A/n- Ted Tonks is a Muggle-born, not a Muggle. If you don’t believe me, I advise you read Order of the Pheonix again. Oh, and the usual, JKR owns everything, I own nothing.
“Mr. Potter, Mr. Pettigrew, Mr. Black,” Professor Dumbledore said in a very grave voice, “I hope you realize what you attempted to do last night was very wrong.” James, Sirius, Peter, Remus and Lily stood in Dumbledore’s circular, crowded office. The bright morning sunlight streamed in, bathing the silver instruments and shiny desk with a wave of gold, yet Lily felt anything but cheerful. She had spent a long night down in the Common Room with the boys; they had explained their adventures in becoming Animagi there. It had been about four o’clock in the morning before Lily had made the long climb to her dorm, finally satisfied that she had known everything she needed to understand. Only four hours later, she blinked in the cheery sunlight as she stood on one side of Dumbledore’s desk, leaning slightly against James as the tall professor reprimanded the boys.
“I have heard young Mr. Snape’s side of the story,” continued Dumbledore, as each boy hung his head slightly, “and find no reason to doubt it. You behaved irresponsibly with the intent of taking another student’s life. Not only did you put yourselves at risk last night, you also put another student’s life at risk. I would like to hear her side of the story. I am talking about Miss Evans, of course.”
Lily blushed, still staring around at Dumbledore’s office in amazement. She had face-to-face conversations with the headmaster before, but they were usually about her studies or him offering his congratulations about her becoming prefect or excelling at her exams. She had never been reprimanded by him before, and certainly never had to lie to the greatest wizard alive before. For that was the way it had to be. Last night, Lily and the boys decided if Lily was to tell the full story of how she and James had rescued Snape, the fact that the boys were illegal Animagi would become quite apparent. I’ve got to lie, she told herself. Yet Lily Evans had never told a lie in her life. If I don’t lie, James, Sirius and Peter will be expelled, if not arrested, she argued with her conscience. Lily took a deep breath, brushed a thick strand of red hair out of the way, and began her tale.
Lily decided on the truth, or most of it. “I was in Hogsmeade with Sirius, and Peter came up to us,” she said. She didn’t mention what she was doing in Hogwarts with Sirius, but Dumbledore’s gentle stare and barely-concealed chuckle seemed too understanding. “Anyway, Peter came up to talk to Sirius. He said something about, well, what they were going to do, and well, I kind of guessed what they were going to do to Snape, sir. I figured the told him how to get into where Remus was hiding as he transformed.”
“I see,” Dumbledore said simply, nodding slowly. “I must ask, boys, how do you all know Remus is a werewolf?”
Lily glanced at Remus as the other three boys’ heads simultaneously flickered to him. “Sir,” he said softly, “I know you told me not to tell anyone my secret, but after six years of being their best friend, how can James, Sirius and Peter not realize that I disappear once a month? I told them, sir, and they have provided me great…moral support during the weeks leading up to my- er, transformation.” Lily shot Remus a wan smile. She knew how much it hurt him to talk about his lycanthropy, especially in such a casual way. Last night, he had confided in her that he felt like a marked man. He was different, he had told her. The other boys beamed at him, and Lily knew he had confided in them about his feelings as well.
“I see, Remus,” Dumbledore said, “that you have discovered the greatest gift of all, friendship. Always trust your friends, Remus. You need them.” He paused for a second, glancing meaningfully at Remus. Then he turned to Lily. “Miss Evans, would you do me the honor of continuing with your story, if you don’t mind?” he asked.
Lily took a deep breath. Her heart pounding wildly, she decided to make her story short and simple. “I- um, I didn’t know what to do,” she said softly, “so I decided to go up and, erm, visit Remus and James. I went up to the boy’s dormitory, and I told Remus and James what we Sirius was planning on doing. They decided to help me stop them, but we didn’t have a lot of plan to think of a plan. We really didn’t know what to do.”
“Why did you not confide in a teacher?” Dumbledore asked rather sharply.
“I…didn’t want to get Sirius in trouble. I’m very sorry, sir,” Lily said meekly, hanging her head. Why hadn’t she listened, way back when, to her reason instead of her heart?
“No need to apologize, Lily,” Professor Dumbledore said. “You did the right thing, though you broke about fifty school rules along the way. I’d like you to continue on, if you don’t mind.”
“No sir, I don’t mind,” Lily lied. “So, anyway,” she continued, “we decided that James would go in to grab Snape while I waited. I stood outside, and I… er, met up with Sirius…” Lily’s voice trailed off as James glared at her accusingly.
“You did?” he asked in a strange, faraway voice.
“We did,” Sirius said cheerfully, briskly rubbing the red mark his cheek where Lily had hit him. “I think it may leave a scar.”
Lily blushed. Had she really hit him that hard? In a wavering voice, she continued, “I went in the passageway because I heard James scream. Sirius and Peter went for help. When I went in there, James was holding Snape on his back. He had twisted his ankle, and Snape had fainted after seeing Remus in the, er, werewolf form. I bound up his ankle, put a spell on Snape that made him float, and we ran.” Here, Lily’s voice shook alarmingly. This was the first big lie she had ever told to a person. Dumbledore’s clear, slightly twinkling blue eyes seemed to X-ray her. I’m blowing our cover, she found herself thinking frantically. I just know he’s going to find out!
James gave her a slight nudge in the back. Speak! Lily told herself. She knew the more silent she was, the less convincing the fib would be. Yet how could she lie to the most impressive wizard in history? He would figure it out, and her perfect reputation would be tainted. James and Sirius would be expelled, her parents would be notified, and her friends would desert her because she got the most handsome and popular students in Hogwarts kicked out. When she just stood there, opening her mouth slightly and gaping in a perfect imitation of a fish out of water as her life flashed before her eyes, James took the lead. “Lily and I just ran,” he said easily. “We somehow got away from the wolf. I don’t know how, but we did.”
Lily was afraid Dumbledore would rage at them and punish them for their lie, yet he seemed perfectly unconcerned. Remus gave a slight nod of agreement, a dark shadow over his face. “I see,” Dumbledore said slowly. “You boys realize the seriousness of your actions, don’t you?”
“I’m Sirius, seriously!” Sirius said. Lily sighed as all the other boys fought snickers. Boys are so stupid! she thought as she chocked down a laugh. Yet if they were so stupid, why was she in love with perhaps the stupidest of the lot? Lily felt dizzy as the question penetrated her conscience. Why indeed was she so in love with James? As if he had read her mind, James subconsciously slipped his arm around her shoulder. Immediately, Lily felt safe, and more calm then she had felt in over a day. He can protect me, and he loves me back, she thought suddenly. That’s why I love him.
Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled. “Yes, Mr. Black, you are. But in all solemnities, you could have done Mr. Snape, Miss Evans, or your own best friend, Mr. Potter, serious bodily and mental harm when you played that churlish prank. I know you realize that, and that is punishment enough, but I have no choice to punish you more. Therefore, Mr. Black, you shall be serving detention with me every Sunday morning until the year is done.”
“What?!” Sirius cried out in shock and outrage.
“Yes, detention every Sunday morning,” Dumbledore repeated. “However, this morning, you are excused.” He cleared his throat significantly. “I suggest you go outside and enjoy the beautiful weather. Good day, and behave.”
Several hours later, Lily sat outside by the shimmering lake with Andy and Alice and their boyfriends, Ted Tonks and Frank Longbottom. She had talked with her friends in the Common Room after the meeting with Dumbledore and at lunch, but she was careful not to mention where she had been the previous night or her date with Sirius. She felt incredibly detached, as if she was watching her life from outside her body. How could she exist and function normally when she knew Remus’s grave secret? How could she act natural when she was so in love with James and no one knew? And how was she going to tell her best friends of her newfound love?
“Alice,” she said softly, trying to get the attention of her most compassionate friend, who seemed very busy with Frank. She needed to tell someone, yet how could she explain why she loved James so much?
“Mmm…” Alice responded, detaching herself from her boyfriend. She turned from Frank and surveyed Lily with her kind, thoughtful grey eyes. Lily felt an overwhelming desire to spill the truth out to her best friend in the world, yet embarrassment and shame kept it from coming out. Alice was so trusting, yet how could she even think for a second that Lily loved James? It was too unbelievable. “Umm… uh… do you want to go inside?” she asked suddenly.
Alice made a face. “Spit it out, Lily. What do you need to tell us?”
“N-nothing,” Lily replied, going beet red.
“She’s bored,” Andy said suddenly, looking up from her embrace with Ted. She pulled a book out of her purse, and tossed it at Lily. “Write, girl. Write your heart out!”
Lily stared at the leather book. “What are you doing with my diary?” she asked curiously.
“Making sure you write in it,” responded Andromeda. “So write!”
Lily sighed as her friends returned to their boys. They were too hopelessly in love to be any help to her. What am I going to write? she thought lazily and helplessly. With a sigh, she stared at the blank page, willing for words to describe the overwhelming feelings she experienced the night before to come. When none came, she resorted to doodling “I love James” and “Mrs. Lily Potter” all over the clean, beckoning pages, as well as making some very good likenesses of James’s Potter’s head in Superman’s body.
“Lily Evans, my god, what did you do to that beautiful diary?” Andy shrieked, drawing Lily out of a long reverie in which she was picturing some very cozy scenes with James.
“Sorry,” Lily responded sheepishly.
“You’ve destroyed it!” yelled Andy in an increasingly high-pitched voice. “You doodled all over it- oh, my god!” By now, Alice and Frank had distangled themselves from each other, and were looking over at Lily and Andy with mildly interested expressions on their faces. Andy’s voice sunk to a low deadly whisper. “Lily,” she gasped, “you love James Potter? ”
In Lily’s opinion, it was a perfect theatrical moment. As if they were one, Alice, Frank, Ted and a large group of Hufflepuff fourth-years who Lily had never spoken to in her life gasped simultaneously. Alice looked as if you could knock her over with an owl feather. When she finally recovered, she said in a triumphant voice, “I knew it!”
“But you hate him, Lily!” gasped Andy. She seemed by far the most surprised by this discovery. “You hate him!”
“Not anymore,” laughed Lily, glad her two best friends knew about her latest secret.
“B-but, but, what about Sirius?” Andy stuttered, trying desperately to find a loophole in Lily’s new love.
“He’s got a new girlfriend,” replied Alice in a mildly disgusted voice.
“What?” asked Lily, aghast.
“Haven’t you seen him with Katherine Columbus, that fifth year Gryffindor? They sat together at lunch and have been inseparateable since. It’s disgusting, really,” Alice responded in a gossipy voice, pointing at where the Marauders sat under a tree.
Lily glanced quickly at them, and saw that Sirius Black and the dark-haired, outgoing younger girl indeed were wrapped around each other so tightly, Lily couldn’t distinguish whose arm was whose. She was surprised to find out that the new information or the sight of the two love-birds didn’t hurt at all.
“And did you hear about Remus Lupin and Allie Hartman?” asked Andy. Lily, who had tried to avoid looking at the Marauders as much as possible, did a double take and saw that Remus was holding the hand of the gentle Ravenclaw girl, whom he appeared to be deep in conversation with.
“Even that fat boy, Pettigrew, has a girlfriend,” Alice remarked in wonder, pointing to where a huge and unattractive Slytherin seventh-year named Meredith Bulstrode sat on Peter Pettigrew’s lap, crushing him with her immense bulk.
“Only James is alone,” Lily said softly and blankly. Almost against her will, she glanced at the lonely, rugged, handsome Marauder, who stood staring out at the deep lake with an unfathomable expression on his face. As she did, she felt her face flush and a rush of something flow through her. More than anything, she wanted to look away, and feel neither love nor pain. Yet something drew her back to James Potter and his kind, lovely face.
Suddenly, as if he had felt the magnetic field that drew Lily to his face, James looked up. He made contact with Lily’s exquisite green eyes, and Lily felt something magical happen. Fireworks were exploding, sparks were flying through the air. James and Lily had a connection between their steady gazes greater than any magic they knew, or would ever know. “Go to him, girl!” Andy urged on. Alice gave Lily a sincere smile. And then, like in a fuzzy, wonderful dream, everyone was gone except James and Lily. Nothing else mattered.
With the feeling she was skating on golden clouds, Lily tentatively but surely made her way over to James. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do when she met up with the man she loved so much, but instinct told her it would be something she wouldn’t want to miss. When she finally reached James, he held out a warm, rough hand for her to take. “James, I think we’re perfect for each other,” Lily said softly. After the kiss that followed, Lily knew that they were perfect for each other, forevermore.
A/n- I know what you’re thinking…once again, Ted is a Muggleborn, NOT a Muggle. Thank you. And, just for the record, there will be no more chappies after this. It’s over, done, fin!