AN: Ok well, i hope u like this chapter. It's pretty full of action and stuff. Erm, ok so maybe about 4 or 5 chapters left...Anyway, enjoy. Oh and this chapter is rated for language and (as usual) brief nudity :o)

Summer was upon the school, softly peeling back the petals on various buds and sending the grounds into a bloom of colours. Sweet smells wafted into the castle, carried on warm air through open windows until the students became giddy from the fumes, from the approaching summer and end of the school year.

Lily however was not giddy. She was not even smiling. She was sitting in the Gryffindor common room, her nose buried in her Transfiguration book attempting to absorb the information by osmosis. Needless to say, it wasn't working. In fact everyone at her table seemed to be devouring their work hungrily with their eyes. Well everyone except James who was looking out the window and lazily stroking Lily's leg. It was nice, sure, but completely distracting.

"James!" Lily said in irritation for the fifth time.

"Oh come on, we need a break anyway. You've been working all morning."

Sighing, Lily let James pull her up. The rest of the table let out groans and sighs as well, but they stood and followed the unlikely couple out of the portrait hole and down onto the grounds. Sarah, Lily and Eleanor pulled off their shoes and sat on the edge of the lake, letting their feet fall into the cool water, and softly discussing all the things girls seem to discuss…in other words, the Gryffindor seventh year boys.

The objects of their discussion were sitting under the large willow tree, lounging on their backs under the clear blue sky.

"Well, what's up for tonight, then?" Sirius asked his friends, with a glance at Remus who looked paler than usual.

"I don't know," James muttered, not looking at Sirius. "Listen I, erm" he cleared his throat "I don't know if I'll be able to make it tonight."

Sirius sat up. "What?"

Rubbing his nose uncomfortably, James sat up as well. "It's just…exams are coming up, and there's so much to do…"

"That's shit, Potter," Sirius said angrily. "You don't want to come because it would take away time you have with your precious muggle girlfriend."

James reached angrily for his wand, but Remus quickly interjected, resting a hand firmly on James' arm. "Don't call her a muggle, Padfoot. If James doesn't want to come, he doesn't have to."

"We need him! He's the largest of us and he's backing out just because he wants to sit in the common room and cuddle!"

Both boys were red in the face now and even Remus' grip couldn't stop James from pulling out his wand and pointing it at his best friend.

"I always knew it," Sirius said softly, his dark eyes burning angrily. "I always knew she meant more to you than our friendship ever did."

Before James could react, Sirius got up and stormed off to the castle. Peter sat quivering in nervous excitement as he watched the two boys row. Now he looked between them, trying to figure out who he should support. With a nod from Remus, Peter hurried after Sirius and left the two boys alone under the tree.

"You can go too if you want, Remus," James said quietly.

"Don't be stupid, Prongs," he said but found he had nothing else to say and fell quiet.

"Is it so wrong for me to love another person?" James asked finally, breaking the silence. "Sirius thinks I should mope over my parents forever just like he's doing. He doesn't want me to feel happy or actually live because they can't. And, I suppose, I didn't either to begin with. If I ever felt anything I hated myself because they couldn't. Because it was as if I was forgetting about them. But then I realised they wouldn't want me to sit around and sulk forever. Just because they're dead, it doesn't mean I am."

"So you do love her then?" Remus asked quietly.

James didn't answer him, just sat staring moodily out at the clear dark lake, beautiful green grounds and bright blue skies. His eyes fell onto Lily and he felt a warmth build up inside him until his toes began to tingle with it. "Yes," he finally replied. "Yes I do."

---

"Lily," someone whispered, gently shaking her shoulder. Blearily opening her eyes, Lily unstuck her face from the pages of her Potions book and sat up.

"Oh, I fell asleep," she muttered stupidly, looking at James coming into focus.

"Yes, I noticed," he said, grinning at her. "You want to go to bed?"

"No, no. I'm okay now," she rubbed her eyes and focused back on her Potions book.

"Come with me," James said, his hand stretched out to her.

"Why, where are we going?" Lily asked, pushing her chair back and taking his hand. Without a reply, he led her towards the boys staircase and through his dormitory to an open window.

"Climb out," he said softly, and she did as she was told. With a smile to herself, Lily noticed the blanket spread out on the cool roof tiles and a lamp sat on it. Looking out across the lake, she saw the moon, big and yellow hanging low in the sky. Smiling sadly to herself, Lily remembered once asking her father why the moon got so big and low sometimes. He'd mumbled back a drunken response, so Lily had made up her own reason for it. She told herself that every night the moon hung low in the sky was a night when magic happened. Of course, she was only six years old at the time and didn't yet know that magic happened constantly, but it was something she'd believed in.

"It's beautiful," she muttered and felt her eyes fill with tears. What was wrong with her? "Why aren't you out with the boys?" she asked to quickly change the subject. "It's the full moon…"

James just shrugged and sunk his hands into his pockets. "Didn't feel like it." He watched her for a moment then grinned. "You want to dance?"

"Now?" she asked. "There's no music."

He shrugged and took her hand. "Careful," he murmured, leading her away from the window and gently spinning her.

She laughed and let him lead her carefully across the roof tiles, lightly swaying as he hummed softly under his breath.

"James," she whispered as he drew her against him, letting their warm bodies press together in the chilly air. "I'm…"

"What?" he asked her gently, slipping a finger under her chin and forcing her to look at him.

"It's just…I don't know if we should…" her words were lost however in those deep hazel eyes, and she slowly leaned towards him, their noses gently brushing together, the heat of his breath warm on her cheek, their lips almost touching. Her words were lost in a place where words belonged, for they had no use here. The only thing that mattered was that they were together. That his lips were upon hers and she felt giddy, not with the sweet summer air, nor the beautiful full moon. It was his breath mingling with her own, the depth of the kiss that reached her soul and warmed her heart.

She pulled away and let him lead her back in through the window, closing the glass against the cold air. She let him sit her down on his bed, let him pull off her robes and kiss her eyelids. But she didn't let him make her feel loved in every possible way. No. He let her.

"This may hurt," he whispered, but she stroked his face gently and told him that life hurt but it was always worth it. He grinned and told her she thought too much, but he 'supposed' she was worth it. She laughed as he gently pushed himself into her and cried out as he let her feel something she had never let another person make her feel.

"Fuck," Lily murmured under her breath once she was safely nestled in James' arms. "Now I can understand why Sarah's addicted to this."

"Mm," James murmured, lazily stroking her back, his lips pressed against her hair. "Lils?"

"Yea?" She gazed up at him and quickly kissed his nose, loving that small dimple under the corner of his mouth.

He smiled. "I love you." She was saved from answering him, however, by the dormitory door banging open.

"James," panted a boy, clinging to the doorway.

"Get out!" James yelled, drawing the blankets up higher around Lily.

"It's Sirius!" Peter said hurriedly. "He told Snape about Remus. Snape's followed him to the Whomping Willow. You've got to hurry, James."

Swearing, James leapt out of the bed, tripping over as he pulled on clothes and grabbed his wand from the bedside table. "Lily, I-" he began to explain but she just shook her head.

"Go."

---

James felt as though he was flying through the hallways, his feet were moving so fast. Three floors ago he had left Peter behind, clutching his side and panting deeply, unable to keep up on his short stubby legs.

Not wearing his invisibility cloak, James was sure he'd be caught by a teacher, after all, he was out after hours and his footsteps were making a good deal of noise. But he wasn't sure if meeting a teacher would be such a bad thing. They could stop Snape and he could go back to the Gryffindor common room and spend the rest of the night with Lily. He made his feet go even faster, thinking about Lily. It was so unfair! Why was he always left cleaning up after Sirius' messes?

He burst through the huge oak doors and flew down the grassy slope towards the Whomping Willow, where a figure stood at a distance, watching the tree. But there was only one figure, and James would know that profile from anywhere. As James reached Sirius, he made sure to knock him hard as he ran past. His anger was starting to transform into fear, but there was no time for that. Dodging branches, James scurried to the opening in the roots, feeling a thump on the back of his head.

He ignored it and continued to push his way through the hole, transforming his body as he did so, so when he dropped down into the passage below, he was no longer human. Where his limbs had been, now rested four firmly built legs, and atop his head were two large antlers. Frantically searching the darkness ahead of him, he began to run again, his hooves pounding on the compact dirt below him. He rounded a corner and suddenly the passageway was light, lit up by a lamp that was clutched in the hands of a boy who seemed to be frozen with fear.

It was apparent at once what Snape was afraid of. A monster – a fully fledged werewolf – was making its way slowly, and horribly, towards them, snarling and snapping its jaws. Knowing what he had to, without even thinking, James lowered his antlered head and galloped at full speed towards the werewolf, knocking them both to the ground.

James rolled away, no longer a stag but human again, and groping in his robes for his wand. He found it, yelled at Snape to run and shot a jinx at the werewolf. "Impedimenta!" It would only slow him down for a second, James knew, but a second could determine whether they lived or died.

"Run!" James screamed again, pulling Snape hard by the robes so he dropped the lamp which smashed on the floor. A snarl behind them told him the spell was wearing off, but they were both running now. It wasn't fast enough. They'd be caught.

"Hold on to me! Whatever you do, hold on!" James called grabbing Snape's arm. Snape took hold of James' shoulder, his breath coming in deep wheezing gasps. Hoping that Snape's loose grip would be enough, James once again transformed into the stag. Snape's hand slackened its grip at the shock, but he seemed to regain composure quickly and caught on. While running, he slung a leg over James' broad back and bent his head low, letting James carry him towards the faint light at the end of the tunnel.

If he hadn't been so scared, so angry, James might have had room left in his body to feel some kind of disgust that Severus Snape was riding him, like some common horse. But he didn't. They burst out of the hole into the cool night and James pushed Snape away from him then hit the knot on the tree and got to his feet.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you, Sirius?" James yelled into the night, where he knew Sirius was standing. Leaving Snape to snivel at the base of the tree, James marched towards the figure of Sirius he could now see, but his walk slowed when he saw Sirius was not alone. Albus Dumbledore stood beside him. He was not smiling. His eyes weren't twinkling. And James knew he was in more trouble than he'd ever been before in his life.

AN: ok well hope u enjoyed. I know my writing style got a bit confusing in the middle there but hope it all made sense. hehe. ok well PLEASE REVIEW! love to know what u think! and if u find any mistakes, just let me know. thanks! xxx