AN: This story is a gift for the wonderful ThatOneAnimagus who has so kindly allowed me to write a story based on their story 'The Marauders and Umbridge'. This author has explored something that I never really had the courage to, and I fell in love with the story that they've written. ThatOneAnimagus has written a story that explores what would have happened had Umbridge been their professor. My little story is looking at a particular scene that was written into this author's work regarding a detention that Remus and his friends had with Umbridge (Chapter 20). While, this story takes great liberties with this author's talented work and the original is definitely far better, I wanted to really get into the head of Remus about what he had to endure at the hands of this professor.

This story is definitely going to have a few more parts as I really want to explore the aftermath of this professor's abuse. However, if the original author thinks that I've played around with their story too much, then I will respect their decision and will edit as necessary to round off the ending.

For context, this story is set in the Marauders second year at Hogwarts. I have changed a few things that occur within the original story that haven't already been changed in the original, and apologize profusely to ThatOneAnimagus. I mean absolutely no disrespect to you or to your amazing story, and hope that I can redeem myself as the story continues on. I think this one will only be about two or three parts.

Monster

Part One

As Remus Lupin walked along the corridor towards the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, he felt a growing sense of unease. He didn't understand why he felt as though something awful was going to happen, but he did know that with Umbridge as the professor, that something usually did happen in the classroom. He glanced nervously at Sirius and James who were in a heated argument about an essay that Professor McGonagall had assigned a few days earlier and were therefore oblivious to Remus' distress.

"… I mean come on, Sirius, it's not going to take very long…" James was saying to an obviously annoyed Sirius.

"Not take very long?" Sirius sputtered out in disbelief. "She wants an essay that is practically three pages…"

"It's not three pages," said James softly. "It's more the content that she is looking for. You know what McGonagall is like when it comes to detail."

Sirius sighed and shook his head. "It's not the content that is the problem. It's the fact that the professors seem to want so much out of us this year. We have too much homework that it is impossible to breathe."

"Just admit it, mate," said James in amusement. "You expected this year to be as easy as last year."

"I do not!"

"You so did!"

"I was bored to tears last year. You know me, I am always up to a challenge."

"You're impossible, you know that?"

Remus rolled his eyes and let them continue without saying anything. He looked up the corridor and saw some of their classmates disappear into the classroom and a cold sense of dread washed over him. He came to a complete stop in the middle of the hallway and looked about him, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and his fists clenched into tight fists.

Peter, who had been walking behind Remus and not paying attention because he was giving his essay for Umbridge a final look walked directly into him. Remus noticed Sirius and James give each other puzzled looks before they too came to a stop beside him.

"I am so sorry, Remus!" Peter squeaked as he moved quickly to be on the other side of Sirius. "I didn't mean to walk into you, I am…"

Sirius stepped forward with a worried frown. "What's wrong, Remus? You look as though you're about to be sick."

Remus struggled internally to find the words he could say. How could he explain that he felt that something was off without making a complete fool of himself to his friends? He looked about him quickly in the poorly lit corridor uneasily. It was almost as if something was watching their every move from the shadows, lurking just out of sight and waiting for him to be unaware so it could pounce. His heart was pounding so hard that it felt as though it was going to jump out of his chest, and he jumped when Sirius put his hand gently on his arm.

"What's wrong? Is there something the matter? What's going on?" Sirius asked, his grey eyes full of concern and something else that Remus couldn't put his finger on.

"It's… It's nothing." He averted his eyes from Sirius' gaze and looked at a spot over his friend's shoulder. He could see James and Peter give one another bewildered looks. "Look, class is about to start…" he started to say.

James looked down at his watch. "We have a few minutes before Umbridge gets here." He looked up at Remus with a knitted brow. "Something's bothering you. You get that look on your face when you sense trouble."

Sirius released a breath that let Remus know that his friend was annoyed and glanced over at him pleadingly. "We aren't going anywhere until you tell us what's going on." He held up a hand to stop Remus as he began to protest and crossed his arms over his chest with his jaw jutted out in a sure sign of stubbornness. "Now out with it, Remus! What's bothering you? Even if Umbridge arrives in all her pink glory, we will not leave this corridor until you say what's wrong!"

Remus glanced from Sirius to James and Peter as though hoping that they would intervene, but James appeared as stoic as Sirius was and nodded encouragingly at him. Peter was glancing from both Remus and Sirius with his mouth slightly open as though he was at a loss to know what to say or do.

"Something… something feels off today." He finally relented and adamantly refused to look at any of his friends. He could feel himself go hot and knew that his face had turned pink. However, he continued because he knew that Sirius and James would pry the truth out of him one way or another. "I feel as though something is going to happen and…" he cut off looking wildly around the hallway again, he could hear the sound of Umbridge's heels coming their way and he hurried into the classroom with his friends hot on his heels.

Sirius and James sat either side of him in their usual seat at the front of the class. Peter immediately took the empty chair on James' right side and leaned over to speak to Remus.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much, Remus." Peter glanced nervously at the door, watching nervously for Umbridge to arrive. "You're just overthinking that's all. You're probably worried because of the prank we recently pulled on Umbridge."

James bit his lip and looked questioningly at Remus. "Maybe Pete has a point, Remus? You are the one that has the conscience when it comes to what we do. Maybe you're just worried that…"

"That I'll be expelled?" Remus hissed vehemently as Umbridge made her way down the row of students, her eyes locked on his. Immediately, he felt himself go cold. He recognized the look on her face and immediately looked down at the table just as Umbridge came to a halt in front of him.

"I know that you were the one that had been in my office," she said in a sickly-sweet voice that made Remus feel sick to his stomach. "I know that you were the one that sabotaged my office and I think that warrants a detention, don't you think, Mr. Lupin?"

Before Remus had a chance to respond, Sirius pushed his chair back and stood to his feet. "Do you have any evidence that points to Remus of any wrongdoing, Professor?"

"I suggest you take your seat, Mr. Black," said Umbridge, her eyes flashing dangerously as she regarded Sirius.

"I will do no such thing, Professor."

The class went suddenly still and silent, as though everyone was holding their breath and waiting for the worst to happen. Beside Remus, James' hands clenched tightly into fists and he hissed something that went unheard by both Umbridge and Sirius.

"You didn't answer my question, Professor," said Sirius coldly. "Do you have any evidence that Remus did something?"

Umbridge smiled, a dangerous sign that only meant that Remus was going to suffer more in his detention later that evening. "I don't need evidence, Mr. Black. I know things about Lupin that will make your hair curl." She gave Remus a look of pure loathing and continued. He gave her a look of horror, feeling as though a hand had suddenly grabbed hold of his heart and was squeezing the life out of it. "Don't be fooled by this… this… thing. He's an evil menace that doesn't deserve to be at this honourable school."

"Pro… Professor… Please…" he stammered out. "You can't. Dumbledore…"

"Is an old fool that clearly can't see what kind of monster he's allowed in," Umbridge snarled, her anger and hatred towards him threatening to explode out of her. Remus recoiled as though she had slapped him, his eyes wide in disbelief and terror. After all the hard work that he had put into his classes, into proving to himself that he wasn't some kind of monster that deserved to be hauled into the Ministry to be put out of its misery, that he was as human as all of his fellow classmates and deserved to be respected as such, and the friends that stuck by him no matter how odd he was… it all meant nothing in the end. In just a few seconds, he was going to be a disgrace, something to be reviled and feared. In just a few seconds his best friends were going to desert him. No one would want to be in a school with a dangerous creature like him. He would be thrown out from Hogwarts. Dumbledore would be disappointed in him.

"Yes," breathed Umbridge in quiet triumph as she watched him. "Don't you see? Even you believe that something as revolting and pathetic as yourself doesn't belong anywhere near this school."

Remus closed his eyes as tears threatened to fall down his cheeks. He felt his lip tremble and he quickly grabbed his bag to run out of class. Who was he fooling? Umbridge was right. He didn't belong anywhere near or in Hogwarts. Dumbledore had lied to him when he had told him that he would be like any other student, that he had seen great promise in him, and that he had a bright future ahead of him. He was nothing more than a filthy monster, a creature that didn't deserve to be considered human even though it had been human at one point. Werewolves didn't deserve to go to school. Monsters like him deserved to be exterminated.

He jumped as a fist slammed into the table next to him, felt the chair next to him slam backwards and fall over with a thud, and looked up just in time to see an infuriated James stand up and face Umbridge. His hazel eyes flashed angrily, and sparks flew from the tip of his wand as he whipped it out and shoved it under Umbridge's nose. Remus heard the class gasp around them and felt his face redden. He went to pick up his bag and rush out of the classroom as fast as he could, but felt Peter and Sirius draw closer to him and placed their hands on his shoulders protectively.

"That is enough!" James shouted as he moved closer to Umbridge, blocking Remus from her sight. "Do you not hear yourself!? You have targeted Remus from the first day of school and to be quite honest, I am sick and tired of it! What has he ever done to deserve such hatred? He's done nothing to you! You are just a sad… You are just a pathetic…"

"Mr. Potter, that will be a week's worth of detention!" Umbridge screeched, appearing almost demented with her eyes nearly popping from their sockets and her face twisted with anger "I will not tolerate…"

"I DO NOT CARE WHAT YOU DO OR DO NOT TOLERATE!" James roared angrily. "You have absolutely no right to treat Remus the way you just did! He is the most intelligent, the most caring, the most kind and tolerant…"

"Leave my classroom now, Potter! I will not be spoken to like this in my own class!" Umbridge screamed at James, brandishing her own wand threateningly. "Your head of house will definitely be hearing about your intolerable behaviour, Potter."

James stopped yelling, grabbed his bag and roughly swung it onto his shoulders. He brushed past Remus, Sirius, and Peter and was halfway to the door before he turned around and said loudly- "You know what I find most pathetic, Professor?" He paused and watched Umbridge's face closely. "The fact that whenever you come across somebody who surpasses you in intelligence that you will attack him just to make yourself feel better!"

A ringing silence filled the room as James stomped out. Everyone was looking at Umbridge, who appeared to have forgotten that she was supposed to teach a class and was breathing hard as she paced the front of the class.

Remus pushed his chair to get up, white-faced and shaking. He made to lift his bag off the floor and place it on his shoulders, but Umbridge seemed to come to her senses once she saw him.

"I am sorry, Professor…" he began nervously.

"Sit down, Mr. Lupin!" Umbridge demanded, her eyes flashing threateningly. Once he had resumed his seat, she continued. "Yes, this will never do. Mr. Lupin, Mr. Black, Mr. Pettigrew, you are to come to my office this evening for your detentions. I will be writing a note to Mr. Potter that he is to accompany you to my office for his punishment."

"Detention?" Pettigrew yelped, whipping his head around to face Umbridge with horror on his small face. He leaned forward and gripped the sides of the desk so tightly that his knuckles turned white. "Professor, I didn't do anything wrong…"

"You were with your friends the day that my office was vandalized," Umbridge said in a sweet voice, regarding Peter coldly. "Let this be a lesson to you to choose your friends wisely."

"… That evil, disgusting, pathetic toad!" Sirius fumed as they walked quickly back to the Gryffindor Common Room nearly an hour later. "The way she went on about you, Remus! It was almost as if you were not even human. To do it alone in her office while you're in detention is one thing, but to do it in front of an entire classroom made up of our peers? What was she playing at?"

Remus struggled to keep up with Sirius who was walking so fast that it was almost as if he was sprinting through the hallway. From beside him, Peter had to nearly run to keep up, his bag swinging wildly from his shoulder. Remus noticed Peter give him a nervous sidelong look but didn't speak to him about what had happened. He knew that Peter was angry that he had received detention with the likes of Dolores Umbridge, but he hoped that his friend's anger wasn't directed at him.

"I didn't think that she could sink to such a low level! She doesn't have any evidence that anybody was behind that vandalism of her office. She just attacked you because she thinks you make a good target!" Sirius ranted, causing two fifth year girls in their House to give him a strange look. "Blimey, James is right when he says that Umbridge has been targeting you since she first saw you."

"Sirius…" Remus began.

"To think that this evil toad is even allowed to step foot into this castle is ridiculous," said Sirius, angrily shoving his way through the crowd of students heading downstairs to the Great Hall for supper. "She can't teach! She clearly doesn't like being at Hogwarts. She disrespects every single one of our professors, especially Dumbledore and McGonagall. I mean, why is she even here?"

Remus hurried his pace so that he could be beside Sirius. He needed to calm his friend down before he could hurt himself. He pulled at Sirius' arm and was successful in slowing him down so that Peter could catch up to them.

"Th… thanks, Remus," gasped Peter a few seconds later at the top of the staircase leading to Gryffindor Tower.

Remus nodded to Peter but didn't release Sirius' arm until they had reached the Portrait Hole. Sirius protested loudly that he could walk by himself, but Remus pulled him aside and glanced around the common room to see if he could find James.

"You must have some common sense, Sirius!" Remus hissed quietly as some seventh years brushed past him. "You can't just talk about a teacher that way, including Umbridge. You know that she's been looking for a way to throw you out of the school."

Sirius opened his mouth to say something, but Remus interrupted him looking serious. "Do you really think that she doesn't have ears throughout the castle? Just last week, a discussion between McGonagall and Slughorn nearly got the two of them into deep trouble. Don't you remember?"

Sirius looked mutinous, but finally nodded his head. "Fine, but the next time she ever does what she did to you today, I will not hesitate to hex her straight into the next century. I mean, the nerve that she had…"

"Sirius…" Remus warned, looking grave.

His friend rolled his eyes and turned away towards the staircase that would take them to their dormitory. "Oh, alright fine, but I can't promise I will contain myself if I see her at the Great Hall tonight."

"You're forgetting that we have detention with her tonight," Peter said miserably, setting his bookbag next to his bed and looking up at Remus. He appeared troubled by something and glanced around the dormitory to ensure that they were alone. "She said a lot of disgusting things today in class. I don't… I mean… that is to say." He gulped and quickly looked away to Sirius for help. "She… Umbridge, I mean… Well, she said that you were a monster that didn't belong at Hogwarts."

Remus' face became guarded and he turned away from his friends. He didn't know what to say. He knew it was only going to be a matter of time before they found out the truth that he was a werewolf, but he hoped that the reveal wouldn't happen until they were all out of Hogwarts.

Sirius spoke up from behind him. "Umbridge was angry that we had gotten her office in that prank. To her anybody that opposes her is a monster and doesn't belong in Hogwarts, much less in society."

"Yes, but…" Peter began awkwardly.

"It's Umbridge's way to make Remus confess," Sirius said, his voice suddenly hard. "Peter don't worry about it. She would say anything to get her own way, the old toad." He hesitated for a second, then continued. "Dumbledore wouldn't allow any kind of monster in the castle…"

Remus straightened from his bookbag and shook his head, feeling as though the world was about to crumble around him. "James obviously isn't here, Sirius. I bet he's down in the Great Hall waiting for us. Let's go and get something to eat before our detentions with Umbridge."

He made his way to the door, slammed it open and disappeared through it. If he had glanced over his shoulder at his friends, he would have noticed the bewildered looks both Peter and Sirius were giving one another as they made to follow him.

Supper that night had been a quiet affair for the Marauders. James had been waiting for them in the Entrance Hall but was clearly too angry after what had happened in Umbridge's classroom to speak to them. He did, however, sit beside Remus and glared at anyone that gave them strange looks. Sirius was too busy eating and plotting about what he would do next to Umbridge in retaliation for what she had done to Remus. Peter was nervously thinking about their detention with Umbridge that night and kept looking down at his hand. He looked up quite a lot at Remus, giving him a small smile, but hardly ate anything.

As for Remus, he was too busy thinking about what would happen to him if he was expelled from Hogwarts because his secret had been revealed to the entire school. He had worked so hard in his classes, had come in top of the class in nearly every one of them, and had gained respect and approval amongst his professors. He also had friends that deeply cared for him and that he would dearly miss once he was told by Dumbledore that he couldn't return. He considered going up to the Headmaster's office tomorrow to tell him that he had thought wrong of him. The idea sickened him. The thought of Dumbledore's disappointment devastated him. He stabbed a piece of roast potato with his fork moodily but didn't eat it.

"We better get going if we want to make it to Umbridge's detention on time," said James ten minutes later when he checked his watch. He no longer sounded angry but seemed worried. He stuck close to Remus the entire way there. Remus was too caught up in his feeling of dread to really notice the change in his friends. It was almost as though they were worried that there was some attack that was going to happen against him, but they made it Umbridge's office without incident.

Umbridge was waiting for them with a sickly-sweet smile, and her army of black quills within her reach as she sat back in her chair behind her desk and watched them.

Sirius seemed to have gotten his cockiness back as he turned to James and said loudly- "Now, why is it that we are in detention again? Surely, it's not because we stood up for one of best friends against a bully, is it?"

If possible, Umbridge's smile got even bigger. "I know that you are the Marauders. You've been the one that sabotaged my office yesterday. I saw you outside my door when I returned from class."

Sirius pretended to be offended. "Are we not allowed to walk by your office? After all, your office is in the school that we attend! It's on the way to our other classes. We are allowed to walk by or even stop near the door as we bloody well please."

"Funny that after I discovered the four of you outside my office door that I walked through the door, only to find that some kind of enchantment dirtied my entire office," said Umbridge sweetly. "Don't you think that is a little suspicious?"

"If you seem to think that accusing the first group that you seem to think is suspicious for doing something," said Remus with a dismissive shrug. "Then it's really no wonder why you were stuck in the same department with little to no authority."

The smile on Umbridge's face disappeared, only to be replaced by a hideous scowl that made her even more toad like in appearance. "You have no right to talk to me like that, Mr. Lupin. Now, I have assigned the four of you to different desks. As you have likely noticed, they are not close to one another." She turned to look at them as if daring them to say something. "When you get to your desk, you will find a piece of parchment waiting for you with what I have assigned your lines to be."

"And if we refuse to do them?" Remus asked mildly. "I did some research into those quills, Professor. It states in numerous texts that those quills of yours are filled with dark magic and are therefore banned from being used in Hogwarts."

From somewhere behind him, he heard James and Sirius laugh into their sleeves. Peter appeared as though he wanted the floor to make him disappear and hid his face with his hands. Remus, however, stood his ground. He was sick of being bullied by this professor and wanted to show her that she didn't frighten him anymore.

"You will do what I say, Mr. Lupin." Umbridge pulled out a piece of parchment and went to give them further instruction only to find that Remus had reached over to the nearest desk that had a black quill on it and was studying it. "You will put that back or you will have a detention the rest of the school year for trying to sabotage my right to discipline my students the way I see fit."

"What I want to know, Professor." Remus went on as though he didn't hear her, still studying the blood quill in his hands. "Is how you managed to find somebody who would make such evil instruments. Surely, as a representative of the Ministry, you know better than anyone our laws and regulations."

The smile was back on Umbridge's face as she leered at Remus. "As the authority of this class, it is up to me to see to the discipline of my students as I see fit. I am sure that you read that in those books, Mr. Lupin?"

Remus pretended to consider, then shook his head. "Actually no. While, a professor can decide what sort of punishment a student should have, it is never something that is against the law. Quite frankly, blood quills are not allowed anywhere near Hogwarts, Professor. As I said earlier, they are created using dark magic…"

"Enough, Mr. Lupin." Umbridge took the blood quill back from him and set it back on the desk again. "Mr. Black, you are to sit at the desk closest to the front window. Mr. Potter, you are to sit at this desk here. As for Mr. Pettigrew, you are to sit at the desk near the middle window. Mr. Lupin, you are to sit at the desk right in front of mine."

Remus groaned inwardly. Being close to Umbridge's desk meant only one thing, she wanted him near her so that she could not only keep an eye on him, but to make sure that he knew how much he didn't belong at Hogwarts. It was a torture that had far more lasting effects than any blood quill. He went to move so that he could get to his desk, only to find that Sirius had his hand on his arm preventing him, and that James and Peter had closed ranks.

"Why aren't the rest of us close to your desk?" Sirius asked as he looked around Umbridge's office. "I mean, if you are so sure that we are the Marauders, wouldn't it be wise to keep us together, so you can watch us more effectively? Why are you targeting only Remus…?"

"Silence, Mr. Black." Umbridge turned her back to him and went to stand behind her desk. "We have wasted enough time. I want you to sit down at your assigned desks. Unless you want to stand during your detention and write your lines." Her eyes flashed dangerously. "I suggest that if you want to be more comfortable, that you take your seats and begin or else I will just vanish the chairs and you'll stand for the next couple of hours."

It was, in Remus' honest opinion, the worst detention he ever had. He had taken his seat in front of Umbridge's desk, peered down at his paper and nearly cried out in shock. Written at the top of the page in Umbridge's handwriting was one word, 'Monster'. He felt tears come to his eyes at the thought that he was going to be permanently branded with the very word that made him feel unworthy of being alive. To have such a word forever etched on his own skin, where everyone could see it and judge him before they even knew him, was unfathomable.

From somewhere behind him, he could hear Peter's gasps of pain and James cursing. He snuck a glance at Sirius who had taken his assigned seat on the opposite side of the room but noticed that his friend had not picked up the quill and was instead staring intently in his direction, eyes narrowed and watchful.

He felt himself go red and looked down at the parchment in front of him. There was a moment where he debated whether he should refuse to write his lines… to stand up to Umbridge and walk out of his office. He should go to McGonagall with this. McGonagall made it no secret that she despised Umbridge, thought that she was untrustworthy and had ulterior motives for being at Hogwarts. Remus knew that if she ever found out what Umbridge wanted him to do, she would do everything in her power to get it to stop. Yet, what about his friends? They were also suffering the same fate that he was. Sirius, James, and Peter were also slicing their own hands open because of Umbridge. He couldn't think of leaving his friends to endure this torture on their own. Remus may be many things- werewolf, monster, half human… but he was certainly not a coward.

At least, that is what he told himself.

Remus sighed softly and picked up the blood quill to start his lines. He didn't look up when he heard Umbridge get up from her seat and move towards him. He bent his head closer to the desk, hoping that Umbridge would have enough sense to leave him alone.

"Mr. Black, unless you want to remain here for another couple of hours, I suggest that you start writing your lines." Umbridge's voice cracked like a whip in the silence of the room, and Remus realized that she was right behind him. He felt his shoulders tense and resisted the urge to look over his shoulder to see what Umbridge was doing behind him. "The same goes for you, Mr. Lupin."

Remus jumped and started writing the single word over and over again on the piece of parchment. He hissed in pain as he felt the letters cut themselves into his hand. At first, his hand just stung, the letters disappearing before he could even complete the word. However, after half an hour, his hand throbbed with pain. He noticed that the word was etched deep in his skin, and he paused long enough to turn his head to fight back a wave of nausea. Umbridge noticed that he had stopped writing and immediately bent over the desk to take a look at his hand. He heard her laugh softly as she realized the damage she had caused. Umbridge glanced up at him with a small smile on her face before she picked up his hand and pressed hard on the wound. Remus gave a strangled cry and tried to pull his hand out from her grasp, but that only caused him more pain as she squeezed his hand harder.

He saw Sirius spin around in the seat of his chair to look over at him. For a moment, his friend appeared shocked as he observed what was happening, but then his face contorted into rage as he realized just what Umbridge was doing. He opened his mouth to yell something out, but a moment later had decided to spring out of his chair to make his way towards Umbridge. Remus heard James' sharp intake of breath from behind him but didn't look round to see whether this was because James knew what was happening or because he was still writing his lines. He heard Peter's chair scrape against the floor, sensed, rather than saw, Peter scrambling to his feet.

Tears sprang to his eyes. Embarrassed, Remus turned his head to hide his face from Sirius who had stopped in his tracks, his grey eyes intent on Umbridge with such hatred and cold fury that he seemed to emit a power that was deeply terrifying.

He felt Umbridge shift slightly beside him and instantly heard a bang and a grunt of pain as Sirius was thrown backwards into the chair he had vacated. A moment later, another bang and the sound of Peter wheezing as the spell hit him straight in the chest. Peter fell heavily back into his seat and seemed to quickly busy himself by continuing his lines.

Enraged, Remus finally turned his head so that he could fully see Umbridge. He saw her lower her wand with a look of triumph on her face and he found that his hatred for her overwhelmed him. Suddenly, he wanted to hurt her… to destroy everything that she represented. He felt the wolf stir deep within him. He felt as though he was about to lose control… but then he looked away, ashamed and disgusted with himself. Dumbledore believed in him. Remus could not disappoint him because it was Dumbledore that allowed him the chance to prove everyone wrong.

Beside him, he heard Umbridge's girlish laughter. It was a sign of his defeat. He didn't look at her. She moved as close to him as she could without making contact with him. "See what I mean, Mr. Lupin?" she asked in such a quiet voice that he could barely hear her. "I knew that deep down you know that you're a monster."

He snarled at her and yanked his hand out of her grasp. He gritted his teeth in pain as he continued to write the word out.

"Tut tut," Umbridge whispered condescendingly into his ear. "You need to remember your human manners. It seems that you have been turning more into the wolf and are forgetting yourself."

Remus ignored her. He couldn't allow her to get under his skin like that. He wouldn't be as weak as she was, but as time went on, he discovered that his resolve was beginning to weaken.

"I wonder if I should go to the Ministry about you." Umbridge had moved to the other side of the desk and had continued her harassment from there. "Perhaps, the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures would be interested in you. You know what they do to werewolves like yourself?"

"I am fairly certain that the Minister for Magic already knows about me," Remus said mildly, his eyes still on his parchment. "After all, it's not just Dumbledore's decision to allow someone like me into Hogwarts. The Ministry must be told. Unlike you, Dumbledore doesn't break the law."

Umbridge said nothing, but he still felt that she was beside him. Without looking up from the piece of parchment in front of him, he said- "And to answer your question about what is done to a werewolf that is caught by the Ministry of Magic, I am fairly certain the only good way to dispose of one is to use the killing curse. Not only because it is far more humane than leaving an innocent human being to die an agonizing death by being stabbed in the heart with a silver dagger, but also because torturing someone to that extent is against the law."

Remus was relieved when he found that Umbridge had left his side and was now back at her desk.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor for your cheek, Mr. Lupin."

"That's fine, Professor. I am rather certain I can get back those points for Gryffindor tomorrow during my classes."

An agonizing two hours later, Umbridge checked their hands and smiled. "It seems that Mr. Black and Mr. Potter still need to return for their detentions. As for Mr. Lupin and Mr. Pettigrew, the message seems to have gotten through to you what you did wrong. Just the same, I would like for the two of you to come to your detentions tomorrow." She paused, her gaze intent on Remus. "I sincerely hope that you remember your proper place next time you enter my classroom."

Remus wrapped his hand in the folds of his school robes and winced slightly. It wasn't going to prevent any pain, but it was enough to stop the bleeding, and of course to prevent his friends from seeing what Umbridge had forced him to write.

"Pray tell me, Professor," Remus said mildly, giving her a look of pure disgust. "What exactly is my proper place here?"

Without waiting for an answer, Remus turned on his heel and marched out of Umbridge's office.

Remus half ran down the poorly lit corridor, rounded the corner and raced as fast as he could to the bottom of the staircase before he retched. He felt the world spin around him, and he sank to his knees near the bottom step clutching his stomach and shaking uncontrollably. He didn't dare unwrap his hand to take a look at his wounds as he knew that Sirius, Peter, and James would find him soon, but he was suddenly aware of the fact that his hand was throbbing painfully.

He knew that Umbridge hated him. It was true that she had targeted him the first day she had seen him in her class, but he hadn't expected a professor to go out of their way to show him that he was a disgusting creature that had no right attending class. Remus was no stranger to prejudice and hatred. It wasn't uncommon for Remus to find that his parents had packed up their belongings to move away because somebody was becoming suspicious of his strange illnesses. He had heard children ask their parents what was wrong with him, why his parents refused to allow them to enter their house and did not allow Remus to play with them. His father tried his best to hide him away from the world, but that didn't stop him from realizing that everyone hated him because he suffered through something that was beyond his control.

Umbridge made it no secret that she hated him because he was different than she was, but he couldn't understand why she enjoyed torturing him so much. As one of his professors, she had to be told about his condition because he had to spend days after his transformations in the hospital wing and he could miss as many as three days of school at a time.

He heard footsteps round the corner and approach him, but didn't look up to see who it was. He retched again, still clutching at his stomach and shaking.

"Remus?" James called softly, and Remus was sure he heard uncertainty in his friend's voice. "Remus are you alright?"

Remus couldn't respond to the question. His mind struggled to make sense of what had happened to him. He didn't know how to respond. How could he answer this question truthfully when his own best friends didn't know the truth about him?

He felt somebody sit down heavily beside him on the step. A moment later, a hand was on his shoulder. The owner of the hand didn't force him to turn around, but instead allowed Remus to have time to gather himself.

"She's forced you to write monster for your lines, didn't she?" said Sirius after a moment's pause. He tried his best to keep his voice gentle, but Remus could tell that he was fighting to control his emotions. "That's why you were so upset when you sat down at the desk at the start of detention."

From somewhere in front of him, Remus heard James sharp intake of air and next second, James had taken a seat on Remus' other side. Peter quickly cleaned up the mess that Remus had made and conjured a bucket out of thin air and placed it gently within reach before kneeling in front of him and holding back his hair in case he got sick again.

"I think we should go to McGonagall about this," said Peter angrily. "Umbridge has no right to make Remus write such a horrible thing."

James gently removed the bit of robe that Remus had wrapped his injured hand in and inspected it. He made a strange noise at the back of his throat, shook his head sadly, and got Sirius to light his wand so that he could take a closer look.

Suddenly, Remus lurched forward and made a noise that was between a whimper and a snarl as James accidently touched the area that the word had been etched into his skin. Sirius and Peter both managed to grab hold of him and Peter quickly moved the bucket so that Remus retched safely into it instead of over himself or the floor.

"I am so sorry, Remus." James sounded horrified that he had caused more hurt to his friend and had released Remus in his panic. He waited until Remus lifted his head from the bucket before he gently took his injured hand again to look. This time he didn't poke or prod around the area to see how bad his injury was, not when it was very plain to everyone present what Umbridge had done. He sighed heavily before he removed his wand from the inside pocket of his robes and held it over Remus' hand. "We've got to clean these wounds and make sure they are covered properly or it will get infected."

"Listen, we need to get him to Madame Pomfrey." Sirius held Remus close to him, watching James closely as he muttered an incantation and bandages wrapped themselves around Remus' hand. "She may be able to get rid of this…" Sirius struggled to control his emotions as he felt Remus shudder. "There has to be a way to get that off his hand."

"It's permanent," Remus suddenly choked out. "Once something is etched onto someone's skin by the black quill, there's no magic in this world strong enough to remove it."

Sirius and James exchanged furtive glances between one another. James patted Remus on the shoulder comfortingly while Peter made the sick at the bottom of the bucket disappear.

Remus felt Sirius stiffen beside him. "Permanent? We can't have him with this branded into his skin, James. Imagine what our classmates would say if they saw this?"

"We will take him to McGonagall." James' hold on Remus tightened protectively. "Perhaps she will know what to do. Maybe she will know more about these quills and there is some kind of charm that will make it disappear." He looked down at his watch. "She will still be up in her office…"

Remus shook his head. "No, I will be fine. We don't need to get McGonagall involved…"

"You've got the word monster branded onto your hand," Sirius said through gritted teeth, looking down at Remus' bandaged hand. "There's no way that you are fine. It's not okay, Remus! What Umbridge has done…"

"… She's done to you," Remus interrupted him and looked pointedly towards Sirius' left hand that was resting on his arm. "Look, it's just a word, right? It doesn't mean anything…"

"It means something to you, though." Sirius appeared as though he was ashamed that he had uttered those words, but he jutted his jaw out stubbornly and pressed on. "I saw what she was doing to you the entire time we had detention. She was whispering things to you, making you upset. She barely left you alone the entire time you were in there."

Remus stiffened at these words. What if the others had heard what Umbridge had been saying to him? His heart pounded painfully against his ribcage. He suddenly felt ashamed of himself. Umbridge had only gotten him to write a single word down during his detention… his friends had been forced to write an entire sentence, and they weren't losing their heads about it. He shook free of his friends' grasps and stood shakily to his feet and moved towards the staircase. He was aware that they were all staring at him, but he knew that it was more because they were concerned about him than anything else.

He turned to Sirius who was still seated upon the bottom stair. "What did she get you to write?"

Sirius snorted and showed them all his hand. "As much as I would have loved to get her to force me about how I should never talk about eggs as part of a conspiracy to distract her," he said with a hearty laugh. "She got me to write 'I will never sabotage the professor'. I don't think she much liked the fact that I demanded to know what evidence she had against you."

James stood to his feet with a mischievous smile tugging at his lips. "Really? She got me to write 'I will not attack the teacher'. Clearly she thought that I presented a threat for yelling at her."

Sirius also got to his feet, a playful frown on his face. "Well, you were absolutely terrifying today in class, James. However, I think that the toad clearly thinks that our Remus here is the threat. After all, why would she force him to etch such a horrible thing into the back of his hand for? However, we didn't hear what Pete had to write yet. Perhaps, she hates him more than all of us and we are only stealing that privilege for ourselves!"

Peter took the bait and scrambled to his feet eagerly to show them what he had to write for his detention. "Mine is 'I will not take part in a plot to attack a teacher'." He snorted derisively as he glanced down at his hand but then his face perked up and he looked up at James and Sirius. "There's no way that we will let her get away with this, is there? It's one thing to target us and get us to write lines, but what she did to Remus was far worse than anything she had us write."

Sirius nodded his head with barely disguised excitement. "Exactly what I was thinking, Peter. Umbridge has declared war on the Marauders, and we are going to gladly accept her declaration with direct action. However, I think we should get to our dormitories before a professor finds us out of bed after curfew."

James waved his wand over the bucket and it disappeared. They rushed up the stairs to get back to their common room without saying a word to one another. Remus was deep in thought wondering whether he should go to McGonagall or to Dumbledore about tonight, but he didn't want to worry or upset them. He didn't want McGonagall to think he was losing his nerve because of one night's detention with the likes of Dolores Umbridge. Besides, the jobs of both McGonagall and Dumbledore were on the line as it was without his help, and he didn't want any of them to get into more trouble. He owed both his professors so much for what they did for him, and he didn't like feeling as though he were letting either of them down. He could get through this without their help, but he wasn't sure if he could survive the wrath of the entire school if Umbridge ever revealed that he was a werewolf.

"What I want to know is why Umbridge had you write monster, Remus," James said later when they had clambered through the portrait hole into the common room. He stopped at the foot of the staircase heading up to their dormitory and gave Remus an inquisitive look. "There's nothing at all monster like about you. It's almost as if she's trying to make a statement of some kind… like she knows something and is trying to get us to piece together the evidence she's throwing at us."

Remus felt the colour drain from his face and a sudden cold wash over him. It took a few moments to calm his breathing, and he closed his eyes tight and counted to ten. He struggled to find words to say, but for once all of his excuses left him and he found that he could say absolutely nothing. Instead, he pushed his way through his friends and ran up the stairs to the safety of the dormitory, threw himself down onto his bed and pulled his hangings around the bed. He didn't say a word to Peter, Sirius, or James as they entered the dormitory quietly and shut the door behind them. Remus waited with bated breath as he heard his friends quickly get ready for bed and talk amongst themselves for a bit. They didn't bother him at all, but as the last of the candles were extinguished and his friends went to bed, Remus felt as though the world around him was about to crumble and be destroyed.