Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling; I do not own these characters, or Harry Potter. But if I did... *sighs* imagine the money.

Tuesday when Remus got to the Common Room and hugged Luna goodbye, he headed up to his dorm and dressed into his pajamas, climbed into his bed and lay comfortably under the covers, intent on sleeping until lunch. Hey, why not? The teachers would excuse him, they knew about his condition, and he was really tired. Just as he began to feel consciousness slip away, and his thoughts became less frequent and more sloggy and dreamlike, a loud voices yelled his name from either side of him his mind went back to full alert.

"REMUS!"

"Moony, wake up!"

Remus growled and rolled over and pulled his pillow over his ears, trying to block out their noise, which wasn't working due to his sharp werewolf hearing. Slowly, he felt himself lift off the bed and began swaying back and forth.

He sat up in bed, "Padfoot Prongs! What is wrong with you?"

His friends grinned and continued swaying the mattress that held Remus until the dumped him out on the floor.

"Sorry, mate, but it's near the only way to wake you up after the full moon," explain James as he and Sirius but the mattress back in place.

"Why are you waking me up after a full moon anyway?" asked Remus.

"Well...," began Sirius, "you got to spend a lot of extra time with Luna last night. Did you ever get around to-?"

"No."

"Oh come on, you didn't even hear what I was going to say!"

"You were going to say if I ever got to kiss her, or ask her out, or flirt with her or something, right?"

"Well, yeah... But I could've said got around to playing hopscotch with her or something like that."

Remus rolled his eyes at Padfoot, "We've already been through this. She's from the future, starting that kind of relationship between her and I would be disastrous."

"Remus, you deserve to be happy. Why can't you just have a casual relationship with her? The both of you are too smart to really get attached, and Sirius has casual relationships all the time!" exclaimed Peter.

Remus looked at him oddly, "I thought you didn't like her."

James laughed, "Oh, it was so funny, last night she tried to eat him! He was squealing his head off and me and Sirius was trying to pull her off of him while she was just... like... Grr!"

"'Grr?'"

Sirius laughed, "Yep, that's the perfect word for it. And you were just kind of sitting there watching, Moony."

"Anyway," interrupted Peter, "what does it matter if I like her or not? You're the one who I'm trying to get to date her, not me!"

Remus sighed, "I know i-it just, you don't understand..."

"What don't we understand?" asked James.

"How much do you know about werewolf mates?" asked Remus.

The three boys shrugged. Sirius said, "I've never heard of werewolf mates."

"Exactly, that's what you don't understand. When a werewolf falls in love, they become his/her mate. Now, the chances of that happening between a werewolf and a regular person or about the same as your average couple getting married. It could happen, but you never know. However, a relationship between a werewolf and another werewolf has great chances of becoming mates."

"So?" asked Peter. "You're afraid you might become mates with Luna. What does that even mean? Is it like marriage or something?"

"Yes, I'm afraid it might happen, and no, it's not exactly like marriage."

"Then what is it?" said Sirius.

"Like I said, when you fall in love with someone, and they fall in love with you, and at least one is a werewolf, then they become mates. It is literally that simple. Most people don't even notice the shift between a regular couple to mates. It's not a get-down-on-one-knee-and-ask thing. If so then it wouldn't be a problem, neither of us would ever be that stupid. But we might accidently fall in love, and become mates, and when you become mates..."

James looked his friend, "What? Is it permanent?"

"No. But when that bond is formed, you just... You know. I don't know how to describe it. I learned this from an old werewolf I meet the summer after our third year. He told me about his mate who had died a couple of years ago. He said that he never noticed it when it first happened, but when he did it was because he felt her feelings. When you become mates with someone, you feel what they feel if their feelings are strong enough. If the other allows it, you can even access their thoughts. You know if they have cheated on you, you know about any significant thing that has happened to them. It's like the two have become one, is what he said. I can't afford to have a bond like that with someone fifty years from the future!"

"Wait, but you said it wasn't permanent?"

"Yeah. If you fall out of love with them."

They nodded and Sirius frowned, "But what if you two do become mates, what then? If she goes back to the future, will the two if you still feel each other's feelings and such until you get over each other? And what about that old guy, what happened after his mate died?"

Remus shrugged, "He said that he could still feel her presence with him sometimes, and he could hear her help through bad times and be happy with him through good times. I don't know if he was mad in his old age, or if it was true. And if Luna goes back and we become mates... well I don't know."

They were silent for a while.

"So... You're not going to try and date her?" asked Peter.

"Wormtail, how thick are you?" exclaimed James.

"No, Prongs. Honestly, I think I might try it. It's a risk, but still. I really like her."

"Well, you might want to get some sleep if you want to woo her. You look like shit," commented Sirius.

"Thanks mate, really wanted to hear that," said Remus as he climbed into bed and went back to sleep.

He woke up for lunch and decided to go to the classes afterwards. He was one of the firsts there and waited patiently for the others to get there, too. Soon James, Sirius, and Peter came through the doors and spotted him.

"Hey, I thought you were going to stay in bed all day," said Sirius.

"Changed my mind."

"So, what about Luna? What you going to do about her?"

Remus shrugged, "Don't know."

Sirius nodded, "You know, I don't think she was that tired from the full moon. At all, I mean, really at breakfast, we were worse off than her it seemed. Or maybe she's just really good making it seem she's all right."

Peter nodded, "Yeah, we all have circles around our eyes and yawning from staying up all night, not her. It's weird."

"I call it Weasley blood," said a familiar voice from behind, Jamie's. They turned to see him and his two younger siblings walking toward them and sitting down.

"Weasley? As in Molly and Arthur Weasley? Aren't they that couple who graduated when we were first years and have a son named Bill?" asked Sirius.

"And Molly's pregnant again, I think," added James.

"Yeah. She's pregnant with our Uncle Charlie. After him will be Uncle Percy, Uncle Fred and George (they're twins), Uncle Ron, and then our mom, Ginny," said Al.

Remus blinked, "That... is a lot of children."

Peter nodded, "How will they afford it? Unless they get some really big break or something, they're not that rich last I heard."

He received three glares from the future Potter's, "Didn't mean it that way! The average person couldn't afford to have that many children; I know whatever job I get won't supply that much money."

Luna shrugged, "Yes we have a big family. We have about nine first cousins. Anyway, most people with Weasley blood are either always hungry, or always energetic. You can guess which one I am."

Remus laughed, "Oh I am jealous."

"Did you just wake up?"

"Yeah. Usually I sleep most of the whole day and don't go to any classes, but I decided to pull a half day instead."

"Damn. Wait, you don't get in trouble for that?"

"No, they don't let you do that in the future?"

"Well, they told me that I could have any sort of conveniences that are reasonable, but I never really thought about skipping classes. Though, when I think about it, for most it would be a reasonable request..."

"But for you staying up all night as a fucking werewolf and then going through a day at Hogwarts without a lick of sleep in between isn't a problem, right Miss Invincible?"

Luna blushed. She couldn't tell if Remus was mocking her or just pocking fun at her. He didn't seem like that kind of person, but she guessed maybe he had got the wrong idea she was rubbing in the fact that she had such stamina. She didn't want him to be mad at her or think she was a snob!

"No, I'm really tired actually. It is no problem with the wolfsbane, but I am a bit drained without it."

Remus frowned, "Luna, I was kidding."

"Oh," she said awkwardly, and then laughed.

Remus gave her a weird look, and then laughed too. It was then he decided that he would try and date her.

"What class have you got next?"

"Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Brilliant. That's not too far from my next class. I'll walk you,"

"But won't you be tardy?" asked Luna, as she felt a slight bump in her chest. No, that's stupid. He's nearly fifty years older than me and even if we did... and we accidently become... No, that can't happen.

"I have conveniences," he reminded her. "And besides, you said you were feeling a bit drained? It's best I walk you. I've already had a few hours' sleep."

Luna smiled and agreed, and also agreed to Remus walking her to her next class as well.

Two days later, Luna sat in the library with Lily Evans, Severus Snape, and Regulus Black. Regulus sat next to Luna in Potions and Divination, so she was able to strike up a friendship with him. Since he was also friends with Severus, they invited him to join they're little study group. Only, today they weren't doing much studying. Lily and Severus' O.W.L.s were coming up, but they decided to take a break studying for the day. After all, it wouldn't be for another three months, and they figured that was plenty of time to study.

Instead, they talked quietly, doing their best not to disturb Madam Pomfrey.

Then Regulus asked Luna, "Luna, how do you know my brother and his friends?"

"Huh?" she asked, the question taking her off guard. She had been talking to Snape about Defense Against the Dark Arts, as it was both their favorite subject, when he said it. She was constantly asked questions about the Marauders, as they were the most popular boys in school, and she was just the new girl, but she hadn't expected it from Regulus.

"Well, they're friends with my older brothers, and me and my brothers are close, so..."

"Oh, but I never see your brothers with your friends."

"That's because my brothers don't really like talking about cute boys or what color they look best in."

Regulus shrugged, "Whatever. Heh, look at Abbot."

They all looked to the boy Regulus had pointed out. He was a Gryffindor in Regulus' and Luna's year with a lot of chub. He was rather awkward and clumsy, and always saying the wrong things and coming across as rude, so he didn't have many friends. He was trying to pick a large stack of books he had been shifting through, but having a rather difficult time. Lily rolled her eyes and picked up a book off the table they were sitting at and began to read, while Luna, Regulus, and Severus kept watching Abbot.

Abbot lifted six thick books off the desk and walked slowly and carefully to the shelves they belonged. The three watched as he stumbled and bumped into people, and they laughed as he tried to stutter apologies. He managed to get them all to the shelves and went back for the next load. This time he had to pass the table where Luna, Regulus, Lily and Snape were sitting at. Unfortunately for him, he was daring enough to carry seven books this time, and had to look around the pile of books in his arms. But he couldn't see the ground.

Regulus stuck out his foot at the last moment and tripped Abbot. Luna didn't feel the least bit sorry for him; he had tried to flirt with her on her first day of classes, but it came out as though he was calling her a slut. Of course, Luna didn't know that he didn't mean it that way. Regulus, who had been there, had the same assumption as Luna.

Abbot fell to the ground on top of the stack of books, which knocked the wind out of them.

"Watch where you're going'," said Regulus with smirk.

"Shut up, Black."

"Watch where you point your mouth, Abbot," sneered Luna, "you're getting spit all over my shoes."

Abbot flushed from his position on the floor, and got back up right, picking up the various books. Regulus swooped down and snatched one off the floor.

"Hey, give that back!" said Abbot.

"'How to Bewitch a Witch; A Wizard's Guide,'" read Reg.

That's when Lily started to step in, "Guys, leave the poor guy alone."

But Luna had already laughed and said, "Is that where you got, 'Excuse me, but you look really practiced with wands?'"

Lily cocked an eyebrow, "What?"

Regulus smirked, "No wonder you've never gotten a girlfriend, you take advice from cheap books!"

Luna snorted, "Actually, I think it's more of the butter teeth, fat body, and stupid brain."

Severus looked at his friends; right now they reminded him like James Potter and Sirius Black. But Severus knew of Abbot's mouth and what he said to Luna, this was just payback; they weren't anything like their grandfather and older brother, right?

"I thought Gryffindors were supposed to be brave," said Abbot suddenly.

Luna frowned at him, Gryffindor? Neither Luna nor Regulus were Gryffindors, what was he- Oh, yes. She had forgotten.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Two to one? Not exactly courageous."

"Well by all means, show me what bravery is, attack me. I've only been a Gryffindor for only a week and a half, show me what it means."

Abbot looked up at her. She had been there for only a week and a half, but it was quite apparent she would soon be top of the class, once she caught up, he wouldn't stand a chance as bottom of the class. Black would probably attack him, too, if he started a fight with her then. Plus he would be the one in trouble, he would be the one to attack first, and he would be attacking a girl, which wouldn't make McGonagall or Dumbledore sympathetic to him if he tried to say what really happened. And if he got in trouble, his mother would kill him. She'd send him a howler every day. He could try and get them to attack first, but that'd be stupid. They would never fall for whatever trap he tried to lay, and they'd end up kicking his ass, anyway.

So he picked up the rest of the books and went over to the book shelves, with Black and Krum smirking at his retreating back.

"Thought so," said Luna as she turned back to Snape.

Lily looked at her, "so, what was that about? 'Being practiced with wands?'"

Regulus answered for her, "On her first day here, that git said that to her. Can you believe him? Not the only thing, either, the other day he told me that I was just a pathetic version of my brother. I would've hexed him on the spot but the wimp jumped behind a couple of first years and ran away."

"Seriously?" asked Luna.

Regulus nodded.

"And he tried to call me a coward."

They all shrugged and went back to their previous conversations and activities.

As Luna and Severus continued their conversation and Luna asked him if he could show her more about the Dark Arts, and get her a pass to the restricted section for books. She made sure to lower her voice where Lily couldn't hear her. She knew her grandmother didn't approve of her best friend's interest.

Severus looked at her. Okay, so maybe she was a Slytherin in her own time, maybe she acted like a Slytherin, but in this time she was a Gryffindor. And she was Potter's granddaughter. How would she be interested in the Dark Arts?

Luna gave him a small smile, knowing what confused him, "It's sort of a secret pleasure for me. I'm not a bloodlust or anything; it just sort of fascinates me. More because it's so complicated than anything."

Severus nodded eagerly, "Yeah, sure, I can get you a pass to the restricted section. As a matter of fact, here, Professor Young gave me a pass for the whole month. Give it back when you're done, though.

"Thank you so much," smiled Luna. When she was from, she never got to really look at the Dark Arts closely, as Harry Potter's daughter. But now she was only Luna Krum, another face in the crowd. No one was going to care. Maybe her brothers might get in her business, but she could deal with them. She just wanted to know about the subject. There was nothing wrong with that, right?

Remus Sighed and leaned against the bookshelf. Okay, so maybe Luna wasn't as perfect as she looked. But hey, at least that guy actually did something to her and Regulus. The same couldn't be said for most people James and Sirius pick on. But still, Dark Arts? What the hell? You'd think being a werewolf would be proof enough that the Dark Arts are bad news.

He sighed and looked around the corner back at the table where they were sitting. Regulus and Severus were talking now, something about some Slytherin party. Luna and lily were talking now.

"... So what should I get him?" asked Luna.

Lily frowned, "I don't know, depends on your relationship with him. Are you friends, good friends, boyfriend and girlfriend...?"

"Well, we're friends. Good friends, but we've been flirting lately, or I've been flirting with him...," Remus clenched his hand and tightened his jaw. "And I'm pretty sure he was flirting back."

Remus didn't know who the hell they were talking about, but he already hated him.

"I thought you weren't the kind to fuss over boys," noted Lily.

"Yeah, well, this one's different."

Different, thought Remus.

"Well, I honestly don't know too much about him. You'd be better at picking out a gift for him than me."

"But his birthday is in two weeks. The only other people I can think of asking for advice is James and Sirius. They would just laugh at me and tell him."

James and Sirius?

Lily nodded, "You're right there. I'll never understand why he hangs out with them. Remus is ten times more mature than Potter, Black, and Pettigrew put together."

Then the four packed their bags and left the library, laughing quietly at whatever they were saying, they were too far away for him to hear them now.

So, he was the 'Different' one.