Chapter Twenty-Five
Make the Oath
June 20th, 1972
"Please take care of yourself." Mia frowned as she stood in front of Remus, staring worriedly up into his soft green eyes. "And write to me if you need . . . anything."
The term ended with nothing more exciting than exams, Quidditch finals, and the end-of-year feast. No three-headed dog, or devil's snare, or giant chessboard, or flying keys, or dead troll, or Voldemort. Just a typical year of school. The biggest announcement by the end of the term was that the Slytherins had won the House Cup. It was not surprising, considering how many House points were taken away from Gryffindor thanks in part to the newly-minted Marauders and the Prewett twins.
"You worry too much. The past year with you . . ." Remus reached out and tucked a curl behind her ear. She beamed as she remembered that, at the beginning of the year, he had been too terrified to even shake her hand in introduction. It was amazing to see the changes that had occurred within the young werewolf. "Mia, I've honestly never felt better."
"Still," she said, fussing with the collar of his robes to keep her hands busy. "Don't think asking for help makes you weak or cowardly."
"Remus!"
He turned at the sound of his name being called out just in time to be approached by a man and woman that Mia assumed were his parents. Suddenly, his confident disposition faltered in the face of his family, and she caught the change immediately.
"Hi, Mum," he said quietly.
The woman wore Muggle attire. A light brown, modest dress that was obviously handmade. Her sandy hair matched Remus's perfectly. While she was still in her early thirties, Mrs Lupin had clearly suffered through the years, as lines of stress encircled her beautiful eyes that were as green as Remus's.
Mrs Lupin slowly approached her son, reaching out as though she wanted to hug him, but she stopped mid-motion and patted him on the shoulder.
Mia watched the interaction carefully, sad to see the distance at which Remus was kept by his own mother.
A nervous-looking man stood an extra foot behind Mrs Lupin, bags under his eyes and his hands in his pockets. A good ten years older than his wife, Mr Lupin looked like a man who could have once smiled as brightly as Mia knew Remus was able to, but she doubted that Mr Lupin still had the ability or the will to even try.
Though Remus took after his mother in appearance, Mia could see the shabby, lonely disposition of an older Professor Lupin in the visage of his father standing before her.
It was painful to witness.
Remus's parents stood nervously, both obvious in their need to get out of King's Cross as quickly as possible.
Mia could not stand the tension, so she smiled up at Remus's mother. "Hello."
Remus flushed, embarrassed. "Oh, sorry. Umm, this is my friend Mia Potter. Mia, these are my parents." He gestured to them both, looking like he wanted to take someone's hand. Instead, he ran a nervous hand through his hair.
"It's such a pleasure to meet you, Mr and Mrs Lupin." Mia extended her hand which was taken immediately. The fact made her want to narrow her eyes at the couple. They had so easily offered their hands in introduction to a strange girl, but neither had properly hugged their son after not seeing him since Christmas. No wonder Remus was so terrified when she first met him on the train.
Mrs Lupin smiled kindly to her. "My boy wrote home telling me about his wonderful new friends."
The words were tense and matched the look on Mr Lupin's face perfectly. It was clear by their posture that both of his parents wanted to leave, but the fact that Remus was not moving apparently forced them to make awkward conversation.
Mrs Lupin's voice lowered to a whisper as she said, "I . . . I can't tell you how much I appreciate you keeping his . . . illness . . . Your discretion is—"
"It's nothing, Mrs Lupin. Remus is my friend," Mia said brightly, reaching out and curling her arm around Remus. "I would do anything for him."
Both Mr and Mrs Lupin gaped at the sight. Mr Lupin looked like he was on the verge of a panic attack, while Mrs Lupin looked as though she would burst into tears at any moment.
Remus winced, clearly noticing the shift in his parents. "Mum . . . Please . . . please don't cry." He sighed and attempted to offer a comforting hand to his mother as he often did with Mia when she cried. He stopped, looking as though he thought better of it, especially when Mr Lupin gave him a pinched look from behind his wife's shoulder.
"Honestly," Mia assured Mrs Lupin with a smile, "Remus has probably done more for me this year than I've done for him. Can't tell you how many times he's saved me." She chuckled softly and reached up to brush Remus's hair from his face, purposely touching him as much as possible; she felt the need to prove to the Lupins that it was safe—that he was safe.
Mia could not understand any of it. From what Future Remus—as she had named him in order to separate them in her mind—had told her, his father once worked for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. She knew the circumstances surrounding Remus's initial infection had been due to his father's stance on werewolves, but she had assumed, after his son being one for eight years, he would have seen for himself that Remus was not dangerous outside of the full moon.
Mr Lupin remained distant, staring at her as she continued to lavish friendly affection on his son.
Mrs Lupin, on the other hand, appeared to break through the wall that separated her from her child, and she smiled, approaching Remus and pulling him into her arms for what was clearly the first time in many years.
Remus's eyes widened, but he refused to hug the woman back, especially with Mr Lupin staring at them from behind, shocked at the display. Eventually, it was too much to bear, and Remus conceded, hugging his mother back tightly.
Mia smiled sweetly, trying to keep herself from crying at the sight of Mrs Lupin joyfully weeping on Remus's shoulder while he patted her on the back.
Mr Lupin cleared his throat. "Love. We, umm . . . We should go."
Remus broke away from the hug first, looking at his mother with a sad smile before she turned to Mia. "Please know you are welcome to our home anytime, you sweet girl!"
"Maybe not anytime, Mum," Remus said, looking exceedingly uncomfortable.
"Well, no, obviously, but she understands."
Mia smiled at Remus's mother. "I understand."
Mrs Lupin stared at her like she'd just seen magic for the first time in her life. "You truly do, don't you? Where on earth did such a kind girl come from?"
"Mum!" Remus looked down, embarrassed.
"Mia!"
Mia turned and spotted her parents waiting down at the end of the platform—James and Sirius standing next to them. She waved and then turned to say goodbye to the Lupins. "It really was lovely to meet you both."
Mia reached up to hug Remus tightly, glad that he did not hesitate to hold her close to him with a level of comfort that was noticeably absent when he had hugged his own mother. He buried his nose in her curls, and she could hear him breathing in her scent. Mia hoped that it would help get him and his wolf through the long summer his parents had planned.
He had told her recently that the small village that they lived in the past few years had been compromised. Rumours of a werewolf roaming the village had reached the ears of the Lupins, and before anyone could become suspicious of Remus, they planned on relocating.
Mia would not see Remus again until the first of September. Thinking of that caused her to frown as she pulled away from him. "Have a good summer, Remus. I'll miss you."
"Have a good summer, Mia." Remus kissed her cheek before turning and walking away with his parents.
September 22nd, 1972
"Remus." Mia frowned down at her friend. "The full moon is tomorrow; you really should be back in bed resting."
"Can't rest. Quidditch," Remus said half-heartedly, vaguely motioning his hand in the direction of the Quidditch pitch.
Although they had been back in school for a few weeks, the summer had done a number on Remus. Somehow, being separated from Mia and the rest of his friends, coupled with needing to move and be around his nervous parents—mostly his father—Remus had reverted a bit back to the nervous and stressed out boy that Mia had met the year before. His face was once again pale, and he had lost the weight that Mia had taken such effort the prior year to put on his skinny frame. The only difference was that he now stood a good two inches taller than her.
"James and Sirius will understand," Mia argued.
Remus rolled his eyes as he rested his head against the cold bench in the Gryffindor stands, letting the frosty metal cool the skin of his face. He said that the approaching moon sometimes made his skin feel like it had the worst sunburn—hot and itchy.
"No, they won't. They'll say I'm a bad friend for not watching them try out. They've already taken the mickey out of me for not trying out myself."
Mia felt a breath of protective anger fill her lungs. "They're being mean to you?"
She had spent the summer worried for all the boys. Remus was practically missing, considering that he and his family were always on the move. He answered her letters when he could, but between relocating and dealing with the summer moons, he was ill more often than not.
James had crashed his broom during a particularly bad windstorm at the beginning of summer, breaking his left leg and hitting his head. Unable to heal it at home due to the specific way the bone broke, the Potters had to go to St Mungo's where James spent the night, prematurely ageing his worried sister.
Sirius had been another issue. Though he spent the first two weeks with the Potters, he had returned to Grimmauld Place and then remained there without a single owl sent to his friends the rest of the summer. When Mia and James finally reconnected with him on platform nine and three-quarters, the only thing Sirius would say was, "I don't want to talk about it."
Her boys were making it increasingly difficult for her to take care of them.
"I don't need you to protect me, Mia," Remus said irritably.
She glared at him, shocked by his tone. "Don't get snappy with me, Remus Lupin. I know that's the wolf coming out."
Sighing in frustration, Remus threw an arm over his face. "I'm sorry. I just . . . I miss enough of my life one day out of the month, never mind the lead-up to the moon and then recovering. I don't want to have to constantly hide away in my room."
"You shouldn't have to." Mia brushed her fingers through his hair, and he opened his eyes, squinting against the sunlight as he looked up at her. "I just don't like seeing you in pain."
"Worry more about your brother being in pain." Remus sat up, gesturing to James doing loops on his broom in the centre of the field. "Four Galleons says he loses his glasses and crashes into something."
Mia smiled, allowing Remus to divert their conversation. She looked to where Sirius sat on his broom near the end of the field, vertically balancing the Beater's bat on his head—just as James had done with his wand. "Another four says Sirius hits himself with that Beater's bat."
"Two Galleons says Peter falls off his broom."
"Only two?" Mia scoffed as she looked at the short boy, struggling on his broom that barely hovered more than ten feet from the ground. "That's easy money for you, Mr Lupin. You should have bet me twenty."
Remus laughed and then a cold breeze passed through the stands, causing his body to shiver and tense in obvious pain.
"That's it. Lie down," Mia ordered, patting her lap.
"Lie down?" He eyed her beneath furrowed brows. "I'm not Sirius. I don't need you to pet me."
She ignored him, his brusque tone, and his attitude. "If you refuse to go inside, then I insist you lie down out here. There's plenty of room on the bench. I'll rub your shoulders, too, if you like."
Remus raised a brow, contemplating her ultimatum for a moment before he sighed and leant backward, dropping his head onto her lap as though it were a pillow. Placing his arms on his chest, he laced his fingers together. "I'm not doing this because you're right."
"Of course not, love." Mia smiled and dug her fingers gently into Remus's shoulders.
"You didn't win this argument," he insisted.
"Wouldn't think of it."
"I'm doing this because no bloke in his right mind would ever turn down a shoulder rub from a pretty girl."
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, please."
"Please, what?" he asked, cracking open one eye and looking up at her.
"I'm already going to rub your shoulders, you don't have to . . . to . . ."
"To what?"
"I don't know. Act like Sirius?" She shrugged, frowning.
By the time the war ended, she had been more concerned with other things than how she looked, but being back in her awkward, younger body—even with her teeth prematurely fixed—brought up old self-esteem issues that she was forced to relive. She was well aware that her hair had always been a bit out of control, though Tilly had helped teach her spells to calm it into soft curls versus the bushy mess it often resembled. She had never developed the same curves that Lavender had, and her eyes were not as mesmerising as Lily's were.
"You don't have to lie to me," she said quietly.
"What did I lie about?" he asked, offended.
"For one, calling me pretty."
"Mia—"
"Don't, Remus," she cut him off quickly. "Please. Just . . . lie down and let me help you."
"But I—"
Her eyes pleaded with him. "Remus . . ."
"Well, look at this sight," James said as he, Sirius, and Peter walked into the stands, their clothes covered in sweat and dirt, brooms slung over their shoulders. "Remus doesn't do a thing, and he gets special treatment."
"Yeah, I took a Bludger to the back. Where's my massage?" Sirius asked, grinning when Remus growled in response.
"You two go rub each other," Mia suggested to James and Sirius with a laugh.
James chuckled. "Sirius isn't really my type."
"James wishes he was my type," Sirius said.
"So?" Mia looked up at the boys. "Did you make the team or what?"
"Sirius and I made the reserve player list." James seemed to be happier about being allowed to have his broom at school than to actually have an official position on the team. No longer in the running to be the youngest Chaser in centuries, he had calmed down in reference to his future Quidditch career.
"Better than nothing." Sirius smirked and then looked behind him. "Right, Petey?"
Peter pouted, struggling to hold onto his gear. "It's not my fault I fell off my broom," he said, rubbing his backside.
James and Sirius shared another laugh while Mia grinned, passing two Galleons into Remus's open hand.
September 23rd, 1972
"Hey, where's Remus?" James asked as he entered the common room, catching Sirius and Peter in a game of Exploding Snap. Sirius laughed as a card blew up in Peter's face.
"Hospital wing," Sirius answered without looking up from the game. "Headache again."
"Again? He's always either going home to visit his sick aunt or in the infirmary." James frowned. "You'd think Madam Pomfrey would give him something better than a simple Pain Potion."
Sirius shrugged, more concerned with beating Peter for the tenth time in a row than whatever was happening with Remus. Sirius had his own secrets about his family and did not care to readily share them with his friends; he gave Remus the same respect.
"My point," Peter said with a grin as he tapped one of the cards that Sirius put down.
Sirius huffed and threw James a dirty look for distracting him from the game. Irritable over the loss of one point, he purposely threw down a manticore card, knowing it was already set to go explode.
"My poi—ouch!"
Snickering, Sirius shuffled the cards left in his hand. "My point."
"Mia said it's something called chronic migraines," James went on, gesturing to Peter's hand and silently giving him tips on the game. "Says Muggles get them a lot. Makes them sensitive to light or something. Probably why he stays in the infirmary when he gets them."
"We can get Muggle diseases?!" Peter exclaimed loudly and dropped all of his cards, a look of horror and disgust on his face. Two of the cards exploded in a puff.
"Of course we can, Pete." James rolled his eyes, waving away the smoke. "You've had the flu before, yeah?"
"Yeah. That's a Muggle illness?"
"Some of theirs we can't catch, and some of ours they can't get. Muggles can't catch dragon pox," Sirius explained as he gathered up what cards were unsinged, a bit put off by the tone in Peter's voice.
"Lucky them."
Sirius laughed at his friend. "Yeah, their pox is called chicken."
"What do they do with chickens to get sick from them?" Peter asked, looking disgusted.
"What do we do with dragons?" Sirius countered with a wry grin.
"Can you two shut up for a second?" James groaned, looking stressed out. "What's our Potion lesson this week?"
"Sleeping Draught," Peter said. "Remember? Frank messed his up the first time and had to be sent to the hospital wing for a Wide-Eye Potion."
"Does the Sleeping Draught contain aconite?" James asked quickly.
"Aconite? You mean monkshood?" Sirius looked up at his best friend with raised brows.
He knew James was not the best at Potions, but he was no Frank. Poor bloke had to sleep in the common room for a week because his roommates said that whatever potion he had spilt on himself clung to his skin and made their whole room stink. James had offered to let Frank sleep on the floor in their room, but he said the sofa in the common room was fine.
"No way, mate." Sirius shook his head, worried that James would accidentally poison himself. "That stuff's toxic. We're not allowed to use it yet. Why do you ask?"
"Because I found Mia making a list in the library," James whispered, taking a seat beside him. "I was under the cloak and meant to play a prank and move her things anytime she looked away. But then I saw a list she was writing. Had aconite on it."
"You think she's making a poison?" Peter asked, intrigued.
"Of course not!" James snapped.
"Maybe she's just skipping ahead, you know she likes to read," Sirius suggested, patting Peter on the shoulder to calm his nerves. They weren't exactly friends, but he did not think that Mia would poison Peter just because she didn't like him much.
"I don't know, some of the books she was reading. They, erm, looked like they were from the Restricted Section. Big potion books," James said and gestured their size with his hands.
"So ask her."
James frowned at Sirius. "I can't get up the girls' dormitory stairs."
"And why would you want to, Potter?"
They all looked up to see Lily Evans descending the stairs; her usual expression of contempt reserved only for James turned momentarily to indifference.
James predictably blushed. "Evans, I . . . I . . . "
"Evans, is Mia up there?" Sirius asked, patting James on the back. "We need to talk to her."
"No." Lily shook her head. "She went down to see Madam Pomfrey a few hours ago."
"A few hours ago?" James snapped back to reality. "What was wrong with her?"
"Same as usual I, suppose. She gets really bad headaches during, well, girl stuff."
"What girl stuff?" Peter asked, confused.
Sirius sighed, embarrassed for his friend. "Shut up, Pete, you wouldn't understand. She do that often, Evans?"
Lily narrowed her eyes at him. "About once a month like the rest of us."
"Not that. Honestly, how am I the most mature person in the room right now?" he asked, genuinely confused. James and Peter both shared a look of bewilderment, clearly trying to figure out what Lily had meant in the first place. "I mean how often does she go to the hospital wing?"
"Oh." Lily looked suddenly guilty. "About every time. She's been going there since last year. Said she gets really bad headaches when it happens."
James frowned. "How bad?"
"She usually spends the night there. Why? You didn't know she had migraines?"
"Migraines?" Sirius asked. "The Muggle headache?"
"Yeah," Lily confirmed. "She has to take a Sleeping Draught and a Pain Potion to get through the night when it happens."
"Thanks, Evans." James dipped his head to her, giving a knowing look to Sirius while Peter sat there restacking his set of cards, already done with the conversation. "I think I'll go check on her later. See if she's okay."
Lily frowned as she made her way to the portrait door. "You're welcome. Tell her I hope she feels better."
September 24th, 1972
"Sirius! Sirius, wake up, you prat!"
"What. The. Fuck. Potter?" Sirius groaned into his pillow, his long black hair tangled around his head the same way his bedsheet was tangled around his leg. He kicked that leg out, hoping to connect with James in retaliation for sticking his bony finger in Sirius's ribs. "Go back to sleep."
"Wake up, arsehole!" James smacked him on the back of the head. "Where's my cloak? You had it last when you sneaked into the kitchens two days ago!"
"It's in Pete's trunk, mine's full. Where're you going with the cloak anyway? What time is it?" He blinked away his sleep and looked at the window. "Shit, is it even dawn yet?"
"I'm going to the hospital wing," James said. There was a loud creak that Sirius knew was the sound of Peter's hand-me-down trunk opening. Peter gasped awake at the noise.
"You think something's up?" Sirius asked, sitting up.
"My sister's reading restricted potion books, making lists with poisonous ingredients, and she and Remus just happen to both get sick every month with the same Muggle illness?" James scoffed. "You don't find that at all suspicious?"
"Maybe they're off snogging," Sirius suggested, equal parts amused and annoyed at his own suggestion as it put an odd image in his head that he was not sure he liked very much.
"What the hell!?" James snapped, his eyes wide.
"What? It makes sense. They're always together."
"You need to stop talking. It's bad enough that you both are constantly snuggling up with her. Are you two coming or not?" James asked with a shout, kicking Peter's bed.
"It's not even six in the morning!" Peter whinged.
"Exactly," James pointed out. "I want to catch them doing . . . whatever they're doing before they have a chance to come back to the tower. If they're really sick in the infirmary, then they'll both just be asleep."
"Fine, but if I'm waking up this early, you owe me breakfast. And I don't mean wait until the table is full, I mean, you go down to the bloody kitchens and then bring it to me. In bed. On a silver tray." Sirius continued to grumble out requests—and addendums to said requests—as they slipped the cloak over themselves and left Gryffindor Tower.
"What happened?" Mia gasped as Madam Pomfrey set a bloodied Remus down on the bed. He had never looked this bad before, not even after the first moon she had seen him through in this time. He was pale and sallow, looking worse than usual. In addition to the long wound that opened across his back, he had four long deep slashes that covered his chest.
"It looks like he clawed himself up pretty badly this time." Madam Pomfrey sighed as she helped Mia close the wounds quickly.
"Oh, Remus." Mia frowned, blinking away tears. "Where's the Calming Draught?"
"Right here, dear." Madam Pomfrey placed the phial in her hands. "And the Pain Potions are in the drawer as usual; he'll need a Blood-Replenishing one as well when he wakes," she insisted before stepping out of the room.
"Come on, love," Mia whispered to Remus as his eyes began to open. "Drink this for me." She held the phial to his lips and let the liquid slip down his throat.
He coughed and reached out, gripping her arm to steady himself. "Mia . . ."
"I'm here," she promised him, kissing his forehead. "I'm going to fix you all up."
Remus turned his head away, but she still saw his eyes were wet as he tried to hide his face from her. "It's getting worse."
"It's because you're growing up. Hitting a growth spurt. You're a good two or three inches taller this year than last." She reached for the Pain Potion. "Not to mention . . . other changes, I assume."
Remus closed his eyes and clenched his fists. "I hate my life."
"Don't say that." Mia frowned, handing him the Pain Potion and letting him drink it on his own, which he did begrudgingly. She cupped his jaw. "Here, let me look at your face. These don't look too bad. I can use Dittany and they won't even scar."
"I'm so tired, Mia. I don't want it to hurt anymore. My skin breaks open, my bones shatter, and I lose my . . . myself." He refused to make eye contact with her, turning his head away from her gaze once again.
It had only been a year ago that he had opened up and let her see the vulnerable parts of him, but things were different now. As uncomfortable as the words were, she knew was right, they were growing up, and she did not just see Remus as her best friend anymore. There was something . . . something else lingering just beneath the surface. Something that she could not quite place. Remus must have sensed it too because he was pulling away from her and had been for some time. She wondered if it was just a boy thing—as she recalled Harry and Ron behaving differently at this age as well—or if Remus's wolf had something to do with it.
"You're in there still. I promise you," Mia whispered. "You're not alone in this."
"I am alone! I'm always alone!" Remus shouted and threw the empty phial across the room. "I go out to the shack alone, I transform alone, and I tear myself apart because of it! I wake up alone in the shack and start the long walk back to school alone before I usually collapse outside of the Whomping Willow. Alone."
"I wish I could be there with you," Mia admitted, trying not to take his anger personally.
Remus growled. "Don't be stupid, Mia. I'd kill you."
"I'll figure something out. I promise. I'll make this better for you, love. I'm . . . I'm going to try and find a potion to help. I don't know how to make it yet, it'll take some research, but I will."
"Nothing's ever going to get better, Mia." Remus sighed. "Just let me sleep. Leave me alone. Please." He closed his eyes and covered his face with his hands.
Mia took a moment to wipe at her eyes before asking, "Do you want the Sleeping Draught?"
"Yeah. Thanks." Remus reached out as she put the phial into his hands, but he refused to meet her gaze before tipping the draught down his throat and letting sleep take him quickly.
Madam Pomfrey approached with a frown a few minutes later. "He's out?"
"Yes."
"Poor thing. Breaks my heart every month. To think a sweet boy like that has to endure so much pain all because some sadistic creature decided to turn a four-year-old boy into a werewolf."
"He's never known anything but pain."
"I don't think so. You and those boys of yours show him love and friendship." Madam Pomfrey smiled. "And, as much as it pains me to say, even a bit of fun and mischief."
"He deserves better than this."
"On that, Miss Potter, I will agree with you. Are you staying longer?"
Mia looked up pleadingly. "If that's all right?"
"Of course, dear. I have to run some errands. If he wakes, you know where the extra potions are," she said, gesturing to the cupboard in the corner before walking out the door of the infirmary.
Just as the doors closed, there was the sound of scuffling in the corner of the room.
Mia jumped from her chair, wand aimed forward. "Who's there?" She narrowed her eyes but saw nothing. When no one responded, Mia took a deep breath and whispered. "Expelliarmus!"
Suddenly, there was a shimmer of silver as three wands shot toward her, pulling the Invisibility Cloak with them. The wands filled her hand, the cloak falling to the floor at her feet, and she looked up to see a hunched over James, clumped together with Sirius and Peter, all looking shocked and terrified.
"Jamie! How long have you all been there?"
James ignored her as he stepped forward, snatching up his cloak from the floor before moving to the bedside and staring down at his sleeping friend. "Is Remus all right?"
"Bloody hell . . . Look at him." Sirius's wide eyes moved over Remus's body.
Mia cursed under her breath for not changing the blood-stained sheets that clung around Remus's waist, revealing his bare chest that was covered with the fresh wounds from the night before.
Peter gaped at the sight. "Looks like he got chewed up by something."
"Jamie." Mia turned on her brother, panic in her voice. "How long have you been there?"
"I don't know." James shook his head and then glared up at her. "How long has my best friend been a werewolf?"
"Mia, is he okay?" Sirius inquired, still staring down at his friend, looking sick at the sight.
"He's fine right now," Mia whispered, ignoring James's outburst and favouring Sirius's concern. "He needs rest."
"Is he . . . Merlin, they let him into Hogwarts." Peter grimaced, and before he had a chance to blink away the look of disgust on his face, Mia had him at wand point, a look of absolute loathing in her eyes.
"Mia!" James shouted.
"Why shouldn't they let him into Hogwarts, Peter? Should they have cast him out? Maybe even locked him up? Like an animal?!" She growled, standing at the foot of Remus's bed, effectively separating Peter from the rest of them. "Who would be next, Peter? Round up all the Muggle-borns?"
"Whoa!" Sirius stepped forward defensively in front of Peter, something that made her blood run cold. "Mia, Pete didn't mean anything by it. Right?"
"R-Right," Peter mumbled nervously.
"See?" Sirius slowly approached her with calm grey eyes, reaching up and helping her lower her wand. "It's all right, love. We're just shocked. Remus is our friend, too. How long have you known about him?"
Mia frowned, letting her anger dissipate and be lulled away by Sirius's gaze. "Since first year. I read about it, saw the signs, went to Dumbledore and asked permission to help him recover each month. He can't be around humans when he changes because the wolf takes over, but I'm there before and after, to help with the pain and to heal his wounds."
"What happened to him?" James asked, concerned.
"He's basically locked up when he transforms," she explained as she moved, walking over and pulling out clean sheets from the cupboard by the bed. She pulled the top sheet off of Remus, keeping the one below to preserve his dignity. After tossing aside the blood-stained sheet, she draped a soft clean one over his sleeping frame. "Since he's alone, he lashes out and attacks himself in frustration."
"He told me he got those scars from camping trips with his dad," Sirius remarked. "Said he fell off a mountain last summer."
She turned and eyed the boys. "You can't tell anyone."
"Of course not," James agreed.
"No, I mean it." Mia grew serious. She trusted James and Sirius, of course, but Peter was still there, and it was taking every last inch of humanity inside of her not to curse him. "I want . . . I need you all to take a Wizard's Oath."
"Whoa." Sirius's eyes went wide. "Mia, you can't just take our words for this?"
"No. I'm sorry, not with his reaction." Mia's eyes turned to Peter, and she narrowed them into slits. "Remus trusts me to take care of him and to keep his secret. I know you all love Remus, but I can't risk anything happening to him. If people found out that he was here, they'd take him away."
"Done." Without needing her to say another word, James held up his wand. "I, James Charlus Potter, swear upon my wand and magic as a wizard never to reveal to anyone that Remus Lupin is a werewolf without his permission."
The wand glowed red for a moment before returning to normal, sealing the oath.
Sirius stepped forward without hesitation. "I, Sirius Orion Black, swear upon my wand and magic as a wizard never to reveal to anyone that Remus Lupin is a werewolf without his permission."
"Peter?" Mia eyed him carefully as his gaze turned to the floor, hesitating.
"What the hell, Pete?" James snapped. "Do it!"
"I-I . . ." Peter stammered nervously.
Mia stepped forward in a predatory manner that Remus and his wolf might have appreciated. "Make the oath. Or I'll figure out a way to Obliviate you." She could see James and Sirius stare at her from the side. "We're only second years; I wouldn't trust me to remove just this one memory."
"I love it when she's scary." Sirius exhaled with a grin, and James made a face.
"I, Peter Evan Pettigrew," Peter said quietly, gripping his wand with white knuckles, "swear upon my wand and magic as a wizard never to reveal to anyone that Remus Lupin is a werewolf without his permission."
Once the oaths were complete, the room fell silent, and Mia closed her eyes, listening closely to Remus softly snoring behind the four of them.
James nervously adjusted his glasses and finally broke through the quiet. "What do you need aconite for?"
Mia slowly tilted her head toward her brother, scowling. "You snooped through my things?"
James looked down guiltily. "Accidentally."
"Aconite is also called wolfsbane. I can't cure him, but I think if I try hard enough, I can come up with something to help him."
"What can we do?" Sirius demanded.
Mia shook her head. "Nothing. Just keep the secret." She glared at Peter and repeated, "Keep the secret. Educate yourselves about his condition. Be his friends, and don't treat him any different. He hates pity."
James frowned. "That's it? He's been alone through this since he was four?"
"A werewolf named Fenrir Greyback attacked him. Remus's dad was working at the Ministry, and Greyback had been arrested on suspicions of killing Muggle children. Remus's dad knew that Greyback was a werewolf, but because the Ministry doesn't know how to properly keep a registry, his name wasn't on it, and he was set free. Mr Lupin said . . . some awful things about werewolves in general; Greyback infected Remus in revenge."
Sirius shook his head. "And I thought I had a fucked up childhood."
"His parents did the best they could after." She was still a bit uneasy with Mr Lupin's continual prejudice against werewolves and fear of his own son. "They didn't think he'd be able to come to Hogwarts, so they taught him as much as they could at home."
"Always knew he was ridiculously smart for a reason," James said.
Sirius asked, "So how did he get in?"
"Dumbledore."
"Hagrid's right." James grinned. "Great man, that Dumbledore."
Mia smiled at her brother. "We should leave. Let him get some rest."
The four made their way to the door of the infirmary, but not before Mia readjusted Remus's sheets and blankets, setting another Pain Potion on his side table in case he woke up. She smiled down at him, sad that she had somehow failed to keep the other boys from knowing his secret, but resigning herself to the fact that she knew from her original timeline that they had eventually discovered it.
"Hey, Mia?" Sirius asked as they left the hospital wing. "You say he can't be around humans, right?"
"Right."
There was a long pause while Sirius contemplated something. Then, he visibly brightened. "What about other animals?"
Mia grinned.