Sapphire Star

Chapter Four: Truths

Cassie refused outright to tell Lily just what the prank that they had so ominously prepared actually was; she simply insisted, in that immovable way of hers, that Lily would 'Find out soon enough'. As a result, the expression on Lily's face was priceless when she walked downstairs to breakfast the next morning to discover that every single one of the Slytherin boys...well...wasn't. A boy, that was. Regulus Black, Severus Snape (Better known as Snivelus by James and Sirius), and their entire group of obnoxious goons were dressed in frocks, make-up, and were very blatantly girls. They were arguing and gesticulating wildly as they tried to explain their situation to a slightly amused-looking Professor Flitwick.

Although it didn't take the Professor long to reverse their situation, and dire threats were issued for once the culprits were discovered, the image of his brother Regulus complete with pig tails and large pink bows was so overwhelming for Sirius that they all had to help him to leave the Great Hall; he was repressing so much laughter that he was doubled over as though having cramps, and could barely stagger away. Once they were safely out of ear shot, he roared uncontrollably. When he was finally managing to regain his composure, a livid looking Regulus stormed past the in the halls. James' "And how are you today, Madame?" was enough to send them all into fits like Sirius, even though Lily inwardly chided herself for her inability to disapprove of the situation.

None of them were ever sure just how they actually made it back to their own common room in that condition, but by the time they collapsed on the sofa, they had tears streaming down their faces. Sirius had sat on Cassie, and with much difficult she managed to gasp out, "Get off me, you great oaf!"

In between chuckles, he replied, "No, I think that I'm comfortable right here, thanks."

Lily noticed that Cassie had not only stopped laughing but that her face was turning rather blue. "Err... Sirius, I don't think she can actually breathe..."

He jumped up, and sure enough, Cassie gasped and hacked frantically. All of the boys and Lily launched into a new round of laughter, while Cassie tried hard to glare at him as well, but soon gave up and broke down giggling, too. They continued to laugh even as Professor McGonagall assigned everyone but Lily (Who was assumed not to have been involved) a weeks worth of detentions, which the stern Professor hardly appreciated.

They finally managed to control themselves during Charms, but all it took was one "Regina and Severella" to set them off once more at any point that day, and by the end they had all lost several house points. The one person whose enthusiasm had begun to ebb was Remus. He had been looking steadily more and more ill over the past few days, and was positively grey by that afternoon. He insisted that he was feeling just fine, but he always had been a terrible liar, with the exception, of course, to teachers. That evening, all of the Marauders went to bed uncharacteristically early. Lily and Cassie sat in the common room, having abandoned their Care Of Magical Creatures homework a while back, and were now attempting to work out exactly what was going on with Remus.

"It happens practically once a month," Lily pointed out, as they leaned back in their chairs and tossed information back and forth between the two of them.

"Yeah, and the rest of the guys are a bit weird. They're always really supportive, trying to look after him in little ways when they wouldn't normally bother. It's odd, because usually they're not at all sympathetic about illnesses ordinarily. They set of dungbombs in the hospital wing, draw on each other's faces with permanent ink while they're trying to rest...you know, that sort of thing."

"And why does it keep on occurring, like a cancer or morning sickness or something?" Cassie snorted at this second example. Lily rolled her eyes. "Okay, so we know he's not pregnant, but that's not my point. You think that if he had any sort of terminal illness, he'd tell us, wouldn't he? We've been his friend for ages, after all."

"I think so... But how can we be sure unless we ask him? And I doubt we want to be that tactless..."

They were still debating over the various snippets of evidence that they had when Andy walked by, her nose in a book, and then abruptly snapped back to Earth and cut into their conversation. "By the way," she began dreamily, "if you really want to know what's wrong with Remus, I recommend you look at the pattern of which nights he's been sick." Before they could respond, she turned back to her book and walked over to sink into her favorite armchair, clearly not wanting to be disturbed.

They shrugged, but since they didn't have any other leads, they decided to follow her advice. The only calendar that they had handy was the one that Cassie had used for last years' Divination course, and so she ran up to her room, riffled through her trunk, and returned, clutching it triumphantly. They then set about trying to remember past dates.

"It was four days before exams, remember? You panicked, trying to make sure he had his homework."

"The day after Hogsmeade. He didn't feel like joining in setting of those dungbombs with you lot."

As they scribbled in the last date, they scanned what they had managed to cobble together, and then flipped through the calendar. Slowly, they met one another's eyes as the same realization dawned on both of them.

With the odd exception of some days they hadn't been so sure about anyway, every one of the Remus' sick days fell on the full moon.

"And to think we never noticed before," Cassie murmured, shaking her head in disbelief. "How thick are we?"

Lily's face remained totally blank; time was moving more slowly within her wall of total shock. "I can't believe I didn't recognize the symptoms earlier; I have studied this, after all. I suppose we'll have to confront all of them about it. How are we supposed to keep quiet? This is totally crazy. You don't think... I mean, they're reckless, but they wouldn't be as stupid as to... They don't stick around with him when he's...well...you know."

"I don't think even they'd be that insane. I just can't believe they never told us!" Cassie was beginning to look rather peeved, now, as she put the pieces together from the various things that they had all said and done over the years. "I can't believe we were so daft as to never have caught on," she hissed violently. She then wheeled on her sister who still sat peacefully across the near-empty common room. "Andy, how long have you known about this?" Cassie gesticulated towards the calendar.

She looked up, startled. "Oh, I figured it out last year. I thought it was rather obvious."

There was a notable trace of superiority in her voice. Lily looked disgruntled and Cassie mollified her with a, "Don't worry, it's nothing personal. It's the Burbank pride; we call be really arrogant at times."

Lily grinned, slightly relieved that Cassie's growing flame of anger had fizzled out, at least temporarily. "I've noticed, believe it or not. I have managed to be friends with you for five years, after all." She ducked the good-natured swipe that Cassie immediately aimed at her with the calendar.

Soon, however, they both lapsed into their separate trains of thought. In silence, they finished their homework mechanically and then headed up the spiral staircase to their dormitories. Lily lay awake, once again, but this time she was thinking about their discovery. How could they not have known? How could he not have told them? As she rolled over to face away from the moonlight glinting in through the window, she chided herself, best not to think about it for now. They'd figure out exactly what to do in the morning...

~*~

Flying was one of the few lessons that Lily could never remember enjoying. It was the only subject in which books didn't seem to help her, although she did read up on all of the technique that she could. Nowadays she counted herself lucky if her broom so much as came up to her hand when she hollered at it. However, Sirius, James, and Cassie were all on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and so Lily did attend the matches regularly, if only to support them and her house. James was a Seeker, and Sirius and Cassie were both Beaters. Still, she had to wonder if even friendship was worth the weekly humiliation as everyone else raced around the pitch performing drills that Madame Roberts' whistle declared while Lily simply stood over her broom, shouting, "Up!" over and over again. Finally, Madame Roberts lost her patience.

"Potter, get down here!" she barked. He quickly complied, coming in for a graceful landing. "Potter, you are going to help Miss Evans to get off of the ground. I'm going to continue managing the rest of the class. Miss Evans, if you have to meet here everyday after school for the remainder of your time at Hogwarts, you will have a successful flight and landing. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

"Yes Ma'am," Lily replied as respectfully as she could, while still trying to keep herself from screaming aloud.

James waited until after their instructor flew off, and then smirked obnoxiously. "Ah, Lily, fate pairs us together once more!"

"Shut up, Potter," she responded through gritted teeth.

"You know, Lily, I think you should go out with me. We have such witty conversations together."

Lily gaped openly for a moment, then her common sense finally kicked in, and she replied, "When hell freezes over. Are you going to teach me to fly, or not?"

"Fine, just for you, my dear, I'll place business before pleasure, and be serious. On second thought, we'd better not; the world can only handle one." He ignored the face that Lily made in response to the awful pun; he never really got sick of the classic Sirius versus serious joke. James then continued, "First off, why are you afraid?"

"What?!" she exclaimed, forgetting to be furious and distant in the light of her sudden indignation. "I am certainly not afraid!"

"Yes, you are," he replied, matter of factly. "You're scared, and the broom knows it. It's like a horse, or a little kid or something."

Lily replied scathingly, "James, it's an inanimate object. It can't know anything."

"You see, that's just the kind of attitude that's going to make things more difficult for both of us, Tiger-Lily." He surveyed her for a moment thoughtfully, and then added, "You're scared of heights, aren't you?"

Lily flushed scarlet, and then muttered, "I'm not scared of heights, and if you tell anyone that, I'll hex you so hard you won't see straight." James raised his eyebrows, undaunted, and finally she continued, "Maybe I am the tiniest bit nervous about falling, though.

For once his smile wasn't mocking; on a broomstick, James Potter was in his element. "It's okay, everyone's scared at first. Somehow, however, you're just going to have to get over that. You just need to clench your jaw, close your eyes- Well, maybe not that, you do need to be able to see. But you just have to do this. There isn't any other way out."

Lily nodded resignedly. "We only have a few minutes of class left," she said, glancing at her watch.

"Do you want to meet later this evening and we can practice?"

"We can't; we both have astronomy tonight."

"Okay, tomorrow then. We can use my broom and borrow a school one."

Lily winced, but they finally agreed to do it right after dinner. As they left to go to lunch, Cassie grinned. "Did you have fun with Jamesie, Tiger-Lily?" she mocked. Lily made another disgusted face, to which Cassie only laughed and mentioned casually, "You know, I think he fancies you."

She did her best to think about anything but his strange proposal. It wasn't the first time he had mentioned the two of them dating in that same, casual manner, but she always assumed he was joking, or was down-right appalled by the idea. At any rate, the last thing she needed was for Cassie to find out. Sirius would inevitably follow. "Don't be ridiculous! Come on Cass, we argue all the time, and he's an arrogant quidditch player who strings girls along like dolls. Besides, he doesn't go for smart women. They probably intimidate him."

"Fine, but he's staring at you right now. Don't turn around, dolt! He does it quite often in class. Although for now, I'll let you have it your way..."

Potions class was horrible, as it always had been, with Professor Kraken breathing down the backs of their necks. He was clearly hoping they would make a mistake; he was always looking for any sort of opportunity to deduct house points from the Gryffindors. Unfortunately, the Marauders tended to give him plenty of excellent excuses.

"Mr. Black, I see you added the lacewings before the newts' tails? Apparently someone wasn't paying attention, possibly because you spent the time during which I was giving instructions flirting with Miss Burbank. Ten points from Gryffindor."

Cassie glowered at Sirius. "Thanks a lot, git."

"Five more points from Gryffindor for your crude name-calling, Miss Burbank." It was now Sirius' turn to smirk at Cassie. Meanwhile, Lily was paired with Peter, and their potion had turned a nasty shade of orange. As Alice Burbank, Cassie's Slytherin cousin, got up to get some ingredients from the front of the room, she whispered conspiratorially, "Half a cup of skillets."

"Thanks!" They added it, and the potion returned to its appropriate purple. Alice didn't talk to them that much outside of classes, because she understood the taboo of the house rivalry, but was never rude and when she did talk to them she treated them with respect. Lily couldn't for the life of her understand why Alice had been put in Slytherin. Cassie had explained time and time again that Slytherin wasn't necessarily for evil people; that was merely the stereo-type they had been landed with. If you stuck to the technical definition, it was for ambitious people that sought power. Alice was determined to make a difference to the world, and to go down in history, always pushing herself harder and harder. Cassie and Sirius were always bickering about just what defined a Slytherin. Her musings were cut into sharply as "Potter, you are a miserable imbecile! And Lupin, you have clearly fallen under his influence. Twenty points from Gryffindor!"

Lily looked up to see James and Remus had hit Severus Snape in the back of the head with a paper airplane covered in their plant growth potion, and his greasy black hair was now sprouting weeds at an alarming rate. Snape had always been especially diligent in potions, which only made him a more tempting target during that particular class. Snape was a bit of a teacher's pet. "You will both have detentions as soon as your detentions you received for a week are completed." The professor then rushed over to help Snape.

They all stifled their laughter, but when the professor's back was turned the four Marauders exchanged high-fives.

~*~

That evening, after Astronomy, the common room had cleared out. Cassie and Lily nodded their agreement, and then went ahead with their plans to confront the boys about Remus'... situation.

"We need to talk."

"Remus, we know why you've been ill so often."

Remus' face turned white, and the other three exchanged uneasy glances.

"Sit down, all of you."

"But-"

Cassie's voice was quiet but deadly. "No buts. Sit down, all of you, now." They obeyed.

She began pacing back in forth in front of them, and then turned back abruptly.

"Why didn't you tell us? You could have trusted us." No one dared to make a joke. Cassie shouted a lot, and no one took it seriously, but when she lowered her voice they knew it was big.

Remus gulped audibly, and then began, "I was afraid. I thought if you knew, you wouldn't want to be my friend anymore."

Cassie couldn't keep the betrayed pain out of her eyes. "Remus, you know we're friends forever. You think we care if you're a werewolf?" Remus flinched at the word.

"I guess I... Oh, I don't know. Please, Cassie, Lily, don't be angry."

Cassie sighed and ran her fingers through her ebony hair then fingered the blood-red streak, a nervous habit she had had as long as Lily could remember. "Look, just give us the whole story this time. We want the truth."

Lily sat, feeling rather awkward, but knowing Cassie needed to get it all out. If Cassie pushed Remus too hard, then Lily would step in. Once again the boys exchanged looks, a silent agreement of some sort.

"I was very young when I received the bite. My parents were distraught, but we all know there's no cure for lycanthropy, so there was nothing they could do. They were terrified as to how I would get an education, and wrote to Dumbledore immediately. Luckily, he agreed to let me come to Hogwarts despite my condition. They created a tunnel to the shrieking shack in Hogsmeade and planted the Whomping Willow to guard the entrance. That's where I go to transform; it's not really haunted, the locals just heard me in my other form and thought it was a group of particularly rowdy ghosts. However, those transformations were the worst times of my life. It didn't take James, Peter, and Sirius long to figure it out, and they wanted to help out. We didn't want to tell you; we didn't want you to get hurt. We just wanted to protect you."

Lily looked nervously over to Cassie to see how she was absorbing this. She was worried her friend would protest; Cassie could never, ever stand looking or being considered weak in any way. Fortunately, Cassie elected to remain silent, nodding to urge him to continue, her face unreadable.

"It was hard work, but they all became illegal, unregistered Animagi. They kept me company during the switch, and they kept me sane. That's where we got the nicknames from the Marauder's map; obviously I'm Moony, Peter is Wormtail, as he's a rat, Sirius is Padfoot, a dog, and James is Prongs, a stag." Remus paused and took a deep breath.

Every set of eyes were on Cassie; they knew Lily would forgive them, that was just her nature, but Cassie had pride like a lion. Once bitten, twice shy, she had always had a hard time trusting; Lily thought she was probably afraid the world and everything she got attached to would just disappear like her parents. Slowly, Cassie got up, walked over to Remus, and pulled him into a tight hug. Her voice was muffled by the fact that her head was pressed into Remus' shoulder, but you could still her whisper, "Remie, I'm so sorry. I am so, so sorry." Lily knew she would hold back the tears; never cried. "Please forgive me, I acted like a jerk, I'm so sorry."

Remus smiled, and put his arm around her. "It's okay, Cass. Everything's okay now. It's all going to be just fine."

Everyone stayed where they were for a moment, relief washing over them in a wave. Suddenly Sirius grinned impishly and broke the tension by declaring, "Group hug!" Everyone piled together, and no one but Remus noticed a small girl with one hazel eye and one grey smile to herself after having intruded on the scene; she then turned around and quietly headed back to her dormitory, book in hand.