The post-lunch rush and surprising candy shortage had left Honeydukes with a crush of tired and irritated shoppers. She pitied the poor clerk who was speaking to the manager through the fireplace, all the while being yelled at. There were more than a few hexes also flying in his direction.

Nobody noticed when Lily jostled them under the cloak, or when she slipped into the basement. The truly difficult part of her return to Hogwarts was successfully completed. There were always people roaming the halls at the school, but she had the map to help her dodge them. It was trickier, though, to slip into an employee's only area of a busy shop.

Despite that, though, walking through the long, dank tunnel underneath the grounds of Hogwarts. The light from her wand did little to illuminate the space, leaving many small areas to look threatening and scary. She had no doubt James and his friends had walked through here with raucous laughs and talks of tricks, but it was different walking through the tunnel alone. Being a dozen meters under the ground was similar to being the only girl in the world. That's how it felt to Lily, at least. She couldn't see or hear anybody, and nobody could see or hear her.

That's what she had always hoped.

Lily wasn't quite sure what she would do if she met somebody in the tunnel. At best, it would be an awkward situation between friends; both sneaking out without telling the other of the route. The thought of meeting one of the crueler Slytherins made her shudder. Even worse would be meeting a stranger. That was enough to scare quite thoroughly and make her swing her wand around in a wide circle.

"Keep together, Lily. Think happy thoughts."

She thought about James. James was definitely happy. She still couldn't believe they were going to actually get married. During their three hours at Caprice's they had made many plans and ended up eating lunch also. Caprice didn't seem to mind them remaining at the table in the corner, and Lily had the suspicion Caprice regarded them as a sweet pair of loves-struck kids. The café was far enough off of High Street that Lily didn't need to worry overly that some patron would recognize her as a Hogwarts student.

That would definitely not be pretty.

Lily had made plans for the rest of her life. James would meet her at King's Cross when the Hogwarts Express pulled up, and they would Floo from The Leaky Cauldron to their own little house.

And then the rest was sort of blank, and she again felt panic rise.

What would happen once they got there? Of course she knew what would happen. It was a one bedroom house. Any dolt could figure out what would happen.

"Duh, Lily. Did you think you think we were just going to be roommates?" she asked herself. Honestly, she hadn't given it any consideration, but this walk would be an excellent time to begin. That first night alone together would be incredibly awkward, at least in Lily's imagination. There was no such thing as privacy at Hogwarts, so there were very few opportunities to do more than kiss at the school. She had heard other girls whisper about what they had done with their boyfriends, but in all honestly, the fear of getting caught definitely outweighed her desire to have sex. Being a coward had served her well until this particular point.

James had asked her when she wanted to get married, and she had just said she didn't know. What Lily really wanted was to get married on Christmas; it had been her dream since childhood. Christmas was a very long time away, though. She had formerly wanted a large wedding, but she didn't exactly have a family to attend. James only had his parents. So, basically, his friends, her friends, and four family members would attend. If Petunia would even go, and who was to say Petunia would come? She hated James.

Why did everyone she loved hate James? Well, Amos seemed to like him, and wasn't that a bit odd? The one person who shouldn't like him liked him? What the hell was going on here?

Lily was very confused, and perhaps even a bit overwhelmed, so she did the most logical thing: she changed her mental subject. She still had a lot of plans to make. She had an entire career change to make. Luckily, she had applied to the agencies in England and Frances as well as Italy, so it wouldn't be too terribly hard to focus all of her energy into getting into the Hit Witch training program. Lily tried not to think about it, but her mind still trailed off to the fact that England was so narrow minded that it didn't allow a witch to be an Auror.

What a load of malarkey.

Lily was still mentally berating the priggish men who made and upheld that declaration when she reached the hidden castle entrance. With a slight smile she pulled out the Marauder's Map and muttered the password. How like Sirius it sounded. To her complete surprise, it looked like the entire castle was roving the corridors. She clearly said, "Show me the scurvy toerags" and tapped the map twice with her wand. Just as James had promised, the dots on map turned the color of each person's house. Lily's worries were confirmed when the packs of people were all sorted by house. The only time when all the houses moved together was after the welcoming feast. Of course, there was that minor crisis in second year when about a dozen ashwinders had been loosed in the castle. The students, who had been eating lunch at the time, were told to stand on the tables while the adults scrambled in order to capture the serpents before they had a chance to lay their eggs. Perhaps there was an animal loose in the building. Lily personally hopped it was a unicorn. A centaur would be interesting; those creatures were notoriously loose cannons.

Lily didn't think she could slither out from behind the statue with the cloak still in place, so she decided to wait for the crowd to pass. Unfortunately, one dot didn't move from the statue's vicinity, and also unfortunately, that dot was Millie Barstow.

It was with a huge amount of reluctance that Lily cleared the map and finally left the passage. Almost immediately, Millie hugged her and then was talking.

"Right now I don't care what you've been doing; I'm just glad you're safe. You are in serious trouble, I think. Dumbledore has wanted you for the past hour. Something has happened; none of the students have been told. All of the houses have been sent to their common rooms, and there are a bunch of adults here. Whatever's happened, it must be bad. The professors are nearly pulling their hair out. Professor Fletcher actually pulled out his flask in front of the students. The Prefects and the Head Boy had a meeting in the headmaster's office. He sent several people out looking for you, and luckily, one of them found me."

Lily felt her stomach knotting up, and she heard footsteps approaching.

Millie turned and waved at the approaching figure. When they saw Millie waving, they began running.

Lily watched in amazement as the person turned into Remus Lupin. He immediately grabbed her arm and continued running. "Come along, Lily, we need to hurry."

"What's going on?" she asked. Lily had to struggle to keep up while trying to stuff James's cloak back into her book bag.

Nobody noticed a scruffy piece of parchment drift to the floor.

"A werewolf revolt is imminent, and we're currently trying to control the situation. As Head Girl you were supposed to be at the meeting to help guard the students. When nobody could find you, Dumbledore got worried, because students don't usually just turn up missing. Our safety meeting is an hour behind schedule, but some other plans have been made, so it's not going too badly."

"You're revolting?" Lily asked dumbly.

Remus gave her a look. "Don't be stupid. You'll learn it with the Prefects and Head Boy. This way."

Lily yelped when he jerked her arm so hard she thought something popped.

"Were you with James?"

"Yeah, I-"

"Say you fell asleep in a really odd room on the seventh floor. Dumbledore will probably believe you."

He took her book bag and crammed it into a large vase and then knocked her pony tail askew. "You've been asleep, remember?"

"James will murder me if something happens to his cloak."

"Better to deal with James than Dumbledore." Remus then amended, "Well, in this case, at least. Students are at the back of the room, to your right. Do not forget you were asleep."

"Okay. Thank you, Remus."

"Of course."

Remus and Lily walked into a room she had never seen before. It was of a medium size and it almost looked like a history classroom one would find in a Muggle school. Maps were strewn across the wall that was otherwise covered a very dark wood paneling. At the front of the room was a long table covered in a plain, green tablecloth with several occupied chairs facing out across the room. The rest of the room was filled to the brim with rows and rows of long tables with chairs. There were only a handful of empty seats left, and Lily quickly took one next to Amos when Remus nudged her.

Professor Dumbledore quickly entered the room and looked directly at Lily. "I trust there was no trouble, Miss Evans?"

"No, none at all," Lily said, and added an embarrassed grin. "I fell asleep in a room on the seventh floor. I don't think I've seen it before."

"Very well," he said after giving her a cool stare. She had the nasty feeling he knew she was lying. However, the headmaster didn't say anything. Instead, he glided to the table at the front of the room. "Silence, please. First, I need to explain the situation to those of you who do not know yet."

Lily leaned forward.

She listened to Dumbledore's voice as it resonated through the room. He spoke of things that made her mind sizzle. First, he mentioned a wizard who was doing terrible things in the East, and how that wizard was slowly expanding westward. Lily was nearly in shock when Dumbledore said he expected the wizard to invade Britain in a short time. The Headmaster was a person Lily felt she could trust above all others, so this must obviously be the truth. It seemed the truth got worse.

"This wizard, who goes by the name Lord Voldemort, is very near our home. According to the reports of many dark creatures, Voldemort is attempting to edge them to his side, and he is using any means necessary. We have a statement declaring he seeks out werewolves while in their wolf form, and that is why we are here tonight. The Dementors have already turned to him, and it is my belief that he will stop at nothing to control werewolves also."

Lily began searching the crowd for Remus so she could watch his face. When she found him, he was sitting rigidly in his chair with a clenched jaw.

"The Ministry of Magic also believes that. That, witches and wizards, is the reason for us meeting here tonight. The Ministry has always held a speculative view about werewolves, but I have personally encountered a number of these afflicted people, and I know there are many, many good and kind ones. An inter-department memorandum was sent out today, and in it was a proclamation stating any werewolf must be firmly caged and sponsored by an upstanding wizard for every full moon until notice is given. A werewolf that cannot provide documentation of his or her activities during the time spent as a wolf will be executed."

Lily's eyes shot open and she clapped a hand to her mouth. They couldn't do that!

"Any werewolf who seeks shelter need only to come to me, and arrangements will be made. However, some of these people who feel wronged will inevitably turn to evil, and we need to be prepared as citizens and as leaders for a large or small scale werewolf attack on the next full moon."

Lily tried to remember her astronomy chart, but Amos was quicker. "Day after tomorrow."

She closed her eyes. How was this ever going to turn out well?

"That is why the Prefects are with us tonight. You are the only students aware of the information, and you will be responsible for the safety of the students. There will be a dangerous potions spill in the dungeons Monday afternoon. As a result, all students must stay in their common rooms, except for Slytherin house. Slytherins will be moved to the North Tower. Classes will be resuming Wednesday afternoon, but in the time between, no students are allowed into the corridor. The Prefects are now dismissed, but I would like The Head Boy and Girl to stay for the remainder."

Lily and Amos did stay for the remaining four hours of the meeting. Lily would have been exhausted if she had not been so worried. She was worried for everybody in general, but most especially for Remus. When it was over, he came back to meet her again.

"Dumbledore wants to talk with you and Amos some more, so don't forget about the nap."

"Will you be at Hogwarts for the full moon, then?" she asked. She hated the thought of him being stranded on the full moon and put down the day after. She hated the people who made that law. How could anybody not see that werewolves were just people afflicted now and then? They could be good and kind people like Remus.

Remus smiled wryly, "I'm just going home to get my things and then I'll be back. Dumbledore and I are going to work on some things before."

"Oh, Remus, I'm scared for you," she said and then hugged him. Her new step with James made Remus seem all the more important to her; after all, he had coerced her into pursuing him.

"Don't be. I'm probably safer here than anywhere else. I just have more serious consequences now."

"All the same, I wish you luck."

"Thank you. Lily? If you write to James, don't mention any of this. It'd be better if I explained to all of the Marauders myself. Please."

"Of course, mum's the word."

Remus smiled fondly at her and shook his head in disbelief. "You really are the oddest person. Goodbye."

"Bye, Remus."

Lily sat back in her chair, and after he finished talking with a few other wizards, Dumbledore came over to her and Amos. She imagined the headmaster had been through a very long day, but he didn't look as weary as she felt.

"Good evening, children."

"Hello, sir," Amos said cheerfully, but Lily didn't feel up to more than a nod.

"I have a special task for you two, although it is optional. I feel that you two are accomplished enough to protect yourself if necessary from a werewolf, so I would like for you to travel from tower to tower to ensure that order is maintained and that the Prefects aren't having any problems. If you two agree, I would also like for you to sit watch with some witches and wizards who are coming in to make sure nothing amiss occurs. I feel this would be particularly valuable for Miss Evans since she wishes to pursue a career as a Hit Witch, and for you, Mr. Diggory, since I believe you wanted a Ministry job of your own. Your grandfather used to work in the magical creatures sector, did he not?"

"I was considering that area on my own, Sir. I'll do it," Amos said.

Lily wasn't so sure. She didn't like the thought of seeing Remus so out of control and in terrible pain. It would be a good experience for her career, though. "I will too."

"Very well."

Monday Afternoon…

Lily checked her watch; the messenger was right on time. McGonagall left the room to speak with someone in the hall, and she came back in looking suitably hurried. "Students, there has been a potions spill in the dungeons. Everyone needs to go to their common rooms immediately. Gryffindors, follow Miss Evans and Mr. Diggory. Hufflepuffs, go along with Miss Englesbury. Please go along quickly."

Lily and Amos didn't lead the group; instead, they followed everyone to ensure no student tried to make a little detour. The fifth years were already in the tower, and the second years were arriving at the same time. The Gryffindor common room was already unbearably loud.

"Is it Wednesday yet?" Amos asked.

"Only in my dreams. Let's get a couch or chair or rug before they're all taken."

They narrowly sat on a couch before some third years, and promptly stuck their feet up on a coffee table. "You know, Lily," Amos began, "I don't want to pop your bubble of new found happiness with James, but have you told your sister yet?"

Lily closed her eyes. "I completely forgot, Amos. I hadn't even though of Petunia. I've been so excited planning everything, I overlooked her. It's not going to be pretty."

"No, I can't imagine it will be."

"I'm glad you thought of it. Can you imagine meeting her at the train with James standing there with me. Oh, by the way Petunia, I forgot to tell you I was going to marry the person you hate most in the entire world. Just kill me and end it all now."

"That would be too easy. You'll going to have to work it out sooner or later. Sooner would be better."

"You're right. I'll write her and tell her…tell her I'm going home with a friend. I'll go and visit her a couple days later, and try to explain it to her. It's going to be terrible. Really, really bad." Lily put her hands over her face, "It'll hurt James's feelings if he finds out I haven't said anything to her yet."

"He's smart; he will understand. James knows your sister, and he knows you. His reaction is the one you need to be least worried about."

As it turned out, the letter wasn't too terrible; after all, Lily simply wrote a long lie. The thing that was terrible, though, was the entire day. Being surrounded by a hundred Gryffindors all talking at top volume made her feel ready to explode. She wished she could sneak to Hogsmeade and meet James. The crazier everyone began to act in the tower, the more she longed for his quiet presence. She wanted to sit with someone who wouldn't talk nonstop, and she wanted to hear his low voice that would have the slight tinge of irony. She wanted him to kiss her and make her forget she was worried about Remus and Petunia, and she wanted to feel the slow heat his fingertips always brushed along her skin.

She did not want Hogwarts with its noisy students, nor did she want any of her friends and their odd quirks. Lily wanted James.