A/N: Well...I finished Half-Blood Prince 7 hours after getting it. And I'm devastated, partly because quite a lot of this story will need to be altered, but mostly because...well, if you haven't read that far, you'll find out soon.

But balancing out these miserable feelings are of course, the wonderful reviews from readers of this story. A few words to these people whose words make me walk around with a big stupid grin ion my face:

Kaischick - I'm glad you enjoyed Chapter Two also! I had great fun writing it, as you can probably tell.

Pumpkinpasty - Oooh, your words cheered me up lots! I'm glad you mentioned the humor - this story is eventually heading towards darker territory, but as of now, a few dry remarks here and there do brighten things up a bit, I think!

UnanjelicHalo - I feel very honored! And thanks for that tip, I'm a bit of a fanfiction amateur right now, it was very useful indeed.

Jillie - Your review left me so happy! I am pretty proud of my characterization of Remus too (not to sound snotty or anything), he's just a very nice and rather unlucky guy. Anyhow, thanks so much for your kind words, they made me want to write the next chapter ASAP!

Aishteru - Yup, lots of things are to come - I've planned out a pretty long plotline, so hopefully that should keep you happy!

Azul - Wow, a Rowling comparison, I'm flattered beyond belief! Actually, I do try to imitate her writing to some degree, especially the not-in-your-face humor, but her stories are much more complex, hehe. Thanks for reviewing!

The Ebony Files

Chapter Two: The Perplexing and the Unexpected

Part Two: The Unexpected

September 2nd, 1977

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Transfiguration with the Hufflepuffs passed quickly. To our surprise, Professor McGonagall did not give the lecture on N.E.W.T.s we'd been expecting - instead, she set us to work immediately. After successfully mastering the spell in fifteen minutes, I spent the rest of the time helping Peter, who had somehow accidentally transfigured Damien Bones, a Hufflepuff, into an enormous cactus.

"Da-Damien, I'm so sorry!" sputtered Peter.

Damien the cactus, having no mouth, could not respond. Which might've been a good thing, because McGonagall certainly did not tolerate profanity in her classroom.

We eventually set him right, though Damien's brown hair still stood in spikes.

"Don't tell your mother," Peter implored apologetically.

"Nah, she won't care, she's a Muggle," Damien replied good-naturedly. "So's my father. After six years, they're still boggled over the fact that their only child turned out to be a wizard."

After Transfiguration came History of Magic, a class everybody dreaded. Professor Binns, our old and rather senile Professor, didn't even acknowledge us as we glumly filed into the classroom and sat down. As usual, he wasted no time in launching into a tedious lecture in his monotonous drone, and as usual, I was the only student who paid attention and took notes. When the bell finally rang, a good quarter of the class was still sound asleep.

"Peter, wake up!" Sirius prodded the sleeping boy with his wand, accidentally sending a few sparks onto Peter's hair, which ignited. Amazingly, Peter slept on.

"Sirius, for the love of-" James grimaced, sending a stream of water from the tip of his wand to put out the small flames. At this, Peter awoke to find himself drenched.

"Wha 'appened?" he muttered, disgruntled. "Why'm I all wet?"

"Peeves flew in and threw a couple of water balloons," James lied smoothly.

As the four of us headed down to dinner, I began to feel nervous again.

"Moony, you alright?" James put down his fork in the middle of his meal, peering closely at me. "You're not looking too good, pal."

"Is it that time of the month again?" Sirius grinned.

"You know, Padfoot," I said dryly, "That joke would actually be funny if you didn't repeat it eight times a day."

"But I'm serious!" Sirius said, biting his tongue down to keep from laughing. James and Peter groaned loudly. Sirius never got sick of his serious-Sirius joke. He said it was the one decent thing his parents did - give him a name he could amuse himself with.

About halfway through dinner, I announced that I had to go to the library to look something up for my Arithmancy homework. Which wasn't a total lie - I did want to check out a book.

"Oy," Sirius said, bolting up. "You've reminded me - I've gotta run, too."

But his eyes were fixed hungrily on a bunch of Slytherins, led by Severus Snape, who'd gotten up from their table.

I caught James' eye. This wasn't looking too good.

"Er-" James began weakly. "We've got that Transfiguration essay due, Padfoot, why don't we-"

"I finished it during History of Magic," Sirius replied briskly, already heading down towards the staircases, the same direction that the Slytherins had taken.

"I'll go after him," I volunteered, thinking that I had enough time to convince Sirius out of whatever he was set on doing before my rendezvous with Lily. James shot me a grateful smile before returning to his mutton chops.

I made my out of the hall and down several staircases before catching sight of Sirius' robes disappear around a corner. I sped up, but Sirius was way ahead of me. Panting, I hurried along the dungeon corridors, hoping that I would find the Slytherins before Sirius did...

Then, without a warning, a flash of white light caught my eye from down the corridor, followed by somebody yelling.

"SIRIUS!" I cried, breaking into a sprint. Rounding the corner, I saw Severus Snape on the ground, his books scattered, a furious expression on his face. His friends looked equally shocked and angry.

"What'd you do that for?" one of them rounded on Sirius, who was busy tucking something away in his bag.

"Well, it didn't kill him," Sirius snapped back. "Funny, though, by the looks of it, Snivellus here isn't used to getting his-"

He stopped in midsentence upon seeing me. "Remus, what're you doing here?"

I didn't think it'd be such a good idea to tell Sirius I'd been patrolling him in front of all these angry Slytherins, so I made up something about having to see Professor Slughorn, the Potions teacher.

"Well, in any case, let's get out of here," Sirius said huffily, but there was a glint of excitement in his eye. We left the scene quickly, not wanting to anger the Slytherins further.

"Sirius, what did you do to Severus?" I demanded once we were out of earshot.

"Nothing permanently damaging, it's only the second day of school," he replied nonchalantly. Then, sensing that this wasn't exactly the answer I'd been looking for, he shot me a sly wink.

"You'll find out when the time comes, Remus."

"Your attempt at sounding mysterious isn't working," I snorted, but I didn't press the issue further.

We reached the first floor.

"I'm going to the library. Where're you headed to?" I asked suspiciously.

"Dorms," Sirius faked a yawn. "Dead tired."

He obviously wasn't, but I decided that James could handle it from here as I watched his tall figure disappear up the stairs, a slightly uneasy feeling rolling around in my stomach.

Then, glancing down at my watch, I realised that dinner had ended ten minutes ago.

"Damn," I swore softly, breaking into a run for the second time that night. All thoughts of Sirius were soon forgotten.

I reached the library in record time. Stepping inside, I was taken aback to find that it was completely empty except for the librarian, Madam Pince, and Lily, whose red hair gave her away at once.

She smiled up at me as I took a seat opposite her. My stomach did an involuntary cartwheel.

"Er - hi," I said awkwardly.

"Hullo," she greeted.

"Where's everybody else?" I asked, desperate to look anywhere but at Lily's face.

"It's the first day of class, Remus," she said. "I doubt whether anybody's going to be in the library yet."

"Right," I said, feeling stupid. "Is that why you chose to meet here?"

Lily's smile broadened. "Not really. I didn't want to make it look suspicious for you, that's all."

I felt the color rise in my cheeks. She was right again - nobody in their right mind would've given a second thought to bookish, diligent Remus Lupin heading to the library.

"Er, good idea," I said lamely.

"You were probably wondering why I asked you to come, Remus," Lily said softly. Despite myself, I turned and faced her. She was gazing at me intently, her expression quite serious.

"Yeah, I was." I said. My heart was pounding like a hammer against my ribcage.

"Well, it's because -" Lily blushed, stammering a little.. "I kind of - well, I like you."

I shot her a puzzled look.

"Well, yeah, I like you too, Lily, you're a good friend and all-"

"No, Remus," she said. "What I meant - what I mean is, I...er..." she trailed off, looking at me expectantly.

I stared at her for a second, and then the words registered.

"But - you - I -" I croaked. "You don't - can't - James -"

A look of annoyance flashed across Lily's face. "I don't care about what James would think," she said huffily.

"But Lily, he's fancied you for ages-"

"Well," she said pointedly, crossing her arms, "I've fancied you for ages."

This made me shut up.

"Look, Remus," Lily started. "I'm sure James is probably a nice person underneath, er, a lot of other things, but I'm only stating the truth when I say he acts like an arrogant prat. The way he treats other people like he's above them all...it's just filthy and so...so indecent."

"He - really likes you," I said, at a loss for better words, because deep down, I knew that Lily was right.

"But the thing is, do you?" Lily asked bluntly.

I felt my cheeks flushing again.

"I don't know...it's complicated...why don't you..I dunno...go for Sirius or something?"

Lily laughed. "What, and be ripped into pieces by all the other girls in the castle?"

I smiled weakly. She had a point there.

"Listen, Remus," Lily said, her tone matter-of-fact again. "You're - you're one of the few truly decent people I've met. I don't care about Sirius' good looks or James' stupid Quidditch - there are more important things in life than above popularity and attention, things like intelligence and bravery and selflessness. Things that I value in a person. I saw what happened with Narcissa this afternoon. That must've taken a lot of courage on your part, Remus, choosing what was right over what was popular."

Despite everything, I felt a surge of warmth swell in chest. Lily thought I was brave...

No, a voice inside my head whispered, bringing me out of my reverie. You can't do this. You're a werewolf, a monster, a freak...Lily deserves somebody else, somebody untainted...

I sighed heavily and looked into Lily's large green eyes.

"Lily, I'm not lying when I say that you're the girl I - I respect. A lot. But there are complications, I'm very busy, I would make a terrible-"

"How do you know you'd make such a terrible boyfriend?" Lily fired back. "You haven't given anybody a chance! Remus, please, don't be difficult with me...I just want an answer..."

"Look, Lily, it doesn't matter if I like you or not, okay?" I retorted. I was angry now, angry with her, angry with James, angry with myself. Why did everything have to be so difficult? "The fact is, there's no way I can...I don't know...it's complicated..."

"Well, if you're going to reject me so rudely, I'd at least like some sort of explanation," Lily glared at me.

I sighed again. There was no way around it - I was a terrible liar, and Lily's searching eyes would surely detect that I wasn't telling the truth if I attempted to hoodwink her...

"Alright, then. Here's your explanation," I said crossly. "I shouldn't be telling you this, Dumbledore would kill me, but I - I'm a werewolf. I turn into a mindless and dangerous monster at the full moon. I'm not safe to be around anybody."

I'd expected her to gasp, to push away from the desk, to suddenly be filled with a deep loathing for me -

But to my surprise, Lily Evans' scowl changed into a wide grin. "That's not a valid excuse, I know that already."

I blinked. "You know?"

"Of course I know. I was miserable every time you weren't in class," she said quietly. "It was pretty obvious - disappearances once a month, your moon boggart, your exhausted state - but none of that matters," she waved a hand. "I don't care about that."

"What do you mean, you don't care? I - I'm a reject, Lily, I'm not normal! You can't even be around me! My - my condition doesn't allow me to keep my mind, I'm a danger to everybody that I care for-"

I froze suddenly, realising my blunder a split second after I'd uttered it, but Lily was smiling teasingly at me. "So you do have feelings for me, Remus Lupin."

"I never -"

"Don't worry. I knew that already too. You're not very good at hiding things, you know. Oh, and I also suspected you were going to use your lycanthropy as an excuse, so I spoke with Professor Slughorn."

I paled. "You - you told him?"

"No," Lily said lightly. "I influenced him."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means," Lily smiled coyly as she gathered up her books. "That you'll have to find out until Friday's lesson to find out."

Sensing she was about to leave, I stood up too, my eyes fixed on hers.

"Lily, you can't possibly just - just walk out that door, leaving me hanging like this."

She acted like she didn't hear me. "Remus, I want you to consider what I've said tonight."

I snorted. "Like I really wouldn't otherwise."

She smiled. "Meet me here Friday, same time. By then, an answer from you would be nice."

"But-"

"Night, Remus." Before I knew it, Lily had taken my hand into hers and given it a quick squeeze. Then, quick as a flash, she disappeared.

I scowled, feeling more confused than ever, and picked up my things to leave.

First Sirius, then Lily. It seemed like everyone was keeping a secret from me.

Upon climbing into Gryffindor Common ten minutes later, James immediately seized a handful of my robes, pulling me roughly to the side of the portrait hole.

"Moony-" he whispered, looking absolutely petrified.

"What?" I hissed back. But he didn't reply, for Sirius Black had just noisily slammed the door of our dormitory behind him and was now descending the stairs, the trademark smirk on his handsome face. He began to converse loudly with a pretty fifth year, shooting big grins at us every few minutes.

"Oh, don't be such a coward," I huffed, grabbing James' wrist. "Come on."

James only half-heartedly resisted as I tugged him across the room and up the stairs. Determined not to let my own uneasiness show, I twisted the door open and stepped into the dim dormitory. Allowing my eyes to adjust to the semi-darkness, I made a quick glance about.

"He didn't do anything," I called out to James, who was still standing outside. He cautiously entered. It was then that I realised that the hangings around both our four-poster beds were drawn shut. James seemed to register this too. Slowly, wands out, we approached our bedsides.

"One, two, three-" I said, and simultaneously, James and I curled our fingers around the velvet curtains and wrenched them apart -

Pasted all over the insides of our hangings, our pillows, our sheets and blankets, were the scowling, moving faces of none other than Severus Snape. Dozens of angry flashing eyes glared up from behind sheets of oily, black hair.

"Stupefy!" James immediately cried, blasting a gigantic hole in one of his pillows.

"James!" I exclaimed, exasperated. "Stop! It's just a stupid charm - oh,of course - Sirius went down to the dungeons earlier to take a picture of our favorite Slytherin, and now he's enlarged them and pasted them onto our bedthings. Simple, really," I remarked. "Finite!"

The Snapes remained there, scowling. Then, without a warning, they opened their mouths and in eerie resemblance to Narcissa's blonde cheerleaders, started chanting:

"You dirty rotten scumbags,
You dimwits shoulda guessed,
That from the moment you laid a hand on Sirius
He'd return to make a mess.

And so that's why we're here now,
Forty-eight copies, all on your bed
See, Severus Snape has offered to come
And to kiss you night instead.

Now until you've learned your lessons, boys
I'm afraid I won't be leaving
You can cry and you can shout and scream
But no one'll listen to your weeping.

This should make you think
Before you attempt another try
At taking advantage of your friend in slumber
With love, from Cherry Pie."

I groaned and turned to look at James, whose forlorn expression mirrored my own. If these Snapes said that they were here to stay, then Sirius definitely put some kind of sticking charm onto them. And Sirius' charms usually worked well.

"Sleeping on a couch in the Common tonight, Moony?" James asked despairingly.

"Yup," I replied, grabbing my nightclothes.

Merlin, what an evening.

A/N: I personally disliked this chapter, but the Lily thing is very important to the overall plot, so it had to be done. Please, bear with me here, I won't turn this story into a mushy-gushy romance thing. There's still going to be much more to come, including what's going to happen in Potions, as well as the actual introduction to the Ebony Files! Review and I shall cherish your words!