1972
"Well look who's back! Don't you just look peachy."
"Absolutely radiant, Remus."
"Welcome!"
Remus Lupin smiled. "Thank you guys, it's good to be back." Whether or not he looked radiant…Well, that was another story. He was just happy his reunion with his friends, for the very first time, needn't be tied to uncomfortable hiding and lies. Sirius Black jumped off the bed eagerly, holding in his hand a bit of parchment.
"We know you just got back, but we've been so bloody curious—"
"Sirius!" Yelped James. "Mate, he's been back for a minute, let him—"
"But James! Half the questions on this list are yours!"
"It's okay," Remus interjected. "Really, you've all been more than patient and more than kind." He placed his bag of schoolwork on the carpet and took the parchment from the grinning Sirius. Some of the questions were easier than others: for example, no, he wasn't abnormally hairy, and yes, he did transform every full moon. "How does it…feel?" Remus waved the parchment. "I'm going to need a bit more to go off of here." Sirius rolled his eyes.
"Peter, we told you that was a dumb question."
"But you only gave me five! It's not fair," The small, rotund boy protested. Remus snorted. Even with something as serious as his being a werewolf, his friends were still behaving like twats. "I just wanted to know what it was like," Peter said softly.
"Bloody awful," Remus replied, slowly sitting down on the bed. "I wouldn't recommend it." Part of him couldn't believe he was having this conversation. More than that, he couldn't believe it felt somewhat normal. Perhaps, with the fear of being cast away gone, Remus could find some normalcy in his abnormal condition. Sirius whacked Peter on the back of the head, hopping on the bed next to the boy as James sat next to Remus.
"Is this okay, Remus?" James asked. "I mean, we're bloody curious, but we don't want to…I don't know…say anything, erm—"
"I'll let you know," Remus said with a smile. "Really, you all of been kind when—"
"Oi! We get it, we're wonderful," Sirius drawled, "But if you call us kind one more time…"
"Alright," Remus conceded. "Let's start at the beginning, shall we?" Remus pursed his lips, looking to see where he could combine some of the simpler questions into one. "Well, this should cover articles—"
"—articles, bother," sighed Serious. "You sound like a professor—"
"Articles one, five, ten and twelve," Remus finished, ignoring Black. "I was nearly five, when I was bitten. My parents won't tell me much, but I was asleep in my bed," he said softly. "I don't remember it really, and I don't remember much from before the…ah, incident." Probably for the best, Remus could have added, but he didn't want to upset his friends.
"Merlin's beard…four?" James said, shocked. "Mate, that's awful." Remus shrugged.
"It's all I know." The boys were a bit silent. Clearly, I should break this up into lighter and heavy chunks, Remus thought to himself. "Now, some of these questions are really quite ridiculous—"
"—Peter," coughed James.
"Hey!"
"For example…No, I'm not colorblind, nor do I have razor sharp teeth, well," Remus paused, "Normally. And yes, I get ill when I eat chicken that's a bit off." Remus could've sworn he heard the exchange of a galleon or two between hands. "But yes, it hurts," Remus said, his voice a bit pained. "A bit before, during, and after transformation." He scanned the list further, seeing the concern in his friend's questions quite apparently. "It's partially from transforming, it's not a particularly graceful process, but as you all saw…it's what I do during the full moon. When I…When I transform, I take precautions. Lock myself up, keep hidden, so that I don't escape and hurt anyone. But werewolves are violent," Remus said, a bit breathy. "If there's no one around to hunt, we take it out on ourselves. What you saw is…self-inflicted. I'm lucky, I have Madame Pomfrey and a whole slew of magical spells to keep me from escaping, and the shack is actually quite nice compared to—"
"Wait," Sirius interrupted. "You said shack. You don't mean to tell me you get locked up in a shack?" He asked incredulously. "Like some sort of ani…" Sirius stopped himself. The pained look Remus gave him ended that sentence. Like an animal, Sirius was going to say. The boys fell a bit silent.
"The Shrieking Shack," James said at last, breaking the silence. "You transform there. The noise—"
"Is me," finished Remus, speaking softly. "Dumbledore encouraged the rumors of it being haunted. It is, in a way," Remus mused. "And I'm not chained. I can move around and all, but it's not the same as an open forest, and I get frustrated, want to escape, want to…" Remus looked up to see the pale, shocked voices of his friends. He had gone too far. This was it, his friends were going to abandon him now that they knew the full truth. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I thought this was alright, I'll—"
Remus was cut off as Sirius nearly lept off the bed to hug him.
"All this time," Sirius whispered, pulling away. "All this time, you were in pain and we never knew." Sirius locked eyes with Remus, and the young werewolf saw tears forming in his friend's eyes. "I'm so sorry Remus," Sirius said simply.
"I'm sorry too," squeaked Peter.
"But it doesn't have to be like this anymore," James began. "We can find a way to help you, make it so that you don't…" James thought back to that night they saw him in the ward. "So that you're safe. We could let you roam and—"
"NO!"
Remus stood up, shaking his head. "No, you don't understand," He whispered. "I'm a monster, don't you get it? There's no helping me. I can never be let out of the shack. A werewolf is not a normal animal. I wouldn't recognize you. My only purpose would be to find you and hurt you." Remus could feel his eyes well with tears, and he sniffled. "Please, please you can't be near me, ever, during the full moon. I could never forgive myself."
James grabbed Remus' arm, drawing him back to a seat. "I'm sorry, Remus. I—I didn't know. I promise, we won't be with you when you transform.
"But you're not a monster," Sirius said flatly. "I never want to hear that word again, alright? You're Remus. You couldn't hurt a fly. You won't even make fun of Petey, which is something we all do." Peter simply nodded.
"It's a furry little problem," Sirius said with a small smile. "Repeat after me—"
"—Sirius," Remus protested,
"Remus," Sirius retorted.
"It's a furry little problem," Remus whispered, wiping at his eyes. A furry little problem. Remus said it once more in his head, his lips curling into a thing smile. "It's a rather mild way of putting it," He said with a slight snort.
"Oi," James said, "Are you sure you aren't a werepig?"
This resulted in a fit of laughter amongst the boys, Remus laughing loudest of all. The parchment fell to the wayside, as the boys instead asked Remus the most ridiculous questions they could think of.
"Reckon you're as skinny a wolf as you are a boy?" Quipped James.
"Are you good with fetch?" Sirius asked, which led the boys to a whole discussion on how wolves may or may not be dogs, begging the question 'How do you know you're not just a dog?' from Peter.
Eventually the boys learned the answers to some of their other questions—as did Remus. For example, it was discovered just how moody Remus could get during the days leading up to the full moon when Peter spilled ink on his Transfiguration essay. They also learned how to recognize when Remus needed a little help, even if he wouldn't admit it. Eventually, Remus learned he didn't have to worry, ever, about his friends leaving him—and Sirius Black had never been more thankful in his life to not hear the word 'thanks.'