Chapter Four

Comings and Goings

At eight o'clock sharp, Sirius and James arrived at their DADA class closely followed by Severus.

"What's it like being slapped by a girl?" Severus sniggered. Obviously Lily had spoken to him at dinner.

"I don't know. Slap me and I'll tell you," James shot back. Sirius burst out laughing as Severus went bright red.

"Seriously, give it up Snape!" Sirius grinned, "Ha! Serious!"

That set James and Sirius off until Guillotine opened the door.

"Come in boys,"

The three boys trouped in and sat down at the front desk.

"Now, I know I gave you all detentions but I realised that I over-reacted a little. You didn't mean it all right?"

The boys were stunned.

"Ah, n-no sir. We didn't mean it at all," Sirius stuttered.

"Okay well, James and Sirius you may leave but Severus you have to stay. You used magic and that is not allowed. You still get a detention,"

James and Sirius looked at each other with glee. Severus looked deadly.

With great strength the two boys held their laughter until they got outside. When they did, it was for a full ten minutes and even when they stumbled into the Gryffindor common-room, there was still the occasional chuckle.

Remus looked up from his chair near the fireplace where he was sitting with Peter, "That was short? It's only 8:15,"

Sirius beamed, "We got off! We got off!"

"Only Snivelly got the detention for using magic," James laughed, "Professor Guillotine apologised for over-reacting,"

"We got off! We got off!" Sirius was still chanting.

"You have got to be kidding me!" that was Lily. She glared at the boys before stalking off to her dormitory.

James chuckled.

"What's that Remus?" Sirius asked looking at the letter in Remus' hand.

"Oh this. My – um – grandmother is ill. I have permission to go visit her – um – every month,"

"Every month? Why so often?" Peter asked.

"Oh –um – because – erm – it's hard to explain," Remus muttered.

"Okay then," James said eyeing Remus curiously, "So you won't be here tomorrow?"

"I leave Potions early. I'll be back on Sunday,"

"Lucky!" Sirius whined.

"Yeah for him. With Remus gone, Sirius, we are going to have to," James gulped, "take our own notes,"

"Noooooooo!" Sirius moaned.

At 3 o'clock on the dot, Remus Lupin walked into the hospital wing, wincing with every step.

"Oh Mr Lupin. Okay let's go," Madam Pomfrey said.

Out of the hospital wing, down the many staircases and out the doors, Madam Pomfrey kept a hand on his shoulder all the way. She led him across the grounds and over to a wild looking tree. Its branches were swaying in what might have been the breeze if there had been any.

"This, Mr Lupin, is the Whomping Willow. As you can see, it has a mind of its own. Once someone strays to near it, the branches come alive and attempt to 'whomp' you,"

"Dad said a tree was being planted over the tunnel to my shack. But how do I get into the tunnel if the tree hits me every time I go near it?"

"Like this," Madam Pomfrey picked up a long stick and walked near to the tree. Near the base was a strange knot looking root, which Madam Pomfrey then proceeded to poke with the stick. The tree froze.

"Quick, down the hole,"

Remus ran under the branches and slid down the dirty hole. Madam Pomfrey slid down a moment later.

Once they were both on their feet, they set off down the tunnel. It was tall enough that Remus could walk with only his head bowed however, Madam Pomfrey was practically crawling.

"Do you – do you want me to just go al – alone?" Remus asked, wishing for a negative.

"No, no of course not Mr Lupin. I am fine. We are nearly there anyway,"

Sure enough, Remus' head hit a wooden roof within five minutes. Pushing carefully on the trapdoor, Remus hoisted himself into a dusty, dilapidated shack and turned to help Madam Pomfrey through.

"Oh no, I'm not coming up Mr Lupin. It is 4:00. Three minutes until moonrise. I must leave. I am sorry Remus. I'll be back in the morning,"

Remus nodded and ran to the other side of the room. He could feel the full moon starting to take its effect.

He took a deep breath and sat down on the floor. Closing his eyes, he waited. Waited for the full moon to rise. Waited for pain to come. Waited for the screeching and howling as he bit himself.

Remus waited for the wolf to awaken.

Meanwhile, James, Sirius, Peter, their fellow Gryffindors and unfortunately the first year Slytherins were just finishing up their first flying lesson. James and Sirius were less than impressed.

"Why do we have to learn how to fly?" James moaned as he, Sirius and Peter sat by the lake after the lesson, "I have been flying since I could walk,"

"Tell me about it," Sirius groaned.

"I enjoyed it. I have never flown before," Peter mumbled.

"I noticed! How could a pureblood wizard not have flown before may I ask?" James questioned.

"Ma said it was too dangerous," Peter replied.

"That's ridiculous!" James sounded appalled.

"You know the best thing about flying class?" Sirius grinned, "Watching Snivellus attempt to mount a broom! And then try and hover!"

Peter and James cracked up laughing.

"I have never seen anything as funny as his face when that broom flipped and he landed flat on his face!" James gasped with laughter.

"Wha' are ya all hollerin' at?" it was Hagrid.

"Flying lessons," Sirius said simply, still snickering.

"Sounds like fun. You boys wanna have tea in me cabin? Tell me abou' ya firs' week?" Hagrid asked, looking hopeful.

The boys looked at each other, "Yes!"

"Where's ya other mate?"

"Remus. He's visiting his sick grandmother,"

"Ah, well we'll hav' ta do this again sum time when he's 'ere,"

It was six o'clock when the boys and Hagrid left to walk up to dinner. They had spent the last two hours telling Hagrid about their first week, how much they hated Snape and where they would like to put Lily and her interfering comments. Hagrid had found it all very amusing and had little input to the conversation.

Halfway up they heard a terrible screaming sound coming from a fair distance away.

"Blimey what was tha?" Hagrid yelped.

"It didn't sound – human. Like a wounded animal?" James suggested.

"How much pain would you be in to make that much noise?" Sirius shivered, "Let's get inside,"

They hurried inside and at the Entrance Hall they said their goodbyes, making plans to visit Hagrid with Remus soon.

The next morning, Madam Pomfrey had to conjure a stretcher for Remus to take him back to the castle, Disillusioning him and it when they cleared the tunnel.

Poppy sighed as she laid him out of a hospital bed and took in his injuries.

It was hard to find a piece of flesh that wasn't torn, scratched, bitten or gashed. Blood seeped from every wound, which could be found from his hairline down to his cut feet. His hair was matted with sweat and blood. He had one black eye, three broken fingers and one cracked rib. By some miracle, all the cuts and gashes were superficial and Poppy would be able to mend them without leaving scars. The broken bones would also only take a couple of minutes and the black eye would disappear within a few hours.

But it wasn't the physical injuries that bother Poppy, although they bothered her quite a bit. It was more the emotional and mental injuries that she worried would haunt Remus. The excruciating pain of just turning into a wolf was just the beginning. Remus had just spent the night attacking himself again and again in exchange for human prey. And as good as it was to patch him up now, he would go through it all again next month and the month after, and every month after that until he died or by some marvel they found a cure or at least something that helped him keep his human mind.

It only took Poppy ten minutes to patch up all his external injuries and administer a Sleeping potion which would keep Remus asleep until tomorrow morning. Setting aside her potions, salves and wand, Poppy carefully rolled Remus over and rubbed her hands together.

"Let's relax those muscles,"

Starting with his shoulder and neck, Poppy set her magic hands to work, relieving Remus' muscles of their tension.

In his sleep, Remus Lupin smiled.

"Hey Potter!"

Lily ran after James and Sirius, followed as always by Peter. The turned to look at her and then kept walking, Peter hesitating before following the other two.

"Ergh! Potter! Where's Remus? I need to talk to him!" Lily growled, catching up to them.

"Do you hear something Sirius?" James asked looking around vaguely. Lily scowled.

"He's visiting his ill grandmother," Sirius replied, rolling his eyes at James.

"Oh, when will he be back?"

"Today sometime,"

"Thanks Sirius," and with that Lily turned on her heel and walked away.

James hit Sirius.

"Ow,"

"Why do you talk to her?"

"She isn't as bad as you think she is! She's annoying, but not bad!"

"Whatever!"

"Hey, I'm back!" Remus ran up to them.

"Oh hey man!" Sirius clapped him on the back.

"How's your grandma?" Peter asked.

"She's okay," Remus seemed distracted, "What's been happening here?"

"Nothing! You missed flying but it wasn't anything special," James grumbled, "I shouldn't even have to do it! I am already good,"

"He's so modest isn't he?" Remus grinned, "Well, I could use the extra practice. I have never been that good at flying,"

"Well, I am great. Trying out for Quidditch team next year," James grinned, "Chaser for me!"

"I thought you'd be a Seeker! Build like yours," Sirius said.

"Nah, only get to catch a ball once a game. I get to build the crowd up and scores hundreds of points,"

"So does the Seeker,"

"Not as much. You play Quidditch?"

"Seekers get one hundred and fifty points man! Ah, a little. I'm more of a Beater to tell you the truth,"

"I could see you smashing a ball at someone," James grinned.

"Yeah, yeah," Sirius smiled, "Hey, you know who looked like they would be good? Rose,"

"Hmm yeah, she certainly didn't look afraid. What do you reckon she would play? Chaser? Seeker? Or even Keeper?"

"I was thinking Beater," came a voice from behind them. It was Rose.

"You actually wanna play Quidditch?" Sirius asked.

"Oh yes! I can't wait to watch the first game! And I am going to practice all year and all summer so I can try out next year!" Rose said excitedly, sitting down next to them.

"How will you practice over the holidays?" James asked.

"I am going to whack at a medicine ball every day,"

"Well good on you. Why you alone anyway? You and Lily are normally attached at the hip. Sometimes with Mary,"

"She is looking for Remus. Something about Transfiguration?" Rose asked looking at the boy in question. Remus shot to his feet.

"I forgot. Where is she?"

"Common-room,"

Remus ran off. James frowned after him.

"How are they friends?"

"He's smart, she's smart. They have something in common," Sirius said before turning to Rose, "I can help you with Beating if you want?"

Rose blushed slightly, "I would like that,"

"Sweet. How about I book the pitch for Saturday and we go over the basics. I can help you fly too,"

"Great. Well I better go find Lily. Bye guys," Rose ran off. There was silence for one minute before James started to sing.

"Sirius has a girlfriend! Sirius is in love!" he chanted as Sirius went bright red.

"I do not!" he hissed.

"Oh no. Of course not," James snickered, "Oh Rose, I'll help you fly! Oh Rose, I'll teach you how to Beat! Oh Rose, I'll give up my Saturday for you!"

"Shut up!"

Later that night, the four boys sat near the fire, James filling in Remus on Sirius' girlfriend. Sirius looking like a beetroot and Remus was listening with quiet amusement.

"But anyway, enough of Mr Black's love life. I have a proposition to put forth to you three," James said sitting up straight.

"We have been here for one week now. We have got a feel for the place. But we haven't pranked anyone! Now we have to get ours names out there as the Gryffindor pranksters before someone else claims our title. For our first prank, I was thinking an in-House prank so that the Gryffindor's know who we are. We will strike the rest of the school in October. What do you think?" James' face was lit up with excitement.

Sirius cocked his head, an arrogant smirk growing on his face, making him look more and more like a pureblood. Remus sighed and sat back. Nothing he said would change James' mind anyway. Peter looked slightly terrified but he would do anything the other boys did just to fit in.

"Who and what were you thinking?" Sirius asked leaning forward.

"That's obvious!" Remus grinned, "Someone in Gryffindor that James dislikes,"

Sirius smirked, "Lily Evans, it is,"

The next morning, the Gryffindor house was woken by a piercing scream coming from the first-year girls' dormitory. Fabian Prewett groaned as he rolled out of bed at 6:30 on a Saturday morning and hurried down to the common-room. He knew he couldn't get into the girls' dormitories but it was only a few minutes later that his fellow Prefect, Tilly Peters, led a furious, crying Lily Evans down the stairs. It took all of Fabian's self-control to not laugh at what he saw.

It seemed someone had gone out of their way to change Lily to the exact opposite of what she was. Her red hair was now blue. Her green eyes now brown. Her perfect, clean uniform was now tattered, faded and looked slightly brown.

By now, the entire Gryffindor house had converged in the common-room and it was shaking with laughter.

"Quiet everyone," Tilly called out, frowning at everyone.

"Lily," Fabian said gently, "Do you know who did this?"

Lily's face grew murderous, "It was that repulsive James Potter and his stupid friends,"

James and Sirius stuck their hands up, shortly followed by Remus and Peter.

"That would be us," James grinned.

Lily screamed, "You-you-you marauders!"

"Why thank you, thank you very much!" Sirius drawled.

Fabian sensed a fight about to break out so he led the screeching Lily up to his dorm, while Tilly yelled herself hoarse at James and his friends.

"Here, I'll fix you up," Fabian said gently after he shut the door, blocking out the sounds from downstairs, "How they did this, I don't know! They shouldn't know this type of magic yet!"

Lily didn't say anything as she started to sob.

Fabian took out his wand and attempted to change her hair back but nothing was working. It was still stubbornly blue ten minutes later.

"Okay, we are going to Professor McGonagall,"

Lily looked shocked, "But people will see me!"

"No they won't Miss Evans,"

Fabian and Lily turned to see McGonagall standing in the doorway.

"You did well Fabian but what you are doing won't change her hair back. The boys did not use a Colour-Changing Charm. Rather they resorted to Muggle methods and put dye in Miss Evan's shampoo. This should do it,"

A wave of McGonagall's wand and Lily's hair was back to normal.

"Now, I have to take out the contacts Mr Potter and his friends put over your irises. And your actual uniform is in Mr Potter's room. So as you can see Mr Prewett, no magic was actually used. Except perhaps the Sleeping Potion they gave Miss Evans so they could insert contacts,"

Ten minutes later Lily emerged from the fifth-year boys' dormitory back to her usual self. Rose rushed up to her.

"Oh gosh, Lily are you okay?"

"I am okay now," said Lily stiffly, "Where is James?"

"Oh no you don't. Let's go for a walk!" Rose said steering her out of the common-room.

"Thirty points! That was a bit steep I think!" James muttered as they exited McGonagall's office.

"Better than a detention," Sirius said.

"I suppose. But still thirty points!"

"If you are going to be "prankster" Mr Potter, I would get used to losing points," Remus grinned, "Great prank by the way James,"

James grinned, "It was pretty good wasn't it?"

"Can't wait for the next one," Remus smiled.

"Well, I have to go," Sirius said edging away, hoping they wouldn't ask…

"Where are you going?" Peter asked. Sirius grimaced.

"Um, flying,"

"Oh, I'll come," James said.

"NO! I mean, no, I'm just-you know-just-" Sirius stuttered before James started to snickered.

"Oh I remember now! You are helping Rose!" James said with glee.

"Yes and I have to go! Now!" Sirius shot off leaving James giggling like a school-girl.

The rest of September passed without much excitement other than Lily being the first in the class to successfully Transfigure a match into a pin in Transfiguration and Sirius was the first in the class to successfully Disarm another student, who happened to be James; who happened to be the second student to successfully Disarm another student which happened to be Severus.

October passed in a blur for all in Hogwarts as the teachers started to knuckle down and dump them all with homework. Sirius and Rose had spent every weekend practicing Quidditch and flying in general but that had to put to a halt as all four Quidditch teams were now training harder than ever, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw the most, with their game coming up in the first week on November. The boys' second prank included cutting the legs off the benches at the Slytherin table and then resting the seat in them, so when someone sat down the bench collapsed.

Remus survived his second full moon at school with the same injuries as the first. Professor Dumbledore was encouraging the rumours of wild spirits and ghost that had taken up residency in the now known Shrieking Shack. It was during the second week that most students found the Whomping Willow and a competition had been started to see who could get the closest to it. Remus did not partake in this game.

Halloween dawned bright and grey. The Gryffindor and Ravenclaw first-years had all trudged into Charms yawning and stretching.

"Morning, morning," Professor Flitwick squeaked from his mountain of books. There was a grumbled reply as everyone set forth to take their usual seats.

"Oh no, I have chosen your partners today students. Please line up at the front of the room and I will read off who is with who,"

The grumbling increased, "Why do we have to change?" James whined.

"Because, Mr Potter, I want you all to do your own work and not rely on someone else," Professor Flitwick said looking pointedly at James and Sirius.

Sirius snickered.

"Okay. Sirius Black, you will be paired with Rose Stanford,"

Sirius beamed and hurried over to Rose's side. James snorted.

"Remus Lupin and Jennifer Basset,"

Remus bit his lip and walked over to a very tall, blonde Ravenclaw who peered down at Remus and curled up her lip. Remus sighed.

"Peter Pettigrew will be with Mary MacDonald,"

Peter ran over to Mary, tripping twice.

Flitwick rattled off some more names before he came to…

"James Potter and Lily Evans,"

Lily curled her lip and James narrowed his eyes as he walked over to her.

"Now, take your seats. Today we will be putting into practice the Levitation Charm which we have been discussing this week,"

"The incantation is Wingardium Leviosa," Flitwick squeaked, "Say it clearly and correctly. The motion to go with it is a swish and flick. Everybody give it a go,"

Lily grimaced and picked up her wand, "Don't disturb me,"

"Oh that's nice!" James growled, "Thought we had to work together?"

"Fine, you go first!" Lily huffed.

"No! We'll go together!" James scowled.

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Wingardium Leviosa," they said in unison and to James' immense surprise his white feather lifted up off the desk in sync with Lily's and they both soared high above the heads of their classmates.

"Oh well done! Look everyone, Mr Potter and Miss Evans have done! Ten points apiece," Flitwick piped.

Sirius laughed at the look on his best mate's face. James looked so proud of himself to have matched Lily in something.

Lily smirked as she made her feather fly higher than James' but James didn't care. He had actually done something.

That night's Halloween feast was filled with laughter, joy and lots and lots of sweets.

"Ah, I love Halloween!" Sirius sighed, leaning back rubbing his stomach in the common-room after the feast, "And may it continue to be the best night ever for as long as I live,"

November 7th dawned wet, grey and cold but Hogwarts was alight with excitement. It was the first Quidditch match of the year!

Rose was jumping with excitement as she donned her red and gold scarf and mittens. Lily rolled her eyes and grinned at her friend.

"I would never have picked you for a Quidditch fan," she said thoughtfully, "More of an academic,"

"Never judge a book by its cover," Rose laughed, "Now, come on!"

Lily chuckled, grabbed her beanie and ran down the stairs after Rose.

At breakfast, the Great Hall was filled to the brim with cheers, shouts and excited conversation. Rose sat down beside Sirius so Lily had no choice but to sit next to James. They were in the middle of what looked like a heated conversation.

"No Sirius. Gryffindor are going to win by at least one hundred. At least!" James was saying.

"You are wrong! Gryffindor is good but I heard that Amos Diggory is a bloody good Seeker! Gryffindor will win but it will be within one hundred points," Sirius argued.

"Fine you're on! Ten galleons," James grinned holding out his hand.

"Deal!" Sirius clasped the outstretched hand and the boys shook once. Sirius turned to Rose.

"You excited Rosie?"

James snorted into his goblet and subsequently started choking. Lily smacked him hard on the back causing pumpkin juice to go flying all over Sirius.

"You did that on purpose," James coughed, his eyes streaming.

"Yeah but I didn't think you would give me a pumpkin shower!" Sirius growled, mopping up his robes.

"Serves you right!"

After breakfast, Remus and Peter appeared and the four boys, Lily and Rose walked down to the Quidditch pitch. Rose and James started running when it came into view, the other hurrying to catch up.

Sirius was singing at the end of the night, ecstatic that he had won the bet. It had been a very close game with Hufflepuff actually leading by sixty at one point to the utter dismay of all Gryffindor supports. Amos Diggory was a very good Seeker but Tilly Peters had won the race and snatched the Snitch out of the air, winning Gryffindor the match one hundred and seventy to eighty; winning by ninety points.

The rest of November passed in a blur to all Hogwarts inhabitants who were all looking forward to Christmas. But finally December arrived with a full moon on the second day, one week before the end of term. Remus this time suffering a torn hamstring, causing him to limp everywhere for a week as Madam Pomfrey healed it.

Finally it was time to leave. Lily squeezed Rose tight before give Mary a brief hug.

"Remember to write," Lily said, hugging Rose again.

"I will," they said in unison.

"Well, let's go,"

The three girls walked out of their dormitory and all the way out to little boats that would take the first years back to Hogsmeade.

"How do the other grade's get back?" Lily mused out loud.

"Carriages," Remus appeared at her side. Lily bit her lip and nodded. She still hadn't forgiven any of the boys for the prank back in September. Remus sighed and disappeared into the crowd. Rose had run off to say good bye to Sirius and Mary always ran off, so Lily hopped into a boat by herself.

She was followed in by the one person she actually felt like seeing. Severus.

"Hey Sev," she smiled. Severus grinned and hugged her.

"It feels like I haven't seen you in ages," he said, sitting down opposite her as the boats set off.

"I feel like you have been avoiding me Sev. Because I'm…," Lily looked around and bowed her head, whispering, "Muggleborn,"

Sev looked forlorn, "No, it's – that's not – I don't think…,"

"It's Avery, I know. Don't worry Sev. I understand. You're in Slytherin and I'm in Gryffindor. It was never going to work," Lily sighed,

"That's not true! We can make it work! I want it to work!" Severus argued, grabbing Lily's hand, "You're my best friend Lily. Not Avery, not any of the other Slytherins! You are!"

Lily smiled but didn't say anything. Severus frowned.

"I'm not yours am I?" he asked. Lily looked away.

"You are my best friend Sev, but you are not my only best friend. Rose comes pretty close,"

"As long as I am one of them," Severus grinned.

James, Lily, Remus, Rose and Peter were all welcomed home with hugs, kisses, and in Lily's case, tears. Sirius was welcomed home with grunts from his parents and a hugged from his brother. Severus was welcomed home with a kiss from his mother and a grunt from his father.

Petunia had thawed out a little towards Lily and told her sister all about her first term at her posh boarding school in Wales, which she had been transferred to after Lily made it into Hogwarts, leaving more money to be spent on Petunia's schooling.

On Christmas Eve, Sirius hummed as he decorated his room red and gold. His scarf going here, his pennant going there. His mother had been furious when he had told her he was in Gryffindor so he thought he would infuriate her a bit more and decorate his room ah la Gryffindor style.

On Christmas Eve, James was drinking eggnog and playing Gobstones with his father, while his mother knitted in the corner, smiling at the two of them. He had already spied at least fifteen present with his name on them under the tree.

On Christmas Eve, Remus was out flying with his dad, who was listening intently as Remus relayed even more stories of his friends and their pranks.

On Christmas Eve, Peter read to his mother, Tales of Beedle the Bard, before blowing out her candle and hopping into bed himself.

On Christmas Eve, Lily and Petunia took it in turns to braid each other's hair and sing carols to their parents.

On Christmas Eve, Severus lay on his bed, making sparks shoot from his wand.

Red.

Green.

Red.

Green.

At least it was in the spirit of the season. He had been with Lily all day but she had gone back home early as she said Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Eve were family days in her house. Severus sighed and rolled over.

Christmas Day, Boxing Day and the subsequent holidays after were enjoyed by all but all too soon it was the night before term started again. Mary was slowly packing all her clothes into her trunk, one sock at a time. She loved packing, it was relaxing. She folded her Gryffindor scarf into her trunk and gave a sad smile. Her parents weren't exactly proud that she hadn't been sorted into Slytherin like they both had but they were happy that she was where she belonged. That was all that matter after all.

Mary was just getting onto her books when she heard a muffled crash from downstairs. She froze and grabbed for her wand. Her parents were out at a party and she was left at home to pack in peace.

'Not so peaceful now'

After standing still for five minutes and hearing nothing, Mary shrugged and went back to packing. One book after another. Soon she forgot about the noise in the relaxation of packing.

It wasn't until later that night when she had finished packing and was setting out her clothes for tomorrow that she heard another noise. This one wasn't so muffled.

"Who's there?" Mary called before admonishing herself. 'Of course they aren't going to answer that!'

True to her thoughts, there was no answer but Mary wasn't fooled. Last time she only thought there was someone in her house. Now she knew for sure there was.

Mary turned to her window to see if there were any cars on the street. A flash caught her eye as she leant further out her window… further… further…

Something hard whacked into her from behind. She fell forward…out of her window… down... down…

The last thing Mary saw was a flash from the same spot before she blacked out, hitting the ground with a sickening thud.

A/N: What do you think? What happened to Mary? PLEASSSEEE review!