Disclaimer: Everything, and I repeat EVERYTHING, belongs to the lovely, incredibly creative Joanne Kathleen Rowling.

A/N: Much love to everyone who reviewed Chapters Five and Six. Sorry for the evil cliffhanger last time… Here's Chapter Seven!!

BEST FRIEND'S GIRL Chapter Seven

Lily awoke to Professor McGonagall's shrieking.

"POTTER! HOW-WHY- WHAT IN GOD'S NAME WERE YOU DOING OUT THERE? YOU AND YOUR LITTLE GROUP OF FRIENDS- COULD HAVE GOTTEN YOURSELVES BITTEN, KILLED! AND HOW DID YOU GET POOR MISS EVANS INVOLVED IN THIS MESS? WHY WAS SHE THERE?"

The next thing she heard was James' voice, calm, saying, "Sirius, Peter and I… we wanted to know where Remus went, see Professor? I mean, he always says that his mother is sick- honestly, if his mother was ill once a month for six years, she'd probably be dead by now, don't you think? He's our best friend, Professor… we were worried…"

Lily, though quite groggy and a bit confused, was pretty sure that this explanation was a load of bull.

"Well, that's… that's understandable, Potter, but nevertheless- you, Mr. Black, and Mr. Pettigrew still acted foolishly. As for Miss Evans… how does she fit into this mess?"

Lily felt herself panicking. She was busted… she had been out of bed, after hours. So had James, Sirius, and Peter, but they had a good excuse… albeit a fake one, but either way… Lily didn't even have that much. She could be thrown out of Hogwarts; her badge could be taken away…

"Well, Lily, see, she was in the common room when we went out. She has that sleeping problem, y'know, so I guess she was just reading, and she saw Sirius, Peter, and me. She tried to stop us, and w wouldn't tell her where we were going, so she followed us out of the portrait hole. We were arguing, see… and then, Lily tried to get in, but the Fat Lady'd gone to visit another portrait. Lily didn't want Filch to catch her- you know how she is about rules, and stuff- plus, I reckon, she was a bit curious, so she came with us. It was my fault, really, Professor- Lily shouldn't be punished."

Now, Lily was absolutely SURE that was a lie. Were her ears deceiving her? Had James just covered for her?

"Well- no, I suppose Miss Evans doesn't need to be punished. Her record is spotless, after all." Professor McGonagall's hesitated. "And- while I certainly don't approve of tonight's events, and you and your friends will certainly receive detentions- if it weren't for your selflessness and quick action, Miss Evans might have been dead… You and Mr. Black put your own lives at risk… So I suppose you should each be awarded fifteen points for Gryffindor. I think you should be getting back to bed now, though. Madam Pomfrey will want to have a look at you."

Lily heard footsteps, coming towards her, then a body, settling into the nearest bed.

Groaning slightly, she tried to sit up. She failed, miserably.

"Lily?" James said, sitting up and looking at her. "Lily, are you all right?"

"Mmmph." She croaked.

"Does-does anything hurt, Lily? Should I get Madam Pomfrey?"

"No…" she managed to mumble, "I'm fine…" Truthfully, Lily was in so much pain that breathing was an agonizing chore, and moving wasn't even an option, but she didn't want Madam Pomfrey. She wanted answers.

"Good," James said, "Cause I've got to tell you something…" with a flick of his wand and a muttered incantation, he shut and locked the door.

"About last night?" Lily asked eagerly.

"…Yes, about last night." James told her slowly, "Do you remember anything? About… me, for instance?"

"You- you were a deer." She mumbled, "And then you were just you again."

"A stag." James corrected.

"I never accused you of being a doe, Potter. Now tell me what happened."

"I'm an Animagus…"

"I'd worked that much out myself, thanks."

James glared. "So are Peter and Sirius."

"Remus, too?" Lily asked quietly.

"No, Remus…" James sighed. Looking Lily straight in the eye, he said gravely, "Remus is a werewolf."

Lily burst out laughing, but abruptly stopped when she realized how painful laughing was. "Remus? A werewolf? That's…" Lily frowned, thinking rapidly. It all sunk in… the monthly disappearances, his sickly appearance about once a month- the familiarity of the wolf she'd seen the previous night…

"Oh, God," Lily whispered, closing her eyes softly. Everything made sense now- his insistence that they couldn't be together, but refusal to tell her why… it was because he was a werewolf…

"He'll be furious I've told you," James sighed, "But you needed to know, with what happened last night and everything…"

"He didn't bite me?" Lily asked, widening her eyes in horror.

"No! No, Lily, 'course not… we'd have never let Remmy… of course not."

"B-but last night- I felt something jump on me, something big! And god, James, it hurts so bad…"

"Lily! You said you were fine!"

Lily tried to shrug, but her shoulders refused to lift. "I lied."

"Yeah!" James laughed. "Anyway… It was Sirius who jumped on you- he was the giant dog, and he weighs about a ton. He was trying to make sure Remus couldn't get to you. I would have done it, but you know. Sirius was heavy, but I had horns and hooves…Not that Remus would hurt you intentionally, but werewolves- they don't know what they're doing, see. I guess you knew that already, but just know…" He sighed. "Just know that Remus- the real Remus- would never, ever hurt you, okay? Don't act any differently around him. I mean, you know Rem. He's more decent that anyone I know, he's a great person. It's his biggest fear, you know, that people will find out and treat him differently. But you wont, Lily, I know you won't. You are better than that." James sounded like he was completely positive of this fact, but he still looked at Lily for reassurance.

"Of course I won't." she said seriously.

"Good." James grinned, nodding at her. "Now, let's get Pomfrey in here, shall we?"

Lily groaned, but reluctantly nodded-tried to nod- "Sure. Fine."

---

Lily had quite a few visitors that day.

James left within an hour or two, but came back later, with an arrangement of lilies and a bag of her favorite sweets- Bertie Bott's Every Flavor beans. She especially liked the pepper flavored ones, which James had always told her was very odd.

Emmeline, Dorcus, and Marlene showed up, bringing Lily's favorite bathrobe and pajamas, chocolate frogs, and a rather obnoxious singing card.

Gideon and Fabian Prewett, seventh years and two of the most amusing people Lily had ever met, came in with a bag of amusing items from Zonkos, as well as a lovely bouquet of honking daffodils.

Finally, Sirius Black showed up, looking rather guilty and carrying a large arrangement of flowers, a huge gift basket from Honeydukes, and a card.

"Feeling all right, Evans?" He had said, "I'm terribly sorry for landing you in the hospital wing, love, really I am. I hope you aren't feeling too badly?"

"Don't be silly, Siriu." Lily smiled slightly at the unintentional pun, "You saved my life."

"Oh- Lily, Moony wouldn't have killed you!" Sirius said earnestly, "I mean, well- obviously he can't control what he does when he's, you know, but kill someone- nah. Not Remus. Besides, you really think that Prongs and I would have let him?"

With some difficultly, Lily shook her head. No, she had been in good hands with James and Sirius… they were brave to the point of recklessness, but they would never let her get hurt.

Well, she thought, as she realized that she still couldn't sit up- and she needed to use the bathroom, not too badly, anyway.

Sirius left, smiling, and that was the end of Lily's string of visitors. The one person who she had been hoping for, desperately, had let her down. Was he mad at her? Did he feel too guilty? Was he afraid to face her?

Lily go her answer the next day, in the form of a large parcel delivered by his owl, Romulus. The box contained a large selection of delicious muggle chocolates, an elegant hardback copy of Persuasion, another Jane Austen classic, and a note-

Dear Lily,

I am terribly sorry about everything that has happened in the last few days- I hope that you can forgive me. I wish I could see you. I want you to know that I'm staying at home, which is why I haven't been in to visit you. I'll be back on Saturday, and I'm looking forward to see you then. I hope you enjoy the chocolates and the book- I know that I did

-Remus Lupin

Saturday? Lily sighed. It was only Wednesday!

---

Finally, Saturday came, and miraculously, it happened to be the day that Lily was released from the hospital wing. She was greeted warmly by cheers from all of her fellow Gryffindors, but she didn't care- she needed to find Remus. He was the only thing on her mind. She spotted him at breakfast.

He didn't look very well. He was quite pale, and appeared to be very worried… about me? Lily asked herself curiously. She sighed. She really needed to talk to him…

She approached him after breakfast, once James and Sirius had gone to Quidditch and Peter to a remedial Charms Lesson.

"Lily!" He said, quickly wrapping her into a hug. Lily gripped onto him tightly, wishing that she never had to let go. Needless to say, this hug lasted for an unusually long amount of time. When they finally broke apart, Lily looked up at him and said quietly, "We need to talk."

Wordlessly, Remus nodded, and she led him up the stairs. Once they had reached the seventh floor, Lily started to concentrate.

I need a place to talk to Remus, somewhere where we won't be overheard…Lily was one of the few students who knew about the Room of Requirement, but she was aware how valuable that knowledge was. After she repeated the request in her head, the door appeared, and Lily ushered Remus in.

The room had done very nicely. They were in a cozy little den, the perfect place for Lily and Remus to talk. There was a warm fire, a couch, even several bookshelves.

Lily stared up at Remus for a minute before saying a word. Finally, she bit her lip nervously, and whispered, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I- I didn't want you to see me differently- I wanted you to think that I was good, Lily, because you… you're so good. I couldn't let you find out that I was a monster. I knew if you realized that I was anything less than you expected, you'd hate me- like you do now, and I couldn't even bare to think of you hating me, which I guess was a waste of worrying, since it seems to have happened anyway, and"

Lily cut him off by kissing him fiercely, with just as much passion as she had the first time. He kissed her back, if only for a moment… he was thrilled. Perhaps Lily didn't hate him so much, after all…

After a minute passed thought, he pulled back.

"We can't." he said simply, maintaining composure as always.

"WHY NOT?" Lily cried, forgetting about composure as usual, "I want to- you want to- James will get over it!"

"It's not just James, Lily. I am a WEREWOLF."

Lily blinked. "Oh, is that all?" she said, rolling her eyes and trying to kiss him again. He pushed her.

"Lily! This- this is insane!" He cried, "It's dangerous!"

"Everything worth living for is dangerous." Lily replied simply, unafraid as always.

"You don't want a werewolf, Lily."

"You aren't a werewolf, Remus."

"What are you talking about, Lily? Last Monday… if it hadn't been for Sirius and James, I would have bitten you!"

"Yeah. Last Monday. Then, you were a werewolf. Once a month, you are a werewolf. Once a month, you are a terrible, dangerous monster," she said quietly, "But everyday, you are a wonderful, kind, beautiful Remus."

"Lily…" he began, but he frowned. He seemed to be out of excuses at last. "Are you sure? Do you really think that we could work things out?"

"You're the one that I want." Lily replied simply, smiling at him.

Remus looked down at her in admiration, this lovely, incredible girl. She was amazing. She actually accepted him for the monster that he was- contradicting, in fact, that he was a monster. She wanted him for her own… and that was just what he needed. So, without worrying, without thinking about werewolf bites or angry best friends, he leaned down and kissed her, because he wanted her, too.