17, Year Seven

Dare, Dare, Dare, Truth…

"Moony? Mooooony?"

Remus shut his eyes tighter trying to block out Sirius' voice.

"Moony, it's eight in the morning. People are going to start making their way in here soon," James warned.

'In here? Everyone is already in the dorms if it's eight on a Saturday. What does it matter anyway? Unless…' Remus thought fearfully.

Slowly, Remus opened his eyes to see that he was lying on the dark red carpet of the common room floor. Before him, crouched James and Sirius wearing tired, but amused smiles. Remus sat up, groaning loudly. His head pounded and his stomach churned. Last night hadn't been a full moon, so why did he feel so dreadful? It quickly faded away though. Something fell in Remus' eyes. He touched his head and removed whatever had sat atop it.

"Is this a…a lampshade?" Remus asked, peering at the object.

James nodded, taking the lampshade from Remus and returning it to its home, covering the bulb in the corner by the fireplace. Remus looked down to his left where an empty bottle of Firewhiskey sat. His eyes widened as he picked it up and held it before Sirius' eyes.

"What. Is. This?" said Remus in a grave voice.

Sirius pursed his lips dramatically and stroked his chin, eyes to the ceiling.

"Mmm, well…the question should be: what isn't this? It's isn't a bottle full of Firewhiskey. It's an empty bottle of Firewhiskey. Emptied by you, last night."

Remus shook his head slowly, his vision blurring slightly.

"No, no, no, no, no. My heightened, werewolf metabolism would burn off the alcohol too quickly for it to affect my senses. It would take at least-"

"-four whole bottles in under a half hour to make you forget the fantastical events that occurred last night?"

Remus' eyes snapped towards James who held up three empty bottles of Firewhiskey.

"We were all pretty impressed, mate. You chugged those bottles and got quite randy with Dorcas. Don't worry, she enjoyed it," Sirius winked.

Remus ran a hand through his tousled, brown hair only to see that his entire arm was covered in ink, ancient runes tattooing his skin.

"Wh-what is this?" Remus asked in a high pitched voice.

Sirius snickered rolling his eyes.

"We love you when you're tipsy, Remus, but when you're full blown drunk…you're a riot."

"Quite a bit happened last night, Moons. Let's start from the beginning of the end. After you've received your Ancient Runes tattoos to be precise…" James smirked.

Remus sighed, loudly and massaged the bridge of his nose, preparing himself for what was about to occur.

"Oh…"

"First off, let's thank James for leading Gryffindor to its fourth consecutive year of winning the Quidditch Cup!" Sirius called to the occupants of the Common Room, standing on the coffee table.

The students roared with applause as James bowed graciously, Lily at his side, beaming.

"Sh! Sh! We all know he's great! Now I'd like big hand for myself, for supplying you all with this plentiful bounty of alcohol!"

Another fanfare erupted for Sirius this time, Remus leaned against the mantle by the fireplace just smiling. Dorcas stood beside him, clapping and smiling.

"But finally, let's thank our Head Girl, Lily Evans and Prefect, Remus Lupin for looking the other way while we drink to excess and stay up way past curfew!"

The common room applauded once more. Lily grinned, her eyes on James while Remus smirked, waving them off dismissively.

"On the right side of the Common Room a game of Gobstones, led by the lovely Alice will be taking place! On the left side a game of Spin the Bottle will be hosted by yours truly! By the fireplace you may schmooze and laugh and discuss tonight's brilliant match! Dancing will take place in the center and all dark corners are reserved for those of us who need a good snog! Ahem, Peter… Ahem, Remus…" Sirius laughed.

Loud rock music sounded from the Victrola in the corner and everyone dispersed to their desired areas. Remus, Dorcas, Lily and James converged by the fireplace, talking over the music. They indulged James as he described every second of the Quidditch match against Ravenclaw in great detail. It was no struggle. James was a talented story teller and it was easy to get enraptured in his tales.

"Oi, Moony, here!"

Remus looked to his left to see Sirius holding up a bottle of Firewhiskey. Remus shook his head, a small grin on his lips.

"No, thank you, Sirius. There's really no point," Remus shrugged.

"No point? No point?! Remus, get a little pissed will you?" pleaded Sirius, obviously having indulged in some alcohol himself.

Remus inclined his head, his arm around Dorcas' waist.

"Like I said, Sirius, there's really no point."

Sirius finally caught Remus' drift and dashed away. James opened his mouth to continue his story only to be cut off by Sirius who had returned holding four bottles of Firewhiskey.

"Would there be a point if there were four bottles of Firewhiskey?"

"Whoa," Lily and Dorcas said in unison.

"Remus, Remus, Remus," chanted James, a large smile stretched across his face.

Pretty soon Dorcas, Lily and Sirius joined James followed by three other Gryffindors.

"Live a little, Remus!" Sirius egged.

"Mm, I live quite a bit, Padfoot. Maybe I should take it easy tonight. I have to visit my mum in a week," replied Remus pointedly.

Sirius scoffed and thrust a bottle into Remus' hands. Remus stared at it with wary eyes, though the corner of his lip hitched up in a smile. After all, what was the harm? His metabolism would burn it off before any real damage could be done if consumed properly. With a roll of his eyes, Remus removed the lid of the bottle and took a sniff. He coughed slightly, shaking his head.

"Oi! Everyone, Remus has consorted to chug four bottles of Firewhiskey in under a half hour!" Sirius announced.

"No, no, no, no, no. I never said that."

"Oh, Sirius don't pressure him," Lily scolded. "Back me up, Dorcas."

Dorcas bit back a smile as Remus looked at her with his brows raised. She glanced back at Lily and shrugged before turning her eyes to Sirius.

"I vote e' goes for it," Dorcas said.

"Ugh, Dorky, I knew I always liked you!" Sirius cried.

James urged Remus with a nod who sighed and gazed down at the bottle, circumspectly. With a groan of surrender, Remus put the bottle to his lips, tilting it upwards. After all, it was the end of his time at Hogwarts and never once had he let loose. It was crunch time for Remus to have a wild time before graduation and now seemed like the perfect opportunity.

The liquid poured down his throat and the stinging that would normally make other wizards gag, spit or even vomit seemed to evaporate instantly. He could perfectly hear the sounds of other Gryffindors urging him to continue.

"I don't think I've ever seen Lupin do anything against the rules…" he heard a girl say.

"There's no way that's Remus Lupin. He folds his socks," a boy muttered.

"This is history in the making," said another student absentmindedly.

Finally, Remus finished the bottle and removed it from his lips. Those spectating applauded and Remus felt Dorcas peck him on the cheek. He smiled smugly and set the empty bottle on the mantle.

"Bottle number two!" Sirius jeered shoving another bottle at Remus.

With a sigh of resolve, Remus unscrewed the top of the bottle and began to toss it back once more. This time more gasps and cheers ensued. Remus felt a tad light headed, but nothing too extreme. He could still make out the voices of awed students and feel Dorcas hugging his arm. Though Remus could feel his temperature rise, he didn't feel at all drunk. Maybe a bit tipsy, but not quite pissed yet.

After about two minutes Remus had finished his second bottle and without even being told grabbed the next one from Sirius. He found the fanfare and encouragement from those in the Common Room to be quite uplifting. He had never really cared much about their opinions of him and setting an influence like this for the first years was probably not the best idea, but for once Remus let himself be selfish and enjoy the moment. After all, James had always told him that 'it's not a party if you don't do something that scares you or puts you out of your element.' If that was true, Remus had never actually participated in a celebration.

Once he'd finished the third bottle, he'd tossed it to Sirius and noticed that the room got louder and louder as more people joined in cheering him on. He finally felt completely giddy and quite relaxed to be honest, though his inhibitions still lingered.

"We're finally on bottle four! Remus John Lupin is about to throw back bottle number four! Let's-"

"Oh, put a cork in it and hand over the bottle, Sirius!" Remus laughed snatching the bottle from him.

Halfway through, Remus had found that his inhibitions had left him and when he opened his eyes after finishing the final bottle, he had somehow made his way onto the coffee table Sirius had used for a stage earlier. The bottle left his lips and hung loosely at his side in his hand. Remus stared ahead blankly and the room hushed as they awaited him to puke or even faint. Instead he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and raised his fist in the air. His head was hung, but a crooked smile was on his face.

Sirius and James laughed loudly at how though Remus Lupin had completely allowed himself to lose his grasp of responsibility still remained slightly in touch with himself. Any other participant in such a task of drinking would have probably vomited or cheered. Remus stood silently on the table with his fist raised in pride. Then, a new side emerged.

"Bloody hell! What the fuck did I just do?" Remus laughed loudly.

The Common Room burst into applause yet again as Remus hopped down from the table. His arm snaked around Dorcas' waist and he pulled her to him planting a rough kiss on her lips and dipping her to the floor. Out of character for him seeing as he was not a strong supporter of public displays of affection.

Ten minutes later…

Remus sat on the couch, James and Sirius on his left and Dorcas and Lily on his right. Before him sat a handful of lower classmen.

"And then in our second year I brought Sirius a muggle drink that's in a compacted can. I told him….hahahaha….I told him that he had to shake it to mix the flavors!" Remus laughed.

While the Purebloods still looked quite confused, the Muggleborns and Halfbloods were aware of where the story was leading.

"Then he opens it, and because the carbon dioxide had been floating at the top of the can it became suspended in the liquid so the extra carbonation got larger…" Remus trailed off as some of the students began to look bored with the science and decided to shorten the story. "He opened it and it exploded in his face and Sirius was just covered in sticky syrup muggle drink rubbish!"

The students laughed quietly, while Sirius nodded fondly at the memory.

"Moony, tell them about Lucius Malfoy's shampoo," urged Lily.

Remus chuckled and folded his arms.

"So, I took Lucius' shampoo out of his toiletry bag and then I-then I-then I poured in some 'tempus-capillum.' Then he washes his hair and goes into the Great Hall where I cast 'incipere' on him letting all his hair fall out! He screamed like a-like a little girl!"

The first years giggled loudly and clapped for Remus who waved his hand flippantly.

"I mean, it-it-it grew back but that scream in the middle of the Great Hall was worth it. It was so worth it!"

"Served im', right, Remus for cutting off a piece of Hestia's air'," Dorcas added.

"I-I-I think the real point here is that I am so obviously brilliant and nobody ever really knows that I-I-I make outstanding pranks to! It's not just James and Sirius! I do stuff too! I'm-I'm funny. I'm really funny!" Remus insisted.

"Yes, you are, old friend," Sirius grinned, patting Remus on the back.

Remus nodded, his brows knitted together. Before long, the younger students dispersed as Remus began to snog Dorcas furiously. Then he became bored. He disappeared momentarily to use the loo while Dorcas and Lily discussed how funny he was drunk.

"He's been in the bathroom for a bit, Prongs. You think he's alright?" asked Sirius, his mouth in a flat line.

"The Firewhiskey is probably finally getting to him. He's probably puking."

"No. He'll vomit tomorrow. Besides, he wouldn't be puking for ten minutes."

"What's up, Witches?" a high pitched voice called.

Sirius and James turned around quickly to see Remus walking towards them with a lampshade balanced properly on the back of his head. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up and his arms extended in a welcoming gesture.

"Oh, shit," sniggered Sirius, putting his fist in his mouth.

James burst into a fit of laughter as Remus pulled them both into a hug.

"You both are…you both are just my best friends. The-the-the best friends I could ask for. I think I love you guys. Yeah, yeah, I do. I love you guys so much."

"We love you too, Moony," James grinned sipping some Goblin Brewed Ale from his cup.

"And-and-and-and you know what? I'm gonna marry Dorcas. Yeah, and I-I-I think I'm gonna tell her my secret…yeah, I'm gonna tell her…"

"Ooh, Remus is that a good idea, mate?"

"Course' it is, James! Geez, she loves me. Oi, Dorcas! Dorcas!" Remus called.

Dorcas peeked out from behind Lily, her brows raised.

"I love you, baby! I love you!"

"I love you too, Remus," Dorcas snickered.

Remus looked back at James and Sirius, his shoulders raised.

"See? She loves me. I'm gonna tell her…and if she gets mad I'll jus-jus-jus obliviate the bird."

Remus pushed past the both of them and approached Dorcas. Sirius tried to grab him but James held him back.

"No, mate. Let him do this. He knows what he's doing. You know Dorcas is going to be fine with it," James replied with a warm smile.

James and Sirius watched with concerned expressions as Remus grabbed Dorcas by the shoulder and whisked her into a corner of the Common Room. Lily pranced over to James and Sirius, her eyebrows raised in curiosity.

"Um, why did Remus just grab Dorcas and say 'I have a big surprise for you?' Is that sexual?" Lily whispered.

"No, dear. Remus is about to inform Dorcas of-ahem-his furry little problem…" James informed.

"Oh. Oh, well…hm…that should go over well."

"How can you both be so calm about this?" Sirius whispered frantically.

"Because I know Dorcas and with two muggle parents she isn't one to turn her nose up at someone just because they're a werewolf. She nearly failed the 'Nocturnal Beasts' section of DADA because she wrote a paper insisting that werewolves should be considered more human than beast," Lily insisted.

"And I'm calm because Lily said that," shrugged James.

Sirius sighed and ran a hand through his hair frantically.

"Alright, fine. But if Dorky ends up being an arse' to him I'll obliviate her pretty little head."

"What happened then?" Remus squeaked.

James and Sirius exchanged dark glances then looked back to Remus.

"Well? What happened then? Did I tell her? Did she tell everyone?"

"We were hoping you could tell us, mate," James said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Remus blinked and shook his head. His mop of brown hair would normally wave in his eyes when he did this, however it was too busy standing straight up. Remus scrambled to his feet and began to pace.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no…" Remus muttered.

"This is never good," Sirius grumbled to James.

James merely nodded. He could only imagine what was going through Remus' mind right now. Was he on the verge of tears or the brink of sanity? Was he about to scream or faint? To be honest, James couldn't make heads or tails of Remus' emotions. He could only tell that Remus was not happy.

"How can I tell if I told her?"

"You'll just have to ask, I s'pose," mused James.

Remus' head whipped around, he stared at James with wide, frantic eyes. James gnawed on his lower lip and raised his palms. Sirius stood awkwardly just gazing at Remus, his teeth gritted.

"Ask, 'Hey, Doe, did I tell you I was a werewolf last night?' Yeah, that's a brilliant one, Prongs," Remus scoffed.

"Just trying to help. Either way you lose I guess," James replied.

Remus stroked his jaw and began nodding slowly. Sirius and James held their breath, knowing what was happening. Remus was constructing a plan. He always nodded and stroked his jaw when he was concocting a proposal. Perhaps their friend had found his solution after all. James began to breathe easier. An anxious Remus was not fun. Especially during the first week's cycle. There was definitely a storm before a calm. Sirius felt a small smile begin to break out on his lips. If this event had ruined Remus' relationship with Dorcas, he would never attend another party again. Well, not get pissed at one at least. Sirius could not miss out on that ever again.

Voices started to get louder as students began to exit their dorms. Remus spun around, tucking his shirt from last night into his pants. Everyone was dressed casually for the weekend. Some snickered as they passed Remus who stood dumbstruck. Some gave him pats of approval on the shoulder. A few of them applauded and a few offered a thumbs up.

"Hey."

"Ah!" Remus cried, jumping.

Lily stood next to him, trying not to laugh at his reaction. Remus' shoulder slumped, slightly relieved.

"A bit on the jittery side, are we?" Lily grinned.

"Remus here can't remember if he told Doe about his furry little problem. Did she say anything to you?" inquired James.

Lily shook her head, though her brows were furrowed in concern an amused smile was on her face. Remus' eyes widened once more, his fists balled at his sides.

"Dammit, Lily. Sorry," Remus groaned.

Lily shrugged, James pulling her to him gently.

"Was that the plan you were formulating, Moony?" Sirius asked somberly.

"That was Plan A."

"And Plan B?" questioned Sirius.

"Asking her…"

Lily, James and Sirius stared at him trying to appear nonchalant.

"Huh. Okay, well…now's the moment," James said quietly.

"Hi, Remus."

Remus spun around to see Dorcas standing just behind him. She smiled up at him.

"I see you removed the lampshade from your head."

"Yes…it didn't flatter me…" Remus said with a nervous smile.

Lily pushed Sirius and James away, leaving Dorcas and Remus alone.

"I wanted to get you into bed, you know. You noiselessly insisted that you lay on the carpet," Dorcas smirked.

Remus laughed awkwardly and ruffled his hair so it didn't stand up completely. He placed a hand on her shoulder and steered her towards a vacant area of the common room. She followed him absentmindedly, her brows raised.

"So, what did I talk to you about last night?" asked Remus timidly.

"You…you don't remember?" Dorcas laughed.

Remus shook his head, an embarrassed smile on his face. Dorcas folded her arms, gazing up at the ceiling introspectively.

"Well, you told me that you dreamed about me. We were married with an ouse' in the countryside and a daughter. Then you said there should be no secrets between us-"

"And I told you a secret?" Remus asked, his hands covering his mouth just slightly.

"Yes."

"What'd…what'd I tell you?"

Dorcas smiled warmly and touched his cheek, her thumb running along the outline of one of his scars. A chill went down his spine briefly, but he managed to fight off an expression that would give it away.

"You said you couldn't do it. Then I asked if there was anything I could do to make it easier for you to tell me. You said that we should make it a game. I suggested we play a two person game of 'truth or dare.' Then you kept choosing 'dare' instead of truth. That lead to you dancing with a first year, opping' on one foot for a solid forty seconds, doing an impression of Peter-which was quite good, to be honest-and finally I got frustrated and dared you to tell me the truth."

"And I did?"

"Course ya did! I dared you, remember?" she winked.

Remus let out a short, breathy laugh then remembered his anxiety.

"Okay, what did you ask me to tell the truth about?" he probed hastily.

"I told you to tell me what the secret you intended telling me abou' was."

"And…and…and pray tell, what secret did I reveal?"

Dorcas smiled once more, placing her hands on her hips. She leaned towards Remus so that her lips touched his ear.

"You told me that you had a serious addiction to chocolate and that if I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you I should be prepared at all times for you to go into cardiac arrest," she whispered exaggeratedly.

"Ah…" Remus sighed.

He felt a weight lift from his chest. He hadn't told Dorcas. Eventually, he would probably tell her but he didn't want it to be drunk last night. Remus pulled Dorcas into his arms and kissed her on the top of her head. She laughed into his chest before pushing away.

"You're a strange one, you are."

"Oh, you have no idea," chuckled Remus.

Tucking her chin, Dorcas blushed.

"I'm going to breakfast with Marlene. I'll see you later? The courtyard?"

Remus nodded in confirmation, grinning from ear to ear. He watched as Dorcas romped away and finally made eye contact with an anxious looking Sirius, James and Lily. Remus gave them a thumbs up and put his free hand against his heart, exhaling melodramatically. The three laughed and turned to go to breakfast. Remus fell into a chair.

"Oi, Moony! You coming or what, mate?" Sirius called.

"Yeah, I just need to calm down first," laughed Remus.

Sirius grinned and left with a nod.

Once they had reached the vacant corner of the Common Room Remus dropped to his knees. Dorcas looked down at him, her eyes wide and the corner of her lip hitching up in amusement. He took her hand and gave it a mild tug downwards.

"Sit," he whispered.

Dorcas got on her knees and raised a brow at him.

"Dorcas, I had a dream about a few nights ago. You-you wanna hear what it was?" he slurred.

Dorcas shrugged signaling for him to continue. He inhaled deeply and raised his hands as though he were about to explain something to a child.

"Okay, here was what happened. We were married and in-in-in love and we had a house in the countryside with a-a-a-a swing and I pushed our daughter on it and we-we-we lived happily ever after. Isn't that nice?" Remus said with an eager smile.

"I s'pose…" she replied.

"Do you wanna marry me, Doe?"

"Erm…are you about to propose? I really would prefer you do that when you aren't pissed," Dorcas requested with furrowed eyebrows.

Remus waved her off shutting his eyes tight and shaking his head. He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her to him so their heads touched. Dorcas fought off a loud laugh that threatened to escape her lips. She had to maintain her composure for the sake of Remus' dignity.

"No, no, no. Jus' be a good lass and answer the question. Would you like to marry me one day? You won't break my heart if you say no."

"I guess so. I mean, if things continue like they are now and we stay in love," Dorcas responded.

Remus nodded vigorously once more. He locked her eyes with is. Had he not been drunk, this conversation would have a lot more trembling hands and much more anxiety. However, through the power of Firewhiskey Remus had found some courage. Definitely not a habit he wanted to keep up, but as of now he was sort of grateful for that liquid courage.

"And when two people get married they should know everything about each other, right?"

"Riiiight…"

"Alright then. Prepare yourself, Doe, because I've got a whopper of a secret for you," he laughed.

Dorcas grinned and took his face in her hands. He could never resist her when she touched his face. Something about Dorcas' soft hands caressing his cheeks made him weak.

"Let's hear it."

Remus opened his mouth to speak and found the courage he had obtained fleeing. He gnawed on his lower lip and leaned back on his elbows, huffing some of his hair from his eyes. Dorcas frowned down at him and folded her arms, still sitting on her knees.

"What's wrong? I wanna ear' this epic secret! It's not reasonable to tantalize me with a secret then whisk it away, you sod!"

Remus laughed and rolled his eyes.

"Dorcas Meadowes, you have a knack for ruining very eloquent sentences with crude insults. Did ya know that?"

"Yup," Dorcas said with a prompt nod. "Now, c'mon. Let's hear that secret."

"Urgh, I don't want to now," moaned Remus.

"Hmmm," mused Dorcas. "Perhaps we could make it into a game. Would that make it easier? A game of Truth or Dare?"

"Mmm, I don't want anyone to know this secret but you, Doe," grunted Remus, sitting up.

"How about a game of Truth or Dare just between the two of us?"

Remus tossed his head from side to side meditatively before finally surrendering to Dorcas.

"Alright. Let's begin. You first," Remus pressed.

"Gotcha. Truth or Dare, Remus?"

"Dare," he replied immediately.

Dorcas smiled slightly and snorted back a laugh.

"Why not truth? I thought you were going to use this as a stepping stool to confessing your 'secret' to me."

"I'm warming up, woman. Dare!" he urged.

Dorcas' eyes scanned the room till they landed on a first year girl, sitting all alone on the couch. Her hands were folded in her lap and she seemed to be staring straight ahead.

"I dare you to go ask that first year girl for a dance," Dorcas smiled.

Remus stood unsteadily to his feet and pointed to Dorcas, winking.

"Done."

Dorcas watched as Remus approached the timid, young girl and knelt before her. She stared at him with wide, innocent eyes. He grinned and spoke to her, holding out his palm. Dorcas smiled as the first year blushed and accepted Remus' extended hand. He danced with her to a rather fast-paced rock song spinning her and doing the impressive swing moves he knew so well. Whenever people got a glimpse of Remus dancing they knew that great things were to be expected. Flips and spins and the tossing of a girl up in the air. It was the only thing other than his intelligence that Remus loved to show off.

At the end of the song, a few Gryffindors applauded. Remus staggered away, patting the girl's head and walking back to Dorcas. He sat before her.

"Alright, Meadowes. Truth or dare?"

"Truth," she shrugged.

Remus lowered his head and sighed, refusing to meet her eyes.

"Do you really love me? Like, would you love me no matter what?"

"Erm…shor' of killing someone, I can't say my feelings for you would change."

Remus gave her a goofy grin and nodded.

"Your turn."

"Alright, truth or dare, Remus?" Dorcas asked wickedly.

"Dare."

"Are you kidding me?" Dorcas said flatly.

"I'm sorry I just need to warm up again."

"Fine…um…hop on one foot for forty seconds," she ordered exhaustedly.

Remus successfully hopped on one foot, occasionally wobbling but recovering quickly. After forty seconds he plopped back down before Dorcas with a loud sigh. He pointed a finger at her again, a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Truth or dare, Meadowes?"

"Truth."

"Ugh, fine… Okay, are you afraid of the Shrieking Shack?"

"Yes. Terrified. That place is absolutely mad. I would never go in there ever. Now, truth or dare," she said quickly.

"Dare."

"Oh, Merlin, Remus. You can't be serious."

"I'm not. He is," Remus sniggered gesturing grandly to Sirius who stood on the opposite side of the room.

Dorcas' eyes narrowed, then rolled upwards. She scoffed at him and crossed her legs.

"Alright, on the topic of you gentlemen, do an impression of Peter."

"Pfft, easy," Remus sniffed.

Remus folded his arms tightly and slumped his shoulders forward, lowering his head. A small smile came on his lips.

"Sirius, you're so funny. So are you, James. Remus, you are so smart. Can I come to lunch too? Why are you all so brilliant? Oh, pudding!" Remus said, clapping his hands excitedly.

Dorcas laughed loudly. His impression was spot on. Peter often lurked in the shadows though always on the heels of James, Sirius and Remus. He was constantly complimenting the three boys. Constantly seeking their approval and adoration. He only received it from Remus and James though. Sirius couldn't bring himself to indulge Peter's groveling. Not without being rude and making fun of him at least.

"Truth or dare, Dorcas…"

"Dare, then"

"Kiss me. Right here," Remus grinned.

Dorcas returned his expression and leaned forward on her hands, giving Remus a slow and tender kiss. She pulled away, a secret smile on her lips. Remus raised a brow suspiciously.

"Truth or dare, Remus Lupin?" she said folding her arms, an impish look on her face.

"Dare."

"Alrigh', if you're gonna play like that. I dare you to tell me the secret we first started playin' this daft game to let me find out," she said with a satisfied smirk.

"Touché," Remus murmured.

"Thank you."

"Alright, you asked for it," Remus exhaled.

He scooted forward with his hands and inclined his neck so that he was inches from her face. She watched with cautious eyes as Remus lowered his head, eyes looking at his hands.

"This is not going to be easy."

"Sure it is," Dorcas replied lightly.

Sighing once more Remus took Dorcas' hands in his.

"Here it goes…Dorcas," he began.

Remus leaned in so that his lips brushed her ear.

"I'm actually a werewolf."

Slowly he returned to his original position with his head hanging and eyes not meeting her. Dorcas' gaze turned speculative and she cocked her head to the side.

"That's a-erm…that's an odd joke."

"Not a joke. It's the truth," Remus muttered.

Dorcas swallowed, watching as Remus squirmed.

"Are you…are you really?" she whispered.

He nodded solemnly and looked up at her with a sheepish smile.

"Uh-huh. Erm…oops," he shrugged. "I guess the cat is out of the bag…or the wolf rather."

Dorcas frowned as Remus laughed softly, a sad look in his eyes. She inhaled through her nose, nodding slowly.

"Blimey…ow' long have you…ow' long have you been this way?"

Remus began to count on his hand. Dorcas' eyes widened as he raised more and more fingers, her jaw starting to drop. She could feel her heart sink for the boy she loved.

"Blergh…I can't count right now. Since I was five…" he replied.

Dorcas blinked back a few tears, knowing that they wouldn't help the situation.

"Five," she breathed.

"Yes. Five."

"That's awful. To have endured something so terrible for so long," Dorcas said quietly.

"S'not so bad," Remus replied. "The bad part is when people find out."

"What happens when people find out?"

A distant look came into Remus' eyes, he stared off past Dorcas. Obviously uneasy. She gently touched the back of his scar covered hand that suddenly made so much sense.

"Well, when I was five and I had my first transformation I escaped the basement of our house somehow and ended up in the shepherd's yard a mile away. Slaughtered four of his sheep," Remus said with a grim smile. "I had to move then. Before the villagers came after me with torches and pitchforks. When I was ten I broke out of our new home and was seen in the woods by hunters, killing a deer. We moved again.

"Once when I was seven I told some muggle children at school…my dad had to obliviate them and we moved once more. This house had a large cellar that my dad was able to install chains in."

"You were chained up?" Dorcas gasped, squeezing his hand.

"Well, I had to be, didn't I? I couldn't just run rampant through the forest," he replied casually.

Dorcas bit her lower lip, stopping it from trembling. Remus, not noticing the turmoil in his girlfriend's eyes, continued.

"And then Dumbledore came. Told my dad he planted a tree and beneath it was a passageway to the Shrieking Shack where I would stay on full moons. But it didn't help much…as you can tell."

Remus gestured to the three diagonal scars that went across his face and the two that ran from the back of his neck all the way across his chest. Dorcas swallowed, both her hands now holding Remus'. She sniffed and did her best to make sure that no tears escaped her eyes. Remus let out a large exhale as though he were finishing a menial tale.

"So James and Peter and Sirius worked for three years to become animagi. They run around with me on full moons to prevent me from harming myself."

Remus looked over at James and Sirius, caustically.

"I owe them everything. Them and Dumbledore…and Lily too. She hasn't told a soul."

"The Professors know?" inquired Dorcas.

"Oh, yes. Every one of them. Not all of them are terribly pleased that I am here. Some are quite wary. Professor Yelts was not particularly fond of me. I was glad that he quit this year and Binns took over. Oddly enough, Slughorn loves me. Says he thinks I'll be the first…werewolf to get Order of Merlin First Class," Remus chuckled. "He says 'you're exceptionally bright despite your affliction, my boy.'"

Dorcas smiled fondly at his impeccable impersonation of Slughorn, then felt her face fall once more.

"So…Dorcas…"

"Yeah, Remus?" she replied softly, running her fingers through her hair.

"Truth or dare?"

Dorcas laughed and shrugged her shoulders.

"Truth."

Finally, he met her gaze. His tawny eyes burned into Dorcas as he took her hands, his thumb stroking circles on the back of her hand.

"Do you think I'm a monster?" he asked.

Dorcas was surprised at how well he asked the question. She expected him to look away or even leave after asking, but instead he maintained steady eye contact. It was almost as if he were sobering up. Remus waited for her answer with bated breath. Finally she replied.

"No. No, I don't."

"That's good," he said in a far off voice, though his eyes were still locked with her. "Truth or dare?"

Dorcas smiled ever so slightly.

"You have to say: truth," whispered Remus with a wink.

"Truth," Dorcas grinned.

"Are you still in love with me?"

This time he seemed afraid. It was as if he expected her to slap him across the face and dash off. Instead she brought her hands to his face and pulled it to hers, kissing him firmly. When they separated she made sure that their eyes met.

"Yes. Madly in love with you, Remus," she breathed.

She watched as Remus' eyes swelled with tears. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his lap and embracing her.

"Thank you…thank you…" Remus said into her hair.

"Don't."

Something warm and wet fell onto Dorcas' forehead. Remus was crying. Quickly she pulled away and wiped the tears off his face.

"Hey, don't let anyone see you cry. They'll get suspicious, you sod," she hissed jokingly.

Remus smiled sheepishly.

"You know I'm a werewolf, right?" he whispered.

"I know."

"And you're still in love with me?"

"I am."

"Even though I'm a werewolf…"

"You really ought to keep your voice down, Remus."

Remus gave her his lopsided grin, that made her heart melt. Slowly, she crawled into his lap. His arms wrapped around her as they watched the fire burn. Eventually, people began to trickle out of the Common Room and go to their dorms. Remus began to drift off.

"Coming to bed, Doe?" Lily whispered.

"Yeah. Hey, Remus…" Dorcas trailed off as she noticed Remus was leaning against the wall, sound asleep.

With a small smile Dorcas crept out of his lap and stood.

"He's going to feel that in the morning," Lily giggled.

"Only a tiny bit."

Lily looked at Dorcas with probing eyes trying to gauge whether or not Remus had told her.

"What'd…what'd you two discuss?" Lily questioned.

"Frivolities and politics. C'mon. I'm tired and ready for bed, I am."

Lily smiled and wrapped her arm around Dorcas' shoulders. Both of them heading to bed. James and Sirius discreetly put the lampshade back on Remus' head and snickered as they ran up to their dorms, quite pleased with how secretively they had been able to do so. Dorcas however, held the biggest secret of all.

If you guys love Remus Lupin as much as I do and/or this fanfiction you should read my other story Rise of the Phoenix. It's about Remus Lupin's journey through the first wizarding war. It is gory, funny, suspenseful, romantic and chocked full of your favorite werewolf. Then there's my first Remus Lupin fanfic called The Young Life of Werewolf Remus Lupin. It's my most popular story and if you google 'young remus lupin fanfiction' it's the very first result! You'll love them! Also, Luna and Lupin and Detention is another very popular story of mine. So yeah, enjoy!

Laurajade.o- I love McGonagall and Lupin. It was so much to fun come up with Remus' pranks too! I'm glad you liked my interpretation of her! She's by far my favorite teacher. Thank you so much!

Hillstar- I feel like too often Remus is written into these really sad, self-loathing stories when in reality, he was just as much as a Marauder as the rest of them. He was simply more civil! Anyway, so glad you can appreciate that! You're the bees' knees!

Thechosenbibliophile- I'm glad you liked Josephine. She was kind of a last minute thing but I feel like I could have written that story for hours. I think you'll be pleased to hear that there will be more oneshots involving Remus Lupin's time in The Colony and they will only get worse (or better in your opinion-lol). I love writing the gory bits and I'm glad it didn't make you uncomfortable. I was worried it would do that to people. You rock!