Chestervalle

"James, Sirius," said Lily, when they were all talking in the common room that night. Danielle and Ella were discussing something which, by the sound of their raucous laughter, they found extremely funny, so Lily took the chance to talk to they marauders about something she was burning to ask.

"What are we going to do?" she asked desperately, a pleading look in her eye. They knew, of course, what she was talking about. The excuse that Lupin was off visiting his ill grandmother would only last for so long. It wouldn't be long before it reached the ears of Dumbledore, and he and Cassandra were old friends, he would know if she were sick.

"I don't know, We have no idea where he is." They said quietly. Lily's heart sank through the floor.

"None at all?" she asked, then decided to tell them what she had realised last night.

"None at all." James replied sadly. "What?" he added, seeing the look on her face.

"Well, it's just that…I don't know, I could be wrong…I hope that I'm wrong…" she trailed off.

"What is it?" asked Sirius, throwing an anxious glance towards the other girls.

"That man, in the Hogs Head, I think I know where we knew his voice from…"

A look of dawning spread across Sirius and James face, and their eyes grew wide.

"At least we know where he is then!" said James, leaning back in his armchair. Lily shook her head sadly.

"I don't think so. Didn't you hear him telling the barman? He said he was only staying a night, and then he was leaving."

"Where too?" asked Sirius.

"Chestervalle." She replied, her voice filled with dread. Suddenly it all made sense.

"Chestervalle? But isn't that…" Sirius and James suddenly looked panicked, Lily horribly upset. Chestervalle wasn't far away. That wasn't even a problem, seeing as all of them could appearate, however, not many people wanted to go there.

When a human became a werewolf, they were normally shunned by society, As far as anyone knew, Remus was the first one ever to attend Hogwarts. Chestervalle was mainly full of caves and allys, where they met, and lived, and bred. They considered themselves so far less than other humans that they separated themselves from society, to protect others, or, as James had put it, to protect themselves.

At the moment, Lily didn't care about herself. All she cared about was getting Remus out of there. It was, in her opinion, her fault that he felt bad enough to go there anyway, and her responsibility to get him back.

"James, I need your cloak and broom." She said, determination set in her eyes. James and Sirius stared at her.

"Sure." Said James sarcastically. "Why?"

"You know why, now get them for me or I'll hex you!" she said, a standing and drawing her wand.

" Ok Lily, I think that you've gone a little crazy. You can't go there!" the girls had stopped laughing now, and were watching the conversation intently. Sirius's mouth had dropped open in amazement.

"He's right Lily. Put the wand down." He added.

"No Sirius! It's my fault he's there! I'm the only one who can bring him back, you know that!" she said. Sirius bowed his head.

"Padfoot, don't you dare bail on me! Back me up!" said James.

"Look at her mate!" Sirius said, defeated. "You know she won't give this a rest."

"I don't care! She can't go!" James said, and before he could protest any more, Lily ducked past him, and ran up to his dormitory.

"OI!" cried James, and chased after her. He was too late. Lily stood by his window, His cloak wrapped round all but her head, his broom in her hand. Peter sat on the bed, eating chocolate frogs and staring at Lily in amazement and confusion.

"Lily! You cant!" James cried in desperation, chasing her over to where she stood, so that Peter couldn't hear.

"Yes, I can." She said, staring him back in the eyes, stubborn as an angry hippogriff.

"Give me the broom Lily." He said firmly, his voice shaking.

"No."

"Please, just give me the broom." He repeated. Lily saw the anger in his eyes, but there was something else there too, was it fear? Slowly she handed over James broomstick into the hands of its grateful owner, however…

"Get on the back." James said regretfully, having mounted the broomstick and stood next to the window. Lily beamed at him.

Throwing the cloak over them, James pushed off the ground and they soared out the window and over the Hogwarts grounds. Hagrid could be seen stoking a fire outside his cabin, admittedly larger than an ant, but everything else was fading away into the distance.

"Lily, do you actually know what we're going to do once we get there?" James asked over his shoulder. Lily shook her head.

"All I cared about was getting there." She replied, wrapping her arms tighter around his waist. "And finding him." She added quietly.

James knew what Lily was scared off. There were terrible stories that came out of Chestervalle. There weren't actually any witches and wizards left in the area. But when there were no humans in the town left for them to attack at a full moon, they turned on each other, and fed on their friends.

The people of Chestervalle feel so horrible about themselves, even when they are in human form, that they attack even when it's not a full moon, and Lily only hoped that they could get to their friend in time.

Urging the broom faster at the thought of Remus, James felt Lily's arms around him and smiled. He was glad, in a way, that it was her with him. Sirius was always great to hang out with, but he liked Lily in a way that he couldn't explain, and the thought that she was there, holding onto him for support was greater than anything he could have ever imagined.

Night fell around them, and they were swallowed up in darkness, which seemed to reflect their mood, as they became closer and closer to the place they knew they must land.

They had no idea, no plan in their heads as to how they were going to find Remus, let alone convince him to come back to Hogwarts…. And that was all if they could avoid the rest of the murderous werewolves that inhabited the area.

James saw lights beneath them, and knew that this must be it. There had been no other houses for miles, and they were deep into the mountains, far from any other civilisation. They had reached Chestervalle.

"Ready?" he asked Lily quietly, turning to look at her as he hovered in the air. Lily nodded, and he dropped the nose of the broom and sent them soaring down to the cluster of lights.

They seemed to grow in size, and swell before them, as they came nearer and nearer to the ground, and when James landed it smoothly on a dank piece of grass, Lily and he slid off the broom gracefully, shivering with the cold and the fear of what they were to do. Because truth be told, they had no idea what that was.

"What do we do now?" Lily asked James, feeling for his hand in the dim light.

"I have no idea. He cant be in a cave to himself yet, or a house. He only got here a day or so ago, there has to be a place where they stay, a hostel or an inn or something…" he trailed off, and Lily scanned the area. There was no sign of life anywhere. In the rock surfaces of the cliffs that scaled the mountains caves had been cut out, and lights could be seen from within, dim, dust filed light, that filtered through the area like the soft glow of the moon. The thought sent shivers up and down Lily's spine.

Hand in hand, Lily and James walked along the street, which was edged with old houses, the remains of human habitation, and probably the residents of which were bitten right in their homes. Every so often there was a run down shop, or a broken phone booth, but on the whole the entire town seemed dank and dingy. Lily didn't like it at all.

There was graffiti on the walls too; James noticed it first. What they had thought to be a drawing, or initial was actually a sinister green mark, showing a skull with a snake protruding from its mouth.

"Is that…" whispered Lily.

"Yeah, I think so." He gripped Lily's hand even tighter, and tried to ignore the dark marks, which seemed to peer down at them from all sides.

They came to the end of the road, when they saw a small, dusty sign out the front of what seemed to be just another, old, run down house.

"Moonswane Inn." Read the sign, and James stopped, staring at the house for a moment, before turning to Lily.

"Listen, if I tell you to run then you have to promise me that you will, ok? I'm fine, Prongs will help me, but if anything happened to you in here then I don't think I could bare it."

"But James-"

"Please! Promise me, that if it gets too dangerous in here, you will leave it to me. Let me handle it."

"But I-"

"Lily. Promise?" James said, looking deep into her eyes, his mouth set in a determined line. Lily nodded, and they started up the pathway.

When they opened the door, they were surprised to find the inn a lot bigger than it had been on the outside. The room they had entered was an old, stone pub, which made them wonder why they had ever thought that the Hogs Head was dirty.

"I hope that this isn't the place." Whispered Lily, fear etched in every tone of her small voice as she eyed the occupants of the room. Shabby looking men and women sat at grubby little tables, sipping fire whisky, or other smoking goblets and glasses. Some were covered in hoods, and dressed in rags, while others, whose features were exposed, had large gashes across their blotched faces, many of which had long whiskers, or pointed teeth.

When Lily and James entered, they eyed them greedily, and one man in the corner actually growled. James pulled Lily close, his arm around her shoulder, and led her over to the bar.

"What're two young witch and wizard like yourself doin' 'ere? Asked the scruffy man behind the bar, smiling to reveal two fang like teeth, which were stained yellow and red.

"We're looking for someone." He said. "Do you know Remus Lupin? A man about our age? We think he may be staying with you…"

James trailed off at the look on the bartender's face. He was sneering at them with his blood stained teeth, and he looked Lily up and down.

"I might know the kid you're talking about…" he growled, not taking his eyes off Lily.

"But you two'll be lucky to see him…" he said. Lily's heart sank, and she spoke for the first time, in desperation.

"So you don't know where he is? Is he ok?"

"Oh he's ok, but you two wont be…not two full bloods like yourself. You shouldn't be here." And even as he spoke, the werewolves at the tables began to stand, and close in around them. Lily felt a hand grab her arm, a dirty, long taloned hand whose nails where caked with dried blood, and whose knuckles were hairy and worn.

James didn't let go of her hand, and the other werewolves closed in aground her, Lily trying not to scream out loud as they dug their nails into her skin, and didn't release their grasp.

"Best let go now boy…" sneered one, in James ear. "Better let her go gracefully than put up a fight."

"That's what you think." James said back.

The werewolf was angry now, and annoyed that James wasn't giving in so easily. Raising his hands in fury, he clawed at James' face, and the pain it caused made him let go of Lily's arm.

"James!" She cried, but couldn't do anything to help her friend, as he writhed on the ground, being attacked from all sides by bored and tormented men.

They hoisted Lily onto the bar, and poked at her legs.

"Walk for us pretty girl! Give us a real show!" They cried.

"What do you think I am?" Lily yelled back, and the first werewolves to join her, who seemed to be something of a leader among the group, leapt onto the bar and pushed her over and against the wall, pinning her their with his hands, so close that she could smell his foul, stale breath. He had his claws clenched around her throat, and she was gasping for breath.

"What do I think you are?" he hissed at her. "I think you are in trouble."

And the werewolf growled, tightening his grip on her neck so that she could feel the oxygen leaving her body, and knew that if help didn't come soon she wouldn't be able to get anymore…

"Foguliitis!" bellowed a voice from the direction of the stairway, but Lily didn't have time to see who had yelled the incantation, for the room had filled itself with smog and smoke, and no one could see within an inch of their own face.

The next moment she felt a soft, kind hand grab her by the arm, and pull her across the room. Lily vaguely registered that the werewolf had released her neck, though she wasn't thinking about that now, she just knew that she had to put as much distance between herself and that pub.

Lily saw the door of the pub open in front of her, and the figure led her outside. James was next to her, being dragged out as well. The man who had them turned to face the two, scared friends.

"What are you doing here?" asked Lupin, once they were around the corner and out of sight of the pub. Lily launched herself on him, grabbing Lupin into a warm embrace the moment she knew who he was.

"What are you doing here?" he repeated. Lily stopped smiling, and James clapped him on the shoulder.

"Getting you. Bringing you back!" he said to his friend. Lily noticed that James had a large gash across his face, and his leg seemed to be oddly misshapen, however, his smile was broad, and his expression a happy one. Lupin, on the other hand, could not look more sullen if he tried.

"What if I didn't want to be brought back?" he said quietly, turning away from them, determine not to look Lily in the eye. He couldn't bare their kindness, or their friendship. He knew that he didn't deserve any form of either.

"What do you mean Moony?" said James, exasperated; "You cant seriously like it here?"

Lupin shook his head.

"No, I don't, but I'll get used to it. I don't belong at Hogwarts, that's for sure."

"Why not? Listen Remus, the other night-" Lily grabbed him by the arm and turned him so that he faced her, though he bowed his head, and still refused to look at her face.

"The other night was not your fault. Do you want to know how I knew that it was you?" she asked. Lupin didn't answer, but James gave her shoulder a short squeeze, encouraging her to continue.

"Your eyes Remus! You were apologising to me, even while you were…you know! And I don't care! Ok? And no one else would, either! Not me! Not Danielle, and especially not-" Lupin looked up finally.

"Especially not Ella. Now will you please come back to Hogwarts?" she said quietly. "Where you belong." Lupin began to argue, and looked to James for help, but he shook his head, and Lupin even managed a small smile. I suppose anything would seem small compared to the one that Lily was wearing.

"I'm sorry you two had to come here." He said. "That's twice that I almost got you killed Lily." He said quietly, as the walked to the edge of the street.

"It was our choice, no one made us! And you also saved our lives, so I think that we're even Lupin." Lily said.

"Actually, someone did make ME come. This thing here stole my broom and my cloak and threatened to soar out the window! Feisty little-"

"You love me James Potter!" Lily snapped back. James smiled to himself, which only Lupin noticed.

Yes actually, I do, he thought to himself, but didn't voice his opinions. There would be time for that later. A time when they weren't in a village full of werewolves and accompanied by Lupin.

"How are we going to get back?" asked Lily. "We can't ride the same broom stick!"

"Appearate to Hogsmeade I suppose, get Cass to fix us all up again." James laughed. Lupin also smiled. His grandmother would find the fact that they needed her help twice in one week extremely amusing. Three was their record, and she never let them forget it.

"Sounds good." Said Lupin.