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By the Dark Forest, September 26th, 1979

Remus wearily emerged from the Shrieking Shack, fresh wounds streaked across his face, arms, and legs. It was late afternoon, as far as he could tell. Sirius and James had long since snuck back to Griffindor Tower under the Invisibility Cloak. Remus yawned and stretched painfully in the bright sunshine. Wolf nights were always tough, and this had been no exception. He felt pretty sore after all the rampaging he'd done.

He walked aimlessly along the edge of the Dark Forest, his thoughts wandering. Soon he'd have to take his usual checkup with Madam Pomfrey. He never enjoyed that, so he was eager to delay it a bit. Her fretting over him never failed to embarrass him. Getting banged up was just part of being a werewolf.

"There you are!" said a voice he recognized as Resda's. "Where have you been!"

Remus turned towards her. "Hello, Resda."

Resda gasped at the sight of him. He'd looked like he'd been attacked by one of Hagrid's infamous creatures. "What happened to you?" she asked in concern.

Remus beckoned her closer. "Let me tell you a secret," he said. "You see, I'm all banged up because...because I'm a werewolf. Last night was full moon, you know, so I spent it in the Shrieking Shack."

"You're a WHAT!" exclaimed Resda indignantly.

Remus was taken aback. He knew the other girls at the school would hate him for being a werewolf, if they knew. Feelings were quite hard against werewolves these days. But he'd been so certain that Resda would be different. She was very sweet, and, in general, seemed to be against discrimination. "I'm a werewolf," he repeated, his heart sinking.

"So, you just planned on just, not telling me this until now!" demanded Resda, furious.

"I didn't think it would matter," faltered Remus. "The only thing different about me is that I have to go to the Shrieking Shack - "

"DOESN'T MATTER!" she hissed. "Of course it matters! Werewolves are vicious monsters! Do you think I want to hang out with you and end up getting bitten? It just proves how horrid you are for keeping this secret. We're through, Remus!" she huffed, spinning around on her heel and storming off.

Remus stared after her, stunned. The fact that she'd broken up with him hadn't quite sunk it yet. It had been so sudden. How could she have done that? They'd been so happy together, she'd meant the world to him. He'd been so sure she felt the same. Reality sunk in. Resda was gone forever.

He started blinking back tears, his heart breaking. Her words had really hurt. She'd just voiced some of his fears for his friends. Often he'd worry that he'd end up biting Sirius or James. (What if she tells the whole school that I'm a werewolf? That would just be too horrible) Remus sat down on the grass, his head in his hands, to hide the fact that he was crying. (Maybe she won't, I don't think she'd want people to know that she dated a werewolf. She obviously loathes them) The hopes and dreams he'd had of her for the past three years died right before his eyes.

He didn't know how long he'd been there before he heard a second female voice. "Remus, is that you?"

He wiped the tears from his face and looked up. There stood Katie, a concerned look on her face. "Hello Katie," he said, his voice cracking.

"Remus, what's wrong?" asked Hermione gently, sitting down close to him.

"Resda broke up with me," he said brokenly.

"That's terrible," Hermione said. It wrenched her to see him so sad, but at the same time, she felt a little hopeful. Now that Remus didn't have a girlfriend, he was free to date anyone he chose... "Remus, I'm really sorry. Did she say why?"

Remus looked away. (Katie will probably hate me too, for being a werewolf. I don't think I could stand a second rejection right now) "I'd - I'd rather not talk about it."

(Maybe he told her that he was a werewolf, and she broke up with him because of that. Oh, that would be a horribly nasty thing for her to do!) Hermione thought, steaming. She took a good look at his face. She was so used to seeing Remus scarred up back home that she hadn't noticed his wounds at first. "Rough night, Remus?"

Remus stared at her, perplexed. Hermione quickly stood up, realizing that she'd just implied that she might know about his condition. "I mean, you weren't like this yesterday," she stuttered, trying to remedy the situation.

"Yes, it was rough," he said, standing up also. "I've got to see Madam Pomfrey. Goodbye, Katie," he said hurriedly, swiftly striding away from her.

Hermione bit her lip as she watched him go. (So this is why Remus never mentioned having a girlfriend. They had a rough breakup) she realized with a pang. She found herself thinking about Harry in the future, wondering if he was all right. She missed him terribly. A part of her felt torn between the two of them - Remus and Harry. (But Dumbledore said there was nothing more he could do for me. I'll be stuck in this generation forever. I won't ever be able to have Harry. It'll be Remus, then)

By the Dark Forest, September 26th, 1997

Remus, beginning to recover from the full moon a couple days earlier, decided to take a walk. Classes were over for the day, so he had time. As he neared the spot where he'd been eighteen years ago, the memory of it seized him. He could see Hermione's concerned look, and felt his own fear that she would reject him too. (But she won't, or didn't, I know that. Would she actually become my girlfriend, though?) he wondered. He picked up a flower and began picking off the petals, lost in thought. He'd taken the breakup pretty hard. Would Hermione comfort him, or just leave him alone?

He saw Harry coming, and felt his guilty feelings rise again. (I feel so bad that my former self might have her, and he can't. It really should be him. Harry would be devastated.) "Hello Harry," Remus greeted him.

"Hi Lupin. I was wondering if you have any more news of Hermione," said Harry.

Remus paused a moment, thinking. "Last I knew, she and I talked in about this spot, before I left to see Madam Pomfrey."

"What, did you have an argument?" smirked Harry, thinking she'd beaten him up for something.

"No, it had been full moon the night before. Madam Pomfrey always checked up on me the day after," Remus explained.

"What did you talk about?" wondered Harry.

Remus had hoped he wouldn't ask this. He sighed. "A girl broke up with me because I told her I was a werewolf. Hermione happened by a bit afterward, and said some sympathetic things. She mentioned that I must have had a rough night, so I quickly said yes and left. At the time, I didn't know she knew that I was a werewolf."

"Why didn't you tell her?"

"Harry, I had known her less than a week. I didn't know if I could trust her," explained Remus. "I only knew her as an exchange student from a school called Elshire. I didn't even know her real name, everyone knew her as Katie. Dumbledore must have wisely decided not to have her tell anyone who she really was."

Harry noticed the petalless flower in Remus's hand, but thought nothing of it. "I hope she makes it through all right," Harry said.

"Yes, I hope so too," agreed Remus, looking away.


Replies to Reviewers:

LupinLover99: Great:) I'll be checking for the update. No pressure or anything, LOL! Thanks for reviewing!

Sporty12gd4u: Now everyone knows except for Remus and Peter! I had this theory that Hermione didn't want to tell Remus because it would make her situation feel official and she hasn't accepted that yet. Just in case you were wondering. :) I have a great scene where they hook up, it's one of my favorites, but it's a few chapters away though. Thanks for reviewing!

BrennaM: Yes, you're right, she didn't! Thanks, I'm glad you liked that scene. :) Thanks so much for reviewing!

Rane2920072: Thanks for both of your reviews! LOL Don't worry about being a nerd, I like knowing that kind of thing too, and if I had the books I'd read them over and over. :) She won't go back to the future until she decides she prefers being in the past, and I think a certain werewolf will help with that. ;)

LupinLovesTonks: Thank you, I'm glad to hear you think so. :)

Shimmer of an Angel: Thanks for reviewing eight times! I really appreciate that! What suggestion did you have? Even if I don't use it for this one, I might use it for my next one. :) I can always use more ideas! Hmmm, what review about the Rem/Herm time thing? I don't recall anything of the sort... ;) I'm excited that you love it! I know what you mean about having to see where it's going. I do that too! Hmmm, a Frequency time turner with Sirius/Hermione? Actually, that isn't a bad idea. If I did it, I'd probably base it more strongly on the movie "Frequency" than this story was. I'll keep it in mind. If I had the first book (pouts) I would look stuff up. Sadly, my current circumstances make it rather difficult for me to have the books. Hopefully I will be able to get them soon though. For now, I write everything from memory. Thanks for letting me know though! Thanks again for all your reviews, you rock!

Preview of next chapter: "Sirius, what happened to you?" she heard Remus say.

Hermione looked up, and found herself poised between wrath and high amusement. Sirius's skin was swollen and spotted in every color known to mankind all over his body. (He told someone my secret) she concluded, fuming. She glared him down, pointing her wand at him. "Who did you tell, Sirius?" she demanded.