Author's Note (IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!): This story has mentions of near rape. If this may bother you, please DO NOT read this story. I don't want to make anyone upset. There also may be some swearing on occasion. If this will bother you, please avoid reading the story. Thank you. Now, if there's anyone left willing to read this, please leave a review and let me know what you think. The names for the characters you do not recognize come from hasani. net. phtemp celestial .html Just take the spaces out. The names are on there, along with their meanings.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own any characters that you recognize. I do not own any settings you recognize, I do not own any games you recognize. If you recognize it, it belongs to J.K. Rowling, last that I knew. What I do know, is that it IS NOT MINE! I also do NOT own the names or their meanings. I do NOT own the website they came from either.

Basically, if you recognize it, it does NOT belong to me!

Ch. 13

They eventually found Sirius by the lake, and Remus had yet to figure out what Anila was going to do. Peter saw them first, and hurried over to greet them.

"Anila, so good to see you..."

He trailed off as Anila stormed past him, Remus throwing him an apologetic look as he was dragged away. Sirius and James both leapt to their feet when they saw her, casting curious looks at Remus, who was both looking and feeling rather nervous.

"Windy, I'm so..."

"Shut it!"

Sirius's mouth snapped shut. Anila let go of Remus, which made him even more nervous. Anila glared at Sirius.

"You know better."

"What?"

"You KNOW better! You aren't anything like your mother! You know what, fine."

She brought her left hand up beside his face. He, and James, froze.

"If you are anywhere near as foul as your mother, say so. You won't get burned if it's true, remember? Though, if I were you, I would be absolutely certain that I was telling the truth."

Sirius opened and closed his mouth several times, unable to get the words out. Anila lowered her hand.

"I thought so."

She turned to walk away, only to stop when she felt arms around her knees.

"Please...I'm sorry..."

Anila carefully turned around, causing Sirius to release her. She knelt in front of him, locking his gaze with her own.

"You know better. Siri, please, don't think you're like her ever again."

Anila threw her arms around Sirius, clinging to him as his tears soaked into her hair. James carefully stepped around the pair, going to stand beside Remus. Peter soon shuffled over.

"Is she okay?"

Remus shook his head.

"She hasn't been sleeping much, and she practically never eats. Considering her disorder, I'm surprised she hasn't collapsed and earned another trip to the hospital wing."

James was still staring at Sirius and Anila.

"Will she be alright?"

Remus couldn't bring himself to smile.

"Considering Dumbledore's idea, I doubt it."

A little over a week later, things were back to normal. Anila had become close friends with Peter, and was more than willing to explain why his spells kept going awry. It was late on Saturday afternoon, and Anila was trying to help Peter with his homework. The other Marauders, along with Lily, Frank, and Alice, were watching in amusement as Peter messed up yet again.

"Peter, it's alright. I truly didn't like that shirt in that color anyways."

Anila, who had been wearing a pink shirt, was now wearing a green shirt. Sirius and James weren't bothering to hide their laughter, Lily was glaring at them, and Frank, Alice, and Remus were trying their best not to laugh. Peter flopped onto his bed.

"It's hopeless! I'll never figure this out!"

Anila sat beside him.

"Peter, you will! Just let me think for a minute."

Several long moments passed, during which Sirius and James were able to stop laughing. Anila finally stood, wand in hand.

"Remus, come here, please."

Remus stood, hoping that Peter wasn't going to be practicing on him. He rather liked the color his shirt was.

"Now, Peter. Watch carefully."

Anila turned to Remus and flicked her wand. Remus smiled when he looked down and saw that his shirt had turned into a jacket. Anila flicked her wand, reversing the spell. She looked over at Peter.

"Now, you try it on me."

Peter stood, raising his wand shakily. He flicked it, trying his best to imitate what Anila had done.

"For goodness's sake, Wormtail! That wasn't even close!"

Sirius and James were laughing, Sirius barely able to state the obvious. Anila's shirt had become shorter and lost its sleeves, leaving her in a tube top. Anila took a deep breath as everyone else in the room, excluding Peter, cracked up. Peter now looked ready to cry. Anila pulled him into a hug.

"I've figured out the problem. You were really close that time."

Peter pulled back slightly.

"You figured out what the problem is?"

Anila smiled.

"It's an easy mistake. It's also easy to fix. Are you ready to try again?"

Peter nodded.

"Alright, so, the problem wasn't entirely your fault this time."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It was partly my fault this time."

"How?"

"I was facing you when I tried teaching you the spell. You were following my movements, but you were following them backwards. Now, try again, this time flicking your wand in the other direction."

Anila stood in front of Peter, her arms resting at her sides. He raised his wand and flicked it, in the opposite direction of what he had before. He looked down at the floor immediately, preparing to be yelled at.

"Peter, look."

Peter didn't hear any anger in Anila's whisper, so he looked. The tube top was gone, a jacket in its place.

"I did it?"

Anila grinned. Peter couldn't help smiling back.

"I DID IT!"

He nearly tackled Anila.

"Thank you so much!"

Anila hugged him back.

"Of course. Now, try turning it back. Do you remember the spell?"

Peter nodded.

"Okay, let's try it. Same wand movement."

Peter flicked his wand, focusing on the silent incantation. Much to his surprise, the jacket turned back into a shirt. As Peter began to celebrate with Anila, Professor McGonagall came in.

"Miss Evans, Mr. Potter, Mr. Pettigrew, Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, and Miss Mandara, Professor Dumbledore would like to see you."

Remus, already paler than normal due to the full moon, became white as a ghost. The group said goodbye to Alice and Frank, then followed McGonagall from the room.

"Come in, come in."

Professor Dumbledore opened the door of his office. The group filed in nervously, Remus already starting to feel sore because of the full moon that was going to be that evening. Once they were all seated, Dumbledore smiled kindly at them.

"You know why you are here, I believe?"

They nodded.

"Splendid. Now, Miss Evans, I would like you to wait in the hospital wing with Madame Pomfrey. She knows the situation, and understands why you will be there."

Lily nodded, looking scared, but determined.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, and Mr. Pettigrew, I would like you to do whatever you normally do, but with more of a focus on containment, if you catch my meaning."

The Marauders couldn't help feeling like Dumbledore knew more about him than he let on, especially when they saw the twinkle in his eyes.

"Mr. Lupin, you will be in the Shrieking Shack, just as you usually are."

Remus nodded, focusing on not being sick.

"And, finally, Miss Mandara."

Anila met Dumbledore's gaze calmly.

"You will be by the lake. Try your best to remain calm, though it will be understandable if you become nervous."

She nodded, her face unreadable. Dumbledore looked around at the group gathered in his room.

"It is time for you to go to supper, so I will see you all in the morning. Good luck."

The group left for supper, all except for Anila feeling somewhat nervous about the night ahead of them.

Things were going as planned so far. Lily had said goodbye to the group and headed to the hospital wing after supper. Anila had left for the lake soon afterwards. The Marauders had gone to the hospital wing, Remus leaving with Madame Pomfrey once they had gotten there. Sirius, James, and Peter, had waited until darkness had truly fallen before creeping down to the Whomping Willow. Peter transformed, then Sirius and James. Peter darted past the branches and touched the knot, freezing the tree. All three went into the tunnel, following it all the way to the Shrieking Shack.

Remus was in more pain than usual. The past few full moons had been less painful, with his friends distracting him. Tonight, the wolf was restless. It greeted the stag, dog, and rat, that entered the room more harshly than usual, wanting to leave soon. It could smell something on them, the scent of a creature that would make both it, and its human form, happy. It sprang towards the tunnel, eager to find the creature it could smell traces of on its animal friends. The stag led the way out of the tunnel, followed closely by the wolf. The dog came next, with the rat riding on its back.

Anila had eventually fallen asleep by the lake, still recovering from her fight with Sirius and the many sleepless nights that had accompanied that time. She woke to a wolf's howl, and stood up slowly, trying to remain calm. She could see the silhouettes of a stag, a dog, and a wolf, approaching her. As they drew closer, Anila could make out a rat on the dog's back. The wolf stopped and sniffed the air, then approached slowly. The stag and dog kept close to the wolf, ready to rescue Anila if needed. The wolf was about a foot away from Anila when it stopped, tilting its head to one side. Anila smiled, recognizing the movement as one that Remus made when he was trying to figure something out. She cautiously held out her left hand, keeping a tight grip on her wand with her right. The wolf stepped forward, closely followed by the stag and the dog. Anila held completely still as the wolf reached her, allowing it to sniff her hand. It then howled, startling the stag, dog, rat, and girl. It nudged the girl's hand with its nose. Anila slowly raised her hand so she could pet the wolf, causing its tail to wag happily. She grinned, then slowly lowered herself to the ground. The wolf flopped down beside her, its head in her lap. The stag and dog eventually laid down beside them, and Anila returned to petting the wolf. She drifted off to sleep with the wolf curled around her, and the other creatures drifted off soon after.

Madam Pomfrey went down to the lake early the next morning, wanting to wake the group and get them back inside before the other students woke up. She was carrying a change of clothes for Remus, knowing that he likely would have forgotten to remove the ones from the previous night before transforming. She stopped in her tracks when she saw the odd group by the lake. Peter, James, and Sirius were in a half circle around a naked Remus, who had his arms wrapped around Anila. Madam Pomfrey carefully stepped over Sirius, then gently shook Remus's shoulder. He woke slowly, clearly still exhausted from the previous night. He gratefully accepted the clothes from Madam Pomfrey, her turning around as he dressed quickly. She then moved to wake Anila, but Remus stopped her.

"If you could wake the guys while I wake her? Please?"

She nodded, not sure why he wanted to wake Anila, but deciding to humor the poor teenager. She started to wake the boys while Remus knelt next to Anila.

"Anila. Anila, it's time to wake up."

Madam Pomfrey whirled around, as did the boys she had recently woken, when they heard a rather strange squawk. Instead of waking up as Remus had expected, Anila had grabbed his sleeve and rolled over, pulling him down beside her. She now had her arms wrapped tightly around him, and he couldn't get free without possibly hurting her. As the boys laughed at Remus's new problem, Madam Pomfrey stepped forward to wake Anila. Before she had the chance to, the group heard a familiar voice that made Remus blush in embarrassment.

"Good morning. How are all of you...?"

Professor Dumbledore trailed off when he saw the predicament. Remus had given up on escaping until Anila woke up, figuring that it would be better if he didn't scare her. Sirius, James, and Peter had started laughing harder upon seeing Dumbledore. The headmaster finally chuckled.

"It appears that I was correct."

"May I ask what you were right about, Professor?"

Dumbledore smiled at Remus.

"Mr. Lupin, there isn't a scratch on her."

Remus looked over at his friends, who confirmed it.

"Now, let's wake Miss Mandara before a new bit of gossip spreads through the school."

He stepped over to Anila, tapping her on the shoulder. She woke up, immediately releasing Remus upon seeing him. She sat up quickly, looking around at the group.

"What happened?"

Her eyes met Remus's, since he had finally been able to turn and face her.

"It went well."

Anila looked at Sirius, who smiled at her. James did the same, adding a wink that made Anila grin. Peter nodded with a smile when Anila finally looked over to him.

"Let us go to the hospital room now, as I am sure Mr. Lupin is exhausted. Miss Evans is probably awake and waiting."

Anila sprang to her feet, then held out her hands to Remus. She pulled him to his feet, then draped his arm over her shoulders so he could lean on her. He smiled down at her, glad that she hadn't been harmed. The group slowly made their way back into the castle, glad that nothing had gone wrong.

Professor Dumbledore was correct. Lily was pacing back and forth in the hospital wing, looking rather nervous. As soon as the group walked in, she ran towards them, nearly tackling a rather elated James. She quickly released him, hurrying over to Anila once she had helped Remus lay down on a bed.

"Thank goodness, you're alright!"

Anila happily returned her hug, then sat down on the foot of Remus's bed. Remus, who was now exhausted to the point of no longer caring, tugged on her arm. She scooted farther up the bed, where she was pulled down beside her 'Wolfy'. She shrugged at the rest of the group, then scooted back into Remus, whose arms wrapped around her, holding her tight as the two friends fell asleep.