House/Position: Gryffindor Prefect
Prompts: (scenario) Being invisible, (emotion) anxious
Word Count: 1090
Betas: Bailey, Charlie
Poking her head out of the portrait hole, Lily carefully looked around. Deserted. Just as expected, but she couldn't be too careful. This was a dangerous task she was undertaking, one that could result in her being seriously harmed. Needless to say, her anxiety was through the roof, despite the fact that she was under the influence of the Disillusionment Charm and no one would see her.
It had been by chance that, over the summer, Lily had heard of the Wolfsbane Potion. The creator had made the front page of the Daily Prophet (one of the only helpful things it was printing these days). She had immediately written to her friend, Remus Lupin, and urged him to try and make it. She had discovered only the year before that he was a werewolf, and she knew that he feared hurting people because of it. According to the article, the Wolfsbane Potion would not completely cure being a werewolf, but it would allow them to keep their minds while transformed. For Lily, that was enough.
Remus had written back a refusal. He had never been a good potioneer, and the risks of getting this potion wrong were disastrous. Lily had no way to make the potion by herself; the Trace prevented her from doing magic at home.
As soon as she arrived at Hogwarts for term, she had researched how to make the potion before she brewed it. Remus had taken it ever since the first full moon of September.
The other Marauders had been too busy to make sure he'd taken it tonight, according to Peter. James and Sirius had detention, and Peter said he had been dozing off all afternoon. Lily herself had been tutoring a couple of second-year students and had been unavailable.
As usual, the boys had gone after Remus to ensure he kept away from students, and Lily had quickly bottled up a small amount from the last batch and was now on her way to get it to James. She trusted James and Sirius would be able to get Remus to take it and prevent the werewolf from harming anyone.
Confirming that the corridor was empty, Lily felt a tinge of excitement mixed in with her anxiety. Wearing her favourite long red sweater that resembled a cape while on her way to do a dangerous task involving a wolf, she felt a little bit like Little Red Riding Hood. That was one of her favourite fairy tales, her mother having read the story to her as a child.
She quickly made her way through the empty corridors (narrowly avoiding running straight into Filch), eventually making her way outside and down through the grounds. A couple minutes later, she stood before the Whomping Willow, its shaking, vibrating branches serving as a warning not to get any closer. She was just at the edge of its range, and she trembled slightly as she looked at its dangerous swinging branches.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Lily charmed a nearby stick to prod the knot that would still the tree, as James had told her to do. As promised, the tree immediately gave a shudder before going motionless.
After taking a deep breath, Lily dashed for the tree and dove into the hole at its base. She made it just in time; just as she was clear, she heard the smashing branches and cracking wood of the Willow's delayed defence.
Standing and dusting herself off, Lily raised her wand again and cast, "Lumos!" The light shone off the dirt walls and allowed her to make her way down the tunnel. However, just before she had taken a step, she heard a growling several yards ahead of her. Panic chased every other thought out of her mind. Normally she didn't let fear and anxiety freeze her up, but this was an exception.
She was motionless as, just at the edge of where her wand illuminated, a large, hulking figure came into view. As much as she had heard from Remus and the others about how dangerous Remus was in his werewolf form and how much he resented not being himself once a month, she hadn't quite processed the reason behind Remus' horror until she saw him before her.
"Oh, Remus…" she whispered, a tear sliding down her face. She'd heard the stories of what Remus was like as a werewolf, but she'd never seen it personally before now. This had no effect on the creature Remus had now become, of course, and he let out a fierce roar before charging. Lily braced herself, knowing that this was it. He would either kill her or she would become like him. She winced and covered her eyes, knowing that it wouldn't help and yet unable to stop herself.
The impact never came. Instead, she heard hoofbeats, snuffling, and finally several blows. Cracking her eyes open, she was baffled by what she saw. A deer was fighting the wolf! Of course, she knew that it was really James, but watching the deer viciously force the wolf back into the darkness, was hard to believe.
And then everything was over. Lily continued to listen to the sounds of Remus being forced away by James and had no idea what to do. She was still frozen from shock. She remained standing where she was for several minutes until she eventually heard approaching footsteps. Finally, James emerged into the light. He had several new bruises on his arms but otherwise seemed okay.
Seeing him, Lily couldn't help but dash forward and embrace him, her heart pounding out of her chest. "James! You're okay! How is Remus?"
James allowed her to embrace him as he answered, "He's with Sirius; he and Peter have him under control for now. I'll head back in a bit. I just wanted to check on you."
Lily thought and finally said, "You saved me. If you hadn't shown up…"
"No need to think about what ifs. I'm glad you're okay, Lily." They were silent for a moment before James continued, "You should probably head back up to the castle. I'll see you in the morning, okay?"
Slightly smiling, Lily said, "Okay." She took out the small vial of potion and gave it to James, before turning back and heading out of the tunnel. She turned back, giving James one last look, before she pressed the knot and clambered up and out of the tunnel. Once again, she thought of Remus, and her silly notions of fairytales.
This is no fairytale. This is real life.