As the next day dawned, with it came an armada of questions parading through James, Peter, and Sirus's heads'; when the hell did Remus get so... fast?! Who was this Mason? And what was this about a pack? And 'Alpha'?
The three boys were constantly whispering such questions back and forth behind Remus's back, but he hardly noticed. He seemed distant, wary, even angry... the full moon was a mere two three days away now, but even taking that into account Remus's behaviour was unusual. Sirius was getting more and more frustrated by this, and- after speaking with James and Peter of course- they decided to question Remus in their dormitory, that night.
When the time came, the three Marauders were waiting for their friend in the dorm. Moonlight poured in from the open window, and the grounds were eerily silent- not even the Whomping Willow's usual noises could be heard, not even the sounds of Hagrid training Fang, not even-
But Sirius's train of thought was inturrupted by Remus, who had just entered the room and was looking at three boys in surprise.
"What are you doing up- it's past midnight you know," he said, sounding slightly amused. But the werewolf's smile dissapeared when he noticed his friends' serious expressions, and he sat down on his bed without further comments.
"Remus, we want- no, we need to talk." Sirius said quietly, a determined note in his voice. "When we found out about your... 'furry little problem,' you said no more secrets, remember?"
Remus didn't answer, but looked down at the floor.
"You promised, Moony."
The werewolf looked up, into his friends' eyes. He nodded, and Sirius breathed an audible sigh of relief. Remus sat down on his bed, so he was facing the other three Marauders.
"I was bitten when I was five, almost ten years ago now," he started, "by Alph- by Fenrir Greyback."
Sirius's eyes visibly widened, and he opened his mouth, though no words came out.
Remus noticed this-
"Do you... know him, Padfoot?"
"Not really, no. But he's mentioned often in my parents' conversations..."
Remus's gaze softened- his parents were something Sirus didn't like to bring up, so he didn't probe any further. What good would it do anyway?
"Oh, I'm sorry." Remus offered, sounding genuinely concerned. Sirius merely smiled, and motioned for Remus to carry on.
"After I was bitten, I..." Remus paused for a moment, swallowing. "I didn't really go back to my parents."
The other three Marauders exchanged glanced, before looking back at their friend questioningly.
"Well, where did you go then?" Sirius asked, and James couldn't help but grin at his obvious lack of tact.
"I stayed with Alpha." The werewolf answered, looking back down. "The Pack took me in, as they do everyone that they bite. I stayed with them for... for five years."
A ringing silence filled the dorm as James, Sirius, and Peter gaped at Remus- five years?! Five years with that lunatic Greyback? All three boys had heard of the man- he was wanted for Azkaban for murder, rape, theft, and a six-foot-long list of other assorted and equally gruesome charges.
Sirius vaguely wondered how he could have even gotten onto the Hogwarts grounds, weren't there some kind of defenses against that? But he decided to leave it for another time, right now he wanted to hear the rest of Remus's story. He leaned in closer as his friend continued-
"But you must understand, the Pack wasn't always like it is now- Alpha has turned it into his own, private murderers society." Remus almost spat this last part, his brows knitted together in anger.
"Before Greyback became Alpha, the Pack was a way for werewolves to help each other, when the rest of the world turned it's back on them- to stay together, and live together. Wolves are pack animals you know, and strangely enough that goes for werewolves too.
"That's what it was like when I was bitten, and while I was there I hardly missed my parents at all," he chuckled. "But three years later, Greyback challenged Willow- who was Alpha back then- and won; he was younger, and stronger. Greyback became our leader, and that's when this whole mess started- before, we stayed as far away from One-Souls as possible, living mostly in the forest; we were in constant fear of spreading our curse. But when Greyback took over, he ordered us to get as near to a village as possible on moon-nights, so as to bite as many One-Souls as possible and add numbers to the Pack. Nobody could disobey- the penalty for disobeying an Alpha is death."
Remus went quiet and nobody dared to speak. After some time, James gathered up the courage and asked-
"So how did you get out?"
Remus smiled.
"I was lucky- we were running out of food, and Alpha sent me out to hunt; the rest of the Pack had gone into a nearby village, so I was left to go alone. As soon as I was far enough that Alpha could no longer pick up my scent, I ran. I ran for god knows how long, until I reached a small cottage at the edge of the forest- it belonged to an old man, who we had often seen, but never approached. Alpha never spoke of the cottage, so I assumed he either didn't know about it or had forgotten.
"Worn out, I spent the night there, and in the morning the old man found me and chased me away. I was ten years old then, and could have easily taken him- Alpha had trained us well- but I knew I needed to get as far away from the forest as possible anyway. By this time I was showing signs of being a wizard, something which I had always hidden from my Pack-mates. I ran until I reached some large settlement, and later the locals told me that I had fallen unconscious from exhaustion. I stayed with them for a few more days, before deciding to return home, to my parents.
"It took almost a three months, but I managed to find the small village where I was born, and made my way back to the house. At first, my parents didn't recognise me, but after explanations, stories, and pleas, they took me back in. I was so sorry I had ever left them... After I returned they looked everywhere, asked everyone, trying to find a cure for my lycanthropy. And, though this was impossible, they never gave up.
"Ten months later I received my Hogwarts letter, surprised to no end. I had never thought..."
Remus paused for a moment, allowing himself a small, ghost of a smile.
"Well, you know the rest." He finished.
James, Peter, and Sirius were still staring at him intently taking in every word- their faces at time showed fear, or disbelief, or amazement. They couldn't believe why Remus hadn't told them all of this earlier, and Sirius even managed to feel a little hurt, but it soon washed away as he thought about it. What would they have said then?
What could they say now?
"Moony, I..." Sirius started, but trailed off as he realized he had absolutely no idea what to say.
"Remus, why didn't you tell us this before?" James asked, as if reading Sirius's mind.
Remus shrugged, smiling sadly.
"Why does it matter? It's in the past, and honestly... if not for you guys, I would be sad that it's in the past."
His fellow Marauders looked at him with open mouthes at first, but then understanding dawned on their faces and they smiled.
"Actually, I have a question or two..." Sirius ventured, still smiling.
"Yes, Mr. Black?" Remus drawled, his imitation of McGonagall perfect, as usual. Sirius snickered, before asking-
"What the hell is a One-Soul, and I think I know what moon-nights and... what was that Mason said... ah, pre-moon nights are, but could you please clarify? Oh, and who was that Mason bloke? And did you really smell him, or am I going loopy? No offense, Lupin. Yes, and how the hell did you run that fast?!"
It all came out in a rush, and when he finished Sirius was left gasping for air; unable to stand it all four boys burst out laughing, causing Sirius's gasping to intensify.
When they finally finished, Sirius looked at Remus expectantly, and the werewolf attempted to answer his questions;
"One-Souls... how to explain... well, when a person becomes a werewolf, their very soul sort of... splits into two- then man, and the wolf. This mean they have two souls. In some, the human side is stronger, in others the wolf side becomes dominant, like in Alpha. A human can only have one soul, therefore it is only logical to call them One-Souls. Thus, the name. I'm sorry if it confused you, but thinking about all of this made me remember these things, and it's sort hard to hold them back now. Sort of like a British man trying to speak in an American accent..." The werewolf trailed off, smirking to himself.
Sirius nodded, along with James. Peter, who was silent through the whole exchange, didn't move a muscle.
"And moon-nights are nights of the full moon, right?" inquired James, looking at Remus with interest. The werewolf nodded. "And a pre-moon night is the night before?" Another nod.
"What about Mason?" Sirius asked, looking at interested as his Quidditch-playing friend.
Remus's smile faltered, but he soon recovered-
"Mason was- and still is, no doubt- Greyback's Beta; in the Pack, a Beta is sort of like the second in command. They are in charge of the cubs- young werewolves- and lead most attacks and hunts, as well as being responsible for the Pack's supply of food. But Mason..."
Remus's face darkened.
"He was always a followed of Alpha, even before he took over- they plotted this together, the pair of them." The werewolf scowled and bared his teeth, something which nobody present had ever seen him do- well, not as a human at least. If one of them had attempted this, it would have looked ridiculous- but now, as Remus did it, they felt the urge to back away. Remus must have noticed this, for he stopped and looked at his fellow Marauders, fear and hurt in his eyes.
"I'm sorry," he said weakly, "it's just... with Alpha so close, I'm..." he swallowed. "I'm afraid."
Remus looked down in shame, his hand moving instinctively to his shoulder, where the scar from when he had been bitted throbbed painfully. This had never happened before, but Remus guessed it was something to do with Greyback being near. He shuddered to think what it would feel like when they came face to face.
"Rem, you know it's okay." Sirius offered softly. "Hey, what about the running thing? How did you do that?" he asked, in an attempt to cheer up his friend.
Remus smiled, lifting his head back up.
"Oh, that's just one of the side effects of being... well, what I am. And yes Padfoot, I did smell him." Remus added as Sirius opened his mouth once again.
"Why didn't you tell us?" James asked, for the second or third time in the last hour.
Remus shrugged.
"Anything else we should know?" Sirius asked in a mock-scolding voice, causing Remus to smirk.
"There's a few more... er, side effects, like strength, smell, reflexes... I don't really feel the cold either." Remus shrugged again.
"Wait a minute... strength, did you say?" Sirius asked again, raising an eyebrow as his facial muscles twisted into the mischevious expression that Remus, James, and Peter knew all too well.
"Yes..." The sandy-haired boy nodded tenatively, narrowing his eyes.
"Well, I wager you still can't match the strength of Sirius Black!" Padfoot pronounced in triumph, more that a little louder than necessary.
"Or James Potter!" Added Prongs at the same volume, if not louder.
Remus laughed- it was just like these two to boast about their strength. He had usually held back his, something he was now used to.
Maybe... Remus thought, maybe just this once...
"You're on!" The werewolf answered, determination showing in his voice. James and Sirius beamed, eager to prove their friend wrong. After all, they were the strongest, right?
"I call first!" Sirius shouted suddenly causing Peter, who was sitting beside him, to jump and rub his ear irritably. Remus laughed, feeling amused already.
"Over on the table Moony, come on!" Sirius called after bounding over to said table, already sitting on one of the chairs, arm up and ready.
Remus scoffed inwardly, but remaind silent as he walked over. James and Peter stood beside them, James by Sirius and Peter by Remus.
"Don't forget, Remmy, that last time we did this you lost!" Sirius taunted, smirking. Remus merely smiled.
"Alright, before we start let me set down some rules-" James began dramatically, causing the other three boys to roll their eyes. "There'll be no spitting, biting, shoving-"
Sirius scoffed.
"-growling, snarling, clawing-"
"Yes, Prongs, we get it!" Remus interrupted, the amused note never leaving his voice.
James pretended to look hurt, clutching his 'wounded' heart. But he soon continued-
"Alright, ready-"
Remus and Sirius tensed.
"set- and...go!"
One second... two secon- wait. James blinked.
"For Merlin's sake Moony, you can let go now!" Sirius whined. His muscular arm was being held down by Remus's scarred one, and he was struggling to get free.
Remus mock-yawned; this was more fun than he'd expected! It had taken extremely little effort to pin down Sirius, and almost none to hold him there.
"But- how- you- Padfoot-" James stuttered. Remus couldn't help but laugh at this, but Sirius sent him a glare and the werewolf tried to cover it up with a cough. Unsuccessfully.
Finally he let him go, and Sirius clutched his aching arm. Everyone in the room was staring, slack-jawed, at Remus- who blushed slightly.
"I'm going to bed now, goodnight." He said slowly, walking back over to his bed. He procceded to close the curtains and change into his pyjamas, after which his usual clothes were thrown perfectly into his trunk, and Remus fell alseep as soon as his head hit the pillow; still smiling.