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That Saturday night, on February 3rd, Lily's party commenced and it was an enormous success. There were mainly Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs, though there was a rather large group of fourth-year foreign students thanks to Lily's general friendliness. Remus was both nervous and hopeful Mihaela would make an appearance as she seemed to like the limelight and there were several still sealed eggs brought to the party. Remus had his unsealed but unopened egg back in his drawer, not because he had given up but because he had a legitimate concern that either James or Sirius would hurt his dragon in an attempt to open it. He was confused as to why Lily had wanted such a large party this year but supposed the foreign students had something to do with it. Remus realized he hadn't gotten to know very many of them but he was so nervous about everything that he couldn't quite seem to get himself to talk to anyone.
"Hiya, mate. I gave Lily a lily for her birthday but she didn't seem to like it much," James explained, grinning in a way that made Remus certain he did not want to know what had transpired between the two but would no doubt hear about it later. Whether he heard the details from James or not, Remus would most certainly hear Lily rant about it. Complaining about Potter was quickly proving to be a more and more common subject matter for her. Remus was confused why she didn't just ignore James but he supposed it was hard to do that since his over-the-top friend had been up in Lily's face a lot lately. Lupin smiled at Potter as the latter danced away from him, quickly swept into the hype of the crowd. James was wearing a hideous tie-dye shirt since Mary had insisted on everyone dressing in muggle attire for the party.
Remus knew that Mary hung out with her older brother and his Hufflepuff friends a lot as opposed to her roommates but he was glad Lily had Mary who understood the muggle world in a way Marlene and Dorcas did not. Of course, everyone loved Mary's idea and it added a layer of protection against those at Hogwarts with upsetting views on blood status. Remus hadn't realized most witches and wizards had at least a few muggle outfits in their wardrobe but apparently muggle fashion was 'in', especially among the girls.
Marlene, Dorcas, Mary, and Lily were all wearing long colourful dresses and each had a large peace sign emblem around their neck, which soon every party participant had as well. Remus was surprised but glad that he wasn't out of place in his bell bottoms and button-up shirt. In fact, what he had on was quite tame compared to what most wizards and witches had don. Remus wasn't sure why so many people thought muggles only wore tie-dye but Mary and her older brother Magnus Jr. had taken it as a personal mission to go around and educate everyone in attendance about proper muggle fashion.
Remus had tried to have a similar conversation with James, Sirius, and Peter but had quickly deemed them a lost cause after Black had found just the right spell to tie-dye their white shirts. They had been so excited by the prospect of doing so that Lupin didn't have the heart to tell them that tie-dye button-up shirts weren't exactly a trend. Luckily it wasn't the bad muggle fashion of the students in attendance but Evan's roommate's collective gift to her, a charmed record player that blasted muggle music which proved to be rather awe-inspiring. Remus was pretty sure most of his peers dancing in the common room liked the muggle music more than their usual wizard bands.
At the very least Sirius was enamoured by the music and had taken Magnus Jr. aside, probably badgering him about the 'music box.' Black was so pleased by The Beatles, whose record was playing for the fourth time that night, that he had forgotten he was cross with Lupin. They weren't really still fighting and Sirius had accepted Remus' apology by offering his own, apparently feeling bad about snapping at the werewolf. However, Remus still wouldn't tell Sirius where he had been, more because he was so annoyed the nosy git seemed to think he 'had to know' than because the expert liar couldn't come up with a fib that would appease his friends. Unfortunately, Remus also had to contend with the fact his insistence that he was just ignoring the petition wasn't fooling any of said friends, least of all Sirius.
So it was quite possible Black was actually more upset about Lupin blaming himself for the petition than anything else. Either way, Remus felt too annoyed at Sirius to care. He knew they all found it ridiculous that he was blaming himself. But the werewolf couldn't see any possible way not to. Avoiding three fourth-years talking amicably to several fourth-year Abraesalt students, Remus crept around the crowd as one of the Beatles' newest songs; Baby Please Don't Go, began playing yet again.
The song had played so many times throughout the night that enough people knew it by heart, leading to them 'singing' it at the top of their lungs. Remus was thankful that several prefects had set spells so the noise of the party would not rise to a volume that would wind up with the Gryffindors in trouble. The weary boy walked out onto the transfigured balcony where those who needed a break from the noise could go while still being a part of the commotion. Remus didn't want to offend Lily by leaving her party so soon, though he was pretty sure she wouldn't notice. He decided the balcony was his best option.
"This is the coolest thing ever," some Hufflepuff student he didn't recognize addressed him, gesturing to the balcony in awe. Remus nodded in agreement. He liked the balcony a lot and had been quite pleased to have heard multiple Gryffindors talk about keeping it there permanently. He was glad Patricia had done the complicated transfiguration after Remus had expressed to her during one of the rowdier songs that he wished he could at the very least distance himself from the noise. The werewolf leaned against the rail of the balcony, keeping his eyes straight ahead so his knees wouldn't begin to quiver. He knew Patricia was very good at transfiguration and he hadn't smelled any alcohol on her but he wasn't entirely sure he trusted her assurance that the balcony would remain conjured for 24 hours.
Music drifted out where he stood, muffled but still easily decipherable, especially with the number of students singing along. The toasts to Lily throughout the night had become more elaborate and impersonal as some of the older students snuck firewhisky into their drinks and by the look of it several younger wizards had as well. Remus wrinkled his nose in disdain, though he could luckily not smell the alcohol from out on the balcony.
He sat down once the Hufflepuff student was called back in by his peers. But he didn't remain alone for long. Remus certainly hadn't expected Lily to come and find him. Nor did he expect her to sit beside him and lean her head on his shoulder with a content sigh. Remus wasn't sure when her leaning against him had become so familiar to him. He hardly ever flinched anymore.
"Enjoying your party?" he asked with a smile, unbelievably grateful he hadn't heard so much as a whisper about the Whomping Willow.
"Very much so. Though I have to talk to Marlene about what is and is not appropriate for children our age. It's like she truly believes she is her older sister. I don't know why she wants to be exactly like her. I want to be absolutely nothing like Tunney. I suppose it's really the older students' fault for encouraging such rowdy behaviour. Thank Godric that Kingsley takes his job very seriously. He just finished confiscating all the flasks, though I wouldn't be surprised if the Prewett brothers and Patricia have some alcohol still going around," Lily spoke fast as she often did but she sounded overall happy, so Remus was glad.
"I haven't given you your present yet," he remarked, after sitting with Lily in companionable silence for a while.
"Oh, don't be ridiculous, Remus, you don't have to get me anything," Lily giggled. He ignored her and fumbled with his wand slightly.
"I...had the idea over the summer and did a lot of research. It's still not perfect but...uh..."
Lily had pulled back, beaming at him with eyes that sparkled expectantly. He ignored the missed steps of his heart and managed to keep his hand from trembling. What if it didn't work at all? Regrettably, Remus had not been able to perfect the spell. But coming up with creative things to do with magic over the summer had successfully kept him preoccupied, keeping him away from his dark thoughts. Plus, up until recently, he hadn't had a knut to his name much less a galleon, so he had spent hours over the summer brainstorming what free gifts he could give his friends with magic.
Remus whispered the incantation, chest resolutely hammering with nerves. Nothing happened.
"S-s-sorry I..." he stammered, heart sinking. Remus felt horribly foolish. What was he thinking? He was only a second year after all. It's not like he was as talented with magic as James and Sirius who everything always seemed to come easy to.
"Don't worry. Go on, try again," Lily encouraged, the same level of excitement in her tone. Her faith in his magical capabilities should have made him even more nervous but she sounded so confident that he found himself believing in himself a little more. He waved his wand again, this time a large rectangle appeared slightly ahead of them, a picture appearing on it much like a movie projector before becoming clearer and clearer.
"Oh, Remus, it's lovely!" Lily gushed, reaching her hand out as if she expected to be able to touch the beech tree that Remus had tried to recreate to be like the picture Lily had shown him. "It reminds me of home. I can't believe you remembered how much I missed it. I only talked to you about it once," she stated in awe. Actually Lily had talked to him a handful of times about how much she missed the tree she could see from her window at home.
Remus had heard so many stories about the afternoons she would spend reading in amongst the branches. Her attachment to that special place felt like his to the birch he himself had climbed as a small boy. Lily didn't move around as much as he had, so her attachment to one climbing tree intrigued him.
"The measurements are still off, so it won't fit perfectly but if you cast it on your window in your dorm it should work well enough," Remus explained apologetically. Lily laughed and hugged him tightly.
"Oh, you silly boy. I wish you knew how incredible you are. You came up with this spell, didn't you?" she asked, her arms still around his neck. Remus patted her back awkwardly.
"Not exactly, I just combined two existing spells and I mucked around with it for a long time. I just...wanted to be able to give my friends something since I can't really buy any of you anything." Well, now he could. An unexplainable need drove him to keep secret the moderate sum of money stashed under his mattress. Besides, he didn't think Lily would at all approve of how he had come across the galleons. She would probably insist it was cursed somehow. Which was in fact the only reason he hadn't used them yet, well that along with the fact his father didn't appear to need the assistance quite yet.
"Well, it's wonderful. I love it and I've only managed to combine spells once before, so I know how tricky it is. Other than you and Dorcas the only person I know who experiments with magic like that is..." Lily let go of him and trailed off in a manner Remus knew all too well.
"He didn't want to come?" Remus asked kindly, knowing Severus' hot and cold treatment of the kind-hearted girl had been upsetting her a lot lately. He remembered Dorcas' warning about how lonely Lily had been feeling.
"He did wish me a happy birthday and got me a beautiful charm bracelet which was ever so thoughtful of him. But...no. I even told him I could make an exception for him about the whole muggle clothes but he still didn't want to come," Lily explained, voice wobbling slightly.
"Perhaps it's for the best," he offered gently.
She let out a heavy sigh and wrinkled her nose. "Yes, I know, I just wish he could be nicer. He's usually kind to me when we're alone. It's just that it's becoming harder for that to happen. He's blown me off for his Slytherin friends several times."
Remus could tell Lily was getting geared up to go off about Severus. Any other time he would have let her but he wanted her to enjoy her birthday as much as possible.
"Well, it seems like Mary has been hanging out with you more," Remus pointed out, cunningly steering the conversation far away from any Slytherins. Lily beamed, as he knew she would.
"Yes, she has. We've been getting to know her better this year, I feel. Oh, and with this record player, we're going to have dance parties in our room every night!" Lily gushed her eyes shining, lips stretched wide in a contagious grin.
Remus laughed. "You know what? I think the boys might have a go with that as well. What with how excited Sirius is over the music and all. There's no going back for him when he sets his mind to something. But Dorcas has been combining spells? I didn't know she was interested in that," he commented mildly. He was not at all surprised by the brilliant girl's ability to do so, even though combining spells was something usually beginning to be learnt by year four.
"She wasn't last year but...well she takes all the...you know, all the fighting very seriously. She seems to think she's going to take down Voldemort one day, although she's much less arrogant about it than James is."
"That's pretty easy to achieve," he chuckled. She joined in the mirth at James' expense with ease. Then they talked about the battle spells Dorcas had been trying to create. Despite feeling sad about Severus, Lily bragged about the spell her Slytherin friend had actually begun creating though she didn't know too many details about it.
Remus felt a bit bad she wasn't in with the crowd of her party but he was enjoying her company as it kept his thoughts away from very dark matters. Besides, Lily seemed content out here. She talked to him about all sorts of things and he realized it had been a while since the two of them had talked for a long time about anything other than school. Remus resolved that he'd try to be a better friend to her since he owed her a great deal, and she was always such a good friend to him.
"Oh, Lily, your favourite song is playing," he pointed out, not wanting her to miss Piano Man. He was quite surprised she hadn't dashed inside the two other times the song had played. Earlier in the night she would end a conversation with someone abruptly to go dance her heart out with Mary. Apparently, the two had discovered they had the same favourite song which seemed to instantaneously make them best friends. Remus was confused by how easily girls could achieve this status, although he supposed the logic of his friends being friends with a werewolf didn't make much more sense.
"Wow, you must have really good hearing, Remus. I can't hear anything out here because of the spell," Lily pointed out, sounding impressed.
He flinched, hating any reminder of how he was different. He tried not to bring attention to his good hearing and he did everything in his power to make sure he wasn't anywhere dark enough that his eyes would glow.
"Well you better go or you'll miss it," he pointed out, hoping she wouldn't dwell on his better-than-average hearing.
"Come with me," she pleaded, already on her feet, tugging on his arm. He smiled despite himself and relented to carry out the birthday girl's wish. Remus was prepared, perhaps even deep down looking forward to it. He liked dancing more than he would ever admit. Only right as she pulled him to his feet someone else stepped onto the porch, tugging his hood around his head self-consciously.
"Sev, you came!" she squealed, launching herself at Severus and hugging him tightly. Remus grinned at the soft expression and blush on the Slytherin's face, sometimes able to glimpse the boy Lily was convinced he could be. Then Severus noticed Lily wasn't alone and scowled at Remus past her shoulder, his eyes flicking to the now slightly blurry projection with unveiled contempt. The werewolf was glad Lily didn't notice as it would cause the joy on her face to vanish. Instead, she thanked Remus again for keeping her company and urged Severus to stay for a while, talking animatedly about how her party had been going and about the presents she had received from her roommates and Remus.
At the mention of the latter's present, Severus' eyes flicked to the all but faded image and he sneered. Lily was busy pointing out all the different people inside and once more was thankfully not looking at the boy whose eyes had darkened considerably. Remus shifted uncomfortably, wondering why the Slytherin seemed to hate him so much.
"Remus, Severus, both of you come dance with me," Lily declared, seeming to believe anything was possible during her party. Or perhaps she was hoping if she pretended it was possible the two boys wouldn't have the heart to tell her no.
"I'll be in soon," Remus promised and Lily nodded, trusting him at his word. She was about to head back in just as Dorcas stepped onto the porch. Dor teased Lily with a smile at how they had to replay the song since she hadn't come running. Then Dorcas noticed Severus and shot him a dark look once Lily wasn't paying attention, a glare that was returned immediately. The protective Gryffindor beater looked away from the Slytherin, as if wanting to give him as little thought as possible, though managed a smile at Remus before Lily rushed all but the werewolf back inside.
Remus waved his wand, whisking away the rest of the image of the tree. It felt like his present was horribly foolish despite how much his friend had liked it. At least he had confidence Lily would be able to cast the spell herself now. He just hoped she wanted to.
"There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you. Why did you let me wear this ridiculous outfit?" Sirius accused Remus with a grin, wagging his finger at him playfully. Feeling his shoulders relax with Sirius being in high spirits, he faced his mate. Holding to his promise to himself to enjoy the party and not be a downer, he matched the teasing tone, glad that Sirius wasn't accusing him of one thing or the other.
"You and I both know that nothing I said to the three of you would have stopped your matching tie-dye fiasco." Sometimes bantering with Sirius came to him as easily as breathing.
"Hah. You could have at least tried. Some friend you are!"
The werewolf tensed before realizing the lad was completely joking and not trying to start another argument. "I know a lost cause when I see one," he retorted, lips twitching in barely concealed amusement. It surprised him how long it had been since he had felt quite this at ease with Sirius.
"That is very offensive, but you've got a point. Well from now on I'll sport the real muggle fashion. That Magnus bloke seems very passionate about clothes and he showed me loads of pictures. Why didn't you ever tell me muggles are so fashionable? Not only can I look fabulous but I can annoy the hell out of my family while doing so!" Sirius giggled like a madman, bouncing on his toes with a devious smirk.
"A win-win" Remus smiled, shaking his head at his friend. He found Sirius looking over the railway, leaning so far over it that the werewolf had to snatch him back. "What are you doing?" he asked sharply, disapproval at the idiot evident.
"Trying to see the bottom of this patio thingy. Patricia wouldn't let James and I sip her firewhisky even before Kingsley started being a hardass. We just wanted a sip, mind you. But she did say she hid her stash in places no one would think to look."
"And you think she would hide a bottle of alcohol on the bottom of the porch she transfigured?" At first, Remus thought Sirius was being a moron but the more he thought about it the more likely it seemed that Patricia would do exactly that.
"Well...I don't know, maybe not." Sirius shrugged, seeming unbothered by his potential plummet to his death over a bottle of firewhisky. Remus realized the reason a porch like this wasn't included in the Gryffindor tower was precisely because of twats like Sirius and James who would end up fighting up here or doing some other dumb thing that would cause them to fall to their deaths. Pity. Remus had really liked the porch despite it being so high up.
Sirius hummed a little as if he too could hear the song except it was a completely different melody to the one currently playing. He bounced on his feet and Remus snickered at him.
"What?" the tie-dye-wearing boy asked.
"You look absolutely ridiculous right now," Remus pointed out, satisfied about the shade of red he got his friend's face to turn.
"This is your fault. You had a responsibility as the representative muggle whisperer to lead your naïve roommates and prevent a tragedy like this from happening," Sirius chastised dramatically.
Remus rolled his eyes, struggling not to laugh. "You're right. I let all of Britain down. I should be ashamed of myself," he retorted with faked abashment.
"Exactly!" Sirius shouted triumphantly.
"I don't know how you'll ever recover from the humiliation. I don't know what I was thinking," Remus explained, exaggerating the sarcasm. Sirius scowled in mock anger and lightly punched his shoulder.
"You arse."
"At least I have the knowledge not to dress like an arse." Remus shot back. Sirius replied with something critical about the baggy sweaters the werewolf liked to wear but he didn't pay attention. A heartbreaking howl had split through the night air, causing goosebumps to erupt on his skin despite it being a warm night.
"Fine, fine, maybe saying it made you look like a dried-up giant's bugger was a bit of an exaggeration but you shouldn't doubt my fashion sense. Besides, almost everyone was wearing tie-dye so I think the one dressed like an arse is you...Wait, what's wrong?" Sirius asked, tone changing from antagonizing to confused as soon as he realized he had lost his audience.
The werewolf heard several other howls. While unable to place them he knew what they were about. Silverstream! Remus had gone to see Madam Pomfrey the other day since he found that he was rather hopeless at healing spells, somehow convincing her Elvis was sick. But he hadn't gone back to the forest, knowing he wouldn't be able to find Skipper or the wolves and having no way to communicate with them. He had never thought about howling.
Remus shook his head. What was he thinking? He was not a wolf, he wasn't going to howl! But something deep inside him stirred and he had to resist the urge to do just that at the haunting mournful song that seemed to seep into his very soul.
"Do you hear that?" he asked in a strained voice. Maybe he was going mental? Did this mean Silverstream had died? The howls sounded too far off for him to catch what the song meant exactly. It felt primal and raw, calling out to a part of him that wanted very much to run to the wolves.
"Hear what?" Sirius asked, turning this way and that, eyebrow raised in perplexity. Considering how faint the howls were, Lupin supposed he shouldn't be surprised only he could locate the sound. Deep down he knew his hearing was beyond just a little bit better but he was doing his best to ignore that fact, along with the way that he was beginning to smell different scents that he had never before picked up on.
Remus took a shaky breath. He wouldn't go into the forest, but he knew he had to get close enough to hear what was going on.
"Hey, are you okay, mate? What's up?" Sirius' tone was strained. The werewolf thought quickly, pulling himself away from the wolves, and replacing their music by focusing on the very muggle song in the background. He forced himself to focus on the noise of the party, the human sounds inside.
"That silence. Do you hear that?" Remus asked, stalling to come up with something to say that wasn't the horrible truth about how bizarre he actually was.
"Silence? What do you mean?" Sirius asked, no longer sounding concerned, just confused. Good.
"That," Remus stressed, putting his hand out into the air as if he could physically touch something. Sirius was looking at him with straight-up bewilderment. Lupin met the lad's eyes, forcing himself to give the best imitation of his friend's mischievous grin as he could manage. "That's the sound of how little I care about your opinion of my clothes," Remus explained, putting as much of a playful edge into his voice as he could manage with his mind racing.
Sirius stared at him blankly then burst out laughing, bending over from how hard he was cracking up.
"Damn, Lupin, you got me! I actually thought something was wrong. Bloody hell, Potter and I sure know what we're doing when we choose apprentices."
It didn't take much acting for Remus to roll his eyes at that and scoff. "I like to think of it as my natural wit."
Black draped an arm around his shoulders in response. "Nope the credit is all mine...and James," Sirius added as an afterthought. "Now stop being a prat and come inside and dance."
Remus forced a laugh and followed his mate back inside where the party was still in full swing.
The good thing about one of Gryffindor's infamous bashers was how easy it would be for the werewolf to slip away unnoticed.