Chapter 3

Chapter 3- JAMES POV

I was hiding in the Forbidden Forest, waiting for the others. This was our meeting place for full moons. As Lily and her friends walked by, of course I had to step on a twig. Of course.

Luckily Lily was the only one who heard it. I saw her head move a bit, as if she listened for another noise. Since she was with friends, I stayed silent. They moved on.

When they were long gone, I heard someone say, "Hello, Prongs! Been waiting long?"

I jump and turn around. It was Sirius. "Hi, Padfoot. Yeah, I sort of have been waiting here for a while..."

He sighs. "I never would have thought of you as a person with punctuality, because you never show up in time for class, but you come an hour early for full moons."

"I don't come here an hour early..."

"Yes, you do. I saw you go into the forest an hour ago."

I sigh. Okay, maybe I did come an hour early. I was anxious for the full moon. Having your best friend turn into a beast wasn't exactly something I wanted to wait for.

Before I can respond, Remus walks up to us. "Wormtail here yet?"

I shake my head. "He's always late."

"True."

I look up at the sky. The stars were starting to appear. Remus would turn into a bloodthirsty creature soon. We start to head to the Whomping Willow.

Just before we reached it, a rat came scurrying down the hill. Wormtail.

He hit the knot that made the tree stop trying to kill us. We slid down the passage and went up to the Shrieking Shack. I shifted to my animagus, a stag. Where Sirius was a large black dog now stood.

We watched as Remus turned into a giant gray wolf. He had a wild look in his crimson eyes. It wasn't Remus we were looking at, this was a werewolf. A werewolf who had no idea who the people were standing before him. This was always the scariest part. Will he attack us?

The others could easily escape him if he did decide to attack. First of all, Sirius was a canine, like Remus. There was a lower chance for him to get attacked. Wormtail was a rat, he could fit in places Remus couldn't. Then there was me. A stag. What kind of werewolf wouldn't want stag for dinner? But I could run faster than Sirius. That was a plus. It has saved my life countless times.

Remus howls. We all cringe. The sound sent chills down our spines. I had to resist the urge to run away. The stag in me was fighting hard. It wanted out of this place, somewhere, anywhere, just as long as the werewolf, the dog, and the rat weren't with me. Even though I could kill Wormtail with a stomp, the stag in me was still scared. It was quite pathetic.

Luckily, tonight was a good night. Remus accepted us. On bad nights, we were running for our lives from a psyco werewolf that wanted to kill us. Sirius threw the Invisibility Cloak over him and ducked under it. Peter did as well. I followed.

We walked outside slowly, stopping if Remus so much as turned his head. We had learned it the hard way: If Moony shows any signs of hostility, get ready for a fight. We all had way too many scars as reminders of our stupidity.

••••••••••

Somehow, we made it to morning without anyone getting hurt. Years of pain, blood, and practice had made us alert to Remus' every move. We were all relieved when our friend came back.

"We missed you, buddy." Sirius says, patting Moony on the back.

"Thank you yet again for staying with me and making sure nobody got hurt." Remus says.

"No problem." I say. "You would do the same for us."

"Yeah, I would. But still. You guys are the best friends a guy like me could have."

I grin. "What would you do without your sexy friends?"

Both Remus and Sirius laugh. Wormtail stays silent. He hasn't said a word all day.

"Wormtail, are you alright?" I ask.

He looks at me. "Oh. Yes, quite fine." But he looks green.

"You don't look fine." Sirius says.

Wormtail retches in the bushes. We continue to walk to the castle.

"Do you feel better now?" Remus asks him.

Peter nods. "Staying up all night on full moons is starting to get to me."

"Nobody ever said you had to come." I say.

"But I like to come. Even though, as a rat, I can't help much. I like to know that I helped a bit."

We all felt that way. As a stag, I was probably not helping Moony as much as being a tempting meal, but I liked knowing that Remus appreciated my help.

"Peter, I know that you do everything in your power to help me. I thank you for that. But if you want the sleep, go ahead and sleep. I'm sure we will do fine without you." Moony says.

Wormtail nods. "Thanks."

We reach the castle. This month was lucky, the full moon was on a weekend. Usually we were falling asleep in class. Today we got to sleep as much as we wanted to. Sleep. Such a wonderful thing.

We walked up to the dorm and flopped down on our beds. I fell asleep pretty quickly, so I don't know how long it took the others.

••••••••

When I wake up, I look at my clock and see the time is 1:37 p.m. I sigh. I slept for 13 and a half hours?! Wow. Last night was more tiring than I thought it was.

I get dressed and go out to the commons room. Remus and Sirius are sitting on a couch, laughing at a joke Peter just said. They all look up as I walk to them.

"Hello, sleeping beauty." Sirius says.

"You slept for a long time." Remus says.

"Yeah, at lunch I saw Lily asking one of her friends if they saw you." Peter says.

My heart flips. Lily? She was asking people if they had seen me? This couldn't be true! Lily?!

"Seriously?!" I ask.

"Siriusly." Sirius says.

"Wow..." I say. "Do you think she likes me? like, the way I like her?"

Remus shrugs. "I dunno, mate. I saw her in the library not long ago, maybe she's still there. Go ask her if you want."

I decide this is a good idea. Without another word, I sprint to the library.

I see a familiar head of ginger hair. I walk towards her, but stop as I see someone else.

***************************

Is this a satisfying ending?

I hope this chapter is long enough, and I think it might make up a bit for all of my short chapters.

It was really fun to write in James' point of view. Maybe I'll do it like Fire and Ice. Alternate between James and Lily. I dunno. I guess we have to wait and find out. *dramatic music*

If any of you have ideas for what I should call my wonderful readers, don't hesitate to either inbox me or comment it!

Thanks for reading!