After Christmas, the break ended; and January and Lily's friend rolled right into Hogwarts. Marlene, Emmeline, Dorcas, Remus, Peter, Benjy, Caradoc, and Mafalda returned with their own particular brand of noise and Hogwarts seemed like the same it had always been. However, with the return of friends also came the return of enemies, and Lily noticed with renewed anxiety the returns of Travers, Snape, and the rest of the Slytherin lot. It was Rosier in particular: one day after Potions, Lily and James were walking down to Charms with their usual gaggle of friends when a shadow settled in front of one of the torches in the dungeon. Rosier stood in front of the orange fire, flanked by Travers and Snape. His lips opened slowly in a shark-like grin as he caught Lily's eye.

"Evans," he mouthed, and gestured with his head towards the Marauders. "Your boyfriend."

Rosier continued smiling, and Lily felt that the temperature had dropped several notches. While in passing, Sirius casually leaned out, laced his ankle behind Snape's and pulled, sending him knocking in Rosier. Rosier simply caught the seething boy by the shoulders and steadied, with that twitch of mysterious triumph still upon his lips. Sirius sneered and James laughed and the group passed on without further incident. No one else besides Lily seemed to have observed anything amiss, and she felt Rosier's eyes on her even after she passed beyond the dungeons.

It was nearing the beginning of February when something very, very odd had occurred to Lily. After a very recent nightly sojourn, the Marauders were in their Care of Magical Creatures class as per usual. Lily and Marlene were tightly bundled up and standing very close to James and Remus, respectively. Today the class was situated very close to the fringe of the Forbidden Forest as Professor Grubbly-Plank had them carefully studying the calf-deep snow to identify animal tracks. The frigid temperature pushed Lily's breath out in a cloud of frost as she and Marlene took clumsy notes in their mittens. James, Sirius, and Peter was all joking about something, and even Remus was not inclined to do work, when suddenly Rosier called out, "Professor! I think I've found something strange!"

"Yes," smirked Snape as Lily turned to look at him. "It is most unusual." Their short teacher bustled over and a frown creased her features.

"Hmm," said Professor Grubbly-Plank, peering down at the frost. From the corner of her eye, Lily saw James nudge Sirius and move a little closer to the crowd of students who gathered around an incredibly smug Rosier.

There was a set of tracks leading in a wide arc from out of the line of trees and back into it. On either side it was crisscrossed by two other prints, with scuffle marks at the peak of the arc. There were large paw prints, extremely large, maybe even the size of Lily's palm. Marlene shuddered at her elbow and Lily had a pretty good idea about what her friend was thinking: a dog (or wolf) big enough to make those prints must have weighed as much as Lily herself or more. There were also cloven hoof prints, some twelve centimeters in length. But without a doubt, and without a second glance, Lily knew precisely which prints had caught Rosier's knowing eye.

They were almost like deformed human footprints, elongated but with recognizable toes and a pad and a heel. Then there were… the other parts. Large drag marks of what must have been thick claws also appeared in the fresh whiteness, along with the feathered edge of perhaps shaggy fur. The three sets stampeded one another until they split up once more at the very edge of the forest. Lily gulped, but Professor Grubbly-Plank was speaking.

"Well, Rosier, you certainly have a sharp eye. Who thinks they can identify the tracks?" A slender hand rose into the air, and it belonged to Severus Snape. Lily glanced at James and found his face to be white and wide-eyed.

"Professor," he said in soft, liquid tones, "I think that the prints belong to some sort of hound, and some sort of deer, and then…I cannot even begin to guess." His tone demonstrated nothing of the kind, however, and his eyes moved ever so slightly towards the Marauders.

"Very good Snape, and… I think that the other set is too—too mixed-up to decipher. The lesson bell is about to ring," she finished briskly. "Pack up your notes and I'll need an essay on your findings for Wednesday—"

Lily bent over for one last look at the snow. She was not sure where she had seen pictures of those tracks before, whether in a school book or a library book, but they brought a funny sensation to the back of her mind.

That sensation stayed with her all through dinner, when James' laughter seemed forced and Remus seemed paler than usual. Sirius was rowdier than usual, and Peter was somber and barely spoke a word.

Patrols that night were pleasant. James had relaxed and had not mentioned the perturbing lesson to Lily, who tactfully didn't mention it. She was not even sure what had happened, come to think of it. As she was getting changed for bed, Lily mulled over the disturbing details of the Care of Magical Creatures class. Why was Rosier so smug? What does Snape know? Does it have to do with James? And what were those tracks? Exasperated, Lily flopped into bed.

The sound of Lily's body hitting the mattress roused Marlene, who had been reading behind her curtain.

"How was tonight?" she asked brightly, putting her book aside.

"Fine," replied Lily, rolling over to look at her curly-haired friend. "No problems." There was a moment's pause. "Say, Marlene…in Care of Magical Creatures today—"

"You noticed it too?"

"James and his mates?"

"Yep. And Remus was specially quiet too."

"Mar…" said Lily slowly, trying to express what had been in her head for most of the day, "I remember those prints from somewhere. I can't put my finger on it though… maybe a lesson a while back. And I don't think they're good. Do you know what they were?"

"Not the ones Professor Grubbly-Plank wouldn't identify I don't."

"You noticed that she wouldn't say anything too?" asked Lily almost excitedly. Marlene nodded.

"That's awfully dodgy because you could tell that she knew what they were."

"Exactly! I wish I did though…" There was another lapse. Then Marlene yawned.

"The main thing for me I guess is that Remus and James and Sirius and Peter don't go near the Forbidden Forest when they go out every few weeks. Course who has any idea what they're up to anyway—"

"Wait, what was that?" Lily felt a cold feeling behind her heart, as if some metal machinery were clicking into place.

"When they go out every few weeks," she repeated. "I've noticed it more and more now that Remus and I are dating. And they do it every so often I guess—"

"Yeah," said Lily breathlessly, her heart pounding. "They do." Marlene propped herself up on one arm.

"Lily, what is it?" she asked curiously. Lily shook her head. No, it can't be that. It can't—

"Whatever it is I expect a full report in the morning," said Marlene sleepily. She reached over and put out her light. "Night, Lily."

"Goodnight…" Lily lay awake for a long time afterwards, staring at her canopy. She had suddenly remembered what those tracks belonged to.

Ladies and Germs, the moment you've all been waiting for—it's wolf time! Okay, okay, so I've been lax lately but I'm trying to make up for it with two updates nearly in a row. Sorry for any typos, and if anyone spots any inconsistencies with characters of the plot, please feel free to comment or message me. And the responses below are only to questions or notable, response-demanding comments. I love you all. Thanks. And Happy Thanksgiving for all the US peeps out there ;)

James sort of misheard her at first and was like "gack! love? omg what do I do?" and then he calms down when he realizes that she wasn't talking exactly about him, and then he thinks about what would it feel like if she was, and now the seed in planted in his brain and he'll be thinking about "love" for a bit.

(GoddessoftheMaaN)

A BIG HEARTY WOOT AND THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO READ AND REVIEWED AND SAID NICE THINGS OR ANYTHINGS!