I wouldn't have gone. I really wouldn't have. James' voice was just so sad; so anguished; I couldn't help it. I'm not heartless, not even towards him.
As I followed him, I realized where we were headed.
"Are you trying to get us killed!" I shrieked.
He turned around, his face still held the same pleading look as before. I immediately softened, but not too much.
"Please, Lils, just follow me."
"Don't ever call me Lils," I muttered threateningly. We continued on. Closer to the Whomping Willow. I couldn't help it; instinctively I drew closer to James. He grasped my arm, giving it a reassuring squeeze. I think I surprised both of us when I didn't pull away.
Picking up a long stick, James prodded a knothole in the tree. The tree automatically froze and a passageway appeared between two thick roots. I uttered a small, half-stifled scream. James did the last thing I wanted him to do. He led me under the tree, warning me to duck.
Lily looked so scared. It made me feel awful, but it had to be done.
"Lily," I said softly, "You're going to see something horrible. It scared me, and I knew what I was seeing. Just promise me to make as little noise as possible. Promise?" she nodded, her eyes glistening with tears of horror, her hand covering her mouth, which was arranged in a silent gasp.
I led her further down the tunnel, stooping low, ceiling still touching my back. I found myself hoping that she wasn't claustrophobic. I shook the thought out of my head. Straightening to a complete standing position, we stepped into the room and observed the scene.
I had to admit she took it well. A small gasp was the only sign of her fear as she walked slowly around the room.
"Are you insane?" She whispered loudly, "You brought me down here to see a werewolf!" she looked at Sirius, "What happened to the dog?"
I took a deep breath. "You know the dog" I said flatly, "The dog is Sirius" As if to prove my point, Sirius took a huge, shuddering breath and changed back; dog slowly changing to man. That didn't mean anything good. It meant Sirius' strength was at an all-time low.
"Lily, we need to get Sirius to the Hospital wing."
"First tell me how this happened!" She nudged Remus hesitantly with her toe. "Who's the werewolf?"
"Ah. But you know him too."
"So who is he?" I sighed. I really shouldn't be telling her, but I had to, I needed her help, "Remus, it's Remus. Every full moon, me, Sirius, and Peter meet here, change into our animals and meet Remus here. We wander around the castle grounds, the castle, and Hogsmeade."
"I don't believe you. Remus can't be a werewolf. He's kind. Werewolves are horrible," she said. Fine. I didn't need her to believe me, yet.
"How about we stop arguing, bring Sirius up to the hospital wing, tell Madam Pomfrey that we found him like this by the Whomping Willow and then I'll prove to you that Remus is the werewolf." She looked at me suspiciously, but then nodded.
"You're right, we need to get Sirius out of here."
We headed back up to the castle. I couldn't believe James would make the excuse that the werewolf was Remus. Yeah right! I can't believe James lied just so Sirius could get away with fighting and sneaking around school grounds.
I had to admit, though, Sirius looked awful. There was blood everywhere. His body was filled with cuts, gashes, scrapes bruises, everything. Looking up at James, I realized he looked pretty bad too. He was limping, had deep scratches on his arms, legs, back, and chest, and a small but deep gash on the back of his neck.
Years of Quidditch (and vanity) seemed to have taught both him and Sirius to protect their faces, though, because neither of them had more than a scratch on their face. Even the few small scratches on their faces were no where near the eyes and none were deep enough to mar their facial features.
"James?" He jumped at the sound of his first name, I always called him 'Potter', "Are you… erm… okay?" I asked quietly, trying to keep my voice flat. However, it shook, and poured sympathy. Damn.
"I'm fine, Lil', are you?" I nodded. I was fine, and so was he. We were going to be okay. Why did I think "we" like that? And why did that "we" not include Sirius. I told myself it was because Sirius might not make it, but even then I knew it was something different. I would never think of James the same way again.
We finally reached the Hospital Wing. Dropping Sirius in an empty bed, we hurried to Madam Pomfrey.
"Madam Pomfrey!" James called out, "It's Sirius! He's hurt!" Madam Pomfrey entered the room, looking irritated. "We found him by the Whomping Willow!"
"Leave him here, and go back to your dormitories. And don't let me see you near that tree again!" she shouted after us. I would have been happy to obey her, but something about James made me follow him instead. Right back to where we started.