The Best of Friends

HydraBaby322

Rating: PG
Genres: Romance, Humor
Relationships: Lily & James
Book: Lily & James, Books 1 - 4
Published: 08/12/2002
Last Updated: 22/12/2002
Status: paused

Lily and James have been best friends since they were little. When both James and Lily get accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, crazy events and new friends abound!

Chapters

1. The Best of Friends-Chapter 1

2. The Best of Friends-Chapter 2

3. The Best of Friends-Chapter 3

4. Best of Friends Chapter 4

1. The Best of Friends-Chapter 1

Lily had known James since she was little. They had both gone to the same schools, and were about to start their first year together at the local high school. James was Lily�s best friend, and she was his. They were inseparable. The only problem was that James had a secret, a secret so unspeakable, he wasn�t even allowed to tell his best friend Lily what it was.

James� family consisted of his father, mother and himself. The Potters were a pleas

2. The Best of Friends-Chapter 2

The First Year

James’ head snapped up. His eyes widened with shock, but he didn’t say anything.
“Lily?!?” he whispered.

“Um, I take it you two know each other then?” asked Sirius, trying to break the silence.
Lily laughed. “Of course! James and I have been best friends since we were little.”
Remus looked confused. “So then, why are you so surprised to see each other ?”
“I’m a Muggle-born witch. I never knew I was a witch until I got my letter. That’s why James never knew, I didn’t know myself. But James, you never told me about you being a wizard.”

“Well, you see, I didn’t know that you were a witch. I just thought that you were a Muggle, and

we wizards don’t tell Muggles about being able to do magic.”

“That would explain why you stopped talking to me this summer.”

James nodded his head. “I’m sorry Lil, if I had known, I would have told you. But then, how do you know Remus’ friend? I’m sorry, I forgot your name too.”

“Oh, you mean Sirius? Well, he helped me get my things from Diagon Alley. Wow,

I am so happy to see you!”

James nodded his head in fervent agreement. Lily sat back, glowing with happiness. She was starting a new school, her best friend was talking to her again, and she had two new friends as well. Everything seemed perfect. She focused her attention on the boys’ conversation about Hogwarts.

“What are the houses again?” asked Sirius

. “Houses?” asked Lily, confused.

James started to explain. “Everyone gets sorted into houses. The houses are where we live during the year, and we have classes and everything with housemates. I think that the house names are Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Gryffindor.”

“Gryffindor? Isn’t that the name of the man in your portrait James?”

“Yep,” he replied proudly, “Godric Gryffindor was one of the founders of Hogwarts. I know that I will be in Gryffindor house, it is by far the best one.”

Remus laughed. “You just say that because he is your like, great-great-great grandfather.”
Sirius and Lily laughed along with Remus, and James just shrugged.

“Well, I’d rather be in Gryffindor than Slytherin. Every single witch or wizard in Slytherin house has turned out evil. I mean, they are just vile.” remarked James, as Remus and Sirius nodded fervently.

The rest of the train ride was passed sitting and talking about different aspects of the wizarding world. Lily learned about Quidditch, which Sirius and James were both avid fans of. Finding a common thread to discuss, the two had been talking about teams and statistics for the past hour and a half. While they were drooling over Quidditch, Remus told her about the classes that they would be taking.

“My older sister, Julie, has already graduated from here. She is the minister’s assistant at the Ministry of Magic. She has already told me all about Hogwarts.”

The train came to a stop about an hour later. There was a scramble to get off the train and into the fresh air. Lily heard a booming voice up ahead.

“Firs’ years this way! C’mon now, firs’ years!” Lily scanned the darkness to see the hugest man she had ever seen before. He was dressed in a moleskin overcoat and carried a lantern in order to see the crowd of students.

“C’mon, firs’ years. All righ’, everyone here? Now, lets go. Four to a boat, come on now.”

The students filed quickly to a fleet of small row boats floating on the water. Lily climbed into one first, and gripped the edges tightly as James and Sirius both clambered in, making the boat sway dangerously. Remus hopped in last. The fleet of boats made their way across the water. Lily assumed that they were bewitched to move on their own, as no one was rowing them. About two minutes into the ride, an enormous castle loomed into view. Lily gasped, it was a breathtaking image. All the rest of the students were quietly in awe of the magnificent castle, also.

The boats came into a small, underground harbor and the students unloaded. They waited nervously at the foot of a huge staircase. The huge man knocked on the door, and a formidable looking woman appeared.

“They are all here, Professor McGonagall.”

“Very well, Hagrid,” she replied, “I’ll take it from here.”

The huge man called Hagrid left, and the woman continued. “Welcome to Hogwarts. Shortly, you will be entering through these doors and you will be sorted into your houses. I suggest that you make yourself presentable, as the Sorting Ceremony will be taking place in front of the rest of the school.”

Oh great, Lily thought, that’s a calming thought. She looked around. Remus was looking slightly green, and Sirius had decided to calm his nerves by poking James in the back of his head, which Sirius found to be incredibly funny. James looked slightly annoyed with the poking, but retaliated by repeatingly kicking Sirius in the shins.

Professor McGonagall reappeared. “Ok, we are ready for you.

The first years filed into the Great Hall. All around them, students in black robes and tall, pointed hats turned in their seats to get a better look. Lily swallowed, not sure if she was nervous or just plain scared out of her wits.

“When I call your name, I want you to step forward, and try on the sorting hat.” Professor McGonagall gestured towards a ratty, beaten wizards hat that sat on a four-legged stool.

“Black, Sirius.”

Sirius stepped forth, his face pale but determined. He sat on the stool for about half a minute before--to Lily’s shock--the hat called out “GRYFFINDOR”.

Immense relief spread throughout Sirius’ face. He proceeded to sit at the Gryffindor table, where he then looked up to Lily, James and Remus and gave them a thumbs up sign.

The list seemed to go on forever. Two girls were sorted into Ravenclaw, and a few people into Slytherin. Another girl, (“Nell Drake“) had been sorted into Hufflepuff. Lily noticed that it took longer for the hat to call out names than it did others. She sincerely hoped that she wasn‘t among the ones who had to sit there for five minutes. “Evans, Lily”. This is it, she thought as she walked to the stool, ok, relax. She jammed the hat onto her head, and sat there.

“Hmm,” said a tiny voice that seemed to be in her head, “very interesting. Brains, loyalty. I know where to put you… GRYFFINDOR!” She felt the hat being pulled from her head, and she ran over to Sirius who was yelling himself hoarse. Lily sat down, feeling very accomplished, and waited to see the rest of her friends being sorted. Remus got into Gryffindor as well, which had made Sirius very pleased. And, of course, James had also gotten in. “Well, of course, I am family” he said rather smugly.

. Just then, another freshly sorted boy sat down next to Remus. He was round-faced, with small eyes and a pointy nose, and he seemed very nervous to be even sitting there.

“Hi,” said Lily kindly, “and who are you?”

The boy replied, “Peter Pettigrew.” He had a squeaky voice which was made even higher by his nervousness.

“Hi Peter, I am Lily, and this is James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin. Are you a first year as well?”

He nodded. “Pleased to meet you,” he squeaked.

The rest of the dinner went by with the usual amount of chatter. Sirius and James entertained everyone with jokes, and before Lily knew it, a Gryffindor prefect was leading them to the dormitories. Lily was too tired to note that all the pictures moved, and that the Gryffindor common room was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. The gang trudged up the stairs to their respective rooms, and quickly fell asleep.

The next day at breakfast, schedules were handed out. Lily was excited to get to classes, but James was a little less enthusiastic.

“Oh no,” he moaned, “potions with the Slytherins”.

Given James’ loathing of the Slytherins, Lily surmised that potions was going to be a very bad class. But, she assumed, we’ll see.

James was right. The class itself was fascinating, but the Slytherins were just as bad as promised. The teacher, Professor Arsenius Jigger, entered the class and swept up to the front of the room. He called roll and immediately began to talk.

“As some of you may know, I am Professor Jigger. Yes, the one that wrote the book Magical Drafts and Potions, and please, I don’t sign autographs. I don’t favor students, so anyone thinking that they will be able to get a good grade in this class by sucking up to me is mistaken. The only way, and I mean ONLY way I will like you is if you excel in this class. And even then I will not favor you. Now, please move to the back of the room and set up your caldrons. Ingredients are to be found in the student store cupboard, and are readily at your access. Recipes for all potions made here will be found on the blackboard.” At that, he waved his wand and instantly, ingredients for a potion to cure boils appeared on the board. Judging that this was not a man to mess with, Lily quietly set to work. Sirius, however, got no such impression, and set out to make as much noise as possible. In the process, he didn’t pay proper attention to his potion, and the cauldron melted.

“Stupid boy,” snapped Professor Jigger to Sirius, “I don’t suppose you would like to explain to everyone why your cauldron has melted?” Sirius glared at him, and Jigger continued, “Class, this is an example of what not to do. Over here, however, is an example you would do well to follow. What is your name, son? Snape, is it?”

A boy with black greasy hair smirked with pleasure at the attention being called to himself. “Yes, Professor Jigger, sir. I’m Severus Snape. My father has taught me loads of potions, so this one is particularly easy. I can do spells most seventh year students can’t do.”

Sirius threw Severus Snape a death stare. Severus saw it and sneered right back at him. Oh boy, thought Lily, this doesn’t look good. Luckily, the class ended about five minutes later, and the Gryffindors packed their bags to head to Charms.

Professor Levis was a tall, thin witch with glasses and a gawky posture. She began the class with a series of spells that demonstrated what the students would learn that year. After the display, everyone was eager to start.

“We’ll be setting things flying today. Best do it with feathers, no?” she asked.

She passed out feathers to the class, and they set to it. Lily had an easier time with it than most of her fellow students, she set it in the air on her second try. James was having no such luck. Frustrated, he started waving his wand around with reckless abandon. To his and everyone else’s surprise and amazement, the feather turned into a tarantula. Girls screamed and backed away as the spider scuttled all over the floor, but Sirius was laughing his fool head off.

“James! What did you do?!?” Lily screamed over the shrieks of the other girls.

“I don’t know!,” he shouted back, “it just… happened.”

Professor Levis was quick to act. Brandishing her wand, she muttered a spell, and the tarantula vanished into thin air. The screaming subsided, and Professor Levis dismissed the class for the day. “I think that you have had enough fun for one day, off you go. I won’t take any point off for the disturbance, as it was an accident.”

Lily, James, Sirius and Remus walked out of the classroom. Sirius was stilling howling with laughter, and Remus was chuckling appreciatively. Lily, however, was just about to tell James off for disturbing the class when--

“Wow, that was really cool.” said a voice behind them.

They all turned around to see Peter Pettigrew staring at James with reverence.

James started to turn red, “Thanks.” he replied.

The four of them walked towards the Great Hall for lunch. Peter Petigrew was tagging along, trying to hold them in conversation.

“My mum and dad are both wizards, but I didn’t start to show magic ability until I was nine. They were really worried, so they were really proud when I got in here. Mind you, I am not going to be the best at magic, so I think that I will be the one of the bottom students in our year. That’s alright though, I just want to be on the Quidditch house team here, that’s all I want.”

James looked up. “Peter, you mean to say that they play Quidditch, right here? In Hogwarts?”

Peter looked at him in disbelief. “Of course. I thought that you knew all about Hogwarts, seeing as you are one of the founders’ great great great grandson. Of course we play Quidditch. Each house has a house team, and they all compete with each other to win the Quidditch Cup each year. I want to be a chaser next year. I’d do it this year, but only second years and above are allowed.”

James looked excited. He talked to Peter all the way through lunch about how the teams were and the standings of the house teams. Lily rolled her eyes. Stupid really, all these sports, she thought. She turned to talk to Remus about something else but found him talking just as animatedly about Quidditch as the rest of the boys. Hmph.

After lunch, the five of them all went outside for Herbology. The greenhouse that the class was taught in was very large and sweltering hot. All around them were lush plants that made Lily feel like she was in a jungle. These plants were far more interesting than ordinary Muggle ones. These plants snapped at you if you got too close, or had shimmering leaves, or flowers that changes colors ever minute. A young witch dressed in a green robe with soil streaks all over it made her way to the front of the room. She beamed at the class.

“Good day all. My name is Professor Vera Verde. But, if you want, just call me Vera. I find ‘Professor Verde’ to be so stuffy. Now then, lets get started, shall we? Everyone take a plant and a gardening pot, and we will start to replant these Devil’s Snare seedlings. Careful now, if they start to squeeze your fingers too tightly, just hold them up to the sunlight… that‘s it.”

An hour later, they came out of the greenhouse, glad to be out of the humid heat. The Devil’s Snare seedlings had managed to get a good grip on James’ fingers as he was talking to Sirius, and James was now nursing several bruised knuckles. After climbing through the portrait of the Fat Lady to get into the common room (the password to get in was Swedish Shortsnout), Remus went straight to his homework, and the rest sat and talked about the first day.

“Really, Remus, it’s the first day back. Why are you studying so much?” asked Sirius, who was bewildered by his friend’s bookish nature.

“You know Jigger gave us homework. We are supposed to look up four key ingredients that are in most potions, and write an essay about them. So far I only have a bezoar, and I need to find three more.”

Sirius yawned. “So what? The essay is due in a week, just relax and come talk to us. However, it was just like him to give us homework on the first day back, the git. And how dare he make a fool out of me in front of the class. ‘This is a perfect example of what not to do’, honestly. And on top of that, he has that Snape fool licking his arse every twelve seconds.”

“Sirius! Watch your language!” exclaimed James in mock outrage, “we have a lady present!”

Lily snorted. “Hmph, a lady. Well, if you four are going to be childish like this, I am going to my room. Besides, I haven’t gotten to know any of my roommates, so there. Good night, boys.”

All the boys waved her off, and continued making rude jokes about the teachers and other students. Shaking her head, Lily climbed the stairs to her dormitory. In the circular room were four other girls, two of them, who looked exactly alike, were doing homework, and the other two were talking. Upon hearing the door close, the girls looked up.

“Hello. Your name is Lily, right?” Lily nodded, and the girl continued, “I’m Arabella Figg. This is my twin sister Annie, this is Julia Carlino, and this here is Anita Warren.”

“I’m Lily, nice to meet all of you.”

Arabella spoke up again. “Of course, I mean, we are going to be spending the next seven years together, so we might as well get along now. Not that you don’t know anyone, I’ve seen you all day with those boys. How you can tolerate someone who transfigures a feather into a tarantula is beyond me.”

Lily giggled a bit, “James has always been like that, he does things without meaning to. I remember one time, he was over at my house and he thought that it would be funny to put a cricket in my glass of water. Only, what he didn’t know was that the glass of water was my sister, Petunia’s. She took one sip, saw the cricket and screamed her bloody head off. Of course, James apologized to her several times after she lost her voice and couldn’t tell him off.”

All the girls were laughing at Lily’s story. Anita Warren, a plain girl with brown hair and glasses asked “So you’ve known James since before Hogwarts, I take it?

Lily nodded. “Uh huh. But I haven’t always known that he was a wizard… you see, this summer…” she started to tell them her story about the summer, and how she discovered that she was a witch.

When she finished, Julia Carlino, who was a tall, very pretty girl with thick dark hair and light blue eyes, said, “wow, that’s so cool. I’m really sorry about your sister though, I mean, how sad to be left behind.”

Arabella, Anita and Annie all nodded in agreement. Lily hung her head guiltily, but as soon as Annie changed the subject, she forgot all about Petunia’s anger and jealousy. The girls talked for the rest of the night (the homework lay forgotten).

The next morning, Lily joined the boys in the Great Hall for breakfast. After quick introductions to the Gryffindor girls, they ate breakfast and then went down to their first class of the day: Defense Against the Dark Arts.

“Julie’s told me all about this guy. Professor Moody is his name. He’s also an Auror, which is a dark wizard catcher.” explained Remus enthusiastically.

“Oh, kind of like policemen” remarked Lily.

“What are those?” asked Remus, confused. “Never mind. Anyways, Moody is supposed to be a great teacher. I am really excited for his lesson.”

The class waited in silence for Professor Moody. After about five minutes, just when people were getting restless, he barged in, startling many of the students.

“Ok, these are the rules,” he growled, “no talking unless I speak to you, no stupid excuses for why homework is late, and you WILL PAY ATTENTION! I am here to teach you about the Dark Arts, and how to defend yourself if needed. Most of this class will be hands on experience, so PAY ATTENTION!”

Lily looked around. Many of her classmates appeared uneasy about such an introduction. Sirius was looking hesitant about “hand on experience” that involved any sort of curses, and James jumped every time Moody shouted. Peter was shaking in his seat, obviously scared out of his wits. Remus, however, was rapt with attention and taking copious notes.

The lesson proceeded with everyone taking notes, jumping every time Moody’s voice barked. At the end of the hour, most of the class practically ran out the door.

Transfiguration started that day as well. Professor McGonagall was just as strict as Moody, but without any of his ability to instill fear in a class. They set out to turn matchsticks into needles, and by the end of the lesson, James was the only one to get it right.

After about a week, everyone knew the routine and had settled in. “Well, it seems as if everyone has found their niche,” remarked Arabella Figg, “James is an excellent transfigurer, Lily can charm anything--”

“Or anyone” joked Sirius

“Oh, shut it you. Anyways, Remus over here is mad about DADA, and you are good at Herbology Sirius, and I am a potions master.” Arabella concluded with a flourish.

“And what am I good at?” asked Peter, obviously not wanting to feel left out.

“You, Peter…er, you are a great person!” Arabella supplied weakly. Lily and James grinned at each other, and Sirius had to work his face in order to keep a straight expression.

“You may be a great potions student, Arabella, but not as good as that Snape git. Oooh, I’d like to get him for something one of these days.” remarked Sirius evilly.

“You’d better watch is Sirius,” warned Arabella, “remember, he knows stuff seventh years don’t.”

Sirius nodded, his eyes glazing over with a fantasy in his head, “But think about how good it would be to nail him.”

Everyone just sort of shrugged. Sirius was mostly talk anyways, never really did anything.

One morning at breakfast about two weeks later, Remus got an owl. Not that that was strange, everyone got post. Remus opened the letter, his face fell and he stopped eating.

“What’s wrong Remus?” asked Lily.

“Oh, my mum’s ill. I have to leave school for about a week to take care of her because my dad’s out of town.”

“Well, I hope she feels better soon” said Lily sympathetically, “send her our regards.”

That night while Remus was packing, Lily and her friends sat in the common room. James and Sirius were playing gobstones, Peter was building an Exploding Snap card house, which was smoking at the corners. Arabella and Lily were sitting in squashy armchairs by the fire talking. Lily was facing a window, and she could see a nearly full moon. Tomorrow it would be swollen into a perfect circle.

After about the first week of school, Arabella had floated into their group of friends. She was a fun person, liked to joke around with Sirius and James, she studied at night with Remus, and was kind to Peter. She also like doing girl stuff too, which was a bonus for Lily who had been hanging around boys all the time. Right now, Arabella and Lily were taking a quiz in Teen Witch Weekly.

“Um, A. I don’t think that my best friend would hex me if I stole her hair drying potion.” answered Lily thoughtfully.

“Oh yes I would,” remarked James sarcastically, who had overheard the question, “my hair drying potion is the one thing that makes my hair behave.” He fluffed up his black hair, which had always stuck up all over the place.

Arabella laughed, and marked Lily’s answer with a quill. Sirius, who loved to make mischief, had quietly snuck up behind her and grabbed the magazine.

“Hey!” she shouted in surprise, “Sirius Black, you give that back right now!”

“Oi! Let me have a look first. James, Peter, c’mere!” He flipped the magazine back to the cover, where a pretty witch was modeling the latest fashion robes. “How to tell if your boyfriend is cheating--without using Veritaserum. Tricks to get him that are better than a love potion. Best friend stories inside. Your most embarrassing moments, caught on camera-- moving pictures on page 93. This stuff if for teenage witches. You’re only eleven.”

“So,” retorted Arabella, “reading isn’t against the law!”

Sirius was about to make a smart comment about how reading should be against the law when Remus came downstairs. His bag was packed and he was ready to go.

“Alright, I’m off,” he said, “a carriage is taking me to Hogsmeade Station to get the Hogwarts Express home.”

Everyone stopped what they were doing. Peter paid for his lack of attention by having his Exploding Snap house blow up.

James rose. “See you next week, Remus, I really hope your mom feels better.”

Remus grinned. “Thanks guys. I really gotta go though.”

Lily and everyone followed Remus out through the Gryffindor common room. After everyone said their goodbyes, they returned to their activities.

The week Remus was gone went by without much incident, unless Sirius getting his tenth detention from Professor Jigger counted as an incident. When Remus got back, everyone was happy. Without him helping everyone with their Defense Against the Dark Arts homework, their grades suffered.

One day during November, Sirius plopped down at the dinner table with a huge grin on his face. “Remember what I said about nailing Snape?” Everyone nodded, “well, I think I have him for something.”

[A/N: What will Sirius do to Snape? What is it that Snape is doing? Stay tuned for the next chapter and find out!]

3. The Best of Friends-Chapter 3

First Year (cont.)

“Remember what I said about nailing Snape?” Everyone nodded. “Well, I think I have him for something. I think that he’s stealing potion ingredients from Jigger.”

Lily looked at him, “How can you be sure?”

James added, “Plus why do you care? You hate the boy.”

But Arabella leaned in and said, “Tell me more. If you want to get Snape, I’m in.”

Sirius’ smile grew even broader. “Thanks Arabella. Ok, I think that after that Forgetfulness Potion last week Snape went to talk to Jigger. Probably to brag, the slimy git. Anyway, I was cleaning up the dragon liver juice that I spilled on the floor and I saw Professor Jigger leave. Snape looked around--I don’t think he saw me there--and then started rummaging through cabinets.”

Peter cut Sirius off, “But that’s the student store cupboard. We are allowed to go in there.”

“Yeah, I know, but then he went into Jigger’s office. I waited for about five minutes until he came back out. He said something like ‘he doesn’t have it’ and left. I’ll bet anything he was trying to find something for one of his bloody potions that only Jigger would have. And did you know that stealing from here is punishable by explosion?” Sirius gave an evil grin.

“You mean expulsion, Sirius,” corrected Remus.

“Whatever. The point is Snape could be gone forever! We just need to catch him stealing something from Jigger, report it and BOOM! Snape is out of our hair.”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” said Lily uneasily, “I mean, it could go seriously wrong.”

But James, Remus, Peter and Arabella nodded enthusiastically about Sirius’ plan. James voiced the opinion that they would need to figure our a way to catch Snape, and then they would be all set. Ignoring her best instincts, Lily agreed to go along with the plans. The group finished eating and walked upstairs to the common room, with Sirius leading the way. He was walking up the stair backwards, chatting excitedly about the plans.

“…just imagine, us going to Professor Dumbledore and saying ‘sir, we are aware that slimy Severus Snape has been stealing from poor Professor Jigger’s private store of potion ingredients‘… what? Do I have something on my face?” Sirius looked at everyone’s now horrified expressions and turned around.

Snape was standing on the landing at the top of the staircase. His face wore an expression of mixed fury and… something unreadable.

“You,” Sirius growled, though his pale face showed horror at being caught talking about the other boy, “shouldn’t you be in your common room?”

“Ah yes, I should be, Black.” Snape replied coolly. “But, as you are not a prefect, what are you going to do about it?”

Sirius scowled. If it was possible, his loathing of Snape intensified even more with that last comment. Snape smirked, knowing that he had irked Sirius and swept past the group.

“Don’t worry, Sirius. We’ll get him… just wait.”

The first snow of the year came in the beginning of December. The weather made everything colder. Arabella and Lily could be seen giving warming potions and charms to the boys in order to keep colds at bay. James was too stubborn to take anything that the girls offered, and ended up having to go to the nurse for some Pepper Up Potion. Seeing James with steam shooting out of his ears was so amusing, Lily found it hard not to say “I told you so!” But after that, James’ cold went away and he let Lily perform a warming charm without complaint.

About a week before the Christmas holidays, a list was passed around for students to sign saying whether or not they would be staying at Hogwarts over the holiday. Thinking it would be nice to be with her friends and family over the break, Lily wrote her parents asking if she could invite them over. Two days later, she got her answer:

Dearest Lily:

Of course we would love to have your new friends over for the holiday. Petunia was adamantly against it but I’m sure she’ll have a change of heart once she gets to know them. I suggest that your friends write to their parents asking for permission. Otherwise, we will see you in a week. Much love, and we miss you!

Love always~ Mummy

P.S: This owl post is so strange--don’t you think? Or perhaps you’re used to it.

Lily bounded up the stairs and woke up Arabella.

“Guess what?!? You can stay! Everyone can stay! You’re all coming over!”

Arabella rubbed her eyes and then grinned. “Well, come on then, let’s go and tell the boys!”

“But they’re in the boys dormitory. We’re not allowed in there!”

But Arabella had already dragged Lily over to where the four boys lay sleeping. She climbed onto Sirius’ bed and shook him. He just rolled over and continued to sleep. Arabella grinned wickedly and muttered the Aquatiqus spell. Suddenly water was dumped onto Sirius’ head. That got him up. He sat bolt upright in his bed, sopping wet.

“Urgh!” he gurgled, “Arabella, what was that for?!?”

She giggled, “Time to get up! Lily’s got some good news.”

Arabella proceeded to bounce on Peter’s bed while Lily prodded James and Remus awake. Once the boys’ eyes were open, Lily told them about the invitation to stay over the holidays.

“So you’ll all be staying at my house and since James lives down the road, we can visit his parents on Boxing Day. Won’t that be lovely?”

Everyone was really excited about staying at Lily’s house except Remus, who was looking downcast.

“I’m sorry Lily, but I don’t think I’ll be able to make it. My…my parents really wanted me home for Christmas this year. Maybe some other time. I’m really sorry.”

Lily’s face fell. “Oh, its ok. Yeah, maybe some other time.” She really had been hoping everyone would want to stay over. Remus gave her an apologetic smile and looked down at his feet.

Something is up, she thought, I don’t know what, but something is up with him.

It was freezing at the Hogsmeade Station. The group waited in the snow impatiently for the Hogwarts Express to arrive so they could thaw out. Finally after what seemed like forever, the scarlet steam engine chugged into view. There was a huge scramble to get onto the train and then they were off. The whole day was spent chatting and playing games. When they arrived at platform 9¾, a wizened old wizard them go through the barrier two at a time. “As not to scare them Muggles. Now get in line!” was what the man said when James bugged him about the wait.

Everyone said their goodbyes to Remus, whose parents were waiting for him. Lily spotted her own parents above the sea of students and ran over to them.

“Mum! Daddy! I missed you so much!”

Mr. Evans gathered her up in his arms in a tight hug. “My girl, we’ve missed you as well. Now, lets meet your charming friends.” He smiled at the group who had made their way over.

“Oh! Well,” she started gesturing at them, “this is Sirius Black, Arabella Figg, Peter Pettigrew and of course you know James.”

“Pleased to meet you” they chorused as James said, “Nice to see you Mr. and Mrs. Evans.”

“Likewise!”, said Mrs. Evans, smiling. “Now, let’s head out. Lily’s father has borrowed a car from a friend. We weren’t sure all of us could fit into our family’s car. Got all your things? Alright, lets go!”

Everyone piled into the car, which was in fact large, enough for everyone. It only took about twenty minutes to get to Lily’s house. She led the way into the sitting room, where an enormous Christmas tree had been decorated. On the couch sat Petunia, reading. Upon hearing her sister and her friends enter the room she looked up.

“Oh, it’s you. Have a good term?” she asked snidely. “I see you’ve brought your freak friends. And oh my, is that James Potter? Well, I always knew he was a bit off.”

Lily could feel her face burning. “Petunia, you know very well that we are not freaks, so kindly shut up. If you don’t have anything nice to say, we will leave. Besides, you guys, I want to show you my room and where you will be staying.”

The group filed out of the room and climbed up the stairs.

“This is my room,” said Lily, gesturing towards the tidy space, “Arabella and I will be sleeping here. You,” she pointed at the boys, “will be sleeping the in the guest room.”

They followed Lily down the hall to the guest room, which had a bed and two cots set up.

“I get the bed!” yelled James. There was a mad dash to claim the bed. Arabella and Lily looked at each other.

“Boys!” they moaned.

The next day, Christmas Eve, Lily and Arabella helped Mrs. Evans bake for the family dinner. They set the shepards’ pie in the oven and then settled in the living room to watch James, Sirius and Peter’s snowball fight in the garden. Dinner that night was the most fun Lily had had in a long time. The food was delicious and at the end of dessert, Sirius set off a round of Filibuster’s No Heat, Wet Start Fireworks. Full and very sleepy, Lily and her friends trudged upstairs while her mother and Petunia cleaned the kitchen.

“Wake up! Come on, get up! Happy Christmas!”

Lily was awakened by the sound of James’ voice. She got up before anyone could pour water on her. She was surprised to see that only James was there.

“Happy Christmas to you as well,” she said groggily, “where is everyone?”

“Downstairs opening the gifts their parents sent them. Come on, get up!”

Lily slid out of bed and followed James down the stairs. In the family room sat Arabella, Sirius and Peter. Lily could hear her parents in the kitchen and she supposed Petunia was still upstairs.

Lily found that her friends had given her magnificent gifts. Sirius gave her a book, “Olde and Forgotten Bewitchments and Charmes”, James had given her a silver charm bracelet. From Arabella, an enchanted diary that only opened if Lily spoke the password and Peter had given her a box of Chocolate Frogs. In turn, Lily had given each of them a set of stationary with their initials embossed onto the parchment, and a brand new quill.

“Merlin Lily, these are great! Thanks!” exclaimed Peter.

Just then, Lily’s mother walked into the room. “James, your mother called. They decided to visit a family friend and won’t be here to see you tomorrow. They dropped off your present, though. Its right there, underneath the tree.”

James walked over to where a package lay under the tree. He sat back down and tore off the wrapping paper. He opened the box and held up a something made of silvery fabric. James shook it out and then he realized it was a cloak.

“Ooh, James, its so pretty!” admired Lily.

“Hang on, there’s a note,” he said, noticing the card that was pinned to the hood of the cloak. James opened the envelope and read the note inside:

“Dear James:

Happy Christmas. We hope you like your gift. It has been handed down from generation to generation on your mother’s side of the family. The invisibility cloak you hold in your hands once belonged to Jack the Giant Killer, and now it belongs to you. Happy Christmas, and we love you very much.

Mum and Father”

“Merlin.” whispered James.

“That’s amazing,” exclaimed Sirius, “just think of what you could do with this cloak! Hey!” his eyes shined malevolently, “you can use this to spy on Snape, this is perfect!”

“I suppose, but Sirius, maybe not right away. We still need to think of a plan, remember?” James was reluctant to let it be used by someone other than himself. If Sirius was disappointed, he didn’t show it. James did however, hand it over to his friends to try on.

While Peter was admiring James’ gift, James walked over to the Evans’ fireplace, where pictures adorned the mantel. He smiled as he looked at a picture of Lily and himself taken when they had been five years old. It had been at James’ birthday party and there were both wearing party hats, their arms around each other’s shoulders. Lily had chocolate frosting smudged on her cheek but they both had huge smiles on their faces.

“Hey, Lily-- look at this,” he gently lifted the photo from its place and brought it to the group.

“Goodness, look at how little we were!” she exclaimed.

“How fascinating,” mocked Sirius, “c’mon, I want to do something else.”

Lily laughed and threw a pillow at him. This started a furious pillow fight, which only ended when the room was filled with floating feathers.

****

Knowing that they had to go back to school made it hard to leave. Lily’s parents drove them to King’s Cross and made a proper fuss over their daughter and her friends. Sirius shot Lily a pained look but Lily knew he was loving the attention.

“Oh look Mum, its Remus. We’ve got to go. Yes, I’ll write. Ok, bye now.” she waved them off and then led the group over to where Remus was waiting for a few fifth years to got through the barrier. He looked tired but very happy to see his friends.

“Hey guys. How was Christmas?”

“Great. Guess what James got from his parents? He got a…” started Arabella.

“I’ll tell him on the train.” interrupted James, who received a curious look from everyone. For some reason he felt that sharing the information about his gift was something to be done in the privacy of the train compartment. They got a space at the end of the train and spent an uneventful day on the way back to Hogwarts.

Much to Sirius’ disappointment, classes started the following day. Fortunately, they hadn’t had any homework over the holiday but the lack of magical training made classes difficult. Potions was the traditional nightmare but Sirius found that if he paid attention to Snape and what he was doing, the class moved along much more quickly.

In Defense Against the Dark Arts later that afternoon, the class was horrified to learn that Moody was to be performing mild curses on them.

“Is he mad? We’re only first years!” whispered Julia Carlino, her blue eyes wide with fright. Arabella was as pale as a ghost and both Sirius and James looked as if they were about to lose the lunch they had just eaten.

Moody cleared the desks with a wave of his wand. One by one he called up the students and gave them a curse they had to block. And one by one the first years fell victim to the curses they unsuccessfully blocked. By the time Remus had to walk to the center of the room, Sirius had danced the tango, Lily had cat ears sprouting out of head (much to James’ amusement) and the Figg twins had their cropped brown hair turned long and white. Remus glanced at his classmates, who all looked worse for the wear and held up his wand to signal he was ready.

“Rictusempra!” bellowed Professor Moody.

At the same time, Remus shouted “Expelliarmus” and dodged the curse. Moody’s wand flew into the air and Remus caught it, grinning like mad. James gave an admiring whoop, while Sirius and Peter just had their mouths hanging open.

“Well done, Lupin. Very well done.” Moody growled. He even had the decency to look impressed.

“How did you do that?” asked Lily later on. They were still goggling at Remus’ performance today.

“Julie told me,” he said, referring to his sister who had already graduated, “she remembered Moody giving them the same surprise practical her first year. I’d read about disarming spells but when she told me about the practical, I had her actually teach it to me. Julie said that we should officially learn it next year.”

In a fit of boredom the next day, Sirius stole a package of Albino Sandalius seeds. Found mostly by oceans, Professor Verde had told them that if eaten the seeds would save the eater from jellyfish stings. As she talked, Lily saw Sirius slip the package into the pocket of his robes. However, the incident was pushed out of her mind when she noticed a growing Devil’s Snare plant start to crawl up her arm.

****

At breakfast a week later, as everyone was reviving from slumber over jelly and toast, they were startled by a boom and then a shout of surprise from the Slytherin table. There sat Snape with jelly covering his face, his robes and his hair. A look of shock spread across his features that Lily would remember for years to come. While everyone else was confused as to what had just happened, Sirius was shaking with suppressed laughter. And only then did Lily remember the Sandalius seeds and the effect they had on jelly…

“Sirius, what did you do?” Lily asked slowly.

“What do you mean?” asked Sirius innocently. However, he quelled when she shot him a death look.

“Oh, that. I thought that it would be interesting to study the effect Albino Sandalius seeds have when ingested with jelly. So I planted the seeds into Snape’s breakfast. Well, now we know, I suppose,” replied Sirius mischievously, “I do feel bad for him though. He’ll have to wash his hair to get the jelly out.”

Everyone except Lily laughed at this. As they walked out of the Great Hall they unfortunately ran into Snape, who was walking out as well.

“Morning, Snape,” Sirius smirked, “did you enjoy breakfast? With all the jelly in your hair, you can save it and eat your lunch in potions.”

Snape’s eyes reduced to slits as he glared at Sirius. “It was you, wasn’t it? Well Black, you just wait and see what’s coming to you.” He pushed past the group of Gryffindors.

****

That day in Double Potions, Sirius paid even closer attention to Snape than usual. Jigger was in an unusually good mood that day. He even awarded Gryffindor points when Arabella correctly answered a question he asked her.

“He’s hoarding something, I’m sure of it.” said Sirius as they walked to the common room.

“Who?” asked Lily, although she thought she knew the answer.

“Snape, of course! I saw him stuffing ingredients down his robes all day. I wonder what he’s doing.”

They reached the common room. Everyone flopped down into chairs in front of the fire except for James, who ran upstairs to the boys’ dormitory. He reappeared about thirty seconds later with the invisibility cloak.

“Well, there’s one way to find out. We’ll sneak out of here, go to the Slytherin common room and see what Snape is up to.”

“Oh, that’s a fine idea,” observed Remus, “just how are we going to find the Slytherin common room? And what about a password, we’ll need that as well. For another thing, I’m sure that Snape is not going to be brewing whatever potion he’s got going on right in front of everyone.”

James looked hurt. Remus had shot down every one of his ideas.

“Well, let’s see if you’ve got a better plan,” snapped Lily, coming to James’ defense, “if we’re going to do this everything must be thought out perfectly.”

“What if,” Peter said slowly, “we send some sort of note to Snape telling him to meet us in the potions room.”

Everyone laughed.

“Oh yes, like that’ll work! Why would Snape come to see us?” chortled Arabella.

Remus sat up, looking inspired. “Actually, that’s a brilliant plan. We will send some note with a school owl telling Snape to meet us in the potions room. And then we sign it as Professor Jigger. I’m sure that Snape will take the opportunity to steal stuff then, don’t you think? And we’ll be under James’ invisibility cloak, so he won’t see us! When should we do this?”

“Next week,” replied James firmly, “that will give us time to think of a believable letter and to send it.”

Remus looked hesitant. “Er, next week? Can’t we do it some other time?”

Sirius looked up. “No, we have to do it then. We might not get another chance. Why?”

Remus looked down, “Never mind, it’s not important.” He stared into the fire as if lost in thought.

There it is again, thought Lily, who recognized the look Remus had on his face as the same one he gave her before the Christmas holidays. She wondered if there was something her friend wasn’t telling her.

James and Sirius had noticed, too. They weren’t sure what Remus wasn’t saying but James was sure that it was something big. Sirius agreed with James that they should both try and find out what was wrong with Remus.

****

“Werewolves,” said Moody. The class had moved from defense against curses to common dark creatures, “now, who can tell me about werewolves?”

As usual, Remus raised his hand. “Sir, werewolves are humans that have been bitten by another werewolf. They lead normal lives until the full moon. It is then that they transform into werewolves themselves, and seek human flesh. The werewolf is killed by silver, which is it’s only enemy.” he shuddered, as if repulsed.

“Good, Lupin. Five points to Gryffindor.” growled Moody.

As the class took notes on werewolves, it dawned on James. Remus was a werewolf! All the pieces of the puzzle were there. He wouldn’t go near Lily when she had her charm bracelet on. He was gone whenever there was a full moon and came back as soon as it was gone. There was just one more thing he needed to check. Quietly, he tore a piece from the sheet of parchment he was taking notes on. He scrawled a note to Sirius saying to meet him in the library after class and passed it to him. Sirius read it and gave his friend a look as if to say “have you gone mad?” and James mouthed back “Just do it.” Sirius nodded.

After class the two boys shook off the rest of the group and raced to the library. James still wouldn’t tell Sirius why they needed to be there but as soon as they walked in, James started searching for a lunar calendar.

“Will you please tell me why we’re here instead of eating lunch?” Sirius nearly shouted, earning him a reproving stare from Madame Pince, the librarian.

“I’m looking to see what stage the moon will be in next week. I think that then we’ll know what Remus isn’t telling us,” replied James, who was still scanning books.

“What?” asked a bewildered Sirius.

“I think--and this is going to sound crazy--but I think Remus is a werewolf. Here,” he shoved the notes they had taken that day at Sirius, “read this and think about it. When has Remus ever touched the silver candlesticks in our dormitory? And he’s always gone during the full moon. Remember Christmas? And here: next week there will be a full moon! I’ll bet anything Remus will say his mum is ill or something and he’ll leave.”

James watched as Sirius’ eyes widened. “Merlin, you’re right! Come on, we’ll need to talk to him.”

They raced down to the Great Hall, preparing to talk to Remus.

4. Best of Friends Chapter 4

First year (cont.)

Gasping for breath, James and Sirius pulled open the door leading to the Great Hall. At the Gryffindor table, Lily, Remus, Peter and Arabella were all having lunch. Just as James suspected, Remus had just finished reading a letter. He set it on the table and announced “Mum’s ill again. I’ll need to leave next week.”

Sirius and James glanced at each other. James cleared his throat and everyone looked up.

“Oh, hello James, Sirius! I didn’t see you both there,” said Remus.

“Er, Rem, can we have a word outside with you? Its important.” asked Sirius quietly--which was odd, as Sirius never did anything quietly.

Remus pushed away from the table and followed the two boys out of the Great Hall. James could feel the curious stares of his friends on his back as they walked out of the room. Sirius turned the corner to an empty corridor and beckoned for James and Remus to come.

“Remus, what exactly is wrong with your Mum? She gets sick every month,” asked James. He watched as Remus’ face grew pale and he felt terrible about confronting his friend like this.

Remus started to speak slowly “Well, my mother gets awful colds every month.” It was a weak excuse and he knew it.

Sirius nodded. “And the ‘colds’ seem to come during the full moon. I see. Oh, by the way Remus. I forgot to show you, look at what my Mum sent me.” Sirius held out a ring, made entirely of silver. He held it out to Remus, who backed away pale and sweaty. It was a cruel thing to do to his friend, but necessary to confirm the two boys’ suspicions.

Remus’ eyes were wide with fright and also terrible sadness. “Look, I suppose you know my secret, and you’re right--I am a werewolf.” He looked down at the floor and his shoulders shook.

James spoke up softly. “Why didn’t you tell us? Why lie about it?”

Remus looked up. “Are you mad? This is the first time I’ve ever had friends. As soon as people find about my…condition, they run screaming in the other direction. I wanted to be normal for the first time since I was bitten. I…I wanted to be accepted. I am sorry about lying to you and the rest, and I understand if you don’t want to associate with werewolf boy anymore.”

Sirius laughed, “And now I ask you, mate--have you gone mad? Why on earth why would we stop being your friend? Besides, it’ll be cool to have a werewolf for a friend. We can scare the knickers off anyone who comes along.”

A look of enormous relief came over Remus. It seemed as if a huge weight had been lifted, and he grinned. “Really? I mean you really don’t care that I am different?”

James shrugged, “Eh, aren’t we all? Look at Sirius over here.”

Sirius laughed and lightly punched James on the shoulder. Remus snorted and said, “Come on, let’s go back to lunch. Oh, and I don’t mind if you tell Lily and the rest of the group, they ought to know. But you mustn’t tell anyone else, or let it get out. When Dumbledore accepted me, I was sworn to secrecy.”

James and Sirius nodded in agreement, and then they headed back to lunch. Surprisingly, Lily and Peter took the news about Remus quite well. Both confessed to him that they had an idea that something was wrong, but weren’t sure as to what. Arabella, however, was not as accepting. She began to avoid Remus and didn’t hang around Lily for a while. After about four days, however, Arabella approached him and apologised for her behaviour. Besides, she told Lily later on, Annie, Julia and Anita were no fun to be around.

At breakfast that Friday, James, Sirius and Peter were busy concocting ideas for the letter to Snape.

“Er, how about this: ‘Dear Severus, I have a question for you. Meet me in the Potions room after classes. Signed Professor Jigger.’” suggested James.

Lily sighed, “Honestly, do you even know how to write a letter. That doesn’t even sound believable, it sounds creepy. Try this.” She grabbed the parchment and wrote in her tidy handwriting:

Mr. Snape:

I have noticed your dedication and talent in my class. Please meet me in my office on Wednesday night to discuss some extra curricular work for further developing our skills. Please arrive at 10:00.

Thank you,

Professor Arsenius Jigger

“Brilliant Lily! The only problem now is to get it to look like his writing,” said Remus.

Lily beamed, “Well, that shouldn’t be a problem. I just need a sample of his writing. Arabella, can you get him to sign a note? He’ll do it for you. Next to Snape, you are his favourite student.”

Arabella nodded, “Sure. What are you planning on doing?”

Lily smiled, “You’ll see.”

****

“Professor Jigger, my parents want me to ask my teachers for a progress note of sorts for all my classes. Would it be possible for you to write a note to them telling them of my development in Potions?” Arabella asked later on that day.

Jigger looked down at Arabella. After a few seconds, he held out his hand, indicating she should give him something to write on. Jigger wrote the note and gave it back to Arabella. She thanked him and went back to boiling her eyesight-sharpening draft.

****

“Here you go Lily,” said Arabella breathlessly, handing the note to her friend. It was after dinner and everyone was crowded around Lily to see what she would do. She arranged the letter she had written earlier that day underneath the note written by Jigger. Lily pointed her wand and the top sheet and muttered “Mano Forgerus”. Instantly the writing from Jigger’s letter sank into the paper. Lily removed the now clean parchment and everyone saw that the letter that she had written was now in Jigger’s handwriting. Sirius looked like he could’ve kissed Lily.

“That was brilliant! It looks just like Jigger’s writing. How did you do that?” he exclaimed.

Lily grinned, “Oh, that? It was in the book you gave me for Christmas. Its called the Counterfeiter’s Hand Charm, and what it does is bewitch the writing to look like another’s. Now, lets go send this to Snape.”

The owlery was filled with owls sleeping, flitting around, or crunching on vole bones. They debated on using Remus’ owl, Athena or a school owl, but in the end James pointed out a school owl would be much more believable, as the letter did come from a teacher. After sending the owl on its way, the group trudged back to the common room.

As expected, Remus left the following Monday. Before departing, however, he gave everyone a warning to be careful during their “mission”. After wishing them the best of luck and telling them to write saying how it went, Remus left for home.

“Poor Remus” sighed Arabella, “imagine being a werewolf.”

They had planned on Wednesday to execute their plan and when Wednesday came around, everyone was jittery and nervous. At last, the full moon rose and James ran upstairs to get the cloak.

“Hang on,” said Sirius as everyone began to huddle together to get under the cloak, “there is not enough room for all of us. Only about three can go, and even then it’s a tight squeeze. So, who is going to go?”

“I will!” chorused James, Lily, Peter and Arabella.

“Well, we can’t all go,” said Sirius irritably, “Ok, James, you are going, its your cloak. Obviously, I am going, and Peter--you as well.”

Peter’s face shone with happiness--he was hardly picked to do anything.

“Wait! What about Lily and I?” cried Arabella indignantly.

Sirius and James looked at her like the answer was obvious.

“You’re girls” they said flatly.

Arabella looked furious. Sensing trouble, the three boys threw on the cloak and walked out of the common room. As the portrait closed, they could hear Arabella screaming in a rage.

They crept along the silent halls, pausing every so often to make sure they were in the right hall--everything looked so different in the dark. Finally, the boys reached the Potions room. James checked his watch; it was 9:45.

At precisely 10:00, Snape crept into the classroom. He began to pace around the room, checking his watch every two minutes. After about ten minutes, he stopped and looked around. Then, Snape tiptoed into Jigger’s office and closed the door. He came back into the classroom and having finally decide that Jigger wasn’t coming, left with his robe pockets fuller than they were coming in.

James, Peter and Sirius quietly snuck into Jigger’s office. Sirius came out from underneath the cloak and looked at the massive supply of potions ingredients neatly stacked on the shelves. It was lucky that Jigger was so meticulous about his supplies, because otherwise Sirius would not have been able to spot which ingredients had been touched.

“Looked like Snape took essence of belladonna, lionfish spine, hmm, dragon liver juice and glum bumble spleen. What does he want with this stuff?” whispered Sirius.

“Who knows?” James whispered back, “we’ll ask Arabella when we get back to the common room.”

Sirius ducked underneath the cloak again and they crept back to the common room.

Fortunately, the Fat Lady was in her portrait, and Peter only had to whisper “tabby cat” to get in. The boys climbed through the portrait hole and found both girls still sitting up. Arabella was still fuming, but when Lily spotted them, she threw her arms first around James, then Peter and Sirius.

“Oh! I was so worried! I thought what if Snape saw you? What if you got hurt?” she cried as she gripped each boy. After realizing what she was doing, she pulled away, her face almost as red as her hair.

“Lily, don’t be so worried! We’re all fine, and more importantly we know what Snape had been taking. Arabella, what does essence of--” but Sirius was cut off by Arabella’s furious answer.

“well, if you don’t know, I’m not going to tell you! After all, what do I know? I am only a girl!” and with that, she turned on her heel and ran up the staircase. Sirius looked as if a tidal wave had washed over him.

You sort of deserved that,” said Lily quietly, “it was unfair, what you did.”

James turned on Lily, “What? You too? What is this? The female rights movement?”

She shook her head. “No, I didn’t really care to go, but Arabella is my friend as well as you boys, and you picking Peter instead of Arabella just because he is a boy is well, unfair. I’m simply defending a friend, just as I would any of you three. Or Remus.” she put in as an afterthought. “Goodness! It’s 11:00! We need to be in bed! Goodnight you three.” The boys watched Lily climb the stairs, and then followed suit only a few minutes later.

“Lily’s right, Sirius,” said James as he climbed into bed, “We really should apologize to Arabella.”

“Isn’t Lily always right?” murmured Sirius from his bed, “We’ll apologize in the morning.”