It was not until her second day back at Hogwarts that Rose was able to ask Remus if he had a 'secret'. She had pondered whether to ask him by letter before returning to school, but thought this option unwise. She suspected his initial reaction to the questioning would be more illuminating than anything he might have to day.

"Rose!" whispered Lily urgently.

Rose looked up sharply from her dinner, and saw that Lily was looking towards the doors of the Great Hall. Remus was leaving dinner early.

"This is your chance to talk to him in private!" said Lily. "About what your mum said."

"What are you waiting for?" said Mary quickly. "Get of your butt and corner him before he runs off."

Rose almost jumped out of her seat and, leaving behind her half eaten dinner, tried to act casual as she followed him out of the Great Hall.

"Remus!" she called out.

Remus jumped and slowly turned around, looking at her apprehensively, as though he didn't know what to expect. Up close, he looked very tired and she wondered if he was unwell again.

"How was your break?" she asked pleasantly.

"Okay, I guess. You?" he replied. He watched her cautiously, as though she might change her tone at any moment.

"Could've been better. My parents are really paranoid about that gang… you know, the Death Eaters. They wouldn't let me leave the house alone, and since they both work, I was basically stuck at home alone most of the time."

"I read about them in the paper a few times. It's horrible, isn't it? Except I'm not sure what it has to do with you. They only target muggles, don't they?"

"That's what I hold them," Rose replied, rolling her eyes. "But dad works at the Ministry so he knows a bit more than what the Daily Prophet is reporting. He thinks it's a lot more serious than people realise."

"Right," Remus said. He shuffled awkwardly from foot to foot.

"It's okay, Remus," said Rose gently.

"Sorry? What's okay?" he asked quickly.

"It's okay - I understand now. You can't go out with me because of your secret."

Remus looked horrified. He opened his mouth as though to say something, then quickly shut it again.

Rose laughed.

"So you do have a secret! I can't believe this - mum was right!"

Remus looked confused, but an expression of realisation slowly spread across his face. He looked unusually pale.

"Remus, are you okay? You look ill. Maybe you should go to the hospital wing?"

"What?" he asked, looking startled. "Oh. No - I'm not sick. I - I just didn't get much sleep last night."

"Are you sure?" asked Rose, looking at him in concern. "Because you kind of look like you did the last time you were -"

"Well, well, well. Isn't this a touching reunion?"

Rose and Remus both jumped, startled by the interruption. It was Jacinta Fawley and her two friends.

"So the rumours are true. Tell me, what was happening in that vacant little head of yours when you decided to ditch the delectable Henry Brown, and left the party with this pathetic excuse for a wizard?"

"Remus is my friend," Rose replied coldly.

"Oh, is that what they call it these days?" sneered Jacinta. "Were you and your friend off to the nearest broom closet? Your usual room, I'm sure."

Rose, furious, raised her wand, but Remus beat her to it.

"Expelliarmus!" he shouted.

To her astonishment, Rose felt her wand plucked from her hand and watched in disbelief as Remus caught it. Rose felt her cheeks burn as Jacinta and her friends laughter echoed through the Entrance Hall.

"Looks like someone else might get to use the broom closet tonight, for a change," Jacinta chortled before she lead her friends away towards the dungeons.

Rose glared at Remus, unable to comprehend that he had just disarmed her.

"What on earth were you thinking?" Rose asked as she snatched her wand from his arm. "You just humiliated me in front of Jacinta. She'll never let me live that down!"

"I'm a prefect - I can't just let you hex people, Rose," he muttered uneasily. Rose thought he seemed surprised at her outburst, but that only annoyed her more. "Besides, you'd have gotten detention if McGonagall finds out."

"So it's okay for you to punch Henry, but I can't fight Jacinta?"

"Jacinta is really good at dueling. You could have been hurt," he replied seriously.

"I'm good at duelling too, Remus. I've told you that before! I can handle Jacinta," she scolded.

Remus did not reply, but Rose saw that he looked doubtful.

"You don't think I can duel, do you?" she said slowly, as the realisation dawned on her. "I can't believe this! You think I'm just another pretty face, just like the rest of Hogwarts."

"Rose, no, of course not - I just mean that Jacinta is really skilled with the wand."

"So am I, Remus!"

"Well, I haven't seen any evidence of that," he replied, sounding frustrated.

Rose froze. She did not know whether to shout or cry. Remus - of all people - was doubting her? He seemed to realise that he said the wrong thing, and his expression softened.

"Rose - I didn't mean -"

"Disarm me," she said.

"What?" asked Remus, as though he was not sure he heard her correctly.

"Disarm me, Remus!" Rose demanded more loudly this time. "You wanted evidence, right? Well, this is it."

"Rose, you're being silly. Look, let's just -"

"I'm not leaving until you disarm me," she said stubbornly, crossing her arms across her chest.

Remus seemed reluctant but realised that Rose was serious. He sighed loudly before raising his wand.

"Expelliarmus!"

Rose quickly shot out her wand arm and blocks him non-verbally.

"Expelliarmus!" she cried, before victoriously snatching his wand from the air.

"There's your evidence," she said bitterly. She dropped the wand at his feet, and Remus, quickly recovering from his astonishment, called out to her. But it was too late. Too distressed to stay, Rose threw open the castle doors and ran out onto the snow-covered grounds. She allowed her feet to lead her to a tree by the lake, where she knew she would be well hidden. Wrapping her cloak tightly around her against the biting cold, she wondered resentfully whether Remus would report her for being on the grounds at sunset.

No one came. She was alone, once again, with nothing but her thoughts for company. How could Remus have disrespected her in such a way? Did he really think she was so incapable of defending herself, even though she told him that she was adept at dueling? Had he assumed that she was exaggerating, or - worse - suspected that she over estimated her skill? Disarming him had been too easy - and strangely satisfying - but it did not make up for the way he had embarrassed her in front of someone who was looking for any chance to insult her.

A flutter of wings startled Rose out of her thoughts. An owl landed in front of her. She recognised it immediately - it belonged to James. But why would he be writing to her? She untied a carefully folded piece of parchment from the owl's leg. It hooted appreciatively and took off - no doubt eager to return to the warm castle. She hastily opened the piece of parchment. Her eyes widened in surprise. The letter was not from James. It was from Remus.

'Dear Rose.

I'm sorry - I underestimated you, and I was wrong to do so. You have clearly been hiding some wicked dueling skills. Please come back into the castle - I would hate for you to get sick because of my stupidity.

Sincerely, Remus.'

Rose read the note a second, and then a third time. Her smiled broadened with each re-read. She carefully folded the parchment along its original crease lines and slipped it into her pocket.

CRUNCH.

Footsteps. She looked up, certain she had been caught, but the distant silhouettes did not seem to notice her. Her heart racing, Rose carefully positioned herself against the tree before chancing another glance. Two people were walking in the direction of Hagrid's cabin - one was tall and lean, the other was short and stout. Just was she was thinking that it was an odd time to visit Hagrid, the taller person turned his face. Rose barely managed to stifle her gasp. It was Remus. As they drew closer, she also recognized Madam Pomfrey. At length they came to a stop near a tree - Rose recognised it as the violent Whomping Willow. They were close enough that Rose could only just hear their conversation.

"Would you like me to go with you?" Madam Pomfrey asked Remus kindly.

"No, I should be fine," Remus replied. He looked agitated and his eyes kept darting across the grounds. "And there isn't enough time. I should just go," he said, looking up at the night sky as though searching for something.

Rose listened in bewilderment. Where was Remus going?

"If you're sure, dear, then I'll be back in the morning to collect you, as always," she said. And then - Rose's jaw dropped - she hugged him. "You take care, now."

She lifted her wand and cast an incantation at the base of the tree. The Whomping Willow froze. Remus took a tentative step forward and disappeared into the tree trunk. Rose blinked her eyes rapidly, certain they must be playing tricks on her. A moment later, Madam Pomfrey waved her wand and the tree sprung back to life.

Rose remained hidden until she saw Madam Pomfrey step back into the castle, before she sprung to her feet and ran towards the Whomping Willow. She could not get close, of course, but she even at that distance there was no sign of the hole Remus had disappeared through. She stared, wide-eyed, not knowing what to do. It was the most bizarre thing she had even seen. Why would Remus need to disappear into a tree? And why would Madam Pomfrey need to collect him in the morning?

Her curiosity getting the best of her, Rose decided that James, Sirius and Peter would surely know what was happening. She carefully crept back into the castle, and almost ran up all the way up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room. However, when she was only a corridor away, as she ran around a corner, she unexpected collided into something - something invisible - and went hurtling to the ground, landing on whatever it was that she had ran into.

Rose screamed, and to her surprise, she heard muffled noises coming from beneath her. She jumped to her feet, her heart racing, and was shocked to see to pairs of bodiless legs kicking on the ground.

"Ouch! Get off me!" a voice snapped.

"You get off me!" another voice replied.

"James?" Rose said incredulously. "Sirius?"

The two legs froze and slowly, and suddenly, a watery looking cloak appeared before her and James and Sirius appeared from within it. They climbed tentatively to their feet. For some reason, a rat was sitting on James's shoulder. For the second time that evening, Rose was speechless.

"Is that an invisibility cloak?" she asked, wide-eyed.

"Yes," James replied, "It's a family heirloom. Er, it's kind of against the school rules so I would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about it. Not even Evans."

"Of course. Why do you have a rat on your shoulder?" she asked, eyeing the creature curiously.

"Never mind that," Sirius said quickly. "What are you doing out here, anyway?"

"Oh, I - I was looking for - looking for -," Rose paused, deciding quickly on a believable lie. "Remus. I was looking for Remus."

"Remus?" Sirius asked, frowning suspiciously. "Why?"

"I, er, wanted to talk to him," she said awkwardly, avoiding eye contact with the two boys. She hoped that Remus did not tell them about the fight. "Have you seen him?"

"He sick -" James started, but at the same time, Sirius said, "He's visiting his mum -"

The two boys looked at each other and then Sirius said lamely, "He's sick and so is his mum, so he went to visit her."

Rose raised an eyebrow. She knew that they knew that she did not believe them.

"Oh. And does Remus' mum happen to live in a tree?" she asked sarcastically.

James and Sirius stared at her, wide-eyed. Rose though she must be imagining it, but even the rat seemed to be staring at her intently.

"What are you talking about?" asked James.

Rose sighed.

"Look, I'm pretty sure you know what I'm talking about. I just saw Remus disappear into the trunk of the Whomping Willow, and Madam Pomfrey told him that she will back to collect him in the morning."

Rose had never seen James and Sirius look so pale. For once, they seemed lost for words.

"Oh, um, well about that - " started Sirius.

"You see, the thing is - er - " stuttered James.

"Well?" said Rose.

Sirius looked at James.

"I've got nothing," said Sirius dejectedly.

James looked at Rose shrewdly.

"Rose, please, you can't tell anyone what you just saw," he said.

"But why did - "

"We don't know," he replied firmly. "Don't look at me like that - we don't know anything. We just know that he has to disappear sometimes, but we don't know why."

"You don't?" Rose said, frowning.

James and Sirius both shook their heads. Rose was pretty sure that they were lying, but she knew better than to press the point. Instead, she bid them goodnight and retreated to the Gryffindor common room, while they slipped back underneath the cloak. She was tempted to follow them, but knew it would be impossible. Instead, she made her excused to Lily and went up to her dormitory, where she sat at the windowsill and tried to find the Whomping Willow, but the grounds were now cloaked in darkness. Fortunately, a short while later, a cloud shifted, and the grounds were illuminated in the moonlight. She looked up at the night sky and was grateful for the light provided by the full moon. She scanned the grounds and shortly spotted the Whomping Willow. For a second, it had looked like the tree was frozen again, but she thought it must have been a trick of the light because a moment later it was moving.

Remus was keeping a secret from her - she was sure of it - and James and Sirius definitely knew what it was. She could not be certain, but it only made sense that the evening's events must be linked to the reason why Remus refused to admit her feelings for her. She thought back to the way Remus had looked up and the sky before he disappeared into the tree and she looked up again. Had he been searching for something? However, there nothing out of the ordinary in the night sky. Other than the full moon, there was a scattering of clouds and some stars.

She remembered how tired Remus had been that morning. She supposed Madam Pomfrey must have noticed, since she had walked him outside, and wondered if it was somehow related to the current predicament. Surely if Madam Pomfrey was the one to collect him, that meant he would sick? But if he was sick, surely he would be in the hospital wing, not inside a tree. Above her, a cloud shifted in front of the moon and the grounds fell into darkness once more. Rose looked up the night sky and was suddenly reminded of that day when she worked with Remus on an assignment on werewolves. He has not wanted to work with her on that assignment, she remembered, and was acting rather awkwardly... almost as if he was... hiding something.

Rose gasped, sitting up straight. It was like the pieces of jigsaw puzzle were suddenly falling into place. A full moon. Remus feeling tired. Remus, alone, in a secret tunnel under a dangerous tree. Remus, collected by Madam Pomfrey. In the morning. James, Sirius, swearing her to secrecy.

Rose was shaking. It couldn't be, it just couldn't... but even as she refused to believe it, it all made sense. It fit - the pieces of the puzzle had finally fallen into place.

Remus Lupin is a werewolf.