It was not a very dark night but the castle of Hogwarts was filled with darkness. Only a very little could be seen as we roamed around the hallways for the light was only sourced by the moon which provided very little light through the small windows at the corners. By just glancing at the moon, you could tell it was sometime around the full moon and for any normal person it would have looked like a full moon but Remus Lupin knew instead. We follow the figure of a boy not more than 12 years of age as he ascends towards somewhere in the dark. We follow him as he mutters something to a portrait of a fat lady and moves inside the dormitory as the portrait opens.
It had been a rough Full moon yesterday for Remus and he had almost given Madam Pomfrey a heart attack. A little smile escapes the tips of his lips as he thinks about her expression and the way she always treated him after full moon. It always felt nice to be loved and cared for after staying away from home for so long, she reminded him of his mother, how the women never came in terms with his condition and always acted as they would faint seeing his injuries.
He pushed the thoughts aside as he slowly moved upstairs towards the 2nd year boys' dormitory. He carefully opens the doors and tip toes towards his bed so as to not wake up anyone in his dorm-mates but is stopped dead as he hears someone shouting "LUMOS" in a hurry. 'I must have woken someone' he thinks and turns around to make the person aware of his presence but is greeted with a peculiar scene.
In front of him stands all his dorm mates (which by the way are only 3) shoulder to shoulder with each of their right foot placed ahead of their body. James stands at the left corner while peter is on the right and Sirius stands in the middle with his wand raised and providing the light. A little laugh escapes his mouth as he examines the scene in front of him. But before he could say anything james turns to Sirius and gives him a 'seriously' look before lighting the whole dormitory with a flick of his wand.
"Oh forgot the dorm could light up" Sirius says itching the back of his head. James just sighs in returns and then turns his attention towards Remus
"Hey Remus" he says "where have you been huh?" This catches him of guard and he quickly tries to remember the excuse for this time
"Umm it was my grandmother's birthday" he says the first thing that comes to his mind but regrets it instantly, what a stupid excuse
"The grandmother who's funeral you attended last month?" Sirius asks and Remus finds himself cursing Sirius, he doesn't remember the dorm could light up but this he remembers?
"Uh no, the- the other one" he says
"Really rem?" it's James this time "because seriously your excuses are become horrible day by day"
" e-e-excuse?" Remus says trying to laugh but failing miserably
"yes excuse" says Sirius " Pete, tell him"
"I-I-I" peter slutters "I can't, james you say"
"no not me" says james raising his hands in front of him
" Tell me what?" he asks his heartbeat fast. They can't know, can they? Both james and peter look at Sirius who sighs and says
"Remus, we know" and his heart skips a beat but he controls himself from falling down then and there. Surely they know something else.
"Know what?" he asks trying to sound confused
"Really?" James asks, his face bored "You wanna play that way? Because I'm really tired"
"Play what?" he asks wishing to merlin that they didn't know,wishing they knew something else like how he steals their chocolate or how he manipulates them to do their homework, anything but not that ,not what he thinks.
"Oh Remus" peter says "we know you are a werewolf" and that's it, he feels the floor moving away from under his feet and he in just a second sees his world shattering, his friends disowning him, him being pushed out of Hogwarts, everyone one of his nightmares coming true.
He doesn't even looks at them because he knows he can't. He feels tears running down his cheeks and without making eye contact with anyone moves towards his bed to pack all his stuff. He can hear them saying something but he can't process, can't think.
"What are you doing mate?" Sirius asks tossing out the t-shirt He just packed.
"I'm packing" he say not looking at anyone
"But why?" James asks "you-you aren't leaving, are you?"
"Umm Remus if you don't like us knowing then think we don't know but please don't leave" peter says in his mousy voice, looking scared.
"Yeah mate, we will pretend we don't know" Sirius says hurriedly "Hey James, who is a werewolf? No-one is a werewolf, what does that word even mean?"
"Sirius" James stops him giving him a 'not the time look' "Yeah Remus, we can never talk about it"
"But-but you know and why would you want to study or in fact even share a dorm with a werewolf" he says sobbing, packing left aside
"Umm because he is our friend" Sirius says uncertainly
"Yeah the best one" James adds
"The one who executes all the plans" Sirius adds
"Because without your brains none of ours plans would have worked" James says
"And we love you" Peter finishes
Remus looks at each one of them and sees nothing but honesty and concern in each word they just spoke, just looking at them makes him realize how much he loves them and how he couldn't even make it a day without them and starts sobbing harder. He starts sobbing not because they know but because they accept him, they love him as much as he loves them and at that moment Remus Lupin knows, he knows he would never let anything happen to any one of the, not a single one and as he sits there while his friends hug him and tell him they love him and order him to unpack, he thinks what he had done to have deserved friends like them.