Hey-lo. I was feeling generous so I put in a huge chunk of my story. Almost 40 pages in word… go me! Anywho. As you read, decide if you want to see this story continued… either way, tell me Yay or Nay. Please!

Lily entered the Common Room to find four boys fast asleep. "Awwww! How sweet!" she muttered, a mischievous smile on her face. Quickly running to her room, Lily grabbed a couple dungbombs, a few wet-start no heat firecrackers, and a few muggle musts for pulling pranks, (i.e. food coloring, flour, dye, shaving cream, feathers, etc.), before coming quietly back down the stairs.

The next morning, Hogwarts was filled with the screams of four boys. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter woke up to find they had been covered in glue and honey, when they sat up, buckets of multi-colored feathers fell down and stuck to the sticky quad. Slipping into their slippers, they found sparks coming from them as they realized that someone had slipped fireworks into them. Running up to the girls' dorm revealed nothing.

"Lily!" They yelled, before flying out the portrait hole, only to meet a bucket of paint. They dashed into the Great Hall yet again to be met with a pail of glitter and flour.

"Lily Evans!" James yelled when he spotted the redheaded female.

"Yes, James?" she asked innocently.

"What did you do?"

Lily replied, "I didn't do anything."

"Yes, you did! You dropped all this stuff on us!" Sirius called out.

"How could I do that when I've been here talking to Professor Dumbledore?" she asked.

"Right!" James muttered wiping the slime off his glasses.

"She's right. She was talking to me and Professor Peele about Transfiguration." Dumbledore said with a smile and that trademark twinkle in his eyes.

"But then who did this?" Sirius asked pointing to his feathered and glittered comrades.

"Those Irish Fire Pixies have been quite active according to Hagrid, Professor." Lily said getting up and walking out of the Great Hall

"Yes, Lily, it seems they have been." He said smiling at Lily.

The couple left behind a few utterly confused boys.

"Professor, as I was wondering earlier, can a person have two Animagi?" Lily asked innocently.

"Yes, Miss Evans, they can. If a witch or wizard has a special ability, such as a seer, they become a certain magical animal, i.e. centaur, but they will also have a muggle animal more suited to their other personality traits, which could be anything." Professor Dumbledore said, an odd look crossing his face.

"Well, Professor, I better be getting back to the Common Room, I have a group of boys to tend to."

"Hold on a bit, Lily. Cotton Candy" Dumbledore said as he stopped in front of a rather ugly gargoyle, which leapt aside at the password. "I have something that might interest you." He said.

Inside his office, Lily saw portraits of older wizards that seemed to be past headmasters, and a gorgeous red and gold plumed phoenix with yellow eyes.

"Here, Lily." Dumbledore said, handing Lily a thin green book that looked older than Nicolas Flamel. "I think you will find it rather interesting."

"Thank you, Professor, for the book and for the excuse." Lily said, smiling gratefully.

"Thank you, Lily, for the enchanting sight, and well deserved laugh." He said.

"See you later, Professor." Lily said as she slipped out the door.

"You too, Lily." He whispered. "That girl is a jewel, those Marauders better realize that before it's too late." He said to Fawks.

Lily walked into the common room, after saying a word of thanks to the Fat Lady for keeping her mouth shut, to find the boys.

"Good morning, boys. Can I help you?" Lily said, smiling sweetly.

"Why did you do that?" James asked calmly.

"Well, I came downstairs to find four boys sleeping peacefully in the Common Room. It was to perfect to pass up." Lily replied.

"How did you cover that whole bit up, I mean the mess and all?" Sirius asked.

"Just a simple spell that you cast so that once it touches the ground, it disappears." Lily said.

"Can you teach us?" Remus asked, "It'd help to cover our tracks."

"Sure." Lily spent the next twenty minutes showing Remus, James, and Sirius how to perform the cleaning spell. Remus then spent the next hour teaching Peter.

"Man, he sure does have patients." Sirius said, watching Remus and Peter.

"Yeah, that's why Remus is, well, Remus." Lily said softly.

"Now, if you will excuse me, I have some other business to attend to." Lily said, picking up the jade book and walking up the stairs.

Reading the book, Lily found out more than she ever thought she could about magical Animagus. She also found out that true seers would turn into centaurs, madmen turned into hippogriffs, and sort like that. The list was rather long, listing traits and possible outcomes. As Lily turned the page, she realized that one page was missing.

"I hope I didn't lose it." Lily thought, "I'll have to tell Dumbledore when I give it back, but in the mean time, let's see if I have two Animagi." Lily said to herself.

Making sure no prying eyes were able to penetrate her dorm room, Lily brought out he parchment Tom had given her. She quietly muttered the spell. This time a reddish-gold light filtered out of her wand, encompassing her. Her body lengthened and grew rounder, her hair shortened and her skin became orange, black, and white stripes. The light faded and left behind an orange tiger, which was pacing back and forth almost menacingly, except for the purring noise it expelled. Suddenly, the tiger pricked up it's ears, "Uh oh! Someone's coming." Lily thought. Quickly the tiger became smaller; the hair disappeared and was replaced with a small-framed girl.

"Lily, come on down! The house elves brought lunch." Someone yelled.

"Ok, I'm coming." Lily said smiling to herself at her achievement. 'So, I'm a double Animagi. This could be useful.' Lily thought to herself.

Lily pranced down the stairs quietly, she heard the boys muttering, "Paint on the door-" "Yeah, she won't –" "Couple curses-" and other odd stuff like this. 'So, being a cat gives me cat-like features…awesome.' She thought.

When she entered the common room, Remus looked up and almost growled.

"Hullo to you too." Lily said smiling.

"Oh, Hello Lily." Sirius said, throwing his arm around her shoulders.

"You guys want to have a snowball fight?" Lily asked.

"Yeah." James yelled.

"Sure." Remus said.

"Awesome!" Sirius shouted.

"I guess." Peter muttered.

"Alright, less go." Lily ran outside in the jeans and long sleeved shirt she was wearing.

The boys followed her out, only to be met with four snowballs in the face from Lily.

"Gotta be faster next time." Lily called out.

"We were smart and put clothes on so as not to freeze to death." James said, wiping snow off his glasses.

"It's not even cold out here." Lily said running to one of the willows. "You guys might want to help me build a fort. The other houses are coming out at 1:00, 'Official Inter-House Snowball Fight' according to the notice boards." Lily said smiling, using her wand to summon snow to build a huge fort.

At one o'clock, the other students were met with huge foot round, self-launching snowballs fired from Lily and the Marauder's wands. After a two hour snow fight, one Slytherin decided to dump a bucket of half-frozen lake water on top of Lily, who didn't even notice a difference. James and Sirius saw this and retaliated by putting a freezing curse on him, saying it would wear off in two hours.

"Lily, here." James said, handing her Sirius and his own cloaks.

"What? I'm not cold." She said.

"You just got ice water dumped over you, put these on. You don't need to go getting Wizard Fever." They insisted.

"I'm fine, if I wasn't, I would go inside, but I'm not so please leave me alone." Lily stated bluntly.

"Please, Lily, you'll get sick." Sirius almost whined.

Lily just shrugged him off, and drying herself off using her wand. "There, that better?" she asked.

The 'Official Inter-House Snowball Fight' was won by, of course, the Gryffindors, who managed to make the other houses retreat back to their common rooms.

Nothing much happened over the next few days, the boys played pranks on some people; Lily spent time reading, and planning a prank for the Slytherins when they came back. They group spent their nights in front of the fire chatting about people, pranks, Quidditch, chess, and whatever crossed their minds. Lily decided to talk Remus about his lycanthropy.

"Remus?" Lily asked one night when they other guys were out rendezvousing with the house elves. (I.E. getting food.)

"What's up?" he asked.

"Have you told them yet?" she asked.

"No, not yet. I will, but…" Remus trailed off.

"They won't abandon you. They're you're friends. It won't matter to them." Lily said.

"I know, it's just, well-" Remus was interrupted by a hand covering his mouth.

"They're coming!" Lily hissed, removing her hand, as the portrait opened reveling three boys laden down with food.

"A chocolate milkshake, cheeseburger, and french fries." Sirius said, handing Lily her food.

"Beef jerky and a coke." James said handing Remus his food.

"And the rest for us!" Peter said grinning.

"Well, I'm off to sleep, alone in my empty dorm. Good night!" Lily said walking up the stairs. "Don't stay up too late, or Santa won't come." Lily threw over her shoulder.

The boys whispered among them selves for about ten seconds before hurtling up stairs to Lily's dorm. Summoning all the sheets, blankets, and pillows from the tower, they mad a giant bed downstairs in the common room so that Lily wouldn't have to sleep alone.

They stayed up till about 12:00 before Peter fell asleep, the other four said their good nights and fell asleep, well all except Lily. She got up and went to the window.

"Insomniac?" she heard Remus whisper.

"No, just thinking. Hey, when do you have to visit you're mom next?" she asked quietly.

"This friday." was all he said. They sat for a while, just sitting there was a comfort for Remus. To know that someone knew was almost comforting.

"Well, I better get some sleep." Remus whispered going back to his 'bed' and fell into a dreamless sleep.

The next morning, the boys woke up to find piles of presents under the tree and Lily seated in front of the warm fire reading a thin green book.

"Good morning, and happy Christmas, boys." Lily said, closing the book.

"God morning, and happy Christmas to you too." The guys said.

They boys ran over to the tree, and started grabbing presents, theirs or not. In less than ten minutes, they had unwrapped all their presents and received a few protests from Lily, who was guarding her presents like a fierce tiger.

James had gotten 'Quidditch Through the Ages' from Lily, a book of famous Quidditch players from Peter, a Zonko's prank kit from Sirius, a watch that would tell you which teachers were within 25 feet of you from Remus, and one package from his parents. The card read:

James,

I received this from my father when I was in my first year. I am now continuing the tradition. Have fun, and don't get caught!

Love,

Dad

When he opened it, a thin fluid material slipped out. "What is this?" he thought, but he must have said it out loud because Lily had snatched it out of his hands.

"I know what it is." Lily said holding it gingerly in her hands. She threw it around her shoulders and…DISAPEARED!

"Lily! Where did you go?" James asked.

"I'm right here." She whispered from behind him.

"Where?" he turned around.

"Here." Lily replied, taking the cloak off.

"Wicked!" Remus muttered.

"Bloody Hell! That's awesome."

"Wha-what is that?" Peter stuttered.

"It's an invisibility cloak." Lily said, handing it to James.

"That's awesome, now we won't have to worry about getting caught by teachers!" Sirius said, dancing around the room.

Lily turned back to open her presents. She opened one from Peter to find a book of magical people and animals. (i.e. elves, pixies, werewolves, centaurs, etc.)

"Thanks, Peter" Lily said, giving him a hug.

"You're welcome, Lily." He said surprised.

Next was her present from Sirius, a thick book of advanced charms and curses. "You can teach us how to curse Snape," was all he said.

James was flipping through 'Quidditch Through the Ages' when he saw a redheaded blur come flying at him, bowling him over with a giant bear hug. "Thank you soooo much, James. I love it." Lily said in one breath.

"Of course you do, I knew you would." He replied smiling.

"What'd he get you?" Remus asked.

"It's a multi-lingual Lord of The Rings set. All she has to do is point her wand at it and say the language she wants to read it in, and boom, it's in that language. I saw her other sets were all tattered, and she had about fifty different books, now she only has three." James explained.

Lily smiled a Cheshire cat grin before turning back to her other presents. Her next present, from her parents, was a set of magical language books Lily had seen in Flourish and Blott's one time. They were rather expensive but her mother knew Lily would have died to get them. Lily smiled as she opened the red leather cover to find imaginary handwriting scrawling across the page. She shut the book, and grabbed another present.

Lily,

Thanks for keeping my secret. It means a lot to know that you are such a great friend. Have a happy Christmas and merry New Year. After all, how can you not when you're with Sirius, James, Peter, and me?

Remus

P.S. This is for any late night rendezvous! wink wink

Lily smiled at Remus who returned the grin sheepishly. She opened the parcel to find an elegant black cloak of silk. It had a silver filigree clasp at the neck and reached down to trail the floor a tiny bit. The shadowy silk shimmered slightly in the light of the new sun. Lily got up and hugged Remus whispering, "Thank you." in his ear. He blushed slightly as he said it was nothing.

She opened the next one; it was from Sarah, Mariko, and Julia. They had pooled their money together to get a four inch thick book called 'Charms for Advanced Wizards' and huge box full of both muggle and wizarding prank materials. Lily smiled as she set them aside and grabbed her last two presents. The first one was a small box. The second was a long tube about a foot long and about six inches around.

Lily set down the tube and grabbed the box. Inside was a note and a small jeweler's box. Lily opened the note.

Lily,

Happy Christmas. I got your gift, and thank you, it will come in very handy. Phoenix tears are usually very expensive, but...well…I'm betting these weren't. Lily smiled. Still, I greatly appreciate your gift. In the box is my gift to you. I won't tell you what it does. You're smart, you'll figure it out.

T.E.

Lily opened the box, inside was a silver necklace with an emerald stone clasped between two snakes. The stone glowed white for a moment before returning to its natural color. 'That's odd.' She thought, 'Maybe it's like a mood ring.' She clasped the necklace around her neck.

Next, she opened the end of the tube and looked inside. She pulled out a beautiful white lily and a note that read:

On the first day of Christmas I gave to my true love a beautiful white lily.

And that was all. "This is nice, I have a secret admirer." Lily thought sarcastically.

"Lily, who's that from?" Remus asked, spying the lily.

"I dunno, there was no name." Lily said flipping the parchment over…nothing.

"Hmmm, seems Lily has a secret admirer." Sirius said.

"Oh, shut it, Black." Lily declared.

"Yes, Mistress Lily. Sirius is so sorry he interrupted his Mistress's admirers note reading. Sirius asks for forgiveness from his kind mistress." Sirius rambled.

"Oh, Sirius, shove off." Lily laughed, gathering her presents and walking up to her dorm. When she got there, she quickly penned a note to Remus saying:

Remus Meet me in the empty classroom by the Defense Against The Dark Arts room, now.

Lily summoned a school owl and sent it off to find Remus. Then she quickly changed into a phoenix and flew out the window.

"Hey, guys. When should we prank Lily?" James asked.

"I dunno. How about Friday?" Sirius suggested.

"I can't." Remus said.

"Why not?" Peter asked.

"I'm supposed to go visit my mum." Remus said shortly.

"Ok, well then how about tomorrow night?" Sirius asked.

"Sure."

"Hey, someone got an owl." Peter said, jumping up to open the window.

The tawny owl flew over to Remus, dropping its burden on his lap before flying back out the open window. Remus picked up the letter, read it and said, "Guys, I gotta go."

"Why?" James asked.

Remus shrugged and walked out the door.

"That was odd." Sirius said.

Meanwhile, Lily flew around the castle, looking for an open window. She finally found one, which luckily for her, was near the Defense classrooms. She flew in and transformed back before setting in a chair. Remus entered the room, not seeing anyone he sat down in an empty chair. Suddenly the door slammed shut.

"Who's there?" he asked no one.

"Oh, just a friend who would like to talk to you alone." Lily said, walking out of the shadows.

"Oh, Lily, it's just you." Remus said relieved.

"Yeah, well on to business. I have something for you." Lily said in a business tone.

"But I already got your present, the book on the Dark Arts."

"Yeah, I know that. But I have-well, I don't really have but anyways. There is another gift like thing I want to give you. Well, not really give, cause I can't give it, but it…oh never mind…I'll just show you." Lily said all this really fast.

"Whoa! Slow down!" Remus said, putting a hand on Lily's shoulder.

"Ok, well, here goes." Muttering the spell, Lily quickly transformed into her tiger Animagus. She went up to Remus and nudged her head up against his dangling hand. This drew him out of his trance.

"Oh my gosh! You're an Animagus! I can't believe it! How did you do it?" he asked, still amazed that a tiger had taken the place of his friend.

Lily let out a growl before she realized that she couldn't talk. She hurriedly transformed before saying, "Whoops! Forgot I couldn't talk. It wasn't too hard, but I figure now I can stay with you when you transform. After all, you can't hurt me when I'm an animal. Plus I'm big enough to keep you from eating me or anything." Lily said.

"Oh my gosh, Lily. Thank you so much! You don't know how much this means to me!" Lily smiled. "But what if you get hurt? I won't be able to control myself. You know that." Remus said quietly.

"Remus, it'll be alright." "No, I won't let you." Remus interrupted, he wasn't one to put his friends in danger for his own sake.

"How about this, I'll learn all the healing charms I can, and I'll go out and buy a bottle of phoenix tears, just as a precaution." Lily said hurriedly.

"Alright, but I'll let you know when you can come. 'Cause if you get hurt, James and Sirius will kill me, only after they've dug me up, 'cause I'll have killed myself first." Remus submitted. Lily smiled and enveloped Remus in a hug.

"Well, you should get back to the common room before the brainless heads wonder where you went."

"I'll just say something about Dumbledore wanting to talk to me about my mum." Remus whispered.

"See ya later Remus." Lily called, walking down the hall to another empty classroom, where she transformed, yet again, only this time into a phoenix, and flew out the window and to her own dorm. Unfortunately for Lily, she hadn't seen a certain person sitting in the back of the room. Professor Dumbledore smiled, 'I always knew Lily was one of a kind!' he thought.

Lily grabbed the book of Charm's for Advanced Wizards, before settling down in a chair in the empty common room. "That's odd, where are the guys?" Lily said to herself.

"Remus left to meet with someone, and Sirius and James went to the kitchens." Peter said coming down the boy's stairway.

"Well, hullo, Peter. Thank you for the Christmas present." Lily said.

"Sure, and thanks for the prank book, Lily." Peter said sitting down near her.

"Care for a game of chess?" Lily asked him.

"Sure."

They spent the next few minutes in a battle against the wits, or rather the wits against Peter, when Remus walked in. "Where have you been?" Lily asked him.

He raised his eyebrows but said, "Dumbledore wanted to see me."

"Oh, I thought it'd be something interesting. And checkmate, Peter." Lily said moving her Knight.

"Sorry to disappoint you." Remus said smiling.

"I give up. Remus you want to play, I can't seem to beat Lily." Peter said, offering Remus his seat.

"Don't mind if I do." He said, sitting down.

The battle began again, this time it was interrupted by Sirius and James coming back with two baskets full off food.

"Who's winning?" Sirius said, setting his burden down.

"Ummm, I dunno." Remus said.

"I am." Lily said, moving her queenside bishop.

"Well, that's very modest of you." Sirius said teasingly.

"Well, it's true cause I just checkmated him." Lily said, pointing to the board and Remus's defeated king.

"Ok, I'm with Peter, I give up. Sirius, James, care to talk my place?" Remus asked, getting up.

"Sure, I'll try." Sirius volunteered.

The three boys spent the next ten minutes watching Lily murder Sirius's pawns, smash his rooks, kill his knights, demolish his queen, and assassinate his king.

"Man, she slaughtered you." James said.

"I don't see you playing against her." Sirius said, defending himself.

"Fine then I will. Lily, care for another game?" James asked, turning his attention to the amused redhead.

"Of course. I'm not one to pass up a challenge." Lily smiled.

This game was more matched skill wise, but Lily still butchered James, who wasn't too happy about it.

"Good job, Lily. Few people can beat James, best chess player in Gryffindor." Sirius said.

"Yeah, he won a major chess tournament last summer." Remus asked.

"Oh, I guess I should have mentioned that I have trained with Vladimir Kramnik." Lily said, gathering her chess set together.

"Who?" Sirius asked.

"A friend of my fathers, a great muggle chess champion." Lily said, walking up to her dorm leaving four stunned boys behind.

"Gee, she could have told us before we made fools of ourselves." Peter muttered.

"And why would I do that?" Lily called from her dorm.

The boys started planning their little 'prank' while Lily was in her dorm. Little did they know, she was listening and plotting her own revenge.

The next night, the boys crept up to Lily's dorm and cast a silencing charm on themselves. Thinking Lily was asleep, they set up buckets of ice water and paint, flour and dye, and all other kinds of pranks they could think off. Well, they thought she was asleep. Lily wasn't really there. She had charmed a picture of herself to grow and become life like. The boys didn't know the difference.

When Lily saw the boys slip out of their dorm and disappear under the cloak, Lily crept into their room, and set up a little prank of her own. She got out a bag of plaster of Paris, already mixed, and poured it into their shoes, then put a holding charm on it, so that it would stay wet until they out their feet into them. She was about to cast spells around each bed so that whoever got in or out of that particular bed would have a curse put on them. (i.e. talk only in pig Latin, fingernails grow to three feet, sing the barney song every time they touched their hair, etc.) when she heard the guys coming back.

"Oh, she didn't even roll over." Sirius said.

"Black should learn to keep his voice down." Lily said to herself.

"She'll never expect it." James said laughing right outside the door.

"Oh, shoot! I'm trapped." Lily muttered, looking for an escape. The only way out was a window and two doors, one to the bathroom, one to the common room, but if she went out that door, she'd run straight into the guys. 'Well, if I'm going to get caught, it'll be on my terms.' Lily opened a window, and then using her newfound ability, turned into a phoenix and flew out the open window. She circled the tower until she found another window open, which just so happened to be the dorm above her.

"Hey, guys. Did you leave the window open?" Remus asked shutting it.

"No, but do shut it, it's freezing." Peter whined.

"Done did it." Remus said, "Well, don't know 'bout you guys, but I'm going to bed." he added.

In 15 minutes, the boys were all asleep. Meanwhile, Lily had landed in the second year's dormitory. She switched back to her human form and went down to her dorm. She stood back three feet and opened the door using 'Alohamora.' It was a good thing she did because a huge bucket of glitter cascaded down in front of her. 'They'll have to do better than that.' Lily thought. She entered her room to find string wrapped around everything like a spider web. Connected to the cord was different buckets and pails all filled with different substances. Using her wand, Lily was able to rid herself of the buckets and string and found 24 filibuster fireworks, 13 dungbombs, and a sock, which Lily was certain, wasn't hers OR her room mates.

After inspecting the room for other pranks before moving onto the bathroom. This room wasn't half as bad as the other one. The only changes were her shampoo had been switched for dye, there were hard candies in the showerhead, and the boys had charmed the door way to turn anyone who exits, odd colored skin. "Boys, next time, don't prank someone with a prank they taught you." Lily said to herself. After removing all traces of the Marauders' failed pranks, Lily fell into a peaceful sleep.

The next morning, the boys woke up early to be ready to hear Lily's yelps. They were to be sorely disappointed. At around 10:15, Lily woke from her slumber, took a shower, got dressed, and waltzed down the steps.

"Good morning boys!" Lily said, startling the guys, who hadn't heard any scream.

"What?" James stammered, looking at Lily.

"How?" Sirius asked.

"Wha-wha-wha?" Peter stuttered.

"Cat got your tongues?" Lily asked looking at boys.

"And why is that?" Lily asked innocently.

"We pranked your entire room last night, but it didn't seem to work." James said bitterly.

"Oh really? I didn't notice." Lily said amused.

"Geez, Lily. We planned that prank for days, and you had to go ruin it." Sirius fake complained.

"Oh, I'm sooo sorry, Sirius. Next time I'll allow myself to be drenched in honey, paint, glitter, and have my skin and hair turned colors; all for your amusement." Lily said sarcastically. "Well, I'm going to have some breakfast." She added heading for the picture of the Fat Lady.

"Breakfast? It's nearly 12 o'clock!" James exclaimed.

"Brunch then, if you're so dead set against breakfast." Lily said. "Anyone care to join me?" she added.

"Yeah!" Sirius yelled trying to run for the door, unfortunately for him, the plaster had set and caused his feet to be extremely weighed down. He fell flat on his face.

Lily let out her bell-like laughter, "Oh, and be careful trying to get up, you feet might be a bit heavy." She smiled as she left the boys to find their own way out.

"Where's Remus?" Peter asked after dinner.

"He left to visit his mom this morning. Geez, how many times do I have to tell you?" James said a bit frustrated when Peter had asked that for the 17th time.

"Calm down, James. Don't have a coronary." Lily said.

"A what?" Sirius asked.

"It's a muggle thing." Lily said.

The other three boys slowly drifted off to their dorms to sleep, but Lily couldn't. Hearing the howls of pain and loneliness was killing Lily. Why wouldn't he just let her come with him, she wouldn't let herself get bitten in human form. Lily eventually fell asleep, looking out a window, thinking about her friend and his secret.

Before anyone knew it, break was over and students came pouring back into Hogwarts. A week after the break was over, Lily walked into the Great Hall with Sarah and Mariko to find it extremely empty for 8:15. They sat down next to Remus and Julia.

"Where is everyone? Including James, Sirius, and Peter." Lily asked.

"Wizard sneezes." Remus said.

"Wizard what?"

"Oh, sorry, it's like a muggle cold except whenever you sneeze, something funny happens. Mainly changing colors, or sprouting horns, that type of thing." Remus explained, seeing Lily's confused look.

Suddenly, Julia started a fit of sneezes. She turned a brilliant shade of blue, then sprouted lime green horns, and chicken legs.

"Come along Miss Beauregard." One of the Gryffindor house prefects said, leading Julia to the hospital wing.

"Do the other guys have it too?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, I'm the only one in my dorm who hasn't caught it yet. Yet being the operative word." Remus said winking at Lily. They both knew he didn't have it due to his "condition".

By the end of the week, almost every single student and teacher had caught the Wizard Sneezes. Every day, a new group of students would be missing from class and a whole new group would come back from the hospital wing.

Lily was woken in the middle of the night by a VERY loud groan.

"Oh no! Not me, not today!" Mariko was moaning.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked sleepily.

"I've got the Wizard Sneezes." Mariko groaned.

Lily stifled the urge to laugh at her now purple friend and said, "Come here, I'll take you to the hospital wing." She got up and went over to her friend, who had passed out, levitated her, and tried to miss all the corners but accidentally ran her floating friend into a lime green and pink polka-dotted Professor Dumbledore.

"Ahhh! Miss Evans. How nice to meet you in the middle of the night." Professor Dumbledore said.

Lily laughed out loud the replied, "Sorry, Professor. But I must say, I don't think green is your color."

"I must agree with you, but I think those slippers of yours look quite comfy." The tall white haired man replied.

"Why, thank you, Professor. They very much are." Lily grinned. "I see you have also fallen under the evil powers of this sickness." Lily pointed out.

"I am afraid so, and I see that Miss Nagano has as well. But luckily for her, you were her to escort her to the wonderful hospital wing. Though I hope you may not have to join our fate as well." Professor said, a twinkle in his eyes.

Lily dropped Mariko off in the care of the school nurse, bade good-bye to the Headmaster and went back to her dormitory. She couldn't sleep without the usual noises coming from her missing dorm mates, so Lily grabbed her charms book and headed down to the fire.

"Couldn't sleep?" a voice asked her.

"Nope, Mariko caught the sneezes so I'm all alone, 'cept for Cora." Lily said.

"Ahhh! The witch of the west in your opinion, am I not right?" Remus asked, sitting next to Lily.

"Eh! She is just…well, she's just Cora." Lily muttered.

Remus laughed, "You really are a red head. But Lily, please promise me you won't follow me next time I leave." He pleaded.

"Sure, but does that mean I have to stay in my dorm and sleep like a good little girl?" Lily asked playfully.

Remus just laughed at that. 'Cause I can't sleep when I hear you.' She thought to herself.

They fell into silence, Lily thinking about how painful Remus' transformations must be and Remus thinking about how he could be sure that Lily stayed inside during the next full moon. Good thing he was because Lily was currently trying to figure out a way to convince him otherwise.

Gradually, things got back to normal, except for one thing, Lily kept receiving different types of flowers from her "admirer" as Sirius put it. Pale pink orchids, blood red carnations, small violet tulips, and any beautiful flower you could think of. The Marauders had a delightful time pestering her about it until one day…

Lily was seated in front of the fire in the common room early one morning, twirling a single white rose between her fingers, when three excited looking boys appeared from nowhere.

"Well, well, well, Lily, what have you there?" Sirius said, a mischievous grin playing at his features.

"Huh?" she snapped out of her trance and dropped the delicate flower.

"This?" he said, picking up the white form, "Another token from your admirer?"

"Why should you care?" Lily snapped.

"Hmm, I'm thinking Snape. How about you guys?" He asked James and Peter, who were sniggering behind him. (Remus was currently indisposed in the Shrieking Shack, or 'with his mother' as the boys knew it.)

"I'm leaning more toward that Hufflepuff, Filfetchy or something like that." Peter said.

"I'd have to agree with Sirius." James said, his suppressed smile making the corners of his mouth twitch.

"Well, for your information, all three of you are wrong." Lily snapped, she didn't know why she was so angry at the moment. Maybe it was because she knew the pain Remus was going through while everyone else was having fun or because the boys were testing her last nerve with their incessant taunting. "Besides, do you have a problem with it?"

"No, but…wait!" James suddenly said. "Remus!"

"Remus what?" Lily said, her eyes narrowing to slits.

"Remus sent you these didn't he?" James asked.

"No, but if you are going to pry into anymore into my life, then either you or-" she was interrupted by a hand being placed over her mouth.

"Shhhh! Don't waste your energy on them, they don't deserve it." A tired looking Remus said, pulling his hand away, an overly large grin on his face.

"Remus, when did you get back?" James asked, forgetting about the whole flower ordeal.

"Just a bit ago. I walked in at about 8:00 when you guys started the whole flower tirade. By the way, Lily, have you any idea who they are from?" he said, turning his attention to Lily.

"Not really, but I'd rather not know." Lily replied, "Well, I'm off to eat breakfast, care to join me?"

"We'll be down in a bit." James replied.

When the boys finally made it down to the Great Hall, they walked right into an odd trio. Lily was standing in front of none other than Snape and Malfoy.

"Shove off, fireball." Malfoy said.

"Why thank you so much for the compliment, Lucius. I so greatly appreciate your caring remarks." Lily spat out with as much sarcasm as the Marauders combined.

"You? Why would I compliment a common muggle like you?" Malfoy sputtered.

"It seems you are not as smart as you may seem, for I just used sarcasm, something which you seem unaware of. Apparently blood isn't everything, especially in your case." Lily retorted, turning around to find a seat.

"Evans, you must learn that a common Mudblood like you is nothing compared to a pureblood like me." Malfoy sneered.

The boys all lunged when they heard Malfoy, but what Lily did next stopped them. She slowly turned around, when she did, all the bystanders saw a dramatic change. Her eyes were flashing dangerously, her small frame seemed to grow, and her usually green and silver pendant was now a swirling red and black. No one had ever seen Lily Evans this angry before except when Sirius had tried to dye her hair. Snape and Malfoy seemed to shrink at the sight of her. She narrowed her eyes, and gazed over the quaking duo.

"Malfoy, Malfoy, Malfoy. You seriously need someone to set you straight." Lily whispered.

Malfoy shook as Lily fastened her eyes onto his. The silence was deafening.

"It seems that Evans needs to be put back in her place." Ronald Rosier said, coming upon the scene. "Malfoy, why don't you teach that little Mudblood a lesson." He muttered.

Malfoy seemed to gather strength from his newly arrived cronies. He reached inside his robes for his wand, but before he could draw it out Lily had already hit three of his cronies, including Snape, with various hexes, and had acquired all four wands.

"Did you really think I was going to let you off that easy, Malfoy?" Lily spat. The coldness in her voice made the artic feel like a sauna. "I suggest you take you and your little 'friends' here, and leave. Before, I do something worse than I already have." She added, her glance sliding over Snape and the other boys who had an arrangement of horns, fur, and what strangely looked like tiny soap bubbles, which were floating around Snape's greasy head.

"I'll get you, Evans, if it's the last thing I ever do." Malfoy spat out.

"Cheap men use cheap lines, and by all means, do try. I always love a challenge, not that you'll be one." Lily bowed low as he stalked by her. "Oh and Malfoy?" she said at his retreating back. He turned only to hear, "Next time you leave your dorm, you might not want to wear a woman's bathing suit."

He looked down only to find himself in a bright yellow polka dotted bikini. (Lily had even charmed the top to sing the song.) He glared at Lily then stalked off in the direction of his common room. Gales of laughter erupted from the crowd. Various people slapped Lily on her back and gave her congratulations. She just shrugged and turned to sit down but was stopped by a whisper in her ear, "Be careful, little flower." She turned to see who it was, but was only met with more congratulations. Lily shook the uneasiness out of her head and sat down to eat.

"Wow, Lily. Good job with Malfoy." James grinned sitting down across form her.

"Yup, that's my kind of girl!" Sirius said, throwing his arm around her. She rolled her eyes and pushed his arm away.

"Now that's my kind of girl." Remus said sitting next to James.

"What?" he asked.

"A girl that refuses Sirius." Remus said grinning.

Sirius looked shocked and hurt, but everyone else laughed.

"Mail's here." Peter said, looking at the owls flooding into the Great Hall.

Lilt looked up and spotted Tom's owl, coming towards her. It dropped a letter in front

of her, then flew off. Lily opened her letter, which read:

L.E.

I know where the book is. Use the included map. You WILL find it. Tonight at 12:00. Be there or you will regret it.

T.E.

Lily felt extremely unnerved by this. Tom seemed unnatural and cruel in the letter. Lily sighed. He was always seemed a bit distant.

"You ok, Lily?" Remus asked, seeing her pale face.

"Yeah, just got a cold chill." She shrugged. "I gotta go. I'll see you later." She got up, took the map and started off in search of the book. Following the arrows on the map, Lily found herself in front of a blank wall, entrance to the Slytherin Common Room to be exact.

"Shoot." Lily muttered to herself.

"That girl will pay." A drawling voice said. Lily hid behind a statue as Malfoy and Snape rounded the corner.

"But did you send her all those flowers during Christmas?" Snape said.

"That was before I knew she was a Mudblood." Suddenly, the wall moved to revel the Slytherin common room. "Shoot." Malfoy cried out, he had tripped and gashed his head on a stone.

"Come on, I'll take you to the Hospital wing." Snape muttered unhappily.

Lily smirked to herself. "By all means, try to hurt me, I'll be ready for you." She muttered.

"Did you hear that?" Severus asked Lucius.

"Hear what?"

"Never mind."

Lily waited a bit, then crept up to the wall and whispered the password, though it wasn't a word she wished to say. She entered to find a low, cold room decorated with green and silver chairs, tapestries, and pictures of famous Slytherins, including Salazar, who had an extremely odd look on his face when he saw Lily. Lily dismissed the photo, and looked at the map. The arrows now at a blank wall. Lily walked up to the wall and felt around the bricks. Her nimble fingers felt a slight dent in a rather smooth, polished brick. Looking closely, she noticed a small indention of a Celtic cross that looked exactly like her necklace. "My necklace!" Slipping it off her slender neck, she slid the delicate cross into the notch. Suddenly, the wall dissolved and opened into a long dark hallway with lit torches along the way. Lily smiled as she stepped inside and the wall appeared behind her. Walking silently down the hall, she came into a room, which was completely empty except for a podium in the middle of the room. Resting on top was a closed book covered in dust. When she entered the circular room, a faint green light filtered into the room. Lily walked up to the podium and wiped of the thick layer of dust. Sred Nowsdl Row it read in silver letters on the green cover. She opened the book and found in fancy silver writing:

Open if ye dare.

Just beware,

In the wrong hands,

I will cause your death.

For love and hate,

Walk hand in hand,

Friends are few,

And hard to find.

Those you have,

May not be true.

While He lives.

Lily shuddered and turned the page. It had a snake coming out of a skull. Lily stifled a scream and flipped through a couple pages. Dark drawings marked the pages. Sinister looking spells flowed across the pages like veins of black blood. "Why would Tom want a book like this?" Lily thought. Continuing to flip through the strange book, Lily saw pictures that made her hair curl. Finally she reached the last page, and what she saw sent shivers up her back. "The Killing Curse" it read in red murderess looking letters. A tear fell down her check as she saw this. "Why did Tom want a book that would teach people how to kill? Why?" Lily thought. Holding the book, she slumped down on the floor and cried. Finally, she glanced at her watch. It was lunch time.

"Great, now I've missed classes." Lily muttered getting up, not bothering to wipe the tear stains of her face. She stuffed the book into her bag and headed back down the long hallway. The wall dissolved to reveal the Slytherin Common room.

"Well, Well, Well. What have we here?" a slow drawl said. "Little miss mudblood in the Slytherin common room."

"Oh Malfoy shove off." Lily spat.

"What? Why should I? After all, you are in MY common room." He said, walking over to Lily. "I could get a professor and explain. But I may have a better idea." Malfoy said, coming even closer.

Lily shivered at the look he gave her. 'Creep!' she thought. "Malfoy, You don't want another incident like the one this morning do you?" She smirked.

"Lucky try Evans. I'm ready this time, do your worst." He spat.

"Ladies first." Lily said, motioning to Malfoy.

"My pleasure. After all, mudbloods don't even deserve a chance." Malfoy sneered. Raising his wand, he muttered a curse, but Lily expertly dodged it and threw her own curse at him, turning his perfectly slicked hair into a mass of hissing snakes.

"Awww Malfoy, you should have been Medusa for Halloween. Just don't look in a mirror, you might turn to stone. Wait! You would anyway." Lily smirked as she walked out of the common. She bumped into someone who wasn't the best person to bump into.

"Move out of my way Snape." Lily spat in his face.

"Why should I?" he smirked.

"No reason, but I wouldn't go in there. You might be turned to stone." Lily leered.

"What do you mean, Evans?" he asked eyes narrowing.

Lily muttered the same curse under her breath and said, "Look in a mirror and you know why." Lily smirked as she pushed by Snape and headed to the Great Hall for lunch.

Sitting down, she loaded her plate with a turkey sandwich, and some macaroni salad. She started to eat but visions from the book kept flashing in her mind. A single tear slipped down her check as she remembered pictures of men, women and children writhing under a curse, children watching their parents' die, and mothers seeing their kids skin being ripped from their bodies. Lily pushed her plate away and hurriedly wiped away the tears furiously. She was going to figure out why Tom wanted this book. Her mind was set and nothing could change that.

"Lily! Where have you been?" Sarah asked. "You missed class! Where were you and why to you look like you were in a dust bin?"

"Nothing." Lily said putting on a happy face. "I just was feeling a bit sick this morning."

"Ok, as long as your feeling better. You missed Charms, but it was only notes and after all, its charms, so you'll be fine." Sarah said, plopping some funky mint green salad stuff on her plate.

"Hey, Ladies." Sirius said, sitting in front of Lily. "How's it going?"

"Great." Sarah replied smiling.

"Lily?" he asked.

No answer.

"Lily?" he waved his hand in front of her face.

Still no answer.

"Lily!" he almost yelled.

She snapped out of her trance. "What?"

"Are you sure your ok?" Sarah asked again.

"Yeah, yeah. I gotta go somewhere. See you guys later." She said, grabbing her bag.

"But Lily, we have class in twenty minutes!" Sarah yelled.

Lily ignored Sarah and continued to walk to the Headmasters office. She really needed to talk to him. She reached the rather revolting gargoyle and muttered "Cotton Candy." Then proceeded up the winding staircase. She rapped on the door and heard a faint "Come in." from inside. She entered to find Professor Dumbledore shutting a book.

"I thought you would be coming here. What may I do for you Miss Evans?" he asked kindly.

"I have one question." She said.

"Shoot." Lily would have laughed at the headmaster saying this if the situation weren't as serious as it was.

"What do you know about Tom Riddle?" she asked.

The professor looked intently at her, before replying, "Ahhh, Mr. Riddle. I know of whom you speak. I had the privilege of teaching him before he left here. Very bright boy, but his heart is in the wrong place. I am afraid he is now a power hungry man who will do anything for power, including kill defenseless muggles. Right now, I believe he is searching for a book that contains a complex spell to make him immortal as well as a few that would cause great suffering to others when in the wrong hands. Which I am greatly hoping he doesn't find, for the world will change if he does, and not for the better." The professor said sadly, the twinkle in his eyes gone. He reached into his desk and pulled out a huge photo album.

"He was a happy boy, but he didn't stay that way." He added, showing Lily a few pictures of a handsome dark haired boy smiling with what seemed like friends, laughing at jokes, and being a genuine teenage boy.

"I am sorry to hear that, Professor." Lily said, her heart dropping to her feet.

"Not to worry though, Miss Evans. He has little power right now, especially with out that book." He said, smiling sadly.

"Oh before I go, I would like to return this to you, but I am afraid that the last page is missing from it. I'm sorry." Lily said, handing Dumbledore the thin Animagus book.

"Oh, not to worry, I knew that page was missing. I probably should have told you." He smiled.

"Thank you, Professor, for your time. Sorry to bother you." Lily said.

"Don't be, Lily. I'm here anytime you need to talk." the trademark twinkle back in his eyes.

Lily quietly left after muttering her thanks again. She slipped in and out of the halls of Hogwarts and onto the roof of the astronomy tower.

"Why did I have to meet Tom? Why does he like to torture muggles? Will he really do anything to get power?" Lily thought. "No, it can't be my Tom. He helped me with Remus and becoming an Animagus. If he hadn't it would have taken me years. After all, I couldn't have gone up to McGonagall and said, 'I want to become an Animagus, what is the spell?' Lily looked at the silver stars dotting the dark blanket of deep blue and the bright white moon above watching over the earth like a protective mother. Lily gasped and looked at her watch, 12:19. She was late!

Lily rushed down toward the doors to outside. She passed the Great Hall when she felt as if she was being watched. She looked around and saw nothing except an empty hallway. Lily just shrugged before turning down the next hallway, opened one of the great oak doors to outside, and slipped out, seemingly unnoticed.

Unknown to her, a certain someone was hiding under an invisibility cloak. "Well, well, if it isn't Miss Lily Evans! I wonder where she is going?" the cloaked figure thought, then followed her.

She silently crept to the forests edge, her hands sweating, and her breathing growing rapid.

'Why am I so scared to meet Tom?' Lily thought, whipping her hands on her jeans. "He wouldn't hurt me would he?"

She quietly crept around a few trees to the little hollow where she saw Tom standing.

"That little girl better hurry up. I'm not a very patient person, I'd hate to have to curse her, after all, she is a very bright girl, and would be a wonderful addition to my ranks. Good thing she doesn't have a thing for muggles, that would cause a problem. But she is too good for them, or at least I hope she is, for if not, well I would hate to have to kill her." Tom fell silent as he looked at his watch. It read 12:48. "I swear if that girl doesn't come soon, I'll…" he trailed off as Lily stepped into the alcove of trees.

"Well Lily! I'm glad you finally came." He said, smiling though it didn't reach his cold eyes.

"Tom." Lily said.

"You did find the book didn't you?" Tom asked rather harshly.

"Yes I did, but I do not have it with me." Lily lied.

"What? Why?" he said, his anger rising.

"Because I will not let you have it. I will not give you the one thing that will destroy the world." Lily said strongly, standing her full height.

"Lily! You don't know who you are messing with." Tom said, trying to keep a reign on his temper.

"No, Tom! Listen to me. Why must you do this? Why do you feel the need to murder and kill? Isn't enjoying life good enough?" Lily said sadly.

"Lily! I will not have you insulting my life! I have seen things that you could not possibly imagine. Now, HAND OVER THAT BOOK!" he practically yelled.

"No! I will not! I won't have you destroying helpless people!" Lily said.

"Lily, you know nothing about this world. Just give me the book and you'll walk away fine. If you don't, well if you don't, I'm not responsible for my actions. We wouldn't want that pretty face of yours scared for life would we?" he said maliciously.

Lily stood her ground, her Gryffindor bravery coming through. "Do your worst. I'm not afraid of you, and I never will be." She almost whispered, but in the silence, it was enough.

"Very well, you can't say I didn't warn you." he laughed cruelly.

Lily stood tall and proud, she wouldn't let Tom have the satisfaction of running her off.

"Crucio!" he yelled, pointing his wand at her. Lily felt extraordinary pain course through her body as she fell to the ground. When suddenly, the pain receded. Lily brought herself up again.

"NO matter how much you try and torture me, I won't give you that stupid book!"

Lily said boldly.

"Really? Crucio!" he bellowed. This time the pain was worse. Lily felt like screaming bloody murder, but she wouldn't give Tom the satisfaction. When suddenly the pain disappeared. Lily's courage was growing.

'Why isn't it working?' he thought, 'I am using the F-cking Cruciatus Curse.'

"CRUCIO!" he yelled, with all his power. This time, Lily didn't so much as flinch. This time, Lily felt so much pain, that she though she was going to pass out, but again the pain vanished. Lily seemed not to shrink back from the attacks, but rather grow. Each time he cast the curse at her, she seemed to feed off his power and grow stronger than the last time.

"You stupid girl! Just give me the book!" Tom shrieked, seeing as his powerful curse didn't seem to be affecting Lily much.

Lily smiled and said, "No, and YOU will leave now! And never come back to Hogwarts for the rest for your days!" she said this quietly, but with all the courage and strength she could muster.

Tom stared at the small girl. Her green eyes were daring him to make another move. Tom sneered at her before he disapperated with a small pop.

Lily sighed before fatigue consumed her and she passed out. Just as she was about to hit the ground, a strong arm caught her. It was the guy under the cloak that had followed her from the school. "Lily, Lily, what are we ever going to do with you?" he sighed, before picking her up and carrying her up to the castle.

The next thing Lily knew, she was waking up in an exceptionally white room with the sun just beginning to show through the windows. She sat up suddenly to find herself in the Hospital Wing with Dumbledore sitting next to her.

"What am I doing here?" Lily asked

"Well, I'd say you had a rather long night, but now that you're up, I think Madam Pomfrey would like to take a look at you though." Professor Dumbledore said.

"Ok, everyone out for the time being. Even you Professor." The plump nurse said, ushering the kids out.

"That is fine, but please send Lily up to my office when she is done." He asked kindly.

In five minutes Lilt had convinced Madam Pomfrey that she was fine and could go the Headmasters office alone. Pomfrey agreed, but made Lily take a pain-relief potion before she left.

In no time, Lily was at Dumbledore's office. "You wanted me, Professor." She said, rather questionably.

"Yes, please come in and have a seat."

Lily looked inside to find two chairs in front of Dumbledore's desk, one was occupied by none other than…

Remus Lupin.

"Remus what are you doing here?" Lily asked earnestly. He shrugged, and Lily sat down in the chair next to him.

"Lily, how much do you remember of last night?" the Professor asked, looking deep into Lily's eyes. She felt as if he could read her mind; that he could see into the deepest, darkest thoughts in her head. She shook away that feeling and thought about last night. Slowly, remains of the previous night filled her mind.

"All of it." She sighed.

"Professor, do I really need to stay? I mean, I think Lily could explain what happened without me being here." Remus said quietly

"No, it's ok Remus, you can stay." Lily said, before she proceeded to tell a quiet Professor Dumbledore and a surprised Remus all about her encounters with Tom, but she conveniently left out the whole part about her becoming an Animagus.

"And then I passed out I guess." Lily finished. She lowered her eyes to her lap, as she knew she would be in a whole lot of trouble.

"WOW!" Remus gasped.

Dumbledore smiled before saying, "Lily, you are a very lucky girl, for more than one reason. I believe you should thank Remus for bringing you up to the castle, though what he was doing out so late is beyond me." Remus blushed at the Headmaster' comment. "But there is one thing I would like to know. Where is that book?"

"Oh, I have it here." Lily said pulling it out of her bag and handing it to Dumbledore.

"This is one thing I don't think I want anyone to ever find. Believe me, it will be dealt with. Lily, last night, outside, you showed both great courage and strength, yet also compassion for those who could have been hurt. You risked your life for people you do not even know, and I also believe you halted Tom for a while anyway. As a reward, I give Gryffindor 200 points and also, you shall also receive…"

Lily cut him off saying, "Thank you, Professor, and please don't think that I am not honored by your actions, but I do not need a reward of any kind. Besides, people would want to know the story, and I really don't want that kind of attention."

"If you are so adamant about this matter very well, but I must insist on awarding your house 200 points, and I will add them gradually, so as not to attract attention. Is that alright, Miss Evans?" he said smiling.

Lily nodded then asked, "Is that all you wanted to know, Professor?"

"Yes and no, I do need you to stay, but I believe that Mr. Lupin can go back to his dorm, as I doubt he got much sleep last night."

"Are you sure you want me to go?" he asked, looking more at Lily than at Dumbledore.

"Yes, I am sure that Lily can make it back on her own. Oh, and Remus, there is no need for you to attend classes today, as you need some rest."

When Remus had left, Professor Dumbledore turned to Lily and asked, "Lily, have you heard of the Unforgivable Curses?"

"Well, yeah, I mean I know what they are and what they do, but I never witnessed any until last night." Lily shivered at the thought.

"Yes, from what both you and Mr. Lupin have told me, I understand that you were placed under the Cruciatus curse three times last night. And you also managed to come out with a sane mind when a man twice your size, in perfect physical condition would be almost insane from the torture. I would like to know how." Professor Dumbledore said looking at her, studying her, searching her for some answer. Lily too was wondering how she could have survived such an encounter, as Tom was a very powerful wizard.

"I do not know, Professor." Lily said quietly.

"Lily, I have a few speculations as to why you survived. One stands out in my mind very prominently, but I am afraid there are few ways to test it." The professor sighed.

"I'll do anything you need." Lily replied.

"Yes, well, I believe we will know soon enough. Certain things have their own way of coming to our attention."

"Am I free to go?" she asked.

"Yes, and Lily" He said, as she reached the door, "Thank you."

"No problem, Professor." She said, smiling slightly before walking down the steps and back to her dorm. Everyone was in class so it was empty except for Remus.

"Hey, you ok?" he asked.

"Yeah, considering the circumstances." Lily said smiling, as she sat down next to him. "When are you leaving?"

"On Friday, after dinner." He said simply, knowing what she was referring to.

"Can I come this time? Please." She asked.

Remus sighed. He knew she just wanted to help, and that eventually, he'd have to let her come, but he wanted to make sure he wouldn't hurt her. "Not this time, Lily." He said softly.

"But I've learned all the healing spells I could! Please! I won't get hurt!" she said.

"Next time, maybe." He said, and she left it at that.

They sat in silence until classes were out and students came pouring in.

"Hey! Guys! Where were you too?" Sarah said, coming around to sit in front of them.

"Yeah, we didn't see you in any of our classes." Sirius said questioningly. James and Peter nodded in agreement.

"Oh, Dumbledore wanted to talk to us. And he said we're exempt from classes today." Lily said.

Sirius would have pressed further, but something told him not to. "Ok, we're going to lunch, feel free to join us."

Lily and Remus, who were both very tired, decided to steal some food from the kitchen and stay in the common room, playing chess and just chit chatting about various subjects.

"So, Remus who do you like?" Lily said slyly.

Remus blushed, then replied, "If you must know, Sarah."

"Really?" she asked raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah, but PLEASE don't tell her!" He pleaded.

Lily smiled, knowing how her friend felt. "Alright!"

"Does the fair Miss Lillian fancy anyone at the moment?" Remus asked.

Lily smiled but kept her lips sealed.

"Who is it? Spill the beans!"

"Nope, I won't tell." She laughed.

"But I told you!" he complained, but he knew he was going get nowhere.

Lily was examining the chess board to find her next move, when all of a sudden, Remus tackled her and started tickling her sides. "Tell me who it is and I'll let go!" he said.

Finally, through her laughter, she managed to say, "No, I'll never tell!" before bursting into hysterics again.

At the same time, the other students in the school were let out of classes and walked into their common room to find Remus Lupin pinning a laughing Lily Evans to the floor.

"Heeeeeeelp Meeeeeee!" she yelled, as the students filtered around her. Finally she felt someone pull Remus off her and help her up, only to be attacked again, but by three guys this time. (as James and Sirius had joined in on the fun.)

"Ok, ok, I give!" she wheezed.

"Ok, then spill!" Remus said.

Lily stood up and said, "You actually expect me to say with all these people?"

Remus shrugged then offered, "You can whisper it in my ear."

Lily smiled, then pulled her wand out of her pocket and held it behind her back so he couldn't see it. Then walked around behind him and whispered in his ear "I told you I'd never tell, and this is no exception." Then sent a few "friendly" curses at him and the Marauders before running up to her dorm.

"What was that about?" Sirius asked, almost jealous.

"Oh keep your pants on, Sirius. I'm not trying to steal your girl. I was just trying to figure out who she liked, but she still won't tell me, thus all the tickling." Remus explained.

"Oh, sorry, Remus." Sirius said sheepishly.

"No worries mate." Remus smiled.

"Where were you today anyways?" Peter asked.

"Oh, umm… I'm not sure if I'm the right one to tell you guys." Remus sighed.

"Why not? You were involved right? If so you can spill." Peter said.

"I'm sorry, but no, I'm not the one to tell you. You'll find out when she's ready."

"You mean Lily? What happened to Lily?" Sirius asked.

"She's ok, amazingly. But just let her go, she'll tell you when she's ready." Remus said, hoping they would follow his advice, knowing all too well how Lily would react.

"Don't worry, we will." James said.

"You will what?" Lily said, joining her friends again.

"Nothing important." James smiled.

Lily rolled her eyes, "You guys ready for dinner?"

"Yeah!" Sirius yelled.

"I shouldn't have said anything about food." Lily muttered.

"Why not my little Lillikins?" Sirius said throwing his arm around her waist. Lily just laughed and proceeded out of the common room with him.

The week went on without a hitch. The rest of the Marauders respected Remus's wishes and left Lily and him alone, and Lily and Sirius flirted up a storm. Remus figured it was good to get Lily's mind off of the week's previous events. But Friday rolled around and things weren't as peachy as they could have been, in fact, they were far from it.

On the way to dinner, Lily and Sirius walked ahead of the group. (Which consisted of Remus, James, Peter, Sarah, Julia, and Mariko) From where the group was, it looked as if Sirius and Lily were really hitting it off. They were chatting animatedly, his arm slung casually around her waist. She laughed at his jokes, and he smiled at her comments. Finally they reached the Great Hall. Lily and Sirius sat on one side, along with Remus and Julia and Peter, James, Mariko, and Sarah sat along the other side.

Talk passed from person to person, not dwelling on one subject too long, until a jet-black owl swooped into the Great Hall. Everyone fell silent because a black owl usually only meant one thing, someone died. It circled around the room, like a vulture over it's prey before swooping in on the Gryffindor table. It swooped down and dropped it's burden over top none other than Lily Evans.

Everyone in the room let out a sigh as she drew in a sharp breath and slowly opened the letter. What she read inside almost made her scream. Tears crept into her eyes as she ran out of the Great Hall. Whispers broke out as soon as the door slammed shut. Sirius immediately got up to go after her, but Remus laid a hand on his shoulder, "Let me." was all he said. Quickly, he ran out of the Great Hall after Lily. He looked down both hallways and saw no signs of Lily.

"OK, if I was Lily, where would I go when I was troubled?" He thought. "The lake!"

Quickly, he threw open the huge wooden doors and ran outside in search of Lily. He saw her flaming red hair behind a willow tree, a black piece of parchment clutched in her hand.

"Lily, what is it?" he asked gently.

Lily just handed him the note.

Lily Evans

I told you not to disobey me! You shall pay dearly. Which should I kill off first, your friends or your family? What about that dear friend you tried so hard to help? What about your dear mother, or darling sister, or loving father? Maybe I could torture that nice beautiful friend of yours, Sarah I think her name is. Or what about that joke loving Sirius. Or maybe I'll just take them all down one by one until you're the only one left standing. You never know. And just remember, I always win!

Lord Voldemort

Anger flooded through Remus like never before. Lily was one of his best friends; she knew his secret yet she stood by him anyways, even found a way to help him. She was one of the few earnest people left in this world who would give you the shirt of her own back, even if she was freezing. She wouldn't step down when someone was being teased; instead she would stand up for them. She was a kind generous person with a heart of passion and energy, and that zest for life that so few people posses.

"Lily, don't listen to him. We won't let him hurt you." Remus said, trying to comfort her, yet trying to calm his anger.

"Remus, he knows! Not only about you, but about what I did! I could get put in Azkaban, or worse, one of you could get killed, all because I trusted a stranger." Lily wasn't crying but you could tell she was sad. Not only sad, but depressed, guilty, worried, enraged, violated, regretful, and an animosity against Tom. He could do anything he wanted to her, but her friends and family were off limits.

"Lily, do you think Dumbledore will let this happen? Do you think we will let this happen? He's just trying to scare you into giving him what he wants. I'm sure in a few weeks, he'll just up and forget about this whole thing." Remus said comfortingly.

Lily sighed, "I guess your right, but shouldn't I tell someone?"

"Yes, tell Dumbledore, but most importantly, tell the others." Remus replied, putting his arm around Lily and pulling her close.

"But what about you? I don't want to have to tell them about that, it's your job. Can I just leave it out? I'm gonna leave it out." Lily said almost a matter-of-factly.

Remus sighed. She could be so stubborn sometimes

"Look Lily, you have always been there for me, and-" suddenly, Remus went rigid as the moon appeared over the horizon. His eyes were wide, looking around frantically. "Run Lily!" he managed to croak before he his jaws elongated and his usually hazel eyes were now turning yellow. Lily stifled a scream as she stood up and searched for her wand. Remus was fully transformed before Lily could find her wand. He smelled her human flesh and leapt in her direction, claws out, teeth barred.

She screamed as his sharp teeth sunk into her pale skin of her left arm. Lily grabbed a nearby stick and hit the wolf's head, trying to keep it away as she finally found her wand and was able to transform into a huge tiger. She turned toward Remus and looked him dead in the eyes, as if daring him to lunge. His eyes softened and he rolled over on the ground almost playfully as Lily batted at him with one of her huge paws.

After a while, the Tiger Lily (ha ha…no pun intended), managed to herd the Wolf Remus into the Shrieking Shack, where they wrestled and played games like two puppies. Eventually the sun broke through cracks in the boarded up windows and Remus slowly turned back to the quiet boy that he was 353 days of the year. When he managed to stand up, he saw a small Lily Evans leaning up against the doorframe, looking closely at her left arm. There were no bite marks anywhere on her body, no scratches, not even a bruise. Meanwhile Remus had a rather nasty gash along his right shoulder and an equally nasty bruise on his stomach.

"Oh my Remus! Are you ok?" Lily asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'll manage, I always do. What about you? I didn't bite you did I?" he asked, almost in shock that she was still alive.

"Nope, I do believe I actually had fun last night. But come here, let me look at your shoulder." He obediently obeyed and walked over to where Lily was standing. Lily laid a hand next to the wound Lily placed one hand on his shoulder to keep him still as she found her wand and said clearly, "Reperio Centintas." The freely bleeding gash slowly repaired itself at her command and left no mark to mar his tan skin.

Remus reached over his shoulder and felt where the 5-inch long gash had been. He felt nothing, not even a scar. "Wow! Lily, you're even better than Madam Pomfrey. Even she would have left some what of a scar, you left none." Lily smiled at his praise.

Remus turned around and look directly into Lily's bright green eyes. "Lily, thank you. You don't know what this means to me. I wish there were a way I could return the favor. Let me know if you need anything." He finished before she could interrupt.

Lily sighed, "You know that you don't have to repay me, I did this for you because you're my friend. That's what friends are for."

Remus sighed. Lily was one of the most stubborn people he had ever met, but he very glad he had met her. "I think we should go back. They'll be wondering where you have been since hey haven't seen you or me since last night. But I have an excuse, you don't."

Lily sighed, she would have to tell them about the letter, and Tom. "I won't tell them about this, after all, YOU need to do that." She said, putting an emphasis on the word 'you' then continued. "I guess this means I have to tell them about the letter, doesn't it?"

Remus nodded his head before giving Lily a friendly hug. "It'll be ok." He whispered. Lily smiled in return before going down the long tunnel that led back to the school. They walked back to the common room in silence. Lily was thinking about how to tell the others about Tom, and Remus was thinking about last night. Normally during his transformations, he bit and scratched himself, this time, due to Lily's presence, he was left unmarred accept for on cut, (which Lily had fixed). This time was also less painful during and after his transformation. He would have to find some way to repay her, even if she didn't want him to. Unfortunately, both their thoughts were interrupted as they entered the common room. They were almost attacked the others as soon as they set foot inside.

"Where were you guys?" Sarah asked.

"What happened?" James said anxiously.

"Are you guys ok?" Sirius for once was actually serious.

"We're ok, I was visiting my mum, just like I planned. As I was coming back inside, I met Lily who was also coming back from somewhere." Remus lied.

"What happened after dinner?" Sirius asked, walking over to Lily.

Lily sighed, she didn't want to do this, she didn't want to have to drag them into this, but they were in danger. "I have something I have to tell you guys."

"Well go ahead. We're all ears." Sarah said, not realizing the depth of the matter.

"Not here," Lily said looking around the filled Common Room. "Somewhere quiet."

"Follow me." James said, leading the group to a small, but not tiny, room that they could all fit comfortably in, but that no one would find.

Everyone, (James, Peter, Remus, Sirius, Lily, Sarah, and Mariko), all seated themselves and Lily began to tell them of her 'adventure' with Tom. When she finished, she pulled out the letter.

"Last night, I got this letter." She held up the black parchment with silver writing. "I wasn't planning on tell you guys about this. But this letter has changed that."

Sarah, who was sitting on one side of Lily, slowly pulled the letter out of her hands. She carefully read the letter and gasped when she had finished. "Oh Lily!" she said, pulling her friend into a hug. She then passed the letter on to the other for them to read.

The letter slowly passed around, and the reactions ranged from James and Sirius clenching their fists saying they wouldn't let anything happen, to Peter squealing and cowering in his chair, to Mariko running over to hug Lily.

Lily sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time that night, "I'm sorry you guys had to be dragged into this. It should be between just me and him."

"Look, Lily, we're you friends. We want to be in this with you. We don't want you to be alone, cause you shouldn't have to be alone. That's what friends are for." James said honestly, looking around for agreement, the others all nodded, even Peter.

Lily glanced pointedly at Remus, giving him a you-need-to-spill-too look. He sensed her gaze and lowered his eyes. She sighed and looked around, "I know, but I figured you should know. I have to go. I need to tell Dumbledore." She started to walk out the door, with Sirius following her.

"Wait for me!" he called before she could get too far ahead. Lily stopped and waited till he caught up. When he reached her he wrapped his arm around her shoulders protectively and said, "Lily, you know I will always be there for you. If you ever need to talk or anything." His eyes had never been more sincere, nor his voice more calming. Lily smiled before pulling him into a hug. "I know." She whispered.

They slowly made their way to the gargoyle guarding the Headmaster's office. Before Lily said the password, Sirius turned to her, "Lily, I need to talk to you later. Meet me at the Astronomy Tower after dinner."

Lily smiled and agreed, then went up the stairs to talk to Professor Dumbledore. She knocked on the large oak door softly but even at her slight touch, it was pushed open. The headmaster was seated at his desk, seemingly asleep, or very deep in thought. Lily crept over to him and nudged him on the shoulder. He jerked around, but smiled when he saw Lily.

"Hello. Sorry, I seemed to be lost in my own thoughts. Please excuse me." He apologized.

Lily smile, "Don't worry, I tend to do that a lot too. Especially when I have a lot on my mind."

Dumbledore smiled then said, "I believe you wanted to talk to me about something?"

"Yes," Lily said, a frown donning her face, "Yesterday during dinner I received this," she paused her to extract the letter from her pocket, "and I thought I should show it to you."

She handed him the letter and watched anxiously as he read it over.

"Well, Lily, I'm am dreadfully sorry that you had to receive a letter like this, but I am glad you showed it to me. I hope you know that Hogwarts is protected well enough, and that you and your friends should be safe. As for your family, I will alert some of the Ministry's wizards to keep a watch over your house. Believe me when I say, that we will do our best to keep you and all those mentioned in this letter safe." Professor Dumbledore said honestly.

His calming blue eyes told Lily that she could trust his word, and she was more at peace than she had been in a while. Lily smiled and thanked the Professor. She was pondering on whether she should confess her Animagus ability or not.

"Professor?" she asked almost questioningly.

"Yes?"

"I don't know if Remus told you, but he has told me about his, problem. And I wanted to know if there was a way to help him." She said staring at her hands.

"I believe you have already found a way, Ms. Evans." He said smiling.

Lily gasped, "You know!"

"You are correct. I have known since around Christmas. When you started asking me all about Animagus, I thought something was up, and a visit from Remus confirmed this. He had told me that you knew, but that you were the only one, and that you had tried to convince him to tell his other friends. After that, I kept a close eye on you, and after witnessing you change into a beautiful phoenix one day in the charms corridor, I realized what you had done." He finished slowly, allowing this to sink in.

"Am I going to be expelled?" she asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

"Truthfully, you should be, but seeing as I can't have one of my best students expelled for being," he paused to find the right words, "overly studious, I will not report you to anyone. After all, who would keep those boys in line? But I must warn you to be careful who you let know about your secret. In the wrong hands, it could be bad."

Lily's head bowed as she remember that Tom knew she could change into a phoenix. "He knows doesn't he?" Dumbledore asked.

Lily nodded slightly, "He taught me, but he only knows of one."

"One?" Dumbledore said sharply.

"Yeah. Here, I'll show you." Lily quickly transformed into a phoenix with deep red and glistening gold plumage. She then turned human and quickly into her majestic tiger form. She purred loudly as Dumbledore's mouth dropped down. She smiled widely as she had returned to her human form.

"Well, Ms. Evans," he paused as he gather his wits back. "You are full of surprises. I think I would like to save some for later. You are free to go if you please." Lily nodded and headed for the door. "Oh, and I think the house elves just got a shipment of Sally's Super Duper Super Glue and Jon's Undetectable Invisible String in." the professor added carelessly, glancing at some papers, but he did notice how Lily's eye lit up at his comment. He chuckled to himself as she left the room. "The next few days would be interesting, without a doubt." He thought.

Lily proceeded to the common room, as she didn't feel like eating. She sat by the fireplace wondering about Tom and Dumbledore, and everything else going on in her life. She was so engrossed in her own thoughts that she didn't hear the portrait open and her friends come in.

"Oy! Lily! Where have you been?" James yelled.

Lily's head snapped around to stare at the Marauders and her friends. "Oh, I was talking to Dumbledore about the…." Lily trailed off looking into the fire. The others just looked at each other before James mouthed something to them. They all nodded and left the common room whispering amongst themselves. James sat down beside Lily, "It'll be ok, you know? Everything will turn out all right in the end." He said comfortingly.

Lily laughed scornfully, "Right, one of the potentially greatest wizards of all time is after me and my friends and you say it's all gonna be good. Sorry James. Get you head in reality. Things don't always turn out good. Life doesn't always have a story book ending." She sighed, watching the flames dance, casting shadows on her surroundings. "You go ahead down to dinner, I'll see ya around." And with that, she walked out the portrait hole.

James sighed and followed her out and into the Great Hall.

"Is she ok?" Peter asked.

"I think she will be. Just give her a bit of time."

Meanwhile, Lily had walked out onto the grounds to the place where her and Tom had usually met. She sat down on the ground, fingering some burn marks left from the previous night, and started to think about the past events. Was it her destiny to meet Tom? Or was it just some twist of fate? Lily sighed. She knew she would never figure it out and that maybe she wasn't supposed to know the whys. She sighed again, this time in resignation before getting up and returning to the Gryffindor Common Room, as she had missed dinner.

Lily entered the common room to find the Mauraders and the other girls in her dorm sitting around the fire in silence. "What's up with you guys? Where's the fun? Where's the excitement? Where's the entertainment?"

Slowly it clicked in everyone's mind. Lily didn't want everyone to mull over the letter. She would do it enough on her own and she didn't want anyone else to worry about it.

Mariko smiled and asked, "Who's up for exploding snap?" they all smiled and got up to form a circle on the floor.

Ok ya'll. Tell me what you think. If I get a bunch of replies saying continue.. then i shall. But if I don't then I'll probably stop writing for a bit. Please tell me what you honestly think. Creative criticism welcome.

Thank you! Moi.