Disclaimer: Me no own. Sorry.
Another crazy addition, this time from the top of my head, nothing more. Dedicated to Moony and Padfoot, my two best mates in the world, who make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Not in a queer way. ;)
"Lily?" James Potter moved toward his girlfriend as she sat in the library, nose buried in a book. She looked up, surprised - Even now, James hardly entered the library.
"Yes, James?" He took a seat next to her, and Lily carefully cleared a spot for him amongst parchments, books, quills, and the like.
"Could you come with me? I - we - need to tell you something." Curious, Lily nodded, gathered up her parchments and quills, left the books on the table, and picked up her bag. By the word 'we', the red-head automatically assumed James meant the Marauders, for that is what he always meant by the word 'we'. Except when he was referring to himself and Lily, but this was not one of those moments.
"Come on," James repeated; Lily cocked her head to one side as she took his hand and matched her stride with his. James seemed incredibly edgy tonight.
Neither spoke until they came to the Room of Requirement. The Marauders had shown this room to her months ago, so it didn't surprise her much when he paced in front of the troll tapestry three times. A door appeared and they both entered, James first, Lily second. The door disappeared behind her as soon as she shut it.
"I didn't know the door could do that." It was more or less a statement to herself, but someone else answered.
"Neither did we, until we asked for a place that couldn't be found by others." Remus Lupin stood from his spot on a couch near the edge of the room. Lily smiled a greeting, but he didn't smile back - he was staring at the wall opposite him, lost in thought.
"But that's beside the point. Lily, do you trust me? Do you trust us?" James turned to her and gestured first to himself, and then to his fellow Marauders, all of whom were sprawled out across the room.
"Of course I do, James. What is this all about?" Lily was getting nervous, now. What were they all so nervous about? Even Sirius seemed nervous, which was a feat unto itself.
Peter, the only Marauder still sitting, stood also. Remus took a deep breath. Still staring at the wall, he raised his voice just enough to be heard. "I'm a werewolf."
Lily blinked. "What?"
Sirius repeated the statement. "Remus is a werewolf."
Lily shook her head. "I meant 'What' as in, 'Is that all'?"
Remus turned, staring at the girl. "You mean, you don't mind that I become a vicious beast that would kill you once a month?"
"Not at all. I mean, the possibility of you killing me kind of puts a damper on those moon-lit strolls, but I've known for awhile."
"You've known," all the Marauders repeated.
"Is there an echo in here? Yes, I've known. Since fifth year, but I've kept my mouth shut because Remus Lupin, there is nothing you can do about it, it doesn't change who you are, so quit blaming yourself." Remus blinked. James blinked. Sirius blinked. Peter twitched. I don't know why.
"Well... that makes things easier." Sirius nodded his head, agreeing with James' statement.
"Is that all," Lily asked.
"No, not quite. You see, we figured it out in second year. Deciding to help our fellow furry friend," here Sirius slung an arm around Remus' shoulders, "well, Lily, can you keep a secret?"
Lily huffed. "I kept Remus' for three years. What do you think I am, a three-year-old?"
Sirius put up his hands. "No offence, m'lady. This is just a very... big secret."
"Just what is this big secret?"
Sirius turned to Peter. "Wormtail, if you would?"
Peter nodded. Next moment, there was a rat sitting where Peter was standing.
Lily shrieked and jumped behind James. Which was a problem, because where James was now stood a large, hazel-eyed stag. Shrieking again, Lily backed into a wall. She looked to Sirius, only to find a large, black dog.
A dog that looked exactly like the Grim.
Now, Lily wasn't very superstitious, but she held some faith in Divination, for she had heard a prophesy that had come true once before. Upon seeing the Grim, Lily did what she thought the proper thing to do.
She fainted.
"Sirius, you made her faint!"
A panicked James Potter appeared where the stag had once been. "Fuck, Sirius, what did you do?"
Sirius appeared behind James. "It's not my fault I happen to look like the Grim!"
"You should have waited until she knew that you were Animagi before you three morphed, I told you." Remus shook his head as he came over with a pitcher of water.
"Moony, what are you -" James was cut off by Lily's scream of outrage as she was drenched in icy cold water.
"What the..." Lily trailed off as she spotted a rat on Sirius' shoulder. "You little... You tricked me! I thought that you were Animagi! Why you..." Standing, she made to throttle Sirius, but was beaten to it by Peter, who decided to turn human at that moment.
"GAH! Oy, get off me, Wormtail!"
"Sorry, mate, didn't mean to! I panicked!"
"Y-you are Animagi?" Lily turned stunned eyes to James, who nodded. "Show me again. One at a time."
"Well, you already saw Peter, so I'm up next," James said. Next moment, he was a stag again.
"Oh... my..." Lily stared at the stag for a moment, than took a hesitant step towards him. The other three Marauders looked on, curious, as she reached out and pet his nose. She smiled when she found his snout was velvety soft. Looking the stag in the eye, she asked, "Can I ride you?"
Prongs the stag nodded once. Lily's smile widened. She moved to the stag's side, before jumping onto his back, tossing one leg over to his other side, and sitting up straight. Catching her balance, she reached down and stroked his neck. "You're comfortable." Prongs snorted.
Sirius was sitting on the ground watching. "Prongs, mate, give her a ride!" The room suddenly lengthened. Prongs stamped one of his hooves and started walking forward. The room lengthened even more, until it was the length of a Quidditch pitch. It widened a bit, as well, before making what appeared to be a smooth dirt racetrack. Remus laughed.
"Perfect."
Prongs moved onto the track, breaking into a graceful trot. Lily leaned forward a bit, ready to wrap her arms around the strong neck at any moment. Prongs, sensing her shift in weight, kicked into a canter. Lily gave a yelp, not suspecting the sudden increase in speed, and threw her arms around his neck.
A bark from below her made Lily look down. There, running beside the stag, was the Grim. Lily immediately recognized him as Sirius. "Hellu, Padfoot!" The dog gave another gleeful bark and darted foreword. Prongs tossed his head and gave way to a full gallop.
Lily shrieked in delight as they passed Padfoot, took the turn, and made their way back to Remus. Soon, Prongs had slowed to a stop, and Lily dismounted. Prongs changed back to James, shook himself, and mussed up his hair.
Padfoot choose that moment to tackle Lily. They both tumbled down, Padfoot licking her face. "Padfoot - Sirius - get off!" She shoved the big dog off of her, then sat up. Padfoot stood there, head cocked to one side, tongue lolling from his mouth, which seemed to be set in a lazy grin.
"A dog... how fitting." Padfoot growled, and Lily shook her head. "I mean it. Loyal, brave, cute, fuzzy, and loud... Just like you, Sirius!"
"And what about me?" James came and sat down on the other side of Padfoot, slinging an arm around the black creature. Padfoot changed into Sirius, and James found himself hugging his best mate.
"Ah, Jamsie, I love you too." James just whapped Sirius in the back of the head before turning back to Lily.
Remus and Peter came on sat on the other side of Lily. She sat, staring at James for a moment, before she started speaking.
"Noble - noble ideas for you, anyway, James - and graceful - just on a broom, but still - and peaceful. Except when you're around Snape, but I guess all animals have their exceptions." James grinned and nodded.
Peter squeaked once, though he was in his human form, which Lily took as an "And me?".
"Ah, Peter. Small - pretty self explanatory - and willing to help. Good traits, especially around these two." She gestured to James and Sirius.
Peter smiled and nodded eagerly. "What about Remus?"
Remus froze mid-grin, staring at Lily. She smiled warmly. "I don't need to see his Animaigus form to know what Animagi he would be." There was a slight pause, then Sirius spoke.
"A lion." Lily turned to him.
"Exactly what I was going to say."
James nodded as well. "Brave, courageous, and someone that makes you feel safe when you're around them."
Peter, Sirius, and Lily murmured their agreement.
Remus had turned a bright red. "Well, you guys, I don't... Honestly, I - what I mean, is -"
Lily grinned. "Someone that makes you feel all warm and cuddly inside."
Sirius' well-known mischievous grin spread across his face. "Someone that makes you want to go and cuddle them."
James and Peter both said at the same time: "Someone who is warm and cuddly!"
And so our scene sets, on a 'Cuddle Remus Lupin' fest.
A/N: R&R, and you, as well, get to cuddle one Remus Lupin! WooHoo!