Disclaimer I do not own Harry Potter, nor any other character in his magical world.

Author's NoteI just finished reading Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and realized that I needed to take this story down and fix it. So for those who have read it before, there are some changes and for those who have not, I hope you enjoy it is now accurate to the book world and it is up to date.

I hope you all enjoy! Please Read and Review!

Chapter 1

Tired. Tired, tired, tired. That was how he always felt. Each day would come and the sun would shine but still exhaustion gripped him. His nights held no peace for him, his days…no comfort. School became a monotonous routine that passed like shades of gray around him, with no light or colors that could penetrate the void that pounded in his chest.

He had no one to confide in…no one he could be with.

Remus Lupin had three friends, almost five if you counted the growing acquaintances that were the girlfriends of his two friends James and Sirius: Lily Evans and Ashley Ames. His little gang was the best anyone could ask for in friends, but despite their loyalty in the face of what he was, they could not help him.

He was a werewolf; had been since he could remember. And thankfully the student body of Hogwarts did not know this, save for his friends. Generally, Remus was a loner. He kept to himself in class and usually sat by himself in the Gryffindor common room. Occasionally James, Sirius, or his more robust friend, Peter, would join him and they would trade a few remarks, but as a whole…he was very much alone.

Lily was kind with him, and often comforted him when he would stare longingly at Ashley and Sirius as they flirted sportingly with each other, but her presence only made his pain deeper. He would probably never have what she and James had…what Sirius and Ashley had.

After all, who could possibly love such a beast? Every time he transformed he became a rampaging killer. And anyone with half a mind knew this. James, Sirius and Peter had all taken great strides in their magical abilities to become animagi. As animals, they would accompany him when he changed and at least, Lupin thought, they helped him keep some of his sanity. But still, there were times when even they could not restrain him. There had been a couple of close calls; times when they had strayed too close to the school or too close to the wizard town of Hogsmeade. And even though he laughed about it afterwards and joked with Sirius about the near miss, it always shook him to the core.

He hadn't been much more than five or six years old when he'd received the bite. He'd been with his parents on a camping trip; they were both deeply involved with the ministry and were very concerned with the proper treatment of muggles. Unfortunately, this made them quite a few enemies among some of the more powerful families…that is, some of the pure blood families. More than once his parents had been called blood traitors, being of pure wizard decent themselves. But both his mother and father shrugged it off as petty predjeduce.

But then one day, Remus had been sitting outside a room in the ministry waiting for his father to emerge from a meeting; he stared at the fountain in the middle of the vast entry room that portrayed a witch and wizard amongst several magical creatures. He had always liked this fountain, however inaccurate it may be. It made him smile. His father had come bursting out of the room very suddenly, his face red with anger. When asked what was wrong, he merely said, "Just some trouble with this low-life Greyback. No manners at all, and no regard for the proper treatment of muggles."

Remus didn't ask any more questions. He and his parents decided it would do them good to get away for a while, so the camping trip was planned. It was something his mother and father enjoyed doing, saying that it helped them understand how to live like a muggle…cooking over the fire and such.

Remus would never forget that night. This shaggy, haggard of a man had come staggering out from behind the trees, his breath rasping in his throat. At first Remus didn't know what was happening. His father approached the man, asking if he needed help. Then he remembered his mother shrieking.

That night Remus saw the moon free of fear for the last time in his life and he remembered running, his mother pulling him by the arm as she ran and he struggled to keep up. He was scared, he didn't understand what was so wrong. Was the man bad?

Pulling their boy up beside them, they had tried to climb a tree to get away from the howling monster that had magically appeared. But his small hands slipped from his mothers and he had fallen into the waiting fangs of the creature. Its claws tore at his face, neck and arms, while its knife-like teeth clamped firmly on his leg and dragged him away from the mortified shrieks of his parents.

The next morning they had found him sprawled at the base of a hill, coated in blood and his clothing torn. His parents were certain that he was dead, but through some miracle or perhaps it had been a curse, he had survived. He survived with the makings of a monster just as vicious residing deep within him.

Unlike many parents, they did not abandon him. Both took great care in finding ways for their only child to be as normal as possible. One of which was getting him into Hogwarts. They had had to write to Professor Dumbledore himself to get the governors to allow it. And even then special arrangements had to be made for him, arrangements that had made him miserable as he desperately tried to keep everything a secret.

It had been difficult adapting to life at Hogwarts, with school during the day and many of his nights consumed by madness, he often didn't have time to rest, or time to do his homework for that matter. And the others had asked many questions.

"Where were you last night?" or "You don't look so good, are you catching something?"

Remus found it easier and easier to lie as time when by, but sometimes he wished that they all just knew and that he didn't have to concoct stories to explain why he hadn't returned to the dormitory the night before or why he looked ready to pass out where he stood.

But they didn't, none except James Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Lily Evans knew. Sirius had wanted to tell Ashley, but the Lily had suggested they wait until the time was right. It wasn't something one casually brought up over tea.

So Remus just had to suffer in silence much of the time. So many nights, like tonight, he resigned himself to sitting in front of the massive fire that burned in the Gryffindor common room. Watching the flames dance and swirl, each one so perfect and beautiful in it's simplicity, the heat gracefully caressing his skin, the light reflecting in his crystalline eyes.

He hadn't even fully comprehended what he was until he was a little older, not understanding why his parents locked him away at night once a month. When he finally did, he was angry; angry at his parents for not protecting him, angry at the werewolf that had bitten him. But as time went on, he started to feel sorry for the one who had bitten him…he even felt pity for him, thinking that he had had no control, knowing by then how it felt to transform.

Right before he started at Hogwarts though, his parents had finally told him that it had been a man, if you could even call him that, named Fenrir Greyback who had bitten him. He was the most savage werewolf alive today. And so they told him, he regarded it as his mission in life to bite and to contaminate as many people as possible. Greyback specializes in children…Bite them young, he says, and raise them away from their parents, raise them to hate normal wizards. At the full moon, he positions himself close to victims, ensuring that he is near enough to strike. He plans it all.

His father had been liberal in his distaste for the creature when they had met at the ministry hearing those several years ago…and had deeply offended Greyback…and no one offended Greyback and got away with it…

Behind him he heard laughter and knew that the Gavin Isaacs had just done another one of his quaint muggle card tricks. One girl, Laurie Osbourne, was particularly smitten with him and always prompted him to show off to her gang of friends.

A gentle crash to his left let him know that Timothy and his brother Donald were playing chess (Donald always won).

But then a new sound floated by his ears. Remus looked around for its source. It was scribbling. Not that of quill on parchment, but of pen on paper. That was something one never saw in the wizarding world.

Off in the far corner, a girl lay on the ground with her elbows propped up on a couple of pillows and a muggle notebook lay out in front of her. Her dark hair was streaked with wisps of purple and her eyes, though hidden by her long locks, were intently focused on the paper in front of her.

He marveled at her hands for a moment. Her fingers were long and delicate, with a simple grace to them that reminded him of an artist. They held her pen and seemed to dance across the paper before her like a ballerina across a stage: light, yet strong and with a purpose. She wore a simple pair of jeans and a plain black t-shirt that hugged her gentle curves and her lips were held in a frown of concentration.

As though she sensed him watching her she stopped writing and suddenly looked up to meet his thoughtful gaze with her own. Startled, Remus returned his gaze to the fire. But he would not soon forget those eyes that had briefly penetrated the shadows to look back at him. They had been the most unique eyes, and as time caught up with him, he realized just how unique.

Carefully, Remus turned to look at her again. She still watched him, those eyes seeming to look through him rather than at him. He blushed and almost turned away, but couldn't and after a few moments the mysterious girl only smiled then returned to her notebook. He found himself almost gasping for breath. Those eyes…he had never seen eyes like those before.

Just then, there was a tap at his shoulder. It was James.

"Hey, you know, no matter how long you stare at the fire, it really won't change. I promise." He said jokingly as he sat down beside him on one of the intricate rugs that adorned the floor.

Remus only continued to stare as he tried to will his heart to beat properly again.

His friend frowned. "You ok? Its still another couple of weeks until the full moon."

Remus nodded. "Yeah…yeah I'm fine."

"You look like you've just seen a ghost, so to speak."

Taking a moment to think about what James had just said, Remus gave him a confused look.

"What?" James exclaimed. "It's a muggle phrase. Lily's been wearing off on me."

Remus smiled. "No I haven't 'seen a ghost'." He thought for a minute. "I'm not sure what I just saw."