Remus' Secret

*~*~*~*

"What'd you think of that pop quiz in Transfiguration today?"

"That was rough. McGonagall is a complete witch, no joke intended. But you didn't seem to have such a hard time. But then, of course, you're a ::cough:: 'complete natural at Transfiguration'" I laughed, as Sirius was doing an uncanny impression of our severe Transfiguration professor. We were lounging in the common room, having just finished our homework. The girls were up in their dormitory, experimenting with the new makeup kit that Lily had been sent as a birthday present from her parents. Just after she had unwrapped the package, a chase had ensued. Lily, Sarah, Mary, Liz, and Carrie had chased Sirius and me around the common room, brandishing lipsticks and such. ("Come on! Please? We promise, it won't hurt a bit!") Sirius and I had narrowly escaped up the staircase to the boy's dormitories, and the girls had finally grown bored and retreated up to their dormitory to give each other 'makeovers'. Anyway, we decided to actually settle down and finish our homework. I glanced out of the large window on one side of the cozy, circular room. There was a full moon just beginning to rise over the treetops of the forbidden forest. Remus had rushed out of the common room earlier that evening, as he did every month. Sirius and I, as always, had been curious to where our friend was going. Just like clockwork, Remus proceeded to disappear once a month, every month. He claimed that his mother was ill, and that he had to go home to visit her. This story had pacified us, at least up until we had witnessed his mother picking him up from the Hogwarts Express during the Christmas holidays, in seemingly perfect health. I continued to gaze pensively at the moon, which was continuing to rise slowly into the dark sky.

"James?" I tore my gaze away from the moon and looked at Sirius, who was also gazing thoughtfully at the sky. "Last month, when Remus left, wasn't it a full moon then also?" I struggled to remember.

"Yes, I suppose it was. What are you getting at?" Sirius glanced back out the window.

"And the month before that, it was also the full moon, if I remember correctly…" I stared at my friend, not quite sure what he was implying.

"Are you saying that you think the two things might be linked? The full moon and Remus' disappearances?" Sirius looked at me and said nothing. "Then what would that mean? It's just a coincidence…" Sirius gave one last look out at the pale white orb hanging in the night sky.

"I guess you're right… We should go to bed, it's late." He stood up and made his way towards our staircase. I got up to follow him. A solitary wolf howled in the distance.

*~*~*~*

A couple days later Remus returned to classes, looking as pale and unwell as usual. He arrived just as the post owls were swooping in at breakfast. Sirius elbowed me discreetly as our friend took his customary seat across from us at the table. Sarah looked up from her toast.
"Remus! You're back!" At her exclamation, the rest of the girls turned. Lily smiled at him.
"Is everything alright? How's your mother?" She frowned slightly at his pallor appearance, but said nothing. We had all given up on asking him why he always looked so ill when returning from his monthly "visits to his mother". I remembered the conversation that Sirius and I had had a few nights before. Remus plucked a muffin from the plate in front of him.
"My mother is still ill, I'm afraid." Peter squinted at him.
"She sure seems to have been sick for a long time." Sirius nudged him. The bell rang, signaling the start of classes.
"We'd better go," said Carrie, shooting a furtive glance at Remus, "We've got Defense against the Dark Arts first." She grimaced. Professor Andrews, our only slightly vindictive DADA professor, had said in the last class that anyone late this time would get an immediate detention. We stood up and walked in our customary mob to our classroom.

*~*~*~*

"Ahem. Ahem! Class has started, take your seats… Thank you." We scrambled to our desks as Professor Andrews began his lesson for the day. "Today we will be continuing our study of magical creatures. We will be studying…" He checked his notes, "Werewolves." I barely noticed as Remus gave an involuntary twitch beside me. "I will be instructing you on how to recognize a werewolf, and also…" He shot a covert, almost loathsome look at Remus, "How to kill one." Remus looked down at his desk as the rest of the class scrambled for textbooks, quills, and parchment. I failed to recognize my friend's discomfort, however, as I filled my quill with ink, prepared to take the extensive notes that our malicious professor required. He launched into his spiel.
"The werewolf differs from the regular wolf in many ways. Can anyone tell me what one of these ways are?" He shot a glance around the classroom. No one dared to move an inch, lest the professor's infamous temper inflame. "Lupin? Name a way in which a werewolf-" he sneered a bit, as if simply saying the word revolted him, "differs from a normal wolf." Remus shifted uncomfortably.
"Er… the snout of the werewolf is longer and more pointed than that of the common wolf..." The professor raised his eyebrows, but moved on.
"The werewolf, when transformed, differs from the common wolf in many ways. The upper canine teeth and claws are longer and sharper, making it easier for the werewolf to hunt and kill its prey. Also, the ears are…" He droned on and on. Still scribbling notes on my parchment, I turned to Remus.
"That was kind of harsh," I hissed under my breath. Remus looked up and gave me a small smile. "Why d'you think he picked on you, anyway? He always seems to do that." Remus failed to meet my gaze.
"I- I don't know. Maybe he just doesn't like me?" I shrugged, but turned quickly as the professor turned.
"Potter! I will tolerate no talking in my class!" I apologized.
"Sorry sir, won't happen again." He cleared his throat.
"See that it doesn't. As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, there is only one way to kill a werewolf. This would be to shoot a silver bullet through its heart. The hide of the werewolf is very tough, and cannot be penetrated by most curses. A werewolf only transforms under the full moon, once a month…" The bell finally rang to signal the end of class. "Your homework is to write me a twelve inch long essay on how you can recognize a werewolf, due at our next lesson. You are dismissed." There were quiet groans of protest at our immense load of homework, but Professor Andrews was already snapping his book shut and retreating back into his office. Eager to be out of the dreary classroom, we departed as quickly as possible.

*~*~*~*

"Gaah…" I groaned, as Lily came over and perched on the arm of my chair. I had been working on my werewolf essay for over half an hour, and had still only gotten six inches finished. There seemed to be only barely enough information to cover the topic. Sirius was off somewhere with Sarah, presumably doing homework, though we suspected otherwise. Remus was lounging in front of the fire with a book, having already finished his own essay.
At this, something sparked in my mind. Of course, it was so simple… The reason that Remus was always absent on the full moon, the reason that he always looked so ill after returning... With a jolt, I remembered the howl a few nights before. Remus was a werewolf. I gripped the arms of my chair, surprised that I hadn't realized it of sooner. Lily put her arm on my shoulder.
"James? What's wrong?" I looked up at her. Could I trust Lily? Obviously, Remus didn't want anyone to know. I considered it for a moment. As much as I wanted to tell Lily, I felt that I should ask Remus about it first. I resolved to ask him within the next few days, and turned back to Lily.
"Er…nothing's wrong, I was just thinking about how mean Professor Andrews has been lately."
"Yeah, and how he kept picking on Remus today? Harsh." She smiled at me. "It's okay. We only have to deal with him for… er… six more years…" I laughed, though the thought of having class once a week for the next six years with the vindictive professor frankly sickened me. I noticed Remus standing up and heading for the dormitory staircase. I yawned widely and stood. "I guess I'll go up to bed now. 'Night, Lily." I gathered my stuff and followed my friend up the staircase. Once we reached our room, I dumped my belongings on my trunk, clearing my throat.
"Remus?" He was lying on his stomach in front of his bed, fishing underneath for one of his sneakers.
"James?" His voice was slightly muffled.
"Er… I was wondering if I could ask you something." I felt awkward.
"Okay, shoot."
"Um…" I decided to just out and say it. "Remus, are you a werewolf?" He jumped, slamming the back of his head on the bottom of his bed. He rolled out from under his four-poster, rubbing his head. He looked up at me. I found it hard to read his expression. There was a mixture of fear and surprise written across his face.
"Wh- what makes you think that?" he stammered, his light brown eyes wide.
"Well for one thing, you're always away at the full moon. You said your mother was ill, but then she came to pick you up from the train…"
"And you're always ill when you come back," said a voice from the doorway. Both Remus and I spun around. Sirius. He was characteristically leaning against the doorframe, his eyebrows raised. "Well don't look so surprised. Did you think Jamsie here was the only one who could figure something out? It is true, isn't it? You are a werewolf, aren't you?" Remus looked down at the floor. I kneeled down beside him.
"Come on, we won't tell anyone." Slowly but deliberately, he nodded. Sirius closed the door. Remus straightened up and began stuffing his things into his trunk. I exchanged a confused glance with Sirius.
"Remus? What are you doing?" He didn't look up.
"I'm leaving. Now that you know, you probably won't want to be-" Sirius cut him off.
"What? That we wouldn't want to be friends with you? Over a little thing like that?" Remus looked up. Sirius grinned at him. "Honestly, Moony, did you think we were that shallow? Hey… Moony. I like the sound of that." Remus gave us a small grin.
"Well, whenever I told anyone before, they always ditched me. People don't like werewolves."
"Yeah, well, at least not when they're werewolves, anyway." I grinned at Remus. A sudden rustling in a nearby bed made us all jump. Sirius stalked over and threw back the covers. It was Peter, curled up into a ball, quivering slightly.
"You! Have you been eavesdropping on us?" He glared at the pudgy boy. Peter sat up slowly.
"I- I'm sorry, I was in here when James and Remus came in, and I didn't want to come out while they were talking because they'd be angry with me…" He looked shakily around at me and Remus.
"Well, I guess you're part of the gang now, Peter. Welcome aboard." I shrugged at Sirius, who was looking irate. "Well, what else do you propose we do? He knows about Remus, and he could slip and accidentally tell someone… It's better that he's in on in." Sirius scowled.
"I suppose so. Now what'll we do about this werewolf problem? We certainly can't let this put a damper on our activities…" At that moment, Patrick and Aidan, the other two boys in our dormitory, chose to come bursting in for bed.
"Hey, it's a party!" Patrick grinned around at the four of us standing around in a circle. "What have you guys been doing up here?" We shrugged simultaneously.
"We haven't been doing nothing," said Peter.
"We haven't been doing anything," corrected Remus automatically. We all turned to him exasperatedly.
"Thank you, Professor Lupin!"
*~*~*~*
The next weeks passed in a blur. Sometime after the Easter holidays, I was working on a research report for Transfiguration. Skimming a textbook looking for a topic, I came across a something that made my heart skip a beat. The perfect plan for how we could be with Remus when he was a werewolf. I snatched the book and ran over to show my idea to Remus and Sirius.
"Perfect…" breathed Sirius, his voice barely above a whisper. "Absolutely perfect…" Remus, however, was the voice of reason.
"This will take forever," he said rationally. "Look, it says the potion itself needs to simmer for 1095 days. That equals out to…" he did some quick calculation in his head, "Three years! The potion needs to simmer for three years. And it says the incantation is hugely difficult…" Sirius and I, however, were grinning at each other manically. Peter chose this moment to come over and investigate what we were so excited about. He looked down at the page as Remus shook his head in despair.
"Animagi?"
*~*~*~*
A/N: Geez, this fic is turning out to be much longer than I expected. Oh well, that's okay. Thanks for all your nice reviews, I haven't gotten one flame yet!
Disclaimer: All recognizable people, places, things, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling.