As soon as I got home, I plopped onto my bed, exhausted. I was feeling shattered — the full moon would come the following night, which always made me tired. I'd spent the entire trip on the Hogwarts Express trying to seem absolutely awake, but as soon as I got home I couldn't keep that up anymore.

I lay down in my bed, and it didn't take very long for me to doze off as a flash of events came rushing through my dreams.

"How did you know that — that I'm… I'm a… a werewolf?"

"Why did you go under that crazy tree?"

"I don't want to go back to my family."

"I know you're into Sirius."

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

"Well done. You've become the monster you've always been…"

I breathed in sharply, opening my eyes. It was the middle of the night. My parents must have just let me sleep through the evening. I let out a long, shaky breath, feeling angrier than ever at Fenrir Greyback. I remembered when I was ten and my parents had explained to me how'd I'd become a werewolf.

"The werewolf who attacked you was not like you," Dad had explained. "He preys on young children to try to form a huge werewolf army… most of the time he takes the now werewolf child to join his pack, but we stopped him."

My throat felt unusually dry, so I stood up and walked outside to the kitchen. I grabbed a glass and filled it up with water. I lifted the glass to my mouth, but my hands were shaking and I dropped it. The glass smashed on the floor, and grumbling, I grabbed a dustpan and broom and cleaned it up. I looked outside to see the almost full moon, feeling myself shiver.

"Please don't be full," I whispered, my voice shaking. "I don't want to become a monster again."

I'd been so caught up at being with my friends, that my werewolf condition seemed to be completely normal to me… but now that I was back home it seemed like Hogwarts had all been some dream, and now I'd woken up and realised that life was back to how it used to be.

Only for two months, I thought. Then you'll get to see them again.

It wasn't that I didn't love my parents — I couldn't of asked for better people to take care of me — it's just then, in those moments when I was with the other kids, all the bad of the world seemed to disappear, they weren't constantly having to hide me… it was nice to have people who didn't know the truth. And even if Monifa did know the truth, she hadn't brought it up since she first found out, which is what I wish my parents would do.

I just wished that they wouldn't treat me any differently than any other kid, and I knew they loved me, but I could tell that they were definitely ashamed of having a werewolf as a son.

I put the broken glass in the bin, and walked back to my bedroom. I laid down, putting my pillow over my head and internally screaming. My mind was trying to focus on sleeping, but all I could do was not sleep. I laid there for hours, until the sun rose and I had to get up.

"Hello darling," Mum smiled. "Didn't talk much yesterday, so how are you going?"

"Great," I said, putting on a smile.

"Your exams results came by owl just half an hour ago," said Dad, "and we are incredibly proud of you, you little Hogwarts second-year!"

I laughed. "Thanks, but I should… probably go. It's full moon."

"Make sure you don't get out, honey!" Mum said, I smiled and nodded, then left, breathing out in fear.

July rolled around and summer fully kicked in. I sent letters to my friends, with fast responses from James and Peter, slow, short responses from Monifa, and nothing from Sirius. James informed me that he, too, was getting no response from Sirius and we were both quite worried. In one letter, James suggested we bail him out, but I replied saying, based on how well the last one went, it may not be the best idea.

Although, a little over halfway through the month, I did receive a message from Sirius, finally. It said:

Dear Remus,

Hey, I hope your summer is going oH so well! I'm very sorry for not responding, my parents had beEn intercepting all the letters I've been receiving. I did find them aLl earlier today, hidden in the attic. I've received multiPle letters from JaMes saying he was planning to brEak into my house again, and I have also sent a letter to him (and Peter and Monifa), but asking James to Please kindLy not brEAk into my houSe as last timE it did not end well at all.

Once again, I hope your summer is fantastic, I cannot wait to go back to Hogwarts and see you again! Please do not reply to this letter or send any more.

Thank you, from Sirius

PS — my parents may have read this letter

I read through the letter multiple times, processing it. I didn't understand… some of the letters were in capital letters… at first I thought it was just Sirius's possible lack of grammar skills, but surely he wasn't that bad at knowing when to use a capital letter…

oH, beEn, aLl, multiPle, JaMes, brEak, Please, kindLy, brEAk, houSe, timE.

This had to mean something. I focused on where he had just used the capital letters.

H… E… L… P… M… E… P… L… E… A… S… E…

Help me please. I took in breath sharply, and immediately started writing to the others.

Dear (James, Monifa, or Peter),

I believe you have received a letter from Sirius. He's written in code pleading for help. I know we agreed that last time was a fail, but we need to do something.

From Remus

I sealed the three letters into envelopes and wrote their names on the front. I sprinted into the kitchen and handed them to the family owl. Restless, I sat on the couch. I hated having to wait for things like this.

Almost an hour after the message was sent, I received a response from James.

Hi Remus (this message was sent to Monifa and Peter as well),

Do you want to come to my house tonight? Let's discuss when we get there. Come over as soon as you can. I live at Godric's Hollow.

.James Potter

I walked out to the kitchen, then heard my parents talking. I pressed my ear to the wall to listen.

"Are you sure?" Mum's voice whispered loudly. "That can't be true…"

"If Dumbledore says it's true, then I believe him," came Dad's voice.

"We're going to have to go into hiding, then!" Mum hissed.

"I think we should let Remus decide, it is about him," Dad said. "Plus, werewolves can always track each other down, it doesn't matter what we do, he will find us!"

"But… but if Remus doesn't do what Greyback wants of him… G-Greyback will kill him," Mum said, her voice shaking. "We can't let this happen."

"Well, hopefully Greyback is planning to come once Remus is back at Hogwarts," Dad said. "He'll be safe there."

"OK…" said Mum, sounding nervous. "OK, let's… let's do something to get our minds off this."

"Well, we could…"

I walked in, interrupting their conversation, and asked, "Can I go to James's house tonight?"

My parents looked at each other hesitantly, then Mum said, "Yes of course, dear."

"But first we need to tell you something," Dad said.

Mum shot him a look and said, "No! He won't understand! He's too young!"

"He's not five!" Dad shot back.

"And I am right here!" I said. "Just tell me, and if I don't understand I won't ask questions."

"OK," said Dad, looking at my mum nervously. "Fenrir Greyback is looking for you. Dumbledore overheard You-Know-Who talking to him while on a stroll. You're the only werewolf not on Greyback and You-Know-Who's side."

"You mean… Professor Dumbledore was just taking a walk and happened to see the most evil wizard alive with his werewolf sidekick?" I said.

"Greyback wants you to join his pack, and join You-Know-Who," Dad told me, ignoring my question.

"Not happening," I said quickly. "Not in a million years."

"He's going to kill you if you don't! So we need to go into hiding!" Mum said.

"That's not going to make a difference!" Dad shouted. "I've studied werewolves… they can find each other easily if they want. Remus, what do you think?"

"I… I don't want to be evil," I said. "I'm already dangerous enough as it is…"

"What if… what if he puts heaps of garlic on him?" Mum suggested. "To repel the werewolves."

"That's vampires, Hope," Dad explained. "Werewolves have a very good sense of smell, they can tell what a creature is and how to find one, especially one of their own."

"Yeah," I said. "Like, I can smell that there's a mosquito just outside… and a ladybug in Paris is currently crawling up a leaf…"

"What are we going to do?" Mum sobbed.

"Let's talk about this tonight," Dad told her. "Remus, you can try and get your mind off it while you're at your friend's place, OK? Go pack your bag now."

"OK," I said, walking to my room and packing a bag with pyjamas, clothes for the next day, and toiletries. I walked out to where my parents were waiting, then we side-on apparated, arriving at Godric's Hollow. James came rushing out of one of the houses.

"Remus!" he said, smiling. "Let's go, my house is just there."

"Alright, have fun, we'll see you tomorrow," said Mum, kissing me goodbye, then Dad took her hand and they apparated.

James led me to his house. It was very fancy, and very big. He led me upstairs to his massive room. It was decorated with Gryffindor banners, and pictures of girls cut out of magazines. He had a huge double bed, it was scarlet red with gold flecks all through it.

He sat down on his bed, and I sat down next to him.

"We're going to go tonight," he said. "So there'll be less action, as it's the middle of the night."

"Is anyone else coming?" I asked.

"Monifa is," James said. "She's meeting us there, though, as she lives near his house. We're putting our plan to action tonight, at midnight."

I nodded. "Sounds good. Let's do this."