Chapter 10 – Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs

Lily sat on the train home for Easter holidays. She looked out the window at the rain and began thinking. Carly had offered to come home with her but Lily had said no. Firstly Lily had to deal with this on her own. Her first time back home since her parents died. It was something she had to do by herself. Secondly Lily didn't think Petunia would be too happy if Lily had brought one of her "freak" friends with her.

Lily thought back over the events of the second half of the term. It had been a rather boring term after the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Lily had of course reverted back to hating James Potter with a vengeance. She had decided that he wasn't worth being civil to. There hadn't been any excitement for Lily until the last week of term. She had decided that she needed to find something bad about James Potter. Something she could get him into real trouble for. In simple terms Lily was looking for blackmail. And of course Lily found exactly what she was looking for.

~*Flashback*~

"Lily are you sure you want to do this?" asked Carly.

"Yes I'm sure. Everyone thinks James Potter is so perfect. Quidditch captain, great marks, one of the wonderful Marauders. Ugh. Makes me sick. Potter is hiding something and I'm gonna find out what. And then should he ever piss me off again I'll take whatever it is he's doing and go public."

"Okay Lily. Do what you want but I hope you know I think what you're doing is wrong."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Whatever Carly. Potter deserves everything he gets."

All that week Lily snuck around looking and waiting for James to slip up. But he seemed to be acting extra perfect. It was if he knew he was being followed everywhere. Fortunately for Lily and unfortunately for James, Sirius was the one who slipped up.

On the Friday afternoon, last day before holidays, Lily walked into the Common Room. James and Sirius didn't notice her and continued talking.

"Prongs, we going out tonight?" asked Sirius.

"Did you see the moon last night? 'Course we're going out tonight."

"Invisibility Cloak?"

"Well duh Padfoot. How else did you think we were gonna get out of here? And keep your voice down." The two moved away not realizing that someone had overheard their conversation. Lily raised her eyebrows. 'Invisibility Cloak, eh? That could make things difficult. Oh well I'll just have to wait and watch until the portrait opens with no one coming in or out.'

For the rest of the afternoon Lily sat patiently in the Common Room pretending to read Jane Eyre. At one point James had come down and had tried to apologize again to Lily but by now he had realized that it was pretty pointless. He was now only doing it out of habit. When Lily returned from dinner in the Great Hall she once more took up the pretence of reading Jane Eyre, while she was really discreetly keeping an eye out for James and Sirius.

She didn't have to wait long since they arrived not long after her. They sat down on the other side of the Common Room huddled over what looked like an old piece of parchment. Lily noticed that Peter Pettigrew was with them but Remus wasn't. It was only then Lily realized he hadn't been to classes that day.

The boys seemed to be waiting for something. They certainly weren't leaving anytime soon from what Lily could see. Slowly the Common Room began to empty and by the time it reached 11:00 the only people left were James, Sirius, Peter and Lily.

Lily heard one of the boys sigh then all three stood up and over-exaggeratedly stretched and yawned. "Night Lily," the three said as they walked past her.

"Night Sirius, night Peter," she replied, pointedly ignoring James. Lily smirked as she watched their retreating backs and began softly giggling to herself. For some reason Lily couldn't stop laughing for a few minutes, not until her excellent hearing kicked in and she heard people coming down the stairs from the boy's dorms. Lily quickly hid back behind her book and patiently waited while they passed her. Lily stifled her laughter at their shuffling feet and the amount of noise they were making. For people who were meant to be invisible they sure made a hell of a lot of noise.

Once the portrait had closed Lily got out of her chair and silently began to follow the boys. She followed them down to the Entrance Hall and then out of the front doors and into the grounds. They walked around the castle and over near the Forbidden Forest. 'Where are they going?' thought Lily, 'The only thing over this way is the Whomping Willow.'

And that's exactly where the boys walked to. Lily stopped a little way off behind a tree and watched as James threw off the Invisibility Cloak. Then what Lily had least been expecting happened. James, Sirius and Peter all suddenly became animals. Lily was shocked then grinned. 'This is perfect,' she thought, 'James Potter is an illegal Animagus. This is the best blackmail ever.'

As Lily continued to watch she saw the rat, who she assumed was Peter, dart between the branches of the Willow and press a knot in the tree. The tree froze and the stag, dog, and rat darted into the hole at the base of the tree. Lily stood there stunned.

It wasn't long before the animals returned but this time there was a fourth. Lily shook herself out of her stupor. 'Why do they now have a wolf with them?' she thought. Suddenly everything fell into place. The nicknames, the fact they were illegal Animagi, Remus' disappearance today, his frequent disappearances, even James' subtle hint about the full moon. Remus was a werewolf. Lily gasped. Even though the animals were a fair way away Remus must have heard because Lily saw the werewolf prick its ears up and turn around. Seeing this, the stag and the dog turned as the werewolf began charging at Lily. Lily held up her wand and yelled "Stupefy!" The werewolf froze. Lily looked into the stag's eyes and ran.

~*End Flashback*~

"KINGS CROSS STATION! EVERYONE OFF!"

Lily looked away from the window and picked up her things. She got off the train still thinking. 'I can't turn Potter in now because I feel bad for Remus. I'll have to talk to Remus when I get back.'

"Hurry up you freak," came Petunia's extremely non-pleasant voice, "I haven't got all day."

Lily sighed. This was going to be a long two weeks.

~**~~**~