Lily Evans and the Marauder's Secrets

The Marauder's Secrets

Author's Note: Fun fact! After Chapter One (Head Boy), this was the first chapter I wrote, and the scene that lead me to writing this whole huge project. So I hope you enjoy <3

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Everything is dark.

I feel warm. And heavy. And sore . I shift my legs and my muscles shriek in protest.

"Ow," I say, surprised, and my eyes pop open.

"Lily? Merlin, Lily, are you okay? I can't believe..."

Even in the dark, I know exactly whose voice that is. It's thick with worry. I try to sit up but instantly his hands are on my shoulders, pushing me gently but firmly back onto the bed. "Oh no you don't."

I'm too tired and sore to resist. Instead, I lie there and blink, trying to force my eyes to adjust to the darkness. Slowly, with the help of the silver moonlight streaking in through the high windows, James's figure grows more distinct and I realize as I take in the row of beds with their crisp white sheets and shiny metal frames behind him that we are in the Hospital Wing.

James sits in a chair at my bedside. He leans forward, his hands still on my shoulders like he's afraid I'll try to get up again. He's pale beneath his dark mop of hair, which is untidier than ever, and his mouth is a thin, worried line.

"James?"

"Lily? What do you need, love? Should I get Pomfrey?"

"I'm starving ."

His body relaxes a little and he rubs his eyes under his glasses. "You're starving..." he mutters, reluctant amusement in his voice. "You face off against a werewolf, run for your life through the Forbidden Forest, get pummeled by the Whomping Willow, and all you can say is you're starving. Of course."

"When you put it like that..." I mutter.

But now, the images that hadn't fully formed since I woke flood my mind. My limbs stiffen as I remember the wolf slipping out of the undergrowth, slitted eyes fixed on me, and the long painful scramble through the trees...

I close my eyes to dispel the memories. No need to live it twice. I'm alive. And safe.

When I open my eyes again, James's face has lost any trace of amusement. He's watching me carefully.

"What's going on?" I ask.

He unconsciously raises a hand to his head, rubbing his hair, not meeting my eyes. "Now's not the time, Lily. You need rest, you've got to heal."

"James." He stops, eyes flashing to mine reluctantly. "I need to know."

He sighs, deep and heavy, and his hand goes to rub his hair again. I surprise us both by reaching out and catching it before he can. He doesn't pull away. Instead, he threads his fingers with mine and slowly lowers our hands to rest on his leg. He studies them, stroking my fingers absent-mindedly, seeming thankful for the distraction. My stomach twists under his whisper-light touch, but not at all in an unpleasant way.

"James," I say again, softer this time. "Please."

And, still focused on our hands, he begins to talk.

"We've been friends since first year, you know that. We met on the train and then we all ended up in Gryffindor, and it just seemed... right, you know? Me and Sirius and Remus and Peter. The brothers I never had, that none of us ever had. Even Sirius, who actually has a brother... well, you know Regulus. They're not family anymore, not by anything more than blood.

"At first, that whole first year, it was all about the fun. Sirius and I... well," James's face twists into a reluctant grin. "The two of us together thought of enough mischief to put the worst of them to shame. Peter had this knack for getting us all the more excited about our ideas and coming up with the most brilliant ways to execute our plans. We'd have all been kicked out by Halloween without Remus to balance us out. He'd reel us in when we started going too far. He was the voice of reason in our group, and together we caused more mischief than we ever could independently. Merlin, we had fun."