Ch4
Lily headed down to the greenhouses after dinner, arriving slightly early. She didn’t mind though, the warm greenhouses a relief from the cruel chill in the early autumn air. Lily inhaled the sweet scent of earth as she hung her winter cloak on a nail just inside the greenhouse and looked around the huge building, crowded to brimming with life, as she announced her arrival.
“Splendid!” cried Professor Dorris, a pleasant little man who had dedicated his life to plants and the study and teaching of Herbology. He handed her a pair of gloves and a spade and gestured to twelve buckets full of small, gelatinous and bulbous seeds. Seeds from the Curitos plant.
Lily looked at the throbbing seeds curiously as she rolled up the sleeves of her starched white long-sleeved uniform blouse. She knelt next to Dorris.
“Now, what you’ll be working on today is “ “ he was cut off as the greenhouse door opened and James hurried in, shoving something into the pocket of his winter cloak. He looked winded, as though he had sprinted the quarter mile distance from the castle.
“I’m sorry I’m late Professsor, I ““
“Don’t worry about it lad, you’re right on time!” said Dorris as he turned back to the seeds. “Now, grab a spade, some gloves, and have a seat next to Ms. Evans. I was just telling her about what you’ll be doing this evening. Now, these Curitos seeds are very important, as they can be made into herbs to cure headaches, nausea, muscle fatigue, cramps... a favorite of Healers, so don’t waste them. I know you already know all about them from my Herbology class, Ms. Evans, but all you’ll be doing today is repotting them, like this...” the little man picked up a spare pot full of soil, poked a hole into the soil with his thumb, and plopped the seed in. Once he had covered the seed back over with soil he said, “There, not very hard is it? Just a tad bit monotonous. There now, there was something else I needed to do. What was it? Ah, yes. I must collect your wands. As this is a detention, no magic allowed.”
He stood up (his head not rising much higher than James’, who was kneeling), and stretched out his hand expectantly. Lily and James threw a look at each other, and then begrudgingly handed over their wands.
“Right. Get a move on. I’m placing your wands here, on the desk, but don’t even think about touching them until you are through, or I’ll know. When you’re done, you’re dismissed. Night!” he called cheerily and vanished through the greenhouse door.
“Pleasant evening to you too,” muttered James sarcastically under his breath.
Lily looked around. “Right, well, you do six buckets, and I’ll do six buckets. Then we can get out of here.”
She set to work, not waiting for him to respond, and quite frankly enjoying the silence. Lily wasn’t mad at him, she was just.... thoroughly confused. He was sweet one moment, and a prat the next. He was caring, and then thoughtless a heartbeat later. And what was more, Lily began to find that her feelings toward him were softening. She was determined to remain detached so she wouldn’t get drawn in.
“What’s the rush?” James asked her some time later, as he repotted the first seed of his third bucket. “You have all night.”
“Yes, but I needed to study tonight.”
“What for, we’ve only got one class tomorrow, on account of Halloween and Hogsmeade, and then we have to prepare for the feast, and then there’s the weekend to work on homework.”
Lily felt flustered again. He must enjoy doing that to her. “Well, some people don’t like to put things off until the last minute. Besides, your class tomorrow, Care of Magical Creatures, is an elective, and one you don’t need to become an Auror. I however need an E in my Herbology N.E.W.T.s to become a Healer - ”
“Couldn’t this count as studying for Herbology? ‘The care of the Curitos plant...’ ” he trailed off, noticing his humor was not appreciated, and she silently fumed at him. He sighed. “You’re right. All I’m saying is that you’re here, not there. You’ve got no choice in the matter, so don’t stress out. I mean, I had plans for tonight as well, but no use crying over spilt pumpkin juice. Once the moment’s gone, it’s gone.”
Is he seriously going to lecture me again? Honestly, he’s starting to remind me of my conscious. “Excuse me, I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for “ “
“Forget it Lily, I’m not going to fight with you.”
That ended the conversation for the time span it took Lily to repot four more buckets of the wriggling seeds.
Finally, she spoke. “I’m not mad at you James, I’m just...” she shrugged.
He glanced up at her, smiling. “I know. And that works, you know, because I’m not mad at you either.”
They worked again in companionable silence until, finally, the last of Lily’s seeds were repotted, but James still had several more to go from his last bucket.
“Here, let me help you,” Lily said, moving over next to him. He waved her away.
“Don’t worry about it. You go on to bed, I’ll finish up here.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” he responded. A little too quickly. Lily arched her eyebrow in suspicion. He snorted. “Go! I’ll see you in the morning.”
“If you insist...” Lily muttered, slipping back into her cloak and snatching up her wand. “Well... good night.”
“Night. Oh and Lily?”
“Yes James?”
“Go straight up to the castle. I’m serious.”
Rolling her eyes and muttering about over-protectiveness, she exited the greenhouse. She gasped in shock as the cold air stung her cheeks and she realized just how much the temperature had plummeted in the past few hours. She stared up at the night sky. Not a cloud in sight. The perfectly round moon shone over the grounds, dimming the stars near it but illuminating a pathway down to the lakeshore.
Lily hesitated, remembering what James had said, but Lily, feeling a bit adventurous, laughed and stepped down the winding path. Who is he to tell me what to do, and who am I to listen? I’m a Head just like he is, and, he’s not my father. Besides, this weather is so perfect, why not enjoy it a bit longer?
She strolled down the pathway, enjoying the complete freedom of darkness, and laughed again imagining her parent’s faces if they knew she was out of bounds, by the lake, at nearly midnight, on a weeknight. She finally reached her favorite spot by the lake, under the boughs of an old beech tree, and surveyed the grounds from that position. All was still around the lake, and looked as smooth as glass: there weren’t even ripples across the lake indicating the presence of the Giant Squid. She could dimly hear the trees of the forbidden forest rustling from the wind, and smelled the pleasant scent of burning wood from Hagrid’s fireplace on the gentle breeze. Other than that, there was nothing. She spread out her arms, spontaneously spinning around in random circles before she collapsed. She stayed where she had landed, enjoying the dizzy feeling of escaped butterflies in her stomach, and stared at the stars.
She recalled an old muggle axiom she used to say as a child, and smiled as she spoke the words. “Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight: I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight...”
Freedom.
James hurriedly potted the rest of his seeds and scrambled out of Greenhouse 3, throwing his invisibility cloak over his shoulders a he did so. Now if only he could find his fellow Marauders...
Laughter captured by the breeze made him pause in his tracks. Laughter? James slid off the Invisibility cloak to go investigate. If it was some student that had snuck out of bed...
He quietly made his way down to the lakeshore, keeping a watch out for Mooney as he went. He arrived at the lake in time to see a dark figure collapse to the ground. James pulled out his wand uncertainly as he neared the person.
And was on the receiving end of a complete shock. James actually took his glasses off, rubbed them clean, and put them back on his face to make sure what he was seeing wasn’t an illusion.
Lily was lying under the beloved old beech tree, arms back behind her head, not a care in the world. She was humming to herself and seemed, for the first time in a long time, truly happy. She hadn’t appeared to notice him.
She didn’t listen to me! Wait... course she didn’t. She’s way too independent for that.
James snuck up on her from behind, and crouched down beside her hastily.
“Lily!” he breathed.
She squealed and sat up. “James!” she said, putting a hand over her fluttering heart. “You scared me out of my wits!”
James looked worriedly around, hoping her scream hadn’t attracted anything. “Bloody hell Lily! You didn’t go back to the castle.”
The response he got was nothing like he was expecting. It wasn’t cold, or annoyed. It was relaxed. “And you expect me to be inside, on a night like this?”
“Lily, you and I both expect everyone to be inside on a night like this!”
She considered this. “Good point.”
James almost laughed, but for the urgency he felt to get her inside. “C’mon in Lily, it’s not safe,” he pressed. He took hold of her chilled right hand and began to pull her up, despite her protests.
“James, what’s out there to hurt me?”
James would have growled in frustration if were a dog. Instead, he sighed. Was she so lost in her own world at this moment that she didn’t notice what was happening in the one she was standing in? Thankfully, he wasn’t forced to answer. A crash from the forest, about 20 meters to their right, did it for him.
Immediately, he pushed her against the tree trunk and whipped the invisibility cloak about them.
“James, what’re you doing?” she asked, pushing away from him.
“Lily, please. Stay still and be quiet!” he hissed. “I’m not trying to take advantage of you, I swear.”
“But James “ “
“I said, be quiet!”
Facing the tree trunk, the noise was off to his left. Ignoring the fact that he was pressed up against Lily and could smell her perfume (vanilla) and feel her breathing on his neck and warmth on his skin, James handed her his wand.
“Hold this,” he whispered.
“But why “ “
“Please Lily,” he implored. She clenched her hand around his wand.
James could now hear a snuffling nearing him, and turned his head a fraction to the left. His worst fear was confirmed as he saw Mooney standing on his hind legs about 15 meters away, only it wasn’t his friend anymore.
It was a fully-fledged, adolescent werewolf, a specimen much shaggier and larger than a normal wolf, with evil red eyes, inch long fangs, and a keen sense of both hearing and smell. And at the moment his ears were pricked, and his nose twitching, scenting out the air.
Lily saw him too, and shank back against the trunk, eyes wide and horrified.
“James... is that a “ “
“Yes Lily. Please don’t talk,” he said urgently, tilting her chin up with his hand so he could look her in the face. “He can hear and smell us. Now, promise me you won’t move and you’ll stay right here. He can’t see you when you’re under this invisibility cloak. I’m going to lead him away, but I’ll come back for you, I promise.”
“You can’t possibly “ “
“Yes I can. I promise I’ll explain later, just stay here .” He said fervently. He waited for her to nod. She did.
He slipped out of the cloak and flung himself towards the werewolf, transforming as he did so. He began galloping, taunting the growling werewolf and leading him from the clearing and back into the forest. James felt free as he ran, even though a bloodthirsty werewolf was perusing him. That was what James like most about transforming: the ability to stretch his legs, and run on and on... so fast he could almost imagine he was on a broom.
Well, the fat’s really in the fire now. But where are Padfoot and Wormtail? wondered James as he slid through the trees, staying just ahead of Mooney. Then, out of nowhere, deep growls and snarls sounded as a huge black dog lunged at the werewolf and connected with him.
James snorted, the stag equivalence of a perturbed human sigh. Sirius always ended up having to fight Remus in order to keep him under control. James turned, forcing himself between his two friends and receiving both an uncaring blow across the face from Mooney by the claws on his right hand (er, paw) and an accidental bite on his back just below his right shoulder from Sirius. He was also pretty sure Mooney has just punctured his other paw on James’ antlers. Sirius growled at James to get out of the way, but James stamped his foot. Sirius relented; he had been on the receiving end of one of the powerful kicks from James’ hind legs, and wasn’t in a hurry to repeat the experience.
James bared his horns at the werewolf, and it finally backed away, turning and fleeing deeper into the woods. James waited until there was no sound before transforming back into a human. Sirius followed suit.
“What the bloody hell are you doing out here?” whispered Sirius, breaking the seriousness of the situation by smiling and pounding his friend on the back. He was severely scratched and bleeding in several places, but other than that, he didn’t look too worse for the wear. “I thought you were in detention! Sorry bout the bite, by the way.”
James shrugged off his concern. It wasn’t important, as things like that happened every time. “I was just finished, and on my way to meet you, but then I realized Lily was down by the lake “ “ he began.
“She WHAT?” bellowed Sirius.
“Yes, she was there. I told her to go straight back, but she didn’t listen “ “
“You didn’t see her in?”
“No, I was in too big a hurry to meet up with you.”
“Did she see?”
“Yes, Mooney heard her.”
“You have a lot of explaining to do to her then.”
“I know. Listen, I left her under the invisibility cloak. I have to take her back in...”
“I understand,” Sirius said, shaking his head. “Well, I’ve got a rat and a werewolf to find, so I’ll see you later.”
“You lost Peter?”
Sirius looked uncomfortable, though a smile was spreading across his lips. “Well, I had to go chase after Mooney, and he sort of fell off my back...”
James laughed. “I can understand that. You’ll have to make it up to him later.”
“Yea, he was a bit miffed at me for not letting him hold the map, but honestly, if a man can’t remember what the distinguishing features of a werewolf are and he runs around with one every month, then how can he be expected to remember to bring the map?”
James shrugged. “He’s a good lad, he’ll come around. Later mate.”
“See you.”
They both transformed, and James hurried back to Lily, transforming halfway across the clearing to her, and running as a human the rest of the way. She ripped off the cloak when she saw him, and it trailed behind he as she ran into his arms.
“Oh James!” she said, clutching him. He was pleasantly surprised about this (though he did wince as one of her hands passed across his newly acquired bite), until she back away and hit him on the chest. “What the hell is going on?” she yelled, then spotted the three deep gashes running from the middle of his forehead, over his left eye, and ending by his left ear. “And what happened to your face?”
“Quietly Lily, he’s still out there.”
“He?”
“Here, put the invisibility cloak back on. I’ll explain when we get back home.”
Later that night (actually very early the next day, as it was about 2 am by then), Lily paced back and forth across their living area as she waited for James to get out of the shower and explain himself properly.
She understood that James could turn into a stag and was an animagi, and an unregistered one at that, but what she didn’t get was that he seemed to be expecting the werewolf, or some other dangerous creature, to be out there.
Lily forced herself to stop pacing, and sat patiently in one of the armchairs. Finally, James emerged from the bathroom wearing his pajama bottoms. Lily forced her eyes away from his toned chest and abs to stare at his face. He was still bleeding. She waited for him to speak.
He turned the other chair to face her, and sat down in it, leaning forward so that his elbows were on his knees. “Yesterday you told me a secret that you had never told anyone, one you expect me not to tell at all costs. Correct?”
She nodded.
“I’m about to return the favor. Have you ever wondered the meaning behind the names Mooney, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs?”
Lily listened intently over the next hour as he explained everything, from learning Remus was a werewolf to how they became animagi, to sneaking out with him every full moon. When he finished, Lily was at a lost for words.
Of all the stupid things they could have done.... brilliant, but extremely stupid, she thought, and told him so.
He smiled sheepishly. “I suppose so. We just did what we thought was right, at the time.”
“I’m in shock.”
“I can tell.”
"Poor, poor Remus. I never imagined..."
James simply nodded.
“So all the times you had random injuries...?”
“Yes.”
Lily stood. “Wait one second.”
She went into the bathroom, grabbing a washcloth and dampening it. Going back into the living area, she knelt before James and, reaching up to his face, started to clean the wound.
“What are you doing?” he asked, the last word coming out in a pained hiss because the purple substance she was applying to his head from her wand stung.
“Cleaning,” she said simply, dabbing the excess medicine off with the cloth. “You’re lucky I want to be a healer, or you’d either have to go up to Madame Pomphrey or let these scar.”
“She’s not that bad. Never asks too many questions.”
Lily shook her head. “What you’re doing is so dangerous!”
“I don’t care. I’d rather get hurt than let one of my friends suffer alone,” he said softly. He stared at her intimately in the eyes. “Just as, I’d rather die than see you get hurt.”
Lily rolled her eyes, ignoring the blush she felt creeping up her cheeks and pretending that she didn’t feel flattered. Remember, don’t fall for him! ...Oh, it’s getting so hard. To change the subject, she said, "I doubt that. So, mind telling me how you got these?”
He looked taken aback at her doubtfulness, and then answered. “Why not. Don’t forget to clean the bite though.”
“Bite?” she asked fearfully.
“On my back. Don’t worry, it’s a dog bite.”
He launched into the story as Lily got up and stood behind him. She winced when she saw the bite; it looked deep and was about 5 inches across. As she applied the cold medicine, his skin puckered. She quickly rinsed the wound and placed bandages from her wand on it, then muttered a spell that blew hot air out of her wand and directed it at his back.
He finished the story. “Thanks, that feels great.”
Lily put her hands on his shoulders, and began kneading the muscles. She worked her way slowly down his back, being careful of the wound. “You were very brave, but also abysmally foolish. You’re also tense. It’s not a healthy combination. That, with Quiddich and running around with a werewolf once a month for the last four years, I'm surpirsed you haven't killed yourself by now.”
He laughed. "I have been to the hospital wing a fair few times," He rolled his head on his shoulders as she kneaded out a particularly knotted muscle, and groaned. “That feels even better, where’d you learn to use your hands like that? I think I’d rather have you clean me up than Madame Pomphrey.”
Lily felt nervous, suddenly, and stopped, grabbing the washcloth and going to ring it out in the bathroom sink. She glanced up into the bathroom mirror and noticed her face was bright red.
Lily, what were you doing? she asked herself incredulously. That massage was almost erotic. Okay, so you’re becoming even more attracted to him physically, and now you’re attracted to him mentally and emotionally, but that doesn’t mean you have to fall for him...
Too late.
She reentered the room and sat down in her original seat. She asked tentatively, “So... do you like being a stag?”
He snorted, trying to cover his laughter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Ch 5, Lily comes face to face with Mr. Mooney for the first time after she finds out...
How am I doing so far? Please R&R! I'd love your ideas/critiques/comments!