Lily Evans...Potter? by LilE
If I thought I had been happy over the summer, it was nothing compared to how I felt over the next weeks and months. Being with James, being in love. It was truly wonderful. Nothing in the world can describe what it’s like to be in love. Especially with someone like James.
But there were still some things I didn’t know about James and the Marauders. Every time I asked where they got their nicknames, I never got a straight answer. Only Moony was the obvious one. Nothing could have prepared me, however, for what I was about to find out.
It started toward the end of October. I was in my dorm one Sunday afternoon, talking with my friends, a rare moment when I wasn’t with James. We had been laughing and generally having a good time (discussing boys), when suddenly Alice screamed and jumped onto her bed, pointing at the floor. I turned to look as others screamed as well, a small gray rat was making its way towards us. Though I did not like rats, I was not about to jump shrieking onto my bed.
“I bet Sirius sent it up here,” I said. I bent down and picked it up by its tail.
“Throw it out the window!” Alice shrieked. I considered doing so, but as soon as she said it, the rat began squealing and trying to get free. A thought flashed through my mind. Did he understand us? Well, of course that was silly, but still, it didn’t feel right throwing it out a window to plunge to its death.
“No, I’ll just take it back to Sirius.” I carried it down the stairs. The other girls cringed as I walked by.
Just as I thought, Sirius had his nose buried in a book when I got downstairs. Sirius never read if he didn’t have to. I stood in front of him, still holding the rat by his tail.
“I think this is yours, Mr. Black.”
“Why, Lily…” He stopped suddenly, looking at the squealing rat. He seemed quite shocked to see me holding it. He shook his head.
“Um, what makes you think I sent it upstairs?”
“Hmm, I dunno, you are always playing jokes on people and I know you wouldn’t hesitate to do so.”
“Oh, but Lily, you are James’s girlfriend! How could I do a thing like that to you, knowing what James might do to me?” He tried looking innocent, but it didn’t work.
“That is exactly why you would send a rat upstairs. Because I’m James’s girlfriend. It was a close call for this little rat. Almost threw him out the window.”
“Lily! That would’ve been cruel!” He looked very worried and tried to take the rat back. I held it away.
“Yes, well, it was cruel to send him up.” I dropped the rat in his lap and headed back to the dorms. Just as I closed the door, I was sure I could hear the laughter of Sirius and Peter.
About a week later, James asked me to come with him on a walk around the lake. I thought about not going, since I had some homework that needed doing, but it was hard to resist his pleading, so I consented. We walked quietly to the edge of the lake, hand-in-hand, not talking, just enjoying being together. We stopped, and he turned to me.
“Wait here a minute, will you? I want to show you something.” I looked at him suspiciously.
“What?”
“It’s a surprise. You’re not supposed to know.”
I sighed. “All right then.”
He turned and disappeared into the wood. It was a warm fall night and a gentle breeze was blowing. I looked at the lake, waiting. It was strange, being alone down there in the dark. I heard a sound behind me, I turned and gasped. A beautiful stag was standing there. I’d never seen anything like it; of course I’d never been that close to a stag before. I reached out and touched its forehead, gently stroking the nose. As I looked into the eyes, those brown eyes…
“James!?” I whispered in shock. The stag nodded his head.
“You’re, you’re an Animagus!” Again the stag nodded. Then it dawned on me.
“Prongs!” Again the nod. Then, he bent down on his front legs and motioned towards his back.
“You…do you want me to get on?” Nod. I wasn’t too sure but decided I could trust him. I climbed on, and he stood up. He walked slowly at first, and then broke into a gallop through the forest. I grabbed around his neck and held on.
It was amazing. It felt like flying. Prongs ran so smoothly it was hard to remember I was on the back of a stag and not moving of my own power. The wind blowing through my hair, and once I’d gotten my eyes open after our first run, I could see the trees flying by. I’d never felt anything like it. There we were, just the two of us, stag and girl.
I don’t know how long I rode. There is no such thing as time when you are flying. Eventually, Prongs came back around to the lake and stopped. I slipped of his back, and James transformed back into himself.
“James, that was amazing!” I said breathlessly. He caught me up in his arms and kissed me, and so we stood.
“Well, little flower, you now know one of my biggest secrets. I’ve been an Animagus since fifth year. Only you, Moony, Padfoot, and Wormtail know.”
“Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs!” I said, realization dawning. “All of you, well except Moony, are Animagi, aren’t you? Wait a minute, Peter wouldn’t happen to be a rat, would he?” It dawned on me why Sirius had looked rather shocked when I said I’d almost thrown the rat out the window.
“Yes, why?” Evidently, Peter and Sirius had not told him of their adventure. I began giggling. James looked at me in utter confusion.
“What’s so funny?” Through my laughter, I was able to tell him,
“The other day, a rat came up into the girls’ dorm, and I figured Sirius sent it up there. I almost threw the rat out the window but decided to take it down to Sirius instead. He seemed a bit worried when I said I’d almost done that. I see why now! Poor Peter! No wonder he started squealing so much! Thought he was about to plunge to his death.”
“That Sirius! I’ll…” He made like he was going to pull his wand out and find Sirius.
“James!” I said, still laughing. “Don’t worry about it. It was really quite funny. And now that I know, I won’t throw any rats out of windows any-time soon.”
“Nevermind that.” James smothered me in another kiss. We were enjoying each other when suddenly I saw two eyes looking out at us from the forest.
“James,” I whispered, scared, “what is that?” He turned to look. Slowly, a large black dog came slinking out of the forest. I stood behind James; the dog did not look like he was friendly in the least. Suddenly, it rushed at James. I screamed. But instead of attacking him, it began licking James’s face.
“Ohm gross, Padfoot, really!” he said pushing the dog down. I stared from the dog to James and back.
“Padfoot? Is that Sirius?” The dog yapped happily and began jumping playfully around me.
“Sirius, you prat! Do you know how badly you scared me?!” James was laughing, and Sirius changed back into himself, laughing as well.
“Evil! That’s what the two of you are! No privacy either!”
“Oh, don’t worry, Lily. I only just arrived. Decided to come see if I could find the two of you. James told me he would be telling you about our Animagi forms tonight. Luckily for me, James hadn’t gotten around to telling you about me yet.” Sirius replied, grinning from ear to ear.
I smacked him on the arm. “It was still evil. I don’t know how I’ll ever survive between the two of you. “
“Oh, don’t worry, Lily. I’m sure James will find a way.”
And so the three of us walked back up the castle, James with his arm around me, and Sirius on my other side. Joking, laughing and just being friends. As I looked at the two of them I thought, “My boys, my dear boys.” For it was hard to do anything with James and not have Sirius around. You could hardly separate the two of them. I didn’t mind though. I loved them both really, and of course Remus and Peter. Just not they way I loved James. I interrupted the steady flow of Quidditch conversation to kiss James on the cheek and whisper, “I love you.” This meant another kiss from James and a snort from Sirius.