Remus tailed off midsentence as he caught sight of his knuckles, cursing mother nature, the cruel and unusual bitch that she was.

"Moony?" Began Peter worriedly. James and Sirius had been put on detention for something to do with the Quidditch stands and Evan Rosier's dress robes that Remus really did not want to know about. Remus found it made his life far easier if he simply turned a blind eye to his friends more morally dubious activities. Though he did know that when McGonagall had caught them Peter had bottled it, transformed and scurried off back to the common room to find Remus, brows pre raised for his friends' return. He had told Peter he simply did not want to hear the story and they had, instead spent the last half an hour or so discussing wizard music vs. Muggle music.

"Moony?"

"Yes?"

"You stopped midsentence. You said "I don't know Wormtail I..." then you stopped and stared at your hand... what gives?"

"I... there are hairs on my knuckles" Said Remus, holding his hand out so Peter could see the mousy coloured hairs sprinkled across his knuckles.

"And..." Said Peter, his eyes squinted as he looked for some sort of reason to be concerned about the seemingly harmless hairs. Remus sighed, reminding himself not to use a condescending tone whilst explaining these things to Peter.
"Well, in every single book about my furry little problem, every crazed hate monger likes to include a chapter on how to spot a werewolf in human form. The first points being, look for the eye colour and the hair on the knuckles. Peter, there are hairs on my knuckles. And I'm sure they weren't there the last time I checked"

"Oh. Why now? Why are they growing now?"
"The wolf... Sirius told me it's... I've been getting bigger? Is that right?"

"Yeah..."

"Uh oh"

"Uh oh? What does uh oh mean? What's wrong Moony?"

"I think the wolf is reaching maturity"

"But you've already..."
"Yes I know, I'm pretty much done with puberty. But with your wolf side... well, you can never know exactly when it's going to mature. Hair on your knuckles and rapid growth in the size of the Wolf is a sign of reaching maturity"

"It is?"

"Yep"

"Then what? What happens when you- the wolf, sorry – reaches maturity? Apart from the knuckles and the wolf getting bigger"

"Well... the wolf gets...erm... even bigger. And stronger too... Jesus, James and Sirius are going to have their work cut out for them... and, you know how sleepy I get before full moons"

"Yeah"

"And you know how aggressive I can get... if I perceive my "mate" is being threatened"
"Like the time you beat the shit out of Malfoy"

"Yes, exactly like that. Good. So, the good news about this is that I won't be as sleepy anymore"

"Great!"

"But, I might become a bit more... a lot more aggressive and possessive, of Sirius in particular. At least until I can handle the heightened level of testosterone the wolf reaching maturity will bring. I mean, it should settle a bit after a while and I'll learn to control myself but... just be on your guard round the next few full moons." Remus sighed and checked his watch "I've got to go for patrols now. So can you explain that to Prongs and Padfoot once they're back from their detention?"

"Alright... See you later Moony"

"Thanks, bye Pete"

"Before you go, who you patrolling with?"

"Delphini Stonewall"

"Ooh, harsh. See you later mate"

"Bye" Remus half smiled and left the room.

Every time he was supposed to have been patrolling with Delphini, to Remus's relief, something had gotten in the way. The first time she was ill, the second time it was just after the full moon, the third time she had been busy with homework and the fourth time so had Remus.
He had been dreading it. After Narcissa Black left, rumour had it she took over as the Queen Bee of Slytherin, through cruel methods of hexing and bullying and boy friend stealing and the general bitchery her name was now synonymous with.

He just thanked various deities that they were patrolling the fifth floor corridor, Gryffindor territory.
He made a short walk down the corridor from the portrait hole and met her just at the bottom of the corridor.
She was a girl slightly taller than average with a slim build and broad shoulders. Her skin was pallid and near flawless and seemed even paler against her dark brown hair, which fell in waves just past her shoulders. Her harsh severe face was all sharp points and angles. Even the cupid's bow on her slight lips tipped to the sharp snub of her upturned nose in two perfect points. Her eyes were a ruthless and intense shade of turquoise. To Remus's surprise, a smile spread across her previously stern looking face, she stuck out a long elegant hand.

"Delphini Stonewall" she said in a clipped proper voice that screamed the blue blood that the Stonewall name was synonymous with. They were a family not as pure blood crazed or as well known or as old as the Blacks, the Potters or the Malfoys, but they were certainly far richer and just as well bred. His mother's maiden name was Stonewall, but he hadn't met much by way of his mother's side of the family, only his Grandparents and his aunt Sylvia , and his mother had never fully explained why they didn't see them much. He assumed that they were simply ignoring them because his mother had married his father, a muggle born.

"Remus Lupin. Nice to meet you"

"The pleasure's all mine" her smile widened. "How are you?"

"I'm... I'm good thanks"

"Really? You're looking a little uh... I would say like you've just seen a ghost but being that that's such a regular occurrence round here" she gave a soft laugh

"I'm fine honestly" I'm just surprised you aren't an evil Narcissa Malfoy-esc bitch "How are you?"

"I'm quite wonderful thank you"

"That's nice to know"

"You really do look ill you know. Would you like me to take you to the hospital wing?"
"No, honestly uh... Delphini, I'm okay"
"Oh alright. But you really must let me do something, I fear you might have, perhaps something coming on, by the look of you. You are terribly pale as well" she reached to his forehead and placed a hand upon it "You don't feel hot I suppose... perhaps you're just like me, and you're always such a delightful shade of white" Remus grinned at her, and she grinned back, revealing white, straight, if slightly bucked

"Maybe"

"People are always asking me if I'm ill and telling me I look peaky. It is dreadfully annoying. But I do enjoy the look on people's faces when I explain that, that's just my face really... I'm talking far too much... I'm irritating you, aren't I? I'll stop talking now, sorry, dreadfully sorry. First I tell you you look ill, insult you really, now I'm going on and on"

"It's fine I don't think you're going on"

"No, no I am. My mother always tells me I come on too strong. It's one of my worst qualities. Coming on to strong, always got my feet in my bloody mouth- that's what"

"You're fine honestly"

"I am?"

"Yeah... you're only trying to be friendly"

"I am! I am! Most people just think I'm a tad off my trolley"

"I never said I didn't think you were" he smiled tentatively hoping the joked would go down well. She let out a surprisingly guttural laugh.

"You're quite funny aren't you?" She grinned, Remus shrugged "I suppose we should move, actually" she made air quotes "patrol, that sounds silly really, makes me feel like I'm a bloody prison guard"

"I'd never thought of it like that before"
"Few have minds that work like mine... strangely, I mean. But normal is frightfully boring, isn't it?"

"Yeah, yeah it is" He smiled, not quite believing that what he was hearing was coming from the mouth of a Slytherin.

"Do forgive me for prying, but, and this is a sign of my pure-as-all-blood back ground, but, you look so dreadfully familiar to me and I don't recognise your last name. Lupin. Should I know it?"

"No, not really. My dad was a muggle born"

"Was?"
"He was erm... killed... in May. Death Eaters."

"oh... How awful. The post office attack, I'm assuming" Remus nodded slowly. She cleared her throat and changed the subject "So er... your mother is she a muggle born as well then?"

"No, she's a pure blood. He maiden name's Stonewall actually"

"Really? I suspect we might be related then"

"Yeah, probably"

"What's her name, her first name?"

"Rhea" he said hesitantly. Though he wasn't entirely sure why.

"Your Grandparents wouldn't happen to be called Vesta and Virgil, would they?"

"Erm... yeah, yeah they are... how do you know that?"

"My Grandfather and your Grandfather, I think, were brothers... twins, in fact."

"Are... are you sure?"

"Quite sure. Spent the better part of my childhood being forced to memorise my family history" She smiled "our family history, I suppose. Though, I never read your name on the family tree."

"Probably because my mum married my dad... I always assumed that was why we never spoke to anyone else in the family"
"Oh no, that wasn't it. None of us ever knew much about your mum or her aunt, we only knew their names and their dates of birth. It was over all that business with your Grandfather"

"What business?"

"Haven't you ever heard?"

"What? No? Could you explain please?"

"Oh erm, I suppose. Surprised you hadn't. Your Grandmother, I believe, is from a" she made air quotes again "blood traitor family we didn't get on terribly well with. But for the life of me I can't remember which. Anyway, um, when your Grandfather and your Grandmother met, I believe she was pregnant with another man's child. Your aunt, I think."

"Sylvia. That's funny... she looks so different to my mum... I always thought that my grandma must have had an affair or something"

"No no." She said shaking her head "Anyway, Your grandparents, obviously, fell head over heels in love with one another, and he proposed. Obviously it caused quite a scandal at the time, the pregnant unwed girl from a blood traitor family and the" she snorted "perfect pure blood boy. I think he may have been betrothed to some member of the Malfoy family at the time. His parents forbade him, so they eloped. Ran off to Yorkshire, got married, had your Aunt, then your mum and... well I suppose you know the rest" she smiled "My grandfather was quite distraught about the whole affair and refused to ever go and meet them but rumour has it... and this is nothing but a rumour mind you, that he was in love with your grandmother as well. But didn't have the back bone to pursue her... suppose it all worked out for the best in the end, didn't it?"

"I suppose"

"It's a small world, isn't it?" she smiled and laughed "I'll have to see if can get you and your mother round at Christmas. Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"Nope. Just me and Mum"

"Lucky you. I have an older sister and a little brother. Both of them are just awful. Though, I suppose to be fair, Paris is only five. But Eris has no excuse, she is just awful. How she ended up in Ravenclaw and not in Slytherin I'll never know. She's sneakier than she is smart, all of her friends were Slytherins. I swear it was her and her little gang that started half of these rumours about me. And I assure you Remus, they are just rumours."

"I thought they might have been, I mean... it's quite evident you aren't well... pure evil"

"Oh good." she smiled "Hopefully it's evident that I'm not a massive boyfriends stealing slut?"
"I don't know about that" he smirked, she smiled back and laughed.

"Those are the oddest rumours I find. I've never even had a boyfriend you know"

"Really?"
"Nope. I do believe most boys are terrified of me now. It's fair enough though, with the rumours" she sighed "Oh well, that's just life I suppose. Anyone who knows me knows that that's rubbish. But I don't really have any proper friends. Friends get in the way sometimes though, I find."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's certainly nice to have them but, well, I want to be an auror of all things and it requires a lot, and I mean a lot of hard work and, alas, I am not gifted with the talent that some are so that's even more hard work, isn't it?"

"It is."

*

Prongs =)

Padfoot? What do you want?

Cheeky Bugger. Is the prefect even awake?

Doesn't look like it

Do you want to leave?

But I'm almost finished my Transfiguration homework

Can I leave then?

No, I'm not sitting here doing homework by myself. Do I look like Remus?

Nope. It would be quite fun if you did though

You wipe that filthy smirk off your face NOW Black

My face and my filthy smirk are my own, and I shall do as I wish with them.

As soon as we're out of detention I'll kick your arse

No you won't. I'm twice your height you stupid twat

Half a head taller than me is not twice my height

It is when you've got a head as big as yours

Pot. Kettle. Black

Spoon. Spatula. Green. Your turn.

Oh haha, very funny

That's me. So this Christmas ball thingy, who are you going with?

Evans

And when Evans rejects you, who will you go with

Dunno. Probably ask Cheng

Toby or Yumiko

Again, away with the filthy smirk. Yumiko.

She'll probably accept. She fancies you, you know.

She does not, it's a perfectly plutonic relationship and her brother is big and might hurt me so shhh

You are such a pussy James.

Who are you asking then?

Well I want to go with Remus. But we'll just be asking for some variety of arse kicking if we do. We will won't we?

Very true. You will.

So what am I going to do?

Just take a girl

Remus will be pissed

Not if you take a friend. I thought it was the fan girls that got to him

True. I'll take a friend. Do you think Peter would be upset if I took Alice?

Yes, you complete bastard for even thinking about it.

What? She's my only friend who's a girl who doesn't seem to obviously want my sex

You're an arrogant twat. And Lily doesn't want your sex.

Sorry mate, but she does. They all do. Even you do.

Sirius. Look at my frown. Are you seeing my frown?

Alright. Maybe you don't. But most of them do, you've got to admit.

I refuse to feed your ego. Since when are you and Alice friends anyway?

We've just been getting on well in potions lately.

I wish I could say the same for me and Evans

Poor Prongs. You done with the transfiguration yet?

No. I've been passing notes to you stupid

You have five minutes. Then I'm going.

Bollocks. You're just going to sit there and pout till I'm done.

True. I'm not walking back by myself.

Exactly.

*

"So Moony, how was the evening with the Uber Bitch?" Asked Sirius, lounging on one of the common room's sofas. He lifted his legs to make room for Remus, who had that funny crooked smile on his face that Sirius loved so much.

"Actually, it was surprisingly pleasant" he said as he stretched on to the sofa

"You're kidding" laughed James. Remus shrugged.

"Most of the stuff people say about her is complete crap"

"no way" snorted Peter

"yes way"

"No!"

"Yes. She's lovely"

"really?"

"Yes!"

"Wow... that's... wow" James shook his head to himself and went back to scribbling at his transfiguration homework

"I know" Remus said. He leaned back on Sirius and quietly asked "Did Wormtail explain to you and Prongs..."

"Explain what? About the new developments with your furry little problem?"

"Yes. Those." Remus said quietly. Sirius Picked up his hand and analysed the dusting of light brown hair on Remus's knuckles.

"It'll be alright Moony." Sirius set Remus's hand back down on his own knee smiling "We've the Christmas ball to worry about before the next full moon" Remus dropped his gaze and sat up.

"About that... I can't go. It's our first Christmas without Dad... erm... and I'm not leaving my Mum by herself"

"You wouldn't have to. The ball's on the last day of term, people don't leave till the day after. I think all of us are going home again this year anyway"

"Oh... well I don't have any decent dress robes any way" Remus shrugged again. Standing this time

"We'll see about that" Sirius smirked

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing Moony. Absolutely nothing"

"The evil glint in your eye begs to differ... I don't have a date any way. Because I can hardly take you can I?"
"Nope. Me and James discussed this before, we'd just be begging for trouble"

"James... the likelihood of Lily accepting your certain and imminent invitation isn't very high, is it?"

"A bloke can dream" James sighed

"Would you mind if I took her instead?" And as Remus asked, the pitch of his voice got as high as James's face got red

"That would depend if you'd mind being hexed back to the Goblin revolution"

"James, my intentions are pure! It's better your gay friend takes her than say... I don't know someone who might want to sleep with her"

"Excellent point Moony, ask away"

"Well that's that sorted" Remus smiled "Who are you going to ask Sirius?"

"No idea... I was thinking... Alice? If that's alright with you Pete?"

"Fine. Do you all know Kate Finch in Hufflepuff?" Peter grinned. Sirius had absolutely no idea who the girl was. He looked over to James who was equally confused looking. They both glanced pleadingly at Remus who replied hesitantly.

"Yeah, we know her" Remus said "She's very... er... quiet, isn't she?" Peter nodded enthusiastically.

"I'm taking her"

"Great!" Grinned Sirius

"Yeah, good for you Pete, she's fit... probably"

*

Remus awoke with a start as James jabbed him in the chest. He snorted as he woke

"Wha?!"

"Who the hell is Kate Finch?" asked Sirius
"You woke me up for that?" sighed Remus, pulling his pillow over his ear. James yanked it away.

"Yep! Who is she? Me and Padfoot have been trying to work it out for hours... since Pete fell asleep!"

"And we talked about it for like... half an hour"
"We couldn't work it out"

"And by the time we realised we could just ask you"

"You were asleep!"

"And it's just been driving us mental"
"So if you could tell us"

"We'd deeply appreciate it"

"Alright!" Remus sat up and rubbed his eyes "doing... that bloody... creepy sentence finishing... erm... you know Herbology class"

"Yeah?" said James hopefully

"She stands five people down from Sirius" James and Sirius exchanged a quick glance.
"We still don't know who she is" said Sirius
"Erm... muggleborn, small, mousey er... braces... always has her hair pulled back"

"Nope, no idea" James shook his head

"I'll point her out the next time we have a lesson with the Hufflepuffs" Sighed Remus

"Which is..."
"Charms tomorrow" he huffed, and lay back down in his bed

"Right"

"Can I sleep now?"

"How about Prongs leaves and I hang round for little while"

"But I want to sleep..."

"But Moony..." whined Sirius

"But Padfoot..." Remus whined back

"But Moony..."

"But Padfoot..."

"But Prongs!" James said brightly "I felt left out."

"You can sleep here, but I'm not doing anything" Snapped Remus, he snatched his pillow back from James and lay it back over his head

"That'll do. Sod off Prongs!" Sirius hopped into bed and pulled the hangings around them

"Well... that was rude"

A/N: Yay yay! Thank you so much for all the reviews I got in the last chapter :D Much love for all!!!

Keep reading, update in the none too distant future!


And remember this bit in the last chapter?

"Thanks for that mental image Sirius, because now I'm imagining Snape in bright red heels, a leather mini skirt and fishnet stockings"

"Me too... in your mental image is he leaning into the window of some strange pervy man's car asking them if he's looking for a good time?" Sirius said playfully, Remus let out a snort of laughter

"He is now. And for some strange reason, the pervy stranger in the car is Lucius Malfoy"

Well Alexandros Black wrote a fic based on it! Read it! Tis funny :D

.net/s/5127431/1/Pretty_Snivelus

And remember to read my other fic The Simplest Things, which also has an update long over due