However safe Tru had felt in the arms of her friends, she still wouldn't sleep that night. For the full moon had risen and Tru found herself back in the familiar clearing with her father. She for some odd reason found it unnecessary to tell her father what Pansy had threatened her with. Though the guilt settled steadily in her gut the more she thought about it, she kept particularly quiet. She stared at her reflection in the water as it rippled below her. Staring at herself this way made her stomach curl in disgust. She closed her eyes and walked acrossed the clearing slowly and sadly. She sat against a tree. Her father had fallen asleep much longer ago. He was curled up against a large boulder, snoring silently.

Tru's eyes ebbed up in tears and she began to whimper. Inside she could hear her human voice sobbing and echoing in the far reaches of her mind. She looked around and noticed that tears were falling down her furry cheeks. she reached up to wipe them away but couldn't being that she didn't have human hands and could merely force them deeper into her fur and make it more damp.

Casting a wary look at her father, Tru turned down the path to take a walk. She was sure if he awoke he would know what she was doing. He did it all the time. The path echoed below her and under her gigantic paws. She glowered down at them, thinking of how much she would love to just bite at them in hatred. She hated the way she was when she was like this. So full of hatred and loathing. Always afraid of lashing out when she never meant to. Afraid that one night, she would forget her potion...and do something she was most unwilling to do. She stopped for a moment and shivered angrily at the thought. NO. She thought angrily. I'll never do that. NEVER NEVER NEVER! I am so much better than that. So much smarter. I'll fight through this...I know that I can...not just for me...

She looked at Hogwarts castle as she neared the edge of the forest.

...but for my friends and family.

She sat there and stared at the castle, contemplating just how beautiful it looked to her. She let out a growl and a whimper at the thought of being out here on the cold earth every month instead of in her bed where she belonged. When she was...was...

..When she was normal.

Tru finally couldn't hold it in anymore. A long, mournful howl portruded the wolf's mouth and it stomped it's paws on the ground. She howled again and a few birds fled from their spot above her in fright. Inside she was screaming and sobbing. She hated this so much. She couldn't stand the thought of being like this, risking so many things. Even lives were at stake and she hated that. She scratched at a tree, slashing at it as though it was the cause of all of this. She growled in anger each time her claws hit the tree, eventually making it fall down. She jumped on it, lashing at every bit of it she could reach and finally she fell on top of it. Howling and whimpering sadly.

I hate this...I hate it I hate it I HATE IT! she was screaming in her mind and pounding on the tree. Tru had no idea how long she sat there sobbing onto the tree that she had destroyed in her own carnivorous rage. Time seemed to slow down in a depressing way as though every living thing had seen her sadness and slowed just to comfort her. Tears had now stained the wood of the tree, creating dark sploches here and there beside Tru's head. She did not sleep. She remained on the tree leaking her sorrows onto the bark leaving a sad tale for the tree to hold there and forevermore. Eventually, Tru curled up and tried to go to sleep. But by now it was too late, the morning sun had risen and slowly, calmly, Tru returned to normal. She felt small in that spot where her wolf had been. It was as though she had scratched out a bed for herself then returned to normal at will just to sleep there. Yet she did not sleep. But stared sadly into space, wondering if her father was worrying about her.

The sound of footsteps grew nearer and nearer to her. She thought it was her father. So she just stood there and waited for his calming voice. The steps grew closer and closer and eventually stopped right above her. She merely pretended to be asleep.

"Tru?" The voice was not her father's, but Draco's. This made Tru start and sit up to look at him. She knew how horrible she looked, her clothes were torn in most places and she was probably so pale that the morning sun would shine and bounce right off of her skin. Draco frowned at her and sat down. "You've been crying." he said, wiping the most recent tear from her cheek with his thumb. Tru looked away from him, guilt waning softly in her stomach. "What are you doing out here?" she asked him, trying her hardest not to look at him, she didn't know if she wanted him to know what fear she was going through or not. "I fancied a morning run on the Quidditch field, but I took the long way and I saw the tree had fallen and I thought you were hurt because I saw you and...so i rushed on over."

Tru couldn't help herself. She looked up at him. He was looking at her in such a way that she couldn't exactly tell how he was feeling. Whether relieved that she wasn't hurt, or sad that she had been apparently sobbing here for goodness knew how long, or both. He was frowning at her and his eyes were shining out at her, as though he was trying to show her some sort of comfort through them. After a long while, he held his arms open and Tru scoot over and flung herself into them. He held her tight and not being able to hold in anymore, Tru sobbed into his shoulder. Draco rocked her back and forth and said "Shhh...it's ok...it's ok I'm here Tru...I'm here." quietly in her ear. She knew she didn't need words to explain what was wrong, he somehow knew.

For a long time, Draco rocked Tru in his arms. Cooing sweet words to her for comfort. A while later Tru looked up into Draco's eyes, a soft, comforted expression on her face. She looked away then back at him. "I'm kind of afraid of Pansy..." she whispered. She closed her eyes and hugged her knees to her, resting her chin on them. Draco turned her head towards him with two fingers and stared at her. "Why should you be? She can't do anything to you. And now that i'm going to be living with you, I will protect you."

She stared at him. "Will you promise to always be there?" the wind blew her hair behind her, creating the same effect that it did the night Draco had fallen in love with her. Her eyes may have been bloodshot from crying, red and puffy and still staining her face with tears, but she was still beautiful in Draco's eyes. They stared at one another for a long moment. Time stood completely still and the wind stopped all of a sudden as though it were a grand pause in a wonderful song during a symphony.

Draco smiled, took Tru back into his arms and whispered honestly and loyally "I made that promise a long time ago."

Eventually as they sat there, Remus appeared from the forest, limping slightly, a fresh wound, possibly done as he awoke hitting a tree or something of the sort, was on his right arm, clearly shown between the folds in the rip of his robes. He opened his arms lovingly to Tru and, with her father's arm and Draco's as well around her, they walked together in silence, yet complete harmony together back up to the wonder that was Hogwarts castle.

The last day of Hogwarts had come and Harry was busy in the dormitory packing up all of this belongings. Draco and Ron were sitting on his bed, having already packed. They all talked joyfully about the summer to come. Draco was especially excited. Talking animatedly about how wonderful it was that he was living with Tru and Remus now. "I mean for once in my life i feel like i'm actually going to be WELCOME somewhere. And over the summer we're going to Ireland to see the dragon races! It's going to be absolutely fabulous, and Professor Lupin says I will have my own bedroom with my own bathroom and possibly get a new broom since my Nimbus is worn out and he's getting me all this new stuff and it's going to be like I have a new father.."

The last words were filled with such affection that Draco looked dreamily out the window, walking over to it and sitting by it. "A new life." He smiled to himself. Harry and Ron smiled at him. "That's absolutely wonderful Draco. And besides...you'll be seeing everyone this weekend. We're all visiting to have a congradulatory party for all of us getting through the year." Ron said, grinning and standing up from the bed. Harry folded his last T-shirt and shoved it into his trunk. He snapped it shut and sat on top of it. "Yah," he added on to Ron's statement. "With cake and games and everything. We're going to have loads of fun. Fun that we all deserve."

Draco turned to grin at them. No one in the world knew just how grateful he was to be in this room with two of the best friends he had ever had in his entire life. The rest of the day coasted by like it was absolutely nothing. When the students loaded the train, Remus and Elina bid Tru and Draco and the others good bye, promising a later sighting of one another at King's Cross. They waved frantically at them as they rode away and then found a compartment. The five friends could not possibly have been any happier than they were during the ride to London. Games with Bertie Botts Beans were played, long talks were had, and many a joke and a laugh was exchanged between them all.

Eventually, night began to fall and the lights in the compartment were turned on. Hermione and Tru had fallen asleep. Hermione on Ron's shoulder and Tru on Draco's. The boys remained awake, talking quietly amongst themselves. Draco had just shared with Ron his feelings for Tru, and Ron wasn't surprised. "Well it's a little obvious." he said nodding toward Tru, laying peacefully on his shoulder. Draco looked at her then back at Ron. "But you must promise not to say a word to her. I will do that...eventually." Draco shifted in his seat. Ron and Harry grinned at one another. Ron then said wisely as he grabbed Hermione's hand. "You'll know when the time is right. You'll just know when to tell her. I knew...and it's one of the best things to ever happen to me."

They all looked out the window for the remainder of the trip, just appreciating the beauty of the outside world, and the fact that they had one another in their company.