Lily shook her head, dismissing the suggestion with confidence. “McGonagall is too clever to have thought that would be particularly effective. You were merit based. She took one look at you and just knew–”
She came to an abrupt stop, halted by the gentle press of Remus’ hand. Lily brought her foot down from where it had paused in mid-air, ready to mount the steps up to the tower and rolled her eyes. “Very funny.” No doubt James and Sirius were about to pop out and scare them. But…no. She could hear it now too. There was the quiet thud of another muffled footstep, followed by a distant keening noise.
Lily inhaled sharply. Her hand shot out and grabbed Remus’. She gave it a tight squeeze, reassuring herself as much as him that they were there together.
A quick glanced over her shoulder confirmed that the corridor behind them was just as empty as it had been when they arrived at the staircase. She had half expected someone to be there, ready to take charge of the situation. But it was just them. This was their responsibility now, there was no parent to check under the bed or professor to reassure them it would be alright. Rounds suddenly took on a new meaning, no longer a route task for catching mischief but a necessary routine instituted to protect the castle from real danger.
Lily squinted into the veil of darkness that lay just a few steps ahead, trying to picture who might be lurking there. She was startled by the images her mind conjured up: Caroline and Jake, their lifeless bodies strewn across the stairs in a failed escape and their monstrous murdered standing above them with wand in hand. Where had they been found, she wondered morbidly, a shiver running down her spine. On the staircase? At the top of the tower, able to catch one final glimpse of the world around them before they left it? Had it been Prefects who discovered the…the corpses? Two unwitting students, just like the her and Remus now, prepared for an uneventful evening of rounds and instead stumbling upon something much darker?
“Remus,” she whispered urgently. “We have to–” she swallowed nervously, “–we have to go look.” Lily slipped her wand from her back pocket and gripped it tightly. It was just as reassuring as the warmth of Remus’ palm. “One person will need to light the way and the other should be ready for…for whatever’s up there.”
Remus swallowed thickly, his back straight now. Ordinarily soft brown hues were a bright, alert amber as he turned to consider his friend standing by his side, the shadows under his eyes and hollows of his cheeks noticeably more pronounced. He searched her expression, knowing that he would do anything in his power to erase the traces of fear and uncertainty that he discovered there. When she took his hand in her own he offered a gentle squeeze in reply as if it were the most natural thing in the world. In the moment, it was.
“Okay.” Lifting his wand, the werewolf wordlessly released Lily’s hand and cast a silent lumos charm before continuing to climb slowly on his own now, eyes scanning ahead. Above him on the top of the tower a shadow shifted, just barely visible between wooden slats.
Wand raised, Remus made the mistake of taking one step too many. With a final creak, an icy stream of water descended directly on the werewolf from a charmed bucket hanging above. He froze where he stood, unsure what had happened for a moment before a familiar cackling voice broke the silence with a bright laugh. “Looney, loopy Lupin!”
Pushing damp curls to the side of his face with a gasp, the werewolf’s shoulders finally relaxed as he exhaled a string of colorful expletives. "Shit, Peeves.”
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