A/N: I'M SORRY! I was away at camp for about a month, and soccer preseason just started, so I've been kind of lazy. I'll try to make it up to you guys somehow. Oh and by the way, I really have no idea who Litnor is, I just kind of randomly came up with a name for him. But don't worry, I'll fill out his character later on. Enjoy!

P.S. If it seems too angsty, please tell me, I had some issues with this one, my brother was playing Linkin Park while I wrote it.

Werewolf, Chapter 4

Remus sat on the grass at the edge of the lake, watching the ripples from the rock he had thrown move farther and farther apart. It soothed his mind to see something so utterly normal, so completely devoid of secrets and hidden meaning.

He had positively fled from the Great Hall after the fight. Noone had made any attempt to stop him, for that, at least, he was grateful. He had been sitting there for God knows how long, and he noticed that the sun was beginning to set, casting a dull red glow over the landscape.

Red like…

For a split second, Remus remembered the coppery taste of blood in his mouth, the way it ran through his fingers like water, but he pushed that memory into the deepest, darkest corner of his overtaxed mind. He tossed another rock into the water and tried to forget everything.

Footsteps sounded behind him. He looked around, and saw Hermione Granger drawing closer. She was looking at him as though he were a toddler who had thrown a tantrum and needed to be comforted. Suddenly, irrationally, anger flooded through him.

"If you've come to offer your pity," he spat viciously, "You can leave right now, I don't want it."

Hermione, however, seemed totally unfazed by his outburst. On the contrary, she looked as though she had been expecting it. Sitting down next to him and drawing her knees up to her chin, she said quite calmly, "Actually, I came out here to see the sunset." She smiled as she saw the disbelieving look on her teacher's face. "The enchanted ceiling only shows so much."

Ashamed of himself, Remus turned away from her and looked out at the surface of the lake once more. "Oh." he said intelligently.

"If you want me to leave, I will." Hermione said. She began to get up, but Remus shook his head.

"It's fine. I'm just…" he struggled to find the right words, "I'm just kind of upset, I didn't mean to take it out on you."

He looked down at his clasped hands ashamedly. Unconsciously, he began to trace a small scar on his index finger.

"It's alright Professor." Hermione said kindly. "I don't blame you, you have a right to be upset."

Remus winced, thinking that this remark would be followed by a long expression of pity or sympathy. He didn't know if he would be able to handle that, he might break down and cry again. But the girl said nothing more, and Remus silently thanked her with all his heart.


Hermione didn't know what to think. At first, Lupin had been angry, almost vicious, and now he seemed fragile, as if a single wrong word could send him spiraling into despair. She felt his pain. Strong as it was, it was almost impossible to ignore, but it seemed she couldn't comfort him without causing more damage. It was a frustrating situation, she couldn't think of what to say, so she said nothing. Minutes passed in uncomfortable silence. The sun set in all its glory, but it went unnoticed by the pair, too wrapped up were they in their own troubles. Dusk came, and Hermione finally chose to speak.

"You really hit Snape hard with that curse," she said conversationally, "He's in the Hospital Wing with a concussion."

For the first time in a while, a ghost of a smile played across Lupin's time-worn face. He chuckled softly and said, "I know that it's rather immature of me to say this, but that news makes me indescribably happy."

Hermione laughed. Remus grinned rather apologetically. Feeling a little more comfortable, Hermione continued to talk.

"I just realized that we missed dinner completely," she remarked. "And I'm rather hungry, fancy a trip down to the kitchens with me?"

Lupin looked rather reluctant, but Hermione tugged on his arm imploringly.

"C'mon, it'll be fun! And I bet there'll still be some dessert left over. Think of it! Mounds and mounds of treacle tart and chocolate eclairs just waiting for us down there!"

At the sound of 'dessert', Lupin's face lit up. His adoration of sweets was hardly a secret, and now that he thought about it, he was pretty hungry. Smiling sincerely now, he got up and then offered Hermione his hand. She took it and he pulled her to her feet. As they walked back up to the castle, he said good naturedly, "You, my girl, can be very persuasive when you put your mind to it."


The next day was interesting, to say the least. When Remus walked into the Great Hall for breakfast, everyone turned and stared at him. Much as he tried to fight it, he could feel his normally pale face heat up and turn bright red. The distance to the staff table seemed much longer than usual, and he could not have been more relieved when he finally reached it and slumped down in a chair. His relative comfort only lasted for a second as he realized who, in his haste, he had sat next to. He yelled (rather loudly) and jumped up again. Snape didn't look any happier to see him, but did not jump up due to the fact that his concussion had yet to heal. Remus felt a fair amount of vindictive pleasure when he saw that most of Snape's head was covered in a large white bandage. It made him look quite ridiculous, and Remus would have laughed, had the situation been different.

As it was, Remus and Snape glared at each other in complete and utter hatred until Professor McGonagall came and shooed Remus off to the opposite end of the table. Since it seemed that he would not be allowed near Snape for quite some time, Lupin took out his anger on his pancakes. When they had been thoroughly chopped up and mashed into little bits, he left the Great Hall and went up to his room to prepare for the first lesson. He almost cried when he remembered that it would be with the sixth year Slytherins.

When they finally showed up, the first thing Draco Malfoy said was, "Hey Lupin, how's Julia?"

Remus closed his eyes as a fresh wave of pain engulfed him. It was going to be a long lesson.


Harry, Ron, and Hermione made their way through the halls to Defense Against the Dark Arts, their second class of the day. All the Gryffindor sixth years had resolved not to talk, or even think about what they had seen yesterday. It would do no good for anyone. But when they reached the door to Professor Lupin's classroom, they quickly realized that not everyone had been as thoughtful as them. Malfoy was coming out, flanked by his usual cronies Crabbe and Goyle, and talking in loud tones to another Slytherin boy.

"Did you see his face when I was talking about his sister? God, he looked like he was about to hurl! And he was still trying to teach us about – what was it? Vampires? Oh man, he is so pathetic! You know-"

WHAM!

Harry, finally breaking free of Hermione's restraining grip, slammed Malfoy up against the wall.

"Shut up!" he screamed, "Shut up about things you don't understand!"

He pulled one fist back and was about to award Malfoy with a broken nose, when he felt someone grab hold of his arm.

"Let go!" he yelled.

"It's alright Harry," someone said in a quiet, but commanding tone, "It's not worth it. Just let him go."

Reluctantly, Harry let Malfoy slip away. He turned around, ready to shout at whoever had stopped him, and came face to face with Professor Lupin.

"P-professor?" he stammered. Lupin smiled understandingly. "Wh-Why did you stop me? Malfoy was insulting you sir!"

Lupin chuckled, thoroughly surprising everyone in the hallway.

"He's been insulting me for the past month, it doesn't mean anything. That's just the way he is, and no amount of broken noses will ever cure him of it. I do thank you though, for standing up for my honor. I'm touched," he said sincerely. Harry grinned at him. The Remus Lupin he knew and admired was back again.

"So, if you could all just go in, we can begin class…"

A/N: Sorry if this one was kind of stupid, I had a tad bit of writer's block. Kind of pathetic I know, since I had like a month to write it...