Title: A Time For Change
Author Name: DarkForest214
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: "Transforming Thoughts"
Summery: Sequel to "Transforming Thoughts." Follow Lily and James in their new relationship while keeping an eye on their mischievous friends Remus Lupin and Sirius Black.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or Hogwarts School. I did not write this to try and make money. I am not stealing from JKR and the publishing companies and whatnot… I own nothing!
Author's Note: Sorry for such a long wait…I hope I'll be able to post the next chapter sooner than later (depends on my work schedule...). Enjoy!
Chapter Seven
"All right, I know you can't say," said Lily with a resigned sigh. "And I trust that you will tell me eventually."
"Sooner or later," said James.
"More like sooner," said Sirius as he stepped out from under the invisibility cloak.
"What?!" said James, looking shocked.
"Remus is good with words, remember?" he responded with a slightly sarcastic tone.
James nodded. Lily blinked as Remus seemed to appear from out of nowhere, Peter at his side. "If we're going to do this, Prongs we can't do it here," said Remus.
"Wormtail suggested an empty classroom," said Sirius.
"Prongs? Wormtail?" Remus, what's going on?" asked Lily as she looked from Remus to James, to Sirius and back to Remus.
"Empty classroom," said Remus.
"How'd you do it Moony?" James asked as Sirius led them down the hall.
Lily's head snapped up at the word 'Moony.' Now that nickname she recognized. "Remus, does this have anything to do with—"
"Yes," he said, cutting her off.
"So Prongs and Wormtail are nicknames also?" she asked, making the connection. "But what's—"
"Not here," Sirius cut her off.
"We'll explain everything in good time," assured Remus.
"But….argh I'm so confused," Lily moaned, clearly frustrated.
James wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed the top of her head. "I know, but you soon won't be." Lily smiled and rest her head on his shoulder, she knew her curiosity was getting the better of her.
Sirius stopped outside a door and pulled out what looked like a scrap bit of parchment. "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good," he said, tapping it with his wand. "This one's empty."
"And Filch is with Peeves in the Great Hall," said Peter from his side.
"The coast is clear then…" said Remus.
They filed into the empty classroom and Sirius shut and locked the door behind them. James guided Lily to the front of the room and set her in front of the professor's desk. He then joined his friends who were sitting on the four desks in the front row. Lily sat on the professor's desk and waited for them to begin.
"You know what I am," said Remus, starting things off. "Every month since my first year here, Madame Pomfrey led me to a hidden tunnel underneath the Whomping Willow."
Sirius stood and showed Lily the map, pointing out the passage as it lead off the edge of the map. "The passage leads to a trap door in the floor of the Shrieking Shack," said Sirius.
"And for years I spent those painful nights alone," said Remus.
"As his closest friends we were naturally curious as to what happened to our gentle friend once a month that landed him in the hospital wing with a bunch of cuts and bruises," said James as Sirius returned to his seat.
"So they followed me one month, hiding themselves very well I might add," said Remus. "And stumbled in on me mid transformation."
"Needless to say we high-tailed it out of there as fast as humanly possible," said Sirius.
"So we confronted him about it the next day in the Hospital Wing," Peter said quietly, managing to get his two Knuts in.
"And I confessed, very similar to what I said to you," said Remus, indicating Lily.
Lily watched the exchange with wide eyes and listened very closely to avoid missing any details.
"We figured it must be very hard for him to go through the same pain month after month without anyone there to comfort him or ease his boredom," said Sirius.
"So we went to the library," said James. "And when we read that a werewolf will not attack other animals—"
"—And only humans," added Remus.
"I came up with—"
"Excuse me Padfoot? It was our idea," said James.
"Fine, whatever…we came up with the idea to become animagi," said Sirius.
"But that's very advanced magic," said Lily. "Even fully trained adult wizards have a difficult time learning!"
"You're telling me!" said Peter.
"Peter? Does that mean…"
"Yes Lils, the three of us are animagi," said James.
"What? But how?" asked Lily, clearly shocked. It was a good thing she was sitting down, even now she could feel her knees shaking.
"Books, practice, interviews… Where there's a will, there's a way," Sirius shrugged.
"Sirius was the first to get the hang of it," said Remus. "After two and a half years he was able to fully transform at will into a black, shaggy dog. Hence the name Padfoot."
"James, not to be outdone, was able to successfully transform a week later. His form is that of a stag, that's where the name Prongs comes from," said Sirius.
"Yes, and they're sharp too," said Remus with a slight grimace.
"It took nearly three full years for Peter to fully transform, but he did it! During this last summer we really worked with him and now he's able to transform into a rat. His nickname is Wormtail," said James.
"You did all this as third, fourth and fifth years?" Lily asked.
"Well, we didn't find out about Remus until after Christmas our third year," said Sirius.
"And we spent the rest of that year reading and gathering information," said Sirius.
"We didn't try anything until we came back fourth year," said Peter.
"We worked all through the summer too," said James.
"And Remus even helped us by looking up facts and transfiguring any furry patches back to normal," said Sirius with an uncomfortable shift in position.
"We all got it sooner or later and we've spent every full moon together ever since," said James. "Which is why I said I didn't know if I'd be able to sit with you at the feast…"
"I completely understand. Go, keep Remus safe," said Lily.
"Are you sure?"
"Positive…Now if you don't mind me asking… Could I see your animagi forms?" she asked cautiously.
"I don't mind," said James.
"Nor do I," said Sirius.
"Doesn't matter to me," shrugged Peter. And soon there was a large rat on top of the desk where Peter had been moments before. Sirius stood and picked up the rat.
"He makes a great look out," said Sirius, "he's small enough that he can go unnoticed and has a sensitive nose," said Sirius as he took a leftover cookie from dinner out of his pocket and broke off a piece.
"You've got a good nose too Padfoot…not to mention a killer sense of sound," said James.
"Ah, well, that I do!"
"And he's modest too!" Remus said, winking at Lily.
"All right," said Sirius. "My turn…" he hopped of the desk and landed on all fours as a shaggy, black dog.
Lily stood up and crossed over to pet the tail wagging mutt and knelt down before him. "It almost looks like he's smiling," she said as she scratched him between the ears.
"He loves getting his belly rubbed," Remus said helpfully, and as if on cue Padfoot flopped over and his back and looked pleadingly at Lily, adding a little whine for the full affect.
"Aww, how sweet!" said Lily as she began to rub his stomach. "Maybe he'd be better off if he just stayed like this," she said with a laugh.
"I've told him that exact thing several times," said James. Lily laughed and looked up at him.
"It's true," said Remus with a smile and a nod. Lily stood and Padfoot righted himself. He gave a mighty shake before transforming back into his oh-so-charming, human self.
"I heard that," he growled. "And I'll tell you what I've told James. The tail I can live with, but the fleas…the fleas are murder."
Lily laughed and looked to James, flashing him a smile. "So James," she said, her voice soft and sweet. "Let's see that stag!"
"The look in her eye and the tone in her voice made James suddenly self conscious. She watched him with her admiring eyes, 'beautiful green eyes' he thought.
"Feeling bashful?" Sirius teased.
James glared at him and soon Sirius was standing face to antlers with Prongs. Prongs let out a snort and Sirius took a step back. The large stag slowly turned to face Lily. She moved to stand in front of him and looked up at the stag in awe.
"Can I…" she blushed. "Can I touch him?" she asked softly, looking to Remus.
"He won't bite," Remus said, nudging her closer to Prongs.
She reached out her hand and he lowered his head. Gingerly she stroked the stag's velvety nose and smiled. "Magnificent," she said, her voice barely audible. Prongs lowered his head and nudged her, urging her to continue petting him. She rubbed between his eyes, scratched between his ears and she stroked his sleek neck. "Absolutely beautiful," she said.
"No, you're beautiful," said James as he reappeared, standing in front of her with her arms around his neck. She smiled and pulled him into a hug.
"I will never betray your secret," said Lily, her face was an inch from his and their noses nearly touched.
"Promise?" James teased, eyebrow raised.
Lily smiled and kissed him. "Of course I promise," she said with a smile.
Peter blushed at this show of affection and looked at his hands, Sirius watched intently for something he could use against James later and Remus looked away with a twinge of jealousy, shortly followed by guilt.
An abrupt knock at the door snatched their attention and they froze. "Who's in there?" shouted a gruff voice.
"It's Filch," hissed James.
"Didn't you watch for him on the map?" Remus asked.
"He was in the Great Hall," Sirius said in his own defense. "Besides, I can't keep tabs on him all the time."
"Whatever, just hide…or something!" said James, trying to prevent an argument.
"Mischief Managed," Sirius hissed.
"I have a plan," said Lily.
"I know you're in there!"
"Just a minute, Mr. Filch," Lily called out sweetly.
"What are you doing?!" Sirius snapped.
"Hush up and play along. Get your wands out, all of you," Lily said authoritatively as she crossed the room to the door.
"Open up or I'll send for the Headmaster!" Filch called out as he continued to bang feverishly on the door. "You could be expelled for thi—"
"Sorry, Mr. Filch," Lily said as she opened the door and cut him off mid word. "We were practicing spells and couldn't get to the door."
"What?" growled Filch as he glared over her shoulder at the four boys.
"We were just—"
"Black! Potter! I should have known it was you two," Filch spat as he shoved past Lily into the classroom. "Planning another one of your little escapades are we?"
"No Sir, not at all," said James. "Like Lily said, we were practicing spells."
"You see Peter was having a hard time with the spell we learned in Transfiguration today, so Lily and I were helping him while James and Sirius practiced," said Remus. He had caught on to Lily's idea early on and hoped his explanation would be good enough.
Filch looked from one innocent face to the next, it looked as if he was going to give up. They were going to get away with something again! But a malicious grin came to his lips as he turned to Peter and snarled, "What spell?"
"W-what spell?" Peter stuttered as he was caught off guard. Sirius hid his head while Remus looked anxiously at Lily.
'What spell?' her eyes asked him. She hadn't thought of that…
Peter nervously glanced down at his feet. Feet, shoes, shoelace… shoelace! He was missing a shoelace! "We were, er, transfiguring shoelaces," he said.
"Into what?" Filch sneered in distaste.
Lily and Remus exchanged a nervous glance once more as Peter struggled for an answer. "I…I'm not able to do it…" said Peter.
"I'm not asking you to demonstrate. I'm asking you what you were trying to turn the shoelace into," growled Filch.
"Sorry," Peter muttered, trying to buy himself some more time as he desperately searched his mind for some kind of an answer. "Into a…er…toy rubber snake," he managed to say.
Filch glared from one student to the next, after making the rounds and returning his gaze to Peter he let out a low growl and stomped toward the door. "I believe you this time," he snarled. "But if anything—and I mean anything—happens tonight I'm coming to you first," he said, glaring at Sirius and James.
"How flattering," Sirius muttered after the door slammed shut behind Filch.
"It's good to know that we're so highly thought of," said James, rolling his eyes.
"Let's just hope Peeves behaves himself tonight," said Remus.
"Then maybe we better get back to the common room," Peter suggested quietly, still recovering from the interaction with Filch.
"You guys go on ahead, we'll see you later," said James as he reached out and grabbed Lily's hand. She smiled and blushed slightly as Remus and Sirius exchanged looks.
"Keep this with you then," said Sirius, handing him the invisibility cloak and a scrap of parchment. "In case you get cold…"
"Or stay out too late," snorted Remus.
"C'mon Peter…Oh I know! Squirrels!" said Sirius as the three headed toward the door.
"What?" asked Remus.
"We could chase squirrels tomorrow night!" said Sirius.
"What is your odd fascination with squirrels?" asked Remus. Their voices slowly faded as they walked down the hall.
"Hey, you like chasing them too, believe it or not!"
"All right, I believe you… But why squirrels?"
Lily laughed as their voices finally faded away and she turned to James. "Squirrels? Seriously?"
"Yeah, I'm not a big fan, but it keeps them amused," said James. He went to close the door then returned to her side.
Lily wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled. "So, are you going to stop the awkward silences around me?"
He slipped his arms around her waist and said, "I'll try my hardest." She smiled and kissed his cheek. But when she tried to slip away James held her close, "Do I have to let go?" he asked.
"No," said Lily as she buried her face in his shoulder. "Do I?"
"No…" he said with a slight smile. She was a perfect fit. He could so easily stay like this forever with Lily in his arms, resting his cheek on her wonderfully red hair. She smelled wonderful, felt wonderful…she was wonderful.
"Your animagi form," said Lily softly, talking into his neck, "It's so…so amazing, so beautiful, so…proud," she said, looking for the right words to describe the feelings she felt and to show how impressed she was.
"It's nothing really…" said James, trying to shrug it off while hoping she wouldn't look up.
Lily pulled back a bit to see his face, "You're blushing!" she teased. "Are you self conscious of your other form?"
"A bit," he shrugged. "You're the first person to ever see me transform, besides the guys, of course."
"You didn't think I'd make fun of you, did you?"
"No, I guess not," James said with a laugh. Lily smiled and buried her head in his shoulder again.
"Stay safe tomorrow night," she murmured sleepily.
"Only if you don't stay awake all night worrying about me," said James.
"I'll try," she said with a yawn.
"You're not going to fall asleep right here are you?" he asked, looking down at her.
"I could," she shrugged.
"On your feet?"
"Well, you're very comfortable," she said softly.
"Let's get you back to the common room before you fall asleep," said James, continuing to hold her close.
"Mmmh," she murmured. He was so warm, he smelled so good, she felt so safe… who knew James Potter could ever be so sensitive? Or comfortable?!
"Come on, it's after hours, we'll need the cloak," said James.
"Cloak?" Lily asked, looking up. James regretfully let go and grabbed the cloak and map off the desk. Tucking the map into his pocket as he returned to Lily's side.
"Invisibility Cloak," he said in response to her quizzical look. He threw it over their heads and Lily moved to stand closer to him.
"But they're so rare!"
"Tell me about it… My father gave it to me when I got my acceptance letter to Hogwarts, just as his father had given it to him," said James.
"So you come from a long line of trouble makers? That explains a lot," she teased.
"And I plan on passing it on to my son someday," he added.
"If you can ever find someone insane enough to mate with you," Lily teased.
"Cold, Evans. Very cold…"
"Lily smirked and kissed him, "As long as any child of yours doesn't pester a red headed girl for years on end until she finally gives in…"
"I'll make sure that he does,"
Together they snuck back to the common room, avoiding Peeves on the third floor.
"Are you sure we have to go back in?" James asked when they reached the portrait of the Fat-Lady.
"We probably should," said Lily hesitantly.
"But I'd much rather stay out here and snog you all night," he whined. Lily laughed and rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine…let's go," he said reluctantly. And the two stepped into the not so empty common room.
A/N: Good reviews, bad reviews, flames...I'll take them all! R&R please!