:Chapter Nine:
Later in the day Lily and Jade were eating lunch. Lily had looked around for James but was unable to find him.
"It's alright. He probably hasn't come to lunch yet. Lets take some stuff to the courtyard." Jade suggested. Sighing, Lily agreed. As the two were talking and eating, a deer came up to them.
"Oh!" Lily exclaimed as it came right over to her. It started to walk away a little, but then it looked back at her. The deer seemed to want her to come along.
"I think that deer's trying to give James some competition." Jade laughed as the deer nipped her hand when both the girls tried to follow it. Lily laughed and told Jade to wait while she followed the deer. All of a sudden, the deer broke out into a run. Lily chased after it. They were going up and down a lot of hills. When she got up one, she looked around for the deer, but couldn't find it. What, or really- who, she did find was James, sitting against a tree, eating an apple.
"Did you see a deer?" Lily asked him. James looked over to her, smiling, one eyebrow raised.
"A deer." James asked her, "I didn't know there were any muggle animals around her." He said, still smiling. Lily sighed.
"I swear there was a deer." She said.
"Was it brown?" he asked, "with antlers?"
"Yes." Lily said.
"Haven't see it." James laughed a little. Lily made a face, and sighed. She looked over the grounds for a moment, when she looked back to James, he was gone, but the deer was there.
"Hey! Where'd-"
"James go?" the deer cut her off as he turned into James. Lily screamed. James put his hand over her mouth.
"Shhh." He whispered in her ear. When James moved his hand from Lily's mouth she stood, her jaw still open in amazement.
"You're a… you're a…" she couldn't finish her sentence.
"Animagus?" James finished for her. Lily nodded. James grinned.
"I know." He said, laughing.
"Are… are all of you? You, Sirius, Remus, Peter…?" she asked. James shrugged.
"I bet you'd like to know." He said, still smiling.
"James! It's illegal!" Lily finally spluttered.
"You're not going to tell on me, are you?" he pouted a little.
"Does the headmaster know?" she asked.
"Nope. But I'm pretty sure Professor Dumbledore does. He seems to know, but has never said anything about it directly. I'll bet he does though, he knows everything that goes on around here." James sighed, shrugging. Lily shook her head.
"I can't believe you." She muttered.
"You want me to teach you?" James asked.
"Teach me what?" she asked wide-eyed.
"How to become an animagus!" James laughed as if it were obvious. Lily was torn. It seemed like it would be so much fun to be an animagus. And she really couldn't say no to James. But it was illegal! Then again, Dumbledore knew, so it wasn't as if no one knew. Lily bit her lip.
"Alright." She said softly. James smiled.
"Brilliant." He said. James taught Lily how to turn herself into an animagus.
Over the next month, James continued to teach Lily to become an animagus until she could finally turn herself into a small white fox on her own.
"You're the three S's," James told Lily, "Sly, sleek, and sexy." Lily would always blush and laugh. She and James would go on excursions as animagus and when they got somewhere safe, they would turn back into their human selves. They found many places to hide that way. All they needed was to write it down. By November, James had. It was almost Thanksgiving when James handed a note to Sirius.
"Give this to Lily. Don't read it or I'll make sure you're dead." James said. Sirius listened and passed it to Lily during Potions.
Dear Lily,
At the next Hogsmeade trip, on Thanksgiving, meet me inside the Shrieking Shack. Go alone. You'll be meeting me and Sirius, Remus, and Peter. –James
Lily read what was scrawled on the paper. She smiled and tucked it inside her robe. She wondered what he had planned.