Yes yes, I don't own anything in the Potterverse, yada yada...
Lily marched through the castle, her brain repeating the task at hand: I need to find Remus.
She was prowling the fifth floor for thet third time when she noticed a door she seemed to have missed. Glancing around, she recognized one of her favorite landmarks: a tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy,and his sad attemptto train trolls for the ballet. Lily smiled slightly at the ridiculous sight before she strode to the door and turned the golden handle.
Lily peered into a room she had never seen before. A barred window cast longstrips of moonlight across the room, which was small and bare. There was only one inhabitant sitting in the corner, whom she recognized at once.
"Remus?" she whispered.
"Yes?" he said remorsefully.
"I… I heard about what happened."
"And?"
"Well… I just… you mustn't hide like this! It's not your fault you are the way you are, don't be ashamed!"
"Ashamed? Lily, how can't I be ashamed? I'm a werewolf," he said, his voice cracking at the last word. "And I almost bit a student! Frankly, I'm amazed that the fact that I'm a werewolf remained secret for this long…"
"Well, I just… don't want you to feel like… like nobody cares about you. Your friends care."
"Yes, my friends care, but they don't understand. They've never been tainted by something so evil… and horrific…"
"Well, I just wanted to make sure you knew… and also… I'm here if you ever need me, too," she finished awkwardly.
She waited for him to reply, but none came. And, taking this as a hint, she began to make her way to the doorway.
Just as her hand reached the doorknob, she heard Remus sniff.
"Thank you, Lily."
She looked over her shoulder and smiled at Remus.
"I'll just let you get back to… brooding."
"No, wait," he said, drying off his face. "I'll come with you."
The sight of Lily and Remus emerging cheerfully from the portrait hole brought feelings of shock to James, Sirius, and Peter.
"Check out who I found," said Lily proudly, ignoring the looks that she was getting from her fellow Gryffindors.
"Moony, old pal!" cried Sirius, clapping his hands together. "Glad to see you're back!"
"Thank you, Sirius, but I think I'd best be off to bed," said Remus, and he made his way up to the boy's dormitories.
James, Lily, Peter and Sirius watched him go. Sirius looked around at the group.
"Wormtail! I'm a touch on the drowsy side," said Sirius, and added a fake and exaggerated yawn. "What d'you say we turn in, eh?"
"Well, I…" started Peter.
"Come on, you look tired."
Peter caught Sirius' drift at last.
"Oh!" he said, looking from James to Lily and back again. Finally, he got up and went to the dormitories with Sirius.
James turned to Lily and opened his mouth to speak, but Lily cut across him.
"Potter… James. I owe you an apology."
He looked at her, confused.
"You see," she continued, "yesterday, at the lake, I thought it was just you, being a bloody idiot…as usual."
"Thanks…" said James.
"Right, well, it's just that all day and night I expected some kind if revenge from you, to get back at me… for the hex I put on you.
"Oh, yeah…"
"But none came, not one all day, and I just thought… maybe…"
"You would go out with me?" he asked hopefully.
"No, James. How about we just… start over? Just as friends?"
James thought for a moment.
While he would much rather have Lily as his steady girlfriend, "just friends" was a huge improvement from "arch-enemy."
"Anything for you, Evans," he said with a grin.