XXVI.
The next morning, James, Sirius, and Peter could be found clustered around a curtained bed in the Hospital Wing. "You ok, Moony?" Sirius asked him.
"All right," Remus said. Sure, he was physically fairly well off—he only had a few bites and scratches here and there—but he was not looking forward to facing the rest of the school. Then he would find out how stupid his seventh year class really was…
"Don't worry about it," James said, reading his expression correctly. "I'm sure Dumbledore would be happy to perform a few Memory Charms if need be…"
Remus nodded, not very convinced. "I'm just really worried…our class isn't stupid…"
Sirius rolled his eyes. "C'mon, stop thinking about that! Just focus on something else!"
He nodded again, still not convinced. "Really, Remus, don't worry about it!" James said, beginning to get impatient.
"Besides, even if everyone else hates you, at least you know we won't," Sirius said, trying to be consoling. James and Peter glared at him.
"Not helping, Sirius," James said, and Remus drifted back off to sleep.
Remus walked into the boys' dormitory on Wednesday night, still looking rather ill. "Welcome back!" Frank said happily, and returned to his homework. The Marauders descended to the common room.
"Anybody know?" Remus asked in an undertone.
"Nobody's said anything, they've just asked where you were," James said, "we told them all the same story."
"That's good," Remus said, breathing a sigh of relief. "But they might be waiting to confront just me…"
"Stop being such a pessimist," Sirius scolded him, "Nobody would do that!"
At that very moment, Frank was deciding exactly how to confront Remus the next day. He had decided straight off that James, Sirius, and Peter could not be with him. They would probably hex him into next week before he could get his whole story out…
After much debating, he decided to ask to meet him after History. He would pass him a note in class, and then tell him after class. Yes, that would work…
He tried to return his thoughts to his nearly completed essay, but was unable to. He still was undecided on his attitude towards werewolves, and he had to decide that before he confronted Remus…
He finally decided, after a half-hour of debating, that Remus had never done anything to him, so he had no reason to hate him. Sure, he had hated werewolves before, but he had never personally known one. He would accept Remus for what he was, and never let his lycanthropy get in the way of their friendship!
Remus observed his classmates closely the next day, but they all acted normally—welcoming him back and inquiring of his and his mother's health. "Merlin, how stupid can our class be?" he asked his friends in an undertone in Herbology that morning.
"You're not complaining!" Sirius said in mock surprise.
"Of course I'm not, you know that," Remus said, rolling his eyes. "But, I mean, it's so obvious!"
James shrugged. "Maybe they are stupid."
"Less talk, you four, and more work!" Professor Sprout barked at them. They bent over their plant, but as soon as she turned her back, they resumed their conversation.
"I bet you ten Galleons," Remus said seriously, "that somebody's going to figure it out within the week."
"You're on," James, Sirius, and Peter said together. Remus smirked.
"I'll be thirty Galleons richer by Friday."
In History that afternoon, Frank was feeling very nervous about what he was going to do. It was halfway through the class before he finally finished the note. For such a short letter, it took him an astonishingly long time to write.
"Meet me in the library after class, without James, Sirius and Peter.
Frank"
He folded it carefully, wrote "Remus" on the front, and levitated it across the room. Luckily, James, Sirius, and Peter were asleep, and Remus was awake and taking notes.
He did not notice the piece of parchment flying toward him until it landed on top of his notes. Looking at it curiously, he opened it up and read it quickly. All the color drained from his face, he stuffed the note in his pocked, and continued taking notes. Frank, his job done, did likewise.
After History was over, Frank quickly walked up to the library. On his way out of the classroom, he heard Remus telling his friends that he had to check a book out of the library, and would be down to dinner later.
Frank arrived at the library a minute before Remus did, which gave him time to organize his thoughts. He had just decided how to approach the subject when Remus walked in, deathly pale.
"Remus…" Frank started, but Remus stopped him.
"Don't waste your breath, I know what you're going to say," Remus said in a rather harsh voice. "I'll be packed tonight, and I'll leave tomorrow. Nobody will miss me anyways…" He collapsed into a chair, his head in his hands. "All I ever wanted was to go to Hogwarts…"
Frank was stunned at Remus' reaction. He had expected him to deny it, or yell at him. But he decided that this was much, much worse.
"Remus…" Frank began again, but he wasn't listening.
"I was so excited when I got my letter, I thought I could be like a normal kid. I expected too much…"
Frank was completely at a loss. He had never seen Remus like this—completely broken down. "Remus, listen…" but he continued on.
"I thought it was finished in second year, when James, Sirius, and Peter found out," Remus said, still talking into his hands, "But they didn't care, they accepted me for who I was. That was probably the happiest day of my life; I had real friends that cared about me, as Remus!"
Frank stared. His friends had known since second year?
"I knew I couldn't keep it a secret forever…I knew somebody would find out eventually. I just hoped they would accept me as well. Lily and her friends did, but I know nobody else is going to." He stood up suddenly. "I'll go pack." And he raced out of the library at top speed. Frank stared after him for a few moments before running after him.
By the time he entered the common room, he heard the faint sound of a door slamming. The few Gryffindors in the common room were staring at the boys' staircase, open-mouthed. Without answering any questions, he dashed up the dormitory stairs. He found Remus throwing his possessions haphazardly into his trunk, tears falling thick and fast down his cheeks.
"Remus!" Frank said loudly. He did not look up.
"What, come to humiliate me?"
"No, I haven't! Listen…"
"Come to tell me that tomorrow you're going to tell everybody at breakfast what I am? Just for a laugh?" Remus said bitterly, looking up. "You can't kill me any more than you already have, Frank, don't bother to try."
Frank crossed the dorm in seconds and grabbed Remus' arm, preventing him from packing. "Remus, listen to me," he said firmly, but once again, he was interrupted.
"Look, Frank, I'll be gone tomorrow, just like you want me to be. You can tell the school if you want, I really don't care about anything anymore."
"Why would I do that?" Frank said, finally completing a sentence. Remus looked taken aback slightly, but not enough to reply angrily,
"Because you hate me, because of what I am! Because of something I hate just as much as Voldemort himself!"
"Did I ever say that I hate you?"
"You do," Remus said, not hesitating a bit, "You said, in fifth year, that you hate werewolves! Why would your opinion change now?" He wrenched his arm out of Frank's grip. "Thank you for ruining my life. Now, I need to see Professor Dumbledore." He moved towards the door, but Frank got there first and blocked him.
"I won't let you," he said firmly. Remus looked angry.
"Let me through; I'm sure you don't want to be in the same room as me for too long!"
"Remus Lupin, listen to me!" Frank all but yelled. Remus, surprised, finally fell silent. "In fifth year, my view was biased. The only werewolf I knew by name was Fenrir Greyback—" Remus growled, "—but that's not really much to go by, is it? When I figured it out on Monday night, I realized that all werewolves couldn't be bad; you've never been anything but kind to me. I wouldn't thank you for that by shunning and publicly humiliating you, would I?"
Before Remus could reply, footsteps could be heard coming up the steps. The two moved away from the door quickly.
The door opened, and James, Sirius, and Peter walked in. Their eyes took in Remus' tear-stained face and his half-filled trunk. As one, James and Sirius pulled out their wands and pointed them at Frank.
"Let me explain…" Frank began, but once again he was cut off.
"What is there to explain?" James snarled, "You found Remus out!"
"Listen to me!" Frank roared. The Marauders all fell silent, though they were still glaring at him. James and Sirius still had their wands raised. "I hated werewolves before Monday night, because I had only heard of the infamous ones. I do not hate Remus! I don't care if he transforms once a month; that doesn't change who he is! I honestly don't care if the rest of the school would hate him, I'd stick up for him right alongside you guys!"
James and Sirius lowered their wands ever so slightly, Peter's mouth was hanging open, and Remus looked as if his birthday had come early.
"I've just got some questions for you," Frank said.
"If we're given the right to remain silent, and if we get to ask questions in return," Sirius said, stowing his wand back into his pocket.
"Fine."
They all sat down on their beds, and Frank asked his first question. "How long has it been since you were bitten?"
Remus thought for a moment. "Twelve years in October," he said finally.
Frank gaped at him. "You were…"
"Six years old."
Frank was very surprised. For nearly two-thirds of his life, Remus had been forced to endure horrifically painful transformations once a month!
"Do you know who…" Frank didn't get a chance to finish his question.
"Greyback," Remus spat, "My father apparently offended him in some way, so he went after me in retaliation."
"That's horrible!" Frank said angrily.
"That's what Greyback does—attack children," Remus continued, disgusted.
Frank felt his stomach drop a few inches. Greyback was worse than all the articles said, according to the tone of Remus' voice.
"Is it really as painful as the books say?" Frank asked after a short pause.
Remus smiled wryly. "You have no idea."
"Where do you go to transform?"
"The Shrieking Shack."
Frank was stunned—"So it's not really haunted?"
"Not unless you call a werewolf a spirit," he laughed humorlessly.
"I want to ask you a question now," James said. Frank nodded, and he continued, "Did you figure it out because of Schulte's essay? Because if you did, I believe a Howler is appropriate…"
Frank nodded. "That, and other things."
"Such as?"
"I overheard McGonagall and Schulte arguing, and Remus' name came up," Frank said, "while you all were at St. Mungo's."
"I still think a Howler is in order," James said, "What do you guys think?"
They nodded their agreement.
"I've got another question," Frank said, "Where were you three on Monday night?" He gestured at James, Sirius, and Peter.
"That," Sirius said, "is something we cannot tell you." And no matter how much he pestered them, Frank could not get more of an answer than that. Finally, giving up, he said, "So how many people know?"
"All of us, obviously," Remus said, gesturing around at the five of them, "Lily and her two friends, and…Snape."
Frank stared, sure that he had heard wrong. "Severus Snape? How…"
"Sirius, here," Remus shot him a death glare, "decided that it would be funny to tell Snape how to get into the Whomping Willow—"
"So that's how you get to the Shack? Through the Willow?" Frank asked in amazement.
"Yes, there's a tunnel that leads to the Shack. As I was saying, Sirius told Snape how to get into the Willow, so he followed the tunnel to the Shack. I would have killed him if James had not pulled him out in time."
Frank's brow furrowed. "James, I thought you hate Snape!"
"Of course I hate Snape," James said indignantly, "I was trying to save both Sirius' and Remus' necks by saving his life. Otherwise, they both would have been expelled."
"I still got two hundred points off and detentions every night for the rest of the year," Sirius said.
"Anything else?" Remus asked.
"Nope," Frank said, out of questions. "Just…why won't you tell me where you three go?"
"We can't," James said simply, "And if we told you, you'd demand an explanation, which we can't give you."
Frank was confused. "But why can't you…"
"We just can't," Sirius said, "Maybe we'll tell you when we're out of Hogwarts, but not now."
Frank nodded, satisfied, they went down into the common room, and then separated; the Marauders to Lily, and Frank to Anthony.
"What did he want?" Lily asked as they sat down. "Remus, are you all right?"
"Never been better," he said cheerfully.
"So why do you have tearstains…"
"Minor misunderstanding," he replied lightly.
"So if it was a 'minor misunderstanding', why is everybody talking about how you ran through the common room like a bat out of Hell about half an hour ago, ran up the steps, and slammed the door?" Sarah asked.
"Same answer," He walked up the dorm steps again, and came down a minute later with a tearstain-free face. He then stood up on one of the tables, and everyone was soon quiet, wondering what he was about to say.
"Just to stop the rumors before they spread through the entire school, there is nothing wrong, so you can stop guessing what it is. I misunderstood something, and Frank sorted it out. Do you hear me? Nothing. Is. Wrong." He glared at the House until they nodded. "Thank you."
He got down again and went back to his friends. "You still haven't answered my first question, Remus," Lily pressed.
"Take a guess," he said, pulling out his History notes.
Lily gasped. "He didn't…he doesn't…"
"He doesn't care," James said airily, "just like none of us do."
Lily sighed in relief. "That's good. Kelsi and Lea don't suspect anything, but that's to be expected. And if nobody's said anything…"
Remus' eyes lit up. "You owe me ten galleons. Each. Pay up."
Lily looked totally bewildered. "What?"
"Not you," he said, "I bet ten galleons that somebody would find out, they took the bet. Pay up," he repeated to the other Marauders, extending his hand expectantly. Sighing, they obliged. Counting the money carefully, he put it into his pocket.
"Moooooony," Sirius said in a singsong voice after a minute.
"No, you can't borrow my notes, Sirius," Remus said, pulling them away from him. "You should have stayed awake during class."
"Liiiiiiiiiily," Sirius said, turning to her, using the same tone, but—
"No, Sirius!" she said, slapping his hand away forcefully. "Just because I'm your friend's girlfriend doesn't mean you can cheat!"
"Which reminds me," Sarah said suddenly, "We missed the last Hogsmeade trip, and the next one's on Valentine's Day. Are you all for it?"
"Think a minute," James said sarcastically, "Would I ever pass up a date with Lily or a Zonko's visit?"
Lily laughed. "I guess not."
"What was that about?" Anthony asked Frank as he sat down.
Frank shook his head. "Can't say."
Anthony narrowed his eyes. "Why not?"
"Because it's not my place to say." Frank said, pulling out his history notes and starting on his essay.
"What was wrong with Remus then?" Anthony asked after a minute of silence. Just then, Remus got onto a table and said,
"Just to stop the rumors before they spread through the entire school, there is nothing wrong, so you can stop guessing what it is. I misunderstood something, and Frank sorted it out. Do you hear me? Nothing. Is. Wrong." He glared at the House until they nodded affirmatively. "Thank you."
"What did you sort out?" Anthony pressed his friend.
"The misunderstanding," Frank answered, knowing what was coming.
"But what was the misunderstanding?" Anthony asked impatiently.
"I told you—I can't tell you."
"Would Remus tell me if I asked him?"
"Probably not," Frank said, leafing through his notes.
Anthony stood up and walked across the common room to where the Marauders were sitting. "Remus?" he said loudly over their conversation.
"Yeah?" he said, looking up.
"Can you tell me what your misunderstanding was about?"
All activity around the large table ceased, and seven pairs of eyes looked up at him in disbelief. "Nope, can't. Sorry."
"Why not?" Anthony pressed.
"Because…" he faltered for a split second, "…you really don't want to know."
"Of course I do!"
"Let me rephrase that. If I told you, you'd wish you didn't know. Trust me," Remus assured him.
Anthony opened his mouth to argue, but Sarah said, "Look, this is one thing Remus is never going to spill…"
"But you lot obviously know about it!"
"Yes, because he trusted us enough with it," Lily said, getting slightly impatient.
"Why don't you trust me?" Anthony said, hurt. "And why does Frank know?"
"Because you're not a Marauder. And Frank figured it out by himself; if you really want to know, good luck finding out as well," James said.
Anthony nodded curtly and walked back to Frank. "Any luck?" he asked, without looking up.
"No," Anthony said, flopping down into a chair, "But they welcomed me to try and find out on my own…"
"Good luck with that," Frank said, finally looking up. "Took me six and a half years to get it." He stood up. "I'm gonna work in the dorm, you coming?"
"Yeah, go ahead, I'll be up in a minute."
Frank nodded, packed his things into his bag, and said, "I'll be in yours."
"Right," Anthony said distractedly. He sat in the chair for a long minute, thinking. What did Remus mean when he said that he didn't want to know what their misunderstanding was about? Of course he wanted to know!
Shaking his head, he stood up and was about to leave when he noticed a roll of parchment under the table. Picking it up, he realized that it was Frank's werewolf essay. He grinned when he saw that Bumble had given him an "E" in place of Schulte's "P", and skimmed through it on his way up the stairs.
"Great essay," he informed Frank, throwing it at him as he walked into his own dorm.
"Thanks," said Frank, losing a tiny bit of color. Anthony did not notice. "Did I leave it downstairs?"
"Yeah."
They worked in silence for a while. "Still don't get why nobody'll tell me," Anthony complained, "I really want to know."
"It's not my secret to tell," Frank said, "and Remus will tell you when he trusts you enough."
"That's what he said," Anthony said, throwing down his quill, "You know I hate being left in the dark!"
"So apparently, Remus doesn't trust you enough to tell you," Frank said logically, "He didn't tell his best friends, even, they figured it out on their own in second year…"
"Then I'm sure he'll never tell me," Anthony said glumly.
"He'll fess up if you figure it out, don't worry," Frank assured him, "He won't try and deny it if you present your proof."
Anthony nodded, slightly happier, and they resumed working on their homework.