White Stag
A month later, Lily was as close to James as she was to Sarah, and James as close to Lily as to Sirius. Sarah didn't mind, in fact she had told Lily multiple times she was lucky to have James for a boyfriend and been told every time that James wasn't her boyfriend by a blushing Lily. Sirius didn't act like he minded, but didn't seem to like Lily any more than he had before, which was, according to James, "not a lot".
Lily was feeling somewhat adventurous and mischevious one morning, so she asked James if he wanted to go exploring in the Forest that night.
"Um... not tonight, Lils," he said, using his nickname for her. "And do me a favor, okay?"
"Depends on what it is," she replied, smirking a little.
"I'm serious about this. Don't go in the Forest at night without me, okay?"
He certainly looked serious for once. "Okay," she said, crossing her fingers behind her back.
"Thanks, Lils," he said with a relieved smile.
That night...
Lily snuck out of the castle just before the doors were closed and snuck into the Forest. She wanted to see why James didn't want her in there. "Lumos," she whispered to her wand. The end lit up and she began walking to her clearing. She was almost there when she heard a loud howl deeper in the Forest. Wasn't that what a werewolf sounded like? She shook off her fear and kept walking.
Moments later, the howl came again, but this time much closer. She heard a dog barking and the sound of hoofbeats, then the stag was there in front of her, staring at her. The werewolf howled again, even closer now. The stag glanced around, then there was a soft pop and James was standing in front of her, hazel eyes flashing between furious and worried.
He grabbed her wrist without a word and dragged her a few yards away, yelling, "PADFOOT, DISTRACT HIM!" over his shoulder. "Lily, when I change back, you're going to have to get on my back. There's no other way to get you out of here fast enough."
She stared at him for a moment, then heard the werewolf's howl and nodded. He transformed and she somehow got onto the stag's back.
He ran faster than she had ever thought was possible, disregarding branches so much that Lily gave up and just hunched over as close as she could so his antlers shielded her. Then they were out. James didn't transform as she had expected him to, but kept running until he got to the lake. Then he stopped, let Lily down, and changed back, collapsing almost immediately.
Lily knelt to check on him, but when she touched his back he pulled away. "I can't believe you did that," he whispered.
"I'm sorry," she whispered back.
"It's not me you need to apologise to," he said, sitting up. "Go back to the castle, Lily. There's a door near those bushes over there." He pointed.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
He stood up. "I'm going back." He transformed and ran back around the lake into the Forest.
This time Lily listened to him.
This is the first time I've had to use a divider for a while.
Ahh, James is mad at Lily:cries: Now what?
HG, you're right. Again. :thumbs up: Don't expect another chapter for a couple hours- I've apparently been on the computer too long so I'll have to go. But I'm printing all the stories so I can work on them while I'm off, so you may get a few at a time. :smiles: