Yes, No, Sure, Whatever by violagirl
Disclaimer: I really didn’t invent any of this besides Lily’s friends and some other characters…oh, and my version of the Lily/James romance! I made that up too! Oh, and that poem near the end? I heard that at camp from a good friend, Hannah-Bee, and she found it on the Internet. And putting it on here was Emmi’s aka LaneTechFreshie’s idea. Thanks girls! You rock!
James fell to the ground as he heard “Expelliarmus!” He looked up and saw a flash of red shoot toward the werewolf from Lily’s outstretched wand.
“Lily, no!” James shouted. “You’ll just aggravate him!”
He was right. The werewolf flinched, but got right back into a fighting stance. Lily’s eyes widened as it made its way over to where she was standing and raised his arm to strike her. She screamed and dodged his swipe just in time, but when would he try next?
“Oh, no you don’t!”
Lily looked up, startled, because she had heard James’s voice, but saw a stag running in her direction instead. It dug its antlers into the werewolf’s side and chased him away into the forest. As Lily stared in wonder a black dog approached her, and suddenly Sirius was in its place.
“Lily,” he said wearily, “go inside now. We’ll be okay.”
Lily nodded and took a few backward steps as she watched Sirius run off and transform, then turned and sprinted back to the castle.
Lily dragged herself up to Common Room and collapsed onto the sofa. No one was there, so she didn’t feel ashamed when she broke down and started crying. And while she didn’t know the reason why, she did know that she had just faced almost certain death, and that James had rescued her for the second time that week.
Lily stood and paced in front of the fireplace. She wanted to tell someone desperately.
But I can’t, she told herself. Obviously no one else knows their secret. I’ll have to keep it to myself.
Deciding to retire early, she slowly crawled up the winding staircase to her dormitory and drifted off to sleep.
When Lily awoke the next morning, she tried to remember what had happened the night before. Then it occurred to her.
“James!” she whispered, and she hurriedly but quietly dressed and left her sleeping roommates so she could go to breakfast. The sun had just risen, so she knew James would be coming in soon. Sure enough, halfway through her first piece of toast, the Marauders seemingly crawled into the hall. They all had small cuts and bruises, and Remus was limping, probably from the gash in his side from James’s antlers.
James’s antlers, Lily thought with amusement, and giggled a little as she rose to greet the boys.
“Good morning!” she said cheerfully. The foursome groggily gave a reply. “You look terrible.”
“I wonder why,” Sirius answered with a weary hint of sarcasm.
“Yeah.” Lily averted her gaze to stare at her shoes. “Sorry about last night.”
“Don’t be,” James said. “I should’ve explained, but””
“I understand,” Lily interrupted, and looked them over thoroughly. “I think you boys should get some rest. Unless I’m mistaken, and I never am, our first class is at ten, so you should have about two-and-a-half hours.”
All four gave tired smiles and whispered different variations of “thanks.”
“No problem,” Lily replied, and waited until they were out of the hall before she finished her toast and helped herself to some bacon and eggs.
Around 10:30 James swaggered into the room and looked around for some long red hair. He saw it after awhile and approached Lily quietly. “Morning, Evans.”
Lily looked up from the catalog she was flipping through and smiled. “Good morning, Potter. Sleep well?”
“Better than ever,” James replied happily. “So…”
Lily slightly tilted her head. “So…what?”
James grinned and asked, “Have you chosen your gown yet?”
“Shouldn’t you be choosing your tuxedo-like outfit?” she asked in return, and began copying some numbers onto a form.
He gave her a confused look and answered, “I don’t know what you mean by ‘tuxedo’, but I’ve already filled out the order form. I just have to send it off with my owl Danielle.”
Lily signed her name on her form, looked up, and said, “Well, in answer to your earlier question, I have chosen my gown and just need to send the form off to the formal wear place.”
“May I escort you to the Owlery?”
Lily considered his proposal, and after a short pause answered, “Sure, why not?” much to James’s delight.
Halfway up to the Owlery, Lily seemed to burst with the question, “So what happened last night?”
James turned to her and asked, “What did you see happen?”
Lily paused for a minute. “Well, after I tried to stun the werewolf”I’m guessing it was Remus”I saw a stag run at him and stab him. That was you, right?” James nodded and Lily continued. “Then a dog, Sirius, ran over to me and told me to go inside. Then he ran off”as a dog, of course”to help you fight the werewolf, and I practically fled to go inside.”
James nodded again. “You’ve made some pretty good guesses. I am an Animagus, and so are Peter and Sirius. And Remus is a werewolf.”
“You’re all registered, aren’t you?” Lily inquired.
James ran his fingers through his hair and glanced at the ceiling. “Well…”
"You’re not? James!” Lily exclaimed with shock. “What would Professor Dumbledore say when he found out?”
“He’s not going to,” James said quickly. “He wouldn’t understand. Remus wasn’t supposed to tell anyone, and even though he didn’t, we found out. Dumbledore will think that he told us and stop trusting him. I couldn’t let that happen to a friend. And besides,” he added before Lily could object, “earlier, you know, before we were there with him, he would just tear himself to pieces. Literally, he would bite himself and scratch himself because there was no one else to do it to. Now what would you do if you were me, or Sirius, or Peter, and knew what Remus was going through all the time?”
A look of sadness found its way onto Lily’s face, and she bit her lip and replied, “You’re right, you’re right. I’m sorry. You’re a very loyal friend to do that for him, and I promise, I won’t tell anyone.”
The two entered the Owlery and an awkward silence, broken when Lily called, “Come on Opal!” A beautiful white owl that seemed to glisten like diamonds alighted gracefully on her arm, and she attached the order form to Opal’s leg and whispered, “Take this to Diagon Alley. I’ll see you soon.” The owl gave Lily an affectionate nip on the finger and flew out the window. James also called his owl Danielle down, and sent her with his form.
The two sauntered toward the Great Hall, and James commented, “You know, I read this poem in a book from the library.”
Lily laughed at his randomness. “A poem?”
“Yes, a poem.” James nodded. “And I do believe that it describes your, er, previous feelings about me quite nicely.”
“Alright then,” Lily said with amusement. “How does it go?”
James cleared his throat and recited:
“I am not yours, not lost in you,
Not lost, although I long to be
Lost as a candle lit at noon,
Lost as a snowflake in the sea.
You love me! And I find you still
A spirit, beautiful, and bright;
Yet I am I, and long to be
Lost as light is lost in light!
Oh plunge me deep in love! Put out my senses,
Leave me deaf and blind,
Swept by the tempest of your love,
A taper in the rushing wind.”
James said all of this with facial expressions and hand motions, and even tried to imitate Lily’s voice. By the time it was over Lily had doubled over laughing, and James asked lightly, “You like that one, Evans?”
Lily nodded, fighting the urge to keep laughing, but failing. It was almost time for lunch, so James used a spell to end her laughter, “Giglia finito,” and she giggled a “Thank you!” and hurried for her seat.
A/N How’d you like that one? I think that poem was pretty good, my friends dared me to try out for a talent show with it, and I made it! Reviews, please! You all are wonderful!