Ch. 8 Lycanthropy

Why did I not figure it out earlier? It's so simple. Lily thought to herself. It's so obvious. Moony.

Lily was quiet throughout the feast. She had so many questions for James and couldn't wait to get back to their dorm to ask him. At this moment, she wasn't even thinking about the fact that they had their own dorm.

If she could, she would ask Remus, but Lily didn't think she could get him alone tonight. And she had to know. Tonight. So she waited patiently while the sorting hat sorted, everyone feasted, and Dumbledore made his beginning of the year announcements. Finally, when everyone stood up, Lily grabbed James' hand and started running.

"Eager are we?" James said when they reached a painting of a pride of lions. The male lion stood stoic, waiting for the password.

"What would you like the password to be?" The lion said in a deep voice.

"Hmmm…" Lily was impatiently waiting and knew James was trying to think of something clever, so she said the first thing that popped into her head.

"Speckles."

"Speckles it shall be. Enter." Lily entered, still tugging at James' arm. She couldn't help but notice how incredible the room was. It looked like a smaller version of the Gryffindor common room. The couch, instead of red suede, was brown leather with several red and gold throw pillows. Lily noticed that there was an exact replica of her favorite chair at home, except it was in better shape since it was new. It was a big, white armchair that could easily fit two people and when you sat down you sank in to the cushions as if they were made for you. After admiring this, Lily came back to her senses and grabbed James' hand before he could go look at his room.

Lily pulled him down on the couch, but sat up so he knew this was serious. "James, Remus is a werewolf, isn't he?" James looked horrified and nervous. "It's okay, I'm not mad. Well, I'm a little mad at Remus for thinking he couldn't trust me, but, well he is, right?"

James cleared he throat and nodded. "How'd you know?"

"I suppose its been in the back of my mind for a while now, but when you called him Moony earlier it just clicked. I'm surprised I didn't see it earlier. Maybe I didn't want to. Poor Remus."

"Yeah."

"How did it happen?"

"Lils, I'd love to tell you everything, and I'm so happy you know now, but I think you should ask him about it. It's his story to tell."

"You're right." James smiled when she said this and kissed her forehead.

"Come on, let's finish the tour." He said after a few minutes of silence. He pulled off the couch and led her up a short flight of stairs. At the landing, there was a window looking directly at the quidditch pitch and a door to each side. On the left, the door was engraved with the words "Head Girl," and "Head Boy" was engraved in the door to the right.

They walked into James' room first. Lily wasn't sure what to expect, but it wasn't this. The room was about half the size of the Gryffindor bedrooms, which meant it was more than enough room for one person. There was a beautiful mahogany desk against the wall, sitting right below the window. Perfect for daydreaming. The bed was a queen size and had no canopy. The covers were navy blue with hints of gold peaking out from the threading. Just like his bed at home, there were way too many pillows. They were red, gold, and navy. Lily laughed at the clashing colors. Somehow, it worked.

On the wall facing the bed, there was a mirror and several quidditch posters. There were posters of the team in navy and gold uniforms waving, flying through the air, catching the snitch, or passing the quaffle. Some of them had just one famous player. Lily recognized one as the chaser Joscelind Wadcock from Quidditch Through the Ages. She was riding sidesaddle on her broomstick with her legs crossed, batting her eyelashes and blowing kisses. Her blonde hair was blowing perfectly in the wind; she almost reminded Lily of Marlene. Lily felt a pang of jealousy toward Joscelind, and then remembered that she was two-dimensional and the woman was about 65 years old in real life.

Lily turned and the next wall took her breath away. Next to a large mahogany dresser, it was filled with pictures. A few were from his childhood, but mostly they were from his Hogwarts' years. Moving photos of him and the boys were the majority. James had several of the quidditch team or quidditch matches. In several of the photos, the picture James was trying to wrestle out of a group of swooning girls while Sirius pointed and laughed. The girls would then chase him. Lily saw all her friends had made it on the wall, but somehow she missed out. Until her eyes met a small picture in the very center. It was toward the end of last year and James and her were just talking, sitting under a tree and James was running his hand through his hair. She didn't even know someone had taken a picture, but she remembered that day perfectly.

"I loved that day." She said to him, pointing to the picture. "Who took that?"

"No clue, but it's my favorite thing in this room," James replied. Lily felt stupid. Looking at that picture, she saw two people that were crazy about each other. Why was I in denial for so long?

"James?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm sorry for being a stupid arse and not seeing that you had changed sooner. I think I cared about you for a long time but I couldn't admit it to myself." James laughed.

"Well I'm sorry for being an arse in general. And taking so long to grow up. So we're even." He took her hand and led her across the landing to her room. There was one word to describe the head girl's bedroom: elegant. It had the same basic layout as James' room: a bed in the center and a desk against the window. Her desk, however, was white. The queen bed was covered with a cream, duvet with a gold trim. Her sheets were lavender and just like the other bed, she had too many pillows to use. On the wall across from her bed hung a full-length mirror with an elegant frame that had to weigh at least 200 lbs. Lily looked next to the mirror and her jaw dropped. The wall turned into recessed shelves that were filled with books. Books on potions, transfiguration, Arithmancy, Charms, Dark Arts, Herbology; it went on and on. There were even muggle classics and Lily's own favorites. On the bottom two shelves were small bottles filled with ingredients for potion brewing and a large cauldron on the bottom left. There was sliding glass on these two shelves to protect the ingredients from spoiling.

Then came the photos. Unlike the messy, but wonderful collage in James' room, Lily had about 10 photos in frames, tastefully hung on the wall. Finally, she had a nice white armoire that matched her desk.

"Incredible. How did they know exactly what we like?" Lily said.

"I know; it's a little creepy."

"Yeah."

"Well, it is late and we have to get up for the first years. Shall we let the loo be a surprise tomorrow morning?" James asked.

"I suppose." Lily smiled. She really was knackered and she'd never seen a more beautiful bed. She felt James grab her hand so he could give her a quick kiss.

"Goodnight Lils." He winked and left the room.

Lily sighed and changed into her pajamas right away. She was too tired to put any pants on, so she tucked herself in with a large t-shirt and was asleep within seconds.

James rolled over. He wanted to sleep, and he was exhausted. He had to get up in 4 hours, and he was in the most comfortable bed he'd ever laid on. No matter how hard he tried, however, he couldn't clear his head. Should he have told Lily the rest of it? He felt guilty for not disclosing that he was an animagus. Now that she knew about Remus, there was no reason to keep this a secret as well.

Was there a reason, though? What they did was illegal, and as much as James convinced himself she wouldn't, there was no guarantee that she wouldn't turn them in. On the other hand, if she didn't turn them in, she would probably still worry about him getting hurt. But lying doesn't sound like a good option, either. Lily would see right through him.

He decided that he would have to tell her. He loved Lily, and wanted to know everything about her. And he wanted her to know everything about him. With that, he fell asleep.

When James awoke the next morning, he heard the shower running and a rather unpleasant version of "Here Comes the Sun" coming from the bathroom. He laughed. I wonder what she would do if I joined her… He smiled and started undressing but looked at the clock. They had to be downstairs for breakfast in twenty minutes; no time for funny business.

"Good morning." Lily was smiling in the doorway, a towel wrapped around her. She looked beautiful. James walked up and wrapped his arms around her.

"Good morning, lovely." His said huskily and kissed her, moving his hands to her bum and pushing it so they were pressed together. Their tongues danced passionately for several minutes until Lily pulled away.

"James, we have to leave in ten minutes!" She ran toward her room to get ready and he walked into the bathroom.

The rest of the day was a blur for James. It was the full moon tonight, and Lily was planning on asking Remus all about his condition while he was in his pre-wolf state. He felt this wasn't the best mix.

However, she didn't talk to Remus all day. She simply acted as if last night hadn't happened. James could tell see her giving him concerned looks every once in awhile, but other than that it was an ordinary day. Finally, James asked her.

"Are you going to ask Remus?" They were in the empty transfiguration classroom. He pulled her in it after dinner.

"Not today! He doesn't need that. It's the full moon."

"Oh. Right." James was impressed that she had known that.

"James, don't treat me like I'm daft. I'll talk to him tomorrow or something." She started walking out of the classroom. "Come on. I've already got homework."

"Lils. I- uh- I have plans tonight." James said as they made their way to the heads' dormitory.

"Oh. Okay." Lily said, nonchalantly. James was surprised that she didn't press him about it.

When they reached their common room, Lily sat on her armchair and started pulling out her books. James had a pit in his stomach. "Lily, there's something else you should know. I should have told you last night, but, well..."

"What is it? Is someone else a werewolf?"

"No."

"Well? What is it then?" Lily started to look concerned.

James took a deep breath. "I'm an unregistered animagus. Sirius and Peter are as well. We join Remus on the full moon so he has company. Being there makes it less miserable for him." James couldn't read the look on Lily's face.

She bit her lip. "I- er- wow. You guys are good friends."

"You won't turn us in?"

"Of course not! James Potter, how could you think I would do such a thing?"

"I don't know…I just want to make sure." James felt guilty for not trusting her earlier.

"Idiot." Lily said, smiling. "So, what are you? Can I see?"

James stood up and surveyed the room, and moved the couch a few feet. He smirked at her then it happened.

Lily was truly shocked this time. He had transformed into a giant, beautiful brownish-red stag. His antlers were tall and thick. The stag couldn't move without knocking anything over, but she felt somehow that he was beckoning her. Slowly, she walked toward him and reached out. He was about a foot taller than her so he lowered his head so she could pet him. His hair was rough and it grew thicker around his neck as if he had a mane. She looked into his eyes and saw James. She giggled. There were small dark brown markings around his eyes where his glasses would be. She moved up to feel his antlers. "Prongs. Of course." James made a funny noise in agreement then closed his eyes as she started scratching behind his ears. "Ooo I found your spot, didn't I big guy?" She was laughing now, having fun with the animal.

"Prongs its time to…" Lily turned to see Sirius and Peter in the doorway of the heads' dorm. "Another interesting turn of events I see. Care to explain?" Sirius crossed his arms, looking quite unhappy.

"She found out about Moony herself." Lily turned around and saw James was human again. "I just now told her about us."

"Why?" Sirius said. Peter was looking at his shoes. He usually stayed out of fights between these two.

"Why not? Lily won't tell. Remus was the only thing holding us back."

"Sirius, I promise you have nothing to worry about." Lily stepped in.

"Ugh. Whatever, Evans. We don't have time for this. Come on." Sirius left with Peter in tow, and James started to follow, but Lily tugged his shirt and gave him a long kiss.

"I'll be waiting. Be careful James." She smiled and watched him go.

Lily was so distracted; she had been working on the same paragraph for an hour. First, she was worried about James. Second, she was still in shock that he was a stag. And third, she knew this meant she had to tell him what she was. She had only revealed her animagus form to Mary, Alice, and Marlene. She wished she could talk to one of them about this. What were the chances that they were both deer?

At 2:30 am, Lily succumbed to her exhaustion and walked up the staircase. Instead of going into her room, though, she turned right. For some reason, she missed him. She found an old quidditch jersey in his trunk to use for pajamas. It was soft and fell just bellow her knickers. She loved that it smelled of James. After leaving her school clothes and bra in a heap on the floor, she climbed under the covers and closed her eyes, dreaming of a forest.

Two hours later, Lily awoke to the sound of James stumbling in. She was too tired to even acknowledge his presence so she rolled over to make room on the bed. That was when she smelled the blood.