Lily jumped when she heard a soft whooshing sound. She looked up from her Charms work and spied a folded piece of parchment on her desk. She put down her wand and opened it, recognizing the handwriting but not able to pin it onto a face in her memory. She realized it was one of the Marauders, and only one Marauder would be sending her a note right now. Well, two, maybe, but she knew that this wasn't James's handwriting.
I should have known, the note said. Talk to you at lunch, alright?
She caught Remus's eye and nodded at him. He smirked, not a normal Remus Lupin face. Something was up.
"Get back to your work, Ms. Evans!" Professor Flitwick's high voice called at her.
Blushing, Lily picked up her wand and went back to animating the objects on her desk.
In five minutes, her garden hose was dancing with the lamp, and she had conjured up barriers on her desk so that the hose didn't tango the breakable lamp right off the edge.
She watched them for a while, which turned out to be quite interesting as the lamp kept falling and the hose tried to catch it, and, luckily, didn't fail.
Eventually the lamp fell and broke, and the hose began spouting water (Lily suspected it was crying).
Finally, Flitwick dismissed them, and Lily took the spell off the objects, mopped up the water, and left for lunch. Remus had some splainin' to do.
As she walked to lunch, Lily let her mind wander over the past two weeks. May had been all over her about the date.
"How did it go?" May asked, hopping with excitement.
"Great, it was--fun, I guess. More fun than I thought." She averted May's eyes for fear that she would burst out in laughter as she remembered the date.
"Did you hug? Hold hands? Kiss?!" May asked, her voice practically breaking the sound barrier.
"No, yes, but not like that, and no, definitely not!"
"You're joking."
"No, May, I'm not. I think that, even though we called it a date, it was just a friendly outing. Nothing more."
May looked almost disappointed. "Oh. I could actually understand that, I suppose, since that's the way it's getting with James. It's not so much lovey-dovey stuff anymore, it's more that we're friends."
"You are? May Holder, I never thought I'd hear you say that about James Potter. About being friends, I mean. He's so..." Lily paused. Right now, she actually couldn't find any reason to hate James, or a name to call him.
Do I even hate him anymore? She thought. I mean, I don't LIKE him, do I?
You do, Lily. For sure.
Lily sighed. She hated arguing with herself.
"He's so what?" May prompted.
"Nothing," Lily said. "Anyway, it was fun, but Remus got all weird when we were talking about his rabbit. I mean, I know the bunny has bad manners, but that doesn't mean he has to be all, 'who told you about it?' You know?"
May nodded. "Definitely. Are you gonna go out with him again? Do you want to?"
Lily thought about it. It truly had been a lot of fun, and she wouldn't mind doing it again. But the real reason she had asked him in the first place was because of James, and it seemed wrong to keep doing it. "Maybe," she said. "It would be cool. And fun. Yeah, I think I will."
But this time, Lily thought, it'll be for the fun of it, and not for some other guy.
That had been two weeks ago, and over that time Lily had made sorta-friends with the Marauders. Except James, whom she was still avoiding. But this time it was for a different reason.
As she got to know them, she realized they were not as bad as she had judged them to be. Sirius had family troubles, but he was staying strong and knew how to have a good time. Little Peter actually opened up when he was around Lily, and she found out that he was tougher than he looked, and Remus, well, he was the same Remus that she had known all along, except everything else was different.
And though she had been avoiding James, she had seen him quite a bit and was rapidly getting to know his other side, too.
In return for all of Lily's efforts to familiarize herself with his friends, Remus got to know May and some of Lily's other friends more. Suddenly, they were all one huge group, and both Lily and May were sort of adopted as unofficial Marauders.
And while all this was well and good, Lily was sure of two things:
1) She still couldn't forget about James Potter, and
2) Remus Lupin and the other Marauders were hiding something.
It had taken her about a week to figure that out, and she was determined to figure out the secret they were hiding. And forget about James.
A call from her friend Marnie Greyes jolted her back to the real world. "Lils! Over here!"
Lily waved and called back, "Sorry, I promised Remus I'd sit with him."
Marnie nodded, giggled, and went back to talking with her friends.
While she was looking for Remus, Lily was intercepted by Bertha Jorkins. "I hear you and Remus were snogging in Filch's closet the other day."
Lily shuddered at the thought. "No bloody way can that be true, Jorkins, and you know it, so get out of my sight," she said rudely.
Bertha huffed and pranced away to tell about five hundred other people. Lily sighed, thinking that she would never spread a rumor again.
"Lily! Over here!" called one of her other friends.
"Sorry, can't!" Lily said, no frantically searching for Remus.
"Oi, Evans! Looking for Moony?"
Lily never thought that she would be glad to hear James's voice, but she was.
"Yeah, Potter, where is he?"
Remus poked his head out from behind Sirius. "Right here, Lily."
Lily sighed and sat down next to him. "What did you want?"
Remus smirked again. "Can't say here. Not with Prongs around."
James whirled around at the sound of his nickname.
They really are silly names, Lily thought as she guzzled down the delicious food. I mean, Moony? Wormtail, what kinda gross name is that for a boy like Peter? Padfoot, that sounds like a cat! And Prongs, now that has got to be the dumbest name I've ever heard of.
When Lily was halfway through her lunch, Remus pulled her away from the Marauders and took her down to the common room.
"What's this all about Remus? Or should I say Moony?" Lily said, smiling.
"Personally, I like my nickname waaaay more that my given name, thank you. Now, I took you here to tell you something and to make a confession."
Lily grimaced. "I'm not one for cryptic hints, Moony. I want to know why I'm here instead of back at the table finishing my pie."
Remus smirked a third time, and Lily was suddenly filled with annoyance. She shook him and cried, "Tell me what the hell is going on!"
Remus pulled away and said, "My, someone missed their mid-day nap. Okay, I'll tell you."
Lily waited.
"I know exactly why you asked me out in the first place," he said knowledgeably.
"Why does everyone keep telling me that?" Lily asked.
He ignored her. "And it's not because you find me the slightest bit attractive in any way other than a friend."
Lily bit her tongue rather than stopping him, but she knew exactly what he was going to say. And she didn't like it one bit.
Remus fixed her with his most serious stare and said, "Lily, you're in love with James Potter, and you know it. So don't give me any garbage."
Lily open her mouth to protest, but she was about six words too late.
Remus grinned. "So, did I discover your secret?"
Lily didn't say anything. He was right, however. Maybe not about being in love with James, but she had asked Remus out the first time because of him.
"Bu-but how did you know? I mean, not that I--" Lily began, but it was hopeless to continue.
"I dunno, kind of obvious because of all the looks you keep sending him, the way you try to avoid him so you don't have to come face-to-face with your feelings, they way your voice changes when you talk to him or about him...It doesn't take a genius, so I'm surprised no one else but me and Peter got it." This time, his grin was...almost pitying.
"But you're not mad about it?" Lily asked cautiously. The last thing she wanted was to lose her friend over James Potter.
"Not at all, because I also had an ulterior motive." Remus picked up a book lying on the ground and set it on a cushion. "I hate the way these first-years treat books."
"How?" Lily asked.
"Oh, by throwing them on the ground, smearing them in catsup...you'd be surprised."
"No! I mean, how can you have had a reason when I asked you out?" She clarified.
"Well, I could have just as easily said no. And I actually might've, if I didn't have a reason to go out with you, besides the fact that you're good-looking, and for me, that doesn't usually count."
Lily was insulted and at the same time, complimented. She didn't know whether to say thanks sincerely or sarcastically, so her face did the talking for her. She blushed.
"Well, what was your reason?" She asked, still red.
"Well, I was really sick of James going on and on about how much fun dating was, and how we all really ought to get a girl, as if it's that easy for me and Peter. Sirius, he can go up to a girl and begin to ask her out, and she'll say yes before he opens his mouth.
"I was also angry about the fact that he was spending all his free time with May. I wanted him to drop her and get back to being a Marauder, like he was supposed to. And I thought, since I can't force him to, I'll just make him as angry as he’s making me." Remus stopped to take a breath.
"Let me guess," Lily said. "You weren't sure how you'd make him mad, so when I asked you out, it was like a bolt of lightning from the heavens."
Remus nodded. "Exactly."
"Great," Lily said sarcastically.
"What? Are you mad?" Remus asked sadly.
"No, but it stinks that I'm just a bolt of lightning to you."
Both of them laughed.
Remus looked at his watch. "Lily! We're late for class!"
"Better get going then," Lily said, packing her bag.
"Oh, and Lily?" Remus said.
She turned to him.
"Just so you know, the second time we went out--I agreed to that because the first time was so much fun, not just because of James."
Lily smiled. "Me too."
Remus walked out of the common room saying, "We're not done talking about this, though. Meet me back here at the end of the day."
Lily nodded. "Wouldn't miss it."
During Care of Magical Creatures that day, Lily thought about the little kitten that she had given May. It would have been too hard to keep him secret in her own dorm, as May shared it with her, so she gave the little rascal to Remus and the other Marauders, who promised to keep her safe and out of trouble.
Then she thought back to when she and Remus had presented the little girl to May, who was elated. She immediately conjured up a ball of yarn and began playing with the kitten, whom she named Maria. She had exclaimed to Lily, "This is the best present EVER, Lils. You're the best."
Lily had felt better than ever that day.
Professor Kettleburn was talking to them about Acromantulas, as he couldn't show them. It wasn't very interesting, as Lily had read it somewhere before, and she was pretty sure that he had given them this same exact talk in her fifth year.
She looked around at the Slytherins that they had this class with. Most of them sneered at her and muttered "Mudblood" under their breath, but she could see two who didn't: a boy she didn't know, and a girl, Rachel, who had been a friend of hers in the first year. She waved to Rachel, but, as usual, she ignored Lily.
She looked at the Marauders. Both Remus and Peter were looking at her with an I-know-something-about-you stare that really irked her. Then she looked at James, and felt a little flutter in her chest when she thought about what Remus said.
Do I really love him? She wondered. This is so confusing.
Lily nudged May and said, "How's your boyfriend doing?"
May looked at her, mouth open. "Who?"
Lily was annoyed. "James. Obviously."
"Didn't I tell you?" May asked, shaking her head. "We broke up a couple days ago."
Something in her head whooped for joy, but she kept her voice even. "Did you now?"
May beamed. "Yep. We're still friends, but we both were kind of bored with the whole dating scene. It took away time we could be spending with our friends. And I think that James--"
Lily held her breath, scared that May might know.
"--James is much more the boy he used to be, now that I'm gone."
Lily let her breath out. "I guess that means ol' Sniv-I mean, Severus can't relax anymore."
May nodded. "Didn't you see how James turned his hair pink today? It's small, but a start, Lils."
Lily was actually happy that James was going back to his old self. She didn't care that much about what he did to Severus, suddenly. Unless it mean the poor guy got hurt.
"Um...Lily? Why are you smiling?" May cut in. "I thought you'd be mad about James doing that to poor, innocent little Severus."
"Uh...well...oh look! Professor Kettleburn's showing us that picture!" She pointed to the drawing of an Acromantula that Kettleburn was holding up.
"Wow, it's amazing." May said sarcastically.
When they went back to listening to Kettleburn's excited voice, Lily dared another look at James.
She had never before noticed the way his hair flopped everywhere, like a furry animal's. Or the way his hazel eyes twinkled with mischief. Or the way his lips gently curved up into a devilish grin.
If I had just taken the time to look, Lily thought, I would have noticed so much more. Why did I just judge him, all of the Marauders? Yes, they act like they don't care about anybody's feelings, but I acted the same way to them. And that makes me just as bad.
When class was over, Lily knew exactly what to do. But it was going to have to wait, because she had an appointment with Remus.
"Glad you could make it," Remus said when he saw Lily come through the portrait hole.
"Yeah, yeah, let's get on with it. What are we talking about now?" Lily asked, collapsing into an armchair.
"We're talking about what we're going to do now. I want to know: would you rather we kept up this useless charade and continued going out, or would you rather go back to being friends like we used to, freeing you to pursue James?"
"Er...what do you want?"
Remus lifted his chin. "I really don't care."
Lily knew he did, that he wanted her to choose the second one so everything could go back to normal.
She sighed. "The second one."
He gave her a grin. "Knew you'd see it that way. Now, second order of business: Do you like James?"
She hung her head and said sulkily, "Maybe."
"I'll take that as a yes. So if James asked you out, you would agree. So, if I just happen to plant the idea that he should ask you again..."
"Everything would turn out the way it's supposed to and I'll live happily ever after with the man of my dreams," Lily finished, only pretending a little bit.
"Could be," Remus said with a smile.
"Thanks for understanding, Moony. You're the best friend a girl could have. Best guy friend," Lily added as an afterthought.
For a single moment, both of them smiled at each other, in complete serenity.
"Well," Remus said, standing up and stretching, "it's past this little boy's bedtime. I gotta sleep sometime."
"It's only eight, where are you going?" Lily asked.
"Er, well, I have some stuff to catch up on," Remus said, avoiding her eyes.
"Let me help you with it," Lily insisted.
Remus shook his head, looking out at the lovely full moon. "No, that's alright. Good night."
He left for the boy's dorms without a second glance at her.
If that's not a secret alert, I don't know what is, Lily thought.
She turned to go to her dorm, as there was no reason to stay in the common room now.
"Hey Lils, what's up?" Said May, looking up from the catnip toy that Maria was playing with.
"Nothing, but Remus was acting a bit strange this evening. Nothing big, anyway." She sat down on her four-poster bed. "Has Maria learned anything new?"
May smiled lovingly at her kitten. "Yes, she has. She's smarter than a dog. She knows sit, lay down, and dance."
"Interesting."
"Isn't it?" May picked up Maria and cuddled her. Maria tried frantically to escape and get back to her catnip. "She is the best present I have gotten in my life, and that includes my last pair of socks." May grinned. "Kidding."
It was time to launch Operation Marauder's Secret.
"I'm glad you're happy, May. I'm going to bed," Lily said, faking a yawn.
"Me too," May said, as Lily had hoped. Though May was her best friend, Lily didn't want her along for this.
In a an hour, May was sound asleep. Perfect.
Lily crept out of bed and put on her robes. She heard noises outside the castle.
As she sneaked out of the common room, she didn't notice the watchful eyes floating along behind her.
Lily continued to tiptoe out of the hall and down the stairs.
The eyes followed.
She managed to make it to the entrance hall. She let a breath out, and then glanced around. Something behind her caught her eye.
She turned around and stifled a scream.
A/N: Cliffhanger. *evil smile* If you can guess who was following Lily, I'll mention you on my bio. It might be a bit obvious, though...
That's What You Do For Your Friends by Dragon_Warrior
Chapter Notes: Here you are--chapter five. Please review, I love input! Thanks to every reader!