Sunset passed by. The night air became silent, and lit windows became less and less numerous.

"R-Remus? Moony, old friend, are-are you in here?"

"I'm surprised you would come. Not afraid I'd murder you in here? I hear 'my kind' are prone to be 'violent.'"

"That-that's not true! James is truly sorry he said that. He didn't even go to dinner, he was so worried."

"Poor him, missing his dinner. I'm sure that's why you all took your sweet time playing at the castle until they decided to send you down here."

"No, really! James thought he-er-didn't deserve to see you. He was so upset!"
"Really? And what story have you come up with for why Sirius didn't come? Couldn't find his leash?" Every word Remus spoke was engulfed in bitterness.

"No! He just thought, well, we decided, since I'm like a neutral party-I mean, not that I don't agree that James was awful in what he said, of course, but-"

"Go get some sleep and come back with something I give a damn about, Wormtail."

Peter made a small noise like he was going to retort, but seemed to think better of it, and turned and left instead. Remus regretted what he had said only slightly; he was angrier at James and Sirius. He might have been too harsh with Peter just now, and perhaps he should've kept to himself about his suspicions of Sirius, or at least padded his statement a bit, but nothing that he said or could say would ever deserve a response like that from James. So, Remus adjusted his position on the branch of the tree he was perched in, let one of his legs dangle off the branch, closed his eyes, and prepared for sleep under the stars.

Who knows how long it was, Remus might even have dozed off, when a loud snap of a foot breaking a twig echoed through the trees. Remus opened his eyes quickly, but did not move. Most of the creatures here knew of him, in any case, and he was not so far in as to be disturbing any groups of animals. Who would be out at this time, anyway? Remus looked at his watch. 12:47. He probably had been sleeping, then. Remus stretched a bit, then gingerly turned himself over so he could look down to the forest floor below himself.

It was hard to see much on the forest floor on account of the darkness, but shifting shapes could still be picked out from the rest. A dark mass about the size of Remus himself had appeared on the floor below him, although it was very low to the ground. He would have said it was just a rock had different parts of it not been shifting, as though to make itself comfortable. After a minute or so of watching this new being, Remus noticed a rustling in bushes nearby. Small animals about the size of rabbits revealed themselves, and began to cluster around the larger creature. Remus sincerely wished he could see what all of this was more clearly, and tried to think of a way to make this wish come true. An illumination from his wand might startle them all, and if they were hostile, it might not turn out well. No matter how he strained his eyes, they would not reveal more to him. So, with no other option and his curiosity growing by the minute, Remus decided to simply call out.

"Hello?" he said in a firm but cautious voice. "Who are you?" He continued in case it was something that could understand him and speak back.

The larger being jumped up and appeared very startled at his voice. It actually had the build of a person. It looked as if it was looking around for the source of the voice, and then it turned and ran toward the edge of the woods. Remus jumped down from his spot, and followed the creature.

"Wait!" He called out to it. "I didn't mean to startle you! I was just wondering what you-" Remus stopped as he came to the edge of the trees where he was sure the thing had exited, but saw nothing but the grassy grounds to the castle. A few small animals about the size of knarls were scurrying about, but there was no other sign of life on the grounds. Remus sighed to himself and resolved to head back to the castle to continue his sleep, although facing James, Sirius, and Peter was the last thing he wanted to do. Still, it was at least a bit warmer there, and Remus had grown cold from his venture out of the woods.

So Remus took that familiar path inside of the Hogwarts castle to the Gryffindor common room. He still heard James' words ringing in his ears, and they became more persistent the farther into the castle Remus walked. Sirius is normal. The fireplace's flames had become but dying embers, and the room held only a few students who had fallen asleep on their text books. Your kind. Remus crept his way through the room and up the stairway to his own dormitory. As he strode to his own bed, he heard someone else's rustling sheets and James' face appeared staring at Remus from his own bed. Your kind. Remus pretended not to notice this as he unlaced his shoes and put them beside his bed.

"Moony?" James finally whispered. "Can we talk about-"

Remus' response was given with him crawling into bed and closing the curtains behind him without a word. Your kind are violent. Sirius is normal. The words beat against Remus like stones and came with every blink, every sound, every thought. They etched themselves into his head and then left him with only silence and despair as he drifted into restless sleep.

I hope you're enjoying this story so far! Just for the record, every character (save Minette) legally belongs to J.K. Rowling. Even the names I mention in passing have been thought up by her and written into her books. Every. Single. One. Now that that's over with, keep reading, and don't forget to review!