The third-year Gryffindor class milled around at the top of the North Tower. They could see a trapdoor above them, but there was no visible way to get through it. Then, it opened, and a voice floated through. "Come up, my children, come up."

A silvery ladder fell through the opening, and one by one, the students climbed up. Remus sat with Lily, Sarah, and Alice at one table, and James, Sirius, Peter, and Ariana sat at the next table. Looking around, he saw a cabinet of teacups, a few large teapots, and lots of low tables surrounded by groups of comfortable-looking poufs, just like the two at which he and his friends were sitting. He couldn't see a teacher, though. Ah, well, it is rather smoky in here. She's probably somewhere in the shadows. He twisted around and came face to face with what appeared to be an extremely large fly. "Ah!"

"Oh, my dear child. Did I scare you? I'm so sorry." The oddest woman Remus had ever seen was standing in front of him. She had very large glasses, multiple shawls, and bushy, frizzy black hair. Her eyes, magnified by the glasses, made her look like an odd fly. She smiled at him, then made her way to the front of the room.

"I am Professor Trelawney," the woman said. "Divination is an intricate subject. We shall start with reading tea leaves." The girls at his table all raised eyebrows at each other. "Come take a cup from the cabinet over here, then come to me to receive your tea. Drink the tea, switch cups with a partner, and swirl the dregs three times clockwise. Then search for symbols and translate them with your textbook. And Mr. Longbottom?" Frank Longbottom started, then looked at her. "After you break your first cup, would you be so kind to choose a blue cup? I'm rather attached to the pink."

It was quite an odd class. Never before had Remus ever drunk tea as part of the lesson. When the tea was finally gone, he switched cups with Sarah. He swirled the cup as commanded, looked down—and blinked. He blinked again. "Sarah?" he said.

"Hmm?"

"There's a wolf in your cup."

She blinked at him. "There's a what in my cup?"

"A wolf."

"Let me see." He handed the cup to her. She looked down, blinked, and started laughing. "I should have known!" she giggled. "It had to be a wolf!"

Remus stared at her. "What are you talking about?" he queried.

"Oh, nothing," she said, still giggling.

Remus' eyes narrowed. "Why are you keeping secrets, Sarah? We never used to keep secrets. We always told each other everything."

The girl glanced at Lily and Alice. "Not here, Remus!" she hissed. "Please! We'll deal with later, in private, just not right now, please!"

"Fine," he said shortly. "Of course, there is one problem with that, as you well know."

Her eyes were sad. "I know. I promise you'll find out soon. Really."

He turned away to look at her cup again. Why is she keeping secrets from me? What is she talking about? And what did she mean when she said that thing about it having to be a wolf?

XxxxX

Sarah sighed. She was back in the room where she had been working on her Animagus project, and she couldn't help thinking about Remus' and her conversation in Divination. She hated keeping things from him, but she really wanted it to be a surprise. Well, better get to work. Tonight's the full moon. Maybe, just maybe, I can get it done today.

She looked at the book in her lap again to check the spell, then raised her wand, pointing it at her forehead, and said, "Animage Spiritu." A jolt went through her, and she blinked in surprise. "I guess it worked," she said to herself. Then she settled down on a pile of pillows to work on her first transformation.

An hour passed as she sat on the pillows, focusing on the wolf and the bit of soul that was now at the forefront of her mind. Another hour went by, and another, and Sarah knew that the moon would set soon. But she refused to let that fact break her concentration. Another hour went by, and then, she felt some sort of breakthrough. She felt her body elongate, and her nose lengthen. A tail sprouted, and her skin tingled as fur popped out. She opened her eyes. She was curled up like a dog on the pillows, and she bounded over to a mirror to see what she looked like as a wolf. She was gray on her back, tail, and top of her head, while underneath, she was white. She had large, intelligent-looking eyes, and she noticed a small scar, received when she had slipped while trying to climb the Lupins' oak tree when it was wet, on her right shoulder. She practiced switching forms for a while, then, in human form, hurried to the Whomping Willow. She knew that Remus would have transformed by now, so she slipped into her wolf form and dodged through the branches to the tunnel that led to the Shack.

It was very dark underground, but as a wolf, her vision in the dark was much better than as a human. She finally bounded out into the Shack, and she sniffed the air uncertainly. A yelp sounded from above her, and, after spotting a set of stairs, she raced upstairs. The first thing she noticed was the large, leggy, patchy gray-brown creature in front of her. It was very skinny, and its hind legs seemed much stronger than a normal wolf's. Half an hour after moonrise, there were already bleeding wounds on its sides, legs, and tail. Then the creature she knew as a friend any other time turned its head, and she caught sight of its eyes. They were a glowing gold, almost the normal color of Remus' eyes, but just a little different. It growled at her, and she almost shrank back. Then she realized that it might think that she was weak, a creature to be dominated. She stood tall and proud, inviting him to sniff her, see that she was a wolf.

The werewolf came forward, head stretched forward as he smelled her. He walked around her, watching. Then she heard a voice. Wolf. Like me, but not exactly. She realized that, since they were both wolves, despite the fact that he was a werewolf, they would speak the same language. She responded, Yes. I am a wolf like you, except all the time. Not just full moon. The other creature let his haunches fall to the floor.

You are new. Never been here before. Or in other place with big metal door. He paused. Play?

She howled in joy. She could help him, distract him from hurting himself. Yes! Play! She blinked, thinking. Hide and seek?

He tilted his head. What is that?

Go hide. I try to find you.

Okay. The other animal bounded down the stairs, and Sarah waited a minute before howling, I am coming to find you know! Then she bounded down the stairs after him.

They played for hours. At first, she was able to simply use her nose, but after both their scents spread all over the place, she used her other senses as well. They switched places after a while, so she was hiding and he was searching. Finally, two hours before the moon would set, they lay next to each other, Sarah's back against her friend's belly. Sleep? she asked him. Normally, she was awake all night on the full moon, but now she tired from racing around the Shack, playing with the werewolf.

He gave a growling laugh. Sleep. His snout nuzzled the top of her head. Life mate. He lay his head down, and his eyes closed. Soon he was fast asleep. Sarah was awake a little longer than he, though. She wondered what a life mate was, and why he had called her that. Eventually, though, the two slept quietly, so close together it was difficult to tell the length of each's fur.