Arrival Unexpected

You're a teaser, you turn 'em on
Leave 'em burning and then you're gone
Looking out for another
Anyone will do
You're in the mood for a dance
And when you get the chance

You are the dancing queen
Young and sweet
Only seventeen
Dancing queen

"Dancing Queen", ABBA

As Sirius Black slumped into the chair, the wide, almost jovial grin never left his face. Had any of his friends been in his current position--seated across from a very stern looking Professor McGonagall--they would have fallen into contriteness, apologizing over and over for what the Professor´s green eyes silently accused.

Sirius Black had been in Minerva McGonagall´s office before, though (in fact, too many times to count). He never bothered to deny what she accused him of anymore; it would insult her intelligence; and despite actions to the contrary, he really did admire and respect her.

It was just a sad fact of life that little things like `rules´ and `regulations´ got in the way of what could have been a truly good friendship.

Sirius, propping his ankle over his knee, looked so relaxed in his repose that Professor McGonagall had to restrain a smirk. No--Sirius Black wouldn´t bother with lying to her. He would stick to what he was good at.

It so happened that Sirius Black was something of a genius at Transfiguration--the very subject that Minerva taught at Hogwarts. It didn´t matter if it was tadpoles into teaspoons or llamas into lawn furniture, if the boy could picture it in his mind, he could do it.

And Sirius Black was known for his... vivid imagination.

Professor McGonagall leaned forward, placing her elbows on her desk and her chin atop her intertwined fingers. She heard her own words echoing back at her from one of her lessons: Transfiguration is the art of taking one thing and changing it into another.

And that is what he would do; that is what he was good at. He would take her accusation and turn it into a justifiable action.

If the boy had been a Muggle, he would have made a damn fine barrister, she thought ruefully.

The simple solution was, of course, not to let the boy to talk while she lectured him and punished him. Trying to keep Sirius Black quiet however was more difficult than trying to get Argus Filch to wish the students a `Happy Christmas´. The young man sitting before her was beyond verbose--he was positively bursting with things to say every waking second.

She didn´t want to hear it. Not really. If she did, she would relent, and then he wouldn´t learn anything from it. On more occasions than she cared to admit, Sirius Black had talked her down from (or at least verbally reduced) punishment.

She sighed heavily and his smile seemed to get wider. Trying to steal herself against the coming onslaught of banter, she told herself that he was already thinking that he was going to get out of this. McGonagall told herself to be strong--She was the head of his house after all. She had to lay down the law.

"You know why you are here, Sirius?" she asked tentatively. The handsome boy nodded amiably, almost encouraging her to continue. "Ignoring the fact that you, Lily and James were all out of your House against orders on Sunday night, you are here in fact to be punished for endangering a fellow student."

Sirius nodded again, his eyes clear and bright.

McGonagall´s mouth twitched slightly. "You told Severus Snape where Remus Lupin is... kept every month. You sent the poor boy into the proverbial lion´s den!" Her voice grew louder, sounding more like the ominous Transfiguration teacher that so many students feared. "He could have been killed, or worse--bitten by Mr. Lupin!"

Sirius Black continued to smile in silence, never letting his gaze fall from the professor´s face.

"Do you deny it?" she asked, dreading the response.

Sirius Black though, remained silent, consigning himself to a small headshake of negation. The smile stayed firmly in place.

McGonagall pounded her fist against her desk in frustration. "But why, Sirius? Surely you must have a reason for it."

In lieu of response, Sirius Black merely shrugged and kept smiling. He ran a very nonchalant hand through his hair as he waited for her to continue.

Her nostrils flared slightly. She wasn´t quite sure how to proceed at this point. This was not the Sirius Black that she was used to dealing with at all. They regarded each other for a few moments across the expansive desk. And then, finally it happened.

Professor McGonagall blinked.

"If you have nothing to say for yourself, then I have no choice but to sentence you to two months of detention. You will report to Argus Filch each night after dinner and work with him for two hours every evening, and four hours each day of the weekend." She picked up the piece of parchment in front of her--the form that she needed to fill out in order to cement his disciplinary action--and then picked up her quill. "Your parents will of course, be told of your actions."

Sirius Black stood up, still smiling and nodded. "Is that all then, Professor McGonagall? May I be excused?"

"Excused to where?" she asked quizzically. This was really much too easy.

"The Infirmary. James and I are taking turns sitting with Lily." Sirius moved toward the door and then stopped. "If you want though, I can wait till you are done filling that out, and I can take it to Filch for you. I realize with all the Ministry officials still snooping around for information about Hawthorn that you are quite busy right now."

"Yes, that would be fine." She picked the quill up again and held it over the page, poised to fill it out. Something stopped her, though. His behavior was so... unnerving. Before she could stop herself, she began to speak again. "Sirius, I´ve just condemned you to two months of evenings with Mr. Filch, a man that no student--and as I remember you in particular--hold no love for. And you don´t have anything to say about it?"

Sirius smiled at her again, regarding her with something that was almost akin to compassion. "Nothing at all to say, Professor. The punishment is really quite lenient, considering what I´ve done."

She set the quill back down. There must be something wrong with the boy. She should take him to the Infirmary immediately. "Lenient, Sirius? Are you suggesting that I should increase the duration of your detentions?"

Sirius scoffed. "Of course not! I was just saying that considering all that happened that night, I feel that I´ve gotten a fair hand in all of this--Lily is alive. Peter and the others are reasonably safe now, and Voldemort no longer has anyone working for him on the staff." He looked down at the floor for a moment. "I deserve to be punished for what happened between me and Snape. It really was a reckless act, and an inexcusable breech of trust."

He raised his eyes back up to meet hers slowly. For the first time it seemed, she saw how tired the boy looked. How much all that had happened had really affected him as a person... and perhaps, just perhaps--looking back at her with his pale eyes--she thought she saw a glimmer of the man he would become: A man that would make any mother proud.

"It was a difficult night for us all, Sirius." Her eyes softened slightly. "Don´t be so hard on yourself."

"But I have to be Professor!" he protested, moving back towards her desk. "I mean, not only could Snape have been hurt, but think what it would have done to Remus! Knowing that he had hurt someone while he was a wolf... it would have just killed him." He drew in a long deep breath, and lowered his head again.

The quill dropped out of her hand. "Now, Sirius... Really... I was there when Severus brought Lily in. The sight of her bloodied up as she was would have unnerved anyone, let alone for one of her close friends to see her like that--so soon after seeing her fall from the Astronomy Tower..."

Sirius shook his head. "That´s no excuse, Professor, and you know it as well as I do. As horrible as it was thinking that Lily might be dead, and then seeing how badly she was hurt, there is no reason that I should have lost control and let Snape get to me the way he did."

"Let Snape get to you?" she asked. "What did he say?"

Sirius waved it off. "It was nothing really. He was just trying to rile me up--saying things about Remus being a werewolf and how Remus had hurt Lily..." He shrugged slightly and shuffled his feet. "Normal Snape stuff. I should be stronger than that. It was just with everything that happened... well, you know."

She did know. She had had Severus in her office just a few hours before, hearing his side of the tale. James Potter had been in the previous night to recount the events as well. There was no denying that the Snape boy could be... annoying. And he certainly knew how to push both James and Sirius´ buttons. To think that he had done so on Sunday night, in light of all that had happened...

Professor McGonagall picked the quill up again. "Sirius, I think that one month of detentions will be more than sufficient actually."

Sirius placed his hand over the parchment before she could begin to write. "No ma´am. I insist that you give me the two months that you originally had planned. I deserve it for what I´ve done, and what I nearly did." He turned his face away from hers. "When I think about what could have happened..."

A small tear rose in Minerva McGonagall´s eye. This was a side of Sirius Black that she had never seen before. The boy was finally growing up. To see such concern for his friends and such remorse over his actions... well, there really wasn´t much else she could do was there?

She brushed his hand away and filled out the detention form at top speed. Signing it with a flourish she handed it to him. And without ever looking at it, Sirius took it from her, folded it in half and stuffed it into the pocket of his robes.

"I´ll take this down to Filch right away." He moved to the door. "Will I see you in the Infirmary later, Professor? Lily is still unconscious of course, but regardless of Madam Pomfrey says, I think that she knows that we´re there."

Professor McGonagall nodded, rubbing a finger across her eyelid and muttering something about how dusty the office was.

As soon as he closed her office door behind him, Sirius took out the parchment and read it over with a very satisfied grin on his face.

Two weeks of detentions with Filch.

As he meandered down to the caretaker´s office, Sirius couldn´t help thinking that it was easier than turning a bumblebee into a bottle-opener.

* * *

When Remus returned to Gryffindor Tower late Tuesday afternoon, there was no welcoming committee waiting for him. Not that he expected one; classes were still going on--James, Sirius and Lily wouldn´t be back for another hour or so. He climbed the stairs to the room that he shared with the other sixth year boys and opened the door. His bed stood against the far wall, calling to him.

He ached for a mid-afternoon nap. His muscles and bones were still sore; the lingering pain reminded him of his transformation. He mentally winced as traces of the wolf´s memory seeped into his consciousness. The beast had been particularly enraged this time, as if something had been dangled in front of it only to be torn away.

Remus crossed the room and sat on his bed. He struggled with the wish that the memories were more coherent. In some ways, it would help him--let him understand things from the wolf´s perspective. In others, it terrified him. What if he woke up one day remembering a savage attack on a child?

He shuddered, repulsed by the thought. The logical part of his mind reminded himself that he was at Hogwarts, and that Dumbledore had taken many, many precautions to prevent that ever happening while Remus was under his care. As he rubbed a hand over the rough stubble on his cheek, the guilty acknowledgement came to him that he threw those precautions to the wind each time he and the other boys broke out of the Shrieking Shack in their animal forms.

And the internal debate began anew.

The midnight adventures during the full moon would have to stop. It was simply too dangerous. Ah yes, but weren´t Sirius´ dog and James´ stag strong enough to control the wolf? Didn´t his friends always keep him from harm?

Remus threw himself backwards into the velvety abyss of his coverlet. Absently, he put a pillow over his head as he had done as a child, hoping that if he couldn´t see what was coming then it couldn´t see him either. Truth, unfortunately, does not follow the same rules of engagement as childhood monsters.

This was the last time.

He wouldn´t leave the shack anymore after this. He would do the right thing and tell the other boys that it was just too dangerous. He would never leave the sanctuary of the Shrieking Shack during the full moon again.

Yeah.

Right.

Deciding to set the debate aside until next month, Remus reached over the edge of his bed and stuck his hand under his mattress. Over the years, he had worked out a system with the other boys. If there were something that they needed him to know as soon as he returned to Hogwarts, they would leave a letter for him under his mattress. It was a good system; the only flaw in it appeared in fourth year, when nearly all the boys had started keeping magazines of a more adult nature under their mattresses. When Remus had mentioned his fear that someone would find one of his notes while trying to find the latest edition of "Naked Nymphs of Norway", Sirius had smiled and said that he had a way to take care of the problem.

Sirius´ solution had been a bitter tasting cure. He borrowed a copy of "Stark-Naked Sorcerers" from his girlfriend at the time and left it under Remus´ mattress. As feared, someone did go looking for midnight reading material. What they found kept them from ever looking under Remus´ mattress again.

As his hand probed now though, he found nothing. No wrinkled magazine of any sexual preference and no note. Perhaps his fears were wrong; maybe nothing of interest had happened during this full moon.

If only he could remember...

The need to sleep won out as he searched his brain for any hint of cause at the wolf´s distress. Eventually, a rough hand shook him awake and tore away the pillow that covered his head. Standing over him was the irrepressible Sirius Black, grinning like a madman.

"C´mon," he whispered, jerking his head back towards the hallway. "James is down in his room waiting for us. We have a lot to catch up on."

Remus stood up slowly. "There was no note waiting for me."

Sirius shrugged. "Too much to write and not enough time to right it. It´s better if you hear it all straight from us anyway. Trust me on this, it was one hell of a weekend."

Silent alarms went off in Remus´ brain. "Is Lily down there too?"

Sirius Black stopped mid-stride. "Lily´s in the Infirmary." Remus´ heart sank in his chest. "She´s been unconscious since Sunday night, but Pomfrey insists that she´ll be just fine as soon as she wakes up. It´s a good thing Lily is so hardheaded."

Remus grasped Sirius´ shoulder tightly, panic coursing through his brain as he recalled his wolfish rage. "Was it... was it me? Did I?" His words were almost in audible.

The color drained from Sirius´ face as their eyes met. "It wasn´t you, Moony. Come down to James´ room and we´ll tell you everything that happened."

They walked in silence the rest of the way, each consumed by their own thoughts. Remus didn´t know what had happened yet, but he had the distinct impression that Sirius wasn´t telling him something--that there was something that Sirius didn´t want to admit.

As they crossed the threshold into James´ room, Remus felt relief wash over him. James looked tired, but the open honesty of his face was unblemished for whatever had occurred during the days of the full moon. James would certainly tell him everything that happened, even if Sirius couldn´t do it himself.

Remus pulled a chair away from the fireplace and sat down across from the boys, who had seated themselves on the edge of James´ bed. The dark haired wizards exchanged a look; Sirius nodded to James, indicating that he should begin the tale.

Remus listened raptly as it unfolded--the discovery of the Staff of Merlin, Hawthorn´s attack in the Kitchens, Lily´s flight, and the fiery demise of the Potions Professor once her Master sensed her failure when Lily destroyed the Staff. Hardest of all was to hear of Lily´s fall from the Astronomy Tower; Remus had to remind himself that she was okay. Sirius had said she was in the Infirmary, unconscious but whole and hale otherwise.

Sirius jumped in at this point, explaining in great detail what had happened the next morning--how the Ministry officials had practically taken over Hogwarts while they searched for clues to Hawthorn´s betrayal. The post-mortem was still going on, many of the staff still enduring the endless questions of the Aurors.

"Why did Hawthorn turn?" Remus asked finally.

James gave his room a long look, as if he was afraid of prying ears. "Dumbledore told us last night that they found some things in her rooms to indicate that she was coerced into working for Voldemort."

"Coerced? How?" Unlike many of his fellow students, Remus was never one to exchange gossip about his professors, feeling that since they honored the secret about his `private´ life, he should honor theirs. He had no idea what could possibly be a powerful enough lure to bring a Hogwarts´ professor over to the dark side.

"About a decade ago," explained Sirius, "her husband and young daughter disappeared while visiting relatives in Greece. At the time, it was widely assumed that Mr. Hawthorn had just run off with the sproglet. Quicker way to end the marriage than a messy divorce."

James nodded. "Albus said it just wrecked Hawthorn. She even took a term off to search for them. About three years later, Muggle police in the area found the remains of her husband in a cave on the seashore. After that, it was presumed that Hawthorn´s daughter and husband had died at sea, while out for a summer cruise. There was no evidence to indicate that magic was involved in his death."

"But they never found the body of the daughter, either. Not even so much as a discarded rattle on the beach ever washed up." Sirius gave a small shrug and looked at James again, waiting for him to finish the story.

"Anyway, Albus told us that the Aurors found journal entries from Hawthorn indicating that she believed Voldemort had been holding her daughter this whole time." James leaned forward, his voice almost a whisper now. "She was willing to do whatever he asked to get her daughter back."

Remus shook his head in disbelief. "I had no idea that Voldemort possessed so much patience... Imagine him holding that poor child this whole time, just waiting for the right moment to use her as bait for the mother."

James shook his head. "Albus doesn´t think so. He thinks that Voldemort just used it as a way of getting to Hawthorn. Like I said before, no trace of magic was involved in Mr. Hawthorn´s death. Whatever else he is, Voldemort is an egomaniac and a Muggle-hater. He would have used magic to kill and not any other means to dispose of the Hawthorns."

Remus nodded solemnly, as the weight of this information settled on him. "So she was just chasing a dream? She betrayed what she believed in for nothing?"

James nodded, his hand playing with his father´s watch on his wrist. "What wouldn´t a parent do, to protect their child?"

The words hung in the air for while. Remus recalled almost painfully all the years that his own parents had searched in vain for a cure, any cure for their beloved son. In the back of his own mind, a question nagged: What wouldn´t he, Remus Lupin, do even now for that elusive cure?

No, he told himself. Never that. It would never be worth it. He couldn´t live with that price.

There was a funny look on James´ face as he stared at Sirius. He appeared to be waiting for something. There was still more of the story to hear, apparently.

Finally, after another few minutes of silence, Remus spoke up. "So how did Lily survive the fall from the Astronomy Tower? What happened?"

"Well," James said after staring at Sirius for a long moment. "She bounced when she hit the ground. Old instinctual wizard defense, you could say. Snape found her."

"Snape?" Remus asked incredulously. "What was he doing out?"

James continued to stare at Sirius, and finally the other boy began to speak. "Dumbledore wouldn´t let us tell the other Prefects what was really going on. He had James and Lily inform everyone that there was a monster loose on the school grounds." Sirius raised his eyes to Remus´. "Snape assumed since it was the full moon..."

"That it was me," Remus finished, shuddering at the thought. "Still though, what was he thinking? Going out at night with a werewolf on the loose..."

"He wanted to find you and kill you," Sirius said slowly, a cold anger rising in his voice. "McGonagall and I reached the door just as he was bringing Lily in. He thought that you had attacked her." Sirius shifted on the bed uncomfortably. "After McGonagall took Lily from him to bring her to the Infirmary, Snape and I had a little talk..."

Remus sat up very straight. "And just what was said during this little tête-à-tête?"

Sirius looked away.

"Sirius, what did you tell him?"

Sirius let loose a low growl, though Remus had no idea who his anger was directed at. "I told him that you would never hurt Lily, or anyone! I told him that he was a fool!"

"And?" Remus asked, standing up. He knew what was coming, but he had to hear Sirius say it. All the odd looks that James had been shooting Sirius all afternoon were leading to this part of the story. His own faint remembrances of the wolf´s rage at being denied its prey suddenly came into focus. Remus didn´t want to know... but yet, he had to.

"And what happened then?"

Sirius slumped forward slightly. "He wanted to know where you went during the full moon each month. I told him that if he really wanted to know, that he´d have to ask you himself."

Remus clenched his fists together tightly, trying to hold in the rage that was welling up inside of him. "So you told him where to find me."

Sirius nodded.

The copper colored eyes that normally looked so polished now turned dull. With his voice like ice, Remus pressed on. "And it´s safe to presume that Snape was sufficiently angry or stupid enough to listen to you?"

Sirius opened his mouth to speak, but James interrupted him. "I arrived at the Infirmary shortly after Sirius did. He told me what happened with Snape and I was able to catch up to him before anything could happen." James reached out, putting a comforting hand on Lupin´s shoulder. "Nothing happened, Remus. I swear, no one was attacked by a werewolf this weekend."

Without taking his cold eyes off of Sirius Black, Remus addressed his next question to James. "How did you get Snape back to Hogwarts?"

Sirius snorted. "He used a little five finger persuasion." Sirius mimed a punch into his open hand. "The git´s eyes are still swollen shut."

Remus turned his head as he stared at Sirius, until his head was level with his shoulder. "You... fool..."

Sirius waved his friend´s anger away. "No one got hurt, Moony. And Dumbledore has talked with Snape. If he wants to graduate, he´ll not say a word about your monthly excursions. Everything worked out just fine."

With one arm, Remus reached out and pulled Sirius up off the bed. His rage emanated from his whole being, like waves crashing against a shore. He held Sirius aloft, in a rare display of his inhuman strength. "Everything," he said slowly, "is far from fine."

James stood up now, trying to come in between the two boys. "Sirius was an idiot, Remus. But he knows that now..."

Remus shook his head slowly. "No, I don´t think he does. I think that Black´s dangling here wondering what I´m so pissed about. I don´t think he has a bloody clue what he´s really done."

Sirius sighed melodramatically, almost looking bored. "Right then, why don´t one of you explain it to me so I can apologize and we can get this over with."

Quicker than a Cornish Pixie, Remus threw Sirius across the room, slamming the bigger boy into James´ wall. Sirius crumpled on to the floor, looking shocked to find himself there. And there was something more in his pale eyes--a glimmer of fear and understanding.

"Remus, I... I´m sorry. I am!" Sirius said quickly. "It was stupid, I know, but no one was hurt..."

"Wrong Sirius," Remus said curtly. "Someone was very much hurt by what you did Sunday night."

A look of confusion crossed Sirius´ handsome face. "Who?"

With a racked sigh, Remus replied, "I was."

James made his way across the room, and offered a hand to help Sirius up. James was wearing a worried form of his `I-told-you-so´ face.

Remus walked over to James´ window and stared out of it a long time. "I trusted you, Sirius. Not just with the secret of what I am, but each month--every time we venture out I place the well being of the world at large in your hands. You were supposed to keep them safe from me. Instead, you sent someone right into danger, with no regard for their life." He turned and faced a much-chastened looking young wizard. "With no regard for what hurting someone would do to me."

Sirius Black was no longer smiling. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came forth.

Remus strode across the room, towards the door. "I trusted you... I won´t let myself make that mistake again." Turning to James, he continued. "I´m going down to the Infirmary to see Lily, do you want to come?"

James nodded and followed him out the door.

Sirius sat back down on the bed. He´d suspected that Remus would be mad, but not that he´d be this upset about it. Trusting me isn´t a mistake, he thought defensively.

He frowned, unsure of how to proceed at this point. He wasn´t used to being wrong, or to having Remus angry with him. Or to seeing Remus angry at all, come to that.

Maybe he had done the wrong thing.

Maybe there was more truth in what he´d told Professor McGonagall yesterday than he´d suspected.

And maybe, he thought as the first twinge of guilt settled into his stomach, Lily wasn´t the only one with an extraordinarily thick head.

* * *

Remus Lupin pulled a chair up to Lily´s bed. Her cuts had been mended and her broken bones had been reset and already healed. She did not look like someone who had recently done battle with the minion of the most powerful Dark Lord in five hundred years; rather, she resembled something out of a fairy tale--a princess who was peacefully asleep, waiting for the right moment to awaken in the arms of her prince.

James Potter sat in a chair on the opposite side of the bed, gingerly holding her hand. There was a look to him that suggested to Remus that James was ready to audition for the part of said prince.

"Does she know?" Remus asked after watching James for a while more.

James made no attempt at dissembling. "No... and she won´t know either. Somewhere in the midst of all this, she and Sirius made up this weekend."

Remus snorted; the sound reverberated gently off the Infirmary walls. "I think not. I know Lily a bit better than you; she was charmed by him for a while, but trust me, she´s over it now. She´s seen Black for what he really is. And it´s not what she wants."

"You´re just saying that because you´re pissed at him right now." James rolled his eyes slightly. "Sirius isn´t a bad bloke and you know it. He´s just..."

"Arrogant, pigheaded, untrustworthy... Oh yes James, women are just lining up for man with those qualities. There is also a six-month reserve list for staying at Azkaban now too. Having your heart broken by an egomaniac and reliving all the worst moments of your life are so in this season." Remus returned the eye roll, exaggerating it this time. "I´m not saying he´s likely to become a lieutenant to the Dark Lord; I´m saying that Lily is smart enough to eventually see past his pretty face. Whatever else you might say, you have to admit that most things with Sirius Black never delve further than skin deep."

James shook his head. "I wish that you were right, Remus, I really do. But you didn´t see them together this weekend. And there´s something else," James leaned across Lily´s legs to whisper to Remus. "When we were out on Saturday night, I saw Lily out on a walk with Circe."

At the mention of her name, the great black owl hooted amiably from atop its perch on Lily´s headboard. James smiled up at Circe.

"Pomfrey´s letting Circe stay here?" Remus asked, fumbling in his pocket for an owl treat to give the diligent bird.

James chuckled softly to himself. "Pomfrey doesn´t have a choice. A bowl full of mice couldn´t drag Circe away from Lily´s side. Believe me, we tried it." Circe continued her preening, looking back at the boys to give them a distinctive wink.

The boys shared a momentary laugh, stifling it as soon as they saw the light come on in Madam Pomfrey´s office, just a few yards away from them.

"So, what did you and Lily talk about? Did she actually say that she was taking Sirius back?" Remus raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Lily talked actually, I just listened." James put his hands on top of his head, crooking his fingers in imitation of his Animagus form.

"Ah..." Remus nodded knowingly. "She had no idea then?"

James shook his head. "Not a clue... but she was talking about being in love, and how to express it." James gulped, as though the memory of it was painful. "And then, all day Sunday, the way she was with Sirius..."

"But she didn´t actually say it, did she?" asked Remus insistently.

"She almost did, actually. Sirius had gone down to get some food from the Common Room, and she was about to tell me when..." James´ eyes lingered guiltily on Lily´s sleeping face. "When I sort of, uhm, blew up at her. Told her that I knew what she was going to say and that I didn´t want to hear it."

"And what happened then?" Remus handed Circe the treat he found, tickling the owl under her chin affectionately.

"Well, then we had to run off and save the world, you know how it is." James said with a smirk.

"Ah well, yes, it´s always something isn´t it?" replied Remus with a wink of his own.

The chuckling that ensued was cut short by the appearance of a gleeful looking Professor Flitwick. The diminutive Charms teacher came out of the room where the sleeping students were kept and smiled at the sight of James and Remus.

"Oh boys! Most excellent to see you!!" he enthused.

"Good evening, Professor." Said Remus, bowing his head slightly.

James smiled back, hoping against hope that there was finally going to be some good news. "Everything going well, sir? Have you found a way to wake them up yet?"

Without a hint of anything but glee, Professor Flitwick replied, "Absolutely wonderful Mr. Potter - all of the children that were attacked by the cursed vine are now dead!"

* * *

"Really, Filius," McGonagall eyed her colleague sharply. "I do wish you would have chosen your words more wisely." She was kneeling next to James, who had disregarded all manly tenants for how to behave after receiving such news and promptly fainted.

You mean," Remus said slowly, coming out of his own silent state of shock. "You mean they´re not dead?"

Professor Flitwick fidgeted slightly, blushing furiously under his white beard. "Yes and no. I was told that you lads were the ones that had found the Possum Charm, so I assumed that you would understand what I was referring to." He looked guiltily at the prone James. "For all intents and purposes, they are dead--the vines are starting to fall away from their bodies already, and all of our monitoring charms confirm that there are no signs of life. However," a glint of his former happiness crept back into his face. "We have every hope of them waking up. How long was Miss Evans `out´ when she tried the charm on herself?"

"Nearly seven hours," replied Remus after a moment´s calculation.

Flitwick clapped his tiny hands together. "Most excellent! I expect we´ll have the lot up and around by the weekend."

Madam Pomfrey carried a cold compress out from her office and handed it to Professor McGonagall. After reviving James, the professor promptly applied it to his forehead and instructed him to lie down on the bed next to Lily´s.

The nurse eyed Remus suspiciously for a moment. "Feeling alright there, Mr. Lupin?" Remus nodded. "Make sure you get enough sleep tonight; you know how weak you are in the first days after your... ordeal."

Remus nodded again and promised that he would go to bed shortly.

Professors McGonagall and Flitwick began discussing the duration of the Possum Charm again, quite oblivious to Remus´ continued presence at Lily´s bedside. As quietly as he could, Remus stood up and crossed over to the other side of the bed, where James had been sitting. Now seated between his two injured friends, Remus settled in to his chair. Circe fluttered down and landed gently on his shoulder, giving his ear an affectionate nip.

Remus found himself envying his friends once more. As Animagi, Peter, James and Sirius could all communicate with animals on some level--depending on the power of the wizard and the intelligence of the particular beast. As a werewolf though, most animals were repelled by Remus´ presence. Circe was an exception. Remus reminisced briefly about his childhood, recalling the incalculable times his parents had had to refuse his requests for a dog or a cat. In general, animals didn´t trust him. They saw him as something dark--something to run away from.

Thinking about what Sirius had done this weekend, he wondered if perhaps the animals weren´t right.

An agonized scream shattered the peace of the Infirmary. The Professors spun around immediately, searching for the source of it. Madam Pomfrey lunged out of her office and eyed Remus.

Remus shook his head. "It wasn´t me; it came from in there." Remus extended a long finger and pointed to the door that held the sleeping students.

Drawing out their wands, the adults advanced on the door. Remus stood up and stayed a few steps behind them. Madam Pomfrey opened the door and gasped at what she saw.

Lying on the floor was Honora Munroe, with tears streaming down her face. At the sight of the wand-wielding adults, she let loose another scream that sent James springing out of his bed.

"Get away from me!" the girl howled as Madam Pomfrey advanced on her. Honora´s eyes darted around, taking in the hanging forms of her sister and Peter. "I won´t let you hurt me anymore! Just kill me this time!"

"Honora," cooed Madam Pomfrey. "You´re alright now. You´re safe."

The terrified girl scooted herself across the floor, putting as much distance between herself and the approaching nurse as she could. "No! Don´t come near me!" Her words echoed off of the walls of the stark room, something that seemed to scare her as much as the presence of all these strangers. She looked up at her sister, Justice for a long moment. Tears streaming down her face, her voice changed. "Fine.... Fine then... do what you will to me, but please, please let Justice go! She´s a good person! Don´t you dare hurt her!"

Madam Pomfrey put her arms around the girl, and against her will Honora submitted to the nurse´s comfort. Professor Flitwick stepped further into the room as McGonagall exited, closing the door behind her.

With one hand on her hip and the other pointing to the doors of the Infirmary, McGonagall got her point across. Remus and James made a quick exit.

Once the doors were shut behind them, Remus turned to James. "What do you make of that?"

James shook his head sorrowfully. "I´m not sure... She could have just been confused."

"But it sounded like..." As his words trailed off, Remus sighed deeply.

"I know," whispered James. "It sounded like she´d just woken up from the world´s worst nightmare."

* * *

Sirius sat across from James in the Common Room on Wednesday evening, playing a game of wizard´s chess. He wasn´t trying very hard to win; he was still feeling pangs of guilt about his actions that weekend. And something else was nagging his mind... He realized that he had yet to tell James about his last conversation with Lily on Saturday night. You remember, a mocking voice whispered to him, the one where you were standing about in her knickers and she dumped your arse for good?

As a further bruise to his ego, Remus still wasn´t speaking to him. Well, not really. James had apparently had a few words with Lupin and he was at least tolerating Sirius´ presence now. Their verbal exchanges left much to be desired though--Remus limited his interaction with Sirius to what was only needful: telling him to pass the salt, confirming an assignment for Transfiguration and every once in a while asking him if he wouldn´t mind just shutting the bloody hell up.

The relationship could definitely be classified as strained.

After the loss of a very terrified queen ("You can´t let them take me! You don´t know what those barbarians will do to a lady of gentle breeding!"), Sirius felt ready to broach the subject of Lily and his own embarrassment with James. He opened his mouth only to close it immediately as Professor McGonagall entered the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Black, Potter--Pettigrew has just woken up. He´s asking to see you and Lupin." The Deputy Headmistress hadn´t looked this happy since Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup last spring.

The boys stood up, and James ran up to retrieve Remus from his nap. They followed McGonagall back to the Infirmary, anxious to see and speak with Peter about all that had happened in his absence.

Whatever greetings they had planned for Peter, they soon found themselves trapped into silence at the sight of him. He was sitting up in a bed a few yards away from Lily; his eyes were shrunken back into his head, giving him a hollow, almost starved look. His cheeks were puffy from recently cried tears. He was wrenching his hands in a panicked gesture as he stared out the Infirmary window into the waning moonlight. He turned his head as they approached the bed; his mop of blond hair fluttered with the movement, and the boys noticed that each time he moved, several strands of it fell out.

Peter´s voice squeaked as he spoke, adding to the picture of a young man that has just been through weeks of torture, rather than sleep. "James! Sirius! Remus! Merlin´s beard, thank goodness you´re here!"

Sirius sat on the edge of Peter´s bed while James and Remus brought chairs over to sit on the side of it. Sirius reached over to the bedside table and filled a glass of water for Peter. Peter took it gratefully, drinking it down in three solid gulps.

"Are--are you alright Peter?" Remus asked anxiously.

Peter shook his head. "I don´t know... I´m still waiting to find out if this is real."

Sirius wrinkled his nose. "What do you mean `if this is real´?"

Peter swallowed a breath of air, turning his eyes down at the blanket that covered him. "They tell me that it was all a dream," he said meekly, nodding towards Madam Pomfrey´s office. "But it was so real. And it never stopped, the whole time--the whole time I was asleep."

"What was real, Peter?" James held his breath, dreading the answer.

"The fear, the attacks, the--" Peter stifled a cry. "The pain, James. Everything I´ve ever been afraid of, since I was a child was there to terrorize me... Vampires wanting to suck me dry; Lethifolds coming to eat my very soul; screaming Banshees and toothless Hags standing over me with knives, trying to decide which parts of me would be the best for a gumbo! And He was there too! You-Know-Who... "

Remus´ eyebrows shot into his hairline. "Voldemort was in your dreams?"

"It wasn´t a dream!" Peter hissed. "It couldn´t have been. It was too real... so many horrors..." The blond boy put his face in his hands, sobbing violently. "He wants something from me... I couldn´t stop him--I couldn´t..."

Sirius reached out an arm, patting Peter´s back gently, but no sooner than his hand made contact than Peter recoiled, screaming as if Sirius had hurt him. Madam Pomfrey lurched into the room, glaring at Remus, James and Sirius for disturbing her delicate patient. The boys backed off ready to exit the Infirmary before Madam Pomfrey could start yelling at them, but their escape was blocked by another wretched scream from Peter.

"No! Don´t let them leave! I won´t stay here alone!" the boy cried as the nurse sought to restrain him.

James took a step forward, but Sirius put a hand on his arm. "I´ll stay tonight," he said somberly. Turning to Peter, Sirius repeated his words, as if swearing an oath. "I´ll stay with you, Peter. I´ll protect you. Voldemort will never hurt you again."

Peter collapsed back against the bed with another sob, but had stopped shaking. James and Remus continued to leave the hospital wing, catching a faint echo of what Peter said next:

"Promise me, Sirius... You´re so much stronger than I am... Promise me you´ll keep Him away from me..."

* * *

Sirius was full of more useful information the next morning than the latest edition of the Daily Prophet. He looked like he hadn´t slept at all as he joined Remus and James at the Gryffindor table for breakfast. He seemed to be making up for his lack of sleep with a fullness of appetite.

"Pomfrey gave him a sedative after you left, but it didn´t work--he kept twitching and crying about the pain. Apparently in his dreams they focused on torturing his hands and feet, because he insisted that they hurt. Finally, after swearing that Voldemort was on his way to Hogwarts to attack him again, she force-fed him a potion for dreamless sleep." Sirius glanced around, to make sure that no one else was listening. "But before he fell asleep, he made me swear that I´d kill him before letting Voldemort take him again... Can you imagine?"

James shook his head gravely. "God, I feel so awful. I can´t believe he had to go through that alone."

"It wasn´t real, James." Remus tried to be the voice of reason, ignoring the guilt that he too felt. "And Peter will realize this soon. He just needs time to heal. It´s not our fault."

"I know, but..." James shook his head. He pushed his half-eaten omelette around his plate. Finally, he looked back up at Sirius. "Did anything happen after that?"

"Not to Peter." Sirius leaned further across the table, swearing as he put his elbow into a dish of butter. "Justice woke up around four am, screaming just like Honora and Peter had been. And a few owls arrived from the Ministry hospital announcing that other children had awakened."

"Good gods," whispered Remus. "Did they all have nightmares like Peter and Honora?"

Sirius nodded solemnly. "But Pomfrey thinks that the best way to snap them out of it is to set them back into normal life as soon as possible. Unless he hurts himself again, Peter is going to be released by dinner tonight."

"Hurts himself?" asked James incredulously.

Sirius fidgeted slightly. "He kept biting at his wrists last night. Broke the skin a few times. Like a wild animal in a trap, ready to gnaw off his own hand to get free of what was holding him." James and Remus exchanged a dark, worried look. "Pomfrey will be giving Remus and I a batch of that dreamless sleep potion, to administer to Peter before bed each night for a few days. She insists that there is nothing more she can do for him."

"Well, it´s up to us to bring him back around." James replied, taking up the challenge. "We´ll have to think of things we can do to distract him."

They all nodded, and James reached out for his glass of pumpkin juice. Just as he tipped the glass to take a drink, Sirius spoke again.

"Lily started talking in her sleep last night too." He said with a small smile as James poured the juice over his chin and onto his robes. "Pomfrey says that´s a good sign. She´ll wake up anytime now."

James grabbed a napkin and began to mop himself up. "Will they let us know right away?"

Sirius nodded. "Madam Pomfrey was in a state all night, so I didn´t bother asking her. But Circe and I had a little talk. She´ll fly out and find one of us when it happens."

Their conversation ended there, since they were soon surrounded by a batch of well-wishers for Peter.

As James left to change his soiled robes, he noticed that Sirius was surrounded by a gaggle of girls. He mentally recoiled from the sight, wondering how Sirius could sit there and flirt when Lily--Sirius´ girlfriend, he reminded himself painfully--was still unconscious in the hospital wing. He hoped that Lily knew what she had gotten herself into with Sirius Black. And he hoped that she wouldn´t wake up to a broken heart.

* * *

"Oy! Potter, are you listening to me?" Sirius glared suspiciously at his dark haired companion, who was staring off into space.

James snapped his head over to where Sirius sat at his desk. The three boys were in James´ room, working on homework after classes that day. "Uhm, yes..." James wrinkled his mouth, trying to remember what Sirius had been talking about. Nothing came to mind. "Could you repeat that though?"

"The Yule Ball, you git." Sirius said without malice.

James remembered now. He had allowed himself to drift off because he had no real desire to hear Sirius expound on his plans for that night. That night that he was sure to be spending with Lily. Lily... James´ mind started to wander again as he thought of her, wishing that there were someway that this wasn´t real. That she wasn´t with Sirius and that she was instead with James. It was time to let go of dreams though, he thought with a pang.

"What about it?" he asked, trying to sound casual.

"Moira Jansen or Godiva Filanthropos." Sirius said simply.

Confusion swept over James´ face. He could only manage a monosyllabic reply. "Huh?"

"They both asked me today... Which one should I take?" Sirius was wearing his normal self-satisfied smirk again. "I could wait for more options, I suppose. My newly acquired status as `hero´ seems to have perked the interests of much of the female population." He shrugged, as if this was to be expected. "Didn´t think Jansen would ever speak to me after last year, you remember, the incident in the Greenhouses? She has a wonderfully gorgeous... temper. But then, if I take Godiva, well... She´s a bit of a sure thing."

James stared at him, mouth agape.

"What?" asked Sirius.

"What about Lily?" James continued to stare.

"What about her?" Sirius glanced at Remus, who seemed to be enjoying the spectacle. Looking back at James, Sirius snorted. "You didn´t think I was going to go with her, did you?"

James leapt off the bed, diving at Sirius. Remus jumped up and caught him by the arms, holding him back. James was seething. "How can you treat her like that? She deserves better than you!"

Sirius was the confused one now. "What are you on about?" He stared at James, who was still struggling to break free of Remus. "Lily chucked me the night before Hawthorn´s attack, you sodding idiot."

James relaxed, but Remus held him still. "She what?"

Sirius bristled slightly, not wanting to recount the slight to his ego. "Broke up with me, if that´s the right way of putting it. Told me I didn´t have a chance in hell with her. You mean, all this time you really thought..."

James crumpled to the floor, nodding at Sirius. The memory of his `conversation´ with Lily while he was in stag form replayed in his mind, if she wasn´t talking about Sirius then... James´ face broke out into a smile, as if someone had just cast a hundred Cheering Charms on him. He felt as if Father Christmas had arrived early, as if everything was finally right in the world. It was better than winning the Quidditch Cup, better than scoring against Snape (and a much prettier mental image as well).

All around the room, things began to float into the air. Quills, parchment, and books - anything that wasn´t nailed to the floor was hovering jauntily several inches above where it should have been. James seemed oblivious to this, and continued to grin like a village idiot.

Sirius laughed uproariously.

Remus smirked. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, Mr. Potter. Not up to your usual standards at all, academically or intuitively." He walked over and offered James a hand up, nodding at the clock that Sirius was trying to wrestle back into its proper spot on the wall. "It´s nearly dinner time, we have to go get Peter from the Infirmary."

Remus patted James on the back. James was practically glowing, but then--then he remembered the words he had said to Lily Sunday afternoon in his room, right before Snape had floo´d them for information. The smile faded slightly and all the objects crashed back into their proper places in his room. He just had to explain to her that it was all a misunderstanding...

Remus and Sirius exchanged a questioning look, but followed James as he hurriedly left his room.

Sirius continued to ponder the Yule Ball as they walked to the hospital wing. "Really though, Godiva or Moira?"

Remus snorted sarcastically. "Why not just take them both, oh Dionysus of Gryffindor Tower?"

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "You think they´d go for that?"

Remus shrugged. "You have two arms, one for each girl."

"Yeah," began Sirius. "But I only have one--"

Remus cuffed him hard on the back of his head and sighed. "Let´s try to keep the blood flowing to the brain above your shoulders tonight, shall we?" Under his breath he added, "Should have let James pummel you..."

Sirius rubbed the back of his head, and then in a perfect imitation of Remus muttered, "Nothing is ever easy..."

* * *

"You what?!?" asked James, voice full of shock.

"I want to finish the map," Peter repeated for the third time. It took all the willpower he possessed to keep his voice from shaking. "Tonight."

"But why, Peter?" asked Remus in a patient voice. "After all you´ve been through..."

"It´s because of what I´ve been through!" Peter slammed his fist emphatically on James´ desk. The other three boys jumped slightly, surprised at Peter´s passion. Peter took a deep breath, willing the fear away from his eyes, attempting to control his thoughts. If he could just explain it, they would understand.

He remembered how his mum used to say `If you act like a duck, you´ll get treated like one.´ Well, Peter Pettigrew wasn´t acting like a duck at all, but he didn´t want to act or sound as scared as he really was - otherwise his friends were likely to approach him as cautiously as they would an unicorn. "Look, the spells will tell us who is in the castle and where, regardless of any kind of spell or potion the person uses to disguise themselves, right? This way, I can know if He´s coming for me."

Sirius put a comforting hand on Peter´s shoulder; the smaller boy flinched. "Peter, this is Hogwarts. You´re in Gryffindor Tower. It was all a dream; you´re safe here with us."

"Am I?" Peter stared wide-eyed at each of them in turn. "I wasn´t safe from his servant, Hawthorn, when she wanted to attack me. I was upstairs in my bed." He clenched his fist tightly. He needed to maintain control; this was getting out of hand. Unbidden though, the next words came out like an accusation: "No one could save me then."

"But Peter, you were never attacked by Voldemort. He didn´t torture you. It was just a dream." Remus whispered.

"Was it?" snarled Peter, taking a step towards Lupin. He had to stare up to meet the taller boy´s eyes. "A dream that the Munroe girls happened to have too?" He looked at James and Sirius. Peter knew he had crossed the line now, knew that they all thought he was being irrational. Fine, he thought, let them--not much is rational anymore. "I know all about it. I heard Justice this morning; she was still crying when my potion wore off. It may not have been real in this world, but believe me it was real for those of us that lived it."

There was a long moment of silence after that. James stepped forward resolve filling his eyes and voice. "We´ll do it, Peter. Right now. Tonight."

Peter´s heart slowed slightly. It was still pounding hard against his chest, but it no longer felt as if it were about to explode like a Filibuster Firework. What had Madam Pomfrey said to him as he´d left the Infirmary? `Take it one day at a time dear...´

One day, Peter thought sardonically. I´d settle for one hour of peace right now.

Peter shoved his hands into the pockets of his robes. He knew that they were twitching again. He didn´t want the other boys to see it. He leaned up against the wall next to James´ desk as the other three set to work gathering the supplies needed to complete the map. Remus sat a small pewter cauldron in the center of the floor, casting a small charm beneath it to heat the potion. Sirius went over to James´ trunk and dug out several rolls of blank parchment while James casually flipped through the books he´d been hiding underneath his bed.

Peter was only half listening as Remus explained that instead of one person casting the main spell - the counter curse to the Chastity Charm - that James had reconfigured it to be a four-part charm. Each of them would recite a piece of it, in unison, to complete the puzzle. This, Remus assured Peter, would prevent any repeats of the spell as it had rebounded on Sirius.

Peter allowed himself a small chuckle, remembering how the spell had `punished´ Sirius for his indiscretions. Never one to allow for idleness, Remus set Peter to work on measuring out the size of the would-be map, explaining in boring detail that the laws of Arithmancy dictated that it must be a certain shape and size to keep it from aging and eventually disintegrating as normal paper would. Peter did as he was told, careful to shield his shaking hands from view as much as possible while the others went on about their business.

Behind him, he could hear James and Sirius bickering and laughing. It was a relief to see them back on an even keel. Whatever had been up in the air regarding the affections of a certain redhead seemed to be settled for now. Lily was a nice enough girl, he reminded himself gently, but she wasn´t worth losing one of your best mates over.

James gave a meaningful cough and all eyes focused on him. "Right then. We´ll do the four-part charm to set the map up to see people, and then we´ll use the potion to seal the map from others."

"Sounds simple enough," replied Sirius with one of his classic smirks.

"Not by half," interjected Remus with an impatient sigh. "If we manage to get the four-part charm off before dawn, I´ll be surprised. We have to say four different sets of words in rhythm with each other without falling out of sync or saying the wrong word. That requires each of us to devote a lot of focus." Remus glared slightly at Sirius during the last sentence, as if to say that the handsome black haired boy lacked any sort of focus at all.

Sirius ignored it and turned his grin to Peter. "Have you put your bit into the potion yet?"

"My bit?" asked Peter rather skeptically.

"Just a hair from the top of your head," James said reassuringly.

"Here," Remus walked over to him. "You best let me pull it out, we need to make sure the follicle is attached for the potion to work." Remus hovered his hand over Peter´s head and once Peter gave him the nod, Remus plucked out a thin blond hair with a sharp tug.

"Can I do the honors?" Peter asked, offering up his own shaking hand. Remus set the hair into his palm gently, averting his eyes from Peter´s trembling as soon as the hair made contact.

Doing his best to muster up a flourish, he threw the hair into the cauldron. The potion changed color immediately, from a soft blue to a glowing orange.

James leaned over the cauldron to get a better look. With a loud burp, a bubble of the potion exploded into his face, covering his glasses with sticky orange goo.

Sirius and Peter howled with laughter, while Remus offered James a towel.

"Don´t worry James, it´s supposed to do that." Remus said with a small smile.

"Funny," James replied as he wiped the last of the goo away. "I don´t remember you mentioning that at all. Ever."

Remus´ smile was replaced with an expression of serene innocence. "Must have slipped my mind. Terribly sorry old chap." More laughter came from the directions of Peter and Sirius.

"Yeah, I bet." James heaved a sigh and held a goo-covered hand up in the air. "And now the question is: how do I rid my self of this without betraying my normally cool exterior?"

* * *

Sometimes, Remus hated being right. This wasn´t one of them.

It was nearly dawn now, and they had only just completed the four-part charm. Sirius was snoring softly in a nearby corner on a mock-bed of books and discarded parchment. James was carefully brushing the fourth coating of the potion over the map now, with Peter hovering over his shoulder, desperate to get a peek at it.

Whatever demons his young blond friend had brought into the room that night seemed to be banished for the moment. Peter was focused only on the task at hand, and the coming reward.

Several minutes later, Remus´ ear caught James´ almost inaudible whisper:

"It´s done."

Every part of Remus yearned to be upstairs in his own bed, and yet he felt himself moving towards the center of the room and taking his place at Peter´s side. The minor commotion had awakened the sleeping prince, and soon Sirius Black sat between James and Remus, completing the circle.

James nodded at Peter, who drew out his wand with no longer trembling hands. With a solid flick, he connected wand to parchment and said the magic words.

"I, Peter Pettigrew, solemnly swear I am up to no good."

The map seemed to come alive at this pronouncement; swirls of green and black ink appearing from every corner and quickly tracing their ways around the paper. Long corridors and classrooms came into focus and finally (and most interestingly to Remus) the dots representing people appeared.

Remus snorted with laughter. "Who was the creative git that decided that witches should be pink and wizards should be blue?"

"Bit cliché, yes..." Sirius mumbled with a smirk. "But you have to admit that it has an interesting side effect." He pointed towards the part of the map that represented the Astronomy Tower. There were several sets of pink and blue dots as well as a few larger dots that had two names attached to them, but they were a wholly new color.

"My gods..." whispered James. "They´re making purple."

Peter clapped Sirius on the shoulder jovially. "Congratulations, Padfoot. I do believe you´ve invented a whole new innuendo."

"All in a day´s work." Sirius said with mock humbleness. Nodding towards the map, he added. "Wipe it clean, and see how the encryption works."

Peter did just that, saying the words "Mischief managed" with not a small touch of pride.

"Allow me, Master Wormtail." Remus took his wand out of his pocket. The dark cherry wood shimmered as freshly as it had on the day that he purchased it at Mr. Ollivander´s. It was his pride and joy. With an exaggerated flourish he touched the wand to the map. "I, Remus Lupin, resident werewolf terror of Gryffindor Tower demand that you reveal your secrets to me or suffer a very painful death!"

The map set itself into motion once more, but instead of drawing out the castle, words appeared - each sentence a perfect imitation of its `creator´s´ own penmanship.

Mr. Prongs would like this Remus Lupin to know that he is currently shaking in his Quidditch Slippers in fear of Mr. Lupin´s wrath, but must politely tell him to bugger off.

Mr. Wormtail wonders what Mr. Lupin is thinking, and if perhaps it isn´t `that time of the month´...

Mr. Padfoot wishes to express his most sincere apologies to Mr. Lupin, who has a better chance of getting a Vestal Virgin into bed than he does of discovering the secrets of this parchment.

Mr. Moony believes that Mr. Lupin is quite an intelligent and handsome young man, but must agree with his compatriots and deny Mr. Lupin access at this time.

James laughed out loud. "Intelligent and handsome?"

Remus shrugged, blushing slightly. "At least someone thinks I am. Mr. Moony appears to be a person of impeccable taste."

"And Mr. Lupin appears to have a well-hidden chip on his shoulder," added Sirius with a snort. Standing up with a slow stretch, Sirius headed towards the door. "Time to catch a few winks before classes, I think."

Remus nodded and stood up as well. Peter continued to sit next to James, hand out stretched.

"I´d like to keep that with me, for while if you all don´t mind." A hint of his earlier fear had crept back into Peter´s voice.

James nodded and handed him the map.

As they walked out the door, Sirius leaned in to whisper to Peter. "Just don´t peek at it around the witching hour tomorrow night... If Luck is a Lady, I´m planning on making some purple myself!"

* * *

Everything seemed to be filled with burning white light. It hurt to try and focus on anything, so instinctively she closed her eyes. But the light was still leaking through her eyelids, so she grabbed the pillow from behind her head and threw it over her face.

The pillow?

She struggled for several moments trying to figure out where she was--based on the last thing she could remember, falling off the Astronomy Tower.

She couldn´t quite figure out how the pillow had gotten underneath her head. Certainly Filch wasn´t about to start letting students leave pillows lying about the school grounds... And then she realized that as well as pillows under and over her face, there were also blankets on top of the rest of her.

The Infirmary then, Lily thought reasonably. Or perhaps my own room...

She lifted the pillow off her head slowly, but kept her eyes close so she could adjust to the light. After what seemed like an eternity, she managed to open one eye and get a good look at her surroundings.

High ceilings, stark white walls and dozens of hospital beds... Definitely the Infirmary, Lily decided with clarity.

She turned her head to the right and saw that her bed was close to Madam Pomfrey´s office, but that there was no sign of the overprotective school nurse anywhere. In fact, there was no sign of another soul in the Infirmary at all.

"Well, I must not have made a very interesting patient," Lily whispered hoarsely. She noted that her voice was rough, as if it hadn´t been used in sometime. She looked around a bit more, until her eyes landed on a pitcher of water and a glass on the table next to her bed. "Water..."

As she reached for the glass and pitcher though, a most curious thing happened. The pitcher floated up into the air and poured a suitable amount of its contents into the glass. The glass then disappeared with a small pop and reappeared instantly in her outstretched hand. Lily stared at it for a second before eagerly drinking the water.

Must be enchanted, she told herself - even though she couldn´t recall ever seeing such spells allowed in the Infirmary by Madam Pomfrey before.

Once empty, Lily set the glass down on the table. She reached her arms high above her head and stretched like a kitten just waking up from a long nap. Deciding that it was high time to get out of bed, Lily threw the covers off of her legs and swung them over the edge. Just as she planted her feet firmly on the floor she heard a noise behind her that sounded distinctly like someone making a disapproving noise.

"Wouldn´t do that quite yet if I were you Miss Evans," The tall young wizard shook his head as he strode up to her bedside. "Pomfrey is quite particular about her patients staying where she left them."

Lily let out a small squeal of delight. "Remus!" She stood up and tried to rush over to him, but succeeded only in falling most indecorously onto her rump.

Chuckling, Remus bent down and offered her a hand up back on to her bed. "There you are now." He smiled at her, copper eyes twinkling in the sunlight. "Best stay seated for a bit longer, Lil."

The questions finally exploded from Lily like a Hurling Hex. "Where is everyone? Are Sirius and James all right? What about Peter and the Munroe girls? Did Hawthorn--"

Remus was still chuckling as he sat down on the bed next to her and clamped his hand firmly over her mouth. "One thing at a time, Lil. And try to remember to breathe a bit more often."

Lily pried his hand away and shot him a look of mock hurt. She took an exaggerated breath and then pushed it back out, staring at the brown haired boy the whole time. She raised her eyebrows at him then, saying with very clear facial expressions `Well, get on with it.´

"Everyone is fine. Peter, James and Sirius are in Divination right now; otherwise I´m sure they´d be here too. I have a free period today, so Circe came to find me first to tell me of your recovery."

"A free period?" Lily looked confused. "But then, if the rest are in Divination, it must be Friday."

Remus smirked. "Has been since midnight."

Lily cuffed her friend hard on the shoulder. "I´ve been out for a whole week?" Lily shook her head in disbelief. "It´s what--the 26^th of November?"

Remus shook his head. "Actually Lil, its December 3^rd. You´ve been unconscious for nearly two weeks." Lily´s eyes grew wide. "Well, what did you expect, that was quite some fall you took I hear."

Lily paled visibly as she remembered her fall from the Astronomy Tower--seeing Hawthorn being consumed by flames and James rushing on to the balcony, his eyes wide with horror as he watched her fall. "What happened after I fell?" she said in a quiet voice.

Remus bit his lip. He really hadn´t planned on being the one to tell her. "Hawthorn died. Nothing Dumbledore could do could stop the flames." Seeing the look of horror on her face, he quickly amended that statement: "The ministry doesn´t fault you. You cast the spell, but there was a much more powerful magic at work there. Their inquiry decided that it was Voldemort himself that disposed of her--that he was somehow able to sense that she had failed and killed her to keep her from revealing whatever else it was that she knew."

Lily nodded slowly, trying to keep the guilt from rising from the pit of her stomach. "You said.... You said Peter is in class right now?"

Remus nodded and gave her a small smile. "All of the vine-cursed children are alive, and there is no threat of them being attacked again like that. The Possum Charm worked well, like a charm." He winked at her, and Lily offered him a small smile in return for his bad pun. "The Aurors that searched the castle afterwards found a large vine growing out of a ceramic pot in Hawthorn´s rooms. Once the children were free, they were able to establish that all the other plants were cuttings from that one. It was the last living specimen of Nimue´s Embrace."

"Did they destroy it then?" Lily asked tenuously.

"Had to. Not many Muggle plants are that susceptible to magic--it was the only way to ensure that it couldn´t be used in that way again." Giving her a small grin, he asked. "Do you think your dad will be very upset, what with him being into conservation and all?"

Lily snorted. "Doubtful. Nimue´s Embrace has been dead to the Muggle World for decades--Dad would agree that there just isn´t a place for it there anymore. `Only the strong survive´ and what not."

"Well then," Remus said softly. "He should be very proud of raising a Lily that is strong enough to survive the worst storms..."

Lily looked up at him, smiling.

Everything was going to be just fine.

* * *

"Out, out, out!" screeched Madam Pomfrey, pushing Remus towards the door of the Infirmary. She heaved the door open and was greeted by three grinning faces. She eyed them warily as she threw Remus out into the hallway.

Sirius put a hand on the door, keeping her from slamming it in their faces.

"Don´t even consider it, Mr. Black." She said with a steely voice. "Miss Evans has just woken up, and thanks to the antics of Mr. Lupin here has been overexcited for someone in her delicate state."

The faces of James, Peter and Sirius fell; their smiles replaced by pouting childish looks.

Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips and inhaled deeply through her nose. "You may all visit her on Saturday, but one at a time! I won´t have you all blustering through my Hospital Wing at once." With that, she shut the door, and locked it behind her.

The three boys turned to Remus and spoke simultaneously.

"Is she?" asked James.

"Overexcited?" inquired Sirius.

"What sort of antics?" questioned Peter with a small smirk.

Remus burst out laughing. "Lily is fine. She´s just corking! A little bit on the wobbly side, but that´s to be expected after lying in bed for two weeks." He started walking down the hall; it was nearly time for lunch.

Sirius rushed up to his side, poking Remus in the ribs. "What did you do then, to get Pomfrey so riled up - haven´t seen her so upset since we replaced her eau de cologne with skunk oil in third year."

"Well, it seems that our dear nurse doesn´t agree with me on what consists of suitable entertainment for the bedridden." Remus replied cryptically.

Peter shoved him from behind. "Come off it Lupin, just tell us. We´ve been waiting forever for that redhead to wake up, and now we can´t even visit her properly because of you."

Remus Lupin stopped in his tracks, turning to face all three of them once more. "If you must know then..."

James drew out his wand and growled. "Moony... If you don´t tell us everything right now, I´ll turn you into a roll of toilet paper and spike the Slytherin punch with a Diarrhea Draught."

Remus scoffed. "It was nothing really. Don´t know what the old bat got so worked up about. Lily quite enjoyed watching as I made all the bedpans do the Bunny Hop."

"The Bunny Hop?" Sirius just stared at him.

"Well of course the Bunny Hop!" Remus sounded rather exasperated. "You can´t expect bedpans to do a Meringue or a Samba now can you?" He shoved his hands into his pockets and strode off again towards the Great Hall. "They don´t have the proper equipment."

"But Lily--" James was all but shouting at him now.

"Lily is fine," replied Remus without breaking his stride. "She still has red hair and green eyes. She was laughing and smiling when I left and unless Pomfrey finds a reason to be particularly fussy, I suspect that our Miss Evans will be back in her room in the Tower by Sunday."

James laid a hand on Remus´ shoulder, pulling the boy to a sudden stop. "Did she say anything--"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Yes James, she said quite a few things. She wanted to know if everyone was okay, and what happened after her fall. So I told her." He removed James´ hand from his shoulder. "But if you´re asking if she woke up declaring her undying love for all things Potter, then the answer is no. I dare say she had other things on her mind." With what could only be described as a twisted grin, Remus continued. "But if you like, I could have Circe pass her a note between classes."

James flushed. "That´s not what I meant at all."

Peter chortled. "Of course its not, James. We all know that you´ve been so focused on other things--it´s amazing that you remembered that Lily was in the Infirmary at all."

"Quite right!" added Sirius with an evil grin of his own. "Which is why you keep signing all of your assignments as Lily Evans rather than James Potter."

The scent of apples filled the air as James turned a brighter shade of pink. "I´ve just been worried."

"And I´ve just been thinking..." whispered Peter.

"About what?" asked Remus as he turned to the short blond boy.

"If bedpans can do the Bunny Hop, do you think they could manage a polka as well?"

A serious look crossed Remus´ face as he considered this. "Don´t think so... No arms or the like."

"Hmm." Peter sucked gently on his upper lip as he pondered this obstacle. "Does Hagrid still keep ferrets for his hippogriffs? Perhaps he´d let us borrow a few for some dancing lessons..."

"Dancing ferrets?" Sirius stared at the boy as if he were daft.

"Why not?" Peter replied with a shrug. "Let them have one last tango before they become lunch. We could train them up and set them loose at the Yule Ball."

James shook his head. "This is ridiculous..."

"I quite agree." Said Remus, waggling a finger at Peter. "Ferrets would never tango." He began walking away from his friends, turning back briefly to add:

"But I do think it would be smashing to see them doing a nice little tap number!"

* * *

When Peter left halfway through dinner, none of the other boys thought much of it. It was generally assumed that he was going back to the Tower, either to sleep or to study. After all, he had missed nearly a month of school. Remus, Sirius and James had been helping him catch up as much as possible but it was still rough going for the wizard, whose grades could be described as average on the best of days.

Upon their return to Gryffindor Tower though, Peter was nowhere to be found.

"Right then," said Remus. "Let´s put that map to work and find out where he´s gotten to."

Sirius was already on that, though; he reached underneath Peter´s mattress and felt around for a minute. When his hand returned, it was empty.

"Must have the map with him," Sirius replied simply.

"I´m sure it´s nothing to worry about." James ran his hand through his hair nervously.

Sirius headed to the dormitory door. "I´ll go down to the Common Room, see if anyone spotted him."

Remus took a seat on his own bed, and reached for his Defense Against the Dark Arts text. After a minute of flipping to the chapter on Chimeras, he felt as if a pair of eyes was trying to bore into his brain.

"Bee in your bonnet, Mr. Potter?" he asked with a mischievous grin.

"Remus, I´ve known you for six years now... There is something you aren´t saying about your visit with Lily this afternoon. And from your cavalier attitude, it´s something that you want to say but think it´s much more fun to hide." James´ face was impassive as he said all this, and his eyes never left Remus´ face.

"Really James!" Remus feigned shock. "I swear on my mother´s grave that nothing interesting occurred this afternoon."

James shook his head. "Remus, your mum´s still alive. And pregnant when it comes to that."

Remus snorted. "Don´t remind me, I´m not looking forward to spending the hols with a woman in her first trimester." He made a disgusted face. "I mean honestly, at her age. You´d think either her or my Da would know how to cast a Contraceptus Charm by now."

"At least you won´t be a lonely only anymore." James gave him a soft, envying smile. "But stop trying to change the subject. We were talking about Lily--"

"No, you were talking about Lily. I was dodging your questions. Let´s keep this straight." Remus attempted to return to his reading.

"Why though?" James sat down on Sirius´ bed, across from Remus. "I mean really, you´re my friend. If she said something, you should tell me. Isn´t there a code of conduct somewhere for some such thing?"

Remus chuckled. "Ah yes, Chivalry 101." He rolled his eyes. "Which in this case, protects my conversation with Lily." James stared at him for a minute, and then Remus continued. "She´s my friend as well, remember? Laws of confidentiality apply."

"So she did say something about me?" James asked cautiously.

"Yep." Remus turned the page.

"And you have no intention of telling me what it was, regardless of what bodily harm I may threaten you with?"

"Nope." Remus stifled a snicker.

"Would you accept a bribe?" James tried to make it sound like a joke, but Remus wasn´t fooled.

Remus set the book down and looked at his friend. James Potter, Gryffindor Star Chaser, Transfiguration Brainchild and all around nice guy--James Potter was hopelessly, completely transfixed on one person.

And nothing short of seeing and speaking to her himself would satisfy him. If he weren´t personally involved, Remus would have found this immensely humorous... as it was though....

"Listen, James. You heard Pomfrey. You can see her tomorrow in the Hospital Wing. Alone." Remus paused a moment for the words to sink in. "I care about you and Lily both a great deal, but nothing, and I mean nothing would convince me to drag myself into this more than I have to be. Your feelings are between you and her. No one else."

"Yes, but--"

Sirius Black burst into the room just then.

"We have a bit of a problem," he said in a rushed voice.

"What is it?" Remus set the book down on his bed. Please, he thought, let Peter be okay. We don´t need another emergency just yet.

"No one, and I mean no one saw Peter leave. Meg Surrey has been sitting in the Common Room since this afternoon - didn´t feel well enough to eat dinner. She saw Peter come in, but never saw him go out."

James stood up. "Let´s head down to my room, I´ll grab the cloak and--"

"That´s the other problem," Sirius looked at James. "I checked your room before coming up here. The cloak is gone too."

* * *

Poppy Pomfrey had been full of fret when the unconscious Lily Evans was first brought into her Infirmary two weeks ago. She had taken the position at Hogwarts a few years before to get away from such injuries. She was a highly trained nurse, experienced in triage--which in the magical world meant that she helped the medi-witches and wizards clean up after disastrous attacks of dark magic, or after the Aurors had had a `shoot-out´ as the Muggles called it with the `bad guys´. At age thirty, after only eight years on the job at St. Mungos, she longed for a quieter life.

She should have known better than to expect to find it at Hogwarts.

At first, Lily was a delightful patient. She didn´t complain about pain or the taste of medications. And although unconscious, Madam Pomfrey had the feeling that the girl was quite attentive during the conversations they´d had as she´d cared for her.

Of course, all good things must end. Meaning that Lily was awake now, and demanding to leave the Infirmary immediately.

"I´ve missed two whole weeks of classes!" The young redhead had been droning on this same subject for nearly an hour now. "You don´t understand, you have to let me go, or at least let someone--"

"Miss Evans, I am quite aware of how long you were knocked out!" In fact, Poppy thought to herself, I liked you a lot more that way. "However, until I deem you ready for it, you are to continue to rest."

Back and forth it went, until Madam Pomfrey had had enough and excused herself from the Infirmary. As she exited the Hospital Wing, she locked the doors behind her, knowing full well that if Miss Evans wasn´t attempting to get out, then some of her friends would certainly be trying to get in.

Odd though, she thought as she walked out to the Greenhouses to gather some fresh gingko from Professor Sprout. It felt as if something brushed past me when I left...

* * *

Lily was at her wit´s end.

Logically, she knew that Madam Pomfrey had her best intentions in mind, but realistically all Lily could see was end of term exams looming ahead, two weeks of studying to catch up on and a nurse that wouldn´t budge.

From the other end of the hall, she heard the nurse lock the door.

In a fit of childish spite, Lily picked up her uneaten crackers and threw them across the room.

Except... they didn´t fly right. It was as if they bounced off something that was standing at the end of her bed that she couldn´t see. The crackers landed in a pile at the foot of her bed.

"W-who´s there?" Lily asked wondering if it couldn´t just happen to be the one person in the world she knew who owned an invisibility cloak--the person she was dreading (and hoping) to see.

The light seemed to shimmer for a moment; it was if that part of the room had a small hole open in the middle of it. A second later, the grinning face of Peter Pettigrew shone through, followed shortly by the rest of him and a rather large knapsack that looked very familiar to Lily.

The smile that broke out on Lily´s face could have lightened up a Deathday Party. "Peter, I swear, if that is what I think it is, I´ll buy you a hundred chocolate frogs for Christmas."

The chubby blond boy blushed slightly. "It is, but you don´t have to--Just figured now that you were awake you´d be going crackers in here with nothing to do." He set the knapsack down on her bed. "I nicked Remus´ notes from the last two weeks too, so you know what´s been going on."

"That was thoughtful beyond words--though I hope Remus won´t be too mad." She gestured for him to come sit on the bed, giving him a conspiratorial wink.

"Shouldn´t be, as long as you can slip them back into his room on Sunday. You will be out of here by Sunday won´t you?" He was staring at her face, as if to make sure she wasn´t still hurt in some way.

Lily smiled again, with a slightly sinister edge to it this time. "If I have my way, Pomfrey will be begging to let me go by the first lunch bell tomorrow."

Peter chuckled as Lily fingered through her knapsack. "Did I miss anything? I didn´t stick around in your room too long, didn´t want it to seem like I was prying..."

Lily gave a small shrug. "I do wish I had my wand, but Pomfrey doesn´t allow much magic in the Infirmary anyway, so I´ll have to leave off the practical lessons until I get out." She considered Peter for a moment. "Are you... okay?"

"Not really." He said honestly. "It was horrible, and the worst part it that it wasn´t real to anyone but me. But it was... you know what I mean?"

Lily nodded slowly.

"I just don´t know where I am supposed to go from here." Peter said after a long moment of uncomfortable silence. With a sheepish smile, he added: "It feels a bit like being afraid of the bogeyman being under your bed."

She smiled sympathetically. "Your bogeyman is very real Peter. And lots of us are afraid. We just have to stick together and work up the courage to look under the bed."

He nodded as if he weren´t really listening to her anymore. Everyone was giving him the same kind of answers, and none of them were satisfactory. No words of wisdom made the pains in his hands disappear, or the horrors of his dreams fade from his memory.

He had hoped that visiting Lily would take the edge off. They were never particularly close, but after learning how much her work had aided his `rescue´ as it were, he felt a small debt of gratitude to the girl. Not that she wasn´t a nice girl, she was. Lily was smart, pretty and a reasonably good sport. She was kind to him at unexpected moments. But she wasn´t one of the `boys´. Peter had spent most of this term wondering why this particular girl had been able to get under Sirius and James´ skin so effectively.

There was no answer in the end.

Peter was a follower; that was true. He had no delusions of self-grandeur. But what most people didn´t realize is that if you are following a well-trodden path, you get a good chance to look at the scenery. In other words, Peter Pettigrew was rather good at reading people. He didn´t advertise the ability, or even share his findings with others very often. He just took notice of the information and stored it away until it could be used.

People were so much easier to read than textbooks. Lily, for example: It was a simple jump in logic that once she was awake and aware of how long she´d been knocked out, she would want something to do. Peter remembered even after the death of her mother, the girl hadn´t wanted to lollygag around much. She wasn´t a sulker. Lily would rather do something than nothing. And when one considered how much Lily prized her good grades, fetching her schoolbooks and sneaking them into the Infirmary to her was the simplest course of action.

Unfortunately, this good deed was only a minor diversion for Peter Pettigrew. Soon enough, it was done and the nightmares in the back of his mind started to creep out of their dark corners.

A noise seemed to come from the direction of the door, and they both turned towards it. "Best hurry out, Peter. If Pomfrey catches you in here after hours, she´ll do all she can to ensure you´re the last of the Pettigrew line." Lily pushed him playfully off the bed.

Peter threw the invisibility cloak over himself and disappeared. "Is there anything you want any of us to bring tomorrow when we´re actually supposed to be visiting?" he asked in a hurried whisper.

Lily´s answer was instant. "Butterbeer! And if you can get it, ask Fiddy to make me one of his `Chocolate Ambush´ cakes!"

A squeaky giggle faded down the hall. As Madam Pomfrey unlocked the door, it stopped all together, and Lily was sure that Peter had left the way he´d came.

The look of shock on Poppy Pomfrey´s face when she saw Lily sitting reading her Herbology book was beyond priceless.

"How did you? I told you to stay in bed, young lady!" The nurse was turning a very interesting shade of mauve.

Lily blinked innocently. "I haven´t left this bed by one inch. I heard you lock the door on me. Where could I have gone?"

"But then, where--how?" The nurse pointed furiously at the books in Lily´s lap.

"Well, a very nice female house elf popped in here for some sanitary supplies," Lily made sure that she never broke eye contact as the lie flowed out of her mouth. "And as she was leaving your office, I asked her if she wouldn´t mind popping up to my room for my books." Lily gave the nurse her most innocent smile. "She just poofed right before you showed back up."

Madam Pomfrey stared at the girl.

It wasn´t until later that night, as the nurse was crawling into her own bed that she remembered that House Elves, female or otherwise, have no need for tampons.

* * *

Contrary to what she told her father, Lily Evans wasn´t much for plants. Oh she understood them, and knew how to make them thrive - she had practically grown up in a greenhouse. But like many things that children are forced to learn, it was a talent that she didn´t appreciate.

Consequently, Lily Evans wasn´t much for Herbology either. And according to Remus´ notes, Herbology was the class she was furthest behind it. She yearned to break into Potions, Arithmancy or even Defense Against the Dark Arts, but she knew that if she didn´t do Herbology first, it would never get done.

Madam Pomfrey had tried to turn the lights out on her, but as if the lights were on Lily´s side, they kept coming back on. The nurse was certain that Lily was doing it, until after a thorough search she satisfied herself that Lily had no wand hidden beneath the coverlets. After three unsuccessful attempts at `Nox Totalus´ the nurse had had to settle for a `Nox Minimus´, leaving all the lights off except for the one at Lily´s bedside.

Two chapters left to read, Lily thought encouragingly. She thumbed through the pages ahead, and upon realizing that both chapters were a good ten pages longer than normal, let out a melodramatic sigh.

She shook her head slowly. "I´ve been at this for three bloody hours, and there is still two chapters left. Sprout must have gone daft to assign this much work right before the holidays."

"Well," came a muffled voice from the end of her bed. "That is the general consensus yes."

Lily nearly jumped out of her skin. "Peter, you shouldn´t have come back. Pomfrey will have a fit--"

"Peter eh?" the voice chuckled, the laughter moving from the end of the bed to side. The boy sat down, still unseen aside from the impression that his weight made on the bed.

Lily squinted, as if this would help her see her invisible companion. She looked carefully at the impression on her bed and then leaned forward. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, unaware that her face was just inches away from his. "James..."

The cloak seemed to melt away, revealing a smirking James Potter. "Hullo there, long time no see."

"And much pleasanter circumstances this time as well." Lily returned the smirk. "Though I must say the look on your face as I was falling off the Astronomy Tower was priceless."

James rolled his eyes.

A quiet moment passed between them. "So..." Lily said finally. "Did you come up here to distract me from my studies, or is there a purpose for this visit?"

"Both actually." He flushed slightly and reached into his pocket, pulling out a bottle of Butterbeer. "You requested this, I´m told?"

Lily, who was never a fan of soup, crackers or any other kind of `this will make you feel better´ food, reached greedily for the Butterbeer, but James pulled it back at the last second out of her reach.

"Remember our agreement..." His eyes were glinting mischievously.

"What agreement?" Lily hadn´t a clue what the boy was talking about.

"Every Butterbeer I buy, you owe me one dance." James said smoothly.

Lily leaned back against her pillows. "Ah yes, I remember." She nodded and held out her hand. James extended the Butterbeer once more. "Though to tell the truth, if I don´t catch up on this homework, I won´t be dancing at all that night."

The Butterbeer escaped her grasp once more, and Lily pouted.

James shook his head. "No dance, no Butterbeer."

"James," Lily said rather sternly. "Just give it to me." She knew he was working up towards something, but she wasn´t going to give him any leeway on it. Not after what had happened the last time... Regardless of what Remus had told her this afternoon, she wasn´t ready to bare her soul to James Potter again. Even if it had been a huge misunderstanding, as Remus claimed, it still hurt. Either James was going to do something about `them´ or nothing would happen. She´d told Remus as much as well, and her copper-eyed friend had assured her that he would not say a word to James. Now though, she wasn´t so sure if Remus had kept his vow of silence.

"Nope. Not until you promise to keep the original deal." His voice was playful, but firm.

"Fine! Fine!" Lily extended her hand once more. "For every Butterbeer James Potter gives me, I will dance with him for one song." The bottle was laid into her hand finally; and as his fingers brushed against her skin, it sent shivers up her spine.

"I would be careful with such promises, Miss Evans." The soft chuckling voice came from the end of the hallway. James jumped to his feet guiltily. As the laughter came closer, the serene figure of Albus Dumbledore came into view. "I know the Potter men of old. It would not surprise me in the least to learn that young James here was requesting `A Weekend in Wales´ by Boris Beeflatte."

Lily´s eyes narrowed quizzically. "I´m afraid I don´t know that song sir." Both Dumbledore and James were snickering at this. Apparently, it was a rather funny joke, lost on the Muggle-born witch.

"The song is played in `real-time´, Lily. Meaning that it is actually as long as a weekend," explained James.

"Ah," Lily said simply, blushing ever so slightly. James couldn´t guess though if she was blushing at the innuendo or at her lack of wizarding knowledge.

Albus Dumbledore cleared his throat meaningfully. "James, I realize that Madam Pomfrey told you that you´d be allowed to see Miss Evans on Saturday, but did you think that you´d be allowed to take it this literally?" He grabbed his ward´s wrist and pointed to the clock. Half-past midnight. "You will have to leave now. Miss Evans and I have a few things to discuss." James opened his mouth to protest, but Dumbledore shushed him with the merest of smiles. "You may return at the start of visiting hours, which I believe begin at nine in the morning."

"Better make that ten," added Lily, gesturing to the Herbology text in her lap. "I´m not sleeping till I´m done with this."

James gave her a small wave as he left the Infirmary, staring at her a bit longer than he should have. Clearly, there was more that he wanted to say.

Lily turned to the man that had interrupted her midnight visit. Albus Dumbledore smiled back at her and pulled a chair up to her bedside.

"Most excellent to see you up and around, Lily."

Lily smiled; the Headmaster had never used her given name before. The word betokened a familiarity that she liked, though she could never imagine calling him `Albus´. "I heard that there was a problem in here with the lights..."

"I don´t want them shut off yet, sir." Lily said firmly.

"I understand that. But if you don´t mind, I would like to try it myself." Dumbledore raised his wand.

"Wait - if there is a problem getting them to shut off, how do you know if you´ll be able to get them back on?" Lily really wasn´t ready for sleep yet, and the thought of trying to make due with just a candle to read by wasn´t appealing.

"We´ll cross that bridge when we come to it," There was a finality to Dumbledore´s voice that brooked no argument. Lily nodded and he raised his wand, whispering the words `Nox Totalus´.

The light at Lily´s bedside went out for about five seconds (Madam Pomfrey hadn´t been able to get it to even flicker) and then burned brightly again.

Albus Dumbledore twirled the end of his long white beard between his fingers thoughtfully. "Most curious..."

"Well, yes. It is a bit odd, but I don´t think we´ll have to close the school down quite yet sir." Lily smiled.

Dumbledore chuckled again. "No, I suppose not. Tell me though, has anything else odd happened since you woke up?"

Lily looked thoughtful for a second and then glanced at the water pitcher on her bedside table. It was a little thing, she told herself. Nothing to worry about at all... Certainly nothing worth mentioning to Dumbledore...

"Nothing at all sir." Lily said after another moment. Her eyes didn´t meet his though. "Everything has been perfectly normal all day."

* * *

Lily was most definitely not enjoying her breakfast of lukewarm porridge the next morning when the `epidemic´ broke out. At half-past eleven in the morning, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin burst into the Infirmary, bringing what looked like the entire batch of first year Gryffindors with them. Lily didn´t need her contacts or glasses to see that all of the children were looking very green.

"Madam Pomfrey, hurry!" Remus cried out a bit too dramatically as he swept down towards the nurse´s office by Lily´s bed. "It´s just horrible!"

A look that crossed somewhere betwixt pity and guilt crossed Peter´s boyish face. "The first years... They´re all sick to their stomachs."

"We didn´t know what to do," Sirius chimed in rather somberly. "But we thought it best to get them to the Infirmary right away. There were no Prefects around, so we brought them ourselves."

As if on cue, the gaggle of eleven-year-old witches and wizards began to moan and bellyache about how awful they felt. The nurse pushed the three older boys aside and moved in for a closer look at her new patients.

Quick as a wink, the boys were at Lily´s bedside, failing rather miserably at stifling a trio of evil grins.

Lily rolled her eyes. "What did you bribe them with?"

Remus put on his most serious face. "I don´t know what you´re talking about. All of those children are really and truly ill."

Lily glared at the three wizards in turn and then in an icy whisper said, "You didn´t poison them just to visit me, did you?"

"Heavens no!" scoffed Sirius, looking truly aghast at such a suggestion. "They just ate too much candy..."

"It´s a real shame, too," Peter turned away from the spectacle at the other end of the Infirmary as a redheaded first year proceeded to get sick all over the floor. "Loads of Honeydukes best sweets gone to waste."

Remus patted the blond boy´s shoulder in a conciliatory manner. "Don´t worry young Pettigrew, I´m sure they´ve learned their lesson."

Lily shook her head in disgust and disbelief. "And just what lesson would that be?"

Sirius smirked and sat down on Lily´s bedside. "Never take candy from strangers?"

Remus´ serene expression twitched on his face. "Beware of large baskets of sweets that mysteriously appear in your dorm?"

Peter snickered. "Pace yourself?"

Lily threw a pillow at Remus and Peter, who dodged it easily. With a hefty shove, she sent Sirius sprawling onto the floor. All three boys were giggling rather uncontrollably now.

"Come on, Lil," Remus said after regaining control. "We did this as much for you as for ourselves."

"You made your own Housemates sick for my benefit? Explain how having a gang of gagging first years in the Infirmary is a benefit to me please." A voice in the back of her mind was already trying to decide just how many House Points this stunt was going to cost the lads.

"Well," said Peter with a sly grin. "What with this new batch of patients, Pomfrey isn´t going to want you to stick around much longer is she?"

"Particularly," whispered Sirius with his characteristic mischievous glint. "If a certain redhead puts up a lot of fuss in the next few hours."

All the tallying in Lily´s brain ceased at once. Pomfrey had just been instructing her before breakfast that she was going to have to stay in the Infirmary for another night. If Lily played this right...

A small secretive smile flashed across her face. She nodded at them slowly.

"Right then," said Remus with a smile of his own. The trio of wizards made ready to leave. "We´ll leave you to it."

"See you at dinner!" said Peter with a wink.

"Wait, just one second." The boys stopped and turned to her once more. "Where is James in all of this?"

Sirius shrugged non-committally. "Dunno. He´s been gone all morning."

"Haven´t seen him since last night," added Peter.

Just as another chorus of groaning came from the direction of the first years, Remus said, "We really should be going before Pomfrey pieces all of this together." They started to leave once more, each waving to Lily in turn. "See you later then, Lil."

Once they left, the bemoaning began in earnest and Lily decided that sooner would be preferable to later.

* * *

As it was, it was during dinner that Lily finally found herself returning to Gryffindor Tower. She had briefly considered going to the Great Hall for mealtime first, but the lure of returning to her own room and bed was too great.

Consequently, the Common Room was empty as she entered through the portrait of the Fat Lady. After the afternoon she had spent surrounded by the sounds of sick children, it was a welcome lack of noise. Lily hovered near the fire for a moment, reflecting on how nice it felt to be back. It would feel even better after a proper shower and good night´s sleep in her own bed.

With what could almost be described as a girly squeal of delight, she bounded up the stairs to the girls´ dormitories and her own waiting room. More than just her cozy bed was waiting as she rounded the corner..

"James?" asked Lily curiously. The tall black haired wizard was sitting up against her door, and from the amount of time it took him to stand up as she approached, Lily guessed that he´d been there for some time.

"Took you long enough, didn´t it?" James, now standing, smirked down at her.

Lily smiled. "Sorry to keep you waiting. How long have you been here anyway?"

"Got back after lunch." James replied cryptically.

"Got back from where?" asked Lily. She made a move for the doorknob and James placed his hand on top of hers, preventing her from opening the door. She looked up at him and raised her eyebrows questioningly.

"From... somewhere other than here." He shrugged again and smirked.

"Right... can I go into my room then?" Lily glanced at their hands, and the doorknob they covered meaningfully.

"Not quite yet. Got you a present." With his free hand, James reached into the pocket of his robe and drew out a bottle of Butterbeer. "Remember our deal?"

Lily giggled and took the Butterbeer. "Ah yes, another Butterbeer and hence another dance." She looked up at him expectantly, but James just continued to smile at her. "Can I open the door now?"

"Surely, as long as you understand our deal and intend to keep your promise." James stepped back and gestured grandly towards the door, encouraging her to open it.

"Yes, yes. A dance for every Butterbeer." Lily had her back to the door now and stepped into her room backwards at first. She liked looking at him; it seemed a shame to stop just because she was entering her old familiar room. His eyes were twinkling softly in the dim light of the hallway.

"Best watch your step." James nodded towards the interior of her room.

"What--" Lily spun around just then and her mouth dropped open. On every flat surface, completely filling her entire room were bottles upon bottles of Butterbeer. Her desk was all but invisible under the neatly stacked beverages. The floor was awash with them as well, aside from a small path that had been kept clear so she could reach her bed. "James, what on earth?"

He slid his arms around her, and bent low so that the words came directly from his lips to her ear, like a soft caress. "I don´t want just one dance, Lily. I want them all."

Shivers rushed down her spine, and she flushed to the roots of her hair. The urge to melt into his arms was incredible, but somehow she resisted. "You want them all?"

He spun her around then, so that they were facing each other. James was still holding her. "Yes. Not just one dance, and not just one night of dancing. I want all of them."

Her heart began to race, and her head began to spin. "I see then," She looked up and met his eyes finally. "Is this the part where I am supposed to go weak at the knees?"

James smirked, and pushed a stray lock of red hair away from her face. "Well, you could swoon if you´d rather. But it would make kissing you seem terribly one sided then."

"Kissing me?" Lily feigned shock and tried to pull back. James held her tightly though. "I certainly don´t remember kissing being part of our bargain..."

James leaned in and brushed his lips against her cheek. "It´s in the fine print." He murmured.

"Blasted fine print, catches a girl off guard every time." Lily snorted. She wiggled free of him finally and cautiously made her way across her Butterbeer laden room to her bed. She sat down and surveyed her room again. "This... This is a lot of Butterbeer, James. I... I don´t know if I´m ready to accept all of this."

James snickered at her subtext. "Well, you don´t have to drink it all tonight Lily." He crossed the room and joined her on her bed. "But this is what I´m willing to give. All I ask is that you keep your part of the deal."

"A dance for each Butterbeer." Lily said almost solemnly.

James nodded. "And I promise that as long as you want to dance, I´ll always have a Butterbeer waiting for you."

Tears welled up at the corner of her eyes. "What are you saying James?"

"I´m saying that I love you, you daft witch." He picked up a bottle of Butterbeer from the floor and clinked it against the one that Lily was still holding. "But if you aren´t ready for all of this, then we´ll just take it one Butterbeer at a time."

"One Butterbeer at a time," Lily repeated. She furrowed her eyebrows quizzically. "It´s not addictive is it?"

"Love or Butterbeer?" asked James.

"Either, neither or both!" declared Lily, and in a fit of giggles, she collapsed back onto her bed. James leaned over her, looking deep into her green eyes with a warmth and openness that she hadn´t seen in him before. "I´ll tell you one this though, James Potter."

"What´s that, dear?" He reached up and gently pushed a strand of red hair away from her cheek.

"I think I´m ready for a drink."

And then, of course, she kissed him.

The End

---