Lily sat on her bed. She was alone, and for the first time in her life, she wished she wasn't. Every other Gryffindor was downstairs partying. She had entertained the idea of joining them, but she just couldn't get Hogsmeade out of her head; the fire, the screaming, the crying and the death...
She shuddered and hugged her cloak closer to her body- but wait, it wasn't her cloak. It smelled different, more masculine. She breathed in the familiar warm, musky scent- James. It was then that she realized she still had his cloak on. Her hand flew to her neck to caress the delicate piece of jewelry hanging there and she smiled just a little.
She giggled and reached into the pocket of the cloak where she had stored the 'Get Out of James Free' Pass. It really was such a silly, trivial thing, so she wasn't sure what she thought was so special about it.
'It shows thoughtfulness,' the voice in her head offered reasoning not too radical for Lily to accept, 'and maturity but with a child-like charm.'
As she pulled out the little coupon to admire it- after all, it was beautifully decorated in crimson and gold with pictures of Lily and James on opposite ends of the card- another parchment that was in the pocket was brushed out and tumbled to the floor innocently. Lily looked at it, sure it wasn't hers, but curious about it anyway. She bent over to pick it up, anticipating what Marauder secrets it might hold. Stifling her breath, she unfolded the paper to find-
"Blank?" She cried, completely disappointed. Still, she wasn't daunted. As much as she hated to admit, James wasn't stupid. As far as she knew, the paper could still divulge Marauder secrets, but only to people smart enough to get it to do so.
She brandished her wand in front of her and faced off with the offending parchment. She thought for a moment, then tapped the paper and whispered 'revealio' with perfect diction. The paper in her hands remained unblemished for only a second longer, but the primary results did nothing to improve her mood.
Mister Prongs would like to inform you that you can't see the contents of this parchment without the proper password... and would also like to add, don't you look smashing tonight?
The tidy scrawl filled the page slowly and was soon joined by four other tidbits.
Mister Moony would like to remind Mister Prongs not to hit on the "customer" and fellow prankster.
Mister Padfoot would like to agree, as this is the job of the one and only Mister Padfoot. He would also like to say, 'how you doing?'.
Mister Moony would like to apologize for the repulsory attitude of Misters Padfoot and Prongs.
Mister Wormtail would like to be the only possible help by saying the password is 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good,' which must be stated while tapping your wand to the parchment, Miss Lily.
"Finally, something I can use!" Lily exclaimed, excited that it had been that easy, but disturbed nonetheless. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."
Around the point where her wand tip touched the paper, ink began to spread out in a ripple effect until it reached the corners. When it had finished, Lily discerned it was a map of sorts, of Hogwarts and its surrounding grounds. Little dots symbolized people and were labeled as to which of the people they represented. Each dot was placed in the precise area on the map that its assigned person was in the school.
Lily Evans was in her dormitory. Every other Gryffindor was packed into the common room, making for very little space for labels, resulting in names being squashed together. Even with this difficulty, Lily was able to tell which other Gryffindor was absent from the party- Remus Lupin was in the library. She should have guessed.
She spent a good deal of time contemplating how she could get through the common room unnoticed. Without realizing, she stared blankly at the map, and without her moving, her dot began making its way to the staircase.
"What, it's showing me where to go?" she wondered aloud. Nevertheless, she followed where the map showed she had already gone. Her dot paused just above the stairs to the common room; so did Lily, she was standing in front of a tapestry depicting the night sky. A dialogue bubble came from Lily Evans.
'Rescindere.'
As if by an unseen hand, the tapestry began lifting from one corner to reveal a porthole large enough for Lily to squeeze through. She looked at it hesitantly before launching herself into it.
'Merlin,' she thought to herself, squirming with the tight fit, 'I sure could stand to lose a few pounds.'
She wriggled through the tunnel and came out from behind another tapestry just down the hall from the portrait of the Fat Lady. Lily brushed some dust off of her and attempted to smooth the wrinkles in her robe. She repined her prefect badge so it would be more visible- she could always fall back on the alibi of prefect duties in the case of being caught.
She glanced down at the map to make sure everything was still in proper order, but it wasn't. A little dot labeled Mrs. Norris was just around the bend in the corridor. Lily panicked; just because she could lie for an excuse didn't mean she would let herself be found. She didn't want to be delayed by having to explain to Filch, nor did she want him to find the map which, as of yet, Lily had no idea how to erase.
She turned in the opposite direction of the library and broke into a dead run. She jogged through hallways she was sure had been long forgotten, classrooms which had long ago fallen into disuse, and staircases that moved while she was on them. Overall, she did a splendid job of getting herself lost. Finally, she admitted that she needed help and took another look at the map.
'Lumos,' the bright tip of her wand illuminated the parchment and made it possible to see in the gloom. Slowly she traced a path until she was again in familiar territory, but continued to check the map, making sure any staff couldn't interrupt her, and most importantly, making sure that Remus was still in the library.
Lily watched the dot for a while as she walked. It was almost as if she expected it to say something to her- and it did. Just like when the map had shown what Lily was going to say, a dialogue box appeared next Remus Lupin.
'Biblio Apo Lykos.'
Lily had no idea what it meant, however, it was clear that the language was not English. 'Maybe it was a spell?' she wondered, 'but why would Remus have the need to cast a spell at this hour, alone in the library. Perhaps he's practicing for something? But what?' She mused with another look at the map.
She had the sudden urge to let him be alone, but the feeling didn't last long. She crept slowly into the library, purposely making enough noise to announce her presence, but too little to create a disturbance. Shuffling sounds reached her ears and she knew he had understood her message.
"Good evening," Remus' voice rose from the shadows in the normal detached fashion that Lily had grown accustomed to when no one was around.
"And to you," Lily responded in the calm tone that she had learned to use around Remus when he was in this state; shrill and excitable voices sometimes jarred him into uneasiness during times like these.
"My apologies fir skipping out on your birthday celebration."
"There's no need. I skipped out on it, too. It was all too..." Lily started quickly but found herself unsure of how to finish.
"Loud?" Remus offered. "I've found the pace of those parties tend to dizzy me. He means well, Sirius does." Remus explained. Lily simply nodded in agreement.
"I anticipated your arrival, you know," Remus said while pretending to examine his fingernails. He chanced and look at Lily who had flushed a light shade of pink.
"Oh?"
"Yeah, I snuck down to the kitchens and nicked you a treat." The trace of a boyish grin played across he mouth at this statement.
"Oh?" Lily repeated. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to react to this information and, frankly, that one word was the only thing she trusted herself to say in the current situation.
"Happy birthday," Remus said, and revealed a single cake that fit in the palm of his hand. A solitary candle was squashed in the center and was emitting a soft glow that lit up Remus' features spectacularly from beneath. He plucked the candle from the cake and held it away from them.
"Well, give it a taste."
Lily did as she was told and bit into the warm, moist cake. She couldn't put a finger on any individual taste, but the mixture was absolutely heavenly. Without meaning to, she moaned with delight. Remus tried to mask his giddy smile while Lily finished the miniature cake.
"Make a wish," he commanded as he held out the candle closer to Lily's face. She giggled lightly and her eyes slid shut.
'I wish I could be less of a bumbling idiot around Remus,' she thought and blew out the candle with one steady stream of breath.
"What did you wish for?" Remus asked automatically.
"I... don't remember..."
"Then how will you know when it comes true?" Remus posed the question with a playful innocence, clearly not believing her. Lily was about to reply when her sight caught a fleck tarnishing Remus' immaculately clean robes.
'Oh no, is that cake?! Did I spit that there!?! Talk about bumbling!' Lily's face heated rapidly and her eyes bulged. Obviously the wish wasn't coming true now! She tried to draw attention elsewhere by responding to Remus with as much grace as she could muster. To her credit, it was more than a paranoid person could have called up at this moment. She played coy.
"Well if I told you, it may never come true."
Remus winked at her. "Ah, no, that's a common misconception," he said in a mock teacher tone. "There's a loophole. If one first spits cake on another during the making of the wish, the person wearing the cake gets to be privy to the details of the wish."
Lily's jaw dropped. Her face rouged uincontrollably.
"I... it...er, sorry."
He laughed and brushed the crumbs off his shoulder. Lily let out a few forced laughs before shutting her mouth abruptly.
"Don't be embarrassed," Remus soothed, "Sirius does it to me all the time."
Lily pursed her lips, pretending to be very insulted.
"Why, Mister Lupin, I daresay, that better be the last similarity between myself and that heathen that you are planning to point out!"
Remus put his hands out, faking fear. His eyes were alight with mirth. "Of course, Miss Evans. Never again, ma'am."
Lily practically melted on the spot.
The two wandered over to a window, still chuckling, and propped themselves on the ledge where they both could sit and gaze out onto the grounds which were drenched in a wash of moonlight.
"It's almost the full moon," Lily mused. In that second, she could almost feel the energy sucked from the room.
"Mhm," Remus grunted, once again distant, his face significantly more pale.
"Romantic, isn't it?" she ventured, perhaps more bold than she dared.
"How so?"
Lily looked confused. "What do you mean?"
"What about it is romantic?"
'This,' Lily nearly said.
"Er... its beauty."
"What exactly is beautiful about a giant rock floating in the sky?" Remus said contemptuously.
"That's only the very literal-"
Remus looked at Lily with a challenging expression. She wrinkled her forehead.
"Well, its light, for one, is..." she tried, but was cut off.
"It doesn't have a light of its own. It's merely reflecting the sun's glow." Remus snapped irritably. "Not to mention that the light itself isn't pretty. It makes everything look sallow and ghastly. Besides, there are plenty of stars in the sky to take care of the need for light. To have a moon is superfluous."
"It is not. The moon regulates cycles like the tides..."
"And others," Remus whispered, almost inaudible, "those that are less pleasant."
"Such as?" Lily prompted. She wasn't sure she liked where he seemed to be going with this. "Are you trying to hint that I'm... acting out of PMS?" she said bluntly.
Remus blanched. "I... no... of course not... what I meant was... you see... uh," she stammered with uncertainty.
'Idiot!' he chided himself soundlessly.
Lily may have at least been slightly amused by his uncomfortable, even bumbling, state, but she was too alarmed by his sudden mood shift from hot to cold. She was quite sure she'd never get used to it.
"Right, well I suppose I should get going. I wouldn't want to deprive the party of its guest of honor." Lily lied. Remus merely nodded, unable to think of a coherent string of words that would apply. Lily walked away in confusion, wondering what nerve she had trod on to deserve that. The hint of a tear stung at the corner of her eyes, but she blinked it away. She began carefully making her way back to the Gryffindor tower with no intention of rejoining the party.
A/N: Yes, it's been a while, but you can't be mad because I've been posting other things in between. Right. The next chapter will be another double length one, so I can get the whole Remus thing out of the way. That'll come in about two weeks... I hope.
TeenTypist: Thanks! Actually, the puppet bit wasn't in my original copy of that chapter, but as I typed it up, it came to me like something they would do. I'm glad you liked that it was Remus carrying her. I thought James would be too obvious too. I felt bad about the baby... but it did work well, didn't it? And the passion speech, man that took me a long time to get right. Not that I can say I got it all right. Well, I made my point. Thank you, thank you!
Anne-Evans89: Thanks! I think so too.
Lilchocolatechip011: Thank you.
MorphManiac: YAY! I was so worried about the Death Eater scene... And about Dumbledore, sorry if it came across that way to you. I wanted to have him explain this, but I guess I rushed his speech. I'll try to keep him less encyclopedic from now on. By the way, if you were to give me some kind of idea for the next chapter... I miss trying to fit weird things in here. Next chap has to do with the Halloween dance...
Lisitea: And I did. Apparently I take requests now. Just kidding, I always do... eventually.