Remus had never expected Peter to show back up the following night. He hadn't expected Peter to take time out of his Saturday night to bring him a powerful magical concealer that he had nicked. And he especially hadn't expected Peter to stay for more than a few seconds. It was almost like Peter had actually found it bearable to be around him again. Peter's hand had even brushed Remus' when he handed him the round container that would hopefully allow Remus to convince all his friends they didn't need to visit him and his friend hadn't even flinched. Better yet the concealer had worked and other than looking a bit pale Remus was able to convince Sirius and James he was just a bit queasy but otherwise fine. He actually seemed to convince them and convincing Lily when she visited him later on in the day had been even easier. Having a sheet covering the scars and his legs which were still mending, not just having been broken but also mauled, made it almost easy to convince all his friends he was fine. Well, all his friends besides Peter that was...

Remus, when he was able to utter a word without pain attempted to convince Peter it had been an especially bad moon, because it had been, but even after a week of trying to convince the smaller boy of the fact Remus knew he didn't believe him. But Peter kept his word about not telling James and Sirius so other than the rather tense moments when Peter and Remus found themselves alone their dorm remained as peaceful as it could possibly be with James and Sirius being two of the occupants. At least everyone was more or less back to normal, even the fear that had been consuming Remus before the first moon had all but disappeared when he realized his friends were still his friends.

"Hey, you...you come here."

Remus paused in the hallway turning side to side trying to find where the voice had come from. He was just on his way back from studying in the library after a long day of classes. Even with it being nearly four days after the full moon Remus was still really sore and felt exhausted. Though he supposedly studied with Lily and Severus hadn't helped his exhaustion. At least Severus had decided to completely ignore Remus as if he wasn't there. Which was fine by him.

"Up here, come here kid."

Remus hesitated glancing up the stairs at two older females dressed in their Digores uniforms but he made the mistake of making eye contact and either had to approach them or rush away rudely. Neither of the older girls seemed angry or upset but neither did they seem overly friendly. Figuring they had gotten lost or had a question Remus cautiously approached them ignoring the slight twinge of pain in his leg that appeared every time he climbed stairs.

"You keep damaging your nerves Remus and there will be lasting damage if we can't get you to stop. You must be more careful." Madam Pomfrey had gravely discussed the unpleasant topic after this last bad moon in which the wolf had seemed particularly intent on crippling Remus for life. But no matter what Madam Pomfrey said about the matter it was not like Remus had any control over the matter, so he tried to forget about it for the time being not wanting to entertain the thought that the wolf could take more away from him than it already had.

"Well, we aren't gonna bite you. Come here boy, what's your name?" the tall blond asked smirking, as if she expected Remus to blush and run away. It took Remus a second to realize that the second teenager was none other than the Digore champion, Mihaela Balan.

"I'm Remus Lupin. Can I help you with something Miss Balan?" he asked politely as Mihaela looked him up and down the look in her eye reminding him of Patricia who both seemed extremely keen on knowing what made Remus tick and unbearably bored with the matter at the exact same time.

"Hmph, Hogwarts brat. No matter. Were you given an egg at the beginning of the year kid?"

Remus blinked a few times having completely forgotten about that.

"Oh!"

"What? If you didn't get one then you can leave, I don't have time to waste."

"No I did...but why?"

"Excellent, hand it over. I'll figure out the first enchantment on it for you," Mihaela offered with a friendly grin.

"Does it have something to do with the second task?" he asked excitedly a giddy feeling appearing that had been absent in him for some time. He had completely forgotten about the egg! He was so eager to get back to his dorm and uncover the egg from the safe nest he had made for it in his bottom drawer that he almost failed to catch the threatening look in the petite blond's eyes.

"We should have stuck to our students Mihaela he's going to tell Gideon!"

Before Remus could react the other, taller, Digore student grabbed the collar of his shirt and lifted him in the air, dangling him above the top step.

"Jorah, down girl. Don't worry even if Gideon finds out, assuming he doesn't already know it won't matter," Mihaela spoke up quickly but Jorah did not set Remus down who was unsure whether to feel nervous or annoyed. Why was it always him?

"We've come too far to blow it Mihaela," Jorah protested giving Remus a little shake for good measure.

"Fine, then give him a quick tap and send him on his way. We don't need you accidentally injuring another student."

Remus nearly fell backward as the tall girl set him back down on the edge of the step, a look of worry filling her eyes as she reached out and grabbed hold of his arm.

"Sorry, I get a little carried away. Just a dumb competition after all," the blond girl towering over a foot above him shrugged as if she hadn't just been about to drop Remus down a flight of stairs. There was something in her smile that reminded Remus unpleasantly of Bellatrix and caused goosebumps to erupt on his arm that she was holding onto tightly.

"...um it's alright...I've got to get to class though...astronomy..." Remus attempted knowing this late that was the only class that would be believable. He chanced a glance down the tall stairs hoping someone was walking in the castle but it was empty and when he glanced back the tall girl had a look of pure hate in her eyes.

"Astronomy you get stupid astronomy while we get..." she muttered darkly and her hands twitched as if she had to physically hold herself back from physically pushing Remus.

"Jorah that's enough. Wipe his memory and let's bounce," Mihaela responded calmly, a sort of hazy look in her eyes coupled with her far too relaxed demeanor to make Remus feel much confidence she could stop her friend if Jorah decided to push him back over the steps.

Then Remus caught up to the fact they were going to wipe his memory and tried to pull away with a jolt having heard from multiple people how unpleasant those spells were. Realizing he wouldn't be able to pull away from the strong girl's grip he blindly reached for his wand.

"Quit playing around with him and hurry up. We will get in big trouble if anyone catches us."

"Yeah I know it's just funny they always think they have a chance, don't worry kid I'm a pro at this so you won't forget the whole year," Jorah snickered touching the wand to his forehead as Remus pulled out his wand trying to think with the fear pounding inside him.

"Expeliarmus," Mihaela replied with a lazy flick and Remus' wand went clattering down the steps at the same time Jorah said 'Obliviate' in a calm voice. Remus had never been obliviated before but he had heard it described as a weird wet feeling as if an egg had just been cracked on your head. That was not what Remus felt.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed embarrassingly loudly as a loud buzz filled his head which seemed to pulse so hard he was surprised there wasn't blood coming out of his ears.

"SHIT...what the hell!"

Remus felt someone cover his mouth with their hand and drag him away from the steep steps and he was blurrily grateful and disappointed the Digore student hadn't just dropped him down the steps. Surely death would stop the ear-shattering ringing in his ears that he was certain must be causing them to bleed or perhaps his whole brain to implode. Once he was released he curled into a ball on the ground clutching his head as if he could squeeze away the pain hardly able to hear the two girls above the unbearable pounding.

"He must have a really powerful spell cast on his mind already. Hey...hey kid can you hear me? Jorah, we're going to get in big trouble for this."

"Well I don't know what to do..." he could hear Jorah who sounded scared now.

He wasn't sure if the pulsing was getting worse or better but the breath he had been holding was released in shacky jagged exhales.

"Any sort of...I don't know, healing spells or something?" Mihaela asked, no longer sounding calm.

"I don't know, let's run before someone comes. If I let go of his mouth he will start screaming again."

"We can't leave him like this Jorah. That is an outrageous suggestion and I can't believe you actually suggested that! He's younger than my brother even. He doesn't deserve this. We had a good run but we need to accept the consequences to this."

Remus forced himself to take another shaky breath, the ringing definitely getting quieter the pulsing of his head fading to a level of severe headache he was mildly used to.

"I'm not going to let you do that! We need this win. I'm sick of everyone looking down on us."

Remus felt shaky and sweaty but managed to touch Jorah's hand who recoiled looking down at him as if half expecting to need to kill him to shut him up. Remus felt too weak to feel much shame at being curled up on the floor but managed to speak up in a hoarse whisper while holding back his nausea.

"What...do you...mean...?"

Mihaela crouched down beside him with true remorse in her eyes.

"Look, kid...er, Remus yeah? We had no idea that would happen. I swear to you we never planned to hurt anyone. Jorah is scary good at using obliviate. She's a bit of a bitch I know but she is very skilled with that spell."

Remus gave a weak nod his head feeling so heavy he wasn't sure he would ever be able to move it again. But none of that seemed to matter at the moment. There was a bubbling panic building inside him that he could hardly find the courage in himself to voice.

"...what spell?" he asked in a breathless whisper, a sinking feeling... a horrible hateful empty feeling hinting at him the answer before Mihaela even replied.

"Well as odd as it seems, and mind you I'm not just saying this to save my ass, it would have to be some sort of crazy powerful memory charm. But I don't know how that's possible because I'm pretty sure there are only fifty wizards in the entire world that could cast not only such a strong memory charm but also one that prevents any other from being cast on you."

"..." Remus closed his eyes feeling like he was falling as if he was plummeting at neck-breaking speeds to a horrible conclusion that he had been fearing ever since realizing the sunflower boy was not just some figment of his childish imagination. "My...mind's...been tampered with..." he whispered a cold feeling spreading across him. Maybe this was a nightmare? The possibilities, the horrific possibilities that his memory being tampered with brought up in him were ones he held back with as much willpower as he held back his tears.

"Yeah, tough break. Can I...take you to the hospital wing or your dorm or something. I really don't know what the results of that spell being cast on you were but I doubt you should be walking by yourself," Mihaela offered kindly.

"What is going on?" came a young demanding voice that Remus recognized immediately as Regulus.

"He fell and we are helping him up," Jorah stated flatly.

"That's not what it looks like," Regulus replied with the air of confidence someone who expected to be obeyed had. Remus could hear the soft clop of Regulus' shoes as he began to climb the stairs. Mihaela who was still bent over Remus was pulled to her feet by Jorah who urged her in a stern whisper that they had to leave before they were recognized.

"Take him to the hospital wing," Mihaela shouted in a low deep voice that could have been mistaken to be a man's voice before rushing away with Jorah. It appeared that both of them were risking the future of their school life on Remus who knew that at the very least Jorah, and probably Mihaela too, could be expelled for what they did. Only he didn't think he would tell anyone...

Although maybe Dumbledore would be able to tell Remus who had tampered with his memory? There was no doubt in Remus' mind that Greyback had done it. The question haunting him now was why? What on earth did Greyback want to hide from Remus? His location perhaps? Remus couldn't even begin to consider that the sunflower boy might have something to do with Greyback tampering with his memory. As Regulus climbed up the steps enough to realize it was a Gryffindor curled up on the ground Remus was forced to consider the awful possibility that the tiny boy in his dream was still with Greyback...

"Sirius?" Regulus asked quickly, sounding concerned until Remus twitched slightly, uncurling just enough that the top of his hair appeared, not black. Remus was pretty sure Regulus would just turn around and leave him alone now. But there was something about Regulus that continued to surprise Remus and allowed him to feel some hope in how the two Black brothers would eventually get along with each other.

"Remus? Is that you?"

"Mhm," he replied, feeling overwhelmed and too sick to open his mouth.

"What were those older students doing to you?" Regulus asked sounding deeply suspicious which was a response Remus was confused by. It wasn't uncommon for bullying to fill the halls of Hogwarts. On some level, it was to be expected which James and Sirius had used as an excuse for their actions more than once.

"These adults give us wands and teach us magic, Remus. It would be a shame if we didn't hone our abilities while we can," Sirius had responded more than once to Remus' attempts at getting him and James to calm down with their harassment of Slytherins, especially one in particular.

"Hey, I asked a question. Can you talk?"

"Mmnm," Remus replied, flinching as Regulus' hand gripped his arm and gave him a little tug.

"Come on you can't just lay here. We're even now so get up."

Remus wanted to get up but the pain along with the realization a chunk of his life had not just been blocked out by himself but actually tampered with left him feeling dazed.

"Should I get a professor? Do you know who did this to you? What did they even do? Some spell?"

Remus wished Regulus would stick to one question at a time but the normally calm boy appeared to be quite worked up at the moment, the increased speed of tone reminding Remus a bit more of Sirius who Regulus usually never reminded him of. Sirius... Remus bit back a groan knowing his friends really were going to kill him. It's not as if he tried to get in trouble! Remus had been pretty sure the older girls actually had not intended to hurt him, Mihaela seemed sincere about that. The problem this time wasn't what Remus had got himself involved in but what Remus already had been involved in. Which wasn't really a helpful realization.

"I...just need...a minute...I'll be fine..." he spoke slowly ready to bite down on his tongue if he needed to in order to stop himself from crying. He wasn't about to cry in front of Sirius' younger brother out of all people! Regulus tugged on his arm again and this time Remus allowed himself to be sat up Regulus pressing a hand to his back to prevent him from falling back again which was probably wise since Remus' head was still spinning at a dizzying speed.

"Knowing you 'Gruffindors' you probably deserved it... Only... Were those students of another school?" something close to guilt appeared in Regulus' tone "is this because you and Sirius have been looking into 'that thing'?"

"What?...no...Sirius...he talk to you yet?" Remus asked, turning slightly so he could lean against the base of the stairwell.

"No. Keeps saying he's busy with studies. Can you believe him? I know he doesn't care about his studies! Never mind, you don't care. I'm sure you are on his side about all of this."

Remus wasn't even entirely sure what the sides were so he didn't reply to that, just focused on breathing, the pain in his head lessening more and more by the minute even if the dizzy overwhelming feeling remained.

"Just tell him to talk to me soon...uh by the end of this week otherwise I'm done waiting for him. Got it?"

Remus nodded weakly and Regulus seemed to be satisfied.

"You gonna be ok?" Regulus asked again and Remus nodded the small Black squinting at him as if not entirely believing him but not caring enough to argue. "If it was because of the investigation I'm sorry. Emma was injured just two days ago...but don't tell Sirius that," Regulus demanded very clearly not having waited for his older brother at all.

Remus wondered what it was about the Blacks that made them love a good mystery so much, but he nodded again watching Regulus retreat with a reminder to Remus that he only helped him so they could be even. As Remus sat on the stoop trying not to think about the very big piece to the puzzle that had rather painfully landed in his lap he realized that he was very much sick of mysteries. In fact, Remus would have been happy never to be faced with another one ever again, especially when the biggest mystery seemed to involve his past!

"Um, Remus are you ok?" Remus looked up wondering when Peter appeared and from where.

"Mhm," he nodded, receiving a very skeptical look from Peter who hesitated before a stubborn look appeared in his eyes that was directly the result of James and Sirius' influence.

"If you want me to not tell James and Sirius how hurt you get every month then you've got to...to at least be honest with me," Peter insisted his confidence slipping slightly but Remus was impressed with how forceful he was able to sound.

"Ok."

"Really? I mean...good. So what happened?"

'Two Digore students wanted to know if I had an egg and when I realized it had something to do with the second task they tried to obliviate me only for something to go really wrong because Greyback has already messed with my mind for some reason which I'm positive is very bad. Oh yeah, by the way, Greyback is the one who bit me. You know just the most infamous and feared werewolf ever.'

Remus almost laughed.

"I didn't eat lunch today got too busy studying with Lily and I ended up falling pretty hard,"

"Down the steps!" Peter cried before his cheeks grew red, realizing that didn't make any sense, "well you could have fallen down the steps, Remus if you are feeling dizzy you should get something to eat. Hang on I'll nick you something from the kitchens. I'll be right back."