Chapter Thirty

"I think... we lost him." said Sirius in a fully human form. Breathing deeply, he leaned up against a tree, beside James.

"Hopefully... he'll head back... to the shack." James said breathlessly.

"But he might eat Peter." Sirius said, wiping the sweat from his forehead, then looked at James, and they both burst out laughing.

"Damn, that smarts." James said, gently wiping the bleeding scratches on his face. "He'll pay for that one."

"Aw, leave him alone, Prongs." Sirius said in a shallow breath. "You know he's not himself."

Trying to catch their breath, they both sat on the ground, leaning up against a tree in the Forbidden Forest. They watched the wind blow through the trees as the light of the full moon shone past the branches and danced on the forest floor. Both Sirius and James were shirtless, sweating and breathing heavily, and the cool breeze of this brisk March evening was greatly appreciated.

"Well, it's a good thing he got you and not me, mate." Sirius said, rubbing his chin affectionately. "He could have destroyed my money maker."

"Needless to say, I'm going to have a little talk with Moony about belting my jaw with extended claws."

"Speaking of talk, though, what did you need to tell me? Did you have another row with Lily?" Sirius asked.

"Ah, Padfoot. I just don't know what to do with her." he shook his head with a crooked smile. "I know I love her, there's no doubt about that. But she is always and forever pushing me away, and I don't understand why. Whenever I look at her or hold her, I feel at peace, I feel whole. But when I kiss her..."

"Please, no bloody details." Sirius chuckled.

James only smiled. "When I kiss her, Pad, she doesn't push me away immediately. I think, without knowing it, she pulls me to her and enjoys it right along with me. I can feel it in her kiss, the way she touches me or talks to me - I know she cares about me. I just don't understand why she's fighting it. Even Moony said she does."

"But she's scared of the prophesy." Sirius said bluntly.

"Well.... yeah, but..."

"Did it ever occur to you that she stays away from you to save your life?"

"Sirius, that's not fair! I'd gladly die if I could just have her love, even if it is for a short time. It's got to be better than this constant heartbreak and rejection all the time." James said bitterly.

"Aw, poor Prongsie."

"Seriously. And she's the girl in this situation, shouldn't she know all the mushy stuff like... oh, how does that saying go? Better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all?"

"Are you sure she's the girl in this situation?" Sirius laughed.

"Oh, shut up, you great git!" James gave him a playful shove. "I don't know why I even tell you this stuff."

"Well, why don't you tell her? I mean, of course you have good looks and charm, but if you were more articulate and orally expressive like out friend Remus, maybe then she'd understand how you feel about the whole situation."

While James thought all this over, Sirius smirked. "Well, speak of the devil."

James suddenly ducked in fear. "Remus?" he asked quietly.

"No, you half-wit. Lily!"

James head shot up and he looked over the brush on the edge of the forest. Lo and behold, there was Lily, walking cautiously towards the Whomping Willow.

"What the bloody hell is she doing out here at this time of night?" James wondered aloud.

"I don't know, but if we don't her out of here, Remus might catch her scent and get out of the-"

But they were too late.

"-shack."

---

Lily was nervously walking towards the willow, her heart beating incredibly fast. Why on earth would James want to meet her out here? But she was going to meet him, and she was coming with only one purpose. She would listen to whatever he had to say, then explain to that stubborn man that she loved so much why they simply could not be together. And him, being the self-centered git that he was, would, of course, turn her away. But at least he would be safe and hopefully, he would learn to be happy.

As she neared the tree, she heard footsteps behind her, causing her pulse to increase, if that were possible. She began walking faster, but stopped before she got too close to the tree for her own safety. When she heard growling in her ear, and he heart froze. Slowly turning around, she found herself face to face with a wolf, a were wolf, no less. He was baring long sharp teeth, growling, drooling and breathing heavily on her face. She couldn't move, blink, she could hardly breath, quickly sifting through her jumbled mind as how to save herself. Only when the creature raised a giant paw did she scream.

Then, when it's paw collided with her head and sent her flying across the grass, she hit the ground with a thud, blood and pain echoing throughout her skull. The creature charged at her again with a loud snarl, so Lily covered her face with her arms, closed her eyes and screamed again.

But she didn't receive another blow. She heard more rustling and growling, but it was not the same growl she had heard before. Cracking one of her eyes, she saw the wolf wrestling viciously with a large black dog. It would bark and chomp ferociously, but the wolf was too quick. It smacked the dog hard, and pounded it to the ground as it whimpered painfully. Then, turning again to Lily, he glared at her as he inched closer.

Lily began to tremble as she moved towards the tree, tears streaming down her face in fear and pain. Though just before the wild creature reached her, a large deer, a stag, jumped in front of her and stood as if guarding her. The wild creature stopped and howled at the stag, but Lily saw some sort of restraint in it. Somehow the stag sent him a warning that the werewolf understood - Lily found this amazing.

Lily then saw small pebbles flying from the woods and hitting the wolf square on the side of the head, causing anger to flare again with an evil snarl. Lily turned and saw Peter, standing at the edge of the forest, throwing rocks and screaming, "Come on, Moony! Over here you big brute!" Then the wolf took off after him, causing Peter to drop his stones and race to the willow tree in blind fear.

Moony? Lily thought. Why did that sound so familiar?

She did not have the chance to ponder that question for long, because the stag suddenly turned and stared at her. It looked down at her with intense eyes, causing her to shrink closer yet to the living tree behind her. But there was something about this animals eyes, the vibrant hazel color was so familiar and comforting, it warmed her from the inside out.

When the deer suddenly turned around and gave a small grunt and a quick, almost human-like nod, Lily stood and wrapped her arms around the stags neck, laying on its back and closing her eyes. Holding on her dear life, it began to gallop away.

When they were finally a safe distance away from the tree, where Lily heard howling, rustling and horrible shrieking coming from the well-known shack below, the deer shrugged her off his back and ran behind a large tree stump. Then after a few moments, Lily felt her heart drop. She watched in horror as James emerged from behind the tree, with no shirt and no shoes, but plenty of problems.

"James!?" she shrieked. "You... that thing... what... how... you're a... you..." James had a small smile on his face as he walked up to her and held her at arms length.

"Shhh, Lily. It's okay. I know I've got a lot to explain, so just listen." he said gently. She looked up at him as if questioning her judgment in trusting him, but she had stopped her stuttering, so James continued.

"I am an unregistered animagus, a stag, as you saw. That black dog you saw back there, that was Sirius. And Peter, when he wants to be, is a little rat. Now the reason we all decided to do this and become animagus was not only for the thrill rush of becoming animals or breaking the law. We wanted to help our friend, Remus Lupin, who is in fact that werewolf."

Lily only shook her head, a single tear sliding down her cheek and she softly hit his bare chest with her clenched fists. "James, I... you..."

"I'm sure you have tons of questions, so go ahead." James said quietly. Her lips quivered as she looked up into his face. Then she suddenly threw her arms around his neck and began to sob.

James quickly and securely put his arms around her, trying to hold her sufficient enough. "James, I was so scared!" she cried. "I thought I was never going to see you again."

"Shhhh" James whispered. "It's all right." Though he was holding her tight, gently petting her long red hair and whispering soothing words into her ear, he couldn't help but enjoy her closeness. Every time her shoulders would shake or a whimper would escape her lips, he would pull her closer, trying to give her some sense of peace.

Suddenly, they both turned as they heard rustling in the trees and Lily gasped, clinging to James tighter. But Sirius only came running up to them from the willow tree, wrapped in a cloth and bare from the waist up.

"Come on, you two love birds, we've got to scram." Sirius said. "Don't worry, Moony is locked up in the shack, but I barely got Wormy out alive. If we don't get him back to the hospital wing, Peter might not make it."

Then holding up a small wet fur-ball, he revealed a little bloody rat that was barely breathing.

---

A/N: -Gasp!- Such a shocker...

For those of you who have read this before, I know that was your favorite parts, Sirius and James, shirtless, sweating, heavy breathing... indeed. And for those of you who haven't read this, I'm sure it was a nice mental picture... -wink-

Yes, well, this is where I leave you. Please review! I love you all! -huggles all-