This One-Shot was written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition. I wrote for the team Appleby Arrows for the position of Beater 1 (reserve). The adjective I chose is 'real'.

Enjoy reading :D

Real Friends

Real friends are hard to come by, but Remus Lupin would soon know, what it felt like to have them.

The first thing he felt was overwhelming pain. His head felt like it would split apart in the next moment, his legs and arms were on fire and he was sure, it felt, as if several of his ribs were broken or at least severely bruised. When he tried to take a deep breath, his chest cried in protest. In short, he felt horrible.

Last night had been a full moon, the most frightening, painful and lonely night of the month. Ever since he was a little boy, he knew what it was like to be alone, to have to deal with his problems without anyone to turn to, to seek advice from. Because if he were to try exactly that, the person would flinch away from him, accuse him of being a monster, only good for burning at a stake. But the bad thing was that he knew they were right, he could understand the reaction he would get. He couldn't hold it against anyone; trying to keep distance from a murderous creature like him, trying to save their own life. When he was in his human form – which he was most of the time – he may not be dangerous to any human being, but when he was forced to transform under the influence of the full moon every month, he really was that dangerous, fearful and murderous creature – no, monster – everyone feared. So, why should he tell anybody what he was? To cause them to turn away from him, to condemn and despise him even more than some of them already did? No. He may be a monster, but he still had the will to somewhat be accepted, even if that was only possible when he was in his human form. His parents had been horror-stricken when they had found him in the woods, covered in his own blood and sobbing violently. Oh, he remembered that fateful night eight years ago. How could he not? All the pain, the panic and the relief when his parents had found him were hard to forget. They had known what had become of their son and they had been more than bewildered when the barn owl had flown through their kitchen window on his eleventh birthday last year, carrying a letter telling him that he had been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They had had a discussion with Albus Dumbledore, asking him whether he was sure that accepting their son to his school was the right decision to make, but he had assured them that everything was perfectly fine, that he wanted their son to study magic at his school. That he wanted him to be one of his students, even though he had a terribly dangerous disease which – if not dealt with correctly – could cost many students their lives.

Remus blinked as he tried to open his eyes. The moon illuminated the Hospital Wing, making it clear that he was the only patient at the moment. Taking a breath and wincing as he felt the immense pain shoot through his rib case, he managed to sit up and lean against his pillow. Footsteps announced that Madam Pomfrey was still awake and probably on her way to his bed.

"Ah, Mr Lupin. You're awake", the friendly matron pulled out her wand and made some complicated motions over his body, nodding. "Here, drink this", she said and picked up a vial from his bedside table. "It's just some Pain Relieving Potion. With this in your system and the Healing Charms I've put on you earlier, you should be ready to leave, dear. Although, if it were my decision, you would stay here for at least two weeks, but no. Albus has his reasons and I understand them. But that doesn't mean that I have to be happy with letting you leave in this condition." She shook her head and eyed him suspiciously.

"I'll be okay", Remus took the flask from the frowning nurse and downed the whole concoction, shivering at its taste.

"Now, how do you feel, Mr Lupin?"

"Better", he watched his hands as the shaking slowly subsided and the aches in his body vanished.

"Alright, then you are free to go. But please come see me tomorrow and the day after for further check-ups, will you? I want to make sure you're fully recovering."

"Yes, Ma'am", he pushed back the bedspread and watched as Madam Pomfrey made her way back to her office. Well, onto another month of lies, he thought grumbling and stood up.

*~*RF*~*

"Remus!"

Remus jumped as something heavy and laughing tackled him to the ground and hugged him tightly. "Sirius! Get off me!"

"You're no fun!" The black-haired wizard pouted as he was pushed off the still injured boy, who did his very best to not wince as he picked himself up from the floor.

"Where have you been, mate?" The second black-haired boy in his dormitory asked. This one had short, tousled hair – contrariwise to Sirius, whose hair was nearly shoulder-length and smooth – and the glasses that sat on his nose made him look slightly hilarious. His wide grin strengthened that image. James Potter nearly always grinned.

"I've told you where I've been", Remus slowly made his way over to his bed, straightening the blanket and climbing into it. "I've been at home with my mother. You know she's been ill for quite some time now."

He fumbled with his pyjamas, not seeing the look the other three occupants of his dormitory shot one another.

"How is she?" Peter's voice was quiet and always reminded him of a little mouse, with its squeaky undertone he didn't seem to be able to get rid of. "She's been ill for how long now? Nearly two years?"

"Yeah, something like that", Remus mumbled and pulled his sleeping shirt over his head. Thankfully, Madam Pomfrey had had the foresight to cast some light Glamours on his wounds and bruises, so his friends wouldn't see.

"And she never gets better?"

"No."

As he looked up, he saw the three boys watching him curiously. James had stopped grinning.

"What is it?"

The boys met each other's eyes and sat down in the middle of the room, pointing at the free spot in their little circle for Remus to take. Puzzled, Remus climbed off the bed and patted over to his three best friends, slowly sitting down as to not anger his wounds further. "What is it?" He repeated, somewhat nervous. It wasn't normal for his friends to be that serious and normal. He gulped. That couldn't mean anything good. This had to be something bad! Maybe they would tell him that they didn't want him as their friend any longer? He had had a hard time adjusting to their cheerfulness and maybe he still hadn't managed to achieve their satisfaction? Why had he been so stupid as to think that something like him could possibly be able to make friends? His bitter thoughts were interrupted as James cleared his throat and turned his solemn face to him.

"We know your mother isn't ill", he said in a quiet voice, his bright hazel eyes never leaving his. "We know that ever since you started to use that excuse of your sick mother, you've done something entirely different than visiting her. And we want you to know that we're okay with it."

Remus eyes widened as his gaze shifted from one serious expression to the next. He gulped. What if they knew? No, they wouldn't know, would they? It was impossible! It was simply impossible! What if they knew and decided to tell every single student in school that he was a terrific monster that had to be expelled and hunted down until he could no longer flee? What if they condemned him for what he was? They would! Every somewhat sane person would do that!

"What are you talking about?" His voice was barely more than a whisper. He cleared his throat and tried again. "What do you mean; you know what I've been up to? I don't understand."

James looked over to Sirius, who nodded slightly. Meeting his eyes once again, he took a deep breath. "We know you're a werewolf."

Remus froze. What?

"And before you say something completely stupid", James added quickly as he saw Remus breathing stopping entirely, "we want you to know that we're here for you! We won't tell a single soul about your furry little problem and that includes our parents or – Merlin forbid – Dumbledore. You are our friend and brother and no one betrays their family!"

"I…I don't know what you're talking about", Remus' blood shot out of his face and into his muscles, preparing him for running away – far away, so nobody would ever find him again. No, he wouldn't let his best friends put themselves in such an immensely huge danger! They didn't know what they were talking about! Stay friends with him? Him? Out of all the people they could befriend they chose him, the beast, the monster, the werewolf? What were they thinking? Everybody hated werewolves, everybody feared werewolves and not without a reason! Things like him shouldn't be let loose on the wizarding world! He should never have been accepted to Hogwarts. He should have listened to his parents' concerns that it was not only dangerous for the students at Hogwarts, but for him as well! What, if somebody were to find out? What, if that somebody chose to spread the word that there was a werewolf among them, trying to stay hidden, so nobody could run and save themselves? And Dumbledore? Oh, God, why did he agree to this? He got his parents into trouble, he got himself into trouble and now Dumbledore will probably end up in Azkaban for not telling the Ministry that he was a werewolf! And it was his entire fault! He couldn't do that to anyone. He had already caused too much damage; better not make it even worse.

Swaying slightly, he managed to stand up and go over to his bed, crouching and pulling out his trunk from underneath his bed.

"What do you think, you're doing?"

James was the fastest on his feet and got to him first; only to slap the pair of trousers he had hold in his hands into the floor.

Blinking away some stray tears, Remus shuffled as far away from his friends as humanly possible. "I won't let you do this to yourselves! I won't let you!"

Remus tried to calm his breathing. They couldn't ruin their lives! He couldn't ruin their lives. It was already too much that they knew his darkest secret. One false word to the wrong person and all of their lives would be ruined. They would get expelled for not telling the Ministry what he was, for allowing Dumbledore to let a living danger to live among the innocent students. Not to mention what would happen with him. He didn't care what happened with him, but these boys wanted to risk their lives to stay friends with him and help him to keep his secret from ever slipping out? No! He wouldn't let that happen. Even, if he had to cancel their friendship, it would all be for their safety. Only for their safety.

"What the hell are you talking about, Remy?"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

Confused, the three boys stared at him, trying to understand what's going on.

"Don't call me that", he repeated more quietly, hoping he hadn't wakened up any early sleepers. "Please, just let me…"

"Let you do what, exactly?"

Taking a shaky breath, he picked up the pair of trousers that lay at the foot of his bed and put them into his trunk. "Just let me be, okay?"

"Remus? What are you doing?" Peter's quiet voice caused him to turn around. He had tears in his eyes, but refused to let them fall onto his cheeks. "If you think, we'll let you leave, then you're wrong!"

"Pete…"

"NO! Now let me tell you this ONCE! You are our friend, Remus! It doesn't matter that you look different once in a month! It doesn't matter, do you hear me?"

James and Sirius blinked, not used to hearing Peter say his opinion.

James was the first to find his voice again.

"He's right, you know? I never thought, I'd actually say this one day, but Peter's right. Hey, look at me."

James' soft voice slowly brought Remus back to reality. Was that really happening? How was it even possible? His best friends – his only friends – knew his most horrible secret and were okay with it? They weren't screaming, running about, telling the whole school what a monster he was? They just stood there and smiled at him? Telling him it was okay?

His eyes started prickling, announcing the tears that began to gather in his light brown eyes. That wasn't happening! That couldn't possibly be happening!

He jumped as he felt a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it tightly. As he looked up, he saw James' hazel eyes gaze into his own once again. "You okay?"

Jerkily, he nodded and tried to swallow the lump that had started to form in his throat, making it impossible for him to talk. He wiped his tears from his cheek and flinched as a warm hand pushed his away and continued to dry his face. Sirius smiled at him. "We're here for you. Just remember that, okay?"

Remus nodded and tried to suppress a sob. He had friends – real friends – that didn't care what he was! They just cared about whom he was and he was Remus! Remus Lupin, the twelve year old wizard, who just happened to be a werewolf. And they still were his friends – for real.

I hope you liked it. I'd really appreciate it if you left a review :)

Word count: 2327