Bad Moon Rising

Prologue

When I look at her, I see us together for a very long time. Of course, I haven't told her how I feel about her. I'm too scared. My fear always seems to get the better of me all the time. My best friends keep telling me that I should just go for it and tell her…but they don't realize that if I tell her and she doesn't feel the same way, I'd lose her as a best friend completely. Her laughing in my face is about probably the second worst thing that could happen.

My friends assure me that she feels the same way. But they've been known to make mistakes in the past. Like the time they tried to set me up with this girl named Lisa Richards. But that turned into a disaster. It turned out that Lisa indeed had a boyfriend beforehand and the boyfriend wasn't exactly happy with my best friends. He was the 'jealous' and angry type and nearly wanted to beat me to a pulp if it wasn't for my mates stepping in and defending me. I've learned then not to trust their judgments or anyone else's.

But She's different. We've been best friends for nearly 6 years now and really close. We actually spent time at each other's homes over the summer and on holidays. Her parents aren't really home much as they're busy with work. So she feels rather lonely and like she was abandoned. But we reassured her that she's not abandoned and that there are people that care about her greatly…and people that love her.

Of course, she also knows about my little 'secret' as well. When I first told her, naturally she reacted the way I would've expected her. But eventually, she came around and realized that I was me most of the time. Only once a month do I change into a horrible monster. Luckily, me mates are there to help me with the changes. I don't know what I would do without them.

Back on the subject of Her, she's wonderful, beautiful and just a great person overall. We share the same interests and we've got the same type of personality. That's probably why we 'clicked' so easily and got along really well. And most guys see that and ask her out all the time. But a few times when she said 'yes' to the guy, the guy turned out to be a real jerk. There was one time when he had just used her to make his ex-girl friend jealous. That hadn't gone over well and the four of us ended up pranking him. That resulted in us getting detention for a week, but it was well worth it. The second guy turned around and hit her. One night she came into the common room with a black eye and bruised jaw. At that, that was enough for us. With her protests, we left the room and immediately went after him, giving him a dose of his own medicine.

Of course, detention followed this time for two weeks and an owl was sent home to each of our parents, but again it was worth it. I only hope that when I tell her how I feel, she won't say no. I mean if she needs time, naturally I won't push her. Well, gotta go. Classes are starting.

Remus Lupin