"Oh God…no…please…oh…"

Lily's eyes widened. She hadn't been at all prepared for this. She could feel James next to her, his muscles suddenly tense, as if ready to spring. She placed a hand gently on his shoulder and felt him relax beneath her fingertips.

Petra's face was contorted in an unreadable expression, perhaps in pain from the way her head was being scraped against the rough bark of the tree behind her, or more likely…well, Lily didn't want to think about it too hard. This was her teacher after all.

"Holy crap on a frikkin stick!"

"Ssh!"

"Why should I bloody 'ssh'? I mean…ugh!"

"Well, you should be proud of yourself."

"Proud of myself? What the bloody hell are you talking about? Ugh, ugh, UGH!"

"Well, you were right."

"No I bloody- hang on, I was! I was right!" Lily rolled her eyes. "I was right, I was right, HA! I. Was. Right! Take that, Lily Little-Miss-Perfect Evans!"

"Yes, well done. However, you being right in this case is probably better than me being right. In fact, I'm quite relieved."

"You're only saying that cos you're WRONG!"

"Yes, I'm wrong. I repeat: well done. Now can you please shut up about it and tell me why we're standing here watching…this?"

"Er…I dunno actually. Why are we standing here watching this?"

Lily shrugged. "Sex education?" she suggested.

"If you say so." James was looking at her sideways, and Lily remembered that sex education didn't exist in the magical world.

"Never mind" Lily said, grinning at James' bemused expression. "Muggle thing."

James nodded slowly, still looking at her like she was slightly deranged. Lily turned back to look at Petra and her…partner. This was bloody surreal – watching your Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor having a shag up against a tree. Lily supposed they should have left them too it as soon as they had seen (or heard, she reminded herself) what was going on, but she still had a niggling feeling that something was wrong. If anything could be more wrong than watching hardcore porn starring your teacher, anyway.

"Who is it, d'ya reckon?" Lily asked, glancing at James, who was staring, transfixed, at Petra. She tried not to laugh at the way his mouth was hanging open and nudged him. "James…"

"Eh…wha?" James shut his mouth and turned to look at her.

"Oh, get a grip. For God's sake!"

"Hello! She's fucking him up against a tree!"

"Er…so? Teachers are entitled to sex lives too, you know!" James merely looked dumbfounded, so Lily continued. "Anyway, it's not even as if you can see anything!"

"Well actually, if you tilt your head to the right a bit, you can sort of see her –"

"Too. Much. Information. I don't want to know how much you can see."

"Well, if you will ask…"

"Grr…"

"Okay okay, calm down!"

"You've got a bloody nerve!" Lily stopped as soon as she saw James' grin – he was only trying to wind her up. "Look, I was just saying: who do you think that is?"

"Dunno, lucky bugger."

"James!"

"Well, she's fit!"

"And your bloody teacher!"

"So?"

"I'm getting a strange sense of déjà vu here…"

"Yeah, you just seem to keep repeating the same arguments over and over again…"

"James Potter, you know full well – oh never mind. It's a lost cause isn't it?" It was more of a statement than a question, but James answered anyway.

"Yup."

"C'mon, since we're here we may as well work out who it is."

"Why bother?"

"Well, it's a bit odd that they've come all this way just to have a shag isn't it?"

"What, you expect them to do it in the middle of the Great Hall?"

"No –" Lily sighed at his stupidity. Boys could be so dense! "But she could do it in her bloody office couldn't she?"

"I s'pose so."

"So why is she in here?"

"Might like it in the open air…"

"James!"

"Well she might! Slytherins are buggers for having creepy fetishes y'know…"

"How would you know? You know as little – thank Merlin – about Slytherin sex lives as I do."

"So that's what you want everyone to think, is it?"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I was wondering why you were keeping so quiet about those cosy little nights in with Snape."

"James Potter!"

"Oh, I know you love to scream my name, but really – twice in one night? I'm better than I thought…"

"James…" Lily had to try very hard to keep her voice quiet.

"But really, Snivellus will be disappointed –"

"JAMES POTTER!" Lily lost her cool. "NEVER CALL SEVERUS THAT AGAIN WITHIN MY HEARING UNLESS YOU WANT ME TO REMOVE BOTH YOUR EARS, STICK THEM UP YOUR ARSE AND MAKE YOU FART THEM OUT!"

James went pale. Lily, surprised that her outburst had that much of an effect, raised an eyebrow. Then she realised that James was not looking at her, but over her shoulder. She turned and saw Petra van Spyk gazing right at her, her lip curled in a manner Lily could only describe as terrifying. The man between them hadn't moved, and Lily guessed that he was too preoccupied to hear her, but Petra most certainly had. Then something she saw made her blood freeze in her veins and her heart feel like it had stopped beating.

Lily's first reaction was to turn and run. A few seconds later, she heard James stumbling behind her, breathing heavily and cracking numerous twigs beneath his feet. Lily ran into branches, tripped and fell into brambles, thistles and all manner of painful things, but she didn't stop running. James, alarmed, tried to catch up with her, but he was bigger than her and had a harder time navigating between the trees.

Finally, Lily saw light between the trees, Clutching a stitch in her side, she scrambled through the last of the trees until she was on cool, damp grass. She fell forwards, feeling the dewy blades against the skin on her face and neck. She was panting, not used to running so far and fast, not used to the fear she had felt, the adrenaline coursing through her. James fell to his knees beside Lily, and she could hear his fast, shallow breaths like her own. Even his rigorous Quidditch training, clearly, had not prepared him for following Lily's terrified sprint through the forest.

They lay there, not speaking, for what felt like hours, their breathing slowly returning to normal and Lily's fear ebbing away slowly as she watched the water in the lake steadily lapping at the rocks around its edge. The moonlight shimmered off the surface through a gap in the thick, dense clouds.

"Lily, what- why?"

She didn't need to ask what he was talking about. She gave a shudder and spoke, her voice trembling. "Didn't you see?"

"See what?" James looked genuinely perplexed, and Lily sighed again.

"His arm…"

"His arm?"

Lily could picture it in her head, frozen as if an artist had painted it there, on the back of her eyelids. She was staring straight at Lily, and his arm was behind her head, holding her up. And on his arm, there on that eerily moonlit skin, there it was. It was alive, it was evil. Lily fought back a sob.

"The Dark Mark."

"The – the what? Lily, what do you mean?"

"He had it on his arm. The Dark Mark." She was surer of herself now, and she needed James to understand, to believe her. "James, he's a Death Eater."

James nodded, accepting without question. He knew Lily wouldn't lie, and there was nothing else which could make her run like that. He had never known anything else to inspire such terror. "If he's a Death Eater, that must mean –"

"She's one too. I know." James smiled. Lily, affronted, said "What's so funny?"

"You were right after all. You thought she was a Death Eater, and I thought she'd be shagging someone in secret. Turns out we were both right."

Lily gazed up at the bright round moon and smiled. "Yeah, I guess we were."

The two lay in silence for a minute, until James spoke. "What do we do now?"

"Well…I guess we tell someone."

James paused. "But who can we tell?"

"Dumbledore? He needs to know."

James shook his head. "He'll never believe us."

"Why not?"

"Why should he? It's our word against a teacher's, plus we aren't supposed to be out in the dark, let alone in the Forbidden Forest!"

"I guess…"

"We can't have her knowing we're trying to snitch on her either."

"She already saw…we're in enough trouble as it is!"

"If we keep quiet though, maybe she'll let it go…maybe she'll think she was imagining things."

Lily had her doubts, but she couldn't suggest anything better. "Alright, just let it go. But we'd better keep an eye on her. After all, she's a Death Eater. She could be up to anything!"

James' head jerked up and Lily's heart began to race again. Someone was approaching, right behind them.

"'Ello, you two. What the ruddy 'ell are you doin' out 'ere?"

"Oh, Hagrid!" Lily could have kissed him. "It's only you."

"Damn righ' it's me. Potter, wha' you doin out 'ere?"

"Er, we were just…"

"…Stargazing."

"Yeah. Stargazing."

They could tell Hagrid wasn't remotely convinced. "Well ge' inside! It's full moon ye know!" He looked meaningfully at James, who turned white.

"Full – oh SHIT!" He jumped to his feet and sprinted away, swearing loudly until they couldn't hear him any longer.

"Wha' the ruddy 'ell was tha' abou'?" Hagrid asked after a minute, looking bemusedly at Lily.

She shrugged. "Who knows? He's a weird one."

"Ye can say tha' again."

Lily smiled. "What's wrong with full moon anyway?"

"Er…I…er…nothin'. I jus' mean'…" Hagrid stuttered. Lily sighed.

"Is it Remus?"

"Remus? Lupin? Why would I' be anythin' to do with 'im?" Hagrid was bright red, Lily could see that even by the moonlight.

"I'm right aren't I? Is Remus a werewolf?"

"Nothin' slips pas' ye, does it?" Hagrid said disgruntledly.

"Don't worry, I already knew. I mean. He never told me, but it's pretty hard not to know after being best friends with him for four years."

"Hm." Hagrid still wasn't happy.

"Look, Hagrid, I'm not going to say anything to anyone. I don't mind, I just wish he would have told me…"

"Don't ye worry yoursel' about tha' – 'e 'asn't tole anyone but Dumbledore, Madam Pomfrey and meself. Even those scamps 'e calls friends only found out by followin' 'im one nigh' –" Hagrid broke off. Clearly he had said too much.

"Following him where?"

"Nowhere, I jus'…It was a figure o' speech."

"If you say so." Lily would get it out of him another time, she really couldn't be bothered now. Not that it would make a difference anyway – full moons were private for Remus and she would never confront him about it or invade it.

"Look, ye'd better ge' back ter the castle, it's not safe, even fe me and me crossbow." He tapped the weapon slung across his shoulder. "C'mon, I'll walk ye back."

"Thanks Hagrid."

Wondering vaguely where James had gone, Lily walked with Hagrid back to the castle. She would find out one day, but not tonight. He was too long gone.

>

James raced towards the Whomping Willow, panicking. He suddenly stopped, dropped his bag and started rifling through it, looking desperately for something. Finally, he pulled out a mirror and gave it a rub with his sleeve.

"Sirius!"

Sirius' face appeared in the mirror, grinning. His voice was echoey, as if it was coming from the middle of a cave somewhere.

"James, mate! You alright?"

"Yeah, but Sirius –"

"Where'd Lils drag you off to anyway?" Sirius frowned suddenly. "She didn't –"

"Sirius, where are you?"

"I'm in the common room, but –"

"Why aren't you at the bloody willow? The moon's out already!"

"Fuck. I forgot! Sorry mate. Can you hold him on your own? Peter and I will be down in a minute…"

"I'm not there either, that's the problem! I can be there in five, but –"

"Shit, shit, shit…"

"What? It's not that much of an issue is it? I was running cos I thought you lot would be out already, but if we're not there, he'll just stay put won't he?"

"Um, Prongs…" Sirius was biting his lip now, a sure sign that he was fighting an internal battle.

"What?" James suddenly went numb. He hadn't – not tonight. Not even Sirius would be that stupid…

"Well, you know how I was joking about telling Snivellus about Moony –"

"Sirius, you dick! You didn't! Please, please tell me you didn't tell him. Not tonight."

"Well, um…yeah."

"Oh FUCKING HELL, Padfoot! What the FUCK are we gonna do? Oh fuck you, I've gotta go get him."

James dropped the mirror on the ground, Sirius' face still staring out of it looking worried as hell. As he began to run for the fourth time that night, James heard Sirius' voice, this time sounding almost as panicked as his own, growing fainter as James left it and his bag far behind. "Prongs, you can't! James, he'll kill you. JAMES!"

But James didn't listen, he just ran flat out to the Whomping Willow. As he approached, still far too far away to do a thing, he saw a long-haired silhouette disappear into the shadow of the tree. Fuck, fuck, FUCK! he cursed, wondering if he could get there in time. Even if he could get to the willow, Remus could have ripped Snivellus – no, Snape he reminded himself - limb for limb. He upped the pace and grabbed the stick they always used from the ground near the tree. He jabbed at the trunk viciously, and the branches froze. James dived through the hole in the tree roots, scraping both his shoulders and knocking the wind out of himself. He squeezed his eyes shut and prepared himself for what he might see when he opened them again.

He opened his eyes and couldn't see a thing. As his eyes adjusted to the gloom of the passage, he listened. All was eerily quiet, except for quiet yet eager footsteps travelling in the opposite direction from where James stood.

"Snape" he hissed. The footsteps didn't falter. "Snape!" James whispered. He didn't dare speak too loud, for he knew that Remus' transformed ears were very sensitive. At least Snape was being quiet. "SNAPE!" James could see the greasy little bugger now, almost at the trapdoor. He stopped as James ran forwards, and turned around, a horrible sneer on his face.

"Potter" His lip curled.

"Snape" James nodded, clenching his fists. "You've got to get out of here."

"Why? Afraid I'll discover Lupin's little secret?"

"No," Snape snorted. "Well, yes, but you don't understand – you could get hurt."

"You expect me to believe that? You Gryffindors really are stupid. Why would you care even if I could get hurt? You hate me and I hate you."

"I may hate you, you prick, but that doesn't mean I want you killed!"

"Fuck off, Potter. I'm not gonna get killed. I forced Black into telling me how to find your scraggy little pal and I'm not letting it lie now."

"Get out, Snivelus." James was losing his patience. He was trying hard to be civil to Snape and to stop him getting killed, but the stupid bugger just wouldn't listen.

"Ooh, don't like me insulting your little bumchums? Looks like I've hit a nerve."

"Snape –" James was cut off by a thud from above. He could hear heavy paws scrabbling frantically and then the creak of a door and the thudding down stairs. "Snape, quick! He's coming, damn it!"

"Who am I supposed to be scared of?" Snape asked with another very familiar sneer, "Lupin?" Then Snape caught a glimpse of James' terrified face and it hit him. James wasn't winding him up. They were both in very real danger.

Suddenly, a snarling and scratching came from the trapdoor only feet away from where Snape was standing. Snape screamed and ran towards James. It wasn't a cowardly, girlie scream as James would have expected, but a strangely feral cry. He pushed past James, who was standing stock still, unable to move. One of his best friends was behind that trapdoor, wanting to kill him.

James heard Snape clambering through the hole in the trunk and then saw a huge, dog-like paw reaching through the now-open trapdoor. He couldn't move. If he let Remus past him, he would be sure to get Snape, and then they would all be in trouble – Snape would be dead, and Sirius would probably be sent to Azkaban for attempted murder. And Remus – Remus would surely kill himself rather than have to face the fact that he had killed another human being.

His mind was made up. He would stay put and hope that Remus would go for him instead of following Snape. He thought briefly about trying to transform into his new stag form, but then dismissed this idea. He had only transformed four times before: once in practice, once with the others at full moon in the summer, and twice at school in the grounds near the willow. But each time there had been no pressure, no urgency to change. He doubted it would be possible to transform now, with a werewolf dead set on killing him.

James quickly cast a shielding charm around his body, hoping that it would hold Remus off until James could get it through to him that he was his friend, he didn't want to hurt him, and he would not make a good midnight snack.

He watched as the fully-fledged werewolf clambered down through the trapdoor and waited for the onslaught he knew would come.

I've realised how stupid it is for me to expect 10 reviews for such a short and frankly crap chapter, so I updated anyway. This time, however,I would like my review count up to 51 before I add even a letter onto this story. However, thank you to those people who did review...

Weird Not Boring Well, you were right on both counts - snogging and scary death-eater-like people. Yay! Yeah, I love the L/J moments too. Hope they're enough to keep the spice in it for the time being...

HPBeatles Hope you had a good weekend, glad to hear I have such a positive effect! haha

Anyway, I think I'm back to my usual standard with this one, so I hope I've restored your faith! The writer's block has disintegrated and my ideas are in full flow, soplease review guys, cos otherwise I honestly won't be writing anything any more. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. Nichts. Niente. But i really would love to write some more, so you know what to do...review!