Chapter 30: Do you want to know a secret?

James was feeling fidgety. He wished that Ally would get back soon, so they could go ahead and jeopardize his relationship with Lily. But maybe he was being melodramatic. Perhaps Lily would be understanding and not angry when he told her that he had broken the law in a very serious way. He sighed. Lily, sitting opposite him, looked up.

"Are you ok, James?" she asked. "You've been acting strange all day."

"Yes, I'm fine," James replied, and he pulled some parchment towards him and attempted to write his name, but realised he'd forgotten to ink his quill. Lily was still looking at him, but he ignored her glare. He looked over at Sirius, who was also looking worried.

Sirius' head was resting on Lena's knee and he was reading a book for a Muggle studies assignment. He picked up his coffee and while trying to return it to the floor, spilled it on his robes.

"Shit!" he exclaimed, jumping up and holding out his robes. James laughed.

"Sirius, I thought you'd grown out of your little accidents," he said. Sirius made a face.

"Was it hot?" Lena asked, casting a drying charm.

"Not really," he said. "Not enough to scald, anyway."

"You've been odd today, too," Lena said.

"I've always been odd, dear," he said, picking up his book.

"Ally, you're here," Remus said, relieved, as Ally entered. "We – well, no—"

"We have something to tell you," James said.

"And we know it can be hard to accept, but you have to understand why we did it," Sirius added.

"Stop," Remus said. "You're going to scare them."

"What is it?" Lily asked.

"It has to do with how we can accompany Remus at full moon," Sirius said. Lena looked at him carefully.

"And you're going to tell us how you do it?" Lena asked. Sirius and James nodded uneasily. Lena glanced at Lily.

"Why am I afraid?" she wondered. Lily shrugged.

"I don't know, but I am too," she said.

"Don't be," Remus said. "It's ok, really. Everyone is one hundred per cent safe," he said. Lena didn't look convinced.

"Come on," Remus said. "Let's go."

"Where are we going?" Ally asked.

"The Forest," he replied. "Relax."

"Wait, you're telling us to relax?" Kim asked. "You are being all cryptic, bringing us to the Forbidden Forest at night, and trying to assure us we are safe." Remus looked her in the eye.

"Do you trust me?" he asked. Kim nodded. "Lena? Lily?" he asked. "Do you trust Sirius and James?" The girls looked at each other, then their boyfriends, and nodded.

"Then lets go," he said. Still somewhat wary, the girls followed them down the sloping lawns. Lena felt her nervousness return at the edge of the forest, but Sirius squeezed her hand and she smiled. For five minutes they manoeuvred through the branches, stepped over roots and climbed over rocks, until they reached a clearing.

"Why are we here?" Ally asked.

"So no one can see," Sirius said. "This is, well, not entirely legal."

"James, Sirius, Peter, just tell us," Lily said.

"Well, I, as you know, am a werewolf, and so, on a full moon am too dangerous to be around," Remus said.

"And it isn't a pleasant experience," James added. "In second year, we found out and wanted to help."

"But we couldn't," Sirius said. "At least not as humans. But werewolves aren't a danger to animals."

"So … well, we'll show you from here," James said, and with that he transformed, as did Sirius and Peter.

"They're…"

"But how?" Sirius padded over to Lena and stared up at her.

"That's where you get those puppy-dog eyes," she said. He sort-of smiled.

Lily was looking at James, undecided. He stepped towards her cautiously, aware that he was imposing in stag form. She continued to stare, in awe. She looked up to his face, and saw the markings of his glasses around his eyes. As she stared, he transformed back.

"Are you ok?" he asked. She nodded, and he hugged her.

Sirius was still looking expectantly at Lena. She bent down and patted him on the head.

"This is so weird," she whispered, as Sirius transformed, leaving her patting his head.

"They—they did this for you?" Kim asked. Remus smiled, and nodded.

"How?" Lily asked.

"It's done using a potion, which is incredibly hard to brew," James said. "It takes six months to brew, and the ingredients – let's just say they aren't common. It has some similarities to the Polyjuice Potion, but it's about 1000 times more complex."

"I'd imagine it is similar," Lena said. "There would be boomslang skin and fluxweed anyway, they are standard in most shape shifting potions. And probably some part of the knotgrass plant—"

"The flower," James replied. "Which only blooms when it's feeling like it. Anyway, since we didn't have you it took over a year to figure out the potion and make sure we knew exactly how to brew it – there isn't much room for error."

"When its brewed you take it for a week at a specific time, and after the week is up, you get to practice transforming," Sirius cut in.

"And when did you do all this?" Lily asked.

"We started research in second year," Sirius said. "But it wasn't until fifth year that we could transform."

"Fifth year?" Lily asked. "You became Animagi at the age of fifteen?" The boys nodded.

"We couldn't have done it without James," Peter said. James smiled sheepishly.

"There has to be some unicorn hairs, maybe dragon's blood," Lena was muttering. "And where did you brew it?"

"The Shrieking Shack," Sirius replied. Lena nodded.

"Good idea," she said, and shivered. "Can we head back to the castle?" she asked.

In their dorm that night, Ally looked at her friends.

"Well, how are you taking the news?" she asked.

"I can't believe they would do something so sweet for Remus," Kim said.

"I can," Lily and Lena said in unison, grinning wildly and feeling very proud of their respective others.

As the first drops of yet another February shower fell, Lena tied back her hair and fastened her cloak. She took in her surroundings.

"I feel … pervy," she said.

"Well you are sneaking around the boys changing rooms," Sirius replied.

"Hardly sneaking, you did invite me."

"But you're still not meant to be here. And I bet you peeked when I was changing."

"What could I possibly see that would interest me?"

"Maybe I should show you?"

"Not now," Lena said, suddenly turning businesslike. "I want to start flying. Besides, the others will be along any second now to get changed." Sirius pouted.

"Oh, alright. But you're not getting away after practice."

Within five minutes, they were soaked to the skin in the drizzle that was falling. Lena wiped her face, scanning the grounds for signs of the rest of the team. But there was no one on the grounds, apart from two figures walking quickly towards the castle door. She was mildly curious as to their business on this awful night, but Sirius' shout of "Oi, Ms Chaser-of-the-year, catch this." She swirled deftly around and caught it perfectly.

"Now try and catch me!" she challenged.

The two figures made their way steadily up the lawns, and they were just as wet as the Quidditch players. They slipped into the entrance hall and scurried up the marble staircase, and finally stopped beside a stone gargoyle.

"Barley sugar," one whispered. As soon as the revolving stairs came to a halt, they opened the door to Dumbledore's office.

The headmaster looked up from his desk, where he had been poring over a Muggle newspaper with a quill in his hand.

"Why hello Mr Bayswater, Mr Tovey," he said genially, as if he'd been expecting them. "I was just completing a little puzzle. Keeps the mind alert. Tea?"

Having had many meetings with the Headmaster, Bayswater nodded. The headmaster poured them tea.

"Now what is it you wish to tell me?" Dumbledore asked.

"We had a meeting yesterday, and it appears there was a reason, beyond the obvious, for an attack last year," Tovey said. "Do you remember the Whites?" Dumbledore sighed.

"Tell me everything," he said.

Thump

Thump

Thump

James blinked and turned away from the board that held the moving squiggles that he had been staring at for some indeterminate amount of time. He continued to bounce the yellow rubber ball.

Thump

Thump

He decided he'd been standing in the changing room in his wet Quidditch gear for too long. He began to take of the sodden robes, remembering he had promised to meet Lily after practice.

"Merlin, it's wet," someone muttered. "James?" He froze. "James, its me, are you here?" James grabbed a towel and hastily threw it around his waist. "James? Come on, everyone is in the Room of Requirement. We're jamming and and we need our rhythm guitarist – oh." Lily's eye fell on the towel he was holding around his waist. "Sorry I didn't realise you would be – well, you know—"

"In a state of undress " James provided.

"Well, yeah." She found her breath deserted her as he adjusted the towel so that it remained in place without his grip. She blamed it on the flash of leg that briefly appeared. James grinned.

"What's wrong?" he asked in a voice Lily had never heard before. "Lily?" he asked.

"Yes," Lily said promptly.

"Are you ok?"

"Of course," she said, aware that her voice must sound strange.

"You seem distracted."

"No, no, I'm okay."

James leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. Lily took another deep breath.

"Are you sure?" he whispered in her ear. Lily made a noise that was not unlike a whimper. He smiled. "Is it the towel?"

"W-what towel?" she asked, trying and failing to appear nonchalant.

"The towel that is the only thing protecting my modesty," James said.

"Oh, that," Lily said. "I'm sorry, but I don't spend all my time looking down there."

"Okay," James said. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, and engulfing her in a kiss. She pulled away.

"We shouldn't."

"You're right," he said, adjusting the towel and sitting on a bench. "I still need a shower, I'll see you up there?" Lily smiled.

"Okay," she said, kissed him on the forehead and left.

Twenty minutes later, James was walking up the lawns to the castle, concentrating on Quidditch. Or, rather, concentrating on keeping his mind off Lily. His feet automatically carried him up the marble staircase and towards the tower, and it wasn't until halfway up the fifth staircase that he realised he was heading the wrong way for the Room of Requirement. He turned around to take the quickest route in the right direction, and found himself walking behind two figures.

"…so now what?" the tallest asked.

"Go back to normal," the other replied. "Like always."

"But after what we just told Dumbledore—"

"There's nothing else to do."

"A part of me really feels we should tell Derry." James walked quietly behind them.

"We can't. Dumbledore will let him know if he thinks it is right."

"But it's his son—"

"Its Order business, he'll know when he knows."

"But—"

"Listen, this is no different than any other report. No matter how well we know Derry, or their ages, or anything else, we carry on as normal. If we don't, we risk being found out."

"Yeah, you're right. How's Diane?"

James hung back, and let the two figures continue down the corridor. He remarked to himself how strange the conversation he had just overheard had been. Derry was his father's name. He knew that his dad was involved in the fight against You-Know-Who, and had heard the words 'The Order' around his house before. Those men were talking about Derry's son … him?

Rather preoccupied, James headed to the Room of Requirement.

Sorry, not too long, but it is the best place to break. The good news is that I have another chapter ready, all it needs is to be typed.

Hope you liked the chapter!