I woke the morning after the first night of the full moon not knowing where I was. In much pain, I turned away from the fireplace to see Tonks laying next to me on the floor. It all came back to me in a instant. Tonks had volunteered to let me stay at her flat for the next eight days. I still don't understand why. Does she not understand how dangerous I am? I then remembered that I had taken the Wolfsbane potion the previous night. It's hard to remember everything at once.
Tonks smiled and brushed a stray strand of hair from my face, asking if I would like some tea or breakfast. I shook my head, explaining that the morning after first night is the hardest. I spend most of the day asleep by the fire. It is very rare that I actually eat. Tonks volunteered to stay home the entire day and watch over me. I declined but she wouldn't change her mind.
After a few hours, she helped me sit up and fixed some toast and tea. We ate by the fire and talked. I felt brave enough to show her the scar on my shoulder left by Greyback. It was so painful, Tonks looked away. I apologized for causing her pain. She said it was all right, and asked if it still hurt. I told her it had hurt ever since I was four years old.
Tonks wanted to know who did this to me. I sighed and told her the story while she held my hands.
"A werewolf named Fenrir Greyback in retaliation for something my father said about werewolves. Greyback was brought into the Ministry for questioning following the deaths of two children. My father recognized him as a werewolf, and suggested that he be detained until the next full moon had passed which was twenty-four hours away. The rest of the members of the questioning committee didn't believe my father. He lost his temper saying werewolves were "soulless, evil, deserving nothing but death." Greyback was released. The next night, he forced open my bedroom window and bit me. My father heard the noise and cursed Greyback. He left but it was too late. I was taken to St. Mungo's where my wound was treated with powdered silver and dittany. It healed but I'll always have the scar. When it came time for me to attend Hogwarts, my parent's didn't want me to. The Shrieking Shack was commissioned by Dumbledore when I was accepted to Hogwarts. It was the only way my parents would let me attend. The Whomping Willow was planted for the same reason. Once a month, on the first night of the full moon, Madam Pomfrey smuggled me out the castle, through the secret passage underneath the Whomping Willow, and into the Shrieking Shack. That's the only place I could be a werewolf without hurting anyone. The screams and shouts were me biting and scratching myself because of the lack of humans to infect.
After I left Hogwarts, I had trouble getting a job, until Harry's third year, when Dumbledore came to me and offered me the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher. I will always be grateful to Dumbledore for that. I felt I didn't deserve it, because of what Peter, Sirius, James, and I did starting third year when we would sneak out of Hogwarts under James Invisibility Cloak, James, Sirius, and Peter would transform into their Animagus forms and we would sneak into the Shrieking Shack. I would transform, and we would wander around Hogsmeade, Sirius and James strong enough to keep me under control. Dumbledore went out of his way to make sure I could attend Hogwarts, and I felt like I was betraying his trust."/p
Tonks responded by saying that I was young, young people make mistakes, and no one got hurt. I'm sometimes afraid that when I die I will go to hell for the things I have done. I know they were not that bad, but this is still one of my greatest fears. Tonks took my hands, smiled, and said, "Hell won't be so bad you know. After all, I'll be there to keep you company."