A/N: Written for the International Wizarding School Championship.

School: Beauxbatons

Year: Year 1

Theme: Werewolves - Prejudice

Main Prompt: 3.) Invisibility Cloak - Restriction - Cannot be used by Harry Potter [Object]

Word Count: 1862

"Have you seen the new Daily Prophet?" James asked, bursting into the Gryffindor Common Room, wildly waving the newsprint above his head. Many heads turned to look at the overly rambunctious second year, but he paid them no mind as he plunked down onto the couch next to his three best friends. Sirius Black was sitting on the couch entirely upside-down, with his head dangling off of the seat and legs pointed up towards the ceiling. He shifted as the impact of James sitting on the sofa moved the cushions. Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, the other half of the group, were sitting on the floor near the fireplace, playing a Muggle card game.

"What's wrong with the Prophet?" Sirius asked, righting himself so that he could read it.

"Look!" James said, pointing to the front headline. Sirius' lips moved soundlessly as he read it:

Werewolf Pack Apprehended; Leader Fenrir Greyback Narrowly Escapes

"What?" Remus asked, craning his neck to see. His expression paled as Sirius' darkened; he crumpled up the paper in his hand, tore it to shreds, and fed it to the fireplace.

"That awful scumbag got away, did he? Well, at least some of them got caught. Maybe they'll be killed instead of sent to Azkaban, wouldn't that be wonderful? How do you kill werewolves again? Wooden stake?" Sirius asked, voice full of venom.

"Silver bullets," Remus said quietly before he could stop himself.

"Thanks, mate. Well, werewolves do deserve death. All of them. None are innocent. None!" Sirius said, starting to yell. Some of the other students were starting to notice, and many were nodding along with what he was saying. Lily Evans, a girl in their same year who couldn't stand Sirius or James, had even stopped her homework to watch the scene.

"Why do you hate werewolves, Sirius? Surely not all of them are evil?" she asked, getting up to stand nearer to him.

"All werewolves are evil, Evans! All of them. And why do I hate them? Well, my wonderful family is simply the best of friends with Fenrir Greyback, who is the most evil of them all. He's created most of the werewolves in Britain. Anyone he's bitten has become evil," he concluded, getting a round of applause from almost everyone in the room. Remus got up, stumbled, and ran out of through the portrait hole.

"Rem?" James called, looking confused.

"Forgot to… do… something. Sorry," he called over his shoulder, never stopping to turn back. Peter shrugged and went to his dorm, with Sirius following. The crowd dispersed, turning back to what they had been doing, leaving Lily and James staring off after Remus, looking baffled.

"Well, that was…" Lily trailed off, flopping onto the couch next to James. She didn't particularly like James, well, honestly, she couldn't stand him, but she cared about Remus, and knew that he did too.

"Odd?" he supplied. At the moment, he was too engrossed in figuring out what was up with Remus to bug Lily, which was one of his favorite pastimes.

"Yeah. It's got to be connected with werewolves; it only makes sense. Does he have any odd behaviors?" Lily asked, turning to James.

"Well, not really. His mom is sick, though, so sometimes he has to leave," he said, turning to Lily.

"Okay, let's make a deal. I'll not insult you if you don't bug me. Let's just focus on figuring out what's up with Remus. So, he has to visit his mom sometimes? How often?" Lily asked.

"Deal, I guess. Like, once a month? Sometimes twice?"

"When? Do you know what the dates are?" Lily asked, an idea striking her.

"I can find out, if you'd like," James offered, standing up. "I have a journal where I just keep random facts."

"Sure. Meet me back here in five minutes?" Lily asked, rising also.

"Okay," James said, running up to his dorm.

Lily went over to the wall and grabbed the calendar off of it, and sat back on the couch, taking out a permanent marker from her backpack. James came dive-bombing down the stairs, carrying a leather-bound book.

"Here it is," he said, holding it up and sitting on an armchair nearby. "I spelled it so that I'm the only one who can read it."

"Oh, ok, that's cool. Anyways, what are the dates he's been out this year to visit his mom?" Lily asked.

"Uh, let's see… September 23rd is the first one," he read off. Lily flipped the calendar in her hands to September 23rd and drew an X on it; it said that the date was a full moon.

"October 22nd and November 21st for this term," James said. And for the next half hour, they went over the dates that Remus had been out during the last school year, once Lily had found a 1971 calendar. She marked off all the dates that Remus had been absent, noticing that everyday had been a full moon. When James had read off the last date, Lily nodded her head knowingly. She hadn't realized it, but quite a few things pointed to Remus' lycanthropy.

"So, what does that do for us?" James asked.

"Look here," Lily said, circling the full-moon symbol on the dates and handing him the calendar.

James' eyes widened as he realized what Lily already knew. "Oh…" he said quietly.

"And look at this," Lily said, flipping to December and pointing to the date. "Today's a full moon."

"So what should we do?"

"Maybe follow Remus when he says he has to leave, just to double-check," Lily offered.

"That will work, we can use my invisibility cloak," James said, smiling. If he could make sure his friend was okay, then it would be entirely worth it.

"Wait, James. What about Sirius?" Lily asked, eyes wide. How would he react to learning one of his best friends had been a werewolf this entire time?

"Let's just make sure, Lil. If it's true, then I'll talk to him."

"Hey, guys, I'm going to go visit my mom. Make sure she's okay," Remus said that day after dinner. The four guys were hanging out in their dorm.

"Oh, ok, Rem. Tell her I said hi!" Sirius said, opening a chocolate frog.

"I will!"

As Remus walked out the door, James started rummaging through his trunk until he found his cloak. He went down to the Common Room, and nodded at Lily. She nodded back and put down her book and mug of tea, and silently walked out with him. The Common Room was almost entirely deserted, but the pair didn't want to make any noise anyway. They walked out through the portrait hole and put on the cloak, and finally caught up to Remus as he disappeared under the Whomping Willow. Lily tried to follow, but James held her arm back so that she didn't get attacked by the wild tree. She cast a following spell on Remus, and soon enough the pair were running full-speed to the Shrieking Shack, where the spell had said he was. They could hear Remus' screaming, and eventually it turned into howling. The howls confirmed their theory, and they watched the building in shock for a while as the shrieks dissolved into the night air. They made their way back up to Hogwarts, lost in thought. They decided to speaking with him in the morning. Neither of them could sleep, though, for fear of what could happen to their friend. They eventually drifted off into a fitful sleep.

"Hey, Remus? Can we talk for a minute?" Lily asked mildly at breakfast the next day.

"Oh, uh, sure, Lil," He said, getting up to follow her. She led him out of the Great Hall, and down a corridor that was empty, save for James.

"What's up?" Remus asked, confused.

"Rem, we… we know," Lily said kindly. "We know."

Remus looked confused for a second, but his face slowly paled as his expression went from dawning to sheer horror. He started to shake. "No… no, you can't. Pl-please don't tell anyone. And… I understand if you two don't want to be my friends anymore, especially with what Sirius said," Remus said, holding back tears.

"Remus, of course we won't tell anyone. And besides, what Sirius said was way out of line. You're not evil. And of course we want to be your friends! Right, Lil?" James said, pulling Remus into a hug. Lily nodded.

"But… but I'm a monster. And what will Pete and Sirius say?" Remus asked, not even daring to be hopeful.

"You are not a monster, Remus. And James said that he'll talk to them. Okay?" Lily asked, smiling at Remus.

"Okay. We should go get our stuff for class," Remus said, wiping away a few tears and straightening his robes.

Later that day, James was in the Gryffindor second year's dorm room when Sirius walked in.

"Hey, Sirius, can we talk for a second?" he asked.

"Okay, sure. What about?"

"It's about Remus… well, actually it's more about you. You know how you were ranting about werewolves yesterday?"

"Yeah. Why?" Sirius asked, starting to look suspicious.

"Why do you hate them so much?" James asked bluntly. He didn't believe in beating around the bush.

"Well… maybe I was a bit harsh yesterday. Not all of them are evil, I'm sure," Sirius admitted, looking at his nails. "It's just that Mother and Father told me that if I keep bringing dishonor to the family name and keep associating with blood traitor, their friend Fenrir might stop by to 'visit' Reggie. I'm scared, James."

"Sirius, I had no idea about Regulus. I'm so sorry. And don't worry, we'll come up with a plan. But in the meantime, I think you might want to talk to Remus."

"Why Remus?"

"I really think that it's his story to tell… but you should really just talk to him," James said.

"What he's saying is that I'm a werewolf, Sirius," said a voice from the doorway. The two boys looked up to see Remus leaning against the frame. With a quick kick, he closed the door to join his two friends. "I know that I'm a monster unworthy of friendship, and that you never have to talk to me ever again, but that's my story," he said, looking ashamed.

Sirius jumped up from the bed he was sitting on and gave Remus a hug.

"I am so sorry, Remus, I was dumb. Seriously dumb. And you are not a monster. Of course you're worthy of friendship! If there's anyone who isn't worthy, it's me. Please forgive me?" Sirius asked.

"Jeez, you two. Enough of the friendship stuff. Let's go get some food," James said, rolling his eyes at his two friends.

Sirius and Remus smiled, and followed their best friend down to the kitchen, laughing and talking all the while.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed! If you did, please review! I'd love to hear from you!