Chapter Four: In Which James Yells His Pants Off At His Own Filthy Little Werewolf
"Today, we will be brewing the Sugar Saver Potion."
There was a murmur of interest.
"The Sugar Saver Potion will not be on your N.E.W.T.s, but I feel that we all need a break from hard work once in a while. Now, this potion is fairly easy to concoct, so it will be just for fun. This potion, when taken, vanishes all unhealthy—in other words, sugar-made—substances that have been eaten in the last half an hour from the stomach, therefore allowing the drinker to eat more candy." Professor Matron grinned. "As it is Halloween tomorrow, I think many of you will find that this comes in handy very often."
Lily laughed and looked over at Ellen, who looked amused as well.
"How's that for a lesson?" Lily heard James asked Sirius excitedly, as they headed to Herbology.
"Excellent. I always was rather annoyed at how little candy I could consume in one day. I just hope he let us keep enough of it," he said, looking at his glass bottle, which was filled with a pink liquid.
"Changed you're mind yet, Evans?" James asked, catching up with Lily. "Will you go out with me now?"
"Er, well, I gave it some good, hard thought," she lied, "and I've come to a decision."
Lily saw Remus look up at her, wide-eyed.
"And?" asked James eagerly as they walked out onto the grounds.
"I've decided… not to change my answer."
"…What does that mean?"
"No," she said, smirking at him.
Remus relaxed again.
James stuck his foot out in front of Lily, and she tripped onto her face, almost. James ruffled up his hair, laughed, and ran ahead of the other seventh years with Sirius.
"Hey!" yelled Ellen, running after them angrily.
"Here, Lily," said Remus, stopping to help her up.
"I'm quite all right," she said, getting to her feet, "but thanks."
"Any time," he smiled, looking into her eyes, and not letting go of her hand. Lily's stomach did a back flip.
"Listen, Remus. About what happened a couple nights ago."
"I'm listening."
"Well, do you think we could… well… c-can there be something between us?" She couldn't believe she had actually said that out loud.
"What…?"
"… Er… erm… do you… do you consider us… you know… girlfriend and… boyfriend?" she daringly finished, very quickly.
Remus's eyes widened so much, Lily thought they were going pop out. "Y-you want…?!"
Lily nodded. "Yes… but I'll understand if you don't think we should be—"
"No! Of course!" he cried softly, smiling exasperatedly.
"So… er… it's done, then?" she asked. "We're…"
"Yeah, I guess," he said, beginning to walk again toward the greenhouses.
"Okay. It's official…"
"Yeah. But James'll kill me," said Remus, shaking his head.
Lily laughed and ran ahead of him.
It turns out Remus was right.
"Moony, how could you do this to me?!" screamed James that evening, in the boy's dormitory.
"I-I'm sorry, Prongs, but she asked me—"
"I DON'T CARE IF SHE ASKED YOU! YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE BLOODY ACCEPTED!"
Remus sighed. "I'm sorry, really. I never meant for you to get hurt. I didn't do it to you, I did it for her. And, well, for me."
James sat down on his bed, his head in his hands. "But why?! You knew that I liked her."
"Yeah. And I knew that she hated you."
James threw a dirty look at him, grabbed his pillow, ruffled up his hair, and slammed down on the bed, his back to Moony.
"C'mon," said Remus softly to Padfoot, who'd been watching along with Peter. "Let's go to dinner. Prongs, you coming?"
James muttered, "Steal my girl… I'll show you… you'll wish you'd never lived…"
"It's a little early for dinner, Moony," said Peter. "Why so soon—?"
"Shut up," said Sirius, jamming his elbow in Wormtail's ribs. "Moony has to be early to set a good example. Remember? He's Head Boy." Sirius smirked at Remus.
Remus shook his head. He stood up, put his hands in his pockets, and went down to dinner. The fellow marauders, except for Prongs, who was still muttering things, closely followed him.
As Remus left, he heard something coming from James. "Crucio! Avada Kedavra! Muah ha ha… that'll teach you, you filthy little werewolf…"
Lily's Point of View
"What?"
"I… I think something's wrong!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Dumbledore! He never looks like this! See, there's no… there's no…er, twinkle in his eye!"
Lily turned around on the bench, and looked up at the staff table. Dumbledore was sitting in his chair, as he always did before mealtimes, with his fingertips touching. His bearded chin rested upon them, and his eyes stared ahead, as if he was thinking hard about something.
"I wonder what the matter is?" Lily whispered to Ellen, looking at him, as he sighed. "It looks as if someone's died."
"Well, I certainly hope not," said Ellen shortly.
Just then, the marauders strolled into the Great Hall, and sat down at the other end on the table.
"I wonder where Potter is?" Ellen said, looking over at them and noticing that only three Marauders had shown up.
"Probably just busy setting off a stink bomb in someone's office. I wouldn't worry."
She shrugged. "I guess you're right."
Remus's Point of View
Remus sat down in the Great Hall. He wanted to go sit with Lily but he was already feeling guilty about the ordeal because of James.
"You're not sitting by her?" asked Peter. "If I had a girlfriend, I'd—"
"Keep it to yourself, please," said Sirius, disgusted. Remus laughed, and Peter scowled.
"No, I'm gonna sit with you guys tonight. Maybe I'll be with her tomorrow, since it's a holiday."
Sirius nodded. "Right."
"Hey, you guys," said Remus, looking to the staff table as more students began to come. "What's wrong with Dumbledore?"
The other marauders looked up. Peter looked uninterested, but Sirius scratched his head. "Not like him. Being all grave like that. Usually he's a lean version of Father Christmas…"
Peter snorted with laughter. "Yeah… Father Christmas… only older!" He started to laugh again, and Sirius rolled his eyes.
Remus decided to change the subject. He didn't think that making fun of Dumbledore was a very nice thing to do. "So… how long d'you think Prongs'll last up there? Without eating?"
Sirius, who knew him better than anyone, said, "Oh, he'll eat, all right. Just not in front of anyone. Now you mention it, he's probably in the kitchens right now getting a private dinner from the elves. Telling them about his troubles."
Remus chuckled, as food began to appear in front of them. He quickly loaded his plate, but not with as much food as Wormtail.
"Slow down, mate!" cried Sirius a minute later, seeing him gag on a carrot. "You'll stuff yourself to death! No… wait…" he said, suddenly leaving him alone and returning to his own food. "You can stuff yourself to death. I don't mind," he said seriously.
Peter frowned at him. "I'm just really hungry, that's all!" Remus chuckled at him.