Under strange circumstances

Chapter 16

Lily

Okay, so maybe this wasn't one of my more brilliant ideas.

But I couldn't bear the thought of being left at home alone whilst my friend's lives are in danger. Also, I admit it, I just wanted to make sure James is okay. Is that too much to ask?

The snap of a twig brings me back to reality. I shine the torch around me frantically, fear constricting my throat and making my heart beat so fast I feel that it might burst out of my chest. I'm next to a river, and the only sounds I can hear are the occasional screeches of the owls and the soft trickling of the water. Suddenly I spot something on the other side of the small river. I shine the torch across the body of water and see a wolf-like figure. 'Sirius!' Relief spreads through me as the animal turns. The relief is short-lived, however, as I notice that this animal stands on two hind legs, and it's coming towards me. A shrill scream escapes my lips as I stumble backwards, away from the creature which comes towards me brandishing dagger-like fangs and razor-sharp claws. It charges across the small river and towards me. A gaping mouth fills my vision and my head pounds as I trip backwards at the last second. A claw meant for my neck scrapes my shoulder as I fall; pain blurs my vision and I see the werewolf lift its hand in the air again, ready to strike the final blow.

I really didn't think I was going to die this way.

'Re-mus..' The hoarse word escapes my lips and pauses him where he is. The eyes of the creature seem to turn soft and kind for a second. 'Remus, d-don't you recognise me?' The arm of the creature slowly lowers as the moon disappears and the sun begins to rise. Moony morphs back into Remus, and the boy collapses. I reach out to him with one arm, the other rendered useless from the claws of the werewolf. The soft padding of hooves and paws comes towards us and I turn to see a black dog and a deer coming towards us. 'Remus, Lily.' Sirius morphs back into his normal self and rushes over to Remus, bandages and a warm blanket in his hands. 'Lily, Remus!' Prongs (wow, he's a deer then) morphs back into James and rushes to my own side. He helps me over to the small river and starts to use the water to clean my shoulder. My whole body is throbbing with pain. 'What the fuck were you thinking? You could have died! Remus doesn't recognise people in his werewolf form, I thought you knew that.' He pulls me into a hug, which I sink into gratefully. 'I don't know what I would've done if I lost you, Lily.' He takes my face in his hands and looks into my eyes with a somewhat stern (yet somehow affectionate) expression. 'Don't you ever do something like that again, you hear me?'

James

Instead of answering, Lily kisses me.

This time around I open her mouth with my own and run my tongue along hers. She grins and pulls away from me, shivering slightly. 'I don't mean to ruin the moment, but I'm quite cold now, and uhmm...' She indicates her wounded shoulder without looking at it, which is bleeding profusely. 'Shit,' I stand up and run over to Sirius, who is now dressing Remus is warm clothes. Remus himself has passed out. 'Sirius, the bandages.' He throws the bag to me without a word and goes back to warming up his boyfriend.

Lily

James comes back over to me in a matter of seconds and then sits down, reaching inside the bag for a blanket. He places it around my back and kisses me again before gingerly taking my wounded shoulder in his hands. 'Lily, I'm going to have to take off your jacket to get to the wound.' I nod and slip my arm out of the sleeve painfully, with James' help; he looks at my shoulder and bites his lip again, looking at me with slight..... Embarrassment?

'Lily, please don't feel weird when I say this, but I'm going to need to you to take off your shirt. I promise I won't look-'

'Why do you need my shirt off?' I still haven't looked at the wound on my shoulder yet, for fear of what I may see.

James

'Lily.....' She takes in a deep breath and then looks down at her shoulder. The cut is deep, the fabric around it is torn, and there is so much blood that her shirt sleeve has turned red. 'Oh. That's probably way too much blood to lose in one sitting.' She looks mildly ill.

'Lily,' I say. 'Look at me. Just look at me, okay?' I'll have it bandaged in no time and we'll be able to go back to the warmth of the house, but before that I need you to take off your shirt so I can see the wound properly.' She seems to make a split second decision before nodding and blushing slightly. Gingerly, we peel off the (now ruined) shirt and Lily bites her lip, looking down at her shaking hands. I pass her the blanket again, trying not to look at her chest, and she quickly covers her torso and good shoulder with the warm material. She smiles at me somewhat nervously and I kiss her softly. 'Okay?' She nods and I go on to wash the wound (with river water and her ruined shirt) before dressing it with bandages. Then I take off my jumper and offer it to her. 'No, James, you'll be freezing in just that shirt-'

'And you'll be freezing in just that bra, if you'll pardon my language.' Merlin, I can't believe I just said that to her. I blush and bite my lip; Lily blushes as well but takes the jumper and with my help puts it on. I help her up and rub my hand up and down her good arm to warm her up. 'Sirius, ready to go?' He nods at me, Remus (who has begun to come to) leaning heavily on him. 'Okay then.'

Lily

James helps me over to Sirius, who supports me while James morphs into Prongs. 'Alright there, Rose? I couldn't help but notice there were a few kisses involved there between you and Prongs-'

'Shut up, Black.' He laughs at the blush that has crept onto my face, and then helps me over to where James now stands. 'Alright, I'll help you up, then-'

'Wait, wait, what?! I'm not riding James-'

'How else do you suggest we get back home, Lily?' I sigh and Sirius helps me onto Prongs' back. 'James, you better not gloat about this later,' I whisper into his ear. Prongs turns his head to me and licks the side of my face. 'Oh my fucking god this is so weird.' I wipe my face and help Sirius to get the (still out cold) Remus onto Prongs. We put him behind me, and I support him from where I am while Sirius gets on. When the three of us are sitting securely, Remus in Sirius' arms, Prongs starts to walk back to the house.

As he twists between trees and the snow storm from the night disappears completely, the morning sun spills pink and yellow light over the woods, leaving the world of darkness and fear behind.