TO: Cecilia Orechio, Thank You! The website will help me tonnes! And I'm so glad that you like the story! xXx

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NIGHT ROGUES

Very carefully James stepped out of the Common Room. The Fat Lady grumbled at being woken up but quickly fell back asleep. Sirius stepped out after him and then Peter followed.

"All clear." Sirius whispered his eyed glued on the Marauders' Map. They moved quickly and silently, James constantly on the look out, Sirius monitoring their position from potential night threats such as Filch and McGonagall while Peter brought up the rear. James had his Invisibility cloak draped over his arm just in case but they knew the castle well enough for the occasion to be rare.

"That was easy tonight!" Peter grinned after they had made it outside through a secret passage that they discovered in their second year. There were many times when there had been close encounters but tonight's journey had been uneventful.

James nodded. "Let's get on shall we?" He looked up into the starry night and at the bright full moon. "Moony's waiting for us." Sirius didn't say anything; instead he was busy planning on where they could roam that night.

Peter puffed out his chest under James' expectant stare; it was his turn to play his part. Taking out his wand he pointed it at himself and muttered a spell. James watched as Peter gave a violent shiver and immediately began to shrink, his limbs contracting and getting smaller as his head shrunk and elongated. For the last part he found himself looking away and wondered if it ever looked that painful or ugly while he transformed. He had seen Peter transform many times and each time his admiration for McGonagall grew. He remembered the first time he had seen her change, it had been in one of his first Transfiguration lessons, and at that point he already had appreciated the grace and smoothness of her transformation. She was now doubly impressive in her skill now that he knew how difficult it really was.

Peter, now in his rat form twitched his whiskers importantly and skittered off escaping the notice of the vicious tree to touch the knot on the trunk that paralyzed it. Now Sirius and James made their way to the entrance excited of what adventure they would have.

Sirius slid down the low tunnel between the roots first and James quickly touched the knot to reactivate the tree after and also slid down. Next James busied himself with hanging up his Invisibility cloak on a protruding root at the base of the low tunnel and refolded the map Sirius handed to him. All the while he made sure to keep his back turned to his best friend while he took to the shape of a huge shaggy dog. Perhaps Sirius too grew self-conscious when he made the change and the two had reached a mutual agreement that transforming was a lot like getting changed and therefore a private matter.

Seconds later, with a low growl to let James know that he was going ahead Sirius ran off happily sniffing the earthy smell that hung in the cool air. James would not follow the tunnel to the Shrieking Shack because his animal form was much too large for him to exit via the tunnel again. His job was to wait for a sign from Sirius, which took the form of a howl, and he would freeze the tree and quickly transform outside and wait for them to join him.

James waited patiently half listening to the groaning tree; the whiplash cracks of twigs and branches as it swayed to an imaginary strong wind. With his back against the side of the tunnel he could actually feel the jerks and movements of the tree. It was then that he picked up on the sudden increase of activity, which never happened unless...

There was someone outside or at least something that was larger than a rat. Animals and students knew to avoid the dangerous tree at all costs. Curious, James climbed back out of the tunnel, sticking his head out just enough to avoid being noticed by the tree but sufficiently enough to look around. What he saw made his blood run cold.

"LIIIILLLLLYYYY!" He bellowed; she was getting too close to the tree. He could see her clearly, her arms and her face pale in the moonlight. She was walking steadily towards the tree; her eyes open but unfocused. James looked back into the tunnel frantically, his mind torn in two over what he should do. He couldn't risk freezing the tree now because it was the only thing protecting her if Remus were to come running up the tunnel, but then he couldn't let the tree attack her either.

Upon hearing her name she looked confused and then scared as if waking up to a nightmare. "DUCK!" James yelled, his heart skipping a beat as he spotted a branch swing down low straight at her-

With a sickening thud the thick branch slammed into Lily's stomach and lifted her off her feet. She didn't even have time to scream before she was thrown back in a wide arc and gravity yanked her body back onto the ground. She lay there winded, unsure of how she got there from her room but definitely aware that she was at the mercy of the Whomping Willow.

"LILY!" James was suddenly at her side, gathering her into a bundle. The tree was eerily quiet and Lily wondered vaguely if it had given up. "You have to get out of here, quick!" Lily began to nod assuming that he meant that just in case the tree decided to strike again but then a hair-raising howl filled the night air. She clutched James' arm as a second louder and more chilling howl echoed after the first.

"You need to run Lily! Run!" James dropped her back to her feet giving her a shove towards the castle. Bewildered she took a few steps towards the direction of pointed safety but hesitated expecting James to follow her. Instead he stood where he was, his attention entirely focused on one spot at the base of the tree. Without taking his eyes away from that spot he pulled out his wand. The next thing Lily knew he was changing shape rapidly. Seeming to grow, his form almost liquefying and expanding to take the shape of something much larger.

A stag! Lily thought, riveted to the spot. Movement tore her gaze away from the new James to the base of the tree where a huge dog emerged-

-Followed by a werewolf! Lily had never seen such a beast before but it didn't take an expert to recognize one. It sniffed the air and she could see its muscles quiver as it caught her scent and turned to look directly at her. Feeling fear spread from the pit of her stomach she couldn't help but stare back frozen like a stunned rabbit while her mind screamed at her to run.

Her view was suddenly blocked as the stag- James placed itself between her and the werewolf with his head lowered, ready to charge. With a snarl the werewolf launched itself in her direction stopping short of the charging stag. The dog was also there at an instant, snapping and snarling at it but Lily knew that her face and scent was already imprinted in the werewolf's mind and there was no stopping it. The stag bucked, intending to drive it back into the hole but the werewolf retaliated with huge swipes of its massive paw.

Defenseless and helpless Lily turned and fled.

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A/N: A friend of mine had a read of this chapter before I posted it and thought Lily seemed a bit chicken to be running off. I did consider changing it but then I decided that no, she wasn't being chicken at all. I mean, she was obviously the only human there and naturally the werewolf would go for humans, she didn't have a wand and although she can do some magic without it the effects would not be powerful enough. I don't think its a bit stretched to say that after sleepwalking again and waking up to be bulldozed by a tree and then seeing a werewolf merits a healthy dollop of fear. What do you guys think?