By the Moonlight

Chapter 2, Nosing into it

"I wouldn't open that it I were you, Edward," Lily said, in a warning tone.

Lily had been giving these warnings throughout the morning because letters were not to be trusted lately. Students had received packages from random people that had contained bizarre things, like Howlers or Zonko's tricks, old smelly socks, even disease-bearing toads. The hospital had been full for the past few days. There was no need to guess who the culprit was: it was quite obvious to Lily and Jade. In support oof her theory, she could swear that she had seen James, Peter, Sirius and Remus heading up to the Owlery unusually often.

An explosion came from beside Lily and when the mist cleared, Edward Faws was sitting, his hair spiked up permanently. Laughter echoed around him and he frowned as he pulled out his wand from his robe.

"She warned you," Jade said, grinning. They were in the Great Hall doing Divination homework. Jade scooted her chair closer to the table and leaned across to whisper something to Lily.

"Someone has got to go up there and stop them. And I'm too lazy to go up to the Owlery," Jade said, dropping the broadest hint possible that Lily should go.

Lily sighed. "I'll go up if I must. I can get away with anything with James at this point," she whispered back. Jade nodded her head gratefully and turned back to her Divination.

* * * * *

The Owlery was freezing, so Lily slipped on her navy blue gloves and grimaced as her nail poked though the hole in the finger. She rubbed her nose and turned in the doorway that led to the Owlery. The owls flew out, looking like a gust of feathered wind. Lily was surprised to see only Remus sitting alone on a window ledge. He was staring out towards the grounds. Lily decided not to bother him and pulled out a letter from her cloak. It had her father's name on it. He had asked her to write a couple times during the school year, to keep him updated, but he hadn't written back. He never had. All she had written this time was that her grades were fine and that she was being asked out repeatedly by a maniac. James wasn't exactly a maniac, but Lily was trying to see if this would make her father write back. She approached a snowy owl, tied the letter to it's leg and watched it dive off the window till it was a black dot in the sky. Lily turned, eyes down at the stony floor and suddenly bumped into Remus. He was looking at her. Lily fidgeted, for she was near the wall, and Remus was surprisingly close.

"Who was that letter to?"

Lily was surprised by the question. "None of your beeswax, Remus."

"Feisty, aren't we?"

"Sort of, but it's still none of your business to ask that. Why would you want to know anyway?" she asked quietly.

"I don't know, I just do. You don't seem yourself today, like you're a little bit far away."

Remus was right.

"I'm just tired today, I had a History of Magic essay yesterday and I had to stay up for it."

Remus laughed. "I don't think so, Lily. I'm in your History class, we weren't given an essay anytime lately, and you didn't stay after class to get extra assignments. You always work in the common room and you went up to your dormitory at nine o'clock. Plus, you would get it done a week earlier. You're a liar Lily Evans."

Lily's mouth hung open. "And how do you know all this?" she said, bewildered.

"I pay attention Lils, It's a skill you should acquire sometime," Remus said, grinning.

Lily made a face which made Remus laugh. He backed up a little, giving Lily more room.

"Look," he started, folding his arms. "We know you know it's us. You know, the letters thing. James says he won't stop, unless you go to Hogsmeade with him on Friday."

Lily burst out laughing. "James thinks this will work?"

"I'm not finished. He says that he will do something to you and Jade - something to do with 'humiliation for the rest of your lives'? Something along those lines..."

Lily was still giggling, but she had to give James credit for this. She really didn't want to give in.

* * * * *

Lily had agreed to go to Hogsmeade with James but this was strictly to stop the postal pranks. It wasn't to avoid the threatened humiliation either: she didn't care about her good name. She felt like giving James a little credit for his ingenuity - and she was in a good mood, which was a part of it too.

James said he would meet her at the Three Broomsticks because he had to do something before he went. So Lily went on in and drew a stool up to the table. Candles were lit all around the room, casting a dim glow and giving the pub a reddish look. She fiddled with her wand as she waited. She glanced up as the bell above the door rang. James entered, rosy -cheeked, but with a frown on his face. He pulled the chair out roughly making a huge screech. Patrons peered over their Butterbeers to see who was making the racket. James blushed slightly and sat down gently, putting his arms flat down on the table. His sleeves were rolled up, revealing a nasty bruise going up his arm. Lily gasped and put her hands over it.

"What happened, James?"

He pulled it away and winced. "Nothing. Don't pay attention to that Lily," he said quickly.

Lily noticed James's hand was slightly red. She took it and saw small cuts on the knuckles. She grasped his hand and James took a sharp intake of breath. Lily drew her wand out.

"Episkey," she muttered. The cuts vanished and the bruise on his arm disappeared.

"You shouldn't have done that."

"Why not?"

"Because we're not allowed to use magic off the school grounds."

"Oh, ha ha. Like you haven't done that a billion times, James Potter." She removed her hands and put them in her lap.

"Perhaps I'll tell you about it later, but not now, all right?" James said, quietly.

Lily nodded. "I'll go and get Butterbeers," she said, after a few seconds of silence. She got up, and felt a hand push her down.

"Let me." James stood and walked up to the bar.

What could James have done to get that bruise and the cuts on his fingers? The bell above the door tinkled and drew her away from her thoughts. Jade and Remus walked in, both rosy in the cheeks. Immediately, James beckoned for Remus to come towards him. They huddled together, speaking quietly, and Remus' eyes darted over at Lily. They were talking about her. As soon as Jade spotted Lily, she rushed over to the table. She was flushed and her black hair was frizzy.

"Having fun?" Lily asked.

"Yes, it's great. How is it with James?"

"It's not as bad as I thought it would be, but I just got here too."

"Wicked," Jade said leaning in. "You know, Remus has been acting really oddly today - have you noticed anything?" she whispered.

"No I haven't," Lily lied. She decided to keep her findings to herself, at least just for a little while. Jade frowned.

"I have to tell you about something later, though," Lily said, giving Jade a little slack. She started to say something more, but stopped as James and Remus approached the table. James plopped a Butterbeer in front of her as Jade winked at her. Lily smiled and Remus gave a confused look.

"We'll explain later," Lily laughed and returned the wink.

* * * * *

Lily sat on the red couch in front of the fire, later that night. It was nearly eleven o'clock, so she had the common room to herself. She was confused about what happened in Hogsmeade and hoped it wouldn't preoccupy her mind through the night. As she mulled it over, she had her wand out and was working on trying to keep some balls up in the air. It was difficult, since she was thinking about Hogsmeade. The balls thudded to the floor as her concentration deserted her completely. She heard a snigger behind her.

"Ahhh!" Lily heard a thump behind the couch.

"Oops," she muttered. She peered over the couch and saw Remus on the ground surrounded by colorful balls.

"Remus! I'm so sorry!"

Remus sat up, blinking, and seemed to regain his focus.

"That's all right; I get battered by James and Sirius all the time, just never with very very colorful balls."

Lily laughed and Remus sat down next to her.

"Why are you still up?" he asked.

"You seem very nosy in the past week," Lily said eyeing him suspiciously.

He laughed. "Sorry, it's got to be a habit, what with everything that's been going on lately." Remus widened his eyes. "Oh never mind."

"Don't 'never mind' me, I know there's something up, and it's driving me bonkers."

Remus bit his lip. He looked at her for a second. "Not now. You're going to have to be driven bonkers for a little while longer."

Lily folded her arms and stared into the fire. This was torture.

* * * * *

Remus and Jade were in a small space, wrapped around each other in a tight embrace; lips pressed together, his hand behind her head and waist. She was there, just there...watching. They pulled away, staring at Lily. Jade tucked her hair behind her ears nervously. She was shocked. She was just there...

Lily sat up, breathing hard. Lily shivered and peered around. Jade was sound asleep, her hand clutching the bed sheet. It had been a dream.. It was cold, but Lily liked it that way. She slid off the bed and slipped on her slippers and shuffled across the room. She looked at all the girls sound asleep and noticed the light from the window. Sitting on the window sill she peered out. It was snowing and the grounds looked like they had a white blanket draped over them. Lily smiled and ran over to her chest.