"Is that you, Lily?" I whisper as the door closes in the broom cupboard. It's dark, and I can't see anything at all.
"Yeah." The broom cupboard is tiny, so in order for us to face one another, we're chest to chest, or more her face is to my neck beause I'm at least six inches taller than her. "This is... cozy...," she says, giggling as she puts a hand on my chest. I struggle for air at the gesture.
Oh, she has no idea what she does to me.
"So what were you going to say?" she asks, brushing her fingertips along my jawline.
Lily, you'd better stop right now before you kill me.
"Uh," I say, struggling for words, "Um, so we need to whisper, understand? If anybody hears us, bloody hell, Lily, I'm in for it."
"That's why we're here, isn't it? Because nobody would be down here, nobody has Quiddich practice for a few hours. We're safe here."
"Exactly."
"So, carry on with your story, please."
"Oh, right. So, you know Moony?" I whisper. I can almost feel her rolling her eyes.
"Yes, smart one, I know Moony."
"He's a werewolf. And he changes into a wolf at every full moon. He's wild, he's vicious, and he's dangerous. He'd kill anyone who crossed his path. Every full moon, Sirius and I, we take him down to the Shrieking Shack-"
"Wait, hold it, I sort of suspected something weird was going on, you know, the scars on his face and the monthly disappearences of three of the four Mauraders, but the Shrieking Shack?"
"Yeah. We spread the rumor it's haunted to keep people away-"
"James, you are enough of an idiot to stay with Moony?!? When he's in the wolf form?"
"No, Lily, Padfoot and I, we're Anamagi. I'm a stag, he's a big black dog. We stop him from leaving the Shrieking Shack. We're safer from him in an animal form, werewolves are more dangerous to humans than they are to animals."
"Oh." We don't talk for a second as she's thinking through all the details.
"You... you're not surprised at all?"
"No. Not really. My opinion of him hasn't changed at all except for the fact that now his nickname makes more sense now."
"Moony," I repeat subconciously, "Yeah, I do suppose that might be a bit obvious. I should talk to him about that." She giggles.
"Wait a second, you said you're a stag?"
"Yeah," I say, not sure why this is so strange.
"What... what color are your eyes when you're a stag?" she asks, her hand coming to rest on my chest once more.
"Blue," I murmer, "Same as always." She turns her head, and I can feel her hair brush on my neck.
"So... you were the stag I saw in the forest- it all makes sense now. Your nickname too. Prongs. Like antlers. Padfoot. Like a dog."
"You have to swear on your life, Lily, that you won't tell a single person. Especially Snivellus. You know what kind of funny business he's been up to lately, if you told him-"
"James, don't you trust me?" she breaths on my neck. I shiver in delight.
"Yes, Lily of course-"
"Well then, you idiot, that settles that." I smile in the darkness, as I pull my wand out of my pocket.
"Lumos," I whisper, and a faint blue light illuminates her face. She squints in the sudden brightness.
