Hello wonderful reader! I'm SO sorry to all of my terrific readers and reviewers for not updating for so long! I got really busy, but I'm trying to catch up! I hope you like it!
Special Thanks and hmm… jelly beans to: Sarahrules336, Tsumetai Moon Child, VeelaChic, fath8252, krazisoapluvnreject, webling-girl05, zippyfox, Me- Myself- and James, sectumsempra, soccerchicka19, and PadfootRoxMySox!
Disclaimer: I own none of the Harry Potter stuff – JK Rowling does, though.
Chapter 4: Loyalty
"Remus! What are you doing here?"
"Uh, hey Lily," he looked at her nervously, painfully aware of his sickly, pale face and exhausted appearance.
"What's going on?" she asked nervously, pulling a chair up to his bed.
"It's nothing," he paused. "I just feel a bit under the weather."
There was a long pause before Lily spoke again, "Whatever it is, Remus… It can't be that bad."
Remus gave a hollow, shaky laugh, "Maybe it can."
"I don't think so. And you can trust me to never tell a soul."
"I can?"
"Of course, Remus! I mean, we were Prefects together for a long time – I know you inside and out… Well, almost, I suppose."
"Alright," Remus sighed up at the ceiling, then searched her eyes earnestly before starting again. "I'm a werewolf."
Lily's eyes showed no signs of fear or disgust, but rather she adjusted the cool, damp towel on his forehead gently and looked deeply into his sad eyes.
"I was bitten as a child and now, every full moon, I… change. It's been crazy, you know? Living like – this… I'm so lucky to have friends…" he yawned widely.
"I understand, Remus," Lily patted him comfortingly on the shoulder. "I promise I won't tell anyone… I'd better let you get back to resting."
"Thanks, Lily," he said softly, his eyelids drooping. "You're everything… everything James…" With that, he had fallen asleep, leaving Lily to frown over what he had said. Eventually, she got up to leave and headed to her dormitory to mull over what she had learned.
-----Next morning-----
"I love Saturdays…" Karise flopped carelessly onto her bed. "They make my world go round."
"It also means that I've got loads of essays to do," Lily popped her head out from the bathroom. "Breakfast, anyone?"
"Yeah!" Karise jumped up. "I'm starved."
"No surprise," Abigail finished brushing her hair.
"And proud of it," Karise retorted.
The three of them entered the Great Hall, cheerfully heading over to their usual seats.
"Could you pass the pumpkin bread, Lils?" Karise said, sipping from her glass.
"Lily?" Abigail looked at her absentminded face.
"Huh?" Lily looked up confusedly.
"The pumpkin bread, please?" Karise studied her face.
"Oh, sure," Lily continued to look distracted and kept swiveling around in her chair to look around the hall. "Hey, have either of you seen Remus this morning?"
"No," said Karise slowly. "Why?"
"No reason," Lily continued to look around then looked swiftly at Abigail. "Not for what you're thinking, Abby."
"What!" Abigail looked shocked. "What, pray tell, was I thinking?"
"Nevermind," Lily said, waving her hand impatiently. "I'm going to go and get something from the dorm." Her friends looked at her quizzically.
"I forgot a book," she supplied hastily before getting up.
-----Hospital Wing-----
"Hey, Remus," Lily said softly, coming up to his sterilized hospital bed. "How are you?"
"Good, thanks," he replied wearily, propping himself up.
"You know," he continued. "I never really mentioned how I know what you go through sometimes… I mean, being called stuff because you're muggleborn. I used to get that a lot before I started keeping my condition a secret. I used to hate it, but… James, Sirius, Peter – they all help me, er, get through the month easily, you know?"
"And you have me too," Lily said, patting him on the shoulder.
"Thanks," Remus smiled ruefully then added as an afterthought. "James is a really loyal friend."
Lily masked her look of skepticism.
"And I'm not just saying that to make him look good," Remus blurted out hastily. "I really mean it. He and the guys are always there for me – every month."
Lily smiled slightly, thinking that perhaps they deserved a little bit of credit. Suddenly, there was a soft knocking on the door of the Hospital Wing. Lily got up to open it, but soon found herself looking at James Potter, standing wide-eyed in the doorway.
"Lily?" James asked incredulously, looking completely shocked.
"Um, yeah," Remus piped up. "You two have met before, right?"
"Maybe a few times," James grinned tentatively, walking quickly over to his friend. "Excuse us for a second, Evans." James quickly crouched down beside Remus' bed and whispered intently.
"What did you tell her?" he searchced Remus' eyes for some kind of relief.
"Don't worry, Prongs," Remus loosened James' grip on his sheets. "Only the basics."
"Alright," James stood up again, his face relaxing slightly. "So, how are you feeling?"
Quietly, Lily came back into the main room and stared awkwardly out a window.
"Okay," Remus replied nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders.
"Oh, and I've brought your books for studying tonight," James handed over a large stack of textbooks.
"Thanks, mate," Remus smiled slightly.
"Sirius and Peter plan to swing by later, so save up your energy," James grinned handsomely.
Is this who Potter really is? Lily thought to herself.
"Well, I'll catch you later, Moony," James gave him a brotherly hug as Lily turned around from her spot at the window.
"Evans," James offered, smiling awkwardly.
"Potter," Lily replied, looking pleasantly confused. She hadn't expected James Potter to act so nicely – ever. She supposed that maybe she didn't give him enough credit, but then again, it could've been a fluke. She was getting soft.
Just as James turned to leave, Lily spotted something familiar sticking out of his pocket, "Is that my handkerchief?"
James turned around, startled, and reached quickly for his pocket, "Yes?"
Lily looked at him quizzically and blurted out, "Did you at least wash off the egg?"
"Er," James mumbled. "Right." He turned slightly to a highly amused Remus, his cheeks flushed slightly pink. Remus just looked at him as if to say, "I told you, man."
"Cheers," James muttered and bolted out the door.
Lily turned awkwardly to Remus, whose face was contorted with stifled laughter.
"I'll, er, see you, Remus," Lily managed to get out before she pulled her bag up and left the Hospital Wing in a state of perplexity and pending humiliation.
-----Girl's dormitory-----
"I don't understand him," Lily sat pensively on the edge of her bed.
"What's not to get?" Karise glanced over from her Transfiguration project. "He likes you, you – Oww!" Lily cut her off with a swift blow to the head with her pillow.
"We did tell you, Lils," Abigail continued rummaging through her trunk. "You just wouldn't listen to the hard, cold facts: James is a nice person."
"He is not!" Lily retorted out of habit.
"Then why are we having this discussion?" Karise rolled her eyes.
"Because, Kar, James was being all… mature and brotherly today," Lily rolled her eyes back. "It's not like him. I think he's just acting loyal so he can get on my good side again after that horrendous incident in the hallway."
"Horrendous, eh?" Karise looked at her curiously. "Since when does avoiding 'James bloody Potter' evoke a 'horrendous' from Lily Evans?"
"Since I said so," Lily crossed her arms in half-indignation, looking as if she wished her friends would just hate Potter along with her.
"Plus, I highly doubt it was an act, Lils. He's always been loyal to his friends," Karise shook her head, then added almost under her breath. "You just haven't noticed."
"And where was this again?" Abigail popped her head out from her trunk suddenly.
"In the hospital wing," Lily said, choosing her words carefully.
"Why?" Abigail prompted again, tilting her head to the side slightly.
"Because Remus wasn't feeling well," Lily said smoothly. "You know, the flu." She hated telling lies of any sort, but she had made a promise to Remus.
"Oh," Abigail replied, her head plunging itself once more into the trunk.
"I mean, James is – appears to be – a completely different person with his friends," Lily continued. "He's all caring and… not arrogant." Lily looked a bit deflated.
"My, my," Karise shook her head in mock solemnity. "I believe it's the beginning of the Apocalypse." This earned her another smack by Lily's pillow.
"I just," Lily's voice faltered dangerously. "Never knew he changed. Or maybe he didn't change. But it seemed like it… He wasn't quite so full of himself, not so eager to please a crowd, and not so bent on making me – completely – aggravated… I mean, who knew?" Karise and Abigail raised their hands cheekily.
"Well, I don'tthink that he's a different person," Lily defended herself. "He's just got a soft spot for his friends, I guess."
Karise and Abigail looked at each other knowingly. Lily caught their eyes.
"He's a completely revolting human being otherwise!" Lily stood up stubbornly, her hands planted firmly on her hips. "I am by no means changing my mind based on one – incident!"
Karise and Abigail pretended not to notice the determined glint in her eyes.
"He was… is arrogant. An annoying git," Lily muttered.
"Sirius is just as bad," Karise made an angry swishing motion with her wand. "At least James has some sense." She hated that he had a fanclub and acted completely big-headed because of it. Both Lily and Karise looked at Abigail, who remained silent during their bashing of the Marauders.
"Well, Remus is okay, I guess," Abby began.
"Abby and Remus sitting in a – " Karise and Lily began to sing enthusiastically.
"He's just nice to me, okay?" Abby pouted at her friends' ludicrous assumptions. "Besides, I don't like to judge people." She looked at Lily pointedly.
Lily opened her mouth to continue her scrutiny of James, but Karise cut her off, "Lunch time!"
The three of them made their way down to the Great Hall, Lily and Abigail trailing behind Karise. They sat down at their seats, Lily occasionally stealing glances in James' direction. Suddenly, Sirius made his way over to them.
"Karise," he addressed, holding a turkey drumstick in one hand and speaking with his mouth full of turkey bits. "James is holding the quidditch tryouts next week, and he wants the rest of the team to be there too, 'kay?"
Karise looked slightly disgusted, "Sure." Sirius noticed Lily looking somewhere and thinking hard. He followed her gaze curiously and found himself looking in the Marauders' direction. He jogged back to his seat next to James and began to gesture extravagantly with his drumstick towards Lily's area as James' eyes began to grow wide. By this time, Lily had realized what Sirius was doing, and as soon as James looked over at her, she scowled deeply and turned resolutely back to her friends.
-----Hospital Wing later that night-----
"What's up, Moony?" Sirius, James, and Peter sat down beside his bed.
"The usual," Remus grinned at his friends.
"We thought that since you're the only one here," James looked around quickly. "We'd plan our Halloween prank extravaganza!" Remus reached for a paper and pen to do his usual recording duties.
By the end of the night, they had thought up six days' worth of Marauder-worthy pranks and one grande finale for the ball. (A/N: Sorry, I'll let you all find out what they are when they come around!)
"This is going to be great," James put his hands behind his head and leaned back slowly.
-----Girls' Dormitory-----
Lily had just begun to drift into Potter-free sleep when she heard a distinct rapping on her window. Groggily, she sat up in bed and looked around to see if her friends had noticed the noise – apparently not. She reluctantly made her way to the window and peered outside to find a white, almost silvery owl peering right back. Lily carefully lifted the window open and allowed the impatient owl to enter the dorm.
"Who would send a letter now?" Lily complained to herself, opening the letter the owl had brought and glancing grumpily at the clock. The letter read:
Dear Lily,
Wondering where you wanted to meet for Hogsmeade two weeks from now. I don't know where you like to go best, so just write me back your favourite place, and I'll meet you there. By the way, were you staring at me at lunch today? Sirius said that you were. But then you scowled at me, Evans. I don't get you, but I'm still thrilled to take you to Hogsmeade!
Yours Truly,
James Potter
Lily frowned for a moment and rummaged through her drawer for a quill and parchment. She thought for a moment before writing back:
Dear Potter,
Who writes letters at 12:30 in the morning! My favorite place is The Three Broomsticks. Does 9:00 sound okay? And NO, I was not staring at you during lunch! Sirius is not a reliable source for matters concerning my train of thought! Goodnight (as in don't bother me again with an owl at this hour).
Sincerely,
Lily Evans
A/N: Sorry to everyone again for the long wait! I hope you liked the chapter, and that (hopefully) it was worth the wait? Anyway, Please Review – It Would Make My Day!