Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and events from J.K. Rowling's wonderful Harry Potter books. I am writing this for my own enjoyment and hopefully for the enjoyment of readers. Anything you recognize belongs to JKR. The rest belongs to me.
Chapter 21: Operation 'Wolf-boy'
Lily left Professor Riddle's office later feeling ill-at-ease. She kept going back over the tutoring session in her mind and images of lessons about hexes and defense kept popping into her head. Still, something did not feel right.
As she walked back to Gryffindor tower she stopped, suddenly overcome with the image of broken glass before her. She had to lean against the wall for a moment to get her bearings. Why would she be seeing images of broken glass and where were they from? It almost felt like something she had dreamt…or was it a memory?
She reached her hand up to rub her temple and when she glanced at her arm she caught the sight of blood on it. She jumped back, startled. Looking down at her arm again, when she pushed back the sleeve of her robe she only saw the faint line of a scar from a cut she had gotten last fall,, no trace of blood present. Shaking her head, she tried to convince herself that she was only tired and that her imagination was playing tricks on her.
When she walked into the common room she headed toward the stairway to the girl's dormitory. As she reached the entrance she heard her name called out and turned to the source. It was Potter. He approached her with a look of apprehension.
"Hey, Evans," he said, sounding hesitant.
"Hi, Potter. What have you been up to?" she asked.
Potter looked at her with confusion before saying, "Well, erm, I've been here with Sirius waiting for Remus to come back from the library. Then, I saw you in Professor Riddle's office before coming back here. Erm…what were you doing in there, anyway?" Lily gave him a questioning look, which he mistook for annoyance. "Evans, did I do something to make you mad at me?"
Lily was trying to remember seeing Potter. What did he mean he saw her in Professor Riddle's office? She couldn't recall seeing him. All she remembered were the lessons Riddle had reviewed with her. Then she heard him ask if she was mad at him. "No, I'm not mad at you," she replied. "What would make you think I was?"
He shrugged. "Well, you didn't really look at me or answer me when I was in there. I thought I might have done something to upset you."
Lily felt her stomach turn a bit at what he said. She had ignored him? She didn't even remember seeing him there. "No, you didn't upset me."
There were a few moments of silence between them. Lily was about to go to her dorm room when Potter suddenly asked, "Hey, Evans, I'm a little confused. Remus said he wanted to study with you tonight but you told him you had to tutor someone. If you were tutoring someone, why were you in Professor Riddle's office?"
Lily felt her stomach catch in her throat. She was caught in a lie. Plus, with all the unease she had been feeling since leaving Riddle's office, she felt the need to tell someone about the images she had seen. When she opened her mouth, though, she was surprised to hear different words escaping them. "Oh, that. I was tutoring, however I had to go by Professor Riddle's office to borrow some books."
"Who-" he started.
"I'm really tired, Potter. I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight." She smiled at him and headed upstairs.
As she climbed into bed she kept wondering why she had another lie so readily available and why she hadn't opened up to Potter. She tossed and turned, finally telling herself that she was just keeping her promise to Professor Riddle about not revealing her tutoring sessions with anyone. That still didn't explain why she didn't tell Potter about the images of broken glass…
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The next morning at breakfast Professor Dumbledore stood up to address the students. He spoke about the increasing threat of the Dark Lord that nobody knew. He touched on the article that had been in the Daily Prophet that said that Muggleborn children wouldn't be safe. He described some of the protective spells surrounding the school and said there were even ones he could not talk about - for everyone's protection. The school was one of the safest places to be. He also encouraged unity among the students and their houses.
While unity was easy for three of the houses (outside the Quidditch pitch, that is), this was not so for the Slytherin house. They did not change their arrogant nature toward other houses and many members of the remaining houses treated them with contempt. The Marauders all received detention one night for attacking Malfoy and Snape even though the two Slytherins had cornered Lily and Emm in the corridor.
James had heard Malfoy threatening the girls and calling them names like 'Mudblood' and 'filth.' Snape had been standing next to Malfoy with his usual sneer, helping to block the girls' escape path. James ran at Malfoy and slammed him to the ground, throwing punches. The 3 other Marauders soon joined in, pushing Snape around. Professor Pilon caught them and handed out punishments to the Marauders only.
As soon as Pilon left to take Malfoy and Snape to the hospital wing, the Marauders all rushed to Lily and Emm to see if they were alright. They were, and James felt a rush of warmth when Evans smiled at him and thanked him for helping her.
"Evans, Vance," stated Sirius, "you'd better be extra careful walking around the corridors alone - you never know when one of those idiots is going to finally be able to attack a Muggleborn student." He paused, and in a lower voice added, "If they do bother you, make sure you tell one of us."
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As March faded the last of the snow melted and the daylight lengthened. This lifted spirits, even though it was still chilly outside. The unease Lily had felt earlier that month had faded and she felt more like herself. Remus, on the other hand, was looking pale and sickly again. James and Sirius followed their lunar charts, and the full moon was to arrive that evening. Remus came up with another excuse about hurrying home to his sick mum. As he was packing he noticed that James and Sirius did not fire any questions at him. They seemed to accept that he was leaving.
Thinking more about it, this was not like them to not express curiosity. Every time Remus had to "see his mum" he was always asked about what she had and he always managed to skirt the question. When he looked over at his friends he saw that they were by James' bed crowded around the nightstand writing something.
After a few minutes they rolled up the parchment and were about to head out the door when Remus finally couldn't hold back his curiosity. "What are two up to?" he asked.
Sirius and James gave each other a quick glance before Sirius spoke up. "Well, Remus, we realize how difficult it must be for your mum to be ill so often - every month it seems. We decided to do something nice and send her a 'get well soon' letter. We were just heading to the owlery."
Remus paled. "Erm, why are you doing that? You haven't even met her."
James spoke up this time with an innocent smile. "Remus, you're our best friend. We may not have met your mum but that doesn't mean we can't send her a letter. I'm sure she must have heard about us from you during one of your many visits home."
Remus looked from James to Sirius and back again. "I-erm…that's a great idea, however it would make more sense for me to deliver it. After all, I'm going to be seeing her later." Remus went to take the letter out of Sirius' hand however Sirius hid it behind his back.
"Nonsense, Remus!" he said. "It's no trouble to send an owl. I'm sure owl post will be a pleasant surprise for her. Besides, I wouldn't want you to lose it." Before Remus could speak up Sirius added, "Boy, you sure do miss a lot of classes to see your poor mum."
Remus nodded before Sirius added, "I assume you have a note or something from your family to go see her. After all, it would be bad if the professors thought you were 'crying wolf,' wouldn't it?"
If it was possible, Remus paled even more.
Sirius smiled, turned to James and said, "Better get up to the owlery before all the good owls are taken. Coming, James?"
James grinned and said, "After you, Sirius."
The two boys left a dumbfounded Remus standing in the room.
Frank, who was also there, said, "That was really nice of them. If I had known I would have signed the letter, too."
James and Sirius managed to keep a straight face until they reached the corridor, where they fell over laughing.
"Did you see his face, the poor bloke?" said Sirius.
"Yeah. Now on to phase 2 of 'Operation Wolf-boy'," said James.
"Did you bring it?" Sirius asked.
James pulled out his invisibility cloak. "Did you even doubt me?"
Sirius smirked and pulled him down the corridor. "Let's wait here for him."
James threw the invisibility cloak over them and they hid behind a statue, waiting for Remus to leave the tower. It didn't take long for him to make his way through the portrait hole. He walked past James and Sirius, who followed him down several flights and through several corridors to the hospital wing. James and Sirius looked at each other in question, wondering why he would come here - was he locked away in the hospital wing for his transformation?
Shortly after entering, Remus came back out, minus his luggage, followed by Madame Pomfrey. James and Sirius noted how much more effort it took for Remus to walk along the corridors. As they made their way outside they noticed how dusk was settling. Remus had to lean on Madame Pomfrey for support as they made their way along the grounds. They stopped near the Whomping Willow.
Sirius frowned as he recalled getting a nasty welt when daring to step too close to the new tree a few months ago. He and James kept a safe distance and watched as Madame Pomfrey conjured a pole and used it to prod the base of the tree. All of a sudden the branches, which had been swinging at them violently, stopped their movement. James and Sirius saw Remus give Madame Pomfrey a weak smile before disappearing into the base of the trunk. Madame Pomfrey waved and turned to walk back to the hospital wing.
As the two Marauders walked back to the common room, now free of the invisibility cloak, Sirius punched the air and said, "I KNEW IT! I knew we were right!"
James grinned at his friend's reaction, however he soon turned serious. "Sirius, unless his mum lives under that tree, that means that we were right and he IS a werewolf. Did you see how ill he appeared? He almost couldn't make it to the Whomping Willow."
Sirius frowned and said, "Yeah, that book said the transformations are pretty painful. Didn't look like Pomfrey had anything to make him feel better. Wish there was something we could do to help."
"Me too," said James. "First things first, though. We need to confront him with what we know and get him to admit the truth. We can do that tomorrow evening when he gets back."
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A/N: Thanks to my latest reviewers: itsme63, Remus'sweetie, Watermelon!, Harrysgrl, and sweetie513. Responses are in the review section.
So what do you think about Sirius and James' detective work? And their conversation with Remus before Remus left? What about the conversation between Lily and James after she got back from Riddle's office?
Next chapter: Sirius and James gather their last bit of proof and confront Remus.