Hello Everyone! Did you miss me! I missed all of you! Yeah I know it's been a long, long, long, long, time since I updated this story. Due to life circumstances I was unable to touch the story for a while. But due to life circumstances, I am back and have more time to spend writing the story.

I hopefully will be updating sooner than how long it took for me to update this one. ;) So, I know that you are anxious and want to get on with the story. I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 31: Secrets of a Full Moon

"I knew Dumbledore was up to something," whispered James as they walked the long, dark corridor back to the common room. "I knew he wouldn't just sit by and let Voldemort run loose, killing anyone he feels like."

"He is a decent man," agreed Lily, lost in thought. She suddenly stopped. James, having walked a few steps ahead of her turned around.

"What's the matter?" asked James, concern spreading across his face. Lily looked up from the ground and looked James square in the eye.

"You did hear what Dumbledore said didn't you? About not telling anyone about this," she said slowly. "That the only people we can talk to this about is Dumbledore and ourselves?" She searched James's face for a hint of understanding.

"Yeah, I heard it. What are you getting at?" asked James confused. 'Did she not trust him to keep this secret? What is she playing at?' thought James, becoming a little annoyed. 'If she only knew how well a secret keeper I was.' His thoughts flashed to Remus.

"Well you know that this means that we can't tell the group. We have to keep this a secret from them too," said Lily slowly. "That means that we can't act suspicious about anything. We have to be very careful about our actions from now on." She continued to look James straight in the eye. To her relief his hardened expression relaxed a little.

"Lily, I think you are overreacting," said James soothingly, "However," James interrupted, seeing that Lily had opened her mouth for a retort, "we will abide by Dumbledore's wishes. We will not say anything to the group. Besides, is it going to be that hard honestly? We all despise the Slytherins anyway, and we are always keeping a watchful eye out anyway. I really don't think it will be that hard." James smiled at Lily reassuringly. Lily sat in silence for a minute, reasoning out what James had just said.

"Maybe you're right," said Lily after a moment. "That's what we were pretty much doing anyway. Just, we will have to keep a bigger eye, er, ear out for anything suspicious." Lily reached for James's hand and they began to walk the corridor once more.

"That a girl. Besides, Dumbledore just said that we can't talk about the Order of the…" But Lily's 'shhh' and look of warning cut him off. "Ahhh…yeah, that thing. He never said that we couldn't talk about the suspicious things with the group. Who knows, we might get more information from them," said James, walking a little more confidently. He looked at Lily and smiled at her.

"True. Besides, if we completely stop talking to them they'll get suspicious and start interrogating us for information," smiled Lily as she looked up at James. James nodded his head.

They walked in silence for a few minutes. Students were hustling and bustling everywhere. A few Hufflepuff second years ran past Lily and James trying to reach their next class in time. A gaggle of Ravenclaw fifth year girls were whispering excitedly in a corner by statue of Wheezing Winifred the Wistful. Groups of students were passing each other, barely making eye contact with one another, unless it was someone from their house. James looked at Lily who seemed to be lost in thought once again.

"Ya know," Lily looked up at him and looked at her once more. "I bet we are the only students in the castle that have been asked to do this." James smiled down at Lily. "It's kinda wicked." Lily laughed and nodded her head in agreement.

"So! What did Dumbledore want!" asked Liz excitedly as Lily and James entered the portrait hole. She looked from Lily to James and back again as she waited for the answer.

"Oh, um, just to talk about the upcoming spring fling ball," said Lily, trying to muster up a smile. 'I hope that was believable,' she thought to herself. She had always been such a horrible liar and prayed to Merlin that her face wasn't red.

Liz's face fell. "Oh, that's it?" said Liz obviously disappointed. "I thought it would have been something about the recent attacks. Didn't he mention anything?" They three of them walked over to the couch where the others were sitting.

"So, what'd he say?" asked Sirius, taking his feet off of the coffee table and sitting up slightly.

"Nothing really. Just talked about the ball I guess," said Liz as she plopped down next to Faith and let out a sigh.

"That's it?" asked Remus, conjuring up a questioning brow. "I thought he would have mentioned something about the attacks to you to."

"Well he did say something," said James taking a seat on the couch across from the fireplace. Lily sat down next to him and gave him a questioning look out of the corner of her eye. "He told us to keep an eye out for anything suspicious and to let him know." James grabbed Lily's hand and rubbed the outside of her thumb with his.

"That's nothing new," yawned Faith nonchalantly. She pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them. "That's what we have been doing any way. I guess we'll just be a bit more on the alert."

"Yeah," sighed Lily. She looked at James and he smiled down at her. A twang of guilt poked at her stomach. She hated lying to her friends; especially when it was something as important as this. Why didn't Dumbledore trust them with this secret also? None of them would ever betray the group and pass information to Voldemort. That's why there were in Gryffindor, they were brave and loyal. 'But who am I to challenge Dumbledore's thinking. Obviously he knows what he is doing," she said to herself. But that little twang poked again at her stomach.

"Well, let's go do something before potions. I can't sit here all day or I'll fall asleep," said Sirius getting up and stretching. The group nodded and mumbled their agreement.

For the rest of the days to follow, Lily and James both found themselves unable to concentrate in class. Well for James, this wasn't anything too new. He has always found ways to amuse himself in class when the lecture was dull or the activity was uninteresting. When James's mind wandered, he found himself always going back to the same place; the Order of the Phoenix. As James sat through his classes, he found himself wondering who was actually in the Order of the Phoenix. He deduced that most of the teachers here at Hogwarts had to be involved. Definitely McGongall and Flitwick. They were his most trusted teachers. Maybe Madame Pomfrey? If the Order were doing things that were dangerous, then they would definitely need a Healer to patch them up. Plus, everyone knew that Madame Pomfrey didn't ask too many questions about your injuries and probably was really good at keeping secrets. But who else? Maybe Professor O'Malley? The group would need someone who was training in Defense Against the Dark Arts. But was he actually trustworthy? Sometimes he seemed to favor the Slytherins.

"Okay, take your tentacula and grab it at the base of the head. Be careful that it doesn't bite you first. Then, yank up with force and the head should come right off," said Professor Sprout, as she yanked off the venomous head with a loud popping noise.

Moans of disgust echoed inside the greenhouse as the popping noises of more than a dozen heads were yanked from their stems. Some of the stems sprayed a foul smelling yellow liquid that seemed to eat through clothing.

"Oh dear! I forgot to tell you that some of them spray! Especially if they were a fairly young plant!" said Professor Sprout walking over to help the surprised students clean off the yellow liquid. "Nothing to worry about dears. Just some flesh eating acid that's all." The seventh year Ravenclaw student let out a little scream as she looked down at the spreading hole in her robes. "Here, Miss Pennington. Nothing to be afraid of." Professor Sprout waved her wand at the student and instantly the liquid disappeared and the hole repaired itself.

A high pitched laugh from the other end of the green house told everyone that someone found that highly amusing. James looked at the other end of the greenhouse only to see Bellatrix highly amused and the other Slytherins pointing and laughing at the unfortunate students that had splattered yellow acid all over their robes.

"What a git," said Sirius from right next to him not looking up from his plant. "Too bad she didn't get splattered. It would have been a shame if it got all over her face." Sirius shook his head in disgust as he placed the head of his tentacula on the table next to his pot. James shook his head in agreement and yanked the head off of his plant with a little more force than probably needed.

"Okay students, now that your heads are off the plant, you are going to take the stem and gently squeeze it. Be careful! Because the acid from the plant will spray out, like we have just seen! Once the acid starts to spread to the top of the stem, take your vile, don't worry it won't eat away at glass, and squeeze the acid into it. From one plant you should get about half a vile," said Professor Sprout demonstrating the process to the students.

"Don't worry! Your dragon hide gloves will protect your hands from any acid that may get on them," said Professor Sprout at the few screams and excited murmurs that now replaced the popping of heads.

"What is the point of this activity anyway?" asked Peter a little frustrated as he struggled squeezing his plant while holding the vile. "I mean, this is next to impossible!"

"Wormtail, here, hold it like this," said Remus, abandoning his own plant to help him with his. James thought for a moment.

"Yow know, this stuff could come in pretty useful in a pinch," whispered James to the others, a mischievous smile spreading across his face.

"Prongs, I like the way you think," said Sirius, holding up a second vile with a small amount of acid in it. "I already started."

"Tha'a boy," smiled James as he too started adding acid to the vile.

Despite keeping their eyes extra peeled for anything suspicious, James and Lily hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary. It had been almost two weeks since Dumbledore had pulled them into his office.

"I fell like I'm letting him down," said Lily during their weekly patrolling duty.

"Mmmm….I know what you mean," said James thoughtfully. "But I reckon you can't report nothing."

"Maybe it's a good think then, "said Lily, taking James's hand and gently stroking the inside of his palm with her finger. "I mean, if there is nothing to report that means that Bellatrix isn't up to anything." She looked up at James for conformation that she was correct.

"That or they are just laying low in hopes that things will calm down," said James looking down at her through his glasses with concern. Her brilliant green eyes sparkled in the light; matching them with the emerald earrings that reflected the light from her ear lobes.

Lily sighed and nodded in agreement. "Well maybe we should be extra alert. I know that in the animal kingdom, when a predator crouches to lay low is usually right before they pounce. And if Bellatrix is keeping a laying low, then that is when she is the most dangerous," Lily finished grimily., furrowing her brow in concentration.

James couldn't help but smile at her. She looked incredibly beautiful when she concentrated.

"What are you smiling about?" asked Lily in concern. "Am I totally off base?" She screwed up her face in a question sort of fashion.

"No, no," said James trying to hide his broadening smile. "I think you have a very good and valid point there." James grinned at her again.

"James Potter, I know that grin well enough to know that you are thinking something where no good will come of it." Lily playfully narrowed her eyes and looking at him skeptically.

"I'm just thinking of how beautiful you are," said James grabbing her around the waist from behind and kissing her cheek. "You can't condemn a man for that can you?" Lily giggled and rolled her eyes.

"Fine don't tell me. But I'll get it out of you sooner or later and when I do, you will be in trouble," teased Lily, removing her hand from his and pretending to be angry.

"Sure I tell the truth and I still get into trouble," said James, looking at the floor and acting genuinely hurt. "I guess there is no winning for me in this situation." Lily shook her head in mock agreement and let out a sigh.

"Tssk….I guess not. It must be really hard to be you. Tell me, how do you deal with it?" asked Lily sarcastically, slowing down to look James in the face.

"Like this!" James grabbed her hands and twirled her. Her long red hair swung around her laughing face. James pulled her close to him and kissed her. She threw her arms around his neck and ruffled his hair slightly. A loud crash made them pull apart. Squinting down the dimly lit hallway, Lily and James saw a rather plump figure floating towards them rather quickly.

"Tisk, Tisk, Tisk! Potty and Evy caught in a kiss!

"What would the head master say, if he saw this display?

"Maybe Peevies should go and report this!"

Sang Peeves from right in front of them.

"Shove off Peeves!" shouted James at the chuckling poltergeist. Lily pulled out her wand and she noticed that James did the same.

"Potty's panties in a twist!

He who talks to Peeves not nice,

Then, gets pelted with dead mice!"

Suddenly Peeves pulled out two handfuls of dead black and white mice and began throwing them at Lily and James.

"OH! YOU FOUL….," shouted Lily, ducking in time as a dead mouse was flung at her head. It hit the wall behind her with a sickening thud and slid down the wall to the floor, leaving a trail of blood in its wake. "JAMES LOOK OUT!"

James jumped out of the way as Peeves had just thrown four dead mice at him. One of the mice hit him square in the chest with a heavy thud. "OH DISGUSTING!" Peeves chuckled as they ducked and jumped out of the way. Finally having enough, and a clear shot, James raised his wand. A jet of red light flew out and hit him square in the face. Peeves froze in mid-throw.

"Good job!" said Lily, panting slightly from aggravation. She brushed a dead mouse from her shoulder and looked at James in disgust. "He never ceases to amaze me!"

"I really, really, really hate that poltergeist!" huffed James, as he looked at her. "Come on, let's get out of here before someone comes along!"

"I can't believe this!" said Faith slamming down her book and plopping herself down in her usual seat at the Gryffindor table the next day.

"What!" asked Lily a little startled at her entrance.

"Is everything all right love?" asked Sirius, swallowing his food and turning to give her a kiss hello. She angrily stuck out her cheek for him to kiss it.

"I just got back from seeing Professor O'Malley, because I wanted to know when the dueling would be begin again in class, and he told me that the dueling has been suspended until further notice!" shouted Faith angrily, looking at the rest of them like this was the most vulgar and appalling act in the entire world.

"Well, I for one am glad about that!" said Liz, absentmindedly digging into her dinner. "I don't think it would be a good idea to encourage battles between students when some of those students are engaging in the dark arts." Faith looked at her like she was completely crazy.

"What are you talking about!" shouted Faith angrily. "This is the only way to actually defend yourself against those people! This is how we get our practice in fighting them!" The others suddenly became very interested in their food and the cracks in the walls in front of them. "Am I the only one who thinks so!" said Faith looking from one to the other.

"Well, I don't think you are completely off base," said Remus slowly, still looking at his goblet of pumpkin juice. "I do see your point….however; maybe Dumbledore is doing this to protect us."

"Yeah, Faith. Sure we get to see how they fight, but on the other hand, they get to see how we fight too. Some of them are pretty strong in the dark arts. If they fight us, then it gives them a chance to work on their skills and figure out how to defeat us," said James looking at her from across the table.

"Don't worry, love, we will get our chance to fight them soon enough. Maybe we should just enjoy this time while we got it," said Sirius taking a sip from his goblet. Faith sat there for a moment and looked at all of her friends with disbelief.

"I can't believe you guys!" exclaimed Faith, a hint of disgust in her voice. "You would rather sit here in ignorance than actually prepare yourself for what is about to come!" She grabbed her book bag and made to get up off the bench.

"Faith where are you going?" asked Lily concerned. She didn't like how upset Faith was over this.

"If it's all right with you, I'd rather not participate in this ignorance feast." She slung her backpack over her shoulder and stormed away from the table.

"Great," said Sirius from under his breath.

"She'll be fine," said Lily, trying to reassure Sirius as much as herself. "Faith just gets worked up, but she always calms herself down eventually." But their was something in Faith's eyes told Lily she wasn't done with the issue just yet.

"So, what time are you going to visit your mum on Thursday Moony?" asked Peter, looking up from his dinner plate, trying to cut through the tension that seemed to fill the gaps between them. James, Sirius and Remus all caught each others eye and glared at Peter. Sensing that he made a poor conversation choice, he recoiled back to his food.

"What is he talking about, Remus?" asked Liz, looking at him confused. Remus grabbed for his goblet and took a long sip. When he was finished he slightly cleared his throat.

"I got a letter yesterday that my mum was ill again. Unfortunately, I will have to leave on Thursday for a few days to take care of her," said Remus, not looking her directly in the eye.

"Why didn't you tell me?" asked Liz, hurt filling her eyes. She had let her fork lie limply in her hand and it rested on her plate with a slight clinking noise.

"I was going to tell you tonight," said Remus, giving Peter a look out of the corner of his eye. "We can talk about this later, yeah?" Liz's jaw tightened and she nodded her head.

Thursday had proved to be a thunderous day. The ceiling in the Great Hall was so loud and filled with rain and snow that hardly anyone had attended lunch or dinner. James, Faith, Liz and Sirius were all outside for Quidditch practice. Why James insisted that they practice in this weather was beyond her. Lily lay on her bed re-reading the same passage in her potions book for the hundredth time. For some reason she couldn't concentrate. Her mind kept wandering from Bellatrix to Dumbledore to Liz to Faith. All of these images kept whirling around her as she blankly stared at the page.

"The key to successfully making a Why has Bellatrix been so quiet lately? What in the world is she up too? is all about measurement. Measuring of what Bellatrix is up too. I feel like I'm letting Dumbledore down. down to the ground up doxy dust. Then, take your beacrum wings and add them one at a time. I'd like to jinx her and her cronies one at a time. Then maybe I'll be able to get some information out of them. Let the cauldron sit for half and hour. Make sure to stir counterclockwise three times Ugghh! I'm going crazy sitting here! I need to get out and go for a walk.

She slammed her book shut and hopped off her bed. She grabbed her wand and thrust it inside her robes. Shutting her door and running down the stairs of the girl's dormitory she walked out into the common room. It was pretty loud and crowded with Gryffindor students trying to entertain themselves despite the horrible weather outside. She made her way through groups of sixth years to the portrait hole. It was late, but not too late for the head girl to be out of her common room.

"One good privilege of being in charge," thought Lily to herself as the door swung shut behind her.

"You better make it quick. Curfew starts in ten minutes," yawned the Fat Lady from behind her.

"Don't worry about me," said Lily shortly, looking up and down the dimly lit and damp hallway.

"Well don't say that I didn't warn you!" scolded the Fat Lady after Lily as she walked down the hallway.

Lily rolled her eyes and kept on walking. The school was unusually quiet. No one anywhere seemed to be moving about. Even the portraits looked as if they were bored to death. Hardly any of them moved, instead choosing to sleep. Some of the portraits were blank all together which meant that they were off somewhere else to another portrait doing Merlin knows what. She walked down the stairs, taking a short cut by Madame Pomfrey's hospital wing.

"Maybe I'll be able to find out what Bellatrix is up too," she thought to herself as she walked by the armored knight statue that protected the hospital wing. She was about to walk past the door when voices made her stop dead in her tracks.

"Hold on right here, I'll check to make sure the hallway is clear," said Madame Pomfrey in a hushed voice. Lily dove at the wall behind the knight statue. Madame Pomfrey's head peeked out from the doorway. She looked up and down the hallway. She stopped and stared at the knight for a long moment, then deciding that the coast was clear she stepped out into the hallway.

"Okay dear. Let's go," she said softly. A tall, slightly lanky boy with brownish hair emerged from the hospital wing. He turned to Madame Pomfrey and nodded his head. They began to walk down the hall towards the opposite stair case. As the boy walked away, Lily was stunned to see that the boy was none other than her friend Remus Lupin.

"But Liz said that Remus had left hours ago? She told me right before practice?" said Lily to herself.

Curiosity took over all of her senses. Something didn't seem right. Where were they going? Why was he leaving now? Why didn't he tell Liz that he was leaving later? Lily waited till they were half way down the stairs to emerge from behind the armored knight. She tip toed to the stairs and carefully peaked around. They were now down to the lower level and heading towards the Great Hall. Lily looked around and found the portrait that lead out of the castle. She said the password and ducked inside.

"Lily you are being paranoid," she said to herself as she lit her wand and walked down the dark passageway. "Maybe he was just getting a late start or he told Liz that he was leaving earlier as not to upset her. That had to be it!" She reached the end of the tunnel faster than she thought.

Tapping the twelfth brick from the top twice, she emerged from the tunnel and in between two bushes facing the Whomping Willow. She crouched down and was about to walk towards the front of the castle when two figures caught her eye. The sun was almost completely down and Lily knew that with in a few minutes it would be night and the moon would be up. She crouched back down behind the bushes. She saw Madame Pomfrey wave her wand. A jet of yellow light burst from it and hit the tree. Instantly the tree had become frozen. Lily had never seen the tree so paralyzed in all of her life. Madame Pomfrey walked over to the tree. Lily was sure that the tree was only faking and expected to see Madame Pomfrey catch a heavy tree limb in the stomach. But to her surprise Madame Pomfrey walked up and touched a notch on the tree with her wand. The tree remained still as the approaching night. Remus walked up next to Madame Pomfrey and to Lily's surprise gave her his cloak and wand. Then Remus turned and walked down a passage way to which Lily had not noticed. Remus disappeared from sight. The passageway closed and Madame Pomfrey walked out from under the tree. Twenty yards away from the tree and in complete safety from its limbs, she raised her wand again. The same yellow light hit the tree and instantly the tree began to move once more. Madame Pomfrey walked back towards the castle and disappeared from sight.

"Why would Remus be going under the Whomping Willow?" said Lily out loud to herself. The night had finally fallen upon her. The full moon was rising into position above the spot where she hid. Somewhere in the distance, Lily swore that she heard the cry of a wolf.

Today's story is sponsored by the FWAAO: The Fire Whiskey Anonymous Addicts organization. Thank you for not only sponsoring the chapter, but providing the writer with a case of confiscated fire whiskey.