Lily took short, panting breaths as she tried to keep her anger in check. Her temper didn’t emerge very often, but when it did it could seize her with the power and destruction of a hurricane, until she could no longer control her words and actions. For this reason, she usually tried to curb her emotions before they reached boiling point.
Now she clenched her jaw and turned away, forcing herself to take deep breaths of sweet, grass-scented air. Still, she needed an outlet for her anger. In a duel, it was the participants that stayed cool and focused that usually triumphed. Anger, though it sometimes improved the performance and outcome of certain spells, would be a hindrance, not an asset. With this in mind, she pointed her wand straight up into the air and yelled the first thing that came to her mind. “Puterumpo!”
There was a sound like a minor explosion, and birds flew out of their roosts in the uppermost branches of the willow, shrieking. Thick green smoke billowed out of Lily’s wand tip, completely enveloping the clearing.
“Interesting,” Sirius said, raising his eyebrows. “Does each side get to display their powers before--” He cut himself off, a disgusted grimace forming on his face as the smoke began fading out into silver mist. Pinching his nostrils, he loudly said, “Bleagh!” which just about summed up everyone’s feelings at the moment. A powerful stink resembling rotten eggs and dead mice now filled the clearing.
“We could’ve done without that, Evans!”
Lily was half amused and half speechless. Her mouth opened and closed several times before she mumbled, “That spell never…it never actually worked….”
“It sure did this time.” Peter wrinkled his nose and waved a hand in front of his face, trying and failing to push away the shimmering, stinking mist.
In the middle of her shocked stupor, Lily noticed out of the corner of her eye the oddest expression on James’ face. He was looking at her almost speculatively, head tilted to one side, one corner of his mouth turned upwards ever so slightly. His eyes were warm, but she couldn’t tell with which expression. It looked almost like respect…but there, now it was gone, and Lily wasn’t sure for a second if she had imagined it or not.
Shaking her head, wondering why she even cared, she turned to fully face the boys. Now James had a mischievous glint in his eyes, and nudged Sirius with an elbow. “Well, mates, I reckon it’s time to show a bit of what we’ve got, don’t you think?”
Remus smiled, with a be-my-guest wave of his hand; then Sirius grinned widely and yelled, “Detrudaccido!”
Tami was instantly knocked off her feet and landed hard on her ass, wincing.
“Oh, Merlin.” Dani, who was standing closest, hissed in annoyance at the boys and held out a hand to help Tami up.
“Idiot!” Scott said heatedly. “We hadn’t started yet--”
“You’ll find, McAllen,” Remus slowly enunciated, “that it doesn’t pay to insult a friend of mine. If we hadn’t started yet before, we have now. Modulcanto!”
And the fingers on Scott’s wand hand, his right, began moving up and down rhythmically, as if he were playing a complicated piece of music on the piano. No matter how he tried, Scott was unable to sufficiently grip his wand in his flying fingers.
“Petrificus Totalus!” Dani shot at Remus, but he dodged it.
“Fusio Aqua!” Peter shouted, waving his wand at Lily, but his aim was ruined by James, who staggered into Peter after being hit with a jinx from Tami. Peter’s spell was harmlessly absorbed into a tree, and James found his balance after a moment and carefully shouted, “Compingere Femsurped!” as he pointed his wand at Dani.
Dani, always fast to panic, shrieked when she realized she couldn’t move her legs apart. When Tami whirled to see why Dani had screamed so alarmingly, she let her guard down for a moment and didn’t know to dodge the full body-bind Sirius aimed at her. Tami, fully bound, instantly toppled into Dani, and Dani, unable to separate her legs, couldn’t brace herself. They both fell, Dani’s arms pinioned between them.
Scott, aiming left-handedly, hit Remus with a dizziness charm, which wouldn’t have worked quite as well if Peter hadn’t accidentally swung his elbow backwards into Remus’ temple just as Scott performed the charm. The combined result was severe; poor Remus went down on his knees, clutching his head and moaning.
Soon afterwards Scott was hit with an itching jinx, and the hand not moving gracefully up and down was now employed in scratching mindlessly at every bit of skin it could reach.
Sirius smirked and shook his head in pretend reproach. “Now, son,” said Sirius patronizingly, smoothing a beard on his chin that didn’t exist, “You’re in public, you know. Try and behave yourself.”
Scott scowled but didn’t reply, and Sirius turned away to face the still-standing duellists. Now Peter, Sirius and James all stood against Lily, her chin set determinedly. Lily tried not to panic, but with the three of them getting ready to close in on her, she couldn’t help but feel apprehensive.
“Cease fire!” James suddenly decided. “I’m calling a truce. Let’s make a deal.”
Lily raised an eyebrow, sceptical that James wanted to call a truce, especially since the boys were clearly winning. James pinched the bridge of his nose and narrowed his eyes slightly, always a sign that he was thinking hard. “We’re going to win, and you know it,” he said matter-of-factly, raising his shoulders once and letting them fall.
Lily didn’t think she could fend off three wizards at once, and though she really didn’t want to admit that, it seemed she had no choice but to agree with James. “Okay, so?”
“I have an idea. We won, so we should have exclusive rights to this clearing, forever.”
“Right. But technically, you didn’t win, because I’m still standing.”
“My train of thought exactly,” he replied, grinning. “So since we haven’t really won, I think we should share this spot, forever.”
Sirius made a loud noise of disbelief. “James! What are you--?”
But when James turned to him and winked, Sirius realized that James had something else up his sleeve, and promptly shut up. Lily, however, was nobody’s fool, and didn’t miss the half-smirk on James’ face. “What’s the catch?”
James opened his eyes wide, trying to look innocent. “I wouldn’t call it a catch, exactly, it’s more like a…” he ran a hand through his hair, trying to find the right word. “A pact,” he decided.
“A pact,” Lily repeated, pressing her lips together.
“Right.” James grinned wider than ever. “You, Lily Evans, will agree that on the last Saturday of every May as long as you’re alive”by the way, the last Saturday of this May is next week”you will help us with anything we might ask you to help us with.”
“Help you?” Lily felt a shiver of dread run up her spine. What was she getting herself into?
“Or otherwise aid, assist, support, lend a hand and…abet,” put in Sirius, who by now had cottoned on.
“Whoa.” Peter glanced at Sirius. “Impressive, mate. Especially that last word, whatever it was.”
“Of course,” Sirius said carelessly. “So, Evans…what do you say?”
“I…” Lily glanced undecidedly at her friends.
“Your choice, Lily,” said Scott, shrugging while bending to scratch the back of his left leg. “I can’t help you get out of this one.”
“Too right, you can’t,” Sirius said smugly. “Thanks to me.”
“And me,” Remus called somewhat hoarsely from where he sat on the ground a few feet away. Dani tried to add something derisive, but her voice was muffled by Tami’s arm.
“Well, Evans, I give you one minute. Agree or disagree?”
Caught between a rock and a hard place, Lily creased her brow in thought. She and her friends really wanted to be able to use this clearing at their leisure, and for the boys to let them do so was an undeniable victory for Lily and her friends. The rest of the first years would be in awe. She also didn’t want to end up lying immobile and undignified on the ground like two of her friends currently were, or scratching unmentionables while blushing furiously, like Scott was doing at this very moment.
On the other hand, who knew what kinds of horrible things the boys would dream up for her to do? “It’s not going to be anything…well, bad or…disgusting, is it?” she asked tentatively.
“Define ‘bad,’” said Peter, cocking his head.
“Fifteen seconds left, Evans.” James watched her thoughtfully, his eyes probing her face. “We won’t make you do anything we wouldn’t do.”
“Er.” Lily tugged her bottom lip between her teeth. “For some reason, I don’t find that comforting.”
James laughed. But actually, what was the worst the boys could do? They would all be in school, for Merlin’s sake. “I’ll do it.” She spoke quickly, before she could change her mind.
James had that odd little smile on his face again. “I knew it,” he whispered jubilantly while Sirius and Peter cheered. Remus, trying not to worsen his headache, simply smiled.
James said loudly, “Shake hands, then, Evans, and repeat after me: ‘I agree to do anything Potter, Black, Lupin or Pettigrew tell me to do, whether it’s a single demand or a united one, as long as it’s something they would do themselves. I am honour-bound to agree to their requests only on the last Saturday of every May for as long as I live--’”
“Wait a minute,” Lily interrupted. “I’m not going to be your servant the entire day. Beforehand, you’re going to decide on one or two major things that you want me to do, and that’s it.”
“Now, see here, Evans,” said Sirius. “You’re not really in the position to bargain--”
“Nah, she’s got a point,” Remus called. Sirius frowned sulkily.
“Okay.” James shrugged. “Get over it, Sirius. You can’t always be right. We’ll decide on one big thing or a few small ones. That’s what I had in mind, anyway. So, to continue the interrupted pledge, ‘you, Lily Evans, will agree that if you ever refuse any demand that we consider reasonable, you will submit yourself to any punishment we might dream up.’ And we’re going to write up this whole thing on parchment after lunch, and we’re all gonna sign it.”
James stuck out his hand. And Lily, heart pounding against her ribs, shook it.
After all the jinxes and hexes had been removed, and everyone was more or less back to normal, they all set off to the castle for lunch. Scott was still scratching his left arm intermittently, and Remus’ headache had cleared up only after he had eaten the Chocolate Frog Peter offered. The two groups walked separately.
“I can’t believe you just did that, Lily.”
Her friends clustered around her. “Not that we particularly disagree”I’m glad we’ll be able to use that clearing--”
“It’ll be just you that has to do all the weird stuff they dream up, though. I hope they don’t--”
“”but I don’t know if I’d have been able to do that. That took guts, I mean, really--”
“”make you do anything really horrible, like--”
Lily absently tuned out her friends, who were all talking over each other. She smiled and nodded, but was otherwise silent, her thoughts whirling. Had she made a mistake by agreeing? Would she regret it someday?
A little way up the path, James was being lauded by his friends in their own way. Basically, they all congratulated him while Sirius beat himself up over why he hadn’t come up with the good idea first.
“Now, James, old boy. I have on several occasions told you how clever you are--”
“Not that I recall.”
“Aw, come on. Don’t interrupt. I have never doubted your intelligence”why are you making that weird face? You’re ruining my congratulations speech.”
“I didn’t say anything this time,” James pointed out to Sirius. “You cut yourself off.”
Sirius huffed. “Well, my point is--”
“Finally,” Remus murmured.
Sirius shot Remus a dirty look, then turned back to James with a smile. “--that was brilliant, mate.”
“See? That wasn’t so hard,” Remus said in a loud whisper, grinning at Sirius.
“You--!” And Sirius began chasing Remus up the drive to the castle, Remus laughing all the while. There wasn’t a chance that Sirius could draw equal to Remus. When he wasn’t weakened by the nearness of the full moon, his werewolf reflexes made Remus the fastest runner of the foursome, impossible to catch up to.
“Crap!” Sirius muttered under his breath after a few moments of futile running, and earned himself a punch on the shoulder from James.
“I heard that.” James grinned. “When Remus decides to run, there’s not a chance that you can catch him, mate.” The cool breeze blowing up off the lake ruffled their hair, and James looked up at the sky, which was blue with only a few puffy white clouds floating by. “My idea is a decently good one, though, isn’t it?”
“Oh, yeah.” They finally caught up with Remus, who’d stopped running as soon as Sirius had. “I’m gonna be counting the days till next Saturday,” Sirius declared, throwing an arm around Remus’ shoulders. Sirius, Peter and James chatted animatedly as they walked further, and didn’t notice the stricken look that suddenly replaced Remus’ good-natured expression.
Over the next few days, Lily couldn’t stop the feeling of dread that slowly grew in her. Every time the boys passed her in the corridors, or met her in a classroom or the common room, they would smirk and wink. This was disconcerting, making it seem as if they already had something planned and were waiting until the weekend to spring it on her. Which was probably the case.
Whenever her nervousness showed signs of surfacing, Lily reassured herself with the fact that at least they weren’t allowed to go to Hogsmeade. While this usually irritated her, now she was relieved. Whatever ridiculous plan the boys came up with, they would have to do it on grounds, and risk being seen by professors. This cheered her up slightly. Whatever they were planning, it couldn’t be too bad.
She kept a cool expression whenever she passed them, shrugging and smiling politely in exchange for their smirks and teasing comments. There was no point in worrying about something she couldn’t change. If she had to express concern, though, she definitely wasn’t going to do it in front of them.
“Jinx it,” Sirius muttered on Thursday after passing Lily in the Charms corridor. “She doesn’t look the least bit worried.”
James laughed. “Why should she? She has no idea what we have planned for her.”
“What do we have planned?” Peter asked, rummaging around in his book bag for a package of Drooble’s Blowing Gum.
“I’m working on it.” James shook his head. “There’s still some time left till the weekend.”
“Not that much time left,” Remus said, looking worried.
“I said I’m working on it. You got any ideas, Remus?”
“Ah, no…actually, I don’t think I’m gonna be here this weekend.”
“What?!” This exclamation came from all three, Peter, Sirius and James.
“Are you insane?!” asked Sirius. “You can’t miss this!”
“Why aren’t you going to be here?” James’ eyes were narrowed as he studied Remus.
“I’m sorry. It’s just that…I…”
“Is your grandmother sick again?” fired James. “Does your mum make you come home every time she gets a cold? You must’ve gone home because of her at least five times this year.”
“My…don’t insult my mum! She knows what she’s doing!” Remus tried to keep an indignant expression, but inside he was beginning to crumble. He had actually used the grandmother excuse six times already since the beginning of the year…were his lies that obvious?
“Did she send for you, then?”
“Yeah. Yeah, she did. She…didn’t say why, just that it was very important.”
“I’m sure it is,” Peter said sarcastically.
“I don’t remember you getting an owl,” Sirius put in shrewdly.
“I…my…Dumbledore…” Remus mumbled, starting to panic. His mind was blank. What in Merlin’s name could he tell his friends to convince them?
“Dumbledore? What about him?” James asked sceptically.
“It…it was really important, and she didn’t want the message lost, you know, so…so she sent it through Dumbledore,” Remus gabbled.
“Hmm. I don’t know if we--”
“Good afternoon, Misters Potter, Black, Lupin and Pettigrew.” Remus looked gratefully up at the wrinkled, smiling face of the headmaster, who had just appeared at the turn of the corridor.
“I daresay,” Dumbledore continued, “that I heard you fine gentlemen mentioning my name. You spoke of only good things, I hope?”
“Well…yeah, sir…I guess…”
“Of course, sir…”
Remus suddenly realized that this was the perfect chance to present tangible proof to his friends. “Professor Dumbledore,” he said boldly, “I was just telling my friends about the message you received from my mum, saying I was needed at home this weekend.”
James, Peter and Sirius looked up curiously, expecting Dumbledore to deny it. “Ah, yes.” Dumbledore nodded. “She said it was quite urgent, I remember. We don’t allow students to leave grounds for just any reason. Your mother’s claim, however, was valid. You leave tonight?” The question was addressed to Remus.
“Yes.” Remus nodded. “I’m leaving tonight.”
“Best of luck to you, then, and be well.” Dumbledore smiled. “I’m afraid I must be off…so many things to do…” And he swept past them and left the corridor.
“Wow.” James looked at Remus in awe. “Did Dumbledore, the headmaster of our school and one of the greatest wizards alive, just have an entire conversation with you…or was I dreaming?”
“You weren’t dreaming, mate,” said Sirius. “Bloody brilliant, Remus.”
They continued on towards their next class mostly in silence. Sirius and Peter went in first and ran to get good seats, in the back of the classroom. Right before Remus entered, though; James took hold of his arm and smiled apologetically, for doubting him. “We’ve got less time than I thought, mate,” James told him. “When will you be back?”
“Sometime Sunday,” Remus replied. “Probably at night, like after dinner.”
“Alright, then. You and I need to attend a secret meeting this afternoon…you can help me plan what to do tomorrow. So even if you won’t be here, you’ll still have had a part in what’s gonna happen on Saturday.”
“What secret meeting?” asked Remus.
“I’ve just arranged it, mate.” James grinned. “Only you and me, Remus. Just the two of us.”
James grinned even wider when he saw the look of complete surprise and delight on Remus’ face.
After breakfast on Saturday morning, Sirius, James and Peter headed to the common room to discuss the plan. As far as Sirius and Peter knew, there was no plan.
James hadn’t told them about his secret meeting with Remus two days before. All Sirius and Peter knew was that Remus had been starving Thursday evening, so James had gone down with him to the kitchens for a bit of food. They had been gone a really long time, but still, they came back with a basket full of food, so the boys merely assumed it had taken a while for the house-elves to pack up all that food.
Sirius lounged in an armchair, legs hanging over one armrest. “So, mate. What are we going to do?”
James stretched out on the thick rug in the exact same position as Tiger, his Kneazle. He rubbed Tiger’s back, burying his fingers in her long, luxuriant fur, then threw a toy mouse a few feet away. The enchanted mouse behaved almost exactly like a real one; it ran toward crumbs and away from people and cats, and squeaked.
“Go on, chase it!” James urged, prodding Tiger with one finger. She opened her eyes reluctantly, eyed the mouse for a minute or two, then sniffed disdainfully and turned away, closing her eyes once more.
James roared with laughter. “Merlin, you’re so lazy on warm days! It’s a good thing we don’t care if you’re a mouser or not.” He knuckled her head gently and she sighed, half-asleep.
“James!” Sirius exclaimed. “Will you stop fooling around? What are we gonna do with Evans today?”
“We could study,” said James lazily, imagining Remus winking at him.
“You can’t be serious!”
“You’re gonna use her for a study aide?”
“Did I say that?” James grinned at the sight of their wide-open mouths. “What do you say about sneaking into Hogsmeade?”
“Now you’re talking!”
“How are we gonna manage that?” asked Peter.
“With Evans’ help, of course,” said Sirius, laughing at Peter.
“And remember not to panic!” With this last bit of advice, Lily’s friends waved and turned away.
Lily waved goodbye, her smile a bit strained now, and reluctantly followed the boys into the shadows of the castle. “Where are we going?”
“You’ll find out soon enough, Evans.”
After about five minutes of walking around the perimeter of the castle, James stopped and inspected the wall carefully. Then he tapped a stone with his wand, murmured a spell, and beckoned for the others to follow him through the entrance that suddenly materialized in the castle wall.
Lily found herself in a narrow tunnel, with walls of grey stone. She fingered her wand nervously as they walked on, and when there was no more light filtering in from the entrance, she lit her wand. Peter and James lit theirs, too. “Where’s Remus?” she asked after a minute or two.
The boys glanced at each other. “He’s away for the weekend.”
“Why?”
James shrugged. “He’ll be back Sunday night.” With her curiosity left unsatisfied, Lily fell silent.
James led the group, followed by Lily, then Sirius and Peter. They had been walking for what seemed like ages to Lily, but was probably only about ten minutes, when she noticed that the walls glistened in the wandlight. She touched a curve in the wall a moment later, to brace herself as the path began winding downwards, and her hand came away wet with slime. “Ew!” she exclaimed, her voice echoing eerily in the tunnel.
“Shush, Evans.” This came from James, who had been startled at her sudden shout. “We’re almost out.”
Now Lily noticed that the light was changing from black to blue…then they turned a last corner and she gasped. They were standing at the top of a slightly steep incline about twenty feet high, with worn stone steps carved into it. At the bottom, gently lapping against the stone, was water.
“Is this…the lake?” Lily asked as they began descending. Tied to iron hooks driven into the stone face were rowboats”at least fifty of them.
“Yeah, and these are the boats we crossed the lake with when we arrived. See that path?” To their left was a stony beach, with a path leading upwards. “That’ll lead you to the front doors of the castle if you follow it. We used that way at first, when we wanted to come here for--”
Sirius elbowed him, and James abruptly cut himself off. “But anyway,” he continued, “that became too risky, always using that path near the front doors. I mean, it’s always full of people. So we scouted around a bit down here, and found that other tunnel.”
James fell silent, concentrating on not losing his footing, and Lily looked around with wide-open eyes. When she had last been in this cavern, on her first night at Hogwarts, it had been dark”all the students had quickly followed the light of Hagrid’s lantern, anxious to be out of the cave. Besides, she’d been nervous about the Sorting, so she hadn’t paid much attention to her surroundings then.
But now the sun shone through the hanging ivy and into the wide entrance of the cavern, sparkling off the water, and she could fully appreciate the beauty of the underground cave. When they reached the bottom of the steps, Lily saw that there was a flat ledge running parallel to the bottom, wide enough for two people to walk side by side. The ledge gradually faded out into the stony beach Lily had seen from the top of the steps.
The edge of the lake where they stood was shallow, with the water only about a foot deep, and she could see tiny fish darting past in the clear water. The boats bobbed gently, barely moving. Lily smiled as she took in the utter peacefulness of the water-filled cavern.
But then she remembered that if the boys had brought her here they must have had some mischievous plan in mind, and her pleasure at this different side of the lake dampened considerably. “So…what are we doing here?”
Her question was answered when James pointed to a boat and said, “That one looks okay.” Sirius and Peter nodded and began untying the boat. “Wait!” Lily exclaimed. “You’re taking a boat across the lake?”
Sirius lifted an eyebrow, grinning impishly. “What else would we do with a boat?”
“We’re headed for Hogsmeade, actually.”
“But…isn’t it against the rules for first years to go to Hogsmeade?”
“Maybe you should be asking if it’s against the rules to borrow a boat.”
“Is it?” asked Lily.
“I dunno. We’ve never borrowed one before.”
Lily fought the urge to smile, then let out a long breath. “I forgot,” she mumbled.
“What did you forget?”
“I forgot to mention in that pact we signed that you wouldn’t make me do anything against the rules.” She sighed. It wasn’t like she never disobeyed the rules, but she hated being roped into breaking the rules together with them. They were probably breaking at least five rules by going out on the lake…especially since they were headed for Hogsmeade.
“We would never have agreed to sign that, anyway,” James replied, shrugging.
“Come on, Evans,” Sirius called from where he sat in the back of the boat with Peter. “We haven’t got all day.”
Lily bit her lip. She agreed that it was unfair that the first years couldn’t go to Hogsmeade. And the choice of getting into the boat or not had already been made, when she signed that parchment.
“Evans. You promised.” James spoke evenly, his words mirroring her thoughts.
Oh, jinx it, she thought now. If I have to go, I may as well go with pride. She ran past James and charged into the water, the fish scattering in fright, then hauled herself into the already untied boat, taking the front seat. James looked surprised at her sudden decision.
“Hey, Potter,” she called, smiling broadly. “Looks like you’re rowing.”
James flung himself carelessly into the boat, splashing water on everyone, and grabbed the oars. In two slow pulls, they were ten feet away from shore. Suddenly, there was a yowl, and Tiger, who had appeared out of nowhere leapt off the ledge, landing in Lily’s lap with her claws extended. “Ow! Potter, what’s with your Kneazle?”
James groaned. “She thinks she needs to protect me or something. She follows me anytime we do something that she thinks is wrong…I think my parents put her up to it.”
“Maybe we should turn back, then,” Lily said.
“No way!” Sirius crossed his arms.
“Tiger…come on, Tige. We’re going on anyway. Will you stay in the cavern if we drop you off?”
Tiger hissed, the fur on her back rising.
“Okay!” James held up his hands in defeat. “But you hate water, and this lake’s full of the stuff. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Tiger yawned, ignoring James, and burrowed into Lily’s lap, where it was dry and comfortable.
James pulled on the oars again, and pretty soon they had left the cavern entrance behind them and were out on the lake. Light glittered on the surface of the water, and Lily tilted her head to the sun, closing her eyes. A cool breeze swept over them, and Lily had to work hard to contain her sigh of pleasure. She stroked Tiger, who had draped herself comfortably across her jean-covered legs. If this was the worst the boys could think up, then she had been foolish for worrying.
Ten minutes later, the boat sprang a leak. When James noticed he was up to his ankles in water, he stopped rowing, wiping sweat off his forehead. “Sirius?”
“Yeah?”
“Was there this much water in the boat when we left?”
“Er…Blimey!”
“Oh, great. The boat’s leaking?” Lily asked incredulously. She had been keeping her eyes on shore to check if anyone had noticed the lone boat out on the lake, and hadn’t noticed the rising water in the boat.
“Trust Sirius to pick the one boat that leaked,” James muttered.
“Excuse me? You’re the one who picked this boat.”
“Well, you agreed!” James sighed.
Sirius shrugged. “Maybe they all leak.”
“Sure.” Lily snorted.
Peter squinted at the opposite shore. “We’re halfway there.”
“We’ll never make it.”
Tiger raised her head and was following the conversation with obvious alarm, digging her claws into Lily’s arm. Lily yelped and pushed her off, and Tiger splashed into the bottom of the boat, screeching. James hauled her up by the collar and tried to calm her down, but she was panicking and wouldn’t listen.
Suddenly, the boat rocked wildly. “What’s going on?” Peter shouted.
James swore. “We’ve been spotted.” Tiger hissed when the boat shifted again, her eyes narrowed to slits.
“Oi!” Hagrid stood on the Hogwarts shore, gesticulating furiously. “Come back!” he roared.
“Sure,” Sirius muttered. “Why in Merlin’s name would we?”
“Oh, great.” Peter moaned. “I’ve an idea why.” A barnacle-covered tentacle shot out of the water right next to the boat. Peter yelled, digging into his pocket for something to defend himself with, and came up with a pack of Self-Shuffling cards, which he threw at it. The cards glanced harmlessly off the tentacle and sank into the depths of the lake.
“Brilliant, Peter,” Sirius groaned, half-laughing. Two tentacles appeared on the other side of the boat, creating small ripples as they slowly waved in the water. When Sirius prodded one experimentally with an oar, it curled around the oar quickly, the tentacle pulling the oar into the lake and nearly taking Sirius with it.
“Whoa! I don’t think they would hurt students, but still--”
“Oh, please. How can it tell if we’re students or not?”
Lily shook her head. The water in the boat was now halfway to their knees. “Anyone know any good spells?” The water was frothing around them, sloshing over into the boat, and a tentacle hooked onto the side of the boat.
“Do we abandon ship?” Sirius asked, his eyes wide as he moved as far as possible from the tentacle nearest him.
“No.” James smiled ruefully. “The ship abandons us.”
The four tentacles now hooked onto the left side of the boat jerked once, and the small boat capsized, tossing them all into the water. James swallowed a mouthful of fishy water and gagged. He went under again and saw a waving mass of tentacles fading into the depths, carrying the boat in the direction of the cavern.
He pushed to the surface and swore, treading water. A burst of red light shot at them from the shore, and suddenly they were all bobbing like ducks. “Well, that’s a good thing,” said Lily. “Now all we have to do is swim, sort of. Thank Merlin for magic.”
Sirius was grinning as he pushed his wet hair back from his forehead. “Well, mates, I trust we all know how to swim?”
James rolled his eyes. “I forgot all about buoyancy spells.”
“As if you could’ve performed one even if you had remembered.”
“Hey, you never know.”
Tiger bobbed over to James, hissing furiously. After she had made certain he wasn’t going to sink, she jabbed one of his hands with her claws and took off, heading for shore as fast as her waterlogged paws could take her.
“Merlin.” James grinned. “She’ll never forgive me. She can’t stand cold water.”
“Even if there are fish in it?” Lily asked, and began laughing.
James rolled his eyes, fighting a smile, and struck out for shore. “There’s a nice crowd forming,” he called over his shoulder.
“Oi!” Hagrid shouted, his deep voice carrying over the lake. “What’re yeh waitin’ for? Get yerselves back ter shore!”
“Does anyone else catch the faint smell of detention?” Sirius smirked and paddled for shore, with Peter and Lily following him.
They struggled out of the water slowly, their soaked clothing weighing them down. James was barefoot, having kicked off his sneakers as soon as he landed in the water. Peter had a scrape on his knuckles from some rocks near shore. But they were all grinning broadly.
Even Lily had a little smile on her face. Their escapade had been sort of fun, and though she would never admit it to the boys, she would enjoy her friends’ envious expressions later. Now she busied herself with wringing her shirt. It’s a good thing we don’t have to wear our robes on weekends. Their weight probably would have dragged us to the bottom immediately.
Many of the students grouped around Hagrid were smiling, and one or two even applauded. “Yeh thought yeh’d get away with summat like that?” Hagrid growled, but his black eyes twinkled.
“Well, sir,” Sirius said politely. “It was definitely worth a try.”
“And there’s nothing like a cool swim on a hot day, sir,” James added.
Hagrid’s beard twitched. Then he straightened, suddenly serious, as Professor McGonagall strode over to them, her face white.
“Great Godric! What on earth were you thinking?! You could’ve drowned!” She shook her head, staring down at them. “I expect better from my Gryffindors. You know that.”
They shuffled their feet uncomfortably and looked at the ground, waiting for her tirade to end. “Five points each from Gryffindor,” she said, and Lily let out a slow breath. It could’ve been worse.
But McGonagall wasn’t done. “Misters Black, Potter and Pettigrew, you will each receive detention.” She turned to Lily, her face softening a little. “And you, Miss Evans, I am surprised. Though perhaps not as much as I would have been at the beginning of the year. Since this is only your second major misdemeanour, you will not receive detention. But next time,” she continued, her nostrils flaring, “you will.”
Lily nodded, teeth chattering slightly when a cool breeze suddenly came and went. James looked at her with raised eyebrows, and Lily knew he was wondering what her first ‘major misdemeanour’ had been. Ha, James had probably been thinking that she never did anything against the rules. Honestly, did boys think all girls were goody-goodies?
“Now, I suggest you go up to your dormitories and change. Gentlemen, you will receive notice about when and where to serve your detentions. Good afternoon.” And she strode away, tucking a stray hair back into her tight bun with a spare pin.
“Twenty points from Gryffindor. That’s it,” Tami announced to nobody in particular.
“I wouldn’t write it off so casually,” said Dani. “Imagine, having to sit detention at the end of the school year! Please, if I’m not busy studying, I want to have time to do what I want.”
It was nearly midnight, and the girls’ dormitory, not to mention several others, was still abuzz with retellings of the boys and Lily’s daring adventure that afternoon. There was a thunderstorm raging outside now, and the windows were shut tight against the rain and wind. Lily sat on the window seat, reading a mystery by one of her favourite wizarding authors.
“I wonder why Remus wasn’t there,” she remarked casually, looking up from her book.
“Maybe he went to visit his sick grandmother again. I heard him talking about that once.”
“Maybe,” Lily replied. “I saw him once right after he returned from visiting home, and he looked absolutely wrecked.”
“Poor bloke,” said Dani. “It must be depressing to have a sick grandmother all the time.”
Lily leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes, feeling the beginnings of a headache. She didn’t add that Remus’ body had been as broken as his demeanour. She had only caught a glimpse of him through the doors of the Hospital Wing right after he had arrived, but that had been enough to horrify her.
His face had been dreadfully mauled, with long gashes and large purple bruises on his cheeks and forehead. His arm had been twisted oddly, and Madam Pomfrey had half-carried him to a bed, clucking her tongue.
The thing that had confused Lily, though, was that Madam Pomfrey hadn’t been as appalled as she usually was anytime a student got hurt. She had almost seemed to have been expecting it. But how could she have been? Unless Remus was physically abused every time he went home…but then why would Dumbledore let him go again and again?
Lily sighed. She hadn’t told her friends about what she had seen. It had seemed somehow private, and even she’d felt guilty for seeing what she had. But that didn’t stop her from worrying. She was very sensitive, and didn’t like to see other people hurt. If there was something wrong going on, she’d find out. She would keep a lookout on Sunday for Remus, she decided, and check to see if he was okay when he arrived.
Around three o’clock in the morning, Lily suddenly awoke with her throat on fire. Her chest hurt when she breathed, and her head was pounding. Oh, great, she thought dazedly. I’ve gone and gotten ill from getting dumped into the lake. Then she fell back asleep.
It was nearly dawn when she woke again, coughing and shivering uncontrollably. Dani was kneeling near her bed, nearly crying. But then, Dani was always overly emotional. “Lily!” she cried. “You’re awake! We couldn’t get you up…and your coughing was so bad…and your skin was burning hot”it probably still is”anyway, Tami went to get Madam Pomfrey, so don’t worry.”
Lily nodded, still coughing. She gratefully took the glass of water Dani gave her and gulped it down between her coughs. Her throat felt raw when she finally stopped coughing and fell back against her pillows. She closed her eyes. Next thing she knew, Madam Pomfrey was fussing over her. “Oh, you poor dear.”
Lily lay still as Madam Pomfrey performed a few spells over her, then told the nurse that she felt freezing cold, she had a huge headache and it hurt when she swallowed. Madam Pomfrey tsk-tsked reprovingly. “Augurey Fever, I thought so. That should teach you to go jumping into lakes, you poor dear.” She withdrew a vial from her pocket and poured it into Lily’s glass, and Lily drank it.
Her throat stopped hurting, though it still felt as if it was stuffed full of cotton balls. The pounding in her head lessened slightly, and though she was still cold, she no longer shivered.
Madam Pomfrey nodded. “That should keep you for a few hours; at least you’ll be able to sleep comfortably till morning. I want you in the hospital wing tonight, and probably for the next few days. We’ll see how you handle the Fever.”
Lily nodded. Her limbs felt weak as she pulled herself out of bed and packed a small bag with a change of underwear and a few other necessities. She grabbed a sweater and pulled it on, then headed for the door.
“Where do you think you’re going, dear?” Madam Pomfrey asked, her voice amused and slightly insulted. “You think I would let you walk in your condition?” She conjured a stretcher and Lily sank gratefully onto it.
“Oh, and you two,” Madam Pomfrey turned to Tami and Dani, and gave them vials of a differently-coloured potion. “Drink this; it’s a preventive potion. It may stop you from coming down with the Fever.” Then she added, under her breath, “Though if you’re going to get it, the potion’s probably too late. The Fever’s contagious in the three days before the effects start showing…oh, well.” Still mumbling to herself, she levitated the stretcher.
“Feel better, Lily,” Tami said anxiously, clutching the vial Madam Pomfrey handed her. “We’ll come and visit tomorrow!”
Lily slowly opened her eyes, her head pounding furiously and her throat hurting. For a moment she was slightly disoriented, then she remembered that she was in the hospital wing. It was cloudy outside, so the room was dim. But when Lily glanced at her wristwatch she saw that it was nearly eight in the morning.
She burrowed further into her pillow and closed her eyes, deeply grateful that she didn’t have to get up. Her legs wouldn’t have supported her, anyway. She sighed and raised her head, reaching for the potion on her bedside table. Madam Pomfrey had told her the night before that if she awoke with her throat burning, she could drink the potion.
So now she swallowed the cherry-coloured potion, hoping it would help her fall back asleep. Before she sank back into her pillows, she glanced around the hospital wing, wondering who her fellow patients were. A big boy she recognized as the Keeper for Ravenclaw was on the bed to her left, snoring lightly. At the far end of the room was an older girl she didn’t know, and two beds over to her right the curtains were pulled nearly shut. But if she craned her head maybe she could see…no way. That wasn’t Remus Lupin, was it?
How could it be Remus? He wasn’t supposed to return until late evening. James had said so. But he had probably come back early, for it was unmistakably Remus who laid there, one long scratch running down his face but otherwise looking unscathed. Who knew what shape the rest of his body was in, though….
At that very moment, he opened his eyes and looked right at her. For a minute he seemed confused, then the confusion changed to shock. She looked right at him, not moving an inch. His eyes met hers imploringly, and in a flash Lily knew the unspoken question he wanted answered.
Lily put a finger on her lips, nodding once. Then she pretended to lock her lips with a key and put the key away safe in the drawer on her bedside table. Remus laughed. The sound was low, but it brought Madam Pomfrey from her quarters, all bustling and business. Remus mouthed ‘Thank you’ at Lily, then turned to the nurse.
Lily thought she heard an apology from Madam Pomfrey before the curtains around Remus’ bed were pulled completely closed, effectively hiding Remus from her sight. She laid her head down, finally feeling the effects of the healing potion settle into every limb. Then she slept.
Lily yawned. The wing was well-lit now, and when she glanced at her watch she saw that it was nearly eleven. Midmorning break was at eleven-fifteen, and she wondered if her friends would have time for a quick visit between classes.
Glancing around, she saw that the Ravenclaw keeper had left; his bed linens were neatly folded. The curtains around Remus’ bed”that is, if she’d really awoken and seen Remus, and he hadn’t just been a feverish dream”were pulled tightly closed.
She was bored. Sometime during the early morning she had awoken and tried to go to the bathroom, but Madam Pomfrey had appeared almost instantly and refused to let her leave her bed, so Lily had resigned herself to using the bedpan, embarrassing as it was. She didn’t feel nearly as weak now, though, and decided that to entertain herself she’d risk a trip to the bathroom. She hated using that bedpan.
She crept out of bed, the patches of sunlight on the wooden floor warm against her bare feet, and had nearly reached the bathroom when Madam Pomfrey materialized. “Merlin’s beard! Why are you out of bed?!” The head nurse’s face was appalled.
“I’m sorry, ma’am. I really needed to use the bathroom, and--”
“Why, pray tell, couldn’t you use the bedpan? What do you think it’s there for?”
“I…well, since I’m nearly there, maybe I could just nip into the bathroom, ma’am?”
Madam Pomfrey huffed. “All right. But I don’t want to see you out of bed again until I say so, understand? And you have exactly five minutes before I come in to fetch you.”
Lily nodded and closed the bathroom door behind her, chortling. Yes, it had definitely been worth it. The look on Madam Pomfrey’s face…she dissolved into giggles, and her lips were still twitching when she settled herself back into bed.
“Pretty good,” a voice said, and Lily realized it was coming from the direction of Remus’ bed. He had pulled the curtains open slightly and was watching her.
“I’ve never dared to do that in all the times I’ve been here,” he said, smiling.
Lily laughed, then turned sober. “I’m not going to tell anyone I saw you here, Remus,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.
He nodded. “Thank you.”
“But in exchange for my silence, you’re going to tell me why you always come back from your grandmother’s so badly hurt.”
“What?! I…” He shook his head, lowering his voice. “Trust me, you don’t want to know.”
“Yes, I do,” she insisted. “If you want me to keep that a secret as well, I will, but you’re going to tell me.”
He opened his mouth to reply when the bell rang for break. Almost immediately, they could hear students rushing by, talking and laughing. Shaking his head, Remus pulled his curtains closed.
Lily adjusted her bed so that she could sit up, and arranged the pillows against her back. In what seemed like no time at all, the doors swung open and her friends ran in. “Lily!” Dani was out of breath. “Our morning classes today were at the opposite end of the castle…we had to run all the way here…how are you feeling?”
“I feel better.” Lily grinned. “At least I’m not coughing the way I was yesterday.”
Tami, also drawing sharp, quick breaths, smiled at her. “Yeah, that was really scary. I don’t want to live through that again.”
“On the plus side, you get off on all the classes!” Dani exclaimed. “It’s so boring now; all the professors are just quizzing us in preparation for finals…”
“Yeah, you’re not missing much. But we figured you must be really bored here, so we brought you these,” said Tami, reaching into her book bag and pulling out three of Lily’s favourite books.
Lily grinned. “Thanks! That’s just what I needed.”
“Oh, and during lunch break we’ll come over. I’ll bring something to play…maybe a game of Exploding Snap?”
“That sounds great.” Lily smiled appreciatively.
“I’m really sorry we can’t stay any longer now, but we need to stop at the library to drop off some books…the old hawk will kill us if these books are even one minute late.”
“Sure, I’ll be okay. See you later,” said Lily.
“Yeah, later,” they chorused, and left the wing.
Lily was still smiling five minutes later when Sirius and James trooped in. She raised her eyebrows. This should be interesting. She felt an urge to glance in Remus’ direction but refrained and kept her eyes focused on the boys.
“Lorens told us you were sick,” said Sirius, wide-eyed.
“Yeah, I am,” said Lily, purposely making her voice hoarser.
“Well…if…I mean--” James mumbled.
“If…er…we--”
“Pardon? I didn’t really catch that.” Oh, Lily was immensely enjoying this.
“Er…if you, you know, got ill because of being in the lake yesterday, well…I mean…we’re sorry.”
“We are,” Sirius echoed.
Lily laughed. The boys looked so repentant, it was funny. They were never sorry after a prank; apologizing to her must have cost them a lot of pride. “It’s okay,” she said, her voice returned to normal.
James looked at her curiously. “Really?”
“Yeah, Potter. Much as I would have liked to blame you for my illness, Madam Pomfrey says that this is probably my fourth or fifth day with it.”
“How long does it last?” asked Sirius.
“About a week.”
“Wow. So you’re guaranteed at least two more days in here?”
“You think that’s a good thing? Come a little closer, and I’ll give it to you, too.” She didn’t bother adding that at this point the disease was no longer contagious. Both the boys retreated a few steps, looking wary.
“By the way,” said Lily, unable to restrain herself. She had to know if the boys knew. “Is Lupin back yet?” Lily thought she heard the curtains around Remus’ bed rustle.
“No,” said James, looking puzzled. “I told you, he’s not getting back until after dinner, probably.”
“Oh.” Lily nodded.
“Why do you ask?”
“No reason. I was just curious.” She rearranged her covers, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. Did this count as betraying Remus’ trust? She’d just wanted to know if he’d confided in his friends. Apparently not.
“Well, anyway,” James started, just as the bell rang. “We’ll be off, then.”
“Later, Evans.”
“Later, Black, Potter.”
“You agreed not to tell!” Remus exclaimed later, when he was sure nobody was listening.
“And I didn’t,” replied Lily calmly. “I just wanted to know if anyone knew your secret.”
“Nobody knows,” he said, his face pale as he stood next to her bed. The gash on his face was mostly healed, and Lily wondered again why Madam Pomfrey couldn’t heal it completely, especially since Remus had been admitted to the ward for nearly a day. Remus was also limping slightly, and Lily puzzled over this as well. Who or what could’ve hurt Remus so badly that even Madam Pomfrey couldn’t totally heal him?
“Then I’m going to be the first,” she decided. “You’re going to tell me.”
“Or what?” Remus demanded.
“I’ll tell everyone I saw you back a day early, and let you deal with it.” Lily would do no such thing, but Remus didn’t know her that well, and believed her.
“Okay.” His shoulders slumped, and Lily felt a moment’s guilt for forcing him into agreeing to tell her. “I’ll tell you when you’re back at school. But you’ll have to promise not to tell anybody anything.”
“Fair enough.” Lily nodded. “See you then.”
“Yeah…see you.”
Remus left the hospital wing, and Lily stared after him for a moment, wondering what he was going to tell her. That he would tell her the truth, she was certain. She just had no idea of how shocking the truth would be.
A/N: And so ends their first school year. Oh, and I don’t speak Latin. So if I’ve terribly butchered up the Latin when I made up those spells, I apologize to all you Latin-loving individuals out there.