I can not even tell you guys how much I love this chapter. I adore the way that I wrote these scenes, and think I did rather well, if I do say so myself. Enjoy:

Despite getting only two hours of sleep, Rayven was up early the next morning. She dressed quickly at six and waited for Sirius to come down for his early class. She tapped her foot impatiently, until she finally heard Sirius' familiar morning cursing. Rayven's eyebrows nearly hit her head when she saw him. Sirius' hair was a mess, not at all like its usual attractive dishevelment. His eyes were bloodshot; he looked like he hadn't slept all night.

"Sirius? Are you alright?" Rayven asked, meeting him at the foot of the stairs leading up to the boys' dormitory.

Sirius gave a loud yawn. "Yeah…I'm just so t-t-tired…" He yawned again, but despite his exhaustion, managed to flash a lascivious grin. "So how are things with you and a certain roommate of mine…?"

"Oh…about that," Rayven started to say.

"You snogged him, didn't you?" Sirius was still grinning in that annoying way. "Ha!"

"Look, I need you to be serious for a minute," Rayven interrupted his laughter. Sirius smirked and opened his mouth to speak. "If you make a single pun, I will hex you." Sirius shut his mouth. "About Remus…what is it that he's hiding from me?"

Sirius was caught completely off guard. "Wha…what do you mean?"

"I want to know what he's hiding," Rayven said firmly. After her confrontation with Snape last night, she'd stayed awake for hours going over information about Remus…the absences…the scars…the constant excuses…Oh God, what an idiot she'd been. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Sirius, is he a werewolf?"

Sirius pulled a poker face. "Rayven, honestly…"

Oh, she'd had it. Rayven grabbed Sirius by his collar and slammed him against the wall. His eyes widened in amusement and shock. "Rae…bloody hell…"

"Tell me right now, Sirius," Rayven demanded. "I swear if you don't…"

"Talk to him," Sirius cut in easily. "You want answers, don't try and bully me for them, sweetheart. Ask your boyfriend for honestly. It's not my job to tell you."

Rayven was taken aback by his words, but she slowly released him. Sirius ran a shaky hand through his hair and rubbed his collar. "Thanks."

Rayven nodded absentmindedly to acknowledge him. Without speaking again, she strode out of the common room and made her way toward the hospital wing.

Anger dancing in her eyes, Rayven snuck past Madame Pomfrey and scanned the hospital wing for Remus. No one was there, but she saw curtains closed around a bed at the end of the long room. Rayven marched over there, not caring that her shoes clicked loudly on the stone floor, and that Madame Pomfrey could come in and yell at her in any minute. Without any pretense, Rayven whipped back the curtains. What she saw made her gasp and her anger evaporate.

Three red gashes ran across Remus' face. There were two reddish bite marks on his forearms, and tender looking scratch marks all up and down his arms. His shirt was off, and white bandages were wrapped around his abdomen. The flesh above his heart had been badly torn, and Rayven could see that a potion had been rubbed into the raw wound.

But rather than moaning in agony, sunlight played across Remus' handsome features as he read. He glanced up quickly at Rayven, then did a double take and looked at her with wide eyes. The gesture was so out of character, Rayven would have laughed, had it not been so serious.

"Rae…what are you-" His voice was hoarse, and she could imagine that his throat felt as bad as the rest of him looked.

"Don't," Rayven interrupted, her voice a soft whisper. She sat on the side of his bed, looking at her hands. "These…" Her touch was barely there, like gossamer, as she ran two fingertips over a scar on his forehead, mindful of the raw flesh.

Remus let out the breath he'd been holding in. It didn't matter that Rayven was seeing him like this; it didn't matter that he'd have to somehow explain. He'd never felt such a tender touch after the full moon and it felt like Heaven. It felt so wonderful to just be touched.

"You get these every month, don't you?" Rayven murmured, glancing down at the scratches on his chest. "You're…you're a werewolf, aren't you?"

Remus leaned away from her hand, and sighed very softly. He looked out the window at the sun rising over the mountains in the distance. The sunlight reflected beautifully in his amber eyes. Rayven watched his gaze move toward the moon, which was just barely visible against the slowly softening sky. She looked back at him, and her heart contracted when she saw tears clinging to his eyelashes.

"Yes."

The single word hung between them painfully. Time crawled, but at the same time, Remus' mind had never been spinning so quickly. Every second she held her breath felt like a second while he was waiting for his execution. She held his heart like hot glass in her hands, waiting to shatter any moment. All she had to do was say the word and he'd break.

"Oh," was her response.

"Oh?" Remus managed. "That's…that's all you have to say?"

Rayven shrugged lightly, her eyes still wide. "What else can I say?"

Remus took in a ragged breath and shut his eyes gently. "Oh God, Rae…please, don't. Please, please, don't-"

She pressed her fingertips over his lips, silencing him. Ever so gently, she leaned forward and found his lips. Rayven could taste blood there from his dry, cracked lips; it tasted like copper in her mouth, but she ignored it. His wet eyelashes were dried by her warm cheeks. When she pulled away, she held his face carefully in her hands.

"You should have told me," Rayven murmured, her lips only a breath away. She rested her forehead against his. "Do you think I'm that petty?" Tears stung her eyes. "Did you think I'd…did you think I'd stop loving you?"

His heart broke, sending waves of anguish and ecstasy pouring out. He let out a choked sob, and let his head hang down. Rayven felt tears fall from her own eyes, but through the blur she reached out for Remus and shifted so that she was lying down next to him. She wrapped her arms around him and felt him nuzzle her neck.

"Thank you for being here," Rae heard him murmur. "I didn't think-"

"What in Merlin's name is this?"

"Oh damn it," Remus muttered under his breath. "I can't get a second, can I?"

Madame Pomfrey swooped down on them. "Out, Miss Lockley! This boy needs rest!"

"Alright, alright!" Rayven held up her hands in defense. "I'm going…I'm going…" She blew Remus a kiss and backed out, muttering "Crazy hag" under her breath as Madame Pomfrey shooed her out.

"Told you, did he?" Sirius asked Rayven on their way to Ancient Ruins.

"Yeah," Rayven replied easily. "I can't believe he didn't tell me years ago, though. I'm practically as close to him as you are."

"Don't take it personally, Rae," Sirius told her. "He probably just thought you'd be disgusted or something. He didn't want to risk losing you."

"But I wouldn't-" Rae paused abruptly when she heard angry voices from inside the Ancient Ruins classroom.

Sirius pressed an ear against the door.

"Sirius! That's eavesdropping!" Rayven scolded him in a hushed tone. Sirius shrugged and eased the door open a little to hear better.

"Shh…that's definitely Professor Stiffien…and I think that's…is that Sigismund?" Sirius murmured to her, peering through the door.

Sure enough as they glanced in stealthily, they could see their two professors arguing heatedly. Professor Stiffien was leaning against her desk, with Sigismund in front of her, rage etched on both their faces.

"Mary, I'm telling you-" Sigismund pointed a finger at her, but Stiffien cut him off.

"No, I'm telling you, Silas," the younger professor hissed through clenched teeth. "Don't you dare try and threaten me. And here! Right under Dumbledore's nose, you have some nerve…"

"Mary, please, I'm begging you," Sigismund's voice took on a different tone, and Rayven gasped softly when she saw him gently grasp Professor Stiffien's arms. "If you keep working with Dumbledore on this, things are going to be bad." He looked at her tenderly, an emotion that seemed foreign on his face. "Mary, you know I don't want that for you."

Professor Stiffien shrugged him off angrily and turned away from him. "You know that it's over, Silas. I don't give a damn how you feel. I will continue to do what I can against Voldemort."

Rayven looked at Sirius with wide eyes, and whispered, "She's working against Voldemort."

Sirius pressed a finger to his lips and motioned for her to listen again.

Sigismund was sighing and running a hand through his hair. "I do care about you, you know."

Professor Stiffien shut her eyes lightly and spoke gently. "I know."

She turned towards him again, and grasped his arm. "I'm sorry things couldn't be different."

"So am I," The anger was back on Sigismund's face. "But you made your choice, Mary. You were the one that ended it."

He started to walk out, and Professor Stiffien called after him: "At least I had the courage to make a choice!"

Sigismund paused for a moment, stiffening and the two Gryffindors could see the pain on his face, though Stiffien couldn't. Then Sigismund made his way toward the door, and Rayven and Sirius scrambled to hide. They raced behind a pillar, and Sigismund passed by them.

The two friends looked at each, both equally confused and suspicious.

Well there you have it; a fraction of backstory for Stiffien and Sigismund.