Lily's New Friend

Chapter 7

"Lily I'd do anything for you…"

"Lord, that was a strange dream," said Lily as she got out of bed and started dressing for breakfast.

          "What did you dream about?" asked Adrian very stuffily, opening her eyes slowly, for they were a bit swollen from crying.

          "Well, it started with you and Tom breaking up," Lily started, looking worriedly at Adrian and hoping that her dream had really been just a dream. But by the look now crossing Adrian's face, she could tell that at least one part of her dream had been no dream at all.

          Lily walked shakily down to breakfast after she had given Adrian a hug and said sorry for bringing up the whole situation again. What if the rest of her dream had been real, too? That would mean that she really did get chased and almost attacked by a werewolf last night. But then again maybe her imagination had gotten the better of her, as it sometimes did, and she was safe after all.

          When Lily walked into the Great Hall with Adrian she saw Fran sitting with the Marauders as usual. The only thing different was that for once Sirius was not making jokes, Remus was not grinning at his crazy friends, James was not telling Sirius to shut up before he gets punched because it's too early in the morning to be so loud, and Peter was not eating as much as his little chubby face could hold. No, today they were very much subdued. All four were sitting in complete silence, picking at their food and occasionally looking nervously at the doors of the Great Hall where Lily and Adrian had just entered. James was the first to notice them as they walked over to their places next to Fran at the Gryffindor table. James immediately nudged Sirius, causing a chain reaction down one side of the table until all four boys were staring intently at Lily as she approached.

          None of the boys said 'Hello' to Lily or Adrian as they sat down. They all just sat staring at Lily. Finally, Lily had enough of the way the boys were acting. She just had to say something about last night, but she couldn't in front of Fran and Adrian, who were looking between Lily and the guys, wondering what could have happened. Lily looked up and said, "Guys, can I…" but she stopped because at that moment she looked into the face of Remus and saw how pale and tired he looked, as if he had just been sick. Then as she stared into his eyes, they flashed, and in that flash his eyes had changed from the usual gray to yellow and back again. Finally she understood.

          Lily stood up without even having touched her food and gave a last startled look at Remus before running out of the Hall back up to her room with tears of amazement and fear falling down her cheek.

          "What kind of sick joke did you four guys pull on her?" asked Adrian, glaring at the four boys who were sitting across the table from her and looking at Remus to see his reaction to Lily.

          "Yeah, we thought that you guys were our friends," said Fran, just as angry as Adrian, also looking around at the boys.

          At this, Remus stood up with a pale face and quickly ran out of the Great Hall.

"Well, see you girls in Transfigurations in a bit," said James, grabbing the back of Sirius' cloak and pulling him along out of the Great Hall.

          "Wait up, I'm coming," said Peter as he too ran out of the Great Hall after his friends.

          "Wonder what they did," said Fran, "Should we follow them?"

          "No, Lily can tell us all about it when we see her," replied Adrian hastily, after glancing quickly at the doors to the Great Hall.

          Fran followed her gaze and saw the real reason Adrian did not want to go after her friends. Tom, her ex-boyfriend, was standing right outside the doors talking in whispers to a very tall blond-haired, blue-eyed Slitherin. Fran turned back to Adrian and gave her a hug.

          Lily was searching all over her room for her Defense Against the Dark Arts book called Bestiary of Dark Creatures, written by Zoe Best. When she found the book on her desk beneath a pile of parchment, she quickly flipped to the middle of the book where the chapter on werewolves was. As she scanned the page, she became increasingly white as her suspicions were confirmed. Remus Jacob Lupin was a werewolf, the very werewolf that had tried to kill her just the night before.

          There was a knock at the door as Lily sat silently on her bed with tears rolling down her cheeks. She stood up and walked over to the door and pulled it open to reveal Remus standing in the doorway almost as white as she was, but now it was clear that his normal gray eyes were yellow and there was no mistake about it. Lily let out a small squeak at the sight of him. She really was not sure how to react-it's not every day you find out that one of your friends is a ferocious monster feared by most magical people.

          "Lily please don't," said Remus quietly.

          Lily walked back over to her bed and grabbed her book bringing it back over to where Remus stood and handed it to him. It was open still to the chapter on werewolves.

          "As I thought, you figured me out Lily," said Remus sadly.

          "So it's true?" asked Lily, even though she already knew the answer.

          "Yes," was all Remus said as he looked down at the book in his hand.

          Remus put the book on Lily's dresser that was next to the door and turned around to leave, when a hand grabbed his arm and he turned around to see Lily looking up at him inquisitively.

          "Why didn't you tell me? We have been friends just as long as you have been with James, Sirius, and Peter," said Lily.

          This was true, for in the beginning of first year Remus had trouble with his charms and as Lily was top of that class (and most others for that matter) he had come to her for help, so most nights they spent time together in the Library talking and studying. They had become fast friends unbeknownst to their other friends.

          "Listen Lily, I never even told them, they just figured it out themselves, but I understand it if you don't want to have anything to do with me anymore," said Remus, backing away in retreat again.

          "No, Remus, it's just a bit of a shock is all-I mean, I was really scared last night-I mean I could have gotten hurt, or if someone else meets you guys, on a late night walk, some night. But Remus, you're one of my best friends, and I don't want to lose you over something silly like this. I mean you are only dangerous one night a month," said Lily and with that she walked over and gave him a hug, and that's how James, Sirius, and Peter found them when they ran up the stairs to the girls' dorm.

          "At least she doesn't seem mad," said Sirius more cheerfully than he had acted all morning.

          As James saw Lily hugging Remus, he felt happy that she was no longer upset, but there was also a little pang in his heart telling him he did not like Remus hugging his Lily. What was he thinking "his" Lily? What was making him feel like this? He didn't like Lily any more than a friend, right? But before he could make himself stop he said, "Come on, break it up."

          Sirius gave James a strange look but then turned his attention back to Lily and Remus. They smiled at each other before turning to the others.

          "Come in here real quick," said Lily.

          "Okay," said Sirius as they walked into the girls' dorm.

          "So as you all have guessed I have figured out what Remus is but I need confirmation from the rest of you on what you are. So am I right in thinking that the three of you are animagi?" asked Lily, looking at James, Sirius, and Peter.

          "Yeah but you can't tell anyone," said Sirius, looking seriously at Lily.

          Lily glared at Sirius, "You don't think I didn't already know that? But what I really wanted to know was which one of you is which animal?" asked Lily with a quick glance back at Sirius. But all Sirius could do was grin at how James' face had suddenly gone all red.

          "Well I'm the dog," said Sirius.

          "And I'm the rat," said Peter.

          Then before James could say anything Lily turned on him, "Then that means you're the stag," said Lily in a very hushed whisper. Another tear rolled down her cheek and then another came until she was nearly sobbing.

          "Lily, don't cry, you're okay, right? So what's wrong?" asked James, stepping forward toward her.

          Then without warning Lily flung herself onto James wrapping her arms around his neck. James was shocked and it was all that his friends could do to keep from laughing at his face, which turned even redder than it had been only seconds earlier. He put his arms around her as well.

          "Lily it's okay, please don't cry, you're okay now, aren't you? You didn't get hurt," whispered James into Lily's ear.

          Lily leaned back a little to look up into James' face. She still had tears running silently down her face.

          "James, how can I ever repay you? You saved my life. I would have been killed last night if it had not been for you," said Lily softly, smiling at him, and then hugging him again.

          Before they broke apart, James whispered into her ear, "Lily I'd do anything for you."

          With that Lily pulled away from James, grabbed her bag, and ran off to class, followed quickly by Remus, Peter, and then Sirius, but when Sirius reached the door he turned around to make sure James was coming along. James still stood in the middle of the girls' dorm where Lily had hugged him. Sirius grinned and said, "Looks like James has got a crush on someone."

          James started walking to the door and as he passed Sirius in the doorway he whacked him in the head, "No I don't Padfoot, you idiot."