Remus had been sleeping soundly when, all of a sudden, he opened his eyes and jumped out of bed. He ran out of the room, leaving the door wide open.
"What...?" called Peter sleepily.
"Ah, Moony had a stroke of genius, apparently," muttered Sirius sarcastically.
Remus was tearing through the common room. He threw open the door to the girls' room and dashed to Lily's bed.
"Lily!" he whispered, shaking her violently. "Wake up! I found it! I found it!"
"What the-?" she started.
"The cure! I think I-"
"Let's go!" she called, suddenly very awake.
Lily grabbed the painting and they ran to the common room.
Sirius walked into the common room, obviously not very awake, to find Lily and Remus picking paint off the canvas.
"What's going on?" asked Sirius groggily before sinking into a couch.
"I think I know where the cure is," answered Remus absently.
"He thinks it's hidden under the paint... You know, you write whatever you want with a thick black marker, paint something over it. We have to pick off all of the paint..."
"Yeah, that's really cool," said Sirius, before falling asleep on the couch and beginning to snore loudly.
Finally they succeed in picking off a bit of the paint.
"Hallelujah!" yelled Lily, hugging Remus. "It's there! It's really there!"
Sirius, wakened by the scream, sat up grumpily. "You shouldn't wake me up so early, I need my- YOU FOUND IT?" He ran up the stairs hollering for James.
Soon, every Gryffindor was in the common room, surrounding Lily and Remus who were finishing to pick off the paint. James was seated in a comfy armchair next to them, smiling ecstatically.
A group of fifth years had run down to the kitchens, and brought back butterbeer and food for all. Everyone was chatting happily, talking about how good this recovery would be for the Quidditch team, or about how hot James was even when he was blind...
Before long, a group of teachers came running into the common room, having heard all the noise.
"What is going on?" asked the Potions master in a particularly teacherly way.
"Butterbeer?" called a sixth year.
"Remus and Lily, sir!" squeaked a short first year. "They found the cure, for James!"
The teachers pushed their way through the joyful crowd, and finally found James, Lily, and Remus, proudly showing off a canvas, covered in tiny script.
"Mr. Lupin, Ms. Evans, Mr. Potter, follow us please," asked the Divination teacher.
Remus helped James up, and they followed the teachers, happy that they could finally heal James.
The Potions master had carefully followed the instructions on the canvas, concocting a foul smelling, bubbly liquid. The Head Nurse then carefully made James drink every drop.
All of the color drained out of his face, and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Then, suddenly, he turned a bright red, before finally relaxing and turning back to a normal color.
"I- I can see!" he said softly, before jumping up and hugging everyone.
"Morning Remus!" called Lily grumpily from the Gryffindor table, as Remus walked towards them, obviously not very awake.
"Hey," he said sleepily.
"Tough night?" she asked.
"Wait until you see the others..."
At that moment, the three remaining Marauders made their entrance, still in their pajamas. Yawning, they walked towards their usual seats.
"Sirius, you've got a twig in your hair," said Eliane, laughing. "I wonder where you were last night!"
Lily and Remus exchanged glances. "She doesn't know about..." whispered James.
"About wh-" began Eliane.
"Mail's here!" called out Peter and Sirius, all of a sudden a bit more alert.
"Wait, what's going on?" asked Eliane.
"Well, we're writing you a birthday song!" lied Peter.
"Oh really! How sweet, why don't you sing it for me!" she exclaimed, obvoisly sure he was lying.
"Um..." he started, reddening.
"Yeah, whatever!" she laughed, imitating him.
"You didn't tell her?" hissed Lily.
"No, I didn't think..." answered James.
"No, you did not think! She's my best friend, and I think she deserves to know!"
"Hey, don't get all worked up about this! It's fine, we'll figure it out and ask Remus what he wants to do, since it is his secret to tell."
"Well I don't think that's right! Eliane deserves to-"
"You already said that! No what the heck is wrong with you? It seems like since I got better you just don't care anymore!"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well when I was blind, you cared! You were nice, you actually talked to me. And now it seems like you don't give!"
"Oh come on, Potter, you're just lame!"
"Oh, so now it's Potter is it?"
"It's always been-"
"No! For a while there we were actually on first name basis! And don't roll your eyes at me! What's your problem?"
Then James walked away, slamming the door closed behind him, leaving Lily alone to her thoughts. Eliane walked in, and seated herself next to Lily.
"I heard the fighting all the way from the library!" exclaimed Eliane. "What's wrong, Lil?"
"I dunno," she answered tiredly. "It's just that he... He annoys me. I don't know, I really don't get it. I really liked him for a while, and then... Something weird happened. I guess that first of all, I'm different..."
"What? Lily, you haven't changed!"
"Yes I have, but he's changed to!"
"What?"
"Well, now he's all... I don't know! Gosh, I guess it's 'cause he's all calm and collected, and he's nice to everyone, and he's just not the same!"
"Is that a bad thing? You used to hate him so badly, back in first year until this year!"
"I know, I know! But when he was arrogant... It was fun! I hate to admit this so long after, but I guess now he's just a bit... Well boring, maybe. No, that's not it. This is so confusing, but I can't help but pick a fight!"
Someone coughed slightly behind them. Lily spun around, and saw James Potter looking at her.
"How long have you been there?" she demanded angrily.
"I came to get my book, and heard every word you said. So I guess you're never satisfied, huh? If I'm a prick, you hate me, and if I try to change, you still hate me. And the worst is I actually liked you!"
He grabbed his book and stomped out of the room, leaving Lily frowning and very confused.
A/N: hey,well here's chap 8... sorry if it's not very good, but I'm kind of having a little bit of writer's block... IDEAS ARE WELCOME!
thanks!
K.J.