YOU MEAN FRIGHTENED? SCARED OUT OF HER WITS. WE'RE GOING TO DIE…!

Let me take a deep breath…

Obviously, it took me longer than I expected to update this story. Sorry. If you can notice the scrollbar there at the right… this chapter is quite long. I didn't realize that until I noticed that, hey, I seem to could never finish this chapter. After finishing this I thought about cutting it up into two – you know, making the second part chapter two. But no, I changed my mind.

I could've uploaded this chapter sooner but I just saw The Notebook last night… couldn't sleep, that's love – is all I can say.

Anyway, back to this. I won't bother you with more, so I'll leave you with chapter one, after a brief thank you to my readers… wonderful people, you are.

shrk-bait

Anarane

Aspiring Shieldmaiden

Cecilia – yeah, this story takes place in the seventh year, still.

angkat14

Lily Natalia Evans

Linker27 – my names mean… oh it's nothing. 'saj' is from Sagittarius while aneri is a mix match of the last five letters of my real name.

mutsumi – miss you, too!

lilbird

Tasz

Nethwen

By the way, JK Rowling owns everything that you recognize and the rest are mine.

so kep me... in your bed... all day... nothing heals me like you do... -- heather nova, "london rain"

~*~*~*~

CHAPTER ONE: Something Evil This Way Comes

"Harry!"

A sudden terrified scream resounded in the soundless air of the room. James Potter was lying sleepily in the Hospital Wing of Hogwarts when he sat up hastily as he felt the rapids of adrenaline start surging through him. "What's going on? What happened?" he stuttered, struggling to locate his glasses from the bedside table while hurriedly trying to put it on simultaneously. As his vision started to clear, he recognized the girl who cried him to consciousness. On the bed beside his, Lily Evans was sitting with a panicked-stricken face, trying to catch her breath.

While still trying to coordinate himself, he got out of his bed and then sat beside her. "Are you alright?" he asked with apparent concern in his voice.

Lily woke up with her heart racing of fear. And though for a second, everything was a blur, she felt strands of sweat drip on her face. She quickly turned to her surroundings wanting to find out where she was and realized that she was in the school's hospital. I'm alright, she thought and then recognized a certain boy was sitting next to her, looking at her curiously. She closed her eyes momentarily to get herself together and then said, "Yes," realizing that James just asked her a question. "I'm… fine."

"Are you sure? You look… sick."

Aah… James Potter. Never could get used to him even if one tried hard to. Lily gazed at his now calming face and thought for a while what she was doing in the Hospital Wing in the first place. Then she remembered the other night. As if soaking in the rain was not a good reason enough to end up at the infirmary, she kissed James Potter – of course it wasn't because she kissed James. It was more so because the boy was burning up at that time and it was a given that when they arrived from the heavy downpour, the school nurse, Madame Prenny, insisted – no, commanded – that she stayed, too because "I am sick. As I remember, you passed the bug you were carrying to me."

"Well, who told you to kiss me?" James blurted out in fake astonishment.

"I dunno. My other self?"

"I see you kids are doing fine," a voice echoed through the room. They looked up and saw the school nurse carrying a tray that was holding their breakfast. "You're arguing," she continued, pointing out the fact that it was part of the universal norm that they argue. Period. And if suddenly, they got along, somehow, the balance of the universe had gone upside down – they were sick, for one. She decided to lay the tray on Lily's bed since both of them were already there. "Eat up, now. Don't waste anything. I don't want to see anything left on that tray when I come back."

"But, you'll be needing the spoons and bowls back, won't you?" James teased, smiling widely at her.

Madame Prenny shook her head. "Don't start with me," she said, with her finger pointing warningly at him. But she couldn't help but smile back at the boy who just recently, virtually became a regular resident in the medical wing.

A few months ago, specifically just days before Christmas, James realized – realized ­– that he was in love with Lily Evans. Why realized? Everybody knew that he was in love with the girl. He was just oblivious enough to be so utterly unaware of it. Shallow James became lovesick but this time, his charisma and winning smile wouldn't even get past the hair of Lily. He was devastated. So devastated he was that, a few days ago, he went down with flu after deciding to soak in the rain following a Quidditch practice. Depressed and suicidal – not a very wonderful combination.

What he didn't know was that Lily fell for him during the course of their holiday break when he sent her a letter every night. He didn't get a single reply – maybe that was why he was, again, unaware – at least not a reply an owl flew him. It was handed him by the girl herself, when he ended up in the infirmary, after drenching and then hallucinating on the power of the Memory Charm spell to make him forget that he loved her.

So, after another life-changing realization, he got out of bed – still in his pajamas and still with his woozy head that felt heavy as a rock (he tried jumping once just to prove to the school nurse that he was ready to get out of the hospital and ended up trying to catch his head as he wailed in pain) – and escaped from the watchful eyes of Madame Prenny to find Lily.

It turned out that she, too, escaped from Hogwarts so he followed her and, again, soaked in the rain while shouting 'Lily Evans' out in the streets of the village. And then, the rest was, as they say, history.

"So," James started, getting a hold of a bowl and handing it over to Lily, "who's Harry?"

"No one. I don't know," Lily replied thoughtlessly, apparently still dazed from her dream. Then she paused as if something just popped in her head. She realized what James was saying. She looked at him in complete innocence and confusion at the same time. "Who's Harry?" In expounded terms, 'what the hell are you talking about?'

James chuckled. It seemed to him that Lily was still rattled, so he decided to drop the subject instead.

* * * * *

That morning, Remus Lupin was about to enter the Transfiguration classroom. Just like any other day, he was planning on settling in his seat until McGonagall tapped her wand on the desk, signaling the start of the class. But today, he snappishly stopped at the door and was surprised to see… chaos. Chaos before the start of class could've been very normal – but chaos before McGonagall's class… It. Was. Not. Possible.

"What in the world…?" he mumbled, before he dodged a paper plane zooming towards him. He turned around making sure he was in the right classroom. Yes, he was in the correct class, alright. But the scene was just as peculiar as him strolling under the full moon (for a werewolf, that wasn't a very bright idea).

The students were noisy, – more than usual – running around, sitting on tables – this would be McGonagall's nightmare – and lo and behold, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew were even in front of the class playing with the paper planes that were flying all over the room. It wasn't like they actually behaved themselves in McGonagall's class – or in any class for that matter – but they wouldn't go horsing around in her classroom. It seemed that the only 'behaving' students in the room were Lucius Malfoy and his cohorts – probably thinking that this was all too childish for them.

"Weird…" another voice mumbled beside him. He turned and saw Kiara, with Toni and Vince, just as in awe as he was five seconds ago. "McGonagall's never been late. At all. Like not. Ever."

"Yeah, I get your point," Toni answered, getting in the room. Somehow, she didn't mind all the commotion happening inside. Maybe not all… She stopped in her tracks when she saw the person at the front of the class. "Tell me he's not playing with paper airplanes…" she muttered to Kiara, not taking her eyes off Sirius.

Kiara stood beside her friend and took a breath, sounding like she was going to summon a spell of some sort. "He's not playing with paper airplanes." She paused and then smiled at Toni. "Sorry, didn't work. I don't have that kind of magic."

"You know, actually, it's parchment," Vince joined in, feeling a bit clever at that time, enjoying the mixed reactions on Toni's face. "So technically, it's parchment planes—"

"Does it matter?" Toni butted in before he could continue his awful ingenuity. "It's paper— Th— Wh— Uh, thirteen-year-olds don't even do this anymore," she insisted trying not to feel crazy to be going out with someone who played with parchment aircrafts as a pastime.

"You'll be surprised," Remus said, like giving a sign of caution in bright blinking red lights.

Then, as if Sirius felt Toni's eyes piercing through him, he turned toward them and waved. He stopped throwing the made-up aircrafts in the air and strutted across the room feeling like a fine-looking young man, which he was, unfortunately. "Heey…" he greeted Toni with a smile from ear to ear, looking like he hadn't seen her for the longest time. "Good morning," he said, after he gave her a quick kiss.

"What's going on?" Remus asked Peter, the moment he caught up with them.

"You know what they say. When the cat is away, the mouse will play."

"So playing meant throwing these… things in the air," Toni stated, pointing at what Sirius was holding.

Instead of getting the point, Sirius smiled quite proudly and held up what he had in his hand. "Actually this is a jumbo jet!" Everyone around him turned at each other and rolled their eyes. But he seemed to not care at all.

"I give up," Toni muttered, shaking her head. So, she tried to change the subject, instead. Maybe he'd be able to make sense in other things. "McGonagall's late. It's weird isn't—?"

"It's out of this world, as a matter of fact. But the woman's over fifty years old. It's about time she caught a flu or something."

No success over there, either. But Kiara and Vince let out soft chuckles, which they tried to mask in a couple of grunts when Toni glared menacingly.

"You're crazy, Black," Remus told him before he finally settled in his seat, knowing that this conversation wasn't going anywhere.

* * * * *

"Lily… wake up…"

After eating her breakfast, Lily thought she could use more rest and decided to go back to sleep. Unfortunately, James was starting to feel a tad lonely staring at the ceiling and the walls of the infirmary and thought it best to wake Lily up from her nap. He sat beside her on the bed and started whispering in her ear. "Yoohoo… are you awake yet?" But Lily stirred in her bed and turned away from him.

James sat up straight and rolled his eyes. "Oh, you've been sleeping all morning. There's only one animal I know that eats and then sleeps afterwards…"

"James, if you say 'pig' I'm going to smash your head with a pair of Bludger bats," he heard her muffling in her pillows.

"Well then, wake up…!" he grumbled in fake exasperation. He reached for Lily and then started shaking her. "Wake up. Wake up. Wake up."

"Oh, stop shaking me. I'm just going to get dizzy and then I'd be wanting more sleep," Lily replied sleepily, still her face buried in her pillow.

So, James stopped shaking her and looked at her for a while – a mind brewing an idea so early in the morning… "Fine." He moved closer and lay beside her. Then, he gladly put his arm around her and—

Well, he was going to lean over and kiss her on the cheek but Lily thought it wasn't really appropriate to be all cozy in the Hospital Wing. She turned around and looked at him, with his arm still around her waist. "James, what are you doing?" she said, her face just a few inches away from his.

James pretended to think for a moment, smiled and then replied, "Getting comfortable?"

Just then, they both heard someone clearing her throat. "Ahem." They soon found Madame Prenny standing by the foot of the bed. For a second they just looked at each other with James looking like, 'go on, what is it?' but then, the school nurse cleared her throat again and nodded her head pertaining to James' arm – and whole self, actually, in Lily's bed.

James rolled his eyes and snorted. "Oh c'mon," he said, pulling back his arm where it belonged and then sitting up straight. "We're just talking."

"That's right," Lily joined in. "Well, I was sleeping and he was the one doing all the talking, anyhow."

Madame Prenny drew a deep breath – perhaps patience – before starting to speak. "Well, I have good news for you both. You're going to be released."

"Now?" Came a question from James – which was a bit odd for someone who, a few days ago, was almost pleading on his knees just to be released from the Hospital Wing in spite of the insanely high fever he had. Of course, now, he had a reason to stay.

"You suddenly feel like staying?" Madame Prenny replied with another question, while eyeing James and Lily. She seemed to know what was going on in that boy's head.

"Uh—" a moment of speechlessness from the Potter. "No," he finally said, getting out of bed. "No."

"I heard you the first time, Mr. Potter," the school nurse crossed her arms.

"I know," James said pointedly, as he walked toward the nurse. "But, see, we're already late for class."

"Oh, Transfiguration," Lily suddenly groaned from her bed. "We're already late for McGonagall's class."

"I'm well aware of that Ms. Evans. If it were up to me, I wouldn't release you till tomorrow. But Headmaster Dumbledore insisted that you attend Professor McGonagall's class as soon as possible."

"Why?" chorused James and Lily.

Instead of giving a reason, Madame Prenny just waved them off and answered, "It's not in my place to say." She walked to her desk and pulled a couple of parchment to write on.

James followed her. "Is something wrong?" he asked, curiosity getting the best of him.

"Oh… don't ask me. I'm just the school nurse. Here," she said, handing him the parchment. James looked and saw that she wrote them a couple of notes to excuse them from being late in class.

"Hey, nice," James muttered after reading the note. "Do you think I could keep this for emergency purposes?"

Madame Prenny rolled her eyes and shooed him off. "Go on. Get out of here. You need to change into your informs and attend class," she said instead and then added, looking at James, "And no. You can't keep that." Before James could say even more, the school nurse blurted out, as if reading his mind, "And no. You cannot make copies of those, either. Now, go on. Shoo."

James bobbed his head back and pouted exaggeratingly trying to look like he was stunned and hurt by her tone. "Well thank you for being such a lovely hostess. I suddenly felt your overwhelming hospitability, just then."

Now, Madame Prenny was genuinely feeling rather annoyed – dealing with James so early this morning. "James Potter, I wonder how Lily Evans could stand you."

James snorted like 'isn't it obvious?' and then flashed a winning smile. "She loves me!"

"James," Lily's voice resonated in the air. He turned around and looked at her standing by the door. "Quit aggravating the school nurse and let's go."

"Alright," he replied. Then he spun back around to the school nurse once more. "I'll see you around… We will shoo now."

* * * * *

"Sirius, what are you still doing?"

Sirius stopped what he was doing – apparently still making those he called jumbo jets out of parchment, while the whole class was waiting for Professor McGonagall to arrive. The tone of Toni's voice didn't exactly sound like she was having fun. He stirred in his seat and looked at her, sitting next to him. "F-folding—paper—organizing?" he replied instead, with a hesitant smile, after Toni scowled at him. "I'm bored!" he groaned. "I didn't realize not having McGonagall in the classroom could make me bored like this."

"Oh that's a surprise," Toni suddenly blurted out. She crossed her arms and looked at him menacingly. "You better rephrase that statement very soon."

For a while, Sirius stared at her wondering what was wrong. And then he realized…

"Oh! No no no no no! Toni, I didn't mean it that way. You know I like spending time with you," he started a hundred miles per second apology. "I just meant you know— I'm not in trouble am I?" Toni just looked at him and then rolled her eyes. He bit his lip. Uh-oh. "Want a jumbo jet?"

Couldn't get much worse than that.

"Want a haircut?" Toni mocked. Then she started gawking at his hair, quite intently. "Let's see… what look suits you?"

"Toni," Sirius spoke, absolutely worried that she was serious in chopping those lovely locks he never even let anyone else lay a hand on. "You're not – you're not serious, are you? You're not planning to sneak up into the boys' dormitories, you know, late at night, then sneak into my bed—"

"For… get it!" Toni exclaimed, wide-eyed. "Don't be ridiculous."

"Just asking…"

"Besides, as much as it's appropriate to see your face once in a while, I'm not going to be the one to hold you back from your relationship with your crowning glory," she mocked him. "But come to think of it, that's not really a bad idea."

"Sneaking into my bed?"

"No… Cutting your hair."

"No it's not. You know why? Because I still look absolutely fabulous," Sirius uttered so confidently that he probably believed it himself.

Toni was supposed to say something back but decided to just let that comment pass when the students who were loitering out in the halls came running into the classroom, yelling, "McGonagall's coming!" And everyone started to struggle for his seat.

In a short second, Professor McGonagall entered the classroom commandingly as the last students were still on their way to their places. "Oh, it's not like I couldn't hear your voices from down the hall," she said, as she walked toward the front of the class. She placed the pile of parchment papers that she was carrying with her on the desk. And after a deep breath, she turned around and looked at the class before starting to speak. "Good morning. I'm sorry for my delay—"

"That's all right Ms. McG. You're still my favorite professor," came a voice from a very familiar person. Sirius smiled widely as the other students giggled.

McGonagall looked at him looking like she was ready to tell him off. However, having Sirius Black—the Sirius Black—as a student for the seventh consecutive year, one would get used to his antics. Fortunately, his best friend, James Potter, wasn't there to double the headache. "Well, thank you, Mr. Black. Perhaps you could settle down and listen to me now," she replied, just waving him off, instead.

"Sure Professor McG."

Professor McGonagall waited for the sniggering to die down before she began again. "Now that things have livened up, we will start with your exam results." Groans filled the classroom as she gathered up the parchment papers resting on her desk. "Not to worry. At least for this test. I'd like to say I'm quite impressed with your results." She started passing around the tests. "I even suspect that some of you have mastered the art of human transformations into animals. Mr. Black," she handed him his exam, "you seem to have taken this to the heart. Needless to say, this is your best work yet," she said to Sirius whose smile was widening by the second.

"I told you you're my favorite," Sirius replied with salute.

"And so are you, Mr. Lupin. Mr. Pettigrew."

"Hey, Remus," Peter whispered, nudging his friend in the rib.

Remus was occupied eyeing the distancing figure of the professor. Somehow she seemed strange – a bit different – to him. There was something that she was harboring and he could sense it – like any animal, or a wolf for that matter, could sense fear. He just realized that he was probably staring when Peter elbowed him. He turned to his friend and looked at him with a quizzical face.

Peter smiled when Remus looked at him like he bothered him from something so important. "I think she's a little too old for you, mate."

Alright, he was probably staring. Remus rolled his eyes and looked pathetically at his friend. After Lily, how could you possibly stomach the thought of me and… "Go to hell…" he groaned, before he pretended to look at his exam results. He only looked up again when McGonagall started the lesson.

However, just in the middle of the introduction to a new lecture, the professor stopped in mid-sentence – apparently interrupted, as she gazed with anticipation at the door. The perplexed students turned around to see what was she looking at and found James and Lily standing at the door.

There was silence. It would've been a bit deadly if Sirius hadn't been so eager to spoil the mood. "Awww… the couple has arrived! Ouch." Toni prodded him to stop, evidently.

"Well, are you just going to stand there?" McGonagall said, ignoring Sirius – or trying to ignore, whatever it was, she was already a highly skilled professional when it came to it.

And as if he just came out of a trance, James shook his head 'no' and pulled Lily alongside him toward the front of the class. "The school nurse decided to let us out of the infirmary at the last minute," he said, as he handed the parchment papers that the nurse gave him.

No he decided not to make copies.

McGonagall didn't take long to read what was written in the paper. She already knew that Dumbledore requested Madame Prenny to release them and then ask them to attend her class so this wasn't really a surprise. Besides, she knew that being Head Boy and Head Girl – they had to be there. "Take your seats," she muttered and put the notes in her pocket after she folded them.

* * * * *

"Will the Gryffindors please stay? For a while." McGonagall called out after class. The students from Gryffindor groaned in unison after her announcement, as they were all normally expecting that this labyrinth of Transfiguration would end now since class time was over. But, no… they had to stay. Even for a while.

The Slytherins were all sniggering at the groaning Gryffindors when McGonagall, apparently not finished with her statement, added, "And the Slytherins, please go to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Your House Head will be waiting for you."

Haha.

After the Slytherins left the room, other seventh year Gryffindors came arriving by the minute. It was like a gathering. And Peter was starting to get a wee bit curious and agitated. He turned to Remus as if trying to ask a question that he couldn't find the words for.

"Something's up. I can feel it," Remus spoke in a low voice like he was giving caution or a forewarning. He watched as the students came in one by one. And then at McGonagall. He looked at her face as if trying to see if she was showing signs of anxiety. Then he noticed that she was rubbing her hands together like they were cold – or maybe this was how she waited. He didn't really watch her every start of the class to see what she was doing.

Peter apparently took Remus very seriously when it came to these kinds of things. He started becoming anxious himself. Something about Remus and his 'somethings' were not exactly a reason for joy especially when Remus was looking like he was ready to transform into a raging monster while waiting for the enemy to appear before him. "Are—? You're— you're not trying to scare me, are you?" he said, practically squeaking, short of hiding in a corner and turning into a rat for the rest of his life.

Remus knew that his friend was expecting for him to take back what he just said but, "Something is definitely going on."

* * * * *

Sure, it was Remus who felt that something was brewing inside the walls of Hogwarts – or maybe outside? But who actually knew? However, when the students settled in their seats, now he wasn't the only one who suspected there was a big announcement to be made. How big, how significant, or how it would affect each and every one of them, that was what they were all buzzing about. But apparently, all seventh years were called to join with their housemates and the respective Head of their Houses.

McGonagall tapped her wand on the desk to call everyone's attention and without any ado, began to speak. "I'm not going to beat around the bush. You're probably wondering why you are all here." She paused shortly before continuing. "Cutting to the chase, a tighter school security is going to be implemented."

More buzzing echoed throughout the classroom after this statement. Tighter school security? Wasn't Hogwarts secured enough? With Dumbledore and all the professors, for what more did these securities were needed? "Settle down. Settle down."

"These securities are more of being careful. And as the eldest in your House, you all will be watching over the lower-year students. Now, the responsibility isn't forced on you. The faculty simply cannot do this alone. We need your cooperation."

James' hand shot up in the air. And even without the teacher giving him the permission to talk, he spoke. "What exactly is happening?"

McGonagall didn't answer right away. She paused and looked at him, but her expression seemed like she was thinking of a way to deviate from the question. "Times are changing, Mr. Potter." Her voice was heavy with the caution that Remus was sensing since the beginning of class. "You will be informed of the matter that concerns you. And as of this moment, the information I have given and going to give is what… concerns you."

Then, she took out a roll of parchment and began reading a new set of rules and regulations. "Students are not allowed out in the school grounds after dark, and no student shall be allowed to stay out of his House after ten o'clock – taking into consideration each year level's curfew. There will be no exceptions. Even Quidditch practices are to be done in daytime and games are likely to be suspended in times of heavy rain… These new regulations are to be announced again during the school dinner this evening."

* * * * *

"Games cancelled in times of rain? Wha—?" James muttered again. He was saying the same thing all day and it was driving everyone with him mad. Especially Lily. Well, she was going out with this boy and she was probably stuck with him all day, exclaiming in different sets of tones: Games cancelled in times of rain?! Games cancelled in times of rain…? Games cancelled in times of rain… All it needed was a chorus reply of 'Why?!!!' and everything would have been complete. Fortunately, some of Lily's classes were not with James. Like right now – James and his friends were already walking to the Great Hall for dinner without Lily… nor Toni, because they didn't have class together.

"Heavy rain. It's heavy rain," Remus said. "Because it's dark." He paused when James looked at him with a puzzled face. "During heavy rain," he explained further.

Peter, who was listening intently, probably because of fear – or paranoia to be exact – pulled his robe closer to him and said, "Well, that can't be good, can it? It just means they don't want us out in the dark. What is there exactly in the dark suddenly these days?"

"Yes! Why would you cancel a game in times of rain? Nobody cancels a game of Quidditch in times of anything!" James blurted out. Obviously, Quidditch had a special place in his heart and it hurt to know that the system was altering Quidditch policies. He was, say, heartbroken.

Peter shook at the said of that. Maybe… maybe something was wrong. "Unless there's evil! Evil most likely lurking in the dark." He started rambling on like a scared little rat that it would have been so funny if he didn't actually believe what he was saying.

"That's right," Sirius agreed without thinking. Obviously, he wasn't listening to his friend just then. But then again, there were moments that he realized what he was doing just in the knick of time. After opening his mouth thoughtlessly, light shed some on him. He turned to Peter and realized the somewhat ridiculous idea his friend just offered. "What?"

But Peter just squeaked, "Do you think we're going to die?"

There, his three friends all stopped in their tracks and looked at him like he was starting to go insane. He was – quite apparently to their knowledge.

Sirius was the first to break the pause. He was the one who started laughing before his friends joined him. "You look like you're going to go in your pants, Wormtail!"

* * * * *

Of course, the foursome took their seats at the front end of the Gryffindor table. There was something about this side of the Great Hall – teachers do not usually look at the front of the class, they look at the people at the back to see if they aren't doing any mischief. But then, James and Sirius would attract attention wherever they tried to place themselves. It was in their nature – making trouble.

This time around, they saved four more seats. One was for Toni, the pretty sporty brunette who was playing for the Gryffindor Quidditch team as a Chaser and at the same time going out with Sirius. How he actually made that happen in spite of his altogether carefree nature, only history would know. He was a good-looking boy, for one. And the romantic of the four – that was a great part of the reason.

The other one was for, who else but Lily Evans – red head, pretty, petite and intelligent. Now, another mystery how James was able to get this girl… it was another story altogether completed with saucer-sized cookies, glowing stars in the Head Prefects Room, the Big Dipper, and just recently, the kiss in the rain that ended with both of them in the Hospital Wing.

The other two were for Kiara and Vince – the girl who liked attention and the boy who tried to keep out of them. Another contradiction that fate brought together. They hung out with Lily and Toni before the two girls ended up with the Marauders. And these two would be another long story.

After a minute, Lily arrived for dinner. The moment she sat beside James, she automatically received mischievous stares from Sirius. While Remus and Peter were just showing plain curiosity.

"You're not exactly making me comfortable, you know?" Lily muttered at Sirius who was now batting his eyes at her.

"Silly Lily," Sirius teased. "You know we just adore you…" he said as he reached out for Lily's hand. He was planning to give it a kiss like a gentleman would a lady, but Lily immediately pulled back her arm.

"Shut up."

Just another moment passed and Toni came marching to their table looking like she was going to war. She plopped down beside Sirius without even acknowledging him and looked at James. "Alright. We have to start scheduling the pitch for our practices. Slytherins have been filling up all possible slots," she said without as much as taking a breath. "Aargh…! I am going to shave the hair out of that blond git!"

"Whoa!" Sirius reacted after the words 'shave' and 'hair' came out of Toni's mouth. "Easy there," he said, running his hand behind Toni's back to calm her down. "Now, we don't want to start doing anything impulsive."

"What if it is the sign of the times?" Out of nowhere, Peter began rambling again. Not again. "Like one of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse."

Everyone looked at him; curious on what in the world he was talking about. Then, strangely enough, Sirius was the first one to get it. "Seriously, what have you been eating lately?"

"Or maybe what's eating him," Remus joined in.

But Peter ignored them. "It's not actually very comforting to be told that potential danger is out there waiting… to just… pounce on you," he said complete with gestures of 'waiting' and 'pouncing'.

Toni looked at them with a perplexed face. She was talking about the dungeon people! Not this! "Are we still talking about the Slytherins?"

"No. We're talking about Peter's bloody end of the world," Sirius replied, making 'ooh, I'm so scared' gestures.

Peter narrowed his eyes at him. "Oh, sure. Make fun of me. Make fun of the little guy who doesn't want to die."

"You're not going to die, Peter," Remus muttered, not really wanting to hear any more of this and at the same time, regretting that he even said anything about 'something.' "I don't think the other world's ready for you."

At the said of that, Sirius grabbed his chest as if it was hit by a bullet and exclaimed, "Ouch! Straight to the heart. The big. Bad. Growling—" he stopped in mid sentence when he saw Remus glaring at him. The big and the bad were okay but he was apparently forgetting about where he was going with his drama when he started referring to him as growling. Not the best place to broadcast that he growled under the full moon – werewolves, they weren't very keen on spreading around their nature when they were in human form. "—Remus strikes again," Sirius said instead, in the most lamest 'Ok, I'll shut up, now' tone.

Normally, Peter would give it a rest after a series of people were apparently ignoring his concerns. But that night… "What have you told me earlier in McGonagall's classroom?" he said, turning to Remus. Obviously, he wasn't planning on dropping it. Technically, nobody was telling him to, anyway. He made a brooding face that made him look like a pouting five-year old. He was actually trying to appear like Remus but the brooding wasn't clearly meant for him. "Something's definitely going on," he mimicked his friend.

Now, in spite of having to look like a wrinkled rat than an ominous yet gentle Remus, the people around him actually got it. Everyone looked at Remus.

"What do you mean?" Lily asked.

Remus knew that he was trapped. He better do some explaining or else… He sighed audibly. This was the reason why you don't say anything to Peter – especially those that would make him more than paranoid. "I just sensed something odd about her behavior. She seemed… anxious," he said with a shrug. Then he turned to Peter and talked to his face. "But that doesn't mean that you're going to die in the near future."

"You mean frightened? Scared out of her wits. We're going to die…!"

"Oy!" Sirius exclaimed, throwing a piece of bread at Peter. It wasn't actually just 'a piece' because it was big enough to probably knock him back into sanity. "Get yourself a grip, mate." Everyone wanted to laugh but decided to unsuccessfully stifle them seeming that Peter looked rather pathetic when he almost fell off his seat – not just because of the bread, of course. But he wasn't really expecting to be hit a big chunk of food.

"Hey, that hurt," Peter complained. "And you're wasting food," he said, now eating the bread.

"You know, maybe it's even nothing," Remus shrugged, after everyone stopped from trying to keep their sniggering to themselves. "I sense this kind of emotion a lot."

* * * * *

When the school administration said that they were imposing a curfew for the students, well, they actually meant immediately – like, right away.

Remus just came into the castle after a stroll out the school grounds. He was decided on going back to the Gryffindor Tower when he glanced upon a figure hurriedly passing by in the dark. Actually, it looked more to him like sneaking, rather than passing. He thought to look into it and followed the shadow that was creeping up the stairs. It was dark so he couldn't clearly see but he was sure that it was a female student sneaking up the Astronomy Tower.

Somehow, the girl seemed to have felt that someone was following her. So she hurriedly went into the Astronomy classroom and almost was running right past through it straight to the door out onto the rooftop. She was about to open the door when Remus appeared right before her face when she turned around to see if she had lost him.

Apparently she did not.

"Ah!"

"Whoa!"

"You scared me," the girl finally said after catching her breath. But she still seemed panting as she clutched her chest.

"I'm – I'm sorry."

"Were you following me?" the girl demanded.

"Uh—" Uh, well yes apparently. "It's just… it's almost ten in the evening. Shouldn't you be back in your tower?"

The girl chuckled. "Shouldn't you, too?"

Good point.

"I know that." Remus followed her out into the rooftop. Clearly, she wouldn't be listening to him anytime soon. He looked at the girl but couldn't quite recognize her. Besides, although the sky was full of stars that night, it wasn't enough light to see her completely. "But still, you're not—" he stopped when the girl turned and looked at him. "—We're not allowed here… at this time."

"I know that," the girl teased. She walked to the stone balustrade of the rooftop and leaned over on her elbows. "We're suddenly not allowed anywhere at this time. So, you're not supposed to be here, either," she said, as she gazed at the sky. When she didn't hear a reply, she turned around and looked at him. She smiled when she saw Remus flashing an almost desperate face. Probably desperate to get her inside the castle. "You're not going to tell on me, are you?" Her tone wasn't of caution. There was actually a hint mischief in that voice – like she was delighted by his reactions every time she refused to listen to him.

Remus put his hands in his pocket. This girl was beginning to be a challenge. "I'll let this one pass. Uh – only one," he said pointedly.

But instead of a yes, the girl replied quite not the opposite, but not the answer Remus sought for, "Are you seriously thinking that I'll let you talk to me like I'm a child?" she snorted, then turned her back on him and went back leaning on the balustrade.

"You mean, you're not even curious why suddenly school grounds are off limits after dark and students are restricted outside their Houses at this time…?" Remus said, as he walked toward the girl he obviously had forgotten to ask the name of.

The girl chuckled. But if she were a sparkle just a moment ago, it seemed that something about her started to fade just then. She stood straight and pulled her robes closer to her, almost like she was trying to enfold her body with herself. "Everybody's a little curious. But hardly anyone takes it seriously," she muttered, not meeting Remus' eyes. The she said, "I'm not going to do anything against the rules, you know," changing the subject.

"You already have," Remus shrugged, "just broken the curfew."

"And so have you," the girl said, but it seemed like she refused to look at him. She just kept staring at the sky.

"What are you looking for?" Curiosity got the better of Remus.

"I just – I just like looking at the heavens at night. You can call me a freak if you like, I wouldn't care."

"I'm not going to call you a freak," Remus gently, striding closer to her.

The girl suddenly distanced herself at the same time that Remus tried to get nearer. "I guess it's sill cloudy tonight," she said. "I'm going back inside," she said as she hurriedly walked toward the door. She left without even saying as much as a good night or a see you around.

Remus was left confused. He was looking up at the sky, too. It was so clear that one could count all the stars if he dared. There wasn't a speck of cloud in the sky.

~*~*~*~

for strangers in the night... i'd run away... if something isn't right... i'd run away... but if you would choose to stay... what can i say... but i'd run away... -- meja, "i'd run away"

I know there wasn't much of James and Lily but there was Peter's paranoia and Remus' mysterious girl. Hmmm…

Now, about the title… I don't think it's the appropriate time to tell you about it. Just you wait. Maybe you'll figure it out anyway.

So… review, review, review. That's what I ask.