"I told you I was dangerous," Remus said, turning to look at Hazel in the light of the waning moon. They'd agreed to meet up and talk after dinner, walking in frigid silence until they reached an empty classroom. The second the door closed behind them, though, Remus was adamant that it all must have been his fault. "I told you that you should be afraid of me, that you shouldn't get too close to me in case… in case something like this happened. It was only a matter of time."

Sirius had been the one to lure Sev towards the Shrieking Shack, but no matter how much of the blame the others took, Remus would always blame himself. His greatest fear was hurting someone as a werewolf, and he'd gotten very close to doing it in a place he thought he could be safe. He'd worried about it since he was little, and now he'd spent all day trying to sleep and failing because he was terrified of Hazel leaving him over what had happened. He was lucky enough that Dumbledore hadn't turned him in to the Ministry. Their anti-werewolf laws meant that any werewolf that had come close to hurting someone would be put on trial and possibly sentenced to a life in Azkaban, if they weren't executed. The Ministry wasn't very kind to what they labeled "dangerous beasts".

Hazel was quiet, sitting on a desk near the window. She watched him in the moonlight, still trying to grapple with how she felt about the entire "prank". Sev was one of her closest friends, after all. But Remus didn't know anything about it, not until James filled him in. The horror on his face in Dumbledore's office was real. No one could fake that. "He… I don't blame you," Hazel said slowly. "Sirius was the one who sent him after a fully-transformed werewolf. Sirius knew what would happen. Sirius was the one who used you to… I know he says he just wanted to scare him, but we all know what it really is. We all know what he used you for, even if he says he just wanted to scare him." Remus nodded gravely. She'd called it "attempted murder" in Dumbledore's office before he walked in. He'd heard.

"I'm still too dangerous, even out there. I'm too dangerous for you, for anyone."

She got up and gently took his hand, careful to avoid a new purple bruise. "You didn't hurt him."

"That's what he says. That's what Dumbledore says," Remus stressed, "and who knows if any of it's true? What if they're just covering for me so… so I don't have to be thrown in Azkaban? Or worse? What if they're covering for me so they don't have to admit that they brought something this dangerous into the castle? What if Dumbledore is making him lie to protect me? To protect himself? His decisions about the school?" He dropped her hand so he could pace the classroom again. "What am I going to tell Mum and Dad? Dad never wanted to send me here, he said it was too dangerous, and when he found out about you he was afraid I might hurt you, even if it was just by accident."

In a steady voice, Hazel told him that everything would be fine in time. "Sev - Sev's going to have a lot to work out because of this. But he's not acting like you hurt him, and neither are James and Sirius and Peter. Neither is Dumbledore, for that matter. I haven't asked Madam Pomfrey - then again she probably wouldn't tell me anything - but I... it seems like you didn't actually... physically hurt him. If they're lying, they're doing a good job of it. But what matters is that he's alive, that you didn't turn him, that he'll be okay. As for your parents, I'm sure Dumbledore's written them already, so you need to write them too. Tell them everything. They're going to find out one way or another, and it's better if they get a letter from you sooner rather than later."

It was good to hear, but he was still worried about a lot. Remus turned back to look at her, his voice nearly catching in his throat as he asked, "Does this mean you're going to leave me?" He felt like he had a rock in his stomach as he waited for her answer. After all, he'd nearly killed one of her best friends.

"Rem, no." She got up, coming over to give him a hug. "No, you don't have to worry about that. No."

"You have every reason to. I'm dangerous. A werewolf killed your dad, and now a werewolf - this werewolf - nearly killed one of your best friends," he spoke into her shoulder. "Why did it have to be him? Why did Sirius have to... I don't want to hurt you. I never want to hurt you. It seems like even if I don't actually, physically hurt you when I transform, I still find some way to hurt you anyway. You'd be better off without me. You'd be safer without me, at least." Despite everything he said, he didn't let go of her.

Rubbing circles into his back, she shook her head, gently telling him, "No, Rem. This was - you didn't do anything wrong. You can't help what you go after when you transform. You'd attack your best friends if they weren't Animagi. This isn't your fault." She took a deep breath, afraid to ask because she was afraid of his answer. "Do you really want me to leave?"

"No, but it's okay if you want to. Really. I'd understand." His voice was tinged with fear, fear of being abandoned and fear of hurting her any more. He didn't know which one he wanted to be stuck with.

"I'm not leaving you, Rem," she promised, letting go just enough to put a finger under his chin and guide his lips to hers. "I care about you so much. I know… I know I can't make you… not a werewolf, but I want to help. Even if I can't make it easier, I want to be there when you get back from the Shrieking Shack. I want to be there to help patch you up. I want to spend time with you and explore all the bookshops in Hogsmeade with you and - and be a normal couple. We can still be a normal couple, even if things are a little different for a couple nights a month. You make me so happy, Rem. We go through a lot, and we worry about each other a lot, but it's worth it. You're worth it."

He leaned in to give her another kiss, this one tinged with tears. "Thank you. You're way more than I deserve, way better than -"

"You deserve good things," she whispered as she held him close. "No matter what you think, you deserve good things."

The two of them stood there for a while, just holding onto each other. Remus eventually yawned, offering to walk her back to Ravenclaw Tower. But she declined, kissing him goodbye in front of the Gryffindor common room instead. She was going to find Sev. Between the two of them, she had quite the job of making sure they were even close to alright.