Lily darted her eyes furiously between the space she had last seen James and Sirius standing, and the womping willow. She could not fathom where they had disappeared so fast. The looming tree, which had become intensively more aggressive in its moving, swung its club-like branches around its body, sweeping the tall grass at its base. Its woven branches dragged along the ground, cutting into the soft damp earth. Its bumped roots writhed and twisted, strongly resembling a cloth wringing out the last droplets of water. At the very base of its binding, wooden claws, Lily could make out a small opening. From this opening, Lily could see the shine of eyes. She thought it was a rabbit at first, before a much larger body emerged, larger than a human. If she hadn't known better, she would have thought it was a bear.
Before she had time to process, she was instantly startled as the creature let out a blood curdling howl. It stretched out its long limbs and screamed a painful song of hurt and loneliness. Something out of the corner of her eye caused her to step into view. There was another person. Not James, Peter or Sirius, someone smaller. They must have come from the lower parts of the castles. They were still wearing their dark Hogwarts uniform, this made it harder for Lily to identify who it was. At hearing the howl, their hood fell down, Lily instantly recognised the long black hair. Snape.
In surprise, she heard him let out a panicked yelp. Her eyes grew wide. The terrifying creature cut off its hurt filled cry and snorted as it snapped its head towards Snape, who had already begun retreating slowly. Lily had stepped out from her hiding position, without realising, she had taken several large steps towards the chaos. She was now a third of the way down the dewy slope. Her eyes were glued to the long nose, sharp teeth, narrow head and huge talons of the dog like creature. Its howl still echoed over the grounds. It eased the weight from its powerful hind legs and placed its front paws on the floor, soundlessly. It slowly, and purposefully crept towards Snape, who had not taken a single moment to look away, ready to pounce.
Again, Lily's attention was shifted again. Another large creature shifted into view. It had four legs. It too, was the size of a bear, it had a long muzzle and shaggy black hair it barked loudly and ran past the first beast and into the roots of the tree. The creature hesitated and retreated, playfully chasing the second animal. Finally, a person came into view. It ran frantically and clumsily towards, Snape, stumbling over roots and rocks, pushing him in the direction of the castle.
"Go," she heard them gasp, it could have been James, "It's not safe!" They continued to shove Snape in the direction of the castle, both of them now stumbling over each other. "Snape. Don't be a git. I'm trying to help. Trust me." Lily could hear the desparation in his voice. He glanced back and he finally caught sight of her, still rooted to the ground. He glanced back in the direction of the tree and waved her away.
He didn't need to tell her twice. She turned on her heel and sprinted. She could feel the wind rushing past her ears but she no longer felt cold. Her eyes watered and her heart thumped in her chest. Her feet landed rhythmically on the ground. She didn't stop running until she made it back to the door of the castle. It was only then that she paused, doubled over, gasping for breath.
"What the hell did you think you were doing?" James gripped her shoulder he spoke angrily, his voice was a whisper but the panic and urgency was clear. He was alone, Snape must have gone back through to the dungeons entrance.
"I- I heard-" She looked up, strands of red hair falling past her cheeks, sticking to her clammy pale skin.
"Do you have any idea how dangerous it is for you to be out this late?" His grip remained tight, his hazel eyes were wide and locked on hers. Beneath the reflection of his glasses, she could see them flickering between the two of her green eyes. He was not listening to anything, he was scanning her face for signs of what she had seen and whether she was ok. Lily could barely formulate a sentence, she could hear her heart pounding in her ears, tears streamed from the corners of her eyes and down her cheeks, adrenaline caused her legs to tremble and buckle. She lowered herself to the ground. James lowered himself to crouch in front of her, his fingers buried in the fabric of her sleeve.
"What- what was that?" she managed to stutter, now searching his face for signs. Sweat dripped from his forehead, the bottom of his lenses showed signs of miniscule condensation droplets. His shoulders heaved with the depth of his breathing. He was scared. She had never seen James Potter scared before.
"I don't know," he whispered quickly. "I saw Snape sneaking out, and I wanted to catch him."
She frowned, reading his face for the words that he was not speaking. "Who was with you?" she quizzed, "Who were you talking with?"
"No one. I was alone." He lied quickly and easily. "You shouldn't have followed. Merlin's beard, Evans if you had been any closer..." He pulled her in and embraced her. It came rather naturally and she folded her body into his open arms and allowed herself a moment to forget that this was the arrogant Potter that pointlessly hexed students in corridors. This was a boy who had quite possibly saved her and her best friend's life. She felt the warmth radiating from his body, his soft knitted jumper on her cool cheek, the comforting rise and fall of his chest and the soothing sound of his breathing.
"Let's go before anything else jumps from the bushes," James stood to his feet and offered a strong hand to help Lily stand. Her legs were still unsteady, not that she would let on.
James shot a nervous glance in the direction of the tree before unfolding a piece of material that he had hooked over his arm. Until now, it had remained unnoticed. "Put this on," he shook the material, which shimmered in the moonlight. He threw it over the two of them. Lily opened her mouth to speak, "It's an invisibility cloak," James answered before she had a chance to ask, "it was Dad's. No more questions. I won't answer them."
The two of them walked silently to the warmth and safety of the common room. No time seemed to have passed when they arrived at the common room. They entered through the portrait hole, the common room was lifeless, the only light source was from the dying embers of the fire. James removed the cloak, allowing the warmth of the castle building to flood her body again. She felt the trembling subside, and she grew more confident with each step. Relieved, she took another look at James. He looked like a completely different person. His hair was still dark and tussled, but his eyes held less of the mischievous spark that they usually contained, and he looked older, concerned. She could now see the smears of dirt that fell across his glasses and smudged on his cheek and angled jaw. His mouth, for the first time since she had known him, was not curled into a smirk. It was straight and serious. She had a new found respect for this James Potter. They nodded and headed silently to their separate dormitories.