Summary: When a class assignment pairs two students who have never seen eye to eye together for two weeks during the summer, sparks are bound to fly, along with tempers, tears and clothing? JPLE. Rating may change.

A.N.: J.K.Rowling, Scholastic, Warner Brothers, they all own Harry Potter. I own nothing. I can barely afford gas for my car let alone try to copyright a story for a fanfic site. And if you, Mrs. Rowling would just put out a new Harry Potter book each week we uber-fans wouldn't have to take matters into our own hands and hope to Merlin you don't sue us for plagiarism.

This isn't my first fic just the first one I've had the nerve to post, most of the time they are just a very weird catharsis. I appreciate your opinions so please review and tell me what you think! Will update often. Rating will most likely change later just to be on the safe side.

Muggle It, Ch. 6

The Truth…Sort of.

James crept past Lily's room as quietly as he could, holding his side. The mixture of light coming in through the hall window cast a foreboding shadow down the hallway. It was just past dawn and he was just getting in.

He stepped over the loose board that squeaked and slowly turned his doorknob, being careful not to make a sound. He slid in and shut the door quietly. All he would have to do was crawl into bed, catch a couple hours of sleep and Lily would never have to know.

He pulled his shirt over his head, wincing a little as it grazed the parallel scratch marks running down his side. Damn Sirius.

He turned around and froze. A pair of angry green eyes were staring back at him. Lily appeared to have fallen asleep on his bed. However she was wide awake now and he knew he was done for.

"Uh…" He honestly had no idea what to say. What could he say, Hi love, sleep well?

He really wished she would stop staring at him like that. He could take yelling, he deserved yelling. What he couldn't take was that disappointed, hurt look she had.

"Lily I…" He started, still not knowing how to finish the sentence.

He didn't have to. She got up, still staring at him coldly, and walked right past him, pulled the door open and slammed it behind her.

He winced as it echoed throughout him, then winced again when he heard her door slam moments later.

James flopped down on the bed and took off his glasses. He rubbed his eyes in frustration, and slight fear. This was not good.

"Lily, please, come on, open the door." He pleaded though the crack between the door and the floor.

He was lying like and idiot on his stomach, trying to get her to at least respond to him.

He looked up and saw Ms. Brinkley watching him from the top of the stairs. James just smiled sheepishly at her.

"In case you're wondering, Muggles normally open the door to talk." She nodded curtly and walked back down the stairs. James couldn't decide if she was taking the mickey out of him or trying to help him out. Right now, it didn't really matter.

"Lily, honest, I have a really good explanation." He said hopefully, however his face fell when the door opened and he saw her staring down at him expectantly.

"Well…what is it then?" she said coolly.

"Er…" He hadn't been counting on her actually opening the door.

When she saw the blank look on his face she gave him nothing more than a withering stare and slammed the door.

"Lily!" He pounded his fist on the door in exasperation. "You're not even giving me a chance to explain."

The door flew open again, this time there was a rage in her eyes he hadn't seen since he and Sirius accidentally put she and all of her roommates training bra's on display their first year. The boils she had given them didn't go away for two whole weeks, and Madam Pomfrey had conveniently been unable to find a cure for them, which they thought was a bit sexist.

"You Lied To Me!" She spat at him in a fury.

James actually felt him self cowering, in a way he hadn't done since McGonagall had found out it was he and Sirius who had turned those training bras into Go Gryffindor flags.

"No I didn't." Wrong answer he thought.

"Oh, so you did just go to bed, I just happened to overlook you as I paced your room all night, worried sick!"

"You were worried?" Once again, wrong answer.

"Of Course I was! I Had No Idea Where You Were! You're the one who keeps going on about how dangerous everything is and then you just disappear all night! And I saw you apperate! So I had no idea where to even tell people to look for you if something should have happened!" She paused to catch a second wind, but then decided she was too mad to go on and slammed the door on him once again.

Thirty minutes of pleading had done nothing to help him, especially after she had stuffed pillows in between the crack in the floor. A silencing charm he could have just broken in half a second, but the most he was allowed to do with his wand right now was try to prod the pillows back…that was when she put her suitcases on top of them.

He slumped down onto the porch and lit up, eying the lake as a possible place to drown himself if she refused to talk to him ever again.

Lily, one of my friends needs my help, I'm so sorry I can't tell you more. I promise I will explain someday and that everything is ok. Please trust I wouldn't lie to you.

It sounded so simple now. She would have asked if there was anything she could do, he would have reluctantly said no, she would have kissed him goodbye with a worried look on her face and hugged him with relief when he came in that morning. She probably would have even tried to doctor his wound the muggle way.

But no: I'm just going to go to bed.

Really bloody brilliant James.

He sat there, berating himself and smoking his cigarette. He didn't hear someone trying to get his attention from around the corner.

"Psst!"

James looked over and his eyes narrowed. He got up and walked around the corner to the other side of the house and saw Sirius leaning against the wall.

"Got a light?" He said casually.

James just glared at him. "What are you doing here?"

Sirius looked genuinely surprised at his hostility. "I came to mend up your bloody side, you left before I got the chance. Figured you couldn't with the whole magic ban thing."

"I'm fine." He said, sounding even madder. "Just go."

"What's your problem mate?"

"What's my problem? Lily won't talk to me, she looks at me like I'm the most vile person on earth and will probably never so much as look at me again."

"Ah, so, business as usual then." Sirius said with a grin. A grin that faded quickly when he saw the slightly murderous look in James's eyes.

"Did she catch you coming in or something?" He asked, starting to sound a little concerned.

"No, she caught me going out apparently. Spent the whole night worried about where I was."

Now Sirius looked concerned, "What did you tell her?"

"I haven't told her anything, I've spent the last…hour trying to get her to come out of her room."

"Ok…good."

"Good?" Now James was the one on the verge of being irate. "Please, Padfoot, explain to me how this is good."

"Well…she doesn't know about Remus."

"You know what…just go. I'm going in."

"James. You can't tell her. We swore we wouldn't let anyone find out." He said seriously.

"Your one to talk Sirius, seeing how there's a certain slimy haired Slytherin who knows a lot more about Remus than Lily ever will."

Sirius looked like James had decked him. "We agreed that we weren't going to…"

"Talk about that?" James cut in sharply. "I'm not the one who used his condition to get revenge one someone."

"You know I never meant for him to get into that tunnel! I expected the tree to get him first." Sirius said, becoming more and more defensive by the moment.

"Whatever," He said coldly. "I just don't see why you suddenly get to be the righteous one here. You know I would never betray Remus, but right now I just want to go see if I can get Lily to forgive me."

"Man…she has done a number on you Prongs…tell me, does she take you for walks, or are you allowed off you leash long enough to run around the yard on your own?"

"You don't get it."

"Then explain it, because since you and Lily have gotten together, you've been a pretty big Prat."

"A prat? What, because I didn't want to lie to my girlfriend, use magic when I wasn't supposed to?"

"The James I knew was never afraid of a little rule breaking."

"That rule breaking nearly got someone killed! He could have died. So I'm sorry if that's not something I want on my conscious."

Sirius looked hurt. "You know I didn't want him to get hurt…not like that. And you didn't have to lie to Evans. So don't put that on me."

James just shook his head and started to walk off.

"So, what, you get a straight laced girlfriend and suddenly you're to righteous for your friends?"

"I just want to make sure I still have a girlfriend."

"I liked you better without one." He said stiffly.

"And I love her more than you can imagine…and I've worked too hard to get her to give me a chance, I'm not going to loose her…I can't. So just…please, go."

"You really love this girl enough to turn your back on your friends?"

"You know I would never turn my back on my friends, that's rule number one of the Marauders code of ethics."

"The penalty of which is being forced to declare you love, publicly, for Severus Snape." Sirius added causing James to smile a bit.

"But I love her enough to do just about anything to get her back…but outing Remus was never on that list." James paused. "You know me better than that."

Sirius nodded. "Ok. I'll go…I could write her…tell her I sent you an emergency message or something, you had to pull my sorry drunken ass out of a gutter."

"Thanks, but…no thanks. I think honesty is going to be the best policy here."

"Ok, well, I'll see you around."

"Yeah."

Lily was pulling on her sandals by the door when James walked in.

"Oh." She still wouldn't look him in the eye.

"Can we talk, please?"

"I'm going into town." She said as she grabbed her purse.

"Can I walk with you then…just please give me a chance to explain…Please."

They walked in silence down the old road until Lily finally worked up the nerve to speak.

"Where did you go?"

James hesitated. "I can't tell you."

Lily looked at him in surprise.

"I know that sound horrible but I'm sorry. I can't tell you. I want to, you have no idea how much I want to but…it's not my secret to tell."

"It's fine, if you don't want to tell me where you went then…fine."

"Lily, no, it's not like that. I honestly cannot tell you. I was with a friend, who needed my help and was counting on me being there. That's all I can say and I am begging you not to make me betray that friend."

He looked at her, silently pleading with her to understand.

"This friend wasn't a girl, was it?"

"Merlin no! It was nothing like that." He stepped in front of her so she was forced to look at him. "I swear if you give me the chance, again, you will never have to worry about me lying, or being unfaithful to you just, please believe that I would have never done this if it hadn't been an absolute necessity."

"I was really worried about you. At first, I was just really mad, figuring you had gone out to see your friends or gotten a pack of cigarettes and just, lied about it but…then you didn't come back and I was really worried." She said, still not looking him in the eye.

"Lily, I'm sorry." He picked up her hand hopefully. "It won't happen again. I swear."

"Ok."

He could tell he was not out of the dog house yet. He wasn't sure if he liked this too much. He had always prided himself on being a pretty proud person, he definitely wasn't one to beg and grovel. Let alone lie on a floor and cry for forgiveness.

However, one smile from her reminded him that there wasn't anything he wouldn't do for this girl…except nark of his best friend. But she had even made him consider it.

"So, can I keep walking with you?" He asked nervously.

"Your friend was in trouble?"

James nodded.

"Was this a friend I know?"

"It's possible."

"Are they ok now?"

"They will be."

"You could have told me that, I would have understood." She said.

"I know…I…I just panicked." He smiled at her a little. "I'm an idiot, remember?"

"You're not an idiot." She squeezed his hand sweetly. "But don't you ever lie to me again Potter, got it?"

"I told you, I need you to be wrong about me. I'm not going to mess this up, again." He said seriously, looking at her.

"You're not." She moved closer to him and smiled as he put his arm over her shoulder.

"So, were ok?" He asked?

"Yes." Her answer caused him to grin as he pulled her in closer to him, letting her put her arm around his back and rest her hand softly on his side. Merlin, this girl doesn't know what she does to me.

"Are you hungry?" He looked down at her. "I didn't eat, and I don't think you did."

"I could eat."

"Great."

They walked into a small muggle restaurant and James couldn't help but grin. He had never actually been to a muggle restaurant before.

However his grin quickly went away when he saw three very familiar faces sitting in a large booth near the back, whispering suspiciously.

Sirius nudged Remus who looked up. Peter turned around and all three of them looked at James.

Lily looked up at him, looking a little annoyed, but that quickly went away as well when she saw that he looked more surprised to see them than she did.

They walked over to the three boys. Peter looked out of breath and was sweating, Remus looked pale and shaky, and Sirius looked slightly anxious.

"Hey Prongs, why don't you take a seat…I think there are a few thing we need to fill Lily in on." Sirius said.

Lily was now a little nervous. She had never actually seen Sirius look, well, serious before.

James looked at Remus as if to ask if he was sure. Remus just motioned for them to sit down.

"What's going on?" Lily asked apprehensively.

"We know we got James in a spot of trouble with you" Remus said. "And, well, to be perfectly honest, we've all spent a really really long time listening to him pine away for you and now we don't have to. Were really rooting for you two."

James went scarlet and sent him a 'just wait' look. Lily was almost as red as he was though.

"But we also know that he really cares about you and…if he thinks you're someone that we can trust then, we trust him." Sirius continued. "But we need you to swear…on, the Hogwarts library, that you will not tell a soul what we are about to tell you, no matter how stupid or illegal it may be…is."

Lily looked at James, who looked just as surprised as she was. James just looked at Remus. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah…you shouldn't suffer for helping me out. She's just got to promise that she won't…"

"Tell anyone, of course I won't." She looked at James, then at the other three as she said it. "You can trust me."

James smiled a little and picked up her hand under the table and watched as Remus took a deep breath, then smiled a small, nervous smile. "Ok then, we'll leave the rest up to you James."

"Good luck mate." Sirius said as he patted him on the shoulder.

"Go easy on him Lily." Peter chimed in as the three boys all stood up. Sirius patted Remus on the back as they ushered him out. He still looked incredibly peaky.

Lily just looked at James who had a panicked look on his face as he watched them go.

"James, what's going on?"

"I'm not exactly sure." He looked around the diner. "Maybe we should so somewhere…more private."

Lily sat cross-legged on James's bed, her mouth hanging slightly open as he explained the entire story to her.

"All this time?" She asked in a stunned amazement.

"He was bitten when he was really young."

"That's horrible. And he's been hiding it ever since?"

"Yeah…we figured it out around the end of our first year…It was the beginning of our fourth year that we decided to become Animagus, by the beginning of fifth, the three of us had it down. After that, Sirius and I were able to help him when he transformed. It's easier for him when were there, we can keep him from clawing and biting at himself."

Lily gasped a little. "Poor Remus."

James nodded a little, still looking worried. "You're, you won't tell anyone, right?"

"Of course not." She looked a little surprised he would even have to ask. "Remus is the only one of you lot I've ever been able to put up with."

"Funny." He said, sounding only a little bit jealous. He had always had a few suspicions about why Moony was always in such a good mood when he came back from doing prefect duties. Though he would never ever admit it to Lily, for fear of sever bodily harm, he had always made it quite clear that when it came to his fellow Marauders, Lily was off limits. "So, um…am I forgiven?"

"No." She said with a tiny smile. "But you're, excused. But if I ever find out you've been lying to me again, none of your friends will be able to save you."

"Fair enough," He said as he felt relief flooding over him. "And Lily, I really am sorry."

She reached over and picked up his hand and squeezed it, then frowned. "Wait." She looked at him seriously. "You guys don't…you don't take him out, do you?"

James hesitated. "Er…define, out."

"James!" She yelled, looking livid.

Oh, bugger. Figures now is when she makes me swear not to lie to her. "Only places really far away from people. We never let him out of our sight." He explained.

That was the truth, sort of.

James looked at her apprehensively, waiting for her to start yelling again.

"You know what," Lily said, sounding mildly exasperated. "I don't want to know. That can be a new rule; you don't tell me about all of the moronic stunts you and your friends do."

"I think that is a brilliant idea." James said with a smile. A smile that quickly turned into a yawn.

"Tired?" She asked.

"Yeah, a bit."

"Too bad, you stay out all night; you have to pay for it."

James groaned a little. "Fine."

"I'm kidding James. I'm actually a bit tired myself. I think I'll go lie down." She went to get up but James grabbed her around the waist and pulled her down next to him.

"James." She chided.

"Lily." He said, smiling. "Don't go."

Lily hesitated.

"Just to sleep, I swear." He kicked off his own shoes pointedly and lay out across the bed, looking hopeful. Lily rolled her eyes and gave in and lay down next to him. She smiled as she settled down into the nook of his arm.

She had to admit, it was quite nice there. She felt his arm slip around her waist gently and nestled into him, feeling an undeniable safeness there. In fact, she could spend the remaining week like this and die happy.

There were too many things swirling around in her mind to fall asleep though. She had considered it, Remus being a werewolf, but she had chalked that up to just being panicked about James, she didn't think he actually was. James being an animagi had been completely unexpected, incredible, but unexpected.

She nervously stretched her arm out across his chest and hugged him to her. Despite all of the practice they had at it, she hated fighting with him.

This was definitely something she could get used to, she thought, as she began drifting off.

AN: Sorry it too so long to get out! The last two were just sort of filler chapters so they were really hard to write and keep with the plot line, but thing are going to speed up now, expect about, five or six more chapters (their only there for two weeks, remember). But thank you all for the great reviews, and thank you to all the phantom readers who aren't reviewing, I've gotten about 2500 hits so I know you're out there. I appreciate your support.