Chapter Two: Back at Hogwarts

The next morning during breakfast the Gryffindors received their class schedules from their Head of House, Professor Minerva McGonagall. This year they were starting NEWT level classes and Lily was very excited about it. That morning Lily had double Charms, which was by far her favorite subject. Right before lunch the Gryffindor six-years had Herbology with the Hufflepuffs. After lunch they had a couple of free hours that Lily was planning to spend in the library, and later they had Defense Against the Dark Arts. After dinner they had Astronomy with the Ravenclaws.

Lily was almost done with her lunch when James stood up and hurried out of the Great Hall.

"Where is James going in such a hurry?" she asked Remus, who was sitting next to her, but it was Sirius the one who replied.

"He has a class."

"A class?" Lily was confused. "I thought we were all free after lunch."

By the look Sirius and Remus shared, Lily understood they were keeping something from her. Peter, who was more interested in his plate, said before any of his friends could stop him.

"He has Muggle Stu…" But Sirius' elbow hitting his ribs made him realize he had said too much.

"We should go." Sirius dragged Peter out of the Great Hall.

Before following his friends, Remus whispered to Lily, "you know why he's doing this, don't you?" And he left without waiting for her response.

What was that supposed to mean? Lily asked herself. Is he doing it for me? He can't possibly… We're friends and all, but to take another class. Muggle Studies… Well, it's kind of sweet, and after all, he comes from a pureblood family and mustn't know anything about Muggles.

But he can't be doing it for me.

Even though she tried to make this last statement sound definitive in her head, she couldn't help but smile.

Later that evening Gryffindors and Ravenclaws met at the Astronomy Tower.

Lily stood right behind James and whispered, "so. Muggle Studies?"

He turned around surprised, without his usual confidence.

"Who…?" He turned back to his friends. Remus and Sirius gave Peter an accusatory look. "Peter!"

Peter mumbled something under his breath and Lily talked again.

"It's not such a big deal. Why the big secret?"

"Who said anything about a secret?" James said in a would-be-casual voice.

Lily's smile widened. "I just thought I should offer you my expertise in the subject in case you ever have questions about the bizarre Muggle habits you're studying."

James smiled too. "I'll keep that in mind."

At that moment Professor Venus Starlight called the students into the classroom.

"Good evening class," she said cheerfully when everyone was seated. "This semester we will be studying the moon." She flicked her wand and a silvery orb appeared floating in front of them. "It is a fascinating subject and I'm sure that most of you will truly enjoy it. From now until Christmas break we will meet during the full moon in order to study it. We'll start our 'Moon Classes' in two weeks during September's full moon."

Lily saw James, Sirius and Peter turn to Remus with concern in their faces. Remus, if possible, was paler than usual. He looked like he was going to be sick.

She couldn't stop thinking about their reaction during the entire class. When the students were exiting the classroom Lily noticed that Remus had stayed behind and was talking to Professor Starlight. James, Sirius and Peter were waiting for him in the hallway with the same worried faces they had in class.

"What's going on?" Lily asked them.

"What do you mean?" said James.

"Well, Remus doesn't look very good and you are all worried. Is there something wrong?" Lily saw the three boys gaze at each other awkwardly.

"Evans, you're imagining things." Sirius was the one who talked this time. "Nothing's wrong with Remus or any of us. He just needed to talk to Professor Starlight."

Remus walked out of the classroom putting and end to the conversation. Lily noticed he looked almost as bad as he did after his frequent visits home.

"Remus, are you all right?" she asked. "You don't look so good."

"I'm okay," he said plainly without looking at her.

"Are you sure?" Lily insisted. "You should go to the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey can…"

Remus cut her off. "I said I'm okay. Just leave me alone." And he left without another word.

Sirius and Peter hurried after him. James turned to Lily who was feeling confused and hurt. She had never heard Remus raise his voice. Something was definitely wrong with him. They had been friends since their first year. She had always considered him the nicest, kindest, most considerate person she knew.

Lily was not angry with him because of his outburst. She was actually concerned because she knew he was not like that.

"He didn't mean that," James said.

"You know what's wrong with him, don't you?" James looked away. "You do know. Tell me. I care about Remus too."

"Lily." James looked at her for a long moment and took her hands. "If you really care about him just forget about this. He only needs some time."

Lily was not satisfied with that answer. She was about to insist when Sirius came back. He looked at their hands with a raised eyebrow then glared at James.

"Are you coming?" he asked.

James let go of Lily's hands and walked away. Sirius stared at her for a moment then he followed James.

Lily was now sure that something very grave was happening. For the first time since she had known Remus, she realized that there were many strange details about his life. She had always thought that her friend was as transparent as a crystal glass, but now she knew that there were a lot more to him than what she was aware of. Remus had a secret.

When Lily entered the common room she saw Alice sitting alone by the fireplace. She walked over to her and sat on her favorite armchair.

"Where's Frank?" Lily asked.

"He went to his room. He needed peace and quiet to study." Alice rolled her eyes. "How can anybody start obsessing about NEWTs on the first day of classes?"

Lily shrugged, to please Alice more than anything. She was sure she would also start obsessing about NEWTs long before most of her classmates did.

"Have you seen Remus?" Lily asked.

"Yes. He stormed in a while ago and went straight to his room. Why do you ask?"

"It's nothing. I just thought he seemed a bit odd in class."

"I didn't notice. But tell me, what do you think about our next Astronomy classes?"

"I think they will be very interesting. I agree with Professor Starlight, the moon is fascinating."

"Well, I'm not all that crazy about it myself."

"No? I thought you were going to say that the moon was so romantic…" Lily smirked at her friend.

"What can be romantic about werewolves running around? I prefer any other night of the month."

Lily could hear her friend's voice but she was really not paying attention to the rest of Alice's rant, because she was thinking about a word she had said. Werewolves. That single world had clicked inside Lily's brain and had started an avalanche of ideas and conjectures. Some of them were so far fetched that Lily had to press her hands to her head shutting her eyes tightly to make them stop.

"Are you all right?" Alice's voice finally reached her.

"I have a headache," she lied. "I'm going to bed."

Lily entered her room and leaned over her trunk. It had to be in there, she never left any of her books home.

They studied werewolves in their third year. Back then Lily though the lesson was not good at all. Professor Idius Dragonheart, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, always made them study every lesson thoroughly. But in Lily's opinion, the lesson on werewolves lacked a lot of information. It barely covered the basics. But she had read about werewolves in the textbook.

Here it is! She thought.

Lily took the book out of her trunk and read the title on the cover. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander. She opened it and went straight to the page she was looking for.

"Werewolf," she read slowly. "The werewolf is found worldwide, though it is believed to have originated in northern Europe. Humans turn into werewolves only when bitten. There is no cure. Once a month, at the full moon, the otherwise sane and normal wizard or Muggle afflicted transforms into a murderous beast. Almost uniquely among fantastic creatures, the werewolf actively seeks humans in preference to any other prey."

Lily sat silently on her bed analyzing what she had just read. "I need more information." She hastily shoved the book under her pillow when she heard the door. It was Alice.

"I thought you were already sleeping," Alice said.

"I was looking for an aspiring in my trunk." Lily felt a pinch of guilt for lying to her friend, but she couldn't say anything about her suspicion. No until she was certain.

"A what?"

"An aspirin." Lily smiled. She always forgot how little her friend knew about Muggle life. "It's a Muggle pain killer. I thought I had a bottle in my trunk."

"Are you sure you should be taking Muggle medications?"

"Alice, I've taken aspirin for my headaches all my life."

"If it's really that bad you should go see Madam Pomfrey. I'll go with you."

"No. It's too late. We should get some sleep."