A/N: Working two jobs sucks real hard... Review please.
Chapter Seven:
The Fire in the Heads' Common Room as James, Lily, Sirius and Peter entered. James and Sirius stomped over to the couch and threw themselves down upon it. Lily chose one of the armchairs closest to the fire, while Peter made his way to the window to stare out over the grounds. The sun was setting behind the lake.
"How does...what the...where the hell does Dumbledore get off ordering us to stay in the Tower?" James demanded rhetorically.
"He sent you out of the castle to get Remus' mom. You fought off two Death Eaters!"
"We knew where Mrs. Lupin was," said Lily, turning away from the fire to face the boys. "He doesn't want to risk our lives for a wild goose chase when Remus could be in the castle still for all we know."
James and Sirius straightened up, glancing at each other, and Peter turned on the spot. "The map!" he exclaimed.
"How the hell did we not think of that before?" James said as he scrambled over the back of the couch.
"What is 'the map?'" Lily asked wearily. Sirius had stood and started jumping on the couch to release some sudden excess energy.
"The coolest thing we Marauders have accomplished by far!"
"Should I be afraid?"
"It's nothing bad, Lily," Peter said with a kind smile. He moved to sit next to Sirius.
James heard Sirius and Peter explaining the map to Lily and smiled slightly at the look of flat disbelief that he knew she was giving them. Finally, he located the map in the depths of his sock drawer. Bounding back into the common room, he pulled his wand out of his pocket. He kneeled next to the table and spread out the ragged-looking piece of parchment. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he said, tapping it with his wand.
Lily let out an audible gasp as Hogwarts drew itself on the map, tiny labeled dots moving around it. James smirked at her before, turning back to the map. "Here's us," he said, pointing at a small cluster of four dots. "Now we've just got to find Remus."
"He's got to be here somewhere," Sirius muttered, leaning in closer.
"Maybe he's in Hogsmeade," Peter suggested after a long ten minutes of silent searching.
"How would he get there? There's no way out of the school without Dumbledore knowing-"
"Oh, simple, rule-abiding Lily-kins," Sirius said in a sing-song voice.
James pointed out seven lines that lead off of one side of the parchment. "These," he said, "are all secret passages that lead out to Hogsmeade. What did you think Dumbledore was having Sirius and Peter secure?"
"I know, but Dumbledore knows abo-"
"If Dumbledore knew about them all, he wouldn't have needed us to secure them all," Sirius said simply.
"The headmaster only knows about the passages under the Whomping Willow and the one in the fourth floor boys bathroom."
"And the only reason that he knows about the ladder is because darling Snivellus ratted us out one day when we were coming back from Honeydukes," said Sirius. "That's when we got the idea for the map."
"So what should we do?" James asked, getting back to the matter at hand.
"I'll go into Hogsmeade under your cloak and you and Lily can stay here to keep an eye on the map. Wormtail here can come with me. We'll take the mirror with us."
"Why can't-"
"Look, Prongs," Sirius said quickly, "I know it sucks, but you're Head Boy now. We've got to be careful. Not to mention how pissed Dumbledore will be if we all go missing."
James bit his lip. "Fine." He lifted his wand. "Accio invisibility cloak."
As Peter and Sirius left the common room, James perched himself on the arm of Lily's seat. He hung his head and let his breath out slowly.
"Remus is going to be okay, James," Lily said with certainty as she laid a comforting hand on James' shoulder. "He's an extraordinary wizard."
"Yeah," James mumbled, "but he's all-consumed with grief and already weak from the-" James broke off suddenly.
"From the full moon," Lily finished quietly. James twisted to see her properly. "Remus told me when we were in fifth year," she answered James' questioning look.
"I was wondering why you weren't wondering why he was in the infirmary in the first place."
Lily only shrugged.
Every couple of minutes, they glanced at the map, knowing that Remus wasn't about to jump out at them. James eventually moved to the couch and laid down.
"Hey, James?"
James looked from the map to Lily. She was much closer than he had expected her to be. "Is this going to be another deep question about love or something? Life and death? Light and dark?"
"No."
"Okay then. What's up?"
"Why do you guys have such weird nicknames?"
"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs?" Lily nodded. "Well, you can guess why Remus is called Moony, I think." Another nod. "As for me, Sirius and Peter...can you keep a secret?"
"Is it hurting anybody?"
"No, but it is kind of, sort of, really illegal."
Lily furrowed her brow, James sighed. He stood, moving to the space behind the couch. "Don't freak out." And in the next instant, James was Prongs.
Lily gasped, stumbling backwards from where she was kneeling over the map. "Holy shit!"
Prongs smirked; he had never heard Lily swear so freely. He jumped to get over the couch, and changed into James in the air. He landed about three feet from Lily expertly.
"Not hurting anyone," he said again, "but very illegal."
"Werewolves are no danger to animals," Lily said slowly. She raised her gaze to meet his. "You three are with him during his...his transformations."
"Yeah..."
"That's dangerous."
"We know."
"You guys are great friends."
"We try to be."
Lily asked when they had become anamagi, so James bunched into the whole story, all the while keeping one eye on the map.
"The magical skill that you boys possess is leaving me flabbergasted."
"Wow. Thanks," James said, pretending to be sarcastic. They both laughed. James sobered up quickly, however. "I'm worried," he stated.
"I know."
James scanned the map again. As his eyes swept the bottom-right corner-the Forbidden Forest-his heart jolted. "I see him!" he exclaimed, pointing. "He's in the Forest."
Lily looked at the map. "How deep in the Forest?"
"Extremely." Lily gulped nervously. "You should stay here," James said, snatching up the map and jumping to his feet. He pulled a small mirror out of his pocket. "Sirius," he said into it.
Lily walked over to look into the mirror and gasped when Sirius' face appeared in it rather than James'.
"What's up, buddy?" Sirius whispered.
"He's in the Forbidden Forest," James said quietly. "Come back to school."
"Are you two going into the Forest for him?"
"I am."
"We'll meet you in there."
Nodding, James put the mirror back into his pocket and glanced up at Lily. "A little something we came up with for when we're forced into separate detentions," he said, shrugging. She laughed a little. "I'll be back soon. If Dumbledore comes back and looks for us tell him-"
"Screw that, James Potter, I'm coming too," Lily cut him off. "How could I pass up the chance to ride a stag?"
"You passed that opportunity up repeatedly for the past 5 years," James said, not skipping a beat, a flash of his old, arrogant self coming to the surface. Lily rolled her eyes and smacked his arm.
"Don't be an ass."
"Right. We have to move carefully since Peter and Sirius have my invisibility cloak." Map in hand, James moved to exit the common room, but he was brought up short when he glanced at the old parchment.
"What's wrong?"
"Death Eaters," James breathed.
"On the map? But how-"
"We need to send a message to McGonagall," James cut Lily off.
Lily brandished her wand and a silver doe sprang into being and bounded out of the window. James filed the form of Lily's patronous away in the back of his mind for later discussion. He turned and bolted out of the common room, Lily on his heels.
Peeves the poltergeist passed them going in the opposite direction but paid them no mind. He was busy torturing the caretaker's pet cat.
As they thundered down the marble staircase, Professor McGonagall appeared in the entrance hall. "How do you know?" James bit his lip. There was no way to get out of showing McGonagall the map, but she would, without a doubt confiscate it...
Sighing, he pulled the map from his back pocket and showed her. Blank shock showed on her face as she registered what she was seeing. James pointed to the place where five Death Eaters were wandering through the forest, presumably looking for Remus.
"Go back to your common room," McGonagall commanded.
"No," James said firmly. "Remus is out there. I am going to help him, Professor."
"We're in the Order," Lily hissed so no one would overhear, "and we're of age."
"The longer we stand here and argue about this, the more dangerous it's going to be," James pointed out. Before McGonagall could say anything, James turned and bolted out the giant oak doors. He could hear both McGonagall and Lily following him. He knew where Remus was sitting, it was a favorite place of the Marauders, a clearing that they frequented during full moons.
"Potter!" McGonagall shouted as James entered the forest. "Get ba-EVANS! We must wait for the other professors!"
When neither student stopped for her, McGonagall sent a patronus message to the other professors and followed James and Lily. James cursed this fact as he would have been able to move much faster as Prongs, even if he had had to carry Lily on his back. He also didn't like not having the map. He knew the forest like the back of his hand, but he didn't know where the Death Eaters were...
After what seemed like an eternity, James stumbled to a halt in the clearing. Remus was perched on a low tree branch. He looked alert, deadly. For a moment, James only stared; he saw the wolf in Remus' eyes and knew somehow that he was in danger of becoming the monster he had once thought he was.
James could hear McGonagall and Lily catching up to him. He began walking toward the tree.
"What is it, James?" Remus all but whispered.
James jumped to grab a branch and pulled himself up into the tree. "How'd you know it was me?"
"Because the would have been quieter," Remus answered. "Sirius and Peter are luring them here."
"As anamagi or humans?"
"Does it matter?"
"McGonagall has the map."
If Remus was registering the loss of this important tool, he didn't show it. "Humans," he said.
McGonagall and Lily appeared behind them. James grabbed Remus' wand arm. "McGonagall and Lily," he said. Remus nodded, and James released his arm.
"What are you do-"
"Shh." James turned. "Death Eaters coming. We're going to ambush them. Can I see the map, Professor?"
"Understand, Potter, that when this is all over, that map must be confiscated," said McGonagall.
"I understand, Professor."
McGonagall handed James the map. Sirius and Peter's dots were about were about twenty yards north of the clearing. Five Death Eaters were hot on their tails.
"They're almost here," James said, folding the map and putting it in his back pocket. "Get ready."
"I'm ready," Remus growled, tightening his grip on his wand until his knuckles were white.
"Don't kill any of them, Moony," James whispered.
"Why shouldn't I?"
"Because you are better than them," said James, gripping his friend's shoulder. "You know how this works. We bleed them dry in questioning and they get sent to the Ministry and Azkaban. You know Dumbledore may not be able to spare you from a trial. You will go to Azkaban. And you can't punish the people responsible if you're locked up." James noticed Remus' grip slacken slightly. "Good man," he said.
Sirius and Peter burst into the clearing ahead of them. "Fifteen seconds," Sirius hissed.
"Black! Pettigrew! What are you doing out here?"
"With all due respect, Professor, now is not the time," Sirius said, moving behind the tree to where Lily was standing, gripping her wand tightly.
Remus aimed his wand at the nearest tree. As the five masked men burst into the clearing, he whispered, "Reducto!"
The tree was blasted apart. It caught the Death Eaters completely by surprise. They dived for cover as James and Remus jumped from the tree and the others charged forward. The Death Eaters lashed back with curses of their own, but they were poorly aimed. Cries of "Stupefy!" and "Petrificous totalis!" were heard and just like that, the threat was neutralized.
"Good work," said McGonagall. "Especially with the tree, Mr. Lupin." Remus nodded. "I suggest you all go back to the castle before the teachers who are not involved in the Order get here. Mr. Lupin, you will need to stay. They already know that you were missing tonight."
"Here's the map, Professor," said James. She took it, nodding her thanks. Sirius looked as if James had just slapped him. James shook his head, indicating that he would explain later.
Without another word to McGonagall or Remus, James led Lily, Sirius and Peter back into the forest. Once they were out of earshot of the clearing, Sirius rounded on James.
"What the hell, James?"
"There was no other way we'd know there were Death Eaters in the forest," James said calmly. "I'm sorry, but some things are more important than others." Sirius kicked at a rock sulkily.
"Can we move faster?" Lily asked quietly. "I don't like lingering in here. It's creepy."
James, without missing a step, transformed into his animagus form. Sirius lifted Lily onto his back before he and Peter took to their animagi forms as well. The stag, dog and rat broke into a run.
At the edge of the forest where the trees began to grow further apart, James and Sirius assumed their human forms again while Peter continued on in order to keep a lookout for Filch. Lily was still on James' back, arms around his neck, but he let her down as they exited the cover of the trees.
Sirius and Peter left James and Lily for Gryffindor Tower once they were past the marble staircase. James pulled his invisibility cloak over himself and Lily. They didn't exactly fit, but neither cared, the closeness was comforting, and not getting caught out of bed was a good excuse for it.
"Death Eaters on the grounds..." Lily breathed as they made their way to the Heads' Tower. "What next?"
James sighed, but said nothing. Upon entering the common room, he pulled the cloak off of them and hung it on the coat rack next to the entrance. Lily sat herself on the couch. She seemed to be trying to compose herself. As James perched himself on the arm of the couch, he slid an arm around her. "Don't worry," he said, trying to sound bright. "We got 'em. Dumbledore's got to have been informed by now, so he'll be back soon. And Remus is safe, so...yeah."
"Until this weekend, I didn't realize how close this war is to us," Lily admitted, leaning into James' embrace. "We're only seventeen... How in Merlin's name do we do this? I mean...I...I..."
"I know," James said simply. "We need to grow up now, fast, and it's unfair. But we have to do it. Because if our generation doesn't take care of this crap, our kids will have to. And if I'm blessed with children, I do not want them to have to grow up as fast as I did."
Lily's hand found James' and she squeezed it. She rubbed her eyes tiredly, realizing for the first time how little sleep she had had in the past few days. "I'm tired."
"Go to bed?"
"I don't want to be alone."
"I'll sit with you until you fall asleep," James offered, standing and holding out a hand. When she took it, he pulled her up off the couch. When he made to let go, she doubled her grip and pulled him in the direction of his bedroom. James silently followed.
Lily crawled into James' unmade bed, fixing the covers so that they were straightened. "Are we switching bedrooms?" James asked, feigning naivety.
Lily rolled her eyes at him. He moved closer when she held a hand out to him. She pulled him down on top of her. Their lips brushed slightly, but neither said anything. James rolled so that he was next to her and she moved in order to facilitate being in his arms. They stared into each others eyes for a long moment, subconsciously moving forward bit by bit.
A million things were rushing through James' head, and yet his mind was blank. He had no idea whether or not to move forward, to kiss the girl whom he had had a crush on for the better part of four years, almost five. His world was upside down, dark. He felt older, by far, than seventeen. Around him, he saw and felt so much death and destruction, and he knew in his heart of hearts that there was still so much more to come. But as Lily closed the gap between their lips, none of it mattered anymore. All that mattered in existence was the way her lips were moving with his own, the way she slid her tongue over his bottom lip, and the way their tongues danced with each other.
He vaguely felt Lily's fingers tangling themselves in his raven hair. Though he had forgotten that any part of him save his mouth existed, his hands now sprung to life, one moving up to hold her head and the other moving slowly down her back to rest at her waist. James doubted that there had been or would ever be a more perfect kiss.
When they finally, reluctantly, broke apart, James was gasping for a proper breath. Lily was blushing slightly. "Wow..." he whispered.
"Yeah..." Lily steadied herself before looking up at James. "This is going to sound really, really horrible, but since your parents died, you've been a completely different person than you used to be. I hate the reason that you've matured into this person, but I really like that you have finally matured. I mean...shit. This sounds so bad." Lily sighed frustratedly. "I've always liked you, but not the way you acted. You're still you, just now you don't act that way anymore. Jeez...I'm sor-"
"No, no, I completely understand," said James, a small smile playing on his lips. "In hindsight, I was extremely insufferable, wasn't I?" Lily smiled. She kissed him again briefly. "I could get used to that," he said.
"Even if there's so much darkness in this world?" Lily questioned. He nodded. She settled herself back, cuddling into James' chest. He adjusted his arms, drawing her closer. The next thing either of them knew, they were out cold.