Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and the related characters, terms, etc., I only accept credit and/or responsibility for the plot that you do not recognise. So... yeah.
Summary: James Potter and Lily Evans were married and had a prodigy of a son named Harry James Potter. That is for certain. What happened before then, and to whom Lily's love was promised before an accident tied her to James is left totally up to yours truly. Enjoy.
Chapter: "Make Me Sweat"
"We Can't Forget."
"You're not what?" asked Lily innocently, meeting Remus as he exited the portrait.
"Not staying in the Commons Room," he answered quietly, meeting Lily's bemused look with a weak smile.
"Oh. But could you help me carry these books inside before you go?" she asked, indicating the load of tomes in her arms. "Please?" she added, bringing Remus out of what was obviously a troubled line of thought.
"No." he said abruptly, only reconsidering after seeing the hurt look on Lily's face. "What I mean is that I could, well, I could show you better than I could say it." He pointed his wand at her books and smiled as they shrank until they formed a perfect stack and fit in the palm of her hand.
"I'll take these," he said, doing just that and depositing the tiny books in his pocket. "And I'll take this too," he added, gently taking Lily's hand.
Lily watched Remus in silence as he led her around the castle and soon realised that something was wrong with him, it was quite obvious. The newfound wrinkles on his forehead and the worry lines around his mouth gave it away. Besides, Remus' hand was sweating freely and it was a known fact that Remus Lupin did not sweat.
"Remus John Harold Lupin," said Lily sternly, stopping and grasping him by the shoulders. As your girlfriend…" here she stopped and smiled in spite of herself, "your girlfriend," she repeated, giggling slightly.
"What I mean to say is," she continued, as somberly as before, "I demand to know what's been bothering you." With that, she guided him quite effectively with her body to the nearest wall,
Remus chewed his lip nervously before answering Lily for two very different reasons. First, he had to decide what to tell Lily about the situation with James. Second, his girlfriend had him pinned to a wall, in an empty corridor, their bodies pressed quite closely together. It was enough to make any boy sweat. And for whatever reason, Remus felt the need to tell her as such.
"You make me sweat," he whispered into her ear, causing Lily to take a step away from him and blush a very deep shade of red.
"Oh," was all she could manage before regaining her composure. "I mean, do I really?" Remus nodded. "Good," she said, returning to the aggressive Lily that always was, well with Remus anyway. She smiled a smile that made her emerald eyes sparkle as she moved even closer to him than she had been before. It was Remus' turn to be rendered speechless.
"I, er, I…" he stammered trying to meet Lily's lips with his own, desperate for any form of indulgence in the emotions he was experiencing. Lily, though she sensed this, continually dodged him; this was a woman with a plan.
"Uh-Uh," she said, shaking her head, "not until you tell me what's going on with you." Remus moved from underneath her and immediately regretted it; he missed her warm presence already.
To fill that void, Remus retook Lily's hand and they resumed walking. Obediently, he launched into a description of the afternoon's events, although completely avoiding any eye contact with Lily.
He took care to make the whole situation seem less unpleasant than it had been. He reduced the huge fight they had had to a brotherly debate. His bleeding lip? That was Lily's doing from earlier in the library. And James, he hadn't been selfish and threatening, only upset and disappointed. After all, they were his friends, and aside from Lily, they were his only friends. If he were to tell Lily the –well– truth, she would most likely have more than a few choice words for the lot of them. And them, they would have less than a few words for Remus.
"… That's when I left, and ran into you…" he ended.
Lily took a moment to absorb the information Remus had just poured out and the information that he had obviously withheld. She was not fooled, not in the least. Of course, she was a bit putout that Remus would lie to her, but she understood. She too had thought that James had finally gotten over his silly crush on her; but this apparently was not the case. And now, Remus and his best friend were fighting, over her no less.
"I'll handle it," she said, determined to set things right.
"No you can't!" Remus said, a bit louder than he had intended.
"I have to," Lily responded, cupping her hand over Remus' mouth. While they had been walking, talking, and thinking they had approached a more populated section of the castle where it wasn't a great idea to yell, especially when you were an ex-prefect or Head Girl.
"No. I have to," Remus said, moving her hand from his face. Using his wand, Remus unlocked the door to a dusty and obviously unused classroom and led Lily inside. Locking the door, he explained that it was his problem and therefore his responsibility. "Besides, I have a plan."
"You know, we shouldn't be in here," Lily mused, leaving a finger trail across several layers of dust on an old desk.
"We shouldn't. But you owe me a kiss. Or three… or this many," Remus said, holding up all of his fingers. Lily couldn't help but laugh and push her Head Girl sense of responsibility to the back of her mind as she gave her boyfriend "this many" kisses.
Author Note: Hopefully you've realised that I am actually still alive. =) I'm really sorry that it has taken so long for me to update, and that all you get after all that time is this super short chapter… But I promise that I'm really rolling now. I have the plot all lined out and just want to do a little MWPP research to make this fic as realistic yet, R/L wonderful as possible. On another note, I went through a few of the other R/L fics out there and for the most part they're very similar: Remus and Lily are together, James hates it, then some-something happens and Lily realises she's loved James all along and they get together. That is not going to happen here. I have said all this to say that you can expect something really good and really original, really soon. =) cheers