The Marauders were in their dormitory that evening. Though their intention was to help Remus pack for his going away, they were more a hindrance. Just as Remus was getting fed up of their behaviour Frank Longbottom came in.

"Have you seen it?" he asked, hints of shock and amazement in his voice.

His entrance brought a welcome distraction from packing for James and Sirius, Peter, obviously, followed their lead. Remus was eternally grateful for this so asked "Saw what?" as a way of keeping them interested.

"That…that tree. If you can call it a tree," he gasped dramatically. "The thing nearly ripped my arm off, look." He pulled his sleeve up to reveal a bruise and a scratch.

"Oh, it must have been terrible!" Sirius commented sarcastically.

"It was. There I was minding my own business when that tree, which I have never seen before today, takes a swing at me."

The boys were laughing by now. "Of course it did Longbottom."

"It did," he sounded so insistent, so certain.

James grinned. "Well maybe we should go take a look at this tree. What do you say guys?"

Sirius was about to reply when Remus cried "No!" panicky, making the others look at him.

"Well you can't," he amended. "What if it is as dangerous as Frank said?"

Sirius grinned. "More fun."

Remus looked around desperately. "Well you're supposed to be helping me pack."

James raised an eyebrow. "Oh please. We haven't done one thing to help you since we set foot in here. Now stop being such a spoilsport, we'll be back soon."

Too excited in the idea of what lay ahead, only Peter heard him say "I hope," and being Peter he was too stupid to work out its hidden meaning, or to even ask about it.

They returned with matching looks of shock. Remus was gone by this time and so could not put a halt to their plans. And though they tried, the girls couldn't seem to convince them that their vendetta on a tree was pointless.

"But it's not just any tree," Sirius protested. "It's the Whomping Willow," he stressed the nickname to them as though it meant something.

"You named the tree?" Lily asked in disbelief.

"Well yeah," Peter squeaked. "Because it's a willow tree and it, well, whomps people –"

"Yes, thank you." Lily snapped, annoyed that he thought it needed explaining, to her of all people. She had been overly defensive when people started explaining things to her lately.

"Ooh, that was a little touchy Lily," James remarked.

"Well then I guess I'm touchy," she retorted. "But it sure beats being a dumb toad who thinks its fun to wage a war on a tree."

"It's not just any tree, it's the –"

"Whomping Willow, yes I know." She sighed as she stood up. "That doesn't make it any less of a ridiculous idea, though." She headed to the portrait, surprised to find she was followed by Alex, Marie and Alice. "Oh, and Potter?" James looked up frowning, not used to her calling him this. "It's Evans to you." With that she left.

Sirius began laughing. "I think someone's still annoyed with you, mate."

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Remus returned a few days later, and with it came extra Herbology lessons for Lily. Her twice weekly lessons weren't as bad as she thought they'd be, and she actually found she was enjoying herself. Not that she was going to admit it too easily.

"So, same time next week?" Lily asked as Remus began gathering his books. It was the Thursday of their third week.

He nodded before remembering something. "Oh, no. Wait, I can't do next week. The week after though, sure."

Lily looked at him. "What are you doing next week?" she asked casually but was aware of the disappointment that was entering her voice.

"Oh, er…You remember I said my uncle was ill?" Lily nodded. "Well he died. I have to go to his funeral."

"Oh, Remus. I'm so sorry."

He smiled weakly.

They walked silently back to the common room. It was only a week later as Lily was doing her Herbology homework and the conversation replayed in her head that Lily realised she'd been lied to.

--------

Weeks went by, and soon a couple of months had passed. It appeared Lily had managed to convince Alex to stay with Jacob, a fact Alex was glad for, though she refused to tell Lily. The passing months also meant that Remus would, every so often, miss a week of extra lessons. And though he would give her excuses, that she was fast learning to be lies every time, Lily was no closer to finding a reason. That is, until the one day at the end of March.

It was a Saturday so Lily was sat on the grounds reading a book when John came and spoke to her.

"Did you see the sky last night?" he asked her as he sat down, kissing her cheek as he did so.

She smiled at him. "Oh, hey. No, why?" she questioned, putting her book aside.

"Well it was really clear except for the moon, which was so close it felt like you could touch it."

"Really? Cool," She didn't know why, but something started working at the back of her mind.

They got involved in several discussions. John was laughing at a tale of something that had happened during a Potions lesson when it all clicked in Lily's head.

"Did you say it was a full moon last night?" she asked urgently.

He frowned at her. "Well, no, but yes it was."

Excitement shot through her as she grabbed her book and began racing to the castle shouting "I'll see you later," to a confused John.

--------

She never did explain to John, she didn't see him to tell him. She spent the next couple of weeks either pouring through the textbooks she owned, or in the library looking through books there. She even managed to get herself into the restricted section by getting a job assisting in the library. She found she quite enjoyed this job so kept with it, even after she'd found what she was looking for.

Checking the dates one last time, Lily broached the subject.

"Were not having a class next week, are we?" she asked Remus as he was clearing away. "Or at the end of May, beginning of June."

Remus shook his head but continued, for a couple of seconds at least. Then he spun round so fast Lily was amazed he didn't fall over. "How did you know that?" he asked, forgetting for a minute that he was supposed to deny it.

"Lucky guess," she shrugged. Her eyes shining, she spoke again. "So I was right? You really are a were –"

Remus stared at her as she spoke before cutting in. "Yes, it's true. Now, shh. I don't want everyone knowing."

She looked embarrassed. "Sorry, I just…Well, I've never met someone like you before."

He nodded about to say something when her arms went around him, hugging him tightly. "I won't tell anyone," she whispered in his ear.

She didn't realise that John was stood outside, watching through a window.

--------

She spent the next week fascinated by Remus' tale of how he had gone into the Forbidden Forest on New Years Eve and was bitten. She listened to his accounts of what he remembered happening on his transformation nights. She also heard of how he had read of other werewolves who were shunned by the outside world in their human form. Because of this he didn't want anyone knowing, especially not his friends. Though she thought the Marauders would be fine with it, and that Remus himself would be better off with them knowing, she respected his wishes and kept his secret quiet. But this came with a price.

"I don't want to see you anymore," John told her while she was working in the library.

"What?" she asked stunned, dropping a pile of books and earning a severe look of disapproval from Madam Pince. "But why?"

He bent down with the pretence of helping her pick them up, but in actual fact he was just whispering in her ear. "I don't like being made a fool of. And having your girlfriend cheat on you kind of undermines that."

Lily looked at him. "But I haven't been…With whom?"

"Lupin," he spat.

Lily couldn't help it, she began laughing hysterically. Whether this was at the idea of going out with Remus or at John's belief she wasn't sure, but he took it as an admission of guilt. Glaring he said "Goodbye Lily," and stormed out.

Lily continued laughing, simply because if she stopped she knew she was going to cry. When she finally got it out of her system, Madam Pince advised Lily that it was best she didn't return tomorrow as she obviously didn't respect "what a library is all about." For the second time that year, Lily cried herself to sleep.