Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series. That credit goes to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling. Go Jo! I also do not own some of the material used. Again that belongs to Jo and Warner Brothers.
The Beauty and the Werewolf
James Potter’s dad was pushing his son’s trolley down the side of the Hogwarts Express, his wife and son following behind him. This was extremely embarrassing for James because being in your sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and still having your dad push your trolley for you was awkward to say the least. Looking around, he didn’t see any of the other students in his year having their parents push their trolley for them.
“Dad, pushing my trolley for me is highly unnecessary,” James said, not looking towards his father. There was only one place he was concentrating on at the moment.
He was absentmindedly rubbing the place on his yellow jacket where a shinning prefect badge should have been, and looking all around for his best mate, Sirius Black.
It was no secret that James wanted to be the Gyffindor prefect, but that honor had been bestowed upon his good friend, Remus Lupin. It would have been the perfect reason to be around the Gryffindor girl prefect, Lily Evans, whom James fancied deeply.
“Where is he? He has ten minutes before the barrier closes,” James said, looking at where Sirius should have come out from.
He sighed and looked up from his watch, not even noticing the redhead walking his way through the crowd of parents and students.
“Hello, James,” she said, her brilliant green eyes looking at him amusingly.
He stopped and stared at Lily. She had her prefect badge pinned to her red jacket he noticed. It would be brilliant, James thought during his brief lose of words, if both he and Lily would end up both Head Boy and Girl next year. Sadly, however, he knew it would never be since he wasn’t a prefect. It was nice to dream, though.
“Li… Evans. You startled me,” James said, trying his act like he always did when Lily was around, witch was becoming more frequent James realized. They had amazingly been in Diagon Alley at the same time during the summer holiday to get their new school things.
Lily opened her mouth to speak, but never got the chance to say what she wanted to due to someone, namely Sirius, calling James by his nickname.
Rolling her eyes, Lily muttered, “Boys” under her breath.
She had never really understood the reasoning behind them. Then again, boys in general were beyond reasoning in her opinion.
“Prongs,” Sirius yelled again from the top of his lungs, apparently thinking James hadn’t heard him the first time.
The fact was that James had indeed heard Sirius, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from Lily, afraid that when he turned back, she would be gone.
James finally turned to Sirius as he continued yelling out
“Prongs”!
“There you are, Padfoot,” James said, smiling broadly.
Lily rolled her eyes for the second time as the two hugged. James told his parents’ goodbye as Lily made her presence known when James and Sirius began talking like she was not there. Sirius had been commenting on James’s wishful thinking about being a prefect when Lily began laughing, causing them both to look at her finally.
“You and your pet names,” Lily said, still laughing.
James’s eyes widened with terror while Sirius almost fell to the ground from the shock.
“Pet names?” James asked with a gasp.
Sirius laughed and put his hand on Lily’s shoulder. James acted as though he did not care about this. He wondered why she hadn’t shoved Sirius’s hand away like she always did when he had done this.
“My dear Lily Petal... you don’t mind me calling you that, right? You have mistaken our nicknames for something quite different,” Sirius said.
James was nodding quickly to Sirius’s reply. For Lily to think that he and Sirius were… he could not bear to find out.
“Whatever you say,” Lily said as Sirius and James smiled and began waving at someone.
“Moony,” Sirius called.
Lily turned and saw that they were waving at Remus, who had his prefect badge prominently on his chest. Moony was the nickname for Remus.
Lily gasped when she got a better look at Remus’s face. It was covered by some old and new cuts.
“Remus, your face,” Lily said, lifting her hand close to his face, but not directly touching it.
He brushed his cheek and acted like it was no big deal. James and Sirius were looking on at this with interest, James more than Sirius.
“It’s from a spill I took over the summer holidays. I’m all right,” Remus assured her, taking a nervous glance in James’s direction.
Lily opened her mouth, but decided to stay quiet, seeing that this conversation was making Remus uneasy.
“Of course he’s fine,” Sirius said, laughing as he threw an arm around Remus, who gave a half smile.
James glanced over at Lily, who was still staring at Remus. Remus noticed this and cleared his throat.
“Peter and I have a compartment,” he said, and then looked over at Lily. “Then we start patrolling the corridors.”
Peter Pettigrew was the fourth and final “gang” member. He had been given the nickname Wormtail. Lily followed the three onto the train. James turned after noticing Lily was behind them.
“Aren’t you with Snape?” he asked.
Lily stopped in shock. Certainly after what had happened last year, James would have known she would never talk to the stupid git again. Clearly he had thought that they had made up during the holidays.
“We’re no longer on speaking terms,” Lily said, starting to walk a little ahead of them now.
Remus and Sirius glanced at each other as James caught up to Lily, who tried to hide his excitement about this news.
“Really?” James asked.
Lily smiled inside. James really seemed interested in this. She knew, of course, that James fancied her, but seeing him acting like a puppy hanging on her every word was always enjoyable.
“Yes,” Lily nodded.
Remus pushed ahead of them and opened the compartment door.
“Serves him right. Calling you what he did,” James said as he sat near the window across from Peter.
He didn’t look at Lily, not wanting to see the look on her face from his comment. Sirius sat next to James. Lily, however, put her things away, but didn’t sit. Neither did Remus.
“Calling me a Mudblood wasn’t right, but mind you if you hadn’t been taunting him, he wouldn’t have,” Lily said, also not looking at James.
Remus and Lily said goodbye and they could her Sirius telling James before the compartment door shut, “She told you.”
James looked down and thought for a while. Peter and Sirius were talking about their summer holiday.
Lily and Remus returned about an hour later. Remus sat by Peter while Lily sat on Peter’s other side and looked out the window.
“You’re absolutely right,” James suddenly said.
This caused Lily to turn her attention to James. James, however, still hadn’t looked up to know Lily was looking at him. She sighed and also looked down. As if on cue, James then looked over at Lily.
Lily, feeling his eyes on her, looked up.
“What, Potter?” she asked. She couldn’t believe that even after an hour of being gone, James was still thinking about they had been talking about before she and Remus left.
“You know I’d never call you a… a…” James began, but he just couldn’t say it. It was too horrible.
“Mudblood?” Lily asked.
Sirius, Peter, and Remus all looked down.
“How can you say it?” James asked, causing Remus, Sirius, and Peter to look at Lily. Being called a Mudblood was in James’s, as well as Sirius, Peter, and Remus’s, opinion, the worst insult to a Muggle-born, which Lily was.
“I don’t let it get to me,” Lily said, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly. “And thanks for saying that.”
James saw deep gratitude in Lily’s green eyes. For a moment, if felt like they were the only two people in that compartment. Coming back to reality first, Lily cleared her throat loudly, shaking James out of the moment as well.
“If you were to ever to call me that, you’d be in serious trouble,” Lily told James, looking back out the window.
James looked down and blushed a bit after Lily turned away. Sirius was trying hard not to laugh again. Remus and Peter just stared at James.
“I’ll remember that,” James said.
Since he didn’t look at Lily, James never saw the smile that escaped her lips.
xxx
It had now been a week since starting classes, and Severus Snape, Lily’s former best friend, had been trying to talk to her ever since. Lily had kept ignoring him whenever he tried to get her attention. He had even gone to the links of going to the entrance of Gryffindor Tower to beg her forgiveness. They were now walking towards each other in the Great Hall, leaving Lily with no choice but stop and listen to him this time.
“Lily…” Snape began.
Lily tried to turn, but they were in between tables, and other students were walking by.
“Oh, hello, Severus,” Lily said.
It was at this time that James noticed the two. He, along with Sirius, Remus, and Peter, were sitting at the Gryffindor table eating.
“Look at him,” James said.
Remus took a glance at Lily and Snape and rolled his eyes.
“Leave them be,” he said, turning his attention back to his food.
“Yeah, Lily’s a big girl, Prongs. She doesn’t need a stag right now to protect her,” Sirius cut in.
James then noticed Remus become interested in the conversation between Snape and Lily all of a sudden. Being a prefect had really made Remus more aware of things that were happening.
“I’m sorry,” Snape apologized again.
Lily rolled her eyes. She had heard this too many times. Lily had never forgiven him for calling her a Mudblood last school year with everyone watching by the lake. She had even lashed out at James and the others.
“You’ve told me that a thousand times already,” Lily said.
In all honestly, Lily would’ve loved nothing more than to take Serverus back as a friend, but he was going down a path she couldn’t take. At least James and his friends were standing up for what was right, no matter how immature they were.
“Well, I am,” Snape sighed.
Lily suddenly took his hand and pulled him out of the Great Hall. It took everything in James’s power not to go after them.
“I want to trust you; I really do, but…” Lily began as she and Snape turned down an empty corridor.
“But what?” Snape asked.
“I… I just don’t like those people you call friends. They… they’re curl and…” Lily said as she stopped when Snape shook his head.
Snape looked down at his left arm, but Lily didn’t notice this.
“I don’t know why you hang around that lot,” Snape said, trying to change the subject.
“I can say the same about the people you call friends,” Lily cried.
“Lily…” Snape began as Lily began walking away.
Lily stopped and turned.
“You went down a path that I couldn’t and will never follow. I have chosen my path, and you have chosen yours.” she said.
“Goodbye, Severus.”
Lily reentered the Great Hall finally. She was weak emotionally, but knew she had done the right thing. James cleared his throat as Lily sat next to him.
“Everything all right there, Evans?” he asked.
Lily angrily poked at her food. Why had he had to open his mouth?
“It’s perfect, Potter,” Lily snapped.
“If you ever need me to…” James began.
Lily gave an annoyed sigh, causing James to stop speaking.
“I can take care of myself,” she said.
James looked down at his food, a little embarrassed.
“I never said you didn’t,” he said.
Lily leaned forward and looked at Remus. He still had a big cut across his cheek.
“Remus, are you sure that’s all right?” Lily asked.
Remus gave a nervous look towards James, and then looked back at Lily.
“I’m fine, Lily. It’ll be gone within a week,” he assured her.
“Promise me you’ll see the nurse if it doesn’t,” Lily said.
Remus glanced down and took his fork so that he could not see James’s face.
“I promise,” he said.
Remus loved Lily so much for caring about him, but this attention from Lily would not sit well with James. He only hoped he could get James to understand.
xxx
Sure enough, James pulled Remus aside as they entered the Gryffindor common room after what had gone on in the Great Hall.
“Lily sure seems concerned about you, Moony,” he said.
Remus closed his eyes and looked down. Sirius and Peter then walked beside James.
“Do you blame her? I mean look at me,” Remus said, opening his eyes back up and touching his scared face.
Sirius could see the hurt in Remus’s eyes as he watched him brushing his fingertips on his cheek. He walked over to Remus and put a hand on his shoulder and turned to James.
“Yeah, and also she doesn’t know he’s…” Peter began.
He stopped when he saw Remus tense up. Sirius, who still had his hand on Remus’s shoulder, could feel his friend shaking some as well.
“That’s quite enough, Wormtail,” Sirius said.
Peter looked down, feeling embarrassed.
“You all were the same way before I finally told you, remember?” Remus asked.
They all looked down. James met Remus’s eyes and nodded.
xxx
A month later, the marks on Remus’s face were finally appearing to be going away. However, Lily was not expecting for the new ones that she would see one day during breakfast the next month. Remus sat down next to Peter with his head down.
“Remus, where were you… what happened?” Lily asked.
She was in shock at the new marks on his face. Remus, however, never looked at her. It had been a full moon last week, and Remus had gone to Madam Pomfrey after turning back like he always did.
“No…nothing,” Remus said.
Lily opened her mouth, but she was cut off.
“He’s fine, Evans,” James said.
“No, he’s not,” Lily snapped.
She got up and pulled Remus out of the Great Hall. Sirius had to stop James from following them.
“James, he’ll tell her when he’s ready,” he said. James broke Sirius’s grip and started walking.
Meanwhile, Lily and Remus were just outside the Great Hall. Lily was determined to find out what was going on.
“Lily…” Remus began.
He was scratching his head nervously. He watched the entrance to the Great Hall, expecting James to walk out at any minute.
“The others might not think anything’s wrong, but I know there is,” Lily said.
Remus looked down and sighed. He had to tell her.
“They’re not worrying be… because they know my problem,” he said.
Lily looked down, finally understanding. But they were friends, too. At least Lily thought they were. So, why couldn’t Remus tell her what was going on?
“Remus, you know I’ll never judge you. Please tell me what it is,” Lily begged.
Remus took a deep breath. Was he ready for this? Would she be ready for this? She’d have to know sometime. If she and James were going to be married one day, which he knew they would if James had it his way, then she’d have to be in the know about everything.
“I’m a… a werewolf,” Remus whispered.
Remus’s eyes grew as Lily smiled and took his hand. Unknowing to them, James had just walked out and had seen this. He quickly ran back into the Great Hall.
“There, that wasn’t hard now, was it?” Lily asked.
She released her grip on Remus, who had a confused expression on his face. Why hadn’t she been terrified? She should have run away from him as soon as the word “werewolf” left his mouth. Lily had taken this as well as the others had. For that, he was grateful.
“You’re not scared?” Remus asked Lily, who started laughing.
“There are more dangerous creatures in the Forbidden Forest,” she said.
The two began to laugh. Remus was so relieved Lily hadn’t run away from him in fright.
xxx
Sirius and Peter were keeping Lily busy by questioning her about her and James as James talked to Remus later on that day.
“Lily, wait,” Peter called.
She put her hands on her hips when Sirius cut her off.
“I’ve already told you what I thought about your beloved ring leader,” Lily said, moving past Sirius to go to the girls’ dormitory.
“You can’t fool us, Lily Petal,” Sirius yelled up to her.
He laughed and high fived Peter when they heard a door slam shut.
“How could you?” James asked Remus.
They sat at table on the far side of the common room where no one could hear them. Remus lowered his eyebrows. He did not know what James was talking about. He hadn’t seen James exit the Great Hall.
“What?” Remus asked.
“You know I fancy Lily,” James said.
Remus was still confused.
“Yeah, I do,” he said.
“Then why are you seeing each other behind my back?” James asked
His voice was a little louder than it had been. Remus opened his mouth, but stopped. He realized he did not have an answer for this. He and Lily were only friends. Why was James thinking this? Unless… but he couldn’t have. Had James seen Lily take his hand and mistaken it for something else?
“I… wait, what makes you think we’re together?” Remus asked.
Then it hit Remus like a ton of bricks. It was clear now that James had indeed seen him and Lily outside the Great Hall.
“I saw you two holding hands,” James said.
Remus looked down. He wished he could laugh at this, but couldn’t.
“I told her I was a werewolf,” he sighed.
James’s face fell. He knew how much his friend hated talking about his situation.
“You… told her?” James asked.
Remus looked up and nodded.
“Yes. You witnessed me telling Lily about my condition,” he said.
James felt really awkward for a couple of days around Remus after this, but he soon forgave his friend for doubting his trust. From then on, Remus always had someone to talk to when he wanted to be taken seriously.
The End
AN:
Finally! This idea just came to mind from the Prisoner of Azkaban movie when Remus is talking to Harry about Lily.