It all started with an empty bottle of butterbeer and a game of spin the bottle. It seemed innocent enough. Just a group of friends trying to have a little fun and put off studying. However, when suggested by James Potter and Sirius Black, there is no such thing as completely innocent. There is always some scheme up their sleeves.

At first the game seemed normal enough. Everyone was enjoying it. James was excited because he spun and got to kiss Lily though every turn after that he yelled at the bottle telling it to move a smidge to the left or right. It was only a little later on that I noticed nearly every time I had a turn, the bottle pointed to Remus and vice versa. I pondered this as the game continued.

"It's your turn again, Leah!" Sirius announced.

I narrowed my eyes at him before spinning the bottle. Once again it pointed to Remus. This was about the tenth time. We both leaned forward sharing yet another kiss and sat back. I noticed Sirius share a triumphant glance and I stood pulling Sirius up as well. I lead him into a corner away from the group.

"Hey, what'd I do?" he asked though I could tell he was trying to keep the grin from his face.

"What are you two up to?" I asked crossing my arms.

"Up to? We're up to nothing," Sirius said.

"You charmed the bottle. Did you think I wouldn't notice? Spit it out. What are you two plotting?"

He eyed me a moment. "I suppose I could tell you," he said. "Prongs and I noticed the longing looks you and Moony have been casting toward one another. Neither of you were making a move, so Prongs and I sought to remedy that by taking matters into our own hands."

"Longing looks?" I asked with a slight smile and a raised eyebrow.

"Don't deny it. You have feelings for him," he said.

"So what if I did?" I asked. "It looks like you misread him. Because I haven't noticed a difference."

"We didn't misread him. He's our best mate. He's just shy."

Then maybe you should have brought some Firewhiskey to loosen him up," I told him with a grin.

He laughed. "Looks like we've corrupted you."

I rolled my eyes good naturedly. We went back to rejoin the group, but it had dispersed and the game was over. James grabbed Sirius for a game of Wizard chess. Lily was chatting with her friends, and Remus had his nose in a book.

I glanced around and smiled at everyone enjoying themselves, and decided to grab some fresh air. I left the Common Room and journeyed to the Astronomy Tower. I sighed contentedly and lay down to gaze at the stars. And in the peace and quiet, I began to play connect the dots in the sky picking out various shapes and magical animals.

"I should have known you would come out here," a familiar voice said.

I turned my head. "Remus, what are you doing here?"

He sat down next to me and looked up in the sky. "I saw you leave and thought something was wrong. Figured Padfoot said something to upset you."

"That's kind of you… I'm alright though. Just came out to lie under the stars." I pointed in the air toward a cluster of stars. "Look. It's a centaur."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw him tilt his head. "Where? I don't see it."

"Up there," I told him. "See? There's his legs." I pointed them out. "And his head."

He moved closer to follow the line of my finger. "Oh. That looks more like a deer to me."

I laughed a little and picked something else. "There's a wolf."

"I see it," he said a few seconds later. He looked down at me and smiled. "You do this often?"

"All the time," I replied. "The quiet calms me, or helps me process things when I can't think."

"Well, you said nothing's wrong, so what are you processing?"

"Not processing this time," I told him. "Just thinking about the chat I had with Sirius." I knew I could be setting myself up for rejection, but there was the possibility that was right. Life would be dull without taking chances.

"Oh really? What happened there?" he asked obviously curious. "Was it about the charmed bottle?"

"Yeah. I wanted to know what their ulterior motives were."

"I see. And what were they?"

I sat up suddenly nervous. "Um… Trying to get us to admit that-" I stopped, deciding that this wasn't the time to stumble over words to explain. This was a time to jump headfirst. I leaned toward him and pressed my lips to his.

It took him a moment to register what was happening. He quickly pulled away while gently pushing me away in the process. "Leah, I…"

"Looks like Sirius was wrong. I was the only one with feelings to confess," I said standing. "Sorry…" I spared him a glance before running away.

Once I got back to the Common Room I found that James and Sirius were the only two still up. They looked up as I passed.

"Leah," Sirius called. "We saw Moony go to find you. How did it go?"

"You were wrong," I told him quietly before ascending the stairs to the Girls' Dormitories.

"Come on, Leah. Please?" Sirius begged giving me his trademark puppy dog face.

"No. You're smart. Just stop being lazy and do your essay. I have my own to finish."

"Fine," he huffed and began scribbling away on the parchment.

I smiled. "The essay isn't that long, Sirius."

"But I don't want to do it," he said with a hint of a whine in his voice.

"Too bad," I said. "Back to work."

"You're mean," he grumbled. "I'm going to go find Moony. He'll do it for- Sorry…"

I shrugged. "Nothing to be sorry about. I'm not some lovesick little girl who's going to let what happened last night ruin me. I won't burst into tears at the mention of his name."

"Good to know," he said. He stopped writing and looked up at me. "We aren't wrong."

"Obviously you are," I countered without glancing up.

"He's just being stubborn," Sirius said.

"It doesn't matter," I replied.

He sighed. "Leah…"

"Sirius, no. End of conversation. I want to move on from it," I told him firmly.

He turned back to his essay and we said nothing for a few minutes. The only sound from either of us was the scratch of our quills on the parchment. That is, until Remus approached us.

"Leah, can I talk to you?" he asked quietly as he sat down next to me.

"Of course," I replied setting my stuff aside. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to say sorry for last night. I-"

"I don't want to talk about it," I said cutting his apology short. "Just forget it happened."

He seemed slightly upset about it but nodded nonetheless.

"Moony, will you just apologize and tell her that you like her? And will you just kiss her already?" Sirius blurted looking frustrated. I sent a glare his way, but it didn't even faze him. He merely continued. "What are the two of you so afraid of? It's obvious that you're perfect for each other. Get with the program!"

"Padfoot," Remus said with a sigh. "It's more complicated than that. By now you should understand that."

"Always leaning on that crutch, eh, Moony?" he reciprocated.

Unable to stand anymore talk on the issue I got to my feet. Did they not understand that I didn't want to dwell on it? "I can't do this right now," I mumbled more to myself than them and ran from the room. My feet carried me to the Astronomy Tower and once at the top, I took a deep calming breath. "Much better."

I sighed quietly when I heard footsteps behind me. "I guess I should find a new place to hide," I said opting to keep my back turned.

"Look, Leah. I'm really sorry about last night. I really like you. I-"

"You're just afraid."

I heard him let out a deep breath. "I'm protecting you."

I scoffed. "Oh really? From what may I ask?"

"Leah, you don't know everything about me."

"Then tell me what I need to know. Tell me why you feel the need to protect me. And better yet, what excuse you're hiding behind," I said turning around. It was too late. If we were going to talk about this, then I was going to make sure everything came out in the open.

Suddenly his demeanor changed. He seemed more nervous and even a little terrified. Was his secret really that bad? After a moment he spoke, "I'm… a werewolf."

I stared at him a moment. Studying him. I didn't even have to process his confession. He was the same Remus. Just with a furry little problem once a month. "Is that all?" I asked. "Were you thinking I'd run away screaming monster?"

"This is serious."

"And I'm being completely serious. But perhaps I'm not completely understanding what you're trying to tell me."

He turned his gaze onto me. "I'm dangerous. I could hurt you. I don't want that. And I can protect you by keeping us apart." He glanced up at the sky. "I'm doing this because I really care for you. If we were together, I could lose control and the wolf could take over. I could really hurt you."

"Now I see what Sirius meant," I said. "Why did you come up here? To tell me that you have feelings for me but it doesn't matter? I don't want excuses. You're scared. I get it. But I'm not. I don't care about your condition. You can't help it. And it doesn't make you evil. You're a great person. And if you keep passing up every chance to be happy, you'll find yourself very alone one day. You'll regret it…" I stepped closer. "Take a chance for once, Remus…"

"It's more complicated than that, Leah," he said quietly and I could see the sadness in his amber colored eyes.

I shook my head. "No. It's not. Either you want this enough to take a risk, or you don't. And if you want it, you take it." I moved even closer. "Do you want it? Do you want me?"

He stared into my eyes but remained silent.

I bowed my head, defeated. "Okay then… I guess that's a no." I started to walk away when he caught my hand and stopped me.

"I do want you," he whispered. "More than anything I've wanted in a long time."

Before I could open my mouth to respond, he covered my lips with his own. Though slightly surprised I reacted almost immediately pressing myself against him and reaching up to bury my hands in his hair. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me to him tightly. When he pulled away, he was smiling.

I smiled in return and said, "About time. I thought we'd never end up like this."

"Sorry. I'm rather stubborn sometimes. Forgive me?"

I nodded before laughing. "And I'm sure Sirius will feel rather accomplished when we return to the Common Room."

"Most likely," he agreed. "By the way, when you left he grabbed your essay. I'm afraid he was copying it."

"That's alright," I said taking his hand. "Because now he gets to write mine while I cuddle with my new boyfriend on the couch."