Sorry sorry sorry guys. I know it's been a while, but Chapter 20 is finally here. To refresh your memory (in case you'd rather not reread the last chapter) Marilyn and Remus are in a tiff about the werewolf thing, Sirius and Lily had a moment, and James and Lily had their detention together (due to falling asleep together in the dungeon – also resulting in the invisibility cloak being taken away), ending in a kisskisskiss. And that is right where it picks up.

"Between Friend and Friendlier"

It took but a brief moment for Lily to realize what had occurred. What was occurring. What she hoped would keep right on occurring until she dropped down dead. James Potter was kissing her, and kissing her damn good.

Right when she had given up all hope of ever having James as her own; right when her life felt like it had fallen into some hopelessly deep ravine never to be resurrected again; right when she thought everything she had dreamed in James to be a lie – he goes and does something like this.

And throws her even farther off balance. Only in the most beautiful way any stupid boy could ever think of.

Once she willingly gave into kissing him back, James took it as an initiative to deepen the kiss, causing Lily to melt into every sort of bliss available. He held one hand on the arm where he first grabbed her, with the other hand cradling her cheek. Lily's free hand eventually snaked its way up to James's neck, ever so slightly helping to pull him closer to her.

This was no accident, and this was no chore. The movement of his lips against hers felt as natural as breathing, only a million times more fun. It was as if this was the way kissing should be done; this was the only way it should feel, anything else wasn't worth the effort.

James's kiss was warm, sweet, and gentle, but held an underlying of passion and desperation, like he was afraid that this might be the only chance he'd ever get. Lily could second that feeling. So many times they had been a breath away from such an embrace, but circumstances always seemed to get in the way. But now…now they had each other and that was all that mattered. All sense of time and rationality had departed; this one moment was the only concern of existence, and they gladly lost themselves amongst it.

The embrace ended right when it should, yet was still all too soon for the both of them. Time has a way of catching up with you right when it is least welcome.

Lily was the first to speak, although how she got the words out was beyond her own comprehension.

"What the hell was that?" she whispered quite breathlessly.

"I…don't know," James replied in the same quiet tone, as if speaking any louder would somehow scare away the current state of all that is wonderful.

They spent a moment just staring at each other, waiting for the other to come up with an answer, an explanation, or just some sort of reaction. When the wait resulted in nothing, the inevitable awkwardness began to creep up.

James averted his eyes to somewhere along the ground, but kept hold of one of Lily's hands, still not intent on letting her get away from him. Again.

Lily continued to peer at him pointedly, curious as to what possessed him to change his mind at the last possible second.

"James," she urged, softly shaking her head, "what was that?"

He looked up cautiously. "I think it was a kiss."

"But…why? I mean, what…why…was it just to appease me, or something?" She was almost afraid to find out.

"No! But—"

"What? Did it mean anything? Everything I just…felt there…was that true?"

James licked his lips nervously. "Yes. It meant something. It meant everything, actually." He had to look away when Lily smiled – that same innocent, infectious smile that always made him light-headed. "And you don't know how long I've waited to kiss you like that. It's just that—"

"Then why did you turn away before?" Lily interrupted.

"You took me off guard! I didn't know what to do. One second you're asking advice about Sirius, next thing I know you're—"

Lily cut him off once more. "Sirius? Why would I be asking about him?"

James's face seemed to flush a bit. "I dunno…you wanted to tell him how you feel…or something…"

Lily narrowed her eyes. "How I feel? And why would I do that?"

"Well, because you're something of item or whatever, I don't know!" This was obviously not one of James's favorite subjects.

Lily tilted her head. "James, that ended at Christmas."

"But…what about all the times I've seen you kissing and holding hands and all that?"

"We've only kissed once since then – which was a mistake anyway – and everything else is just…meaningless. We're friends, but nothing more."

James took a moment for this to sink in. "…Really?" He seemed a bit astounded by the news.

"Yes," she laughed a bit at his misconception. "I can't believe that's what you've been thinking all this time." She slyly pushed away her conscience when it dared to remind her of the way she had…flourished her relationship with Sirius to ruffle James's feathers. "So is that why you were so hesitant?" She smiled keenly up at him. "Because you thought I was taken?"

Guilt started to pave its way into James's features. "Well, that, and…" he shrugged his shoulders and shook his head as if to say this was beyond his control, "I'm taken, too."

These simple words did well to steal the smile from Lily's eyes as well as every good feeling that she had been storing from the past couple of minutes.

"Catherine," she breathed.

James looked at her helplessly, taking back the hand that had been holding onto hers so earnestly before and ran it uneasily through his hair.

Fighting back a sudden rush of nausea, Lily turned away from James and brought a hand up to her face, rubbing at her eyes.

James sighed loudly at the mess he was very efficiently producing. "I'm so sorry, Lily. I-I don't know what to do. I don't want to lead you on, I just…couldn't help myself. I saw you walking away so upset… I just couldn't let that happen again…"

"No, no," Lily said softly, turning back around. "It's alright." It wasn't. "I understand." She didn't. "You made a commitment to someone, and you can't suddenly break it just because of me."

The abrupt civility of her tone surprised James. "Really? You're okay with this?"

She nodded calmly. "Of course. It wouldn't be fair to Catherine for us to allow this one kiss to mean anything more."

James bit his lip. "Er, Right," he nodded, although not sounding quite so self-assured as Lily. "So we're…just friends. Like before?"

"Right," she smiled half-heartedly.

"And no awkwardness between us?"

"No awkwardness. It's like this night never happened."

They smiled amiably at each other, but when their gazes met… they might as well have had their eyes closed.

Fighting back every sign of pride that might otherwise hold her back, Marilyn found herself poised before the door to the boys' dorm. She really would have wished to be anywhere else at the moment, but something inside of her kept her there. She just could not go on with the pain she experienced every time Remus walked into the room. She couldn't sleep, eating was a chore, and her concentration is class was completely gone. She wasn't sure if attempting to talk to him would change anything…but it was worth a try. She raised her hand to knock.

Then lowered it again when she heard voices inside.

"You sure you're okay, Moony? I mean, you don't usually look this bad."

"Don't worry about it. It's just...stress, is all."

"HEY GUYS, LOOK WHAT I CAN—"

Marilyn flinched when she heard some sort of explosion inside, to which a group of voices responded:

"Shut up, Peter."

"Prongs, where's your damn cloak? I've looked everywhere."

"It should be—" There was a pause. "Oh f— Professor Voros has it!"

"What?"

"He took it that night…well, he took it."

"Which night?"

"Er…that night I went to see Catherine, remember?"

"Great, now we're screwed because you had to be a randy git."

"Shove it, we can still do this. We'll just act cool, nothing suspicious."

"James is right, we'll be fine. No one's going to pay attention to us, anyway."

"Who couldn't pay attention to this face?"

"Shut up, Padfoot."

"Plus, Remus here looks like he's an inch from death. What's not to be suspicious about him taking a stroll around the grounds just after dark?"

"Thanks so much, mate."

"No offense, darling."

"Look, anyone who happens to see us will probably think we're just up to some prank and their curiosity will end there."

"Fine. But if we're found out, it's YOU we're going to eat first for nourishment in Azkaban."

"Well, then. Remind me to bring some ketchup."

"Make it whipped cream."

The sounds of something like a pillow could be heard hitting someone, followed by laughter.

"Wanker. Come on, let's go."

Marilyn's eyes widened as she realized they would be coming out. Flustered, she ran down the stairs and across the hall to the staircase leading to her dorm. She paused at the top step to catch her breath. Behind her she could hear the slamming of a door followed by footsteps rumbling down the stairs.

As worried as they seemed about being inconspicuous, they sure were doing a terrible job. What was it that they were so preoccupied with, anyway? And what was it she heard about Remus looking "an inch from death"? Maybe…maybe it had something to do with the lycanthropy. She didn't exactly know how it worked, but from her reading she knew the person transformed into a werewolf once a month with the full moon. Is that what they were up to? But why were the other boys involved?

Continuing to ignore her conscience, she knew that she had to find out.

Earlier that same evening, the shores of the lake became occupied with the languid bodies of Lily, Cherise, and Scarlett. Full and content from dinner, they draped themselves dreamily over the rocks and sand, thoroughly enjoying the sweet warmth from the lingering rays of sunlight dangling over the horizon. Their shoes and socks lay discarded behind them while their toes gladly drank in the cool water of the lake. Summer would arrive in a month's time; already it was making blurry the line between spring and itself, and the flirtation of the two proved for a softly delicious time of year.

"I wonder if time stops for moments like these," Scarlett wondered out loud, albeit softly to fit the delicate atmosphere. "Kinda seems like it does."

"I wish it would," Lily murmured.

Cherise smiled to herself. "Six years at a school of wizardry, and I have yet to encounter anything so magical as a sunset."

The other girls "mm"ed in agreement, although, secretly, Lily was thinking of something other than a sunset – the same scene that she had been replaying in her mind for days. The same chills overtook her as when it actually happened, the butterflies never dying down. It was so difficult to even look at James now with all those thoughts cascading through her mind… she wasn't sure what to do around him. She held the knowledge of his affection for her – along with the memory of that dizzying kiss – but still he was not hers to have, and it stung. A bittersweet air pervaded whenever they found themselves together, somehow stifling the normal conversational ease between them.

To make things worse, it was a pining that had to be completely to themselves. Both James and Lily had opted to keep the kiss incident quiet, if only to make the situation easier to handle. They each had to accept that nothing serious could happen between them…at least, for the time being.

Lily deeply inhaled the dewy air, only reluctantly letting it escape from her lungs.

The day was quickly fading. Twilight crept onto the grass, hills, and sky with the stealth of a shadow. Even as night fell faster, bringing a strict curfew with it, the girls made no inclination to move.

Rules were meant to be broken, anyway.

From behind a bush some ways away, Marilyn kept careful observation of the boys as they headed to the Whomping Willow, of all places. Peering through the blasted distracting leaves and branches she could decipher some irresolution between them as they scanned the area with unease.

Finally it appeared they had come to a decision. They gathered more closely to the tree and…she scooted forward and squinted her eyes…what were they doing? And where had Peter gone? He was just there a second ago…

The tree froze. Every branch hung immortalized in the air mid-swing. Marilyn eyed the sight with wonder. What magic had they performed to appease something so untouchable as the Whomping Willow?

Now the boys seemed to be crawling into the tree…? Afraid of losing track of them, Marilyn sprinted across the stretching lawn between her and the tree, coming to discover that they had crawled into the tree, by way of a hole that she was sure she hadn't seen there before. Or perhaps she had just never been able to come close enough to spy it. Nevertheless, she thrust herself forward into the uncertain darkness of the tree trunk. Immediately she realized that the ground took a sudden drop downward, one which she was certainly not expecting, therefore causing her to tumble forward with a painfully ungraceful THUD!

Alerted by the noise, Sirius, who was last in line in the narrow tunnel, turned around.

"What the—" he began. As Marilyn's features became clear as she stumbled to a standing position, he shrieked, "GIRL!"

Fretfully Marilyn watched as the attention of the remaining party was gained.

"Marilyn!" James cried.

"Marilyn?" Remus pushed his way through the blockade of Sirius and James to identify what he couldn't possibly fathom as true. But it was. Marilyn, his girlfr—or, well, whatever she was, was standing in the shadows and grime that defined the part of him he tried so hard to keep tucked away in the possibility that it would disappear. Here she was, standing in the hallways that, for so many years, had echoed the sounds of his curse.

She didn't belong here.

"What are you doing?" he hissed at her, his eyes darting all over her face to assert the reality of the situation.

Marilyn looked uneasily from boy to boy, their frantic dispositions doing nothing to better her own nerves, finding herself completely at a loss for an explanation.

"I—" she squeaked.

"Did you follow us here?" Sirius asked accusingly.

She licked her lips nervously. "Yes."

"Dammit, James!" he shouted, shoving James with one hand.

"Hey!" James argued back. "Don't blame me!"

"We already said we would!"

As the two boys squabbled in the background, Remus continued to peer at, almost through, Marilyn, who couldn't quite bring herself to meet his incriminating gaze.

"Why?" he questioned hoarsely. "Why are you here?"

Her eyes dared to flutter upwards. When she did so, she saw firsthand just how terrible he really did look. Even in the poor lighting, she could see how dark and sunken his eyes were, his pale and sagging cheeks, how he could not seem to stand perfectly erect, instead remaining slightly hunched over like someone about to be sick. It did not repulse her in the least; it only made her ache through and through because she knew there was nothing she could do to save him.

"I…I wanted—I wanted to see…what happens…"

Remus narrowed his eyes and shook his head lightly in disbelief. "Why would you want to see that? So you can prove to yourself just how disgusting I am?"

"No," she countered with a whine in her voice. "That's just it, I don't think you're disgusting. Just the thought kills me! That you would think so little of me…"

"And how should I think of you? After your reaction to…to this," he waved his arm around to encompass the situation to which he was referring, "what the hell am I supposed to think, hm? That you were delighted about it? Oh yeah, Marilyn, those hysterical cries sure sounded joyous to me. Don't you think that stung me a little? And you're blaming me for being upset?" There was a subtle growl to his voice brought on by the extreme proximity of his transformation.

"You never gave me a chance to explain! You just assumed that I hated you."

"What was I supposed to think!"

"I don't know! But, God, Remus, that hurt me. You'd never yelled at me like that before…"

"Well you never cried like that before."

"I wasn't crying because of you," she wailed.

There was no need for Remus to respond, his abrupt confusion was more than clearly written across his face.

She took a deep breath to help form her next words. "I reacted that way…because of my brother."

"Wha—I…didn't know you had a brother."

"Exactly," she said, fighting back the sadness welling up behind her eyes. "Because I don't. Anymore."

Remus's features softened just slightly as he tried to contemplate the relevance behind this.

Marilyn continued as she struggled with the possibility of falling apart. "Ten years ago…I had a little brother…named Nevan. He—We were on a family vacation…he had only wandered off for a minute…we heard the howl and went out looking for him…we saw the tail as it was running away…" she was shaking her head in denial of the memory. She looked up into Remus's stormy eyes. "He was killed by a werewolf."

Remus recoiled, instinctively ashamed of all that he represented.

Marilyn took a moment to gather herself, then looked back to him with pleading eyes. "Oh Remus, it's just, when you told me…I—I thought back to that moment…seeing him on the ground…the look on my parents' faces…" she gasped suddenly, struck by a new thought. "Oh, God, my parents! If they ever found about you! Oh they'd never…never understand… But I do! I do, Remus, I swear. I don't care that you're a werewolf. I don't care what other people think about it. I just care about you." Her voice slipped into a hush. "And I want you to care about me, too."

It seemed as if Remus was about to say something in return, but at that moment he clutched his stomach and stumbled backwards a bit, hunching over further. He moaned through gritted teeth and fell to his knees.

Marilyn's eyes flew wide in horror, while Sirius, after swearing quite audibly, grabbed Remus from behind and attempted to drag him further down the hallway. James ran to Marilyn and grabbed ahold of her.

"You need to get out of here – now!" he yelled over Remus's increasing cries of pain.

"No, wait!" she shrieked, fighting against him. Regardless that she knew her presence was of no help, she couldn't bear to leave Remus when he was obviously in terrific pain.

"It isn't—safe—" he groaned against the struggle she was putting up.

"Please—just—"

She was stricken still, however, when she witnessed the long snout protruding…the dark, coarse hair growing…the sharp claws gleaming… And it snarled.

A shrill scream broke the air.

Lily sat bolt upright. "What was that?"

The other girls were darting their heads around frantically.

"Oh my God, I told you we should've gone inside," Scarlett moaned. "I knew there were man-eating creatures in that forest."

Cherise shook her head. "But it didn't come from the forest, it sounded like it came from…over there." She pointed in the general direction of the whomping willow.

"Well whatever it is, it's going to come after us next. Let's get OUT of here," Scarlett whined.

"No, wait! What if someone is in trouble?" Lily beckoned. "Let's go check it out."

Cherise stood up alongside Lily. "I agree."

"You two are bonkers. There is no way I am wandering around the grounds at night in search of a monster," Scarlett huffed.

"Suit yourself," Cherise shrugged. She and Lily began to trek off toward the site of the scream.

Scarlett bit her lip and looked around fitfully. "But…you guys…"

"Goodnight, Scarlett," Cherise called over her shoulder. "Don't get lost on your way back to the castle."

Scarlett continued fidgeting to herself for a moment more until giving in and running after them. "You two are SUCH cows," she huffed, giving each of them a good smack on the arm before linking elbows between them for protection.

They were nearing the erratic willow when another alarming sound entered the night air, this time a howl.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God…" Scarlett hyperventilated.

"Well, we're definitely closer," Cherise said with not so much certainty as her words promised.

"Maybe we shouldn't be out here right now…" Lily voiced shakily.

"Thank you," Scarlett sighed.

"You guys!" Cherise sounded appalled. "Someone might be hurt out here! It's our duty to—"

But whatever their duty was, it was left unanswered. Just at that moment none other than James – Marilyn in tow – sprinted across the lawn in front of them.

"James!" "Marilyn!" The girls shouted at once.

The respective parties paused and looked to their addressers. James looked positively exasperated at the sight of three new girls, Marilyn looked…well, positively broken.

For a moment it seemed each person was waiting for an explanation from the other side. When it failed to deliver, they voiced their indiscretions unanimously.

"What are you doing!"

James sighed loudly, running a tired hand over his face and into his hair. He pointed quite forcefully to the castle. "Get out of here."

"What's going on?" Lily shouted. "Did you hear that scream, too? Someone's hurt! There's a wolf out here!"

"I know. That's why you have to get out of here right away." James was visibly frustrated, as was probably ever other person present.

"Marilyn…" Cherise discerned. "Was that you who screamed?"

"Yes," she answered meekly, swaying slightly from the memory of the ordeal.

"Look, we'll explain it all when we get back to the castle, okay?" James decided, still desperate to get them out of range with Remus.

"But—"

Scarlett gasped. A large black dog had bounded into sight from the other side of the tree and was now barking fervently at the group…almost like a warning.

No more persuasion was needed. Cherise and Lily fled off, dragging the stricken Scarlett along with them, just as James was with Marilyn.

The dog's ominous yelps echoed over the thudding of their rapid footsteps on the hard ground, all under the discriminating light of the full moon.

Yeah, okay, not so long and not so impressive – especially for the length of the wait – but I just wanted a chapter out there. Most of this is actually what I wrote a few months ago and I was going to add the final touches and update it, but things happened (mm, school, life?) and I never got to it and therefore it was left untouched for a while. But here it is FINALLY and hopefully the next chapter will be more impressive (yes, I do plan on continuing, albeit slowly). So sorry again for being extremely lame. /