I thanked Merlin for giving me a knack for Charms as the disillusionment charm's invisibility powers trickled down my skin. Although I was the only one in the grade who was able to do it (humbly, of course), it only managed to work for about twenty minutes, so I had to act fast. I raced through the corridors, wary of my muffled footsteps. It was quite invigorating to walk by people with them having no idea you're there.
In no time I was outside, feeling the warm, almost-summer breeze on my concealed face, a safe distance away from the Whomping Willow. I squinted at the tree, trying to remember how the Marauders had stopped the tree from violently attacking them not a half hour ago. Perhaps it wasn't dangerous at all and Dumbledore just said that to keep kids from exploring it and finding the passage! The Marauders would have stumbled upon the secret at one point, as they have a dreadful disregard for rules and incompetence in understanding danger. Confidently, I strode ahead.
A smug smile grew on my face as I thought of how the boys would react when they saw me. Sirius would be flabbergasted, Peter would stare blankly at me (much like how he looks in class), Remus' sickly face would show surprise, and James would be utterly impressed. I couldn't help the rush in my stomach at the thought of James' smiling in defeat and complimenting me on my indubitable ability to-
"OOF!" I gasped as a large tree branch came flying out of nowhere.
All right, so perhaps Dumbledore wasn't lying when he said the tree was a viciously hostile plant that would stop at nothing to protect itself.
I had hardly caught my breath before another branch took a swat at me. Immediately after, a branch snaked itself around my ankle and dragged me around mercilessly as other limbs taunted me, poking at my stomach sharply.
"Ugh, ow, stop it!" Merlin, this tree was more irrationally angry than Petunia! I grunted in pain but held back the scream that wanted to erupt from my throat, knowing I would bring attention to the current situation, which wouldn't make much sense, as I was still invisible.
I tried fighting back, blocking the branches that came attacking at every angle. "HA! What now, you sadistic demon?!" I yelled in celebration from managing to block one of the limbs with my arm. It took me a moment to realize I was celebrating the fact that I had successfully defended myself from a tree. And the tree was still winning.
It took me a few times, but I successfully extracted my wand from my jeans and waved it before the malevolent tree could get it's nasty twigs on it. "IMMOBULOUS!"
Immediately, the tree froze and I was left lying on the grass, panting and thanking the saints I was alive. Without wasting time, I got up, brushed myself off, and flicked off the tree just so it would know I was the one who won this war. "I didn't get an O in Herbology for nothing! Yeah, tell your plant friends, buddy."
With the tree petrified, I easily spotted the hole at its base and scrambled through it, trying to ignore the taste of blood in my mouth. I slid down a small dirt ramp before landing on my knees in the pitch black.
"Lumos," I murmured and the passage instantly filled with light. It was big, but I would have to crouch to walk through it. My lip began to feel numb, reminding me of the embarrassing truth; a damn tree gave me a fat lip. And I thought I knew everything about magic.
So my confrontation with the Marauders wouldn't be as glamorous as I thought it would be. Whatever, James- er, I mean, they would all still be impressed that I managed to track them down, even bloodied and bruised! If they asked however, I would just tell them Filch's cat tried to stop me from leaving the castle and- oh hell, that was even more pathetic then the tree.
I followed the passage, which gradually got bigger and easier to walk through, paranoid other booby traps would catch me by surprise. After walking for ten or so minutes, it began to shrink once more, and I had to crouch to continue down it. Within no time, I had reached light that was not emitting from my own wand. Above me looked like the passages end; wooden planks with yellow light seeping through it illuminated my face, which I realized was now visible, as were my hands. I tried to tame my hair and wipe the blood from my face as best I could, knowing the Marauders were right above me, completely unaware I was about to bust them. I grinned in anticipation and lifted the passage door.
"Well, well, well, what do we have-" I stopped my condescending drawl, for there was not a sneaky Marauder in sight. I was in a house it seemed, admittedly a very old one. Lantern light coming from another room scarcely lit the drab, dusty furniture in my view of vision and the floors looked like the creaky kind. Oh my Merlin, I was in the Shrieking Shack!
I heard muffled voices coming from the room with the lanterns, so I silently lifted myself into the room and shut the passage door, wanting my entrance to still be a surprise. It had been rumored the Shrieking Shack was haunted by Hogsmede villagers who claimed to have heard retched howls coming from it for the past few years. Personally, I didn't believe the rumors; all the ghosts I knew were incredibly pretentious and would definitely think they're too good to haunt a lonely, old, dusty shack such as this.
But what the hell were James and the rest of them doing here? Was this their…headquarters or something? Good Merlin, is this where they kept all the butterbeer that magically appeared at all the common room parties they threw?
"Oh, I've got you so good," I muttered sinisterly, grinning in anticipation as to what would happen next. Unfortunately, I had been right about the creaky floors, and the next step I took caused a squeak to echo throughout the house. The muffled voices stopped.
Well damn, there goes my surprise entrance.
"Who's there?" James' voice demanded from the other room. He sounded fearful.
"Damn it, we're getting lazy! I swear to Merlin, if it's Snivelleus again, I'm not letting you save him this time, Prongs," Sirius snapped impatiently. 'Again'?
Forgetting my surprise entrance, I stepped into the lit room, expecting to see stacked crates of butterbeers lining the walls and the boys clinking bottles in cheers. My mouth opened to tell them off, but what I saw didn't quite fit with what I was going to say.
Peter was sitting on an old, rumpled couch, biting his nails nervously, while James and Sirius stood with their wands out in front of me. Remus was nowhere to be seen. I was right; they sure were astounded, but the look on James' face was nothing close to awed.
"What the hell are you doing here, Lily?" he asked forcefully as he lowered his wand, the fear I had heard before magnified on his face. His brown eyes were wide, his jaw hard. "Merlin, is that blood on your face? Did you follow us?"
When he put it like that it made me sound so devious. "I-"
"Evans, why the hell couldn't you do what you were told?" Sirius barked, his face more angry than scared. I narrowed my eyes.
"Last time I checked, I don't take orders from you, Black," I snapped, livid at his misogynistic attitude.
"You need to get out of here, Lily," James interrupted as he strode towards me, his voice filled with concern. What was he so scared of, that I had discovered their hideout?
"I will not!" I told him angrily, moving my face away as he reached out to touch my wound. "Just admit it, you've been caught! The game's up!"
"What game?" Sirius exclaimed dubiously. "You have no idea how ignorant you are of the situation!"
"Well, I'm here, so you might as well tell me!"
A low moan of pain emitted from a dark corner in the room. Looking closely, it seemed as if it were Remus whimpering on the ground. I began to rush towards him, but James held me back. "Let me go! What did you do to him?"
"Moony?" Sirius yelled frantically, glancing out the window. The sun was seconds away from setting. "Evans, get out of here, NOW!"
"What did you do to him?" I screamed again, the sudden realization of how serious things could be setting into me and causing me to panic. "REMUS!"
James kept his arms tight around my waist, not letting me get free. "Lily, please, we didn't do anything, trust me. You need to go back to the castle-"
"Peter, go help him!" Sirius yelled and a nervous Peter tried to hold me back as well.
Remus moaned again and I tried to shove James and now Peter away. "Then why does he sound like he's dying? REMUS!"
"Dammit Lily, come on!" James shouted as the sun disappeared under the horizon. The room became significantly darker as the sunlight disapeared, and the only thing left to light the room were the lamps. At that moment, Remus lifted his head from the floor and looked at me helplessly.
"Lily…go," he hoarsely whispered. Suddenly, his face contorted in pain and he threw his head back, yelling in anguish.
"Remus!"
"James, get her out!"
"Let me go!"
"Lily, please!"
Although it was probably all much louder, the only sound I heard was muffled in my ears. My senses were only focused on Remus. He continued to cry out as his body began twitching and moving in unnatural ways. As soon as his limbs began to elongate, everything made sense.
The werewolf the Marauders hunted every full moon…was Remus.
His transformation was excruciating to watch. His cries never ended, and his body movements were irregular and unnatural. The only thing more horrifying was the look on Sirius' face…he truly looked just as pained to be watching go through this. I could only imagine the look on my face.
Meanwhile, James had pushed me behind him and had his wand pointed at Remus, reminding me Remus was becoming a werewolf, a dangerous werewolf, without a conscious and no recollection of who he truly was. Sirius glanced between James' wand and his own as if deciding what to do. Peter stood next to me, behind the two.
And then it was done. A werewolf, scarier than any of the pictures I had seen in my textbooks, stood panting in the corner. It was if Remus had never been there. The wolf turned slowly, a low growl rumbling from his sharp teeth. James shielded me and tightened the grip on his wand. The only sound that could be heard was the collective heavy breathing.
The werewolf's head moved around, as if unable to control itself; it looked…conflicted. This continued for several fearful seconds before it finally flung itself out the window and ran off into the night, howling all the way.
The silence was deafening. After what seemed like years, Sirius walked tentatively to the window and looked out, scanning the moonlit field. Afraid my legs would collapse from shaking so hard, I sat down on the couch and put my head in my hands.
"He's gone," Sirius announced, his voice cracking a bit. "The Remus left in him knows not to hurt Evans…but the werewolf-"
"Enough, Sirius," James commanded, glancing over at me, though it looked like he said it for his own sake. Running a frustrated hand through his hair, he collapsed on a wooden chair. "She's been through enough already."
I lifted my head up and glared at them. "No, tell me," I demanded. "I think I deserve the whole truth, seeing as I know this much.
There was a pause. "The werewolf instincts will eventually overpower any morality left. It's got your scent, and it won't stop hunting until it finds you."
My heart stopped in my chest. I didn't know what I was shocked at; the fact that a mere hour ago my biggest problem was my Transfiguration essay or the fact that they were referring to Remus as 'it'.
"That 'it' you're talking about has a name, and he's your friend," I snapped.
"You don't understand, Lily," James sighed and I felt my face contort in rage.
"Oh, and you do?" I yelled. "What the hell are you even doing here? You're trying to protect me, but you're in as much danger as I am! He probably has your scent too, who the hell made you experts on werewolves?"
As I calmed down from my rant, I heard a low, sinister chuckle from over by the window. Sirius was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed and eyes closed like a weathered veteran. He looked over at James with a smirk on his face. "Well we have two options left, then. Either we obliviate her or we tell her everything."
Before I could protest, James shrugged. "We owe her an explanation."
"The hell we do!" Sirius cried angrily. "She's the one who followed us here!"
"In case you need reminding, I happen to be the top Charms student of our Year. If you even attempt to obliviate me, I'll retaliate so hard you won't even remember your mothers name," I threatened, unwillingly to be the clueless damsel anymore.
"You say that like it's a bad thing," Sirius muttered.
"She's right, Sirius," James admitted and I grinned.
"Fine. Have it your way." Sirius looked at me and smirked. "Can you keep a secret, Evans?"
Up Next: James, Sirius, and Peter disclose to Lily their secrets. But it won't be soon before the werewolf is on the hunt for Lily's scent…
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