"Dogs and Cats"
"Are you barking mad?"
"Sirius is a what!"
"But what about that howl?"
James sat rubbing his eyes tiredly on his four-poster bed, very much beleaguered, in the midst of his attempt to appease the frantic girls surrounding him. Lily, Cherise, and Scarlett, all a-twitter from the recent horrifying-yet-exciting events, were insatiable in their desire to have every detail explained. Across the room, Marilyn sat quite by herself on Remus's bed. She was hiccoughing softly and staring blankly into the empty air ahead of her.
"If you'd all just calm down—" James plead.
"Calm down?" Cherise scoffed. "And how are we supposed to do that? Would you look at Mari over there? She looks like she just witnessed a murder or something! I'm not going to calm down until I know exactly what's going on."
"I agree," Lily chimed.
"Someone was murdered?" Scarlett shrieked.
"NO!" James barked. "Now…if you'd just…everything I say—nothing can ever be repeated, okay? Ever."
"We know, we know…so what was that you were saying about Sirius and the dog?" Lily asked eagerly.
James sighed in resignation. He had no choice. "Sirius is an animagus. We all are." The girls gasped in dramatic unison. "Me, Sirius, Peter, and…well…"
"And what?" Cherise ushered. "Remus too, right?"
"No…not exactly."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
James looked to each girl with a pained restraint. He didn't feel right revealing his friend's dark secret. And, really, it wasn't completely necessary. Only Marilyn saw Remus transform, the others were oblivious. He could simply breeze over that fact and continue. But how to do it…
"Remus, he's uh…he's…" James was desperate to come up with an excuse.
Until Marilyn finished his thought for him.
"He's a werewolf."
The girls shot horrified expressions at their – until now – silent friend.
"What?" "No!" "She must be delirious!"
"She's not delirious," James spoke while looking to Marilyn, a braced jaw countering his sympathetic eyes.
"But, then…really?" Lily breathed.
The other girls were similarly lost for words and could do nothing more than gaze at Marilyn uncertainly, as if it were she who suffered the mysterious affliction.
"He told me about a month ago," she continued quietly. "And I freaked out, so he freaked out, and well…I guess you guys know how that turned out."
"Yeah. You started chewing gum. Constantly," Scarlett recalled with bitterness.
Ignoring her friend's tactless comment, Marilyn continued in her soft voice, "Then tonight I followed the boys out to some secret passage in the whomping willow…and I tried to explain to Remus why I flipped and then…he…he…"
"He started to transform," James finished for the suddenly stricken Marilyn. "So she screamed and I grabbed her to run away and that's when we saw you guys."
The listening girls shared similar wide-eyed expressions. Cherise was the first to find her voice.
"And that dog…that was Sirius? But, what does that have to do with any of this? With the werewolf thing?"
"It's so we can handle Remus better as a wolf. See, Sirius, Pete, and I studied to become animagi until last year when we finally succeeded. So now we can go out with Remus during his transformations and keep him in check, you know, so he isn't a danger to himself or others."
Lily was in absolute awe. Her James was an animagus! And to help out his friend, nonetheless. How very noble and incredible and…amazing.
"So what animal are you?" she asked shyly.
He looked straight at her as if realizing for the first time that she was there. "Oh… um, a stag."
Lily bit her bottom lip to keep from melting away into the carpet. To make matters worse, the left corner of James's lips curled up into a sort of smirk at this. It was all she could do to not die on the spot. She was sure she already was inside.
Scarlett broke the spell. "Then what's Peter turn into?"
James broke away from Lily's eyes to address the new speaker. "A rat." This response elicited much snickering, even from James.
"How appropriate," Cherise noted.
Although he seemed to want to agree, James said instead, "Nah, we needed a small animal to get us into the whomping willow. There's this knot close to the tree that stops the crazy branch flailing when you press it. Then we can get through the hole and into the passage that leads to the shrieking shack. That's where Remus transforms."
"The shrieking shack? But it's so terribly haunted!" Scarlett squealed.
James laughed. "That's exactly what we want you to think. That way no one will come near and discover us."
The girls looked positively offended. They had been lied to all those years! …And had whole-heartedly believed it.
"I can't believe this! This whole conspiracy behind our backs… and what I really can't believe is how you four never even let anything slip," Cherise said.
"Well, it wasn't some silly gossip that we were hiding," James explained. "Not only is it illegal to be an unregistered animagus, but this is Remus's lifelong reputation and safety at stake. Which is also the reason why you four will never – ever – let a word of this out." He eyed them keenly as he spoke.
"We won't," they unanimously chanted.
"I'm dead serious," he reiterated, this time looking pointedly at Scarlett.
When she noticed this, she gave a squeak of indignance. "I won't tell!"
Obviously still skeptical, James nevertheless took their word for it.
Before they could call their impromptu meeting to a close, Lily voiced softly, "So…Remus. I mean, he's okay, isn't he? This werewolf thing doesn't…hurt him, does it?"
James regarded her delicately. "For the most part, he's fine. The days surrounding the full moon…he can get pretty bad."
"That's why he's always out of classes for a week," Cherise deduced out loud.
James nodded. "Some months are worse than others. Sometimes it's just minor flu-like symptoms. But sometimes…it's worse."
This statement produced a heavy silence among the group. No one was very keen to dwell on the fact, yet no one could think of a proper way to divert the conversation away. As in under silent agreement, they all turned to look at Marilyn, still sitting silently on Remus's bed, hugging her knees to her chest. She was gazing sadly at a picture sitting on the nightstand beside the bed. It was of Remus and herself. Remus kept trying to kiss her, but she'd turn away teasingly over and over again, until finally Remus would grab her and get that kiss he wanted.
Lily glanced up and away from Marilyn and the picture to find James staring at her. They shared a brief moment of secretive smiling that left Lily's stomach aching when she finally looked away.
Wordlessly, the girls left the dormitory to return to their own. Marilyn was the last to go, reluctant to remove herself from Remus's space. Just as she was getting up, James walked over to her and took her into his arms in a friendly embrace.
"He's just fine, you know," he spoke softly into her hair.
"I know," she replied just as lightly.
"But are you?" he questioned, looking down to her face.
She nodded. After a silent and contemplative moment, she said, "Thank you, James." He furrowed his brows in question. She continued. "For watching over him. For risking your own life for his. You're an amazing friend. You all are. Sirius, Peter…you guys are incredible, you know that?"
Tempted to reply with a teasingly arrogant, "Why yes, I do," he said instead, "Thanks. That means a lot." And it did. He smiled warmly down at her and could see that her spirit had lifted considerably.
"Goodnight, James."
Once the door clicked shut behind Marilyn, James tumbled onto his bed and attempted to block out the heavy emotions swirling through his brain at the moment. From where he was positioned he could see the full, glowing moon out the window. It seemed to be taunting him, its cascading beams burning a hole in the glass through which it shone. He closed his eyes and submitted to the darkness he found there.
It was the lingering memory of Lily's smile, however, that lulled him to sleep.
The next morning at breakfast, Remus's absence was felt more particularly than in the past. Special attention was also paid to Marilyn, although her disposition had cheered quite considerably. A good night's sleep did her wonders.
Sirius, however, looked a wreck. Being left alone with the transformed Remus was not an easy task, and it showed in the marks on his face. James informed him of the previous night's happenings outside the whomping willow and the girls' consequent knowledge of the deepest, darkest Marauder secret – to which Sirius replied with many a four-letter word. Although as he realized the necessity of doing so, he calmed down. He still insisted on blaming James for the whole charade, however, as it was his fault that the invisibility cloak was missing.
"Oh, now I get it!" Cherise announced, albeit in quiet, conspiring tones so that others at the raucous breakfast table would not hear. "Padfoot, Prongs, Moony, and Wormtail, those ridiculous names you have for each other. It makes perfect sense."
"And you guys said it was from a book that tells you which animal you're most like," Scarlett sneered.
"Well, what were we supposed to say?" Sirius retorted.
She did not have a response prepared for this, so she merely sat and brooded at the thought of being duped one too many times.
"So do we get crazy nicknames now that we're in the know and all?" Marilyn proposed.
"No!" Sirius snapped like a little boy whose self-proclaimed rules weren't being followed.
"Aw, come on, Sirius, be a good sport. Let them have some fun," James grinned.
Sirius huffed. "But they don't even have an animal to base them off of."
"So?" James countered. "Make up an animal, then make up the name."
"Oh, fine. Then I dub Marilyn a cat."
Marilyn looked slightly affronted. "What do you mean by that?"
"Oh, nothing, m'dear," he grinned charmingly.
While Sirius and the others wittered on about names and animals, James was quite taken aback to find a gift dropped onto his plate by an owl. It was two roses – one lavender, one white – tied with twine and signed with a note. He looked frantically to Lily, who, along with all the others, was clearly not paying him any attention. He looked back to the roses sitting contentedly on his bacon and toast and snatched them before anyone did pay attention. His mind wheeled a million miles a minute. Just what was going on?
In an attempt to figure such a question out, he stealthily read the note attached.
James,
"A kiss as soft
as spring time flowers,
As sweet
as summer showers
Is not practical
Yet, it's magical
A gentle embrace
Upon my face
You hold my heart...
until our lips part"
-Mae
He stuffed the token inside his robes and returned ever-so-nonchalantly to his breakfast. Reading the note had made his head light and happy and dizzy… but this wasn't supposed to happen. They had an agreement. What was she doing? And how long had she known that the Valentine roses were from him?
James was highly grateful that the others were too preoccupied to pay him any heed, lest they notice the way his cheeks were glowing and his sudden compulsion with mussing up his hair.
But one person did notice.
Across the table, Cherise smiled triumphantly to herself.
On the way to their first class, James beckoned Lily into an unused classroom in order to clear up the incident at breakfast.
Lily was clearly flustered by the sudden diversion in her normal path to class, but it being James's hand that swerved her off course, all rational thought was replaced with a warm feeling that extended from the point of contact.
Once they were secured away from prying eyes, James whipped out the roses.
"What is this about?" Lily asked. She was surprised to find she was short of breath.
"I was going to ask the same thing," James replied smoothly, flourishing the flowers.
Lily gasped slightly. "Wait—what're you—?" She snatched the roses and looked first to the note. Her eyes bulged when she read the name signed.
"But that's my—!"
"—Middle name," James finished for her. Lily looked at him with a scandalized expression. He continued regardless. "Lily, I don't know why you're doing this, but I thought we agreed to forget that…you know…ever happened."
She narrowed her eyes. "James, I didn't send this."
"What do you mean? It's signed with your name…and it's the same gift that I send you every year…"
Lily felt faint with warm silliness once more. She already figured out that it was him sending the roses, but to hear him say it…to make it absolutely true…
"You were the one who sending me those Valentines?" she repeated coyly. She couldn't resist dwelling on such a wonderful fact.
"Well…yeah." His cheeks were growing pink; his hand shot instinctively to his hair. "I mean, I figured you knew, since you sent me this and all—" he gestured to the roses in question.
Lily frowned. "But, James, I didn't send those to you."
"But—"
"I know, I know, it doesn't make sense…" She glanced over the note once more. There was something vaguely familiar about it…
"Oh, my God." Lily slapped a hand against her forehead. "This is Cherise's handwriting."
James snatched the roses back. Now it was his eyes that bulged at the note. "Cherise—she sent this to me?"
Lily looked positively humiliated. "Yes—well, but no, it was her, but it's not from her, if you know what I mean."
Clearly, by the expression on his face, he did not.
"She sent the note pretending to be me so that you'd know I like you because I was too chicken to tell you myself," she explained in a rush of words that she hoped would blur together so that James would miss what she said.
He caught it, though.
A grin spread across his face as Lily tried to bury her own in her hands.
"Well, that's kind of cute, isn't it?"
"No!" she wailed. "God, it's embarrassing. I didn't know she was going to do this. She didn't know you already knew—oh, I am going to kill her."
"Hey, don't worry about it," he consoled. "It was a nice gesture."
Lily sighed. "Yeah, I guess. But…it kind of came at a terrible time, eh? So much for forgetting about…" she trailed off, but James knew perfectly well what she was hinting toward.
"Yeah," he nodded once.
They looked at each other in silence and realized quite painfully that what they were currently experiencing was nothing other than the awkwardness they had sworn would not occur.
"Hey, um, Lil, I know you didn't mean for this rose thing to happen and all, but…" he smiled sheepishly and stepped forward so that Lily was quite cornered, "…is it true? What this note says?"
Lily opened her mouth wordlessly, definitely not expecting this turn of conversation. She felt her face growing steadily warmer. She looked up at James's face, so close it was now, and couldn't help but notice how utterly perfect his lips were. Without thinking, and probably out of nerves, she quickly licked her own lips and flicked her gaze up to his eyes. When James did the same, well, she was sure glad to have that wall supporting her from behind.
Finally she spoke.
"Yes. It's true."
The words had barely left her mouth when she found herself once again occupied by the – utterly perfect – lips of James Potter. No prompting needed, she tangled her arms around his neck and pulled herself right up against him, kissing him back just as recklessly as he was kissing her. Even as wrong as it was, it was just so very right.
Lily could feel James's hand creeping around her lower back, which she was enjoying immensely, until he hit a particularly ticklish spot. She broke from his lips and giggled, while James smirked handsomely. Lily took this opportunity to enjoy those dizzying hazel eyes of his, eyes not even an inch away from her own. She could've fallen into them at that very second and never ever come out…she would be lost forever in sweet, swirling blue and green and gold and…
Was that the bell that just rang?
"Aw, damn, we're late," James moaned.
Lily wanted so very, very badly to say "Screw it!" and keep right on kissing him. But she knew she couldn't do that; they shouldn't have kissed in the first place. Besides, they had Transfiguration with McGonagall and she wasn't very pleasant with tardiness.
James exhaled loudly and ran a hand through his hair. He looked meaningfully to Lily, hoping to convey in just a look that this little meeting was also to be kept quiet and hopefully forgotten. She nodded to show her understanding.
They sped off to class together, stumbling into the room rather ungracefully. Professor McGonagall narrowed her eyes irritably at their arrival but mercifully said nothing, merely pointing them to their seats. Lily sat herself down a bit sadly, almost wishing she had received another detention…another excuse…
"Oy James, what the hell happened to you?" Sirius commented once the room had regained the general murmur of conversation.
"What do you mean?" James replied in a would-be casual voice, hastily smoothing out his hair (to no avail) and straightening his tie.
Sirius shifted his gaze from James to Lily and back again, his eyes sparkling ever so wickedly.
"Would you cut that out?" James snapped at him. "I know what you're thinking."
"Oh-ho no you don't," he laughed.
Across the room, Lily was undergoing similar interrogation.
"But why are you so flushed?" Scarlett insisted.
"And where did you disappear to?" Marilyn added. "One minute you were walking behind us, suddenly you're gone?"
Lily wasn't prepared for this. "James had to, er…tell me…something."
She noticed that Cherise was unsuccessfully hiding a smile. Suddenly she remembered the catalyst behind the impromptu rendezvous. Her nervous face converted into a shrewd smirk.
"Actually," Lily restarted, "he was just showing me a prank that he received in the post at breakfast." She was making it a point to direct her words towards Cherise. "It was quite hilarious, really."
Cherise raised her eyebrows but said nothing. Lily smiled triumphantly to herself. She wasn't meaning to be horrid to her friend, only give her a tease for being such a sneaky cow. The other girls seemed contented with this information and therefore let her alone.
Relieved, Lily slouched back in her seat and stole a glance across the room. She met James's gaze halfway and smiled.
The hour was late and the firelight dwindling, but still Marilyn remained faithful to her cozy little chair in the empty common room. Fighting the increasing heaviness of her eyelids, she gazed intently at the outline of the portrait hole across the room, telling herself that in just one more moment's time she would see that dark figure stumble quietly in.
He usually returns a couple days after the full moon, after he's rested and all. But he comes back late at night so he can avoid awkward questions and stares, you know?
Marilyn did well to heed James's information. For two nights already had she stayed her post, choosing a stiff neck and dark eye circles over her warm and inviting four poster bed. She wasn't intending to come off as an obsessive stalker; she merely wished to greet Remus without the "awkward stares" of an audience. She did not know what to expect from him, how he would feel about…well…everything. It had been far too long since she had properly sat in his arms and breathed him in. Although it had only been a short few days since she had seen him, she ached through and through with missing him. She just wanted her Remus back.
Lucky for her, that night she would get what she wanted.
Her head snapped up (no, of course she wasn't about to fall asleep, she was just resting her eyes…) at the familiar creak of the portrait, and she could just discern Remus's unmistakable outline. Jumping up, she ran over to where he was (in all his surprise and confusion at her presence) and threw herself unceremoniously into his arms.
"Oh, Remus, I've missed you so much!" she cried into his shoulder.
It appeared he did not know exactly how to respond to this enthusiastic and quite unexpected welcome. He had been anticipating…well, he wasn't really sure, but not this.
He hesitantly returned the embrace. "I've missed you, too," he said truthfully. If only she knew how much.
Reluctantly, she removed herself from his familiar arms to look up into his face, to which she smiled fondly.
Remus inhaled deeply. "I'm sorry you had to…you know…see what you did…" He was making it a point not to meet her eyes. He looked up, however, when Marilyn gave a tiny laugh.
"Don't be ridiculous," she said, shaking her head, her expression softening. "I'm sorry that you have to endure what you do. Don't you dare make me the victim in this situation." She had a bit of tease in her voice and smile.
Remus had yet to find his own smile. "I just…I know I'm a frightening sight…and God knows what I could've done…to you…"
Marilyn continued in shaking her head as if at a young child. "No. Don't you think about that. Nothing happened to me. I'm fine." Remus remained silent. "And…well, I'm glad I saw what I did. Now I can appreciate what you have to go through each month. Yes, I'm glad I saw," she finished resolutely.
Remus's mute but conclusive response was just taking her hand into his and rubbing it softly. Looking down at their intertwined fingers, Marilyn smiled gently. That was all the encouragement she needed.
"So, are you okay? I mean, do you feel alright?" she inquired.
He nodded silently, then added softly, "I'm fine."
She eyed him appraisingly, obviously not believing him. However, not wanting to dwell on sickness and upset him further, she curled her lips into a catty smile and purred, "So, a werewolf, huh?"
Remus raised his eyebrows in intrigue at her change in disposition.
Marilyn took to fiddling with his tie and looked up at him with coquettish eyes. "I must say, of all the animals to be stuck with, I sure got a sexy one."
Remus broke out into his first true grin in weeks. Without wasting any further time, he pulled her forward, right up to his lips, and made up for lost time.
I know. I took forever. It's very lame of me, but I'm sorrysorrysorry. I hope this chapter was pleasing enough – at least Remus and Marilyn settled their little spat. And, y'know, there was some Lily/James action too, which I know is a favorite.
Thank you so much for anyone sticking around with this story, and to anyone who reviewed – you guys are fabulous. Really. I don't deserve the amount of reviews I have, but I'm very flattered, and sorry again for being, like, SIX MONTHS late.