The common room was quiet, even for the Head's commons. Lily and James were just sitting on the couch opposite each other, both staring into the crackling fire. Lily kept replaying the night's events over in her mind as she clutched the velvet pillow to her chest. A total of ten minutes had terrified her beyond a belief and now she could never look at the Marauders the same way again…especially James. Now she knew why Remus would get sick so often and the meaning for all the nicknames the Marauders had for each other.
The red-head didn't know whether to be impressed or livid about what she had learned about her newest friend- A friend she began to trust above all others and divulge some of her deepest secrets and dreams to. A friend she had finally grown comfortable with. A friend she had secretly begun to fancy.
James couldn't come to grips with what had happened down by the lake. It had happened so suddenly and he almost lost control of the whole thing. And to make things worse, Lily and Cynthia had almost lost their lives. This was why Sirius, Peter and himself had become illegal animagi-so that Remus would become more tame when he transformed. Their brilliant plan had backfired on them however.
Lily Evans and her best friend Cynthia Cummings had snuck out of the castle that night to have a swim in the lake underneath the full moon.
"I hope it's not too cold," The Head Girl whispered excitedly as she removed her clothes down to her green bra and underwear.
"Oh don't be such a baby, Lils," Cynthia teased as she climbed up the tree in her black underclothes. "It's about time you did something daring and rebellious for once in your life." The caramel blonde beauty pulled herself up onto a thick sturdy branch that gave her the perfect diving height, and began to walk on it as if she were a gymnast on a balance beam. She turned her back to the lake as she reached the right spot and back-dived into the lake, producing a small splash.
As she resurfaced, Lily was already climbing up the tree herself. Once the redhead reached the diving point, she released her ponytail that held up her long, wavy copper colored tresses to the middle of her back. "I blame Potter for this," she whispered loudly down to her friend in the water.
"How so?" Cynthia whispered back up.
"He's been a bad influence on me," Lily smiled as she looked down at the inky black water. "Before I became friends with him, I would have never even considered doing something like this." She dived off unceremoniously into the lake, the chilly water nipping at her skin. "It's freezing!" She exclaimed through chattering teeth, keeping her voice at a whisper all the same.
"You like him," Cynthia replied simply to Lily's previous comment as she began swimming backwards.
"What?" Lily furrowed her eyebrows as she swam towards her friend. "I never said I liked him, Cynthia. I just said he's been a bad influence on me."
"He's been a bad influence on you because you've been spending so much damn time with him. You wouldn't waste your time with James Potter if you didn't like him," Cynthia smirked as she brushed away a strand of wet hair out of her eyes. "So do you like him or am I just going mental when I see you flip your hair whenever you talk to him?"
Lily's mouth dropped open, but that didn't hide her smile. It was true, she had begun to fancy the one guy that she had despised most of her school career. Ever since they had become Heads of the school, the time they spent together let Lily see James for who he really was- a kind, smart and funny guy who just so happened to be very attractive. They had developed a wonderful friendship and whenever they would be on one of their uneventful patrols, they would be talking nonstop to each other, sharing secrets and stories. "I don't flip my hair when I talk to him!" She defended herself, still smiling like a fool.
"Uh huh…" Cynthia looked at her disbelievingly.
"Oh my god, I do, don't I?" Lily bit her lip as she realized she had been flirting with James a lot lately. "Ok, you caught me. I fancy James Potter, so what? There's nothing wrong with that is there?"
"No, but I wonder why you never told me. Oh wait could it be because we hardly see each other anymore since you spend all your free time with him?" Cynthia said this last part with sarcasm dripping in her voice. Both friends laughed out loud and started splashing each other, not minding to keep their cheerful voices down.
Moments later, shouts emitted from the Forbidden Forest, causing the two girls to panic. If they got caught, Lily would be in deep trouble considering she was Head Girl. "Cynthia, we got to go!" she stated the obvious as Cynthia was already at the shore and pulling herself out. Lily swam frantically to the edge herself as she heard a dog's incessant barking that seemed to be coming closer to them. As she finally got out of the lake, snaps of twigs and branches reached their ears, and the two girls dashed for their clothes.
Even more shouts came, and as the girls ran for the castle, Lily's curiosity got the best of her as she turned around to see what was causing all the commotion. Her emerald green eyes widened as a werewolf, towering at about 6'11" came rushing towards her and Cynthia. Lily let out a blood curdling scream as the monster raised a large claw to slash at her. At the same moment that a black dog jumped in front of the werewolf, bearing his teeth and growling, putting himself between the werewolf and Lily. Cynthia turned around and let out her own scream as Lily cowered next to her.
"Lily! Cynthia!" They both turned to see James Potter running at them, anger and worry in his hazel eyes. "Get the hell out of here!" Before the girls could say anything to him, right before their eyes Potter turned into a strong and mighty stag and charged at the advancing beast that had gotten past the shaggy black dog. Cynthia and Lily didn't need to be told twice and sprinted their way to the safety of the castle. Once inside, they quickly found a dark corner and threw on their clothes before racing back up to the Gryffindor Common Room, luckily not being caught by Filch.
"Oh my god…" Cynthia spoke finally after about five minutes that they had been sitting on the red couch.
"Yeah," was all that Lily could reply with as she stared disbelievingly at the rug. Her throat was dry, partially because she was still shaken from what had happened and because she had screamed so loud. She was amazed no one had come out to investigate. However, they had left in such a quick rush that they didn't have the time to find out if anyone did or not.
"Oh my god…" Cynthia said again. "James is an animagus? But how?" They still didn't know that Sirius was the dog and that Remus was the frightening werewolf that tried to kill them. For all they knew, the dog was a stray and the werewolf…well they couldn't explain that exactly.
"I have no idea…" Lily blinked as her green eyes started to absently follow the woven pattern of the rug. "I think…I think I'm gonna go back up to the Head's Common Room. I'll…see you in the morning."
"Ok," Cynthia nodded, still in shock herself.
Without another word, Lily left and made her way to the Head's Tower without getting caught, thanks to the useful tricks she had learned from James while on patrols. Once inside, she cleaned up and changed into her pajamas. After that, she went back down to the common room where she was going to wait for James to get back, but she didn't need to wait as he walked in right as she sat down on the couch.
They just stared at each other from across the room, never tearing their gaze from the others face. James didn't know what to say or do. The girl he loved more than life itself had almost lost her own life, all because of his stupidity. He thought that Remus would want to be out of that rickety old shack for once and suggested that they stay in the forest where they could control him. But in the middle of their fun, Moony had caught scent of something that struck his interest. Human flesh. He tore away from his friends before they could stop him and the rest was history.
It was about a full minute before James finally broke the silence. "Are you okay?" His voice cracked, scared that Lily would be furious with him.
Lily nodded as the tears finally let themselves fall freely down her pale face. James rushed over to her and pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry…This wasn't the way I wanted you to find out. I was going to tell you eventually but I didn't know how to bring it up." Lily's shoulders heaved as she sobbed into his shirt which smelled strongly of dirt and just a smidge of his cologne that she had grown to love. She felt one of James's hands hold her head into his body and gently stroke her hair.
After crying all her fears and frustration out, Lily looked up at James, taking a small step away. "I don't understand…What were you doing out there with that dog and that…thing? And how did you…" She was cut off by James holding his index finger to her lips which tingled at his touch.
"If you'll let me explain," He started in a low calming voice. "You will understand. Let's sit down…this will be quite a bit to take in." The red head nodded, and James led her over to the couch and then sat at the opposite end of her, not wanting to give into temptation and take advantage of her in such a vulnerable state. "It all started in second year…" He started slowly. For the next hour and a half he told the entire story of Remus getting bit by a werewolf as a child to Dumbledore being the only Headmaster that would accept him to Hogwarts to the Marauders finding out the real reason he disappeared every month and learning to become animagi behind the Ministry's back to make Moony's transformations more bearable.
Lily said nothing while James spoke, letting him tell the story in its entirety, and trying to let it all sink in. At last, she had a chance to speak, but didn't take it. She just sat there staring into the fire. After staring at Lily for a while James followed suit. The silence was killing him, but he didn't want to put anymore strain on Lily at the moment.
"James…" Lily spoke softly after ten minutes of quiet. "I don't know what to say. I admire that you would do that for one of your friends, but…" James cut her off, knowing what she was going to say.
"I know. It's illegal and I could get caught and thrown into Azkaban," James paused and brushed a strand of crimson hair out of Lily's eyes. "But Remus is one of my best friends, and I'm willing to risk that for him."
The shaken up redhead nodded understandingly and breathed in shakily. "I understand."
James looked at Lily who had turned her head away from him, and had silent tears streaming down her soft cheeks. "Lily…what's the matter?"
"James I could have died tonight," Lily replied, her voice sounding heartbroken. James's insides lurched, but he remained silent waiting for the girl in front of him to continue. "Because of my own stupidity, I could have died. But that's not what scared me the most…" Her tears became heavier, choking up her speech. James pulled her into his arms, comforting her again.
"What is it Lily," James asked sincerely as he began stroking her hair again. "You can tell me."
Lily looked up at James, her green eyes glistening brightly with tears. "I was scared of not being with you." She couldn't believe she had admitted that, practically telling him she liked him. If he didn't catch that, she would certainly be shocked.
James's throat ran dry. That was the very thing he had been longing to hear for so long. Well, not necessarily that Lily was afraid of dying because she couldn't be with him…but it told him that Lily saw him more than a friend. "Lily…" he spoke softly to her, causing her to look up at him again. "That will never happen." He placed his hands on her face and brushed his lips against hers. He felt Lily tremble in his hands, but she didn't pull away. In fact, she did quite the opposite- she pulled herself closer to him and wrapped her arms around his back. She felt all her worries melt away when his lips met hers, and thought that her heart would fly out of her chest. She pulled away, her lips tingling from his kiss.
"Wow…" Lily breathed, a smile tugging at her mouth. The red head kept her eyes locked with James's, feeling as if nothing could go wrong anymore. He was grinning from ear to ear. He leaned in and kissed her again, reassuring Lily that she would never not be with him, the boy she loved.