Hey everyone! Thanks for your last couple reviews… I STILL WANT MORE! Dammit. Anywho… breathing… I really wanna be done with this story, because I like the next one loads better, and I think that you all will too. TRUST ME, it's cool. So, here's three, count em—three—chapters for you to enjoy and review like crazy, because I know that you all will… riiiiight??

Chapter 7

Anamangi and Moonlight

A few moments later, Lily was back on the staircase, listening to the marauders. She was going to follow them and find out what they were hiding from everyone. She slowly pulled back her hair, and tiptoed through the shadows, down the steps.

"Are you both ready?" She heard James ask. "Did you get my Invisibility Cloak?" James had an Invisibility Cloak? There was no way those were allowed at Hogwarts…

"Jesus, James. We don't need that thing." Sirius replied. "Peter can check if the coast is clear, then you and I will go."

"I'd feel safer if-"

"Let's just go. He's been waiting long enough." Peter said. Lily heard a little pop, and she peered around the corner to see what had happened. Peter was no longer visible. Could he Apperate? No not on Hogwarts' Grounds…

James moved to the portrait hole, and looked out it. Sirius yawned again.

"Clear, Pete?" Sirius asked. Lily heard another pop, and Peter walked past James into the common room. How did he do that?

"Yeah. Come on." Peter said. James and Sirius followed Peter out of the room. Lily heard another pop, and the portrait hole closed. Lily scrambled down the stairs, and dashed out after them.

She slid through the shadows behind the muraders. Where were they going? Peter wasn't visible, but James and Sirius were watching something on the ground Lily couldn't see.

She followed them all the way down the entrance hall. The muraders skipped down the front steps into the crisp night air. Moonlight was filtering down on the grounds and Lily had a hard time keeping in the shadows. Lily looked up and saw the full moon slipping out from behind a cloud. James and Sirius were walking towards the Whomping Willow- a wild tree whose branches swung violently trying to hit whoever it could.

"Go ahead, Wormtail." Sirius whispered, glancing cautiously over his shoulder. Wormtail? Lily leaped behind a tree, and peered over to them. Suddenly, the tree's branches stopped whipping and hung uselessly in the air.

"Ready?"

"Yeah…" James said. There was another pop, and standing in James' place was a large, brilliant, stag. Lily gasped. James was an Anamangus? He could turn into an animal? No way…

There was another pop, and a large, black dog replaced Sirius. Sirius was an Anamangus too? But there was no possible way they were allowed to be Anamangi… they were under age. That meant they were breaking the law.

Sirius the dog crawled between the branches and down a hole Lily had never noticed before. James began to follow him.

"James!" Lily shouted, making the stag turn abruptly, and pop back into James. Sirius hopped out of the hole, no longer in dog form.

"Evans? What are you doing here?" Sirius asked. "Did you…?" He questioned James.

"No!" James shouted defensively. "Lily? What's going on?"

"I should be asking you the same! Illegal Anamangi?" Lily replied. "You could be put in Azkaban Wizard Prison, for that!"

"Why would you care?" James shouted. "Besides, you don't understand why we're Anamangi anyway!"

"It's illegal, James!" Lily yelled. "This isn't some silly school rule you're breaking… it's the law!"

"Oh, come on, Lil-a-roo." Sirius said, shrugging and trying to be funny.

"And Sirius! How could you do this? I know you don't care about Hogwarts rules, but this is totally different!" Lily replied.

"Lily, you really don't understand." James reasoned.

"Thought you'd sneak out of school, hm? Thought you'd take a little holiday, hm?" Lily said, anger was rising in her voice. "Well, maybe I should tell Headmaster Dumbledore about this little excursion."

"No, Lily! Don't do that!" James said anxiously.

"Tell me why I shouldn't, then." Lily snapped. This was absurd.

"We're… er… helping a friend." Sirius said. His brown eyes were looking meaningfully up to the sky.

"What does helping a friend have to do with being an Anamangus?" Lily asked. "And where's Peter?"

"He's with our friend." James said quickly.

"Explain. Now." Lily said. "Or I'll be going to the Headmaster first thing in the morning."

"It's Remus…" James said softly. Lily stared at him in disbelief.

"Oh, come on. Remus?" Lily said. "Okay, I'll play along: What about Remus?" James exchanged a glance with Sirius.

"He's… er… sick."

"Sick?"

"Yes."

"How so?" Lily asked. "Or is this like his family? Some made up illness so he can run away every month?" Lily shook her head. "I still don't see how this has anything to do with you being Anamangi…"

"Remus has this problem." James began. "But it only happens once a month…"

"Damn, James. You make it sound like he has PMS or something." Sirius said. "Remus' problem happens only once in a-"

"Full moon. I noticed." Lily interrupted quietly, glancing at the moon. Suddenly, there was a scratching sound by the Willow, and a small rat appeared at Lily's feet.

"Ew!" She said, pulling her foot out of the way. But there was a pop, and Peter was standing in the rat's place. "You're an Anamangus too?!" Lily said, amazed.

"Yeah, but that's not important now… it's Remus…" Peter said quickly. Then he turned to James. "He's coming. I-I couldn't stop him…"

"Lily, you have to go- now!" James said, running over, and pulling her away.

"James, we're talking about Remus, here. He wouldn't hurt me." Lily protested, yanking James' hands off her shoulders.

"I'm serious, Lily. Go!" James said. "Remus…er, isn't himself right now…" 

"Lily, you really should go…" Sirius said nervously. Lily noticed a look of panic on his face Lily had never seen before. A sudden pang of fright splashed over her.

"What's wrong with Remus?" She gasped. "Where is he?"

James exchanged a dark look with Sirius. Peter glanced nervously at the Willow. Then, Peter disappeared into his rat form and scampered toward the tree with a little squeak. No one seemed to want to tell Lily what was going on.

"James…?" Lily questioned cautiously. He just shook his head, and tried to push her back to the castle.

Suddenly, there was a low, loud growl from the Whomping Willow. Lily, Sirius and James stared at it. Then, there was a huge crunch of wood, and splinters flew into the air. Lily screamed and shielded her eyes from the flying wood. She watched, wide-eyed, at the huge wolf that was now standing at the base of the tree. Lily knew immediately that this was no ordinary wolf- it was a werewolf.

"Lily! Go!" James shouted. But Lily was frozen in fear at the spot. The half-man, half-wolf, paused staring at Lily, the hairs bristling on its neck. James was no longer by her side, but a large stag was now next to her, pawing the ground. Sirius vanished with a pop into the black dog. The werewolf looked confused for a moment and Lily saw its eyes soften at the sight of Sirius and James in their animal form.

But it was still watching Lily's every breath; it was obviously contemplating whether or not to attack her. It growled again and began to walk closer to her. Lily's heart was pounding in her chest. Every breath she took was sharp and short.

The werewolf growled- low and menacing. It crouched down, ready to pounce, it's gray eyes sparkling maliciously.   

Sirius barked loudly and the wolf turned its attention to him. James nudged Lily in the side, and back into consciousness. She looked at him, and his eyes told her to run.

Lily watched the wolf prowling around the tree, and she backed up slowly, then broke into a run. She sprinted as fast as she could possibly go. The wolf's howling- long, single-note growls- cut into the crisp night air.

Lily didn't stop running until she was safe on the second floor. She walked to a window and looked out to where she had been standing no less that 60 seconds ago.

The moon was no longer visible on the grounds- it must have hidden itself behind a cloud. James and Sirius were back in human form and bent over a hunched human shape. The person was on all fours, gasping for air on the grass. Peter reappeared out of the Willow, and walked over to James and Sirius. Sirius helped the human down into the hole, and James followed. When the four of them had disappeared down the hole, the Whomping Willow's branches began to swing violently again.

Lily sneaked back up to the Gryffindor dormitories and did not wait for James, Sirius, and Peter to return. Something told her they did not want to see her. She had held them up, and almost caused a serious disaster.

Lying safely in her bed, she thought all of them could have been killed. But Lily couldn't help wondering what that thing was? It was obviously a werewolf, but who was the werewolf?

Suddenly, it hit her. Remus. Remus Lupin was a werewolf. That's what James and Sirius had been trying to tell her. Once a full moon, Remus would turn into a werewolf and hide down that hole. The Whomping Willow protected him and all the students at Hogwarts. But what if he got out like he had awhile ago? Everyone would be in danger. He could kill; it wouldn't be his fault, just instinct.

This couldn't be kept secret. Sure, the muraders had thought this plan through, but it just wasn't safe. Someone had to tell Dumbledore that there was a werewolf attending Hogwarts. But wouldn't he notice one of his pupils was absent once a month?

Lily had to hand it to James: he was a very caring person. He went through all that just to help a friend. But why? What was in it for him?

Chapter 8

Halloween

The next morning, on Halloween, Lily hurried to the library to research werewolves. If she was going to go to Dumbledore, she needed to present her case properly. Remus would be back in school today, because a full moon only lasted one day and night.

She poured over books, skimming page after page of information. Nothing really seemed to be important, other than the fact that a bite from a werewolf would make you a werewolf.

Lily looked up from her book, Moonlight at Midnight by Marcus Kathbirt, to see James and Sirius stumble into the library. They seemed to be looking for someone.

"Lily!" James said, sounding relieved.

"Damn… look at this place!" Sirius said. "James! Look at all the books!"

"Yeah, Si, no kidding- it's a library." James said. "Lily about last night-"

"Do people really come in here to read?" Sirius asked. "It's amazing! James, how come we've never come in here?" The thing that scared Lily was that he sounded serious. He left Lily's table and went walking though the aisles of books, a look of shock on his face.

"Ignore him." James sighed. "So about last night…"

"I think it's sweet, all the trouble you went to keep Remus here. But it's entirely unsafe." Lily said. "Look:" She pushed the book she was reading under James' nose. "Remus could bite someone… or kill them, even. And here, it says-"

"We know all that." James said, shoving the book away without glancing at it. He looked around nervously, even though no one was in the library. "And Headmaster Dumbledore already knows that Remus is… well, he knows."

"He… does?"

"Yeah." James said. "Every full moon, Madam Pomfry escorts Remus down through the tunnel and-"

"Where does the tunnel lead?" Lily asked.

"The Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade." James said. "And Dumbledore suggested planting the Whomping Willow to prevent people from following them."

"It makes sense…" Lily shrugged. "But does Dumbledore know about you three being unregistered, underage, illegal, Anamangi?" She asked, raising her eyebrows. "What was the point of that? Just for fun or…?"

"No." James whispered. "He doesn't know about that." He glanced around nervously again, then continued. "We felt bad about Remus having to leave- to be honest we were jealous, too." Lily was about to speak up, but he silenced her. "We knew it would be unsafe to approach Remus as humans. So, Peter did some research and found out that werewolves are calmer around animals. That gave us the idea to become Anamangi.

"We've practiced behind the teachers' backs for the past five years. Just this year we've finally mastered it.

"We had Peter become a rat so he could sneak around, making sure coasts were clear and so he could press the knot on the Whomping Willow that makes the branches stop swinging. Sirius became a dog, so Remus could have a companion- sort of. I practiced becoming a stag, so if Remus got out of hand, there would be a bigger creature around to put him in his place."

"Sure it all sounds good," Lily reasoned. "But if you get caught…"

"We know." James sighed. "We'd be in loads of trouble."

"More than that!" Lily reprimanded. "You could be thrown into Azkaban without another thought. You'd be like a common criminal!"

"Lily, listen: Remus has become a lot more behaved, now that we come visit him when he's in his wolf form. Even Pete thinks so!"

"James! You don't get it!" Lily said angrily. "You're breaking the law!"

"God! For once in your life, could you just butt out?!" James shouted. Madam Pince, the librarian shushed him, so he lowered his voice to a whisper. "We're trying to help a friend. It has nothing to do with you!"

"It sure did last night."

"Come off it! That's only because you couldn't keep your nose out of other people's business. We didn't make you follow us, you know." James said softly.

"It is my business if people are in danger of-"

"Lily, Remus wouldn't hurt anyone. And if he tries, Sirius and I are there to stop him- like last night. We wouldn't have let him hurt you." James shook his head for a moment, then said, "Remember what you said during detention?"

  "If you want me to side with you, you shouldn't bring up the most disgraceful moment of my life, James."

"You said you'd never force anyone to leave Hogwarts." James said, trying to catch her eye. But Lily was looking determinedly at her book. She would not look into those blue eyes.

"This is different."

"Different how?" James asked. She could tell he was smiling.

"People's lives are at steak, James. You just can't accept the fact you're playing along with something stupid." Lily snapped, packing up her books.

"Lily, stop." James sighed, putting his hand on the books so she couldn't put them into her bag.

"Let go, James. I'm going to see Professor Dumbledore." Lily said. James let go, but when Lily glanced at his face, he was staring at the floor. His eyes had a slight look of defeat. "You've crossed the line this time." She said sympathetically.

"Hey Lily!" Sirius called.

"What is it, Sirius?" She replied, exasperated.

"How do you check out a book?" He asked, walking over. Lily couldn't tell if he was joking or not, but she laughed anyway. He looked very pleased with himself, and he showed her a book of Quidditch.

"Talk to James… he'll know." Lily sighed. "I'm leaving." She turned on her heel and strode out of the library, slamming the door behind her.

Since it was almost time for the Halloween Feast, Lily decided to speak to Dumbledore the next day. James words kept repeating themselves in her brain as she made her way to the Prefect washroom to take a bath. Why was it so hard to defeat James? Sure, it seemed simple at the time, but he always bounced back and retaliated. And he always made her feel so guilty- it must be his blue eyes.

She left the washroom with a towel over her head; she had borrowed the Prefects' shampoo, and it said to leave it in awhile before rinsing.

She hurried to get dressed for the feast. McGonagall had tracked her down earlier that day and told her she needed to make an announcement of some kind. She wanted to look as impressive as possible.

But, when she took her hair out of the towel, the whole castle could hear her scream bouncing off the windows and making everyone's heads turn.

"JAMES!!!" She hollered.

Looking in the mirror, she could see that instead of her usual cheerful red, she had vivid, emerald green hair. Stunned, James came up the stairs to the dormitory.

"You called, Lily dearest?" He replied, but the moment he spotted Lily he let out a snort of laughter.

"What have you done?!" She yelled, running her fingers through her putrid green hair. She looked like a freak. How could this happen?

"I… I didn't!" James said, spluttering with laughter. Sirius came up to the girls' dormitories to see what the commotion was, and he too was startled.

"Whoa! When the dye said green it really meant green, didn't it, James?" He chuckled.

"How am I supposed to live with this?!" Lily hollered. "I have GREEN hair!!"

"Calm yourself, Lily! I think it brings out your eyes quite nicely." James snickered.

"I hate you! All four of you! How could you do this to me?!" Lily screamed. "How can I fix this?!"

"You're going to tell on us." James shrugged. "We had to teach you a lesson."

"My God, James!" Lily shouted. "I haven't told anybody! And I'm not going to!" She turned back to the mirror. "But this… how can I live with this?"

"Wait- you're not going to go to Dumbledore? Boy, do we feel dumb now!" Sirius laughed. "But don't worry, Lily! Green is… er… very hip- and original. No one else in the school has green hair, you can bet on that."

"GET OUT!" Lily bellowed. "Both of you! I never want to see either of you again! I have to face the whole school tonight- and because of you, it will be the worst thing I've ever done!"

James and Sirius scurried out of the room quickly. Madison and Belle were quick to dash up the steps. Belle actually screamed when she saw the remains of Lily's hair.

"Er… don't worry!" Madison said. "We'll fix it…"

But after a half an hour, Lily's hair was still mostly green. Madison was able to conjure a few red streaks, but unless she had more time- which they didn't- Lily's hair would have to stay this way; at least for the rest of the night.

After the delicious feast, Professor McGonagall called all the Prefects up to the teachers' table. She handed Lily a long piece of parchment for her to read to the school. Lily heard a few sniggers and saw some fingers point at her half-green, half-red hair.

"We, the Prefects of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, are planning a very secret, special event for all of you." Lily read loudly. She paused for effect. "This event will be taking place in honor of our new Headmaster, Professor Dumbeldore. We are sure that each and every one of you will want to attend, as it will be an amazing experience." McGonagall motioned for her to pass the paper to the next Prefect, so she handed it to James.

"We won't tell you exactly what this event will be, as we want it to be a surprise." James said, hardly looking at the parchment. "But, we will advise that you all come to dinner on the 15 of November dressed in your best robes." He smiled out at the astonished crowd. "No, you will not need to find partners for this event- it will be… er… unnecessary." He grinned for a second. "You might not find them again."

At this statement, the students burst into a confused whisper. It sounded like a huge gust of wind had flooded into the hall, and was swishing around the room.

"Why did you tell them that?" Lily snapped. "Now they'll know they'll be masked!"

"Are you kidding?" James scoffed softly. "How could they know?!" He smiled as McGonagall approached them.

"Lovely job! Superb!" She glowed. "Now, I'd like all of you to stay behind after the rest of the school goes back to their dormitories." McGonagall said to the Prefects. "We need to discuss the decorations."

After all the students had left the hall, McGonagall rounded them up to the staff table again.

"Right. So, what band do we want to play at our event?" She asked excitedly.

"Oh! How about Gina Pentium?!" Haley suggested. "She plays all sorts of music and has a great backup." Everyone gave nods of consent.

"Wonderful… and the setting?" McGonagall prompted.

"I'm thinking loads of fabric banners… candles… and mini-tables- not our bulky house tables." Cindy said, closing her eyes and imagining the hall. "Very romantic, yet very relaxing and casual."

"Or we could have a huge light show!" Jonathan said happily.

"A light show is a little much, I think." Lucius said coldly. "I like Cindy's idea much better." He flashed Cindy a large, toothy smile. She looked very pleased with herself.

"Fabric and candles it is then!" McGonagall said. "What kind of masks should we get? Potter- Evans? You both haven't said much. What do you think?"

"Subtle." Lily said. "Nothing too extravagant. Maybe it should match the fabrics in the decorations."

"Guys one color, gals another?" James shrugged.

"Good, good." McGonagall said, jotting these thoughts in a notebook. "Very well then! I'll notify you of our next meeting. And good luck with Quidditch, next week, Potter." James smiled and nodded.

The Prefects left the Grand Hall and hurried up to their dormitories. But no one was quicker than Lily. She was determined to avoid the marauders at all costs.

"Help!" Lily spluttered to Madison as she dashed into the common room. "My hair! We need to fix my hair!" She whispered harshly. But Madison seemed a little too preoccupied with Sirius to pay Lily much attention.

"Hold on!" Madison said. "So, you were saying, Si?"

But Lily didn't wait to hear the rest of Sirius' more than pathetic joke. She rushed over to Belle, and begged her for assistance.

"I'm comin', I'm comin'." Belle said, hopping up from her chair. "I agree, we have to fix this before Monday."

So the two of them worked tirelessly on Lily's hair for most of the evening. Madison did not come up to their dormitory to help them. By 9:00, Lily's hair looked almost like she had meant to dye it that dreadful color.

"I can't believe James and Sirius would do this to me!" Lily moaned as she watched Belle whisper the incantation and streak a small section of her hair red again. "They should know by now I take my appearances seriously. If you can't look respectable, no one will respect you!"

"Hang on. I'll be back." Belle said. But at the look of panic on Lily's face, she added, "I promise! I just thought of something that might help." She winked, and headed out the door.

She returned moments later with James. She smiled guiltily, shoved James inside, and retreated out of the room, slamming the door.

"What makes her think I want to talk to you?" Lily snapped, standing up and turning to the mirror to brush her semi-green hair.

"Look, it's not that big of a deal. Why do girls care so much about how they look anyway?" James sighed, sitting down on a random bed.

"They just do!" Lily said hotly, not looking away from her reflection.

"Oh, God! You're hair is almost completely red again. So why does it matter?" He asked in an offhand voice. "You can't even tell."

"The ends!" Lily said sharply, snatching the tips of her hair and brandishing them at James from afar.

"Who gives a damn?"

"Well, for one, I DO!" She shouted. "I care!"

"Well then, you're just stupid. You shouldn't care what people think of you." James said wisely. "You're… er… very pretty. Regardless of what color you hair is." Lily could tell he didn't really mean this. Why would a famous Quidditch star care? It's not like she really mattered to him. The only reason he was up in this dormitory was because Belle- the good friend she was- thought it would make Lily feel better. Too bad Belle was wrong.

"Just go." Lily sighed. "I really don't want to talk to you." James made to go, but Lily found herself turning around to stop him.

"Is there something else, my darling?" James asked harshly, bowing.

Lily paused, then, "Yeah. Tell Belle to take her time coming back up."

"Yes, your highness." James muttered. He left, and closed the door with a loud bang that made Lily jump.

Lily flopped herself on her bed. James' words were still boring into her. "You shouldn't care…" But she did. Why, though?

Then she did something she hadn't done in the longest time. She always carried her diary with her when she went to Hogwarts- and everywhere else interesting. She'd never really written in it, though. The whole purpose of it was so that she could write in it, then show her family all the things she had done, and thought about during the course of a year. But, when Lily tried to do this after her first year at Hogwarts, she had found her parents really didn't care what happened at school- as long as she was out of their way.

With increasing sadness, she looked over the pages and pages she had written in her first year. She had sounded so thrilled, so happy- and so eager. She had talked about how she had successfully made a feather float in Charms, transformed a match into a needle, and even made a shrinking potion.

Suddenly, Lily saw a tear drop onto the diary page. She was crying. She knew she had a lot of feelings bottled up. But, instead of investing all her gold in Gringotts into a Pensive, she decided to get rid of them the Muggle way.

She pulled out a quill and a bottle of ink, and began to write. She wrote about everything that had happened since school had started: Her joy in becoming a Prefect, and what that responsibility meant; her anger when James pulled out her chair; her content when she got back at him. She recorded everything up to the anger and frustration of the past few moments.

God! I just hate James! I don't know who he thinks he is. Who in his or her right mind would dye somebody's hair green? It's so immature! Although, I suppose immature is the only word to describe the marauders.

I just can't believe Remus is a werewolf. This whole time, no one ever knew. But he and his little friends have been sneaking around the school all this year as Anamangi. Stupid, stupid thing to do!

But then Belle rapped on the door, and peeked her head inside. Lily immediately shoved her diary under her pillow.

"James told me what happened… and I'm sorry." Belle sighed. She came over and sat down on the bed next to Lily. "Are you okay?"

"I guess so." Lily sighed, sitting up and leaning against her friend. Belle put an arm around her and gave her a tight hug.

"James can be so dumb. He's very inconsiderate." Belle said sharply. Lily sorted.

"You're just saying that because you think that's what I want to hear." She smiled. "You think he's cute."

"Now I won't deny that!" Belle laughed. "But he really can be quite thick. I'm serious!" Belle said.

"Okay…" Lily chuckled. "You're too much, you know that?"

"Sorry!" Belle said. "I just can't help myself. I'm a regular Sirius Black, aren't I?!"

"In the makings." Lily sighed. "Don't know if that's a good thing…"

"If he'd grow up a little, it would be."

"Sure." Lily said. "I'm going to bed."

"What about your hair?!" Belle said, astonished. "Don't you want Madison and I to finish?" Belle took her wand out of her pocket. Lily thought for a moment, but then a why should you care? flashed across her brain.

"No, that's okay. We'll finish later. I've decided I really don't care." Lily said, smiling, and crawling under her covers.

"Now that's the Lily I know and love!" Belle said. "I'll tuck you in, okay?" Belle chuckled. She pulled the covers up to Lily's chin and closed her bed hangings. "Nighty night."

Lily listened Belle's footsteps walk out of the room, and heard the door click shut. She suddenly realized that with friends like Arabella Figg, there was really no need for parents… whether uncaring like hers or not.

Chapter 9

Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff

The next week flew by in a blaze of homework. Before Lily could even catch her breath, the Quidditch season was rearing up and ready to begin. The first match was set to take place on Saturday, and Gryffindor couldn't be more excited. Everyone was hoping on a Gryffindor victory. They hadn't won the Quidditch Cup in over 5 years, and they desperately wanted to win.

The Hufflepuff team was always said to be a pushover, but this year, they had a new captain. Amos Diggory was seventh year and on his last chance to bring Hufflepuff the Cup. Lily almost felt bad for the Hufflepuffs: They rarely got any of the Hogwarts glory and were always shoved aside when it came to competitions.

But regardless of who deserved the winning of the first match, everyone was incredibly excited. Unfortunately, the conditions for the game wouldn't be too good. Last week's wind had carried on though this week, and players feared they might be blown off course.

Lily, Belle, and Madison walked down the stadium with a happy spring in their step. Lily's hair was red again, so this only added to her weekend joy.

A terrifying wind suddenly sneaked up behind them and blew their hair and cloaks every which way.

"Jesus!" Madison muttered, trying to put her hair back into place.

"Oh! Over here!" Lily squeaked, pointing to seats perfectly stationed looking out at the center of the field.

"Okay everyone!" Remus' voice was magnified to commentate the match. It filled the stadium and was greeted with applause. "Please take your seats… the match will begin momentarily."

After a few seconds, he began again. "And now, ladies and gentlemen! The team you've been waiting for: I give you, the Hufflepuff team! Captain Diggory, Ashonel, Piggen, McGregor, Franamo, Sherry, and their fantastic Seeker: Brachium!" The Hufflepuff team flew onto the field. All his or her supporters were clapping madly- everyone else was just applauding politely.

"And now- the team you've really been waiting for! The Gryffindors! I give you Captain Jaime Marcus; her shocking Beaters: Sirius Black and Frank Donahue; her superb Chasers: Erica Trancy, Rachel Lang, and Harold Jay; and of course, the best Seeker we've seen this century: James Potter!" The Gryffindor team flew nervously into the stadium, smiling broadly. Half of the crowd brandished rosettes and flags of scarlet and cheered at the top of their lungs. James and Sirius waved appreciatively.

"And here comes Madam Hooch- the referee of today's match. The Bludgers and the Golden Snitch are let loose. Remember, the Snitch is worth 150 points, and will end the game if caught. And- be ready teams- the Quaffle is tossed!" Sure enough, in a rush of scarlet and yellow, the bright red Quaffle could be seen.

"The Quaffle is taken right away by Lang of Gryffindor. Oh! Narrow miss by a Bludger there… she dodges Sherry… and she shoots- oh yes! She scores! 10 points for Gryffindor! Amazing flying there!"

Lily watched the excitement on the edge of her seat. The players were zooming around the field passing the Quaffle, scooting past players and Bludgers, and doing anything they could to get to the Quaffle.

She glanced up at the two Seekers. James was circling the stadium, his eyes squinting for any sign of gold. Kayla Brachium was watching James with interest, hoping he would lead her to the Snitch. And soon enough, James shot down in a neck-breaking dive.

"- And I believe Mr. Potter has spotted the Snitch! Already!" Remus cheered.

Lily watched as James face screwed into concentration. Brachium was too far behind to matter. He stretched out his hand, licked his lip, and just as the ground was coming up to meet him, he yanked his broom up with a huge grin on his face. Madam Hooch blew her whistle.

"And that's all, folks! Game over! Gryffindor wins 160-0. How very embarrassing for Hufflepuff…" Remus said happily. All the Gryffindor students were hopping up and down, screaming and cheering.

"Potter! Potter! Potter!" Some kids shouted in admiration. Lily- along with all the other students- couldn't help but be impressed with James' record-breaking capture of the golden Snitch.

James, Sirius and the rest of the Gryffindor team were welcomed back to the common room with a feast of food and candies stolen from the kitchens.

Everyone celebrated until McGonagall came into the common room around 6:00 at night telling everyone to shut up.

So the Gryffindors calmed down, and returned sadly to their studies. Lily had stopped her partying several hours ago. What with the homework she had been given, it would have been stupid not to get a head start. But she had found it very hard to concentrate.

"Howdy, Lily." Sirius said, plopping himself down in an armchair next to hers.

"What do you want?"

"Didn't you even come to the game? I noticed you've been in this corner almost all night." Sirius laughed. "Studies can take a break you know."

"Of course I came to the match." Lily scoffed. "And I'm very pleased we won, and that James caught the snitch in under five minutes..."

"I see." Sirius said. "Whatcha readin'?" He asked, trying to grab the book out of her hands. Unfortunately, he succeeded, and began flipping through the pages while looking at the book upside down as though he'd never seen a book in his life.

"Give that back!" Lily said hotly. "It's for my homework…"

"Anamangi 101? This isn't for homework…" Sirius said suspiciously. "We studied Anamangi in our third year." Then comprehension seemed to slide onto his face. "You're reading up on us… aren't you?"

"What? No!" Lily lied. "Now give it back!"

"Don't tell me you're trying to become an Anamangus, too?" Sirius chuckled. "Aw, this' priceless! What animal are you going to be then?" Lily couldn't help but think about how thick Sirius was to think she wanted to break the law and become an Anamangus.

"Firstly, are you kidding me?!" Lily groaned. "I do not want to be an Anamangus. And I won't deny it; I am reading up on you. I won't sit back and let my friends get-"

"So now we're your friends?" Sirius asked seriously. "I always thought you hated us. And in my book, friends don't hate each other."

"Okay fine. We're not friends. I won't let my acquaintances get thrown into Azkaban just because they want to be friends with a… well, a werewolf." Lily said, lowering her voice to a whisper.

"The muraders can pick their own friends, thanks." Sirius snapped. "Look, you really confuse us sometimes."

"How do I confuse you?" Lily asked coldly. "I'm not the one playing two sides like James."

"James? How is he playing-? Never mind." Sirius sighed. "You just act like our friend, then go pull something like this." He said, waving the Anamangus book.

"It's the same with all of you!" Lily said angrily. "You pretend that everything's just hunky-dory…then you… dye my hair green!!"

"Yeah, James said you were pissed about that."

"James said I was pissed?" Lily repeated, anger dripping on every consonant. "Well, I suppose whatever James says goes, am I right?"

"No… I never said that!" Sirius said harshly. "You know, I reckon James was right about you. He said you were an air-head who only thought about your own best interest."

"See?! James again!" Lily shouted. She leaped up, and snatched her book out of Sirius' hands. "I told you. He's the ringleader of your whole motley crew. You just don't want to believe it. He's constantly telling you and everyone else what to do and what to think, isn't he? But he's your best friend in the whole damn world, so you don't really care! But, if you were to disappear off the face of the earth, do you really think he'd be lost and lonely for long? Oh no! He'd find your replacement before you could say 'Quidditch!'"

And with that said, she scooped up her bag and pieces of parchment, and walked up the stairs. She knew that most of what she said probably wasn't true at all. James would most likely be in tears if Sirius were to vanish off the planet- and he wouldn't be quick to find a replacement.

She felt horrible about saying those things to Sirius. Sure, he'd never been her knight in shining armor or anything close to it- but he'd never really meant any harm. Not to her or anybody.

Madison suddenly opened the dormitory door.

"Hey Lil…" She said softly. "I, er, couldn't help but overhear what happened. Is everything okay?"

"Yes! Why wouldn't it be?!" Lily shouted.

"Calm yourself, Lil!" Madison urged. "Tell me what happened."

For a moment, Lily thought about telling her the muraders' secret- as well as Remus'. But she couldn't bring herself to start.

"I can't." Lily murmured. "I just can't."

"Okay. I understand." Madison sighed. Lily couldn't help but notice she looked like she had been denied a real treat as she left the room. But she didn't care.

Her head was swimming with everything that had happened. What with Sirius, James, Remus being a werewolf, homework, and Prefect meetings becoming more and more frequent, she could hardly stand it.

Lily pulled her diary out of her pillowcase, and started to write again. She found it was such a relief to express everything she was feeling on paper. Even though it was just some Muggle thing, it really helped her get a grip on life in general.

I don't know what to do with myself. I don't think I've ever been so stressed. And I still have to get back at the Marauders for the green hair prank. (That was so annoying) I think I should do something embarrassing. Maybe I won't even need magic… wait! Something involving pajamas… footie pajamas! Perfect!

Lily smiled to herself as she concocted a brilliant plan on how to repay James for the green hair. This revenge would be sweet. Adrienne leapt up onto the bed and Lily stroked him gently. She carefully put her diary under her pillow again, and drifted to sleep, still petting her cat.