Thursday, 11 November 1976

Lena stared at Remus as she sat at the Hufflepuff table. He had been ignoring her since Monday. She had tried speaking to the hall in between classes, looking for him in his normal haunts, and trying to talk to him during meals. Everytime she got close to him, he would walk away.

"Lee, you good?" Ava asked.

"What?"

"You've been all sad and depressed since Monday and you're just staring at Remus," Maggie said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Lena groaned. "I think he's mad at me."

"Why?" Maggie asked.

"I was being an idiot," Lena said, keeping her answer vague.

"Well, that's not any different from how you usually are," Ava joked.

"Ha ha," Lena responded dryly.

"Just go try and apologize to him," Maggie suggested.

"I have been," Lena cried, throwing her hands in the air.

"So try again," Maggie ordered.

"Okay…"

"Like right now," Ava said.

"Right," Lena said, nodding her head and rising from the table.

She made her way across the Great Hall and as soon as she was within a meter of Remus, he rose from his spot and left the Great Hall. Lena sighed and kept walking to the spot Remus previously occupied and sat down next to Sirius.

"Hey, Lena," he said sheepishly.

"Hi, Sirius."

"Um, I wanted to apologize for, ya know, trying to Obliviate you."

"Look, I'm not saying it was okay but I understand why you did it. And I forgive you."

"Oh, thank Merlin," Sirius sighed in relief.

"So, I was wondering… um… if any of you knew if Remus would be willing to talk to me soon."

Peter grimaced. "He still needs some more time. He thinks you hate him or thinks he's a monster."

"But I don't!" Lena cried.

James spoke up. "We know that, Lena. He's just very insecure about this side of himself."

Monday, 15 November 1976

Remus was still avoiding Lena like the plague and everyone who knew what happened wanted things to go back to the way they were before Lena found out. Everyone hated seeing Remus so tense and Lena so upset. James and Sirius were even more fed up with the whole situation than Peter was because they knew Remus liked Lena as more than a friend and they suspected Lena felt the same.

Naturally, James took it upon himself to fix the situation at hand. As soon as the final class of the day ended, James pulled out Marauder's Map and located where Lena and Remus were. James made his way to the Great Lake and found Lena leaning her back on a tree and sketching.

"Go to the owlery," James abruptly ordered her.

"Hello to you too, James," Lena said lightly.

"Lena, you should go to the owlery right now."

"And why is that?"

"Remus is in the owlery. Go and talk to him."

"But he hates the owlery. All the owls freak him out. He thinks they're gonna attack him like the birds did to Tippi Hedren in The Birds."

"Yeah, I still don't know what a Tippi Hedren or The Birds are. And he knows that you know about his weird fear. So he also knows you wouldn't look for him there."

"Oh. That's pretty smart of him."

"Well, he's a smart guy."

"That he is."

"Ya know, 'cept when he's being dumb. Like right now."

Lena snorted.

"Thank you, James," Lena said with an appreciative smile.

Lena quietly opened the door to the owlery. Remus was sitting by the opening and did not see or hear her enter. Lena could see from the tension in his shoulders that Remus was lost in his unpleasant thoughts. Lena quietly locked the door. She did not want anyone walking in and overhearing her and Remus.

Lena made her way across the owlery and sat behind Remus and crossed her legs. She wrapped her arms around his body and clasped her hands together over his chest. She leaned her body against his back and placed her head on his left shoulder and turned her head slightly to plant a soft kiss on his cheek.

"Hi, Remus."

She let go of her hands and used them to gently turn Remus' head to face her.

Remus' eyes bore into her own and Lena felt that she would collapse in on herself. Nothing had happened yet but she could feel the importance of their impending conversation weighing down on her. "What are you doing here, Lena?"

"Looking for you," she whispered.

"I don't want to talk about it, Lena."

"We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. I just want to talk to you about something. I miss talking to you. I miss spending time with you."

"You don't have to say that. You don't have to lie. I wouldn't blame you for not wanting to talk to me. I could've hurt you, Lena. I'm a monster."

"Stop it, Remus. I'm not lying. I love being with you. And you're not a monster. You don't want to hurt anyone. You're the kindest person I know and being a werewolf doesn't change that," Lena said passionately as she ran her thumb over his left cheek.

Lena's hands remained on his face as Remus turned his body to face as she continued speaking. "I need you to understand I don't see you differently, Remus. You are my friend and I love you."

Remus' heart swelled. Her words offered him comfort that did not know he needed or, rather, that he convinced himself he didn't need. He felt a little foolish as he wished that Lena meant he loved him as more than a friend.

Remus leaned and wrapped his around Lena. She did the same to him as he buried his face into the crook of his neck. Lena could feel Remus' breath on her skin and she hoped he could not feel her heart race. "Thank you…for saying that," Remus choked out. "And for not ratting me out."

"I'd never do that to you, Remus."

Remus pulled his face away from Lena's neck and the both let their arms fall. Remus took her hands in his own and struggled to meet her eyes with his own as his own as he spoke.

"I'm sorry for freaking you out and not telling you I'm a werewolf."

"To be honest, it was more of Sirius trying to Obliviate me that freaked me out."

Remus let out a small chuckle. "I'm really sorry about that. I didn't know that they decided to do that."

"I figured. And you shouldn't be sorry for not telling me. It's your secret to share and you should only share with people you trust and feel comfortable with."

"It's not that I don't feel comfortable with you and don't trust you. I'm always comfortable around you and I do trust you. It's just… well… I've never told anyone that I'm a werewolf. You're the first person I've told and I just blurted it out because you were about to figure it on your own."

Lena tilted her head. "Wait, you didn't tell my brother, James, Sirius, or Frank?"

"No, they figured it out on their own in my second year."

"Are you kidding me? I chopped off half of my hair two years ago and Peter didn't even notice until he saw the family Christmas card!"

Remus laughed, "It was a nice haircut."

"Thanks," Lena said, her cheeks turning pink.

Lena and Remus stared at their hands with small smiles gracing both their faces. They sat in a comfortable silence until Lena decided to break it.

"So, do you want to tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"About you being a werewolf on your own terms."

"I'd like that."

"Whenever you're ready."

Remus squeezed her hands and laced his fingers with hers. "Lena, I consider you one of my closest friends and I trust you with a lot of things in my life… And now I want to trust you with the biggest secret of my life… When I was four, I was bitten by a werewolf. So, I'm a werewolf. And I understand if this changes things between us and you don't want to be my friend anymore."

Lena smiled. "Thank you for telling me. I think it does change things between us. Not the way I feel about you, though. I still love you. I just think it makes us closer."

Remus nodded. "I'm glad you know."

"Me too."

Remus turned around to face the opening. Remus patted to the empty spot next to him. "Come 'ere, Lee."

Lena scooted to the left on him. She could not help smiling as Remus wrapped his arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Hey, Remus?"

Remus hummed in response.

"Don't think of yourself as a werewolf first. You're a person, too."

Lena blushed furiously as Remus kissed the top of her head and murmured, "I'll work on that."