Hello, hello! I was bored over spring break so I decided to write a story!

A/N: My computer messed up and to make a long story short, this story got deleted. I figure I'll repost achapter every two to three days until I'm all caught up to Chapter 16, at which point I'll have already finished writing Chapters 17-and-beyond. Sorry if you've already read this stuff, but I figure you can cope.

Summary: Lupin notices the date and sits down to reminisce (that's about half a page). Then it's the tale of his 7th year and beyond, complete with new characters, old characters, and one hell of a lot more.

Disclaimer: whatever.

A/N: If you are in love with Remus Lupin, this story might be a tad disappointing. He gets romance, but no girl who says, "Oh you're a werewolf but I don't care because I'm unrealistic and don't care if you turn into a dangerous monster once a month! We can still be happy together, even if you could kill any children we might have and potentially kill me, too!"

(I like Remus, but I'm also a realist about his lycanthropy.)

Enjoy!

It was the 17th of June. Remus Lupin, glancing casually at the calendar on his way down to the kitchen at Grimmauld Place, felt a jolt in his stomach. June 17th was an awful day; or rather, it had been an awful day, that June 17th of – what was it now? – sixteen years ago? Seventeen?

Remus remembered the June 17th of the previous year, when his lifelong friend Sirius Black, recently returned from his year on the lam after escaping prison, had returned to his family's home. Sirius had barely been at Grimmauld Place for a week when Remus had come out to stay for a while. The Weasleys were there, too, and Dumbledore, and all manner of old Order of the Phoenix members who were having a meeting to discuss the current situation.

Remus had known that Sirius noticed the date. Remus had gone over to sit next to Sirius, who was on the couch in the parlor, looking passive. "So…" Remus had said.

Sirius hadn't looked at him. "So," he had replied quietly.

Remus hadn't been quite sure what to say. He had sat back to stare into space.

Sirius had broken the silence. "Even in Azkaban, I knew when it was June 17th," he had murmured.

Remus had still said nothing.

They had sat quietly for a while. Then, with a start, Sirius had stood up. He said nothing; he simply turned and strode out of the room, his cloak swishing behind him.

Now Sirius was dead, and nobody but Remus remembered June 17th, nor its significance. Remus walked into the parlor and sank down on the divan. He sighed and began to remember.

When Remus started Hogwarts, he was incredibly self conscious of being a werewolf. Of course, this was only logical; werewolves were generally not treated with compassion by non-werewolves. But then, when Sirius Black, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew, Remus's three best friends, had discovered his secret, they had been supportive and kind. They did not abandon him; instead, they became animagi.

Remus felt that he was the luckiest person on earth, or, at the very least, the luckiest werewolf. His fifth year at Hogwarts was one of the best of his life.

Then Remus began to ponder how being a werewolf would affect his future romantic potential. After all, what girl was going to want to be involved with somebody who turned into a monster once a month?

To make matters worse, Remus was constantly around Sirius Black and James Potter, who were, respectively, the first and second most sought-after lads in the school. Sirius walked down the hall and girls from all sides called out,

"Hey, Sirius!"

"Hello, Sirius!"

"Good morning, Sirius!"

Sirius either ignored the girls or flirted with them. Remus was lucky if he heard one brief, "Hi," as he passed a girl on the way to class.

Sirius did not appreciate true, committed relationships. He went on endless dates and nearly always ended up making out with the girl in question. Remus, however, did appreciate commitment and love. The only trouble was, once had met a nice girl, he was too worried to bring up he condition, and so eventually just broke things off.

In his seventh year, Remus noticed she-who-was-to-become-his-latest-love-interest. Elysa Fauchelevent, sixth year, lightly built, not too tall (about 5' 6" was Remus's estimate), golden brown hair that hung in long, loose curls over her shoulders and down her back, sparkling dark brown eyes, long, dark eyelashes, flawless skin. The year before, Elysa Fauchelevent had been nobody: bookish, smart, not one to bother much with her appearance. Now, after the latest annual summer trip to France to visit her cousins, Elysa was different. Oh, she was still smart, but now she was confident and social and outspoken. She also seemed to have realized that she was beautiful (Remus could picture her looking into the mirror and saying, "Oh! I'm… lovely!" a la Cosette in "Les Miserables") and her new attitude made everybody else notice, too.

Remus had actually noticed Elysa before she became one of the prettiest girls in Gryffindor. They were both smart and studious; sometimes Remus had talked to her in the library. She was very friendly and genuine to him, and he been vaguely attracted to her, though at the time he had been involved with a girl in Ravenclaw.

On the first day of term in September of seventh year, Elysa Fauchelevent wandered into Remus's compartment on the Hogwarts Express.

When the compartment door slid open, Remus, Sirius, James, and Peter all looked up. A beautiful girl was standing there. Her dark eyes sparkled; some of her long, loose curls were pulled back messily in a clip, while the rest spilled down her back or over her shoulders; she had not yet changed into her robes, and her slender figure was quite noticeable in her shorts, tight T-shirt, and sandals; her skin was tanned from the Côte d'Azur sun.

"Why, hello," said Sirius courteously, giving the girl a pleasant smile. "What can we do for you?"

The girl smiled. "Sorry… wrong compartment."

Sirius, ever the gentleman, made a great show of looking the girl up and down before saying with a dashing grin, quirking one of his eyebrows, "Are you sure?"

The girl rolled her eyes. "Pretty sure..." she paused. She made a great show of looking Sirius up and down. Then she gave an over-exaggerated look of pity. "Actually, I'm positive," she said.

James and Peter burst out laughing. "Tough luck, Padfoot," James remarked.

Sirius grinned at the girl. "Ow. I think you just destroyed my self-esteem."

The girl shrugged. "Oops," she said. "Sorry about that. But don't worry; these things heal with time."

Sirius shook his head at her and tried another dashing smile. The girl ignored him, as well as James and Peter, who were both still laughing, and looked at Remus. "Oh, hey, Remus!" she remarked. "I didn't even notice you!"

In a flash, Remus recognized her. "Hey," he said. He couldn't think of much more to say.

"Have a nice summer?" she asked.

Remus nodded. "You?"

"Terrific!" she replied. Now, Remus couldn't think of anything at all else to say. The girl nodded at him one or twice, a smile on her face. She had dimples. Then she looked around at Sirius, James, and Peter. "Right… well, this was interesting. I think I'll go and locate my real compartment now."

"It was lovely meeting you!" Sirius shouted after her as she walked out of the compartment with a flip of her hair.

As soon as she was gone, Sirius, James, and Peter all turned to Remus. "So, let's get the facts," Sirius began. "Firstly, what's her name?"

Remus swallowed. He was feeling oddly excited. "Elysa Fauchelevent," he told Sirius.

"Age?"

"Sixteen, I assume."

"House?"

"Gryffindor."

"That's odd," James remarked. "I never noticed her before."

"Same," Peter added.

Sirius frowned. "Me neither… and she's quite good looking; you'd think at least one of us would be observant enough to-"

"Ahem," Remus coughed.

Sirius grinned at him. "Oh, right."

He, James, and Peter all folded their hands under their chins and looked at Remus in a show of exaggerated eagerness. "So!" James chirped. "What's the 411?"

Remus laughed and rubbed his eyes. "Um… I don't know her that well; I've just talked to her in the library a couple of times. I never really noticed how… um…"

"Hot she was?" Sirius suggested.

Remus nodded. "Yeah… she always struck me as a bit quiet and shy."

Sirius shrugged. "People change. And besides, I always knew you were a poor judge of character."

Remus rolled his eyes. "Yes, I appall myself."

James, Peter, and Sirius grinned at him.

"You appall me, too," said James earnestly.

"And me!" Peter piped up.

Remus smiled.

Initial thoughts, anyone?

Review, please! I'll respond to any reviews at the end of the next chapter!

Oh, and as Chapter 2 is, if you recall, already written, etc., it'll be up very soon. And FYI, this story getsgoing very quickly, so you'll get good "action," if you get my drift, by Chapter 3. ;-)