Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. All rights belong to their rightful owners.

"James, let go!"

Remus tumbled into his transfiguration classroom to find two of his best friends sitting atop their desk with tight expressions and wands pointed at his throat. James' cloak sat atop his bag and Peter's feet were peeking out from under the desk. Their bright wand lights brought out the blue veins throbbing from Remus' neck to mouth. With blood dripping from his ripped lip Remus knew he looked like an animal.

"Where were you, Remus?"

"Aunt Catherine was dying and they needed a blood withdrawal. I'm scared of needles and they didn't give me a Blood-Replenishing Potion. I'll be okay, mates."

Sirius transfigured his quill into a sword. "You said you were going to Madam Pomfrey's to get Sleeping Draught because of exam stress."

The sword pressed into his windpipe, causing a drop of blood to paint his pale skin. Remus gulped and felt his stomach drop.

"Is it safe, Sirius?" Peter's feet shuffled back and beady eyes peered between the gap separating James and Sirius. James gave Peter an odd look.

"Cut it out, Sirius. Wouldn't want to provoke an angry werewolf."

Werewolf. Oh Merlin, they knew.

"Werewolf? What are you talking about?" Remus' laugh sounded fake even to himself. His friends' expressions didn't change.

"They trick people with their human disguises so they can bite them as they sleep."

"They use their animal senses and speed to chase people down."

"Once a month they transform into a ravage beast and bite their victims with their venom to create an army of beasts."

They were right. He could feel the wolf growling at the pointed wands and it took everything in Remus to restrain it from leaping on them. It wanted to claw at their faces. It wanted to bite their necks and force them to obey.

Remus' knees gave out and he sank to a puddle on the floor. They knew and they hated him. He thought he'd been careful. He thought they wouldn't notice his disappearances. He should've listened to dad and stayed away.

But Remus was selfish. Their laughter, their energy, and their friendship made Remus want for more. They made him feel normal. He wasn't a monster around them.

As Remus' eyes clouded with tears he could hear his former friends whispering about the monster he was. Would Peter cast an incarcerous? Would Sirius save all of the ladies from Remus' dangerous instincts? Would James tell Head Auror Fleamont?

His parents. Dumbledore. They'd trusted him to be careful, to be observant, and to learn as much about the Wizarding World while he was at school.

But James, Sirius, and Peter lowered his walls. Peter, with his chattering teeth and quiet feet, who sat beside Remus in the library playing with a Solaris Sphere while asking for Defence help, broke through his cautiousness. He relied on Sirius' eyes and ears as much as his own to find the perfect pranking opportunities. Remus never thought Sirius would use it on him.

And James. The first friend Remus ever had. James who'd stumbled into Remus' compartment with a sleeping boy and asked, "Are you the sod who left biscuits by the door?" Who's expression frightened Remus because those biscuits had Sleeping Draught for his nightmares. But as Remus nodded with eyes to the floor a grin grew on James' face and he startled Remus with a hand to his shoulder. James had leaned down and whispered, "Let's pour Hair-Raising Potion down Snivellus' neck."

Then James dumped the pale boy on the ground, brought the boy's feet above his head, and dragged Remus to a compartment with a dark-haired boy with a cross expression who he assumed was Snivellus.

Remus remembered James' arm across his shoulder as they recounted the story to the now-awake boy, Sirius. He remembered the warmth rolling down his shoulders as James called Remus his mate. And he remembered the grin that spread from James to Remus' mouth.

James wasn't smiling now. James was pointing his wand to Remus' heart and looked like he was about to hex Remus. Remus' eyes pleaded with James'.

There were hands pinning his arms to the floor now. Remus could rip out of the hold and dislocate the person's wrists. But the hands were rough with calluses. Remus couldn't hurt his first friend. Even if they didn't see him that way now.

"Why are you here?" James' hands were shaking.

"I wanted to learn."

"We trusted you and you chose to lie to us."

"I didn't have a choice! The ministry would kill me!"

"And what about us? Did you ever think we'd want a friend who was tricking so he could bite us?"

"I never wanted to hurt you!"

It was Sirius who spoke next, the sword in his hand moving slightly under his trembling. "Did you think we'd want a friend who we trusted but never trusted us? I told you about how Walburga would yell at me. I told you about how Orion manipulated me. Dammit, I even told you about Regulus!"

"Sirius I'm sorry."

"And I asked you if you had any secrets. Every month you'd come back looking like this," Sirius nudged the break on Remus' nose, causing a stroke of pain, "and said nothing."

The sword nicked Remus' ear and caused James to flinch behind him. Sirius dropped his sword, which caused it to transfigure back into his wand. The look on the boy's face would appear in his nightmares for days to come.

A breath hitched and the voice that came out wasn't meant for his ears, but came out anyways. "Aren't we friends, Remus?"

Yes! Remus wanted to yell out. But his voice died out and all he could manage was a choked sob. The arms around his were loose and Remus could leave now. He could leave and never come back. Nobody would ever need to see him again. Hours spent in warmth huddled with his three best mates by the fire imagining ways to prank the Sytherins would be gone. Peter's mouth would never thin as he wrung his hands around a poor Herbology essay, nor would Sirius leave dungbombs under Remus' covers and cause the whole dorm to smell like the boys' change room; James wouldn't bring breakfast up while Remus studied into the morning.

Remus' feet dragged along the floor. He really didn't want to leave. But they knew now. Soon, everyone would know and he'd be on the run from the ministry. His dad would be arrested and sent to Azkaban. Dumbledore would be questioned. All of that trust, for nothing.

Then, laughter. First it was only a chuckle, but it soon grew into snorts, wheezes, and the occasional shout of, "You should've seen the look on your face!" as Remus stood frozen. What was happening?

James and Sirius were still laughing with arms clenched around their stomachs. Tears began to cloud Remus' eyes. Was this a prank?

"Well James you always did like your control, huh? You're an only child so all you care about is yourself. You never thought about anyone else's feelings!" Red was clouding his vision now and Remus knew he should stop. But he couldn't. They'd lied to him. They'd tricked him. They were going to tell everyone! "Sirius, everyone knows how your family is mad. I thought you were different but you're no better than your mother, laughing at another person's pain!"

He was about to exit, but stumbled into Peter. Chubby hands held a book titled Discovering Your Inner Being: Guide to Animagus while the bearer's teeth bit his lips in nervousness. "I told them not to, but they wanted revenge after the seeker game."

The seeker game where Remus had played snitch on the ground while James and Sirius tried to run after the werewolf. That's when they found out? Remus was horrified.

"Stop looking like you petted Snivellus' hair, mate."

"Don't be gross, James!"

"We found out because you kept coming back every month looking like a hippogriff stomped all over you. So we followed you one night when you went to go 'visit' your Aunt Catherine and heard the howling at the moon. Well, Sirius and I. Peter was too much of a keeling kneazle. So we did some research. Animals don't get bitten so," he gestured wildly at the book, "Animagi."

Remus' legs gave away again, but for a completely different reason. "So you're not… scared of me?" Something warm blossomed in his chest again, very similar to the first time on the train but it spread through his arms and legs, filling the previous numbness.

"Of course, mate. Who else would put up with us?"

"And check our essays."

"Scare Snivellus."

"Tell us off for planting stink pellets under McGonagall's desk."

"And convince Evan's of my genius."

"Okay, okay," Remus said as the warmth flooded his checks. "You're the best mates a lad could ask for."

They left the classroom with a spring in Remus' steps.

Thanks for reading my first one-shot! I'm a new writer so any constructive-criticism would be helpful.

This story was inspired by MarauderLover7's story Furry Little Problem who I stole the ending from. Also check out their amazing long-running series, Innocent!