Hi Guys! Me Again! Can you believe it! I thought since you've been waiting such a long time I'd update a couple of chapters tonight. This is the second... you might just get a third... :)
Chapter 8:
Pushing The Limits
That night the sixth years sat together by the fire in the Gryffindor common room. James sat in his favourite armchair by the fire reading his Transfiguration textbook. Lily sat on the floor near his feet, bathing in the warmth of the fire, with her own textbook open. Peter and Sirius were playing wizarding chess (Sirius was winning). Marlene and Kate were curled up on a sofa together, gradually falling asleep and Alice and Frank had disappeared half an hour ago to make out in an empty classroom. Lily looked at her watch briefly. James noticing the gesture asked, "is it time for you to go and force Prewett and Longbottom out of that classroom down the hall?"
Lily blushed crimson red, "yep."
James laughed loudly, clearly delighted by the turn of events, "I like it when you blush," he said without thinking. Lily glared at him but quickly turned her glare on someone else when she heard her name being called, "Evans," Tom Griffiths approached, "I hear you need a prefect to stand in for Lupin tonight… I don't mind giving you a hand."
James almost jumped out of his seat and punched the seventh year. He was Lily's ex-boyfriend and he hadn't treated her very well at all. Luckily Lorinc Rikard, a fifth year prefect made his way over, "actually I swapped shifts with Lupin so I'll be going with you Lily."
"Oh that will be nice Lorinc," Lily smiled, taking his arm and side stepping Tom.
Once Lily was out of the room, Sirius looked over to where his girlfriend was sleeping, "girls…"
"Yuh…" Marlene replied.
"Marley, I think you should go to bed," Sirius kissed her on the forehead. "You too, Stone."
He led the girls towards the girls staircase, kissed Marley on the nose and watched them go before turning to the other marauders, "come on then boys – he's waiting!"
They quickly made their way out of the castle. At one point, Evans had almost caught them because they were really too tall to be under the cloak all together. Luckily Lily had thought she'd imagined the ankle she had seen and merely rubbed her eyes. Peter transformed first so that he could get the knot in the tree for them, then the other two transformed. When they arrived in the shack, the wolf was waiting for them. He pounced on Sirius and they proceeded to play fight. After a while, James got bored watching and stepped in. He poked his head in the direction of which they had come, but the wolf whined. He didn't want to leave. It was safe here. James looked directly into the wolf's eyes; we'll look after you… trust us.
Peter led the party up the tunnel and Sirius followed, they had discussed how to go about it. Sirius and James were the ones who were responsible for ensuring that Remus didn't hurt anyone. They were only going to spend half an hour in the Forbidden Forest; what could possibly go wrong? James was at the back of the group. When they reached the top of the tunnel, Moony took a deep breath and howled into the night's air before darting off in the direction of the school. James could see what had caught his attention… there was a student out of bed and not just any student but Lily Evans. Padfoot tackled the wolf to the floor. James looked up to see that Lily hadn't noticed them… yet. He knew that Padfoot would be able to hold the struggling wolf down for about a minute and a half, just long enough for him to coax Evans back into the school building where she would be safe.
He darted off towards her. She was shocked when she saw the stag coming towards her. Harry noticed that she stood perfectly still as if she were scared he would vanish if she moved even an inch. James came right up close to her and stared into her eyes, trying to pass a message through his own. She was captivated by those eyes; she recognised them… she had seen them every day for the last six years yet… she gently leant up to stroke his nose. He leant into her touch and closed his eyes, holding his breath. She didn't let go so James decided he had to do something; he was beginning to panic. He could just imagine Remus pelting towards them with his yellow eyes. He began to walk towards the castle, she kept touching him, never letting go, following him unwittingly to her safety. When they reached the steps, he nuzzled her briefly before pushing his nose against the door, asking her to open it, which she did. He pushed her inside, just as he saw yellow eyes in the distance. He mouthed the handle and closed the door behind her before taking off into the night towards the yellow eyes.
He guided Remus into the forest, feeling suddenly guilty for thinking that this was ever a good idea. He would never have forgiven himself if something had happened to Lily, but perhaps more importantly Remus would never have lived past it. They'd pushed the limits and it had very nearly gone too far – they'd gotten lucky, thank Merlin.
Well... what do you think? Please review!