There's no deer about it [LILY]

[james ignotus potter]

It was that time of month, James being a guy didn't have the unusual woman needs. But Remus had his problems, and with his friends by his side. He enjoyed to tag along taking care of his friend in times like these. Although after the adventure, he ended up falling asleep in class. He didn't seem to get into to much trouble for doing so. Minus a few of the professors who would hassle him back awake. But this morning seemed to be different. It wasn't like he was coming back from a morning fly, but walking the grounds in the form of his animagus. The Stag which took him so long to calculate the right wrist flicks, and novel ways to use the charm to turn him from human to animal and back again. The many times the boy had this charm backfire, and how many times he needed to have himself turned around. This was James, he wasn't studious like most of the other brighter students in his year. He was an exceptional wizard, exceptionally good at breaking the rules, playing pranks and mimicking very much everything he saw around him.

This morning was no different, he just wanted to get back to the dorms undetected, and clean up before morning classes began. But unfortunately this wasn't how it was working as he finally made his way from the forbidden forest. He would have transformed, but he wasn't completely sure if the cost was clear. He seemed to be a little lacking in the quick department. A little worn out from the adventure the night before. He seemed almost graceful for the first time in his life. The common James Potter swagger style, wasn't present in this boys saunter. Still disguised in his animagus form. He made his way passed the whomping willow. Knowing if there was another student trying to take a morning stroll the poor dude could be stuck in his form, miss his first class, and lose the Gryffindor house points. As if James really cared about points. He was more concerned about making sure Lily didn't think he was a complete loaf.

As if he could really compete with anyone that caught Lily's eye. To her he was probably the biggest goon in all of Hogwarts. It made him a little sad, but he'd get over it. It wasn't like he was suffering for girls. His heart belonged to that little redhead, that was friends with that slimey slytherin. It made him mad that this boy had such a giant impact over this girl. Finally he was approaching the school, and getting ready to transform himself back into himself. But that seemed like it was a far fetch with the crunch of autumn grass. His sense picked up with a twerk of his ears, and a twitch of his snout.

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[lily marie evans]

Lily hardly spent time on a broom, but what people didn't know was that she went on a run very nearly every morning at school. She didn't participate in Quidditch or spend time running about the place like other students did, and if she wanted to stay in shape she had to go running. Of course she typically avoided the grounds around full moons, having had a bit of a scare her third year on a chance trip outside during one, but she felt the paranoia was unnecessary now. At least she felt it was pointless to skip her run the next morning.

So that morning, before dawn, she arose from her bed and slipped into a comfortable running set, tiptoeing out of the Dormitory and walking swiftly through the halls. There was a spring in her step as she walked outside and felt the crisp Autumn air upon her and saw the sun rising in the east: her morning jogs, on the mornings she managed to wake up, always had a way of setting her up for a good day, a kind of 'magic' she never fully understood. She was enjoying the cool morning so much that she didn't even hear the stag approaching. So when she turned around and saw the massive creature less than a stone's throw away, she jumped and yelped in shock, before freezing in place.

Lily looked around for other deer or any other sign that would explain why this one was so close to the castle. Her hand was held close to her wand, though she wasn't ready to pull it out just yet: she knew the creatures, 'mundane' though they were, were powerful and territorial, a combination she wasn't about to take lightly. She didn't want to pull her wand out and frighten it, or give it a reason to attack her, but she was ready to defend herself if she had to. Much like a deer in the headlights of a car, she was frozen, fearful and calculating an escape, or at least a way out of being gored.

"Uh... heyy..you. Heh. You're uh... you look a little lost. You might want to head back to the forest. I bet it's nicer for you there."[/color] She paused and looked over the creature, noticing dirt smudges, cuts, and scrapes scattered across its body, blinking and strongly, then, considering taking out her wand if only to heal it. But...

She glanced up at the stag warily. There was always the problem of it thinking she was attacking it and...well... the rest she didn't want to think about. "Want me to fix you up a little bit, hm? Not that you understand a word I'm saying so...please don't gore me if I take my wand out, for the love of Merlin, please don't gore me..."[/color]


((OOC: I imagine he'd have some injuries after running amok with a werewolf, so I hope you don't mind that I added that in there.))

[james ignotus potter]

Oh James could have such a great time messing with people form Hogwarts, if he stumbled upon them. Especially in the morning, no one would half believe that they were getting harrassed by a deer. Man he could deffinitely think of some great things to pull on Severus. This wasn't what James was even thinking was going to happen this morning. He was more concerned about getting inside and trying to get ready for class without anyone noticing anything different. Unfortunately for James transformation back into a human. He always approached by teachers asking what happened. He just told him, it was a cutting curse gone wrong. It was just his adventure with his friend that lead him into controversies and lies that he needed to come up with how something explained why he looked the way he did. But here was Lily looking pretty as a picture this early in the morning, and even in James tired eyes, she was still gorgeous.

James glanced at the girl for a moment as she started to stutter talking at this random animal making a beeline towards the castle. He had to stop and listen to the chaos coming out of her mouth. If he was human right now, he'd have laughed his ass off at her. But that didn't stop him from laughing, even in his unusual little animal sense. With his hooves stomping the ground. But after a moment, he crouched down. Time to play with her, seeing as she really didn't talk to him inside the walls of Hogwarts unless it was one of those, well.. maybe this would lead to him growing the guts to actually ask Lily on a date other then messing up and insulting her in a way, he couldn't take back. James wasn't the type to ask a girl out, especially one he had his eye on for months now.

It seemed his eyes narrowed slightly, and playfully hooving the ground as though he was going to charge her. But he just stood there, snorting like the animal he was supposed to be. But he took her movement as it was his time to play. He might as well, this was probably going to be the only time he could really mess with this girls head. Advancing towards her in a run like he would have driven his horns through her, slid past her before allowing her reaction time. He pranced around her in happy circles, wagging his little stubb of a tail. Pawing the ground with his hoof. He was deffinitely going to be late for class, but he couldn't pass this down.

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[lily marie evans]

The bell on the clock tower struck seven, surprising Lily a little. She'd been out there for much longer than she realized, and in very little time would be late for her first class. The funny thing was, she didn't even care to move: she was much too fascinated by the gall of this stag, lingering about so close to the castle, stamping its hooves into the ground as if amused by her behavior. It was almost... human.

She relaxed a bit as the stag reacted in almost a manner of amusement to her initial shock and fear, sighing a bit. Alright, she supposed she could have handled it better, but she knew male deer could be very territorial. What was she supposed to do? The best course of action, she always imagined, was to give it its space. This one just happened to be an exception, it seemed.

As much as she'd relaxed, however, she couldn't stop herself from jumping as the stag appeared to charge her, taking a quick turn at the end and cantering around her with a smug little swagger in its step. "Oh, you're a tricky little one, aren't you? Look, your little tail's even wagging. Oh, you've got some nerve," she said with a big smile, feigning annoyance. It was adorable, really, and she couldn't help but follow its steps, turning in place, as it walked around her. "You're a little troublemaker. You're lucky you're cute..."

"Alright, well let me see about these, at least,"[/color] she muttered with a sigh, more to herself, as she took out her wand. She cast a simple healing spell, closing up wounds and, though she couldn't see through the fur, hopefully clearing up any bruises the animal may have had. When she was done, she reached a hand out and stroked the stag's snout gently, smiling. "There. Feeling better? You're pretty lucky if you had a run in with the werewolf--or the werewolves--around here yesterday. You could have ended up in a lot worse shape than this, you know, little one." She used the term 'little one' fairly lightly. It had antlers, and was by no means an infant, but it was certainly the adolescent sort, which was probably why it didn't bolt or attack her in the first place. Adolescents of any species, she figured, had a way of being fearless.

[james ignotus potter]

James heard the bell, even with animal like senses, he knew that he was going to be late to class like always. But he didn't want to stop playing with her. Was this the only way he was ever going to get the attention he wanted out of her? Prancing around like an animal? Well that was besides the point with James, he was an animal (as of now anyways) because of his form. But he didn't want to only get the good times with Lily during that once a month timing. He stared at the girl, through those animal eyes, she was just as pretty scared, as she was with the red hot temper of hers. He liked when she got fiesty, it showed she had something more then just the student brain. It kind of made James sad in a sense. Why couldn't he be like this in human form. Maybe he could change that? He'd try.

Oh this Stag was very much in James brain flow. It did whatever James was thinking, and the emotions James gave it. It could probably cry too, but James wasn't much to shed a tear infront of anyone, especially not Lily Evans. That girl would be the first to say something or use it against him all the time. It was almost like his thoughts moved the tongue to stick out at her. Especially since he started messing with her, prancing around with those hooves making the thud noises. It was nice to have company other then his three friends who seemed to have already made it back into the school. Why was he so unlucky? Why was his stomach hungry? He missed breakfast didn't he? It would be time for class really soon, and yet again he missed breakfast. This was the worst thing about most of this.

James was territorial. But it was more like over her. It wasn't until someone else talked about going out with her, did he decided to jinx them. He wasn't very nice during that time either. But he had a rather smug little swagger to his animal self. He was basking in the attention Lily was giving him and soaking it dry. As if understanding he nodded his head those horns were more pesky then they were helpful they got in the way all the time. Try walking into low tree branches and then tell him how wonderful he was doing. In his playful manner he basically bowed at her, and shook his rear. Oh James was soaking this up, but it was almost like they would be late for class? Would she risk missing a class to stay out here with him? His eyes almost glanced up towards the clock to find the time. But his nose bumped her arm, as if telling her to follow him. Allowing graceful strides about two steps ahead of her, glancing back to see if she was following. What would she do, if James just appeared right out of nowhere? Would she smack him? More then likely, this was Evans we were talking about.

It was nice of her to fix up his scaring. He would have had to do that, when he got inside, and he never seemed to get all of them. There were always some sort of bumps and bruises covering the poor boys body. He claimed it was early morning quidditch practice, and the bludgers just seemed to dislike him that time of day. It was nice, and he felt almost rejuvinated. Oh if Lily could see the boys face when she mentioned werewolves? Was she aware that Remus was a werewolf? Did he tell her? Or was she figuring this stuff out all on her own. She was sweet, he wished he could have known this side of her more then he knew the fiesty one. Why not make it even for the both of them. He walked towards the edge of the forbidden forest where some flowers were growing in a rather thick bush over dead leaves and vines. Normal muggles would probably call them bigleaf snowbells, but James figured.. why not give it a try. Grabbing it with his snout and breaking a rather long bit of flowers off with a snap. Did he dare show Lily his true colors? It was worth the shot, what more could he do? It was get her, while he had her wrapped around his figure, or bribe her not to tell Dumbledore what he really did in his spare time. But it was a win lose situation to begin with. How was he gonna get passed Lily once she got inside, wouldn't it be obvious?

That semed to be the finally deciding point before he shifted to stare back at the girl with the flowers hanging from his mouth. Within mere seconds the boy transforming back from Stag to Human leaving one James Potter standing infront of her, with mussed hair, and dirt smudges along his face, and yet, that flower dangling from the corner of his mouth. Which he seemingly grabbed it rather quick and held it out to her. "Morning Eva..Lily." he sauntered a bit towards her holding the flower out to her, a rather wild little smirk drapsing across the boys dirty face. What a rare shock in deed.

[lily marie evans]

She watched the stag's ears turn towards the bell, glad it didn't run off in fear. More than likely he was accustomed to such things, the bell, the students, and therefore had no reason to bolt away as most wild animals did. It was probably a poor decision on his part, given there were probably students who would kill an animal for sport, but she couldn't exactly tell him that. The poor dear would have to figure it out on his own. Lily yawned and scratch the deer's head gently, smiling at him sleepily. "You know, I'm probably not going to hear the end of this. I'm late, you know. For classes. I've done a good job of keeping up the front of being a perfect student. Not that I'm terrible, but I suppose I've got my streak. Anyway, point is, I think I might start losing that being late to class today. Ah well...least you're cute, right?"[/color]

She verbally pushed the idea away, but her mind was still on it: she was able to get away with a lot of things, things most people didn't even know she was doing, because of her reputation. She knew the professors were wrapped around her finger, and she knew they'd listen to anything she said. That was it: all she had to do was make up some excuse, any excuse, and they'd believe her. Ah, and people thought it was a dry life being a star pupil.


She sighed and looked up towards the castle, considering conjuring an apple and giving it to the stag before heading on her way, when he nuzzled her arm. She turned, blinking in surprise--was it normal for animals to behave this way -- as it turned away towards the forest. She watched it, carefully, for any signs that what she'd thought had just happened actually did. When the stag turned back as if to see if she was following, she was confident it had. Lily pressed her lips together, but couldn't keep herself from smiling at the chance of a grand adventure as she followed after the deer. Classes, well, they were at the very least lower in priority now. In fact, if she were honest, she'd admit she wasn't even thinking about them at all.

It didn't take long for them to return to the forest's edge, and she stopped as the stag did, just a bit ahead of her, lowering its head and picking up a flower between its teeth. She wasn't sure if she expected it to eat it or what, but whatever it was, it certainly didn't involve the creature transforming into James Potter. Her eyebrows raised slowly and she tilted her head to the side. It was a curious sight, the boy covered in dirt with wildflowers clenched between his teeth, and quite shocking to see him where a deer had just stood. Her eyes narrowed instantly when he began to call her Evans, but her expression relaxed slightly when he corrected himself. Good. At least he was being polite, or trying to be polite, rather.

"Quite an interesting talent you have there, Pot-James." Well, now they were even. She paused for a second, really unsure what she wanted to say next. 'What were you up to? How did you learn to do that? How long have you known?' She took a moment to think through her options. "The hell...?"[/color] she began uneloquently, taking the flower idly from his hand. "What have you been doing? Besides, obviously, roaming the woods like some wild beast." She tried to feign annoyance, and in some ways was annoyed, for she'd unknowingly shared one of her deepest secrets with him entirely by accident, but there was a smile that played across her face despite any negative emotion. Whatever James Potter wasn't, he was charming. At least..right now. How was he suddenly so different in her eyes this morning?

"An Animagus... you know you're going to have to teach me that now, right? No really, you don't have a choice."[/color] Her voice betrayed how serious she was about wanting him to teach her, though it was neither stern nor threatening. It was almost... intrigued.

[james ignotus potter]

James Potter even in animal form was remotely fearless. He had horns he could probably gore anything that tried to get in his way. Maybe he'd gore Malfoy, or Snape.. One of those two. That would be sweet music to his ears. But as of now, his attention was simply focused on Lily, he could have learned so much about her, while he was in animal form. He could pry into alot of people's private lives as a Stag. Not a bad idea. He'd put that in his thought bank for next month. His dark animal like eyes followed her for a moment watching the things she did, studying her a bit. James had never been this close to Lily before, he kind of really enjoyed it. The animal sense heightened everything about her. The smell of her hair, her skin. He felt like a child, his heart never felt so happy in it's life. He shook his head almost lightly in response. Lily was a good student, because she actually cared. James on the other hand, was a good student because he soaked up everything by watching, and listening. He didn't crack books. He was deffinitely one of the biggest slackers in Hogwarts. Being that he got basically everything, it was never a problem for him to get what he needed to succeed, and that could have been the boys downfall in many circumstances.

He glanced back at the girl that was touching him, he could almost say he was addicted to the touch of the witch infront of him. His ego swelled as she said he was cute. Hell, he made a gorgeous hunk of jerky didn't he? What would he do if she left right now? Probably nothing, run after her. But he couldn't blow his secret, his friends would be so mad at him. Though in other instances, maybe having someone know, it could be a bit of a relief. But on James accord he didn't have to tell her everything, he just didn't want to see her go running to Dumbledore about the things James did. He was pretty sure that wizard already knew. This was such a new adventure.. James had Lily Evans bookworm extrodinare out past the bell, and missing a class.. mark this in the Hogwarts History books.

A smile played over the snout of the deer as much as one could. The transform left almost litle to the imagination of man to deer transformation as he stood there in front of her. Dirty as all come out. "One gets bored during holiday." he stated with a shrug. Living with older parents and alone. There was only so much summer quidditch you could play by yourself. Sirius moved in this year to spend it with James. Thus he had someone else to actually do stuff with. But you couldn't get to elderly of a man on a quidditch broom without feeling he'd fall off and break his hip. That was the sad part that James had come to realized when he was first granted Chaser in the Gryffindor team. Although her response made the boy laugh almost whole heartedly. "Never knew you were such an animal talker. I know your secrets now." he laughed at her. "Eating a nurioushing meal?" he questioned at her response. He couldn't give Remus out on a number like this.

Plus there was no one else wandering about at this moment. He looked her over shaking his head, "I don't know if you have it in you." he stated crossing his arms over his chest a little bit, and smudged dirty fingers through his already messed up hair. "Takes a while to learn. But it's kind of I'm going against ministry right now?" he shrugged a little bit. That could be a problem. She'd seen him, "How do I know, that you won't turn me into Dumbledore?" he asked looking back at her. Although James had realized for once in his life, little Lily Evans was a rule breaker. Not a bad thing to his list of things, he wanted to know about her. "Promise you won't say anything to anyone though."

[/color] he looked around almost worried like. He didn't need to get in trouble, but how else did the boys learn about the knob in the whomping willow. Dumbledore had to have known and give them a bit of an out with a secret. Remus couldn't do it on his own. Bless that old wizards beard. "I don't think you're a bad person for skipping one class Evans." he smirked at her, ducking incase she started swinging, and he danced around her. "Who knew how big of a heart you really had." he said grabbing for a piece of her red hair, and tossing it almost uncaringly behind her shoulder. "But if I taught you, would that mean.. I'd get to see you again.. without anyone else around?" he questioned those dark eyes sparkling in the morning sunlight. It was a little cold outside being that it was october.

"Aren't you cold?" he asked curiously, shifting to search the grounds yet again, "Unless you're used to the cold, then maybe I'd probably understand." he smirked, and glanced around. "Why are you out here anyway?" he asked once more. He was curious now. What made Lily Evans tick. Being that they weren't in school, both were late for class, and he was more then certain someone would pick up on it later. "Got anything on you?" he asked noticing his stomach start growling. Worst part of an overnight transformation he missed out on breakfast, and the other two amazing courses, and late night snacking that came with being inside the castle. "So are you going to class then?" he glanced to the clock, "You could probably make it?" he laughed once more. Although he was kind of wishing, she would just stay out here with him.[/size][/blockquote]

[lily marie evans]

'One gets bored during the holidays'? Lily crossed her arms, looking at him with raised and questioning brows. Yes, of course, it was naturally common for students to become Animagi over boring summer and winter breaks. What had she been thinking? Leave it to James to come up with a farfetched excuse like that. He and his friends were kings of them, after all. Then, suddenly, it was as if a light switched in her head. She furrowed her brow and looked down, putting the pieces together on her own quickly, checking over her own thoughts before she spoke them and quite possibly sounded like a madwoman.

James, Sirius -- the whole group -- they always seemed to be disappearing. And coming back. Looking worse for wear. She wasn't even sure when it had started happening, that the whole group began going missing--not just Remus, and figured it must have been their Fourth or Fifth Year. She wet her lips, a conclusion already drawn up though she continued to give her thoughts the benefit of being mulled over. After all, she'd need a good bit of reason to come up with such an idea: one of them was a werewolf. And, well, clearly it wasn't James, because he...

Lily stopped herself in her own thought and could have smacked herself. Remus! It was Remus all along! The staff probably took him somewhere safe to transform and... well, she supposed wait out the full moon. The rest of his friends must have decided it was a good idea to join him somewhere down the line. She sighed and shook her head at him, her stature saying 'James, James, James, what are we going to do with you?' Usually the thought of someone she knew being a werewolf who had friends who turned into animals to romp with him would be considered absurd, but this was the Marauders in question. The only thing she wondered was how she'd not paid attention sooner.

She snorted, rolling her eyes. "Yes, I suppose I am. What can I say? I like animals. And, thankfully you don't know all of my secrets yet, though I suppose right now we're even."[/color] She looked down at the flower he'd given her, twirling it in her hands. "Shall I be giving this back, then? I wouldn't want you to lose any of your nourishment, young buck."[/color] Her tone was thick with dry, but good natured humor. Her gaze did become sharp quickly, though, as soon as he questioned, she felt, her ability as a witch.

"Don't have it in me, hm? Well, aren't you just the cocky little thing."[/color] She took a step back as he approached her, ducking around him and backing up when he put his dirty hands to her hair. "Bloody hell, wash those things before you go touching me. And no, I won't tell Dumbledore. I don't think you deserve the Ministry's wrath, no matter how stupid you're capable of being. They're not exactly the most...forgiving lot."[/color] She sighed, realizing the predicament she'd put herself in by nearly forcing him to teach her Animagic. He was right; she would have to spend time with him, alone, and lots of it. Was it worth it, to have the ability to transform into a creature she loved? Her gut said 'yes'.

"Yes, I suppose so, unless you plan on inviting the others along."[/color] Her voice lowered slightly as she finished that sentence, realizing that the massive amount of thinking she'd done about James' Animagus form and he and his mates' disappearances had not been spoken aloud at all. "Right, well. I believe I have a bit of a theory, and to be honest, if it weren't for you being in the middle of it, and your friends, I would probably think it quite impossible. Remus: he's the werewolf, or I suppose one of the werewolves that are out and about on full moons. And you and your friends..what, you turn into animals and run around with him, I guess...keep him company?"[/color]

Her eyes were filled with curiosity, but not the sort of a person looking for answers: it was the gaze of a person looking for confirmation for a thought they already had full confidence in. "Sounds like a crackpot sort of tale, doesn't it? But it's you guys, so I'm pretty sure it's more than possible. Well?" She paused and followed his gaze up to the large clock, shrugging. "No, I'm not too cold. I don't plan on going to class, though. I haven't even had breakfast yet, so I'll probably just nip down to the kitchens. You... want to join me?" she asked, the offer coming out almost foreignly. She wasn't often offering to spend time with Potter, but then, after calling him out on what was probably the biggest secret he had, she supposed it was only fair. She just didn't hope the decision came back to bite her in the ass.