Author's Notes: i have come to the conclusion that some of these chapters really, really, stink, so i'm going to start going over them and making them better. I'm expecting to have the next chapter up maybe in a week or two, because i'm mostly concentrating on my fictionpress account.

Chapter 11: The Truth

Remus awoke the next morning with a light headache. He stared out the window that was half covered in frost.It was snowing again, the soft white flakes drifting softly down toEarth, where they lay upon the ground, blanketing all noise. He sighed and got dressed.

He knew as soon as he entered the kitchen that something was wrong. His mother's normally cheerful face was pale and worried. His father sat at the table, hidden behind the Daily Prophet. Remus' heart sank. There on the front page, in big black letters were the words "TERROR STRIKES DIAGON ALLEY".

"Dad?" asked Remus, "What's happened?"

His father calmly folded the newspaper and looked at him. "Voldemort"- Mrs. Lupin winced at the name - "and his followers have attacked Diagon Alley. Fourteen people are dead, and many more are injured." Jonathon Lupin sighed. "Remus, I want you to be very, very careful when you go back to school. Some of the Death Eaters, they say, were young. Seventeen at the most. I want you to stay away from...certain people at school. The Blacks, for example."

"You want me to stay away from Sirius?" asked Remus, his temper rising.

His father winced. "Well..."

"You want me to stay away from my best friend?"

"Remus...he may be a spy, or he could be under the Imperius Curse for all you know."

Remus glared at his father. "I doubt it, Dad."

"Remus," his father was losing his temper. "I know Sirius is a nice boy, but his parents are supporters of Voldemort! They might not be Death Eaters, but they like what he's doing!"

Remus was reminded horribly of a similar conversation he and his father had had on the night of his 6th birthday. "I'm not going to stay away from him, Dad. He sticks by me, even though I'm a monster, I'll stick by him, even though his parents are monsters!"

Mr. Lupin stared at his son in shock. "You're not a monster, Remus..."

Remus returned his glare. "Werewolves are listed as beasts in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."

Remus' mother sobbed once from the stove, then turned and put breakfast on the table, trying to ignore her husband and son glaring daggers at each other. Mr. Lupin sighed. "Remus, sit down."

Remus obeyed, but still glared at his father. Mr. Lupin sighed again. "Remus...do you want to know why you are what you are?"

Remus didn't answer, he seemed suddenly frozen.

"Jon!" said Nathalie Lupin harshly, "This is no time to discuss this. Remus needs to eat, he needs to get to school..."

"We've got time, Nathalie," said Jon, still looking at his son. "Kids are going back to school with Floo Powder, because of the atack. Not by the train." Remus' mother frowned and turned back to the stove.

"Well Remus?" asked his father. "Do you want to know why?"

"I already know why." Remus said. His voice was so quiet and angry, it almost sounded like a hiss. Mr. Lupin paled.

"What do you mean you already know?"

"I was out playing with James and Sirius one night and a werewolf bit me."

His father was now so white, he looked like a ghost. Mrs. Lupin dropped the plate she was carrying to the table. It broke loudly in the silence. She quickly bent over and repaired it with her wand.

"How did you...how did you know that?" Jonathon Lupin whispered.

"I remembered." said Remus icily. "I remembered how you separated me from my friends before you took away my memory of them. I remembered how happy I was before, and now I know why I was always alone after. You took my friends away from me, and you're trying to do it again!"

"Remus..." his father's voice trembled. "We took your memories for your own good. You would have been so upset about never seeing your friends again...or never having any other friends again. We took away your memory so you wouldn't suffer much..."

Remus laughed harshly. "A lot of good that did me. I know now. I know that I could've had friends. That I didn't need to be alone."

"Remus, Sirius' horrible parents aside, Mr. and Mrs. Potter didn't want their son to be near you."

"THEN HOW THE HELL AM I FRIENDS WITH JAMES NOW?" Remus roared. His parents, it seemed to him, were just making excuses to justify what they had done.

"Remus, James is a lot older now! They feel that he's safer now that he know more magic! That's the only reason why they let him be friends with you!"

Remus' mother sank into a chair and put her head in her hands. "We were just trying to do what was best for you...Don't you think you would have minded being friendless more if you remembered having friends?"

Remus fell silent. He couldn't think of what to say to that because it was perfectly true. He stood up and paced once around the kitchen. He felt the eyes of his parents on his back, but ignored them.

"Remus?" asked his father after a painful minute.

"What?" he snapped, turning to face him.

"Why don't you go back to school now, so you can cool down. The Floo Powder's in the drawer in the living room."

Remus turned to leave.

"Remus?" asked his mother. He paused in the doorway. "Please, think about forgiving us...We did what we thought was right. We didn't mean to hurt you."

"I'll think about it." he said, before leaving.

Remus went to the drawer and got out the dwindling supply of Floo Powder. His eyes hurt and he rubbed them to keep the tears from falling. He through some powder into the fireplace, blinking in the suddenglow of emerald light. Stepping into it, he said "Hogwarts!" and disappeared. He reappeared in thewarm Gryffindor Common room. Many of the other students had already returned. They all spoke in hushedvoices, all with the same worried expression on their faces. Trying to ignore the strained atmosphere of the Common Room,Remus walked quickly up the stairs to the boys dormitory.

He entered the familiar room,ignoring James and Peter, who were unpacking, and fell on the bed.

"Moony?" He felt James standing beside the bed. "You ok?"

Remus sat up. "Yeah...m'fine...Just a row with my parents."

"Oh..." James left him alone and went back to unpacking.

Remus got up after a few minutes and went over to his own trunk and started unpacking. When he finished, he decided to sneak down to the kitchens. He hadn't eaten anything at breakfast for obvious reasons.