Friday, 15th September 1972

Time seemed to slow as Remus stared in horror at the lights of his spells shooting across the small amount of empty space between him and Professor Tenebris.

Her wand flashed through the air as she deflected the attacks harmlessly into the floor, before smirking at him.

'Attacking a teacher, Mister Lupin?'

'I'm sorry. It was instinct. I didn't know who it was.'

'Detention, I think.' She raised an eyebrow at him. 'Tonight, six pm, my office.'

Remus nodded, knowing there was no point arguing. But not relishing the idea of being alone with her.

She walked away and Peter leant in close to whisper to him. 'She was pointing her wand at you before you even turned around.'

'Is that what scared you?' Remus asked. 'I knew there was something behind me because I saw you react to it.'

Peter nodded. 'I thought she was going to cast something at your back.'

'Maybe that's why she's mad,' Remus said, narrowing his eyes as he watched her speaking with her another pair of students. 'She's upset that I caught her before she got the chance.'

Sirius and James were quick to join them when the lesson finally ended, and they left the classroom together.

'Mate, I cannot believe you attacked a teacher,' James said, laughing. 'I knew she was annoying you, but that was just…'

'Extreme,' Sirius finished for him when he failed to find a word. 'Legendary. Epic!'

'I didn't mean to,' Remus said. 'I thought there was someone attacking me.'

'There was,' Peter insisted. 'I'm telling you,' he turned to James and Sirius, 'she was pointing her wand at his back.'

James frowned. 'Are you sure?'

Sirius turned around and started marching back to the classroom, his face contorted into an angry scowl. 'I'll kill her.'

Remus ran after him and dragged him back by the collar of his robes. 'Don't be ridiculous. You can't keep threatening to kill people who upset me.'

Sirius pouted. 'Why not?'

'Because it's… James, help me out here.'

'Because it's an overreaction,' James said. 'Besides, we have better ways of getting revenge.'

'We are not taking revenge on a teacher.' Were his friends all insane?

'Why not?' James asked. Now he was the one pouting.

Remus prayed to Merlin to give him the strength to deal with hotheaded, pre-teen boys. 'Because… Pete, help me out here.'

'Because she would assume it was Remus and he would get into even more trouble,' Peter said. He narrowed his eyes in thought. 'Unless we do it during your detention.'

'Peter!'

Peter shrugged. 'I am a marauder, Remus. What d'you expect?'

James grabbed Peter's head and planted a wet kiss on his cheek. 'Good man!'

'I really wish you'd find a new way to express your approval.' Peter wiped the dampness from his cheek and scowled at James.

'For the last time, we are not taking revenge on Professor Tenebris,' Remus said. 'I will do my detention and we'll forget this ever happened.'

James shook his head sadly. 'That's just not the Marauder way, Remus.'

'A Marauder will always come to a fellow Marauders aid,' Peter said, quoting directly from the Marauders' Code.

'I don't need aid!' Remus was almost yelling now. If they continued on this foolhardy course, they were just going to make everything worse.

'I didn't think I needed aid, either,' Sirius said. 'But you didn't let that stop you.'

'That was a completely different situation. And a completely different solution,' Remus said. 'I didn't go to your house and take personal revenge on your mother, did I?'

Sirius chuckled. 'No, but that would be hysterical.'

James rubbed his chin. 'We wouldn't be able to do it until we're of age. Any magic outside of the house would be picked up by the Trace, and we'd have to use magic to get in. Unless you could get us in?'

Sirius grinned. 'I could get us in. It's getting to London, that's the problem.'

'If we did it in the holidays, we could use the Knight Bus,' James said. 'But, during term time, they won't pick up anyone from Hogsmeade who's young enough to be a student.'

'Have you all gone mad?' Remus asked, shoving his hands into his hair and gripping it hard. 'Now we're attacking Sirius' parents?'

Sirius reached out and tugged his hands away from his head. 'Stop that, you'll hurt your beautiful hair.'

Remus rolled his eyes but allowed his hands to drop back to his sides.

'Remus is right, though. My mother would eat you alive if she caught you.'

'She'd hurt the heir to the House of Potter?' James asked, quirking an eyebrow cockily.

Sirius nodded seriously. 'If she caught you trespassing in her house? Sure. She'd get away with it too.'

'How's she going to catch me if I'm invisible?'

'That's a good point,' Sirius said. 'But I still don't think it's worth the risk.'

'And neither is attacking Professor Tenebris,' Remus said. 'It's just a detention, for Merlin's sake.'

'Alright, fine,' James said. He pointed at Remus and wagged his finger. 'But if she comes after you again, we're revisiting this conversation.'

Remus breathed out a relieved sigh. 'Thank you.'

Even though Remus was prepared to take his (undeserved) punishment with good grace, he still wanted more information about Professor Tenebris. He hadn't been able to shake the feeling that there was something just… wrong about her. It was during History of Magic, their last class of the week, that he had a brainwave.

Binn's was droning on about the formation of the Ministry of Magic in 1707 and the massive undertaking involved in separating the administration of the Magical world from the Muggle world when it occurred to Remus that the Ministry kept records. Of everyone. And that would include Professor Tenebris.

He couldn't get to the Ministry himself, but he did know two people who could. Two people who happened to know he was a werewolf, making them more likely to believe him that there was something off about her.

Peter was fast asleep next to him, so he pulled out a fresh sheet of parchment and began drafting a letter.

Fabian and Gideon,

I hope you're both well.

My friends and I are working hard to prepare for the first event at the end of the month. Thank you, by the way, for leaving the polyjuice and the ingredients we need for the potion to animate the armour. They've been extremely useful.

I'm writing to you because of the new Defence teacher who's replaced Professor Hawthorne. She knows of my condition and has been treating me rather unfairly in class, but the thing that concerns me is that my instincts are telling me she's dangerous. Every time I'm in her presence, I feel it. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end and a shudder of revulsion runs down my spine.

I'm hoping that you would be willing to search the Ministry records for her and see if there's anything suspicious in her past? I realise it's a lot to ask, but I really am very worried, and I don't know anyone else that would believe me.

Your fellow mischief-maker,

Remus Lupin

Not wanting James and Peter to question why he was writing to the twins, Remus waited until they were all engrossed in their homework after dinner before telling them he was leaving early so he could stop by the library before his detention. Instead of leaving the Grand Staircase on the fourth floor, though, he ran down to the owlery as fast as he could manage and called for Rieka from the bottom of the stairs. Being the wonderful owl that she was, she immediately responded to his call, flying down from a window to land on his shoulder and nuzzle his ear affectionately. Remus felt a bit guilty that he didn't have time to make a fuss of her, but she seemed to understand he was in a hurry and allowed him to attach the letter to her leg, before hooting softly and soaring into the sky. Within seconds, she was nothing but a dark speck against the endless blue, and then she was gone.

Six pm was drawing near, so Remus dashed back inside and made his way to Professor Tenebris' office. When he knocked, her chillingly musical voice called for him to enter. Remus waited for the shudder to subside before pushing the door open and walking in.

Her office was small, but she had made good use of the space. There was a compact desk in one corner, stacked with paperwork, and the matching chair would tuck neatly away underneath it when not in use. Shelving ran the entire circumference of the room, but was positioned high on the wall, close to the ceiling, to avoid encroaching into the usable floor area, and they were bursting with books. Remus noted some of the titles as his eyes catalogued the layout of the room. Many of them were related to duelling, but there were a few on dark creatures, several about potions and one he spotted called Cauldron Making for Beginners.

Professor Tenebris was perched on the edge of the windowsill with a steaming mug of something in her hands and she watched him as he walked to the centre of the space, scanning his new environment as he moved. She didn't speak until he made eye contact with her.

'Do you know why you're here, Mister Lupin?'

Remus inclined his head. 'Because I attacked you in class.'

She drained the rest of the liquid in her mug before placing it down on the windowsill behind her. 'Wrong. Try again.'

Remus licked his lips and considered her. What answer was she looking for? Well, it was obvious, wasn't it? 'Because I'm a werewolf.'

'Correct.' She tapped her nails on the windowsill rhythmically as she stared at him. Remus refused to look away despite the chill her gaze caused.

'How do you feel about me, Mister Lupin?'

Was this a trick question? 'You're my teacher, I respect you, of course.'

She chuckled. 'Come on now, Mister Lupin, be honest.'

Remus swallowed. Did she really want an honest answer, or did she just want an excuse to punish him more? Perhaps there was some middle-ground he could tread. 'I think you treat me unfairly in class. Most likely because I'm a werewolf and you believe I don't deserve to be here.'

'I didn't ask how you think I feel about you. I want to know how you feel about me. If I were to tell you that you're right, that I do treat you unfairly in class. And it's completely intentional. Werewolves shouldn't be allowed wands, and you definitely shouldn't be in my class. What would that make you feel?'

Remus clenched his fists at his sides. Her words made him angry. They made him want to prove he was better than her. So he took a deep breath and forced himself to relax. 'It makes me want to prove you wrong.'

'Good,' she said, drawing out the word. 'I saw you get angry then, but you controlled it. Your self-control really is quite impressive for your age.' She smiled at him. 'I noticed it after our first lesson together. What I said to you should have riled you up far more than it did. I called your lycanthropy an affliction and implied you would use it as an excuse to be lazy, and you didn't even shout at me. Honestly, I've been trying to make you mad for days, but you're always so calm.' She shook her head in disbelief. 'Your friends, though. Especially Potter. He's a force to be reckoned with, isn't he? Do you know, he glared at me during his entire detention? It was all I could do to not laugh. Does he know what you are? Oh, feel free to sit down.' She waved her hand at the chair tucked beneath her desk.

Remus stared at her, dumbfounded. What the hell was going on here? 'No, thank you. I'm fine standing. Why are you trying to make me angry? Do you want to get me expelled?'

She shook her head. 'No. I was testing you. Seeing how good your instincts are. Trying to find your breaking point. You didn't answer my question, though. Do your friends know about you?'

'Sirius does. James and Peter don't.' Remus hoped if he answered her question, she would answer his. 'Why are you trying to find my breaking point?'

'So I can train you to harness your anger and use it to protect yourself from a world that despises you,' she said simply. 'Why have you told Mister Black and not the others? Do you think they'll desert you?'

'You want to train me?'

'That is my job, yes. Potter and Pettigrew?'

'I didn't tell Sirius, he worked it out. I haven't told them because it doesn't seem worth the risk.'

'Not worth the risk?' she asked, frowning. 'Friends that know what you are and love you anyway are worth any risk, Mister Lupin.'

Remus raised his eyebrows. 'And what, precisely, would you know about it?' His tone was clipped and aggressive.

She laughed. 'So you do know how to bite. There's that fire I saw on the first day. What do I know about it, you ask? Well, Mister Lupin, while they call you werewolf, they call me vampire.'

Remus' eyes widened. That explained what he was feeling when he was around her. The two diseases were fatal to each other. Her blood would kill him instantly, and his wolf's saliva would do the same to her. 'You have sanguinaria?'

'I do. Are you afraid of me now?'

Remus wanted to prove that he wasn't, so he turned his back on her, walked over to the chair she'd offered him earlier and sat down. 'Of course not. If Dumbledore hired you, I assume you have your thirst under control.'

'For many years now, yes.' She eyed him for a moment. 'You should tell your friends, they seem to care a great deal for you.'

'I don't think that's really any of your business.'

'You're right. It's not. But I want you to be as prepared as possible when you leave here. Friends that truly know you will be invaluable in the outside world.'

'I have Sirius.'

She nodded. 'You do. And an idiot could see how much he cares about you. But you will need more. I don't think you understand just how dangerous it will be for you when you come of age.'

'I can take care of myself.'

'I'm not disputing that. I was pointing my wand at your back for barely a second before you attacked me earlier. Your instincts are strong, and you trust them, which is vital. But Potter and Pettigrew will find out, eventually. The longer you keep it from them, the harder it will be for them to forgive you for it.'

She obviously didn't know about the Marauders' Code, which expressly permitted him to keep secrets for as long as he wished. But he knew, even with that, she had a point. The longer he went without telling them, the more offended they would be that he hadn't trusted them.

'But what if they turn against me?' he asked, hating the way his voice wobbled.

'From what I've seen, I find that extremely unlikely. Potter was ready to tear out my throat when I knocked you out.' She laughed and waved her hand through the air. 'Sorry, vampire humour.'

Remus chuckled. 'No need to apologise. Making jokes helps sometimes.'

She smiled. 'Just, think about it?'

Remus nodded. 'I will.'

'Good. Now. I'm not going to let up on you in class. You're already better than everyone else in your year, but you need to be better than people more experienced than you. Just remember, I'm only pushing you because I want you to survive when you leave here, and not because I think you're useless, or because I hate you.'

'I will,' he said again, inclining his head. 'Everyone else is going to think you're just picking on me, though.'

'Let them. They'll assume I don't like you because you're too smart.'

'What a stupid reason not to like someone.'

'Yes, well, so is having a disease, but here we are.'

Remus let out a surprised laugh. 'Indeed.'

They smiled at each other in mutual understanding, and then Professor Tenebris pushed herself off the windowsill. 'Right then, I think that's long enough to pretend you were punished for attacking me. That was excellent, by the way, ten points to Gryffindor for the quickest reflexes I've seen since my duelling days.'

Remus stood up and held out his hand to her. 'Thank you,' he said. 'For caring.'

She smiled and shook his hand. 'You're welcome. Thank me by keeping yourself alive.'

'I promise to do my very best.'

Remus took the long way back to the Tower, thinking hard about revealing his secret to James and Peter. It was true that every sign pointed to them accepting him without question, but he was still nervous. They may hypothetically be okay with werewolves, even sympathetic towards them, but when faced with one wearing the skin of their friend it might be a different story. He went back and forth several times, but by the time he reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, he'd made his decision.

'I'm calling a Marauder meeting,' he announced after closing the door securely behind him.

James, Peter and Sirius all looked up from their various activities.

'Are we getting revenge on Tenebris, after all?' James asked, grinning. 'Because I had an idea—'

'No,' Remus said, interrupting him before he could start on a thirty-minute monologue outlining what was sure to be an overly complicated mess of pointlessness. 'I have something to tell you.'

Sirius looked at him with a clear question in his eyes. Remus offered him a minute nod, and Sirius' eyes widened before he beckoned him over. 'Let's do it on my bed.'

Remus joined him and Sirius took his hand and squeezed it. Using the noise of James and Peter relocating to cover his words, he whispered, 'Are you sure?'

Remus nodded firmly, his jaw set in grim determination. 'It's time.'

Once James and Peter had made themselves comfortable at the foot of Sirius' bed, they looked at him expectantly and Remus found it difficult to hold their gaze. He had the urge to fidget with something, but Sirius still had a hold of his hand, so he started pulling at a loose thread on the hem of his robes.

'Before I tell you, I need you to promise you won't tell anyone,' Remus said. 'Even if you decide you don't want to be friends with me anymore.'

James frowned at him, but nodded. 'Alright. What was it you said last week, Sirius? Oh that's right,' he put his right hand over his heart and held up his left, 'I solemnly swear never to reveal the secret Remus is about to entrust me with,' he said, his face deadly serious.

Peter copied him and repeated the vow, and then Sirius did the same. It wasn't really necessary, he already knew the secret, but Remus appreciated the gesture.

He smiled weakly at them all. His heart was pounding in his chest and his stomach was churning. 'I… er… What I told you before, about my scars, the car crash. It wasn't true,' he said. Great start, Lupin, annoy them by letting them know you lied to their faces. But they both just smiled and nodded at him encouragingly, and Sirius squeezed his hand again. There was no easy way to say it, no way to break it to them gently. So he took a deep breath and just said it.

'I'm a werewolf.' He waited a beat, and then he looked up to gauge their reactions.

He was expecting shock. Maybe fear. Not leaping off the bed fear—he had more faith in them than that—but fidgety, shuffling backwards, wide-eyed fear. Maybe.

James grinned at him. 'Thought so. I was just waiting for the next full moon to see if you made an excuse to disappear.'

'Really?' Peter asked. Remus startled and looked at him, but Peter was looking at James. 'Merlin, you're oblivious. I figured it out back in March. Assumed you both already knew, and we were just waiting for Remus to tell us.'

Remus stared at them. 'You both already knew?'

Peter nodded. 'There were a lot of clues, but—'

'What clues?' James asked, his tone incredulous.

'He was never around on the full moons for one,' Peter said. 'And he didn't hurt himself carving the wood for the painting box. Come on? You must have thought that was strange?'

'He's Remus,' James said, waving his hand at him. 'I just figured he was careful.' He glanced at Sirius. 'What about you? You haven't said anything.'

Sirius grinned. 'I worked it out last September, You two are just slow.'

James laughed. 'More like you were completely obsessed and watched his every move.'

'Can we get back on topic?' Remus asked, quietly. 'You haven't told me what you think.'

'What we think?' James frowned and reached out to clasp Remus' free hand, squeezing it gently. 'We want to help, of course. Just tell us what we can do.'

'Chocolate helps,' Peter said. 'That's what the books say.'

Remus' relief escaped his chest in a breathy laugh, and his eyes burned with tears at the thought of Peter voluntarily consulting a book for him. 'You checked a book?'

'Books,' Peter said, emphasising the plural. 'Several of them. I tried to make that scar potion with the lycanthropy in mind. But I guess my information was wrong? It would help if I could get a sample of the wolf's saliva—'

'Moony,' Sirius said. 'The wolf's name is Moony.'

Peter nodded as if it was completely normal to name a werewolf like it was a pet. 'Moony's saliva, so I can work out—'

'Are you mad?' Remus asked. 'You can't go anywhere near me on the full moon.'

Peter rolled his eyes. 'Obviously. I'm not stupid, Remus. I just meant, does Moony, like, drool at all?'

'I don't know? I don't remember anything.'

'Where do you go? Can we check the place the morning after? It would really help me figure out where I went wrong.'

Sirius shook his head, looking scared. 'No, not a good idea. I went in there once before moonrise and Moony went mental at the smell of me. Ripped himself to shreds.'

'That was right before though,' Remus said. 'It might be alright if there's a whole month for the smell to fade.' He really hated his scars, and if Peter thought it would help…

'I don't want to risk you like that. They're just scars, Remus. It's not worth it.'

'Sirius is right,' James said. 'Nothing is worth risking you getting hurt. But, Sirius has been there? You knew he knew about you?'

'He told me he knew in April. But he followed me there on New Year's eve,' Remus said, giving Sirius a mock glare.

'Hey, I apologised for that. You're not allowed to keep bringing things up after you've forgiven someone,' Sirius said, laughing. He turned back to James. 'I go every month and sit outside talking to Moony through the door.'

'Does that help?' Peter asked. 'Can't Moony smell you?'

Sirius shook his head. 'No, Dumbles enchanted it. Smells can't get through. And it seems to help. Moony just listens to me instead of hurting himself.'

'Well, we'll all come then,' James said.

'You don't have to do that,' Remus said. 'It's cold and boring. You'd be miserable.'

James laughed. 'How is sneaking out of the school and spending the night with a werewolf, in any way boring?'

Remus rolled his eyes. There was no arguing with James.

The next morning, Sirius, James and Peter were ready to start the day, but Remus was still fast asleep, and Sirius had been delegated the job of waking him.

Flopping down onto the bed beside him, he stroked a finger down the side of his face and took great joy in being able to use his favourite nickname in front of the others. 'Wakey, wakey, Wolf Boy. Lots to do today and we're all waiting for you.'

'Ger'off,' Remus said, pushing his hand away. 'That tickles.'

'Hurry up, or I'll tickle something else,' he said, dropping a kiss on Remus' cheek before he could think twice about it, and then watching with delight as the skin turned pink.

'Fine, I'm getting up,' Remus groaned, rolling over to look at him. 'Why are you so bloody cheerful?'

'Because I'm not keeping any secrets from any of you anymore,' Sirius sang, grinning happily. 'It's very freeing.'

Remus swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. 'I'm sorry. I should have told them sooner.'

'I could say, I told you so, but I'm not going to because I'm a bigger person than that.'

Remus rolled his eyes. 'You just did.'

'Huh, I did, didn't I?' Sirius said without an ounce of apology. He grabbed Remus' hands and pulled him into a hug. 'I'm so happy you told them.'

'I can see that,' Remus mumbled into his shoulder.

'We're happy you told us, too,' James called from where he was waiting on his bed. 'Aren't we, Pete?'

'Very happy,' Peter confirmed. 'But if you don't let go of him, Sirius, we're never going to get this potion brewed.'

Sirius laughed and released Remus—who looked relieved to be free—allowing him to attend to his bathroom needs before they went downstairs for breakfast.

'It's not going to take three of us to…' James stopped speaking to glance around the table, then he leant forward and in a much quieter voice continued, 'brew the potion. And we still need a suit of armour. Why don't you two work on that, while Pete and I do the potion?'

'You want us to kidnap a suit of armour?' Sirius whispered.

James nodded. 'And bring it to the Den.'

'How the fuck do you expect us to do that?'

'I don't know, do I? Use your imaginations. You can use the cloak.'

Sirius scoffed. 'Oh sure, that'll help.'

'You can do the potion if you want,' James said, shrugging and turning his attention to his bowl. 'I don't mind helping Remus with the armour.'

'No, no. It's fine. I'm sure we'll think of something,' Sirius said quickly before James could settle on the change of plans.

James smirked. 'That's what I thought.'

Peter chuckled and shook his head.

Sirius looked between them and frowned. 'What's that supposed to mean?'

James widened his eyes in a failed attempt to look innocent. 'Just that we know you'd much rather be running around the castle than cooped up in a tiny room all day.'

Sirius looked to Remus to see how he was reacting to the exchange, but he had his nose buried in the massive book on magical theory he'd been carting around all week and was oblivious to his surroundings, so he turned back to James. 'We'll do the armour. You do the potion.'

James snorted and returned to his breakfast of cereal and fruit.

Half an hour later, Sirius and Remus were alone and wandering the sixth floor on the hunt for a suitable suit of armour to steal. There were several options, but they wanted the easiest path possible back to the Den, and there were quite a few students milling about, which was making the planning difficult.

'Do you think they're really okay with it?' Remus asked.

Sirius glanced down at him. 'I told you they would be.'

'I know. It just seems to good to be true.'

Sirius shrugged. 'Maybe you just have great taste in friends.'

'I didn't exactly choose you nutcases,' Remus pointed out. 'You sort of just… forced yourselves on me.'

'Yeah,' Sirius grinned, 'we did, didn't we?'

'But, seri—' Remus stopped before completing the word and changed it. 'But really though, they don't hate me?'

'They don't hate you,' Sirius said, putting his arm around his shoulders and pulling him in to his side. 'They're planning on coming with me next Saturday and everything.'

'You don't think hearing me… you know, will scare them away?'

'Remus, no one who heard that could feel anything but a desire to help make it better.'

'But that's the point, isn't it? They can't make it better. There's nothing they can do and being helpless is scary.'

'Never say never, my little Moonpie.' Sirius ruffled his hair and laughed when it made Remus scowl at him. 'I made you a promise, and I intend to keep it.' He stopped in front of an alcove. 'This one,' he said with a decisive nod. 'There's the passage just down the way that'll take us one corridor away from the Den. Then we'll just have to wait for the rest of the route to be clear.'

They transported the suit to the passageway piece by piece, and once they had the whole thing hidden away inside, they hovered around the corridor waiting for it to clear. It shouldn't take long, it was almost lunchtime after all.

As they waited, Sirius' mind drifted back to James' strange comments at breakfast. It was like he thought Sirius had some ulterior motive for wanting to work with Remus. As if he fancied him or something, which was just ridiculous. But he had been spending a lot of time with Remus, even sleeping with him at night, so he couldn't really blame James for getting that impression. He needed to do something to prove James was wrong, so he'd drop it. But what?

'We can probably get started now,' Remus said, interrupting his thoughts. 'Everyone seems to have gone to lunch.'

It didn't take them long to lug the armour down to the Den, but it was heavy and Sirius' arms were killing him by the time they were finished. Not that he'd ever admit it. When they arrived, James and Peter helped them get it all stacked up in the corner of the room. Then they finished up the first stage of brewing and placed the potion under stasis to await the daisies they'd be retrieving the following weekend.

After lunch, Remus left them to visit the library. Apparently, he was finished with his book on magical theory and was ready to start working on some ideas for the magic detector. And for that he needed—he had told them as if it wasn't obvious—more books.

The moment Remus was out of hearing range, werewolf hearing range that is, James rounded on them and launched into what appeared to be a pre-rehearsed speech.

'I've been thinking about what Professor Tenebris said to Remus. And she's right. It's going to be dangerous for him. But we're his friends. He isn't the only one who needs to be better than everyone else, is he? If we want to be able to defend him… or, you know, help him defend himself, then we need to be just as good as he is.'

'So we'll work hard,' Sirius said, shrugging.

James shook his head. 'That's not enough. I think we need Professor Tenebris to be just as hard on us as she is on him.'

Sirius thought about it. James was right. Would he really be the best he could be if he had the Professor praising him all the time like she had last week? He'd slacked right off after she'd called him a natural. But being a natural at something wasn't enough. It was like his art. He was a natural at that, but he wouldn't be as good at it as he was now if he hadn't put in the hours of practice, constantly pushing himself to paint a better picture than the last one. There had been no one to praise him then, only his own inner voice telling him it wasn't good enough.

'Yeah, alright. Shall we go and speak to her now?'

'Peter? You in?' James asked.

Peter sighed. 'Well, it was nice getting praise while it lasted. But if it's going to make Remus safer in the future, then I guess I'm in.'

'Yeah, you know what, James? I don't think this is going to work for Pete. He's different to us. He doesn't slack off when he's praised, he works harder.'

James hummed. 'I can see your point.'

'So I don't have to do it?'

'No, it's probably best if she treats you like she did last week, and we help you practise more after class,' James said. Peter looked relieved.

The Defence classroom was empty when they reached it, but the door to the office at the top of the stairs was open so they walked up to see if she was inside. When they reached the door, Sirius spotted her sat at a desk in the corner, hunched over some paperwork. He knocked gently on the open door with a single knuckle to get her attention.

She glanced up and smiled when she saw them. 'Hello boys, what can I do for you?'

'We were hoping to have a word,' James said. 'In private? It's about Remus.'

'Of course. Come in,' she said, standing up. She closed the door behind them after they entered the room and cast a silencing charm before perching herself on the windowsill and looking at them expectantly. Sirius was glad to see she was taking precautions to keep Remus' secret safe.

'I'm not sure how to begin,' James said, taking the lead. 'Last night, I guess. Remus returned from his detention with you and called a M… a meeting. He told me and Peter that he's a werewolf. We already knew, but we were glad he finally decided to tell us. Anyway—'

'I knew,' Peter said. 'You only suspected.'

'I knew it, really. I just didn't want it to be true, but what else could it have been?'

'Who knew what isn't important. I'm glad he told you,' Professor Tenebris said. 'Assuming you were supportive?'

James looked offended by the insinuation he could have been anything but supportive. 'Of course, we were. Anyway, Remus told us what you said about pushing him in class so he's able to protect himself when he leaves school.'

She nodded for him to continue.

'And we were talking. We think we need to be just as good as he is so we can help him protect himself. So we wanted to ask if you would push us too, the way you're pushing Remus? Well, me and Sirius anyway, Pete needs all the praise he can get, or he's likely to give up, but we're going to help him after class too.'

Her face broke out into a beaming smile. 'You really care about him, don't you?'

All three of them nodded seriously, and James shrugged. 'He's Remus,' he said as if that was all the explanation that was necessary.

'I'll admit, I was hoping you would come to me after he told you, but I thought it unlikely that boys as young as you would have the maturity to make this choice.'

'So you'll do it?' Sirius asked.

She inclined her head. 'I will. The question is, can you take it? I'm likely to be extremely harsh.'

Sirius and James glanced at each other and nodded, before looking back at Professor Tenebris. 'We can take it,' they said simultaneously.

'I want you to promise me that if it becomes too much, you'll let me know. I don't want to make you miserable.'

They both nodded and made the promise to tell her if they couldn't take the criticism anymore, before saying their goodbyes.

'I thought that went well,' James said when they reached the corridor.

'Very well,' Sirius agreed. 'I have to admit, I'm a little nervous for class on Monday, though.'

Later that evening, Remus joined him on his bed and handed him a familiar notebook.

'Since James and Peter are coming next Saturday, you probably won't need anything else to distract you, so I thought I should give you this now. I wrote in it during the summer like you asked.'

Sirius took the book and grinned. 'Thanks, will you stay while I read it?'

'No, I need to finish my essay for McGonagall. I've been so focused on figuring out the magic detector I forgot all about it.'

'How's that going?'

Remus' face brightened as he smiled widely and his eyes sparkled with excitement. 'Brilliantly. I have a working theory of how to achieve it, I'm just working out the spells and runes we'll need.'

'Already?'

Remus smirked. 'Did you doubt me, Star Boy?'

'Star Boy?' James yelled, suddenly taking notice of their conversation. 'Wait. Wait, was that flirting?'

'No,' Sirius and Remus said at the same time, but while Remus' voice was incredulous, Sirius' was defensive.

'Alright,' James said, laughing. 'Just checking.'

Remus stared at James with confusion contorting his features for a beat, before returning his attention to Sirius. 'Anyway,' he said. 'Enjoy. I'll see you later.'

As soon as he was gone, Sirius opened the notebook and flicked through to the right page, settling back against his pillow to read.

Hello Pup,

I'm sure you're wondering why I'm calling you that. Don't worry, I plan to explain. You see, I've been doing some research on your star, and I'm sure you already know most of this, but I'm going to tell you, anyway. Sirius is often known as the Dog Star. The Ancient Greeks believed that emanations from Sirius caused dogs to behave oddly during the hottest days of summer, and the Romans called the star 'Little Dog.' It's interesting just how many cultures associated your star with canines; it's been known as, 'the dog that follows mountain sheep,' 'dog-face,' 'the coyote star,' and 'moon-dog.' In Chinese astronomy it's known as 'the star of the celestial wolf,' but I think my personal favourite is 'wolf-star'. It has a nice ring to it, don't you think?

The one that I predict will be your favourite, though, has nothing to do with dogs at all. In Scandinavia your star has been known as 'Loki's torch'. I thought the association with the trickster God would appeal to you the most.

When I thought about it, you're very doglike, and I don't mean that in a bad way. You get excited easily, and jump headfirst into everything you do. You're loyal, and affectionate and you hate to be ignored. For all of these reasons, I have dubbed thee, 'Pup'.

Do you like it?

Yours in anticipation,

Wolf Boy