Disclaimer: I don't own most of the characters.
AN: In this chapter Lily, James and their friends are now in the middle of their second year. Hope you don't mind that I skipped soooo much.
James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus took off the invisibility cloak and sat in a circle on Remus' bed, since he was the only one who didn't have clothes, books, filibuster fireworks, dungbombs, and Quidditch magazines scattered all over it.
"Let's toast to our very fine Quidditch game against Ravenclaw," Sirius hold up his glass of pumpkin juice, which was amongst the other food the boys had stolen from the kitchen, so their little celebration would be complete.
"And that we'll make sure the Quidditch cup this year, will have our name on it," James said as the four of them drank.
That morning their second Quidditch game had taken place, and once again the Gryffindor team won. Most of the boys were on the team, James- seeker, Sirius- beater, and Remus- beater. Peter hadn't really tryout, since he knew from the year before that his relationship with broomsticks was a lot like the relationship between oil and water: they couldn't mix. Now all they had to do was win against Hufflepuff, to get the cup.
"You know tonight is a great one to go fight some trolls in the forest," Sirius suggested stuffing chocolate chip cookies in his mouth.
"No way, after the exhausting game today I need some rest so I'll have enough strength for-"
"Strength for what, Remus?" Sirius asked casually, he didn't remember anything that they needed much strength for the next day.
"W-what d-do you mean?" Remus paled and his glass of pumpkin juice slipped through his shaky fingers, splattering the bed mattress.
Peter and James exchanged surprised looks, while Sirius ran a hand through his silky hair. His mouth was parted slightly as he was trying hard to think of what he could have said to scare his friend so much.
"Remus all I…all I meant was to ask what you needed a lot of strength for the next day. I mean tomorrow is Sunday, and none we did all our homework together the day before," Sirius wished he could take away his friend's fear, but he couldn't…not when he didn't even know what it was that scared him so much.
"N-nothing important, just…just class a-and…" Remus bit his lip and before any of them could react he bolted out of their room.
"Now what was that about?" Peter sounded as surprised as both James and Sirius felt.
"I don't know, but I just wish Remus could trust us enough to tell us what frightens him so much," James said as Sirius, his eyes full of concern stared at the big stain the pumpkin juice had left behind, for a second, then took out his wand and with a wave made it disappear.
"How can we make his fear disappear when we don't even know what it is?" Sirius said softly.
* * *
"Lets see, Muggle Studies sounds easy enough," Maya murmured.
"Boring is more like it," Rose said as she charmed another strand of her hair purple.
"What's with the purple highlights?" Lily asked tearing her eyes away, for the first time, from the sheet they were handed that very morning.
"Just something to do that has nothing to do with deciding our future careers," Rose sighted as she took out a mirror to check out her charming work.
"Urgh, this is beyond horrible. How am I supposed to know what I want to do as a witch," Crystal complained.
"Chill girl! Why don't you just do what I did? You could charm the names of the classes to become a different color each, than just pick the colors you like the best," Vanessa was the only one other than Rose who didn't take this all that seriously, it was obvious by the way she had spend the whole afternoon reading magazines and other fun stuff.
"You know what, your way is my best option. I'm muggle borne so there is no point in deciding what to pick, after all I hardly know what wizards do for a living," Lily said stretching her obviously sour arm muscles.
"Do what you like but I'm gonna take the lessons I need for my future job," Maya said.
"Good for you. I better get going, I promised to help Remus with his Potions homework," Rose said as she picked up her binder and left the common room.
"Speaking about Remus, why do you think we found him sleeping on a coach instead of his bed this morning," Vanessa asked.
"The others probably cursed his bed," Maya shrugged, but Lily bit her lip looking worried.
"I think there is more to Remus than we know," she said putting her hair up in a high ponytail as thought it would help her think better.
"What do you mean?" Crystal looked up in interest.
"I mean, he disappears every once in a while, and gives us a lame excuse for it each time. Oh and have you noticed that his dirty blond hair gets dull and hay like soon before when he disappears?" Lily said.
"Who cares, his hair is silky most of the times, besides it's his eyes that matter," Crystal said.
"Gosh can't you stop thinking about a guy in that way for just a few minutes," Vanessa sounded annoyed.
"Whatever."
"Anyways, why don't we try to find out what his secret is?" Lily said, "I can't help but to feel worried about him."
"I get what you mean, but don't you think Remus would have told us if he needed help?" Maya pointed out.
"What if he's too afraid to say anything?" Lily suggested.
"Maybe, but it's still a bad idea. By trying to find out his secret we might somehow hurt him, and then Rose'll rip our heads off," Vanessa said.
"Is it just me or did something happen between the two, I mean they've become so close. I always kind of though Rose would be paired off better with Sirius but I guess I was wrong," Crystal said.
"Actually I think she and Schneider are getting very close, she even hung out with him a few times during the summer vacation," Vanessa said.
"*Sigh* how romantic, it's almost like Romeo and Juliet," Maya breathed.
"Speaking of couples, I saw Dustin Egbert's girlfriend Lindsay Sharpless kiss Mac Kingston," Crystal said.
"Really?!! That girl dates any one in Quidditch robes," Vanessa laughed.
"Eeeewww!!!! Mac is that ugly Hufflepuff chaser right?" Maya wrinkled her nose.
"Maya! That's really rude, besides I think his eyes are kind of nice," Lily said frowning.
"Sorry, but I can't see why she'd cheat on Dustin with him," Maya said.
"Because he wears Quidditch robes," Crystal said simply.
"Hey maybe she'll kiss Rose or Vanessa next," Maya said laughing.
"Ewww!!!!!! Gross," Vanessa threw a pillow at her, "if it really does happen though me and Rose'll get the right to beat her up, which is something she rightfully deserves."
"I agree, maybe we should pay her back for playing a Gryffindor," Crystal said.
"Yeah!!!!" Maya said as Vanessa nodded in agreement, while Lily rolled her eyes grinning a bit.
* * *
"What's wrong with your mother?" Rose asked Remus her voice full of concern.
"Oh nothing too serious, but I have to go and see her tonight," Remus said sounding very uncomfortable.
"If you want my dad could have the best doctors in our world give her a visit," James suggested.
"Really it's fine, I just want to be there for her," Remus said his face going a little pink.
It was nearly sunset and Rose, Vanessa, James, Sirius, and Remus were walking off the Quidditch pitch together. Rose and Vanessa were too part of the Gryffindor team, Rose was the Keeper and Vanessa a chaser. The other two members of the team were both six years: Ty Goldring (the captian and chaser) and Colin Baddock (another chaser) They had had a Quidditch practice, just a little while ago, but it was a short one since nearly everyone was drained out of energy from yesterday's game. Now Remus was trying to explain to his friends why he was going to leave this very night, although he wasn't being very convincing.
A little while later the gang made their way to the Great Hall to have dinner. The Gryffindor table was buzzing with laughter yet Remus looked grave and the others worried as they neared their joyful friends.
"I don't really believe in fortune telling, but Divination was turned to such a beautiful blue color I couldn't resist…" Lily laughed.
James decided that he really like the sound her laughter, it was warm, light and quiet, it made him think about gentle summer breezes.
"Stare much," a mocking voice whispered in his ear.
"Very funny," James sounded calm but inside he felt a surge of panic, had Lily noticed him staring, and for how long?
"She was too busy talking to Crystal," Sirius said understanding James' thought, but then his famous evil grin was back.
"Sirius," James whispered now paling, because Sirius was walking towards where Lily sat, looking wickedly evil.
James stared with bated breath as Sirius leaned down next to Lily and whispered something in her ear making her full lips form an unmistakable smirk. Sirius you jerk, now she'll think I'm a total loser, James thought. How the heck was he supposed to explain why he'd been gawking at her? And why the heck did he care about what she thought of him? The question hit James so suddenly he blinked a couple of times.
"That is a good question, why do I care?" James asked himself in barely a whisper but the person who had walked right behind him seemed to have heard.
"Care about what?" she asked her voice and raspberry scent making him feel knob.
* * *
Lily was surprised to see fear in James' eyes. As she remembered Sirius had told her something about Narcissia wincing in fear every time she touched her hair (since the potion they had given her the year before reappeared only a short time ago), and that James had something to tell her about their plans to get back at the Slytherins. But as soon as James heard and saw her he paled as if he'd seen a ghost. Lily decided it would be best to jog him back to reality.
"Sirius told me that you wanted to tell me something about the new plans you've cooked up to get back at the Slytherins," Lily said pointedly.
"Oh r-right," James was slowly recovering from the shock but hissed something that sounded suspiciously like "Sirius Black you're a dead man."
"Sooo…?" Lily smiled uncertainly.
"Oh we've decided to give their food some life, if you know what I mean," James who had fully recovered said smiling mischievously.
"No way!" Lily's eyes grew wide with excitement, turning James' smile into an amused one.
It takes so little to make Lily excited, he thought.
"So tomorrow at dinner time is when it all begins," James said trying hard not to laugh as Lily's face flushed even more with excitement.
"They totally deserve it after poisoning Ty (the Gryffindor team keeper and Captain)'s food, so he'd be sick for the game against Revanclaw," Lily without realizing it, threw her arms around a very shocked James, hugging him tightly.
After she let go though, she realized that she just hugged James Potter. She felt herself go warm and one glance at James told her he was also very embarrassed about this.
"I'm uh kind of…hungry…so I'm uh gonna…" James began his face red.
Lily quickly nodded making him smile gratefully, as he went over to sit between Remus and Peter.
As Lily returned back to reality she realized to her relief no one had sensed anything wrong since their hug lasted for only about a second (although it seemed like an eternity), except for Sirius, who was grinning brightly.
As soon as Lily realized he was looking at her, her blush deepened and she quickly turned around living the Great Hall, even though all she had had for dinner was a tiny bit of salad and her stomach was growling.
Now she would have time to lay alone in her bed and think about why she wouldn't changed what happened (not even for a huge amount of gold), even though it made the pit of her stomach sink every time she thought about it.
"Do I care about James as more than a friend?" Lily asked herself out loud.
* * *
James was looking out the window and thinking about Lily, when he noticed the full moon. Something was nagging in the back of his head, it was somehow odd to see the full moon this night, but he couldn't remember why.
"Isn't it weird, the last time Remus was gone I remember it was also a full moon," Sirius who was standing behind James drinking water said, making something trigger in James' head.
"Could it be…?" James started his face glowing in a silvery way under the moonlight.
"No way, it's probably just a coincidence," Sirius said, but it was obvious from his eyes that he didn't think so.
"Guys why do you look so grave," Peter's voice shook a little.
"Nothing," they said at the same time as they exchanged meaningful looks.
It wasn't that they wanted to keep Peter in the dark, it was just that they didn't want to get the poor boy worried over something they weren't sure was even true, or in fact something that really didn't believe was possible. After all full moon was known as the night for odd thinks to happen and monsters to appear, especially one that only appeared once a month.
* * *
Lily woke up feeling happy for some reason she couldn't remember, but then it hit her. She could still smell James's earth scented robes, and feel his shoulders under her arms. It wasn't much, but she couldn't help but feel all cheerful and tingly.
"So Lily what's with the smile," Rose asked brushing her long hair as little specks of water dripped down her white bathrobe.
"Just morning joy," Lily blushed a bit but turned the conversation in another direction, "how was your morning run?"
Rose looked troubled for a second but then she picked up a folded piece of paper from her bedside table and gave it to Lily and left before Lily had the chance to open it.
The paper was written in Rose's big bold writing and it said:
Lily
Hey!!! I really want/need to talk to you. Get dressed and meet me out side the Castle doors before breakfast.
Rose
PS: it's Really important!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lily quickly showered and dressed without wasting anytime to dry her hair (so she charmed it up in a tight bun) or put on make up. As soon as Lily walked out the castle, she saw Rose waiting for her with toast and marmalade.
"So is there something you wanted to tell me about," Lily broke the silence after a few minutes of munching down toast and walking along side the lake.
"I don't know," Rose gazed hard at the shimmery water.
"Hmm?" Lily raised her perfectly tweezed eyebrows ever so slightly.
"It's just that…" Rose turned her head away from the lake and looked into Lily's eyes, "I don't know if I should tell you this. It would sound more natural if I tell James or even Sirius, but I feel like telling you is what I have to do."
"You know you could tell me anything," Lily said warmly.
"I need you to help me figure out if I should say anything to the others about Remus," Rose said her purple eyes burning into Lily's emerald ones.
"What about Remus?" Lily asked.
"I decided to run earlier than usual this morning, but Vanessa said she was beat and would join me a little later," Rose looked away again, "while I was running I saw a somebody walking towards the castle as I got closer I realized it was none other than Remus."
"So then he is back," Lily didn't get what was so strange about this, which made Rose look back at her again.
"He was bleeding Lily, and his robes…they were badly ripped," Rose's eyes were now shining brightly, "I couldn't move from where I was standing and I was only a few meters from him and the door, yet he didn't notice me at all. It was as if he was totally drained out of energy and was walking to the door like a zombie."
"Oh my gosh," Lily whispered.
"I know, I just wish he trusted me enough to tell me what the problem is," Rose wiped away the single tear that flew down her cheek, "do you think we should go and confront him,"
"We don't want to hurt him in anyway, so maybe it's best if we really don't know," Lily said putting a comforting arm around Rose, who nodded, "in the mean time lets go inside the castle and get some hot chocolate, you look a little pale."
Rose gave Lily a weak smile and let herself be led away to the entrance of the castle.
* * *
"Remus how is your mother?" James asked in a rather peculiar tone.
"Better," Remus muttered his eyes on the floor.
"That's nice," Sirius patted him on the back trying to look encouraging.
"Yeah, well I have to go to the library and do my homework otherwise I'd be behind," and with that he left leaving the three boys with worried expressions.
"James maybe his mother is really ill," Sirius said frowning.
"Yeah maybe…" James said suddenly looking dazed.
"Yo Potter! Yooohooo anybody there," Sirius was waving his hand in front of James' face.
"Sorry bout that, but I think I found a way to see if our friend Remus is telling us the truth or if he is lying," James grinned making the other two do the same, that night they would find out if Remus Lupin really had a hidden secret.
* * *
"You know that you could tell me anything right?" Rose said as she hugged Remus.
"Yeah, I do," Remus said but he tensed up.
"Good," Rose said as they let go.
"Well…have you visited Hagrid lately?" Remus asked obviously changing the subject quickly as they entered the Gryffindor common room.
Before Rose had the chance to answer, Sirius appeared out of no where and grabbed Remus' hand and dragged him to where James and Peter were standing, not even giving him a chance to protest. Rose looking suspicious followed to see what the three boys had in store for Remus. But of course even she never expected a big beautiful cake to appear in James waiting hands.
"Remus the three of us backed this cake for your mother all our selves, do you like it?" James said in an angelic voice.
Now that Rose was closer she could see "Hope you Get Well Soon Mrs. Lupin" written in baby blue icing, but got too distracted by Remus' uneasiness to admire the cake for too long. One glance at Remus told her that something was defiantly wrong, but what, she couldn't tell.
The poor boy had paled the second he saw the icing on the cake, and now he face his three roommates with red cheeks, teary eyes, and a wide-open mouth.
"Remus yoo-hoo, didn't you hear us? We asked if you liked it," Sirius waved a hand in front of Remus.
"I…it's…its very nice," Remus said now biting his lip hard as if trying no to cry or even say something that he shouldn't.
Rose glanced at Sirius and James and saw that they were giving each other knowing looks but they had a guilty look in their eyes, while Peter was biting his lip looking unsure and guilty.
* * *
"So we were right, his mother isn't really sick, other wise he'd have been really thrilled when he saw the cake," Sirius analyzed
"You know he could've just remembered his mother's bad condition, and maybe that's why he became so upset," Peter shrugged.
"Naww, I saw guilt and regret in his eyes," James said.
"Yeah, now its time for the next step of the operation," Sirius grinned, "this one is actually fun, compared to the last one at least."
Sirius was of course talking about their cooking experience, the boys who obviously had no cooking experience what-so-ever had some trouble baking the cake that they had gotten sooooo frustrated that they charmed the rock-hard burned of what was there first few tries of backing, out the kitchen at neck-breaking speed. As much as this was not intentional, the teachers thought it was, after all having 4 rocklike cakes covered in icing zoom around in the staff-room attacking teachers seemed very much like what they would do.
"What are you talking about?" James raised his eyebrows.
"James, when you go to your grandparents' castle, do you ever look around in the old closets in the dark abundant rooms?" Sirius' grin widened
"Who doesn't, but what's your point?"
"My point, is that you must know what boggerts are then,"
"Of course they turn into what you fear the…" James suddenly grinned, "you're genius!!!!!!!!"
"Huh? What's a boggert?" Peter look from Sirius to James confused, since Peter had always been too afraid to look around his grandparents' old place.
"Never mind Peter, we'll explain it to you later. Anyways first we have to find a boggert, but in a castle like Hogwarts there are plenty, we just have to look in some of the dark places," Sirius started pacing, "why don't we start by looking in that old classroom we hid in last week when Filch was on our tail?"
Peter made a sudden terrified noise, but he was scared of the room or anything, it was that he remembered the how terrified he was of having Filch after them for bewitching the school walls to screech whenever the janitor tried to clean them.
"Good idea the closet in that room looked really old, as if no one had ever washed it in the past century," James' voice sounded a bit ruffled since he had stuck his head in his truck, and after a few minutes it seemed like he found it since pulled his head out grinning, "I suppose we need my invisibility cloak to search the whole school without being noticed."
* * *
"Hey Remus are you okay?" said a soft female voice.
"I'm fine," it took quite a lot of him to keep himself from snapping the girls head off.
It wasn't that he didn't like her or anything, but so far she wasn't the only girl who had asked him this question, it seemed as if every 3 minutes or so a girl or few girls would come and ask him the exact same thing. For a second he wondered how many thousands of girls Hogwarts had, because it sure seemed like a million from where he was standing.
"Could have fooled me," the voice suddenly sounded more familiar as the girl came closer, and the sudden sight of the long red hair confirmed his thoughts.
"Lily?"
"Yup, so do you want to tell me why you're looking so pale and grim today, or are do we have a Malfoy wannabe in Gryffindor?" Lily sat next to him on a library chair.
"Hey!!!! Pale is so in, thought you knew that being a girl and all," Remus said with a weak smile, but it was his first that day, and Lily just rolled her eyes but grinned.
"It's great to see that you can still smile, I never would have believed it a minu-"
"Hey peeps!!!" Sirius' loud voice made most of the people in the library turn to glare at him, but a few girls burst into giggle, which caused even more glares and a bit of chaotic atmosphere, since now some students had started to fight. Sirius gave every one an apologetic grin, which made Peter and James laugh even harder.
"Poor Sirius, he can't go anywhere without causing chaos," James said smirking, "and just by being polite and saying hi."
"Thank you," Sirius sounded very pleased to hear that, but suddenly his expression changed and he turned to Remus, "Prof. McGonagall said she wants to see us in the staff room right now, I think it about that shrieking walls thing."
"Oh?" Remus looked less than alarmed which took Lily by surprise since he was in danger of getting in major trouble and he didn't seem to care the least bit, perhaps what he was going through was much worst than getting detention or losing points, she thought.
* * *
"Why is the staff room empty?" Remus asked.
"Don't think McGonagall wanted to have the other staff members as witnesses for her cruel and unusual punishment," Sirius said.
"Well we are in the staff room alone so why don't we have a look around," James suggested, "lets have a look in the closet."
"I-i-it's moving," Peter said looking positively terrified even though he knew James and Sirius' plan was sure not to bring any harm to him.
"Soooo? You know what why don't you open the closet door Remus?" Sirius said gently, almost as if he was handing Remus his own B-day presents.
"All-all right," Remus didn't really have a choice, after last night he owed his friends big and didn't want to turn there offer down so he slowly made his way to the closet.
As he opened the closet door with a shaky hand, something sprang out and took the shape of a…moon! Remus could feel his whole body shaking, he was going to transform in front of his friends! No, no he couldn't let that happen, he had to run, had to get away, so without out a second glance at his friends he ran out of the staff room.
* * *
"Remus," Sirius' voice made Remus open his eyes but didn't make an effort to get up from his bed.
"We need to talk," something in their voice made him change his mind, and he opened his bed curtains so he could see his friends.
Remus' face somehow looked paler than usual, and he felt like he was going to throw up or something like that, but he was determined to face this, it was the least he owed his friends.
Note: Thankx for all the reviews, and no I wasn't planning on stopping after chapter five, I really enjoy writing this fanfic and I'm planning to continue it for sometime!
AN: In this chapter Lily, James and their friends are now in the middle of their second year. Hope you don't mind that I skipped soooo much.
James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus took off the invisibility cloak and sat in a circle on Remus' bed, since he was the only one who didn't have clothes, books, filibuster fireworks, dungbombs, and Quidditch magazines scattered all over it.
"Let's toast to our very fine Quidditch game against Ravenclaw," Sirius hold up his glass of pumpkin juice, which was amongst the other food the boys had stolen from the kitchen, so their little celebration would be complete.
"And that we'll make sure the Quidditch cup this year, will have our name on it," James said as the four of them drank.
That morning their second Quidditch game had taken place, and once again the Gryffindor team won. Most of the boys were on the team, James- seeker, Sirius- beater, and Remus- beater. Peter hadn't really tryout, since he knew from the year before that his relationship with broomsticks was a lot like the relationship between oil and water: they couldn't mix. Now all they had to do was win against Hufflepuff, to get the cup.
"You know tonight is a great one to go fight some trolls in the forest," Sirius suggested stuffing chocolate chip cookies in his mouth.
"No way, after the exhausting game today I need some rest so I'll have enough strength for-"
"Strength for what, Remus?" Sirius asked casually, he didn't remember anything that they needed much strength for the next day.
"W-what d-do you mean?" Remus paled and his glass of pumpkin juice slipped through his shaky fingers, splattering the bed mattress.
Peter and James exchanged surprised looks, while Sirius ran a hand through his silky hair. His mouth was parted slightly as he was trying hard to think of what he could have said to scare his friend so much.
"Remus all I…all I meant was to ask what you needed a lot of strength for the next day. I mean tomorrow is Sunday, and none we did all our homework together the day before," Sirius wished he could take away his friend's fear, but he couldn't…not when he didn't even know what it was that scared him so much.
"N-nothing important, just…just class a-and…" Remus bit his lip and before any of them could react he bolted out of their room.
"Now what was that about?" Peter sounded as surprised as both James and Sirius felt.
"I don't know, but I just wish Remus could trust us enough to tell us what frightens him so much," James said as Sirius, his eyes full of concern stared at the big stain the pumpkin juice had left behind, for a second, then took out his wand and with a wave made it disappear.
"How can we make his fear disappear when we don't even know what it is?" Sirius said softly.
* * *
"Lets see, Muggle Studies sounds easy enough," Maya murmured.
"Boring is more like it," Rose said as she charmed another strand of her hair purple.
"What's with the purple highlights?" Lily asked tearing her eyes away, for the first time, from the sheet they were handed that very morning.
"Just something to do that has nothing to do with deciding our future careers," Rose sighted as she took out a mirror to check out her charming work.
"Urgh, this is beyond horrible. How am I supposed to know what I want to do as a witch," Crystal complained.
"Chill girl! Why don't you just do what I did? You could charm the names of the classes to become a different color each, than just pick the colors you like the best," Vanessa was the only one other than Rose who didn't take this all that seriously, it was obvious by the way she had spend the whole afternoon reading magazines and other fun stuff.
"You know what, your way is my best option. I'm muggle borne so there is no point in deciding what to pick, after all I hardly know what wizards do for a living," Lily said stretching her obviously sour arm muscles.
"Do what you like but I'm gonna take the lessons I need for my future job," Maya said.
"Good for you. I better get going, I promised to help Remus with his Potions homework," Rose said as she picked up her binder and left the common room.
"Speaking about Remus, why do you think we found him sleeping on a coach instead of his bed this morning," Vanessa asked.
"The others probably cursed his bed," Maya shrugged, but Lily bit her lip looking worried.
"I think there is more to Remus than we know," she said putting her hair up in a high ponytail as thought it would help her think better.
"What do you mean?" Crystal looked up in interest.
"I mean, he disappears every once in a while, and gives us a lame excuse for it each time. Oh and have you noticed that his dirty blond hair gets dull and hay like soon before when he disappears?" Lily said.
"Who cares, his hair is silky most of the times, besides it's his eyes that matter," Crystal said.
"Gosh can't you stop thinking about a guy in that way for just a few minutes," Vanessa sounded annoyed.
"Whatever."
"Anyways, why don't we try to find out what his secret is?" Lily said, "I can't help but to feel worried about him."
"I get what you mean, but don't you think Remus would have told us if he needed help?" Maya pointed out.
"What if he's too afraid to say anything?" Lily suggested.
"Maybe, but it's still a bad idea. By trying to find out his secret we might somehow hurt him, and then Rose'll rip our heads off," Vanessa said.
"Is it just me or did something happen between the two, I mean they've become so close. I always kind of though Rose would be paired off better with Sirius but I guess I was wrong," Crystal said.
"Actually I think she and Schneider are getting very close, she even hung out with him a few times during the summer vacation," Vanessa said.
"*Sigh* how romantic, it's almost like Romeo and Juliet," Maya breathed.
"Speaking of couples, I saw Dustin Egbert's girlfriend Lindsay Sharpless kiss Mac Kingston," Crystal said.
"Really?!! That girl dates any one in Quidditch robes," Vanessa laughed.
"Eeeewww!!!! Mac is that ugly Hufflepuff chaser right?" Maya wrinkled her nose.
"Maya! That's really rude, besides I think his eyes are kind of nice," Lily said frowning.
"Sorry, but I can't see why she'd cheat on Dustin with him," Maya said.
"Because he wears Quidditch robes," Crystal said simply.
"Hey maybe she'll kiss Rose or Vanessa next," Maya said laughing.
"Ewww!!!!!! Gross," Vanessa threw a pillow at her, "if it really does happen though me and Rose'll get the right to beat her up, which is something she rightfully deserves."
"I agree, maybe we should pay her back for playing a Gryffindor," Crystal said.
"Yeah!!!!" Maya said as Vanessa nodded in agreement, while Lily rolled her eyes grinning a bit.
* * *
"What's wrong with your mother?" Rose asked Remus her voice full of concern.
"Oh nothing too serious, but I have to go and see her tonight," Remus said sounding very uncomfortable.
"If you want my dad could have the best doctors in our world give her a visit," James suggested.
"Really it's fine, I just want to be there for her," Remus said his face going a little pink.
It was nearly sunset and Rose, Vanessa, James, Sirius, and Remus were walking off the Quidditch pitch together. Rose and Vanessa were too part of the Gryffindor team, Rose was the Keeper and Vanessa a chaser. The other two members of the team were both six years: Ty Goldring (the captian and chaser) and Colin Baddock (another chaser) They had had a Quidditch practice, just a little while ago, but it was a short one since nearly everyone was drained out of energy from yesterday's game. Now Remus was trying to explain to his friends why he was going to leave this very night, although he wasn't being very convincing.
A little while later the gang made their way to the Great Hall to have dinner. The Gryffindor table was buzzing with laughter yet Remus looked grave and the others worried as they neared their joyful friends.
"I don't really believe in fortune telling, but Divination was turned to such a beautiful blue color I couldn't resist…" Lily laughed.
James decided that he really like the sound her laughter, it was warm, light and quiet, it made him think about gentle summer breezes.
"Stare much," a mocking voice whispered in his ear.
"Very funny," James sounded calm but inside he felt a surge of panic, had Lily noticed him staring, and for how long?
"She was too busy talking to Crystal," Sirius said understanding James' thought, but then his famous evil grin was back.
"Sirius," James whispered now paling, because Sirius was walking towards where Lily sat, looking wickedly evil.
James stared with bated breath as Sirius leaned down next to Lily and whispered something in her ear making her full lips form an unmistakable smirk. Sirius you jerk, now she'll think I'm a total loser, James thought. How the heck was he supposed to explain why he'd been gawking at her? And why the heck did he care about what she thought of him? The question hit James so suddenly he blinked a couple of times.
"That is a good question, why do I care?" James asked himself in barely a whisper but the person who had walked right behind him seemed to have heard.
"Care about what?" she asked her voice and raspberry scent making him feel knob.
* * *
Lily was surprised to see fear in James' eyes. As she remembered Sirius had told her something about Narcissia wincing in fear every time she touched her hair (since the potion they had given her the year before reappeared only a short time ago), and that James had something to tell her about their plans to get back at the Slytherins. But as soon as James heard and saw her he paled as if he'd seen a ghost. Lily decided it would be best to jog him back to reality.
"Sirius told me that you wanted to tell me something about the new plans you've cooked up to get back at the Slytherins," Lily said pointedly.
"Oh r-right," James was slowly recovering from the shock but hissed something that sounded suspiciously like "Sirius Black you're a dead man."
"Sooo…?" Lily smiled uncertainly.
"Oh we've decided to give their food some life, if you know what I mean," James who had fully recovered said smiling mischievously.
"No way!" Lily's eyes grew wide with excitement, turning James' smile into an amused one.
It takes so little to make Lily excited, he thought.
"So tomorrow at dinner time is when it all begins," James said trying hard not to laugh as Lily's face flushed even more with excitement.
"They totally deserve it after poisoning Ty (the Gryffindor team keeper and Captain)'s food, so he'd be sick for the game against Revanclaw," Lily without realizing it, threw her arms around a very shocked James, hugging him tightly.
After she let go though, she realized that she just hugged James Potter. She felt herself go warm and one glance at James told her he was also very embarrassed about this.
"I'm uh kind of…hungry…so I'm uh gonna…" James began his face red.
Lily quickly nodded making him smile gratefully, as he went over to sit between Remus and Peter.
As Lily returned back to reality she realized to her relief no one had sensed anything wrong since their hug lasted for only about a second (although it seemed like an eternity), except for Sirius, who was grinning brightly.
As soon as Lily realized he was looking at her, her blush deepened and she quickly turned around living the Great Hall, even though all she had had for dinner was a tiny bit of salad and her stomach was growling.
Now she would have time to lay alone in her bed and think about why she wouldn't changed what happened (not even for a huge amount of gold), even though it made the pit of her stomach sink every time she thought about it.
"Do I care about James as more than a friend?" Lily asked herself out loud.
* * *
James was looking out the window and thinking about Lily, when he noticed the full moon. Something was nagging in the back of his head, it was somehow odd to see the full moon this night, but he couldn't remember why.
"Isn't it weird, the last time Remus was gone I remember it was also a full moon," Sirius who was standing behind James drinking water said, making something trigger in James' head.
"Could it be…?" James started his face glowing in a silvery way under the moonlight.
"No way, it's probably just a coincidence," Sirius said, but it was obvious from his eyes that he didn't think so.
"Guys why do you look so grave," Peter's voice shook a little.
"Nothing," they said at the same time as they exchanged meaningful looks.
It wasn't that they wanted to keep Peter in the dark, it was just that they didn't want to get the poor boy worried over something they weren't sure was even true, or in fact something that really didn't believe was possible. After all full moon was known as the night for odd thinks to happen and monsters to appear, especially one that only appeared once a month.
* * *
Lily woke up feeling happy for some reason she couldn't remember, but then it hit her. She could still smell James's earth scented robes, and feel his shoulders under her arms. It wasn't much, but she couldn't help but feel all cheerful and tingly.
"So Lily what's with the smile," Rose asked brushing her long hair as little specks of water dripped down her white bathrobe.
"Just morning joy," Lily blushed a bit but turned the conversation in another direction, "how was your morning run?"
Rose looked troubled for a second but then she picked up a folded piece of paper from her bedside table and gave it to Lily and left before Lily had the chance to open it.
The paper was written in Rose's big bold writing and it said:
Lily
Hey!!! I really want/need to talk to you. Get dressed and meet me out side the Castle doors before breakfast.
Rose
PS: it's Really important!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lily quickly showered and dressed without wasting anytime to dry her hair (so she charmed it up in a tight bun) or put on make up. As soon as Lily walked out the castle, she saw Rose waiting for her with toast and marmalade.
"So is there something you wanted to tell me about," Lily broke the silence after a few minutes of munching down toast and walking along side the lake.
"I don't know," Rose gazed hard at the shimmery water.
"Hmm?" Lily raised her perfectly tweezed eyebrows ever so slightly.
"It's just that…" Rose turned her head away from the lake and looked into Lily's eyes, "I don't know if I should tell you this. It would sound more natural if I tell James or even Sirius, but I feel like telling you is what I have to do."
"You know you could tell me anything," Lily said warmly.
"I need you to help me figure out if I should say anything to the others about Remus," Rose said her purple eyes burning into Lily's emerald ones.
"What about Remus?" Lily asked.
"I decided to run earlier than usual this morning, but Vanessa said she was beat and would join me a little later," Rose looked away again, "while I was running I saw a somebody walking towards the castle as I got closer I realized it was none other than Remus."
"So then he is back," Lily didn't get what was so strange about this, which made Rose look back at her again.
"He was bleeding Lily, and his robes…they were badly ripped," Rose's eyes were now shining brightly, "I couldn't move from where I was standing and I was only a few meters from him and the door, yet he didn't notice me at all. It was as if he was totally drained out of energy and was walking to the door like a zombie."
"Oh my gosh," Lily whispered.
"I know, I just wish he trusted me enough to tell me what the problem is," Rose wiped away the single tear that flew down her cheek, "do you think we should go and confront him,"
"We don't want to hurt him in anyway, so maybe it's best if we really don't know," Lily said putting a comforting arm around Rose, who nodded, "in the mean time lets go inside the castle and get some hot chocolate, you look a little pale."
Rose gave Lily a weak smile and let herself be led away to the entrance of the castle.
* * *
"Remus how is your mother?" James asked in a rather peculiar tone.
"Better," Remus muttered his eyes on the floor.
"That's nice," Sirius patted him on the back trying to look encouraging.
"Yeah, well I have to go to the library and do my homework otherwise I'd be behind," and with that he left leaving the three boys with worried expressions.
"James maybe his mother is really ill," Sirius said frowning.
"Yeah maybe…" James said suddenly looking dazed.
"Yo Potter! Yooohooo anybody there," Sirius was waving his hand in front of James' face.
"Sorry bout that, but I think I found a way to see if our friend Remus is telling us the truth or if he is lying," James grinned making the other two do the same, that night they would find out if Remus Lupin really had a hidden secret.
* * *
"You know that you could tell me anything right?" Rose said as she hugged Remus.
"Yeah, I do," Remus said but he tensed up.
"Good," Rose said as they let go.
"Well…have you visited Hagrid lately?" Remus asked obviously changing the subject quickly as they entered the Gryffindor common room.
Before Rose had the chance to answer, Sirius appeared out of no where and grabbed Remus' hand and dragged him to where James and Peter were standing, not even giving him a chance to protest. Rose looking suspicious followed to see what the three boys had in store for Remus. But of course even she never expected a big beautiful cake to appear in James waiting hands.
"Remus the three of us backed this cake for your mother all our selves, do you like it?" James said in an angelic voice.
Now that Rose was closer she could see "Hope you Get Well Soon Mrs. Lupin" written in baby blue icing, but got too distracted by Remus' uneasiness to admire the cake for too long. One glance at Remus told her that something was defiantly wrong, but what, she couldn't tell.
The poor boy had paled the second he saw the icing on the cake, and now he face his three roommates with red cheeks, teary eyes, and a wide-open mouth.
"Remus yoo-hoo, didn't you hear us? We asked if you liked it," Sirius waved a hand in front of Remus.
"I…it's…its very nice," Remus said now biting his lip hard as if trying no to cry or even say something that he shouldn't.
Rose glanced at Sirius and James and saw that they were giving each other knowing looks but they had a guilty look in their eyes, while Peter was biting his lip looking unsure and guilty.
* * *
"So we were right, his mother isn't really sick, other wise he'd have been really thrilled when he saw the cake," Sirius analyzed
"You know he could've just remembered his mother's bad condition, and maybe that's why he became so upset," Peter shrugged.
"Naww, I saw guilt and regret in his eyes," James said.
"Yeah, now its time for the next step of the operation," Sirius grinned, "this one is actually fun, compared to the last one at least."
Sirius was of course talking about their cooking experience, the boys who obviously had no cooking experience what-so-ever had some trouble baking the cake that they had gotten sooooo frustrated that they charmed the rock-hard burned of what was there first few tries of backing, out the kitchen at neck-breaking speed. As much as this was not intentional, the teachers thought it was, after all having 4 rocklike cakes covered in icing zoom around in the staff-room attacking teachers seemed very much like what they would do.
"What are you talking about?" James raised his eyebrows.
"James, when you go to your grandparents' castle, do you ever look around in the old closets in the dark abundant rooms?" Sirius' grin widened
"Who doesn't, but what's your point?"
"My point, is that you must know what boggerts are then,"
"Of course they turn into what you fear the…" James suddenly grinned, "you're genius!!!!!!!!"
"Huh? What's a boggert?" Peter look from Sirius to James confused, since Peter had always been too afraid to look around his grandparents' old place.
"Never mind Peter, we'll explain it to you later. Anyways first we have to find a boggert, but in a castle like Hogwarts there are plenty, we just have to look in some of the dark places," Sirius started pacing, "why don't we start by looking in that old classroom we hid in last week when Filch was on our tail?"
Peter made a sudden terrified noise, but he was scared of the room or anything, it was that he remembered the how terrified he was of having Filch after them for bewitching the school walls to screech whenever the janitor tried to clean them.
"Good idea the closet in that room looked really old, as if no one had ever washed it in the past century," James' voice sounded a bit ruffled since he had stuck his head in his truck, and after a few minutes it seemed like he found it since pulled his head out grinning, "I suppose we need my invisibility cloak to search the whole school without being noticed."
* * *
"Hey Remus are you okay?" said a soft female voice.
"I'm fine," it took quite a lot of him to keep himself from snapping the girls head off.
It wasn't that he didn't like her or anything, but so far she wasn't the only girl who had asked him this question, it seemed as if every 3 minutes or so a girl or few girls would come and ask him the exact same thing. For a second he wondered how many thousands of girls Hogwarts had, because it sure seemed like a million from where he was standing.
"Could have fooled me," the voice suddenly sounded more familiar as the girl came closer, and the sudden sight of the long red hair confirmed his thoughts.
"Lily?"
"Yup, so do you want to tell me why you're looking so pale and grim today, or are do we have a Malfoy wannabe in Gryffindor?" Lily sat next to him on a library chair.
"Hey!!!! Pale is so in, thought you knew that being a girl and all," Remus said with a weak smile, but it was his first that day, and Lily just rolled her eyes but grinned.
"It's great to see that you can still smile, I never would have believed it a minu-"
"Hey peeps!!!" Sirius' loud voice made most of the people in the library turn to glare at him, but a few girls burst into giggle, which caused even more glares and a bit of chaotic atmosphere, since now some students had started to fight. Sirius gave every one an apologetic grin, which made Peter and James laugh even harder.
"Poor Sirius, he can't go anywhere without causing chaos," James said smirking, "and just by being polite and saying hi."
"Thank you," Sirius sounded very pleased to hear that, but suddenly his expression changed and he turned to Remus, "Prof. McGonagall said she wants to see us in the staff room right now, I think it about that shrieking walls thing."
"Oh?" Remus looked less than alarmed which took Lily by surprise since he was in danger of getting in major trouble and he didn't seem to care the least bit, perhaps what he was going through was much worst than getting detention or losing points, she thought.
* * *
"Why is the staff room empty?" Remus asked.
"Don't think McGonagall wanted to have the other staff members as witnesses for her cruel and unusual punishment," Sirius said.
"Well we are in the staff room alone so why don't we have a look around," James suggested, "lets have a look in the closet."
"I-i-it's moving," Peter said looking positively terrified even though he knew James and Sirius' plan was sure not to bring any harm to him.
"Soooo? You know what why don't you open the closet door Remus?" Sirius said gently, almost as if he was handing Remus his own B-day presents.
"All-all right," Remus didn't really have a choice, after last night he owed his friends big and didn't want to turn there offer down so he slowly made his way to the closet.
As he opened the closet door with a shaky hand, something sprang out and took the shape of a…moon! Remus could feel his whole body shaking, he was going to transform in front of his friends! No, no he couldn't let that happen, he had to run, had to get away, so without out a second glance at his friends he ran out of the staff room.
* * *
"Remus," Sirius' voice made Remus open his eyes but didn't make an effort to get up from his bed.
"We need to talk," something in their voice made him change his mind, and he opened his bed curtains so he could see his friends.
Remus' face somehow looked paler than usual, and he felt like he was going to throw up or something like that, but he was determined to face this, it was the least he owed his friends.
Note: Thankx for all the reviews, and no I wasn't planning on stopping after chapter five, I really enjoy writing this fanfic and I'm planning to continue it for sometime!