Remus Lupin walked between the many shelves in the school library. He'd always liked it in here, with the dusty old books full of knowledge. He carefully chose one he thought could help him with his essay (What led to the 1678 goblin war?). He put the book down, found what he was looking for, and started writing down some notes. A shadow fell over the table where he sat, and when he looked up he was rather surprised. Lily Evans stood there, looking at him. Lily and Remus had always gotten along very well, but she used to avoid him by the fact that he usually were in the presence of James Potter. But if they met alone, it wasn't unusual they stopped and talked for a few minutes.

"Remus, I want to talk with you." she said with a voice that told him it was serious.

"Sure, Lily. Go ahead." he answered with a little smile.

"Not here, it's to delicate."

"All right, let's find someplace else then." Remus was pretty sure this was about James. After all, he'd been asking her out repeatedly during the last year.

They found an empty classroom not too far away. When they had settled down on one of the desks Remus expected Lily to start talking, but all she did was looking at her own hands in her lap.

"If this is about James bugging you, I can't really do much about it. He just won't listen to us."

"No, Remus, it's not about James. Though it is pretty irritating having him follow me around all day, ruffling his hair. But no, this is about you."

Remus felt dread flowing through his body. Had she figured it out?

"And what is that, Lily?" He tried to sound as though this was a normal conversation about the weather, but he was sure she hear his voice quiver just a little.

"I know what you are, Remus. I know that you're a werewolf."

Remus had gotten to his feet without realizing it. He backed away from her, moving slowly towards the door. Then he turned on the heel and ran. He ran back to the library, into the oldest and dustiest section there was. He was one of the very few students who ever went there.

He sank to the floor, shaking. He felt tears on his cheeks and he tried to sweep them away. He had to go to Dumbledore and ask to be sent home. There was no other way. He had been so happy when he got accepted at Hogwarts three years ago. His parents had told him not to get his hopes up, since it wasn't very likely a werewolf would be allowed to attend. But Dumbledore had helped them. He had made sure that Remus would get the same education as all the other children. Now it was over. He always knew this could happen, and that he had to leave before the rumour spread.

He didn't know how long he'd lain there. He figured that he must have fallen asleep. It was dark outside the windows as he went back to Gryffindor tower. He'd pack, then go straight to Dumbledore. When he entered the common room, the first thing he saw was Lily. She'd been sitting there, waiting for him. He didn't really feel like talking to her but she walked to him in, what felt like, a fraction of a second. As he couldn't get away, he surrendered to the thought of having to hear all the prejudices he had heard for as long he could remember.

"Don't worry, Lily, I will leave. I'm just about to pack."

"Why would you leave? I'm not asking you to do that."

"Yeah! You don't think people will chase me out of here tomorrow? Or just think of the amount of owls parents will be sending Dumbledore about not wanting their children associating with a monster." he said in a low voice, so nobody would hear them.

Lily looked very hurt by these word.

"I haven't told anyone, but if you really want to leave, then go ahead."

"You haven't told... Why?" His amber eyes showed exactly how shocked he was.

"Why would I? It's none of their business, or of mine for that matter. I just thought you ought to know that someone has figured it out. I may not be the last."

"But... How can you even stand to look at me?" He was going slightly hysterical now. He had no idea what to do, other then to leave Hogwarts if someone found out. That was something his parents had learned him before he turned eleven.

"Remus, let's go somewhere else." She was starting to worry that they would attract to much attention if Remus burst into tears in the middle of the common room.

"Our dormitory is empty. Sirius, James and Peter are all in detention."

"Okay, let's go there."

They went up the stairs and carefully closed the door. Remus sat down on his bed, while Lily chose Sirius's so she could face him.

"Does any one, beside me, know of it?"

"No, of course not. If you don't count the staff. They have to know why I miss classes every month."

"But why haven't you told James, Sirius and Peter. I thought they were you friends. Don't you trust them?"

"I would trust them with my life, as they would me. But they wouldn't if they knew what I am. They would never talk to me again, unless they would be the ones to lead the mob chasing me out of here."

"I know James is a prat, just like Sirius, and that Peter is shy and scared of almost everything, but I don't really think they would turn their backs on you. They're not like that."

"Ha! No offense, Lily, but it shows very clearly that you are muggleborn. Werewolves aren't befriended. The only way to get people talking to you is if you lie. They're scared of us, and I don't blame them. We're monsters, that's what we are."

"You're no monster. You might be once a month, but not now. Not when you're human."

"Yes, I am. Every waken moment, I imagine what would happen if I bit someone here at school. What if I'd bite one of my friends. The ministry would have me slaughtered, but I don't care. If the person I bit would survive the bite, then I have condemned the one to the same miserable life every werewolf have to live. I would do anything to save people from what it means being a werewolf."

"It's because of that you're not a monster, Remus. You want to save people. You want to help them. No monster would reason like that."

Remus knew he was considered to be nice, the only negative thing he'd heard would be that he's to shy and quiet, but he was still afraid of what he was.

"Please, Lily, don't tell them. I've wanted to tell James and the others so many times, but I can't. They might figure it out some time, but I just want to enjoy their company for as long as I can."

"I wouldn't tell them anyway. Although, I think you ought to tell them. They're not stupid, and they deserve better than you lying to them.

Lily got to her feet and went toward the door. She opened it and jumped backwards into the room again. Remus shot up and caught her before she fell. He then looked at the door and saw an extremely surprised James stand there.

"Hey, Evans! Didn't expect to see you here" His hand went through his hair as it always did when he was nervous.

"Hello, Potter. Aren't you supposed to be in detention?"

"Nah, Slughorn let me off a little earlier than he should. It's not bad being one of his favorites. I mean, he likes you too, so he can't have that bad taste, can he?"

"I wouldn't know, Potter. I try to stay away from his parties, so I haven't had any experience of his taste in people."

She walked past him, down the stairs, and up to the girls dormitory. James, who had followed her with his eyes all the way, turned to face Remus.

"What was Evans doing here?" The look on his face was of utter despair.

Remus knew perfectly well why though. James would usually spend, at least, fifteen minutes fixing his hair if he thought he was going to meet Lily. To have her thrown in the face like that must have come as a shock. Remus couldn't but smile at his friend's hopeless crush.

"We were just talking about the History of Magic essay. She wondered what books I've used to find facts." He felt ashamed about the lie, and even more because of how easy it came to him.

"Oh, so she's already started with the essay. I think I'll ask for her help tomorrow. At least I get to talk to her that way."

Remus hoped that she actually had started working on her essay so James wouldn't get suspicious.