A/N: Wow! 14 reviews! I'm speechless! Ok, not quite. Whatever. Thanks to: Artemis Hestia Rainey (Georgia, you spaz), Squibbles, a.k.a. Kathryn, Emmy Vance, the best beta in the world (even though she doesn't know it) and Becky the Prude, a.k.a. Lola. And catseye348. Thank you all SO MUCH! All right, on with the story.

"What?" Lily asked again, annoyed. "Oh, nothing," James hedged. Lily raised her eyebrow.

"Ummm… what about your plan? The one that's supposed to get us out of this mess." He asked, obviously trying to avoid the subject.

"Oh, yeah. Close your eyes." James did so, and unexpectedly heard Lily say clearly, "Petrificus Totalus." He went stiff as a board, and would have fallen over if Lily hadn't swooped in and caught him. She looked him in the eyes, and said simply, "Sorry. It was necessary." The look in James' eyes said clearly that he didn't care if she was sorry or not. And, without further ado, Lily tossed him into the lake. It wasn't really a toss, more of a roll, actually, but that didn't lessen the shock any. Then she waded in after him. The water was bone-chillingly cold, but she didn't mind. It had been months since she'd had a decent swim…Lily dove under the surface and swam across the lake to the other side and back, to where James was floating on his back in peaceful circles. Though she guessed that once she cut the spell, he'd be anything but. Sure enough, as she released the curse, he floundered in the lake, and, having lost his balance, went under, only to reappear a second later, looking irate. He was on his feet quickly in the shallow water, with his wand pointed directly between her eyes. "What the hell was that for? Give me one reason why I shouldn't hex you all the way back to the castle." The effect was somewhat lessened by the fact that James had water dripping down his nose, and his teeth were chattering. Lily was far from being scared.

"Because this, my dear idiot, is our excuse. Would you really have gone for it voluntarily?" James lowered his wand, and was oddly relieved. He hadn't really liked the idea of Lily being an enemy… "You see, you got separated from Ogg, tripped over a root, fell into the lake, and cut your leg on a rock. You shot up flares, and I saw them and came to help you, because I knew you didn't know how to swim. On my way out, I scraped my arm on the same rock. Savvy?"

"Alright. But…I do know how to swim. Can't you say that he water was too cold, and it shocked me?" James was displaying his Gryffindor pride.

"Fine. Whatever," Lily compromised. "We should fix up your leg. It's bleeding rather badly."

"Not as bad as your arm. I'll do that first." James tore off a strip of fabric from his cloak and after performing a quick drying charm on it, held Lily's arm out and began to bandage it. It must have hurt, but to Lily's credit, she didn't flinch once. James commented on it, and was ashamed and embarrassed when she replied shortly, "I'm used to it." He tied off the knot on her arm, took her by the shoulders, and looked straight into her vibrant eyes. "I swear that if he ever touches you again, I will personally make sure that he isn't capable of touching anything again. OK?"

"Yeah," Lily said softly. Suddenly, she realized how close they were. James' arms slid down from her shoulders to her waist, and her arms moved to his. She looked up into his eyes, and he looked down into hers. He tilted his head down and kissed her hesitantly. When she didn't pull away, he became more confident, drawing her into himself. Lily didn't notice, and pretty soon, neither did James. We have got to do this more often.. She melted in his arms… he could have stayed like that forever… suddenly, a crashing noise startled the two students apart. A few seconds later, they could hear a voice muttering to itself as it made it's inexplicable way towards them. "Quick! Look busy!" Lily whispered urgently. James sat on the ground quickly and stuck his leg out. Lily knelt beside him and was in the process of tearing a strip off her robes when their pursuer found his way into the clearing. It was Tennesin, and he was not happy. An hour later, they were in the Headmaster's office again.

The months after that passed quickly. Their punishment for 'attempting to evade detention' was brief; all they had to do was spend four hours in the library shelving books. Aside from the talk Lily had promised, they hadn't discussed much about that night by the lake.

FLASHBACK

"Spill," Lily said calmly. For some reason, this terrified the three boys sitting guiltily in front of her more than if she had yelled. Remus hung his head, James studied his feet, and Sirius' eyes darted around, looking for possible exits. As they were inside a broom closet, there were few. James claimed that is was one of the safest places to talk inside the school, due to the fact that it was where the majority of Slytherins went to snog. Students from the other houses tended to avoid it as much as possible. One look was enough to last a lifetime. The closet was large, almost a walk-in. "Well…" James began hesitantly. After receiving encouraging nods from Sirius, which were mainly because he was relieved he didn't have to explain, James went on. "It all started in second year, when we realized Remus was a werewolf…" He went on to explain that instead of shunning him, as Remus had been sure they would, they had become Animagus to help their friend through his transformation. They had accompanied him every full moon from then on, keeping the monster in him at bay. "Until," James said dangerously, "last month." Sirius looked down ashamedly. "I-I wasn't paying attention," he said haltingly. James snorted. "Got that right," he muttered. "I was having too much fun, I forgot to watch him, and by the time I realized he had gone, I saw your sparks. I am so incrediblysorry. He could have killed either of you, and it would have been all my fault," Sirius said. Lily looked at Remus. "I dunno what I would have done if I had bitten you… I don't think I could have lived with myself after that. I completely understand if you don't want to be friends anymore…if there's anything I can do for you…anything…" Remus said quietly. Lily stood up. It looked like she was going to bolt for the door. Instead, she went over to where Remus was sitting with his back against the wall, and knelt down. She hugged him tightly before standing up again, saying meaningfully, "Well… there is one thing…"

"WHAT?" James' voice rang out through the hall.

An hour later, they were in the boy's dormitory. James' bed was strewn with books open to pages of brightly coloured animals and terrifying creatures which looked half human. One was a man with the tail of a sparrow and feathered arms, and another featured a woman with scales all over her legs and face. They had titles like 'Animagus for the Intelligent Witch' and '10,597 Things Not to do While Attempting to Transform Yourself Into a Sea Slug'. Lily sat on Peter's unused bed and read through one volume while James knelt by his trunk and removed a number of books. "This one was good. Catch," he said, throwing the book across the room. Lily caught it expertly (A/N: snatch! lol Emmy) and flicked it open. "Right," Lily announced minutes later. "I think I've got it."

"Ok. If you end up permanently splinching yourself, I am never going to forgive you," James announced. "Now, sit down somewhere comfortable, and drink this. You'll go into a trance state and see a picture of what your shape will be. You have no idea how lucky you are we had this potion left over. It takes a year to brew properly." They were alone in the room; Remus said he wanted to study, and Sirius was keeping him company. "All right," said Lily. "Doesn't sound that hard." She drank the clear potion and settled back against the pillows.

A/N: Well, that was fun! I respect romance writers now more then ever… that part was really hard to write! Tell me what you think, and ignore all my psychotic friends… if you dare! They have a habit of pushing you into desks… cough SQUIBBLES! cough Lola—CINNAMON! Mmm….