I am a horrible human being! Three weeks is way too long; I am so sorry! Writer's block and school are to blame. But, here it is, the last chapter (finally).
The Wolfsbane took three attempts to get it right. Even for Lily- who had the second highest grade for Potions in their year- the Wolfsbane was difficult to brew. The first attempt had been a complete failure. It was not the right color, texture, or consistency. The second had been better; the consistency was only a little thicker than it needed to be. On the third and final try, Lily thought she had gotten it right. Since there was no way to test it, Lily had to rely on how it looked and smelled. It seemed to match up with what Slughorn had told her.
James, Lily, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were all sitting in the boy's dormitory. It was a week before the full moon, and Lily had just finished brewing the Wolfsbane correctly. She handed a cup of dark brown liquid to Remus.
"You have to drink it every day this week, otherwise it won't work," Lily told Remus, and he nodded his head, taking the glass.
"That smells bloody awful," Sirius commented, wrinkling his nose. Remus looked down at the muddy-looking potion, raised his glass, and downed it in three gulps. When he pulled the glass from his lips, his face was contorted with disgust.
James couldn't help but laugh at his expression. Remus scowled at him, which only caused James to laugh harder.
"James! Be nice!" Lily said, smacking him on the arm. James could tell it was only a half-hearted smack; he could see the slight smirk playing on her lips. Grinning, he pulled his girlfriend closer and turned to Remus.
"Sorry, mate." Remus nodded in response.
"That tastes worse than it smells," Remus said, eyeing his empty cup with dislike. "If it works, though, it will be worth it."
"Guess we'll find out next week on the full moon," Sirius said. They all nodded. James knew how much was resting on this potion. If it worked, it would change Remus' life. James hoped, for Remus' sake, that the potion was not a disappointment.
"So," Lily started, looking at the boys, "Can I come with you guys next week? To see if it works?"
All four boys looked at her wearily.
"Lily…" James said, giving her a look. "It's too dangerous. I'm sorry."
"But I can handle myself! Please? Just this once?" Lily looked to Remus. He gave her an apologetic expression.
"I'm afraid I agree with James. It's way too dangerous out there."
"Oh, come on! I made the potion! Shouldn't I at least be able to see if it works?"
"Lily, if it doesn't work, then you would be in danger from me as a werewolf."
"Yeah, there's no way I'm letting you come until we know it works for sure," James said. He saw Lily struggle to think of a rebuttal.
"Why don't you just wait someplace safe, and then if it works, we could come get you," Sirius suggested. James toyed with the idea for a minute, and decided that Lily would be safe that way. He saw that Lily also seemed to think it was a good idea.
"Where would I wait?" The boys exchanged thoughtful glances.
"How about the main entrance of the school?" Remus suggested.
"What if a teacher walks by?"
"You could use my Invisibility Cloak. That way you'd be safe from teachers and…" James trailed off.
"And from me," Remus finished.
It got quiet for a moment, nobody knowing quite what to say.
"Well, I can deal with waiting by the doors, I guess," Lily said finally. James grinned at her.
"It's settled then," he said to her. She nodded and smiled. James had a sudden urge to kiss her then, so without hesitation, he planted a quick kiss on her lips.
"Gross!" Sirius shouted, causing James to grin madly and Lily to roll her eyes.
"Jealous, Padfoot?" James said with a smirk. Sirius scowled at him.
"Definitely not. I could never be all lovey-dovey like you two. It sickens me!" Sirius exclaimed. James just chuckled and shook his head.
"Sirius, one day you're going to meet a girl, and fall head over heels for her. Then you'll understand," Lily said knowingly. Sirius snorted.
"Not gunna happen, Flower. Sirius Black does notfall in love," he said. Lily rolled her eyes again, muttering a "We'll see" and standing up. James looked at her questioningly.
"I told Alice I'd meet her later to do homework. I'll see you later," she said. She gave James a kiss and walked out of the dormitory. James watched her retreating form until she disappeared completely, and then turned to see his friends staring at him.
"What?"
"You are ridiculous," Sirius told him.
"Why?" James asked, confused.
"Because you've barely been dating a month, and you already act like you would die without her."
"We've only been dating a month, but I've loved her for five years. Of course I would die without her," James told him seriously.
"That's why I'm never going to fall in love," Sirius said.
"Well, I didn't exactly choose to be in love with Lily. It just happened. It wasn't something I could control, or stop, even if I wanted to."
"But you never wanted to," Sirius pointed out.
"No, I never wanted to. Loving Lily feels like breathing to me. It's natural. Instinctual. Just... Right."
"So, what, are you going to propose to her now?" Sirius said sarcastically.
"Well, actually..." James said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
"Mate?" Sirius said wearily. Instead of answering, James got up and rummaged through his trunk. He pulled out a small velvet box.
"IS THAT A-" Sirius began shouting, but James cut him off.
"A wedding ring? Yeah."
"You're going to propose?!" Sirius yelled incredulously.
"Keep it down, will ya?" James asked, quickly getting up to shut the door.
"Sorry," Sirius replied, "I just can't believe you're going to propose!"
"I'm not right now! But, next year, I am."
"Did you buy that for Lily?" Remus asked, speaking for the first time since Lily had left.
"No, my mom gave it to me this summer. She said, and I quote, 'I just have a feeling that you are going to need it soon. So I wanted to give it to you now, just in case.' And then she said that if I lost it, she would kill me. My father gave it to her the day before they graduated school, so it's really important to her."
"Your mom always has had that uncanny ability to predict the future. Remember that one time she told me that I shouldn't keep my wand in my back pocket because I would sit down and break it? And then, while I was telling her that that was ridiculous, I sat down and broke my wand? Remember that?" James laughed.
"I remember," he said, still laughing. Remus and Peter were snickering as well.
"It's not funny, mates!" Sirius exclaimed. "I loved that wand!" This only caused them to laugh harder. Sirius scowled and muttered, "Some friends you lot are," under his breath.
Once they had all stopped laughing, James got up and carefully put the ring back in his trunk.
"So, what should we do now?" Peter asked.
"I feel like playing some Quidditch," James said. The other three boys nodded, and they all agreed to have a two-on-two game.
The air outside was cold, but James didn't mind it. He knew it would feel good once he started playing. They had decided on the teams as they had walked outside; it was James and Peter versus Sirius and Remus. The four boys took their stances, and began playing. They played for hours; neither team wanted to quit while the other was ahead. Finally, they unanimously decided to stop playing. Tired, and sweaty, the boys dragged themselves inside to get a fresh change of clothes and a towel to shower with.
James was about to go up the steps to his dormitory when he saw Lily sitting on the common room couch, reading. He smiled, and went over to her instead.
"Hey Beautiful," he said to her.
"Hey Handsome," she said, but then she looked up from her book and saw his grungy appearance. "Or should I say, hey Sweaty." She wrinkled her nose.
"Do I really smell that bad?" he asked. She only nodded in response. He grinned.
"I was playing Quidditch," he said.
"I gathered that. Now, please go take a shower." James pretended to debate about showering, and laughed when he saw Lily glaring at him.
"Okay, fine. I'll be back soon," he told her, and went to the showers.
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Lily had been waiting barely ten minutes when James sauntered back into the common room.
"Hey, again," he greeted.
"Hi," she said in return as he sat down next to her. She moved into him, snuggling against his chest. He smelled like soap, Lily noticed with relief. James put his arm around her, and they stayed in content silence for a few minutes.
"Lily," James said, breaking the silence, "What do you want to do after you graduate?"
"I haven't really thought about it," she told him, wondering what had brought the question on.
"At all?"
"No, not really," she answered. "I mean, eventually I would like to start a family, but not for a few years after school."
"Oh," James said.
"What about you? Do you still want to be an Auror?"
"I'm not sure." Lily sat up at this, and looked at him curiously.
"You're not sure?"
"I might want to do something else when I get out of school," he said.
"Like what?"
"I don't know," he said, running his fingers through his hair, "Get a house, marry you, settle down, start a family. I don't think I'll have time to-" Lily cut him off.
"Did you say marry me?" she asked incredulously. James turned red.
"Well, um... Yeah," he said nervously. Lily's eyes widened in shock, and she watched as James grew redder.
"Not right now!" he said quickly, and then seemed to think he had said the wrong thing. "Well, not to say that I don't love you, because I do! It's just that I don't think we should get married right now, cause we're in school and all. Well, of course, if you said you wanted to right now, then I would be ecstatic, but I know that you probably don't want to cause we've only been dating a month and-"
Although Lily thought James' rambling was cute, she decided to put him out of his misery. She kissed him, cutting him off mid-ramble. When she pulled away, she smiled at him, and he smiled back.
"Sorry. Guess I was rambling, wasn't I?"
"Yeah," she said.
"Are you upset?" he asked nervously.
"No, not at all! I was just caught off guard; you said it so bluntly, I wasn't prepared for the proclamation. But I think it's sweet that you are thinking that far ahead for us. I could never be mad at that." James visibly relaxed.
"And James, if your dream is to be an Auror, then I want you to go for it. No matter how much it worries me, I still want you to be happy. If being an Auror will make you happy, then you should do it."
"Being with you makes me happy. Making you happy makes me happy. Just looking at you and knowing that you want to be with me makes me happy," James said, and again, Lily was surprised by the bluntness of his statement. She snuggled into him again, and sighed contentedly.
"Whatever you want to do is okay with me," Lily told him. She closed her eyes and listened to James' rhythmic breathing. Tiredness overcame her, and soon she was fast asleep on James' chest.
Lily woke to voices.
"Why can't I wake them up?" Lily immediately recognized Sirius' voice.
"Because it's rude. Just let them sleep." The second voice belonged to Remus.
"You should know by now that I don't care if I'm being rude or not!" Sirius said, much too loudly.
"Keep your voice down," Remus implored. Lily decided that know was a good time to open her eyes and let them know she was awake.
"Oh, good morning, Flower! We were just talking about you!" Sirius said when he saw Lily awake.
"I heard," she said, sitting up. James was still sleeping next to her. She lightly shook him.
"Don't even bother. He'll never wake up like that," Sirius told her.
"Well, how do you usually wake him up?" Lily asked. Sirius gave her a mischievous grin.
"I'm glad you asked," he said while pulling out his wand.
"Never mind!" Lily said quickly, causing Sirius' face to become crestfallen. Lily thought for a moment, and then smiled. She knew exactly how to wake James up. She leaned down and captured James' lips with her own. She distantly heard Sirius make a gagging sound. Lily waited until she felt James respond to the kiss, and then pulled away. His eyes shot open.
"Hey!" he said in protest, leaning up to kiss her again.
"James," Lily said, gently pushing him back down.
"We're standing right here, mate!" Sirius exclaimed. James looked over, and scowled at his friends.
"Well, stop standing right there and go somewhere else so I can kiss my girlfriend!"
"James," Lily said, standing up despite his effort to keep her next to him. "We have to go to breakfast and I have to brew a fresh batch of Wolfsbane for Remus." Both Remus and James frowned at this.
"Fine," James said, standing up beside her. "See you at breakfast." Lily gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and then went to get ready for the day.
Once she was done, she quickly made the Wolfsbane potion. She put the liquid in a sealed cup and stashed it in her cloak. She walked down to the Great Hall, and looked for the four boys she had become so familiar with. She spotted them easily, and went to sit with them.
"Here," Lily said, sliding the potion over to Remus. He took it, and drank it without complaint.
The rest of the day passed slowly, as did the rest of the week. After what felt like months, it was the day of the full moon. Everyone was anxiously anticipating that night. Lily was praying the Wolfsbane potion worked. If not, Remus would be devastated, and she would feel awful for giving him that false hope.
"Lily?" James said beside her, pulling her from her thoughts.
"Yeah?"
"Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah, let's go," she said, and the two headed to the main doors.
"Now remember," James started, for the third time, "Wait here until I come get you. And make sure you have your-"
"My wand and a broom stick," she interrupted, shaking her head at him. "James, we've been over this. I know what to do. I'll be okay. Stop worrying so much." He sighed, and turned to face her, causing them both to stop walking.
"I know you think you can handle it, Lily. But you don't know what it's like out there. You've never seen Remus when he gets mad. It's not pretty, and it's definitely not safe for a human to be around. I just want you to be prepared. In case the Wolfsbane doesn't work. I'm not trying to irritate you; I'm trying to keep you safe."
"I will be," she told him. He didn't look convinced, but starting walking again anyway.
They reached the main doors and stood, waiting for Remus, Sirius, and Peter. The three boys came around the corner within minutes.
"Well, here we go," Remus said in a nervous voice.
"Cheer up, mate! This is going to be exciting!" Sirius exclaimed with a broad smile.
"We'll see," Remus replied.
"We better head out," James said. Lily gave him a goodbye kiss, and watched as the four boys walked onto the grounds. Lily sat on the steps, and threw the Invisibility Cloak over her.
She waited. Twenty minutes went by. The forty-five. She had been sitting on the steps for an hour, and was about to go inside, when she heard a noise. It was a distant thumping. The sound got closer, and Lily realized it was the sound of galloping. A large stag burst out of the forest seconds later. Before Lily's eyes, the stag turned into her boyfriend.
"It works!" he shouted as he walked closer. Lily ran out to meet him.
"It works!" he said again when she was closer. She saw the huge smile that was plastered on his face, and smiled herself.
"Well, what are we waiting for? I want to go see for myself!" Lily exclaimed. Without a word, James morphed back into a stag and waited.
"What?" Lily asked, confused. James looked at her, then his back, then at her again, waiting for her to comprehend.
"You want me to ride you?" Lily asked incredulously. James nodded.
Lily stepped forward uncertainly. She had never even ridden a horse before; she had no idea how to ride a stag. After struggling for a few minutes, she finally managed to get on James back the right way.
"I'm not sure where to hold-" Lily never finished her question. James took off into the forest, nearly causing Lily to fall off. She desperately grabbed for anything she could hold on too. Her hand connected with an antler, and she grasped it, righting herself. She then snaked her arms around James' neck and held on tightly. Lily watched the forest whizz by when, all of a sudden, there was no more forest. They were in a small clearing that seemed to be right in the middle of the Forbidden Forest.
To the side of the clearing, Sirius and Peter were standing, in human form. But it was the center of the clearing that drew Lily's attention. It was the funniest sight Lily had ever seen.
Remus was chasing his tail.
Lily got off James and burst into a fit of laughter. The sound seemed to alert Remus of her presence; he stopped spinning and looked at her. Without warning, he bounded towards her. He skidded to a stop directly in front of her, and, in one lick, covered her entire face with werewolf slobber.
"Ew, Remus!" Lily shouted, wiping her face off with her sleeve, but laughing regardless. She guessed that was his way of thanking her.
"Hey, that's my girlfriend!" James- who had changed back into a human- said in mock anger. Remus backed away, and went back to running around. Sirius changed into his Animagus form, and began running with Remus.
Lily stood and watched the two run and play. It was such an unusual sight; she couldn't help but laugh. They both seemed so carefree.
"I have to tell Wormtail something; I'll be right back," James said to her. Lily nodded in response, and watched James walk to the other side of the clearing where Peter was standing.
She had been so focused on James that she didn't notice the change that overcame Remus. The loud snarl, however, made it clear. The potion had worn off.
"Lily! Get out of here!" James panicked voice yelled to her. He changed into a stag before she could reply.
Lily blindly felt for the broom she had put on the ground. Only now, when she realized how dark it had gotten, did she think that putting her means of escape on the dark forest floor was, perhaps, not the smartest choice. Finally, she felt the sleek wood of the broom. She picked it up, and had just stood up, when Remus was suddenly in front of her. He growled, and lunged for her. Instinctually, Lily took a step back, falling, and raised her hands in front of her face. Remus' teeth sunk into the broom she didn't realize she was still holding, which splintered, and broke into pieces.
Lily saw something flash by her, and the next thing she knew, James had plowed into Remus. Remus snarled, and chased James deeper into the forest. Sirius ran after them, still in dog- form. Peter was nowhere to be seen.
Lily took a deep breath to steady herself, and then started walking in the direction she thought she had come. The forest was so dark; Lily could barely see her hand in front of her. It was a minute before she remembered her wand. She dug in her robes for her wand to light the way, but stopped dead when she realized it wasn't there. Frantically, she felt the ground for it. Lily knew it was a futile attempt; her wand was probably in the clearing where she had fallen. She looked around. She had no idea where she was, couldn't see a thing, and was completely disoriented. Lily began to panic. She was suddenly hyper-aware of the sounds of the forest. The birds calling, the scratching of a small animal, the rustle of the trees in the wind.
An owl hooted in the tree next to Lily, scaring her, and without thinking, she let out a small scream and took off running. She ran, tripped, got up, and starting running again. She just wanted to get out of the forest!
Suddenly, Lily saw a big animal cross her path, and tripped, head first, over it. She heard it squeal, and was about to get up to run again, when she heard a very human- sounding groan.
"Who's there?" Lily called tentatively.
"Lily? Is that you?" Lily blew a sigh of relief.
"Sirius," she said shakily. She heard rustling, and then saw Sirius in front of her. She took his extended hand and he pulled her to a standing position.
"All right, Evans?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little shaken up," she answered.
"I think we all are. Nobody was ready for that. We let our guard down too much. I can't believe we were so stupid! Now, we're all scattered in the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night. I don't even know where my wand is!" he said angrily.
"I lost mine, too."
"I hope Peter has his. He's got the map."
"The map?" Lily asked.
"The Marauders Map," Sirius explained. "It shows all of Hogwarts, including the grounds. And it shows where everybody is. But, you can only use it if you know how, and it requires a wand to open. So if Wormtail doesn't have his wand, then he won't be able to find us and get us out of the forest."
"Where did you get the map?" Lily asked.
"We made it," Sirius said, and Lily could hear the pride in his voice.
"Impressive," Lily told him earnestly.
"Thanks," he said, and even though she couldn't see him, she knew he was smiling. They waited a few minutes in silence, both hoping that Peter would find them. Their waiting paid off; a light, which could only be cast by a wand, was approaching them.
"Wormtail?" Sirius called to the light.
"Yeah, it's me!" Wormtail called back. He walked up to them, holding his wand in one hand, and the map in the other.
"Where are James and Remus?" Sirius asked immediately.
"James is this way," Peter said, pointing to the left, "And Remus is over there." He pointed behind them.
"Okay. We get James first, then you take Lily back inside, while James and I find Remus," Sirius said, and began walking in the direction James was.
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The first thing James noticed was that he was lying on something cold. He opened his eyes, but only saw black. That's when he remembered where he was.
"Lily!" he said, sitting up quickly, and instantly regretting it. His head was throbbing.
'What happened?' James thought, and tried to remember how he had gotten on the ground.
He remembered knocking into Remus to get him away from Lily. Then, Remus had chased him for quite some distance before suddenly veering off in another direction completely. He had looked back to see where Remus was going… And then nothing. He could not remember what had happened next.
James looked around to see if that would give him any clues. In front of him was a large tree trunk. James stared at the tree, and then realization dawned on him. He had run into a tree. And it had knocked him out cold. Groaning, James stood up.
"James?" he heard, and recognized Lily's voice.
"Lily?" he called. He heard a lot of rustling, and realized that Lily was not alone. Then, he saw Sirius, Lily, and Peter come from around a tree.
"James!" Lily exclaimed, throwing herself onto him in a hug. The force of it caused James to stumble back, but once he regained his balance, he hugged her fiercely.
"Are you okay?" he asked frantically, pulling away to look at her face in the dim light Peter's wand provided.
"I'm fine. How about you? Are you okay? Peter said you weren't moving for a long time," she said, worry plain in her voice.
"Yeah, I, um…" James said, not wanting to tell his friends and girlfriend what had actually happened.
"James? What happened?"
"Well, I kinda… ran into a tree…" It was silent.
"You ran into a tree?" Sirius asked finally, and James could tell by his voice that he was on the verge of laughter. James chose not to respond.
"Which tree was it?" James sighed, and pointed to the tree.
"This tree?" Sirius burst into a fit of laughter. "I can see how you missed that one, mate. I mean, it's only a hundred feet tall and six feet wide. Trees need to be at least two hundred feet tall and-"
"Oh, shut up, will ya? I wasn't looking at it when I ran into it!"
"Well, that's probably why you ran into it then," Sirius said, as if it was the smartest assumption he had ever made. "That's enough chatter though. We need to go find Remus. James and I will bring you two-" he motioned to Lily and Peter, "-to the edge of the forest, and then you guys will go inside. James and I will find Remus. Okay? Let's go."
Sirius began walking without confirmation for his plan, which forced the rest of them to follow along. Not that James minded; he thought it was a good plan. Lily would be safe, and he and Sirius could focus on finding Remus without worrying if Peter was still there or not.
The group made it to the forest edge, and parted ways. Sirius opened the map.
"He's close," Sirius told him. James nodded.
"We better hurry though. He's going to change back soon," James said. He and Sirius morphed into their Animagus forms, and ran to find Remus. While they were running, they heard a howl, and knew that Remus had just changed back into himself. They found him minutes later, face down on the ground.
"Remus?" James said, gently shaking him. Remus' eyes shot open, and he bolted to a standing position. His eyes were wide with worry.
"What happened?" he asked in a shaky voice.
"The potion wore off," Sirius answered, and continued before Remus had a chance to speak. "Everything is fine; no one got hurt. Except Prongs here, who ran into a tree." Remus looked relieved, though he threw a questioning glance at James.
"Where's Lily and Peter?" he asked.
"Inside," James answered. "Which is where we should be, so let's go."
The three boys walked to the castle in silence. When they entered the common room, James saw Lily sitting on the couch, seemingly waiting for them.
"Oh, you're back!" she said, relieved. James walked over to her, and gave her a kiss. He pulled away, and stood there with his arms around her waist. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Remus and Sirius go up to the dormitory.
"You sure you're okay?" he whispered to her.
"Yes, I'm fine. Just tired is all."
"Well, then, you should get some sleep," he said, letting her go.
"Lay with me?" she asked, motioning to the couch. James nodded and led them over to the couch. It was quiet for a few minutes, and James had thought Lily had fallen asleep when he heard her say his name.
"Yes?"
"I just wanted to tell you," she said, sleepily.
"Tell me what?"
"That I love you." James smiled, happier than he'd ever been in his entire life.
"I love you, too."
The End! So, thanks for sticking with this story for so long, even when I don't update for weeks. I hope you liked it! Please review, and tell me what you think, good or bad.