AN: Back I am! Well, my reviewers did come back a little! Thanks to dewwater, starrish and eyed, Emma Lovegood, MoonShineMagicSsarer, and Letty. Now, I know that some of you are thinking that Remus and Lily's realization of their feelings did go kind of fast, but really, it wasn't THAT unrealistic…. I had an experience somewhat like that one, short spaces of time and all. Now, the chapter…

Chapter 4: Please?

Lily woke up Monday morning feeling better than she had in a while. For a full Sunday, she actually had something to do besides schoolwork. Even James didn't disturb her things for once. She and Remus had spent the entire day together the day before. When he had taken her to the kitchens on Saturday, she had gotten the feeling that he knew of many more places around the castle that she didn't. He promised to take her to many of the places the Marauder's had discovered the next day, and did she ever have fun going to places she was sure even the Headmaster didn't know existed.

"Lily, are you up yet?" asked Margo through Lily's bed curtains.

"Yeah, I'm getting there," said Lily thickly. A few moments later she found herself stretching and slipping out of her bed to an empty dormitory. Where did everyone go? She wondered. She glanced at her bedside clock and saw that it was ten minutes until breakfast. She overslept! Cursing Margo for not waking her sooner, she quickly threw on her robes and tidied her appearance as best she could without showering. She then dashed down to the common room and was stopped in her tracks by the sight of Remus waiting for her.

"Remus, what--?" he started to ask.

"I figured you'd like an escort to breakfast," he said. Then le lowered his voice and leaned a bit closer to her. "Since you took a bit longer than usual, James and the others are already at breakfast and won't notice us walking together." Lily giggled.

"I suppose you're right." She checked her watch. "Breakfast will be starting any minute, and I'm starved, come on, let's go!" said Lily, dashing for the portrait hole, Remus close behind her. Once they were in the corridor leading away from the Gryffindor common room, they slowed to a fast walk. Neither of them talked for a minute until Remus broke the silence.

"So… are you worried about N.E.W.T.s?" he asked casually.

"A little. I think the nerves will truly kick in once they get really close. I was pretty nervous for my O.W.L.s, so I can't imagine N.E.W.T.s," replied Lily.

"Well, you're smart. You should pass them easily," said Remus.

"You're smart, too, Remus," said Lily. "And, to be honest, I've been wondering how you didn't get to be Head Boy…" said Lily. Remus didn't reply for a minute. He had come to Dumbledore at the end of sixth year, because he knew he would be one of the boys that were highly considered to be Head Boy. He had specifically requested to not be Head Boy because of his monthly transformations. The Headmaster had understood, and had asked him if he could recommend anyone as a better candidate. Before he had thought about it, Remus had replied "James Potter." Dumbledore, knowing James's record of troublesome pranks, had regarded Remus curiously. In truth, Remus had suggested James because he knew Lily would probably get Head Girl, and he figured James might have a better chance of winning Lily over if they shared duties and all that.

However, he couldn't have told Dumbledore that, so he quickly manifested the reason that James was "extremely brave and loyal, would take the utmost risks for anyone he loved and some he didn't, and he really was reasonable and smart deep down, and that being made Head Boy would help him realize that." Remus could tell that Dumbledore would still have rather considered him over James, but he said that he understood and dismissed Remus with a very thoughtful look on his face. Remus had a bad feeling that Dumbledore knew the real reason he had suggested James, and he was amazed when he found out that Dumbledore had taken his suggestion in a letter from James in early August. He never did tell James about that, and James was very confused about getting Head Boy, because he thought Remus would get it for sure. Remus told him to just brush it off and take it as good luck.

"Remus, did you hear me?" asked a concerned Lily.

"Yes, yes, I was just thinking. I guess Dumbledore realized that James was a better person than I was," said Remus. Lily laughed.

"James? A better person than you? Never," said Lily. Remus simply shrugged, and Lily got the feeling that he wasn't telling her all he knew. She didn't think on the feeling long.

"We're going to have to enter the Great Hall separately. You can go in first," said Remus when they got closer to their destination.

"That makes sense… we don't want your friends to get suspicious. See you later, Remus," said Lily, speeding up and walking into the Great Hall and over to where Margo was sitting.

Remus slowed his walk and appeared in the Great Hall about thirty seconds after Lily. He looked around, spotted where James, Sirius, and Peter were sitting, and walked over to them.

"About time you showed up, Remus, even Sirius was here before you," remarked James. "You oversleep?"

"Yeah," said Remus. Sirius shook his head from side to side.

"Tsk tsk tsk, Remus… what are we going to do with you?" he said jokingly. Peter and Remus both laughed. Remus stopped, however, when he felt someone staring at him. He looked on the other side of the table and down a few seats and saw Lily's eyes looking at him. He flashed her a quick smile and looked back to his friends.

"We start out with Double Transfiguration with Ravenclaw today… you all did do your homework, didn't you?" asked Remus.

"Of course we did, Remus," said Sirius a little too innocently. Remus had been looking at James, and he didn't move his head, but rather simply moved his eyes to James's right to look at Sirius.

"Really? What manner of scheming and cheating did you use this time?" asked Remus dully.

"None, we promise!" said James, holding up his hand.

"I did it, Remus," said Peter eagerly.

"Good for you, Peter," said Remus patting him on the back. Then he turned back to James. "Honestly, James, if you can't do your homework properly then how do you expect to keep the title of Head Boy?"

"Come on, Remus, there's only two more months in the year… he can't very well take away my badge now, can he?" asked James. "And we really did do our homework… really."

"You didn't copy off of each other…?"

"Nope, there was no need to," said Sirius. Remus still looked at the pair carefully.

"You two never do your homework properly… so what was it this time? Stealing someone else's? Pestering McGonagall with questions? What?" Sirius sighed heavily.

"Well, Moony, if you don't believe us, then I guess you aren't truly our friend…"

"Sirius, knock it off," said Remus, but he still smiled. "Fine, turn in your homework, whatever mockery of an assignment it is, but don't come running to me when she sees through whatever scheme it was this time."

"Yes, sir!" said Sirius, saluting Remus. Remus couldn't help but to chuckle.

"Please, pass your homework assignments to the front of the room," said Professor McGonagall a half hour later. Lily, who had managed to get a seat in the third row, sitting directly behind Remus, opened her bag and pulled her homework out of it. She passed it in front of her to Remus, discreetly gripping his right shoulder for a second, making sure his friends didn't see, who were all in desks to Remus's left. She couldn't see it, of course, but her small action made Remus smile. Once Professor McGonagall had all the parchments and had placed them on her desk, she faced the class.

"Today we will be learning more about Animagi, and for a little entertainment you will learn a spell that you will perform on a partner to show what animal they would become if they were an Animagus. So, if you would all please get out a quill and parchment for taking notes and your books…" said Professor McGonagall. Lily was too busy getting her book and parchment to notice the worried glance the Marauders shared with each other.

After forty-five minutes of listening to McGonagall ramble on about the history of the ancient magic of Animagus transformation, of which James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were all very familiar with, the professor instructed the class to put away their books and quills and take out their wands. This pronouncement was met with excited whispering, coming from the girls especially. Lily looked to her left at Margo and smiled, and Margo smiled back.

"Partners?" mouthed Margo to Lily. Lily responded with a nod.

"This spell is rather simple and most of you should be able to handle it on the first try. This is just a simple exercise for your enjoyment," Professor McGonagall was saying. "This incantation is animesari. Simply point your wand at the person and say the incantation, and they will briefly transform into an animal. To give you a feel for what will happen, I'll have a volunteer pair up here to demonstrate."

No one raised his hand.

"No one? Okay then, how about Miss Evans and Mister Lupin?" said McGonagall. The entire class knew she picked those two because they were the smartest in the class, and there were a couple groans heard, which the professor quickly shushed as the pair walked up tio the front of the room.

"Mister Lupin, you may cast it first," said Professor McGonagall, using her wand to move her desk all the way to the wall for give them maximum space. Remus nodded, and raised his wand. He smiled at Lily briefly before casting the spell.

"Animesari," he said, and Lily shrunk down to a red-haired cat with green eyes. She meowed and several of the girls cooed over the "cute little kitty." A few seconds later Lily appeared once again in the room. Lily looked at Remus and smiled, but Remus was looking extremely nervous now for some reason, exchanging glances with his friends in the second row.

"Okay, Miss Evans, now you try casting it on Mister Lupin," said the professor after praising Remus's job well done. Suddenly, as Lily raised her wand, James raised his hand.

"Yes, Mister Potter?" asked Professor McGonagall.

"May I go instead of Remus?" he asked.

"No, Mister Potter, I think you've had enough attention for a while. I already chose Lupin. You'll have your chance when the rest of the class practices the incantation. Now, go ahead, Miss Evans," responded the professor. Lily nodded and smiled, then turned back to Remus.

"Animesari," she said, and she gasped when Remus hunched down on all fours and turned into a large wolf with brown fur. He howled loudly and the same girls that had been fawning over Lily, Margo included, were now slightly screaming. In fact, the only people in the room that looked calm were James, Sirius, and Peter. Remus stayed transformed for a full minute before returning back to his original state, unlike Lily, who had only been a cat for no more than fifteen seconds. Remus looked at Lily with a very curious expression in his eyes, and she couldn't quite place what it was. However, as Professor McGonagall applauded their good show and the pair walked back to their seats, Lily thought about how Remus had been glancing at his friends and how he had looked so worried… how James had volunteered to go up instead… how Remus had been transformed for four times as long as she had… how Remus somehow always disappeard once each month... then, something clicked inside her mind.

Remus was a werewolf.

It was the only logical explanation, as Remus had never been nervous about any spells any time before this that she had noticed, and James would never be put under a spell in front of the class, arrogant as he was… and the fact that he regularly transformed into a wolf would explain why he stayed in that state so long… She swallowed hard as she sat back down in her seat, but vowed not to tell anyone about this discovery, lest she be wrong. She wouldn't even tell Margo.

"Wow, Lily, that was wicked!" remarked Margo as Lily sat down.

"Yeah…" said Lily distractedly.

"If you would all please get up from your seats so I can clear away the desks to give you all more space…" said Professor McGonagall. All the students quickly got up and Professor McGonagall waved her wand. The desks flew over the heads of the students to either side of the room, stacking themselves neatly.

"Now, please, carry on with the incantation practice, and spread out with your partners, the room is big enough that no one should run into someone else when they transform…" said Professor McGonagall. "I will be monitoring you closely and I will let you know when it's time for you to pack up." Margo and Lily moved to a deserted corner of the room.

"Since we already know what I am I guess I'll just put the spell on you, all right?" said Lily to Margo, clearing her mind of all thoughts of Remus, difficult as that was. Margo nodded and seemed eager to be an animal for a short space of time. Lily pointed her wand at Margo and said, "Animesari" and Margo immediately became a red and brown plumed phoenix. Lily could see delight in the bird's eyes as she flapped her wings and rose a few feet into the air before she landed and became Margo again.

"Wow, you were a phoenix!" said Lily admirably.

"Wicked!" said Margo. "Can I put the spell on you again? You were so adorable as a cat!"

"Oh, all right," said Lily. Margo smiled and took out her wand.

"Animesari!" she said happily, and Lily once again transformed into a cat. She heard Margo's squeal of delight and she reached down to pat Lily's head. Lily meowed and purred as she rubbed her head against Margo's delicate hand for a few seconds, and then, after Margo removed her hand, Lily transformed back into herself again.

"This has got to be the most fun Transfiguration class we've ever had," said Margo, still smiling.

"Yeah, I think you're right," replied Lily, glancing over at Remus, who was currently staring at a rat, which she assumed was Peter.

Later that night as Lily was patrolling the halls after dinner, James came sauntering up to her.

"Hey kitty cat," he said playfully as he walked beside her. She did not look at him as she responded.

"We're supposed to be patrolling separate parts of the castle, Potter."

"Oh, I know…" he replied casually. "I just figured you'd like some company." Lily wondered why he was being so civil to her and she looked at him.

"No, I'm fine," she said, somewhat coldly. James did not respond immediately but also did not walk away. Lily didn't mind his presence too much as long as he wasn't doing anything to her or speaking to her. He, however, suddenly broke the silence after a few minutes.

"Lily… can't you just… give us a try?" he asked quietly.

"What?" she snapped, stopping and facing him.

"You heard me," said James. "Can't you just give it a go with me?" Lily understood that he was asking her if she would be his girlfriend pretty much, and found that, despite Margo's words to her, she was a bit surprised.

"No James, no."

"But why?" he pleaded.

"Because I'm seeing someone else," she said flatly.

"What? Who? Since when?" he asked.

"That is none of your business."

"Lily, please…?"

"No, James," said Lily, and she turned around and walked away, back towards the common room.

-xXx-

Remus was aimlessly walking around the halls of Hogwarts, for no purpose at all, really. He knew it was getting close to curfew, but if a teacher caught him, he could just say he was patrolling. Prefects were allowed to patrol after curfew, after all. He was just debating heading back to the common room when Lily appeared around the corner ahead of him. She had her head facing the ground and she appeared to be annoyed. He waited for her to get a bit closer to him.

"You'll run into something if you don't look where you're going," he said with a smile, and her head shot up.

"Remus! What are you doing out so late?" she asked, walking up to him.

"Patrolling," he said simply. "Just like you."

"Well, I had a bit of an interruption during my rounds," said Lily, disgruntled.

"Really? What happened?"

"James came up to me and pretty much asked me out. Took me a few minutes to get rid of him, but I did…" said Lily.

"Ah, okay," said Remus with a smile. Suddenly, Lily remembered the Transfiguration class from earlier that day. She looked around and spotted an empty classroom.

"Remus, come in here with me," she said, and dashed to the classroom door, opened it, and disappeared inside. Remus followed her.

"Lily, what—?"

"Remus, listen… I thought about what happened in Transfiguration earlier, and I came to a conclusion that's had me thinking all day, I just have to know if it's true or not," she started. Remus swallowed hard. She had found out. She was probably the only girl smart enough to wonder exactly why he had turned into a wolf… why he had stayed transformed longer than anyone else…

"What is it?" he asked in a would-be casual voice.

"Remus… I… are you… well, a… werewolf?" she whispered the last word. Remus sighed heavily. He saw no point in hiding the truth from Lily.

"Yes," he responded quietly, looking at the ground. "I have been since I was little." Lily did not scream, nor did she gasp. Had he been looking up, he would have simply seen her nod.

"Remus?" she said. He slowly looked up at her. "I don't care that you are," she finished. She found herself involuntarily leaning toward Remus, and he found himself doing the same. Before she knew it, he had placed his lips on hers.

AN: Finally done! Sorry it took a bit longer than normal, people, so I gave a really, REALLY long chapter in place of that! REVIEW LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!

SpicySugar