Lily froze. The beast raised its head, and for a moment they stared at one another. Then it gave a ferocious roar.
She raised her wand instinctively, but no spells came out of her mouth. The werewolf stalked toward her, growling. She couldn’t move…she could not move. It advanced closer and closer to her, and she still couldn’t say anything. Her whole body was shaking with fear…do something!
She screamed.
Something”someone”hurtled out of the tunnel behind her; her wand went flying. She felt something sharp graze her left cheek, and was knocked to her knees. The thing then jumped with dexterity toward the werewolf and threw it backward. It whimpered as it hit the floor.
Lily stared at this extraordinary scene for a moment. Then she crawled quickly toward her wand. The wolf turned on her, snarling. It sprang, but was again knocked down by something. She didn’t look back to see what. Only a few more feet now… A horrible cracking noise came from behind her. She was inches away…it was in her hand”
”Homorphus!”
The power of the spell threw her back hard against the wall. Her head slammed against the hard surface, sending her eyes streaming. She slid down onto the ground. Head throbbing, blood clouding her vision, Lily could just make out the outlines of a large dog and a stag”
Then the ground swung up to meet her, and everything turned black….
“…Look, look, I think she’s coming round!”
“Someone tell Madam Pomfrey!”
“Do you think she can talk?”
“Lily…Lily?”
Lily’s eyes opened slowly. She blinked several times and two pale faces standing over her came into focus.
“Oh, good,” Anne breathed. “Look, Jen, she’s conscious.”
“I can understand what you’re saying, you know,” mumbled Lily. She was lying on a very soft bed…the Hospital Wing? But”
“NO!” she yelled, sitting up. Her head gave an almighty throb of protest. Jen and Anne eased her gently back onto her pillow.
“Lily, shut up!” hissed Jen. “You need to rest for a little while. I know you probably want to tell us what happened, and we want to hear, believe me. But it can wait.”
“But how”” murmured Lily, “How did I get back up to the castle?”
“Well it was James, wasn’t it?” whispered Anne. “Came up the grounds carrying you. Sirius was right behind him. Someone got up for something, I dunno, and then we all came out into the Entrance Hall. Blimey, when we saw you-” she broke off. Even her freckles turned pale. “We thought”you weren’t moving, both covered in blood…”
The two of them looked earnestly at Lily as though they were about to cry. “Look, Lily,” said Jenifer, “I think you’d be dead if it weren’t for him. No one had any sense, we were all really scared…he told us to take you to the hospital and then he got Professor Dumbledore. They went back onto the grounds, I think they’re still out there”oh, damn,” she added as Madam Pomfrey came bustling toward them. She promptly informed them that Lily needed rest, and shooed them both away with out further ado. She picked up a cloth, poured a drop of something thick and white on it, and began rubbing a cut on Lily’s arm.
“Madam Pomfrey, there’s something I need to tell you!”
“Nonsense, dear. You need to rest quietly.”
“No, you don’t understand, there’s a w””
“Now that’s enough!” said Madam Pomfrey, straightening, her nostrils flaring in a very McGonagall-ish way. “Be quiet and go to sleep, or I’ll have to give you a Sleeping Draught!” She threw down the cloth”Lily noticed her hands were trembling slightly”and hurried back to her office. The torches on the wall died down to a slight flame.
Lily checked her watch, whose face was now cracked. It was almost 3:30. She suddenly realized that her eyelids felt very heavy…
The last of the evening sunlight was filtering through the windows as Lily awakened for the second time in the dim ward. Her arm was tingling faintly. Blasted Madam Pomfrey… She heard low voices coming from the doorway and looked up. The headmaster was talking with Madam Pomfrey about something. They seemed completely absorbed. Then, as her stomach did a feat of acrobatics, Lily saw James and Remus standing behind Dumbledore.
They were in terrible shape”Remus had miniscule cuts all over him, and what looked like a particularly bad gash on his shoulder. His chin rested on his chest. James, she noticed, was limping, and he had large cut on his right temple. He was supporting Remus with one arm. He happened to glance over at her. She raised an eyebrow. He winked cheekily.
She looked away, pensive. Why was he acting like nothing happened? The headmaster soon left, and Madam Pomfrey turned toward the two boys.
“Oh, it’s you, is it?” she said suspiciously, looking at James. “I suppose you’ve been doing something dangerous again?”
“Can’t resist a chance to see you, Poppy dear,” said James with a winning smile. She ignored this and led him to a bed near Lily’s.
“Stay put, I’ll be back in a moment.” With that she guided Remus toward a screened area.
James flopped down casually. Lily waited until she was sure Madam Pomfrey couldn’t hear them.
“Hey. Hey, James!” she hissed.
He turned around in the dark. “Yeah?”
“What happened to you? I mean”you and Remus are all bloody””
“’Fraid I can’t say, it’s””
“Oh be serious, would you?”
He was quiet for a moment. “Believe me, Lily; I want to tell you the truth for once.” There was a note of sincerity in his voice. “But it’s an extremely long story.”
“Well,” she sighed, “you can start from the beginning. I’ve got a lot of time.”
“So, let me get this straight”you and Sirius are Animagi, and Remus is a werewolf?”
The sun had long since sunk below the horizon, to be replaced by a large yellow moon. James hadn’t lied. It had been a very long story. There were still a few things she didn’t understand, though. Why had Remus transformed last night, when the moon wasn’t full yet?
“But…last night wasn’t a full moon.”
“That’s what Sirius and I don’t understand,” said James. “We don’t usually get hurt nearly this badly, either. I don’t think Remus recognized us for some reason.”
“Wait…” she counted in her mind. “What about that other boy you used to hang out with?”
“Who, Peter? We don’t really know what happened to him. Remus says he might just be visiting his parents in Ireland for a month, but then again-” He turned toward where Remus was confined. She had the distinct impression he was worried. “-Remus isn’t really one to say.”
“You really became an Animagus just for him?”
“That’s right.”
“…once you get to know them…when you are friends with them, like I am, you’ll come to realize just how valuable their loyalty and support really is…”
She smiled. Yeah, Remus. I think I do realize that now. Then she realized something else. Something her conscience wouldn’t let her get away without doing. Oh, dear…
Lily mumbled something even she couldn’t hear. James turned back around.
“Sorry?”
“I said, I’ll give you a chance.” She wasn’t looking at him”her pillow had suddenly become quite interesting. “That’s to say…I’ll go out with you.”
“Lily!” She couldn’t see his face, but she was sure he was beaming. Then his voice changed. “Sorry, didn’t catch that.”
“What?” she said quickly, looking up at him.
“A little louder, please…”
She gritted her teeth. “I’ll go out with””
“Still can’t hear you””
“I’LL GO OUT WITH YOU, DAMN IT!”
“BE QUIET AND REST, BOTH OF YOU!”
L'Amour Commence by Pinkerton
Chapter Notes: Answers to all your questions lie in this chapter...at least, most of them. ;) Also, there's one of Jo's lines in here! See if you can spot it!