A/N ok, this is probably going to be a very long author's note, as I'm writing it as I type, whenever I realise that I have something to explain. Firstly, "Sahi" is pronounced "Sah-hee". I got very sick of using only stereotypical English names, and I liked the sound of this one, so I used it. Another reason I made an Indian character (the name is Indian, isn't it?) is because all of my characters so far have been English, and that doesn't fit with the plot. Besides which, why shouldn't there be other nationalities in there? If anyone finds anything in here that doesn't make sense, or is factually incorrect, please inform me via email or review, because I want this to make sense. Chloe, I did do a bit of research for this fic, I had to, so you can't say I never research. I just don't, most of the time. If anyone's interested, the stuff about the black leopards is completely true, unless Encarta routinely publishes lies. I'm going away next week, so there won't be anything
published for a while. This part only has one chapter, but it's quite long. I hope everyone likes it, and thankyou to everyone who has reviewed in the past. R/R! ~Stef
Chapter Nine
Lily followed James a few minutes later, still deep in thought. She reached the bottom of the stairs to find the other boys there.
"Here she is!" Sirius announced. "Now will you tell us what has you grinning like a maniac?"
Lily wondered if his grin was only because of his new transformation abilities.
"I'm an Animagus!" James said, "And Lily-" Lily cut him off there. She had no idea why she did it, but it felt right at the time, and she didn't quite want them to find out. Not yet, at least.
"I was there to see him transform first!" Lily said quickly. She looked at James, who looked slightly puzzled, and smiled. He shrugged imperceptibly, and nodded.
"I'm a stag." Then James saw the look of amazement and disbelief on Remus's face.
"Oh, we didn't tell you, did we?" he asked innocently.
"Let's go somewhere more private to discuss this." Lily suggested hurriedly. "My room?"
"Yes." Remus said. He looked very confused, and slightly annoyed. "You have explaining to do." Lily re-entered her room, and led the boys into it. She sunk gracefully onto the floor. It was a talent she had just learned, and a talent that had taken a lot of practising. Lily was working one `girl thing' a week. She had reasoned that she had a lot of catching up to do, and sitting gracefully was one of the things she had to learn. Never mind that all of the other girls just `plonked' themselves down. Lily was different. She was also getting side-tracked.
"We know what you are, Remus." James was saying. Whoa! She had missed a lot. "Look, we don't hold it against you at all. And we wanted to do something to help." Remus had a look of shock on his face, replacing his previous look of confusion.
"How?" Was all he could ask. His face was deathly pale, much whiter than Lily had ever seen it before.
"Remus, we are your best friends." Lily said gently. "Others may not have noticed or been worried, but we're different."
"You can't just expect us to ignore your monthly disappearances. And you know us, if we don't know about something, then we find out!" Sirius added.
"But... but... how?" Remus stammered. His face hadn't gained any colour, Lily noticed. She smiled reassuringly at him.
"You disappear every month, you're always pale and sick-looking every full moon, you don't let many people close to you, for fear they'll find out. We know. And we've taken measures to ensure that we can help you and be with you as much as we can." James took a long breath at the end of his speech.
Remus's face was beginning to regain it's colour, but he had an unusually sombre expression. "There's nothing you can do for me." He said quietly. "When I transform, I can't control myself. I could bite you without knowing. And when I'm... when it's the full moon, I'm not myself. I'm... vicious."
James's face lit up in another smile. Lily wondered when she had started noticing things like this. He said, "That's where you're wrong! Watch, and learn. If this can't control you in your werewolf phase, nothing can!" James stood, and with another slight smile at Lily, began his transformation.
This time, it only took about twenty seconds before a stag was standing before them all. Remus, Sirius, and Peter gazed on with awe in their eyes. James changed himself back, and looked at Lily questioningly.
Somehow, she knew he was asking her if he should tell them about her. She shook her head quickly, and he nodded his own slightly in acknowledgement. The others didn't notice, as they were too busy gaping.
Finally Sirius said, "That was amazing! I can still only transform parts of myself!"
James smiled again. Lily realised he was doing that a lot today. "Like my antlers?"
The next hour passed with everyone admiring James's form. Remus progressed from shocked to surprised, to pleased and then to happy. Although, as Lily thought, `happy' was a major understatement. He looked positively radiant. The Marauders, including Peter, left as the lunch bell rang, everyone still happily chatting away with James.
Lily doubted that she would get an opening to speak with him privately for a while, so she went in search of the girls. Lily found them at last, Anna and Jill playing wizard chess against each other, while Molly, Sophie, and Sahi looked on.
Sahi was a new addition to the group, as she had only started `hanging out' with them the previous week. She was a Gryffindor, but had fallen out with the other Gryffindor girls in their year. She was from India, but had lived in England for most of her life, so she spoke perfect English, without a trace of an accent. The girls had found, however, that whenever she got annoyed, she swore (at least, Lily presumed she was swearing) in apparently fluent Indian. The girls were happy to accommodate Sahi, and the Indian girl fit right in.
Lily dropped onto the floor next to Molly, and watched the game with interest. The match was close, but Anna appeared to be winning. Jill's face reflected her emotions, concentration, alarm, and hope were the main ones, Lily thought. She wondered about the alarm, and consequently asked Mollie.
"What're the stakes if Jill loses?" she whispered in the girl's ear.
"Jill has to either tell Sirius of her feelings for him, or let Anna do it for her. By Monday" Molly whispered back, grinning from ear to ear. Lily's eyes widened. Anna must have made a pretty huge sacrifice to even get Jill to agree to the bet.
"What does Anna lose if Jill wins?" Lily asked quietly. Molly grinned even more, if possible.
"A lot. I'll tell you once it's over, though, because it looks like they're going to finish."
Jill, with a triumphant expression on her face, moved her last knight to check Anna's king. Lily could tell at once that this was a mistake, even though she wasn't nearly as good a chess player as Jill. With one move of her queen, Anna took the knight, check-mating Jill's king in the process. Jill looked horrified. Everyone watching, including Lily, cheered, and patted Anna on the back. Jill walked back to their dorm, and the girls moved to armchairs to talk.
"Good game, Anna!" Sophie said. Anna grinned.
"What with the stakes, I couldn't afford to lose!" She replied.
"Yeah, what were the stakes?" Lily asked. At the same time that Anna blushed, three identical evil grins flashed at Lily. She couldn't help it, she grinned back. "So..."
"She had to agree to a lot to get Jill to play." Sophie said.
"She said that she wouldn't tease Jill about Sirius any more." Sahi said.
"And she said that she'd tell us who she likes."
"And then we would decide whether she should tell that person or not."
"And she had to make all the beds in our dorm for a week." Mollie finished. "She was pretty desperate to get Jill to admit her crush to Sirius."
"Jill is going to be mad at you." Lily informed Anna. Then she grinned. "But it's worth it. And..." she stopped, and motioned the girls closer to her. Huddled together, she finished her sentence. "...and I think that Sirius likes her, too. You know I'm friends with the guys, and all. Sirius hasn't said anything about it out loud, which means it isn't just another one of his two week flings."
The girls' eyes widened appropriately. "I knew it was a good idea."
The girls talked for a while, before realising that if they didn't hurry, they would be late for lunch. Lily's mind was diverted from James at the scene that met her eyes in the hall.
published for a while. This part only has one chapter, but it's quite long. I hope everyone likes it, and thankyou to everyone who has reviewed in the past. R/R! ~Stef
Chapter Nine
Lily followed James a few minutes later, still deep in thought. She reached the bottom of the stairs to find the other boys there.
"Here she is!" Sirius announced. "Now will you tell us what has you grinning like a maniac?"
Lily wondered if his grin was only because of his new transformation abilities.
"I'm an Animagus!" James said, "And Lily-" Lily cut him off there. She had no idea why she did it, but it felt right at the time, and she didn't quite want them to find out. Not yet, at least.
"I was there to see him transform first!" Lily said quickly. She looked at James, who looked slightly puzzled, and smiled. He shrugged imperceptibly, and nodded.
"I'm a stag." Then James saw the look of amazement and disbelief on Remus's face.
"Oh, we didn't tell you, did we?" he asked innocently.
"Let's go somewhere more private to discuss this." Lily suggested hurriedly. "My room?"
"Yes." Remus said. He looked very confused, and slightly annoyed. "You have explaining to do." Lily re-entered her room, and led the boys into it. She sunk gracefully onto the floor. It was a talent she had just learned, and a talent that had taken a lot of practising. Lily was working one `girl thing' a week. She had reasoned that she had a lot of catching up to do, and sitting gracefully was one of the things she had to learn. Never mind that all of the other girls just `plonked' themselves down. Lily was different. She was also getting side-tracked.
"We know what you are, Remus." James was saying. Whoa! She had missed a lot. "Look, we don't hold it against you at all. And we wanted to do something to help." Remus had a look of shock on his face, replacing his previous look of confusion.
"How?" Was all he could ask. His face was deathly pale, much whiter than Lily had ever seen it before.
"Remus, we are your best friends." Lily said gently. "Others may not have noticed or been worried, but we're different."
"You can't just expect us to ignore your monthly disappearances. And you know us, if we don't know about something, then we find out!" Sirius added.
"But... but... how?" Remus stammered. His face hadn't gained any colour, Lily noticed. She smiled reassuringly at him.
"You disappear every month, you're always pale and sick-looking every full moon, you don't let many people close to you, for fear they'll find out. We know. And we've taken measures to ensure that we can help you and be with you as much as we can." James took a long breath at the end of his speech.
Remus's face was beginning to regain it's colour, but he had an unusually sombre expression. "There's nothing you can do for me." He said quietly. "When I transform, I can't control myself. I could bite you without knowing. And when I'm... when it's the full moon, I'm not myself. I'm... vicious."
James's face lit up in another smile. Lily wondered when she had started noticing things like this. He said, "That's where you're wrong! Watch, and learn. If this can't control you in your werewolf phase, nothing can!" James stood, and with another slight smile at Lily, began his transformation.
This time, it only took about twenty seconds before a stag was standing before them all. Remus, Sirius, and Peter gazed on with awe in their eyes. James changed himself back, and looked at Lily questioningly.
Somehow, she knew he was asking her if he should tell them about her. She shook her head quickly, and he nodded his own slightly in acknowledgement. The others didn't notice, as they were too busy gaping.
Finally Sirius said, "That was amazing! I can still only transform parts of myself!"
James smiled again. Lily realised he was doing that a lot today. "Like my antlers?"
The next hour passed with everyone admiring James's form. Remus progressed from shocked to surprised, to pleased and then to happy. Although, as Lily thought, `happy' was a major understatement. He looked positively radiant. The Marauders, including Peter, left as the lunch bell rang, everyone still happily chatting away with James.
Lily doubted that she would get an opening to speak with him privately for a while, so she went in search of the girls. Lily found them at last, Anna and Jill playing wizard chess against each other, while Molly, Sophie, and Sahi looked on.
Sahi was a new addition to the group, as she had only started `hanging out' with them the previous week. She was a Gryffindor, but had fallen out with the other Gryffindor girls in their year. She was from India, but had lived in England for most of her life, so she spoke perfect English, without a trace of an accent. The girls had found, however, that whenever she got annoyed, she swore (at least, Lily presumed she was swearing) in apparently fluent Indian. The girls were happy to accommodate Sahi, and the Indian girl fit right in.
Lily dropped onto the floor next to Molly, and watched the game with interest. The match was close, but Anna appeared to be winning. Jill's face reflected her emotions, concentration, alarm, and hope were the main ones, Lily thought. She wondered about the alarm, and consequently asked Mollie.
"What're the stakes if Jill loses?" she whispered in the girl's ear.
"Jill has to either tell Sirius of her feelings for him, or let Anna do it for her. By Monday" Molly whispered back, grinning from ear to ear. Lily's eyes widened. Anna must have made a pretty huge sacrifice to even get Jill to agree to the bet.
"What does Anna lose if Jill wins?" Lily asked quietly. Molly grinned even more, if possible.
"A lot. I'll tell you once it's over, though, because it looks like they're going to finish."
Jill, with a triumphant expression on her face, moved her last knight to check Anna's king. Lily could tell at once that this was a mistake, even though she wasn't nearly as good a chess player as Jill. With one move of her queen, Anna took the knight, check-mating Jill's king in the process. Jill looked horrified. Everyone watching, including Lily, cheered, and patted Anna on the back. Jill walked back to their dorm, and the girls moved to armchairs to talk.
"Good game, Anna!" Sophie said. Anna grinned.
"What with the stakes, I couldn't afford to lose!" She replied.
"Yeah, what were the stakes?" Lily asked. At the same time that Anna blushed, three identical evil grins flashed at Lily. She couldn't help it, she grinned back. "So..."
"She had to agree to a lot to get Jill to play." Sophie said.
"She said that she wouldn't tease Jill about Sirius any more." Sahi said.
"And she said that she'd tell us who she likes."
"And then we would decide whether she should tell that person or not."
"And she had to make all the beds in our dorm for a week." Mollie finished. "She was pretty desperate to get Jill to admit her crush to Sirius."
"Jill is going to be mad at you." Lily informed Anna. Then she grinned. "But it's worth it. And..." she stopped, and motioned the girls closer to her. Huddled together, she finished her sentence. "...and I think that Sirius likes her, too. You know I'm friends with the guys, and all. Sirius hasn't said anything about it out loud, which means it isn't just another one of his two week flings."
The girls' eyes widened appropriately. "I knew it was a good idea."
The girls talked for a while, before realising that if they didn't hurry, they would be late for lunch. Lily's mind was diverted from James at the scene that met her eyes in the hall.