out of the classroom, Remus wanted to thank Lily profusely, but she had already left. Remus took one last scathing look at Jewel before leaving himself.

"That was demented !" James said. He clapped Remus on the shoulder. "Endangering poor Ruby like that."

"That man shouldn't be allowed to teach," Sirius said darkly. "Surely teachers aren't allowed to do that to people's pets."

Remus agreed with their sentiment but couldn't say anything, still trying to catch his breath. He kept Ruby close, nestling her soft fur to his chest. He knew he had to take her back to the Hospital Wing, but he cherished these small moments with her.

"Are you doing anything during the lunch break?" asked Sirius. "I was thinking we could grab you a birthday cake from the kitchens and eat it by the Great Lake or something."

Remus had organised that Whispering lesson with Jewel. But there was no way in hell he was ever going to see that man ever again if he didn't have to, werewolf or not . Some things were unforgivable, and hurting Remus's friends was one of them.

"Sure thing," said Remus. "Give me one moment. Oi, Lils!"

Lily was up ahead, talking casually to a few Gryffindor third years that Remus barely recognised. He wasn't so surprised that Lily had managed to charm some older students—after all she'd made friends with Remus!—but maybe it was her new look that had made her stand out even more now. At Remus's voice, she turned around, then frowned a little. She excused herself.

"Sorry, can I not call you Lils in front of your cool friends?" Remus joked as she walked up to him.

Lily was unamused. "What do you want, Remus?"

"I want to say I'm sorry," he said, as earnestly as he could. "I've been a really shoddy friend lately. I shouldn't have let that lot do that Charm on you, and I shouldn't have let them call you all those names all those times either. I know you've probably been pretty lonely since Severus is so sick, and I haven't helped. I know you always help me out, with my homework, even today with the Charm, and I never return the favour. But I'll make it up to you. I will."

He knew what he was going to do. He was going to fix the Bottomless Pit, the one Lily had introduced to him all those months ago, the one Remus had ignored until very recently.

Lily listened to all of this with a blank stare. Finally, she said, "Is she all right?"

"Huh?"

"Ruby. Is she all right?"

"Oh, yeah, she's fine!" At some point, Ruby had fallen asleep in his arms. "Still sick, though."

"Mm," said Lily. There was a hint of a smile as she turned around and left. "Well, if that's all. Happy birthday, Remus."

The next day, Frank Longbottom approached Remus at breakfast. Thankfully, James and Sirius were off at the Quidditch pitch, practising some broomstick manoeuvre or whatnot.

"Hullo, Remus! Crazy flu spreading around, right?" he said, sounding all-too-cheerful about it.

"Mm-hmm," said Remus. "Sirius is saying it might be incurable because no one's recovered."

Frank chuckled while taking a seat opposite Remus. "Well, I sure hope not. The Gryffindor common room is looking emptier every day. Hey, I heard about your Gobstones match with Regulus. It's a shame you didn't make it to the semi-finals."

Remus shrugged. "Yeah. Regulus was just too good."

"I don't know," said Frank, looking wistfully off to the distance. "I really think you could've taken home the cup. If there was a betting pool, I'd have bet my Sickles on you."

Remus felt his cheeks warm. "You're just being nice."

"No, I mean it!" Then Frank sighed. "Anyways, I was visiting my girlfriend Alice, since she's sick in the Hospital Wing,"—Remus, despite himself, bristled at this—"and Madam Pomfrey told me to give you a note. Er, let me try find it."

He reached into his knapsack and took out that magic thermos of his. Impossibly, he reached his whole arm into it, and after some digging around took out a small handwritten slip and handed it to Remus.

"All right, I better go find where my friends have gone off to. See you, Remus."

With that, he was off. Remus watched him go, watched the broadness of his shoulders bobbing up and down, the muscles in his calves moving with every step. (Why was Remus looking at him like that? Weird.)

His eyes turned to Madam Pomfrey's note.

"Oh!" he said in spite of himself.

Dear Remus,

Please come to the Hospital Wing sometime today and pick up your pet rabbit Ruby—she is completely cured.

Yours sincerely, Madam Pomfrey