Remus, Sirius, James, and Peter sat in their dorm room in silence. It wasn't an awkward silence. It was a nice silence among friends. Remus was nibbling on a chocolate bar, obviously thinking about something important. Sirius was actually doing homework. He actually cared about his studies. He thought he might want to work for the Ministry someday, not that he'd tell his friends that. They'd think it was lame. Either way, he had to work on his homework. He was struggling in Potions class. James always suggested that Remus copy his homework. It wasn't that James was good at Potions, but James always copied off of Lily, who was the best in their class. She was even better than Severus, and that was saying something. James was sitting on his bed with his golden snitch, letting it get a little away from him before he snatched it again. It was obvious by how often he was missing that he was thinking about Lily. Peter was lying on his bed, doing nothing. His friends didn't mind, but they all found it a bit odd. Peter lived in his head. He was often content to just lie around thinking about who knew what. Remus was the first in a while to break the silence.

"Guys, can I tell you something?"

"No, Remus. You can't tell us anything. Friends don't tell each other anything." James said with a smirk.

"Of course, Remus," Sirius said, sensing Remus was actually being sincere about this. "You can tell us anything."

"It's kind of a big deal, guys."

"We're your friends. Just spit it out," Peter chimed in.

"You can't tell anyone."

"Ooh," James said with his usual joking tone, "this must be interesting. Is it a girl? I bet it's a girl."

"James, I'm serious," Remus insisted.

"No, I'm Sirius."

The other three groaned. Sirius said that every time an opportunity presented itself.

"Sirius, will you ever stop making that joke?" James asked.

"When it stops being funny I might."

"Then you should have stopped after the first time you told it," James replied. "It wasn't even funny then. It was our fault. We shouldn't have laughed."

"Guys," Peter started, "Remus was trying to tell us something. Go ahead, Remus. We won't tell anyone."

"Well, you know how two weeks ago I had to go home and all I told you was that it was a family emergency?"

"Yeah. Then you came back with those scars on your body again, telling us the Whomping Willow had gotten you." Sirius remembered. He was always worried about Remus. Sirius had had a fair share of scars on his body after being home, and suspected the worst when he saw the same from Remus.

"Well, I have a confession to make. I didn't go home for a family emergency, and it wasn't the Whomping Willow that gave me those scars."

Now everyone was concerned. Not only was Remus being slow to tell them, he had never lied to them before. He was a good liar, sure, but he had never lied to them. They were all beginning to share Sirius' worry.

"Well, what was it, then, Remus?" Sirius asked.

"I was attacked-"

The other three were shocked. All of them spoke at once.

"That's terrible," Peter said.

"Who was it? I'll kill him!" James shouted.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Sirius asked.

"I didn't think I could tell anyone. I'm not supposed to."

"Oh, since when has anyone here cared what we're supposed to do? Just tell me who did it and I'll kill him."

"James, shut up. Just listen. You didn't let me finish. I was attacked when I was a little kid."

"Now I'm really going to kill him!"

"James, no one is killing anyone. Just listen. I'm a werewolf."

"Yeah, right. And I'm the Minister for Magic."

"James," Sirius started, "Can't you shut up for two minutes? Just tell us the truth, Remus." He tried to speak gently. "It's fine. We won't tell anyone. Trust us and tell us the truth."

"I did. I'm a werewolf. That's why I have to leave every full moon. It's for everyone's safety. I'm not supposed to tell anyone, but my best friends have the right to know."

"You really are telling the truth, aren't you?" James asked.

"Remus, why didn't you tell us sooner? You had me worried." Sirius said.

"I figured you wouldn't want to be my friends anymore."

"Are you kidding, Remus? Why wouldn't we want to be your friends anymore? So you have to be away every full moon. Now we just know why. Nothing's changed."

"But, Sirius, I'm a werewolf."

"I was starting to wonder about that," James said.

"You were, James?"

"Well, we all were thinking about it. Sirius was starting to think you were having trouble at home. Peter was thinking you might be insane. I didn't want to think either of those things, so I decided you were probably a werewolf."

"Peter, you thought I was insane?!"

"I thought you might be insane. Did you expect I'd figure out you were a werewolf?"

"No, but why did you think I might be insane?"

"Calm down, Remus. Sirius thought your mum might be as insane as his mum is. And it doesn't matter. If it evens things out, I often wonder if Peter is insane."

"James, if anyone is insane here, it's you. Peter isn't insane. Remus isn't insane. My mum is completely insane, but that's not what we're talking about. Remus, thank you for telling us the truth. We're all still friends here. Nothing has changed."

"Are you sure, Sirius?"

"Yes."

"Me too, Remus," Peter agreed.

"Yeah, even if I don't get to kill the guy that attacked you," James said.