AN: The story is mine but the characters belong to the queen.
Lily Evans skipped to the Great Hall, plonking down excitedly next to Marlene and across from Mary. "Good Morning!" Lily chirped as she pulled a plate of strawberry scones to herself.
"Why are you so cheerful this morning?" Marlene groaned. "I have so much of pending work; I didn't want to wake up this morning. 3 feet essay for Charms, 2 rolls of parchment for Care of Magical Creatures, an analysis on the draught of living death for Slughorn and I still have to practice turning my porcupine in to a pincushion and we have Quidditch practice. It's the first weekend back."
"Don't remind me of pending work; add those 100 questions for Arithmancy to my work." Alice groaned pushing her goblet of pumpkin juice in disgust. Mary grimaced.
"Well, you should go to library as soon as you finish breakfast." Lily suggested taking a bite of her scone.
Mary snorted, "It's as if you don't have any work at all." Lily shrugged, smiling sweetly at her friends.
Mary's spoon fell with a plonk in her bowl, Alice stared at her dumbfounded while Marlene choked on her tea and started coughing wildly. Lily thumped Marlene. "You-you don't have any work?" Alice spluttered; eyes wide as saucers.
Lily shrugged, "I finished it all during the week, as soon as we got it."
"But how? When did you get the time?" Mary wailed.
"Well, mostly after classes and an hour or two after dinner."
"What were we doing this entire week?" Marlene asked indignantly.
"You guys were busy relaxing after a long day of classes. You were too busy playing exploding snap or chess or reading for entertainment." Lily replied grinning evilly at them.
"You are evil, Lils." Alice groaned, "Why didn't you push us to work?"
"I did but the rest of you asked me to not kill your buzz." Lily said shrugging.
"Lils!" Mary exclaimed exasperatedly. "If we ask you to leave us alone, you can bloody well put us under the imperius to make us work."
"Okay. Next week onwards I will make you work but don't forget you gave me the rights to hex you."
All three of them nodded enthusiastically before returning to their breakfast. Lily shook her head, grinning affectionately at the three of them. A tap on her shoulder made her turn, Remus looked down at her nervously while Potter stood next to him, ready to jump in between Remus and unforgivable. "Hey Lily. Alice. Marlene. Mary!" Remus said nervously nodding at each one. Lily smiled and nodded in response as the others responded with greetings.
"Go. I will be fine. I got this." Remus told Potter who looked dubious. Black strolled up casually from behind and steered Potter away. "Sorry about that." Remus said turning back to Lily. "If you are not busy, would you like to go for a walk?" Before Lily could respond, Marlene elbowed Lily roughly, as Alice almost threw out her pumpkin juice coughing wildly and Mary thumped her back muttering 'about time' under her breath. "WHAT?" Lily asked Marlene, as she massaged her side. Marlene shrugged shaking her head, smirking like she knew something significant but won't tell Lily. Lily huffed before realising that Remus was waiting for her response. "Umm… Yeah sure. Let me just grab some scones." Lily said as she packed some scones in a napkin and picked up her bag before linking Remus' arms with her and walking out of the great hall.
They walked in silence for w while before reaching a window. Remus politely pulled his hand free and stood by the window, looking out at the grounds one knee resting on the window's ledge. Lily followed Remus and settled down on the ledge, her back resting on the wall. Remus looked at her and smiled gently before running his hand through his hair nervously. He cleared his throat nervously.
"There is something- um… something that I- I- n-n-n-need to talk to you about." Lily looked at him sceptically before her eyes widened, Oh God! No! No, no, no, no, no, no, NO! Shit! When did she lead Remus on? She loved him like a brother. Oh God! He was such a nice person, why must she be the cold blooded monster to break his heart?
"Lily? Lily?" Remus asked waving his hand in front of her. "Are you okay? You look peaky. Maybe we should talk about this later."
Yeah, that would be a great idea. But then Lily remembered what her mother used to say. Rip it as fast as you can. It hurts less. There was no point in delaying this conversation.
"I am fine, Remus." She said sighing. "But before you say anything, I need you to know that I see you as the brother I never had. Whatever love I have for you is one hundred percent platonic and it has got nothing to do with how you are as a person. I just relate to you as I would relate to a sibling."
"Umm… Okay?" Remus replied looking confused. "Thanks. I have always seen you like the sister I always wanted too. Now that we have cleared that up, I really need to talk to you about something."
"Wait! So, this is not what you wanted to talk to me about?"
"Why would I tell you that you are like a sister to me? I thought you already knew that."
"So, you don't fancy me?"
"WHAT?! Why would you think that I fancy you?"
"Umm… Were you not there when you asked me to go for a walk with you? Didn't you see Mary, Alice and Marlene's reaction? Also, this whole nervousness about wanting to talk about something. What was I supposed to think?"
"Oh! That was what it was all about?" Remus started laughing. "No Lily, I don't fancy you. I wouldn't fancy anyone if I can help it." He chortled.
"Why not?"
That sobered Remus up. "Because… Because. This is what I wanted to talk to you about." He said running an agitated hand through his hair. "I am a- I am a- a-"
"Werewolf?" Lily supplied with a smirk as she crossed her arms across her chest.
Remus' eyes grew wide, he stared at her. "How do you know?" He choked, before his eyes burned with fire. "Who told you?" He hissed. "Snivellus swore he would never reveal this to another soul. And yet, he would go and tell you."
Remus' eyes dimmed suddenly, "Well now that you know, I won't blame you for believing that I am a vicious bloodthirsty monster. Not after what happened with Severus last full moon. Had James not reached in time to pull him out, I would have been a murderer or Snape would have met a fate worse than death." He stopped looking away bitterly, "It was really nice knowing you, Lily." Remus said before turning and striding away. Lily sat in shock. Severus knew? That would explain his anger on Christmas, Lily thought as she played with her bracelet. Something bad had happened before the end of term. How did Severus come across Remus on a full moon and why would Potter save him? Why would Remus believe that she saw him as a bloodthirsty monster? What he became on a full moon was out of his control. Lily watched Remus' retreating back, before jumping into action.
"Remus! Wait!" She called running after him. He did not stop but he did slow down. Lily caught up with him as he turned a corner and yanked his sleeve back to make him stay. He looked away from her, his face a bitter mask. "I don't think you are a bloodthirsty monster." She wheezed trying to catch her breath. He laughed humourlessly, "Then you should. Didn't Severus describe my wild bloodlust to you?" He hissed angrily.
"Severus did not say a word to me. I had no clue about the last full moon till you mentioned it." Lily snapped.
"Then how do you know?" Remus seethed.
"Because I have brains! Because I know how to look up the lunar chart! Severus has had his suspicions for a while. I checked the charts last term, when you skipped on patrols with me. Severus is not that bad you know!" Lily yelled.
Remus deflated. "You- you- you figured it out on your own?" Lily huffed, nodding her head in confirmation as she crossed her arms in irritation. Remus grabbed her arms and turned her to face him. "Who did you tell? Who else knows?" Remus asked urgently, almost madly.
"No one." Lily hissed angrily, "Damn it, Remus! Do you think I have no honour? This was not my secret to share, if you wanted to keep it quiet, I figured I would rather not discuss it with anyone." Lily said wrenching herself out of his grip. He sagged, hitting his back against the wall, covering his face with his hands. Lily glared at him before turning on her heel and walking away. Damn Remus! Who did he think he was? He had never behaved this rudely with her. What is wrong with him? Lily broke into a run, not really wishing to pay heed to Remus' voice or stopping long enough to hear him out. She wanted to stay mad at him, he can't treat her with such disrespect and he needed to have more faith in her.
Lily stood under her favourite tree, glowering at the frozen lake. She wasn't angry with Remus anymore, she was angry with the world. Were werewolves really treated so horridly that Remus immediately assumed the worst from her? Lily knew Remus kept people at an arm's length, was it to protect himself from rejection? His rude behaviour did look like a defensive mechanism created to protect him from the hurt. Poor Remus, Lily knew she should go talk to him but she felt ashamed with herself. She was better than that, she should have seen through the act and responded accordingly. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!
"You know the ice won't crack if you keep glowering at it." A voice said behind her, making her jump. Sirius Black leaned casually against the tree, arms crossed across his muscled chest, looking like Adonis himself.
"What do you want, Black?" Lily asked tersely, going back to staring at the lake. He loped gracefully towards her, hands shoved deep in pockets, stopping next to her.
"Please, Evans. Don't flatter yourself. You might be pretty but you are not my type. I like brunettes."
"Oh! That breaks my heart. I have no reason to live. Sirius Black is not attracted to redheads! Curse my stars." Lily said expressionlessly, "Was that enough for you or should I lament my fate some more to massage your large ego?"
Black grinned at her, his eyes alight with mischief. "I see why he is so taken with you." He said laughing at a private joke, "You are a handful, aren't you Evans?"
Lily huffed, crossing her arms. "Let me ask again, Black. Why have you graced me with your lustrous presence?" She said, unable to keep the sarcasm out.
Black laughed a bark like laughter. "Remus! I wanted to talk to you about him. I presume he told you about his- ah 'furry little problem'?"
"He didn't have to tell me, I already knew."
"So, he was right! You are pretty smart." Lily turned to give him a piece of her mind on his idiocy.
"I am not here to fight." Black said, cutting off her tirade. "Are you still mad at Remus?"
Lily shook her head, looking morose.
"Then why haven't you talked to him?"
Lily mumbled something under her breath.
"Look, Eva- Lily. I know he shouldn't have been this rude to you. You were trying to reach out to him and he kept rebuffing you. I get that. You weren't there when we discovered it and confronted him with it. He didn't talk to us for a week, kept trying to rile us up. It was only when James told him that we do not hold his problem against him, did he calm down. All his life, he has been isolated, kept away from the world because our world hates what he becomes 12 nights a year. He doesn't have it easy." Black said bluntly. "He is not some bloodthirsty monster. He is a victim. I don't know why people don't see that." Black seethed.
Lily stared at Black. Since when was Sirius Black a sensitive and sensible guy? Lily had known the immature berks all her life and yet she had not seen this side of Black. Black looked at her before sighing. "Can you please go talk to him? He is miserable; he thinks he burned all his bridges with you by being so rude. And he really does care about you." He said looking at her imploringly. "That's two of them pining for her. I wonder who would be next, Peter or me?" He muttered under his breath.
Lily shook her head. "I can't." She said in a small voice.
"Why not?"
"Because I was so insensitive with him!" She cried out throwing her hands in the air. "I mean of course, he would try to push people away. He is hurt and scared and what did I do? I got mad at him and then ran away from him when he tried to talk to me. How will I face him? You didn't abandon him like that. How would you know?"
Black's face hardened into an expressionless mask. "I have done worse." He said evenly, "And Remus forgave me in a heartbeat. It's not in his nature to hold a grudge. Come on, I will take you to him. You can sort it out then." He said as he grabbed her arm and dragged her to the courtyard. Remus was sitting on a bench; eating chocolate from a large bar of Honeyduke's best chocolate. Potter was sitting next to him. "It will be fine. She told you she doesn't see you as a monster. She will come around. You just have to go talk to her. Don't worry." Potter said. Black cleared his throat as they approached.
"Lily!" Remus cried jumping to his feet and pulling her in a bone crushing hug. "I am so sorry. I shouldn't have been this rude to you. You were trying to be a friend and I threw it out of the window. Forgive me please."
"I am sorry too Remus. I should have been a little more patient with you." She said; her voice muffled by his chest. "Forgive me please?" She asked as they broke apart.
Remus beamed at her in response. Potter thumped Remus on the back, grinning like a madman. "See," he crowed. "I told you. You owe me a chocolate bar, Mister." Remus stuck his tongue out at Potter as Black laughed.
"Come on, Sirius. We should get going, we have practice after lunch and I need some warm up before that." Potter said smiling gratefully at Lily he turned and started walking away. To Lily's surprise, Black pulled Lily in a one arm hug and mussed her hair affectionately before walking away with Potter.
"Maybe they are not so bad." Lily whispered to herself.
"I told you." Remus said grinning at her.
"How did you- Oh!" Her eyes widened as Remus tapped his ears and then made wolf ears with his hands.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Remus shrugged. "I was bitten when I was four…"
AN: Aaaaaaand that's another chapter. I am trying to incorporate more of their interactions with the letters. Please do tell me how do you find it. Read and Review please. Happy Reading. :D
