The Marauders: Year Six Part 2 #Wattys2017

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Lily knocked on the Marauders' dormitory room door at one o'clock in the morning, clutching a book to her chest. She looked nervously over her shoulder at the stairwell as she waited. She pressed her ear to the door, then knocked again. It took several more moments before the door opened slightly and Sirius pressed his face into a narrow crack in the door. He stared at her blearily. "Love," he said in a low voice that came from deep in his throat, "What the bloody hell could you possibly want at this hour?"

Lily whispered, "The cloak."

Sirius stared at her a long moment, then disappeared from the crack and the door opened slowly behind him on it's own accord, the hinges creaking a little.

Moonlight broke the darkness in the room, shimmering in through the windows in long shafts. Peter was asleep, a great lump beneath his blankets that shivered and wobbled as he breathed, but Lily could see Remus Lupin's shoulders shaking, and a sick feeling twisted through her stomach as she realized she could just hear the sound of soft whimpers coming from that corner of the room as she stepped inside...

Sirius, who had been bent over one of the trunks, turned about and shoved the cloak into Lily's hand suddenly. "Going to see Prongs?" he asked.

Lily nodded, then, "Is Remus alright?"

Sirius glanced over his shoulder, then back to Lily, "He will be."

"Is it the moon still?" she asked, remembering how weak Remus had been at Durmstrang.

"Yeah," Sirius answered.

"But it isn't full until next week," Lily murmured.

Sirius shrugged.

Lily frowned.

Sirius rubbed his elbow, looking at the floor, at her mary-jane shoes and his own stocking-covered feet and the carpet between them. "While you're there - seeing James - will you tell him I said hullo?" Sirius requested. "If he's awake, I mean?"

"Why don't you tell him?" Lily asked.

"I've got to take care of Moony," Sirius answered.

"Alright," Lily replied.

She had turned to leave when Sirius said, "Evans." She paused and turned back. "The sixth step on the staircase creaks in the middle. Stay to the left."

Lily took two quick steps over and wrapped her arms around Sirius, squeezing him tight and he stiffened in her arms as usual. She laughed, "One day, Sirius Black, you'll become quite used to being hugged."

"I doubt it quite a lot," he replied, his face crunched up but standing there, tolerating the hug just the same.

Lily pressed a kiss to his cheek. "I'll see to it that you do."

The castle was dark, save for the flickering of torches, and Lily counted the steps to be sure to stay left on that sixth one, like Sirius had said, and she held the cloak firmly about her as she hurried through the corridors to the hospital wing, where she slipped through the creaky doors, tip-toed past Pomfrey's desk, and let herself into the ward itself, closing the door carefully behind her.

The Potters had long ago been shown to a private room for visitors by Professor McGonagall. James lay in the bed, his eyes closed, moonlight pooling over him like a spotlight from the vaulted windows. Lily hesitated a few paces away, then took the last steps, and took hold of the stool and dragged it over.