AN:/I know, I know, I haven't updated in days. Sorrrrrry! But my internet hasn't been working:( Not a very long chapter I'm afraid as I wrote it quickly to get one up! But I get off for Easter on Tuesday, so the daily updates shall return! Promise!:D
Lily felt pretty depressed. She really didn't know what to do.
None of her friends were talking to her and she'd royally screwed things up with James. She'd made an enemy of Melinda, who would most certainly spread horrible things about her when they returned to school. Vernon Dursley was making a habit of staying in her house everyday, and she was slowly going insane with all of his rants about bloody drills.
Amos Diggory kept sending her letters, and she wasn't sure if that was a good thing.
But she found herself replying, seeing as she had no one else to talk to.
Though with each sent letter, Lily did notice the increasing amount of flirtation going on. She didn't like him like she liked James, but he was nice to talk to.
Their letters were daily, hourly even.
Alright Ginger?
Want to meet up today?
You could come to mines.
Amos x
When this particular letter came through her window, Lily had two problems. She absolutely hated people calling her Ginger. Secondly, meet up?
They hardly knew each other. The first time she'd actually talked to him had been at the party and that certainly hadn't gone very well.
After some deliberating, Lily decided she wasn't going to be doing anything else for the rest of the summer, and if she stayed in her house for extended periods of time she would certainly go mad.
So she wrote back, telling Amos she would love to.
James rolled over onto his back, staring up at the ceiling of his bedroom. Sirius was sitting on the table, clearly getting more and more frustrated with his friends lack of fun.
"Come on Prongs, you're killing me here!"
James glared.
"You don't understand Sirius."
"I understand that you're being a teary arsehole yet again, because of Evans!"
"Just shut up Padfoot! I'm having proper issues right now."
Sirius rolled his eyes.
"What? Because some girl who never even liked you, snogs some boy at a party? Big deal!"
James pushed his hair back and turned on his side to face Sirius.
"But I thought that-"
"Yeah, yeah. I get it. You thought she actually liked you. Haven't you told me this about 100 times already? She doesn't like you, James! And has made that very clear over the years I might add."
James sighed. He knew his friend was right, but he just didn't want to accept it.
"Maybe I should send her a letter?"
"Prongs, you are such a girl."
"What! I should talk to her!"
"You are so clueless mate. I really don't know where all these girls get the idea that you're some bloody Quidditch hero heartthrob. 'Cause we all know that's not true."
James closed his eyes. Sirius was irritating him now.
When he opened them, Sirius was rubbing his hands together.
"Bloody git that Amos is. I just had to punch him. He has a hard nose, I can tell you now."
He paused. "It never hurt like this when I punched Peter in third year."
Sirius smirked. "But I suppose Wormy's face would have a lot more padding than Amos."
He stopped, waiting for James's laugh or even reply, but James was back to staring at the ceiling.
Sirius groaned.
"Why are you acting like this? Snap the hell out of it! If you're going to be like this all summer I'd sooner move back in with my darling mother."
James put his hands under his pillow.
"Sirius! Just stop, okay? Leave me alone. I just need a while to get over this!"
Get over her…he thought.
"I don't see why I should! Prongs, you're being completely ridiculous!"
"You don't get it! You've never had this feeling before!" James shouted, sitting upright.
"What feeling?" Sirius said, his voice increasing too.
"That I'm in love with her!" The statement shocked him. He'd never really thought about it much before, but he supposed it was true. He continued.
"Proper, grown up love, Padfoot. And you'll never understand that."
Sirius laughed.
"We're sixteen James! You're acting like an idiot. We're too young."
"I've found her Sirius. Okay? I've found the one for me."
"Merlin James! You just need to-"
"Don't bloody tell me to go out and get smashed, snog a few girls. Because that doesn't make everything better."
"It works for me." Sirius muttered.
"I know you, Sirius. Better than anyone. I know you're a womanizer. You'll probably never fall in love. You'll never get married, have a family, because that's not who you are!"
Sirius stood up, his face reddening.
"You don't know anything." He said. "Not a bloody thing."
James scoffed. "What? Think getting with Marlene McKinnon every so often makes you an expert? She uses you. And you use her. It's how these things work."
"Stop it James!" Sirius said, backing into James's desk. "Stop telling me what I am!"
James breathed out deeply.
"Look." He said slowly. "I won't start a fight with you. Maybe you should stay with Remus for a few days, until I've sorted myself out."
Sirius stared.
"You're unbelievable, y'know that?"
"What!" James exclaimed.
Sirius shook his head. "You don't even know? Too consumed with your own petty problems to think about anyone else?"
James blinked, confused.
"Let me just tell you then." Sirius turned to the door. "Full moon tonight."
Sirius left the room and James sat down again, feeling rubbish.
How could he forget? His best friend was about to go through a horrific transformation, and all he could think about was a girl. Sirius was right.
He was self-consumed.
James jumped up and left the room. "Sirius! Sirius, wait!"
He shouted, running down the stairs. "I'm sorry, okay!"
Sirius was putting his jacket on. "Listen Prongs, I know you're upset about Evans and all…but there are more important things."
Sirius shrugged and moved to the door.
"Where are you going?"
"Remus's. Pete is already there…"
"Well I'll come too then-"
"No!" Sirius interrupted. "You, stay here. Just…come later on if you want. To be honest mate, I don't want to talk to you right now."
James stared at his best friend. "Alright." He nodded slowly and turned around.
The door slammed and James looked back. He sighed.
James was now home alone. His parents were at the ministry.
His footsteps echoed through the Potter's large house as he made himself a cup of tea.
It was 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and he wasn't going to go to Remus's until 10, so James had a lot of time to kill. He stirred the tea with his finger and stared at the wall. Utterly bored.
He remembered this time last summer, when the marauders had all gone to France with his parents. How Peter had attempted to get a tan and had returned from the beach looking very sunburnt and very pissed off. How two pretty girls turned Sirius down and left him looking sheepish, as their boyfriends shouted at him in rapid French. James smiled slightly at the memory, but after thinking about how badly things had changed since, frowned.
It seemed to him that the marauders were falling apart. Sirius wasn't his usual self, and James himself knew that he hadn't exactly been a bundle of joy lately. Even Remus was concentrating more on his prefect duties and studies, he rarely joined in on one of their pranks anymore. The only person who had loyally stayed by his side through thick and thin was Peter, though, when he thought on it, he had been acting differently.
He left the party without even telling them, and when asked, had simply said he hadn't been feeling well. James personally didn't believe that, but he had let the smaller boy away with it.
Sure, they were going through a rough patch, but weren't they stronger than that?
James hoped so.
Without the marauders…James would be nothing; just another faceless pupil in the crowd. James shook his head.
What was he talking about?
"Wise up James." He spoke to the empty house. "You're acting ridiculous. The marauders rule the school! You'll be known for years to come, Hogwarts number one pranksters!"
He continued to give himself the pep talk, the back of his mind commenting on how bloody insane he was acting.
Amos picked her up at 3 o'clock, and now Lily was sitting awkwardly on the corner of his bed.
The boy in front of her was twirling his wand between his fingers, occasional sparks flying out of the end. Lily had forgotten that Amos was of age, but he was a seventh year now; he could even apparate.
"Your house is really nice, Amos." Lily said weakly. Amos looked up.
"Yeah, we've only lived in it about a year…Dad had some trouble with bad wizards a couple years back, and we had to move, for our own safety."
Lily nodded. "Right." She tried to think of something to say but it turned out conversing with this boy was a little harder when you weren't drunk off your head.
"Anyone from Hogwarts live near here?" She asked.
"Well, there's Mary MacDonald, Emmeline Vance and…oh yeah, Lupin."
Lily smiled. "Remus lives near you?"
"Yeah, right across the street actually." He was frowning.
"What, don't like the marauders?" Lily said.
"I never really talked to them much before the party, but Sirius punched me…and Lupin; I'm pretty sure there's something off about him."
Lily looked down in her lap. She'd known that Remus was a werewolf ever since third year when they'd become good friends, but could Amos possibly suspect something?
"What do you mean?" She asked stiffly.
"Just rumours flying around about him."
"From who?"
Amos looked at her. "What's it to you?" His voice sounded frustrated. He paused. "I mean," He said quieter. "Do you know something?"
Lily shook her head fast, too fast. "No, no…"
The silence bared down on them once more. Lily gazed out the window, wondering why they weren't outside; the sun was blazing which was extremely rare.
"Can we sit outside?" She finally asked.
"Yeah, sure." Amos said, getting up and heading to the door. Lily rolled her eyes, asking herself why exactly she had agreed to come.
Remus Lupin didn't feel too good.
The time had come again; the worst day of the month, full moon. As he lay on the sofa by the window, breathing shallowly, he wondered for the thousandth time why he had to be the werewolf. Why was he the one who had to go through the agony, the horror…the embarrassment? Why not James, or Sirius? Rage fired through him and Remus clenched his fists. He knew that he didn't really think that; it was the wolf, already twisting his feelings.
He always felt angry before a transformation; it was all a part of it.
Another part was the illness, the feeling of utter death that passed over him. Like he couldn't move his arms or legs. At this late stage now, he could barely move his head. Sirius and Peter were stood at the door; he could feel their eyes, watching him, pitying him.
And he hated it.
"Alright Moony?" Sirius said." Remus lifted his chin slightly. "Same as ever."
He heard his friends sit down on the sofa opposite, talking softly.
"What was that?" Remus asked.
"Oh, James and I had a slight tiff, that's all."
"What? You two never fight!"
Sirius clapped his hands together. "Well, he's acting like an idiot. He deserves all he gets."
Not having the energy to reply as another tide of pain crashed through his head, Remus stared out of the window, blinking slowly.
The front door to Amos Diggory's house was opening, Remus registered. He watched as Amos walked out and sat beneath a tree. What he saw next nearly made him sit up. Nearly.
Lily had just closed the door behind her, and was now heading to sit beside Amos.
What the hell?
"Sirius? Pete?" Remus said quietly. "Look at this!"