Chapter Six – The Shrieking Shack and The Long Walk Back

We huddled together, fighting our way against the wind and snow to the Shrieking Shack. It was cold, dark, and it was only getting worse. I could hear Lily's teeth chattering next to me, and although she didn't say a word, I could feel the disapproval and disappointment radiating from her like heat—only it didn't keep me warm.

After what felt like an endless journey through the blinding storm, we finally came to the Shrieking Shack. In spite of the heavy snow, Lily slowed down, obviously hesitant about entering the dilapidated old house. I couldn't blame her; all the people of Hogsmeade were convinced the shrieks they heard from the house were violent spirits. Although I knew the screams and howls were actually from one of my best friends, the students and villagers absolutely believed it was haunted, and in the dark night with a howling wind whipping around us, it was easy to understand why.

"Trust me," I whispered in her ear. "We have to get out of this storm."

Lily glared at me, but nodded reluctantly. I was acutely aware that it was my fault we were out in the first place, and the look on her face told me she knew it as well. I stopped worrying about whether she might have feelings for me and just hoped we'd survive so she might forgive me someday.

We struggled through the rusty front gate and made our way toward the front of the house. There was no door and the windows were all boarded shut. In fact, the entire house was magically spelled to keep Remus inside on the improbable chance he should try to escape. Lily stared at the strange house.

"How do we get in?" she shouted over the wind.

"Through the door, of course!" I shouted back. Taking out my wand, I cast a silent spell and waited impatiently as a small opening appeared before us.

"How did you know that was there?" she asked, wide-eyed.

"Lucky guess," I replied as blandly as I could. Obviously I couldn't tell her that it had taken Sirius and I weeks to figure a way out of the shack so that we could wander around Hogsmeade in our Animagus forms.

"Bollocks. Tell me how you knew how to get in," Lily demanded.

I lit my wand and led the way into the black entryway. As we stood in the cool darkness brushing snow from our shoulders, Lily glanced anxiously around. She turned back to me with narrowed eyes.

"I'm not going any further until you tell me everything."

I tried to gather my thoughts. I had to tell her enough that she would trust me, but not so much that I'd give away Remus's secret.

"Look, there's a secret passage from here back to the grounds. We've been using it for years and have never once ran into a ghost."

"How did you find the passageway?" she asked.

I shrugged, knowing I had to lie and hating it. "Same way as the others—we looked and got lucky."

"How did you know the spell to open the door?" she pushed.

"Kept trying until one worked." This was half true.

She snorted, obviously aware I was making up answers. "How did you know it would be safe?"

I hesitated.

"Tell me, James, or I'll take my chances out there on my own."

"We worked it out," I finally said. "Have you ever paid attention to the stories? The shrieking doesn't happen every night, only on certain nights. So we figured it would be safe on the other nights." I was digging myself deeper and deeper, but I didn't know what else to say. I just wished she would stop asking me questions.

"What nights?" she asked.

"Merlin, Lily, why so curious all of a sudden? Wouldn't you just rather get back to the castle?"

"You dragged me out here, Potter. You owe me answers."

I sighed. I was knew she would figure it out on her own if I said too much, but I had little choice. She was right, after all: it was my fault we were stuck off grounds in the middle of a blizzard. I did owe her the truth, only it wasn't mine to give.

"The Shrieking Shack is only haunted during the full moon," I muttered. "Now, let's go."

To my surprise, she followed me down the narrow hallway toward the back room. "Okay," she said softly. "So what does that mean?"

"It means we're safe, because the next full moon isn't for another nine days," I replied over my shoulder.

"James Harrington Potter, how the hell do you know that?" she asked, sounding surprised.

I glanced at her with my eyebrows raised. "How do you know my middle name?"

And to my astonishment, she giggled, breaking a bit of the tension that had sprung up between us in Hogsmeade. "No idea. Now why do you follow the cycles of the moon so closely…" She trailed off, staring at me, and I shook my head.

"Don't ask me, Lily. Please don't ask."

I must have sounded serious, desperate, or scared, because she nodded. "Okay. I won't. Let's just get out of this place."

As we walked down the hallway, Lily looked into the side rooms and saw the furniture upended, the terrible rents in the wallpaper, the stains on the carpet. I heard her breathing catch as she began to put everything together.

"It's a werewolf, isn't it?" she whispered. "That's what everyone thinks is a ghost—a werewolf during the full moon."

I didn't answer, knowing I'd give it all away if I did. We reached the back room and the small hole in the wall that opened to the tunnel back to Hogwarts. Before entering, Lily pulled me to a stop.

"Do you know who it is?" she asked softly. My silence was apparently answer enough. She squeezed my hand. "You're a good friend."

I whipped my head around. "What makes you think it's a friend?"

"Must be if you're not telling," she whispered. "Let's go, this place is too sad."

Knowing what Remus went through every month, I agreed, and we walked silently through the cramped tunnel back toward Hogwarts. We didn't say a word; somehow, coming through the Shrieking Shack in my human form and not as a stag had driven home just how difficult Remus's life as a werewolf really was. I couldn't help but think of the next full moon and how painful his transformations would be without us once we left Hogwarts. Lily was quiet as well. I wanted to ask her what she was thinking, but I found I preferred the silence.

"Are you okay?" she finally asked me instead. "You're never this quiet."

"I'm having an unusually bad day," I muttered.

"It happens," she said.

"It's Valentine's Day."

I could sense her nodding. "It wasn't quite what I was expecting when I got up this morning either," she agreed.

"It wasn't what I had planned," I replied dryly. "I just wanted…well, it doesn't matter now." I knew it didn't, because she had so much as told me she didn't want anything to do with me anymore.

"It wasn't that bad," she offered. I could only snort.

"Of course it was. Worse than last year, even—at least last year I had an excuse thanks to Sirius and his potion."

"That's true," she murmured.

"Thanks." We reached the end of the tunnel. I turned toward Lily, feeling completely defeated. A few hours ago I might have taken the opportunity to kiss her again before heading back to the castle. Now I was just tired and overwhelmed and desperate to maintain a shred of my dignity. "Look, I'm sorry I messed up so badly. I'd offer to make things up to you, but I know you're not interested, so let's just leave it at that."

"James—" she started. I waved her off.

"Forget it," I said. "You don't need to say anything. Now, we're under the Whomping Willow, so give me a minute while I turn it off."

That stopped her from the rejection I was expecting. "We're under the Whomping Willow? You can stop it?"

"Yes," I replied.

"From whomping? How?"

"There's a knot on the outside that freezes it, as well as one inside next to one of the roots." I held my wand up toward the root system of the great tree and squinted for the right spot. I was fairly certain the Whomping Willow would be dead quiet anyway due to the storm, but having been hit more than my fair share of times, I had no desire to take my chances. I certainly didn't need to end up back in the hospital wing, and couldn't imagine the consequences if Lily were hurt.

"I thought he was just going on about nothing," I heard Lily murmur behind me.

"Who?"

"Severus," she replied. "He told me about this tunnel, what Sirius did—what you did."

I froze. "What else did he say?" I could hear Lily's quick breathing in the dark. "Lily. Tell me."

"He didn't say anything. He said he wasn't allowed to tell. I knew his theory, though. I just chose to ignore it." She was quiet. "It's Remus, isn't it?" she asked softly.

I did not answer.

Clenching my jaw, I pressed the knot that stopped the tree. I climbed out of the hole, which was completely snowed in, and dug it out before helping Lily out of the tunnel. The snow was still falling furiously, and the wind whipped it around the grounds in great drifts. I pulled out my invisibility cloak, even though it seemed ridiculous that someone might see us in the middle of a blizzard.

Sweeping the cloak over us both, I was only slightly pleased when Lily gasped. "An invisibility cloak," she said. "I thought you might have one of these. You're just full of secrets, aren't you?"

"You have no idea," I murmured.

We walked the rest of the way in awkward silence. Just outside the main doors, Lily stopped me.

"You didn't answer me," she said. "About Remus."

"I can't," I told her. I couldn't even look at her. The day was about to end even more miserable than it had started.

"Then why did you take me that way?"

"I had to," I replied. "It was the best way back to the castle."

"You must have known I would figure it out," she murmured.

"If I did and you have, then I trust you'll do the right thing and keep anything you've figured out to yourself," I said. "Let's go." We had made it back to Hogwarts safely. I was tired, hungry, and cold, and I was ready for the night to be over. If one more thing went wrong, I didn't think I would be able to deal with it.

A small part of me hoped she would reassure me, tell me it hadn't been that bad, that she liked me and didn't care if my pathetic attempt at Valentine's Day had turned out even worse than the night we had spent together the previous year. She didn't, though, and we entered the castle without a word.

I tucked the cloak into my pocket as we headed back to Gryffindor. The corridors were quiet and I felt my feet dragging more and more. We hadn't gone far, however, when were stopped by the sixth-year Hufflepuff prefect, Carin O'Connell.

"You there!" she called. "You're out after curfew. What house are you in?" She peered into our faces. "I don't even recognize you. What year are you?"

I swore under my breath: we had forgotten the transfiguration spells and looked completely different. Of course she wouldn't recognize us. I turned us around, released the spells on us both, and felt my face melt back to its normal self. Carin gasped.

"James!" she exclaimed. "Lily? What are you two doing out?" She wrinkled her nose in surprise. "Together? In disguise?"

"Patrolling, of course," I replied. "Just thought we'd catch more illicit snogging this way."

She narrowed her eyes at me but nodded. "I've already cleared three broom closets."

I forced a wink as we walked away. "More room for you and Diggory then, huh?"

I knew she was blushing but didn't stay to enjoy it like I might have. I just wanted to get away now. Every nerve was jangling with the need to be alone and perhaps punch something. We hurried up the main staircase to the seventh floor. I dashed down the corridor, desperate to say goodnight and safely deliver Lily to her dormitory before venting my frustration somewhere. Where I was going to go, I had no idea. I just had to get away, alone.

"James!" Lily called. "Slow down!" I heard her stop and turned toward her. "Please."

Rushing back, I was suddenly concerned something had happened to her. "Are you you're okay? Did that prat hurt you? Did you twist something in the tunnel?"

She seemed taken aback at my sudden attention. "No, I, er…" She trailed off before starting over. "I was just wondering…I'm just worried, that's all. Are you okay? You've had a long day, after all."

I stared at her. "Tell me about it. And yes, I'm fine. I just want to get back to Gryffindor and relax in front of the fire or something." I headed back down the corridor, but stopped when I heard her gasp behind me.

I whipped around, my wand out and my nerves ready to fly apart. Lily was staring at something, something that stopped me as well. The portrait of the Fat Lady was hanging on the stone wall of the seventh floor corridor, opposite a hideous tapestry of dancing trolls. She was sleeping, even snoring lightly, just as she did every night, yet we were nowhere near the Gryffindor common room yet.

"It just appeared," Lily whispered, confused. "Out of nowhere, right after you walked away. What's it doing here?"

I walked up to the portrait, my curiosity getting the better of me. I touched the frame; it seemed real. When I spoke the password, the Fat Lady did not wake, but the portrait swung open into a dark room.

"What the hell," I said, and I stepped through, not quite ready to quit after all.

End Notes:

I am starting to forget how many people I have consulted with on this. It's almost as if my stories are becoming a community effort. I definitely have to thank Carole and Jess for helping me break into the Shrieking Shack, and Carole again for allowing me to badger her for some Brit-picking.
If this seems like the never-ending day, I agree. But I always wanted them to end up here, so I don't anticipate throwing anything else at them. This story will conclude in Chapter Seven. We'll see how it turns out. ;)