Disclaimer: Once again, I am not JKR. Unfortunately.
Dedication: To all those who've read and/or reviewed. Thanks a bunch, you guys make all the work worthwhile :)
A/N: Okay, so here's part two of Answers. (Watch out... it's a Shameless Plug Alert) ...By the way, keep an eye out for a new fic I've got coming out, hopefully within the next week, about James' feeble attempts to write Lily a love letter. Gotta love those crazy kids! Anyway, hope you guys enjoy! Please R&R, even if you're only gonna say 'it's good' or 'it needs work'.
Happy reading.
Lily stared at James' unconscious body for a second, suddenly completely at a loss as to what to do. She saw the way that his arm was folded in a strange position, probably broken, and when she turned him over his face was covered in familiar looking cuts. Images of his body from her dream flew to her mind, and she desperately fought the urge to throw up. All of a sudden, her seemingly forgotten senses kicked in, and she fumbled for her wand, pulling it from her pocket as quickly as she could. Holding it just above his chest, she said, "Enervate", and to her overwhelming relief his eyes flew open. Abandoning all composure, she knelt beside him as he lay at the edge of the forest, and cried.
James looked up at her, worry etched across his face, and reached up with his broken arm to try and touch her face, wincing terribly when the pain kicked in.
"Oh, Merlin," Lily said through her tears, "You shouldn't move that arm, I think it's broken…"
"It's okay, it's okay. Madame Pomfrey can fix it in a second." James said, trying to smile, but looking so pained that a fresh wave of tears burst from Lily's eyes.
"What on earth happened here, Potter? God, you're bleeding."
"I am?" James asked, confused, and Lily motioned towards her face. James put a hand up to the wounds that covered his cheeks and forehead, and brought the hand back down to see the blood that had covered his fingers.
"I can close the wounds for you for now," Lily said as she muttered a spell under her breath. "But they won't stay closed. Can you walk?"
James responded by trying to get up. He held onto Lily's arm for support, but stumbled as he tried moving a few steps forward. He smiled weakly.
"Barely."
Lily nodded as she stashed her wand back in her pocket.
"It's going to be alright, James." She said, and there was a pause.
"I know."
---
"I'm so sorry, Prongs."
Lily, Sirius, Peter and Remus were all seated around James' bed, and Remus had not stopped apologising since he had arrived.
"It's okay, Moony."
"No, it's not. God, I'm so, so sorry."
Lily had no idea what Remus was apologising for, but the other two were looking solemn, so she decided that she shouldn't ask. It wasn't her business.
"Look, Moony, it wasn't you. You've got to realise that."
At this, Lily looked up. It didn't make sense. How could it have been Remus? He wouldn't hurt a fly, let alone his best friend of six years. He just didn't have it in him. She looked questioningly at Sirius, and when Sirius locked eyes with her, he jumped as though he'd just realised she was there and motioned subtly to James, who looked over at her as well, and with a small nod of the head the conversation was suddenly over. They were obviously keeping something from her, and as much as she told herself that it wasn't her business, it didn't stop her from asking.
"What's going on?"
Her question was met with silence, and all four boys avoided looking at her. She sat there, feeling remarkably uncomfortable, until Remus spoke up.
"What do you think, Marauders?"
James looked sharply up at Remus, his face contorted into an expression of puzzlement.
"Are you sure, Moony?"
"What other choice do we have?" Sirius replied, despite the fact that the question was posed to Remus, and the four boys looked up at her.
"Moony, it's not our place to tell her. If you think you can, you should." Peter said, and James and Sirius nodded in agreement. Remus nodded slowly as well, and looked down at his fingers as he began to speak.
"Lily, you must have noticed that the four of us go missing for a few nights every month. It's because…" Remus faltered, and then tried again. "Do you know about Animagi?"
"Wizards who can turn into an animal," she said slowly, nodding.
"In our fifth year, we became unregistered Animagi."
"What?" Lily said, completely shocked. "How? Why?"
"James, Sirius and Peter became Animagi," Remus said, gesturing towards them, "because they found out about me. So that they could help me."
"Help you? With what?" Lily suddenly sensed that what she was about to discover was something huge. Something completely unexpected. Something terrible. Remus sighed before speaking again, and once again averted his eyes.
"I'm a werewolf."
Suddenly, it all made sense. The monthly disappearances, the strange, pale and ill-looking complexion. And the other three couldn't become werewolves if they weren't humans when they were bitten…
"Remus," Lily said, and then changed her mind about what she was going to say. "How long have you… have… has it been like this?"
"Since I was a kid. Before Hogwarts."
"I'm so sorry, Remus," Lily said, reaching forward to envelop him in a hug. "God, it must be awful for you." Remus pulled away from the hug.
"You're not scared? Or angry?"
"No."
"Not even a little bit?" Remus asked, nervously playing with his sleeves. At this, Lily smiled.
"Not in the slightest. I'm glad you told me. And," she said, looking at all of the boys now, "you can trust me not to tell anyone. I won't."
"I didn't think you would." Remus told her, and looked so sincere that Lily had no choice but to believe him.
---
"Guess what?"
James had been in the Hospital Wing for four days now, and Lily had rarely left his side, much to Madame Pomfrey's dismay. She'd happily stolen food off his plate, and jokingly teased him about being a 'no-good layabout'. He'd laughed along with her, much to her relief – she was determined to help him recover.
"What?" Lily replied, looking up the latest issue of Witch-Weekly that she'd been reading.
"It's my last day here." James said, and grinned.
"So it is. So now you can stop sitting on your ass all day and get some real work done!"
James narrowed his eyes playfully.
"If I could be bothered, I'd come over there and hit you."
"Would you now?" Lily asked mockingly, and reached over to tickle him. He laughed, trying to fight her off, and as she got closer to him, he suddenly stopped and pulled her closer so that his lips came into contact with hers. The two kissed gently, and James hand came up to Lily's face, reaching behind her head and deepening the kiss by supporting her under her head, on the curve of her neck. Suddenly realising what was happening, Lily broke away from James' grasp and fled back to her chair, looking down at her fingers.
"Lily?" James said, uncertain. What had happened? "Are you-"
"It doesn't matter."
"Of course it matters, Lils," James said softly. "Of course it does. What's wrong?"
"Nothing, alright?"
"Lily…"
"James, really. Don't… don't even think about saying anything. I know you see it, and it's just better if you ignore it," Lily took a deep breath. "We both know I'm not okay."
James looked at her, shocked.
"What do you mean?"
"Just leave it, alright?"
"Lily, how am I supposed to-"
"I don't care! I don't care how you do it, or what you do. You overstepped a boundary, James, just when we were getting along, just when everything was perfect-"
"What? Where's this coming from? I thought-"
"You thought wrong, James."
"So why don't you want to…?" James asked her, and when Lily responded, she spoke so quietly that James was scarcely sure she'd said anything at all.
"Because I'm scared."
She knew she was being ridiculous. What a thing to say, that she was scared. What, of him? Of being with him? But as she looked up at him, he seemed to know exactly what she was talking about.
"Why?" he asked gently.
"I don't know… I don't know."
There was a pause.
"You don't have to be afraid, Lily. You never have to be afraid when I'm with you."
And instantly, she remembered that he had a way of helping her let go of her fears when she thought it impossible. Looking up at him again, she was filled with fear, but it didn't seem as important anymore, and when she kissed him again, the fear dissipated as quickly as it had come.
Apparently, as Lily would come to learn, nothing was impossible to let go of.
Except love.