(A/N Dreaming One, I never really thought of Lily as a self-insertion, whether it be what I wish I was like or not. It was once said that 'True artists create things of beauty and put nothing of themselves into them', and I guess that that was how I was looking at it. I am nothing like Lily, I was taking aspects of people around me, and of Harry and a lot from Draco actually, and created this girl. I hope this doesn't come off as a self-insert fic, because I really hate those, and I try to keep mine as little like those as possible.)
Lily and Kaleb shifted back into their human visages, and looked incredibly pleased, if completely unsurprised.
"That was amazing, Lily, Kaleb." Peter said, in awe.
"So what am I? It's a little difficult to tell, or at least it was for me." Lily asked, interestedly.
"You're a lioness, rather ironic really. What with you being a Gryffindor, and your nickname being Lionne." Sirius said, amused.
"And me?" Kaleb asked, curious and excited.
"You're a panther, Kaleb. It makes sense that the two of you would be the same sort of animal." James said. "You're two of a kind."
"So, hail us, praise us, do what you will, but on the way to the shack. Pronto." Lily dictated, and the group made their way out of the Gryffindor Tower in an attempt to be with Remus when he changed.
"I just want to warn the two of you, before we go in. Watching him change…it's terrible. He's in so much pain…and the skin breaks and bones reform. And you sit there and watch and know that there isn't anything you can go about it and--" Sirius said, his eyes growing wet, and his voice becoming intense.
"Sirius." James interrupted, looking gently at his friend. "He said that having us there helps. And maybe it does, ok? But there isn't any use worrying about it, all that matters is that we keep him from hurting himself."
"Yeah…I know, Prongs." Sirius said, intended to be evenly.
"Alright, let's go then. Wormtail, you're up." James asserted.
Peter melted into a rat, and darted towards the tree, which was currently whipping its boughs about at a frightful pace. The small rodent easily evaded the attacking limbs, and touched a knot on the tree. The tree froze, and a tunnel opened up beneath it.
"So you're…all of you are…oh Holy Christ." Lily said, surprised. "You're all animagi? That's what Peter meant! Remus is never by himself…because you're always there. I wondered how you could be there for him through the change and not be werewolves yourselves. I'm rather impressed, did you use Stalworth's theory?"
"Yeah, we just went by the book, didn't want to chance anything. You two, you threw the book out the window and did it yourselves. And THAT's impressive." James said, amiably.
"That's just brilliant…" Kaleb whispered, as she followed the others into the tunnel.
The walk seemed even longer than it actually was, due to the anxiety felt by Lily and Kaleb…was the transformation really as awful for Remus as Sirius had said?
The door to the shack opened, and the cluster of students stepped inside. Remus was sitting in the corner of the room, pointedly staring at the wall, and NOT towards the moon.
"Hey, Remus. It worked." Lily said, smiling at the boy.
"Well, for your sake at least, I'm glad. Animagi transformations can go terribly wrong, you could have been caught in some…between form. It was entirely too dangerous and I really wish people would stop doing that for me!" Remus said, frantic, despite the calm his posture suggested.
"Don't worry, we would've done it anyway, if only to prove we could. Besides, if I'm ever attacked again I'll just go all 'grr' on them." Lily said, attempting to relieve the boy of his guilt.
Remus smiled wryly in response, and shuddered from the pain induced by La Lune.
"Here, Remus, lay on your back." Kaleb said suddenly.
Remus complied and the Marauders looked at Kaleb, puzzled.
She knelt down beside the distraught boy and placed her fist under his back. She felt the vertebrae and left her fist there. "Is that better?"
Remus let out a shaky breath. "Yeah, it doesn't hurt so badly. How did you…?" The question trailed off as he winced again, copper eyes tightly shut.
Kaleb shrugged. "It's basic acupuncture. Well…without actually sticking needles in you. It won't help for very much longer, I'm afraid. Sorry, Rem." Her blue eyes were dark, she hated seeing her friends in any sort of pain. She tended to react harshly, to curse or hex anything that dared touch those that she cares about. This time, however, she couldn't.
"Thanks, Kale." Remus whispered.
Lily gave Kaleb a small smile. "That's my Kaleb, full of random and useful knowledge."
'That's our Lily, full of random and useful knowledge.' Heather Evans had said once to her husband, only a few short weeks before their deaths.
Lily's eyes went out of focus for a moment as she remembered. She felt the familiar clenching in her chest, and then shook it off. She absolutely refused to make a scene, especially not while Remus was in such pain.
Time passed slowly, and all there was to do was sit and wait. But when the change did begin, it was abrupt. The bones in Remus' body visibly shifted and changed beneath his skin.
He cried out, unable to silence the pain that seemed to tear his entire body apart. Which it did. Bones ripped through the flesh carelessly, and soon his form was coated in blood.
The Marauders had already taken on their animal forms, as had Kaleb. But Lily sat there, watching Remus change, entranced and breaking from the sight of it. Kaleb's proud head nudged her as Remus', or Moony's, fur was finishing growing.
Lily barely noticed, all she could see was Remus, all she could hear was his cries, becoming more animalistic and more feral by the second. Something inside her registered that Moony was just about finished changing, and that he was a werewolf, and she a human.
She quickly slid into her lion form, and oddly emerald eyes remained fixated on the wolf before her.
Although the wolf was familiar with the Stag, the rat, and the dog that stood before him…the two felines were strange. This, of course, equated a threat in the wolf's mind. Which of course, prompted an attack.
Lily felt foolish for not expecting an attack from the canine, they were strangers in his lair, of course he would attack. Of course, she was always fiercely protective of Kaleb, and once the wolf dove at the black feline, Lily did not hesitate to leap into the fray.
Tawny fur clashed with silver as the large feline flew through the air. Growls and snarls were hardly distinguishable from one animal to the next, but Lily refrained from using her claws, all she wanted to do was keep him from attacking…she meant no real harm.
Moony, apparently, did not share in that philosophy, and the Lioness cried out as fangs sank into her back, on either side of her spine. The feline flipped and sent the wolf crashing into the opposite wall. Both were instantly on their feet again, snarling and panting and glaring at each other. Gold eyes met Emerald, and then the fury halted. The wolf seemed to realize that these felines were not intruders…but friends. New Packmates.
Moony trotted forward, and oblivious to Lily's tensing, licked the feline on the top of it's head, a rather canine gesture of acceptance.
The rest of the evening was rather uneventful, the animals played together, ran together, and waited together for the wounded feline to catch up.
The following day would prove…interesting…for Lily.
(A/N, Alright, this is still on hiatus, and I'm sorry that this is the soonest I've had time to update. Real life just keeps rearing its ugly head. Be prepared to wait a while for another chapter.)
Lily and Kaleb shifted back into their human visages, and looked incredibly pleased, if completely unsurprised.
"That was amazing, Lily, Kaleb." Peter said, in awe.
"So what am I? It's a little difficult to tell, or at least it was for me." Lily asked, interestedly.
"You're a lioness, rather ironic really. What with you being a Gryffindor, and your nickname being Lionne." Sirius said, amused.
"And me?" Kaleb asked, curious and excited.
"You're a panther, Kaleb. It makes sense that the two of you would be the same sort of animal." James said. "You're two of a kind."
"So, hail us, praise us, do what you will, but on the way to the shack. Pronto." Lily dictated, and the group made their way out of the Gryffindor Tower in an attempt to be with Remus when he changed.
"I just want to warn the two of you, before we go in. Watching him change…it's terrible. He's in so much pain…and the skin breaks and bones reform. And you sit there and watch and know that there isn't anything you can go about it and--" Sirius said, his eyes growing wet, and his voice becoming intense.
"Sirius." James interrupted, looking gently at his friend. "He said that having us there helps. And maybe it does, ok? But there isn't any use worrying about it, all that matters is that we keep him from hurting himself."
"Yeah…I know, Prongs." Sirius said, intended to be evenly.
"Alright, let's go then. Wormtail, you're up." James asserted.
Peter melted into a rat, and darted towards the tree, which was currently whipping its boughs about at a frightful pace. The small rodent easily evaded the attacking limbs, and touched a knot on the tree. The tree froze, and a tunnel opened up beneath it.
"So you're…all of you are…oh Holy Christ." Lily said, surprised. "You're all animagi? That's what Peter meant! Remus is never by himself…because you're always there. I wondered how you could be there for him through the change and not be werewolves yourselves. I'm rather impressed, did you use Stalworth's theory?"
"Yeah, we just went by the book, didn't want to chance anything. You two, you threw the book out the window and did it yourselves. And THAT's impressive." James said, amiably.
"That's just brilliant…" Kaleb whispered, as she followed the others into the tunnel.
The walk seemed even longer than it actually was, due to the anxiety felt by Lily and Kaleb…was the transformation really as awful for Remus as Sirius had said?
The door to the shack opened, and the cluster of students stepped inside. Remus was sitting in the corner of the room, pointedly staring at the wall, and NOT towards the moon.
"Hey, Remus. It worked." Lily said, smiling at the boy.
"Well, for your sake at least, I'm glad. Animagi transformations can go terribly wrong, you could have been caught in some…between form. It was entirely too dangerous and I really wish people would stop doing that for me!" Remus said, frantic, despite the calm his posture suggested.
"Don't worry, we would've done it anyway, if only to prove we could. Besides, if I'm ever attacked again I'll just go all 'grr' on them." Lily said, attempting to relieve the boy of his guilt.
Remus smiled wryly in response, and shuddered from the pain induced by La Lune.
"Here, Remus, lay on your back." Kaleb said suddenly.
Remus complied and the Marauders looked at Kaleb, puzzled.
She knelt down beside the distraught boy and placed her fist under his back. She felt the vertebrae and left her fist there. "Is that better?"
Remus let out a shaky breath. "Yeah, it doesn't hurt so badly. How did you…?" The question trailed off as he winced again, copper eyes tightly shut.
Kaleb shrugged. "It's basic acupuncture. Well…without actually sticking needles in you. It won't help for very much longer, I'm afraid. Sorry, Rem." Her blue eyes were dark, she hated seeing her friends in any sort of pain. She tended to react harshly, to curse or hex anything that dared touch those that she cares about. This time, however, she couldn't.
"Thanks, Kale." Remus whispered.
Lily gave Kaleb a small smile. "That's my Kaleb, full of random and useful knowledge."
'That's our Lily, full of random and useful knowledge.' Heather Evans had said once to her husband, only a few short weeks before their deaths.
Lily's eyes went out of focus for a moment as she remembered. She felt the familiar clenching in her chest, and then shook it off. She absolutely refused to make a scene, especially not while Remus was in such pain.
Time passed slowly, and all there was to do was sit and wait. But when the change did begin, it was abrupt. The bones in Remus' body visibly shifted and changed beneath his skin.
He cried out, unable to silence the pain that seemed to tear his entire body apart. Which it did. Bones ripped through the flesh carelessly, and soon his form was coated in blood.
The Marauders had already taken on their animal forms, as had Kaleb. But Lily sat there, watching Remus change, entranced and breaking from the sight of it. Kaleb's proud head nudged her as Remus', or Moony's, fur was finishing growing.
Lily barely noticed, all she could see was Remus, all she could hear was his cries, becoming more animalistic and more feral by the second. Something inside her registered that Moony was just about finished changing, and that he was a werewolf, and she a human.
She quickly slid into her lion form, and oddly emerald eyes remained fixated on the wolf before her.
Although the wolf was familiar with the Stag, the rat, and the dog that stood before him…the two felines were strange. This, of course, equated a threat in the wolf's mind. Which of course, prompted an attack.
Lily felt foolish for not expecting an attack from the canine, they were strangers in his lair, of course he would attack. Of course, she was always fiercely protective of Kaleb, and once the wolf dove at the black feline, Lily did not hesitate to leap into the fray.
Tawny fur clashed with silver as the large feline flew through the air. Growls and snarls were hardly distinguishable from one animal to the next, but Lily refrained from using her claws, all she wanted to do was keep him from attacking…she meant no real harm.
Moony, apparently, did not share in that philosophy, and the Lioness cried out as fangs sank into her back, on either side of her spine. The feline flipped and sent the wolf crashing into the opposite wall. Both were instantly on their feet again, snarling and panting and glaring at each other. Gold eyes met Emerald, and then the fury halted. The wolf seemed to realize that these felines were not intruders…but friends. New Packmates.
Moony trotted forward, and oblivious to Lily's tensing, licked the feline on the top of it's head, a rather canine gesture of acceptance.
The rest of the evening was rather uneventful, the animals played together, ran together, and waited together for the wounded feline to catch up.
The following day would prove…interesting…for Lily.
(A/N, Alright, this is still on hiatus, and I'm sorry that this is the soonest I've had time to update. Real life just keeps rearing its ugly head. Be prepared to wait a while for another chapter.)