Author's Note: Well, well, well…I bet some of you didn't expect to be reading another chapter, did you? To be honest, I had my doubts about whether you'd read it too! I know it's been MONTHS since I updated, which really is shameful. But I did move to another country…and start at a new school…you've got to cut me some slack! Well, actually, I wouldn't cut me some slack, but you're probably much more compassionate than me, so maybe you will. Let me say this—writing this story is TIME-CONSUMING. It takes a long time for a perfectionist like me to feel like I've got a chapter right. Sometimes I'm completely unmotivated to write at all. Sometimes what I do write is complete crap. (And some times is stupid and for some reason won't let me upload my chapters...if they had this one might have been up a couple weeks ago.) My point is this—I'm endlessly sorry this sort of thing takes me so long, but in the end I feel an obligation to keep going with the story because I don't want to disappoint anyone reading this.

In reality, I doubt anyone would be that disappointed. Yet in the madness that's called my brain, there are people checking their inboxes for updates, sighing in a sad way when they find it empty…oh no, my mistake, that's just what my life is like. (Just kidding.)

Anyway, I'd give a million zillion thank-yous to the lovely reviewers for the last chapter, but frankly, it was such a long time ago, it seems kind of pointless. If you reviewed and you are ACTUALLY still reading this story: THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! (Imagine me bowing down at your feet like the people in The King and I…or was it Anna and the King? I confuse those movies. Well, hopefully you know what I mean.)

So…shall I give you a short synopsis so you don't have to go back and read the whole story to catch up. I think that'd be helpful, so here goes.

Summary (Chapters One-Twenty): After long-time arch enemies Lily Evans and James Potter had to take on the responsibilities of Head Girl and Head Boy of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, sparks flew—much to James' delight, the sparks were the romantic kind. As the two started dating, chaos raged in the outside world. Attacks on the community by a wizard called Lord Voldemort and his henchmen, the Death Eaters, sent everyone into a panic. Through this, Lily, James, and their friends attempt to prepare for the most difficult year in the education and for life in the real world, as well as fighting their own battles against Severus Snape and other members of the Slytherin house. When a fight between Sirius, James' best friend, and Snape turns ugly, James finds himself pitted against his friend. Sirius retaliates by sending Snape out to the Whomping Willow at full moon, where their friend Remus has transformed into a werewolf.

Chapter Twenty-One

James noticed a strange furtive look about Sirius for the next few days. Though they had made a truce only a day after their blowout, James could tell Sirius was hiding something in an oddly satisfied way. Neither he nor Sirius enjoyed arguments much, and Sirius had brushed the whole incident off in a shockingly nonchalant way. However, with everything that was going on, James didn't have much time to contemplate this or Sirius' clandestine mood.

The seventh years' workload had increased to monolithic proportions, and there was rarely time to do anything but study. Many of them couldn't even escape when they were asleep, since they were plagued with dreams of exams gone horribly wrong and sudden cases of amnesia. The constant reminder that these tests would define the rest of their lives and would make a difference between success and failure out in the "real world" was something none of them easily forgot.

And speaking of success and failure, James received several letters from the International Quidditch Association, each one more impatient than the one before. He still hadn't found time to tell them his decision--or at least that was the excuse he gave. Part of him was extremely tempted by the prospect of being a world famous Quidditch player, but he certainly didn't tell anyone.

All the same, it made him nervous to see Sirius, normally so extroverted and communicative, hide something from his friends. In just the last few months, James had had too many disastrous experiences with hiding things from people, and he wanted to avoid another one of those at any cost. He certainly hoped that Sirius wouldn't keep it a secret for much longer.

A week or two went by before anything of much importance happened.


The weekend came like a shining beacon of hope at the end of a very long week. Even Lily, who had never had much trouble with school, was becoming exhausted from the perpetual strain. When she woke up on Saturday, it looked like a real summer day--sunlight was streaming through the windows, and the sky was the clearest shade of azure. To her dismay, however, she found Anna reading The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Seven. She got up and strode over to where Anna was sitting in her bed and pulled the book away from her, shutting it.

"I'm sorry, it's the weekend, and I'm afraid I can't permit you to study when you don't even have to," Lily said snappily. Anna raised an eyebrow at her friend.

"Is the Head Girl reprimanding someone for studying? That's something I never thought I'd live to see," She said, smirking.

"Yes, I am," Lily said, "because we are going to spend a whole day without picking up a single book or notes or anything. We are not going to study at all today."

"Too late," Anna said, shrugging, and when Lily looked puzzled, she continued. "I already did study."

"Okay, starting now, then," Lily replied. Neither of them spoke for a moment, but only looked straight at each other. They couldn't really keep a straight face, so both of them started laughing, and Lily sat down on Anna's bed.

"I think we're being driven insane by this whole exams business," Anna said thoughtfully. Lily nodded in agreement.

"I got a letter from my parents yesterday," She said, gazing out the window.

"Really? And what was so interesting about this letter?" Anna asked. Lily turned to look at her again.

"What do you mean? Why does there always have to be some hidden meaning behind everything I say? Isn't it possible that I could have just gotten a nice letter from my parents, and I wanted to tell you about it?" Lily said indignantly.

"No, because you wouldn't bother to mention it unless it was important," Anna said simply. "So just save us the time and get to the point."

"Oh, for goodness…oh, all right," Lily said, sighing. "Well, I had written them to ask whether I could go to the Quidditch thing in the summer with James, and they said that they would feel more comfortable letting me go if they were to meet him first." Anna furrowed her brow and took a moment before responding.

"Okay…so let them meet him first," She said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Lily shook her head.

"They've got a lot of vacationing going on this summer--first they're off to Scotland for a week, then for the week after that, they're going to be busy with planning and executing my sister's wedding. After her wedding, they're taking off to India for three weeks, and it's in those three weeks that the World Cup is happening," Lily explained quickly.

"So…are you saying they won't let you go, or what? Because if you're not going, I'm definitely not going either," Anna said. She too had been invited to go with everyone to the World Cup over the summer. Lily shook her head again, this time determinedly staring out the window.

"Well, no, not exactly--it's just that they, er, well…they want me to bring him to Petunia's wedding," Lily said in a rushed way, biting her lip when she was done. She looked everywhere in the room but at Anna, and to her surprise, she heard a muffled laugh. At this, she couldn't help but look at Anna, who hurriedly clapped a hand to her mouth, still grinning. "This isn't funny!" Lily exclaimed. "This…this isn't even in the same postal code as funny!" This, however, only gave Anna a harder time keeping a straight face.

"Oh, I know…I mean, it is sort of funny," Anna said, taking her hand away from her mouth, "when you really think about it. James is going to die when he hears he has to go to a wedding with you."

"That's exactly why I'm telling you this! What am I supposed to do?" Lily asked, with tones of desperation in her voice.

"God, he'll have to wear a suit, won't he? Take a picture for me, will you?" Anna added. Lily was becoming more and more irritated.

"Hello! I need your help!" Lily said. Anna eyed her carefully and silently for a moment.

"Well, it's not as if it's going to be the last wedding you'll be attending together," Anna said. Something about the smile on her face made Lily sure that Anna didn't mean in the sense of going as guests.

"Oh, ha ha ha. Very amusing. But I really am going to kill you if you don't help me," Lily said flatly. Anna sighed and sat up straighter.

"Well, if you want my opinion…"


"I swear, that's the third time Snape's walked past us looking all smug," Peter said. "If I didn't know better, I'd say he was up to something."

Along with Peter, James, Sirius, and Remus were all sitting under one of the trees by the lake. It was such a glorious day outside, and all of them were feeling restless, so they'd abandoned the Common Room in favor of more sunny settings.

Sirius replied lazily, "Snape's always up to something, Wormtail. I thought you'd have figured that out by now. Thank God we'll all be rid of him soon."

James privately agreed--one thing he was more than glad about was that when school ended, he'd never have to say another word to Snape if he didn't want to. No one said anything in reply, although Remus' glance did flit in Sirius' direction for a moment, and he frowned as it did so. James was about to ask Remus what was on his mind when he caught sight of both Anna and Lily walking towards the four of them.

"We were wondering where you all had gotten to," Lily said as she and Anna plopped down on the grass beside them. "Mind if we join you?"

"So, what kind of havoc are you planning on creating in the castle after exams? I suppose you'll be wanting to give everyone a wonderful farewell present," Anna said. The four boys exchanged looks.

They had, in fact, talked about starting some plans for their exit out of Hogwarts. They had all agreed it would be rather anticlimactic if they were to cause absolutely no mayhem when they were about to leave, but still, no finite plans had been put together. With everything that had been going on around them, it had been hard to find free time.

"Well, it's a surprise, so we can't tell you, can we?" Sirius replied vaguely. This was a typical Sirius response, so neither of the girls even thought that he was lying at all. For several more minutes, all six of them just sat there discussing regular topics, mostly centered around their coming exams. It was only when Remus realized that it was nearing lunchtime that they lazily left their sitting place and headed up to the castle.

Compared to the outdoors, the inside of the castle felt cramped, dull, and dark. Hogwarts, which normally seemed inviting, had lately carried with it so many pressures and frustrations that it was a great relief to break free of its stone walls. As he sat down to lunch, James noted that even the enchanted ceiling (which at that moment was a clear, shining blue) couldn't help to lift the mood.

He remarked upon this to the rest of the group, who all agreed.

"Maybe we're all sick of this place," Anna offered. "I mean, we have spent a good part of seven years here."

"Or maybe we're just sick of studying," Lily added. There was a pause as they all considered these things.

"Nah, we're all just raving mad," Remus said, and everyone laughed.


It wasn't until after dinner that Lily decided she would tell James about the wedding situation. She knew that she could technically put it off for weeks because she was slightly wary of his reaction, but she decided it would be better to do it sooner rather than later.

She had tried to think the whole situation through completely. Was inviting him to a wedding too serious? They'd been dating since the end of October…so that made…nearly six months now. She wished that there were some sort of guidelines to what was an okay outing and what wasn't when you'd been dating for almost six months, but there was no such luck. She couldn't be sure whether she was stepping into dangerous territory or not, but she was going to find out one way or another.

The more sentimental part of Lily's personality dwelled on grandiose, romantic ideas about going to a wedding with James. He would meet her family, and they (Petunia and Vernon excluded) would love him. They would dance all night and laugh, and even though neither of them would say anything, both would be imagining what it would be like if they got married. She would catch Petunia's bouquet, and she'd blush when people would tell her that she'd be next, and ask her who the lucky man would be.

It took herculean effort for her to be realistic about the situation. It was particularly these sorts of things, she told herself, that would send James as far away from her as possible. She even went as far as to practically memorize a perfect, nonchalant way of introducing the idea.

Typically, when the time came to say it, her planning went to hell. "So, how do you feel about weddings?" She asked.

James' eyebrows shot up about three feet. It would have been extremely funny if Lily hadn't been feeling like such an idiot. "Ex-excuse me?" He stammered, looking bewildered.

"I mean, my sister's wedding. Petunia, you know, my sister. Her wedding is this summer did you know? I was pretty sure I told you but then again I try to basically ignore all contact with my sister so perhaps it slipped my mind what with everything going on. I didn't mean a wedding between us, that would be silly don't you think? I mean we've only been going out for about six months and it's ridiculous to even entertain the idea but I suppose marriages have been founded on less than six month relationships so in some peoples' cases maybe it seems completely logical. But not for us, or me at least because like I said it's silly and ridiculous to even entertain that idea," Lily said quickly. She could have died, since she was fully aware she'd turned into a babbling idiot. No doubt she was blushing redder than a tomato.

"Uh…oh yeah. So the wedding's finally happening, is it?" James replied. He, at least, seemed to be able to keep control of his mouth.

Lily paused, trying to prevent any further babbling, then said, "This summer. July 20th. God, it's going to be awful." Good, Lily thought to herself. That was at least close to normal. "I won't know anyone there," Lily added. She hoped that maybe she could just hint and he'd offer to accompany her, but he seemed clueless of her intentions.

"Yeah, well, hopefully it'll provide you with some funny memories. Especially judging from that invitation they sent you a while ago," He said. Lily could tell he was going to lose interest in the topic any second. And he did. "So did you ask your parents about the whole World Cup thing?" He inquired.

"Er…well, yes, actually, about that--"

"Don't tell me you can't go!" James interrupted.

"Well, not exactly. It's just my parents would feel more…comfortable if they met you before I went," She said, reddening again. He looked at her quizzically. "And…they want you to come to my sister's wedding."

James paused, seeming to take this in. "Is this why you asked me about weddings?" He asked, and she nodded. He hesitated, thinking, then shrugged and said casually, "Sure, why not? It'll be interesting."

Lily was taken aback by how throwaway his attitude was towards the whole situation. She had spent hours agonizing over his reaction to the whole situation. Weren't boyfriends supposed to be afraid of weddings, or something along those lines?

"Is that it, then? Just, 'Sure, why not?'" Lily asked, with a slight tone of indignation in her voice. James looked up at her again, now looking more lost.

"Yes…were you expecting something else?" He asked quizically. Lily shrugged.

"Well, it's just…I expected you to react differently!" She replied.

"Did you want me to say no, instead?" James shot back. Lily considered this for a moment, then shrugged again.

"I suppose not. Just forget it," She said, certainly not wanting to even introduce the idea that he should be afraid of a wedding. Standing up, she quickly kissed him on the cheek, and said, "I'm glad you're coming with me." After that, they said good night to each other, and Lily retired to her dormitory, leaving James in the common room.


James was the last person awake in the common room that night. He felt odd about the idea of going to a wedding with his girlfriend, although he was sure he had suffered through worse things. He sat for a very long time, deep in thought, and was only taken from his thoughts when Sirius came crashing through the Portrait Hole, breathless.

"Where were you?" James asked. He had assumed Sirius had been up in their dormitory the whole time. Sirius shrugged, although James noticed a momentary gleam in his eyes; it was the same gleam that he had worn since they'd fought, but magnified.

"Just having a stroll," Sirius said airily, smirking. "I think I'm going to go to bed. Bit tired." He gave a dramatic yawn, and headed towards the boys' dormitories.

James listened to him walk up the stairs and shut the door to the dormitory. He stood in the common room for only a few moments longer before racing up the spiral staircase himself and bursting into the dormitory. Sirius was beside the window, looking out at the grounds expectantly.

"What's wrong with you?" James asked. Something about Sirius's demeanor was making him very uneasy indeed. Sirius looked over at him, still smirking.

"Wrong? Nothing wrong with me…nope, I'm just fantastic. Better than ever," Sirius said slowly, then turned back to look down at the grounds again.

"You're acting funny. What the hell's happened to you?" James asked. He was genuinely worried about Sirius. What was making him act like a complete madman?

"I think you're going to like this, Prongs," Sirius said, an even wider grin spreading over his face. "Come have a look."

James moved towards the window, not knowing what to expect, keeping his hand close to his wand--Sirius was acting very oddly, and there was no telling what he might do next.

"You're acting like a maniac, Padfoot, and I don't--" James began, but next moment, all thought of Sirius' madness flew from his mind. There, on the grounds below, black robes billowing, was Snape. His wand was lit, illuminating his pallid face and black, greasy hair even from far away. James watched as Snape stood still, looking off into the distance, and then swept off…it took a moment for James to register that he was heading for the Whomping Willow.

"All right, so Snape's stalking around the grounds, but who--" James started, but found himself stopping again, because he had, out of the corner of his eye, noticed the full moon casting a silvery glow into the dark night. And suddenly, everything had clicked into place.

The reason Sirius had been acting so secretive, yet satisfied. Why he had been so blasé about the whole argument that had taken place. Why Remus had looked at Sirius so perplexedly down by the lake when Sirius had said Thank God we'll all be rid of him soon. And, most importantly, why Snape was setting off in the direction of the Whomping Willow…

James felt very sick all of a sudden. He would never have believed this of Sirius…but even as he turned his gaze back upon his best friend, that same wild grin still upon his face, he knew that he'd done it.

"Sirius…please, tell me you haven't…" James said hoarsely, still hoping there was a wild chance his best friend was completely innocent, that he was merely interested in why Snape was walking around the grounds at night.

"Yep, Prongs…no more Snivellus to deal with…hope Moony gets him really good, too," Sirius said, but James had already strode back to the dormitory door without another word to Sirius.

A thousand thoughts raced through his head unprocessed as he moved through the common room, out the portrait hole, down towards the Entrance Hall. He had neither his Invisibility Cloak nor the Marauder's Map, but there was no time for that. Snape might already be at the Whomping Willow…did he know how to immobilize the tree already, or would he walk along its edges, wondering how to get in, in the process buying James some time?

When James reached the front doors, it was to find them locked. "Damn…" He muttered, pulling out his wand. After trying a few ways to unlock them magically, they still remained adamantly locked tight. How had Snape gotten out? Could he walk through walls? Even worse, he could now hear footsteps and see dim light coming from the dungeon passage leading to the Potions class. As it grew closer and closer, and James became more and more desperate, he was forced to duck behind a suit of armor near the stairs. A moment later, Filch emerged into the Entrance Hall, muttering to Mrs. Norris, who was slinking around his ankles. Much to James' relief, he went towards the great oak doors and began unlocking them with a heavy brass key, distinctly saying, "Now, my sweet, we will see who's out sneaking round the grounds, won't we?"

After he had disappeared, he did not lock the doors again, and James was able to go back and slowly open them, making sure Filch wasn't nearby to catch him. When he saw the coast was clear, he sprinted towards in the direction of the Whomping Willow. As it came into view, James squinted into the distance at it. Was that a dark figure prowling around underneath it? Could Snape possibly still be outside of the tree? Closer and closer he got, running out of breath the whole time, and he soon got close enough to see that Snape hadn't gone into the passageway under the tree, that he was still alive, not quite in mortal danger yet…

James reached Snape and the Whomping Willow, breathing heavily. Snape turned to him, his wand out, looking slightly alarmed.

"Well, Potter, come to see how your best friend is doing?" Snape said icily, as James massaged a stitch in his side, still trying to catch his breath.

"Snape…you're making…big mistake," James managed to say, and Snape let out a bark of laughter.

"Oh, I know perfectly well what I'm doing. Poor Lupin…I suppose he'll be expelled for this," Snape jeered loudly.

"Dumbledore knows…don't be an idiot…" James said, although he was drawing breath with more ease than before.

"Dumbledore knows? He knows? He knows that your werewolf friend comes out here every full moon? Tell me, does he even know Lupin is a werewolf, or has he kept that cleverly hidden?" Snape asked harshly.

"Snape, I'm not kidding," James said quickly. "You're making a huge mistake. Dumbledore knows all about this, you won't be proving or revealing anything to him. You're risking your life for nothing."

"Yeah, I'm going to listen to you, Potter," Snape said, sneering, "because you've got my best interests at heart."

And James watched in horror as Snape picked up a long branch and pushed the knot on the tree that froze it and walked to the entry into the passageway. He paused, peering into the hole under the roots. James couldn't tell whether he was imagining those growling sounds or not.

"Snape, I'm not kidding, don't be an idiot!" James said frantically, and Snape rounded on him, wand held aloft.

"Not a wise choice of words, Potter," Snape said sharply, and without any warning, he slashed his wand through the air towards James.

James only just managed to step out of the way of Snape's hex, and now had his own wand drawn, but for the first time, he wasn't at all interested in fighting--if he were knocked out or otherwise injured, Snape was sure to be killed.

"Snape, listen to me, you have to come back to the castle, Filch is out looking for someone," James said, trying to speak reasonably, but Snape was apparently not listening. He was still looking intently into the passageway. "All right, Snape, I'm going after one of the teachers--if you want to risk your life and expulsion, far be it from me to-"

But he stopped dead. Snape had jumped back from the opening in the roots, a look of bewilderment twisting his features. James hoped upon hope that Snape hadn't seen Remus, that it was just something else, a noise, or some shadow he had thought was something else…but as he watched, the long limbs and angry face of a werewolf emerged from the passageway, growling and looking murderously at Snape.

James stood frozen for several moments, shocked. He had spent many evenings alongside Remus when he had been transformed, but it was completely different when James himself was in human form. He had never noticed how menacing a werewolf looked, and was completely wrong-footed for a few seconds. A half-formed, foolish plan worked its way into his head, and although he wasn't sure it was going to work, he had no other options…

He quickly pulled out his wand and stunned Snape. Though he did realize that Snape did not exactly have a fighting chance while he was unconscious, he figured his chances were better without Snape being a complete idiot the whole time. Then, pointing his wand at himself, he concentrated very firmly and transformed. He felt an uncomfortable stretching sensation, and suddenly he was not a human, but a stag.

Remus, who had been slowly advancing on Snape, seemed to notice the fact that there was something much larger than a regular person next to him, now turned, fixing his gleaming eyes upon James. Almost immediately, as he had done many times before, the werewolf suddenly became tamer, more docile, as if he truly knew that this animal beside him was a friend. He stopped growling, his teeth were no longer bared, and he walked slowly towards the stag.

James waited just long enough to lull Remus into a false sense of security before swinging his head right at his friend. He felt his antlers hit the side of the werewolf, and Remus went flying several feet back, crashing to the ground in a heap. Though James felt bad, he knew that this was not the end of the fight. Remus' werewolf brain seemed to realize that this was no friend to him, and he pulled himself up from the ground, now looking as murderous as ever.

James struggled through the fight; he was not sure whether he could beat a full-fledged werewolf, but all he knew was that if he lost, Remus would move on to Snape, and Sirius would be expelled…if not worse. He was hit by several blows from Remus, feeling fainter and fainter each time he was hit, and then he saw something out of the corner of his eye: a light, probably from a wand, moving across the grounds towards them.

His desperation now grew greater; if there were more people coming, it would certainly cause him more of a problem. First of all, it would be just one more person in danger of Remus, and secondly, he didn't feel like having anyone find out that he was an illegal Animagus. Now feeling very hurried and not knowing how to end this quickly, James charged at Remus, trying to herd him in the direction of the Whomping Willow.

Most unfortunately, the knot in the tree had stopped working its magic: the Whomping Willow was no longer immobilised, and as James moved towards it, he was walloped in the side by one of the larger branches. As he looked up, he saw that the same branch had also hit Remus, and he could just make out the figure of a werewolf dragging itself into the hole between the roots, out of sight. The light was growing closer and closer, and he concentrated very hard, hoping he could just transform back…


Lily woke in the middle of the night. She lay in bed looking out at the inky blue night sky, wondering why she had awoken so suddenly. A few moments passed, and she thought she could hear movement on the spiral staircase, and people whispering. Silently cursing her responsibility as Head Girl, she groggily pulled herself out of bed and quietly walked across the dormitory and opened the door.

She was sure now that she could hear people whispering in the common room, but was extremely surprised to see that it was not, as she had suspected, younger students sneaking out of bed, but Professor McGonagall accompanied by Sirius Black.

She was not sure whether she would be allowed to intrude on this late-night meeting; after all, it must be very important to be drawing Sirius out of bed so late. However, she was curious as to what was going on, and also she was slightly suspicious that this may have something to do with James.

As she made her way down the stairs at stepped tentatively into the common room, Professor McGonagall and Sirius continued to whisper in urgent voices. They seemed not to notice Lily at all.

"Er…excuse me, Professor?" Lily said quietly. Professor McGonagall looked around sharply, but Sirius, white-faced, did nothing but stare determinedly at the floor. "Is anything wrong?"

McGonagall considered her for a moment, then sighed. "Miss Evans, I believe you should accompany Mr. Black and I," She said, and motioned for them to follow her out of the common room.

As they walked through the darkened and deserted corridors, Lily kept trying to catch Sirius' eye, hoping to ask him what was going on, but he kept his eyes pointed fixedly in front of him. She was feeling rather worried now, especially since Sirius looked more and more pale-faced and clench-jawed the further they walked.

Lily hadn't been paying attention to where they were going, but as she gave up trying to get Sirius to talk, she noticed they were taking the route towards the Hospital Wing. Why was Professor McGonagall taking her and Sirius to the hospital wing so late at night? Who was hurt? As they reached the door to their destination, Lily was feeling very alarmed and rather sickly.

"Right, then," Professor McGonagall said, turning around in front of the hospital wing door. Both Lily and Sirius stopped, facing her. "I'll just let you know…the reason we're here is because of Mr. Potter."

"What's happened to him?" Lily said quickly, displaying more worry in her voice than she had meant to.

"Nothing serious. He will be fine soon enough," Professor McGonagall continued. "However, I do not know how he sustained his injuries. I came to Mr. Black here, who I believed knew something about the incident, but I am still unclear as to what has happened tonight."

Sirius, whose gaze was now on the floor again, said nothing. After a few moments' silence, Professor McGonagall turned and swept into the hospital wing. Both Lily and Sirius followed her. The lamps cast a dim glow around the room, which was relatively empty.

James lay asleep in one of the hospital beds, several cuts and scrapes on his face, but looking otherwise perfectly healthy. In spite of herself, Lily felt immensely relieved that it was nothing worse. Sirius, on the other hand, seemed to be more pallid and horrified than he had been before, and stayed a fair distance away from where James lay.

Professor McGonagall had immediately lit the lamp closest to James' bed with her wand, and then turned her wand upon James himself, who awoke a moment later. He looked rather startled to see Professor McGonagall, Lily, and Sirius standing around him, and sat up straighter.

"Good evening Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall said briskly. "You appear to have had quite an adventurous night."

"Oh…er…yeah," James said vaguely, rubbing just above his left eyebrow.

"You are, no doubt, wondering why I am here? And also, why Mr. Black and Ms. Evans are with me?" McGonagall said. When James nodded, she went on. "I believed Mr. Black might have known something about what happened tonight. After all, it would not have been the first time that the two of you were involved in some reckless…well, anyway, suffice it to say I tried to ask him what had happened. He seemed to not to wish to speak about it. I was hoping you could."

Lily could see comprehension dawning on James' face, and also saw him hesitate for just a moment before beginning his story rather reluctantly.

"Well, I saw Snape out on the grounds really late at night. I thought it was kind of funny, but then I noticed that he was…well, he was heading towards the Whomping Willow, and I also noticed it was a full moon, so I thought I'd follow him. He might not know what he was heading into, right? So I followed him and told him to get lost, but he wouldn't listen, and then…well…you know," James finished lamely. Professor McGonagall looked as though she was getting slightly irritated.

"Mr. Potter, if I knew, I certainly wouldn't have troubled the three of you," She said sharply. Everyone was silent for a moment before Professor McGonagall started up again. "I am going to ask you clearly in the hopes that you will answer me properly: did you send Severus Snape out to the Whomping Willow tonight?"

"I…well, er…" James stammered, apparently trying to decide what to say. To everyone's surprise, however, it was Sirius who answered McGonagall.

"It wasn't him," He said quietly. Professor McGonagall turned towards Sirius. She studied him for several long moments.

"I see, Mr. Black," She said gravely. The four of them stood in silence until McGonagall spoke again. "Well, I think I understand what happened here. I think I've troubled all of you enough for tonight. Everyone get back to bed, and I will speak to you tomorrow, Mr. Black."

No one spoke as she swept out of the Hospital Wing. Lily looked at James, who looked at Sirius, who once again looked at the ground. A few moments after Professor McGonagall had closed the door behind her, Sirius looked up. He opened his mouth to speak, seemed to think better of it, sighed heavily, and walked out of the room, leaving Lily and James staring after him.

"Okay, what happened?" Lily asked quickly, walking over and sitting on the edge of James' bed. "I mean what really happened. I'm so confused."

"Well…" James began, "it's kind of…personal."

"Well, it's a good thing that I'm your loving, supporting girlfriend that you can share anything with, isn't it?" Lily said brightly. She knew whatever had transpired must have been serious, and she wasn't leaving until she got a good enough explanation from James. Silence fell in the room while James apparently tried to find where to begin.

"It's a really long story. I guess…it starts back in second year," James said heavily. "We found out that Remus was a werewolf, and he told us about how Dumbledore had him taken to the Shrieking Shack every full moon so he didn't hurt anyone—"

"How did he get in there? I thought there wasn't any way in?" Lily interrupted.

"Well, there is. Remember when we were in Hogsmeade a while back, and I said that there was a way in?" James replied, and Lily remembered when he had told her. It's my little secret, he'd said. "There's an opening in the roots of the Whomping Willow that leads to a passageway into the Shrieking Shack. Everyone thinks it's haunted in there, but it's really Remus in his werewolf form."

Lily felt horrible hearing this—she had never heard the shrieks and moans that supposedly came from the Shrieking Shack every so often, but to think that it was one of her good friends making those noises, one of her friends in some sort of pain…

"So Sirius, Peter and I decided we were going to do something to make it better for him. We weren't sure what to do at first, but after a while we decided the most useful thing would be for us to become Animagus," James said, looking at Lily with a slightly apprehensive expression on his face.

Lily was completely at a loss for what to say; at first she wasn't even sure that she had heard him right. She knew James well enough to know that he had some exceptional abilities, especially in Transfiguration, but becoming an Animagus would have been extremely difficult nonetheless. When she didn't reply, James forged ahead with his story.

"It took us ages to get it right. It was only when we were in fifth year that we were confident enough to try it for the first time," James said. "We waited until full moon, went down to the Whomping Willow, and transformed. Remus had told us there was a knot on the tree that would immobilize it. Peter was the smallest—he transformed into a rat, so he was able to get past the branches without getting hurt. Since that night, we've been going out there almost every full moon to run around the grounds."

"But that's really dangerous! Didn't Remus ever try and…I dunno…bite you?" Lily said. It felt very odd to be talking about Remus biting someone. "And what if he'd slipped away one night? He could have run off and bit someone in Hogsmeade or something and then he would have felt horrible afterwards!"

"Well, Sirius and I were big enough that we thought we could keep a werewolf from getting out of hand," James said, shrugging. Lily was privately feeling that James had been awfully careless this whole time, but another thought had occurred to her.

"So you're registered with the Ministry and everything? They know the three of you are able to do this?" Lily asked, though she had a sneaking suspicion that the answer would be no.

"It's complicated…we would have registered, but I don't think Dumbledore…well, anyway, it hasn't caused anyone any harm, has it?" James said feebly.

"So what happened tonight, then?" Lily asked, ignoring the fact that James had evaded her last question.

"Ah, Lily, I'm really tired, can't we talk about this in the morning or something?" James replied.

"No, we can't. I want to know what happened."

"Come on, I—"

"I'm not leaving until you tell me!"

"All right, fine…it's just…don't overreact, okay?" James began. Lily was beginning to get a little exasperated with James's constant stalling, and perhaps he realized it, because he continued on with little hesitation. When he was finished, Lily felt absolutely horrified. A thousand thoughts were running through her head, most of them relating to what Sirius had done.

"He…oh James…Sirius could have gotten Snape killed!" Lily said hoarsely. James shrugged in what Lily supposed was meant to be a nonchalant way, but she could tell by the look on his face that he was just as troubled by his best friend's behaviour as she was. "This whole thing is…it's awful. And completely unbelievable! I just can't understand how the three of you did it, most full-grown wizards wouldn't be able to become an Animagus, not even after years of work!"

"Well," James said, looking rather pleased at Lily's words, "it just takes a lot of hard work, doesn't it? We worked hard, and it paid off."

"Yes, I suppose…" Lily said distractedly. "But James, I really think you should tell Dumbledore."

"No!" James replied vehemently, sitting up. "He'd kill us all!"

"I really doubt that," Lily said. "And anyway, don't you think that he'd want to know? It would make things a whole lot easier to explain if something like this ever happened again."

"No, I don't think he'd want to know, you know why?" James said. "Because he'll go absolutely nuts! No doubt he'll give us detention every day for the rest of the year, and he'll tell all those idiots at the Ministry and we'll have to go get registered and everything!"

"So it's only worth doing if it's illegal, then?" Lily asked. James fell silent and slumped back against his pillows. "For heaven's sake, James, is it really worth doing at all when the consequences could be so serious?"

After a very long pause, James spoke. "Yeah, it is."

Lily felt a ripple of frustration. She had, of course, known for a very long time that James was very impulsive and reckless—but she never would have expected him to so carelessly endanger other people.

"Would you mind telling me exactly how it's worth it?" Lily replied through gritted teeth. She was really trying her best not to overreact, since she knew James expected her to. She saw him take a deep breath before he started.

"I can't say I know what it's like to be in Remus's situation. I can't imagine how…how hard it must be to have to live with being a werewolf, or how hard it must be to worry about people treating you differently when they find out. People just don't get it, they think that being a werewolf makes you vicious and cruel. And Remus…he's going to live with prejudice put against him his whole life. He trusts us to be his best friends, to make things better whenever we can. I know it sounds crazy, but it matters more to me that my best friend is happy than some stranger's well-being. It matters to me even more than my own well-being," James said. He continued in a stronger voice, "I don't care if I get expelled, if I get chucked into prison, if me or someone else gets hurt—because it's worth it."

Lily was stunned into silence. She had never heard James say something so honest and absolutely touching as this. She did have to admit now that the reasons he thought this was so important were certainly valid.

"Well…um…that's really…um…" Lily stammered, searching for words that could fill the uncomfortable silence that had fallen between them. "It's just…you may not care if you get expelled or hurt or put in jail, but there are people who do—like me—and I just want you to make sure you're careful, and…er…" She trailed off, fully aware that she was probably doing a fantastic impression of his mother.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," James said casually. Lily could tell that he was trying to regain his former, much more macho self; she suspected that he rarely would have confided so candidly in anyone. "But really—when you're as supremely magically talented and able-bodied as I am…do you really need to worry about being careful?"

"Well, apparently you don't have to worry about humility," Lily said, but she smiled all the same.


"…you'd think you'd have learned by now not to stick your face so close to the cards when you're playing Exploding Snap!"

Lily, Remus, Peter, and Anna were all standing around the foot of James's bed in the hospital wing. Lily was remonstrating Peter, who had burned off nearly all of his eyebrows and put a large scorch mark on the blanket while playing Exploding Snap against James.

"Come here, I'll have to fix it…" Lily said, sighing and drawing out her wand. As she charmed Peter's eyebrows back to normal color and length, James cleared his throat.

"So…er…have any of you seen Sirius lately?" He asked, trying to sound as though it didn't really matter to him. He hadn't seen Sirius in three days—he had come to visit James the day after the whole ordeal, but they hadn't talked much.

"OUCH!" Peter yelped. Lily had, in her distraction at James's question, apparently poked him in the eye with the end of her wand.

"Oh, sorry, Peter!" Lily said, moving her wand away from his face and turning back to James. "Sirius…erm…well, he's been doing detention with McGonagall every day since it happened."

"He doesn't come back from dinner for about an hour," Anna said quietly. "He just sort of…strolls into the Common Room and walks straight into the dormitory. Doesn't even look at anyone if he can help it. And when anyone talks to him, he just sort of…glares at them really menacingly without even breaking his stride."

"But I'm sure he'll be just fine once he talks to you," Lily said reassuringly, looking pointedly at Anna, who mouthed, What, defensively. Remus looked tense; he had started slightly when Sirius had been mentioned. Peter, too, looked wary, but more likely about the distance between Lily's wand and his left eye.

"Yeah," James replied, now wishing he had never brought the subject up, "I tell you, I can't wait to get out of here, this sitting around all day thing is driving me mad—"

But he stopped abruptly when he noticed that someone else had joined them in the hospital wing, someone who he hadn't seen for a few days. Someone they'd just been talking about. No one spoke, fully aware of the tension that had just been brought into the room with Sirius's entry.

"Well, it's a good thing you're leaving this afternoon," Lily said to James, putting her wand away. "And speaking of leaving, Anna and I will see you three later."

"We will?" Anna asked, bewildered. Lily grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the door. "Oh, oh, I mean—yes, we will see you later. We can't hang around here all day, you know, we've got important things to do, places to be…"

Her voice trailed away as they left the room, leaving James and his two friends in complete silence but for the sounds of people laughing and yelling on the grounds below coming through the open window. Sirius, James noticed, wore a look on his face that he didn't think he'd ever seen before—he was clearly ashamed of himself.

"You're getting out of here, then?" Sirius said grudgingly, after what seemed like a century of stony, uncomfortable silence. James nodded. He looked at Remus, whose face revealed none of his emotions, and Peter, who looked as if he would like very much to run out of the room.

James knew Sirius wanted to go back to how things used to be: the four of them, friends through thick and thin, having fun together. But James wasn't so sure he felt the same way. Sirius hadn't shown any remorse for what he'd done as of yet; he hadn't even come to visit James in the hospital wing or communicated with him in any way. James felt that, since Sirius was the one who had gotten them all into this mess in the first place, he ought to put a little more effort into patching things up. He had never seen Sirius apologize for anything in his entire life, and he was actually enjoying forcing him to do so—after all, he'd almost killed someone. How difficult could it be to admit that he had been wrong?

"Well…er…I'm glad you're okay," Sirius said slowly. "I guess I should go now."

As he turned to leave, James thought he should be mad. No apology? Not even a hint of one? But Sirius was his best friend…shouldn't he be able find it in his heart to forgive him? After all, Sirius probably hadn't been thrilled at the idea of coming up into a room where he probably thought everyone hated him, but he'd done it all the same. He'd taken responsibility for what he'd done in the end, and James knew better than anyone how difficult it could be sometimes to shelve your pride and admit you'd done something stupid.

"You can't leave yet," James said. Sirius turned around, looking like he was bracing himself for the worst. "I'm currently the undefeated champion at Exploding Snap—are you going to let my reign go unchallenged?"

Sirius stood, dumbfounded by this turn of events, before breaking out into a wide grin.

"Prepare to be dethroned, oh pathetic one."

Author's Note: Phew! So, there it is. Finally. There are a few things in here that I can't really figure out how to write the right way right now, but on the whole I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out. Of course, I'm not exactly pleased with how long it took, but hey, you can't have everything, right? My real question is…do I have ANY readers left? Or are you all offended by my not-exactly-timely updating skills? Should I even bother continuing? (Please say: YES! YES! YES, preferably in a lovely REVIEW.) I will put a little fine-print here, though—I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up. If you want another one, even if it might take a while, then REVIEW. If you couldn't care less, then…well…that's sad.

And oh yes, did I mention that you should review?