Disclaimer- If it was mine I'd be rich. But I'm not and it's not, so here goes.
"Should we wake him?" James asked Sirius in a hushed voice. "Let him sleep. He leaves tonight." Sirius answered as he looked at Remus. Although it happened every month, the boys could never believe Remus' sudden loss of energy. "We better go." James said as he reluctantly moved toward the door. They cast one final look at their sleeping friend before leaving.
"So then I said, "You deserve to get attacked by one of those foul creatures!" and then she said that I'd "get mine" someday. Can you believe it?" Reese was recounting her latest attempt to get Lily to join R.A.W. James had grown used to droning her out and just nodded. "She's just horrid, you really should stay away from her." James didn't get a chance to decline her request.
"What, can't your boyfriend think for himself? Or are you brainwashing him like you've done to the rest of society?" Lily had approached them from behind. "Watch it Evans." Reese said through clenched teeth. Lily ignored her. "Can I talk to you alone for a minute?" Lily asked James. "Anything you have to say to James you can say in front of me." Reese expected Lily to protest, but she did quite the opposite. "Have it your way." She smirked at James. "Potter, your girlfriend is a major bitch." Reese's jaw dropped. Lily continued, "I don't like her," she paused for emphasis, "no, wait, I hate her." By now the know the whole Gryffindor table was listening. "I hate what she's doing, to both you and everyone else. And since no one else is brave enough to take her on, I will." She now turned to address the entire table. "Anyone who is not involved with R.A.W. is invited to join my protest group. I won't let her, or any other member of her group, take the life of another innocent werewolf. If you're interested, see me later."
She turned to walk out of the room, but was stopped. "Miss Evans, Please come with me to my office." Dumbledore had approached her, and was now leading her away. Lily was quite nervous. She had never been in trouble with the headmaster before. "Please sir, I didn't mean to make a scene. I just got carried away. I'm sorry." Lily paced the room. Dumbledore watched her amusedly. "Miss Evans please sit down." Lily did as she was asked. "Now, I need to know something," Dumbledore said slowly, making Lily even more nervous. "Did you mean what you said in the Great Hall?" Lily was taken by surprise. "Um. Yes sir." She said awkwardly. "You want to help protect werewolves? Something society doesn't approve of?" Dumbledore continued his questioning. Lily was fighting with herself. What did Dumbledore want her to say? Was she in trouble?
She finally decided to be truthful. "Yes sir." She answered simply. "Please explain." Lily couldn't believe what he was asking of her. He was asking her to show her true feelings. Something she tried to hide most of the time. "Sir, I know that what she is doing is wrong. Her group is killing innocent werewolves. They are killing people who, with the exception of three days out of the month, are regular people. Her group is brainwashing people to think werewolves are a serious threat to their safety, which statistics prove isn't true. A werewolf is a normal person most of the time, they are only dangerous for about three days. They know when they will transform, and in 99% of the cases, have special places to do so. They don't just all of a sudden unleash their fury on the public. People are afraid of what they don't understand. And what R.A.W. is doing is manipulating that fear to fulfill personal grudges." Lily spoke quickly, afraid that if she stopped she wouldn't continue. She felt as if a weight had been taken off her shoulders. But once she stopped speaking she panicked. What if Dumbledore doesn't agree? Was he a member of R.A.W.? What if she had just called the most powerful wizard of all time wrong? Questions filled her head during the silence that followed her confessions.
"My students never cease to amaze me." Lily looked up. Was what Dumbledore saying good or bad? "Miss Evans, you have taken a concept that has long puzzled some of the greatest minds of our time, and reduced it to the simple, beautiful truth. You are willing to stand up against people who feel just as strongly as you. People who have had more schooling, more experience, and you are calling them wrong. You are following your heart, and supporting it with your mind. You have something those people lack, something that makes it impossible for them to see the situation clearly. You have compassion. Those people are quick to dismiss things that they don't trust, and yes fear. You have managed to see the whole picture, and I am proud of you." Lily smiled as Dumbledore finished his speech.
"Thank you sir." Lily said amazed at what the headmaster had just said. "Miss Evans, I ask you again. Did you mean what you said in the Great Hall?" This time Lily was able to answer with more conviction than ever. "Yes, sir." "Then I would like to support you in your efforts." Lily couldn't believe what she was hearing. "May I join?" Lily was speechless. She searched her bag and handed him a piece of parchment. He signed his name. Lily couldn't believe it. Not only did Dumbledore agree with her, he would help her. "If you need anything," he said, smiling at the astonished look on Lily's face, "my door is always open." He finished. Lily managed to thank him as she got up to leave. She walked through the halls to her class in disbelief. She couldn't help but wonder what she had just gotten herself in to.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Are you just going to let her talk to me like that?" Reese was yelling at James as they headed toward Potions. "I'm your girlfriend. She's just some girl!" "I'm sorry. I'll do something next time." James answered. He couldn't get that mornings events off his mind. That was hardly the Lily he knew. Was she really going to go up against Reese and R.A.W.? And if so, could she actually win? What would Dumbledore think? How could he help Lily without Reese knowing? He had too many thoughts banging around in his head to go to class. "I'll see you later, hun." James gave Reese a quick kiss and ran off.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"That was a pretty cool, what Lily did." Sirius said as he forced conversation between him and Taylor as they walked to class. "Uh huh." Taylor answered. She wasn't paying much attention to Sirius. "What's with you?" Sirius asked. "I'm meeting someone." She answered plainly. "What about Potions?" He couldn't believe that she'd skip without him. "Oh, well." She said sarcastically. "T, I," he stopped, "I just thought you should know that I know what you want. And I guess, if it's what you really want, I'll be your boyfriend." Sirius had been expecting Taylor to smile and kiss him, or at least show some sort of emotion. "What?!" Taylor yelled. People in the halls stopped to look at them and Sirius' face went red. "How do you know what I want?" Sirius was speechless. "Ugh." Taylor growled as she ran off to meet her date. Sirius just stood there awkwardly. Eventually he walked off to class alone.
"Today's potion will be quite complex. Take your time, read carefully. The instructions are on the board. Begin." Professor Erbaugh said stiffly. Sirius raised his hand. "Err- Professor. My partner is absent. May I join another group?" The teacher scanned the room. "Partner up with Reilly. Mr. Potter seems to be missing as well." Sirius muttered some foul words under his breath as he walked over to James' seat.
"Where's James?" He asked as he slouched down. "I don't know. He ran off." Reese answered. "Look, Black, neither of us want to work together, so lets just do separate potions." She continued. "No problem here."
After about 15 minutes of silence Reese grew bored. "Sirius, is James with Lily a lot?" She asked curiously. "You'd hate it if I answered yes. Wouldn't you?" He answered sarcastically. "She's a wretched girl. I don't want him around her." Her answer annoyed Sirius. "Your boyfriend will do what he wants." "So he is with her a lot?" She asked again. Sirius sighed, "No. Why do you hate her so much anyway?" She was quiet a moment. "Well, you saw what happened at breakfast. She wants to stop R.A.W. Which you still have to sign up for, by the way." Sirius smiled. "That won't be happening." "What do you mean?" She said sounding thoroughly aggravated. "I'll be joining Lily's group." Reese did not like hearing that. "I always knew you were a fool." Sirius didn't respond. "Hand me my pieces of gryl." "No." Sirius answered simply as he picked them up to put in his own potion. "Give them to me, they're mine!" She complained. "Are you saying they're Reese's pieces?" Sirius said before he burst out laughing. Reese didn't think it was funny. She spent the remainder of the class pouting.
"Remus, Remus, wake up." James sat in the boy's dormitory. Remus woke up. "Oh, hey James. What time is it?" "Um, half past nine." James answered. "Ugh. I've already missed one class." Remus groaned. James sat across from him. "Oh, you've missed more than that." "What's that mean?" Remus asked. "Reese and Lily got in this huge fight at breakfast!" Remus' jaw dropped. "No way!" "That's not all." James continued. "She announced that she's forming a protest group against R.A.W.!" Remus was speechless. "Dumbledore took her to his office right after, I wonder what he thinks? Remus?"
"Why would she do that?" Remus said quietly. "I don't know, mate. It's great though." James said smiling. "How is it great?" Remus asked glumly. "How can you ask that? You have an ally! If she can get enough people-" Remus cut him off. "Don't be naive James. She won't. She'll just get hurt. Why does she care about werewolves anyway?" Remus said moodily. "I don't know. She's just Lily. She's great. She's perfect. She's brilliant!" James was now bouncing around the room. "I don't want her to get hurt." Remus said. "I know. No one's saying she will. This is our chance. We can help fight it." James said optimistically. "James, I can't. No one can know what I am." Even this didn't daunt James. "Yes you can. You'll just be a marauder fighting for a cause. No different than Lily, or Sirius, or me." Remus finally smiled. "Do you really think she can pull it off?" James sat down. "If anyone can, it's her."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Cad, please tell me you'll quit R.A.W. and join my group?" Lily was trying to convince Cad while they walked to lunch. "Lil, I can't." "But Cad you know all my facts. You know they aren't nearly as dangerous as Reese is making them out to be." Cad stopped in her tracks. "Lily, don't tell me what I know. Maybe there are dangers you overlooked. Physical harm isn't the only way to hurt someone." Cad was frustrated. "What do you mean by that?" Lily answered. "Look. Maybe you're not right this time." Cad said softly before running off. "What if I am?" Lily yelled after her.
Lily clumsily made her way to the Great Hall. She was so upset she was shaking. Cad was her best friend. If she wasn't willing to help her, who would be? Would Dumbledore change his mind once her saw her lack of support? "Lily?" Sirius had approached her. Lily was pulled out of her trance. "Oh Sirius, hey." "Are you okay?" He eyed her worriedly. "Um, yeah. I just got in a fight with Cad, that's all. What's up?" "I want to join your group." He said enthusiastically. "Really?" Lily was somewhat shocked. "Of course. I'm sure Peter, Remus, and James will too. Oh, and I talked to some Hufflepuffs who are interested as well." Sirius rambled. "That's great!" Lily said as she took out the parchment for Sirius to sign. Sirius' eyes widened when he saw Dumbledore's signature.
"No way! You got Dumbledore?" Sirius asked. Lily smiled proudly. "Yeah. That's what he wanted to talk to me about this morning." Sirius signed his name and handed Lily the paper. "You're off to a good start." Lily smiled even wider. Her fears of having no support quickly vanished. "Thanks. Hey, have you seen Remus? He wasn't at Breakfast or in Potions." "Oh, he's not feeling well. He's probably in our dormitory." Sirius said as he continued into the Great Hall. Lily thanked him and turned toward the Gryffindor Tower.
When she entered the room she was shocked at what she saw. Remus was asleep on his bed. He looked very weak. Not at all like the friend she had talked with the previous night. She knelt down beside him. "Remus? Remus are you ok?" She said quietly. He stirred and slowly opened his eyes. "Lily?" He said in a groggy, raspy voice. "Yeah, hun, how are you feeling?" She barely whispered. Remus tried to smile, "Oh, I've been better." His voice was rough. "Here," Lily quickly conjured up a glass of water, "drink this." She helped him sit up, and he drained the glass. "Thanks," he said, his voice a little better. "Have you been to the Hospital Wing?" She asked. "There's nothing they can do." He answered honestly.
Lily climbed up on the bed with him. "Did you hear about the protest group I'm forming?" She asked trying to change the topic. "Yeah, that's great." He said slowly. "I've already gotten Dumbledore and Sirius to join." She continued. Remus managed to smile. "That's wonderful." "You know it's really not like me to do something like this. I'm scared." She spoke candidly. "Lil, you're going to do it. You'll be great." He answered. Lily talked about her plans for the group until Remus drifted to sleep. She laid her head on his chest and followed suit. Maybe there was a reason for her to stay at Hogwarts after all.
A/N- Hey, I hope you liked this chapter. I'm trying to update as often as possible, but things are pretty crazy right now. Drivers Ed was just thrown into the mix with homework, crazy teachers, school in general, and a social life. So please update. It will give me something to look forward to! Well, that and the upcoming Good Charlotte concert! Thanks to everyone that reviews, and coming up~~ James/Lily scenes, some Reese torturing {I know you all have been looking forward to that!}, and more Sirius/Taylor.